The author of the "Scientia est Potentia" web site (see links at side bar) wrote this on July 29:
Our War really isn't against terrorism. It's not a war against China, Iran, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, or Cuba and it has little to do with the "Axis of Evil". It's not a war against Kim Jong Il, Osama Bin Laden, George Bush, or even the would-be criminal who might live next door.
Our War is against ourselves. The War we face everyday is the struggle that is hidden behind the small choices that each of us make - the little things that slowly add up. Our War is about whether or not we'll defend the rights of those with whom we cannot seem to find common ground. It is about whether or not each day will find us having improved the community in which we live, or letting it slide. Will we improve ourselves, forcing our bodies and minds into that which is worthy of the opportunities that we have been given, or will we allow leisure and experience to soften us up for the inevitable end?
I asked my own seventh grade students to question the Pledge of Allegiance. Does "liberty and justice for all" apply to everyone, or just to people living in the US, or just to US citizens? They opted for the third choice. Then I asked, "Why were we in France and Germany and Italy and Japan during World War II?" They changed their minds. We mentioned Guantanamo Bay. They changed their minds again. From the perspective of (1) someone familiar with the great rhetoric of our nation's shapers from Thomas Jefferson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan and (2) a Christian, I'd say rights are innate and the US is the first society to recognize human rights as its cornerstone. Americans are privileged to live here, but rights are not our privilege alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment