Prominent Atlanta Pastor Dr. Michael Youssef Says America's Economic Problems Due to Leaders Turning from God

Prominent Atlanta pastor, Dr. Michael Youssef, says economic problems in America the result of turning from God and not emulating the Pilgrims.

Yet another right wing evangelical is giving his two cents about the state of America and where the country needs to be. Following Dr. Charles Stanley's charge that we are heading for destruction and Socialism, Dr. Michael Youssef, pastor of the Evangelical Anglican Church of the Apostles, said America was formed and developed from biblical roots, but today the leaders want to chop that foundation away. He claims the reason for the decay of the United States of America is because we have departed from the one true God. This decay he is referencing encompasses the current economic turmoil, our social ills, citizens living in fear and the decline of our culture. Citizens living in fear? Another cheap shot to infer that the Obama administration is taking away the voice of each citizen. That is furthest from the truth.

The reason for our country's decay -- our economic turmoil, our social ills, the church's coldness and apostasy from the Truth, pastors in the pulpit without a backbone, citizens living in fear, the decline of our culture -- is because we have departed from the one true God. We have rejected the God of our Founding Fathers. We need to pray that God will restore us to Himself, just as Jeremiah did. We need to pray that America, starting with ourselves, will turn back to God. Our Creator God cares deeply for us as individuals and as a nation. He wants to bless our country in His sovereignty and mercy, but we need to repent of our pride and willful independence. We need to start a revival of prayer and thanksgiving and confession to God. Source: Christian News Wire

The Mayflower Compact specifies that the colonies were established "for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith." The Virginia Charter instructs the colonists to help "in the propagation of the Christian religion to such people as yet live in ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God." The Delaware Charter defines one of the purposes for its settlements as the "further propagation of the Holy Gospel." The charter of Rhode Island commits to "the true Christian faith and worship of God." The Charter of Maryland explained a "pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion."

Sorry, but the relationship between the Indians and the Pilgrims soured over distrust as the Pilgrims sought to take more and more land for themselves. The Pilgrims, like the Europeans who went to the New World, brought nasty things such as small-pox, scurvy and other diseases. A small pox epidemic that erupted 1633-34 killed thousands of Algonquins and made even more land available to the Pilgrims. So, excuse me if I take Dr. Youssef's admiration for the Pilgrims with a grain of salt. I can't recall this much outrage from the religious community about President George W. Bush or his father. Terrible double standard and a veiled dig at President Barack Obama.