I'm not a real big fan of Glenn Beck, especially since he's gone over to Fox News. I think that his candid observations of government and life have taken on the slant of his new employer. He was less offensive before, but still able to point to our government's faults and society's weakness.
Last night, I was killing some time while Chris was shopping and picked up a copy of his book, An Inconvenient Book. I'm sure that there are many areas in his book with which I will disagree. However, the last part of his introduction is one that I truly like and want to share with you.
He writes:
Putting your trust in people to do the right thing, especially those people to whom we've lent our power, will almost always result in disappointment. That's why you have to put your trust in things that are everlasting; things that won't ebb and flow with the times or change their core values based on some poll.
Things like our Constitution and our Creator.
The words contained in our Constitution, while written by our founding fathers, come directly from God--as do the rights they grant us.
Read them. Know them. Believe in them.
When everything around us is crumbling, they will be our only true guide.
I guess that what I've learned over the last year is really something that I've known all along: The best way to solve whatever problems we face and keep America great is by putting our trust in God, our faith in the Constitution, and, most importantly, neither of those things into the people we elect.
Or...we could just sit back and hope for change. The choice is yours.
Truthfully, there is a fine line between too much government and too little. As a society, we have social responsibilities. Of course there will be things that are labeled as socialist--it's the nature of social beings.
Our society has to make room for those that excel and prosper. We (I) certainly don't want a society that discourages achievement and the pursuit of a better life. Prosperity needs to be encouraged. Prosperity makes us a better society.
On the other hand, our society needs to take care of our poor, sick and needy people (Jesus teaches this, too). Just as there are differences in being too lazy to work and unable to work, there are differences is being wealthy and being greedy.
Unfortunately, the "too lazy" have made it hard for the unable and the "greedy" have given the wealthy a bad name. Greed and laziness are both anti-social behaviors (and anti-Christian behaviors).
I want to challenge you today--have a social mind set. I'm not telling you to be a "socialist." Just be aware that we live in a society. Some people need our help. Some people help us. We are in this together...and we have to make it work. Our kids are counting on us.
John <><
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3 comments:
You could have use the last cartoon today to lead into this.
Well said! Our friend in England recently wrote that he is intrigued with our reverence and defense of our Constitution, as he thinks his fellow Brits have long since taken the view that their Magna Carta is a piece of ancient history that would be inadequate for contemporary times. I think it is amazing how visionary our oft-times-less-than-perfectly-behaved forefathers were. If you haven't already seen it, take the time to view the "John Adams" mini-series, and the video of the film, "Jefferson in Paris."
John, this is a great post...one of your best...although I have to admit that I think Glenn Beck is a windy buffoon. I don't think I would agree that "The words contained in our Constitution...come directly from God" - that steps too much toward the militant triumphalism of Islam for my taste. I could get closer to the part that reads, "...put(ting) our trust in God, our faith in the Constitution, and...neither of those things into the people we elect." The nature of human society is that we need organization and leadership. Unfortunately, we are all fallible beings, and the people we chose to be our leaders are no less fallible than the rest of us. We need to select them wisely, watch them carefully, and vote them out when necessary. I want to be able to trust my elected reprehensives, and it's hard sometimes...but I'm still waiting for the Glenn Becks and the Rush Limbaughs to tell me how they'd do things better.
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