One of the left’s oft-repeated mantras is “Diversity is our strength.” But diversity by itself has never historically been a strength unless those diverse people were united around something — usually a set of common values.

Our Founding Fathers recognized this when they adopted the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” — Out of many, one. What is the “one”? It’s the idea of being American, believing in freedom and the common values of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Unfortunately, the cult of multiculturalism and identity politics has reversed this concept. We no longer celebrate what unites us. Not even our national anthem and our flag.

The concept of the “melting pot” — assimilation or Americanization — has been replaced with the “salad bowl,” where the individual diverse elements are celebrated.

Many progressives today are operating under the idea that we should celebrate our own identity, whatever it happens to be. It’s causing tremendous conflict throughout society, even in the U.S. military.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland addressed this recently during remarks at the American Enterprise Institute. His response was surprisingly candid:

We call it ‘soldierization.’ We assimilate people into the Army, and teach them what it’s like to be part of a cohesive whole… I mean we used to talk about the melting pot in schools in America. I don’t know if we still do anymore. My guess is we don’t.

And I mean I just heard a statistic recently that about 80 percent of American kids consider themselves as just plain old Americans before they enter high school, and about two-thirds of them about halfway through college become hyphenated-Americans.

We remove those hyphens in the Army, in the military. You know, ‘You’re a soldier, next question.’ You know, we all wear the same patch on our right shoulder — the American flag. And that’s what it’s all about…

Is it getting harder in the U.S. military to assimilate everybody and get everybody playing for the same team? Yea, it is. Identity politics is a cancer… And we have seen what Balkanization looks like… it’s a dangerous path that we’re moving along…

To better appreciate the “soldierization” that Lt. Gen. MacFarland was talking about, watch this brief clip from the movie “We Were Soldiers.”

President Trump, the man the left frequently accuses of being a divider, frequently speaks about the need to come together. During his remarks to the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit last March, Trump said this:

America First is about unity. It’s about coming together as one family — one big, beautiful American family — no matter our race, or color, or creed, to protect our jobs, our communities, and our country. We want all Americans to thrive and flourish together.

Progressive Anti-Semitism

The radical left-wing group MoveOn is demanding that Democrat presidential candidates skip this year’s American Israel Public Affairs Policy Conference, which begins this Sunday in Washington, D.C.

We often hear people and organizations say, “We’re not anti-Semitic. We’re just critical of the Israeli government.” Well, that’s a very fine line to walk considering there’s only one Jewish state. Those same individuals and organizations are frequently more critical of Israel than they are of Palestinian terrorists.

I find it odd that MoveOn isn’t encouraging candidates to go to AIPAC to speak up for the two-state solution or more autonomy for the Palestinians or whatever it is they claim to support.

No, instead of encouraging dialogue, they are essentially telling candidates, “Don’t you dare talk to those Jews.” MoveOn is now obviously part of the anti-Semitic boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

And this is happening just weeks after the Democrat Party was presumably embarrassed by the anti-Semitic comments of some of its members. Under these circumstances, Democrat candidates should be lining up to speak at AIPAC to denounce anti-Semitism!

So far, at least five Democrats have announced that they will not be speaking at AIPAC this year. That speaks volumes about the state of today’s progressive movement.

By the way, five Democrat candidates are promising to rejoin Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran if they win the White House in 2020.

“A New Purim Miracle”

In stark contrast to MoveOn’s call to boycott AIPAC, Israelis and pro-Israel Americans are still celebrating yet another bold move by President Trump to stand with Israel — officially recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The strategic Golan Heights was captured by Israel 52 years ago after one of many wars waged against the Jewish state by its Arab neighbors. Israel annexed the Golan in 1981, but the United Nations refused to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the region.

But just who is Israel supposed to surrender the Golan to? The genocidal Assad regime?

Time and time again, President Trump has done more to help Israel than any president since Harry Truman. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s latest move as “a new Purim miracle.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked by CBN if it was possible that President Trump “has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?” He answered, “As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible.”

I agree. I believe God regularly sends righteous people to help His covenant people, the Jews. A covenant was made between God and Abram and it hasn’t been repealed.

Needless to say, Secretary Pompeo is taking a lot of heat today for his remarks. But secular heads explode when they hear anything like this. It’s not only that they don’t understand what motivates radical Islamists, they don’t understand orthodox Christianity or Judaism either.