For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Sin entered the world when man disobeyed God. Consequently, there should be no surprises when we see the ugliness of mankind and his inhumanity to man, nature, and the animal kingdom.

As much as we might like to believe that America is so much better than any other place on the planet, we are not exempt from that broad net that was cast across the world. Yet we have made it an aggressive objective to rewrite history and instill false narratives regarding who we are and have been as a nation. We have gone to great lengths to cover up our historical and even current acts of hypocrisy and brutality against our fellow man.

The Declaration of Independence with its promises was written for wealthy white male landowners. Anyone else had to qualify to be included. And not all who are classified as “white” today were classified as such in 1776. This too was a sought-after status that could vary from year to year and membership had its privileges. So yes, “white privilege” is indeed a real thing with a history well-established in these United States.

We have gladly bowed our knees to the unholy trinity of money, sex, and power, as these three tend to travel together, and if not yielding to God’s design will lead us on a path to self-destruction. The scriptures teach us that lovers of money can never have enough, and we see this proven time and time again.

While there is no doubt that America has her strong points and a lot in which we can take pride, this is not the full story. The balance to that equation is that our nation was built on bloodshed and upon the love of money, sex, and power, and she continues to maintain that original agenda by any means necessary.

The O’Jays summed it up in their hit single “For the Love of Money,” which ironically was Trump’s theme song for his reality show “The Apprentice.”

“People will steal from their mother

(For the love of money) people will rob their own brother…

people will lie, Lord, they will cheat

(For the love of money) people don’t care who they hurt or beat

(For the love of money) a woman will sell her precious body

For a small piece of paper, it carries a lot of weight…”

And they end by warning us, don’t let money rule you, fool you, or change you and by all means don’t sell your soul for this idol god the Almighty dollar.

However, this is not a warning that America has heeded, nor did many “white” folks who called themselves Christians, going as far as to announce the lynchings of their brothers and sisters from their pulpits.

Instead, they built a nation on their love of money and power over others. It became the standard bearer, and the nation normalized it with chants of USA! USA! USA! We have proven that America is not the Christian nation it proclaims to be but rather a nation of economic idolatry. America has sold its soul for the love of money and world power.

It built its wealth and global standing on the backs of its neighbors while embracing the mass genocide of the inhabitants, all while ignoring God’s two greatest commandments found in Mark 12: 30 and 31: “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” And “love your neighbor as yourself.” The passage goes on to tell us that, “There is no other commandment greater than these.”

And yet the system continues in the vein of valuing money, sex, and power above all else. Many are they who love and respect those who gain wealth or die trying. We love the powerful and seek to be like them. And if all else fails, we hope against hope of securing a lucrative Powerball lottery ticket.

And with a membership into the wealth and power circle comes a sense of entitlement to sexual favors from women whether they be willing participants or not, as women have not been recognized as first-class citizens with the same rights as their male counterparts, inclusive of the right over their own bodies. Protests to this mentality and behavior have led to the “Me Too” Movement.

It is no secret that the nation idolizes and envies the Donald Trumps and Hugh Hefners of the world. Such iconic images represent to them the epitome of success and winning at all costs.

Once achieved one must maintain the power to keep what has been obtained. This leads to the need to maintain superior militarization; hence America is a superpower spending far more money on defending its global status and wealth than on anything else, including the welfare of its citizens. It’s a matter of prioritizing and the nation has well established that it values money and power over human lives.

It simply is what it is and living in denial won’t fix it. We want to have it both ways. We want God to honor our values and reject His. We want to recreate the Creator in our image as opposed to submitting to His image which He desires to instill within us. We have it backwards and yet we insist that God blesses our mess.

We are caught up in a self-perpetuating cycle that must be broken. When God is taken out of the equation we are left with chaos and confusion. Welcome to America.

But there is hope as we move toward correcting our wrongdoings and seek a way forward that benefits All citizens of the world. That should be something around which we can all unite.