Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Being Upside Down in America

As you can tell by my logo, I love talking about the myriad of issues impacting America. There are so many that it’s sometimes hard to select just one. So this time, I chose a topic that is recurring and seemingly oxymoronic: How can people be prolife and support war or the death penalty? Some argue that the war in Iraq is immoral and that Americans are needlessly sacrificing their lives or taking the lives of innocents in that land. Others argue that the numbers dying on America’s streets and in the womb is far more immoral than a war declared to protect America’s sovereignty and people. Neither side appears able to get closer to the overarching issue - the sanctity of life. As a result, they are unable to find common ground and the conversation ends with a sense of frustration rather than accomplishment. Both sides failing to find answers that could be promoted in the culture to bring about real change.

In the meanwhile, the bodies of the dead are stacking up like cord wood on both sides of the ocean. But there is no outcry in the main stream media or in the corridors of public opinion against the war or against the genocidal deaths here on America’s shores. There is no horror at the dead among us. And only in the families and friends of those slain, is there sorrow or shame. Instead, America revels in the sin of genocide, claiming it as a right when discussing abortion, and turning a deaf ear to the victims of genocide in most other cases.

We rescue animals before people, placing a far greater value on dogs than our children, brothers and sisters. Michael Vick went to jail for dog fighting. Just yesterday he was released after serving most if not all of the time of his sentence. Yet, PETA continues in their war against him, demanding he never be allowed to work again. There is no outcry for Michael. There is no marching, there are no demonstrations, or voices of support arguing that he has paid the debt for the crime committed and should be allowed to get on with his life. And just as there is no outcry for Michael, there is no horror at the dead among us. There is no sorrow or shame. We revel in the sin of genocide. Our children are assigned no value and the great nation called America, openly celebrates the targeting of some of her children for extermination as is the case of the over 1400 black babies killed daily in America’s abortuaries.

We cloak in shrouds of acceptability, the death mandate of those supporting America’s eugenics agenda called population control, unable or unwilling to shine the light of truth on practices that take the lives of babies in the womb and our youth in the streets. We cloud the issue of murder with rhetoric designed to deflect our attention away from the devaluation of black life in particular and life in general toward a woman’s or some other obscure right.

I wonder if we can come out of this dark place America is hooked on. From slavery, to Jim Crow, to abortion and violence in the streets, America is on a genocidal path of destruction. We are upside down, calling evil good and good evil. I wonder if we have the courage to come to a place of turning so that we can get it right ending years of tyranny against the masses.

2 comments:

Kim Cash Tate said...

Catherine, thank you so much for "talking about it." I've been quoting that Bible verse a lot lately--calling evil good and good evil. I was telling my kids the other day that some in America say the greatest evil of our day is what we're doing to the environment. I mentioned Americans' passion for the care of animals too, as you did. Yet people are completely unwilling to acknowledge that thousands of innocent children die every day. It's hard to fathom that people could live with such an uncivilized state of mind. It does help to talk about it and know we're not alone.

Mike said...

Your point about Michael Vick is right on! I mean my family is a dog family and I love dogs, but that level of outrage is way over the top. Where is the outcry for the innocent babies that die every day. We protest a war where men and women who voluntarily enlisted gave their lives to bring democracy to a country while protecting our own freedoms, yet we happily fund and encourage the slaughter of millions of innocent lives at home. We must change. Thank you for having the conversation!! ML