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As I have traveled abroad, I have had to endure all sorts of snide remarks about the United States. I have seen graffiti depicting the American flag with bombs in place of stripes and skulls in place of stars. I have seen disfigured pictures of our president. I have seen the remains of a torched American flag. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw as I stood with my luggage in hand outside the Laleh International Hotel in Tehran, Iran. Lying on the ground at the main entrance of the hotel is a giant American flag, which serves as the doormat of the hotel lobby. In order to enter the hotel, guests must walk across the American flag as a sign of disrespect. As a citizen of the United States of America and the son of a veteran of the Second World War, I have never had to endure anything more insulting to my nation.
Although America is certainly not without its faults, we the people of the United States of America remain committed to that for which our founding fathers were willing to die — the unalienable right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In most countries throughout the world, our flag still represents these rights, and countless nations have followed suit in adopting similar constitutional declarations. However, as I consider the present socio-political landscape of our nation I have found myself asking this question: Do we as a people still hold these truths to be self-evident?
As citizens of America, we are still free to proclaim the name of Christ just as long as we don’t proclaim it too loudly, too publicly, or too boldly. However, as Christians, we are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of heaven and ambassadors of Jesus Christ. As such, we are commanded to proclaim the name of Christ as we defend not only our own unalienable rights but the God-given rights of every man, woman, and child, born or not yet born, to the end that we as God’s chosen people from every tribe and tongue might be one nation, under God, glorifying and enjoying the Creator and Sustainer of life, liberty, and true happiness, coram Deo, before His face forevermore.