Practical Patriotrism

Welcome to day  15 of our 40 day countdown to the presidential election. I was getting a little depressed and feeling like my little blog was a waste because no one comments.  But then I checked the number of hits blogger shows and realized that you are out there.  You are just quiet, and that's okay.  

Today I thought I would address the practical side of patriotism with a brief five question checkup to help you evaluate where you are.  Please remember that I most of all stand in need of self-evaluation and improvement, and in no way claim to have the corner on concerned citizenship.

1) Are you registered to vote?

Voter registration varies by state.  I don't know about your experience with the government, but efficiency isn't the hallmark of their style.  If you need to get any paperwork filed, I would start early.  My husband and I have had to deal with this repeatedly having moved all over the country.  Trust us.  Start now.

2) Are you informed about the issues of the day?

Do you know what is going on in Libya, Syria, and Yemen?  Did you see what happened to our ambassador in Benghazi on September 11th, and how our President and Secretary of State knowingly lied to the American public about the root cause?  Do you understand where the national debt is, and the responsibility this places on us and our posterity? Are you aware of the looming taxmageddon set to explode January 1, 2013 and the fiscal cliff we are about to fall off? There are a lot of issues currently in the news.  I can't cover them all, but what you need to understand is that the outcome of these things have great implications for our future. 

I hope you are following the news and staying up to date on those vying for office so that your vote is well-informed.  Be selective of the news sources you use.  As my Grandpa Furness has said, "Remember who it is that's telling the story".  No one is 100% impartial,but a few of our favorite sources  include:

theblaze.com

breitbart.com

wallbuilders.com

 News Talk Radio Personality Mark Levin (http://marklevinshow.com)

John Stossel (http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog)

What are your favorites?  

3) Are you prepared for crisis?

No matter what happens November 6th, I can guarantee that sometime over the next four years you will face some type of emergency.  Are you prepared temporally and spiritually for these things? These concerns weigh heavily on my husband and I.  There seems to be an endless list of things we need to do (improve our food and home storage, organize our personal information and paperwork, pay off our school loans, the list goes on and on). With a finite amount of resources with which to do them, it can be overwhelming.  Nonetheless, we have not been given the spirit of fear, and we shouldn't delay doing something because we can't do everything.

Following are a few sources that I have found helpful:

Spiritual:

Scriptures

General Conference Talks

Patriarchal Blessing

latterdayconservative.com

Temporal:

everydayfoodstorage.net

beprepared.com

The Boy Scout Manual

I'm sure there are a ton of others I am forgetting, so feel free to add to my list in the comments.

4) Do you understand, uphold, and defend the Constitution of the United States?

A couple of years ago I had a gut check and realized that I had never actually sat down and read the Constitution start to finish.  So, one family home evening we read it.  I encourage you to do so if you have not yet.  It is truly an inspired document, and the key to the preservation of our liberties. I quote Abraham Lincoln: 

“Let [the Constitution] be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges, let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs, let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.”

5) Are you teaching your children about America?

Ronald Reagan said, 

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again."

Our kids know about Sponge Bob, Dora, and Elmo.  Do they also know about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin?  They know the lyrics of Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.  Do they also remember the immortal lines of Francis Scott Key and Samuel F. Smith set to music?  They can text and tweet. Can they pray and pledge?

If we cannot find it within ourselves to appreciate,defend and righteously conduct ourselves upon this great land, I fear we are not worthy of its blessings. 

"For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written."

(Ether 2:10-12)

May we have the courage to swallow the pill of preparation, apply the cream of concern, and administer the antidote of awareness.  Summer is past friends, and the harvest is here.  Let us thrust in our sickle and reap while the day lasts, lest we find ourselves out in the cold come winter.   

If not now, when?  If not us, who?