Adam Graham
September 10, 2006
Heal our land
By Adam Graham

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. — 2 Chronicles 7:14

This verse has been a favorite standby for years. Yet, it's only recently that I've realized how much America needs it today. The thought of "healing our land" can often be viewed in terms of draughts, diseases, war, or economic suffering at home.

Our nation needs healing in a more profound way. In the course of our political debates, we've become two nations. One secular, humanistic, and hostile to religious faith outside the four walls of the Church. The other is theistic, or at least tolerant of a religious role in public life. One sees the greatest threat to our nation in the Bush Administration and the PATRIOT ACT, while the other sees the greatest threat in terrorists who seek to kill us.

My columns are most often advocating the view of the latter America. One thing haunts me in quiet moments. "A House divided against itself cannot stand." Originally said by Christ and then quoted by Lincoln three years before the Civil War, the words echo in our political debates.

In years past, I've written of the need for common ground, but it hasn't been forthcoming. Indeed, the gap between the two sides of the culture war swells by the day. And those who've stood as moderates are reaching the point when they must choose which side they're on.

I'm not foolish enough to claim that in year's past we all got along. Indeed, politics has been a contentious business, but never before in our nation's history has the divide been so vast, so bitter, and so intractable.

Those who care about this divide often propose compromises, but when it comes to great cultural struggles, compromises are band aids that solve nothing, because the underlying problem still remains. A compromise over abortion or gay marriage would as little solve our cultural war as the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 solved the issue of slavery.

Indeed, I would say there is no human effort that will long keep our nation safe from civil strife. From the harsh words posted on the Internet today, we will see even harsher deeds in years to come. We will fondly remember the days when physical assaults in politics were newsworthy. Dark clouds hover on the horizon, which have afflicted other lands. I see no aid in human wisdom, no hope in politicians who, election after election, promise to bring us together.

Five years ago, for a few days in the Autumn of 2001, we stood together, united by the most basic of instincts — survival and grief. Yet, it couldn't last. We require far more to survive as a nation than short-term trauma or shared geography. We need to become a people once again.

But how does that happen? I see no way to resolve the differences. Certainly, there are ways to win the Culture War, but the bad thing about winning is you're stuck living with the losers.

This has brought my mind back to 2. Chronicles 7:14. It is here we can find hope. Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention said, "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel:"

At this time in our country's history, my greatest prayer has become that God would turn and heal our divided land and make us one nation once again.

© Adam Graham

 

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Adam Graham

Adam Graham was Montana State Coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign in 2000, and in 2004 was a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Idaho State House... (more)

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