The connection made by Dahesh between spiritual and human values of such ideals as justice, freedom, and human rights, made him look to the United States of America—once its people have cleansed themselves from greed, decadence and returned to the ideals and the integrity of the Founding Fathers—as a country to be aspired after by the rest of the world. It would be a model country that can provide compassion, freedom, and justice to the world as well as to its own citizens. Because of this promise, Dahesh selected the United States to be the launching pad for his Divine Mission to the world.

Dahesh’s position on the United States of America:

Dahesh developed a love towards the United States of America ever since the end of World War II. It was a love towards the land of: intellectual and religious freedoms; justice for all, where the rich and poor are treated equally; quality freedom of the press; critical journalism; and human rights. However, it was not the love towards the home of the mighty dollar, greed, perversity, and decadence. He considered freedom in the United States to be a great divine grace. Under the heading: “Dreams: Will they ever come true with the passage of time?” Dahesh addressed the United States in his book “Memoirs of a Dinar,” as follows:

“No matter how much infatuation with materialism you have developed and no matter how far you’ve gone to attain it, your love for freedom and for not oppressing your citizens with horrible shackles—shackles that the East had suffered from for ages—makes me love you and wish to live within your borders until God grants the East the same grace of limitless and unbound freedom that He had bestowed on you.”

This love for the land of freedom and justice accompanied him throughout his life. He left Lebanon to live in the United States on March 9, 1976 and wrote on the next day of his arrival a poem titled: “The Daheshist Mission Migrates” (Songs of a Worshipper). He then proceeded to transfer his book collection to the United Sates as well as his now-famous art collection at the Dahesh Museum in New York. His collection was hand picked piece-by-piece, over the decades, on a hope of establishing an international art museum.

On February 4, 1977, in Volume 12 of his series on travel “Journeys Around the World,” he was very critical of the suppression of freedom in Lebanon and talked about how the Lebanese President, the Maronite Archbishop, and the Jesuits attempted to suppress the delivery of a lecture by Dr. Ghazi Brax at the Lebanese Law College on April 21, 1971. He wrote about how their attempt had failed miserably and the lecture was given at the lecture hall with thousands of attendees, where Dr. Brax managed to rebuke those who debated him with convincing arguments. It is nothing new for the Lebanese authorities to send secret police officers in order to execute their desire of suppressing intellectual freedom. Such practices have always taken place throughout the ages in a country that prides itself in being a Middle-Eastern land of freedom. Dahesh, the returning Christ, concludes his criticism by saying: “The continuing series of persecution proves that the East cannot pull itself out of the oppression and humiliation that it had surrounded itself with. For this reason, Daheshism realized that the East does not merit the presence of a single free individual living in it and that it was time to move to America—the great nation and the land of the free. History will record that America is a shelter for the persecuted and a safe haven for those frightened by the oppression of the East and its miserable rulers—who will live to be an example of tyranny for ages to come and the curses of the multitudes for their brutality.”

The United States, according to the returning Christ, has been graced by the heavens to prepare itself to be a model and an example for all nations, because its discovery was for the purpose of being a takeoff place for the Mission of the returning Christ. Its establishment as a country was accomplished through great thinkers and idealistic leaders that had a vision to enhance spiritual values and human rights. The Founding Fathers were not just regular people! They were spiritually inspired individuals who created a republic to be a refuge for the oppressed from all faiths and an idealistic nation that subjects its people to just and fair laws, regardless of their social position. However, America will not be able to play its idealistic role unless it is guided by wise and just leaders, who would not subjugate other nations, would not take sides in regional conflicts, and would not employ a system of double standards. Also, America should be able to control its greed by not allowing the rich get richer at the expense of the poor and multi-national corporations should not collect fortunes by taking advantage of poor nations. America will not be able to deliver its great mission unless it controls its decadence and perversity that tend to destroy family values. With its return to humane and spiritual values, God will undoubtedly help America fulfill its destiny. Otherwise, America will face a long and very difficult road ahead.

After having lived in the United States for two and a half years, Dahesh returned to Lebanon, not because he was homesick, but rather for the sole purpose of printing the books he had written in Arabic. After he had printed tens of books, he left Lebanon on September 1, 1980 and never returned. During his presence in Lebanon, his heart was still in America and he maintained his revulsion from the blind religious fanaticism of Lebanon, its sectarian politics, and the private interests of certain families that continue to determine the state of affairs there. He passed away on April 9, 1984, in the United States of America and his soul left our Earth heading towards a glorious, happy, and heavenly world. He had assured the believers in his Mission that he would always be with them and to guide them from his heavenly world.