I had a revelation this week. No, it isn’t a revelation where God handed me some stone tablets, and it wasn’t a revelation like God gave to the apostle John about the end times. No, it was a revelation about what is wrong with the world today

About seven years ago I became interested in politics. I became involved in some races, even working for a candidate for Congress, and I really believed I might make a difference. Yes, I was, and still consider myself one of those Tea Party nuts you may have read about, although I admit I never wore a funny costume or hat. But lately I have once again become disillusioned with the political process. In those seven years, nothing has really changed. Why?

This is where the revelation comes in. I have realized the problem is not with the politicians. It doesn’t matter if they are Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, they are all the same. They all become corrupted by power. They get elected, and all they are concerned with is getting reelected, gathering power and keeping power. But I don’t blame them, in fact I can understand it. The revelation is that is isn’t their fault, it is ours, we elect them, and we keep reelecting them. Why?

Because we have become a selfish, materialistic, individualistic, hedonistic and minimalist society. And because of this we will vote for the people who will give us exactly what we want. People will always vote for those who will fill there needs. But even that isn’t the biggest part of the problem. No, we need to find the root cause of the problem. And I believe I know where it is. What have we done in the last 30, 40, 50 years? What has changed? One thing, one main thing, we have removed God from our society. Whether or not you are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or even Muslim, we have removed God and His teachings from our society.

Read Matthew 7:12. Do we still follow this “Golden Rule”? Do we still unto others as we would have them do unto us? Sometimes I think this is the most important line in the Bible. Everything else is built on this. I know, I know, this is a stretch on my part, but think about the Ten Commandments for example. Would you want someone to kill you, mess around with your spouse or steal from you? Then why do it to them? Trust me I speak from personal experience on some of this, but that is for another blog post.

By removing this building block, this guiding principle, from our lives, we have become that list of things mentioned above. We pass laws, we spend money on programs which don’t truly benefit anyone, if anything they further degrade the quality of life. Has welfare really helped anyone out of poverty? We can certainly argue that, if anything, government welfare programs have increased poverty. What has abortion accomplished? It certainly has decreased the black population in the US. Okay, I know I am ranting.

We will never fix the problems in this country until we bring God back into the public square. I am not advocating establishing a State religion, not in the least, I am a staunch supporter of the First Amendment, in fact it is my opinion that we have corrupted the First Amendment by interpreting wrong, i.e. the whole “Separation of Church and State” argument. But by taking God from the public square we have also taken away morality, our moral compass is shot, we know longer know the difference between right and wrong. Instead of using what God and His Son Jesus have taught us we us the “What’s best for me” compass to decide what is best.

How do we do this? Can we do it? That is the million dollar question. But I know we certainly need to try. Unless we go back to the principles, the Judea-Christian values this country was founded on, we will never be able to derail this country from the track to destruction we are on. For those f us who are Catholics, this means living a Catholic life, the way the Church has taught for 2,000 years. We can’t pick and choose the parts we like and forget about the rest. We need to walk the walk and talk the talk, and teach others as well. By example is the best way.

Change starts at the bottom. When we change the culture, from the culture of death and sin we now have, to a culture of life and love, then we can change the world. When we live like Christ, then others will change as well. Going back to those in power, once we turn the tide and once again have more people who care abut each other, who truly believe in the “Golden Rule” then the politicians will change as well. They will only do what the people who elect them expect them to do. Remember they nly want to stay in power.

That was my revelation.