Constitutional Guarantee I live in a country where I am by its Constitution guarantee of freedom of speech. However, it does not mean I have something to talk about that may be of value to you. There is another problem with freedom of speech. I talk to people every day about one thing, joy, and the response I got in 35 years is most discouraging. It makes you want to cry, soak your head in a bucket, or sand for that matter. When people don’t respond to what you tell them, you get to feel as if you are talking to a wall. So, I tried to figure out what gets their attention: Suffering.
People respond almost impulsively to tales of suffering, tragedies, and fateful accidents. They devour the tales of star-crossed lovers such as Romeo and Juliet. But, when it comes to Brother Sun talking to Sister Moon, the response to someone talking to the birds and adoring flowers in bloom are meant for those with more time on their hands. Meanwhile, we are to concern our self with the problem of feeding the starving in this world. The people in this world are starving for love, and you want to feed the hungry by showing your concern for their suffering, is that right? We the United States, with its overweight citizens is going to feed the hungry of this world, set an example of others to follow, by having our excess fat removed surgically, and doctors prescribe us medicine to reduce our cholesterol rating? Are you kidding?
You never heard of the America where the mothers kill their children and the children kill their parents! You never heard of the America in which people went into hiding in Waco, Texas, armed themselves against some unseen intruder, and were killed by people working for our government! You never heard of the America where kids dress up in camouflaged uniforms and lay in wait for their classroom mates and teacher to appear in the courtyard during recess to kill them! You never heard of the America where the body bags of the dead arrive after midnight at Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. and are prepared for burial at the Arlington National Cemetery the next day! You never heard of the America in which our president was accused for breaking into the Watergate complex, the America facing a McCarthy era witch hunt for Communist supporters and followers in our own government!! When we fail to point out our mistakes to others, we enter a world of make believe that is non-existent. We become greater than God, because we become all things to all men, women, and children in this country. This is not true. Anyone assuming the position of where he becomes a nominee for the election of this country’s highest office should never pretend that he is capable of solving all the problems laid before him. Never.
Presidential candidates should leave the heroics of supermen to others and present themselves to the public as being perhaps more stupid than anyone else of wanting a job that will be highly criticized by others. All you need to do is wait. The criticism will arrive in due time, believe me. It never fails. And, there will always be those who will tell you later “I told you so.” So, the individual voter cannot afford to bury his head in sand and think that by doing so, all his problems of today will suddenly disappear tomorrow. Unfortunately, this is the prevailing attitude it seems among voters today. Their candidate is looked upon as the panacea for what ails us, come hell or high water. Furthermore, remember, we have a right to change our Mind, no matter what we do. This is why some Democrats become Republicans, some Republicans become Democrats, and Ralph Nader runs for president on an Independent ticket. Since the press describes America as a country with undecided voters and only a few independent voters, Ralph Nader is never invited to attend a public debate with other candidates or to Meet the Press. Folks, we live in the land of the free and the brave:
The genius and moron, the rich and poor, the suffering and non-suffering, and the godless and god fearing. There were times in my life when I worked with the retarded and wondered who was brighter, me or them? They seemed to lead an unencumbered life, I did not share. They forgot, when I remembered. They forgave, when I accused them. Maybe, I thought, this is what Einstein had in mind, when he accused this human animal to be possessed with infinite stupidity. Stupid to fall prey to our boasting rights of being super beings by becoming a governor of Alaska, or extending our one year of suffering to four more years.
tupid to fall prey to the inquiries of the press, that has abnegated its right to speak for America at that hour it was silenced by that government, it was to protect its citizens from. When Ted Kennedy was silenced on his protest of invading Iraq, America reached the abyss of its own ignorance and use of double talk. The American press, including the Times and Washington Post, felt his comments were not worth more than 39 words on the back page. The press in that hour of need, had become a handmaiden of the government, as much as the propaganda machine under Goebbels served the interests of the Third Reich. What is left of our liberty and free speech today, you can fit into a thimble. J. Edgar Hoover knew this. This is why he was always sure of keeping his job as the head of the FBI. His ability to silence the most powerful individual in our nation must be looked upon as a most frightening aspect in the history of this country.
Meanwhile, the press feared to call him a homosexual. Meanwhile, the corruption in this country, the drug problems in this country, the crimes in this country; went on unabated. No, I am afraid it is too late to do anything about our country, no matter who is elected. The damage inflicted upon it by an irresponsible government of the past and the present has cast this world in mourning. We have spent more than we could possibly afford. We are praying to a God, who cannot help us. And, we are walking on a path of our own destruction. If this is not obvious to you, then you should know why Kabir said: The fishes in the water are thirsty, and every time I think of it, it makes me laugh. You are the fish. We live in a most wonderful environment possible and destroy it.
