one fully opinionated disclosure
When I was in the fourth grade, my first semester report card was an eye opener, straight Fs. And the teacher was kind enough not to list grades but wrote – Parent Conference. During the conference, she opined how no one could be that dumb, yet there I was, that dumb. Afterwards, with mom tutoring me every night after dinner at the kitchen table until my grades came up, then me attending summer school, I made fifth grade, although still that dumb.
So, today as I look about, and wonder how anyone could be dumber than myself, I find a nation awash in like brained personage. Only this is different, and the consequence of the intellectual deficiency farther reaching, or much more dangerous. Not only affecting two individuals, like my grades did me and mom, but the entirety of the nation, including future generations who have not yet been born, but will pay the debt, both financially and morally if anything is left by those who won’t be alive but created the mess, a vicious cycle.
Our Constitution an example of abuse consequence, where citizens lacking, or blindly following others, namely party, are seduced into a deep intellectual deficiency of precepts for a purpose. The document itself, a double-edged sword, cutting both ways, allowing one to be what they want, doing things the way they want, just all within reason, depending. To be conservative, liberal, progressive, or an ultra of.
I was forty-three when my son was born, and my dad visited to meet his grandson. At the time, he handed me a pocket size Declaration of Independence (DOI) and Constitution of the United States. It would be the first time I ever cracked a cover and read them. After reading through, I began to see why Jefferson claimed the DOI his greatest life accomplishment. In the midst of the entirety, a mere fifty-five words, framing one paragraph, foretelling the framework of British America becoming the United States of America:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed … (Declaration of Independence)
One paragraph, what some believe merely a philosophical statement, but in truth, I believe, the embodiment of what became the foundation of the Constitution, and the moral ground on which the nation should stand. The DOI, written before our nations framing document was even a thought. And even though Jefferson himself failed to uphold what he wrote, evolution would, correct the imperfections he struggled to dispel:
Unalienable: Not alienable; that cannot be alienated; that may not be transferred; as unalienable rights.
Created: Formed from nothing; caused to exist; …
Equal: One not inferior or superior to another; …
Creator: The being or person that creates.
Life: In animals, animation; vitality; and in man, that state of being in which the soul and body are united.
Liberty: Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind.
Happiness: The agreeable sensations which spring from the enjoyment of good; …
Today, citizens unknowing, fight over rights the Framer’s ensconced, only now, the nations “soul and body” is at stake, everything of value. While issues are multiplying and changing at a rate faster than anyone can follow, and frighteningly, at some point, this country will cross a line from which it cannot return. It’s perilously close now with one of the newest trends: MAPS – Minor Attracted Persons, or the normalization of pedophilia. Their want is to be included in the LGBTQ+ community, and if they act on the desire with the child’s permission, not be criminalized. If any sane person agrees with this new agenda being foisted on the public, I suggest they do a critical reevaluation of their value system.
Anyway, the reason for this disclosure is two upcoming pieces I’ve written. Both are not to offend, or hurt, but to understand, make a point, and look for compromise. As the nation softens its stance on what’s deemed permissible, understanding, the lid on Pandora’s Box, once removed, cannot be replaced. To convey my position, there is a verse in the Bible: If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her (John 8:7). Two individuals, caught in the act of adultery, while only one was charged and used in an attempt to trap Jesus in his words. He settled the matter with one pronouncement, and everyone departed, while the guilty walked free. My moral: I will never judge, as I am guilty, one deserving to be stoned, knowing in the end, I won’t walk free, if I judge those like me, guilty.
But I also know, as a nation, citizens without knowledge, or moral compass, almost anything and everything becomes permissible under the Constitution, including things it has no power to control. But what limits, and who sets them, then once boundaries are broken, when does enough, become ENOUGH? Yet, when those in charge knowingly push the limits of morality, while switching positions regularly, all in a vain attempt to obtain votes while increasing their power stranglehold, remember: The consciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity. (Federalist 1)
In closing, there are two commandments, both apropos, but one half: And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). I have not walked in another’s shoes, nor they in mine, but what is right, and what is truth. We should all desire to find out, while treating everyone with humility, respect, and compassion. My parents instilled this philosophy during my youth, and mom biblically reinforced it with one story depicted in the book of Luke, chapter 10:25-37.
At times, even though I believe in the Holy Trinity, I struggle with God and fully accepting biblical precepts. But unlike Jefferson, who believed in God, but not the Holy Trinity, I strive to visualize the whole as opposed to his cut and paste version of faith, like America does with the Framer’s and the Constitution. I may now be the grown-up version of who I was in the fourth grade, while carrying the pamphlet my dad handed me twenty years ago, and like our nation, it’s tattered, worn, held together with packing tape, but still usable. But as I continue to carry it in my back pocket, abusing it, I wonder, like our nation, how much longer will it hold together.