America Was Not and Is Not a Perfect Nation

America was not a perfect nation when it was founded, and honestly, it is not a perfect nation today. America was founded by imperfect men who were tired of living under the tyranny of other imperfect men, but who had an idea of how things could be better. Much is said today about the racism and sexism of the founders of our nation. Much is made, by some, of the fact that all of the founders were white men. There were no women in the first Congress. There were no people of color in the first Congress. In fairness to the founders, although the concepts and ideas of gender or racial equity were still centuries in the future when they began a new nation. Nowhere in the world were women or other races treated as equals to white men in the political realm. It must be pointed out however, that the founders were men of character, men of faith, who designed our constitution and government in such ways that future generations have found it possible to address discovered wrongs and inequalities in such a way that we now have in America one of the, if not the, freest most equal societies in all of the world. People talk about the USA being a systemically racist country and while it is easy to reject that assertion out of hand another way of countering that claim is to simply ask the question: If America is so racist, so horrible, so bad for immigrants and people of color then why do so many of other races, ethnicities or nationalities want to come here? Another question that could be asked is this: If America is so bad, then why is there not a line of individuals who are demanding to be allowed to leave? The last time I checked, there was no limit on who could leave whenever they wanted. The fact is, though, that as imperfect as our country is, it is still a bastion of freedom and that "shining city on a hill," attracting the world to our shores. We are not perfect in our founding, but our founders did design a nation that has become the envy of the world in so many ways. We are not perfect today, and we should always be willing to question, study, research, and find better ways of being who America is and has been.

Blessings,

Pastor Hal