When law becomes the enemy and crime is celebrated…

I’m honored to have participated in this continuing series on Lifezette about the state of our nation.  This edition focused on crime.  

I wrote:

When law becomes the enemy and criminal behavior is celebrated by our media and cultural and political elites, the future for American communities looks bleak. The founding promise of America has always had at its foundation the rule of law — a Constitution that acknowledges liberty and justice for all is only as strong as the legal system that adheres to the concept of limited government and self-rule. The more we move away from that understanding of law and order as the guarantor of our freedoms, the further we stray from the essence of what once made America free, prosperous, and good.

Under President Barack Obama, America’s communities have become less safe: He has declared war on the police; his 21st-century “task force” emphasizes de-escalation and mediation by law enforcement in place of enforcing the law, and he has taken the side of criminals through so-called prison reform. It is up to law-abiding citizens to reject this AstroTurf narrative that the criminal is to be celebrated. If we embrace it, it signals that we as Americans no longer understand the freeing power of justice and equality before the law. If we reject the criminal-as-hero, it means we understand that the pathway to restoring America’s greatness is indeed through the recognition of law and order, unalienable rights, and the system that ensures those rights.

Read the other contributors’ thoughts here.