But I don’t feel like celebrating, which is a shame. I was a kid at the US Bicentennial, and it was kind of glorious. Massive celebrations all around, tear-filled talk of “the beginning”, the Founding Fathers, Betsy Ross and all that jazz. I remember collecting commemorative stickers from the bread loaves. There were beautiful T-Shirts that we couldn’t afford, big fireworks celebrations scheduled (every little town didn’t do them every year back then, because we’d only been friendly with the Chinese for about 4 years by that time) and community picnics galore. TV was rife with special readings of The Declaration of Independence, and the original run of 1776 was probably still on Broadway, spilling its way out into the travelling cast, regional and community theater world.
The Bicentennial was celebratory, yet noble…a frenzy of “we made it without another ‘civil’ war!” It was a thing to behold. With the gore of Viet Nam, the shame of Watergate and the near-miss glory of the Apollo missions just behind us, we were grateful to still be alive and kicking.
But today, 50 years later, it doesn’t seem like a birthday – more like a vigil. It seems like our nation is teetering on the razor’s edge of demise with little hope of recovery: we have wars and rumors of wars from frenetic leaders, a globalization of US military might that is so embedded with foreign nations we may never be able to extricate and a presidential party frontrunner singing the praises of mass surveillance and fascism from a party that used to be against both.
And we’re all dumber, more self-centered and helpless than ever. I include myself in this, so don’t get mad. More government reliance means more government control. Government is us? No, government is “god” – which makes sense, since with fallen man, we are our own “god”. Our nation’s VP just indicated that laissez-faire economics can’t be trusted because we aren’t all constrained by Christian guardrails. Fair enough, but he seems to think that all us dumb heathens can be trusted to vote the right way for the proper overlords to do the “good works” of the elite. Now the men who risked their lives to declare independence didn't really seem to intentionally create a new government, but they did, because that's what people do -- always organizing to elect a "savior". But here's the real rub: many of that time in Colonial America didn't even know they needed a new government "savior". They were just working hard, trying to put food on the table, loving their families, involved in their churches and communities. Same as today. I mean, I'm glad I didn't grow up as a subject to the Queen, though she seemed like a nice enough lady. But have we really been "freed" from tyranny lo these 250 years later?
This isn’t a political screed; it’s a religious one. How dare craven political monsters use the name of God – any god – to claw their way into power. But that’s how it’s always been. Even from the beginning. No, not all the founders were Christian – probably less than a third, when examined by orthodoxy – but they did promote a religion of sorts. The new thought of personal liberty (which I LOVE) would finally free us from the tyranny of kings. Problem is, the tyranny of kings will always prevail, because there’s always somebody wanting to be THE GOD of all.
Didn’t know where I was going when I started this essay. But I’m glad it went where my heart is: there is only one true God, and government ain’t it. My allegiance isn’t to a people, a process or a place of this earth, but to my Savior who sits enthroned in His everlasting kingdom. Anytime He gets ready for me, I hope to be ready for Him. Now THAT will be a day of celebration!
The Bicentennial was celebratory, yet noble…a frenzy of “we made it without another ‘civil’ war!” It was a thing to behold. With the gore of Viet Nam, the shame of Watergate and the near-miss glory of the Apollo missions just behind us, we were grateful to still be alive and kicking.
But today, 50 years later, it doesn’t seem like a birthday – more like a vigil. It seems like our nation is teetering on the razor’s edge of demise with little hope of recovery: we have wars and rumors of wars from frenetic leaders, a globalization of US military might that is so embedded with foreign nations we may never be able to extricate and a presidential party frontrunner singing the praises of mass surveillance and fascism from a party that used to be against both.
And we’re all dumber, more self-centered and helpless than ever. I include myself in this, so don’t get mad. More government reliance means more government control. Government is us? No, government is “god” – which makes sense, since with fallen man, we are our own “god”. Our nation’s VP just indicated that laissez-faire economics can’t be trusted because we aren’t all constrained by Christian guardrails. Fair enough, but he seems to think that all us dumb heathens can be trusted to vote the right way for the proper overlords to do the “good works” of the elite. Now the men who risked their lives to declare independence didn't really seem to intentionally create a new government, but they did, because that's what people do -- always organizing to elect a "savior". But here's the real rub: many of that time in Colonial America didn't even know they needed a new government "savior". They were just working hard, trying to put food on the table, loving their families, involved in their churches and communities. Same as today. I mean, I'm glad I didn't grow up as a subject to the Queen, though she seemed like a nice enough lady. But have we really been "freed" from tyranny lo these 250 years later?
This isn’t a political screed; it’s a religious one. How dare craven political monsters use the name of God – any god – to claw their way into power. But that’s how it’s always been. Even from the beginning. No, not all the founders were Christian – probably less than a third, when examined by orthodoxy – but they did promote a religion of sorts. The new thought of personal liberty (which I LOVE) would finally free us from the tyranny of kings. Problem is, the tyranny of kings will always prevail, because there’s always somebody wanting to be THE GOD of all.
Didn’t know where I was going when I started this essay. But I’m glad it went where my heart is: there is only one true God, and government ain’t it. My allegiance isn’t to a people, a process or a place of this earth, but to my Savior who sits enthroned in His everlasting kingdom. Anytime He gets ready for me, I hope to be ready for Him. Now THAT will be a day of celebration!
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