Last weekend, we celebrated the 8th birthday of one our youngest (of 18) grandchildren. For all of us, "family events" like these offer an opportunity to reflect on the future of our progeny.
President Ronald Reagan (having borrowed the phrase from John Winthrop) often described our nation thus: "America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere." Unfortunately, given the present domestic trajectory of our country and threats from foreign adversaries, our hopes for all our grandchildren may well fall short of Reagan's vision unless things change dramatically and in short order.
Herewith, some current domestic vulnerabilities:
Constitutional infringement: "Educators" widely endorse sexual and racial indoctrination in public schools without parental consent. When Christian conservative parents object, our corrupt Department of Justice threatens them with "domestic terrorism" charges. See also: FBI field office in Virginia warns "radical traditional Catholics" pose extremist threat.
Mass shootings, attacks on law officers and violent crime rates have spiked as the sanctity of human life has been driven from public square by Marxist media and prosecutorial advocacy favoring criminals over their victims. The Biden solution: infringe on Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens.
National debt: more than $31 trillion; Each taxpayer's share: nearly $1 million.
Inflation and looming global recession could cause American fiat currency to become virtually worthless.
Food industry attacks: In 2022, nearly 30 mostly unexplained fires destroyed U.S. food processing facilities.
According to the Department of Energy, 171 human attacks on our national power grid occurred in 2022.
American energy independence surrendered by executive orders in January 2022; price of gasoline increased 100% in days.
Government overreach during COVID subjected American citizens to unconstitutional mandates, controls and potential long-term harm from "experimental" vaccines.
Equal opportunity replaced by government demands for "Equal Outcomes" -- see Kamala Harris.
Illegal migrant invasion over an open border; more than 5 million we know of since Joe Biden took office.
The federal government's failure to respond to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, will be remembered long after a too-little-too-late presidential visit.
Elections: Once one vote per legally registered voter is abandoned for en masse mail-in ballots, fraud can replace the sacred duty of We the People.
Some of the threats from beyond our country:
PRC aggression: Spying, infiltrating and expanding its military and sabotage capabilities.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine: President Biden's bold, secret trip to Kiev will be one of his "talking points" for many weeks to come. But unless it results in a change of his policy of providing Ukraine with too little, too late to win -- but just enough not to lose -- it will simply prolong the Kremlin's sanguinary crimes against humanity.
Iranian nuclear weapons: Biden's sub rosa negotiations to reduce sanctions on Iran in exchange for increasing oil production improves the Ayatollah's ability to acquire nuclear weapons -- an existential threat to Israel.
North Korea's long-range missiles and nuclear coercion keep our Asian-friendly allies hoping for mutual defense agreements with the U.S. Biden's response: crickets.
World Economic Forum lunacy: This year's gathering of globalist gadflies produced, inter alia, advice on the environment, societal "equity" and government-private sector measures to reduce carbon, our "most dangerous peril."
This litany of dangers isn't intended to sow fear. Instead, it is to motivate action to preserve Ronald Reagan's "shining city" for your grandchildren and mine.
In my family that means we must be prepared. We do so by demonstrating to our children in words and actions that we are followers of Jesus Christ. We know where we are going and why we are going there. We also abide by St. Paul's admonition in his second letter to his protege, Timothy: "... be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction."
Finally, we remind them of the order Jesus Christ issued after His resurrection, "Occupy until I return."