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Change for America will give a general overview and then the ensuing presentations will go into more depth on their specific topics. Change for America is the pervading hope of the nation at this particular moment of our history. What should America change and how? We need to also know what are those elements that should remain and never change. The presentation highlights what is distinctive about America and clarifies the process for a hopeful change toward the ideal of one family under God.
America is a Significant Nation
America has a significant history and we seek to understand its meaning. However, we shouldn't just look to the past. We should look forward in order to gain a sense of where we, as a nation, need to go. To do this, we need a clear perspective. America is known as “the land of opportunity” and, indeed, in its short history, has risen to great prominence in the world.
President Woodrow Wilson commenting on the uniqueness of America described it this way: “America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses.”
 America is a land of immigrants. Peoples from the four corners of the world have come to this land seeking opportunity and freedom.
America is at a significant crossroads in its history. Whereas, the election of a President is important, it is more important that we, the people of America, understand our purpose and direction as a nation. It is the people of faith and the people of conscience that are the true leaders of the nation. Elected officials are the representatives of "we the people." They must be aware and respond to our expectations.
People today say they want change. But talk of change can be confusing. Change, in of itself, is not a virtue. We must define the nature of the change that is needed. In order to accurately assess the nature of desired change, we need to be able to see America's origins and what is distinctive about our American heritage. We must learn from what is right about America but, also, in what areas we have faltered. Then, with such a clear view, we can set the right path for the nation.
What is Distinctive about America’s Founding?
Before we “change” America it is important to highlight what is distinctive about America. There are reasons that America has risen in its brief history to such a position of prominence in the world. The following are some of the more distinctive elements of America that were instrumental in her rise to prominence:
1. The Idea that Liberty is a Blessing from God
Our founding documents were truly inspired by the vision that the rights and liberty of all people come not from government, not by an act of Congress or by the fiat of a king. Instead, our rights and liberties come from our intrinsic value as human beings endowed by our Creator.
Many consider the Constitution a strictly secular document. However, we can find in the preamble the expression that liberty is a “blessing.” It also states that the purpose of government is to "secure the blessing of liberty" (endowed to us by God). Liberty does not flow from Government. The “blesser” is our Creator and we, the recipients of liberty are the “blessed.” The Constitution recognizes that we are engaged in a covenant relationship with our Creator. It is the basis upon which we can experience the blessing of liberty. This is a profoundly unique approach to governance of human affairs.
James Madison, often called the “father of the Constitution, said: “it is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in the Constitution a finger of that Almighty hand.”
Madison understood and affirmed that God's inspiration was at work in the shaping of our Constitution.
2. All are Created Equal
A second distinction of America was that its founding was based on the idea that all were created equal.
 A wide array of ideas and influences from a spectrum of Enlightenment thinkers had shaped the philosophical outlook of the Founders. However, the influence that contributed the more profound elements to America's founding principles was the perspective inspired by their religious faith. It was the faith perspective that had made them aware that God had created all and loved all as his very own children. Thus, the value that "all were created equal" emerged as a direct result. This was not a perspective of equality fashioned by humanist philosophical pondering, as later expressed in the French “Declaration of the Rights of Man” ... it was a new understanding of human equality rooted in the transcendental discovery of God's expressed love for humanity that was dramatically illustrated in the story of Jesus. This perspective is reflected in the observation of John Quincy Adams, "is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth?"
Each person, beyond tribe, nation or racial group were the children of God and thus were of the same family; a universal family spawned from an original ancestor. America was to be a nation where that ideal could emerge that would later be expressed in the Pledge of Allegiance as, “One Nation Under God.”
The welcoming message inscribed on the Statue of Liberty typifies this spirit of America:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
3. The American Dream has not been realized
A third distinct component of America is a tragic one. The promise of the American Dream has not yet been fully realized. The American ideal is a work in progress. The story of America is the human story. It is the hopeful story of people having glimpsed noble ideals and transcendent principles. But also, just as the human story is filled with failure, compromise and hypocrisy. The story of America is the same; we have a noble vision, but we have not yet fully realized that vision.
