God's Country?

[adriftconscious]

I was returning some movies last night and was listening to the radio on my way into Grimes. Michael Medved was on the radio and he was giving a rather interesting dramatization of the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. I was actually very pleased with his portrayal because it didn't leave anything out and really told some of the more unknown stories. However, at the end, he said something that slightly unsettled me.

He made the claim that it was folly to suggest that Providence had not had a role in the creation of this country and that to suggest that divine intervention had no role in shaping its beginnings was blind. Personally, I don't belive that we or any other country are "God's Country" and to suggest so I think limits God. But that's just me.

Anyone else catch this? Any other thoughts?

[Josh]

As much as I hate to admit it-- and trust me, this is the ONLY time you'll ever hear me say this-- I actually think Medved may have been right.

I didn't hear the program in question, but, based on your summary, I don't think Medved was trying to suggest that America is "God's country." It sounds to me like he was instead saying that God's sovereign hand played has been guiding this country since the beginning, and that the founding of this country was very much a vital part of His plan.

I'm also not sure I see where you're coming from when you say that claiming this to be God's country is to limit God. After all, didn't God kinda have His own country during Old Testament times-- or at least His own people?

[Vlad!]

[phaith]

If God has a 'plan' then He is not only guiding the west, He is guiding every country...if He doesn't have a plan then all are exempt. To say or think that He is more involved in one country than in another would be extremely ridiculous! Just because we may not see it, doesn't mean that it's not happening.  

[MJanke]

I agree w/ Josh and Vlad.

This:
He made the claim that it was folly to suggest that Providence had not had a role in the creation of this country and that to suggest that divine intervention had no role in shaping its beginnings was blind.

does not equal this:
Personally, I don't belive that we or any other country are "God's Country" and to suggest so I think limits God...

As a student of history I think it is extremely clear that God, or providence if you will, had a strong hand to play in the formation of our nation. Even non-Christian secular historians can and do point out the many places in the formative years of our country where the fate of our nation hung in the balance and things always ended up tipping in the right way (see, for instance, David McCullough's new 1776, or Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton).

We may not be "God's Country," but the establishment of our nation was very much by his plan and design. It is not unfair or biased or racist to believe that, either - God shows favor to whom he decides to show favor and, at that point in our history, we as a nation were much more inclined to fear him than we are today.

[adriftconscious]

I'm also not sure I see where you're coming from when you say that claiming this to be God's country is to limit God. After all, didn't God kinda have His own country during Old Testament times-- or at least His own people?

Yes, he had a people. Not a nation as we define it now with borders. God works without borders, so why do we make ourselves seem like God's bastion? That's what I mean by limiting, because as I see it Christians are God's people and nation, not one plot of land with arbitrarily drawn lines defining it.

Michael, I do also see the error in my connection, thank you for correecting me.