Conservative Voices Desperately Needed

More often than not, I’m experiencing days in which I don’t want to hear a single news story or read yet another sensational headline. One would think with the abundance of news that it should be easy for me to find a topic each month on which to express my opinion, but it’s actually quite the opposite because of the information overload every way I turn. It’s enough to make me wonder if I’m only “beating a dead horse” with words and that it might be time to take a break from everything and anything related to politics and culture.

But I’m then reminded that our great nation wasn’t founded by men who decided that it was far easier and less controversial to accept the oppressive rule from King George of England than risk their very lives for the cause of liberty and freedom. What would our nation look like if they had simply accepted the way things were instead of standing for our God-given rights as expressed in our Constitution?

Sadly, there are increasing numbers of people who are being fed the lie that our nation is inherently evil. Is it perfect? Of course not, because we live in a fallen world and evil manifests itself everywhere in various forms. But the intent of the founders was to create a “more perfect Union,” one in which men and women could exist in liberty with self-rule. Have we had dark moments and ugly times in which we fell woefully short of that intent? Absolutely, but we strive to correct our mistakes and resolve to better ourselves and our government as we learn from our past.

When I was invited to join The Alabama Gazette as a contributing writer seven years ago, I felt that our nation was on a path leading us away from our God-given rights. As I reflect on the past seven years and the topics I’ve covered, I wonder if little has changed except an alarming acceleration of that movement towards more government and less individual liberty. Oh, we’ve experienced a switch in political parties at the top of the political system, and we may feel as if we now have a bit of breathing room, but what have we really regained as far as freedom?

Our ever-expanding government still controls our healthcare insurance choices, the public education of our children, and control of far too many industries with federal subsidies. Our religious liberties remain under attack by those intent on suppressing Christian principles and beliefs, and they are using our courts to do so. When I consider the amount of control our government has over our daily lives, I am reminded of just how important our voices are in whatever effort we make to either scale back that over-reaching control or sound the alarm to those who may not be fully engaged.

Our conservative voices matter and are desperately needed because the voices on the left are becoming louder, angrier, and more intent on the dismantling of our Republic. Leftist organized groups within our nation, many being well-funded by George Soros* who is an enemy of our representative form of government, continue to grow with an intent to disrupt our cities and demonize our police forces with violent protests. That “Thin Blue Line” doesn’t only represent the protection afforded to law-abiding citizens from criminal elements, but it also represents the line of protection between democracy and anarchy. What better way to hasten the collapse of our society than to sow seeds of distrust towards those who serve to protect us?

Yet in this current culture of anger and hostility provoked by those intent on destruction, the encouragement of peace and a desire for unity as a nation remains. Two churches, Saint James United Methodist, Montgomery, and Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church, Opelika, recently gathered for the purpose of “Building Bridges Together.” The event commemorated an address given by Booker T. Washington in 1895 at the International Exposition in Atlanta when he stated, “Cast down your bucket where you are,” and are words on which to reflect when wondering just what can we individually can do wherever we live and work to heal the division in our nation and encourage a more civil discourse in addressing our differences. As Washington also stated in his speech, “…cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.”

As I watched the WSFA news reporting on the meeting of church members, black and white, I was encouraged to hear pastors stating that the churches should be leading the way in unifying our nation by working on solutions to the hatred and violence that is rampant throughout our nation. But it was the comment by retired Col. Roosevelt Lewis that summed up exactly what each of us can do, daily, in our own corner of the world.

“We have to say to those people who work, unceasingly, it appears, to divide us…we have to say no.”

And as Booker T. Washington also stated in his address that day in 1895, “Opportunities never come a second time, nor do they wait for our leisure.”

Amen.

*D’Souza, Dinesh. "The ‘Anti-Fascist’ Fascist." The Daily Caller, http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/31/the-anti-fascist-fascist/

Marcia Chambliss has been involved in grassroots conservative politics since 2009 and has contributed opinion articles pertaining to and cultural issues to The Alabama Gazette since 2010.