National security and the American Dream

We all fall short of the American ideal, but it’s still worth striving for and protecting

For the past four years, the idea that national security defenses were best deployed internally has been promoted on both sides. In October 2024, then former President Donald Trump was asked about his concerns of political violence from outside agitators should he win the election. Trump said the big threats in the country were not foreign adversaries but the “enemy within” (go to 8:30 in the interview). 

Following the riots on January 6, 2021, many Democrats said the same. “It should now be obvious that domestic dysfunction, not foreign hostility, is the real existential danger,” wrote a Senior Fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Post election, President-elect Trump has made it clear that the first foundational step to protecting our national security is a massive government overhaul to drain the swamp within to put America first and Make America Great Again. “We will bring back the American dream, bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” he said during a campaign rally.  

It is a positive bold message - putting America first to enable this hallowed American Dream - an ideal that reflects our nation’s values. Though admittedly Trump’s agenda doesn’t resonate with half the country who find his version to be founded on traditional, outdated, regressive values that alienate far too many people.

The lack of unity over this American ethos was raised during the “National Security & Technology” panel at the Culture, Religion & Technology event in Miami last month after moderator Hamlet Yousef, partner at IronGate Capital Advisors, warned that China was the No. 2 biggest investor in Silicon Valley, and ignoring its activity was enabling the Chinese Communist Party to not only steal our intelligence and human capital, but create cognitive and societal warfare – confusion and conflict about America’s values. “The CCP gets you to fight yourself from the inside,” he said. 

In other words, societal warfare has pitted Americans against Americans in order to destroy the country and its ideals from within.

“Surprise, surprise - this great thing called the American Dream, the later generations - they don’t even believe in it. It’s a lost-hope generation,” lamented Ben Carson Jr., partner at Fvlcrum Funds, who joined the panel. “Think about our family; we love this country,” said Carson, whose father is Ben Carson, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Trump’s first term, “But I was talking to my daughter the other day and she said, ‘My friends do not like America.’ She’s 12; this is our future. They don’t like America. They don’t like anything this country stands for. They think this country is a bully. And it’s hurting the rest of the world.”

This is a serious national security problem, Carson added. “We need to address the hearts, minds and souls of the people in this country, providing economic opportunity but also to make sure they know what this country stands for.”

Former Ambassador to El Salvador Ron Johnson, who was also on the panel, chimed in on the American Dream, saying “I worked on almost every continent. I have first-hand experience that there is no nation more generous, more compassionate and tolerant. We are exceptional in so many ways. There’s no nation that’s more diverse. I get frustrated that young people don’t learn this in their education system. We have to repair this gap.” 

The schism in the church

This gap between seeing America as the greatest country on earth vs seeing America as one upholding traditional systems of oppressive domination - patriarchy and racism - exists in schools, as well as the church.

Despite Trump garnering votes from a greater percentage of Catholic, Protestant, and non-religious people of faith in 2024 vs 2020, there is a schism in the church. 

The Sunday after the election, November 10, one church pastor said nothing about the election though remarked that many in the congregation were likely happy about the outcome. At another church, a pastor spoke only somber words, saying the week came like a punch in the stomach for many, leading one admitted Democrat to ask in a post on the church social media site, “Is this church only for Liberals now?” In yet another service, a pastor said he recognized that his constituents were “disturbed and troubled and seeking solace” and “wondering whether democracy works” and warned “it is not a pleasant future ahead.” Another pastor had this to share online: “Reality is telling us that while some of us have been waking up to our nation’s racism, sexism and environmental irresponsibility, others are digging deeper and deeper into denial.”

For the most part, the churches upset with a Trump victory think the traditional view of the American Dream or ideal stubbornly conforms to bourgeois old-fashioned values whose benefits have only accrued to those who’ve been in power – white males. Moreover, society at large is falling short of such traditional ideals that they necessarily need an update.

Falling short of the American ideal

The 19th century Norman Rockwellian traditional version of the American Dream is to get married, get a job (if you’re a man), have kids and a house with a white picket fence. This dream seems out of reach in the 20th and 21st centuries as more Americans remain single, get divorced, suffer infertility, raise a child alone, or marry the same sex.  

(source: RDN Arts)

In 2019, 40% of adults were unpartnered (single or living with a partner) compared to 30% in 1990. Recent stats show half of marriages end in divorce. Now one in six people, or 17%, around the world suffer from infertility. And in 2021, only a third of adults with a spouse and at least one child under 18 yrs old lived together, compared to two-thirds of adults in 1970. Now 1% of married couples are same-sex. All of these situations fall short of the ideal. Compounding the contempt for the American ideal is that it’s considered unattainable for women, who still earn 84% of what men are paid; it’s not an option for many different races, particularly immigrants who are discriminated against for merely lacking proper documentation. And it orphans people with non-traditional views of sexual identity and preferences.

