Make America Godly Again: The MAGA America needs now
In the early morning hours of November 6, 2024, Donald J. Trump won the popular vote and surpassed the necessary 270 electoral votes to be elected the 47th President of the United States in one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. Trump joins Grover Cleveland as one of only two U.S. presidents to be elected to non-consecutive terms.
Little did Trump know during his successful initial presidential bid in 2016 that his political slogan “Make America Great Again,” or MAGA for short, would stick in the American psyche and take on a life of its own. MAGA quickly morphed from catchy campaign mantra to national political mega-movement. It gave voice to a wide swath of the American populace who shared a perception that their nation’s exceptionalism and greatness was in real-time decline and that bold change was needed to right the ship.
In four short words, MAGA also encapsulated the promised return of a nostalgic America past — a “shining city on a hill” as President Ronald Reagan called it — one whose core values of family, faith, and freedom elevated it among the nations. In less than one century between the 1898 Treaty of Paris and the end of the Cold War in late 1991, the United States of America would leapfrog over all other nations and claim the number one spot as the global superpower. Capitalizing on its fortuitous opportunity to advance on the world stage after helping win back-to-back world wars and the Cold War that followed, America distinguished itself as the world’s largest economic, militaristic, academic, and cultural tour de force.
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Looking back, each victory now appears as but another rung in the ladder that contributed to the U.S.A.’s ascent. But what, exactly, made America great in the first place? It is reasonable to believe that something deeper, more profound –– built into the very foundation of the nation and woven into the very fabric of its national tapestry –– pre-dated its outward meteoric rise.
The enduring effect of a founding faith
As a fledgling would-be nation in the late 18th century, the world’s current superpower was then anything but. She was hungry for freedom and brave enough to liberate herself from the colonizing imperialism of the British Empire to secure it. But beneath the collective resolve that drove the 13 American colonies to break free from the British Crown and forge a new government against all odds, there was humility. The leaders of the American Revolution were needy in all the right ways, acknowledging first and foremost their necessity for God, His divine intervention, and the transformational power of Christianity to influence and inform the new nation being built.
It was none other than the Father of America, George Washington, who said, “The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary...” and that “to the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.”
Put simply, Washington believed a nation’s success was contingent upon the endowment of God’s favor and protection and that every patriot’s “highest glory” should be to exemplify Christlikeness.
Washington’s sentiment is echoed by one Founder after another. Succeeding Washington in the presidency, founder John Adams said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”
Patriot and creator of the first American dictionary Noah Webster concurred. “Every civil government is based upon some religion or philosophy of life,” he said. “In America, the foundational religion was Christianity. And it was sown in the hearts of Americans through the home and private and public schools for centuries. Our liberty, growth, and prosperity were the result of a Biblical philosophy of life. Our continued freedom and success are dependent on our educating the youth of America in the principles of Christianity.”
Was this the Founders’ recipe for success? Recognizing the transformational influence of Christianity, they stamped the inherent wisdom and goodness of God’s law onto her birth certificate, conforming her for “good.” The Founders recognized that God’s goodness at work within a nation’s boundaries would enable her to be great.
This was the observation of early 19th-century British ministers Andrew Reed and James Matheson. In 1835, they published a book about their goodwill trip to sister churches in the United States. In it, they wrote, “America will be great if America is good. If not, her greatness will vanish away like a morning cloud.”
Time to re-tether the next generation
It’s not hard to see how far America has drifted. The nation finds itself increasingly untethered from its Judeo-Christian moorings of biblical truth, law, morality, and righteousness. Whether it's voting to protect deadly abortion “rights” in 10 state constitutions post-Roe or watching other states, like California and Minnesota, strip parental rights and validate the destructive tenets of false gender ideology among youth, the “House” of America is not only divided against itself but it is divided against the precepts of the Christian faith that has anchored it for almost 250 years.
Nowhere is this “untethering” more evident than in the next generation. According to a Barna group study, only about 3 in 10 or 29% of Gen Z believe that abortion is morally wrong. Additionally, nearly a third of all Gen Z adults identify as LGBT, outpacing older generations by a significant margin, according to a 2023 report by PRRI, a nonprofit that conducts research on religion, values, and public policy. This rejection of God’s design and His love for those He made in His image is further evidence of the “Great Untethering of America.”
In a November 9, 2024, YouTube endorsement of the “God Bless the U.S.A” Bible, President-elect Donald Trump said, “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country and we have to bring them back and bring them back fast . . . that’s why this country is going haywire. We need to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be again a great nation.”
America must learn from the story of Israel and heed the same commands God gave to His Chosen People. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Moses instructs Israel and says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children . . .”
God understands a nation is but one generation away from not knowing Him or His ways. God also knows that a nation’s prosperity and greatness tempts it to forget Him. As Deuteronomy 6: 11-12 says, “...and when you eat and are full, take care lest you forget the Lord.”
America, your greatness is because of His goodness. Now is the time to Make America Godly Again –– one nation, under God, re-tethered to His will, His way. It’s the MAGA we all need.
Annemarie McLean is a faith and culture writer and marketing content manager for Liberty Counsel. In 2012, she founded 3D Missions, an international outreach taking the Gospel to the nations through the performing arts, and co-founded Brave & Beautiful, a platform empowering young women to lead courageously from a biblical worldview. She holds a journalism degree from Oral Roberts University with post-graduate work in organizational leadership at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Annemarie has been a contributor to The Stream since 2020. She lives in Florida with her husband, Ben, and is the mother of their four girls.
