The Great Divide in Our Nation

The Great Divide in Our Nation

By: Flip Benham

Many of the media pundits are pointing to those things that divide us as a nation. They lament that these divisions will make it difficult indeed to govern these once "United" States. They deliberately forget, however, that these differences have always existed in our nation. What united America in the face of so many different ethnic, geographic, economic, racial, and gender backgrounds was the common belief in God and the Bible. From our pilgrim forefathers to this day there was a unifying principle that broke down all the walls of prejudice between gender, ethnicity, race, and geography. This unifying principle enabled a very diverse people to establish a nation that became a beacon of liberty for the entire world. It was a nation that truly believed that all men were created equal because all men have a common creator.

The Great Seal of the United States appears on every dollar bill. On that seal appear the words E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). Many are our differences but we are united in our hearts under God. We shall remain one, only as we remain under God. It is He who unites us. It was the common belief in this truth that made America strong, great, and good.

Our nation is not divided over geography, gender, race, or ethnicity. Though the most recent exit polls of our presidential election clearly indicate that these differences do exist, they are not what divide us. Let's start with geography. The Democratic states are grouped in mainly three clusters: the Northeast, the upper Middle West, and the Pacific Coast. The rest is Republican territory. Geography, however, is not what divides us.

Then there is race. Six in ten Latinos voted Democratic nationwide, and so did nine out of ten blacks. Whites favored Mr. Bush by 12 points. Race, however, is not what divides us.

Gender differences do exist. Men voted Republican by 11 points, while women voted Democrat by 11 points. That comes to a 22 - point gender gap. Gender, however, is not what divides us.

Ethnic differences are obvious. Four out of five Jews backed Mr. Gore while voters who attended religious services more than once a week favored Mr. Bush. Ethnicity, however, is not what divides us.

What divides us cannot be seen, yet it cuts through the heart of every man, woman, and child in our nation. It manifests itself most clearly in the war that has been going on since creation in Genesis 3:15. It is the war over two worldviews. It is the war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. This division hinges over the question, "Who is Lord and whose laws reign?" For those who claim Christ and stand absolutely upon God's Word, the battle lines have been drawn. For those who claim any other god (including nominal Christians) or no god at all, the battle lines have been drawn. It is Jesus verses all the rest. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We, in America have become a house divided.

Those in our country chanting the mantra "the will of the people" are really parroting the lie of the serpent, "…you will be like God…" Genesis 3:5. This worldview is a visible manifestation of the seed of the serpent, governed by no law other than itself. It brings with it lawlessness - everyone does what is right in his own eyes. This worldview has no standard. On the other hand, those in our country speaking for "the rule of Law" give credence to the One who established Law. This worldview is a visible manifestation of the seed of the woman, governed by the Law of God. It brings with it both order and unity, where people choose to love their neighbor as themselves. This worldview has an absolute and unchanging standard - the Word of God!

John Adams, the second President of the United States of America, made it abundantly clear that our form of government would not stand if it ever abandoned the unifying principle of God and His Word. We are witnessing the prescient truth of his words in these days: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion … Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." As we have moved from the moral and unifying principles of God and His Word we have found our Constitutional Republic less and less able to govern an unruly people.

George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." We hold this truth to be self -evident in our day of moral anarchy.