In 1853 Commodore Perry of the US Navy was commissioned to develop a trade relationship with Japan. The Japanese culture was to not trust anyone who was not Japanese. After several failed attempts to meet with the emperor,the emperor arranged a cautious meeting with Perry on a Sunday morning. Perry responded that he could not meet with him on Sunday morning because he must attend Sunday worship service, which upset some of his aides, who knew how easily offended the emperor could become.

The emperor postponed the meeting until the next day and said that Perry could be trusted because he was faithful to his God. This trust opened the door to the Orient for the United States. What are we saying to Muslim nations when we, as a nation, attempt to secularize our country? Can anyone trust a people who have no God to guide our values. I’m afraid that in a feable attempt to tell the Muslims that we are not in a holy war with them, we have declared ourselves infidels for having no spiritual values at all.

Do you think our nation should declare its religious roots or should America continue to be secularized? What say ye?

Tags: Commodore Perry, conviction, faithfulness