In his 1942 book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis defines the virtue of courage as the manifestation of keeping all values in the face of danger, concluding that an absence of courage equates to conditional virtue.  

Conditional virtue: only being moral when it is easy to do so.

I’m a teen. I don’t have all the answers. But the way I see it, there is a devil. A devil whose hatred penetrates the spiritually weak. A hatred so strong it compels people to do unforgivable actions. But a God exists too. A God whose love is so unyielding and so powerful. Powerful enough to turn a President’s head milliseconds before a bullet shot by a patient of the Devil’s would penetrate his head and end him forever. 

Despite professing his undying love for the “virtue”, Screwtape, one of the book’s demons, notes one of its downsides as well. Our loving God, in response to a lack of courageousness, “permits a war... or some other calamity”, guaranteeing courage’s great return, as courageous people are known to triumph in hard times.

For anyone with a shred of compassion, the evening of Saturday, July 13th 2024 hosted one of the most horrific events in our nations’ history. Even I, not usually a crier, started tearing up while watching the footage of the bullet nearly missing Trump’s head for the first time. I cried not because I idolize the 45th president, but because the attempt served as a grave reminder of the fragility that came with the conditional virtue, and blanketed this nation. 

Donald Trump’s legendary picture, of his fist stuck up in the air, bloody face, and American flag flying above him embodies the return of courage being brought along with this current war. Neither Donald Trump nor his supporters cowered in fear. They did not run, but stayed until they knew their candidate was okay. Trump did not run off the stage, but composed himself to the point of having the presentness of mind to remind his supporters to “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” 

The America that was seen by the entire world as unstoppable, powerful, and a beacon of freedom came to be not by chance, or because of its geographical luck in World War II, like history class leads you to believe. The America that people want to return to came to be because of her people. The United States triumphed over the British because Washington led his unrelenting patriots until the surrender in Yorktown, the USSR because Reagan stood in Berlin, yelling “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, and the Confederates because of our soldiers’ faith in God, and astounding perseverance. The people of these times did not stand down because it was too uncomfortable getting called out on Twitter, because they may lose a few followers on Instagram, or because their child did not want to run the risk of being embarrassed in school. That last one actually happened to a local mother that my father asked to participate in a protest against a conversation about deviant sexualities in my eighth grade English classroom. Today, it's these kinds of people our nation is filled with. The mother made her values very clear in the powerful letter she had written intended for the school’s principal, however, when they were put to the test (by her child!), she shredded the paper, and shut herself up.

It was faith in God that led our best American leaders through tough times, and divine providence that slightly shifted his head and saved Trump’s life. If one goes off of the belief that God is good, he must conclude that His faithful, successful American leaders were good, and that Trump is also good. God wanted Trump alive. As he observed at his Michigan rally, Trump should not be alive right now. To save this country, Americans need to be strong, but have a stronger faith. 

My fellow Americans, the Devil loves worrying, so turn any worrying into work, and work to save your country.