There are many sad examples of how we have faltered in our quest for the American Dream. We can see in the miraculous timeliness of the Pilgrims' encounter with Squanto that an opportunity had presented itself for the acceptance of all that Native American culture had to contribute to the American Ideal and toward the building of a truly unique American cultural fabric. The occasion of the first Thanksgiving was a dramatic step toward that hopeful end.
 Tragically, the hopeful path from the first Thanksgiving was transformed into a woeful trail of tears. The Trail of Tears was the forced relocation of Native Americans from their homelands to Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma. The removal were motivated by the desire of the United States government for more territory. Promoted as an effort to “save” Native Americans from extinction, in actuality it was mostly motivated by the desire to profit from the acquisition of their assets and resources. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, starvation while enroute to their destinations. Thousands perished along “the trail of tears.”
Equally as significant was the acceptance of slavery and the hypocrisy that allowed slavery to become an American institution. To this day, we struggle as a nation to rectify the tragic consequences of this sad legacy.
Today it is imperative that we understand the integral role these overlooked Americans have played in forming the spiritual heritage of our nation and how they, too, have glimpsed a noble, God inspired vision of a land of freedom, prosperity and equality. Their story of America is the story of a people seeking to realize that dream. The central characters in the story of the quest for the American Dream are, typically, men and women of faith. Their story of America is about how they, in the face of life-threatening adversity, were able to recognize the greater truths of life and embrace them in faith as they forged a path toward justice and freedom. Certainly this was what inspired the Pilgrims from Europe who pioneered this nation seeking religious freedom, but just as much them, the course of undeserved suffering and the path of victory laid in the blood and faith of African slaves and Native Americans stands as the root and spiritual heritage of all Americans. Consider this powerful quote from the book "This Far by Faith," by Juan Williams and Quinton Dixie:
“America’s struggle, rise and triumph from slavery to equal rights for all is a living testament to the power of deep, personal faith for Americans of all colors. The black experience in America, even black music, is defined by a steady, burning religious faith and the power it offered to people who were viewed as powerless, even less than human, until the flame of faith showed them that they were equal members of God’s family. That everlasting faith in God and trust in God’s justice, as well as the power of prayer and its appeals to conscience, remains central to the concept of democracy and one nation under God that all Americans value.”
 America’s history is a history of men and women who understood the vision, and with a righteous perspective, challenged the way things were and called others to work for the way things should be.
It was this hope for a nation under God that fueled the abolitionist movement. The abolitionist movement was strengthened by the activities of free African Americans, especially in the black church, who argued that the old Biblical justifications for slavery contradicted the New Testament. William Lloyd Garrison, the movement’s most effective proponent and editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. His efforts to recruit eloquent spokesmen led to the discovery of ex-slave Frederick Douglass, as well as Isabella Bomefree, who, after her conversion, became known as Sojourner Truth. All these were playing the role of founding fathers and  mothers of the American dream.
It would entail the emergence of new “Founding Fathers” to be the timely voice of change. Abraham Lincoln was a Founding Father in the 19th century; Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Founding Father in the 20th Century. Now America awaits a new voice bringing the light of illumination toward the completion of the American ideal. The American Dream is a work in progress. As we consider change for our nation, we need a clear vision of where we need to go as a people. Such a vision should transcend mere concerns about the political issues of the moment. It is about where we, as a people of faith, are in realizing the American Dream.
4. America is about Principles
A fourth distinctive element of America is that to be considered American, one doesn’t need a certain appearance or a  specific racial identity. Americans are people of all complexions, all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds. To be American is to be about an idea. America is about principles; principles that entail freedom of thought and action, freedom to achieve prosperity and happiness. It is an idea that seems to resonant deeply within the human soul. It appears that despite America’s shortcomings, millions are still seeking ways to come here and remain.
