Hidden in plain sight on our currency is one of our nation’s mottoes. It is from Latin, which most educated people could read in the late 1700’s when it was adopted. It means, simply, “Out of many, one.”
The fact that it is on a one dollar bill may symbolize its being the least common denominator of our existence as a nation. We fought a civil war to preserve its reality, which, again, is being threatened.
This threat to unity comes from those who attempt to change our nation by dividing us up into competing factions. Democrats vs. Republicans, Male vs. Female, Black vs. White, City vs. Country, police vs. victims, etc. Our culture is being sliced and diced, often aided by well meaning people who have been duped by slogans.
Their strategy is to champion a side, blame the other side, and rather than sit down with them, to belittle them, and block them from social media platforms. They ridicule any and all other views, and if you dare question them, you are declared a racist or some such epithet.
These folks either do not grasp the concept of “from the many, one,” or are working against it. The problem is not diversity; that is here by God’s design. The problem begins when one of the “many” self-righteously promotes what has come to be called identity politics.
The foundation of our Constitution is that if one group of “the many” wins while another group loses, we all have lost. Ask yourself why the nations have always wanted to come here. Ask yourself why they aren’t applying for visas to Saudi Arabia or Mongolia or Venezuela.
One of the ideals Jesus spoke of was that He had come to make His people one. And while ours is not a Christian nation, it is founded upon the assumption that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” Acts 17:26
When you see a masked man smash a storefront, or hear an angry woman curse a cop who is keeping the peace, please don’t confuse them with people seeking justice for all. The goal, in a republic, is to correct social ills, grievous as they may be, in ways that protect everyone’s rights, not just the group’s whose name is on the signs.
How should Christians respond? First, don’t be afraid to face and speak the truth. Eventually, truth overcomes, for lies die when exposed to light. Always. And then, like this (Romans 12:20. 21): “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. . . Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
And, perhaps, “Father forgive them. They know not what they do.”
“Father, we ask you to mend our nation’s every flaw. Thank you for ways to do that, and we pray especially for those who feel frightened and unheard. Please help us listen, and we ask for you to heal.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.