It is time to recognize realities of hope, change

If you are curious about the future of our country; if you believe that stories about the Great Depression are boring; if the stuff about the “Greatest Generation” is nauseous; please accept my apologies on behalf of us who believe they are not just the stuff of legends but the core of our culture.

On Aug. 11, the National Broadcasting System before capping off the 2012 Olympics presented an hour-long documentary on Great Britain and “Their Finest Hour.” Rather than being just another summary of World War II, it vividly describes the courage and determination of the British people and finally the Americans to conquer an ideology completely foreign to our Christian principles.

The scenes can never adequately describe the horror, the pain and losses those involved suffered to achieve a victory over an alien concept. Those were your ancestors and mine who to responded in a display of conviction and force never before known to man.

The history lesson, so precisely illustrated, points out the consequences of society being manipulated by those who principles are essentially foreign to the background we accept.

The history lesson clearly indicates the importance of inspired and inspiring leadership. Churchill was not only the right man at the right time he spoke the language of the people he was honor bound to save through a victory.. He catered to all his people and could easily see the importance of his role to the American people.

There were skeptics then as there are now. Isolationists turned a blind eye and were out spoken. But that the president of the United States thought Churchill’s bust in the Oval Office was inappropriate is a bit late in the game. It illustrates perfectly the great misunderstanding of America so easily found in both the liberal left and in non-English speaking parts of the world.

Today we are being manipulated by cultures who do not begin to appreciate the role we have played in advancing civilization. They have no regard for the principles we cherish and defend. Our society is not based on the suppression of your religious belief. Our society is not based on denying you the opportunity to succeed by destroying your will. Our society is rooted in the importance of every individual never better illustrated than in the Declaration of Independence … a document written in English

That document might be translatable but its meaning can only be found and understood in the minds of those who understand the pain and suffering endured to create and maintain it. The words to our national anthem are meaningless to those whose ideologies we are being force fed on occasion.

An interesting aspect to the documentary was that both President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were out spoken in their Christianity. Imagine them singing” Onward Christian Soldiers” together on the deck of a warship off the coast of Newfoundland.

Now you can deride that level of faith until hell freezes over, but it was their steadfastness in their principles that enabled us to be victorious. Should all this seem strange and out of place these days that is truly sad. The very foundations of our country lie not in diversity but in allegiance to the same tenets our forebearers brought to our shores.

Don’t doubt for a minute that the ways of life we so take for granted are not under assault. In the name of lord knows what, we are being prodded, persuaded, brain washed and tricked into believing we have been wrong all these centuries. The great light we supposedly need is being provided by those who have not the slightest idea of right from wrong nor the courage to stand for anything except an indefensible blind belief.

The “hope and change” slogan of 2008 belonged to those who felt we needed to change and hoped we would all agree ... change to what? The hope was that we were all too self-absorbed to consider the possibilities. The hope was that we were all too dense to have either never understood our heritage or to have taken it for granted.

A Denver newspaper at one time had in its masthead “He who lives in hope lives in despair.” It simply says that hope “isn’t going to get ’er done.”

It is past time to recognize the realities of hope and change. The British had no time to be hoping They found out early on that diplomatic charm and conversation were meaningless. They became resolute in the defense of their principles. We need to do likewise and for the same reasons.

PAUL RECHNITZER

Sagle