And so it continues...

And so it continues.  I have watched and listened to all of the craziness taking place not only in Baltimore but now in other cities around the country and I ask myself a few questions.  First, what happened to common sense and rationale behavior.  I lived through the riots decades ago in the 60’s and 70’s.  I vividly remember the protests about Viet Nam.  We are supposed to learn from history and yet today, history again repeats itself.  The riots and protests of decades ago were for a variety of reasons, although some were the same as today.  Have we learned absolutely nothing!!?!!  It is clear to me, and I hope I am not unique, that rioting and looting and burning down your city does absolutely no good.

I do not condone bad behavior by anyone.  There are good and bad people in all walks of life.  All must be fairly and justly dealt with.  All deserve the same freedoms, unless they have done something to lose that right.  Leadership in any community, state, or country needs to be held to a high standard.  These are the people who should carry the banner for what is right.  Yet the very leaders we elect have us over and over again. 

The war on poverty has been lost.  We send billions of dollars in aid around the world, while our own citizens live in abject poverty.  We take care of people who have come to our country illegaly, yet our own veterans and military families go without basic needs.  Maybe it is time to admit that we have failed and try a different approach.  Maybe instead of people being taught to live dependently on the government on the backs of hardworking people, we should help people learn how to support themselves.  The Bible teaches us that if you give a man a fish, he has one meal.  If you teach a man to fish, he will be able to provide many.  

The war on drugs is being lost.  Heroin in particular is a death sentence to our communities.  It is highly addictive as well as being a drain on the social system.  And yet we have failed to eliminate the problem.  Maybe we need to look at new things.  The law applies to all.  As I listened to the news today, I was shocked to find out that it is not a crime to run from the police.  I know someone who did, and faced charges in the legal system.  Maybe that person should get a civil rights lawyer to go back and sue the city where they were arrested for false arrest.  That person learned a lot from the experience though, and did not go on to repeat the behavior.  Again, we are supposed to learn something from history and our experiences.

Everyone, plays the blame game.  Nothing is ever my own fault.  Someone made me do it.  He didn’t treat me fairly.  I am a woman and I don’t get what a man gets.  I want to go to college, but I don’t want to earn it, I want it handed to me because of what I am.  It isn’t fair that I didn’t get accepted to the college I wanted to go to.  It must be because I am not the right sex, color or religion.  God forbid we would ever take stock of ourselves!  Our own leadership, and I use the term “leader” sarcastically, often use their positions to benefit themselves and not to serve the people who elected them. 

It all makes it impossible for those who want to do things for the right reasons to be heard and to be productive.  I have seen over and over again, people have cheat and lie and they not only get away with it here on earth, but they seem to prosper.  It is tough to be a good and responsible parent, and try to raise your children to believe that right is still right.

Our media has disgusted me this week.  Not only during the riots and chaos of this week, but with celebrities and athletes and criminals, they give hours upon hours of attention to negative behaviors and events.  How often do you see a real news story about the good things being done by people.  It doesn’t sell newspapers and it doesn’t get your show watched.  And that is our fault.  We feed the people who bring us garbage and we ask for more!  The media should have been following the same curfew as the rest of the people in Baltimore instead of giving them the spotlight as they did. 

We do need to take a hard look at ourselves, one person at a time.  We need to remember what is good and right and start behaving in that manner.   We have made a mess of things, we each need to make sure that we are part of the solution, not adding to the problem.  Hope you all have a soul searching weekend.