My Commitment

 

God uses good people. Bad people use God. ~ Loretta Jenkins Suiter (1894-1984)

 

   I have been thinking about what my grandmother said a lot lately. And, then, my next thought is of what Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

   It is time for good people to do something. Something so simple and pure that it seems hard for many to recognize. Maybe it has been easier to wait and hope that others will do it for them, but waiting for others is not working for us anymore.

   So, I will do it first: I will state clearly and concisely: I am a citizen of the United States of America. My country was founded with the Declaration of Independence and our government is based upon our Constitution. I understand that as a citizen, I have rights afforded to me - "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" which are endowed by the Creator. (Back to that God thing.) The Constitution sets out the rules for our society. I can abide by those rules. America has no "rulers," We have a democratic republic, so long as we protect it.

   This means that we all must accept there are facts that govern the country. A set of laws that govern everyone. Equality is a measure of our success. At this, we are failing. My father said that "some of us are more equal than others." I am beginning to understand that statement more every day.

   January 6, 2021, was a culmination of many things. Mostly, it was a travesty of immense proportions. Why would anyone think, or believe, that they should "storm" the heart of our democracy with malice and murderous intent to destroy everything that our country is? How have we fallen so far?

   Tribalism. Factions. Divisions. Poverty (whether of the soul or the pocketbook).

   Hatred is a vile tool used to fan the flames. Hatred of "others" - of power, wealth, race, religion - has been stoked into a mighty fire in this country. It has become a ritual for so many and, now, it has spilled into the hearts and souls our fellow citizens in ways too innumerable to count.

   Brinkmanship has become the coin of the day - who can be more outrageous and who can support that outrage the most.

   We cannot become a nation based on reality teevee shows, like "Survivor." We must stop that addiction, that search for the "rush" of adrenaline that sends people looking into the darkest holes of the internet for the ugliest answers. Those who have succeeded in immersing themselves in falsehoods and lies threaten the survival of all of us.

   Too many strange lines have been drawn. I saw a picture of two men proudly wearing shirts emblazoned with "I’d Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat." Huh? Have we truly come to this?

   I have so many friends who identify as Republican and respect that; being able to think that they would choose Russian before Democrat is beyond my comprehension.

   It truly is time to come together. The door is open. I have always put my country and the Constitution first. When all those who would rather be Russian before any other thing will join me, we will be together and go forward. Until then, if you can't uphold our democratic republic and its Constitution, the rest of us will go on without you.