Thanksgiving – a time to assess our roots – to reaffirm our values!

On Thanksgiving Day this year, a majority of Americans will partake in various activities to celebrate the historic holiday. Celebrations usually involve a hearty meal of one sort or another, and the centerpiece is the food (and oftentimes football). Additionally, there are many families of faith who will still sincerely express gratitude for the blessings they received during the year and that was the original centerpiece of celebrating this traditional holiday. The holiday itself is a testament to the reality that the United States of America came into existence through the Judeo-Christian heritage. Thank God, many good citizens are still aware of the foundation.

Increasingly, our “leaders” appear to no longer value the principle of God-given rights revealed in the Declaration of Independence

Yet, in recent decades, elected leaders in several states, and on the national level, have lost touch with this crucial foundation of morality-- especially Christian values and basic goodness. Elected officials are demonstrating more and more that they do not respect such morality--or even the source of deeper religious values.

Increasingly, our “leaders” appear to no longer value the principle of God-given rights revealed in the Declaration of Independence. Those rights were eventually instituted in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution.

Yet, if this is a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people, as President Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed in his Gettysburg Address in November of 1863, are the people the ones who have lost touch with these fundamental principles and values? After all, it is in our power to vote elected officials out of office who do not represent alignment with values of “We the People.” Maybe. But, if people who love fame, or power, or wealth were to figure out a way to extend or perpetuate their political dominance on election day, how would “We the People” ever reaffirm our adherence to the self-evident truths we had assumed everyone held in common?

It is important to note that the United States is more of a “divided states of America” in 2023 than a United States

It is important to note that the United States is more of a “divided states of America” in 2023 than a United States. The nation, however, was once in a worse state of affairs. Once long, long ago, America went to war with itself. It was a brutal, horrible, war that originated in deep divisiveness within the American people. At the core of divisiveness was the “peculiar” institution of African slavery. Today, the central point of contention seems to be whether we are endowed with God-given inalienable rights, or we are at the mercy of government elitists who will decide for the people what rights they deserve.

Today, while the residue of the divisiveness of our Civil War still persists in the hearts and minds of some Americans, most have moved beyond that tragedy. One key point citizens need to hold onto is that America survived that most terrible and devastating time. In that period, Americans were literally at war with one another, attacking and killing their fellow Americans. However, the nation survived; peace prevailed. This is significant, as it may appear that the nation is on the precipice of another Civil War. In the past few years, families and friends have literally been torn apart by one poisonous political perspective or another. Such divisiveness in America weakens the moral fabric that holds the people together. It is no longer a “we the people” who hold common faith and common values derived from that faith.

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America’s diverse society came about because the Land of the Free became a magnet for people who wanted to be free

There are many to whom this does not matter, but for those who prefer peaceful harmony to civil war, it may be time to ask a simple question: How did we return to this point once again in our history? The simplistic answer can be attributed to the two political factions, and in recent years, it is not the two political parties. It is two political factions--“We the People” vs. political elitists who believe they are the enlightened ones entitled to control the masses. But, there is a more fundamental fragmentation that exists within American society, and that is much more complex: America has become a microcosm of the world’s population.

That which is so divisive in America’s diverse society is our fundamental strength: we are a land of many nations encapsulated in one. Such a diversity of people living in relative harmony giving testimony to “E pluribus unum!” America’s diverse society came about because the Land of the Free became a magnet for people who wanted to be free. Go figure…

On the practical side, many came to get rich--and they still come seeking wealth. Our country is willing to admit anyone. Now, even illegal aliens with criminal intent enter --seeking to get rich quick. Our government is now even willing to admit terrorists cross the border who harbor the intent to destroy the nation from within. So, the elitist geniuses use puppet-like political pawns to manipulate those tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free and indoctrinate them into American style socialism.

The elitists and globalists will divide and conquer

The elitists and globalists will divide and conquer, if not exposed for who they truly are and what they intend to do through their clever nefarious manipulations. They would not hesitate to drive America into civil strife--even to fight against itself. In the Civil War in Lincoln’s day, the issue at the core of the divisiveness was the “peculiar” institution of African slavery. Today, there are a number of predominant views about the American Civil War, and what caused it. However, from Lincoln’s perspective, as he explained it succinctly in his Gettysburg Address, it was whether any nation conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal could continue to exist in a world of tyranny. His political enemies, elitists and enlightened ones entitled to control the masses, held a view opposite that of the Declaration of Independence.

In 2023, elitists and the self-proclaimed enlightened ones still feel entitled to control the masses, and they continue to hold a view contrary to the Declaration of Independence. However, in this day, it is no longer controversial that all people are created equal, as that has long been settled – partly by the Civil War. Today, the deeper fundamental contention is whether all people have truly been endowed with certain inalienable rights from God Almighty. In recent years, bedrock documents representing the fundamental ideals of freedom, the Bill of Rights and the roots of God-given rights in the Declaration of Independence, have increasingly come under attack.

Our people--“We the People,” need to rediscover our roots

Like cancer growing within an unsuspecting victim, many attacks originate from inside the U.S. government, specifically from elected “public servants” as well as their appointees.

Never before in our history has the Land of the Free been tested as it is now as to whether we are still dedicated to the proposition that all people are endowed with God-given rights, whether we can still survive in a world comfortable with tyranny. Our people--“We the People,” need to rediscover our roots.

On Thanksgiving this year, it would be wise to reconsider the sacrifice and suffering of the Pilgrims and how they persevered, despite all hardships and obstacles, and laid a foundation for self-governance. Additionally, it would be wise to consider that they also made a substantial peace treaty with Wampanoag Indians-- people who had little in common with Europeans, people of a different race, people who spoke a different language, people with a different religious heritage, people who shared no common cultural traditions.

Yet, from 1621 until 1675, these two peoples enjoyed the fruits of peace in New England. In the Autumn of 1621, that peace led to the “First Thanksgiving” and set the tradition for the holiday we celebrate today.

Those roots need to be re-examined, as well as God’s care and guidance of our nation in challenging times such as this. Thanksgiving is an opportune time to reaffirm our self-evident truths and to reclaim our God-given heritage and sacred rights.

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