Easy Answers

 Everyone should stand for the national anthem – I’ve always believed this.  I take great pride in our country, particularly for the many men and women who have risked their lives, and given their lives for this country.  I also have a great deal of respect for our forefathers; we have a great history of men and women who have risked everything to build a great nation for us.

Sadly, we haven’t really done our part to continue that legacy forward or to provide a nation that we, or our children, can or will be proud to be a part of.  We have built large divides within our country, whether it is religious, race related, or cultural, we have built large walls between ourselves.  We used to care for those less fortunate, we used to have empathy for others, but now, we are more concerned for ourselves, for our bank accounts, for our retirement plans, for our ability to accumulate possessions.  All of this comes at the expense of those less fortunate.

Do you ever wonder why there are so many people who don’t stand for the national anthem?  We love to bash Colin Kaepernick and the many professional athletes who kneel or do whatever they feel necessary to protest the national anthem and what it stands for, but have we noticed the countless high school athletes doing the same?  This issue or activity isn’t going away, and most likely, it will grow.  These athletes, these children, aren’t proud of this nation, they aren’t proud of the national anthem and what it stands for.  They are embarrassed by this country and what it has done to those within this country that aren’t the same, those of a different race, religion, sexual preference, whatever makes them different. 

We can continue to bash and hate them for not standing for the national anthem, for not being proud of this country, for not honoring those who have served this country.  We can continue to alienate and ostracize those within our country who are different from us.  Or, we could seek to understand the root cause of their protests.  We could seek to understand where they believe we have failed them.  

Abortion is wrong in all cases – For most of my life, I have been “Pro Life”.  I really can’t say that I have changed in my belief, how can you really say you aren’t “Pro Life”?  Over time though, I’ve come to the conclusion that the answers don’t come so simply.  Some come down very hardline on this topic.  No matter what, abortion is wrong.  The baby must be allowed to be born, they are not at fault. 

While statistics surely show that many abortions are due to circumstances that many of us would disagree with, there are still many abortions that occur due to very difficult and painful circumstances.  Some are due to rape, incest, danger to the mother, danger to the baby, and for various other reasons that hopefully rational people would find acceptable.  Still, many don’t find them acceptable. 

In many cases, most of us wouldn’t necessarily agree with the reasoning for the abortion.  I’m not quite sure that is our call to make, I’m not sure if we have the right to determine if the woman who has to make that difficult choice has the right to make that choice. 

I guess my question for many of those who hold firmly to all abortions are wrong would be, what if your daughter were in this circumstance, what if your daughter were raped, had been abused by a family member, and were pregnant, would you hold so firmly to this edict that all abortions are wrong?  Would you have your daughter carry that baby to full term even knowing the situation and the circumstance?  If your daughter were in danger and could possibly die if she carried that baby to full term, would you still hold firmly to your belief that all abortions are wrong?

Everyone on food stamps should be drug tested – This one seems fairly simple.  If you are getting some form of government assistance, you should have to submit to drug testing to get that assistance.  I have no problem with that.  On the surface, this seems fairly straight-forward.   But just maybe, it’s not quite that simple.

Let’s try to imagine a “real life” example.  Let’s just say, the mother of three of these children who weren’t and shouldn’t have been aborted fails a drug test and can’t get food stamps.  What happens to those three children?  How do they eat?  What happens to them?  Maybe they get taken away.  Maybe they end up in foster care.  Any way you look at this situation, it really doesn’t have a happy ending for the mother or the three children.  Most likely, the mother is going to figure out how to keep her children, that is the reality of these situations, and most likely, these three children are going to have a very difficult life trying to stay alive and stay nourished. 

So is it an easy answer?  If we hold firm to the premise that everyone on food stamps should be drug tested, and that person fails the drug test, what do we do?  Take away their food stamps?  Take away their ability to feed those three children?  Force the children into foster care?  Separate them from their mother?  Maybe those are the right answers, but I’m not so sure those are easy answers.

What I find so interesting in all of this is that many of the people who are adamant on abortion being wrong in all cases, who believe that anyone on food stamps should be drug tested, also believe that those who engage in protests of police shootings should be shot.  I’m fascinated by the transformation of “Pro Life” while in the womb, to “Pro Every Man, Woman and Child for himself or herself” in everyday life, to “Pro Lynch Mob or Pro Death” if that baby comes out of the womb and eventually doesn’t agree with how he or she is being treated.   I’m not quite sure how some people reconcile this transformation, but I’m sure they have an answer for it.

God is good – Of course, this one is easy.  Or is it?  As I sit here in my comfortable bed, in my comfortable home, with a very full stomach, God is good!  I have a lovely wife, great kids, adorable dogs to play with, God is good! 

It’s interesting to me, and I’ve harped on this before, people love to throw this saying around for virtually everything that happens in their lives.  “Last night my air conditioning broke, but it was a cool night outside, so it wasn’t a problem.  God is good!”  “I did lousy in my class and should have gotten a D, but somehow the professor gave me a B.  God is good!”

I’ve shared many times traveling to Houston and seeing those men and women under the overpass, begging for food.  Each time I’m going to the airport, I stop at this one gas station, there’s this little old man, slumped over in his wheelchair, with no shoes.  I give him a little bag of food and water, and he says, “God bless you.”  God bless me?  God bless me?  Can you imagine his daily existence and “God is good” moments?  “Well, I was able to get underneath the overpass before the thunderstorms came, God is good!”  “That guy gave me a bag of food and water, so I have something to eat today, God is good!” 

It’s easy for us to say God is good, sitting in our comfortable homes, living a life of luxury, with very full stomachs.  I’d imagine it’s not so easy to say God is good when you are trying to survive underneath the overpass.  Still God is good, I still believe, God is good.  My hope for that old man is that as Jesus said, “those who are last shall be first.” 

Easy answers.  For some of us, the answers are still very easy.  For others, the answers are very complex.