Pray for Our Country Now
Do people really want a revolution. The poor revolting? The unemployed revolting? Those whose homes have been foreclosed on revolting? Don’t say “it can’t happen here.” It almost did in the Great Depression. It did actually happen with the riots of the late 1960’s. And it could happen again…any day. Both sides are speaking the word “revolution.” Do they really want that disaster to strike our nation?
“It’s all great fun until someone pokes an eye out.” My mother (and I’ll bet, yours too).
I do not often write on this blog on subjects that are not related to employment in some way or another. But it is time that I, and many others, speak out loudly on an urgent matter.
The rhetoric of our political system has gotten out of hand. There are Facebook pages with prayers for the death of the President. There is hate speech on both sides of the red/blue divide in our country. There has been violence against both Republicans and Democrats.
We are not red states. We are not blue states. We are the United States of America, and such hateful protests, hate speech and violence are un-American. We solve our problems at the ballot box, not with violence. We must speak up now against the extremists on both sides who are leading us into civil war or, at the very least, civil insurrection.
There are two groups who have the most to lose from civil insurrection or war. The first group is the very group that is currently shouting the loudest….the white, upper-middle class, upper-middle aged people of this country. While many of these people have never paid much attention to history, if they had, history would tell them that they are usually the people targeted in any civil insurrection. Some people are calling for armed revolution. This is one of those “be careful what you ask for…” issues. Those who wish for armed revolution might just get it. But remember revolutions, once started, are very hard to control.
The other group that will suffer is the group that always suffers. That would be the poor and destitute. With civil insurrection there would be an ending of the subsistence services upon which these people depend to survive. No more food banks or shelters. No more paid medical services for those who cannot afford medical services. And history tells us what happens here, too.
Do people really want a revolution?
The poor revolting? The unemployed revolting? Those whose homes have been foreclosed on revolting? Don’t say “it can’t happen here.” It almost did in the Great Depression. It did actually happen with the riots of the late 1960’s. And it could happen again…any day. Both sides are speaking the word “revolution.” Do they really want that disaster to strike our nation?
The hate speech against President Obama concerns me, as well. This kind of hate speech against a President is unprecedented. President Obama gets 5 times the death threats that President (George W.) Bush got. But, regardless of what you think of the man, his politics or his policies, think, for a moment. What will happen if our President is even the target of an attempt to assassinate him, much less a successful one? Will the millions who took to the streets to celebrate his election take an assassination lying down?
I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Tory or Whig. This hate speech and over-heated rhetoric must end and end now before someone gets hurt and hurt badly.
And we, as executives, have the power to make that happen…and happen now. Regardless of your party or sentiments, you and I are among the most influential people on the face of this planet right now. There are many things we can do. Here is a list of them.
1). Write your Senators and Representatives of any party and tell them to chill the rhetoric coming out of D.C. Tell them that you expect bipartisanship or, at the very least, civility.
2). Do not give one red cent (or, if you’re Democrat, one blue cent, either) to any candidate that is engaging in over-heated rhetoric. This is where these people live and breathe. And they count on people like us to give them campaign contributions. Tell them that, unless they begin to comport themselves as members of a democratic republic that you will not support them. Then don’t.
3). Speak up! Write a blog post like this and/or a letter to the editor demanding civility and an end to the polemic and rhetoric on both sides.
4). Refuse to vote for any individual who is inciting fear, violence or hate. We don’t need fear mongers of either party in Washington right now. Don’t let the fear and hate mongers overtake your heart or your brain. As FDR said (sort of), “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” We need people of optimism, hard work, and cooperation in Congress, and we need them now.
5). Pray. Pray, meditate, vision — whatever it is that you do — for the United States of America. The USA, like any other nation, has many faults and has made many mistakes. But, in the end, the ideals of this country are the greatest ideals of any nation on the planet — no matter how many times we violate them. Pray that our great nation will come out of this period of strife and darkness into a time of light and peace.
And pray for the President of the United States. It doesn’t matter whether you voted for him or not. He is still your President. And we have an obligation to pray for him and his safety, and that of his young family.
Whatever side you’re on, this discord is not good for you, me or anyone else. It is not good for anyone’s business except that of the extremists on both sides. The hotheads are tearing our nation apart with their polarization. I have my own strong political opinions. And I express them in writing, in speech and in debate. But not with hate. And not with violence or threats of violence.
Most of the people we have sent to our Congress and have elected to other offices are good people trying to do a very difficult job, whether we like their politics or not. Remember that they are people with families, spouses, friends, and loved ones, just like you and me, regardless of which side of the aisle they sit on.
Let’s remember that we’re the United States of America and that we solve our problems with civil and respectful debate, and our votes. Let’s remember it now before it gets out of hand.
God bless the United States of America….and everywhere else.
