The United States is one of the few remaining powerful nations in the world.
Germany fell along with Hitler, as he led them to destruction and chaos. Italy was a pawn in Hitler’s army and their leader Mussolini was hung in a town square to be spit upon and ridiculed. Russia was on a downward spiral after Stalin’s regime. No leader since has come close to retaining their power and influence in the rest of the free world. France has never been dependable as a world leader and posed a threat to no one. England remains our ally and will probably do so as long as Blair makes the decisions.
During my lifetime we have risen in the world’s ranking from obscurity to the most powerful nation of all time. We were known as the country of opportunity. We welcomed the poor, the needy and the unwanted to our shores and watched as they found a place in an unsafe world to work, thrive and feel safe from oppression.
Today we are despised, feared and criticized for our aggressive wars in our quest for the oil fields that will enable us to become even richer and more aggressive than any other known civilization. We strive to remain the world’s dominant power. In so doing we are imposing our way of governing on those who hate us and our government beyond measure.
How have we traveled so far in the wrong direction?
We have become so greedy that heads of corporate America have filled their coffers at the expense of their employees and hung them out to dry. We have allowed dishonest men and women to fill our offices, all the way up to Washington D.C., and sat idly by as they too took bribes, arranged contracts and filled their pockets with dishonest dollars as they longed for the “good” life of the rich and powerful.
We, as a society, have become so enamored with fame. We put half-clad 16-year-olds on the stages, at which thousands gather to emulate their seductive moves and dress, and where the music talks about sex and violence. We slowly allowed our young to become cynical and unbelieving in family values and morals by setting the example that marriage and family is not as important as self-gratification.
We now live in a “free” world where no child is free to walk to school without the threat of some pervert riding by and forcing that child to come with them to be sexually abused. They are caught, sent to prison and in a shortened time from their sentencing, are released to again prowl the streets.
Some of the famed and idolized sniff millions of dollars up their noses and are still held up as good examples by the sport-minded public.
Family violence is as commonplace as taking out the garbage. Men beat wives to a pulp and brainwash them into believing they deserved the abuse. Safehouses are needed throughout every town and city. Wives bring their child or children, with only the clothes they are wearing, running with fear for their lives.
This is no longer a civilized world in which we live. Not only have we lost respect for home, family and fairness, we have abused our freedoms beyond measure.
Most feel blessed having been privileged to be born citizens of the United States. I certainly do. Given our ills, our fall from Grace, and our self-absorption we still have the ability to return to the truths on which this country was founded. We can put God back into our foundation, exercise our faith in our daily lives, and learn, once again, to love our fellow man and to strive daily to leave our spot in this vast universe a bit better than it was when we first entered.
May we each sincerely pray, “God bless America” whether we deserve it or not.
Mary Sauceman, a resident of LaFayette, writes a weekly column for the Walker County Messenger.
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