I was going to add this a comment to the previous blog , but I was scared it would get lost so I posted it here as a quick one for I will be gone most of the weekend.

Ronald Reagan[ who I consider the greatest president in my lifetime] gave this speech and asked the same question"How will we finish our story?"

We know what happened to Rome, it has been studied for centuries,and used as a model for present nations.

The author is unknown, but he or she knew their history, by the way you could also add the following, Rome also supported "same sex couples" and every Religion was welcomed and supported except Christianity!

Rome was a lender, then became a borrower, every sort of deviant lifestyle was accepted, the infrastructure[roads and bridges] was in shambles, I could go on , but you get the point.

Remember history, or you are doomed to repeat it!

The Blesses hope is the message of Jesus was spread even in those hard times even at the cost of death, as in today's time His message will be spread even at the cost of death!

There Was Once A Great Nation!

It was founded by pilgrims who decided to leave their

own country, which didn't encourage freedom of religion,

freedom of speech, and freedom of the individual.

So they migrated to an uncivilized land inhabited only

by savages. The rock where they landed was to become a

national shrine - and one of the most famous monuments

in the world.

They drove off the natives, built rude shelters and

houses of worship, meanwhile setting aside a special

day to give thanks.

These pilgrims - all stern, austere men - believed in

their God, but they also believed in work. They

established schools under religious leaders that,

in a way, became the first public, free education

in the world.

Through hard, determined labor they forged a colony

while the rest of the world chuckled.

But the pilgrims persevered. Intolerant of wrongdoing,

they used gallows to punish criminals. In their day-to-day

activities they had no patience for the weak and

degenerate, who, if pampered, become the cancer of

a nation.

Shortly, these pilgrims engaged in trade and commerce

as their community grew. In the process, they became

moderately prosperous.

Other colonists came and established other communities.

And some of the noblest words ever written began to

surface. Facades of our modern government buildings

bear some of the the legends written back then:

'liberty', 'justice', 'freedom of worship.'

Then one of the older nations sent tax agents to

exploit the colonists. Alarmed, the colonists sent

their greatest men as representatives to a general

assembly, choosing a gentleman farmer as their leader.

He united them and shook off the shackles of oppression

as they won the fight against the 'old world' and became

a strong nation. That farmer is known as the 'father of

his country.'

The new nation formed two houses of government. The

more powerful was the Senate, whose members could be

elected only if they were men of probity (integrity),

honor, patriotism, and religion. The nation became a

republic, though it is a republic no longer.

Ultimately, a civil war divided the fledgling country.

Its leader, who tried to keep the republic united, was

assassinated in the shadow of government buildings.

Eventually, many of the nation's senators became

ambitious for power. They began to make deals with

leaders of important factions.

And the republic now became entangled in alliances

with foreign nations. The alliances brought wars; the

wars brought taxes. But the citizens didn't seem to

mind. War, after all, also increased trade and industry.

And, besides, the new taxes affected only the rich.

The farmers rebelled, sending petitions for subsidies,

price supports. Government, wanting support for its own

schemes, brought up the surplus crops and stored them

in warehouses, where they rotted. Not to be outdone,

industrialists were next to ask for tax benefits.

Finally, the government became all powerful. It

guaranteed to protect the people from all forces of

nature. And taxation grew and grew. Bureaucracy thrived

as free housing, free food, free entertainment came next.

The middle class declined under the added tax burdens.

And crime became so commonplace that it was dangerous

to walk the streets at night.

A crippled man led the nation into more wars and

foreign entanglements. Patriots became known as radicals.

A general, who had been victimized by the government,

pleaded with the nation to remember her past, to return

to honor, to decent government, to the principles of

the founding fathers. The people scoffed, and he died

bitterly thinking his anguished thoughts.

An honest senator dared to speak out for a halt to

foreign subversion and to constant foreign aid and

draining away from the people's money. The public at

large recoiled, branding him a reactionary.

The nation fell deeper into debt. It joined a league

of the world with enemies that exploited her. She

increased taxes to send her wheat to those enemies.

And she devalued her currency, substituting base

materials for precious metals in her coins.

She became allied with powerful barbarians in still

another stupid war. She sent 'experts' to school the

barbarians in the latest scientific discoveries.

The nation was now totally corrupt. Its middle class

was finally dead. The barbarians moved in... and took

over. And they destroyed the civilization.

That nation's name?

Ancient Rome.

Identification Notes

The pilgrim's rock - Foundation of the Temple of Jupiter

The gentleman farmer - Cincinatus

The assassinated leader - Julius Caesar

The crippled leader - Caligula

The general - Marc Anthony

The honest senator - Cicero

- Your Heritage News

Author Unknown