American principles are the glue that holds the nation together. It is the foundation of common values that make meaningful and trustful relationships possible. It is the essence of what comprises a nation. George Washington repeatedly stressed this perspective: “Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.” and in his farewell address, he stated that “…reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
 Religious leaders such as John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards spoke of the moral law and the covenant. They forged a consensus, and created what they termed a “civil religion” comprised of self-evident truths that undergirded America’s unique mission as the bastion of religious freedom and democracy in the world.
The term “civil religion” was actually coined by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his book “The Social Contract” in 1762. The idea of “civil religion” is not to be confused with the idea of a "State religion." Civil religion refers to the building of a public consensus of values rooted in common faith principles that form the cement binding a culture together.
The notion of “civil religion” as described at the time of the Founders, can be understood as cultural consensus on:
- Transcendent principles: “We hold these truths to be self-evident”
- Shared spiritual values (rooted in faith) If we are so endowed, it behooves us to value humanity and treat others with dignity.
- What constitutes right and wrong: A consensus of values emerges that forms the cement holding our nation and unique culture together.
Civil religion, also, was not “personal religion.” It was not involved with the various doctrines of afterlife, personal salvation and relationship with God. That was the private and personal role of each religious body and for the faith leaders to establish those parameters for their own adherents.
Civil religion pertains to the implications of faith in the public arena with regard to public conduct, that is, a cultural consensus on values pertaining to public behavior.
Without a cultural consensus on values our society loses the basis around which humans engage one another in mutually beneficial relationships. Civil religion means forming a cultural consensus on values and is the basis of "common sense."
"There is a profession of faith which is purely civil... not strictly as religious dogmas but as expressions of social conscience without which it is impossible to be a good citizen" - The Social Contract Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 On the occasion of Pope Benedict's 2008 visit to the United States, Time magazine offered the following observations:
The Pope “believes in America’s ‘obvious spiritual foundation,’ its natural, Puritan-instilled DNA…” and “insists that there is a ‘much clearer and implicit sense’ in the U.S. than in Europe of a morality ‘bequeathed by Christianity.’ He has also given earnest thought to the mechanics of this civil religion, specifying that to affect the moral consensus, it is not enough for Catholics to rub shoulders with other Christians; they must translate their concerns from doctrinal language into a “public theology” accessible to all.” TIME, April 14, 2008
America was founded to be a nation “under God” The ideal of our national motto, “e pluribus unun,” out of many, one, can only be realized if those who reside here can establish a cultural consensus based on transcendent principles; the “self-evident” truths.
A growing obstacle to that end is the trend toward religious exclusivism, that is, the perspective that acknowledges one’s own religious views as valid to the exclusion of others. In the post-911 world there is much discussion and debate about “extremism.” Many today are even pointing to religion itself as the cause of the problem and, therefore, the solution must be to remove religious expression from public life.  Even more radically, some have concluded that the problem resides within the very concept of God and that humanity must be freed of, what Richard Dawkins refers to as, “The God Delusion.”
As religious exclusive attitudes become dominate, it became increasingly difficult for peoples of diverse faiths to join together around commonly held values, spiritual principles and to forge a cultural consensus essential to maintain social well-being within a community and, nation. It is a circumstance that breeds extremism and makes the "clash of cultures" all the more likely.
Dr. Ryan Mayer of Georgetown University says that most think of interreligious conflict in the same way we think of conflict between sports teams. But, he stresses, it is much more intense...more similar to the conflict of two suitors for the same woman.
"A person of Muslim faith and a person of Christian faith engaged in honest conversation about religion are not like two fans pulling for their respective teams. They are more like two men in love with the same woman, each trying to express, safeguard and be faithful to his relationship with his beloved. Love brings with it complexities that football does not." July 20, 2008, The Washington Post
Another perspective would be that it is a sibling rivalry. It is really God’s children attempting to monopolize the love and attention of their common parent. Faith leaders must understand that God is in the parent position. Although we may compete for his favor and attention, we must remember that God loves all, even to the point that, just as any parent would, He grieves at the discord between His children.
