We enslaved an entire race? What race is that, African American's? Today Africa has almost exactly one billion African's living there, while America has less than forty million African (American's) or about four percent (4%). If America enslaved the entire race, how did Africa get so many African's living there?
Did we cut down some trees? I hope so. Can I walk outside almost anywhere in America and enjoy the shade of a tree? I can. Did America rape the land? Give me a break, what does that even mean? Raising images of you humping a gopher hole doesn't advance your argument. And even if you did, what harm to the land? That sort of imagery has no place on this forum anyway. Jesus said we'd move mountains and we have. So what? Polluted "all" the lakes and rivers? I can't think of a lake or river in the country I wouldn't boat, fish or even swim in. I wouldn't go near the Mekong river in Cambodia, they don't have sewage treatment like we do. I assume other third world water is similar.
Raising the environment to some sort of exalted status is well within Satan's agenda. He wants the world to return to its "natural" state too. A world without humans is a shared goal of Satan and the liberal left.
America killed surprisingly few Indians. European diseases killed many more. America always welcomed the Indian. As today, there are certain education and traditions that are expected. Scalping your neighbor for building a fence is still frowned upon. I'm not sure what self-loathing the NEA (National Education Association) is teaching, but our forefathers did an awesome job settling this country, with or without Indian help.
Our forefathers also planted the seeds to eliminate slavery through the Declaration of Independence. Conservative Republican Abraham Lincoln spilled the blood of the nation to see them freed. What other nation could escape the cycle of slavery on their own? Even the great and mighty Egypt couldn't do it. Only the United States of America spreads freedom around the world.
Most of the things you list as evils are good and the things you exalt, Satan also exalts. God said scratch in the Earth in Genesis, so we dig mines, wells and farm. God gave us dominion, so we raise livestock and divert rivers to use every drop. We make more use out of the land with less manpower than anyone could imagine in 1870.
The thing America did have, that we seem to have lost, is the ability to intimidate evil. Gays kept it to themselves. Adulterers are still somewhat embarrassed, but nothing like they were in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I'm no prude, but right is right and wrong is wrong and we need to say so.
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In terms of pollution, you are mistaken. Lake Erie, the Potomac, the Delaware. I have swam in and gotten sick from many rivers and lakes. I am an avid backpacker, hiker, canoeist and outdoorsman. I always attempt to purify my water before drinking it.
What of the Love canal, all the other superfund sites? The Colorado river is now damaging the Gulf of California due to its elevated salinity secondary to the fact that most of the water now supports Phoenix, Las Vegas and southern California. The riparian area south of the Hoover dam is virtually gone. Nearly 100% of the animals which used to live off the water of the Colorado are gone. The lower river is a glorified canal. What about Los Angeles - can anyone breathe the air?
I could go on for hours about how we have damaged our environment. God created it. How is it godly for us to treat our environment so poorly? God created it and called it good. We trash it and say thank you?
As Americans, we are doing much better now than we have in the past. We are still polluting. We are cleaning up a lot of the mess. From what I have heard the fish in Lake Erie will live. The Potomac is no longer flammable. I still would not recommend drinking the water in the Delaware. Swimming, fine.
Is it a sin to pollute? For me it is, for you not so much. Fine. I agree that improving our lifestyle is generally a good thing. I would prefer we did not wipe out entire species of plants and animals in the process.
I believe God does want us to manage the planet in an orderly and respectable fashion. The original people who started the timber industry did not replant. It was only after the trees were running out that the idea to replant was born.
They did better than China, who did not replant. China now has to import their wood.
Concerning Indians. They once owned this land. Now they don't. Most died. While it is true that most died from disease, it is also true that we infected them. And it is known that we infected them on purpose, many times. There have been at least 40 wars and endless smaller conflicts.
The survivors are on reservations. Many are miserable. Many are alcoholics. Many do not graduate from school. Some have a good lifestyle now that they are offering gambling to their white neighbors - kind of a payback if you ask me (I do not have a high opinion of gambling).
Concerning slavery. I agree that our forefathers at least left the opportunity for us to get them freed. That is a win. I was not talking about the world population of Africans, just the vast majority living in the U.S. which our ancestors enslaved. Our ancestors were not in a position to enslave all of Africa.
The people who owned them sinned to a far greater degree than any group of gay supporters walking in some parade someplace, or mouthing off on some talk show. They actually quoted the bible and gave sermons on how slavery was justified by God.
We all know what the bible says about Christians who call themselves leaders and lead their followers astray. How does that compare to some non-Christian supporter of a gay lifestyle speaking his mind? I am not in favor of encouraging non-biblical behavior. But, there is a difference between a non-Christian speaking his or her mind vs. a Christian preaching, believing and acting in a manner which is torturing and killing 4 million people.
I believe the original concept put forward was the idea that righteous behavior on the part of the citizens of a nation will result in economic and political power for that nation.
Do you believe that Americans used to be more righteous than currently? And, do you believe America gained economic and political power due to the righteousness of its citizens?
I do not believe that early Americans were more righteous than us for the reasons mentioned above. Their sins may have been different, but they committed them. Many of their sins were much worse.
We all agree that the U.S. has been an international powerhouse in the past. We all agree that Americans past and present have had many wonderful economic and political opportunities which most people of the world have not been afforded.
I agree further that social pressure would encourage people to hold their tongues, especially concerning lifestyle choices and behaviors which are clearly non-biblical. We should strive to improve our behavior. Every generation of people should keep trying.
Where we disagree is that the behavior of our ancestors had anything to do with our economic and/or political success.
The U.S. came filled with wonderful resources, precious metals, lumber, soil for farming, water, rivers for transportation and later hydroelectric power. What the U.S. lacked was anything in the way of a powerful indigenous population capable of defending their land and resources.
We moved in, conquered them and have been living high on the hog on what was originally their land and resources ever since. It was not our righteous behavior but our capitalistic ambition which got the job done for us. We did not wait for God to bless us, we blessed ourselves.
Righteous behavior does not have an effect on political or economic blessings from God primarily because it is a myth. If ever there was a nation of people who actually did act in a righteous fashion, we could talk.
