The Proverbial Speck and Log
Last night, President Bush appeared on national television to attempt a new defense for the war in Iraq. Every time I hear him speak or learn of yet another government debacle, I am embarrassed to be an American and outraged at our country's failed leadership. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being diverted from much-needed public assistance and education budgets to pay for a war that we never should have started in the first place and for which there is no clear purpose. I am not saying that the people of Iraq do not deserve to live in a democratic society without fear of dictatorship or tyranny. All peoples in every nation deserve to live in freedom and peace. That is why I believe our country is doing the wrong thing.
Democracy, freedom, and living without fear of dictatorship and tyranny are not a reality for Americans, especially with our current political leaders, and President Bush tops the list. Our country is meddling in the affairs of others, trying desperately to remove the speck in our neighbor's eye all the while being blinded by a log in our own. We do not practice what we preach at home. How can we expect to achieve justice and peace for others when this does not exist in our own country? Children are starving. People's human and civil rights are trampled in the name of homeland security. Hundreds of thousand do not have access to affordable health care. Social welfare programs for the poor and needy are being chiseled to a nub. Public education is sacrificed for military spending. Yet still our government and its leader insists that we are doing the right thing, even if the initial intelligence was wrong.
These kinds of wrongs cannot be righted with more might for the false cause. We are bankrupting the very foundations of our country, sacrificing the poor and needy, in the name of peace and justice for another country that we forcefully invaded out of fear of stealth terrorism. And now we believe that even though our initial motivation for waging war in Iraq was misguided, we cannot turn back. We must continue to fight to the death, if necessary, and make more sacrifices on the backs of oppressed Americans to convince ourselves, and the world, that we really are doing the right thing. Our country has been straying off track for many years and playing on the fears of the people to support unjust behavior at home and abroad. It is time for these wrongs to be righted. It is time for America to turn from its wicked ways and bring healing to our land. It is time to remove the log from our own eyes; and then, just maybe, we can assist others with a speck or two of their own.
Democracy, freedom, and living without fear of dictatorship and tyranny are not a reality for Americans, especially with our current political leaders, and President Bush tops the list. Our country is meddling in the affairs of others, trying desperately to remove the speck in our neighbor's eye all the while being blinded by a log in our own. We do not practice what we preach at home. How can we expect to achieve justice and peace for others when this does not exist in our own country? Children are starving. People's human and civil rights are trampled in the name of homeland security. Hundreds of thousand do not have access to affordable health care. Social welfare programs for the poor and needy are being chiseled to a nub. Public education is sacrificed for military spending. Yet still our government and its leader insists that we are doing the right thing, even if the initial intelligence was wrong.
These kinds of wrongs cannot be righted with more might for the false cause. We are bankrupting the very foundations of our country, sacrificing the poor and needy, in the name of peace and justice for another country that we forcefully invaded out of fear of stealth terrorism. And now we believe that even though our initial motivation for waging war in Iraq was misguided, we cannot turn back. We must continue to fight to the death, if necessary, and make more sacrifices on the backs of oppressed Americans to convince ourselves, and the world, that we really are doing the right thing. Our country has been straying off track for many years and playing on the fears of the people to support unjust behavior at home and abroad. It is time for these wrongs to be righted. It is time for America to turn from its wicked ways and bring healing to our land. It is time to remove the log from our own eyes; and then, just maybe, we can assist others with a speck or two of their own.
posted by Cheryl A. Hemmerle at 10:01 AM
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