|
"What It Means To Be an American"
You are part of an experiment that is at least 377 years old: the experiment of the United States America. The first brief sketch of this creative experiment occurred in 1630, when the Puritan layman John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, gathered together the settlers and convinced them to adopt a document called a Model of Christian Charity. In it Winthrop reminded the colony of its purpose and the reason for existence. Drawing on Matthew 5:13-16, Winthrop declared the colonists to be a city set on a hill; the Lord God had chosen them for a great work. They were to be God’s demonstration project, his pilot program in creating a model community with righteousness and justice for all the world to see and imitate. The new world had opened up new possibilities and a new future. God's rule would and could be manifest on earth, and the world would learn from the experience. Winthrop's experiment represented an attempt to see whether human beings could govern themselves without falling into mob rule or oppression.
The definitive statement of the experiment appears in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Declaration is a sketch of 'all men (read human beings as we have now come to understand. A vision is always bigger than the words that describe it.)...created equal' - not in the sense that they are equal in talents and potentialities, but in the sense that they are 'endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights' whatever talents they may possess. An 'unalienable right' is not only one that should not be denied a human being, but one that he cannot voluntarily refuse to exercise because it is his by nature. Therefore the obverse side of a 'right' is a responsibility. This need not imply that a free human being is a good human being, and that a society of free human beings will automatically create and maintain an ideal government. This becomes clear in the Constitution, which added to the vision by creating a system of checks and balances because of what Alexander Hamilton called "the ordinary depravity of human nature." "No human being is to be trusted with unexamined, unlimited power."[1] The question was, and is, "Is the nature of human beings such that they are capable of self-government?" What did an aristocratic soldier like George Washington, a Puritan like John Adams, a Scots immigrant like James Wilson, a West Indian emigrant like Alexander Hamilton, scholar-statesmen like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, or scientists like Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush have in common? It was a commitment to the dream of the United States as a providential experiment in advancing the cause of justice, liberty, and equality among humankind. The vision involved a commitment to the welfare of the community as well as the welfare of the individual. What does it mean to be an American? It means to respect diversity. That diversity and learning to live with it is what made the founding generation of this country so great. With passion, loyalty, conviction and civility we are to serve the vision, to engage in the experiment. No one of us or group of us has all the truth. The truth is something we discover between us as we struggle to be faithful to the vision. That means we must listen to one another, respect one another and work with one another. We are all in this thing together. The experiment had a difficult time in the 19th century when it was conceived in very limited and parochial terms. At times it was anti-black, anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic. At still other times it was racially, economically, and socially exclusive. And it must be admitted that the experiment was more often than not interpreted in paternalistic and imperialistic terms. Yet, the dream of America did survive the devastating divisiveness of the Civil War. Many 19th century visitors to America said the dream was a farce, but 20,000,000 immigrants gave it a strong vote of confidence. We are a heterogeneous people not bound together by ties of blood or attachment to the soil or cultural bonds. We came from everywhere and for diverse reasons. We are here in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. The tie that binds us is that vision. There are twenty-six vets from World War I still alive, twenty-six out of the thousands that served and some of whom gave theirs lives in the ultimate sacrifice. What about all those vets from World War II and the others wars who gave that same sacrifice? What did they die for? They died for the vision; they died to keep the experiment flourishing. But also let me tell you what they did not die for. They did not die for the Republican party nor the Democratic party. They did not die for an agenda, they did not die for the religious right: those folks don’t believe in the future of anybody but themselves and they are quite willing to tell us all who is and who is not a true American. Those soldiers did not die so you could pay less taxes or waste more gas or sale and buy more goods and services or throw your weigh around by contributing to PACs. No, they died for the vision. We are not called to cheapen their sacrifice by trivializing it for our own agendas and gain. What does it mean to be an American? It means to commit to the vision and exercise our responsibilities. The experiment continues. And it needs us, all of us especially now. We are obligated now to face our world's need with the same realism and determination that those revolutionary forebears did more than two centuries ago. I see lots of people well-educated and economically well off who use and abuse the vision for what they can get out of it. They take out, but they don't put in. We live in a tinderbox of a world, and we must find ways to put out fires, not start new ones. Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote in 1787, "The American war is over, but this is far from being the case with the American Revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed." If the American Revolution is to be continued, and if it is to be a blessing and not a curse, we cannot allow its purpose to be forgotten. We must recommit ourselves to that great experiment which is the dream of the USA. Our course is clear. What is needed is a recommitment to those first principles which are the basis of our national unity and purpose. Justice, liberty, equality -- these are explosive principles. The Declaration of Independence is not a museum piece; it argues a case that is still valid and announces principles that are still true. Our fathers and mothers pledged their lives, fortunes, and honor to their vindication. To embrace the experiment of the United States asks of us no more and no less. What does it mean to be an American? It means to view our responsibilities within the context of our commitment to God. Elie Wiesel, the great Jewish writer and survivor of the death camps, was once asked on a panel discussion: who was the unhappiest character in the Bible? Could it be Job who suffered numerous trials and tribulations? Could it be Moses who was barred entry into the Promised Land after leading the children of Israel through the wilderness? Could it be Mary who saw the crucifixion of her own son? No, Dr. Wiesel said. The unhappiest character in the Bible is God who suffers agonizing pain seeing human beings kill and abuse each other in God’s name. We are Christians and are called to act out of that faith. There is nothing wrong with that. But there are other Americans of different faith with whom we are called to work and seeking the common good of all. The Old Testament certainly commits us to justice; and the democratic character of the grace of God in the New Testament commits us to liberty and equality. They are a check to our national self-centeredness, pride and sin. We are one nation under God, and that phrase saves us from arrogance and pride. We do not speak for God, God speaks to us. And God cannot always be on our side if justice, liberty and community are denied. All we can pray for is God to guide us to the right. What does it mean to be an American? It means to take our political responsibilities seriously, by recognizing the central and legitimate place of politics. Every citizen in a democracy has an obligation to participate in politics: to struggle for control of the power which governs us. That is true of Christians. But we are to be guided not by some narrow agenda that generates arrogance and meanness. John Witherspoon wrote, "I recommend zeal for the glory of God and the good of others." That drove him into politics. Justice is an instrument of love. Christian love manifests itself in the temporal order as a discernment of and adhesion to justice in relation to the equilibrium of power. Christian love is not irrelevant to political action. On the contrary, it generates in us a concern that our fellow human beings be treated justly. It motivates our commitment to justice. What does it mean to be an American? It means to commit ourselves to the belief that every human being whether in Darfur, Iraq, Northern Ireland, or anywhere else is created to be free. We are to claim the high ground seeking unity within our borders and community with freedom-loving people around the world. That is what it means to live up to the vision in our day. When we struggle to do that we earn the right to ask – though never demand or simply assume – that God bless America. It is a privilege to live in this country and embrace the vision. It is not perfect, nor always just, nor always right. But it is a nation founded on freedom and striving for justice. We are glad, and grateful, that we live in America. It seems that we have some responsibility here, too. Being citizens implicates us. On voting day, it is best that we be there, and be informed. When discussion comes up, it is best we take a stand for what we believe to be right, and just, and godly. Even when we would rather not.[2] The experiment continues. It needs you. Listen again to Lincoln at Gettysburg: "That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain and that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. And that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." We don't want the experiment to fail, do we? So many have given so much. But the vision can fail without our commitment. If you do not want it to fail, then let all of us get to work. _________________ |
F.
Harry Daniel