How should we react to the unproven claim that "They did it!"?

This blog piece springs from a query from a dear friend asking what I thought about a video looking to place the blame for the current horrors hard onto the back of Chinese communism.

I loath "communism," not just as a disastrous economic system, but far more as an encroachment on the human sprit.

As Albert Einstein said "Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."

Communism by its very nature destroys that.

But my response to the video was short; my viewing of it yet shorter. And in response to this friend's question I wrote...

I only watched a bit beyond the introduction. That was enough for me because it did what an introduction is supposed to do -- it laid out the thesis.

The fact is, to my mind, that neither you, nor I, nor the makers of that video know the answer to that question; those questions. But this is exactly how every HATE begins and spreads.

"It was the _________. They are to blame."

It does seem apparent that the Chinese bureaucracy hid the truth and punished those trying to make it known. That is what every bureaucracy does. Lower members play 'cover your ass' to protect their place within the structure.

That is, yes, evil. But it is not the same as concluding that some nefarious evil monster-man created this disease and intentionally spread it among mankind.

That humans want such a clear and simple answer -- that someone "did it" -- is again a historical truth. That people profit in numerous ways, including emotional ones, from "finding" and then "revealing" such a "truth" is equally historical. And that truth has killed far more people than any virus.

The simple, but hard to accept  truth is that there is much we do not, will not, and cannot know. And that emptiness is like a vacuum.

I avoid such theorizing -- such trying to fill that vacuum -- as useless and often harmful.

"I do not know" suffices for me. Adding, as best I can, "but what can I do to help?"

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This, Too, Shall Pass

What we as a nation. and indeed the entire world, are experiencing is unique. Not in the sense that it is the first such international 'plague' to spread through the world, but in that it is the first to which today's world has dealt with in such a near universal and knowing fashion.

What we are facing today has been likened to a "war," and is such in various ways. There is a nefarious 'enemy' looking to kill and maim. There are uniformed armies going into battle. New recruits are being called up to this army and old 'soldiers' are being called back to service. There are small victories being declared and large losses (we have reason to believe) being hidden. And there is that proverbial "fog of war" that is preventing even truth seekers from truly finding what they seek,. And to that we must add that other common creation of war: rumors and suspicion. -Both things that the fearful in general, and the credulous by nature especially, grab hold of and spread, creating what amounts to a second "front," or in this case a second "disease" - that with casualties all its own.

And as in any war there are Generals taking the lead -- some with great (although not necessarily lauded) success -- and lower-ranked officers who are vying to see their own plans put into action, both for reasons good and ill.

All this while the greater number are trying their best to hunker down, to as needed do without, and as able to make their own small daily contributions to the greater effort. And a small number looking for personal gain -- the "profiteers." Yes, all this just as there are in every war.

And then there is that ever-present fear. Fear for loved ones. Fear for our own selves and our futures as we expected them to unfold. Fears for society as a whole. -A society that is changing before our eyes -- and with that the possibly greater fear that the society which we loved, or at least in which we felt comfortably secure, may never return.

Wars, pestilence and famine have always brought these things; always been a part of the human experience -- just as much as has been heat and cold and damp.

But just as modern life has to a large degree shielded most of us from the effects of those things - that heat and cold and damp -- so most of us have to a remarkable degree been shielded, not only from the direct threat of wars, pestilences and famines, but even from the idea that such could be our lot.

This morning missive shall not end with The Answer, for no such "singular answer exists. But it does end with an admonition: That each of us -- you, me, our families, our neighbors, our communities our states and our nations -- should work to make the best of these current realities. To learn from them. To equally be willing to lead and to follow. To put forth ideas, yes, but not to sneer at the ideas of others. To realize that while each of our lives is important -- central to us as living beings -- that there is also an overall "good" that must be kept keenly in mind. To realize and accept that the weak will now require extra help, and that those who are strong will have to use that strength - and possibly allow some of it to be stripped away -- for our common survival.

And all the above as we realize that what is "now" is not just now -- it is, and has been, common to all mankind through all of history.

But it is also "now" in another sense. The one expressed in that old, very common, and very wise phrase: "This, too, shall pass."

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America the Wise

In 2016 we the people voted for borders. The elite mocked us for this suggesting that our motive was small-minded, intolerant and hateful.

We the people, in turn, called them on this name-calling with a stark denial that small-mindedness and "hate" had, for most of us, anything at all to do with it.  -That our actual reasons were a mix of simple practicality along with the desire to preserve our nation's unique qualities and culture. -One based on personal liberty and individual responsibility.

Oddly the age-old concept of a 'gated nation' was resisted and ridiculed by people who themselves often chose to live in gated communities -- but none-the-less we the people had it our way, electing a man who shared our values and had the strength and wisdom required to make those shared values the controlling principles in both the law and the land.

