Why America is Great

There is a popular quote attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, though some people doubt whether the quote actually came from him or not. But I believe that if something is true, it's true no matter who did or did not say it.

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

This quote rings true to me because it sounds so similar to various quotes from the Book of Mormon, about this land being a land of promise, and "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." -2 Nephi 1: 20

The protection of the Lord is a blessing that this country has always enjoyed, probably because the founding fathers had moral principles in mind when they wrote our laws. In a sense, America is a paladin. As long as we obey God's laws, we receive divine protection. In my opinion, it's because of that divine protection that we have never lost a war, and only rarely had to fight one on our own land. Paladins are given extra strength and protection because they are righteous. If a paladin stops being righteous, he or she loses those blessings and becomes just like everyone else.

I know I've shared the story of Helaman Chapter 4, with the Nephites losing, then winning back, much of their lands when they were wicked, then righteous, respectively. It'd be really scary if that sort of thing happened here. I think America, as a people, have been fairly righteous throughout our history. There had always been a number of bad people living here, but there have always been good people here, too, and we've been pretty blessed.

But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.
2 Nephi 1: 10

I don't want that to happen, and unless I'm mistaken, the only way to prevent it is for us, as a people, to become more righteous. We just had a holiday to celebrate our country, and it truly is a great country. We're blessed to live here. But if we want to maintain that blessing, we're going to have to proven that we're still worthy of it. Otherwise, this country will stop being so great, or some group of people who are more worthy than we are will be given this land instead.

America has had a miraculous amount of peace and prosperity. If we want to keep that up, we're going to have to at least acknowledge where those blessings came from.