Guest Editorial: As We Approach the 2012 Election Remember, We Will Build This Nation

We are about to enter one of the most important election years this nation has ever experienced

We are about to enter one of the most important election years this nation has ever experienced.  And while our participation is critical, it is also vital to remember that the strength of this nation does not reside in the halls of any capital. It will continue to flow from the same sources that built America as long as we preserve them.  So on this eve of a new year, let us take a moment to recognize those sources, and resolve together to hold and strengthen them in the days ahead. 

P>HARRISBURG, PA. (Catholic Online) - We are about to enter one of the most important election years this nation has ever experienced.  And while our participation is critical, it is also vital to remember that the strength of this nation does not reside in the halls of any capital.

It will continue to flow from the same sources that built America as long as we preserve them.  So on this eve of a new year, let us take a moment to recognize those sources, and resolve together to hold and strengthen them in the days ahead. 

This is a nation built on faith, on a collective acknowledgement that the government is answerable for its conduct to a higher authority, that legal is not always synonymous with right, and that right is the standard which we must always seek to follow.

This is a nation built on family, on the knowledge that the love, courage, commitment and fortitude to honor marriage vows, raise children, and care for each other at every stage of life create the very backbone of our country.

This is a nation built on opportunity, on a recognition that success can belong to those who are willing to work for it no matter what their backgrounds may be, that it is possible to actually turn the dream of achievement in its reality.

This is a nation built on personal responsibility, on facing the fact that our behavior does have consequences that we must face, that freedom means we face our failures as well as our successes.

This is a nation built on community, on developing the ties that bind us to each other so we can work together to solve the problems and meet the needs that would conquer any one of us alone.

This is a nation built on generosity, on reaching out to those in need with the help and support necessary to help them meet the challenge of the moment and move past it.

This is a nation built on thrift, on the certain knowledge that living within one's means is the safest path to security, and that there is a value in saving for tomorrow.

This is a nation built on education, on the reality that we can only preserve our heritage if we know and understand it, and that climbing the ladder of opportunity begins with knowledge.

This is a nation built on law, where each individual is judged according to conduct instead of status, and no one is outside the boundaries of the law's standards.

These sources built this nation.  Like all nations, we have not always perfectly upheld them. But our history has been one of coming closer than any other - ever.

As we read them, we notice that not one of them depends on the government.  The government's role is simply to create an environment in which we can practice them freely.

So as we move into this election year, we have two tasks before us.  The first is to evaluate each candidate to see if he or she understands, appreciates, and adheres to the qualities that built this nation.

And second, which is simultaneously more important and more difficult, is to look at ourselves with the same evaluative eye, with a willingness to change the areas of our own shortcomings.

America was built by her people, and her future rests in our hands.  Let's work to make it a future we can all be proud of.

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Peg Luksik is the Chairman of the Center for American Heritage. Learn more about the heritage of this exceptional nation at www.centerforamericanheritage.com 

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