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In 1831, while the United States
was still forming, an observant
French writer, Alexis de Tocque–
ville, made an extensive tour. He
marveled at the potential he saw.
Here was a nation beginning to
show what the human race could
achieve. "How wonderful is the po–
sition of the New World where
man has as yet no enemies but
himself," he wrote, in honest admi–
ration.
Today it is more fashionable to
resent-and sometimes even to
hate-the United States.
lt
is ar–
guably the most criticized nation in
history.
Everyone
knows about American
problems.
Everyoné
has an opinion.
Not only foreigners. American
writers, including the writers of
this
magazine, frequently point out
the sins that plague American soci–
ety. But let's not forget that we can
do this without fear of reprisal.
In many
countries~
where
The
Plain
Truth
circulates, we would
be banned were we to say all that
needs to be said. In the United
States we can "cry aloud, spare
not, and show the people their
sins." Can we do that where you
live?
lt
has been observed that
whereas most countries
say
they
allow freedom of speech, in Amer–
ica you can also count on freedom
aj"ter
your speech!
Like it or not, this nation has set
the standards for the modern
world. Even governments tbat raíl
against the United States and stand
by as their mobs trample the flag,
nevertheless regard the American
standard of living as a measure of
their own success.
"Yankee, go home!" extremists
shriek around the world. "But take
me with you," sorne of them mut–
ter under their breath.
Yes, America is still the
promised land for oppressed and
dispossessed. Year after year they
flood legally and illegally across the
borders to seek a refuge, justice
and new start.
lf foreign readers are becoming
irritated with my patriotic fervor, 1
am not an American citizen. But
1
am, like deTocqueville, an open ad–
mirer of much about this great,
powerful, friendly, generous, well–
meaning democracy.
Think what you will about
16
America, it is sti ll the most envied
and influential nation that has ever
been.
But it is not successful enough.
America may look good from the
outside, but like the Statue of Lib–
erty, it is rotting away internally. If
the damage is not repaired, the na–
tion, too, will collapse under its
own weight. Americans have been
undeniably successful in setting a
standard for the world, but they
have failed miserably in reaching a
far more significant standard. They
have not attained the approval of
God.
From the beginning, this coun–
try sensed that it had a special
destiny. In 1783, Ezra Stiles, pres–
ident of Yale University, wrote of
"God 's American Israel," and
asked, "May we not see that we are
the object which the Holy Ghost
had in view four thousand years
ago when he inspired the venerable
patriarch with the vision respecting
his posterity?"
Americans thought of them–
selves as "chosen people" long be–
fore John
L.
O'Sullivan coined the
phrase "manifest destiny" in 1845.
Blessed with the abundant re–
sources, and a magnificent new
continent, perhaps it was inevitable
that such a people would identify
themselves with the children of Is–
rael entering
their
Promised Land
3,300 years before. Like ancient
Israel , Americans were a nation
that seemed to be uniquely blessed.
They, too, were the inheritors of a
bountiful land "flowing with milk
and honey," where they could es–
tablish a society that would be
God's model nation anda beacon to
which the world could Jook.
But to be God's model nation is
a heavy responsibility. (Read
Deuteronomy 4:5-9.) If a chosen
people do their part, God blesses
abundantly. But if they fail, God
must teach a lesson. Ancient Israel
did fail to meet God's standard,
and they paid the penalty. They
were taken into captivity hundreds
of years before the birth of Jesus
Christ, and with the exception of
the tribe of Judah, essentially van–
ished into the mists of time.
In the years before their captiv–
ity, God sent prophets to those an–
cient chosen people to warn them
to change their ways before it was
too late. They cried aloud and
showed the people their sins, point–
ing out the hypocrisy, the idolatry,
the double standards and corrup–
tion of a people who reaped the
blessings, but forgot their God.
A nation-any nation- that
claims a special destiny, that recog–
nizes its special favor with God and
that identifies with the chosen peo–
ple of ancient Israel, .must surely
consider these messages.
Like Israel, America today is a
nation laden with national sins.
Freedom abused leads to confusion.
Liberty, without law, can tear
down rather than build up. Oppor–
tunity without self-control becomes
destructive. Blessings without the
exercise of responsibility have .be–
come a curse.
Those very values, which should
be the underpinnings of a great and
g lorious nation, are, if abused, the
seeds of its ruin. America, like its
Statue of Liberty, is allowing itself
to rot from within.
Politicians, ministers of religion
and social critics at all levels of
American society are concerned,
and they have found many parallels
in the writings of the prophets of
ancient Israel. The analogies are
often excruciatingly clear. ,
But they do not realize that it is
not
an analogy. There is a far, far
deeper significance to the message
of the prophets than most of us
have ever realized. And there is a
much closer link between this great
nation today and the chosen people
of ancient Israel than you might
think.
Let me draw your attention to
one of the most significant mo–
ments in American history. Ves–
American
history. In Genesis 48,
the patriarch Jacob, renamed Is–
rael , took his grandsons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, and prepared to
bless them and prophesy of their
future. Breaking tradition, he
crossed his hands and put his right
hand on the head of the younger,
Ephraim, and his left hand on the
elder, Manasseh .
Ephraim, he prophesied, would
become a multitude of nations.
Manasseh, bis brother, would be–
come a great and powerful nation.
The nation we call the United
States today
is
that nation.
It
has,
(Continued on page 26)
The
PLAIN TRUTH