Another election year is upon us. Surely in your town, your group of friends, your church, or you newsfeed, you see strong admonitions that “this election is the most important one of our lifetime” or that if you “vote Red” you can rest easy knowing you changed the world.
The Presidential election of 2016 wasn’t much to sneeze at. What began with almost 20 candidates and a literal circus of performers slowly boiled down to the choice between a woman facing multiple felony indictments and who is quite possibly the most wicked person America has ever nominated in Washington, and a man who very few actually wanted but most settled quite comfortably into supporting after deciding he was a bit less disgusting.
How far we have come since men risked their lives and fortunes and honor for this vote!
The state of our country isn’t just the result of Democrats or Obama or Trump being elected. The elected officials we have are a symptom of the disease that is killing our republic. The candidates we end up with in any election are another symptom, and the past election is just a band aid on a gaping wound.
Despite Republicans having the majority in the House, Senate, and the White House, very little has changed for the better in this country. How else would you describe the rapid advance in social dysfunction, or the ever-rising number of abortions, or suicides, or divorce?
Despite the outcome of the election, America will not be better or different this week, this month, or in the next four years.
What Makes America Great
We will only see real change when parents spend more time with their children than their hobbies
or TV, when Dads lead their families in worship and prayer, when mothers are the primary influence in their children’s lives, when Christians love the word of God instead of reinterpreting it, when hard work is valued over entertainment, when good books are opened more than a browser, and when we value our status as citizens of Heaven over our American birthright.
— Read my post about the Christianity of George Washington —
When these things happen in the majority of our population, then the next generation will grow up with integrity and knowledge and wisdom. Our next generation of elected officials will not lie, cheat, or steal because they sat at their mother’s knee and learned the principles in scripture on a daily basis; they will value character over power and money; they will not argue over whether an organization that sells baby body parts to the highest bidder is providing women’s healthcare because their judgement will not be clouded by peer pressure and threats. They will know the difference between and man and a woman and will be bold enough to say so. They will already know that every life is precious, because they learned it as a child.
No politician, no single Election is going to make America great again. We have a guide: the principles that made America great in the first place, and I just listed them.
Homes and families.
The Bible.
Their influence on governments and men.
The contentment that comes from hard work.
The knowledge that this world is not our home.
“I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation.
No theoretical checks, no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without virtue in the people is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them.“
James Madison, Father of the Constitution
With another election looming and a multitude of promises being made, we can easily get caught up in the feeling that the next election will fix things. But elections are like a pendulum. The tide moves back and forth. And all the while the culture sinks a little deeper into depravity. Because voting for one party or the other doesn’t really change our country. One party may rapidly hurl us into a mess we cannot get out of, while the other takes us toward the same mess at a slower, friendlier pace.
The candidates we ended up with are a symptom of a much deeper problem in this nation, a problem that won’t be solved by picking the least disgusting candidate. Abortion will not magically disappear because Republicans get elected. Biblical marriage will not automatically come back into favor by our “voting red.” I mean, look at where we are.
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
-Benjamin Franklin
Do your part to change the world. Lead your family. Teach your children Godly principles. Teach them about America’s history. Teach them how to love God with all their heart, mind and strength and to love their neighbors as themselves. Help them pursue a ministry instead of entertainment. Give them Godly examples to follow.
Our strength lies in our people. You and me, your children and my children, your grandchildren and my grandchildren. Let’s focus on that and pray for mercy. May God bless us once more.
While you’re here, visit my Knowledge Keepers Bookstore! In it you’ll find the books and the stories that have shaped this great country, the books that influenced our founders and our ancestors, the books that Americans have mostly ignored or never heard of, but the good books that we should all read and protect. Join me in saving Western Civilization, one book at a time!
Nicki Truesdell is a 2nd-generation homeschooler and mother to 5. She is a homemaker at heart, and loves books, freedom, history and quilts, and blogs about all of these at nickitruesdell.com. She believes that homeschooling can be relaxed and that history is fun, and both can be done with minimal cost or stress, no matter your family’s circumstances. Nicki is a member of the Texas Home Educators Board of Directors. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
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