The "American Dream", is it REALLY Christian?

[Starlight]

The American dream is about personal responsibility and initiative.  It is not only Christian, it is Orthodox.

The irony is Orthodoxy touts free will, but usually allies itself with political autocracy.

Never a truer word spoken.

Absolutely agree with you, guys.

If the American dream is to fight harder to get to where you can provide better, get out of debt and succeed at that provision-then no I don not think it goes against Christianity. It implies hard work, and dedication, two traits necessary in our faith journey.

If the American dream is to get 'stuff' and more 'stuff, pure materialism then no.  There is a lot of that in the evangelical church.

we live in an area that is rural enough so that we can still buy land and live on it sustaining ourselves, or we can live in our version of the 'projects', art flats, or condo's. It's not nearly what any of those areas in your pictures show, but it's heading there. I can't stand sprawl, and I can't stand metropolitan areas-to each his own on that matter. We all have different ideas of the ideal place to live and raise children after all.

Yes, I agree here as well. As it has been indicated, the real American dream is based on hard work, personal responsibility and initiative, in other words on values considered and respected by the originators of the American dream. This goal motivated millions living in this country. Also, the very same goal encouraged millions to move from overeas to this land. Including myself. On the other hand, we can observe pure materialism and other pervertions of the American dream.

[Mo the Ethio]

The American Dream is the only valid expression of the Orthodox Faith left in the Cosmos. Without it, the reign of Antichrist is sure to come and take over the world. Therefore, every effort must be made to protect it, and anyone who questions it must be cast out as a heretic.

 
      LOL!

[zoarthegleaner]

"Does anyone think that the "American Dream" is actually a Christian idea, or is it simply a messed up interpretation of things?" . . . "I'm speaking of not only the American dream, but the "Protestant Work Ethic" and how people are supposed to prosper and the more money/stuff they have, the more Christian they are."

ozgeorge wrote: "The American Dream is the only valid expression of the Orthodox Faith left in the Cosmos. Without it, the reign of Antichrist is sure to come and take over the world. Therefore, every effort must be made to protect it, and anyone who questions it must be cast out as a heretic."


"I submit that both of the American Dream and the Protestant work ethic can be and  are encapsulated within the visionary idea of Joseph Smith's America.  I suspect he could and would concur with the word of MacArthur who said, "The Lord Almighty, merciful and all-wise, does not absolutely protect those who unreasonably fail to contribute to their own safety, but He does help those who, to the limit of their understanding and ability, help themselves. This, my friends, is fundamental theology." . . .

ozgeorge wrote: "The American Dream is the only valid expression of the Orthodox Faith left in the Cosmos. Without it, the reign of Antichrist is sure to come and take over the world. Therefore, every effort must be made to protect it, and anyone who questions it must be cast out as a heretic."

Perhaps MacArthur substantiate such sentiment when he said:


"And saddest of all, the downfall of Christian Byzantium. When Constantinople fell, that center of learning, pleasure, and wealth -- and all the weakness and corruption that goes with it -- a pall fell over Asia and southeastern Europe which has never been lifted. Wars have been fought these nearly five centuries that have had for at least one of their goals the bringing back under the Cross of that part of the world lost to a wild horde of a few thousand adventurers on horseback whom hunger and the unkind climate of their steppes forced to seek more fertile regions.

The thousand years of existence of the Byzantine Empire, its size, its religion, the wealth of its capital city were but added incentives and inducements to an impecunious conqueror. For wealth is no protection against aggression. It is no more an augury of military and defensive strength in a nation than it is an indication of health in an individual. Success in war depends upon men, not money. No nation has ever been subdued for lack of it. Indeed, nothing is more insolent or provocative or more apt to lead to a breach of the peace than undefended riches among armed men.

And each nation swept away was submerged by force of arms. Once each was strong and militant. Each rose by military prowess. Each fell through degeneracy of military capacity because of unpreparedness. The battlefield was the bed upon which they were born into this world, and the battlefield became the couch on which their worn-out bodies finally expired. Let us be prepared, lest we, too, perish."

[zoarthegleaner]

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
- John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

The above sentiment seems to be the same as that given by King David to his Son Solomon.

[EofK]

^What does this have to do with the American dream?

[admiralnick]

The first photo looks like Lego-land!

I have two bothers. The older one lives in classic suburbia, the younger one lives in an old urban section of Sydney, and I live in a rural area, and the contrasts between our different ways of life is quite stark, and even stereotyped. The older brother's family are golfers, the younger one's are theatre-goers and part of the cafe-culture, and I'm in the horsey set and self-sufficiency set. It's amazing how our different environments have influenced us and pushed us into stereotypes! While I could see myself slipping into an urban lifestyle like my younger brother, we are both repulsed by our older brother's suburban existence. It just seems an artificial, phoney, "plastic-fantastic" world. The contrast is probably well symbolized by the backyard, chlorinated, filtered swimming pool of suburbia, which replaces the raging surf of Sydney's urban beaches and the waterfall and creek fed rock swimming holes of the Moutains where I live.

I think I speak for the Yurschak family when I say, we'll take the urban beaches and waterfall and creek fed rock swimming holes. Heck, we'll take your mountains George and you can have our City of Chicago.

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