American Schizophrenia

We no longer know who we are, we Americans.  We are truly a nation adrift.  Corruption floods our nation like the waters of Katrina buried New Orleans.  Although the flooding was blamed on the hurricane, the fact is, the levees were breached.  The water rushed into the city, as years of neglect and erosion finally took its toll.  Out of view of the public eye, the foundations of the levees had been destroyed.  The flood was inevitable.

In the days of warning leading up to the storm, all eyes were on the skies.  How much rain would come?  How strong would the winds be?  Should a mandatory evacuation be ordered?  Where will the eye hit?  Although most of the devastation in the Gulf Coast area was caused by the powerful winds, the city of New Orleans was destroyed by water.  Some gave warning that the storm would be disastrous, but no one could conceive what was about to bury the Crescent City.

The foundations of the levees had been crumbling for years, and no one had noticed.  The walled city was about to spring a leak.

New Orleans is a microcosm of America.  While everyone is celebrating Fat Tuesday, Black Sunday is sitting on the horizon.   Our walls, too, have been breached.

All of the major institutions of America are decadent.  Our government does not follow the U.S. Constitution and other founding documents, our schools have become a tool for the promotion of Secular Humanism, corruption rules in the highest halls of power, the justice system is full of injustice, and America’s churches fight each other for money and sheeple. 

When the rain inevitably comes, the levees will not hold.  Sadly, there are too many cracks in the foundation.

There is a lot of talk these days about the goodness of America.  The arguments over the war, torture, health care, gay rights, abortion and a myriad of other issues always revolve around America’s “goodness.” 

America is too good to torture.  America is too good to force a woman to carry a baby she doesn’t want.  America is too good to invade another country.  America is too good to allow the poor to suffer.

"Yes," they say, "America is too good for that…"

But is America good?  And if so, what makes it so?  

Good--- morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, pious.

America is made up of people and a nation can be good only if her people are good.  Her institutions can be good only if its employees are good.  Like the levees in New Orleans, everything appears to be fine, but a compromised foundation will not hold.  It is only a matter of time.

America is schizophrenic.  The book of James tells us that “ a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.”  America is double-minded.  Our government claims to be secular, but they want to claim all of the values of Christianity.   Many Americans want to be free of the shackles of Christ, but still expect others to live by in His virtues.  America is going to have to make a decision.

Torture is wrong because America has lived by Jesus’ creed to “do unto others,” not because the Geneva Conventions say it is wrong.  The politicians are constantly blathering about our “image” in the world and how other nations are not viewing us favorably.  Why is it that no one mentions the image of Iraq, or Iran, or the murderous Sudan?  Why aren't the North Koreans concerned about their image…or the Chinese?  “Americans are better than that,” they say.  Is that true?  Is America better than that?  If so, why?  What is it, in the eyes of the world that makes America better than an Iraq?  

“If we turn to torture we are no better than them,” I heard a secular pundit recently say.  Hmmm, no better than them….so you think we’re better than them…why?

Could it be that the rest of the world recognizes what we refuse to admit?  In our striving to be tolerant, diverse, and secular, are we denying the very foundations that the rest of the world recognizes?  Could it be that the rest of the world and our secular leaders expect more out of us because America espouses Christian values?

Take a real quick inventory with me.  When you think of the following nations would you agree that they are undeniably linked to a national religion?  India is Hindu.  Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and most of the Middle East are Muslim.  Israel is Jewish.  Mongolia is Buddhist.  Most of Japan is Shinto.  China is a mix of Taoism and Confucianism.  In the eyes of the world, America is Christian.   Because they recognize that we are, they expect us to live up to a higher standard.

Let me ask you a question.  Why is it the rest of the world recognizes we are Christian, but our government does all it can to deny it?  When the terrorists flew the planes into the towers the war-cry from the Middle East was “it is you, America, full of Christian infidels.”  Funny isn’t it?  They recognize our foundation, and they see the cracks in our levee.

“So, Coach, where are you going with this,” I hear you asking.   America is going to have to make a decision.  We are either going to have to acknowledge our Christian roots and begin to once again teach them to our children, or we will have to deny them and damn the torpedoes.  In a world full of evil, America is doomed if we continue to deny the breach in the wall.  We can’t have it both ways. 

If America is secular, then let’s fight by the world’s standards.  We’ve seen the standards of our enemies.  They cry “torture,” “abuse,” and “degradation” in regards to the way we treat prisoners, while they lop of the heads of those who disagree with them.  There are two different sets of rules, and they are forcing secular-America to fight by Christian standards.  Well something has to give.  They are smart enough to use our Christian values against us. 

When will America face up to her schizophrenia?  When will we stop running from the obvious?  When will our leaders boldly declare that this nation is a nation founded on and supported by Christian values?  When will we once again begin to teach it to our children?  When will we once again expect our leaders to live by them?

The war raging in the world is not a war on terror.  It is a religious war.  Christianity and Islam stand in stark contrast to each other.  While America’s courts and America’s politicians argue about the legality of “under God,” crosses on war memorials, and the Ten Commandments on the wall, the enemies of Christianity are lining up, determined to conquer the “great Satan” while we are caught in the midst of an identity crisis.

If America is not a Christian nation then it is time to take the shackles of Christianity off, unleash the destructive forces of our arsenals, and blast our enemies back to the 7^th century from whence they have come.  If our opponents kill in the name of their god, if they couldn’t care less about the deaths of innocent people, why should secular-America be forced to play by a different set of values as we sacrifice our sons in the sands of Satan?

America has won before and we can win again.  We have always believed in the supernatural intervention of the Christian God on our behalf.  We have always believed that He was on our side.

Christian-America can win the war.  Secular-America cannot.  How long will we deny the Truth?  How long will we run from our past?  How long will we deny our Christian heritage?

Look at this picture from Normandy.    Did they die so that a Chaplain couldn’t pray?  Did they die so the Ten Commandments couldn’t be displayed?  Did they die so a man could marry a man?  Did they die so an unborn baby could be killed?

It is time to stop spitting on their graves.  We still have time, although there are clouds on the horizon.  American values are still Christian values.

It is time to repair the dike.

By Coach Dave Daubenmire Email: coach@ptsalt.com Click here for bio and archived articles