Making America truly great

Dear Editor:

Donald Trump and those who follow him represent a certain group in America that is trying desperately to hold onto a perceived sense of ownership and make “white supremacy” great again…not America.

They are rooted and grounded in ignorance, fear and hate. When they say “make America great again,” whose America are they referring to? They are the ones who are un-American and are dividing this country. America is for all people regardless of race, creed, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

In the Bible, God told Abraham…”I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This was, however, contingent upon Abraham’s faith and obedience to God, which was to move out from his old country and old ideas into a new country with new ideas and commitment to God.

So if America is to become great we must first have an open dialogue with one another. Fear and hate are tearing apart this country. God is exposing America. Judgment has reached the shores of this nation and will shake it to its core. But as God shakes this nation, a new nation can rise from its ashes—one nation under God.

There is a very volatile climate in America. There is more indication of two Americas than ever before and it looks very black and white. The covert and overt powers that want a race war are rising. Folks are arming themselves like never before and protesting in the streets.

But I see a third gray America emerging from the fiery flames, an army of righteousness people following the love of unity and light. Armed with love and empathetic understanding, empowered by a deep Christ consciousness whose weapons are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

I see a diverse army marching arm in arm down the paths of righteousness, protecting one another with love, prayer and action. Knowing by faith that what Satan meant for evil, God is turning it around for good to raise us up to combat hate and injustice together. Win we must, and win we will because with love and prayer we have already won.

I believe that there are two different and distinct areas that must not overlap but must be addressed and remain mutually exclusive in our unifying efforts.

One is fear with hate. It’s real and it exists. There are covert and overt mindsets and activities based on ignorance, hate and a delusional sense of racial privilege and ownership in America. This must be met with peaceful and direct protests and a peaceful revolution from all righteous people from all races and backgrounds targeted towards changing racist laws and policies and aimed at making those individuals or corporately systemic perpetrators accountable. We are seeing the genesis of this critical effort with righteous activism throughout this nation.

Then there is the much-needed conversation that black folks need to have with other black folks about self-love and how we treat each other. How we kill each other. We need to address both separately…and not blame one on the other.

But where is God in all of this? Despite its alleged foundational Christian heritage, America is rapidly degenerating into a godless society. The church in America, although highly visible and active, appears powerless to redirect the rushing hateful currents.

Mired in a moral and spiritual crisis, America’s only hope is a national revival like God has graciously bestowed in the past. It might not happen in the church as we now know it because the church herself has added to the great racial divide.

Hate and bigotry still exist in our world. You cannot make people change their views but you can send a message saying, “it will not be tolerated in our house.” Lately, America has taken giant steps forward in living out the true meaning of its creed that all people are created equal by God. There is a unifying movement, which involves all Americans, that is sweeping across this nation towards making America truly great. Watch for it; it’s making its way to a city near you.

Dr. G. Gregg Murray

Pastor, Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church