We have more resources available to us than anyone can imagine and mismanage them and waste them, time being the most precious. We laud our moon landing, but not having arrived on earth. We laud and applaud the deaf, dumb, and blind of this world, and forget who gave us sight. Despite all our riches, we claim to be poor. Despite all our assets, we claim to be shortchanged. And, despite all the information fed to us, we remain ignorant of Self. So, what are we left with: The right to vote. Go on, vote. It will make no difference as to the outcome of what will happen to YOU. You will surely die. Therefore, always remember, that the graveyard is filled with those who were promised to live forever, who were going to make a difference to this country. Who once upon a time asked for your support. It could happen to McCain tomorrow and Obama a few days later, since the older you get the closer you are to the head of the line entering the cemetery. I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God…. Jefferson is quoted as saying: I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against any form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me; and enough, too, in their opinion. Letter to Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800.
When Bush talks about religion and God, such comments as those made by Jefferson, get edited out of his speech due to being anti-religious. Jefferson, on the other hand, was not anti-religious, despite the comments he made. He was totally opposed to any thought of the state and religion joining forces, as in the case of the governments of the people, by the people, and for the people; being ruled by a Holy Roman empire. Religion was “solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith of his worship…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” On another occasion, Jefferson pointed out: Every one must act according to the dictates of his own reason. Thus, religious choosing was a private matter of no public concern.
Also, that those preachers concern themselves solely with the issues of God and not the State. Today, the preachers from our pulpits in our Churches have forgotten the need of separating the Church from the State and the State from the Church, which Jefferson addressed in his time. In this regard, he commented to a letter to P.H. Wendover: In choosing our pastor we look to his religious qualifications, without inquiring into his physical or political dogmas, with which we mean to have nothing to do with. When religious leaders of this country get involved in politics, as in the case of Pat Robertson, we do have to ask: What benefits would derive from him having run for political office? Would it not be better for the Religious constituency of this country to stop mixing oil and water?
Politics and religion do not mix. They never have and never will. The honesty and moral conduct prescribed by a loving God is not possible for the secular realm of politics. This is why Bush and Cheney have little difficulty in praying to God on Sunday and during the week talk about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction. They are playing by their own rules not those imposed upon them by God. As one of the greatest champions of religious liberty in American history, Thomas Jefferson stands out alone. Personally, he was an atheist, however, who felt everyone had a right to believe anything they wanted, even a God who died on the cross for their sin. He lived in a time when men owned slaves and freed slaves had slaves. He lived in a time when the freed cohabitated with the enslaved, a practice since Roman times. Today, we are told by those running for political office, that little has changed when it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Meanwhile, there is a constant hue and cry about being robbed of your identity, that the freedom and liberty you once enjoyed can be taken from you by those who have access to your social security number and bank account. Is that so? Is this a matter of fact? What exactly defines the boundaries of the secular (state) and religion? This question requires more than a simple explanation of fact vs faith. It requires more than the boundaries set by those in a legal position to determine the use of prayer in public schools or if it is fitting to place a bronze statue in a governmental building with the inscription of the Ten Commandments.
It actually goes to the very heart of human expression, which has no boundaries. One of our most cherished possessions in this country is the guarantee under the First Amendment of the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This Bill of Rights, as it became popularly known, laid the foundation for equality and for justice for all. And, when it came to taking full advantage of these Bill of Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stood in he Halls of the Supreme Court and before Congress that our Constitutional rights not be violated. The final result since the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, was to have the Bible replaced with the teaching of evolution in public schools and prayers of any kind forbidden.
If I am sure of one thing, I am sure that the religious body of the United States will feel offended by such Supreme Court decisions but it would make no difference to God, after all, were we not given the freedom of choice? Meanwhile, we can go on debating the constitutionality of laws that have a religious reference. Now we know that despite these constitutional guarantees, which even Russia enjoyed under Stalin, the use of dictatorial power negated them, as much as they would in the United States under a McCarthy mentality, whose suspicions and accusations of those accused as being communist supporters and party members caused them to lose their jobs, separate from their spouses, and try to maintain some semblance of balance in their lives.
Reagan was one of the principal witnesses during those perilous years, where America stood to lose its “rights,” obsessed with a feeling that we were dealing with an evil empire that needed to be vanquished. It takes more than mere words to preserve whatever precious freedom is left to us today. The eroding affect of the Patriotic Act and Home Security Act in regard to our own privacy being invaded may not be apparent to the many it addresses. But when your wires are tapped, for no other reason than to insure your well being, think twice about the guarantees promised you under the Bill of Rights.
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