I admire Miss Beiming. She has not lost herself in this new land. She still remembers that she is Chinese. More than that, she is willing to explore the roots of other people's success as well as the cause of our own failure as a nation. I am inspired to follow her example and do further research. 

A. The Land  

The land of America is rich and beautiful. This is a great contrast to the barren and yellowish hills of China. I do not know what the land of China was like in ancient times, but I am certain that pictures I see in old Chinese literature and paintings do not match what I see today. Maybe Lyman Abott was right when he pointed out that the main factor that makes a country strong is not her land but her people. 

B. The People

Most of the early immigrants to arrive in America were Pilgrims. Later, the leaders were called "Whole Man" for the way they lived out their faith through their political activities. For them, there were no barriers between science, philosophy, arts and religion. 

a. Thomas Paine 

At the age of 37, Thomas Paine moved to this new continent. His career was to fight for freedom. He proclaimed in his book, The Age of Reason, that he believed in the one and only true God. He anticipated blessings beyond this life and believed men were created equal. The goal of his religion was to bring forth justice, mercy and ultimate blessings for his fellow human beings through faith. In 1776, he published "Common Sense". This 49-page booklet inspired Americans to stand up and fight for their God-given freedom. Many leaders, like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, were inspired by this booklet. Since freedom was given by God, therefore the battle they waged was a sacred endeavor. 

b. Thomas Jefferson 

Thomas Jefferson drafted The Declaration of Independence. The second paragraph says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men." 

c. George Washington 

One day during the battle of Valley Forge, a farmer passed by the soldiers' encampment. He heard someone praying earnestly. Walking closer, he saw George Washington kneeling on the ground praying to God with tears running down his face. The farmer went home and said to his wife, "America will have her freedom!" 

d. Benjamin Franklin 

The Founding Fathers of America demonstrated a faith that brought forth courage and strength in fighting for their freedom. Later, when the new nation was about to be born, there were different opinions and fierce debates arose. Eventually they came to the conclusion that no country could be strong without God's continuous help. At one point during the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin stood and said: "I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more I am convinced of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His consent, is it possible that an empire [great country] can rise without His aid?" He urged the convention participants to have a time of prayer every day before the start of meetings. A new government was subsequently born. 

In summary, America was founded on Christian faith.

The uniqueness of Christianity provided a vast and solid foundation for her democratic system. The original government recognized the facts that Christianity reveals, which are:

1. Men are created equal. All men are created by God in His own image. He has given the blessing of eternity and the privilege of communicating with Him. To receive justice, strength and protection from the Most High is beyond any form of human control, such as powerful individuals, regimes or "ism"s.

2. Men are given free will. God does not force any person to believe in Him. Man has the free will to choose not to believe in Him. If the Creator has given man his freedom from divine will, what man can force others to surrender to mortal will? 

3. Universally, men are born with a sinful nature. In the Bible it says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) James Madison, who did the most important work at the American Constitutional Convention, noted that men are born selfish and lustful for power. If anyone has a monopoly on power, corruption is sure to follow.

 In summary, America is a strong nation because it was built upon the foundation of Christianity.

A. Lost Touch with Heaven 

China has more than five thousand years of history. According to the earliest recorded history, the Chinese were a people who feared God. "The Way is to be faithful to heaven and loyal to the people" This was the prevailing philosophy of the earliest Chinese rulers. In the Chinese Five Classic Books (Wu Jing), one can easily find examples of praise and reverence for God and heaven. Righteous battles were waged against evil rulers in the name of heaven.

Unfortunately, this belief in God and heaven did not last long and was obscure by the time of Confucius. Confucius sighed, "If I can hear the Way in the morning, I am satisfied to die in the evening." From then on, for more than two thousand years, the Chinese were constantly involved in wars. Wars were no longer waged for the purpose of carrying out the righteous will of heaven but to fulfill the selfish ambition of individuals. Consequently, these wars led to a never-ending cycle of oppression and rebellion. Chinese history is filled with these bloody and tragic stories.   

