OPINION:
More than a third of young people surveyed by Gallup in a poll conducted earlier this year favored socialism. When did this become the America of today? Whether this is a result of ignorance of history or the influence of liberal indoctrination by some in our universities, these young people would do well to visit beaches at Normandy and Iwo Jima, the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan to learn about young men and women who did believe in American exceptionalism.
While idealists such as Bernie Sanders promote free education and a utopian, socialistic society, in the real world it is hardworking Americans who must pay for these giveaways. These are the same hardworking Americans who have traditionally served in our armed forces around the world to provide liberty for those oppressed by totalitarian regimes.
This desire for liberty was brought about largely due to our Christian belief that every life, including the unborn, has value in God’s sight, regardless of race or economic status.
And how have outsiders viewed America’s place in the world? In the 1800s, French writer Alexis de Tocqueville toured America and spoke of the genuine goodness and faith of the American people. He said, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Pope John Paul II said, “Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”
This Christmas season, all of us should be grateful to God for enabling us to live in this great, free land called America.
ED J. MULVANEY JR.
Anniston, Ala.
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