Reflections on an empty inaugural address
The following thoughts were prompted by remarks made by the President in his Inaugural address. His statements have given pause both for optimism and concern. My concern is that many people of liberal thought blindly embraced all the issues he presented as being good for America. We do not take time to examine thoroughly all sides of an issue. Our educational institutions put more emphasis on what to think rather than how to think. This is true of both secular institutions and many religious colleges and seminaries. The result is a high percentage of graduates are brainwashed. They turn out to be rubber stamped clones of what to think and believe by their favorite professors and institutions. They haven't learned how to come to reasonable conclusions on issues regarding philosophy, psychology, theology, and politics. Too many educators do not emphasize the importance of challenging their students how to think by the gaining of information through the free exchange of ideas for the purpose of discovering TRUTH. When we learn how to think: knowledge, wisdom, and common sense combined with experience will help us come to right conclusions.
Let me further preface my remarks by saying there is one more factor along with knowledge and common sense that is extremely important in our search for truth. It is our CONSCIENCE!
Early in his inaugural speech the President said, "Every four years we come together to bear witness to the strength of our Constitution" followed by these words from the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these TRUTHS to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." GREAT WORDS! He followed this quote by saying, "We must resolve to care for the most vulnerable among us."
A few days earlier he said, "If there is only one thing we can do to save the life of one child, we have an obligation to try it." However, the following thoughts are my reason for concern. His remarks ring rather shallow. Right to Life marches and rallies were held all over the country. The President made no mention of the 55 million babies that have been murdered via a number gruesome procedures called abortion. Are not these innocent babies among the most vulnerable? Pro-abortion attorneys, medical doctors, and psychologists as well as the mothers and/or fathers who choose abortion refer to their actions as reproductive freedom. If this is freedom, why do my clients who have had an abortion suffer from guilt, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and sometimes attempts? The procedures used to abort the babies are horrendous, violent, and definitely inhumane. The absence of the voices of the proclaimers of human rights in their deathly silence on behalf of these innocent, selfless, vulnerable babies is deafening. Yet the voices of these tiny human beings are screaming WHY? Only to fall on deaf ears.
Where is the collective common sense and sympathy of those who participate in the abortion industry? What have they done with the scientific knowledge available to them? Where is their conscience?
In a recent letter to the editor the writer said that abortion is a constitutional legal right. For the sake of convenience people have twisted, stretched, and distorted the Constitution. They have convinced themselves if it is legal, it is morally right. Just because the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roe v. Wade does not make it morally right. Something is wrong with the conscience of organizations such as Planned Parenthood who are celebrating 40 years of baby killing. One pro-abortion commercial used sick sarcasm in mocking pro-life supporters as part of their 40 year celebration.
Of course, when the President was referencing our responsibility to save lives he was referring to gun control. There are some obvious things we can do to protect life. However, high powered guns are no more responsible for killing than a high powered V8 or V12 engine in an automobile that can go over 200 MPH is responsible for killing. It is the criminal, the lawbreaker and the drunken driver who should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, not the law abiding citizen who drives the car or owns the gun.
Also, the President stated his support for same sex marriages. Just because the President and a minister who said the benediction at the inaugural celebration embrace same sex unions does not make it morally right. By the way, the minister who was originally chosen to say the benediction was told his services were no longer needed because somebody found out he had preached a sermon against homosexuality 20 years ago. It sounds like discrimination to me! The committee that made this decision exhibited a defiant bias against morality and the majority of the American people.
One's perspective on the aforementioned issues comes either from Darwin's evolutionary theory or from God. Darwin's philosophy is only a theory, not factual science while the existence of God is evidenced all around us. Earlier I made reference to our conscience. As stated in James 4:17 our conscience tells us right from wrong including our interpretations of the issues stated above. When dealing with opposites there can only be one TRUTH.
It is not my intention to just point out the societal moral wrongs, but to show there is a better way by embracing and living according to the plans, purposes, and principles of the CREATOR as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence from which the President quoted.
Ron Vieselmeyer is a Coeur d'Alene resident.