This resulted in, not a diminishment, but an increase in the volume of the ridicule -- both for our elected president and for we who elected him.  -Not just here in America, but in many nations abroad -- especially the border removers that make up the controlling bureaucracy of the European Union.
Then came, yes! the coronavirus. And with its coming little by little everything started to change.
President Trump had cut off traffic first from China -- the coronavirus' initial source and center -- then from other nations to where it had moved as an uninvited migrant.

Only now -- better late than never for sure, but very late none-the-less -- are the world's other nations starting to emulate the wisdom of our president and of the people of our nation, and close off their own borders. They are doing so begrudgingly and often hypocritically -- this as they deny their own actions and continue with their anti-border rhetoric.  But closing their borders they are. By necessity. Knowing that doing so is, in reality, a matter of life and death.

America, be glad of your own actions. For because of them you have bought yourself time.

America, be proud of your people -- for they once again showed themselves wiser than the world's "kings".

America, continue to trust in your founding principles. And to see Divine wisdom in what you have, by His grace, been allowed to become.

America, stand tall! Stand proud! Remain strong!

And let us do so standing together.

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Adding Light to Some Likely Dark Days

Its oft said that the world today is smaller than it used to be.  Modern travel and communication make it so. And this, note, was being said even in the days of 'just' radio and three-network TV.

If radio and TV made the world "smaller," then today's world must be seen as micro-miniaturized. For today we can (and do) talk and communicate around the world, in pretty much real-time, more easily than granny and grampa did across the room.

There's a cost to this, however. A real one. And it is to our peace of mind.  No small thing. For the fact is that relatively few people today seem to be able to stay positive.

"The whole reason people read the papers is to hear about other people's problems."  -That's a quote (as remembered) from the 1954 film "Hobson's Choice."  And if back in 1954 that rang true -- and it did -- how much more such is true today when people seem to have far fewer positive things to fill their lives.

Having one 'crabby' friend or relative always seemed to be every person's fate, but being surrounded by such can be, and for many people is, tiresome.   And today such 'crabby people' seem to be almost coming out of the woodwork.

If you try to stay positive and hopeful you will often be told that you are naive. That you are "foolish" or "easily mislead."  Try to actually counter the nay-sayers and you may well find yourself under direct attack.

And if all this negativity were only about small matters such would be sad and bad enough. But today negativity is for many a total, almost all-encompassing, point of view. It is how such view the entire world around them. And if you do not go along with that, If you dare to see the good or, worse from their point of view, see an upside in anything, you yourself will often become the target of their nay-saying.

Is there a defense against this depressing negativity?  Yes, there is. And it is threefold.

First, we must search for all the facts on the subjects we choose, or feel forced, to focus upon.  Nay-sayers tend to only find and believe the negatives. The bad. The wearying. Bright spots -- and there almost always are some such -- are either darkened or totally denied.

We need not join in that.  If we see something positive we can (and should!) say it.  Fearlessly.

No, not with undue exaggeration, but honestly.  For it, too -- the positive --  is a part of the story. Often a big, if neglected, part.

Two, learn to laugh at life's ill twists and turns.

The best humor often is just that -- wry humor.  Humor discovered in otherwise dark things. Indeed some of the world's most historically oppressed peoples credit their community's developed sense of humor as the key, not just to their joint survival, but to a greater than typical ability to find joy in life.

We can do that too.

And three, we can choose friends and associates who choose to do the same.  Limit the negativity. Deny others the opportunity to drum such endlessly into our heads until our joy in life, too -- like their's -- disappears.

This includes the media, certainly. Today's Harpies of Horror. But others, too, closer to home.

That old "friend" for instance -- he or she who sometimes leave us wondering how they ever came to be seen as a "friend." Those that never have a good thing to say about anything, and who themselves gravitate to, and sit at the feet of, all the sponsors of, and spokespeople for, negativity.

Right now, especially, all the above is of added importance. This because some genuinely dark days may be ahead.  And many of us, even if we are not as greatly impacted as some others may be, may find ourselves in a sort of 'soft lockdown.' Limited to our home with the only break to our boredom and concerns being available from 'out there' in the ether.  -The home of the Dark People. Those without hope or light.

If so, let us choose carefully. And to the extent that we can be so, let us each be a light in a dark time. Being so ourselves, and seeking out others who we sense themselves need such light.

In short, let us be true friends to one another. Adders to, not diminishers of, each other's hope and happiness.

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Elizabeth Warren. Out TG! (And, no, not at all because she is a "strong" woman)

Particularly upon the collapse of Elizabeth Warren's campaign we started to (again) hear that the real problem for her was a supposed society-wide misogyny -- a dislike for women. Or at least, we are being told, for smart and bold women. For women who "do not know their place."

I say that is total bunk. I absolutely loathed Liz Warren. The thought of her having any power over any human being was enough to make me shudder. But such was hardly because of her being a 'she.'

