By David Joy, Chairman & CEO, This We Defend
Liberty does not die in a dramatic explosion. It dies in subtle erosion.
It dies when citizens become consumers. It dies when comfort replaces conviction. It dies when the Church confuses silence with wisdom.
America will not collapse because of one election cycle, one Supreme Court ruling, or one cultural trend. Nations rarely fall because of a single blow. They fall because the moral and intellectual infrastructure that sustains freedom decays from within.
And here is the uncomfortable truth: self-government is not first a political issue. It is a spiritual one.
Freedom Requires Formation
A free nation requires self-governing citizens.
Self-governing citizens require discipline. Discipline requires truth. Truth requires moral clarity.
Remove moral clarity and liberty cannot survive.
We speak often about “freedom” as though it is a default setting. It is not. Freedom is a disciplined state sustained by people capable of restraining themselves without external force. If citizens cannot govern their appetites, their impulses, their anger, and their greed, then government will step in to do it for them.
Scripture makes this plain: “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” — Proverbs 25:28
Ancient cities with broken walls were defenseless. They were not conquered because they were unlucky. They were conquered because they were exposed.
The same is true of nations. The same is true of individuals.
Self-control is not merely a personal virtue. It is a national safeguard.
Indoctrination Is the Enemy of Liberty
Liberty depends on critical thinking. Critical thinking depends on the ability to examine ideas without fear of punishment.
When education shifts from inquiry to ideology, freedom weakens. When students are trained what to think rather than how to think, liberty decays.
This is not hyperbole. It is historical fact.
Totalitarian regimes do not begin with tanks. They begin with classrooms. They begin with the slow reshaping of language, the redefining of terms, the emotional conditioning of young minds to accept ideas without scrutiny.
The Apostle Paul warned about this long ago:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” — Colossians 2:8
Notice the word: captive.
Captivity is not always physical. It is often intellectual. A mind captured by hollow philosophy will defend its own chains.
When civil discourse is replaced with outrage, when disagreement is labeled hate, when dissent is silenced rather than debated, that is not progress. That is fragility masquerading as virtue.
A society that cannot tolerate open discourse cannot sustain liberty.
Dependency Weakens the Republic
A free people must be productive people.
Entrepreneurship, innovation, small business ownership: these are not merely economic activities. They are expressions of self-governance. They cultivate responsibility, risk tolerance, creativity, and accountability.
A dependency culture, by contrast, erodes initiative. It conditions citizens to look upward for provision rather than outward for opportunity.
Scripture affirms the dignity of work and responsibility:
“The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” — 2 Thessalonians 3:10
This is not cruelty. It is clarity.
Work forms character. Responsibility strengthens resolve. Ownership cultivates maturity.
When citizens lose these habits, they lose the muscles required to sustain freedom.
Moral Confusion Is National Suicide
No nation has ever sustained liberty without moral cohesion.
National strength is not first economic. It is not first military. It is not first technological.
It is moral.
When moral categories blur, when right and wrong become subjective, when truth becomes negotiable, when virtue becomes relative, the foundation fractures.
Isaiah warned of this inversion:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” — Isaiah 5:20
That is not poetic exaggeration. That is a civilizational warning.
A culture that loses moral clarity does not drift into neutrality. It drifts into chaos. And chaos invites control.
Liberty cannot survive where sin is celebrated and righteousness is mocked.
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” — Proverbs 14:34
This is not partisan rhetoric. It is biblical reality.
The Church Cannot Remain Passive
Here is where this becomes controversial.
The Church often retreats when conversations become political. But when the issue is liberty, self-governance, moral clarity, and truth, we are not talking about party platforms. We are talking about discipleship.
Self-government is fruit of the Spirit territory.
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
Power. Love. Self-discipline.
These are the traits of a free people.
If the Church does not model courage, moral clarity, intellectual rigor, and disciplined living, then who will?
Silence is not neutrality. It is surrender.
This We Defend
This We Defend exists because liberty does not defend itself.
The core conviction is unapologetic: If we do not intentionally form citizens capable of sustaining liberty, we will lose it, not to foreign invasion, but to apathy, indoctrination, and moral confusion.
Liberty is not preserved by nostalgia. It is preserved by formation.
Formation of minds. Formation of character. Formation of communities grounded in truth.
A culture that cannot think clearly cannot remain free. A people unwilling to defend truth will eventually serve lies.
And once liberty is redefined, it rarely returns in its original form.
The Final Question
The question is not whether liberty is under pressure. It is.
The question is whether we are willing to do the disciplined, often unpopular work required to sustain it.
Will we raise children who can think critically? Will we build businesses that cultivate responsibility? Will we defend moral truth when it is inconvenient? Will we model self-government in our own lives?
Because if we cannot govern ourselves, we will be governed.
And history is clear: governments rarely shrink once citizens surrender their strength.
A Call to Action
If you believe liberty is worth defending…
If you understand that freedom requires formation…
If you recognize that self-government is a spiritual responsibility, not merely a political preference…
Stand with This We Defend.
Support the work. Engage in the mission. Help build citizens capable of sustaining real liberty.
Because liberty does not die in a day.
It dies in silence.
And silence is a luxury we can no longer afford.
You can reach David at David.Joy@thiswedefend.org.
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