Should I fight to save America? Well, that is a loaded question.
I love America. I am patriotic to the core. I am fully aware of how blessed I am to be born an American. But, I also realize, that America is run by people. And, America is only as good and as moral as its citizens and leaders.
I made a decision a while back that all my fighting should be done for the kingdom of God; for righteousness; for the church; and for Jesus Christ. But, all around me, I hear members of the church and non-members talk of fighting for America, fighting the political fight, for political party, for and against the American Government. Some cry for civil war in order to take back our freedoms and restore our constitution.
I’m sorry, but we have drifted too far to return without a change of core morality. A fight or a war alone will not restore America to its original greatness. It will not restore the blessings of God. The only thing that could restore her is a great awakening where all men turned to God. And the hearts of men deal justly one with another. But, the love of sin is too deeply woven into our society.
All of this was prophecies of long ago. Compare these words with the conditions in which we live today: Moroni, prophesying of the last days.
MORONI 8:35-41
35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.
36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?
39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
40 Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.
Mormon 8 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
AMERICA IS A PROMISED LAND
I for one believe that the founding of America was inspired. I believe the colonization, constitution, and government were brought forth by the hand of God for His purposes in these latter days.
The Book of Mormon prophecies of the founding of America, prophecies of the destruction of America.
- This land was given to Adam and Eve (D&C107; 53-56; D&C 116:1; D&C 117:7-9)
- It was separated after the flood (Genesis 10:25; Ether 13:2)
- The Jaredites were led to this Promised Land (Ether 2:8-9)
- The Jaredites were destroyed (Ether 13:20-21)
- The Nephites and Lamanites were given this Promised Land (descendants of Joseph) (1 Nephi 18:21-22)
- The Nephites were destroyed (Helaman 13:9-10; Mormon 6)
- The Lamanites were scattered (Mormoni 5:15,20)
- The Gentiles were given this Promised Land (1 Nephi 13:14-15)
- The Gentiles will be destroyed [we are here] (3 Nephi 16:15; 3 Nephi 20:16; 3 Nephi 21:12, 14)
- This land will be given back to the Lamanites [descendants of Joseph] (Helaman 15:16)
This is a sacred land to God. Only those who have been led to this land will occupy it. But also, God expects all men in this land to worship him. If they do not, they will be swept off the land.
2 NEPHI 10:19
19 Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/10?lang=eng#p19
ETHER 2:8-10
8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.
9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/ether/2?lang=eng#study_summary1
The movement of the children of God is actually quite a beautiful thing. The earth is the Lord’s vineyard. America is a choice spot of land. Like the olive tree, God has used this land to graft his children into different parts of the vineyard giving them the opportunity to grow and produce good fruit. [Jacob 5]
Through earthly eyes and an earthly perspective, it can look bad and be labeled things like colonialism, nation-building, slavery, and genocide. Through other eyes, it could also look like refugees, migrants, or immigration. If you consider that the Hand of God has moved people back and forth throughout time. God causes kingdoms to rise and fall. God will also move people from one nation to another for his purposes. The purposes of God will be done. That includes your blessing or utter destruction. Most often, just as the scriptures above detail, destruction follows turning your heart from God
A very good example of this today is the state of Israel. The land known as Israel has changed hands multiple times throughout history as Israel conquered and Israel was conquered. These changes in occupation reflected their faithfulness in keeping the laws of God. What we are witnessing play out today is part of this final act of restoring Israel to its promised land.
SHOULD I FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA?
There are two different types of fighting I will address.
- Moral Fight – Preaching of faith, repentance, and baptism
- Physical Fight – Take up arms and fight to save the Constitution. (Like a Musketeer would save the King)
To start, a physical fight makes no sense to me. The righteous are fast becoming the enemy of the state. The government more and more sees the white, Christian, male as its greatest threat. He is a threat to the religion of modern secularism. This causes me to ask, should I rise and shed the blood of another Child of God to save a corrupt political system or a political party? No.
The fight that makes sense to me, is the moral fight. I desire to be a part of God’s Royal Army fighting to bring souls unto Christ, opening their eyes, and preaching repentance and baptism. This is what makes all the sense in the world to me. The Jews hoped for a political Savior. A warrior or general who would rise and destroy the Romans and release them from captivity. However, that was not the type of Savior that was to come. He came to save men from the shackles of sin. He came to make an offering of himself and offset the scales of Justice that would bind all men for eternity because they have all sinned and none are worthy to return to God without the mercy and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Back some time ago, I thought I would get involved in politics. At some point in that journey, I thought I would become as knowledgeable as possible about the Republican political platform. I started with the local political party. I was blown away because it seemed to align with everything I valued. Then I compared the local platform to that of the state republican party platform and I discovered it was quite a bit different. A few big issues were not present, others were designed to be less detailed and more broad in their definitions. As a whole, everything felt watered down. Then when I compared Utah State’s Republican platform to the national platform. There were even fewer core issues and even more broad positions. I came to the realization that the national party does not have the same values as me. I do not align with the Republican Party. I also realized that supporting them was supporting their values, not mine.
More and more I see evidence of Secret Combinations within the US Government and our society. There are more and more evidence of Secret Combinations seeing power and influence over the American people.
2 NEPHI 9:9
9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
2 Nephi 9 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
27 And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.
Mormon 8 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
ETHER 10:33
33 And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom.
Ether 10 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
ETHER 11:22
22 And they did reject all the words of the prophets, because of their secret society and wicked abominations.
Ether 11 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
FIGHT FOR GOD
I would rather speak God’s word than shed the blood of another Child of God for the cause of “Politics.”
I guess this can be summed up this way. If it aligns with God I will stand and support it, I will fight for it. If it aligns with politics and has the impression of aligning with secret combinations, I will not.
I love her to death. But, fighting in the name of politics to save a political party that has no interest in serving God is not a winning fight. Standing and fighting for the truth of God as an American does. But, I do feel that fighting will be more effective with words rather than bullets.