Make America Great? First Make America Good

On Facebook I belong to several Catholic and conservative groups in order to network with other like-minded people.  Sometimes on these groups one will find individuals who obviously aren't like-minded; they will create posts or comment on the posts of others with a mind to cause discomfort and tension.  These individuals are known as trolls.  Sometimes the group administrators will tolerate them and at other times the trolls are ejected from the group.

There is one particular group on FB that is formed around the idea of supporting President Trump.  At this time I won't name the group, although I'll reserve the right to do so if I deem it necessary.  Last evening the group was plagued by one such troll who put up a pornographic post centered around sexual perversion.  I was not so much troubled about that post since I realized the source.  However,  I was disappointed with the comments from other members of the so-called conservative group.  They were giggling and chortling along, adding their own profanities in the comments.  Those of us who uttered protests for decency were mocked as being snowflakes.  I contacted the administrators and moderators of the group to ask them to take action.  I also reported the post to FB in general.  Today FB sent me a reply, agreeing that the post "violated community standards".  They pulled the post and put the offender on notice.  I commend them for taking the problem seriously and acting promptly.

My concern is with the reactions of those who claim to be conservative while at the same time engaging in the same ribald conduct that I may have expected from progressives who do not believe in, let alone honor, God and who care not one whit about His laws.  They certainly celebrate the victory of Trump, but one must wonder why they do so.  Is it because they believe that their less-than-laudible conduct will simply be free of legal shackles?

A few things come to mind.  Take a look at the Declaration of Independence.  Notice how it says "we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.."?  In that statement the founding fathers acknowledge that God is the source of our rights: not the benevolence of governments or powerful persons, but God.  That's why no one person has sway over the rights of another.

In the late 1800s, Alexis de Tocqueville visited the US and wrote "Democracy in America".  One of his key quotes is that "America is great because America is good".  About 100 years later, President Ronald Reagan echoed de Tocqueville's thinking when he reminded us that "if American forgets that it is a nation under God, it will be a nation gone under".

Ladies and gentlemen, the bulk of those commenting on that pornographic post clearly did not give an instant's thought to God.  They were guffawing at gross violations of God's commands regarding sexuality and marriage, often gloating about their own sexual transgressions.  On the one hand, they celebrate the second chance that the US got when Hillary Cliinton was defeated, but on the other hand they seem literally hell-bent on squandering what might well be the last opportunity that we have to turn this country around and get it back on proper track.

That proper track is, first and foremost, adherence to Christian morality and acknowledgement of God.  Let's be clear.  God will not be mocked.  Unless there is repentance and change, there will come a day of reckoning and that time there might be no chance of reprieve such as the one bestowed on us this past November.  That's right; I consider Trump's win not so much as a vindication but rather one final chance for us to salvage not only this country but western civilization.  God has graced us with a rather narrow window of opportunity to correct things - but we must correct ourselves as well, for if the attitudes evinced last evening aren't corrected, well, we'll have only ourselves to blame for any continued moral decay of our nation.