An American myself, I've just spent a two week sabbatical in the USA. Here are a few of my snap-shot reflections on a wonderful larger-than-life country.
Amazing Scenery
Everything in America is BIG. Foot long cookies at Subway, one litre drinks at McDonalds, vast tracts of flat open space and ginormous canyons. We spent a few days in the canyon lands and were blown away not merely by the size and beauty of those places, but more by the glory of the Creator that they display.
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| One viewpoint for the Grand Canyon |
We visited two unusual museums in Kentucky. One was called "Ark Encounter" - a life-size enormous reconstruction of Noah's Ark (yes we believe the ark and flood were real historical events). And then the Creation Museum, a short drive away.
American Christians do nothing in half measures and both museums are spectacular and well worth visiting.
We might not share every single view of these good museum folks, but their passion for the truth of God's Word is both notable and praiseworthy.
Giant Christian Bookshops
Our good Michigan friends, Dan and Priscilla Lohrmann, took us to Grand Rapids to visit the large bookshops that Grand Rapids is famous for. (This is not the first time I have visited GR as a book lover.) This time we focused on a relatively new publishing powerhouse, RHB (Reformation Heritage Books), which has grown tremendously over the last few years.
Lo
and behold, the man who runs the press came from the UK and we had a
happy time sharing stories and memories of churches and Christians
known to both of us.
A Home-Schooling Reflection
I cannot say how characteristic this trend is of the whole USA but many Christian parents home-school. They are weary of the liberal agenda preached as unquestioned dogma; they are worried about their kids being paganised, so they have taken to teaching them at home.
Vast resources abound in that great land to help home-schooling parents.
In the large Presbyterian church we attended 90% of the parents home school! When the children were asked to leave for their classes before the 40 minute sermon few kids went out. The parents want their kids to hear the Word from the youngest age possible. This made the sermon time a tiny bit noisier than perhaps in other churches, but without a dumbing down agenda, the kids were rising to the occasion.
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I spent many long hours watching every news channel I possibly could over the two weeks; from FOX to CNN to MSNBC and everything in between. The remaining reflections are on US politics.
Perhaps because I've lived outside the States for most of my life I can take a more balanced view? Who knows? You be the judge!
A Parochial Nation
The presidential elections may have skewed the daily output but my first "poltiical" observation was how parochial the news bulletins were. Almost all the coverage concerned US affairs. You would have thought that the world ended at the national borders of the USA. Rarely did I see news items covering even the major two wars raging across the world.
I often complain that the BBC in the UK is inward looking and turn to France 24 or Aljazeera to remind myself that there is a world beyond the land and interests of the UK. But the US news outlets are more parochial than the BBC.
American friends, Sorry!
A Polarised Nation
Nothing is more clear to the outside observer! One channel is completely pro-Trump / pro-Republican and the next channel totally pro-Harris / Pro-Democrat, with no middle ground.
One minute a paid pro-Trump anti-Harris advert is aired, the next moment it's time for a pro-Harris, anti-Trump advert!
This may be the nature of a two-party political system but it makes for completely polarised positions and a throughly polarised nation.
Those who support Trump can see no good in Harris and those who support Harris no good in Trump.
Again, Sorry!
A More Honest Press
However - having channels dedicated to one party or the other, ironically, makes for a more honest or fuller Press. I well remember the 2016 Presidential campaign when Hilary Clinton stood against Trump. On this side of the Atlantic Trump was demonised and Hilary was idolized. We heard little or nothing evil of Clinton on the BBC.
With the gloves off in the US, however, historical dirt along with historical fact on both sides is freely dragged up and shared.
During the recent presidential elections only the misdemeanours of Trump were heard here in the UK, but over there all the sins of Harris were also shouted from the roof tops. That was the unusual and even unexpected thing. I learned stuff about Harris that would never be whispered by our press, and frankly which I wish I did not know.
None of this should surprise us: all political leaders, both roughies and refined smoothies are sinners.
Perhaps this point is more a reflection of the left-leaning press in the UK who have every motive to demonise Trump and overlook the sins of Harris.
English folks are sometimes shocked when they hear that many good solid Bible believing Christians voted for Trump. In part that's because bad news about Harris is filtered by our left-leaning press.
Of course, these good Christian people were not really voting for Trump the man, they were voting against Harris the liberal, and for the less liberal agenda of the Republican Party.
When Christians are choosing church leaders it is always character, character, character. On that basis Trump wouldn't get a look in (and most probably neither would Harris - or any other politician for that matter). But when voting politically for national leaders the dilemma often becomes a choice between the lesser of two evils.
And on the scale of evil, many true Christians came down - resoundingly so it would seem - on the side of Trump as the lesser of the two evils.
One final reflection...
From this side of the pond the most remarkable thing about the US elections was how on earth did a nation of 335 million people fail to field any better candidates than Harris or Trump?
The answer cannot be that such candidates do not exist, the answer must lie elsewhere, in the process by which candidates are chosen, namely the influence of fame, money, nepotism, politics.... on the way appointments are made.
But why did Americans - who knew the weaknesses and sins of both Harris and Trump - choose to overlook the latter's sins?
Our American Airlines plane to Heathrow was in the air on Election Day. Every single poll predicted a very close election, almost all of them suggesting Harris would be the winner, except Fox News (that's right, pro-Trump).
One famous US pollster, who has predicted the last 9 out of the last 10 correctly, plugged for Harris.
But as the final results came in, it became clear that Trump had won a resounding victory. The popular vote was close, 48.3% vs 50% but Trump now has all the levers of power at his disposal.
In spite of the numerous "damaging" law suits against him!
This resounding win has made me ponder why and with this I close my snapshot meanderings.
Why choose Trump?
Are many Americans weary of the anti-biology woke agenda?
Are they weary of smoothies in power? People who seem to be outwardly refined but secretly wicked, if not in character, then in policies?
Are Americans wanting a normal bloke, fallen as he may be, to govern them rather than a distant unrelatable "who is she?" smooth operator? Someone who speaks their mind and says what they themselves are often thinking in the leisure of their homes rather than someone who simply follows every wind that happens to blow through the global cultural zietgeist of the day?
I don't know.
And the Lord only knows how the next four years will turn out....
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Just a few of reflections before they fade from memory.
I came away refreshed by the sights and sounds of this great and vast land, thankful that the USA exists and thankful to God that she still exerts a powerful influence - most generally for good - in our troubled world.
I took a dozen books to read, but barely read a single page. That's a good sign.
And I say and pray most heartedly, "God Bless America!"
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