Guns and God

 

I'm not certain I completely agree with that. I know people who are atheist, agnostic, Jewish and so forth that have terrific morals. My point being, I don't think the 'fall' hinges so much on God - as it does on a falling away from morals and values - that many people attribute to God.

Respect for elders, respect for authority, knowing right from wrong and doing the right thing not because someone is looking but because it is the right thing. I don't see these things as having God in one's heart, I see them as being a decent human being.

On the remainder, I agree. Discipline has gone out the window. One can no longer spank a child. Not at home and not in the schools. (There is an enormous difference between spanking and beating a child. As a youngster, I was on the receiving end of spankings, and I had respect for my parents. I didn't turn out 'violent'. I know that I am NOT the only one in this category).

Now the call is to 'question authority' - and – sometimes, we should - so it makes it difficult to know when. The call is to defund the police - and - police aren't always 'innocent' - yet I think the majority of them are trying to do a decent job and get home alive to their families.

The point is the whole fabric of our society has changed an awful lot.

It reminds me of something my mom used to say to us when she was at her wits end: "Give you kids an inch, and you take a mile." It sure seems like society gave an inch and then fell down a slippery slope for miles and miles.

I don't know what the answers are. Any method, I'd support wouldn't necessarily be popular with half the populous in today’s 'climate'. That too is the problem. Our country is divided in half.

As, I've aged, I used to long to be younger, so I'd have more time here before my death. I no longer have that desire.

There is no way I'd want to live in society as it is now as a 10-, 20- or 30-year-old. I'm glad I'm not just 'starting out' and I'm extremely glad I lived my childhood in a time when my 10-speed meant 'freedom' and I could ride through-out our and the surrounding neighborhoods, all day, so long as I was home for dinner, and when the streetlights went on.

Society wasn't perfect back then, but the lines were clearer. Right and wrong, black and white, was clearer. It was easier to navigate.

Today's society confounds me and confuses me more than I've ever been. When I allow it, I feel a deep, aching sadness inside for humanity as a whole.

It is then that I sigh really big, look at the squirrels chasing each other in the yard, listen to the birds’ chirp and feel gratitude for my small but peaceful 'oasis'.