Actions and Words

The major problem in the U.S. is the loss of enthusiasm for the American Idea.

I have a good friend who told me a story. He was flying with his family on an American Airlines flight, when the steward told him that they had failed to load the kosher meals that he had ordered. My friend did not get angry, nor did he panic. They had some food with them, and in a pinch, he could find some fruit or vegetables to eat. The steward decided that he was also a man of the cloth and confidently told my friend that “God would forgive you” if he just ate the regular non-kosher airplane food. My friend thanked him for his advice and successfully completed the flight without recourse to breaking Jewish dietary laws (which in times of real emergency, like during a war, can be abrogated).

Oftentimes, we are presented with choices that involve compromising our values or stated beliefs. Let’s imagine some non-Jewish billionaire offering $10 million to any religious Jew who would violate the Sabbath and fly to him to receive his check. While I would like to believe that not a religious Jew in the world would agree to do the same, I can’t say that such would be the case. And one of the biggest problems we face today in the West, including the U.S., is the loss of religious association of the countries that have been the most successful in history. When one ties American exceptionalism to religious values and belief — as Charlie Kirk seamlessly did — then there can be no compromise on American values. But when religion is weak, the ability to project and hold fast to the American ideals of liberty and justice for all begins to crumble. Religion is the American retaining wall.

I imagine that anyone reading this article (and thanks to the wonderful and supportive readership!) would no doubt do his all to prevent someone from taking over his home. He has locks, maybe some Ring cameras, and probably weapons as last resort to prevent a break-in or a squatter’s arrival. Why? The obvious answer is that he loves his home and family. It is the most basic American unit, and normal Americans would protect it with their lives. But what if you felt that your house was on stolen Indian land? What if you loathed your family, your house, and your neighborhood? Maybe you would celebrate a squatter taking over the place. Maybe you’d leave the doors unlocked because you really don’t care about the safety and well-being of those who live with you in your home. Now apply those concepts to a country.

A country that is proud of its accomplishments, heritage, and potential would protect its borders with all of its military and technical ability. Look at those triple rows of fences and wires that Egypt has between the Sinai Desert and Gaza. Egypt may be a dump, but they have enough pride to say that they don’t want the Palestinians to enter. If the U.S. had believed at 1 percent in itself, in its role in the world, and its unique freedoms, it would have protected the southern border for decades as Donald Trump is currently doing today. But what happens when much of the population has given up on religion? What is the value of “God-given rights” when many say that there is no God? Many Americans don’t realize how incredibly good the U.S. is compared to the rest of the world, including Europe. When the underlying religious concepts that drove the formation of the U.S. are weakened, then why should one care about the U.S. having free speech or the right to bear arms? One cannot separate the religious nature of the U.S. and its unique position in the world. Mark Steyn noted in the past that other Western governments grant rights, which they readily took away during COVID. The U.S. has in its founding documents that God Alone gave Americans the rights they enjoy; no government can abrogate them. But what happens when much of the population is blue-haired, unbelieving communists?

The Left-Muslim axis is no accident. The Left needs a bogeyman, and Israel and the Jews (and their supporters like Donald Trump) are especially hated by Muslims. The Muslims don’t have the size or pull — yet — to take over the West, so they need the useful idiots whom they will kill last in order to get a political foothold in countries they wish to conquer. Could the Mighty Midget of Michigan have won running as a Muslim without the support of the lefty Democratic machine (state and national)? Chuck Schumer threw tens of millions of Democrat dollars to get him elected, only to have the clown declare that he would not support Schumer as head of the Senate. As in 1979 Iran, the Muslims are using the Left to get into the express lane of takeover; after they no longer needed lefties, the Ayatollah’s men arrested, tortured, and killed many of their former friends. They never learn.

For America to succeed and get away from playing footsie with alien ideologies and politics hiding as religion, there needs to be some type of religious revival. In the Jewish world, it is well-known that there are several million FEWER Jews today than there were on the eve of World War II in August 1939. That is a true genocide and not the play-type supposedly happening in Gaza, where the IDF kills a couple of terrorists a week in an “ongoing genocide.” Within the Jewish world, the orthodox represent the smallest piece of the pie — but it is the only piece that is actually growing. Many Jews are coming to religious observance and orthodox families still have babies at rates well over replacement numbers. The conservative and reform movements are dying out from high dues and low turnout. Many of the younger members are marrying non-Jews and retiring their family’s thousands of years old Jewish Jerseys. When the Pew polls show religious identification going up in the U.S., then maybe there will be hope. Without the religious vibes, America and its glory make no sense — and cannot stand up against forces such as communism and Islam.

While people express frustration over the lack of congressional performance, there is something we need to remember. Through probably the 1980s, maybe 1990s, most of the Congress was white, Christian males. They could agree on 90 percent of issues including no gay marriage and trans being insane. They could fight over tax rates or how much of an olive branch to offer Moscow. Today, we have a Congress with many members who have no religious affiliation. They believe that men can give birth and that abortion through seventh grade is a human right. How do you expect anything to get accomplished beyond party lines? Whoever holds the Congress makes the rules. There is no point of agreement between people who see abortion as murder and those who see it as a lifestyle choice.

Jews today still pore over texts that were written thousands of years ago. While the U.S. is not that old, John Adams was dead on when he said that the Constitution was meant for “a moral and religious people.” I can try to fit into Shaq’s shoes, but it is not going to work. Americans by birth and passport cannot make America work without the foundational American values — and those values are religious in source. The more religious the people, the less room for the destructive ideologies infecting the Democratic Party. A person who loves the flag will not practice his golf swing during the National Anthem. A person who treasures his country will not leave its southern door open. America is worth keeping. Never give up on her.

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