“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land”.
II Chronicles
Christianity teaches that God made all
mankind from one source (Acts 17). And He granted to each people the lands of
their habitation. Therefore, every human, regardless of his or her individual
condition, shares in the common dignity of mankind. They matter. And every
government has a duty to govern its people justly and to consider the impact of
policy on their most vulnerable citizens. It is part of the plan of redemption.
I believe this doctrine should inform how we think about our responsibility to
our fellow Americans and how we treat foreign governments and peoples.
While we profess many enlightened
ideas, lately we have failed to consider the moral cause of the poor, the
wanton risks of war, racism and the failure our public safety policy. But I believe
that for Christian Americans, the common dignity of mankind should be a
compelling argument to re-examine the tired, old left versus right orthodoxies
in welfare policy, foreign policy, immigration, race and criminal justice.
The poor on welfare are not all “lazy,”
nor are “the rich” taking advantage of all of them. People of color are no more
racism as a white man who just does not get it how people of color have been
left out of the system from 1619 until 1965, “look at the history “ and listen
to my fellow brothers sometimes. We just want to be validated and move on. Real
life is often a series of unfortunate events. It has always been this way. In
our arrogance, we often judge these realities harshly. However, to dwell on our
failings is to forget the purpose of this discussion: Real people need real
help. Welfare must be rethought – if for no other reason than the current
system is insolvent. Inflation is the wrong answer because it robs the poor,
reducing the value of their meager savings. That is morally repugnant. Nor can
we simply eliminate all race problems it is so part of our country, economy and
cannot be dropped overnight for the bottom line. This is a real problem, and it
requires a real solution.
We imprison our citizens for many crimes, but we do not reform them. With the war on drugs, we do not really distinguish between harming oneself and harming another. We do not provide prisons where the convicts can safely be reformed. Our criminal punishment system is corrupt. Prisons are recruiting offices for gangs, and terrorists. Prisoners are surrounded by vice, drugs, and are under the threat of assault by other inmates.
I often wonder what would happen if each young/old American voter who supported Barack Obama, or the Evangelicals who supported George Bush consider the anger and resentment that is being felt by their continued view points that have to always be right, because of past harm or fear; do we really distinguish between harming oneself and harming another in such a dehumanizing manor. All the American people get for their money is the reintroduction into society of persons who have been traumatized by this being separate but equal notion, educated on how to be better criminals or being blameless in their minds because my forefathers did it not me. Often this cycle is often released back into our communities and “the Band plays on” until another Trayvon Martin, same sex, Abortion, immigration, Rodney King pass the "Kool Aid".
We must stop the system from preying on the most vulnerable (Americans (ourselves). It is wrong. And there is a responsibility to address it by changing our individual mind set and assumes our own responsibilities.
These issues will continue until the American people are tired of being badly led and renew their responsibility to ensure that the government is accountable and see all people as Americans not African Americans, White Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans or others but just Americans
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