Today we’ll cover: 1 “God Bless America”, 2 America’s 200th, 3 Quotes from our Early History, 4 “A Nation of Immigrants”, 5 Christian Nationalism, 6 Thank God for America.

1. “God Bless America”

This song now seems to be sung at almost every popular event. Here it is in the 1943 wartime movie “You’re in the Army”. Kate Smith was one of the best-known singers of the time. As I’ve mentioned before, it was written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant from Russia.

2. My Recollections of America’s 200th.

It had been a difficult time.

In 1976 the country was in a situation slightly similar to today. Politically, we were very divided. Some were waving the American flag as a sign of their political beliefs, while for that very reason others hesitated to. A few were burning the flag.

The situation:

The 1960s had begun to so optimistically, at least from my perspective. I was young then. A new generation was taking over. 43 year old John Kennedy was elected president.  Then in 1963, less than three years later he was assassinated,  The racial justice movement was beginning. In 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated, followed quickly by  the assassination of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

Radical movements arose. (“Burn, baby! Burn!”) There were racial riots in many big cities. I remember: It felt like everything was coming off the rails.

Next, only a couple of years later, came the Watergate scandal. Ever since the 1920s, people had implicitly trusted that our Presidents were honest – agree with them or not. Now, hired operatives had raided the Democratic headquarters in Washington. President Nixon had been directly involved in planning the coverup – which worked for a while. Before it was over eight members of Nixon’s cabinet and immediate staff were sent to prison. Finally, leading members of his own Republican Party * convinced him to resign before he could be impeached. That was in 1974. Furthermore, Nixon’s Vice President was convicted of tax evasion, paid a fine, and served probation. Corruption at the highest level.

• Our current Vice President recently inaccurately remarked that it was the “deep state” that took Nixon down (Wrong!) and that today Watergate would have been a twelve-hour news story, then forgotten. That’s true, I guess. President Trump has been convicted of sexual abuse, and also multiple counts of covering up payments made to hush up an adult film star. And he is still in office. One of many ways in which America is very different than it was fifty years ago.

Next: Americans were accustomed to thinking of ourselves as saviors, winners, Both in World War I and World War II, American intervention had saved Western Europe, as well as the Pacific and perhaps our own West Coast from, Japanese military imperialism.

But then in 1965 we intervened in Viet-Nam in order to save the place from Communism.

By 1975 Americans were driven out. We had lost – one year before our Bi-Centennial. It turned out we had been lied to for years by leaders of both political parties. However, in the meantime, as many as two million Vietnamese civilians were killed, as were over 50,000 American servicemen. many others of whom came home with severe PTSD.

So much, so awful, so quickly, just before our Bi-Centennial. People were glad it was all over. It felt to me like everybody was in a “funk”.

Nevertheless, regarding the Bi-centennial, official bi-partisan commissions had survived (that time without Presidential interference) and had worked for ten years planning nationwide celebrations of American values and governmental traditions, (without partisan speeches) and they pulled it off beautifully.

Most successful  – in my opinion as a train lover, but what do I know? – was the Freedom Train, which chuffed from town to town all over the country, carrying 26 cars of displays ranging from George Washington’s copy of the Constitution to Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat to Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz. It helped a lot.

Under the quiet leadership of our new Republican President Gerald Ford, I think the country began to pull back together and have some hope.

However, it took another fifteen years, after the 9/11 attack, for traditional bi-partisan patriotism and flag waving to come back.

Even our friends joined in. Here is French Canadian singer Celine Dion. (That was then…)

Some bemused * British friends of ours – longtime residents in America – remarked to us that if they ever woke up in the morning and wondered what country they were in, they had only to look out the window!

• Brits are patriotic too, but more subtly.

Today American flags wave everywhere, with no political implications except patriotism.

3, From early history:

1) July 4, 1776: from The Declaration of Independence, rooted in the British Magna Carta, a concept which swept the world, now endangered in many places:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

2) December 15, 1791: The First Amendment to the Constitution, part of The Bill of Rights:

3) At the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin, “well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” he gave a trenchant reply that resonates today: “A republic, if you can keep it.” National Affairs, Summer 2026

4) Quotes from George Washington:

June 14, 1783: “The Citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole Lords and Proprietors of a vast Tract of Continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of the World, and abounding with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life, are now by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and Independency; They are, from this period, to be considered as the Actors on a most conspicuous Theatre, which seems to be peculiarly designated by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity; Here, they are not only surrounded with every thing which can contribute to the completion of private and domestic enjoyment, but Heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving a fairer oppertunity for political happiness, than any other Nation has ever been favored with.

“It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free Country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional spheres * ; avoiding in the exercise of the Powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.”

• Executive, Legislative, Judicial

May 28, 1788: “I had always hoped that this land might become a safe & agreeable Asylum to the virtuous & persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong ”

1790:  Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island: “…May the children of the stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.”

5) September 19, 1796: from George Washington’s Farewell Address: “What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking, thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious! Would to God that wise measures may be taken in time to avert the consequences we have but too much reason to apprehend.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.“

6 “A Nation of Immigrants”

Now let’s wade into our chief current national controversy, about which I will not comment. I’ll let others do so.

