God Bless the USA

As citizens of this earth, we recognize that ultimately, we, as those created by God, are witnesses to the work of His sovereign hand in establishing and judging the nations. Acts 17 states:
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

If you reflect on American history, you can see instances in which God's hand is extremely evident - He has established and protected us, and you could say that we are a blessed people.  Not a perfect people, not a "perfect union," but as it's been said, the implementation of our founding principles can provide solutions to the problems we encounter.  So, we can love our country, but we have to be careful to love God more and recognize He is our ultimate authority. 

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As Americans, we stand on the shoulders of those who built this nation, and recognize that the Judeo-Christian principles they embraced have served us well and can continue to serve us as we navigate a challenging season. But, we have to turn to godly wisdom, as Psalm 33 suggests when it says:
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The song may not be counted at the level of enduring patriotic songs such as Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful, or The Star-Spangled Banner, but the song originally recorded by Lee Greenwood, God Bless the U.S.A. has certainly earned its place among beloved songs that extol the greatness of this incredible country.

Recently, it was announced that the song would provide inspiration for the development of a new Bible, combining the Scriptures with inserts of founding documents of the United States.  A remarkably positive article about the proposed Bible ran at The Tennessean website and also appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser.  The article reports:

The new Bible is a project of Elite Source Pro, a marketing consulting company in Wilson County that approached Greenwood about signing onto the project.

The singer-songwriter said he thought the custom Bible was a grand idea. Greenwood said readers can refer to the Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Pledge of Allegiance located at the back of the Bible and know the country got its start not by escaping religion, but by escaping persecution.

The Bible is due out around the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks later this year, according to Hugh Kirkpatrick of Elite Source Pro. The article states: "The goal was to commemorate the milestone anniversary and inspire unity, he said."  It goes on to say:

The "God Bless the USA Bible" was born out of conversations he had last year with friends in the music industry about division in America, Kirkpatrick said.

He said, "We put all that together in our thinking cap and we came up with a custom, unique, limited edition 'God Bless the USA Bible,'" adding, "It's the Holy Bible. It just leans toward you're American and maybe you need to understand the documents behind America and what did these people believe?" The Tennessean also reported:

Kirkpatrick said he does not see it as an example of Christian nationalism, a cultural framework that wants a politically and religiously conservative expression of Christianity to have more access to power.  

He said, "We don't believe in Christian nationalism at all," adding, "We really didn't worry about an extreme left or extreme right being upset … I think most people that we talk to they just want to live and love and go to work and live life."

So, full speed ahead, right?  Well, since the publication of the article, the pushback that Kirkpatrick thought might occur has occurred. 

Religion News reports that:

Hugh Kirkpatrick of Nashville-based Elite Source Pro said he had reached an agreement with HarperCollins, whose subsidiary Zondervan is licensed to publish the NIV, to produce 1,000 copies of the Bible and already had more than 500 orders.

After news about the Bible was reported by ReligionUnplugged, an online magazine, several Christian book authors published by Zondervan objected. More than 800 people also signed an online petition as well.

But was it because of the pushback from a small number of progressive authors and less than a thousand signers on a misguided petition?  The manufacturer issued this statement to Religion Unplugged:

“Zondervan is not publishing, manufacturing or selling the ‘God Bless the USA Bible’,” the statement emailed to Religion Unplugged reads. “While we were asked for a manufacturing quote, ultimately the project was not a fit for either party, and the website and marketing of the NIV project were premature.”

The story goes on to say, 

In the end, HarperCollins decided to halt production of the “God Bless the USA” Bible. They worked “very graciously” with Kirkpatrick, he said, to give him digital files of the Bible that he plans to print with a King James translation that is not copyrighted. The whole ordeal only set him back a few hundred dollars, he said.

So, it appears the project is moving forward.  Kirkpatrick said

Kirkpatrick also believes the nation’s Founding Fathers were inspired by the words in the Bible and that it will be helpful to have both the Scripture and the Constitution in the same book.

Kirkpatrick believes America was once a Christian country but it has been “sliding away from that.” And he does worry about the future.

“The Bible and the Constitution someday could be a banned item in the United States,” he said. “That sounds odd even to say but there are other countries around the world that you can’t have a Bible.”

How ironic - since there are what would be termed "progressive" authors in the Christian space who don't care for the mix of Christianity and patriotism and wanted to ban the project. 

Love of God and love of country - the welding of those two concepts has actually generated controversy in some circles.  I believe that Christians can do both, as long as love of country does not exceed our love for God.  But, there are those that, because of America's shortcomings, have decided that it is not right to love America - I would submit that because of the principles, consistent with Biblical truth, upon which this nation was founded, we can effectively address the challenges we face and move toward "a more perfect union."  In our Christian foundation, we can have hope.

That doesn't mean our Founders wanted a theocracy.  And, we certainly don't look like a Christian nation these days.  But that doesn't mean that the American ideals that have guided us throughout the years are to be discarded.  

William Federer, on his American Minute website, points to the writings of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Brewer, who wrote in his book, The United States-A Christian Nation, which was published in 1905:

"While the separation of church and state is often affirmed, there is nowhere a repudiation of Christianity as one of the institutions as well as benedictions of society.

In short, there is no charter or constitution that is either infidel, agnostic, or anti-Christian.

Wherever there is a declaration in favor of any religion it is of the Christian ...

I could show how largely our laws and customs are based upon the laws of Moses and the teachings of Christ;

how constantly the Bible is appealed to as the guide of life and the authority in question of morals."

Federer also points out that President Truman said to the Pope in 1947: "As a Christian Nation our earnest desire is to work with men of good will everywhere to banish war and the causes of war from the world whose Creator desired that men of every race and in every clime (region) should live together in peace, good will and mutual trust ... that mankind shall live in freedom, not in the chains of untruth nor in the chains of a collectivist organization."

That doesn't mean that everyone in America is required to be Christian or that somehow Christians are to have special rights in America.  But, it does mean that the principles of Scripture held significant influence over the Founders of this country and those principles are reflected in our founding documents.  And, Christian people do not always embrace Christian principles.  But, it is irresponsible to reject our rich history and to characterize those who love America because of what it stands for and its rich Christian tradition as "Christian nationalists," which has come to be used in a pejorative way. 

God Bless the USA?  Certainly - he has.  And, we can expect that He would like to continue. That's up to us, if we are willing to walk in obedience to Him.  Remember, the term, "separation of church and state" is not a constitutional one, and it is my understanding that it was written by Thomas Jefferson to  a group of Baptists affirming that the Church should be protected from the state.  The First Amendment was never intended to remove the influence of religion from American life.