Think About It

On June 6, 1944, America awoke to the news that the invasion of Europe had begun. Over 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops, supported by over 7,000 naval vessels and 13,000 air craft, were assaulting the Normandy coast, in the largest sea borne invasion in history. Success was not guaranteed. Many military planners anticipated casualty rates as high as twenty-five percent. General Eisenhower even prepared a press release accepting full responsibility for the failure of the invasion.

Back home, people stayed riveted to the radio, anxiously awaiting news about the fate of their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. That day, major league baseball canceled all games. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading to observe two minutes of silence. In Sacramento, the Pacific Fruit Express Cannery held prayer services for over one hundred of its former employees now in uniform. Across the country, thousands of businesses closed early so their employees could attend special prayer services at their churches, synagogues and temples. That evening; President Roosevelt went on the radio, and led the nation in prayer.

“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.”

The allies prevailed that day, and Eisenhower never had to issue his press release, but the cost was staggering. By the time the Normandy Campaign ended in August, almost 210,000 allied troops were killed, wounded or missing. However, even as late as 1944, there were many who questioned the necessity of the war. It was after all, a European affair, something that didn’t concern us, “what difference did it make to us what the Nazis in Germany did?” That question was answered on April 11, 1945, when the US Third Army liberated the Nazi death camp at Buchenwald.

It’s inconceivable that we would ever have to mount such an invasion or fight such a war again, but unfortunately, history teaches us differently. Evil is an intrinsic and undeniable part of the human condition. There will always be people and nations that will try to subjugate and exploit the weak and defenseless. However, the real question is, whether or not America will always be “the shining city on the hill,” willing to confront that evil?

Alexis de Tocqueville was a political philosopher and historian, who traveled to the United States in 1831 to develop an understanding for why the American Revolution succeeded, and the French Revolution failed. The fundamental difference of course, was that the American Revolution was a pro-religious event, while the French Revolution was an anti-religious event. The United States was established upon the Christian concept of equality, and embraced and promoted religious freedom and expression. France, on the other hand, rejected religion and established a strictly secular state. In his work “Democracy in America,” de Tocqueville concluded, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” Unfortunately, America is no longer great, because we are no longer good, and although we won the Second World War, we lost the war for “our Republic, our religion and our civilization.”

Over the past fifty-years, the secular-progressive movement has succeeded in reversing the influence of religion upon the American character. We are no longer a nation that will take the time to answer the church bells, and assemble to pray for those in harm’s way. There will never again be a prayer recited over a public school intercom, or at a place of business, and no American President will ever again lead the nation in prayer. We are a different people, with different principles and values than those that waded ashore at Omaha and Utah beach.

The secular-progressives have succeeded in removing God from the public sector, and what are the results? Well, today we have a value system in which materialism and monetary success are the highest virtues, a corrupt political system that enables our elected officials to place the needs of special interests ahead of their constituents, and a culture that promotes the ecstasy of self-indulgence over the necessity of sacrifice. We are now 17.5 trillion dollars in debt, have squandered our wealth and mortgaged our children’s future. Our government has grown exponentially, inserting itself into every aspect of our lives, and now threatens the very inalienable rights on which the nation was established.

We are no longer the great power that defeated fascism and “made the world safe for democracy.” We are a nation in decline, seduced and corrupted by the notion that we no longer need God. We have vacated the moral high ground, and have invited the enemies of freedom to once again prey upon the weak and defenseless. We are no longer as Abraham Lincoln described, “the last best hope of earth.” The secular-progressives have won their war; God is dead in America. The only question that remains is, who or what will take his place?