WHY?

The most nagging question of the ages is WHY?  Why does the sun rotate around the sun?  Why do we celebrate holidays?  Why do people kill each other?  Why is there so much disagreement in the world?  Why can't I be like everyone else?  Why did you do that?

The motive or reason why we believe what we do or take the action we do has underlying reasons that often hidden.  They may originate in an event of the past that passed down generation to generation that generates fear that leads to negative events.  They originate in personal experience that causes one to be jealous, become bitter, and inflict revenge on others.  They may be based on a religious belief or a political act to stay in power or an economic condition that is caused by factors beyond our control.

AMERICANS LOVE......

Americans seem to thrive on rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and reality shows.  Americans seem to love their politics but hate their government especially the leaders of the government.  Americans love their Bible, their church, and Christianity but don't always attend church, practice what they teach or read their Bible.  Americans don't like illegal aliens, people on welfare, people who believe in a strong federal government, someone who plays the race card or people who are different.  Anyone who does not agree or fits into the favored viewpoint is either liberal or a right wing conservative.  Americans should love to label folks.  Americans love their "unalienable rights" but can't seem to agree on what they are or how to apply them.

All of these statements are generalizations about the attitudes Americans have.  Some Americans not all Americans fit into some of these generalizations.  I like rhetoric but I sure don't like conspiracy theories or reality shows.  Yet, millions of Americans do.  I get emails and read postings on the internet about the terrible wrongs of the American Government.  I have lost friends because I take an unpopular stand on an issue.  This is the reality that is not new in this country.

I remember Southerners did like John Kennedy because he was Roman Catholic and his father bought him the Presidency.  They really disliked him because he "forced" the integration of  Southern Universities like Ole Miss.  Yet, they voted for him for they didn't like Richard Nixon.  Yet, they elected him as President in 1968 and 1972.  I say all of this based on my experience growing up in Mississippi during this time.

Americans love conspiracy theories.  We have them about the assassination of President Kennedy.  We had them during the Clinton Administration.  We have them now about President Obama.  I have heard the sky is falling and we are near Armageddon so long that I get out my violin everytime I hear it again.  Some would like to say they are worse today because President Obama is black.  I believe it may be the opinion of some, but the root problem is about control, power, and views.

For example, why are so many Americans afraid of giving citizenship to illegal aliens?  Why are so many Americans afraid of food stamps, unemployment benefits, anti discrimination laws, and social security and medicare?

There are some basic underlying reasons for attitudes.  Paul writes in Galatians 5, we do some things because we are selfish that leads to envy, jealous, hostility.  These attitudes bring about quarreling, outbursts of anger, dissension, and division.   I am saying that everyone that disagrees with me is like this?  No, for I have been guilty of things like this as much as those who are different than me.

Paul writes further that freedom is truly freedom when we recognize that faith is expressed best when the motivation is love.  Legal Law cannot legislate morality, ethics, or love.  I John writes that God is love.  If God is love, then perfect love is God.  This is what makes God Holy.  God is perfect in God's love.

We want law for we want eye for eye justice. This is why we have some states who execute some convicted persons.  We call this capital punishment or eye for eye justice.  We often hear you do the crime, you do the time.  No one should get something for nothing.   What is fair for the gander is fair for the goose.  We believe that hard work is the key to success.  You don't work, you don't eat.

I have heard these statements all my life.  I have even embraced them at times.  It is much easier to go with the flow than stand firm on what you believe. I didn't feel like I was living at Camelot during the Kennedy days nor did I feel like I lived in a "Great Society" during the Johnson years.  I remember "Watergate" well but not much else about the years of Nixon.  I remember the recession, price controls, the gas shortages, and the Hostages in Iran during the days of Ford and Carter.

It is so much easier to use rhetoric that distorts truth, slanders others, and labels opponents to win elections, to gain acceptance, and to control a community, a nation, or the world.  Americans are not immune to this.  We have perfected it as we search for truth and freedom in what it means to have "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

We have forgotten that faith is expressed when love is the motive for action.  Does this mean we need a stronger federal government, we should spend, spend, spend and create a debt so large that we cannot repay it?  NO!  It doesn't mean we refuse to help those who cannot help themselves.  We don't destroy our mental health system like Reagan did.  We understand that people like those who killed students at Pearl, Columbine, Newtown and who killed those who were at the Aurora theater were mentally ill.  We could have prevented that if we had a mental health system.  Will it prevent them all?  No, but it will help resolve the homeless issue for so so many homeless people are mentally ill.

Do we cut social security and medicare for the sake of other items in the budget?  Social Security and Medicare are legal rights for those who paid into them through their payroll deductions.  It is not a "handout". What about disability?  Disability is also part of the Social Security law.  The law is defined as Old Age Disability Insurance correctly.

29 states have "at will" employment laws which means the employer can fire for any reason.  The argument is the employee is not at risk but the employer is so the employee should work at the will of the employer. Is employment a right?  Amazing to me that those who argue against discrimination laws in favor of "at will" employment often support anti discrimination laws for gun owners or want religious exemptions in antidiscrimination legislation.

What is your motivation for your views?  Are you views backed up by a faith that is best expressed in love?  Wish I could say that mine always are.  That is why I question so much and explore what I what I believe and what I do with a "fine tooth comb"?

If there is anything we can do to reach a place where we can make love the motivation for our actions, let's do it.

Think about it.