American Revolution

This Veterans Day, growing disrespect for the war-dead seems a sad symptom of our ever-widening distance from the ways of our ancestors.

Today would be the 300th birthday of colonial pastor Jonathan Mayhew—a pastor, citizen, and prophet who articulated a rationale for self-defense by British citizens in North America.

Amid grievance and despair, it’s a challenging season for believers in America and its founding principles. Most of the current protests echo the fads of postmodern academia, insisting that America is a uniquely wicked and oppressive enterprise without redemptive possibility. Much of the commanding heights of culture to some degree feel obliged to pay obeisance to this grim perspective; journalism, big corporations, philanthropies, the social sciences, entertainment moguls and personalities.

Christ’s sacrifice helps us to reflect on Divine glory and individual and national vocations.

Washington’s model is still within our reach. But it would require a renewed appreciation for the limits of the presidency, the limits of politics, and a renewed focus on the importance of character.

America has been a force for extraordinary good in the world. Is it possible her origins are more morally complex than generally imagined?

At the Battle of Monmouth, she took over for a fallen soldier and worked a cannon against the enemy. She attracted the attention of George Washington–and a nation forever grateful.