It is “Election Time.” Our “mid-term” elections are just a few days away. The news is filled with “vote for me” or “don’t vote for that other person.” Sad to say, the news is also filled with story after story about how bad our country is and the injustice that fills our streets. Nearly all of this bluster and verbiage is spewed in order to advance different agendas and personal politics. In the midst of this heat and rage, let me focus on a different thought. Through the years, what has set America apart? What has made America great? To answer this question, we need go no farther than the Declaration of Independence. After an opening statement about the need for freedom, the Declaration of Independence declares what is, perhaps, its most famous statement: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men of various backgrounds and ages. These men often debated and argued the legitimacy of many things, but one truth united them. The truth was that God was their Creator, and God had a plan for the people of the 13 colonies. It is ironic that 21st-century revisionist historians want to depict our founding fathers as war-mongering, imperialistic, money-hungry bigots who had no moral grounding. While no one would venture to say that the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were perfect individuals, these men were driven by an idea that God expects each of us to live by a higher standard. God is mentioned five different times in the Declaration of Independence. Any fair student of history understands that the United States of America was founded by people who were deeply devoted to God. The first settlers who risked their lives in coming to America were seeking to build a better future and find the freedom to worship God. The Europe that colonists left was religiously bankrupt and intolerant regarding freedom of faith. Families making the pilgrimage to America were seeking to find a haven where they could live a decent life, serving and worshipping God.
It is sad that the current culture has largely been brainwashed by servants of a godless, atheistic philosophy. Current humanistic devotees want to say that church and state must stay as far apart as possible. This concept was not voiced by the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The wisdom of our founding fathers rested in the idea that God was with us and that God would lead those who followed Him. As we look to build a great country, let us follow the path blazed by our founding fathers. Rather than sink to the lowest level of existence, let us rise to the heights that God has planned for us.
God has called us to find real life. God has shown us the liberty that is realized when we honor Him and selflessly serve our fellow man. God has told us that happiness is not found in low, sinful living, but, rather, in having a real hope and purpose. Our founding fathers were men who struggled with imperfection and temptation, yet they resolved to create a country that could rise higher than any country known in the history of the world. The United States of America is great because we are one nation under God. We are blessed by God because of that endeavor. Keep looking up.