I’ll admit I’m in a mood. I watched a video yesterday that really stuck with me. I put it up on The Reader under “That’s not Funny.” You can check it out but it shows high school kids who know absolutely nothing about their state, their country, or their history. Nothing. It’s painful to watch. And what makes it all worse is that the whole time, they’re all laughing and giggling about their own ignorance.
I wasn’t laughing. Here we are. The most advanced and prosperous civilization the world has ever seen and it’s like we’re all just assuming it’s always been like this and always will be. We’ve forgotten that this wonderful lifestyle we lead isn’t a given. Freedom isn’t a given. We’ve gotten to this wonderful place and we’ve torn up the map how to get here. Many of the people who educate our children don’t believe in the Constitution. They don’t believe that the values that built this society are anything special. And we’ve left them in charge of our children. So how can we be shocked when our children know nothing of the uniqueness of our country when their teachers don’t believe there’s anything unique about it.
And most children aren’t being taught about it at home. In many families, both Mom and Dad work long hours and have little time for the kids. In others, the father has just completely taken off if he was ever there at all. Fatherlessness is epidemic in our society. I saw recently that over 50% of births to women under 30 were out of wedlock. Over 50%! Yet we all know that kids do better in married households statistically. We know that families are the building block of this most advanced and prosperous society to ever exist. So what do we do? We monkey with marriage. We hollow it out. And then we allow it’s meaning to be expanded into meaninglessness. The moment ’til death do us part’ became a punchline, everything went to Hell. It just took a little time. But it’s still suicide when it’s in slow motion.
We have this awful weirdness right now in that we absolutely distrust our government yet every time we vote, we vote our government more power. You can’t see a movie that mentions the CIA in a positive light. Look at the Bourne movies. Look at the most recent movie “Safe House.” Television shows too like “Person of Interest.” They all start with the assumption that the U.S. government is corrupt. It’s the given in our culture nowadays. Look at any polling. We distrust the government. But we vote to give them more power over us. That kind of disconnect I just don’t get.
This country was built upon the Christian concept of the sacredness of the individual life. Yet we discard Christianity and ban it from our schools. Government effectively hounds religion out of the rest of the country. But the moment that Christianity goes, so does the sacredness of individual life. But the enemies of Christianity don’t have anything to replace it with. People somehow believe that nothing or nobody will fill that vacuum with a new morality where the individual can be seen as a threat?
I remember when my wife and I were looking to buy a house many years ago. We thought we found a nice one on a beautiful little street. We were so excited that we were already imagining our children playing in the back yard. We brought my wife’s uncle over to see it because he knows about such things. He has a good eye for spotting problems. He walked through it and he spoke all nice to the realtor but when he got outside to us he told us to run away from that house. He told us it’s dry rotting from the inside. He said it still looked solid but there were cracks in the foundation, termite damage hollowing out the walls, and the basement floor was buckled. He said it still looked pretty if you weren’t looking real careful but it had been neglected by the owners for a long time. I hadn’t seen any of that because I wanted that house. I wanted to believe everything was all right. I wanted to have the life I imagined. But it wouldn’t be possible there. It was too damaged. We had to go elsewhere.
I don’t have a great eye for seeing the damage like some others do. But I’m getting the sense that this country has been damaged the past few decades. The foundation is cracked and the building blocks are dry rotted. I don’t know if there’s any fixing it. I hope so. Because I’m not sure there’s any place to go.
February 21, 2012 at 4:00 am
Yeah, I'm trying to get used to the idea of states succeeding the union and civil war. Sadly, it no longer seems hard to imagination.
February 21, 2012 at 5:21 am
This article hit the nail on the head. I live in WA state, and it very depressing on the left coast. All I have to say politics is not the answer to the problem, Jesus is the answer. We need to work on Catholic identity. One soul at a time…. Hopefully it won't take too long…
February 21, 2012 at 1:26 pm
@ Staying Aglow:
"All I have to say politics is not the answer to the problem, Jesus is the answer."
AMEN!
Politics will fail us, people will fail us, the country will fail us. In the end, we are to be a cheerful people, knowing that all things are passing and that we have much to look forward to. Trust in Him. "Love never fails." Cor 1
February 21, 2012 at 6:32 pm
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February 21, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Got nowhere else to go, so I'll take whatever is coming down the pike. I don't fear for myself, my family is another story.
No retreat, no surrender. May God's will be done.
February 21, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Every word you say is true. If we can rid ourselves of the federal reserve, the lobbyists (especially the hundreds of pro Israel lobbies) and the atheistic Marxist Hollywood propaganda machine then we may have a shot. I hate to say it but your home analogy was spot on. We are truly done as a nation.
February 21, 2012 at 7:35 pm
@Subvet: Fearing for the family. That IS tough, isn't it?
February 21, 2012 at 8:15 pm
For those thinking it's time to leave, here is a web site where you can start investigating other countries:
http://www.escapefromamerica.com/
The Catholic church is not persecuted everywhere and all the time.
Key item about a destination: you want it low-key and under the radar, such that the Imperial Empire doesn't feel a need to invade and conquer. FYI, over 6 million Americans now live outside the borders of the U.S. Sort of like the lost generation of the early 20th century.
And yes, I'm posting as anonymous. Why? Remember, ALL internet traffic is monitored and logged by the Department of Homeland Security. Big Brother is WATCHING!
February 21, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Let's start a new nation – far away from Israel – where we will be free to create our own temples of worship to the US Constitution (which we won't need to use, because we'll be a new country).
Our mottos will be, "In The 10th Amendment We Trust" and "Whatever, Dude, It's A Free Country!" We won't need Ron Paul to actually lead us. Just a picture will be fine.
Bring yer gold and guns since they're the only things with value!
(FYI: A good place to start this new county could be North Korea. Seriously. No one will look for us there, right?!)
February 25, 2012 at 3:59 pm
(FYI: A good place to start this new county could be North Korea. Seriously. No one will look for us there, right?!)
You will need the guns, but don't forget the cross.
You know? In this sign shall ye conquer?
February 27, 2012 at 5:11 am
All wonderful except a tendency to view previous generations with nostalgia. Dads were often absent. They left home to look for work in other places and send money home. They went away to sea for years. They abandoned the family. They died early. Moms died early. Lots of blended families because of frequent death instead of divorce. Yes having both a mom and dad is good but I don't think that ideal state was any more frequent then than now.
February 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Stop worrying and start building the future by educating children about what's great about America. There are some great tools to give kids a first look at what makes our country great. For example, a site called flagcomics.com offers educational comic books that teach kids about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and what the U.S. Flag stands for. Instead of feeling helpless, do something positive and you will feel like there is a bright future!