Traditional Values - Happy 4th of July
It appears everywhere, on TV, on radio and in newspapers, even at church and other social gatherings. We’re a divided nation. And the central theme is that of a moral divide. So ask yourself, how did we arrive at this juncture, do we have something to do with it, and can anything be done to correct matters? Can we change? Can we alter course? The wall between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is so strong that opinions on either side, conservative voices and liberal voices, are only heard by like-minded persons. There are those that say they are objective and will be open to opposing views, but since they are opposing views it is only for, in some cases, respect for others, and not a means to alter outcomes. In other words the wall has bars or dividers and the other side is visible, but what remains on the other side are few doors to open to cross over. Arnold Toynbee in A Study of History, notes, “Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.” Is that what is going to happen in America? Can it be prevented?
Our government, the current Administration, wants to be both mother and father to American citizens, to provide a ubiquitous safety net for everyone, regardless of the expense or any means of funding. Not like mother and fathers at home, who support themselves and their children by working, being productive and earning, government relies on the earnings of mothers and fathers that work, and make an income, as well as individuals not otherwise married, that also produce an income, who are then taxed, to produce what the government needs to be the safety net provider. American citizens are closely monitored and audited to insure the government receives the taxes they have imposed on us, to use for the purposes they legislatively agree upon. And if the tax receipts are insufficient the government borrows. And they have been borrowing a bunch. And note: the government is not audited in the way we are. Today there are millions in our Country that receive funding from the Federal Government and pay no taxes, or contribute very little to the Federal government itself. Yet we hear from many of the voices of these more or less government dependents that they want more. As in the term ‘reparations’ for oppression towards minorities engendered from the creation of our nation, for persons today claiming an ancestral connection, even though they have enjoyed the significant progress our nation has made towards the Constitutionally stated objective of freedom, equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of race.
Families and individuals are, if fiscally responsible, to live within their means. It is what children are taught. It does not appear as if this lesson is being taught by government to the children they claim as their own. Government does not provide an example of being frugal. Parents are to be an example to their kids, just as teachers or other mentors are to be to those entrusted to them.
Words have become targets that cause stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, to those that find the words as arrows aimed at them or actually hitting the target, which is their self-conscious, their sub-conscious. I am not talking LGBTQ or Trans, I am referring to words such as responsibility, incentivize, debt repayment, work, achievement, self-achievement; just about anything prefaced with the word ‘self.’ Self-control, self-respect, self-esteem, and self-motivation when taken by a person the wrong way can cause self-regurgitation of more words targeting their attacker or sorts, as racist, white-supremists and hate-mongers, even as terms with the suffix ‘phobia’ attached. It is a defensive mechanism created to protect them from what may indeed be true. Too many have become far to sensitive to the idea of truth is of a personal creation. My truth is my truth and your truth is your truth; when in reality that is not the truth. Most people know this, but prefer the alternative. That has been a cause of division not only in America but in many free countries. Divisiveness in America is a spiritual battle.
Government does not like the church, at least liberal governments. Certainly our government is not acting as a parent that would encourage their children to attend church, read the Bible and respect God, even consider that God exists. When a man can be a woman and a woman a man, and laws can be passed that penalize those that believe in biological science and call a sex and gender for what it is, then we have a problem. It may boil down to a need for policies that bring God back to the many areas in which attempts are being made to erase what the Bible, God’s Word, tells us all. There is but one truth. Our nation needs godly people. They need to be heard and not cower from those that attack them, and there are so many habitually doing just that. Our society is making it harder and harder for persons to even admit they believe in God. And doubts are being taught, created, in institutions throughout our nation, from elementary school to universities, and within the halls of government, that we can live with our own truth and not God’s truth. But that is not possible. Our government is imposing a false narrative as to how to conduct our lives. It is not live and let live. It is to live as a community in peace with a common ideal and love for God’s truth, which means respect for one another and accepting what is reality.
More of us need to listen to the voices of godly people, not to the government, and similarly godly people should be advising our government, not the other way around. When it comes to people, minorities, people of color, look not to the exterior. Look to the heart. It is the character of humans that matter. There is no ‘race’ when the heart is the focus.
And this July 4th and every day the narrative of the lessons should deal with family values, American values, those that made patriots want to fight for the freedoms we all enjoy. Attempts are being made to cancel our history, but it is what it is, a nation created by imperfect people that focused on governance by many and not few. These people sought for their voices to be heard and a democratic forum to be held to listen and find common ground, a majority in concert, that would benefit everyone. We need to remember the Founding Fathers and our Presidents. We need to know our Constitution and the words of the Declaration of Independence, even MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Why are so many of our educators, our college professors against even teaching what these documents mean? The media, academia, entertainment, science and medicine have been referred to as the “five major megaphones” of our society. They seem to be trying to change the script, alter reality. They even stage protests to shut down voices of what many consider reason, those of the godly and those of the rational. They are as a spreading rash which may have already gotten out of control. Activists, anarchists are leading the process to alter our reality, darken our hearts, hide Biblical truth, destroy historical monuments and erase actual history.
Let’s see a renewed spirit in our Country to save our shared values, our history and our faith. I believe the creation of our nation is a blessing and a gift from God. Heroic efforts have been made to preserve and protect who we are and what we have become and will continue to become, a nation built on equality of opportunity and purpose, a nation whose people are the government, not kings, not autocrats, and an independence that stresses the importance of the individual, the sanctity of the family and a love and respect for neighbor and God. All is not lost.
Happy 4th of July 2023
Thomas Balderston
Author and Blogger
