As the world seems to dissolve into a state of fractiousness and ever more uncertainty, as fear and hate seem to have the upper hand and the divide between we humans grows ever wider, I feel the need to hold out my hand to whoever will take it. We need each other more than ever.
I think about where Christ would be if He was walking the earth today, in the midst of all this division.
I feel like He would be where He always was during His time on earth, and that’s with the unloved, the unwanted, the widows and the orphans, the addicted, the sick, the lonely and yes, the refugees who are homeless due to circumstances beyond their control.
And I think of the walls going up at breakneck speed, both figuratively and literally, and I wonder, what would Jesus do?
For me, there’s no dancing around this anymore.
I lit a candle against the darkness in November, but sometimes there needs to be a fire.
I feel as though I am watching the country I love rapidly becoming some place I do not recognize, where “down” is up and “up” is down.
I think of Jubilee Partners in Comer, as Zach Mitcham and Mike Buffington wrote about last week. It’s a place that I have visited a number of times to do feature stories on the refugees who find solace and a new start there. I have met some extraordinary individuals – from the ones who care for these people, frightened and alone in a new country, to the refugees themselves. I have met humble people of good character who were put in circumstances over which they had no control. With the help of the people of Jubilee and the Madison County community, they have been given hope and a future. And that’s the way it should be.
Time and circumstance are the only things that separate us from those who live in hellish circumstances not of their own making. If we think it can’t happen to us, we are foolish indeed.
We have some of the best of what this world has to offer here in this country and we cannot let fear change who we are and what we stand for.
To whom much is given, much is required. Even though life can often be a struggle, I try always to remember that compared to most of the rest of the world, most of us live in luxury.
And think of it this way – uncertainty is all around us. You have only to read the crime reports in this newspaper every week to see that. We face far more of a threat from our fellow citizens than we do from those from someplace else. I have thought that it’s a wonder we don’t have “a killing a week,” so prevalent is the violence that happens around us every day.
It already seems to me as if this man who commandeered a political party for his own purposes and took over our country has been president for years. Everything is splash and dash. Like I’ve written before, he shoots from the hip with little forethought or regard of the fallout or concern about the myriad of unintended consequences that follow.
It’s about the show, not about the substance.
It’s like watching an extended version of The Apprentice, with much higher stakes. He has yet to realize that he’s not just hurling insults and having fun to boost ratings – he is the president of the United States and his words and tweets can produce grave consequences.
Do we have problems? Oh yes, we do. But building walls and drawing inward won’t help us solve them.
We’re not a nation that cowers down to fear – we are a nation of people that stand up for what’s right. It’s time to remember that.
The time may well come again when we will need our friends, our allies, to stand with us in solidarity as they did after 9/11, sharing our grief, joining us in our efforts to combat the barbarians who took so many lives. And there were people of many races, colors and faiths (including Muslims) who died that awful day.
Yet we seem to have forgotten all that too.
You can bet on this — nobody is happier about recent events than ISIS and other Jihadi groups who seek to do us harm. They’ve wanted to justify their barbaric acts as a holy war. Now they can feel justified and watch as their ranks increase.
Hundreds of national security professionals who have made our country’s safety their life’s work have pointed this out, to no avail.
And as sure as I am writing this, if another attack happens on American soil, the president will pass the blame to the judicial system (as he’s already indicated in several of his many tweets), and of course to the media, regardless of whether the perpetrator(s) are “homegrown” or from somewhere else. The details won’t matter at all.
All throughout that awful campaign, every time he did or said something outrageous that would have made any other candidate unacceptable in any way to anyone, all I heard was “but Hillary.” Anything was better than Hillary. Hold your nose and it’ll all be OK.
Well she wasn’t my pick either, but she’s gone now and we are left with this.
Criticism or resistance of any kind demands disparagement. Stand against him and you will be ridiculed and raged against, flogged publically and repeatedly in 120 characters. No perceived “enemy” is too big, or too small, to receive his wrath.
It’s quite the show, but I wish I could change the channel.
Most people don’t get motivated to action until something happens that affects them directly, it’s human nature. We don’t generally see what’s beyond the end of our driveways.
I am trying not to be that kind of person.
So consider me part of the resistance against this new normal of tweets and drama, hate and fear.
I am certainly not a political vigilante, I have never been one to even write about politics, but this goes way beyond the political sphere. I believe this to be one of those occasions that define us.
It is hard to stand against the tide of public opinion that you have to live with every day, so hard to take the inevitable fallout that comes with it, but I want to look in the mirror and know that I was true to what I know to be right, even when it costs me — especially when it costs me.
So I will voice my opinion without fear and find other means to peacefully protest what I feel to be wrong.
I will also stay vigilant and informed, continuing to read everything from many different sources and sides of the issues. When we limit ourselves to one source of information, we limit our knowledge and our ability to make sound judgments based on documentable facts, instead of “alternative” ones.
And I intend to keep reaching out my hand, especially to those who are afraid. They need to know that they are not alone.
Margie Richards is a reporter and office manager for The Madison County Journal.
The politicians in power have the most power to mount impeachment proceedings just like they did against Bill Clinton, albeit for petty if not immoral reasons. Conflict of interest is far more serious in a president than his private dalliances. What do you suggest I do to impeach Trump? How much power do you think I have? Representatives are there to represent us and do things for us therefore we work through them. They are the other people we ask to do things for us. That's why I ask them to find a way to get rid of Trump. See how that works?