John Heckers, MA, CPC, BCPC
4 Responsesto “Pray for Our Country Now”
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About the Author
John Heckers, MA, CPC, BCPC is President of Heckers Development Group, LTD, an executive coaching and consulting firm based in Denver, Colorado, specializing in high level Executive Coaching, Corporate Training, Executive Transition Consulting and Strategic Corporate Coaching. John has consulted to both Fortune 500 and smaller companies, and has trained and coached executives from AT&T, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Microsoft Corporation, IBM, Maxtor/Seagate, The Prudential, United Airlines, Children’s Hospital, Concentra Health Systems, Merck-Medco, Hewlett/Packard, Citibank of New York, Corporate Express, Stryker Corporation, Qwest, First Data Resources, FEMA, The United States Armed Forces, and many other organizations. John has over 28 years of experience in helping and counseling executives, professional counseling, executive transition (career) counseling and professional training.
THE ANSWER lies in TERM LIMITS (Yippee for Colorado leading the country).
Eight years is enough for any elected office. We proved it after FDR served 12 years, and we changed our constitution. Let’s do it for both houses of Congress.
PS For example, Robert Bird from my home state of West Virginia serving over 50 years, now age 92. Enough is enough.
John,
A sincere and noble gesture to be sure, although I do not share your pessimism and concern that someone will be hurt. There are nut cases everywhere who rant and rave and are covered by media as if they are prophets. I don’t believe that most people will resort to anarchy, but the media would love it.
It just isn’t politicians who must chill out; the media have an equal obligation to report the facts, not the spin. Each of us have an obligation as citizens to inform ourselves as to the issues and not to just take the word of a single source, yet it is sad to listen to uninformed people during interviews. Media sell there wares by sensationalism and exaggerating the facts. The use of Sound Bites is the delivery vehicle for misinformation. The problem is that the facts are often hidden from view primarily because they are attached to an agenda; an agenda that often will preclude bipartisanship.
Our governments, at all levels (Federal, State, local) must be reduced in size and influence. We are a nation of laws, but our laws are being complicated and diluted with special interests in mind, the result of bipartisanship, greed, and power. We are also supposed to have a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, but we have career politicians. Term limits at all levels of government are needed to avoid creating the power and money base enjoyed by these career politicians.
So, yes, let’s all pray for America to learn to listen, seek truth, and avoid rhetoric that inflames emotions without basis in fact. Let’s pray that we all recognize that nothing is black or white, there is always gray and always two sides of the story. That, of course, means we do a better job of educating people.
Unfortunately, Jerry, some very responsible people, including some of the ex-Presidents, have been also concerned about where we’re going and have said the words “civil war.” All of them have said, of course, that this is something we must avoid by changing the tone of the conversation.
Of course “the media” needs to change tones, too. However, so long as people support sensationalized reporting and biased news programs, this won’t much change. One solution is to find out the sponsors of the most irresponsible shows and send a letter to your friends suggesting boycott of their products until they stop sponsoring that show. Then send a letter to the CEO of the sponsor and let him or her know that you’re boycotting their product until they stop sponsoring biased “news.”
Yes, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves about what is REALLY going on, not what the politicians, hotheads or media talking heads tell us. This means going on-line and actually reading the bills before Congress. They rarely say what the extremists on either side of the aisle tell you they do.
Remember that politicians tend to speak from talking points. Many of these are misleading or outright lies. The side proposing the bill underplays the negative effects of it and the side opposing the bill overplays the negative effects of it. We the People need to know for ourselves.
Alas, all of this requires an active and informed citizenry that is calm, educated and willing to speak in civility with the other side. This is not America right now. But it can be.
Nice post, John. Death threats to a president put those people who pose the threats at the same low level as other groups who kill to try to control. Al Quaeda, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, the KKK, the Crusades. And isn’t it telling that we eventually become friends with those people we once called enemies. We are all cut from the same cloth, bleed the same way, feel sorrow and joy over similar events. Look at our history of entertainment in film and television. The accent of the enemy changed to reflect whomever we were fighting. How does this hatred shape the profile of our next “enemy”. Does there always have to be a group to hate? Why can’t we just do what mom always said and “play nice”? I realize that we sometimes fight to protect what is threatened. But what is really threatened here? Is it the ability to own so much stuff that we have to have homes and cars that are so big that we simply need them to store our stuff? I respect the right for everyone to thrive and become wealthy and/or successful. But we need to consider if we are doing so at the expense of others in order to be bigger or “better”.
Friday’s bill passed in Arizona is further creating such hatred. The idea of police stopping people to check their papers is a scene out of once futuristic sci fi books. Remember when the Jews had to wear stars on their sleeve during WWII? Or when the Cultural Revolution in China created fear of saying, doing or looking suspicious?
Our elected officials are voted in to serve and represent the people. They are not serving or representing when they generate rhetoric to control and shape viewpoints with misrepresented and untruthful statements that the people believe because they tap their fears.
Well, I’ve certainly digressed, but I think this is all related to your point in your article.