It is imperative that every person in America, whether American born, naturalized or immigrant, understands how America became extraordinarily exceptional like no other nation in the history of the world. It was not by coincidence or luck; it was well-planned and carried out with precision by those who sailed from the British shores to this new North American continent. They came with a vision and a mission to establish a society to be ruled by the higher standards that Europe rejected.

For over 30years I have been warning that, unless America changes her course, she was on the road to becoming a third world nation. America has clearly been manifesting all the symptoms that collapsed other great nations and empires. Those who understand the times and study the trends agree with that assessment.

America, once the envy of the world, is now being mocked and ridiculed as a super power on the decline. This is clearly evidenced by its unbelievable national and international debt and its grave social upheaval. Even nations which cried out for America’s help in the past, during world wars, and at present in civil unrests, wars, natural disasters, and many other ills, which plague the world, are among the ones that laugh at her today. There are those from within and from without who want to see our destruction. Always the worst enemies are within.

How do we recognize the enemy within that is destroying the nation? Many will think I am making reference to the government, though they may seem like the main culprit from where we stand. However, the decline of America did not start only with corruption in government. It began where it starts historically, with the individual and moves to the collective. The cultural landscape of a nation is the outcome of ideas and beliefs embraced by individuals, which shape their worldview.

The central idea and goal of those who first stepped onto these shores, who raised their weapons against the British crown and who formed the new nation, was the same: liberty and the right to property. The right to self-govern and minimal intrusion from any other human form of government; this was the foundation for America’s exceptionalism. George Washington, in his 1789 Inaugural Address made it clear whose government the new nation now called The United States of America was under: "The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."

The Founders rightly understood where the new nation’s foundation rested for a meaningful future. They perceived the great opportunity America had before the world to manifest the wisdom on how to become exceptional. It is impossible to comprehend the true American dream, patriotism and the real meaning of being an American without the knowledge of the colonist’s worldview, which motivated their unparalleled experiment of what society ought to be.

Once the colonies became a nation, the transition went fairly smooth until 1830, when a new generation began gradually to pull away from the sure foundation. Strange ideologies and doctrines began to take root. The universities began to embrace a humanist worldview; distancing from the original intent of education, which gave us great social institutions and a civil government like no other nation then or since. Were they perfect? Of course not, but the knowledge they acquired proved to be the right one.

They created institutions of higher learning such as, Harvard 1636, William and Mary 1693, Yale 1701, University of Pennsylvania 1740, Princeton 1746, King’s College-University of Columbia 1754, College in the English Colony of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations (Brown University) 1764, Queen's College (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) 1766, Dartmouth College 1769 and others that followed in their footsteps. These universities were founded by Christian denominations. For the most part, the biblical worldview dominated their learning in its practical applications to all areas of life. Students were taught the importance of God’s Sovereignty and Providence as revealed in His ethical and moral law. Men of irreproachable character were trained to understand that liberty is the gift of God not the generosity of men. They accepted the fact that science, technology, humanities, commerce and education originated with the Creator.

John Adams, in a letter written to his wife Abigail, on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress, said: “The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

Ronald Reagan said: “if we are not a nation under God, we will be a nation gone under.” The only way to restore America is a return to her original foundation; we have limited time to accomplish this. The future of America can surpass her past. The answer lies within each one of us. We must learn from the past to take the right steps toward the future.

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