Menu

America

Saving the Republic – The Second Great Awakening – Part II

, 0

In Part I, we noted the ebb tide of religious fervor and an increase in secularism and irreligion following the American Revolution, especially in the decade of 1790s. The Constitution creating the United States of America had just been ratified in 1787 and the Bill of Rights was added in 1791. Washington was President and there was an air of optimism regarding the nation’s future. But, at the same time morality at all levels of society was spiraling downward and threatened the survival of the young nation. Following years of moral decline, the shameful debacle of the presidential campaign of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson illustrated the threat to the nation’s survival. Both candidates were vilified and slandered by their political opponents and […]

Saving the Republic – The Second Great Awakening – Part I

, 0

“No country on earth was ever founded on deeper religious foundations,” wrote Sherwood Eddy in his 1941 The Kingdom of God and the American Dream. The persecuted refugees from Europe landed on the shores of a vast wilderness and established thirteen colonies, practically all on strong religious foundations, during the first decades of the seventeenth century to the first decades of the eighteenth century. The tremendous hardships, deprivations, and loss of life did not diminish their religious zeal and quest for religious freedom. They were the followers of Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Puritans and non-Puritans, Anglicans, separatists, Baptists, Quakers, and many others groups seeking religious freedom. The fruit of their efforts was a “priceless heritage” which they left for the Founders of America. In 1765, John […]

American Exceptionalism – Part III – R.I.P. or Revival?

0

John Adams said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In other words, the America of the Founders was based upon the assumption that people who accept the biblical worldview are capable of governing themselves internally where ethical and moral issues are concerned. Thus, the architects of America’s early government structure envisioned the Republic supported by a foundation of common morality, and that morality rested on the bedrock of the Christian faith. As we noted in Part II, Christianity and Christian principles that permeated and bonded with the principles of civil government formed the […]

American Exceptionalism – Part II – The Essential Ingredient of America’s Greatness

0

In Part I we looked at the origins and spread of the concept of American exceptionalism as well as the claims of its deniers and detractors. In Part II we will discuss the one essential ingredient that led to America’s exceptionalism and why exceptionalism’s deniers and detractors are so adverse to any consideration of its reality in the history of the nation. To be exceptional is a condition of being different from the norm; also: a theory expounding the exceptionalism especially of a nation or region. In their book titled Understanding America – The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation, James Q. Wilson and Peter H. Schuck assembled a collection of essays which examined Alexis de Tocqueville’s declaration that America was “exceptional.” In their summation, the […]

American Exceptionalism – Part I – Myth or God’s Blessing?

0

What is this thing called “American exceptionalism” that surfaces periodically in political speeches, esoteric articles and books in the academic world, and an occasional mention on talk radio? The term “American exceptionalism” is of recent origin (less than 100 years) but the concept of the unique and exceptional nature of the United States has been recognized and accepted for more than 200 years. The unique and exceptional nature of the United States was noted by numerous Founders during and after the American Revolution. However, widespread recognition of the unrivaled and exceptional nature of the United States in comparison to the rest of the world began with Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, a monumental study of America. The visiting Frenchman described what he saw during […]

Dis-united States of America

, 0

George Washington’s farewell address to the nation was published on September 17, 1796 near the end of his eight years as the first president of the newly minted United States. He spoke of his concern for the nation’s welfare as he expressed his “sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people…” His advice, warnings, and prescriptions have influenced generations of Americans but have been largely forgotten or ignored in modern times. Upon the occasion of his recent February birthday, it is well that we review some of the salient points from his farewell address that are particularly pointed and appropriate in twenty-first century America. I […]

American Angst

Most Americans have lived under a growing cloud of anxiety and dread for several years. This American angst has escalated into anger which is often expressed in a scatter-shot resistance to what they perceive is happening in American society. They know that something is systemically wrong with America’s institutions and direction, and they see and recognize the symptoms but can’t diagnose the single disease that has metastasized throughout the American cultural vision. That disease is humanism and its many children (progressivism, naturalism, liberalism, etc.). The root causes of the humanist-Christian conflict are reflected in the topical moments of the culture wars about which Americans read in the newspapers and magazines; listen to on broadcast media; and experience in the home, workplace, and culture at large. […]

1 2 3