It could be argued that America's greatness stems from the fact it puts its individual citizens first. It could also be argued that is America's greatest flaw.
Putting the individual first has created a 'me-first' culture that continues to degenerate to the degree that America's greatest enemies are those of its own household.
That isn't to say that it is wrong to put the needs of the individual ahead of the needs of the state.
What IS wrong is that certain individuals have come to believe that they are more important than the state, to the degree they have forgotten the 'state' is made up of hundreds of millions of individuals. It hasn't always been this way.
While America always puts its citizens first, in times past, Americans were taught that the only appropriate response was to put the good of the country ahead of self.
Americans used to be educated as to their civic responsibilities. We were taught that our individual rights were only as important as the individual rights of our neighbors, and that, in the protection of those rights, some individuals must sacrifice all their rights, including the right to life, in order to preserve those rights for future generations.
It sounds complicated, but it isn't, really. Every generation of Americans in history understood that dichotomy, from the War of Independence all the way through to the invasion of Iraq.
When the rights of all citizens are threatened, some must fight and die so that all the rest can live free. But in this generation, that kind of patriotism sounds almost corny.
Especially among those to whom America has been the most generous.
It is hard to imagine a better job than being a movie star. Unless you actually listen to the movie stars complain. Usually, they begin by lamenting their loss of privacy, as if it had been stolen from them, instead of sold by them for incredible sums of money.
They feel their views aren't adequately represented by our elected officials, and use their high-profile status to advance their own political agendas.
And, heaven forbid, should the general public voice disagreement with them, they pull a Tim Robbins and call a national press conference to complain their right to free speech has been violated.
Because in 'my-country-tis-of-me' America, free speech is what THEY have. If you don't agree, then they are victims of a 'backlash'.
Most corporate CEO's spend a lifetime competing for the key to the executive washroom, to claim salaries and percs that football players and movie stars like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon commanded in their mid-20's.
We could run down the list of those most pampered by America, and, not coincidentally find most of those same names on the 'my-country-tis-of-thee' list as well.
Michael Moore has made a career worth literally hundreds of millions of dollars out of trying to destroy the system that made a Michael Moore possible in the first place.
(If the America that Michael Moore portrays in his films actually existed, Michael Moore would be living out his life in a gulag instead of a multi-million dollar mansion.)
While we're talking dream jobs, is there anything that beats drawing a seven (and sometimes eight) figure salary for playing a GAME? Professional athletes come second only to movie stars in terms of wages per hour.
When Pat Tilman walked away from one of those dream jobs, giving up a seven-figure football career to join the Army Rangers, he was widely ridiculed by the my-country-tis-of-me crowd.
When Tilman was killed in action, his heroism was denied him by the controversy stirred up over the manner of his death. His death in a friendly-fire incident gave rise to ridiculing the war effort, our warriors, and ultimately tarnished the Silver Star he was awarded posthumously.
In World War Two, 638 NFL players took up arms to defend their country, and 19 paid the same price as Pat Tilman. How many other highly-paid sports professionals have given up the playing field to defend their country?
Most of Hollywood's elite served, many in harm's way, earning distinguished records. (Jimmy Stewart flew 20 combat missions and retired a general.)
Today's Hollywood elite distinguished themselves by calling the Commander in Chief a 'warmonger' and publicly urging the US to cede sovereignty over national defense to the United Nations and to surrender to the demands of our enemies.
As the Oil-For-Food investigation continues, it appears former president Jimmy Carter is up to his neck in dirty deals with pre-war Saddam Hussein.
But since it is the standard operating procedure of the 'my-country-tis-of-me' element of American society, it is instead being investigated as a 'potential conflict of interest'.
Conflict of WHOSE interest? America's. In time of war, that is treason by any conceivable definition.
Seymour Hersch published an expose of secret American military operations in the New Yorker Magazine that said the following:
"The Administration has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran ... Much of the focus is on accumulation of intelligence and targeting information on Iranian nuclear, chemical and missile sites."
"(The) American commando task force has been set up in South Asia and is now working closely with a group of Pakistani scientists and technicians who had dealt with Iranian counterparts"
"The American task force has been penetrating eastern Iran from Afghanistan in a hunt for underground installations ... The task force members, or their locally recruited agents, secreted remote detection devices. . ."
