For Americans Who Don't Like America

The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz Podcast · Feb 2, 2025 · 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, which I guess was understandable.

For a suburban, 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 and curiosity and education, the more I saw the cracks in the…