Phil Brennan
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003

I was thinking about the tragic story of Dru Sjodin last night as I watched the news and I began almost automatically to pray for her and her family. And then it occurred to me that at that very moment, all across America, people were doing the very same thing. I know that because that's what Americans do when confronted by a tragedy involving one of our fellow citizens.

We pray, or reach into our pockets and send funds to someone whose need has been brought to our attention by the media, or we flock in person to lend a hand, as hordes of Dru's neighbors are doing in a massive search for the missing young lady.

In every major tragedy Americans display incredible generosity, whether the case be something massive such as 9/11, or hurricanes, floods or forest fires that deprive families of their homes. We, and our wallets, are always there in huge numbers for our brothers and sisters in need.

According to Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001, nearly 9 in 10 American families (89 percent) gave charitable contributions in 2000, with an average contribution of $1,620, or 3.2 percent of their income.

Nearly half (44 percent) of adults volunteered their time, making up a volunteer workforce of 83.9 million people. This figure represents the equivalent of over 9 million full-time employees at a value of $239 billion.

We are a caring, decent people who instinctively seek to help any victims of tragedy and disaster. Watch what happens when a football player is grievously injured on the field and lies motionless surrounded by anxious teammates. Dead silence descends on the stadium. Players on both sides openly pray *#0150; and millions of Americans watching the game on television seek God's help for the fallen player.

And the sportscasters make a point of following up on the player's condition after he is taken off the field and to a hospital, updating their viewers, who they know are anxious about the injured player. And if they learn that the victim is not dead or paralyzed, you can almost hear their sighs of relief and their prayers of thanksgiving.

In moments of great tragedy we are one, and our joint compassion is unique in all the world. I can think of no other nation on the face of the earth where the citizens react with outward displays of love and concern for each other as do the American people when the need arises.

We are a good people. It may take a tragedy to bring our Judeo-Christian charity to the surface, but it is always there, ready to spring forth as the need arises.

DeToqueville would be pleased to see that after almost two centuries Americans are still not only good, but far and away the best, most caring human beings on the face of the earth. In times of stress and need, we are indeed in every sense our brothers' keepers.

But he would not be pleased to see that while Americans are good, America, the nation, can no longer claim goodness as one of its virtues.

He would be shocked to learn that there are Americans who are offended by the very notion of goodness in their fellow citizens and who will do everything to see to it that it is driven out of public life.

A nation that is good does not allow small bands of surly malcontents to impose their wills on the majority. A nation that is good would not tolerate a judiciary gone mad to ally itself with those who would ban any mention of God in the public square, or indeed, even in the private sector.

A nation that is good would scoff at any group claiming that marriage – by its very meaning the union of a man and women – could be corrupted by allowing people of the same sex to claim the right to be either legally or sacramentally wed.

A nation that is good would never allow its courts to distort the meaning of its constitution by decreeing a separation of church and state where nowhere in the document is any such doctrine included.

A nation that is good would be appalled at the very notion that its constitution can be construed to allow mothers to murder their unborn children.

A nation that is good would never admit that it is powerless to curb the sexual activities of its youngest citizens, nor would it permit the billion-dollar abortion industry to peddle the idea of free and unfettered sex to children in an obvious attempt to create a endless new generation of customers for its grisly services. (If you question this fact, check Planned Parenthood's teen sex Web site – if you have a strong stomach.)

Americans are a good people. But good people do not stand by while their deepest beliefs and traditions are trashed. Americans are a good people, but good people do not allow tyrants in black robes to trample on their rights to be a good people, nor politicians to aid and abet them in their tyranny.

Remember the words of de Toqueville: When "America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

America’s greatness is imperiled.

Phil Brennan is a veteran journalist who writes for NewsMax.com. He is editor & publisher of Wednesday on the Web (http://www.pvbr.com) and was Washington columnist for National Review magazine in the 1960s. He also served as a staff aide for the House Republican Policy Committee and helped handle the Washington public relations operation for the Alaska Statehood Committee which won statehood for Alaska. He is also a trustee of the Lincoln Heritage Institute and a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

He can be reached at phil@newsmax.com

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