I Tremble For My Country
By Doug Patton (11/13/06)
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever." - Thomas Jefferson
My wise-beyond-his-31-years son continues to reassure me that America has survived worse than the decisive shift in power that occurred during the recent mid-term elections. Much worse. His favorite rejoinder is to remind me that our Republic persisted even after being ripped apart by a bloody civil war fought largely over the issue of human beings owning one another. How much worse can it get than that? I wonder.
I heard my fellow pundits on the Right proclaiming victory for the conservative cause after this election. Pat Buchanan and William Safire have opined that because so many Democrats ran as conservatives, this is somehow a positive sign for our movement. One radio talk show host went so far as to claim that “Ronald Reagan must be smiling.” Somehow, I doubt it. My guess is that the Gipper, though he was an optimist, would be thoroughly disgusted with the squandered GOP mandate of the last decade. Furthermore, I suspect that he would be especially dismayed over the wasted opportunities of the last five years.
The rosy argument that conservative principles won out in this election might have some validity were it not for the fiercely partisan atmosphere in Washington and the realities of our rapidly fraying social and cultural fabric. The United States Congress is sharply divided along party lines, with the perks of power going to the party in the majority. Those so-called conservative freshman Democrats will be at the mercy of their leaders, and their leaders are liberal.
As for the cultural slide toward our very own killing fields, our society’s evermore unabashed sexual license, and the continuing loss of our national identity, it is increasingly difficult to see a bright spot in a future that includes human cloning, homosexual marriage, continued abortion on demand and an open border policy that threatens to erase our national sovereignty.
In the words of Jefferson, I tremble for my country. I tremble as I reflect that it is now a constitutional right in the state of Missouri to clone human beings for the specific purpose of harvesting them for experimentation and research.
I tremble as I reflect that the true meaning of the sacred institution of marriage will not exist for my grandchildren, who will likely grow to adulthood in a society that puts a stamp of legitimacy on deviant relationships, regardless of what they are called, and bestows upon them all the rights and privileges of marriage.
I tremble as I reflect that we now have a president and a congress in agreement that the culture, language and borders of my country are no longer important.
I tremble as I reflect on the good men and women who have fought the good fight for our cause these last several years, only to be vilified and destroyed by an elitist news media bent on steering this nation down the path of socialism.
I tremble as I reflect on the morale of brave Americans troops who have so nobly answered the call to defend freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to be dishonored by Democrats who seem unable to define anything for which they are willing to fight.
I tremble as I reflect on the resolve of those who would destroy us, enemies who rejoice at the election of weak, capitulating politicians who believe we can negotiate our way out of the next attack on America.
And I join our third president in trembling for my country as I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.
© Copyright 2006 by Doug Patton
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