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I have lost faith in America,
Whose advent was announced with high ideals
And whose place among the powers of the earth
Was won with the blood of patriots.
I have lost faith in America,
A nation not for one race or religion,
Nor for one class or sex or identity,
And governed by rules born of compromise.
I have lost faith in America,
For which we prayerfully asked God
To mend its every flaw;
Yet flaws, perhaps fatal flaws, remain.
I have lost faith in America,
In the moral character of its citizens,
In their ability to weigh ideas against one another,
In the Christianity of its confessed Christians.
I have lost faith in America
No longer enamored of the rule of law
Nor committed to liberty and justice for all,
That has chosen comfortable lies over complex truth.
I have lost faith in America,
Where women, once ignored,
Earned rights possessed of men,
But lost dominion over their own bodies.
I have lost faith in America,
Whose rich become ever richer,
And the hope of the poor
Has been taken away.
I have lost faith in America,
Where the anonymous wealthy
Buy the laws they desire
And the leaders who will do their will.
I have lost faith in America,
Where notorious outlaws were once glorified,
And where one has been elected president
In ignorance or indifference to the consequences.
I have lost faith in America,
Which has elevated a liar, a philanderer,
A thief, a misogynist, a narcissist,
And a golden-tongued purveyor of snake oil.
I have lost faith in America,
Once an inspiration to the world,
A bulwark against tyranny,
And a model of democratic governance.
I have lost faith in America,
In its future,
In its own understanding of its past,
And in its ability to right itself.
I have lost faith in America
And in the American Experiment.
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