A Farewell to the America We Once Knew
By Richard Allen – January 30, 2023
“Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie” was an iconic song, released in 1971 by singer-songwriter, Don McLean. I’m sure some people may not know where the song title came from, but we understand that the song title is a play on the phrase “As American as Motherhood and Apple Pie.” And it turns out that phrase has a long history – developed over the past several hundred years here in the United States. So, when you hear someone use this phrase, it’s like they’re saying that something is part of our American experience. Here’s what CBS News online explains as one theory for the origin of this phrase:
In the 1800s, an evangelist known as Johnny Appleseed encouraged Americans to plant more apple trees, and some of those apples found their way into pie. And during World War II, people started saying, "As American as mom and apple pie." The simple dessert had become a national tradition, and a symbol of American pride. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/as-american-as-apple-pie/
In “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie,” Don McLean uses that phrase to lament the death of his boyhood musical hero, Buddy Holly. He makes reference to Buddy Holly’s death in a plane crash as “The Day That Music Died.” Today, I’d like to use his song title to lament the death of our uniquely American experience, and say a fond farewell. While I’m not saying that America will end, I’m just saying goodbye to “the America that we once knew.” The America that we are becoming will not be the America of Motherhood, nor will Apple Pie be part of the preferred diet. Not only is Abortion being pushed, but the fear of raising a child during a man-made environmental apocalypse, has made being childless far preferred among U.S. born citizens. Motherhood may well become a rarity. And many of the immigrant groups who are having children, do not share the Motherhood and Apple Pie ideals that once defined America. I should say, that those American Ideals were never a complete reality. In truth, they were the ideals of a nation which had once aspired to greatness – while never completely attaining it.
In a 1974 speech Ronald Reagan referred to America as “A city set on a Hill.” In fact, it’s the Church of Jesus Christ to whom Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). “As American as Motherhood and Apple Pie” calls us back to our Christian ideals. Sadly, those ideals – just like the phrase on our currency “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one) – has institutionally become passé through open borders and unrestricted illegal immigration. In Don McLean’s song, it was a plane crash that caused the death of his hero. So, who or what has caused the death of the American Ideal? This is a bit of a complicated answer. The obvious symptoms are: 1) Affluence, 2) A Populace Ignorant of American History and Exceptionalism, 3) The Sexual Revolution, 4) The Coarsening of our Culture by Godless Media, 5) The Collapse of America’s Institutions: Justice – Education – Intelligence – Medicine – and even the Church. Rather than these causes, I’d like to talk about the loss of innocence that we’ve suffered in the past century through: 1) Two World Wars, The Great Depression, 3) Two Lost Wars (Vietnam and Iraq), 4) A Presidential Assassination, 5) Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil and 6) The throwing off of all moral restraint by our Cultural Elite. Over this past century, I think this second list of events has progressively wounded the American Soul – driving us away from belief in ourselves as a people who once aspired to the ideals of truth, justice and the American Way. And it’s clear now that we’ve also drifted away from our faith in God. Here we are in 2023, a Generation of Moral Cynics.
The events above all contain untold stories that will one day be revealed regarding the screw-ups, deceptions, secret deals and betrayals perpetrated by all governments over the centuries. To finally hear these stories will be something to behold. You may ask: “When will all of the untold stories be revealed?” I think Scripture gives us a clear answer:
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-14).
This passage from the book of Revelation makes it clear that men and women will be judged by “what they have done,” as Malachi 3:16 references God’s “book of remembrance.” Every secret will be revealed, every evil thought, betrayal and sell-out in history will be brought to light. For those outside of Christ, there will be judgment. For those who are His Children, Forgiveness. As most of us know, “History is written by the winners.” That doesn’t mean that the history which has been written, is accurate or true. That day of judgment will reveal the truth, God’s throne depends upon it. It was a real eye opener when I realized more than 40 years ago, that much of what we’ve been told about the conflicts America has had over the past century, wasn’t the whole truth. In some cases, we’ve been told complete lies. Casualties by “friendly fire” in war are common, but I’m talking about the absolute deceptions perpetrated on the American people, all to protect them “from the truth that they just couldn’t handle.” World War I (WWI) is quite possibly the most senseless war anyone could ever study. While the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo was the pretext for igniting WWI, any study of the years leading up to 1914 will show that everyone in Europe was building up their military arsenals, and arming themselves to the teeth, rattling their sabers and itching for war to break out. At the end of the war, many of the current Western and Eastern European nations were delineated, but nothing changed except the millions who died.
Examples from World War II (WWII) also reveal the disconnect between the official story and what really happened. Did we have advance notice, or should we have known about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? Were Generals in the German high command trying to surrender from 1943 on, but were ignored by Churchill and Roosevelt to appease Stalin? Did America really have to attack the Third Reich at Normandy in 1944 after having conquered all of the Italian Peninsula in 1943, threatening to split the German forces in half, just pushing straight north into Europe? Why would they re-route all the Allied forces to do a deadly amphibious landing at Normandy? Why did America drop the Atomic Bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Was the United States already compromised by an agreement with Stalin, the evil Socialist dictator who had sided with Hitler in 1939 until Socialist Germany turned on them? Why did Truman and later Dwight Eisenhower leave an estimated 40,000 American GIs behind Russia’s Iron Curtain at the end of WWII? These are not groundless questions.
I bring these questions up – not to pontificate with certainty, but to say that there is a lot of information on these and many other U.S. Government actions that cast doubt on “the official story” that we’ve been told. Also, I don’t mean to sound like these betrayals and callous actions leading to death and injuries are anything new, they’re not. They’ve been with us throughout human history, the Bible is filled with “treachery and betrayal” from all peoples and empires!
We just recently had the veil of secrecy lifted on the Assassination of JFK. As many of us feared, our own American Intelligence Agencies were probably involved. And just this past week, we learn that President Nixon suspected their involvement and he was then “taken out” by the Deep State. These revelations put the past seven plus years of betrayals, treachery and the ongoing coup d’état in a different light. A global Pandemic in which our own Health Officials and Intelligence Agencies were clearly involved – is enough to cause even the most loyal patriot to have questions. It’s clear that in our modern age, America has completely lost her innocence and trust. Most of us no longer trust our institutions, nor the propaganda that they spew at us daily from official channels. While the official line is: “These are all conspiracy theories,” we daily see evidence of their culpability, deception and cover-up. What are we to do? Where do we go for hope and comfort? Am I saying that we should just give up and give in to despair like so many others? Not at all!
I have good news for us all! We have a wonderful Savior whom we can trust. He is the faithful and true witness. He doesn’t lie, cheat or steal to further His Kingdom. And He will someday soon bring all of mankind before him at that judgment – where all of the books will be opened, and He will judge in righteousness. We know this for sure, because Jesus told us himself: “The Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). I’m also not advocating for anyone just to give up on our fellow man, or the culture, or even our country. No, God has called us to be “salt and light” in the fallen world all around us. And we also need to be good citizens here below for the wellbeing of others, all the while knowing that “our real citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). And above all, we need to remember that God is still on the throne, working out His purposes and plan for His beloved Children. But I would like us to be mature and wise believers who are not going to “lose our peace” because of the wind and waves around us. This will continue to be a fallen world until “He makes all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Until then, we need to “keep our eyes firmly set on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
All this reminds me of an old chorus: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there’s just something about that Name!” In the chorus there is a poignant verse that we do well to remember: “Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name” (Jesus). Yes, brothers and sisters, kings and kingdoms will all pass away. So, let us put our hope and our trust in Jesus, having “received a Kingdom from our King that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28).
Soli Deo Gloria!