Race, Religion and Politics
November 27th 2011 15:12
The United States of America has always been a nation defined by the conflicts that exist from within.
The conflicts that come from the idea of maintaining the inalienable rights guaranteed to American citizens in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights while still walking the tight rope of honoring the most basic principles that come with maintaining a melting pot society.
A melting pot society that is representative of every religion, race, nationality and national origin on the planet that all occupy the same space between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans…
Within the most basic things that define us as a society are the thousands of different lifestyles that all conflict with one another.
A conflict that continues to be settled by judges in courts of law that make their decisions based on legislation that is passed on every level government and landmark decisions decided by the United States Supreme Court.
When it comes to conversations about these conflicts it’s become far too easy for many people to fall back on simple words and short phrases to find solutions to the problem.
Words like morality and common sense often find themselves replacing the harder conversation that comes with creating long term decisions that will help one of the greatest societies in world history move past its greatest weakness.
A weakness that comes from only looking at situations from a single point of view.
A point of view that is only centered on a specific religion, gender, race or social cause as opposed to a broadened view of working towards things that will benefit society as a whole.
3 years after what some called the biggest step towards fixing the “race problem” in the United States of America we have still found ourselves as a nation divided.
Divided because of the dire straits millions of Americans have found themselves living in from the loss of jobs and roofs over their heads.
In our anger, the people of the United States of America have chosen to rally against a a broken system from separate camps while still using the fractured thinking that got us into this mess.
The 16th President of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln once said “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand.”
While the United States of America may not be dealing with the moral dilemma of slavery, maintaining balance between a nation that created two regionally separate societies or the threat of secession; the problems in the here and now are still dangerous.
The problems of today aren’t being broadcast on the nightly news and are hard to find in most discussions.
Discussions that are promoted to serve as distractions to the dangers we face each and every day when we take a breath of fresh air, make important decisions in grocery stores, have a bite to eat in our favorite restaurants and pour ourselves a cup of water.
Each and every day our right to make important personal decisions for our health, right to own and maintain ownership of property and our right to have influence over the decisions of representatives on every branch of government are slowly being taken away.
Taken away because the people of the United States of America lost sight of the big picture…
The big picture that has very little to do with the race, gender, religion or sexual orientation of our representatives and has everything to with the decisions they make after taking an oath to serve the people of their city, district, region, state or country.
Too often, it is a political party, corporation, special interest or political action committee that decides the direction of important policy measures and not the people.
It is the people, who are most effected by bad decisions of their representatives when jobs disappear, mortgages are no longer able to be paid and families are forced to go hungry.
In conversations about race there can be no denying the atrocities that accompanied the birth of the United States of America and the effects that still exist today from the things that were done in subsequent generations.
The United States of America will always have a deep scar from the scourge of slavery and the atrocities that were done on American soil to segregate minorities, displace Native Americans from their homeland and oppress American Citizens for their gender, race and religious preference.
It is in our nature as human beings to try and group with people that believe in the same things we do, look like us and remind us of where we came from.
These simple principles were the spark to the fire that eventually lead to the social acceptance of slavery and still spur the race problems that exist in modern America.
In order for our nation to heal we must begin to reach out to our fellow man in an effort to understand the things we do not understand and to begin making our decisions on issues that will help the United States of America recover from one of her darkest periods.
The most basic principles of the Democratic and Republican Party have absolutely nothing to do with how much money you have in your pocket, the religion you choose to worship, the man or woman you choose to love or the color of your skin.
The principles of both major political parties have everything to do with the framework of a broader question that should be judged on the candidate delivering the message.
When it comes down to it, the next leader of the free world will be responsible for either steering the ship back on course or helping the American people brace for impact.
These decisions will have nothing to do with the color of his or her skin, gender or the religion they choose to practice.
It is critical that we choose these leaders with an open mind and heart because it is too important not too.
The conflicts that come from the idea of maintaining the inalienable rights guaranteed to American citizens in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights while still walking the tight rope of honoring the most basic principles that come with maintaining a melting pot society.
A melting pot society that is representative of every religion, race, nationality and national origin on the planet that all occupy the same space between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans…
Within the most basic things that define us as a society are the thousands of different lifestyles that all conflict with one another.
A conflict that continues to be settled by judges in courts of law that make their decisions based on legislation that is passed on every level government and landmark decisions decided by the United States Supreme Court.
When it comes to conversations about these conflicts it’s become far too easy for many people to fall back on simple words and short phrases to find solutions to the problem.
Words like morality and common sense often find themselves replacing the harder conversation that comes with creating long term decisions that will help one of the greatest societies in world history move past its greatest weakness.
A weakness that comes from only looking at situations from a single point of view.
A point of view that is only centered on a specific religion, gender, race or social cause as opposed to a broadened view of working towards things that will benefit society as a whole.
3 years after what some called the biggest step towards fixing the “race problem” in the United States of America we have still found ourselves as a nation divided.
Divided because of the dire straits millions of Americans have found themselves living in from the loss of jobs and roofs over their heads.
In our anger, the people of the United States of America have chosen to rally against a a broken system from separate camps while still using the fractured thinking that got us into this mess.
The 16th President of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln once said “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand.”
While the United States of America may not be dealing with the moral dilemma of slavery, maintaining balance between a nation that created two regionally separate societies or the threat of secession; the problems in the here and now are still dangerous.
The problems of today aren’t being broadcast on the nightly news and are hard to find in most discussions.
Discussions that are promoted to serve as distractions to the dangers we face each and every day when we take a breath of fresh air, make important decisions in grocery stores, have a bite to eat in our favorite restaurants and pour ourselves a cup of water.
Each and every day our right to make important personal decisions for our health, right to own and maintain ownership of property and our right to have influence over the decisions of representatives on every branch of government are slowly being taken away.
Taken away because the people of the United States of America lost sight of the big picture…
The big picture that has very little to do with the race, gender, religion or sexual orientation of our representatives and has everything to with the decisions they make after taking an oath to serve the people of their city, district, region, state or country.
Too often, it is a political party, corporation, special interest or political action committee that decides the direction of important policy measures and not the people.
It is the people, who are most effected by bad decisions of their representatives when jobs disappear, mortgages are no longer able to be paid and families are forced to go hungry.
In conversations about race there can be no denying the atrocities that accompanied the birth of the United States of America and the effects that still exist today from the things that were done in subsequent generations.
The United States of America will always have a deep scar from the scourge of slavery and the atrocities that were done on American soil to segregate minorities, displace Native Americans from their homeland and oppress American Citizens for their gender, race and religious preference.
It is in our nature as human beings to try and group with people that believe in the same things we do, look like us and remind us of where we came from.
These simple principles were the spark to the fire that eventually lead to the social acceptance of slavery and still spur the race problems that exist in modern America.
In order for our nation to heal we must begin to reach out to our fellow man in an effort to understand the things we do not understand and to begin making our decisions on issues that will help the United States of America recover from one of her darkest periods.
The most basic principles of the Democratic and Republican Party have absolutely nothing to do with how much money you have in your pocket, the religion you choose to worship, the man or woman you choose to love or the color of your skin.
The principles of both major political parties have everything to do with the framework of a broader question that should be judged on the candidate delivering the message.
When it comes down to it, the next leader of the free world will be responsible for either steering the ship back on course or helping the American people brace for impact.
These decisions will have nothing to do with the color of his or her skin, gender or the religion they choose to practice.
It is critical that we choose these leaders with an open mind and heart because it is too important not too.
| 20 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
