Monotheists are called to be “prisoners of hope”, as the Prophet Zechariah once said. We are to ground our perspective on the unprovable premises of faith rather than the tangible calculations of our reason.
Whether or not each American is a monotheist, our shared Western Civilization is grounded in Judeo-Christian assumptions about the meanings of life and of the universe. This transcendent foundation is a key to the unique success of the United States in human history.
Myths and legends of the Old World, especially those from before and beyond Christianity, are weighed down by a pervasive pessimism. All victory is passing. Every effort ultimately ends in entropy. This life is a realm of tears, irredeemable, at least through our own human efforts.
There is wisdom in this. We are not gods. We can never purge life of its miseries. No man-made “Utopia” can result in anything other than an intensification of needless suffering.
However, such grim world-weariness can lead to a paralysis of the will to strive for the good, despite all logic. Traditionally, the American variant of Western Civilization is rooted in the faith that inspired the Pilgrims and Puritans to risk their all in hopes of building “God’s New Israel” in the wilderness.
Look what this trust in the power of God to redeem a fallen human condition has wrought! Our Founding Fathers replaced the British Empire with an Enlightenment-inspired Republic. In this new liberty, a man’s words and deeds mattered more than who his father was.
Unprecedented prosperity, progress, and freedom resulted. In this thrilling new meritocracy, the original propertied European-American men sacrificed to expand citizenship to include all European-American men, then all adult men including former slaves, then women.
The unshackling of inspiration from the chains of identity gave wing to countless dreams; each of which contributed to making a new modern lifestyle of unprecedented wealth, education, power, and ease.
One tragic result of the failure of most American schools and colleges to effectively teach history is that the sheer magnitude of the fruits of American freedom has been lost in a cacophony of politically-motivated whining. Today’s Leftist educators bemoan that our failure to live up to their Utopian standards from the beginning of the Republic was worse than useless. Far from recognizing what our freedoms have brought to humanity, they assert that because we are not in their eyes perfect then we are uniquely evil.
The ideals of those Utopian academics are themselves rooted in hubris, and can only lead to nemesis. Despite the growth of freedom in America, we are damned by such false teachers, as if our cultural ancestors were the only ones who permitted slavery and engaged in tribal chauvinism. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Today, in our high culture, popular culture, and twenty-four-hour news cycle, we are beset by tidings of hopelessness. The Cult of Man-Made Climate Change says that humanity must impoverish and enslave itself to a new aristocracy of virtue.
To “save the planet”, our liberty must die. Archons of environmental rectitude must be given total control over every aspect of our lives. We commoners can no longer be trusted with adult decisions.
Crime is now indulged, from seemingly endless waves of international invasion to a perpetual state of anarchic violence in our cities. Institutions which exist to promote the American way of life now serve to undermine it at every opportunity. Leaders whose purpose should be to defend our rights and freedoms now serve a cabal of amoral Swiss Bankers; the kind of men who once joyfully made the National Socialist German Worker’s Party richer than Croesus.
Those who ground their reality in what the electronic media broadcasts are left bereft of any reason to hope that the tides of dissolution can be reversed. Logically, they imply, the West in general and the United States in particular are well past the point of no return.
This is why being a prisoner of hope is so important. The Jewish people continue to survive; even thriving in a world filled with people who, for over five thousand years, have eagerly tried to murder them all.
For two thousand years, Christians have endured and even prospered despite persecutions from totalitarians like the Roman Emperor Diocletian and Red China’s Chairman Xi Jinping.
How can we each endure the unendurable?! How can we as individuals go on under the crushing burdens of grief and despair?! How can we as a people restore Ronald Reagan’s optimism that, “America’s best days are still ahead!”
The only antidote to the mind-bending hopelessness being stoked by our would-be overlords is to be a prisoner of hope! Ground your perspective in transcendent good, and try to live in the light at all costs. Fail, atone, and try again to dream the impossible dream of being a worthy person of God.
Do not indulge in outrage, and do not allow anger to consume and define you. Instead, make the leap of faith into a life defined by both being good and doing good.
The enemies of a free and humane humanity expect people to behave at their lowest common denominator; as bestial and selfish thugs who in no way can be trusted with important decisions. Those who would replace our Republic with their New Feudalism count on us to become so contemptable in our desperation that we will need to be ruled with an iron fist.
As was said in the film “Rob Roy”, “Honor is the gift that a man gives himself”. No person can compel treachery, rapine, theft, or betrayal from the unwilling. Refuse to be anything but your best self, each and every time you are in control over your choices. Determine to behave honorably, come what may.
Take inspiration from those around you who are already doing this. I knew a man whose family had been destroyed by Mao’s Cultural Revolution. He and his had endured suffering impossible for most Americans to imagine. When he came here, he was persistently gentle, helpful, hopeful, and positive. He went out of his way to be of good use to those around him.
I know a woman who is a sworn Peace Officer who, at every opportunity, engages with those around her who are suffering. Her good will is a force of nature, offering help spontaneously and without expectation of recompense. Her generosity is even to the point of offering to be a living organ donor to a colleague in need of lifesaving surgery. She watched over a person plagued by dementia to keep him safe, fed, and ultimately housed in a supervised facility. This humble woman is not a Saint, but she is a blessing to those around her.
Do not let despair define you. Be alive and useful as a prisoner of hope!
