Book of Mormon Parallels to American Society

This morning I was reading Alma chapter 9. In this chapter Alma is calling the predominantly wicked people of the land of Ammonihah to repent. As part of his sermon, Alma said:

Behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation, how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.

Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?

And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe.

I found this passage interesting because I find myself thinking just about the same thing about society in America today.

Behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation, how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.

It seems that this nation is becoming more wicked every day. Our fathers, the founding fathers of this great nation, were God-fearing people. It was never their intent that the name of God should not be spoken in public places nor that prayers to the almighty should be banned. The intent of the founding fathers was that a religion should not run the government, which would effectually take away the freedom of the people to follow the religion (or the religion of no religion) of their choice. Our founding fathers wrote the constitution and laid the framework of this nation based upon the commandments of God. Yet we enact laws countering the commandments of God.

Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?

It was not just dumb luck that led to what at the time was Christopher Columbus' vision of a new world. No, Columbus was led by the hand of God to America, and no one in this nation seems to remember, acknowledge, or believe this (see also 1 Nephi 13:12). For example "Columbus Day" is rarely honored or observed, yet many want to create a holiday for Barack Obama because of his position and race.

And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

Without the hand of God, there would be no United States of America. We had no business winning the American Revolution. The only reason we won was through the will and power of God and our founding fathers' faith in God and God has continued to preserve this nation.

Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe.

We have fought wars, we were attacked by by terrorists in 2001, Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, yet the United States of America has stood strong. Our people have never been taken into bondage. We have not ceased to exist. There is only one reason why, the power of God.

God is real, he lives! I love that I can see his influence in my life every single day if I will but simply look. God's creations are all around us. He shows us his love through his spirit and through the love, kindness, and service of others. It is my hope that the people of this nation will not forget our creator and his daily influence on our lives, that through him we are free to choose most things in this great and promised land of freedom. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.