OPINION: Three gifts for America

By Dr. Jannie B. Johnson

Jackson Advocate Guest Writer

This Christmas, I wish for America the gifts of courage, realization and truth. She needs courage, courage to seek the truth, to speak the truth and the courage to live the truth daily.

America has found modern-day reasons to shift the norms to fit the circumstances, situations and predicaments she has experienced and experiencing. Now, she has a “new attitude” and/or new definitions for chastity, marriage, fidelity, divorce, abortion, gambling, violence, sex and homosexuality.

I wish for America the gift of realization, realization that her citizens, born or naturalized, are not patriotic innately. They have to be taught patriotism, respect, responsibility, values and morals. They have to be taught the truth, the Source of America’s strength and the Source of all goodness, kindness and goodwill. This teaching is the responsibility of both the private and public sectors. Those who know the truth must teach; those who live the truth must lead. 

America uses her 1st Amendment to excuse the looseness, lawlessness, mindlessness, uncivil, and unnatural behavior of her citizenry. She calls it their freedom. She has pushed Constitutional rights, and individual rights, to the brink of diminishing returns and no return.

Little by little America has allowed herself to be tied up and tangled up in her thinking, in her actions and in her courts. Now, she is afraid to discipline anybody for anything for fear of suits, protest and bad press.

America has not made discipline a strong priority. Nevertheless, it is true her strength is in the discipline! No discipline, no strength, period, no matter what the reasons are. 

I wish for America the gift of truth. She has run passed warning signs, caution lights and common sense in her zeal for life to be positive, optimistic and politically correct. She has skirted, ducked and dodged major issues, problems and concerns: a godless education is ruination to a people. A godless government will misuse and abuse the people governed. Godless behavior will embarrass; godless sexual relationships can make ill, kill and destroy.

Misbehavior is not freedom. Cutting off the nose to spite the face, biting the hand that feeds, robbing the people who support and provide and disrespecting the authority that protects is not freedom but nonsense!

Maybe the use of euphemisms is the “sweet’” reason America is slipping into moral paralysis, losing ground where she once stood strong and now becoming unable to distinguish between what’s right and what’s wrong.

Gresham’s law comes to mind. Gresham’s law is an economic principle dealing with the circulation of money. The law states that “bad money” tends to drive out “good money”. The good money disappears into private holdings while the bad money remains in circulation.

Gresham’s law can be applied to other matters than that of money. America needs to realize that she must preserve the good norms and values such as character, love, faith, honesty, loyalty, morality and integrity. Or, unbecoming behavior, unnatural lifestyles, weird appearances, dishonesty and immorality, the bad norms/values, will smother out the good character traits. Let’s be alert, lest we ignore reality.

Now may the Christ of Christmas give America the courage to realize her need of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent One, the God of her fathers.