{"id":10410,"date":"2016-11-10T09:13:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T17:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/?p=10410"},"modified":"2017-04-21T15:50:36","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T22:50:36","slug":"saving-the-american-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/saving-the-american-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving the American Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Saving<\/a>by Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster –
\nBenjamin Franklin, one of our nation\u2019s greatest founding fathers, was asked by a resident of Philadelphia after the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, \u201cWell, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?\u201d Franklin replied famously, \u201cA republic, if you can keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wee hours of this morning, we learned that God the Holy Trinity had bestowed an extraordinary gift of grace upon our American Republic through the much maligned American electorate\u2014a second chance to reverse the cultural, moral, and political slide that we, the people of the United States, have allowed\u2014and even fostered\u2014during the last few decades, a second chance to keep our Republic alive and to revive the unique American spirit that celebrates faith, family, community, patriotism, and liberty and justice for all as participants in the American experiment in ordered liberty. <\/p>\n

As faithful Christians, as well as good Americans, we must always remember the wisdom of King David in ancient Israel: \u201cPut not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish\u201d (Pslams 146:3-4, LXX). No king or queen, prince or princess, elected man or woman merits the faith and love that is due to God the Holy Trinity alone. But we may still hope that our political leaders will open their hearts to the Holy Spirit and let Him work wonders through them. Sometimes hope is<\/em> a worthwhile plan.<\/p>\n

The fictional character Captain John H. Miller\u2019s last words to PFC James Francis Ryan in what I have described as \u201cthe greatest anti-war pro-soldier film\u201d ever made, Saving Private Ryan<\/em>, are these \u201cEarn this.\u201d
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