These are some of the notable qualities of America and yet it appears that the world is increasingly more confused about what are America’s principles and to what extent we live by them. We seem to be giving the world mixed signals. It is as if America was two different nations.
Which America is America?
 On the one hand, some see us, as does French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. To them, America is still “the shining city on a hill.”
“America did not teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it. And she fought for this freedom whenever she felt it to be threatened somewhere in the world... . .It was by watching America grow that men and women understood that freedom was possible. What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind.” Nicolas Sarkozy, “Renewing the French-American Alliance,” November 7, 2007
Yet on the other hand, A 2003 independent report by the Council on Foreign Relations concludes with the following opposite observation:
“Around the world, from Western Europe to the Far East, many see the United States as arrogant, hypocritical, self-absorbed, self-indulgent and contemptuous of others. American culture, language and industry dominate the world stage in a way that many find discomforting.”
Like an oil tanker run aground and spilling its foul contents, a growing number of people in the world witness a destructive element that washes in with the tide of American pop culture. In this era, as America seeks to spread its idea of freedom and democracy into the world, it comes with toxic by-products; the very same elements that pose a threat to our own stability as a nation. Unfortunately the “Land of the Free” is also awash in perversion, self-indulgence, drug abuse, violence and crime.
 Dinesh D’Sousa, best-selling author and public speaker, offers a very important insight: “the cultural left has fostered a decadent American culture that angers and repulses traditional societies, especially those in the Islamic world, that are being overwhelmed with this culture. In addition, the left is waging an aggressive global campaign to undermine the traditional patriarchal family and to promote secular values in non-Western cultures. This campaign has provoked a violent reaction from Muslims who believe that their most cherished beliefs and institutions are under assault.”
What is our message to the world about freedom? Are we saying that the price of freedom is to acquiesce to moral corruption? Does freedom necessarily lead to moral collapse? Can we blame the world for seeking a second opinion about our offers of freedom and democracy?
Today, we are calling for a renewed love for America and a true patriotism. A true patriot is one that not only recognizes and cherishes the ideal of America but also has the vision to recognize that our founding, on the one hand, was inspired by the highest ideals, yet on the other hand involved egregious compromises of those ideals against its Native-American and African-American citizens. Those have yet to be rectified.
We need the courage and honesty to admit our national failures and then move forward toward the completion of the founding process. If that is done, then our love of nation will truly be all-inclusive and the American Dream will truly be for all. Such a true love for nation is the one bolstered by the laser light of immutable values that provides the vision and confidence to lead the nation away from the coral reefs of social chaos toward the bright open seas of lasting freedom for all.
 Our nation’s history is replete with the arrival of great leaders with timely messages that would stir the conscience of the nation. Typically, those figures have been people of faith.
Today, the completion of the American ideal remains before us. We need new “founders” to continue the task of the completion of America. In the highly interrelated world of the 21st Century as America moves toward the completion of the ideal of one nation under God, we likewise seek to light the path toward a world of One Family Under God. To do that, America should:
- Become a model of interfaith harmony and cooperation.
- Revive America’s founding spirit and virtue, and universalize the American Dream in the context of God’s Dream for all humanity.
- Demonstrate the power of “one family under God” to change the way we see each other and treat each other – thus changing the climate of conflict in our world today.
The American Dream Needs to be realized
 Today the completion of the American ideal calls for a new generation of “founders.” Today’s Founders will renew that American ideal of equality and freedom. It finds its deepest root in the eternal self-evident truth that testifies to the love extended to all of humanity by their Creator. It is this thought from which emerges the highest ideal of human equality: We are one family under God.
America is at a crossroads. We are at a time once again when our nation urgently needs realignment. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the greatest leader of the 20th century because he took up this providential work to restore the American ethos and founding spirit. It is time for faith leaders to speak out as the conscience of the nation, to call America, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did, to live out the true meaning of its creed. His words, spoken in 1963, still rings true today:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
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