Saturday, November 29, 2008 "Turth, Justice, and the American Way!"

Saturday, November 29, 2008

"Truth, Justice, and the American Way!"

“The Rock on which the Pilgrims disembarked is still shown [and] has become an object of veneration in the United States. I have seen fragments carefully preserved in several American cities.

Does that not clearly prove that man's power and greatness reside entirely in his soul? A few poor souls trod for an instant on this rock, and it has become famous, it is prized by a great nation; fragments are venerated, and tiny pieces distributed far and wide. What has become of the doorsteps of a thousand palaces? Who cares for them?” - Alexis de Tocqueville.

This passage, from Alexis de Tocqueville's classic book, Democracy in America, was written in 1835. That was more than two centuries after the Pilgrims first arrived at that cold and rocky spot on the Massachusetts coast on a dreary November 1620. The place would become their Plymouth Bay Colony.

Tocqueville's words show us that even after so long a passage of time, Americans in the 1800s still cherished the stories of their country's beginnings. Now, nearly two hundred years after Tocqueville, the story of those early settlers I hope still moves us.

Why did they come? They tell us plainly in the governing document they signed, the Mayflower Compact: "For the Glory of God and the Advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country." They wanted to worship the Lord in the way their consciences and their understanding of the Holy Scripture led them, which included building a community in which they could daily live out their faith in Jesus Christ.

They called their dangerous effort "an errand into the wilderness." Sadly, many of them died in that first terrible year. Hunger and disease took their toll. But the Pilgrims are honored because they did not give up.

"Measured by the standards of men of their time, were the humble of the earth. Measured by later accomplishments, they were the mighty. In appearance weak and persecuted they came -- rejected, despised, an insignificant band; in reality strong and independent, a mighty host of whom the world was not worthy, destined to free mankind." - Calvin Coolidge

That is our American heritage, but what is our future? Is it abortion on demand? Legalized sodomy? Relative morality? Can our culture, the values and principles that have made us who we are be grafted to such ideals? We seem to cast aside such values and disregard such principles in favor of our economic ones, as though money now reigns supreme.

Leaders in our political parties have now said we need to move away from abortion, gay rights, and social issues and move toward economic issues to be electable. Are our politicians saying they still believe these principles, but being elected is more important than taking a stand? What does that say about us as a people when our politicians make such statements?

In the movie “Superman Returns” back in 2006 they removed the phrase “American way” because it might be too offensive. Are we afraid to tell the world who and what we are?

It use to be said of Superman, "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!

Yes, it's Superman, a strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way."

Now in the new movie, it was said of Superman, “Does he still fight for truth, justice, and all that stuff” I don’t know about you, but the old description sounds a lot more powerful. He had a purpose, his comic book character was defined by a way, it was called the American way. It’s what made a man of power a hero, he could have had all those powers and have been a comic book tyrant, a Hitler, or whatever you can imagine. But he was a comic book hero because he fought for the American way.

Our cemeteries are full of real heroes who have died for this American way! These issues we are running from are time-honored, the ones we are embracing were once abhorred. What can we now say of the American way, has its description lost purpose and definition as well?

In one scene in “Superman Returns” Lois Lane looks at Superman and says, “I don’t need a savior, and neither does the world”. I can’t help but wonder if we as Americans have looked at our heritage of faith and said, “We don’t need you, and neither does the world”.

We must find our American way and our heritage once again, when we do we will find our faith and our purpose, and we will find what defines us and directs our destiny. Our Founders left us a path, it leads us to faith, it leads us to our hope.

In the words of John Adams we will find that:

“The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system on this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . .

There is no authority, civil or religious, there can be no legitimate government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation”- Letter from John Adams to Benjamin Rush, from Quincy, Massachusetts, December 21, 1809.

May God bless each of you,

David