I'm not sure you have a grasp on reality. Soon, God willing, President Trump will begin filling dozens of positions in the Judiciary. Once we weed out the activist, liberal judges, we can move the country back to law and order.
I'm not disagreeing with you...BUT...the above quote could just as equally have been applied to anyone who opposed the previous president during his two terms.
Only nobody wore vulgar costumes and paraded around in the streets then. Nobody opposing the president blocked roadways, attacked people in the streets, nor did they steal and destroy property that belongs to people who have done nothing to offend the protesters.
Nobody can see that the people who didn't like Obama said almost exactly the same kinds of things about him that the people who don't like Trump are saying about him.
It is only getting worse!
People aren't sitting down with calm and rational minds trying to find compromise, they are going on the attack, escalating the situation, fanning the flames!
So much hate! So little reason and thought!
If you want to make things better, you won't do it with insults, you won't do it with blinders on thinking that only the OTHER side is being hateful and arrogant.
I challenge you to read the opinion above as if you were a Trump supporter talking about Obama.
If you can't see what is wrong after doing that, then I've wasted my time writing this.
If you can, then maybe there is hope that people can reach out to the other side in a peaceful, reasonable way, and perhaps there is a chance that progress can be made.
Only time will tell, but honestly I have little hope.
They just showed up to town hall meetings with pictures of chimps they said were Obama's children. They carried loaded weapons to town halls too.
Some of us didnt fall off the back of a truck yesterday so you keep telling yourself what you want.
It took private citizens, videotaping from their phones to show that these were actually black tea party protesters.
The only protesters that wear "funny costumes" that you speak of are officially the violent arm of the Democratic Party. They go by the name of the "Klan" in these parts.
No. The socialists are upset because the American people stopped them. The road to further perverting America…..has been stopped, for now.
There are many well-informed, well educated Republicans who saw Hillary and "Barry" for what they are, too.
But there are not MANY well-informed, well educated nor un-informed or uneducated Democrats who saw Hillary or Obama for who they are.
And that is a big difference.
Sure Trump has gone overboard with a lot of his comments, but not EVERYTHING he is trying to do is a BAD thing.
Republicans don't want to stop immigration. They DO want to stop ILLEGAL immigration. This country is all about immigration. But ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL. Do it the right way, no problem. Break the law and guess what? You're a criminal!
There are a LOT of people who have put in the effort and the time and the money to become LEGAL American citizens. Do you have any idea how cheap it makes that effort and expense seem when they have worked so hard to become Americans, and they see liberals wanting to just throw open the doors and let ANYONE walk right in. For free. With no effort. And no REAL desire to do what it takes to do things the right way.
But I guess it is no longer fashionable in America to EARN your way. No longer fashionable to follow the law. No longer fashionable to have pride in yourself or your country.
So, by all means...throw open the doors, let 'em ALL pour in.
But don't whine when everything you've ever believed about your country falls to the side, and you find that you've become a stranger in what used to be your own country.
Laws are laws for a REASON. Follow the law. If you don't like the law, change the law. But don't blatantly disregard the law. If you do, you ARE a criminal. Because, like it or not, that is what a criminal is.
If someone wants to be an AMERICAN, to contribute to this country, to work hard and make their way and be someone that the word AMERICAN actually means something to, most Republicans, Democrats, and anyone else would welcome them with open arms.
But if you just want an easy ride, nope. Just NOPE, NOPE, NOPE. We already have enough free-loaders as it is.
You do know that President Obama, that liberal, deported way more illegals than any other president ever, don't you? You take the issue to the extreme. This extremism is what's killing America. Extremism on both sides, but more from the Republicans.
But, if someone IS here illegally, unless they have unique/special circumstances, then yes they should be deported. And that IS the law.
If you don't like the law, CHANGE it. Don't BREAK it.
You speak of extremism, but it is NOT extremism to OBEY THE LAW.
AGAIN...if you don't think the law is just, CHANGE THE LAW. If you don't think the law is just, do not BREAK the law. YOU don't get to decide which law to obey and which law you can break. That isn't how the law is supposed to work.
If you don't think a law is right, or fair, or just...OBEY the law until/unless you can get it changed.
If you think it should be easier for immigrants to be in the United States legally, then do what it takes to get the laws changed that regulate that! But until the law is changed, OBEY THE LAW.
What can't you understand about OBEY THE LAW?
I bet you'd sure want the law to be obeyed if someone was breaking into your house at night, threatening you and your family. Oh, it only applies to everyone ELSE, not to you? Oh, only SOME laws need to be enforced? YOU get to decide which ones you obey and which ones you don't? Think about it.
OBEY THE LAW or you ARE a criminal. That's just how it is. Period.
I will say it again, just to make sure you get it. OBEY THE LAW. If you don't like a law, get the law CHANGED. But until it IS changed, it IS the law so OBEY it. Or pay the price for being a criminal.
I agree wholeheartedly.
"You speak of extremism, but it is NOT extremism to OBEY THE LAW."
I agree, but it is extremism to say "So, by all means...throw open the doors, let 'em ALL pour in." We have and have had adequate vetting for immigrants; more vetting might be called for but I doubt it would stop any terrorism any more than what we are already doing.