Therefore, according to some churches, in order to embrace the American ideal, values need to change. America’s values need to include the affirmation of a variety of journeys and decisions. America needs to be compassionately countercultural like Jesus, who asks us to “invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind to banquets” (Luke 14) and to welcome strangers and clothe them (Matthew 25:35). We are to remember that there are “no male and female” (Galatians 3:28) and everyone is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139) so we should accept and affirm the lifestyles and choices people make, and maybe be more proactive in making room for them. 

While not getting into the concept of limiting principles, scripture is clear that we are to love one another regardless of who people are and the choices they make because God’s love is not earned. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). 
Most of us are also well aware of the different unintended and unfortunate situations people find themselves in, leaving them on the lower rungs of this ladder toward such an old-fashioned ideal. 

At the same time, the question is: Should we discard ideals? Should we forget about any consideration of what is a high watermark of a good life? Should the American Dream be a buffet of whatever we want? Should we throw out aspirations to achieve some end goal? Importantly, are there types of lives or lifestyles that create the best foundation for society - in other words the best foundation for a self-perpetuating civilization at large - a roadmap, or lessons learned, a set of heuristics, or best practices we should follow? Yes, in fact, there are longitudinal studies.

Studies show that a two-parent household is ideal to raise children. A household with a male and female also poses many benefits to children. A fatherless home can lead to more mental health problems for the children. And despite women wanting to strive for high-power positions, they may find themselves alone in those positions vs in a marriage they may ultimately want to be in. A study found that powerful women have a harder time finding a spouse. And many studies found that women are happier and healthier in marriage and with kids than those who remain single and childless. Also, religious people are happier than non-religious people and tend to marry and have more kids than non-religious people.  

The Bible and the American Dream

To be sure, sometimes studies can be biased. Therefore what does the Bible teach us about the American Dream and the ideal life? 

Notably, one does not need to marry. Some of the most pivotal people in the Bible were single, namely Jesus, who at 33 years old, died without a wife and progeny. Jesus also says God can use people who are single. “Not everyone can accept this word [to marry], but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs by others, and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this [singleness] should accept it.” (Matthew 19:11) One of the most iconic figures in the Bible, Paul, is also single. He points out in the context of marriage or being single, “each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” (1 Corinthians 7:7)

Moses’ sister Miriam also never married yet she is seen as one of the bravest and instrumental women in the Bible, having saved Moses when he was an infant, and then leading alongside him as they escaped Egypt.   

But ultimately, God says that man should have a partner. “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18). Then God made a woman from the rib of the man and commanded them to become one. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). Jesus doubles down on this commandment by referring to Genesis 2:24 when asked whether men and women should divorce. He makes clear that marriage is commanded. “They are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Matthew 19:6).  

We are also commanded to have children. It says in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” And in Psalms 127:3-4 “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

Importantly, men and women are to respect one another throughout life, keeping in mind that the husband, as the head of the household, must protect and be willing to die for his wife. “Submit to one another in Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” (Ephesians 5:21-22). And to husbands: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) and “husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.” (Ephesians 5:28).

These are the tenets of the Bible that have been the moral basis for America’s founding documents. These are the best practices that have guided civilization for thousands of years and upon which the American Dream was formed.

If we are honest with ourselves, everyone has fallen short of the Bible’s moral commands, and therefore we’ve all fallen short of the American Dream. I have a blended family with step children and one biological child who was born after years of miscarriages, but I don’t host divorced-people’s story hours so children can follow the lifestyle choices my husband and I made. Some of my friends have no children; some have estranged or disabled children; many more are in troubled marriages; some work so much they never see their children while many many others are single with no children. None of these reflect the Rockwellian ideal we’ve seen in the paintings. 

Hence why we need to see the American Dream as an aspiration, much like we see Jesus as our role model. Even though we’re told in the Bible to be imitators of God, we know we can never measure up to His perfection and yet we keep trying and aspiring toward that ideal because while “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) we are “holy and blameless in His sight” (Ephesians 1:4).

The American Dream is for everyone, much like the Bible is for everyone. These are the values that founded America. These are the values that unite us. These are the values our nation needs to protect and secure.

Note: Thank you Economic Club of Miami for hosting and organizing. Thank you to Freedom Foundation, Vator, Mercantile Banco, Folio Capital and Voz Media for sponsoring.