I sometimes ponder all the crap going on and try to see the big picture. I think the following has a lot of truth to it. This is from 2015 and a good read. Here is the link to the following:
The Immortal Battle
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Proverbs 22:3
Over the past decade a few visitors have suggested I not include the biblical reference, quoted above, in my prep web sites. What they don't understand, though, is that
the greatest threat to our national security is,
and always has been at its base root,
immorality. You see, immoral and selfish people are not very prudent and forward looking and are thus left vulnerable to what they might otherwise be enlightened to avoid and/or prepare their families for.
History has proven countless times that a growing immorality among any population, in any nation, lowers their appreciation of, and thus vigilance to maintain, their freedoms. As a nation of people selfishly moves away from a principled focus on the 'greater good', in pursuit of personal and individual selfish aims, they are setting themselves up to eventually reap a bitter harvest, both from outside and from within. They are blind to see the difficulties ahead that they have unleashed, and even less so that they should then now prepare for.
If we as a nation stay on our current course,
9/11 will be seen as nothing compared to what is to follow!
Some blamed our foreign policy, some blamed our internal security, some even blamed God, for 9/11, but regardless, few understand and correctly see the root cause as our decades of overall national moral decline and abandonment of principles that has left us vulnerable. The specific mechanics that led up to 9/11 are not as important as first grasping the fact that we'd of been doing things very differently all along and on all fronts if all our actions had been based upon more moral motives. Most severe threats today would not even exist if they'd of been dealt with morally and promptly in the past without compromise. And, these new threats now looming don't have a chance of being fully defused until we begin to.
The moral compass of a nation, those principles that guides it's actions both internally and externally outside its borders, via its government and wider society, can be no better than what the population at large demands of it. Until the moral health of the population is recognized as the key to all freedoms, there's inevitably more destruction to come on our current downward spiral.
However, a moral and principled people will demand principled leadership in all facets of its culture and government and their nation will then be spared much and be prepared to readily survive the rest. Take any immoral personal action and you see the cause-effect destruction to both the person committing it and those around them. Multiply that tens of millions of times over by a nation's peoples and even the best constitution ever conceived, backed by great wealth and military might, won't be enough to retain its freedoms both from assaults internally and externally, directly self-inflicted or not.
Think this is all too simplistic a cause & effect proposal? Then take any particular grave social ill or internal threat to our freedoms today, or any potential external threat, and ask yourself;
"Would this problem likely have been less severe today if our general population and leaders had been more moral and principled yesterday in always diligently seeking first the selfless greater good for all?" Clearly, most every national security threat, internally and externally, and every social ill imaginable, would today be less severe IF the population had been more morally attuned themselves as they would then also have been insisting on more moral and principled leaders at the helm of our nation.
There comes a tipping point where there are just not enough truly good moral and principled people still in positions of leadership and influence in government, religion, business and the media, because there were not enough truly good moral people amongst the general population demanding them, that a nation will inevitably decline and be open to ever greater destruction.
Can there be any doubt that as a population generally succumbs to immorality that it is also moving towards ever greater destruction and loss of freedom? Which way have we been moving over the last half century with our destruction of the family via huge increases in divorce, premarital sex, abortion, pornography, etc.? That they are culturally blessed with legality is no where near as bad as the fact that there are so many more today that have no personal restraint in eagerly embracing them. And, what of the increase in apathy, drug use, suicide, fatherless children, child abuse, widespread corruption in business and government, crime, poverty, discrimination, loss of civil liberties, and all the rest? How can this be here in the richest country the world has ever known? Perhaps, simply because it's also becoming one of the most morally depraved and unprincipled, as well!
The misery we are reaping today is from what we've sown yesterday, and it will not only continue, but increase until we begin to sow today for a different harvest tomorrow.
It's never initially up to the government and cultural leaders, but rather the responsibility always lies first with each of us to demand better of ourselves, our families, and finally, collectively, from all of our leaders.
What bothered me most about the Clinton White House sex scandals was not what he did, but rather the numbed down 'tolerance' of our general population. How far we've come, a generation ago he'd of promptly resigned in shame because he would have known the people would demand no less. Our collective lack of outrage today, instead, shamefully said much more about all of us than it ever did of him.
The greatest blessing, or curse, is contained in the history proven dictum that most peoples eventually end up with the kind of government, security, society, culture, and freedoms they rightfully and justfully deserve! That is why
the greatest threat to our national security is,
and always has been at its base root,
the growing immorality and loss of principles amongst the general public.
"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." -Benjamin Franklin
"We ask why these things have come upon us, and the old people answer, Men have forgotten God." -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in
Gulag Archipelago
If we fail to turn away from our current selfish and apathetic course and fail to fan the flames of a nation-wide grass roots revival eagerly embracing the highest moral standards and principles, and then demanding the same of all our leaders... we're doomed!
Many have already seen/read the following, but it's well worth repeating here...
On National TV Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" regarding 9-11-01... And Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.
She said "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?" In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body was found recently) complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school... the Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK. Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide) And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK.
Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued (There's a big difference between disciplining and touching, beating, smacking humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we said, OK.
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, OK. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, OK.
Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good. And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said, OK.
And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the internet. And we said OK, they're entitled to their speech. And then the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "we reap what we sow."
"Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl killed in her classroom?
Sincerely, Concerned Student
... and the reply...
"Dear Concerned Student, I am not allowed in schools".
Sincerely, God.
You might also enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
- "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and call it Pluralism.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of __expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest..
In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."
As I later realized the stark contrast that on September 10th, 2001 it was illegal in American classrooms to pray, but that on September 11th you could hardly find any classroom anywhere in America that was not, only then did I began to grasp how a truly good God could ever permit evil, pain, and suffering... so that a 'greater good' might come of it, our turning back towards God and His protective embrace.
I hope and pray we've begun turning around, but am afraid we'd all better get much more committed, and quickly, for the sakes of all our children!
Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments you might have...
Shane Connor (owner
KI4U, Inc.)