Where We've Gone Wrong: America's Foreign Policy

     WHILE SEARCHING Youtube tonight for some material for the first ever blog post on Right Side Up, I came across a video of Ron Paul.  In the video, he is giving one of his usual mind blowing monologues regarding the United States' foreign policy.  I've pondered our foreign policy many times and have never been able to come up with an answer as to what's really wrong with it.  We fight terrorism across the globe, and supposedly fight for freedom and democracy.  Sure, we fight for oil and our national interests, but what country doesn't, and besides that benefits our citizens right?  So American really fights for what's right...right?
     The only answer I have ever been able to come up with regarding the flaws in our foreign policy is that we shouldn't fight for democracy, because as the United States, we should understand that democracy isn't what our nation is.  But fighting terrorism is good right?  Preventing terrorists from bombing buildings and taking down airplanes should be a priority for any government that wants to protect its people.  What about fighting for freedom?  Everybody should have the chance to taste freedom, so of course it's good.  Or is it?  At this point, the line begins to blur, and it is when Ron Paul steps in to save the day and clear up some common misconceptions regarding our foreign policy, as it surely is true for our government's domestic policy.
     In his monologue at a CNN Republican debate, Dr. Paul hits the nail on the head.  The United States has abandoned the just war theory and its Christian morals, and replaced it with preemptive strikes and militarism that, as Paul points out, makes our country more unsafe.  As a conservative, this is hard to swallow.  It's hard to admit that America can do any wrong.  That is, however, something all conservatives can admit.  But the facts don't lie, and as a Christian and American it's no secret our government oversteps its boundaries.
     The Just War theory in a nutshell  is that no war should be fought until it is absolutely necessary to do so.  Very few wars are truly "just wars".  After listening to Dr. Paul's monologue, I better understood why our current wars were so controversial.  To paraphrase a quote from C.S. Lewis, one should always beware of "omnipotent moral busybodies".  In other words, too much help can be a bad thing, and it is especially dangerous when the helpers are convinced they are doing the right thing.  I believe this principle to also be true in the case of the United States' foreign policy. 
     While we may or may not be fighting for freedom and democracy around the globe, the point is still being missed.  The number one priority of the United States' government is not to fight for freedom and democracy across the globe, but to fight for it right here at home (not for democracy of course...we're a Republic).  Beyond fighting for the safety of our citizens, the United States government does not have the authority, or obligation to fight any one else's wars, nor does it have the authority to engage in preemptive strikes, or invasions, a point that Ron Paul makes very clear.
     In a separate video where Paul is asked about American exceptionalism, the second part of my realization came to light.  Ron Paul stated that for us to believe America is truly exceptional, we must display the qualities our country was founded on, that truly made us exceptional.  As he likes to say of the Republican party, the same can be said of American ideals: we've lost our way.  We will not be able to restore liberty and set an example to the rest of the world until we grow up, and do it for ourselves.  This means that we must fight to get back the rights endowed to us by our creator at home, so that we can exemplify them to the rest of the world.

Here are the two videos in which Paul explains foreign policy and American Exceptionalism: