The safety and security of America is at risk. At this point, I'm not sure our nation can be saved. Our short-sighted politicians have lost their marbles -- all but a few, like Tom Cotton. Common sense has evaporated. Don't they know that America has real enemies? Islamist fascists, Russia and China would like to see us become a third world country. Yet we fiddle while Rome burns. Our leaders feud among themselves like spoiled children.
Inside our borders, America has internal enemies. Internal enemies are more insidious than external ones. They are often ignored or unseen. The present generation is scarcely aware of what has already been lost. The humanist, amoral socialist agenda has prevailed in schools, colleges, universities, the media and in politics. Socialism proposes progressive actions in the guise of generosity. More people are dependent on government handouts -- less individual initiative, less personal responsibility, less critical thinking about outcomes. If your role model is a rap star, a sports superstar or a naive young lady elected to Congress, then you don't know how life works. You are headed for failure.
Having said that, I have hope. My hope is not based on anything I see on the TV news. Actually, the liberal media is part of the problem. In lock-step, every talking head weaves a tangled web of deceit and attack reinforced by gossip, slander, accusation and innuendo. Their bias is based on lies fomented by wicked people who plot to keep control. Behind the scenes are invisible puppet masters craving power at any cost, working tirelessly to corrupt everyone.
I don't look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Nor am I a "doom and gloom" prognosticator who thinks the world is about to violently end. Sadly, many evangelical Christians have joined the "left behind" bandwagon. I have outgrown that escapist theology, having seen that it doesn't fit the biblical narrative, nor was it ever part of historical theology.
My hope is not based on the present situation which seems dire. As George Clooney's character exclaimed in the hilarious movie, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou," as the barn in which they were hiding was being set ablaze, "We're in a tight spot!"
America is in a tight spot. It's like we are burning down our own house, the very house in which our children are living. Has everyone lost their minds? Can anyone lead us out of this mess?
Leaders are different from managers. Managers have a task. It is to keep the status quo. Don't rock the boat. Just make sure everything runs on time, that the bills are paid, that the workers are happy, that we can keep our jobs and go home at dinner time. Leaders are cut from a different cloth. They are willing to shake things up, to risk everyone's comfort, to defy the norm in order to pursue a higher goal. One thing a leader can do is motivate people to pursue a dream that requires they step out of the familiar in order to achieve unimaginable success.
I'm convinced America has a "manifest destiny." We really are a city set on a hill, a thousand points of light. We are the noble experiment of government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." We are exceptional. No other nation on earth was founded like ours. We were guided by the hand of providence, protected by a higher power, blessed from sea to shining sea. Let's protect with our diligence what was forged by our founders.
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Ron Wood is a writer and minister. Email him at [email protected] or visit www.touchedbygrace.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 01/02/2019