Op-Ed by: Rep. Brian Babin

As originally published by the Washington Examiner on October 7, 2022.

“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power,” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the nineteenth century. “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

If de Tocqueville were alive right now, he would be appalled at the state of America. Under the rule of socialist Democrats in the White House, Congress, and many state and local governments, the country is more divided now than at any time since the Civil War.

Nearly every institution we hold dear has been turned against those of us who serve God, defend the Constitution, value equality under the law, and believe in limited government — the recipe for the “goodness” of which de Tocqueville spoke.

Unfortunately, we are witnessing the destruction of “goodness.”

Our military, a force for good, once feared and respected by allies and enemies alike, is now placing wokeness, critical race theory, and gender sensitivity ahead of readiness. Enemies of freedom and human dignity across the world laugh while using evil to regain control of the innocent.

Our once-great FBI and DOJ have been corrupted from the inside out, weaponized to intimidate, arrest, and imprison those who disagree with the Democrats' policies — even to harass a former president.

Our education system now dismisses parental rights while indoctrinating children with anti-American, racist, and deviant propaganda. School boards define concerned parents as domestic terrorists, slandering them in the media without consequence.

Our southern border has been deliberately dismantled, attracting terrorists, criminals, and drug and human traffickers into the country by the millions, who are released and vanish into our cities and communities. Good citizens play second fiddle to criminal illegal immigrants.

In the name of “science,” our government instituted draconian and unscientific vaccine and mask mandates, demanding complete and unchallenged obedience. They destroyed the livelihoods of good healthcare providers who dared to speak out by publicly discrediting them, ensuring blind submission from the rest.

Our hospitals and medical associations celebrate the mutilation of children through gender reassignment procedures. They shout from the rooftops that killing an unborn baby is “women's health” and therefore “good.”

District attorneys and judges in counties controlled by the Democrats sacrifice public safety for political gain. Some of our most beautiful cities are now homeless encampments filled with needles, human waste, and lawlessness, forcing thousands to close their businesses and flee — all while police officers have been demonized and defunded, leaving law-abiding people defenseless. How is this good?

Large corporations and Big Tech companies have joined forces to monitor, cancel, and censor anyone who disagrees with radical-left ideology.

Even our Postal Service has digitally spied on pro-Second Amendment residents and those who exercised their First Amendment rights after the 2020 presidential election.

Last but not least, our current president stood before the world and called Republicans, half of the American population, a threat to national security and the survival of our democracy. Is this good?

The Democrats’ destruction of our institutions and assault on our constitutional rights is unprecedented. The fear that the good country we know and love will cease to exist, robbing our children and grandchildren of the American dream, is palpable.

Written by our Founding Fathers and inspired by the heavenly Father, the Constitution is a xxxxxx against tyranny from within. But the Constitution will not defend itself. It will take enlightened and reawakened people throughout the country to redirect our great nation back toward “goodness.”

Let de Tocqueville’s warning reawaken us. “America is great because she is good.” Defend that “goodness.”