Posted on 10/29/2001 7:21:31 PM PST by Mercuria
Why Are You Reading This Column?
Oct. 29, 2001 Los Angeles
Is it actually possible that ensconced within the following paragraphs there may be some idea, some perspective, some insight so novel, so fresh or innovative, that it will stand out singularly for all time? Or, better put --
And is it possible that Solomon, practically three thousand years ago, wise as he was, might have foreseen the rewriters and revisionists of the 20th Century and beyond? Might he have envisioned the stealers of legacies, robbers of rights, the attempted indoctrinators of the children of freedom?
Those men who founded this great Republic, did they know? Dedicating their labor to themselves and Posterity, they sealed their fate with the strokes of their pens. And how have the heirs of that sacrifice treated their inheritance? As shabbily and forgetfully as Solomon grimly noted might happen?
How else, I wonder, would one, in 21st Century America, swallow, for instance, a "new" "Office of Homeland Security"? Probably by conveniently forgetting, or being allowed to forget, that such a need was already provided for.
The first time I saw Ezola Foster speak she said that there were "only two things needed to live a good life in America, a copy of the Constitution, and a copy of the Holy Bible". But if the Constitution can be "interpreted" and the Bible can be denigrated, of what value are they today?
Besides, the Scriptures are supposed to be of use to those who believe in their Holiness, for understanding and respecting the power of God, and the Constitution is supposed to be for controlling the power of the government. Many Jews and Christians ignore the teachings of the former, and I'm convinced that a majority of our leaders have never read the latter.
The defining document of the People of this Republic could be the Declaration of Independence. But somehow even that is proclaimed by some to be divisive, offensive, outdated, a sham. But when actually read, it seems subversive, dangerous, arrogant, a warning. It also, like that much maligned and aforementioned Amendment, tends to remind us that our security is our responsibility, our duty even. It too, sadly, describes the state of its heirs uncannily well. But don't take it from me --
The past week has engendered article after column after editorial after opinion on the "new" "Anti-Terrorism Bill" and its effect upon our Liberty (or whatever is actually left of its original state). I could have spent this page just on that as well, and almost did. But why? Why, when someone before me only needed one sentence --
Yet how else does one fight, and win, when the enemy's within, the Bill's supporters ask. Is it not worth the minor sacrifice for the greater good? A better question might be whether it is truly wise to continue to entrust our safety to the powers that be, those who have already failed at that which they are actually responsible for.
But to talk of that failure, and what might have led to it, is not without its repercussions. Speak of the downside of a porous border, be hassled for heartlessness. Condemn the myopia of an indiscriminate immigration policy, be labelled a racist. Perceive a difference in the values of cultures, be branded a bigot.
Stick to just quoting the prescience of the ancients, be mocked for living in the past.
And so we strive to reword the timeless wisdom of others long gone, to rephrase that which needs no rephrasing in a way that seems contemporary, necessary, hip.
Yes, unfortunately, in the age of the sixty-second soundbite, the fifteen minute attention span, when competing with the tower of power at the top of the hour, it seems redundancy is required.
(Would you like me to repeat that?)
Mercurial Times exclusive commentary. Reprints must credit the author and Mercurial Times.
(As always, if you wander in here and are not on the Anna Z. list and want to be...let me know!!)
Because it was authored by the great AnnaZ. Any other silly questions? :-)
Seems at one time in this Nation...people were VERY serious about the concept,and actual practice, of that God given Blessing callled Liberty.
Wonder what happened??????
redrock
In New York harbor stands a lady, with a torch raised to the sky;
And all who see her, know she stands for Liberty for you and me.
I'm so proud to be called an American, To be named with the brave and the Free;
I will honor our flag, and our trust in God, And the Statue Of Liberty.
On lonely Golgotha stood a cross, with my Lord raised to the sky;
And all who kneel there live forever as all the saved can testify.
I'm so glad to be called a Christian, To be named with the ransomed and whole;
As the statue liberates the citizen, So the Cross liberates the soul.
Oh, the Cross is my statue of liberty, It was there that my soul was set free;
Unashamed I'll proclaim that a rugged cross, Is my Statue Of Liberty.
You flagged me to it. That's why. :)
I love your writings, babe. Keep it up....FRegards
Great job AZ!
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