“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
In this time of great frustration, it’s possible to stray into rash solutions to the problems we face. Alexis de Tocqueville saw this country in a period when it was still widely considered a bold, and flawed, experiment. The old order of the divine right of kings had been swept away, and the risk of mob rule was very real.
De Tocqueville recorded his insights on America while traveling through the new republic. The quote in our headline stands out to me as very prescient in regard to our current state of affairs. The America I know, and the part of it I currently live in is still a place where basic goodness prevails. When our electricity is down for a week or two, we do not fear our neighbors. On the contrary, after a snowstorm or hurricane, our neighbors show their best side and help each other.
New Orleans, by contrast, is place that breaks down to “Lord of the Flies” behavior when basic structures are broken. I suspect the same is true of Oakland, Detroit and Baltimore, to name a few.
We have seen our military leadership gutted and replaced by thugs and yes-men who’s allegiance is to Obama first, and only marginally to the Constitution. What has not yet happened is the complete replacement of our men and women on all other levels. Our armed forces are still made up of people who would refuse to point their guns at American citizens. Although we see some ugly exceptions, most of our police and first responders are people of good character.
This leads to my theory that the heart of our battle is the preaching of the Gospel. When people conform their lives to the teachings of Christ, the result is the fruit of the Spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
–Galatians 5:22-23
People who are good cannot be manipulated by an evil president enough to bring on the horrors we see coming. If the hearts of our people are good, they will resist at all points. If nothing else, they will slam the brakes, and slow things down.
However, if the endless onslaught from entertainment and public education succeeds in creating a generation of people with disdain for basic and obvious goodness, then our nation is lost, and deserves to fall.
Before I consciously committed my life to Jesus Christ, my choices and morals were adrift, and were moving in a downward direction. It was after the Lord took control that I saw things and people very differently. There is a scripture that says,
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
–Ezekiel 36:26
Selfishness and cruelty cannot prevail in a society that tries to honor Christ. Let’s seek to turn people back to God at every opportunity. Let’s see if we can get them back to their Christian roots, be they Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox. Let’s encourage our Jewish friends to honor Jehovah. (and I recognize they also need the gospel) Let’s say “God bless you” and “I’ll pray for you” a little more often. Every push, every nudge toward the Lord, is a step away from FEMA camps, guillotines, gas chambers and death panels. It’s a step away from Shari’ah law. It’s a step away from an America that looks like New Orleans or Dearborn or DC.
Mickey Mouse won’t get the job done (and I love Disney World). Only Jesus Christ can rescue the America we remember. Only He can bring us to the society we celebrated in “It’s A Wonderful Life”.
Only HIM.
Only…
HIM
Welcome to 2014! ~ TD