I am breaking from my self-imposed moratorium on blogging as I was moved by a statement made by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy this morning.
He said that it’s apparent that he and his countrymen are going it alone in this war against the Russians. My heart goes out to him and his people.
As much as feelings are taking precedence over truth in our culture these days, I feel as if I need to discharge my mind regarding the truth about America’s freedom to engage in any war, much less a war for Ukraine, Taiwan, or any NATO country for that matter. Putin and Xi have already discussed this in their latest meetings at the Olympics. Thank you for giving me a hearing.
You see, in America, we are no longer free. We are free to choose which shackles of slavery we wish to adorn ourselves, but we are no longer free. We have forgotten what’s required for freedom, and we have replaced that with our feelings and emotions. The truth be damned.
In my belief system, love requires sacrifice. Your mother and father sacrificed for love when you were born and raised, whether you ever knew or appreciated it. They gave you food and shelter. They changed your diapers, dropped vitamins down your throat, fixed your teeth, prayed over you as you learned how to drive and stayed up late waiting for you to come home from dates. You may be doing the same for your children. Love requires sacrifice.
There can be no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. The America I grew up in was filled with faults, but I still determined I could lay down my life attempting to defend it. People still bravely enter the service having determined the same thing. But many today are likely to view military service as a way to pay for college or achieve gender “equity,” whatever that is. Many are interested in joining to pursue an agenda-laden purpose than to join for duty-oriented service to country.
It’s not your fault, if you are younger than forty, but this is an amorphous construct to you—giving your life for your country. Our victory in World War II was so decisive (from the “greatest generation” that knew all about love and sacrifice), that you never had to determine for yourself if you could give up your life for anything, much less a country run by a republican or a democrat.
Liberals are too busy telling parents how to raise their kids, determining on which swim team to participate, or which bathroom to use based upon their feelings this morning. Conservatives privately wish they didn’t have to die for THIS president and his administration. To be fair, scholars have determined that the military likely self-identifies as conservative which concerns the liberals to no end. So, the current liberal administration is busy “re-educating” the military in critical race theory and gender equity. Fighting our nation’s wars seems to have taken a back seat.
Our founding fathers placed something called their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor on the line. What did they get for their efforts? Franklin said, they’d get a republic, if they could keep it. It seems as if many Americans now don’t want to keep it anymore. Many don’t have the stomach for it anymore. Along the way they have tried hard to revise the founding fathers’ histories.
These days, Germany’s closer to the action and yet confesses that their defenses are hollow. They must not know about ours. It seems we have spent more time lately on carbon credits than on upgrading our defenses. In a speech at West Point last summer, our defense secretary as much stated that critical race theory is a crucial part of a “national defense priority” program. Mr. Secretary, when Xi takes Taiwan, do something for me. Throw your theory at them. I’m sure that will do it.
Before I return to the obscurity from whence I came, hear this. The gods of drugs, money, sex, fame, entertainment, sports, the environment, government, autonomy, or power you choose to shackle yourself to will never make you free. Love requires sacrifice. You are not free to teach conservatives in the military how to be inferior, or to tell parents how to raise their kids, or free to choose which swim team to join, or free to choose which bathroom to use today, if you are not first free.
Republican or democrat, liberal or conservative, orthodox or progressive, blue state or red, find something for which you could lay down your life. Then, we might finally have a chance to help people like the brave Ukrainians. We all might finally be free.