No way back from here.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could find a simple solution to things like wall street fraud and partisan politics and religious territorial disputes? I think so. If we could do that, we could restore America to her former greatness and retake our place at the top of the world again! The surprisingly simple answer has actually been repeated numerous times, most recently and vocally by Glen Beck during his rally at the Lincoln Memorial. "America needs to return to God." If we would just return to the America our founding fathers made for us, these and many other issues would all settle themselves right?

Wouldn't it be nice if this "return to our roots" were actually possible, and not a literal impossibility with an inherent contradiction to the very purpose of the returning?

The founding of America was a turning point in history, both in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and in 1788 with the ratification of the Constitution. Never before had a liberal democracy been created as a state in the history of the world (liberal in the sense that it recognized, guaranteed and preserved universal individual apriori liberties, not "liberal" in the modern liberal-conservative political spectrum). And many of the core principles of this new union were based on Biblical values like the Ten Commandments. However many new principles were of the philosphy of John Locke - the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," having much in common with Locke's claim of man's right to "life and property." These rights and the others ideas from Locke framed in the Constitution and in the minds of the founding fathers, particularly Jefferson, promote the limited power of the state and the pursuit of self preservation by individuals.

And here is the contradiction: How can a government both be Christian and yet leave each person to choose how to pursue happiness and to have the right to worship (or not worship) in whatever religion they wish? Surely such a government wouldn't allow the freedom to practice any religion, nor would it be so vague about how people ought to pursue happiness - for the Bible is clear on where it stands in regards to both these issues. No one comes to the father except through Jesus, and without God it is impossible for man to be truly happy. But the foundational idea of America with men acting as "free agents" to decide for themselves these questions without the state endorsing a specific religion or intruding upon their rights blatantly contradicts the steps necessary for a "Return to God."

This ideological contradiction makes such lofty returns to God impossible. America cannot return to God because as a state it picks no favorites and is indifferent on the question of religion. Liberal democracies by definition cannot be theocratic.

Now individual American citizens can indeed turn to God, and in my heart I wholly endorse that. But America the state would have to become an entirely different state and cease to be America to do so. Nor do I think it should, because I find it unarguably doubtful that all Americans will all become Christians. So the government needs to do its best to operate knowing it represents an increasingly non-homogeneous population with a wide variety of values, traditions, and needs.

I also find it useful to point out that Jesus also left matters of faith up to each individual. Jesus teaches about how each man and woman can be saved through faith, not how states and nations can be saved. Note also that God's kingdom isn't America, because Jesus explicitly said that his kingdom "is not of this world." So let the government do its best to protect and provide for its citizens - as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.