When
our great nation was still in its infancy, the leaders who arose did not do so
out of greed or ambition. In fact, those kind of thoughts were discouraged by
making their salaries low and their duties high. There was a standard of virtue
that required public servants to follow if they were to be trusted with affairs
of state. I'm not talking about Puritanical elitism, but basic common decency
and respect for our fellow man. State representatives were gleaned from the
people, and not expressly from the ranks of lawyers and career politicians. Our
Congressmen were farmers, merchants, land owners, laborers, artisans,
craftsmen, sailors AND attorneys. But the important thing to note here is that
Representatives, regardless of their station in life, were well read and
qualified to tackle the most difficult issues of the time. They were, almost
without exception, honest, trustworthy, God-fearing, respectful, sober-minded
and morally upright. More often than not a person elected to public office did
so at risk of losing their business, their land and their fortunes, but they
did so out of a deep indwelling desire to serve their country and their fellow
man.
Jump
forward a couple of hundred years. Our nation is being run by charlatans,
criminals, liars, adulterers and otherwise morally bankrupt individuals who
seek only to gain power, privilege and wealth. I don't even have to give you
examples of this because that would be like showing you a few trees while standing
in a forest. Somewhere along the way we have lowered our expectations, and now
is in imminent danger of being buried alive by avarice and materialism. We once
were a nation of values; now we are a nation of decadence. We once were a
nation under God and indivisible; now we serve political correctness and stand
hopelessly divided on practically every issue of importance. Our leaders once
listened to the will of their constituents; now they listen to the greasy hands
of special interest groups. Our leaders once served out of duty and honor; now
our leaders serve out of the love of money and power.
Listen
to what some of our Founding Fathers said about this issue:
Benjamin
Franklin wrote "Only a
virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and
vicious, they have more need of masters."
Thomas Jefferson penned " It is in the manners and spirit of a
people which preserve a republic in vigour. . . . degeneracy in these is a
canker which soon eats into the heart of its laws and constitution."
Patrick Henry said "Bad men cannot
make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their
chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is
incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can
be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation,
temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental
principles."
John Adams declared "Liberty can no
more exist without virtue and independence than the body can live and move
without a soul."
Virtue, freedom, happiness and
patriotism must be renewed with every generation or the Republic will dissolve
into anarchy, fascism and complete tyranny. We as citizens must insist - no, we
must demand that our public servants on every level of government be
held up to the most stringent and scrupulous of moral standards. Even more
basic should be our desire to revive the strength, love, respect and virtue of
our own families, for from this wellspring will future leaders be born.
There is no better time than Now to
begin to repair the tattered vestiges of our nation. If not now, it will
certainly and eventually be too late to save the Union.
by Jay T Harding http://www.jaytharding.com
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