Once again, we are preparing to observe our nation’s birthday.
Where did the time go? It seems as if it were but yesterday since last Fourth of July.
Does the day mean anything to you — other than a day off from work, a time to head for the beach, or to mix with others in a celebration with food and fireworks? Do we stop to contemplate how blessed and fortunate we are — even in the midst of political turmoil and rancor?
Do we realize the dangers around and in the midst of us?
Last year, in the space and time on this page allotted to me, I asked if the upcoming July Fourth would be our last such holiday.
No — I do not feel like a fool in posing such a question.
I recall past warnings given by other Americans prior to my coming of age, people who seriously wondered if our nation would endure.
Sixty years ago, when I was in high school, Sen. Barry Goldwater predicted the demise of the USA.
“Someday,” Goldwater was quoted as saying, “I am convinced, there will be a war, or we’ll be subjugated without war, … real nuclear war…. I don’t see how it can be avoided, perhaps five, ten years from now.”
I also recall predictions and warnings that America would become a dictatorship and a police state if Goldwater failed to be elected president in 1964.
Interestingly, we have lost freedom over time, and the growing surveillance state should be alarming to anyone who loves liberty.
Throughout our history, we Americans have been warned about how we could lose our liberty and our country. Powerful admonitions came from Sen. and Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
“There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow,” Webster warned. “Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I must confess that I do apprehend some danger.”
The esteemed statesman also cautioned against casting away spiritual guidance from public affairs.
“If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity,” he also said.
Liberty is fragile. It can easily be lost or stolen.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” former President Ronald Reagan warned.
We would also do well to remember the warning given by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline,” he declared. “There has either been a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”
Food for thought for these times that try our souls.
