Time to Put Our Best Face Forward

We are in what historians call “days of destiny.” Our nation’s strength and resolve are being tested and newly defined. We are not only Americans, but citizens of the world.

Our mission is to be watchful and protective of our democracy. What is important is that we keep the dream of America strong. “All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote.

Right now, the United States is playing to a theater of nations. The question is, beyond our extraordinary wealth and military capabilities, what are we showing them?

We are sending a mixed message. The same country that encourages men and women to become firefighters, teachers and presidents is raising a generation of children increasingly violent and morally unsteady.

The same republic that brought us Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr. and the heroes of Sept.11 every 48 hours mourns the death of 26 children killed by other children.

How could we, with all of our knowledge, raise kids who kill or tolerate any moral degeneration? The experts can speculate about the cause, but in the end it is we who must answer.

Could it be the six hours of television the average child and adult watches a day, exposing them to countless acts of sex and violence? Alcohol and drug abuse? The absence of God and moral statutes from public life? Or could it be the increasing number of broken homes?

The latest figures suggest that only one of four children will be lucky enough to have lived in an intact two-parent family until the age of 16. Or could it be a nation that, for a moment in history, has forgotten how great she is, until the injustice of Sept. 11 awakened her from a fitful sleep?

Beyond the epidemic of violence, we have the plagues of ignorance and moral relativity.

According to the educational psychologist Michelle Borba, 85% of Ivy League freshmen and sophomores admitted to cheating when surveyed, and one out of four felt it acceptable to lie on a job application.

One could write endlessly of our achievements and the noble citizens, past and present, who have blessed our great nation. But America is great because of her people.

In these “days of destiny,” we must look at the very best and worst in society and practice preventive medicine to preserve the dignity of our republic.

Had we seen the signs more clearly, we could have stopped the terrorists from their destructive end. How much more intently must we look at the obvious signs of the moral cultural war within? How many more lives will we be able to save?

By virtue of our democracy, we have the power to change our lives and the world in which we live. We are the broadcasting station for the globe. What is possible here, is possible anywhere.

As we step into the future and forge a new destiny, we must vanquish the forces that would keep us from burning brightly. Our armed forces are risking their lives for our freedom.

Today, let us make them proud by taking hold of the things that make America great, that make her beautiful, and put those on the world stage.