The Decline of America: Will it Ever Be Great Again?
What do you and I as citizens and even more importantly as Christians contribute to our nation to make it better? Have you thought about it? Aside from paying taxes etc. what do you personally contribute?
Put aside your cynical attitude for a moment (if you can?) and consider in what other ways you personally help your community and nation to flourish.
As Christians our faith and our participation in the Kingdom of God in the here and now allows us to make the world a better place. If we truly have a daily relationship with Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit we are being witnesses in our thinking and doing.
If God is for us who can be against us?
Yet if we are part-time, weekend Christians, if we seldom or never speak to our Lord we claim we worship we become a pawn in the worldly games of politics. How?
Let me illustrate by focusing for a moment on some people's views on the COVID-19 vaccine. I am not endorsing the vaccine but making a point.
Here are some statements from people about the vaccine.
"The coronavirus is a wildly overrated threat. Yes, it’s appropriate and good to protect old and vulnerable people. But I’m not old or vulnerable. If I get it, I’ll be fine. In fact, maybe I have gotten it, and I am fine. I don’t know why I should consider this disease more dangerous than driving a car, a risky thing I do every day without a moment’s worry. Liberals, Democrats, and public-health elites have been so wrong so often, we’d be better off doing the opposite of almost everything they say." from the article: It’s Not Vaccine Hesitancy. It’s COVID-19 Denialism.
"I don’t need some novel pharmaceutical product to give me permission to do the things I’m already doing. This isn’t even an FDA-approved vaccine; it’s authorized for an emergency. Well, I don’t consider COVID-19 a personal emergency. So why would I sign up to be an early guinea pig for a therapy that I don’t need, whose long-term effects we don’t understand? I’d rather bet on my immune system than on Big Pharma." from the article:
Ok so what I want you to notice is the complete distrust of government and science. It seems that now for some people any effort by someone in the government is automatically objected to. I understand and there are times when we need to object.
So what in the past has made America Great that we need to be Great again?
"In my opinion, there are several factors that have made this country great in the past, among which have been the U.S. Constitution and the freedoms that it protects, our democratic representative government, and our sense of respect and generosity for people and our respect for truth in government.
In addition, our very real dedication to our work ethic which has fostered the ability to advance in society. We also have allowed business to flourish, which has improve our standard of living and our ability to enjoy life. Our country has been enriched by the diversity of the immigrants who have added to our society and our culture; the Irish, the Chinese, the freed slaves, The European Jews, the French and more recently, the Asian immigrants. These are some of the factors that have made America great.
In summary, the present direction of our government seems to sacrifice several of the prime reasons this country has been great in the past and can still be great in the future. Lies fostered by those who govern, lack of representation of the will of the people, and propping up the profitability of business seems to be where we are at. Is this what you, the reader wishes to be the defining element of our greatness, or do you want a return to the more virtuous elements of what has made America great and respected in the past, and can still be part of our future?
From the article: What made America great to begin with
Today we as a nation have been coached to dislike, hate, and distrust immigrants. With our declining birthrate it will be the immigrants that keep our economy working. As a culture, we now seem to have lost the ability to show respect and generosity to others. Our representative government has devolved into a bunch of malcontents in an echo chamber of selfish and foolish demands. Our work ethic is still reasonably good yet... many would rather not work.
David Epstein in his book: Range (link) points to what we as a nation, a people (in my opinion) are shutting down by our narrow-minded cynicism, the ability to be open-minded, sober-minded, willing to work hard and innovate by trying many things in life. We don't trust specialists in science or the government. Then who do we trust, ourselves? Trusting your own pride and sin to inform you through your emotional response has never been shown to be a factor in making America Great!
"At the same time, certain fields demand a level of specialization. That specialization can become narrow and even backfire, and that’s why in real-world decision-making making we need generalists and specialists. (In the past year, we too often looked solely to experts in epidemiology for decision-making when we needed to consider a wide range of issues—from mental health to vaccine skepticism, to the economic toll of lockdowns, the psychology of mask-wearing, etc.) We need the specialists, but also the generalists." from the article: “Range” and the Generalist vs. Specialist Debate
When you and I completely work against innovation or even lack any objective reasoning we are shutting down the innovations and discoveries that helped make America a leader in not only technology but Academics and Thought. We all make America Dumber by resisting everything (specialists and generalists) we don't like or our favorite politician claims is not a good thing.
So be a generalist or a specialist or perhaps you could rethink your thinking and help America be great again by encouraging thinking and innovation, even if it's a vaccine you don't like.