The image of a city set on a hill has been heralded by leaders throughout American history to affirm our position as a beacon of freedom and hope. John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, first used it in a sermon, quoting the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.”

Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Obama each referred to the United States as “the shining city on the hill.”

But we must ask if that image still holds. If we are a beacon to the world, what do others see? Perhaps we are still that beacon for many. In a September 2023 article for the American Enterprise Institute, Samuel J. Abrams extolled that “America remains a shining beacon for the world.” The point of the article is that for millions throughout the world, the U.S. offers the hope for a better life.

Drawing upon a Los Angeles Times “Survey of Immigrants,” he states that “those who have lived … in other parts of the world powerfully recognize that life is better here than almost anywhere else.” He does not deny that workplace discrimination and problems related to basic needs like food, housing and health care are real, but he goes on to share statistics that affirm the advances the majority of immigrants’ experience in their financial situation, educational opportunities and safety.

However, the “Survey of Immigrants” report was completed before the false claims made during the Trump campaign about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating cats; the promises of mass deportation of the undocumented; the specter of ICE entering churches, synagogues, mosques, schools and workplaces without warrants; and the threat to end birthright citizenship. It would be interesting to see what changes, if any, these claims, threats, promises and policies would have in the feelings of immigrants now.

Let us grant, for the moment, that immigrants continue to be drawn to the U.S. as a beacon of hope. But there are now two beacons atop that hill. The first is the beacon of liberty and the possibility of a new life. There is now an additional, more ominous beacon that is visible for the world to see. It is the beacon of leadership.

We have elected a president who is a convicted felon, a liar, a bully, vindictive and narcissistic. And our Senate has just voted (with Vice President Vance breaking the tie) to confirm a man accused of drunkenness, abuse of women and financial incompetence as secretary of defense. These are our leaders. This is what the world sees. This is a beacon we now send to the world.

John Winthrop warned the Massachusetts Bay colonists that the eyes of the world would be upon them so that both their faithfulness and their sins would be there for all to see. It remains to be seen if the beacon represented by the Statue of Liberty continues to welcome those yearning to breathe free.

In the meantime, it is clear that our image in the world starkly exposes the leadership we have chosen. As Matthew states, “A City that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” The United States is indeed set on a hill and the world can now see us for who we are.