Our Nation's Foundational Quandary

Part 3-of-3 (Scroll down for previous)

So what’s it going to be—a noble or compromised legacy? In my view, the answer is both. Yes, many of our nation’s founders were skilled at God-speak, but practiced in enlightened principles of occult Illuminism. Religious syncretism is evidenced by the cacophony of arcane symbols found throughout our nation’s capitol.

Notwithstanding, there remains cause for the two words (Laus Deo, or “Praise be to God!”) on the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument: A survivor of Nazism and communism, Dr. Balint Vazonyi came to the U.S. from Hungary following the 1956 uprising. Vazonyi identified four points of the American compass—namely, rule of law, individual rights, guaranteed property, and American identity. America’s noble heritage in Christ is reflected in such Bible-based foundational principles.

Religious freedom, rule of law, free trade, and private property took form among early predominantly Christian settlements of the East Coast of North America—namely, at St. Augustine (1565¬), Plymouth (1620), Jamestown (1607), and Savannah (1733). Furthermore, our nation’s Christian legacy finds expression in the first colonial grant made to Sir Walter Raleigh (1584); the first charter of Virginia, granted by King James I (1606); subsequent Virginia charters (1609 and 1611); and various ones granted to the other colonies.

Evidence of America’s Noble Heritage

Be sure there’s good, bad, and ugly among us (and within each of us, I might add). No matter, God remains actively engaged in the affairs of men. It’s really not about the atheist, religionist, deist, Unitarian, occultist, nominal Christian, or even the “wretched man that I am.” It’s all about God Almighty.

For good reason, God is expressly mentioned in most all state constitutions, mottoes, and seals; Christ’s words are chiseled on our national monuments; and the Ten Commandments are engraved in stone in our Supreme Court.

Seeded by early settlers, our nation’s biblical grounding bore extraordinary fruit throughout America’s early revivals and awakenings. In their wake, Francis Scott Key gave us our national anthem (adopted 3 March 1931). The second verse of The Star-spangled Banner proclaims: “May the heaven-rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’”

Even our currency bears witness to America’s trust in God, as does the folded flag with stars uppermost. In fact, each fold in our nation’s flag-folding ceremony represents aspects of America’s noble heritage—e.g., the second fold pays tribute to belief in eternal life; the eleventh fold glorifies the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the twelfth is in tribute to Christianity.

The 1954 amendment to Francis Bellany’s 1892 version of our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance also targets religious transcendence as America’s most powerful resource, whether in times of peace or while at war. Forget political correctness. On two occasions, the Supreme Court has declared our Pledge of Allegiance “under God” as soundly constitutional. Even an ACLU Handbook admits that the pledge is not objectionable simply because it contains a reference to God.

Conclusion

A nation that permits what God does not—i.e., abortion, pornography, promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality, materialism—does not rightly merit the label, “a Christian nation.” However, as Abraham discovered, the Just Judge of the whole earth is willing to withhold His wrath for the sake of fifty, forty-five, thirty, twenty, even ten righteous men.

Maybe America fails to qualify as “a Christian nation.” Perhaps many of her founding fathers were less than noble. But there is no doubt that, at her inception, she was seeded by Christians and grounded in Holy Scripture.

So, then, we can rightly pray, “God bless America!” History shows that it is His pleasure to do just that.