Let me begin by saying that nothing I say here is original. All of it has been said previously and better by others.

What do we Americans stand for?  We should stand for what our founding fathers stood for.
 
THE NATURE OF AMERICA

In 1607, the first settlers landed at Virginia Beach/Jamestown in Virginia. After landing on the beach they celebrated Holy Communion. They wanted the new land of America to become a nation that honored Biblical laws, principles and practices.
Thirteen years later in November 1620, the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. Before they landed they drafted up and signed the Mayflower Compact, the first instrument of American government written on these shores.

It says that they came to and settled the Massachusetts' Colony, "For the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith." That was their vision for America.
You see, historically we are a nation settled by Christians who based the founding of our government and society on fixed moral standards established by biblical laws and principles.

But, "Whose morality, yours or mine? Isn’t what seems moral to some immoral to others?”

No, in American society today there are still universal rights and wrongs. For example, murder is wrong. Adultery is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Lying is wrong, and dishonoring your mother and father is wrong.

Yes, American society has changed since our republic was first established. But its historic foundation and its historic moral principles have not changed.

The U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from establishing a state religion or adopting a national church denomination. It effectively erects a wall of separation between denominational churches and the state. However, it does not erect a wall of separation between Almighty God, the Bible and the state. Rather, it acknowledges the role of God in government and men’s affairs. That is why the U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong when it ruled that God should be excluded from all governmental affairs.

In 1787 during the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin, who historically has never been accused of being a Christian, rose to his feet and said, “I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

Franklin gave God his due. He then proposed that each session of the U.S. Congress begin with prayer to Almighty God for divine direction and blessing. His proposal was adopted unanimously and since that day every session of Congress has begun with prayer. Those are the facts of American history. They show that Franklin was right and the Supreme Court was wrong.
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ‘08

The upcoming presidential election is crucial.

If Senator Hillary Clinton becomes President, what kind of a country will she leave to our children? 

If Senator Obama is elected, what kind of country will our children's children inherit?

If Senator McCain becomes President, what kind of a country will he pass on?

Will these three:

• Leave us an America that is flooded by illegal immigrants?
• Will English no longer be the national language?
• Will Islamic law replace our constitutional law?
• Will our nation be susceptible to extortion by oil producing nations, or will we be energy independent?
• Will children be killed within the sanctity and security of their mothers' wombs?
• Will we have a President who cannot be trusted to perform the duties of Commander In Chief?
• Will the homosexual life style be forced on our children in the nation's public schools?
• What kind of Supreme Court Justices will be appointed?

ISSUES

As I look to the future, here are the issues that capture my attention:
What will be the nature of American civilization?

• How will we address energy, food and the environment?
• How can we strengthen the economy?
• Can our borders be secured and illegal immigration be stopped?
• What is the solution to the Iraq/Afghanistan War?
• How should we deal with Islamic terrorism?
• How can individual property rights best be protected?
• What must we do to restore the rule of law?

I’M ONLY GOING TO TOUCH ON FOUR OF THESE ISSUES:

           1.  Food-energy-environment
           2.  The economy
           3.  Islamic terrorism
           4.  Border security

Fixing our nation's problems is not hard to do, if we pray and trust God to lead us. My guiding principle is that there are no problems on earth that, with God’s help, cannot be solved.
 
(1) FOOD-ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT

The American people are not stupid. Given honest, unvarnished facts, they will come to right conclusions and make right choices.  They respect nature and want to pass on a clean environment to our children, but they also understand that we need energy to survive. For example, the citizens of Oklahoma City have chosen to allow oil rigs to pump oil right in the middle of their delightful city.  So why are we whining about offending the esthetic sensitivities of the caribou if we pump oil in ANWR, Alaska?  

The environment was created to serve man. Man was not created to serve the environment. America's primary goal for the next quarter of a century should not be to establish a crash program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, even though that is important. America's primary goal should be to make the United States energy independent and to free us from energy extortion by foreign oil producing nations.

Additionally, we have enough coal to meet our energy requirements for hundreds of years to come. Shouldn't we proactively search out new coal technology and maximize the use of clean coal?

Under the ground on and off shore we have sufficient oil to satisfy our national needs. We need to drill and take it out and sell it on the American market at American, not world, prices.  That’s what the OPEC nations do. According to CNN gas is now selling for 45 cents a gallon in Saudi Arabia.

80% of France's electrical power and 50% of Sweden's is provided by nuclear energy. Only 20% of our needs are provided by nuclear energy. We need to double or triple our nuclear power capacity.

We learned from the nuclear incident at Three Mile Island that nuclear power is safe. Faced with an emergency the Three Mile Island reactor shut itself down with no damage to the local community and no loss of life. Contrary to what the news media reported, it is one of the great success stories of the 20th Century.

