Proud to be American? Why grateful is a better word
By: Richard D. Land
America, what a country!
An exceptional nation, one nation, under God. A blessed nation founded by divine Providence whose founding document recognizes the Creator who created us all as equals in His sight and is the source of all of our inalienable rights. We are indeed fortunate to have been born in or moved to this nation founded in the enlightenment that has been a force for good since its founding. May God continue to bless America!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Proud to be American? Why grateful is a better word
Last week I shared with you the startling results of polling that only about a third of Americans aged 18-24 “were proud or very proud” of being American. I argued that one major reason for this dramatic falloff in patriotism was the infiltration of Critical Race Theory (CRT) into our nation’s public schools.
(Photo: The Christian Post/Katherine T. Phan) Since then a very interesting column has been published acknowledging the lethal ability of CRT to splinter and undermine everything in American society by William A. Galston, “How Adherents see ‘Critical Race Theory.’” Galston served in the Clinton administration (1993-95) and is with the Brookings Institution. Having surveyed CRT, Galston concludes, “But one thing is clear: Because the Declaration of Independence–the founding document of the American liberal order—is a product of Enlightenment rationalism, a doctrine that rejects the Enlightenment tacitly requires deconstructing the American order and rebuilding it on an entirely different foundation.”
That is the definition of a revolution. It seems that Galston, a liberal Democrat, agrees with me about just how radioactive CRT is to our entire governmental system.
However, I wanted to focus on a different aspect of the survey measuring “how proud are you to be an American?” As I read the survey, I found myself pondering the word “proud.” Is that an accurate definition of what other Americans and I feel about America?
I don’t think so. At least it was not the word I feel most comfortable using. “Proud” denotes something I have done. I had nothing to do with my being born an American.
I can hear some of you saying, “But Dr. Land, you are a conservative Republican.” It is true that I am “conservative” and “Republican,” but those are not the most important words to use in describing me. I am a Christian, an American, a conservative, and a Republican in that order.
As a Christian, I believe that God “knitted” me and “embroidered me” in my mother’s womb and “all my parts were written in God’s book before any of them came to be.” (Ps. 139:13-16)
For me, and for millions of Christians, being an American is a divinely bestowed blessing. Being born an American is like being born on third base in the great scheme of things and being proud of it is like being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple. No, we among all humanity, are the most fortunate of people, to have been, in the providence of God, born “American.”
In the providence of God, having been born American makes me the recipient of a priceless inheritance and a cherished national heritage of commitment to individual human dignity and the freedom to live according to the dictates of our own consciences without governmental interference.
When I contemplate what it means to be an American, I am filled with gratitude and awe, not pride.
If we allow our founding institutions to be undermined by a metastasizing CRT, we will see an America “balkanized” and disintegrate. If we no longer bear common allegiance to our founding documents and founding principles, then why should California and Texas remain in the same country? Why should Alabama and Vermont not separate?
If that happens, it will be a tragedy of unspeakable proportions for the people of the United States. It will also be a terrible tragedy for the citizens of the world. As Winston Churchill reminded us, it is on the whole that such things must be measured, and America has been a positive and civilizing influence in the world.
Has America been perfect both here at home and abroad? Of course not. However, we have been better than any other nation in standing up for freedom and human dignity for others as well as for ourselves.
Close your eyes and think for a moment about what the world would look like without the United States of America? Without America, evil people in the world would have run rampant in the past and they would run rampant now and in the future.
Without America, Germany would have won World War I. The Kaiser was not Hitler, but a 20th century dominated by Imperial Germany would have been no “walk in the park.” Then, of course, without America, the Germans and the Japanese would have won World War II, which would have ushered in what Churchill called “a new dark age.”
Without America, the last half of the 20th century would have been dominated by the “evil empire” of the Soviet Union, which would have had terrible repercussions for human freedom and dignity the world over.
As long as America is around, evil people getting up to evil things have had to ask themselves, “If we do this, will the Americans come?” If America disintegrates, or is reorganized as an entirely different country, they will no longer have to ask that question. People the world over will suffer terribly, and the weaker and more vulnerable they are, the more they will suffer.
