Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer

Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer
They sent me here just to watch...
Showing posts with label divisive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label divisive. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

240 Years of Experience, Not a single year of wisdom

We have 240 years of experience and not even 1 year of wisdom.  We should be celebrating that our Grand Experiment that we call the United States of America has once again survived.  Power will transition by the vote and civility not by bullets and bayonets; yet so many seek divisiveness even after the election.

Elections and campaigns are tough, demanding much from the candidates and the electorate.  Sometimes the dialogue dies and only demonizing exchanges of vitriol and acrimony remain in the final days before votes are cast.  But in decades past, Americans set aside their pettiness and supported whomever was elected, charging them to do what is best for this great nation.  Our differences could take a back seat to our patriotism and we could give those elected to office a chance to do right by the longstanding process that elected them.

The election just accomplished is not far off from the one on the horizon.  Wisdom beckons us to give those elected a chance to do right by the people and the Constitution and by almighty God.  Can we not open our eyes and see that many have won and lost in the past, to include many contests noted by nobility and others by mud wrestling, but a victor emerged and the country transitioned power.

I have embraced some elected officials, tolerated others, and was just outright unhappy over some elections that didn’t come out according to my view of the best for American; but my loyalty to this great nation demanded that I give those elected a chance to do the best that they could.


That meant praying for them instead of demeaning them.  That meant corresponding with them instead of taking public potshots at them.  That meant exercising wisdom over vitriol and patriotism over selfishness.  I plan to stay that course.  I ask that you join me.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

It's time to American Up!

It is time to American Up.  That’s right, we need to take all of our differences, diversity, and dialogue and use it to make ourselves better.

We have been divisive and derisive enough for long enough and it needs to stop.  Your side doesn’t have to win every issue.  I don’t have to be right every time.  Maybe you can’t remember a time when we actually listened to each other, respected each other, and looked out for each other, but we can move towards that time.  It doesn’t have to be something long lost.  It can be our American Aim—a United Goal if you will—for 2016.

We don’t have to value a black life more than a white one, hate police officers, or bomb abortion clinics.  We have a lot of differences among us, but we are Americans and it’s time that we stopped acting like a bunk of hoodlums.  We don’t have to hate refugees to honor veterans.  Are we not a nation grand enough to do two things at once?  Can we not help those afflicted by war and respect those who stepped forward to serve with honor at the same time?

Can we not tell our politicians, “Enough!  I am not listening to another word that bashes someone.  Tell me what you will do or why we should vote for you, but enough with the put downs of other honorable men and women in the arena.”

Enough with hating people because of their faith.  If you are a Christian as I am, then fulfill your commission—proclaim the good news and do it with love.  If you belong to another faith, then live what your faith truly says.  Don’t let anyone hijack it in the name of their secular cause.

If you are an enemy of the United States, get ready to get your ass kicked big time.  We are through fighting among ourselves.  You are our target.  If your faith compels you to attack the people of this nation, then expect to die.  The one true God has not set you upon this course, so as much as I would like to reach you with good news of life in Jesus before you launch your attack; because I haven’t, then expect not only to die but to burn in hell.  You are servants of the god of this age (That’s Satan for the biblically illiterate).

I am really not a big fan of telling people to burn in hell, but if you have declared war on my country, Burn Baby Burn!

That last part really speaks to only a few who have made it to this country to do us harm.  If they wanted, they could just sit back and watch us destroy ourselves.  We have been fighting each other for too long.

But that time must end.  It must end now.  We must unite as Americans, tolerate our differences better, synergize our diversity, and be the light to the world that we can be when we are at our best.
We are better than we have been for the first 15 years of this century.  We became selfish, self-centered, and just outright lazy.  It is time to reignite our pioneer spirit, bring out the ingenuity that vaulted us to world prominence, and quit fighting among ourselves.

Look ahead with optimism that we can work together once again and truly live as brothers and sisters in this nation that so longs to be great again.

It is time.
It is time to American Up!