The truth is I have always preferred women with strong personalities coupled with high intelligence and a deep independent streak. -That just as I prefer those qualities in men. And while I make no claim that such a 'liking' is universal, I'd say that it is very common, and more so now in America than at any time I can think of in the past.

At risk of offending... The dull like the dull. The fearful and weak prefer their own kind -- or to feel protected by a supposed 'daddy' or 'mommy' type figure. Or to have a polite, even-keeled, totally non-threatening person of either gender over them.

And it's that last phrase that to me really represents the fulcrum here: That of having someone 'over' us.

Some want that. Others don't. America traditionally has not. Neither to order us about OR to protect us from the risks that naturally come with living our own lives.

For me? Doing the later -- living my own life in my own way -- has always been what I suppose one could call "A#1." And doing that with a strong, thinking, independent woman at my side is -- and has been -- to me the ideal.

The thought of doing so with Elizabeth Warren at my side would be horrifying. And in this I think I am far from alone.

And thus (Thank God!) we saw her failed campaign.

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What Really Accounts for Our National Greatness?

The genesis of this nation -- what became the United States of America -- was the putting into governing practice a wonderfully startling idea: That "greatness" in a man was attached to what he (or she) made of themselves, not something dependent on their conditions at birth.

Our first President was known for his genuine nobility -- an actual character of honesty, humility and strength. Our oft-considered greatest President, Abraham Lincoln -- a man born in what today would be seen as intolerable poverty -- for his intelligence, thoughtfulness and hard-won learning. Our greatest early spokesman to the world, Benjamin Franklin, was a self-made man known for his thoughtful view of life and his original scientific thinking. -All this at a time when the commonly held idea of "nobility" -- one held throughout Europe and Asia -- was simply a "good" birth, wealth and fancy clothes with little or no thought to honor, intelligence, moral integrity or accomplishment.

And yet who are we as a people and a nation more like today? Which society?

What place has "honor" "honesty" "integrity" "intelligence" "originality" "accomplishment" in our scheme of things?

We accept as normal having candidates for public office who outright lie to the people. We hang on the words of people who have no accomplishments apart from birth, wealth, physical attractiveness and fancy belongings. We sneer at actual accomplished except in a few, narrow, fields of endeavor.

If we want to again enjoy the rich lives of our predecessors during the times of America's earlier "greatness" we must first as a people recognize what made that America great to start with. -We must strive for and emulate those things: Honor, honesty, intelligence, originality and genuine accomplishment. For some time we as a people have largely denied that such things exist or ever really existed. And some still do.

It is time for this to change.  This is another key area in which we as a nation must return to our roots.

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The Needed "Cleansing" of our Republic

These day's most of us do relatively little Bible quoting. But there are times when a certain verse, or a series of verses, comes to one's mind. -As do these words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace." (Jer. 6:14)

In context, with side notes, the Berean Study Bible puts it this way: “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain. From prophet to priest, all practice deceit. They have dressed the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD."

I'd not speak for the God of the Bible as to how he will act -- or is acting -- re what is happening in our republic, "one nation under God." That's His business both as to his acts, and who he might assign to speak and act on His behalf. But that text quoted above does do something else: It allows for a rather different approach than the "oh, let's all be friends!" pieties we so often hear today when hurt is done to a free people. -Pious nonsense such is, in part, because it only goes one way. The hurters call for it when their hurting is done. "Mercy! Mercy!" they then (and only then) call out.

Solomon spoke to this unfortunate reality with these words: There is "a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

So, yes, mercy and kindness and goodness and forgiveness all have a part, and all have their time -- for such will eventually bring healing. But it is equally so that such sometimes need to be placed 'on hold'. That first the festering wounds must be cleaned. For only then can a true healing take place.

What does that mean in practical terms for you and me? What does this mean for our leaders who truly do want to see a healing?

That this may not yet be the time for quietude, or gentleness -- or even (quite yet) forgiveness. -That first 'the money changers' need be driven from the temple. That a cleansing of the offices of government must first take place.

No, not a pogrom. Not a French style retribution with gallows and guillotine. But a removal from any position in government that would allow such people to continue to do harm to the many.

That perhaps too much latitude has been given to those attached to the old regime who were allowed to remain in places of trust.

When such has been revealed -- when such has been determined -- it is time for them to go.

As did President Trump in recent days with the Vindman brothers.

No, such is not "retaliation." It is a necessary cleansing. A necessary prelude to a healing.

I say that the removal of these men from their offices and responsibilities should not be the end, but merely the beginning. -That of removing the 'unhealthy tissue,' the diseased and corrupted flesh. That the cleansing of the people should not be done, as Jeremiah said, "lightly," but with thoroughness, vigor and strength.

Mercy and kindness will have thier time and place too. Yes. But first this.

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