Welcome to the 1960's (Again)

Welcome to the 1960’s (again).  On the streets we see rioting.  Everywhere you look you see hatred for the “other” side of the issue.  The last time we saw this in America it let to destruction of whole sections of major cities – Detroit, Watts, etc.  This time we have a President and an administration that tend to foster this discontent and hatred.  Instead of a President calling for calm and peace he is commenting on how unjust the outcomes are and sending in his people to “investigate” or file charges against those who a jury of their peers declined to indict.  

We see civil (and non-civil) disobedience and a building hatred for other races, political parties, religions, or classes of Americans.  We have forgotten that we are ALL Americans and need to learn to get along with each other.  Our leaders need to be sending a message that we can do better.  We need a message of hope for our future rather than a message that reinforces or even suggests that America is an unfair place.  While it is true that America is not as free as we used to be it is still a place where dreams can come true if you work towards that dream.  

To accomplish a dream in today’s America you need to get an education.  You need to learn that life is not an entitlement – you will have to work for you income.  We also need to remember that families are the basic unit of society and of our nation and as the families of America fail so does our nation.  The epidemic of one parent families has hit nowhere harder that in our black communities and our current policies appear to be designed to further this decline by fostering single parent homes.  Welfare is rampant with no encouragement to work.  Additionally those who are on welfare, food stamps or other government assistance can’t get off because there is no “soft landing” in the programs.  If you make one dollar too much you suddenly have to make twice as much as you did before because the programs cut you off immediately.  This appears to be designed to keep the poor – well poor.  

If there was a graduated ramp to the benefits you could make more and more money and have your benefits reduce gradually rather than falling off a cliff.  We need a change to our approach to poverty if we want to get more people off from welfare and out of bondage to our government. 

We also need to have it understood that to succeed in today’s world you need some type of education.  You also need to understand that there is a right and wrong approach to life.  We have failed to teach that in our schools so now we have to teach ethics (honesty) to attorneys, engineers, and nearly every other profession.  Our nation has refused to teach right from wrong in our schools but then we expect our professionals to be ethical.  How can we expect our nation to be ethical and honest if we refuse to teach them that this is a requirement to hold onto our government?  All of our founders stated that our government could only be held by a moral group of citizens.  

As I watch our nation I see us slipping into the same pattern as historical societies that have collapsed into ruin.  The part that is before us is further decay and the failure of our government if we don’t repent and turn back to our God (i.e. regain our integrity and honesty).  When we are fully ripe God will teach us the importance of honesty and integrity in his own way.  As we look back on societies and nations of the past, we see that the lessons taught by God are never pleasant.  Whether you attribute this tutoring to God or just to getting your just reward the results are the same.  They usually involve death & destruction.  

We as a nation have become proud and disobedient to the principles that have made us a great nation.  As the saying goes – pride goeth before the fall.  We have become proud, arrogant and our leaders seem to be leading us towards destruction.  Whether this is planned on their part or they are just pawns in someone else’s game remains to be seen.   The one thing that is clear however is that if we don’t change the message coming from Washington and change the plight of our poor our nation will fail from within.