BY MARK A. KELLNER

HERE WAS A WAR IN THE MIDDLE East, a sudden, quick battle that almost drew the entire world into its grip. Old allies were on the verge of being at each other's throats. Meanwhile, another war in Asia was sapping the United States' resources and claiming soldiers' lives.

In Washington, D.C., a popular U.S. president was besieged by critics who harped on his alleged duplicity, if not outright criminality. History's verdict would wait, but the voices of many were pitched in a battle cry against the chief executive. On the other side, supporters held prayer vigils and felt their own voice wasn't heard nationally.

The economy was tight. Gas prices skyrocketed. National prestige was trending down. And the country had few friends, even north or south of the border.

Another Time
Yes, that country was the United States--but a 30-year-ago America that had just supported Israel during the October War, following which our "friends" in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) curtailed oil shipments so sharply that economic chaos resulted. The president under fire wasn't George W. Bush, but Richard M. Nixon. And while Nixon's offenses drew an impeachment vote in Congress, it's worth remembering that Nixon had previously won reelection in a huge landslide.

As the events of 1973 unfolded, there was a lot of confusion and uncertainty in the world. Much of popular opinion around the globe was against the United States for either its heavy hand, its affluence, or its decadent lifestyle, typified by the bell-bottomed hippies of the late 1960s.

During this time a Canadian editorialist, Gordon Sinclair, sat down at his typewriter and tapped out a commentary defending "the Americans." Another Canadian, Byron MacGregor, recorded a version that hit the pop music charts.

Sinclair's essay reminded the world that America lifted its hand to help millions of people after two world wars, earthquakes, famines, floods, and other disasters, without asking--or receiving--much in return. When cities crumbled under a temblor or when a hurricane or typhoon flattened entire districts, American money, food, and even military personnel rushed in to help. When, Sinclair noted, 59 American towns were struck by tornadoes in 1973, no teams jetted in from foreign shores to assist. (Indeed, with flooding and blackouts the result of September 2003's Hurricane Isabel, foreign assistance continues to elude American shores.)

What About Now?
One and a half generations later, it's still popular in some quarters to bash the United States.

But let us never forget that American culture led to the theological developments that birthed the Second Advent movement. That's forgotten by some in the wake of other cultural changes--music videos, perhaps, or McDonald's fast food joints--that offend the sensitivities of some. It's not that we should endorse this rap star or that nutritionally questionable menu, but a blanket condemnation can cut us off from meaningful dialogue and mutual understanding.

It's easy to sit and judge confidently someone else's political views, particularly from a distance, when you don't know really their national, or personal, history. Perhaps I'm guilty of this too.

But I know my personal history, and I know America's. I know that my native country--America--gave a home to people whose religious views dissented from the majority. The land of my grandfather's birth--which awarded him a high military honor for defending its soil--killed half of his family because they were neither racially nor religiously (nor politically, I suspect) pure.

It was America--and nowhere else--that the commercial and social climate led to the growth of the Advent message, producing an economic engine that fuels the spread of that good news even today. Could a less-free society have done this?

There's little doubt that America isn't perfect, and in the future we may risk losing some of the freedoms I cherish. Yet I'm proud of its accomplishments and grateful for its freedoms, things that Gordon Sinclair recognized 30 years ago. What America has stood for--and done--has helped Seventh-day Adventist Christians as much as, or more than, it has any other group. Maybe it's time to acknowledge that.

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Mark A. Kellner is assistant director for news and information in the General Conference Communication Department. The views expressed here, however, are his own.