I wonder what our Founding Fathers are thinking (if they could) about their “Great American Experiment” today?
Alexis de Tocqueville, a French historian and political theorist who visited America in 1831-1832 to study the Great American Experiment. He wrote down his observations in his 4-volume Democracy in America.
After observing and analyzing what he had seen, de Tocqueville predicted that the downfall of the “Great American Experiment” would occur when enough citizens realized they could take more from their government than they give into it. This economic burden, coupled with the moral complacency, apathy and laziness and the experiment will surely fail.
This is our 244th year of what our first President called the Great American Experiment. As we celebrate our Country’s independence this weekend, there is a great sadness over our land. There is great dissatisfaction, violence and ignorance of our own history. Many of our young people are involved in a secular iconoclasm tearing down without knowledge or reason, statues of historical figures, and even saints.
There are so many things wrong with today’s “movement” but a terrible indictment is against the ‘suits’ who sit in our Departments of Education; most of whom never stood in front of a classroom, or if they did, probably were dreadful, who have terribly failed our children in not teaching them their own history. Opinions are only worth as much as they reflect reality.
Patriotism is a virtue under the Cardinal virtue of Justice. As we can never pay back our parents, so we can never pay back what we owe to our country. We all know our country is not perfect, because our country is made up of sinful people. There are many things we need to change and fix, e.g. the effects of slavery which ended in 1863, is still with us today. Tearing down statues, changing flags or renaming institutions are not going to change one thing; it only further divides.
What we need to do is first reflect on the sanctity of life-all life. And we need to start at the beginning of life-conception. As long as we as a nation continue to violently kill our unborn children, as long as we see abortion as a solution to a ‘problem’ or worse, an ‘inconvenience’ we have no chance to end racism, violence or name the social ill. Every life is precious and a gift from a loving God to this world, every life is to be respected and seen as a masterpiece.
On this Fourth of July weekend, we as a Nation need to fall upon our knees and pray for our elected officials, our judiciary, and our fellow citizens. We need to pray to Our Blessed Mother, the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of Our Country.
That we as a people, so blessed by God, will return to Him and His ways.