18 Responses to “God Bless America”

1. Cristina Irizarry Says:
   September 11th, 2006 at 4:39 pm

   Amen!

2. Isaac MacMillen Says:
   September 11th, 2006 at 5:56 pm

   Amen! May God bless America…by turning us back to Him.

3. Caleb Baitz Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 3:50 am

   Those key words define the very basis and essence of our nation. Just as we can’t wipe out supports for a bridge and expect it to stand, niether can we erase the Biblical worldview our nations stands strong on.

   ~Caleb >

4. Caleb Baitz Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 3:52 am

   Neato… you’re Josh Harris’s brothers, right?

5. Rebecca Lipkowitz Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 7:18 am

   I have to hesitate here… my allegiance and all of it is pledged to God and Him alone. I am placed in a country and I am a part of human race, of which every person in the world is a part of. Part of the creation that was made in God’s image, and that fell and that now needs desperately to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not that the pledge of allegiance is this horrible thing… but where IS our allegiance? Who DO we represent in our lives? And WHO are we willing to die for? Just a thought…

6. Carley Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 7:58 am

   I like your use of italics. Whenever I say the pledge of allegience, I always kind of put “under God” in bold (verbally XD).

7. Rosie Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 1:17 pm

   It\’s very pretty and everything, but (lest we get into \”But they\’re trying to take God out of the pledge!\”) you should probably know that the words \’under God\’ were not added until June 14, 1954.

8. Brett Harris Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 1:41 pm

   Rosie: The fact that \”under God\” was added in 1954 only makes a difference if our objection to removing it were based on tradition. The reason it was added was to improve the pledge by directing honor to the God who has raised this great nation up. Christians defend this and other references to God, not because the references have always been there, but rather because God has and always will be there.

9. MVB Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 1:52 pm

   Hey Alex and Brett! I just read the WORLD Magazine article on you guys! Very cool! I wrote to them several months back, telling them about your blog and all the work you guys do…. so I’m really happy to see that they decided to write about it! Keep up the great job!

   http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12215

10. rebekah_rachel Says:
    September 12th, 2006 at 4:28 pm

    Amen, and congratulations for hitting the nail on its head. May God bless America.

    I find it interesting that there is a cross at Ground Zero. And yet, we seem to forget the sudden and overwhelming zeal for God that happened directly after 9-11. Not many people remember that cross, and even less remember that we all knew that God was there that day.

11. Gabby Says:
    September 13th, 2006 at 2:11 pm

    Hey Alex & Brett!!

    What a wonderful reminder! Truly our God has been merciful and gracious to our country! May we ever realize that no matter what we think or say we are “under God”.

    Caleb: Yeah, they are Josh Harris’s brothers, but they’ve established an identity of their own!

12. Isaac MacMillen Says:
    September 13th, 2006 at 6:29 pm

    Rebecca,

    That is very true. Our allegiance belongs to Christ alone.

    However, we as Christians are called to be good citizens (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, etc). Pledging our allegiance to our nation should be considered conditional…since Christ is the higher authority. Just like Solomon’s admonition to “fear the LORD and the King, my son…” so we serve both our nation…and our God.

    I hope that makes sense.

13. Ian Jeffries Says:
    September 15th, 2006 at 12:28 pm

    A pledge of allegiance is a serious thing. It means that you have sworn to help and protect your government and can’t really be taken back without breaking an oath. So, for example, before the Civil War you would have to help catch freed slaves or you would be breaking your pledge. Or before that if your govenment ordered you to help invade the Indian’s land you would have already sworn to obey the government. Or nowdays if protesting abortion is outlawed, you’ll have a choice: either don’t protest, or protest, and break the laws of the nation you have sworn allegiance to. Not a nice position.

14. Jonathan Reeves Says:
    September 17th, 2006 at 2:55 pm

    When you pledge allegence to the flag, the Republic for wich it stands, as one nation under God, you are pledging your allegance to the nation that the Founding Fathers created upon the principles of equality and justice. They created it in support of and to defend the peoples’ rights. If an offical commands you to do something in direct disregard for a person’s rights, you have no obligation to obey because he/she is no longer acting in accordance with the purpose and with the power of the Nation.

15. Travis Seitler Says:
    September 18th, 2006 at 9:58 am

    Brett,

    "The fact that under God was added in 1954 only makes a difference if our objection to removing it were based on tradition. The reason it was added was to improve the pledge by directing honor to the God who has raised this great nation up."

    I was under the impression that it was added to "fight" Communism, ie. "those athiestic Commies won’t be able to say ‘under God,’ and that’s how we’ll root ‘em out!"

    As far as pledging allegiance to either a flag or a country, I have no Christian duty to either. I’ll honor and obey those in authority over me (so long as I can do so with a clear conscience before God), but this in no way requires an alliance between myself and that authority. We are citizens of another Kingdom, and only visiting this one.

16. Jonathan Reeves Says:
    September 18th, 2006 at 12:17 pm

    1 Peter 2:13-17
    13 ¶ Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
    14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
    15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
    16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover–up for evil, but living as servants of God.
    17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

17. KLF Says:
    September 18th, 2006 at 6:10 pm

    Travis- that’s expressed well.

    Jonathan- What is your biblical basis for the statement you made that follows?:

    “If an offical commands you to do something in direct disregard for a person’s rights, you have no obligation to obey because he/she is no longer acting in accordance with the purpose and with the “power of the Nation.”

    Was this what God had in mind when he gave us the verses to obey “every human institution…” Is the condition of whether I obey dependent upon the goodness of the government or their edicts? The only condition I’m aware of is to obey God rather than man. Let not my obedience to the government contradict my true obedience to God. Disobedience to the gov’t, except in situations where I am being forced to disobey God by obeying the law, is sin.

18. Jonathan Reeves Says:
    September 19th, 2006 at 5:44 pm

    No, this wasn’t based on any specific passage from the Bible. I was trying to make the point that the United States was formed by the Founding Fathers to give all its citizens the same rights. I have yet to find one of their principles that bluntly contradicts something the Bible says. The United States has changed very much since then, almost to the point that you could say that there are two different nations. The first, the original one that the Founding Fathers made for the people, of the people, and by the people does not contradict the Bible from what I know. The ‘new’, hiding behind the name and heritage of the old, does not value the citizens’ individual rights as the old. My allegiance goes to the first and the principles that surround it.

    About the passage:

    Verses from the Bible shouldn’t be taken out of context. Go look it up in your Bible. These verses make up a paragraph at the beginning of a section called ‘Submission to Authority’ in 1 Perter 2 of the ESV version. The readers of Peter’s letter were experiencing persecution because of their faith. Peter told them in verses 13-25 of chapter 2 to be subject to every human institution, whether emperor or governors. This would include a government. It goes on to tell servants to be subject to their masters in all respects, both to the gentle and the unjust.

    The command to obey God rather than man applies only when men give commands that contradict God’s. There is no commandment that says ‘you shall not exceed 70 mph on I-85′, but you obey that as a rule from the government, as an establishment set on earth by God, correct?

    Romans 13:1-2
    1 ¶ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
    2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

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