Friday, February 6, 2015

Americans Love to Fight - Especially Each Other - But NOT NOW!

What of the President’s remarks on Christianity, the U.S. and past atrocities?  I don’t enjoy political discussions, but the events that are coming to light in our generation and the level of inhumanity which is being applied with no remorse or regret by those who perpetrate it, demand public, unequivocal declarations regarding what is right and what is wrong.  There is a time for historic comparisons, but not now – at least not in such settings. If we occupy ourselves by making these types of comparisons rather than dealing with the global peril that has already touched us several times at home [and thousands of times with every life lost in combat and continued acts of terror globally], we make ourselves more vulnerable yet again. We must focus on the present and direct danger that is taunting us with its evil now. We can discuss our domestic shortcomings in other settings on other days." Addressing our own historic wrongdoings when we have a desperate need to unite against a common determined evil is a distraction. A big one. A dangerous one.  While race is our ongoing national issue, there is an immediate threat against which we must rally and unite. There is a strong possibility of us being so right, that we'll wind up dead right. Let's have some forums, let's continue the conversation in other contexts.  The Greatest generation showed us how. The Tuskegee airmen beat the devil out of the Nazis in their performance of their duties, and by doing so created the opportunities we now enjoy.  They addressed our own national issues but understood the task at hand as they dealt with it.  The The President is a masterful communicator with a staff to assist him. There was more focus on making a historical point than rallying the nation in a point in history, which is the urgent need of the day!  We are NOT perfect and we have certainly in our present generation demonstrated some of our uglier sides in discussions of great import to us as a nation.  Nevertheless, this is a situation much like our founders faced who said, and I quote, “If we do not all hang together, we will certainly all hang separately”…or burn.  We all have sinned in various ways because we are all sinners. It is always appropriate to inspect ourselves, examine our hearts, and apply accountability for our actions as we seek to execute justice.  In keeping an account of ourselves, however, let us not add to our common moral culpability by engaging in philosophical arguments in a distracting way, while faced with one of the most dangerous physical and moral threats in human history that demands of us, a physical, moral response.  Let's make sure that we aren't so engaged in fighting amongst ourselves, that we fail to focus on an enemy who has no intention of losing its focus on us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you are absolutely correct in your assessment. pity that our cic did not have your counsel prior to making his statement(s), but, therein lies the root of the issue/problem...there is no moral equivalent for the committed atrocities. the cic's attempt to do so is kinda like a scene out of a batman movie where 2-face is having a discussion with harvey dent about why the action he is about to take. or has undertaken, is warranted or unwarranted...all the while the tick...tick...tick... being clearly discernible in the background