B. The Blindness of Turning Against God

The Chinese are also created equal by God. They too are endowed by God with rights to life and liberty.  Unfortunately, in their ignorance about God and because of a long period of suffering, they have learned to mock the sacred right of freedom and equality. We Chinese pine for love and kindness, but because of our ignorance about the God who created and sustains the world, we find only blood and tears, bitterness and hatred in this sinful world. We seek after knowledge and wisdom, but we lack crucial knowledge concerning the omnipotent Creator. We have pegged our hopes on unreliable people. We are like orphans wandering in the wilderness, relying on each other for survival yet always putting up our guard. Some may recall that the Boxer Rebellion was carried out in the name of God. The name of Jesus was used in their slogan. Yet it was plain to see that none of the leaders or soldiers had any genuine faith. The Communist Revolution was executed in a similar vein. The religion of Communism is atheism, which exalts and worships sinful man. It is blasphemy against God and against faith.

The true meaning of faith has been lost in today's China. Generally speaking, the motivation for the pursuit of democracy in China today is based on a rational examination of its present situation and identification with the western governmental systems. It is neither based on the need of repentance for the soul of the nation, nor is it based on the sacred rights derived from a belief in God. We have obtained knowledge concerning democracy, liberty and human rights, yet we are not sustained by faith in God. We are fighting for a certain kind of justice, yet we do not know, and we even despise, the righteous God who imbues man with the sense of justice. We are powerless to carry out what we desire both for ourselves and towards others. We are not "Whole Men".

Some people regard faith as a private, individual matter which should have no bearing on other things the person is involved in. But from the example of the American Founding Fathers, faith has been shown to be the crucial issue -- the issue which determines the success or failure of one's endeavor. We need God's love and we need His truth. In Him our hearts can be enlarged to accommodate each other, even those with differing opinions or those who harbor bitterness. We will learn to respect every person's God-given dignity and liberty. In Him we know ourselves, our purpose, and receive the assurance that "we shall overcome." Apart from Him, we can only use our limited sinful nature to judge and criticize others' limited and sinful human behaviors.  Without the confidence that "we shall overcome", our endeavors are destined from the beginning to fail. The histories of America and China have born out this fact.  During the Civil War someone said to President Lincoln, "May God be on our side!" President Lincoln responded, "What I care is whether we are on God's side." Reflecting on the two thousand years of China’s history, I conclude that it is not God who has abandoned us; it is we who have turned against God. 

The Chinese people have gone so far away from God that now they have started to turn around to seek God. On the other hand, Americans, who have been richly blessed by God, are turning farther and farther away from Him.

Before 1962, all public school students were required to pray to God each day before school started. They prayed, "Almighty God, we know we need to place our trust in you. Please bless us, our parents, our teachers, and our country." Yet in 1962, the Supreme Court passed a ruling banning prayers and Bible study from the public schools. Teachers were and still are forbidden to tell their pupils that Christmas is the birthday of Jesus. The Ten Commandments are not allowed to be displayed on school walls. All government documents attempt to have no reference to God. The list goes on and on...

What are the consequences of pushing God out of the public schools and out of government? The statistics showed that in the nineties: 

--Teenage pregnancy increased 553%, while suicide became the second highest cause of teenage death.

--Divorce rates increased 117%, and 40% of the children now come from families without a father.

--High school SAT scores dropped 80%, while the crime rate increased 560%.

What God called immoral, they called "the New Morality"; what the Bible taught as "corrupt", they called "adult entertainment"; what God regarded as cheating, they termed "abnormal social phenomenon"; what the Bible condemned as sodomy, they justified as an "alternative lifestyle".

I do not know how long America can continue to hold her beauty if her people continue to drift away from God. I pray that God would forgive our ignorance and the sin of turning against Him. And may His love, like living waters, irrigate the hearts of 1.2 billion Chinese people and bring forth his glory among these lost people. 

*****

Abridged from pg. 22-26, June 1995 issue of the Overseas Campus Magazine  

Mr.Yuan came from Beijing. He is an editor and researcher of Overseas Campus Magazine.