To Americans Who Don't Like America, and Those Who Want to Leave It

The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz Podcast · Mar 11, 2026 · 5m

I used to think I loved America, but I didn’t.

It turns out, I loved the myth of America.

Growing up, I bought into its songs and its anthems and its stirring stories of liberty and opportunity; I fully embraced the carefully curated fiction handed to me, which I guess was understandable.

For a white, cisgender, heterosexual male who identified as Christian, these myths were more true for me than most. They were all I’d ever known. That version of America had always been available to me, even if it was out of reach for many people.

But the more I had my eyes opened by travel and experience…