On December 7, we will pause to remember Japan’s shocking and deadly attack 80 years ago. A reluctant America was drawn into World War II with super-powerful enemies in two geographical theaters. The next four years saw our nation courageously resolved to victory over both Japan and the Axis Powers. Over 16 million brave American combatants answered the call to relentless battle with over 400,000 sacrificing their lives before the enemies surrendered. We will face the likes of the Pearl Harbor attack again. Would America’s present culture support the same response as in 1941? Doubtful. Let’s look at how we are poised for another Pearl Harbor and why we aren’t as ready for it as we were 80 years ago.
Eerily similar circumstances are gathering on the horizon today. Just seven years ago, Russia got a pass for invading and annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. The U.S. and the rest of the Western World yelled and screamed, then placed a few sanctions on the super power invader. That was all. Now that Russia has tested the water and found the opposition weak, it is building forces near the border of Ukraine with prospects of invading that sovereign country soon.
Then China has its tentacles extending throughout the Pacific Rim with credible indications it will invade America’s ally, Taiwan, at some point in the near future.
The U.S. has stated its commitment to defending both Ukraine and Taiwan, and that the consequences would be severe if the super powers acted on their threats to those nations. This standoff is exacerbated by recent evidence that Russia and China are pursuing closer ties with each other. They appear to be partnering in mutually beneficial efforts in African countries, in Afghanistan, and in Iran. There is an ominous similarity in modern day Russia and China’s relationship compared to that of Germany and Japan in the 1940s.
Even more worrisome is the lack of will, moral courage, and patriotism that I see today in most Americans that wasn’t an impediment at the onset of World War II. Most adults in the 1940s still had acute memories of the very difficult but successful efforts of World War I. They knew what they were facing, they understood sacrifice, and they loved their country and its freedoms. They were, as Tom Brokaw labeled them, “the greatest generation.” In contrast, today’s generation, with few exceptions, is not experienced in international battle for survival, they don’t know sacrifice for others, and they have been on a slippery slope toward socialism and Marxism for years. Most don’t even see Russia and China as enemies of the U.S.
American debased culture has largely been framed by its leadership. We haven’t had a president in a long while with the leadership ability of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Donald Trump gave us a short period of pride and patriotism, but was a lightning rod for liberal attacks. Barack Obama and Joe Biden–what can I say? Political division, racial unrest, moral decay, social experimentation, and the pandemic have shifted our focus off the potential of an all-consuming international conflict.
If, by God’s mercy, we are granted a delay in another two-front war long enough to seat new leadership and reestablish an American culture reflective of a Pearl Harbor response, we may survive a Russia-China domination. If we don’t turn this nation around to a patriotic, freedom-loving, God-fearing culture with compatible leadership in the next few years, we will not survive as a nation. We must turn hearts back to God and unconditional love for our fellow Americans. Otherwise, the next Pearl Harbor will have a different outcome.
