Responding to America

It is very easy to respond to news we hear of goings-on in America, without really thinking about the many presuppositions and worldviews that are behind those events. 
I want to start with who America is, who she claims to be and if those two scenarios are compatible.
Having spent the last twenty years as a homeschooling parent, I have read and heard many arguments about how America is or at least originally was, a Christian nation.  And in my Protestant years pretty much believed that line.  But having stepped out of that camp, many questions have been raised and observations have been made from a different perspective.
Obviously, how one defines "Christian" is foundational.  In the past, I argued that anyone who called themself a Christian, was one. Simply on the grounds of profession.  But I was wrong.  With a few extreme exceptions, according to Scripture and church tradition, a Christian is one who has been baptized in the name of the Trinity and is part of the church.
So with that definition in mind, what does it mean for a nation to be Christian?  A nation cannot be baptized but a nation can be part of the church.  Being in the church is about community.  Being in the church is literally vital for life.  In the same way that we eat, sleep and breathe,  and do so, so as to physically live, so too we must worship in communion with the church, repent of and confess our sins and partake of the sacraments, in the church.  It literally is as vital for our spiritual life.
America, sadly so, is not there and arguably never has been.  The few references to God in our founding documents means nothing in the face of the lack of structured ecclesiology.  Horribly present though is the concept of rugged individualism.  As we read in Genesis, it is not good for man to be alone.  The fact that America was founded on the rebellion against king and rebellion against church, does not bode well.
In short,  the American bloodline is rebellion. For as educated and articulate as our founding fathers were, they were tragically wrong in this regard.
So going back to my original statement,  how do we respond to America? By realizing that she stems from a long line of rebellion and seems to take pride in that.  Our position needs to be that of humility and submitting to the God established authority in our lives. The only time that rebellion is allowable is in the face of sin. Obey God first and all other authority after that.
We respond to America by confessing our own sins first and then praying for those around us, understanding who they and from where they stem.