United We Must Stand

Today, our collective hearts are heavy, sad and angry.

Heavy and sad because of the senseless and tragic loss of life last night in Dallas, preceded earlier in the week by the news and videos of police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana.  You’ll find plenty of news reports and videos out there, so we will not rehash them today.  If you’ve been on vacation or asleep for the past week, you can read an account of the Dallas massacre here, of the Philando Castile shooting here and of the Alton Sterling altercation here.  All have resulted in tremendous heartache and our prayers are for everyone suffering because of these terrible acts.

And, we are angry.  Angry that cops kill private citizens; angry that private citizens kill cops; angry that private citizens kill private citizens, angry that some kill anyone they can in the name of terror.  And angry that our so-called leaders in Washington attribute most of the violence and hurt to racism and honest gun owners.  Today, we are not discussing gun ownership and the Second Amendment.

The United States of America is not a racist nation.  Let me say that again – The United States of America is not a racist nation.  Sure, there exist many individuals who most certainly are racist, but as a nation – no way, no how.

You wouldn’t know that, however, by listening to the divisive words and statements spoken over and over by the likes of President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and countless others we look to as the “leaders” of our nation.

Washington has been conducting “wars” against poverty, racism, drugs and terrorism for decades, to no avail.  The federal  government has spent billions, likely trillions, of dollars to end all of these “social ills” and each is worse that it ever has been.  It seems all these “wars” succeed in accomplishing is the creation of contention between various groups of otherwise good people – rich and poor, black and white, police and civilian, immigrant and natural-born citizen, gay and straight, religious and non-religious, white-collar workers and blue-collar workers, gun owners and gun fearers.  We could go on and on.

When Washington involves itself in local issues, problems abound.  It ever has been and it ever will be.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced in a very brief press conference this afternoon (where she refused to answer any press questions, so was it really a press conference???) that numerous federal agencies have been dispatched to Dallas to assist in investigations and to “help heal a community.”

History has taught us that Washington does not heal communities.  Not with words; not with money.  AG Lynch, we do not want your assistance healing the community.  Your involvement will just create more contention, division and divisiveness.

Stay home!

Let us allow our families, our local communities and our churches to lead the effort to heal Dallas, Falcon Heights, Baton Rouge, Orlando, San Bernardino, Aurora, Sandy Hook and the countless other cities and communities hurt by destructive Washington policies.

Let us remove Washington from our lives and our business and invite God back into our lives and our affairs.

May we stand united as a nation, as brothers and sisters bound together by a common commitment to civility and love one for another.  The headwaters of such commitment begin flowing from home and grow as they spread outward.  Nothing pure flows from Washington down into our communities.

LET US STAND TOGETHER AS ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, SEEKING LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.  AND MAY THE STARS AND STRIPES OF OUR NATIONAL STANDARD BE A REMINDER TO ALL THAT WE ARE ONE.

Please pray today for those others who were shot last night and may still be fighting for life and limb, for the families of the dead police officers, for the families of those shot by police officers earlier this week, for law enforcement officers and private citizens throughout this nation, and for peace.