Beltane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Last Frost Moon<\/p>\n
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln<\/p>\n
The tea-party folks and all those ronpaulites must love this quote from Lincoln.\u00a0 I just did a quick search trying (unsuccessfully) to find its source.\u00a0 The line came up\u00a0 on such webpages as:\u00a0 Patriot Watch, The RightWing News, Gunforum, Overkill, Professional Soldiers, SpearFishingPlanet and ChristianSoldiersCross.com among many others.\u00a0 Until this search, I hadn’t realized a pernicious part of the search technology; that is, it’s capacity to put quotes out of context into everyone’s hands.\u00a0 I’m sure most, all?, of these folks are confident Lincoln said this.\u00a0 I don’t know for sure and couldn’t find the source in a quick search.\u00a0 Context matters.\u00a0 He may well have meant the apparent plain meaning of these words; he may well not have said them at all; or, he may have said them, but their meaning is different from the apparent meaning due to context.<\/p>\n
This is just a specific instance of a general phenomena the web unfortunately promotes, an uncritical acceptance of information and attributions.\u00a0 If you do not have training in critical thinking, it does not come naturally, you will not consider the possibility of false or inaccurate information; neither will you consider the possibility of attributions made in error, out of wishful thinking, out of malice, out of mistaken information.<\/p>\n
Having said that.\u00a0 Lincoln.\u00a0 Well, of course, this quote represents nationalistic thinking on the level of the three year old.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It’s magical thinking.\u00a0 (like Ayn Rand, see below)\u00a0 It should read, “I hope America will never be destroyed from the outside.”\u00a0 Forever is a really long time.\u00a0 Who knows?\u00a0 Canada and Mexico may form a Norte Americano Hockey league and decide to invade.\u00a0 OK, that one’s easy.<\/p>\n
With the next sentence I agree.\u00a0 Please note, all right wing admirers of Lincoln, he did not say, “If we raise taxes, we will destroy ourselves.”<\/p>\n
Hell, I’m not even sure he said this in the first place.\u00a0 But let’s pretend he did until we know one way or the other.<\/p>\n
How might we falter?\u00a0 By restricting the freedom of others.\u00a0 Who?\u00a0 Gay and lesbian citizens, who pay taxes, vote, fight, raise children come to mind.\u00a0 The people here first, now often consigned to the least desirable plots of land\u00a0 on land once their sole possession, come to mind. All the Mexicans fighting to get across the border onto land that was once under their nations sovereign control come to mind.\u00a0 Who are the true illegals here?<\/p>\n
How might we falter?\u00a0 By refusing to honor the compassionate wisdom of our primary faith tradition, Christianity. Here are few quotes from the New Testament that show what I mean. Feed my sheep.\u00a0 Let the little ones come unto me.\u00a0 Again, I tell you it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.\u00a0 \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is on me,<\/span> because he has anointed me<\/span> to proclaim good news to the poor. <\/span>He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners<\/span> and recovery of sight for the blind,<\/span> to set the oppressed free,<\/span> 19<\/sup> to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.<\/span>”<\/p>\n If you have a country where the rich get rich, richer, richest and the poor recede from economic sight, is that just?\u00a0 If we are to feed Jesus’s sheep, don’t food stamps and aid to families with dependent children put our culture on His side?\u00a0 What might be good news to the poor?\u00a0 A job.\u00a0 Affordable housing.\u00a0 Decent medical care.\u00a0 Food.<\/p>\n Do you see where I’m going here?\u00a0 It’s possible, even probable, that Lincoln, who hated slavery and loved the nation would, if he had lived, have created a number of government programs to assure the reconstruction of the south.\u00a0 Instead thanks to Booth we got Andrew Johnson, friend to the south and enemy of reconstruction.<\/p>\n We will lose our freedoms when we lose the compassion that has made us great, the compassion that opens our borders, feeds the starving and gives people a hand up and a handout when necessary.\u00a0 We will lose our freedoms when a spirit of meanness triumphs and generosity withers.\u00a0 We will lose our freedoms when we become the money grubbing, power hungry country many in the world already believe we are.<\/p>\n We will lose our freedoms if the narrow vision of the far right wing comes to dominate our land.\u00a0 It is not taxes that is the issue, or the nature of the constitution, but the character of our country.\u00a0 Much that is good here has its roots in New Testament Christianity.\u00a0 That’s the same New Testament read by right wing religious folk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Beltane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Last Frost Moon “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln The tea-party folks and all those ronpaulites must love this quote from Lincoln.\u00a0 I just did a quick search trying (unsuccessfully) to find its source.\u00a0 … Continue reading How Might We Lose Our Freedoms?<\/span>