I am an American.

I am an American. What a simple statement. I was born in the USA. I happened to be born white. I grew up in a Christian home and accepted Jesus into my life around forty years ago. I grew up in Louisville, KY at a time when segregation was the norm. In college I joined with the NAACP demonstrations knowing intuitively that fellow human beings should not be treated the way I personally witnessed every day. I grew up a Democrat. Members of my extended family served in Congress, or ran for Governor of the State. I grew up having a sense that the environment was something to be honored and protected. Our family would talk "politics" regularly around the dinner table. Dad had an opportunity to buy a business. Mother would keep the books and they struggled to keep the business going despite literally flood and fire. They kept my brother and I well fed, schooled, clothed and loved. Yes I was born in the USA. I am an American. I was drafted into the Army after college. I met my wife while I served my two years as a "soldier". I had a good career as a chemist working for the Defense department for 35 years. We were blessed to have our own two boys. Yes I am an American. I grew up in a time where we learned our history and admired our founding fathers. Being an American meant something to me. It meant hope and opportunity and hard work and positive change in people's lives. It meant defending our freedom from the communist threat that was ever present and very real. My parents knew war. I was born in 1940 an ominous time to be an American, a time when the American way of life was defended with the blood of its men and women. I was born in the USA, what a blessing.

Times have changed and not for the better. In my seventy years I have seen the devastating effects of simple decisions our country has made. As a society we have rejected the sanctity of life, we have moved faith from our daily discourse and we have rejected the founding principles that have made this country unique in this world. Environmentalism has become a cult that rejects truth for a narrative that is both arrogant and simply wrong. We live in a post modern world and we see that expressed most vividly by the Democratic Party. This is not the America I knew growing up. Our values are changing and not for the better. Over the years I have moved away from my Democratic roots. That move has been correlated to the Democratic Party's move away from our Christian heritage and our principles established by our founding fathers. I am a conservative pure and simple. Someone has said that you don't know what freedom is until you have lost it. We are losing our freedom.

I woke up one day and it was gone. I no longer made decisions for myself and my family; I had a new consultant looking out for me. That consultant was my Government. No longer could I speak publicly about my faith in Jesus. My Government told me that I was being intolerant with such speech. I spoke out for the unborn and lamented the loss of life by abortion. I tried to have a dialogue about the sanctity of life, but my Government said that I was being oppressive to women's rights and that I was intolerant. I spoke out when I saw that the global warming science was not science, but propaganda. I spoke out against its intent to control the world's economy. My Government called me a denier and accused me of being closed minded, not a scientist at all. My Government insisted that consensus would rule, not common sense. I spoke out against "Health Care Reform" and my Government called it "hate speech" and I was accused of being a raciest and I was accused of fomenting acts of violence. My Government made those accusations because I dared oppose them with common sense objections and rational argument. I joined the Tea Party to express my frustration with This Government and I was called a "Tea Bagger" a sexual slur by my Government and accused of fomenting racial hatred and violence. My Government will now decide the degree of medical care I get. I will be taxed to the hilt so that I no longer control my income; the Government does that for me. My Dad's business will fail because of the tax burdens placed on it. I will have to rely on Government for my personal well being. That is not the Government our Founders envisioned. My way of life will be forever changed by an oppressive out of control Government and it will all be done for my best interest. Thank you very much, but I reject that form of Governmental intrusiveness to the core. I grew up in America and I know better.

The truth is mightier than the sword and I know that because I grew up free in America. My weapon is prayer something my present Government will never understand at least as it stands today. I grew up in an America practicing my faith and I will practice that faith to my last dying breath. The Government will never take that away from me. I reach out to a God who is over all and who is all powerful to protect and to preserve each and every one of us who call upon His name. This new America, this new hope and change cannot stand. It is doomed to failure. It will destroy lives, it is doing that even now, and it will destroy what I know as America. That is its intent. I will do what I can to slow that process, perhaps stop that process. I will speak out no matter what my Government says I am a, bigot, homophobe, tea bagger, raciest, denier, Bible clinger, war monger and more. What profound lies.

I will call upon the Lord who is my strength and my shield. Ours will not be violent opposition to tyranny it will be a spiritual one. I know the end of the story. It isn't pretty, but God does win in the end. In Christ we have already won. We live in a new world. It will be a stormy one. We are headed toward economic and social unrest that we have never experienced before. Inflation is coming. Unemployment will increase. The dollar may collapse. People will struggle to keep food on the table and to keep their families safe. Is that too bleak a picture? It doesn't have to happen, but we need to stand up against what is happening to our country before it degenerates to something like anarchy. The window of opportunity is closing fast. If you value your freedom, if you hold fast to what it is to be an American then pray. The America I was born in may not be the America I die in. For now prayer is our mightiest weapon. Pray!