Once upon a time there was this great country. A world leader. Founded on the idea that people were given rights by God not the government. It was called America. Once, America stood for freedom. People everywhere flocked here to build a better life. People came to practice their religion in peace. People came to be free.
America was governed by the people for the people. No one was above the law. The law was to be applied to everyone equally. With freedom, there is responsibility. The nation grew, became a world leader. A leader in economics, politics, and power. We believed in an educated citizenry. We fought for other nations and their freedom. We helped nations feed their people. We helped rebuild nations ravaged by war or natural disasters. Was America perfect? Was it without mistakes? By no means. We became arrogant. We became a bully. We became demanding. Then, we became complacent. We allowed people from other nations to force their ways upon us. We allowed ungodly leaders to hold office. We allowed leaders who felt they were above the law to be so. We became materialistic. We became uneducated. We forgot our history. We neglected to teach it to our children. We became entitled. We became self-centered and unaware. We became fat, lazy, and complacent.
Complacent: marked by self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by an unawareness of dangers or deficiencies. (according to Merriam-Webster online)
America, I love the country of my birth. I long for a return to our American values, based on God and His Word. Throw off our complacency! Rise up! Let your voice be heard! Look around you. Be aware of the dangers of this path we are on. Turn now, turn away from dependence on a government to save you from your own laziness and entitlement mentality. Governments cannot save you, they can enslave you. Beware of what you ask for. Be aware of where the path leads. Exercise your freedoms, couple it with exercising your responsibility to your neighbor.
This country was founded upon the principle that people were given certain rights by God (a Creator). It was founded upon the morals found in the Bible. Without an absolute standard that is unbiased and unchanging, such as the Bible, all morals are relative. You end up with the thought, "This is right for me, and that is right for you." Everyone has their own right and wrong. The Bible gives us an unchanging guide to follow, not based on the whims and partialities and prejudices of man, but from the mind of a Holy, loving, perfect God. We need to return to using the Bible for our guide, not man's thoughts. Without it we are left each to his own way, with selfishness, materialism, moral relativism, nothing good.
I leave you with several quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville, great observer of early America:
"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith."
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
"The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other."
"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville
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