FIRE, FIRE
Once again I almost lost my television. Luckily I can’t throw my shoe hard enough to
cause any real destruction.
This is unlike the real danger of hurling the wrong words at
the wrong time. Surely we have freedom
of speech in our country, but it is not to be unrestrained. Hollering “FIRE” in a crowded public venue
just to get a reaction is deemed criminal. So what about all the unrestrained hateful,
spiteful and unchecked vocalizations that are being hurled into our USA society today?
Years ago, far in the past times an old-timer can still
remember, a very famous bear jumped in to try and stop fires that were
occurring across our beautiful part of the North American Continent. No one knows how many tragedies were stopped by this icon
“SMOKEY THE BEAR”. The important thing
is someone was smart enough to examine all the things that contributed to
setting fires in the first place, then someone else working together with smart
guy #1 found a way to present things that we as a society had to do in order to
prevent forest fires. They discovered by
presenting their findings in a simple form all could understand, they could
change behavior throughout our entire population for generations to come.
In our country we are experiencing the power of producing change. Unfortunately, we have allowed factions
within our borders to create a sub-society that strives to overthrow our way of
life. While most of our conflicts have been waged from a position of strength
and purpose, we have made some mistakes in our growth. Those errors have become
the igniting elements that have thrown us into the heightened dangerous
tinderbox of today’s American society.
We are a people whose population is divided as those who fought the
Revolutionary and the Civil War.
We have come to the point of ridiculousness that requires the
same out of the box solution as used to change minds for a good purpose. We
need to come together as a people, but unless we defuse arguments and hatreds
with facts that are true, rather than just beliefs, I’m not even sure that a
“Smokey the Bear” or even a hero such as “Superman” can stop the suicide track
our nation has set foot on.
Our three year olds have been on their own when it comes to
finding out who and what their heritage is as a national society member, they
have been given guidance , not by their parents, but by those who are handed
these pliable minds to affect. The
results are in.
Do you like them? I
don’t.
Most recently we have seen advocates from all sides hurling
their incivility and hatred into the tinderbox of our political social forest
and it needs to stop. As long as our
people continue to rely on those propaganda messages that promote a lynch mob
mentality and permissive approval, the danger increases. Instead of looking for the why of any
particular circumstance our national “truth purveyors” are more intent on who
and what to blame and to make sure whatever is smoldering continues to
escalate. Rich powerful men are not all
enemies. There is fact and there is fiction. There are lies and there is truth. There is right and there is wrong. No man is all good and no man is all bad. As long as we allow folks to spout off
regardless of how far they stretch credulity, how can you be sure what you are
preaching and screaming about is valid?
To act on someone
else’s belief system is foolish for an individual and is a storm in the making
for social-political outcomes. When we
have politicians provoking people to physical confrontation; entertainers
swearing and giving example of physical harm to our politicians; when we have a
society that sees the effects of mental instability paired with social media
and choose to convict a weapon instead of the provocation, it’s not only wrong,
THAT’S TOTALLY IMMORAL!
We have to start judging pragmatically based on fact and with
an honest appraisal of the full effects of what we think will get a real result
that is good for our society and for the world.
There are two dogs in every human, one
hateful and angry, one loving and helpful. Be careful of which dog you are feeding and sustainin.
We have to start judging pragmatically based on fact and with
an honest appraisal of the full effects of what we think will get a real result
that is good for our society and for the world.
Pray for a world that respects God and country, and a world
that works toward the betterment of the person next to him, and for those a
world away.
The important thing is LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.
And please Lord ……………send us a Smokey.
