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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

all men are created equal

I'm sure there are many things I don't know. And I'm sure that this is a subject I am not at all qualified to address. But I'm going to anyway. At least a little bit.

I don't understand why everything has to be such a big bad argument. Take for example, moving the prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Yes, I understand that they are really bad guys. Yes, I understand that nobody wants them to be near where they live. But honestly, don't we have people imprisoned within the United States already that are at least as bad as these guys? And doesn't it seem to make sense that if our elected officials decided that bringing them here was the best option that they would find a way to do it so that the rest of us would remain safe?

A long time ago in my history class I memorized part of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. We hold these truths to be self evident . . that all men are created equal. Yes, it's out of context. And yes, there's more to it than that. But here's the bottom line for me as I see it today.

I believe in God.
I believe my safety and security is in Him alone.
I believe every person is valuable.
I believe that all men are created equal.
I believe that includes these people nobody wants.
I believe we owe them the same human dignity I would expect to be given myself.
I believe we would be outraged if another government held our citizens without trial indefinitely.
I believe we make decisions harder than they have to be.
I believe sometimes you just have to make the decision and let it play out the way it will.
I believe we have to make the decision based on the best info we can get and trust the results to work themselves out.
I believe we can't know what WILL happen, we can only know what IS happening, and must act accordingly.
I believe we need to do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves.

Not my usual topic of conversation but hey, there it is. Take it or leave it, it's up to you. There are sooo many things we make harder than they have to be, both on a personal level and a national level. Maybe just for today, we should practice making things easier for ourselves and for those around us.

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