Lately sleep has not come very often and I find myself deeply concerned to the point of tossing and turning. The concern is for the stability, soul, and future of our country and its people. This is not a concern solely based on the new President and his polices. No the concern is for the effect the election itself has had on the psyche of the American people. This nation has faced tough and traumatic times before but not since possibly the beginning of the Civil War have we as a people been so divided. Everyone is afraid of something from time to time. However, it seems instead of trying to quite the storm together we are hell bound as a society to make things worse. We can’t even remember the things that united us anymore because the things that divide us are controlling our conscience like the Bogeyman that plaques children’s dreams. Why does the bogeyman plaque children’s dreams? Much like some of the Bogeymen we are facing and are afraid of in today’s society. The Bogeyman can only operate in a dream state or in a fantasy world because the Bogeyman is not real. The Bogeyman is a figment of our imaginations that gets perpetuated by rhetoric, disinformation, and the propaganda machines on both the left and right. The Bogeyman is something black, white, brown, and every other color in the rainbow and in-between, that we all allow to divide us and stop our nation from reaching what the original Maslow called self-actualization. We have face down the Bogeyman before as nation together and beat it. In the late 30’s and early 40’s the Bogeyman was called The Great Depression and in the midst of that battle one of my favorite Presidents FDR told us these words that continue to echo through eternity and hold true right now today “The only thing We have to fear is fear itself.” After the terrorist attacks of September 2001 then President George W. Bush said “Terrorist attacks may have shattered steel but it will not shatter the steel of American resolve.”
With these words from these presidents past in mind why are
so many people living their lives in shadows? Why are so many of us operating out of negativity and fear? Why do so many people believe in
these factious Bogeymen like she is a mistress of the night walking among us? Webster’s dictionary defines the Bogeyman as a monstrous imaginary figure used in the threatening of children or a
terrifying, dreaded person or thing. Recently the current President went as far as saying the
former President was in fact his Bogeyman and accused him of sabotaging his White House. We all know
the current President is odd at times but this was ridiculous even by his
standards. So let us
make sure we have this straight President Trump is Arnold Drummond and President Obama is the
Gooch? Unfortunately the president is not alone in the Bogeyman conspiracy. There are a lot
of Bogeymen in American Politics. From the fear of social security going belly
up, to the fear of the government taking away peoples guns, campaigns in recent times have used all kinds of issues to play on fears for votes. Lately, and definitely
from both sides in this past election the biggest Bogeyman in politics is that king of terror is Race. Honest and open discussions of race should happen and are
healthy for our democracy but this never happens because of a tactic called Race Baiting. Race Baiting is
defined as a deliberate and hypocritical focus on race in an attempt to
discredit others, or even deem them racist. Now how can you have
open and honest dialogue to try and improve any situation if both sides are not
negotiating in good faith? These tactics only serve one purpose to further divide and further
perpetuate the fears of an uneducated
or undereducated public. So for some
Minorities who already have a built in mistrust for their Caucasian brethren. This
type of irresponsible rhetoric further perpetuates their belief that the white man is the Bogeyman that is out to get them. Conversely
the same is true in reverse some white people based on this type of propaganda become scared of the
educated militant. Therefore any nonwhite person is like Bogeyman to them. Both have this in
common the Bogeyman that haunts them has the potential to be real but likely is
not. Just the perception of the Bogeyman makes honest and open discourse impossible
because like children everyone is afraid to come out from under the covers and
to the table to talk with one another.
We cannot appeal to the better Angels of our Nature as President Lincoln said at the end of his 1st inaugural
address if we are slaves to our
own individual Bogeymen. No progress has ever been accomplished in the history
of the World without some brave sole taking that first step and
shedding the Bogeyman in
a leap of faith. Right
before being assassinated in 1968 in Memphis Dr. King talked about not
being afraid of anything. He said he was not afraid because “I have been to the Mountain top, looked out, and seen the promise land.”
I can’t help but
wonder if we all fought back the Bogeymen that is holding our better Angels
hostage and is stopping us from achieving greatness. If collectively together we might too be able to not only see that promise land but actually get there as one Nation
together as one people. Letting those true’s
that were supposed to be self evident actually become relevant. Romans 3:23 tells us “we
have all sinned and came short of the glory of God.” Let us put down the sword of angst, distrust, and deceitfulness. Let us extend the olive
branch of peace, trust, and usher in a new era of cooperation and togetherness
before the experiment called democracy that was started so long ago dies off
before it actually fulfills the promise of a better tomorrow. At the end of the day WE ARE OUR BROTHERS AND OUR SISTERS KEEPERS
and EVIL ONLY CAN PREVAIL WHEN GOOD Men AND WOMAN DO NOTHING!!!
One Love to
all-
Don't miss the Next episode!
Written by J.
MASS
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