Many countries have suffered food shortages so severe that their populations have rioted. If the world suffers a serious drought, food will become even scarcer and the costs will skyrocket to meet the demand. As the threat of famine becomes an increasing issue around the world, does it make sense to continue diverting farmland into the production of ethanol grain for fuel? Moreover, should we be subsidizing this practice with tax dollars?
   
(2) ECONOMY

The second issue I want to touch on is the economy.  Even though I studied economics in college, I really learned my economics from my mother. Here's what she taught me.

If a household, or the federal government, spends more money than it takes in, it is forced to borrow. What it borrows it has to pay back with interest. If it can't pay back on time, it is forced to borrow more or default on its debts.

That is why -- within reason -- the budget should be balanced and we should get ourselves and the nation out of debt.  Additionally we should reduce taxes and keep inflation and the size of government low; we should use middle class tax cuts to help restore the purchasing power of American families, and deregulate small business; we should keep foreign trade and current accounts balanced; and we should encourage free trade, but not be a patsy in dealing with trading partners who take unfair advantage of us.
 
(3) ISLAM AND TERRORISTS

After the first Gulf War an Arab General said, "No matter how much you help us and no matter how desperately we may need your help when we are in trouble, there can never be a marriage between us, not even a romance. In the end, you Christians will always be infidels to us Muslims."

This helps explain why we saw joyful crowds of Muslims pouring into the streets to celebrate the terrorists' killing of innocent Americans on 9/11 and what seemed a deafening silence from Muslim political leaders and clerics concerning this catastrophic event. Where was the outrage; where was the condemnation in this and other atrocities such as the beheading of newspaper reporter Daniel Pearl?

One of Islam's greatest disappointments is the failure of its political and clerical leaders to stand up for what's right and to oppose and condemn the evil and wickedness that flourishes in Islamic societies. Arab/Muslim culture and civilization has failed its people even though the United States, at great cost, strives to prop these nations up and breathe democracy into their medieval systems and institutions.

Yet the Islamic religion has become so politicized that it is almost impossible for Muslims to live in peace with people of other cultures and religious persuasions. Many seem to believe that they must either destroy the other cultures and religions or they themselves will be destroyed. Worldwide wherever there is a political border between a Muslim and a non-Muslim country, there is tension and the threat of terrorism.

Some Muslims thrive in our nation of freedom and opportunity and appreciate all that is offered to them as citizens. Others say in news media interviews that if the U.S. goes to war with a Muslim nation, they will refuse to fight for America. Obviously the loyalty of those is to the Muslim religion, not to America. Any who feel that way should be invited to leave America and go back to the tyranny of their Islamic homelands. They will never become true Americans.

Islamic terrorists and the nations that support them are not interested in political solutions. Therefore, we in America must do all in our power to stand up to the threat they pose—if necessary with brute force. It is naïve to think that disagreements with these tyrants can be overcome merely by negotiations or diplomacy. If we want to secure a bright future for our nation, we must be brave, bold and determined and not surrender one inch to those who would seek our demise.
 
(4) BORDER SECURITY

The last issue I want to touch on is border security.  No country will survive if it cannot control its borders and we seem unable to secure our southern border. But securing the border is quite simple if the nation's leaders have the will to do it.
For example: when the residents of Berlin went to sleep on the night of August 13, 1961, all was quiet. They woke up in the morning to find that over night the Russians had erected a 63-mile concertina barbed wire barricade through the middle of the city. Behind the wire were Russian infantrymen. Two days later the first concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall were laid. In just a few months the 11.8-foot high wall was completed.

This is how fast a border can be secured if a government has the will to do it. Of course our southern wall will be of a different design and hundreds of miles longer than the Berlin Wall. But if we really want to do it, it can be secured quickly and we can deny terrorists and drug smugglers access to our country.
  
IN CLOSING

In closing let me suggest that we Americans should not lightly turn over our civil government to those who do not share the principles, values and character of our founders?

Today we are involved in an important presidential election. What prominent national Christian leader or group of leaders has presented a list of names to the public and said, "Any of these would be acceptable to us as the Democrat or Republican candidate for President or Vice President, and we would fully support their campaigns and work for their elections?" No, we politely stood aside and allowed others to select the candidates, and then we carped about whether or not we found them acceptable. This is not the best way to participate in or to influence the electoral process.  
 
REMEMBER

Our founding fathers, the Pilgrims, when signing the Mayflower Compact proclaimed that they came to plant a colony in Massachusetts for the "Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith."

 Yes, things have changed since the Pilgrims landed and our land has become the home of people from many faiths and backgrounds. But America's historic foundations remain the same—rooted in the biblical laws, principles, values and the practices of our founding fathers.