Parties and celebrations reflect priorities and passions – and that was certainly the case when it came to the festivities surrounding America’s 250th birthday.
Criticism of the revelry also revealed the ongoing clash of worldviews, one that is not only political and ideological but also spiritual.
A full week prior to Independence Day, the radical leftist Drudge Report had already declared Washington, D.C.’s “Great American Fair” a bust. “Melted Ice Cream and Empty Booths,” screamed the online gossip rag. In the days leading up to the Fourth, neither Drudge nor mainstream media outlets seemed interested in highlighting anything positive about the mass festival unfolding in our nation’s capital.
Have there been some problems with the fair? Of course. No event is perfect, especially multi-week ones held in the open air in the middle of an oppressive heat wave. Yet, representatives from Focus on the Family have been warmly hosting and welcoming friends and visitors from inside the family pavilion since the beginning of the festival.
On Tuesday, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly interviewed Focus’ Tim Goeglein from a stage inside the fairgrounds. They discussed the importance of teaching our children about civics and America’s heritage of faith. It was an enthusiastically received program and will air sometime soon.
On July 4th, The New York Times ran a piece chronicling President Trump’s address at Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day. Against the backdrop of the majestic stone carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, the 45th and 47th president delivered an inspiring and thoughtful speech that celebrated our past and present. Standing under the historic monument, President Trump declared:
We remember that what we have created in this country is not the natural way of the world. It is not the norm. It is the exception. It is rare. It is priceless, and it is truly miraculous.
Throughout the entire story of humanity, most people in most places have lived a life plagued by suffering, poverty, exploitation, violence, and misery. But here in America, in this land on this continent, we have written a very different story. It’s a tale of adventure, liberation, and unmatched greatness. It’s the story of people governing themselves. The many uniting as one, the men and women rising by their own skill and talent to go further and reach higher than anyone has ever gone before.
He added:
You’re not that new a breed. You’re a really good breed, but I’m not sure that you’re that new a breed. Americans did not bow before a king or a government, but kneeled only before Almighty God. That’s right. These were the people who founded our republic. These were the patriots who fought for independence.
In America, we do not need anyone’s permission to say what we think and to live as we please, to worship as we choose, or to keep and bear arms. No one has ever given more to charity, ended more hunger, cured more disease or done more to uplift humanity than Americans and no country ever will be able to match it.
In his remarks, President Trump emphasized America’s “can-do” spirit, noting our citizens openly embrace a philosophy of constant improvement. “What is fast can be made faster,” Mr. Trump said. “What is great can be made greater than ever before … Show us a mountain and we’ll just climb it. Show us an ocean and we’ll just cross it.”
Mr. Trump took the occasion to warn the country about a recent electoral fascination with communism. “Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he rightly stated. “It’s death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil … They don’t want good, they don’t love God, they don’t love religion, and they don’t want religion.”
The New York Times’ Shawn McCreesh was presumably watching the same speech but seemed to see and hear a very different message.
“Mr. Trump read from an apocalyptic script,” claimed the scribe from the Old Grey Lady.
In reality, the president’s remarks were anything but the gloom-and-doom warning of a coming catastrophic implosion of the Republic that critics suggested. It was downright upbeat.
“For 250 years, American freedom still rings,” he said. “The American dream still lives, and the American flag still flies more proudly than ever before over the people who will not quit, the nation that will not fail … no matter how hard the enemy tries, we cannot be beaten.”
The “America 250” celebrations laid bare the ongoing clash of worldviews. How we see culture and everything in it dictates how we live. It influences our interpretation of words and our understanding of reality. Most importantly, our worldview affects our relationship with and acceptance of God’s authority and sovereignty in our lives, as well as His supremacy in America’s founding, present and future.
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