Humanity can ill-afford pillow-talk of half-measures

At the heart of American society is a core ignorance of humanness – a desire for enlightenment in a being where enlightenment is ill-attainable.

To consider the simple truth of it: Many people believe that because of our heightened forms of technology, the tenure of our species’ stay on this planet and a particular culmination of scientific understanding of our universe, we humans should be able to overcome petty things such as war and fighting, starvation and even disagreement, to be frank.

In this "hopeful world," everyone is perfectly happy with everyone else’s beliefs, little matter how much they differ, and that religion is a base of human history that has helped in the past, but has little to offer in our present day and age.

I offer, to this simplified argument of post-hippy-scientific theology, that humanity is just as base and ignorant today as the very first forms of modern homo-sapien, whether God-made or evolved. Humanity will never reach an all-inclusive state of enlightenment. We were not built for perfection, and to imagine that such imperfect beings could create a perfect society is exactly the kind of flaw that fouled Lenin’s socialist communism.

Peace is not made by laying down your gun, and the radical Islamists know this better than anyone. They want peace – after everyone but them is dead. There will be peace, alright. Just not the kind any civilized nation wants.

To prohibit arms is to create sheep for the slaughter.

To give into absolute tolerance is a marketing ploy for chaos. Order is created by rigidity, and kept by that rigidity being flexible - not taken away.

Humans will always be plagued by sins of moral debasement, greed for power, hunger for carnal pleasures … it takes firm hands of moral standing, in one form or another, to create a firm foundation to affirm a system that allows men and women to find their own paths in life, while still being able to define who they are, what is wrong, what is right, and how they fit in the grand scheme of things.

How is that done?

Finding a moral equivalency between all major forms of thought in a nation that demands religious freedom. Only problem with this is, it’s been tried and has now overflowed with claims that personal carnality is a universal religion unto itself and should therefore supercede any religious interference.

Tell me this: How enlightened are we now? Drugs do not make us more enlightened. Computers do not make us more enlightened. Building skyscrapers and bullet trains do not make us enlightened.

Watching PBS and listening to Sean Penn do not make us enlightened.

What must simplify our lives. Remove ambiguity from your beliefs, from your work, from your lives. Find dedication - to your wife, your husband, your work, your children and your community. Especially, to your God, whomever he may be.

Remove drama and those who cause it from your lives. If someone cannot stop picking at you or gossiping about others in your presence, stop letting them in it. You can be assured that if they talk about others behind their back, they talk about your behind yours.

Allowing people to choose their own morals is one thing, but condoning anything you don't agree with is a lack of definition on your part. Be defined. If you don't know who you are, stop asking others and look at yourself. Define who you are by what you like, what you don't, and who you want to be.

All too often people think they can't change. That's a crock. If you want to be a self-assured person, become a self-assured person. Make decisions and follow those decisions. If you're wrong, avoid making that decision again, learning from your previous mistake, and make the right decision next time. Just because you only have one run-through in this life doens't mean you have to do it perfectly, but it will serve you well to step out, learn quickly, and start being the person you admire, rather than hoping the person you admire will take care of you.

Morals have proven themselves a strong framework of a good life for thousands of years. You may not agree on where it comes from, but principals on murder, theft, adultery, pre-marital sex, godlessness, vagrancy, disrespect of elders and lying are but a few immoral actions the past has proven will do nothing to improve anyone's life, the practitioner or the environmental participants.

Societies with common morals of decency and responsibility have had their peace, and are abundant with good people.

Now can you see where America is fouling? A debasement of ourselves, a giving away of our moral definition, is degrading our nation. When I read the words of an ancient, wise Jewish king, I can't help but feel he was trying to tell the world that simplicity in life was best, because all we had, in the end, was the pleasure of each day; everything built crumbled, everything sought after came to nothing.

We can tell ourselves that allowing a loss of morality across the board won't affect us, even if we have morals, but to think that your environment cannot affect you is naive. Consider the World Wars and America's initial standpoint of non-involvement - the fight came to us.

Eventually, those will morals will no longer be awash in a neutral sea of others' immorality - we will be on the frontline in a fight against those who don't want to be shown how dark they really are. The presence of light always makes the dark angry. The dark wish to snuff out lights for fear of being revealed, and light, as truth, reveals all.

The time for half-measures is over. We can no longer stand idly by as our nation falls prey to the Dark. We cannot turn away and hope it passes over. Like weak Europe to radical Islam, it only makes the beast that much more hungry for our blood. Just as a no-gun zone becomes a prime target for a mass murder, so are those who are ill-prepared to fight for morality against one who is dedicated to wiping them away.

Start defining what you believe - not because of political correctness or fear of being ill-accepted for believing someone is doing something wrong - but because you feel it's the right thing to do, and your god (whomever or whatever that may be) leads you to it. (You can be your own god, though I wouldn't recommend it.)

Johnathan Cross
Marietta