Am I “proud” to be an American? No. I am grateful beyond words and I understand, “to whom much is given, much is required,” (Luke 12:48). As the recipient of great blessings, I have a responsibility to work for human freedom and dignity both here and around the world. America is a country, but it is also a cause, and the cause is human freedom.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (magna cum laude), Princeton; D.Phil. Oxford; and Th.M., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was president of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) and has served since 2013 as president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Dr. Land has been teaching, writing, and speaking on moral and ethical issues for the last half century in addition to pastoring several churches. He is the author of The Divided States of America , Imagine! A God Blessed America , Real Homeland Security , For Faith & Family and Send a Message to Mickey .
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Thank you for this version and not the Lee Greenwood one.
It is his song. I just thought it would be great to expose the left to a liberal having pride in being an American, a rare occurrence these days.
I saw him perform it live at a special event for Desert Storm returnees. Now he just makes me sick.
I saw him perform it live back in 1988 when Vice President Bush came to Redding when he was running for President.
Having an obsessive need to talk about how great America is , and particularly how great the founding fathers were, every day is a psychological malfunction.
The founding fathers were great as are the documents they wrote and the nation they created. They took great risks, did great things despite their not being perfect. Just like America is a great and exceptional nation, the best ever in human history, and a force for good in the world despite making mistakes and not being perfect.
Having an obsessive need to talk about how great America is , and particularly how great the founding fathers were, every day is a psychological malfunction.
If people talking about America, her founding fathers and documents and how great a country we all live in makes progressives uncomfortable, so be it. That’s their issue, not ours.
I’ve said it before, the attempted daily displays of… “patriotism” I guess certainly come of as desperate. They definitely show a deep sense of insecurity. Frankly the need to constantly try to show how much more “patriotic” you are is sad.
You won't find Land's Bombastic Baptist version of American History in actual American History books.
There was nothing bombastic about anything he wrote. Most Americans are grateful that we are Americans. With the exception of bi coastal secular progressive ruling class elites who loathe that they are Americans, deny that any good came out of her, and obsess over every past error trying to inflict CRT and 1619 bs upon the rest of us.
Heaven forbid reality creep into your fantasies...
You actually think that CRT and 1619 project propaganda are reality? Thank God many of us live in areas where it will literally be illegal to inflict that crap on our kids.
History is the facts of what happened. If you are talking about fiction then that isn't real...
Why are there Southern Baptist to begin with?
As someone who rants and raves about 1st Amendment rights you sure seem exultant about infringing them.
I’m not one but I know that Baptists like America had a split up over slavery.
States, Counties, school boards, and parents have a right to influence what is taught to our kids in our schools.
What do you think about the 1836 Project in Texas?
You know , the one where they pretend that the founding of the Republic of Texas was based on the principles of freedom.
In 1836, at the founding of the Republic of Texas, slavery was in effect, and no free person of color, black, Indian or Mexican had any legal rights.
I could understand Texas trying to hide this under the bed so to speak, but they are not doing that. They are having a "Project" to celebrate the founding of Texas on so called "freedom". Seriously, how in the world could you possibly justify that? Things like the Texas 1836 Project are exactly why we needed a 1619 Project.
No, they have this little invention called history books. Perhaps there is a library in your town.
I know ! I can see you are the kind of lady who dresses like Kamala Harris but has a moustache.
What kind of hallucinatory substances did you imbibe this morning?
Maybe they should be like a liberal and have their history of their Republic and their revolution against Mexico censored and covered up.
It appears that patriotism is not enough for some Americans and now they are grasping for jingoism. Time for the Proud Boys to move out, the Jingo Boys are movin' in.
The article was about substituting gratitude in place of pride while still recognizing the greatness of our opportunities and responsibilities because we are Americans.
So the good Christian, Richard D Land, finally read the Bible with all of its admonishments against pride. What took him so long?
I am proud to be an America First populist conservative nationalist.
The number of conservatives in America is shrinking faster than the Great Salt Lake. That you call yourself one is an affront to what remains.
so you are proud to be a fascist?
Grateful? Why? It was an accident of birth, it’s not like I was done any great favor, I just happened to be born here.
Proud, sure, to the extent that I can be. Of course my interest in history has also led me to the point where I view the US as I do most countries and governments. A period in time, and one that won’t last forever. Yes I want my country to succeed and yes I want it to thrive, obviously I am biased because I have a stake in it, but I try to not have my citizenship be too large a part of my identity. When you do that you end up like some idiots around here and elsewhere who take any criticism personally.