W
hen I look back at the last forty or so years of my life, it’s remarkable how much it has changed. About thirty years ago, I was fishing the Ouachita River near my home in Luna, Louisiana, earning thirty cents a pound on buffalo and seventy cents a pound on catfish. I was pulling in about $225 a week, which is how Miss Kay and I paid the bills and fed our four boys. Of course, the bulk of what we put on the table came from whatever game we shot in the woods and the fruits and vegetables that grew on our land.

Nowadays, because of the success of
Duck Dynasty
, they’re telling my family that we won’t ever have to work again. There’s no doubt about it—the Almighty has blessed us immensely. Thirty years ago, all of my college buddies called me an idiot.
They told me I was squandering my college education by fishing the river and building duck calls. But I told them I knew it would work, and now they’re calling me a genius!

I’m here to tell you that the American dream is still out there. My family and I are living examples of it. My company, Duck Commander, was a grassroots operation that started with nothing but the hopes and dreams of an entrepreneur. I built the company from scratch and didn’t receive one penny from the U.S. government in turning it into a multimillion-dollar operation. I had a dream, and I stayed the course. I placed my trust in the Almighty and asked Him to bless my work. Then one day, I looked up, and it had worked out exactly like I’d prayed it would. I’ve been blessed, without question.

I’m living proof that here in America, you can start with nothing more than an idea and entrepreneurial spirit. If you provide the drive, dream, and vision, with God’s help, you can accomplish anything.

But as you’ll read in the pages that follow, I’m very concerned about the direction of our country. It looks nothing like the republic our founding fathers built more than two hundred years ago—or even like it did only a few decades ago. A large part of what was once the American culture is crumbling around us.

In this book, we’ll tackle many of the most important and controversial issues facing America today—including abortion, gun control, government, politics, and race. As you might have
guessed, I have some very strong opinions about the issues we face and will voice them in this book. But even more important to me than my opinions about America are my convictions about my faith. And I’m the first to admit that we Christians don’t always express our political and social opinions in the kindest of spirits—I’ve been guilty of that myself in the past. In fact, some Christians give Christianity a bad name by the way they conduct themselves in the social arena. This is a real shame.

My utmost goal in life is to portray Christ as best as I can and share the Good News that He offers to each and every one of us. You might disagree with what I say or what side I’m taking on certain issues, but they’re my opinions, and I try to share them in a kind way. And just as I believe I’m entitled to have opinions and speak out strongly about them, I believe that you have the right to have your opinions too, and I love you no matter where you stand on these issues. Let’s show each other some respect and kindness as we express our opinions and beliefs.

And here’s where the undergirding spirit of this whole book comes into play:
love God; love your neighbor.
As I tackle some of the most controversial issues that face America, I believe the ultimate solution for all of them is found in these two powerful basics:
love God; love your neighbor.
If we all lived out those principles, I wouldn’t need to write this book.

Please know that I never make any judgments about who’s going to heaven and hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. My job is to love Him, love you, share the Good News, and then move on down the road.

I’m only an average man, and I’m confident there are people out there who are a lot smarter and more qualified than me. But in this book, I get to tell you what I believe and offer suggestions on how to turn our country around.

When I go out preaching and talking to groups across America, my main goal is to share my simple trust and faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want us to love God and love one another. That’s it.

You might ask yourself, “You mean to tell me that’s as profound as it’s going to get?” Yep, that’s all I’m trying to tell you, folks. It’s not going to get any more complicated than that. Look, I don’t have the brainpower, the know-how, or the inclination to go to Washington, DC, and try to fix our country. My purpose in life and in writing this book is only to point people to Jesus and to help turn our country’s people around by reminding us all to love God and love one another.

For the life of me, I don’t see the downside of human beings not being so mean to one another, not stealing from one another, and not murdering one another. We need to learn to forgive and love one another.

If, as a nation, we put the teachings of Jesus into practice, we’d be in a whole different place. Wouldn’t we be better off
being humble men and women? That’s what Jesus told us to do. Wouldn’t we be better off mourning with those who mourn, sharing their grief, and loving them dearly as neighbors, no matter their color? Wouldn’t we be better off being meek, gentle, and kind—not given to violence? It would pretty much put an end to road rage, impatience, fighting, feuding, killing, and raping. Wouldn’t we be better off trying to make peace instead of seemingly always being at war? Wouldn’t we be better off as a society if we were merciful to the ones who are unfortunate? Wouldn’t we be better off if there were a hunger and thirst inside all of us to do what’s right? Wouldn’t we be better off being pure in heart?

We all need to step back and take a look at our country. What do you see? Whether you’re a believer or an unbeliever, a grandparent or a college student, a man or a woman, what do you see on our streets and in our schools? Be honest. Don’t tell me you’re not concerned by what’s going on. Look around and listen. You might be asking yourself, “How in the world did people even come up with all of these harebrained ideas and ways to run a country?” I’m not saying I can fix it. What I’m saying is God can fix it when we live out those two simple principles:
love God and love one another.
When we remove God from the conversation—the only standard there is for morality, truth, law, and governing—what do we expect? When we remove the fear of God from any man or any movement, honesty, integrity, virtue, and morality leave with Him. They fly away and are gone.

My prayer is that by reading this book, maybe a few people
will come to trust in Jesus, turn from their sins, and grow closer to God. In the grand scheme of things, that’s my biggest hope. That’s my message in a nutshell: America, we have a love problem and we need to fix it. Let’s try to love one another and see what happens. It can only get better.

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