Brigitte Gabriel: America, Where Have You Gone?

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By Brigitte Gabriel, CNSNews, September 13, 2018

They don’t make many TV shows anymore like the ones I watched growing up.

I loved the tightly knit, God-loving, family units depicted on “The Waltons” and “Little House on the Prairie.” These families forged their own paths, using their ingenuity and bare hands to make a living, never forgetting what matters most is not what you have in your life, but who you have.

Instead, today we have the chaos of “Real Housewives,” the self-absorbed materialism of the Kardashians, the racial politics of “Black-ish,” the vulgarity mixed with political propaganda on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and the list goes on and on.

Judeo-Christian values are the fundamental building blocks of Western civilization. Freedom, family, faith, and fortitude all helped provide the infrastructure for the benefits we reap today. But these principles that helped shape our nation have been slowly eroding, leaving us vulnerable to catastrophic internal collapse.

Lincoln said it best when he noted:

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?—Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!—All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined … could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

(Abraham Lincoln, “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions: Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois,” January 27, 1838.)

The Path to Destruction

Just like the Roman Empire before it, America, mighty as it is, can self-destruct. But this process will likely not happen overnight. Even if our destruction were to occur in the blink of an eye, countless warning signs have preceded it.

The Catos and Ciceros of Rome predicted the empire’s collapse nearly half a millennium before its actual fall. They knew that as they shifted from republic to empire, the consequences would be fatal. Freedoms were taken away, corruption was legitimized, and government entitlements bled the empire dry.

“The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance.”

—CICERO, 55 BC

So, we’ve evidently learned nothing over the past 2,073 years!

Today, even our most fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech, are under attack by the tyranny of “tolerance.” Free speech is the new “hate speech,” and the right to exercise one’s opinion seems to end where the radical left’s feelings begin.

Corruption at the highest levels of our government seems to go either unnoticed or unpunished. When the secretary of state can destroy evidence in an ongoing federal corruption investigation only to have her pals at the FBI cover for her, we do not have rule of law; we have anarchy.

Those who choose to put their lives on the line to defend this nation and enforce its laws as their patriotic and civic duty are rewarded with mockery, disrespect, and slander from its citizens. The media spreads falsehoods about the American police officer, seeking to inflame racial tensions between black and white at almost every turn. Of course, this only takes place when they’re not spreading fake news stories about Russia colluding with President Trump to rig the election.

Elected officials seem particularly generous spending your tax dollars on welfare programs for unvetted Islamic refugees and newly arrived immigrants, many of whom do not respect our nation or the values it embodies.

Worst of all, our enemies seem to be as united as we are divided. While many radical Islamists from all across the globe have been flocking to join the Islamic caliphate known as ISIS, others, inspired by their progress, have chosen to wage war from right outside their Western backyards.

Foolishly, many tasked with protecting us have refused to take the threats we face seriously. In doing so, they have endangered their citizens in the name of political correctness and “social justice.”

Parents remain too distracted by their careers, material possessions, or modern technological devices to notice that their children are being taught in their daily classes to hate this nation, those who founded it, and even the very principles it was founded upon.

Instead of the tight-knit, God-loving families I watched on my black-and-white television, American families have become fragmented, distracted, and self-absorbed units. That’s what happens when all of a sudden, you can get any piece of information you want in the blink of an eye.

It’s Not Too Late

We are still heading down a dangerous road, with fewer and fewer exit signs left before we reach the point of no return. But if we’re going to restore America to prominence, we can only do so by also recognizing and resurrecting the principles that made America the shining city on a hill we all remember it to be.

We must not be ashamed of our heritage, our nationality, or our way of life. If we as Americans cannot champion the virtues of freedom, we can’t possibly expect others to do so.

Regardless of color, gender, or background, as Americans, we are all united under the same flag of freedom. Every citizen who bleeds red, white, and blue and does not apologize for their patriotism can be used as an instrument of change in this life.

Fragmented we are fragile, but united, we possess the potential to save this nation from doom and restore it to its rightful place in history as the greatest in the history of mankind. But we cannot accomplish this from our keyboards. We must rise, and take action, matching the enthusiasm of our enemies.

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Brigitte Gabriel is a New York Times best selling author, terrorism expert and founder of Act for America. Her new book, “RISE: In Defense of Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom,” was released on Sept. 11.

https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/brigitte-gabriel/america-where-have-you-gone