Is America Living On Fumes?

A popular Christian author says America has cut itself off from the root that feeds its freedom and greatness.

Cut flowers are beautiful until they're not. It doesn't take long for them to start dying, he says.

That's what Eric Metaxas, author of the new book Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World, says.

Is America living on fumes?

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“We're living on fumes. We have basically, in our lifetime, I would say, been disconnected, and we need to get reconnected,” Metaxas says. 

American Family reports that Metaxas says, “How come America even exists? What an amazing concept that these Christians said: we can go back to the Sinai covenant, come out from under having an earthly king and look to God as our king,” Metaxas says.

Metaxas tells podcast host Billy Hallowell that the U.S. is fighting for the spiritual soul of America for the third time in its history.

“We're in the third existential crisis of our history. The first is the revolution, the second is the civil war. We're now in the third, and we need to go back and remind ourselves of what are the principles and what are the stories,” Metaxas says.

He says this nation is meant to be the continuation of those stories, but that it can all go away if the country doesn’t understand it and keep it going.

“It's important for us to stop believing the lie that you could have liberty, freedom, and self-government without God. These ideas come from God,” Metaxas states.

Metaxas is not the only one pondering this question. AFN has published similar ponderings of others who also believe that the nation is abandoning its Christian roots, which hits hard because this year marks the 250th anniversary of America.

Victor Joecks, a graduate of Hillsdale College, is an award-winning columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the Sharpening Arrows podcast.

He recently wrote this:

The pages of tomorrow's history are written by today's decisions.

History is littered with failed republics and democracies. The Roman Republic became the Roman Empire. Democracy in ancient Greece turned into an aristocracy. This didn't just happen in ancient history. In 1961, a new constitution in Venezuela divided the government into three branches. But in 1999, Hugo Chavez swept to power and rewrote the country's constitution. He eventually became a dictator.

The Founding Fathers were well aware of the fleeting nature of our form of government. In 1787, Elizabeth Willing Powell asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it."

For context, in Federalist 39, former President James Madison defined a republic as "a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior."

The term "democratic republic" references the role that popular elections play in selecting some of our leaders. But the Founding Fathers held a much dimmer view of democracy by itself. In Federalist 10, Madison observed that democracies "have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

America has abandoned her Christian heritage. Government-funded schools teach children to hate America and Western Civilization more broadly. Birth rates have generally been below replacement level for decades.

He continues:

You can see the fruit of those trends. Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democrat congressional nominee from New York City, founded a group that seeks "the total eradication of Western Civilization." Chants of "Death to America" have rung out on college campuses and the streets of New York City. Muslims are openly plotting to turn America into a Muslim country.

But concerning trends are not outcomes. Americans still have the freedom and ability to change course. The most important thing is for America to return to her Christian roots. Listen to our Founding Fathers, not the misinformation taught in most modern history classes.

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?" Thomas Jefferson wrote.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports," George Washington said in his farewell address. "In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens."

Joecks concludes with these admonitions:

• You can't force people to become Christians. But students should learn historical truths, not skewed leftist narratives. Institutions should also elevate and honor other pillars of America's past -- like the ideas of Western Civilization and the family.
• Part of this requires political action. You can't win the war of ideas when the government subsidizes the losing side. America needs leaders who will act vigorously to defend America's values. That includes deporting immigrants who hate America.
• But it also requires individual action. Pray for your country. Urge your friends to vote. Use whatever influence you have to advance these ideas. Send your grandchild a great work of literature and talk about a chapter a week. Revive the lost art of matchmaking to encourage one more marriage. Offer the practical help, like watching kids or helping buy a home, that could help a responsible young couple have one more child.

Takeaway

A few of those choices would make headlines. Most wouldn't.

Joecks says, "But every one of them would help restore America's greatness."

Tony Perkins has said that “a nation that forgets its story loses its identity” and that people become fragmented when they lose their identity.

Founding Father Patrick Henry said, "When people forget God, tyrants forge their chains."

God says in II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

The noise in our culture comes from the tyrants... they are forging chains.

Whether or not we are bound by those chains is our decision. 

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.