Tuesday, December 09, 2008

What harm we do...

I recently came across some images online where people held signs saying not so nice things about our troops. I've also had the pleasure of corresponding with a veteran from a war long past who lived through the pain of not being welcomed with open arms when he returned.

Are we really that blind? It gets under my skin to hear and see of such things, people treating another badly, someone who gives up so much for us. As I look back through history, I wonder just how different things would be if everyone took the stance that war is always wrong and that no one should fight.

As long as there are people wanting to rule over and take from others, we can't stop the fighting. For whatever reason some leader thinks he needs to take more from the people, I don't know. What I believe is that government should be more open about it, show that they are helping the people, not lining their own pockets - but can they do that? Or do they not want us to know?

We are now on the path of bigger government. I hear people screaming "Take away the guns! Stop the violence!" and again I find myself thinking are we really so blind? And there are days where I don't care if people are so blind anymore. What can I do about it? They will argue until they pass out from lack of air that they are right. Guns cause the violence, not frustration because our young people are being pushed harder and harder and parents are working harder and harder and no one has available time to actually spend with the frustrated child to teach them how to handle that frustration properly. Noooo, just take away guns from everyone, then take everything that could possibly be used as a weapon (chain necklace, a cord on a bookbag) - what? Put us all in a big bubble. Last I heard, everything from a pencil to a fist can be used as a lethal weapon. How do we take away their fists?

Why not attack the problem at the root? Pay attention to our kids, teach empathy, respect of other people whether we agree with them or not. It's not all boiled down to God but to values and morals that encourage more decent behavior.

Let's stop listening to the media as if they are the information gods and deserve our complete worship. They report what is written and as a writer, I know one change of a word can make something seem to lean one way or the other, whichever way they believe they will get more ratings.

Let's stop looking for an easy fix to all the problems (government will save us - not) and look deeper to the root. I see the foundations crumbling. I see people refusing to take responsibility for their actions. I see people forgetting why we have so much freedom and taking that freedom for granted. It's freedom that has been won for us on the blood and emotional turmoil of many - many that don't get a thank you from some of us.

I appreciate the hard work and total sacrifices our American troops give to their country so that I can live in the way that I do and raise my girls as I can. I may not agree with every war, but I know sometimes there is no choice. And when there is a choice, it can't be made only by what the media tells us.

As the 2008 holiday season comes, my wish for Christmas is for people to see the truths and be bigger than their opinions. See deeper to the people you are thinking badly of. What do you really know about them? Why must you make their job all that much harder? They are fighting for us, trying to save what's left of our great country, a country built by people who had nothing, who fought impossible battles to gain their independence and who built their businesses and livelihoods from dirt and sweat. They knew where they wanted to go and they worked hard to get there. Why have we stopped doing that on a grand scale?

I'll never know, and I mustn't think about it too long or my own frustration sets in...

Until next time.