Trust

Trust.

Something for which the evidence is unseen--nebulous yet without it marriages fail, governments collapse, humans cannot touch the Face of God.

The currency of nations which if largely devalued destroys. Benjamin Franklin worried that "Much of the strength and efficiency, in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on the general opinion of goodness of that government."

President Obama opined that "If people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust Congress, and don't trust federal judges, to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here."

The trust truly has been seriously eroded in our government due to its lack of goodness, its lack of virtue.Where does this virtue come from ? How do we regain it ? When the government derives its powers ultimately from the people is it really the government that has lost its virtue--or the people themselves ? We tend to want to spill our venom on particular figures in government while ignoring the fact that we elected them. Has America lost its virtue ? Are our government officials simply a reflection of ourselves ? Can our society long continue when there is no trust in one another, in our institutions, due to a lack of virtue ?

Can America learn to trust again ?