To the editor,

Our nation just celebrated its 250^th birthday, and there is little doubt that we have much for which to be thankful. I am the first generation born in the United States on one side of my family and the second generation born here on the other. My mother’s adopted family can trace its lineage back to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As such, I was raised with deep appreciation and love for our homeland and for the opportunities it affords its citizens. As such, I dedicated 32 years of my life in its service. America is not perfect, but it is the best nation to ever grace the pages of human history. Today, there is no freer country in the world, and our Founding Fathers knew even then that God’s Providence would have everything to do with it. 

That said, I cannot help but notice there is a darkness, a cultural rot, that is finding its way into nearly every aspect of our society whether political, social, economic, academic and even religious. Although this trend began approximately 60 years ago, it has gained momentum over the last two decades as more and more Americans decide, to their own detriment, that God is irrelevant. Sadly, we have been conned into believing that God should be reduced to an hour of our time each week – and that this is where our religious obligations end. In short, God has no place outside the walls of church or home. This could not be further from the truth.  Because we have allowed God to be removed from the public space, it is my belief that our country is slowly being handed over to its enemies; both internal and external, temporal and spiritual. 

Without a transcendent, spiritual moral authority that is above the nation, the unalienable rights stated in the Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the Constitution can be taken away by people in power who are inherently amoral, selfish, greedy, violent, and hateful. Without reference to God’s law, man’s written law loses its meaning, and the government becomes unaccountable to the people. Power and political violence themselves become gods. This end state is foreshadowed by the current behavior of those who desire unchecked political power in order to remake or “reimagine” our entire system of governance. We are being divided and risk losing our national identity.

Right now, we are at a critical moment to reevaluate our lives and safeguard our souls (and country) for what lies ahead. To start, our faith in God must be renewed and then lived out in a very public way: “…the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).

Stay tuned…

Joe Guagenti

Ellsworth