From the Inscription at the foot of the Statue of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”^[

Emma Lazarus, 1883

So far as I can find, the term “A Nation of Immigrants” originated from the book of that same name, written by Liberal Democratic President John F. Kennedy, published posthumously in 1964. Here are a few quotes.

“Since 1607, when the first English settlers reached the New World, over 42 million people have migrated to the United States.”

“Oscar Handlin has said, ‘Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history.’ In the same sense we cannot really speak of a particular immigrant contribution to America, because All Americans have been immigrants or the descedants of immigrants, even the Indians as mentioned before, migrated to the American continent. We can only speak of people whose roots in America are older or newer.”

“Since the beginning, immigration has been an affirmation of our success, not a threat to it. People risk everything to reach this land because they believe in our greatness—our fair laws, our good values, our promises and possibilities. We should not worry when the striving and suffering arrive on our shores; we should worry when they stop coming at all.”

Referring to restrictive immigration laws at the time: “The famous words of Emma Lazarus on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty read: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

.’ Until 1921 this was an accurate picture of our society. Under present law it would be appropriate to add: ‘as long as they come from Northern Europe, are not too tired or too poor or slightly ill, never stole a loaf of bread, never joined any questionable organization, and can document their activities from the past two years.”

Conservative Republican President Ronald Reagan

July 30, 1981: “Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands. No free and prosperous nation can by itself accommodate all those who seek a better life or flee persecution. We must share this responsibility with other countries.”

“A man wrote [to me and said] ‘you can go to live in another land — you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany, but you can’t become a German. You can go to live in Japan or Turkey, but you cannot become Japanese or Turkish. But anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American.’”

From a 1984 Presidential debate: “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally,”

From his final Address as President: “”Unique among nations, we draw our people—our strength—from every country and every corner of the world,” said Reagan, calling the ability to attract newcomers “one of the most important sources of America’s greatness.” [Immigrants help ensure that the U.S. remains] “a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier… If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.” from The Nation, July 28, 2025

 Conservative Republican President George W. Bush (2001-2009):

“We’re a nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition — which has strengthened our country in so many ways.  We’re also a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws.  America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.  We can uphold our traditions of assimilating immigrants and honoring our heritage as a nation built on the rule of law. But we have a problem.  The laws governing this are broken.”

“I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law, to pay their taxes, to learn English, and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship.”

Note: Congress has passed no immigration reform since 1996.

7. Christian Nationalism

?

Now I’ll put in my two cents again.

Christian Nationalism is the recent movement to restore the United States to its original foundation as a Christian nation.

The only problem: America was not founded as a Christian nation. Read our founding documents. There is no mention of Jesus Christ or Christianity

America was assumed to be a religious country, in a general sense. The Declaration of Independence refers to God only four times: ”Nature’s God”, “Creator”, “Supreme Creator” and “Divine Providence”.

Where did the basic principles of our governmental system come from? Not from any Christian nation that I know of. In fact, many of them later learned democracy from us! American government was patterned chiefly on ancient Greek political thought. Check it out for yourself.

However, most of America’s Founding Fathers were Christians of one sort or another – ranging from the strict Puritanism of New England to the Virginia Anglicanism of George Washington who as President rarely went to church, to the approach of Thomas Jefferson who rewrote the Gospel accounts leaving out all miracles. However, Christianity of whatever sort played a major part in the life of most citizens.

Here is an excellent account of the general religious situation at the time of America’s founding: https://www.jamesmadison.gov/system/files/assets/teach-the-constitution/lessons/01_FoundersFreedomReligion.pdf

The Nineteenth Century Protestant Evangelical revivals and the arrival of many European Roman Catholics caused Christianity to take an even more central part in American life. “In God We Trust” first appeared on American coins in 1864. The words “under God” (”One nation under God”) were added to the Pledge of Allegiance as late as 1954. (I remember when we first learned to say it that new way.) I also remember learning Psalms and Bible verses in public school, and when the County Bible Teacher * would come to our class every week or so to teach Bible stories. And when school let out on Good Friday, and all of us would march down the street to services at the nearest Protestant church. I remember that world with some affection.

• Our county was entirely Protestant, except for one small Roman Catholic Church.

Is this what would be established in America? As much as I love Jesus, this leaves me squirming in my seat.

Almost the End

I was also going to write about how I think the American form of democratic republican government is similar to the way  Eastern Orthodoxy functions. But I’ve already written too much. For now, let’s leave that for you to figure out.

The End

Thank God for America’s brilliant Founding Fathers who – though imperfect – created the first and most stable democracy in the history of the world. Thank God for our freedoms, so that we can complain about our government to our heart’s desire without getting arrested! thus far.  Thank God that He has protected us from the ravages of war on our soil for 160 years now. Thank God for all the people from all nations and of all Faiths who live in harmony here – and also have brought their food with them! authentic Italian, Mexican, Greek, Chinese, Middle Eastern…! Mmmm.

Thank God for this beautiful land, “from sea to shining sea”. We are greatly blessed.

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Next Week:  More adventures with Saint Nektarios

Week after Next: Who knows?  not me.