Political and philosophical differences are worthwhile and
good, when they represent the results of reasonable people reviewing facts and
coming to different conclusions. They should be expressed. They keep us on a safe
path between two rival modes of destruction—unchecked extremism.
When what we say derives from what is facile or popular or are
overheard from those who have built a profit-generating constituency on hate
and anger, our thoughtless utterances become like word-worms that can
destroy the foundations of our country.
I, and many others like me, once took an oath to protect and
defend that country. Now I sometimes weep at what I hear or read.
The sometimes treasonous, often racially tinged, and
generally vitriolic epithets leveled against the President of the United States
of America Barack Obama by undisciplined citizens and unchallenged by the good
people of our country led me to review the speech by Auschwitz survivor andNobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel. It never fails to open my eyes as well as my
heart. How much pain and destruction has the silence of good people allowed? How
many divisions and how many tanks, guns, and bombs could be replaced by simple
indifference?
On this Thanksgiving Day, let us all temper our rhetoric
with reasoned contemplation lest history rear its head in ghastly repetition.
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| Wiesel at Auschwitz - second row of bunks, seventh from left |
See also: www.wattensawpress.com
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