Welcome.

In November of 2003, I voluntarily stood and raised my right hand in a moment I will never forget.

I took the Oath of Enlistment as I joined the United States Armed Forces.

It was a sobering, holy moment for me.

“I, Katrina Young, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Oath of Enlistment, United States Armed Forces)

I am deeply distressed by the current state of affairs in our republic, deeply troubled by the growing, controlling hand of our government. Whether Thomas Jefferson said it or not, the truth is that our government should fear us, but we are beginning to seriously fear them. Tyranny is close. Liberty is under attack.

In this perilous time of our great nation, corrupt imposters working for the Devil have gained prominence and power in our government, seeking only for personal gain and supremacy. Our situation is dire, and I am greatly concerned by it.

I yearn for the days of great men, valiant in the cause of real truth, men who, in Reuben Clark Jr’s words, were “sober, seasoned, distinguished men of affairs, drawn from various walks of life…students of wide reading and great learning in all matters of government…” (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Church News, November 29, 1952: Stand Fast by Our Constitution, pp. 134-37)

Compared to a gross amount of those within our political ranks in America this day, those great American founders stand “as giants to pygmies…when placed alongside our political emigres and their fellow travelers of today, who now traduce them with slighting word and contemptuous phrase.” (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Church News, November 29, 1952: Stand Fast by Our Constitution, pp. 134-37)

How terribly amiss, distorted, misguided, and wicked are such ones that do this!

I yearn for political leaders who love God first, do not accept that there is no truth, who love Christian virtues and uphold them, and men and women who do not break, at a minimum, the Ten Commandments.

“Most of the great civilizations of the world,” said Ezra Taft Benson, “have not been conquered from without until they have destroyed themselves from within by sowing…seeds of destruction…” (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure, Devotional Address given at BYU, 4 December, 1973)

While we will always have foreign enemies, our greatest, present threat is those that lie within our own borders, many that are trampling on the Christian-Judeo virtues that defined and founded this incredible nation.

In 1973, Elder Benson said, “…It is my firm conviction that [God’s] protective hand is still over the United States of America. I know, too, that if we will keep the commandments of God – live as he has directed, and does now direct, through his prophets – we will continue to have his protecting hand over us.”

That was 51 years ago.

What of now?

What would he say now of God’s protecting hand?

“But,” Elder Benson continued, “we must be true to the eternal verities, the great Christian virtues which God has revealed. Then, and only then, will we be safe as a nation and as individuals. God grant that the faithfulness of the Latter-day Saints will provide the balance of power to save this nation in times of crisis.” (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure, Devotional Address given at BYU, 4 December, 1973)

A time of crisis is now.

Our only hope lies in reforming and returning to our God and His principles of morality. Honoring his Sabbath. Stopping child sacrifice or in our vernacular, abortion. Gross evils abound. Morality is forgotten.

James Russell Lowell nailed it: “Our American republic will endure only as long as the ideas of the men who founded it continue dominant.” (Quoted in Prophets, Principles, and National Survival, pg. 149)

So help us God!

America must be preserved. It is “the Lord’s base of operations in these last days…May we do all in our power to strengthen and safeguard this base and increase our freedom.” (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure, Devotional Address given at BYU, 4 December, 1973)

Of this God ordained land, Elder Benson said, “…This nation will, I feel sure, endure. It is God-ordained for a glorious purpose.”  (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure, Devotional Address given at BYU, 4 December, 1973)

Because I once raised my hand and swore to defend this great land against domestic and foreign threats, I must do something more than I am doing. The time has come for me. For starters (and fully aware that I have no right to place myself above any man and so in a capacity that is alongside my fellow Christian), I beg of every person of faith and goodwill to continue or return, with increased devotion, to God and moral living so as to garnish the protection of God on this land in our time of desperate need.

Unto all the world: So help us God!