Speer

What are you grieving this morning?

That was the crux of a question posed at church this past week as it got all in attendance to reflect and ponder.

For some it might have been the loss of a loved one. Others might be grieving an individual’s economic circumstances and bad decisions. Still others it might be a failing relationship.

Let’s face it – we all are grieving something.

After church Diane and I got talking about our grief.

She shared that her grief was the speed at which our four granddaughters were growing older and more mature. However, she said, that was a natural progression of life as it is supposed to be, and she understood and accepted that fact.

She asked what I was grieving. For me the answer was more complicated. I shared that I was grieving the loss of respect, common sense and decency in our country today. This vacuum of honorable leadership is not limited to one party, one group or one ethnicity.

Call me old fashioned, but I yearn for the days when we “could agree to disagree,” but in the end we would shake hands and respect the other’s opinion. We wouldn’t resort to name calling, spread vicious lies about our opponent or publicly slander and humiliate them. Violence and hateful speech never were acceptable solutions to a problem, no matter the situation.

This year our country celebrates its 250th anniversary. Based on the premise “that all men are created equal,” one can only shake their head in shame if our founding fathers were to return today to see what has become of the government they envisioned.

Two years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights were approved, including the right of all Americans to free speech. It is a most wonderful and treasured freedom that we enjoy, but at times I cringe at the way it is being used today.

Freedom of speech should allow us to debate and discuss different viewpoints and perspectives in a civil manner.

It should not, however, give anyone the right to advocate for a person’s assassination or wish that someone’s spouse would pass. There is no room in my definition of free speech that includes anything that is hate related.

The Supreme Court has indicated that free speech does not give someone the right to cry “fire” in a crowded theater.

In my estimation, the person who advocates for political violence is equivalent to throwing gasoline on that theater’s fire and should be held accountable for their action.

The trouble is we’ve made it too easy to be insensitive and cruel. We allow people to hide behind anonymous walls on the internet. We give them a soapbox to spew their hate and lies, but no one can call them out when they are ignorant and obnoxious.

By remaining anonymous, they are little more than cockroaches that run from the light and only work under the cloak of darkness.

Whether I like or approve of President Donald Trump is immaterial. He is my president, just like he is for anyone who is a citizen of this country. I can disagree with him all I want. I can shake my head at his outrageous statements at times. But in my estimation, I need to respect him the same way I needed to respect Joe Biden.

To hear people reference this past week’s assassination attempt in terms like “darn, they missed again,” is unconscionable.

Where, I ask, has common decency gone? What has become of us as a society?

Yes, I grieve for the way life used to be in this country.

If you agree, how about sharing a kind word or uplifting comment to half a dozen of your friends this week. As you do, ask them to repeat the process.

Let’s spread some positive and uplifting vibes to a world which needs some encouragement.

Let the change begin here.

Pass it on.