Monday, March 29, 2010

STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE....

This letter was written by a friend of my dad's, and he forwarded it to me.  It echoes so much the way that I feel, and written so much more eloquently than I ever could, so I asked his permission to post it here.

Like many of you, I have felt frustration at the behavior and arrogance of many of our elected officials. While there is a great variety of political affiliations and beliefs among us, we all deserve a government which is accountable to us. It is guaranteed by our Constitution.

My children have heard my complaints regarding the audacity and elitism which many elected officials display. One of my children asked me what I was going to do about it. That caught me off guard; since it's easy to complain but more difficult to act. So, I will start by doing one simple thing. I will write my representatives every week concerning an issue which I feel strongly about. That is something which I can do to have my voice heard.

I have decided that during the my next family home evening I am going to delicately explain to my children that the current Vice-President (Joe Biden) chose to use extremely vulgar language. Since Mr. Biden is currently the Vice-President of the United States, his behavior and language are unacceptable. Mr. Biden has made no real apologies for his behavior, and has said that the word he chose to use is "no big deal".  I have come to realize that as an American citizen I can, and do, expect more of my elected officials. Socrates once said: "Speak that I may see you". I want my children to learn that they can discern a great deal about someone from listening to what they say. I am going to invite my children (ages 7, 9, 11 & 14) to join me in writing individual letters to Mr. Biden and tell him what we think of his language and what type of behavior we expect from him.

Jesus Christ certainly taught and showed us that we need to teach by example. I am now at a junction in my life that I cannot allow my children to see me do nothing. As the British Statesman Edmund Burke said, “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing”.
I invite each of you to ask yourself if there is something that you can be doing to make our government accountable to us, and to have your voice heard. After all, If you do not stand up for what you believe, who will?

11 comments:

Pedaling said...

key word here:
what ya gonna do about it?

Shorty said...

Love this post! I agree that we need to stand up and speak up more often for what we truly believe in. My husband just did this yesterday on his blog thru a video response to some emails he rec'd, and he and I both spoke up this morning when our news station aired a Room Store ad that was completely in Spanish. Hello... we were watching NBC, not Telemundo!

Holly said...

Thanks for the good, thought provoking, and action motivating post!

Barbaloot said...

It's frightening to see what's happening in the country right now. But it's just plain sad to see what kind of behavior is now acceptable in this world. How did it become okay?

mCat said...

So well written. Love it, great post!

CB said...

I love this post and I am glad you are having your children write letters with you.
You are a good example - We should all do this. Biden's language was really unacceptable and for him not to apologize is almost unforgiveable.
Did you know there is an old law in Idaho that says a man can be put in prison for swearing publicly in front of women and children? It is true and has not ever been changed or thrown out.
Just goes to show how downhill things like this have become - they would have put him in prison years ago.

CB said...

P.S. I should check on that law. I first heard about it 15 years ago but haven't checked on it lately. It would be a good thing to bring to Biden's attention!

artmonster1204 said...

So often when something negative occurs we have a tendency to just complain. But if there is one thing the Bible teaches us it is to be proactive, not reactive. Being proactive and solution oriented is what helps buld character and integrity.

Cynthia said...

An excellent post! I am standing up to be counted now. I am volunteering my time to help oust a US Senator who has lost his desire to account to the people. We'll send him home and put a man in his place who WILL account. Hopefully, it will be the candidate I'm working for because the other major challenger candidate is a younger, more arrogant version of the guy we're trying to send home.

I will teach my kids that our freedom requires that we GIVE of ourselves in some way to maintain it. I don't care if you are 'uncomfortable' making calls or writing letters or even campaigning for someone you believe in. You have an obligation to do what you can, when you can. Even small contributions can make a big difference.

Valerie said...

Aren't kids so very smart? What are you going to do? :)

tammy said...

Great post. I think more and more of us are putting our foot down lately and saying enough. If we don't stand up for what we feel and know is right, who will? The line is definitely being drawn between good and evil and it's only going to get worse. I loved the words that we heard in conference today about how we need not fear. I love these conference weekends!