That simple statement, “we the people,” was an answer to the 100 questions we had to study for a recent naturalization test. Following our Swearing-In Ceremony a few days ago, my wife and I can now be called “American Yankees”.
For my family it has been a long journey which began in 1991 when we migrated to America. My wife and the three children accompanied me as I pursued graduate and post-graduate studies in the Midwest. From Foreign Students to Citizens should be an interesting read of God’s faithfulness to a family that dared to trust Him.
In those 23 years, my wife also earned an advanced degree and our three children completed college. Last Sunday we were honored to witness the baptism of two of our six grandchildren. They now represent the fourth generation of Corbins coming to faith in Jesus Christ. For this we praise the Lord!
However, becoming citizens is much more than a privilege – it is a responsibility. The civics lessons learned in preparing for naturalization have helped to reinforce the solemn trust enshrined in being a citizen of a country. As American citizens we now recognize that we can be called-up any minute to serve as jurors in a court of law. In addition, we have the right to vote in a federal election.
Our acquired home, America, is “a popular sovereign” state. The people elect representatives to make laws. With the words “we the people,” the Constitution states that the people set up the government. The government works for the people and protects the rights of the people. In America, the power to govern comes from the people, who are the highest power. Sometimes one wonders if some of our current narcissistic federal and local representatives should not be mandated to pursue ongoing education classes in American Civics.
Just last week I was reminded that even the study of Civics in America is under attack. Hundreds of students walked out of classrooms around suburban Denver in protest over a conservative-led school board proposal to focus history education on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority.
The youth protest in the state's second-largest school district followed a sick-out from teachers that shut down two high schools. Many students waved American flags and carried signs, including messages that read "There is nothing more patriotic than protest."
The school board proposal that triggered the walkouts in Jefferson County calls for instructional materials that present positive aspects of America and its heritage. It would establish a committee to make sure materials "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights" and don't "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strike or disregard of the law."
When interviewed, a student demonstrator, a senior at Arvada High School, said that the nation's foundation was built on civil protests, "and everything that we've done is what allowed us to be at this point today. And if you take that from us, you take away everything that America was built off of."
This is not what I learned in civics about America – “the nation’s foundation was built on civil protests?” Agreed, America has had its share of internal and foreign wars. However, can the results of those wars be considered to be foundations upon which the nation was built?
The protests among high school teachers and students in Colorado is a microcosm of what is happening across the nation – an infiltration of ideological bias in interpreting history. At times some Christians are guilty of that bias when they interpret American history to suggest that the Puritans came to America to establish only Christian communities.
A few months ago we were subjected to another ideological interpretation of history. President Obama was addressing a group of Muslims at an Eid-al-Fitr celebration. There he thanked the Muslims “for their many achievements and contributions...to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy.”
As a fledgling citizen, could someone please help me? Where in America’s history can one find the “many achievements...to building the fabric of our nation” from the Muslim community? As a melting pot of religious communities, America has become the most religiously diverse country in the world. However, as religious communities come to this country, they often adjust their religious practices to comply with American life and culture. Generally speaking, that cannot be said of many Muslim communities.
As a Christian and a new citizen, my civic mandate is greatly influenced by Jeremiah’s words to the Jewish exiles in Babylon: “... seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29: 7).
9 comments:
I was following your reflection until I got to your last three paragraphs at which point you lost me entirely. As far I I can remember in my study of American history, about a third of the slaves who came to colonial America practiced Islam, which practice was subsequently suppressed on the plantations.
This blog opens a needed forum for Christians (with different political biases/leanings), to be very sure and clear when discussing “American” History, Politics and Christianity.
Could it be that all interpretations of history are of necessity subjective? After all, the way we understand the realities unfolding around us will be conditioned, or at least affected, by how those things impact us. Take for instance Jamaica in the 1970s. Should we understand the contribution of Michael Manley as that of a megalomaniac who sowed the seeds of destruction that are now in full bloom, offering only over-ripened and rotten fruit for our consumption? Or should we view him as a hero of the poor, offering them hope that they would not have without his social legislation and free education? Each day I hear people sing his praises as others heap insults upon his memory. Which view is more accurate?
Frankly, I am very nervous about several points, not to mention the whole direction, of this article, not the least of which is the use of Jeremiah 29:7. To begin with, this is one of the most misused verses in recent times among those who are advocating the idea of so-called "social justice" in America. Here, the author seems to suggest that the implication of the verse is that those who come to America with their religion must adjust their religion to suit the new landscape--"americanize" their religion?" More importantly, imaging what the converse of this implication would be. What if the author were to move to a Muslim country, whether for long or short term--would he agree to adjust his Christianity to suite the climate of his new Muslim environment--so seeking the peace of the city? Finally, one must wonder then whether this use of Jeremiah 29:7 is not an excuse to live a comfortable life in America today. One thing for sure, the Jews remained as distinct a people in Babylon as they were in Israel, if not more so--they would hardly have budged on giving up their religion. Sure enough they made adjustments to compensate for their lack of not having a temple, their own land, etc. But whatever adjustments they made, they were never meant to accommodate their to the Babylonian landscape. My hope here is that we would not misuse the Scriptures to justify our already self-determined points of view.
I came to this country from the UK in the early 1980's. I was unchurched until a work associate invited me to a Baptist Church around 1985. I accepted the Lord and while there have been many challenges to overcome I have tried to live by faith. What worries me is the radicalization in Western Europe by Muslims, some of which are well past moderate in their views. I see this happening slowly but surely in the US as we "embrace all cultures".
Muslims came both by choice and by force before the American Founding. Islam was introduced into America during the early 1600s with the entrance of slavery.
However, a small proportion, only 10% of slaves in America were Muslim. Many of them became free and lived in America but retained their Islamic faith. They even established early Muslim communities in various states and publishing the first Koran in America by 1806.
However, during the Founding Era, like today, America was involved in a war on terror against Islamic terrorists. That war, called the Barbary Powers War, lasted thirty-two years, involved six years of active overseas warfare against Muslim terrorists, and spanned four U. S. presidencies: those of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
Hope I'm not too late to join this conversation!
David, as
Dave as a half sister from India now living in the US via Canada I must take exception to yr references to Muslims. They r not all terrorists and have surely contributed in mega ways down thru the yrs. certainly a head of state must show equal courtesy to all races so we must allow our Predident to do so! In fact we shd expect it. Secondly I grew up w Muslims, shared a dorm, as u see I was not mu
I do not normally respond to Anonymous letters, however, I must ask that you reread the article, especially the last four paragraphs. I was responding specifically to the claim of Muslims making "many achievements and contributions...to building the very fabric or our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy." As a new citizen, I was asking for evidence of the claim in America. This article does not accuse Muslims of terrorism. This article is not disputing that Muslims have made contributions, consistent with the claim, in other countries. This article does not concern how long Muslims have lived in America. I still await information ratifying the claim made by the President.
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