The Meaning of America

I know that there is a lot to be concerned about in our nation. There is no doubt that our society is headed for great destruction. Anyone with half a conscience can see the wholesale moral corruption of our land. I am genuinely and understandably concerned about the future of our entire society.
But I have been thinking (since Independence Day) about what the United States of America stands for in the world. At least, for that which it used to stand.

America means liberty. Not unrestrained anarchy. Not hedonism. But genuine liberty. Liberty to work. Liberty to say what I want to say without threat of prison. Liberty to protect my family from enemies, foreign or domestic, and so fulfill my duty as a husband and father. America means freedom of religion. This means I have the liberty to worship as I believe is right. No one in this nation can put me in jail because I decide not to be Catholic, or Anglican, or (name your favorite denomination). That doesn’t mean we do not need to be moral people of good character. Without morality, Biblical morality, the liberty we enjoy will be abused. And it has been.
America means opportunity. The opportunity to make a better life for my family if I work hard and have courage. The opportunity for success and prosperity regardless of my lineage.
America means the chance to send missionaries to all parts of the world. For a time the U.S. was the leader in foreign missions and was a light of the gospel in the world. This is of course no longer true. But our nation used to stand as a testimony to the nations of sincere devotion to Christ and to the Great Commission.
America means something. It stands for something. Liberty is an idea that resonates in each of our hearts. Though our freedoms are being taken little by little, liberty itself has not died. And the U.S.A. stands for liberty, and to some of us that ideal is still worth fighting to preserve.