Ummm, according to Hersch, this is real-time intelligence information that is telling the whole world (including Iran) that American commandos are currently behind enemy lines conducting dangerous but vital military operations.
This is not merely treasonous conduct, it qualifies as espionage under the Espionage Act, which provides that;
Subsection (a) of that statute prohibits anyone "with ... reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, communicates ... to any representative, officer, agent, employee, subject or citizen thereof, either directly or indirectly, any information relating to the national defense, shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for any term of years or for life."
The Apostle Paul wrote, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." (2nd Timothy 3:1)
Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. The Apostles were appointed to preach to certain specific groups. Peter and James addressed their messages to messianic Jews, so they taught from the perspective of those steeped in Jewish thought.
A reading of the Olivet Discourse establishes that, when Jesus was teaching of the last days, it was from the perspective of His listeners, who were, at that time, seated upon the Mount of Olives.
Jesus taught from the perspective what would happen to Israel during the Tribulation, with the pre-Trib events relevant to the Church serving as background information, rather than the main focus.
Paul, although himself a Pharisee, was appointed to preach to the Gentiles, so he taught from the perspective of his listeners, who represented the Gentiles of the western world. Are you with me so far?
Western Christianity is, of course, represented throughout the world, but, the country most associated with being a Christian nation is the United States.
There are Christians in every country, as I said, but the United States is the only country on earth, apart from Israel, that was founded on the Judeo-Christian principle of basic human rights being granted by God.
With that in mind, it isn't a stretch to suggest that the society Paul describes as slipping into 'perilous times' in the last days would be the one most closely identified with Christianity.
Especially given that, in this generation, it is also the most powerful and influential nation on earth. As America goes, so goes the rest of the world, whether they like it or not. (If you doubt it, witness the growing international worry about the stability of the US dollar).
Paul goes on to describe a once-great society as it degenerates into a 'my-country-tis-of-me' worldview:
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2nd Timothy 3:2-5)
No matter how many times I read these verses, it still takes my breath away when I read them in the context of today's headlines.
It's been a while since we looked with any detail at Paul's description of social morals in the last days. "Lovers of their own selves" -- where to begin?
I guess we can start by looking at all the rich, high-profile Hollywood stars defending their country in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hmmm. "Covetous" -- maybe that is why Pat Tilman was ridiculed for serving, while his heroism was denied him at his death?
Proud? No doubt. Blasphemers? Michael Newdow got all the way to the Supreme Court with his lawsuits against God.
Incontinent? [lacking self-restraint]. That defines American society in this generation. The two richest industries in America are the porn industry and the drug trade.
Despisers of those that are good? Traitors? Highminded? Michael Moore, Jimmy Carter, Seymour Hersch -- all celebrated precisely FOR conduct that in previous generations would have earned them long prison sentences.
Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God? 87% of Americans define themselves as 'Christian' -- less than 20% have been to church in the past year.
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" -- I give you the 'new' Democratic Party, now scrambling to find a form of godliness that will allow them to keep abortion, gay rights and secular humanism in the party platform.
That we are living in the last days is beyond doubt. We continue to Bible prophecies for the Tribulation Period cast shadows into the Church Age, and those shadows are growing longer as the Church Age winds to a close.
The Bible offers no role for any nation remotely resembling the United States during the Tribulation Period.
Daniel and the Book of Revelation divide the world into four spheres of power; revived Rome, the Kings of the South, the Kings of the East and the Gog-Magog confederacy, all of whom join in a conflict against a literal state of Israel.
But there is no fifth, overarching, virtually all-powerful United States of America.
Paul describes American society in the last days, in the context of perilous times to come, but the Bible is silent on American military power or its application during the Tribulation Period.
Paul appears to provide the answer the question, 'where is America in Bible prophecy?' in his letter to the Church at Thessalonica.
"For this we say unto you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:15-17)
After the Rapture, all that will be left is the 'my-country-tis-of-me' crowd -- the Michael Moore, Tim Robbins, Seymour Hersch and Jimmy Carter 'patriots' of the last days.
Where is America during the Tribulation?
Busy sending congratulatory telegrams to Europe's new leader for finally negotiating a seven-year peace deal between Israel and her enemies and proclaiming:
"Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation 13:4)
Jack Kinsella
TheOmegaLetter.com