But the culture of debt removes the stigma of running up massive credit card balances and buying the biggest house they can finance, putting people out on a limb that breaks during economic downturns. When that culture is manifest not only in personal and household finances but also in corporate decision-making and bank lending practices, these reckless habits inevitably lead to a financial crisis such as the one America currently faces. And then voters also allow such appalling behavior from their elected officials, leading to the titanic debt and deficits now being incurred by the government.

This is a national security issue, not just economic. China holds almost a trillion dollars in U.S. debt, and could seriously weaken our nation by flooding the market with treasury securities. The mounting interest on this debt also deprives us of resources needed for military priorities, border security and intelligence gathering.

It is also a social issue. In Proverbs, the Bible teaches us that “The borrower is a slave to the lender.” Biblical instruction includes faithful financial stewardship that focuses on responsible living rather than covetous pursuit of every shiny new toy. Strong families are essential to strong economies, and sound financial management is a family value.

Strong families have never been more important. They provide good learning and nurturing environments for the next generation of American workers, and patriotic citizens that either join the national defense or support and honor those who do.

Here too, all conservatives must unite. A recent Obama Administration reports shows that the government now considers pro-life, pro-gun and pro-family Americans to be potential terrorists. The government also outrageously warns that U.S. military veterans should be monitored as potential terror threats. All this, while Barack Obama kowtows to foreign leaders and tries to build friendly relationships with anti-American tyrants. The current government is diverting attention from terrorists to those fighting terrorists, and conservatives must fight this shift.

Unfortunately, one final reason that some conservatives do not work together is because some of their leaders simply do not like each other. Some economic leaders look upon social conservatives with disdain. Some social leaders have taken troubling stances on various economic issues, often because they do not understand the complex long-term consequences of such policies. These social leaders are also appalled by the actions and lifestyle choices of some of their conservative counterparts, and do not want to appear to condone such behaviors.

These divisions are real, making it difficult for the few leaders that genuinely belong to all three camps to build bridges between them. But these bridges must be built.

Ronald Reagan spoke of America as a shining city upon a hill. Those words were first uttered by Puritan John Winthrop in 1630, in what was then the colony of Massachusetts. Three and a half centuries later, one of this nation’s greatest presidents declared that America was indeed that shining city.

All three types of conservatives in the Reagan Coalition are found in that image. The city is shining, alight with commerce and prosperity. It is secure, sitting atop a hill in a defensible position, protected and able to send aid to others. And it holds to the deep and eternal truths that form the foundation of our faith and values, as reflected in the biblical language from which Reverend Winthrop himself drew in speaking of this city. In that city all conservatives, economic, national security and social, stand united to declare a philosophy for safety, prosperity and happiness for all Americans.

During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin said, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” All of the current dangers of government control over our lives and economy, undermining family values and secularizing society, and abandoning the war against terrorist threats to start implying that conservatives are the true threat, constitute a massive power grab by the Far Left to forever remake America in their image. The most liberal president in history is working with the most liberal Congress in history to enact this ultra-liberal agenda, and to pack America’s courts with liberal judges who will do by judicial fiat whatever the president and Congress cannot do through legislation or regulation. Only by standing together can conservatives hope to thwart this radical remaking of America.

We must all stand united in this struggle. The future of our children and grandchildren depend on our success.