IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 226
March 10, 2016
“Playing with fire…”
Rules we learn as children…. Among them is “don’t play with matches. Fire is dangerous!”
Add to that brush your teeth, look both ways when you cross the street, and mind your manners and our recall becomes humorous. We can almost hear the voices of our parents and grandparents teaching us valuable life lessons.
We probably don’t play with fire, but our society definitely doesn’t hold to that rule. Forget the matches, America is busy with a blowtorch.
Far from what detractors deem a “Bible thumper,” I do hold true to the teachings that have guided untold millions over millennia. Ten of them are very familiar. Constantly under attack as “offensive,” The Ten Commandments have been moved from public spaces with no thought to the value of adhering to them.
At a writers’ conference held at Ball State University, I attended a panel discussion of mystery writers. One woman was especially “pushy,” and lived up to my assessment in short order. A younger writer brought up a plot for a novel, including the fact that it centered on a pastor and his struggle to lead his flock in the wake of what he viewed moral decay. Her main point was holding to the rules Moses had on tablets given him by God.
After polite criticism and guidance from a few other panel members, Pushy began to squirm. The moderator gave her the floor and she took off like a rocket. She demanded to know why one earth anyone would want those rues posted in public. Her viewpoint was that religion was a private matter and Christians had no right to impose their beliefs on others.
This went on and on. Finally, in an effort to quash the ranting and raving, the moderator asked if anyone in the audience had a comment. Far from shy, I rose and spoke directly to Pushy. I remember those words as if I uttered them seconds ago.
“I concede your point if you can answer one question.” She puffed up as if she had just been given a major award. “Fine,” she shot back with a smirk.
I spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. “Can you name me one person that any one of those rules has hurt?”
The room erupted in laughter and her face went red. She pushed her briefcase off the table and stormed out of the room in what my grandmother would have called “a huff.”
After the moderator had given her the floor, I guess my question gave her the door! In any event, she skirted me the rest of the day and gave me a look that would wilt crisp lettuce.
Yes, this is a small story, but it links to one that looms large within a much more serious context.
Those of us in our “golden years,” witness a lot of brass in our society. Sunday shines for sporting events and even youth coaches schedule games that interfere with going to church. Media embraces aberrant behavior and victimization is a virtual industry.
Drug use slowly gains legal ground, and gender lines blur to the extent that teenagers have a very warped view of what it means to be a man or a woman. Government aid over generations eroded work ethic and benefits encourage cheating. Who pays? We do, folks.
The other day I heard someone describe how a young man found out that if he didn’t marry his girlfriend, moved her into public housing, listed his home address as that of his parents and took advantage of every possible federal and state program, the two of them would have more than $70K a year.
Not only is that a travesty, it amounts to intentional deception and theft. What can we expect when we trap lower income folks in a system that provides no safety net as they move from assistance to standing on their own two feet?
There is no easy answer after fifty to sixty years of this. Once, decades before the turbulent 1960s, the church held forth as the bastion of hope and aid for those needing temporary help. What was once temporary has morphed into an unsustainable lifestyle funded by people reared in households with parents who taught “PR” — no not, public relations —
Personal Responsibility.
Religion in America is in upheaval. The fastest growing churches are those who stand alone, isolated from the dictates of a national church. Many of us attend a church with a national affiliation, holding out hope that those in charge will refuse to bend to the demands of a growing secular movement.
History gives us stark and brutal examples of what happens to nations that turn against God, nations that put forth self above God, nations that ignore decency and embrace indecency. Governments fall, populations divide and brothers turn against brothers. These are not pretty pictures. I remember a well-known comment, “The wages of sin are death.” Odd syntax, but powerful nonetheless. … The “ME” generations are chipping away at the America that has led the world for hundreds of years.
America’s future hinges on the upcoming election. It is wise for us to listen to more than talking points. We need someone who defends the Christians being mistreated here and beheaded abroad. We need someone to speak for the working person, man or woman. We need someone who understands that debt will crush generations to come. Words can be empty. We need action. What’s more, this may be the last chance we have to save our country.
If America continues to abandon Judeo-Christian teachings and ethics, she deserves what she gets. The question today is this. Is she getting it now? Think about it.