Friday, November 6, 2015

Why I Have Come To Support Dr. Ben Carson for the Presidency


From the first time I heard Dr. Carson speak (at President Obama's "National Prayer Breakfast") I, like so many others, took note.  Not that his name was unfamiliar to me. No. A career spent working with some of the nation's top pediatric physicians at Boston Children's Hospital had assured that. But still, to have heard him speak on the occasion of the Prayer Breakfast with such honesty and clarity -- to his then and there being willing to take up themes that some, he knew, would likely find offensive -- of that I just had to take note.

Despite this, when others mentioned with excitement the idea of Dr. Carson running for the Presidency I have to say that I did not quickly join them. Only slowly have I come around -- turned around really -- and only now has he come to fully have my support.  Why?

I believe the United States is in crisis. Indeed I am of the view that the whole Western World is in crisis. That human progress over hate and ignorance and poverty -- including the poverty of fresh ideas -- is in crisis. That we have lost faith in so much! In freedom. In equality. In the liberal ideals -- the very way of thinking -- that led to emancipation from so much of the evil that makes up human history

We need things to change radically. We need to rebuild trust, not only in those ideals, but also in the institutions our forefathers built to support them.

What is needed to accomplish this is not, IMO, so much a "strong leader," but an inspiring and capable one. Not a man or woman who will vanquish everything and everyone that stands before them, but one who will stand with We The People in supporting the ideals upon which continuing human progress depends.

Light, throughout history, has conquered darkness. Knowledge, throughout history, has conquered ignorance. Good, throughout history,  has conquered evil.  If, and only if, it has been expressed and acted upon with boldness and consistency. Without fear. Without compromise.

Those are the very qualities Dr. Ben Carson has brought to this debate. Not just with words, but with deeds. With a lifetime of experience. Of thoughtfulness. Of hard work. Of clarity. And of no less importance, of goodness.

Dr. Carson is, I truly think, what America needs. For our own sake. And for the sake of our children.



2 comments:

  1. Completely agree. My question is does he have a chance with the political machine?

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  2. Sadly it seems unlikely.

    But the problem for Dr. Carson at this juncture appears to be more than resistance by that "machine -- by which I assume you mean the entrenched power and donors to the Republican Party. Outside event, too, are directing this election. Including the insecurity so many feel at the obvious spread of Islamic terrorism.

    Is Dr. Carson the best man to be a "war president"? That is a question that deserves a frank look. And many, upon doing so, are left unsure.

    These are difficult times. One can only hope we as a nation have the wisdom to find, and then follow, truly wise leadership.

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