What does the quote "America is a shining city upon a hill" mean?
The quote"city upon a hill" was the famous quote of John Winthrop, the governor of Massachusetts Bay colony. The sermon was delivered while they were in the ship, Arbella on the way from England. It was a period when the Puritans, the reformists came to the New World and established a colony. Winthrop called upon his fellow puritans to lead a life worthy of their calling. There was a time when their life was not up to the christian calling with their wrong doings in Europe. He wants to change their practices and start new beginning. The people must lead a godly and pure life. The world is watching and they had to be a model to others as the "city upon a hill". Winthrop may be thinking about the great quote of Jesus Christ, "you are the light of the world." in the Bible. The famous quote of "city upon a hill" attracted lot of people especially the politicians of US. They had quoted Winthrop's famous quote on several occasions. Some of the examples of such people were John Adams, Ronald Reagen, Bill Clinton etc.
What's 'shining city on a hill' mean?
Originally, it was a Bible quote from Matthew 5:14 (The Sermon on the Mount) where Jesus says:-“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”He was speaking metaphorically of how the Disciples pursuit of Christian principles should be clear, shining examples to all.It was picked-up by John Winthrop who said“…we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us”meaning that he meant the Puritan’s new Massachusetts Bay community in the New World to be a similar example of “a shining beacon” to everyone.But the phrase really got attention when Ronald Reagan used it in his farewell Presidential address"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind, it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind swept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace - a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still."So nowadays, “The shining city on a hill” is often meant to be a symbolic, optimistic, metaphor for the United States of America.Jesus has not commented publicly on how the new interpretation is working-out!
What is you Definition of a TRUE AMERICAN?
Contrary to how the use of the phrase, "True American," is used by rednecks and other less than stellar individuals and groups is an ideal place to start to define a True American.America was the first nation conceived of out of the unspoken axioms of the Age of Enlightenment by being the fulfillment of that Age via a written document. The words were and are simple, but the simpleness of the words hide the revolutionary message of them: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." As a nation we have not always lived up to our creed, but the essence of a True American is defined by our national creed. The implied individualism of our rights and that those rights exist before the political regime is very clear to all those who read those words. Lincoln, our greatest president, echoes the message as does our greatest preacher, Martin Luther King. A true American is never defined by race, gender, income, nationality, or some other grouping -- one may be part of a race, gender, etc., but it does not define a True American -- A True American is a person who lives in the light of our national creed. A true American knows America is an ideal, a promise, a shining city on a hill, that has not been fulfilled, but is always possible. That this ideal, not this land, is why American is the last best hope of the Earth.
Is there a connection between the American phrase 'city upon a hill' and the democratic values?
The phrase “shining city on a hill” as the aspiration and proper role of the US was famously used in a rousing keynote speech by Mario Cuomo at the 1984 Democratic Convention.The phrase is derived from the parable of Salt and Light in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
What does Hillary Clinton mean when she said America has never stopped being great?
[Thanks for the A2A]Long after the United States disappears into the annals of history — and it will someday — the legend of America will live on in the hearts and minds of millions, as it does today. For all the ugly ironies, the pettiness and violence, America remains today a legendary place; more an idea than a location.I have a blind, deaf Irish friend in Australia who announces proudly he’s a ‘proxy American’ even though he’s never seen the country.He’s had two strokes. Long before his first stroke, his love for my country is so strong, he would talk about America with tears in his eyes. He believes in my country deeply as an ideal, an example, and a dream it embarrasses me as it would any American. He quotes reverently from the Constitution, the Declaration, and Gettysburg Address as if they were one document or speech. I gave up correcting him years ago.America is an ideal. It’s a legend. So much so that millions, perhaps billions, around the world believe deeply in the ideas and ideals of self government and freedom.I, like many other Americans, spend a lot of time expressing my love for my country by criticism and even condemnation. I don’t like what the leadership is doing in my name. I want my country to live up to its ideas and principles. I want it to be the shining City on a Hill for all the world to dream of, and dream with, forever.I know that’s impossible. I also know the example of America, its ideals and the legend it’s become, will live forever.I understand that for all his bombast, Donald Trump feels something similar. So does Hillary and Bill Clinton, and probably nearly everyone on Quora and a thousand other websites — no matter what their nationality.Hillary is right on this one. America never ceased to be great. To all those people around the world, it will never cease to be great. And she’s wrong. America will only be greater if we make it so.
Wouldn't America be a true "shining city on a hill" if all its citizens earned a guaranteed living wage?
Earned and guaranteed form a contradiction. I assume you mean received, not earned. The question: is how do you fund this “living wage”? What effect does it have on incentives to produce? Who defines “living” in this context? If this policy ends up being harmful, will the gov’t stop it or double down and commit even more firmly to it?Any guaranteed wage will lessen incentives to work because there will be less connection between how much you work and how well off you are (for the poor and rich alike). It’s a nice-sounding idea which just doesn’t work along with welfare, the minimum wage and other price controls, subsidies, socialised services and so on.
What does Winthrop mean by suggesting that New England is like "a city upon a hill."?
Winthrop admonished the future Massachusetts Bay colonists that their new community would be a "city upon a hill", watched by the world---which became the ideal the New England colonists placed upon their hilly capital city, Boston. Winthrop's sermon gave rise to the widespread belief in American folklore that the United States of America is God's country because metaphorically it is a Shining City upon a Hill, an early example of American exceptionalism. A Model of Christian Charity—Governor John Winthrop (1630 on board the Arbella)
Who first used the phrase "city upon a hill" to describe America?
John Winthrop, an early leader in Mass. Jesus coined the phrase, but not in reference to America."The City Upon a Hill" [ushistory.org]