When I was a teen, my mother and step-father were involved in a dispute with the State of Alabama over the right to home educate their children. This particular issue did not affect me much as I was already over the age of 16 and could legally drop out of high school. However, this issue had a severe impact on my younger siblings. They were of grade school age.
I am not going to go into the details of what happened, let’s suffice it to say they fought the State to a draw. They were jailed pending the surrender of my siblings. My parents were never going to give up their children so they remained in jail. Eventually, a family friend found a creative way for the state to save face and for my parents to get out of jail without having to lose custody of their children and all ended well.
So, why am I telling you about this? That is a good question and I am going to give you a good answer. But, first, I want to discuss something that I hear a lot from people whom I am very close to. I am a person who is very active politically. I see it as my duty to my country to be politically active. This will never change. It is part of who I am and what I am and I have no desire to change it. I love America and always will.
But I get sick and tired of being told, “Robert, who do you think you are? You don’t have the answers.” So who gives a damn if I don’t have the answers? Having the answers is not the point. The point is not that I am right or wrong. The point is not whether my perspective is the one that will save the world or not. Those are, in reality, beside the point.
So what is the point? The point is that at least I am trying to find the answers. I am questioning that which I think is wrong. I am taking a STAND for something. I am not going quietly and meekly into the dark hoping that someone will rescue me if I should find danger. That is not what it means to be an American. Americans stand up for what they believe in. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, because in the end, all that matters is that you stood up for something.
My parents instilled this value into me. Not just in theory, but by their actions. When they were faced with standing for what is right or capitulating to corruption, they stood proud and tall. They paid a heavy price for standing for good in the face of racism and corrupt politicians. They may not have won on the issue, but they didn’t lose either. They won, in my book because they could not be corrupted no matter how hard the system tried.
Their adventures aren’t even a footnote in the history of America. What happened to them barely even made a ripple in the fabric of society. But, that isn’t the point. What they did do was create a sense of right and wrong in their children. They created children who know what it means to stand up to corruption. They created children who are unafraid to stand up against tyranny. For one more generation, the idea of standing for what is right is alive and well. That is what they did and that is how they won.
I have many friends on my facebook who disagree with me on just about everything politically. I have more respect for them than I do for anyone who will not take a stand for anything. Those who will not take a stand one way or another on important issues are cowards.
It isn’t that I don’t understand why people are afraid to take a stand. Our government has become so corrupt and completely out of sync with the Constitution that people are afraid of being disappeared or worse. I, on the other hand, am not. If the government wants to suicide me or make me disappear for the remainder of my life, so be it. At least then I will KNOW beyond doubt that I am on the right side. I will KNOW that I have stood for what I believe in and I struck a nerve that scared some corrupt politician. I will know that my voice was heard and my thoughts and opinions are out there for all to read and ponder.
It is better to die for what I believe in than to kneel obediently before a corrupt system. And I will never represent myself to be anything but that.
Does this mean that I am going to go all Dorner on people? Hell no. That is a fool’s choice. Does it mean that if the Gestapo (known in America as the DHS) should come to my door and shoot me dead, that I won’t fight back? No. That is also a fool’s choice.
What it does mean is that I have a sense of right and wrong and I am willing to stand and fight for that. I am willing to make the sacrifice, if needs be, to forward those ideals.
But most importantly, I have a daughter who will know that whether I win or lose, I stand for what I think is right. It is a value that will be instilled in her and I will know that for at least one more generation, there will be at least one more person who will hold that value. And, to me, that makes it all worth while. The fight for right must continue.
It isn’t that I think evil will ever be destroyed. That will never happen. Evil is a necessity. Without it, we would not know what is right or wrong. We would not know the difference between freedom and tyranny. So, it isn’t my goal to eradicate evil. It is my goal to be a righteous warrior who will stand in the face of evil and spit on it.
Sometimes the righteous will gain the upper hand and sometimes evildoers will gain the upper hand. It is a battle as old as time itself. Right now, on planet Earth, evil has the upper hand. It is therefore, incumbent on all the righteous to train their children in the ways of good and instill the value of courage in them. For if we do not, the reign of evil will be prolonged and mankind’s suffering will be increased many fold.
I am not going to go into the details of what happened, let’s suffice it to say they fought the State to a draw. They were jailed pending the surrender of my siblings. My parents were never going to give up their children so they remained in jail. Eventually, a family friend found a creative way for the state to save face and for my parents to get out of jail without having to lose custody of their children and all ended well.
So, why am I telling you about this? That is a good question and I am going to give you a good answer. But, first, I want to discuss something that I hear a lot from people whom I am very close to. I am a person who is very active politically. I see it as my duty to my country to be politically active. This will never change. It is part of who I am and what I am and I have no desire to change it. I love America and always will.
But I get sick and tired of being told, “Robert, who do you think you are? You don’t have the answers.” So who gives a damn if I don’t have the answers? Having the answers is not the point. The point is not that I am right or wrong. The point is not whether my perspective is the one that will save the world or not. Those are, in reality, beside the point.
So what is the point? The point is that at least I am trying to find the answers. I am questioning that which I think is wrong. I am taking a STAND for something. I am not going quietly and meekly into the dark hoping that someone will rescue me if I should find danger. That is not what it means to be an American. Americans stand up for what they believe in. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, because in the end, all that matters is that you stood up for something.
My parents instilled this value into me. Not just in theory, but by their actions. When they were faced with standing for what is right or capitulating to corruption, they stood proud and tall. They paid a heavy price for standing for good in the face of racism and corrupt politicians. They may not have won on the issue, but they didn’t lose either. They won, in my book because they could not be corrupted no matter how hard the system tried.
Their adventures aren’t even a footnote in the history of America. What happened to them barely even made a ripple in the fabric of society. But, that isn’t the point. What they did do was create a sense of right and wrong in their children. They created children who know what it means to stand up to corruption. They created children who are unafraid to stand up against tyranny. For one more generation, the idea of standing for what is right is alive and well. That is what they did and that is how they won.
I have many friends on my facebook who disagree with me on just about everything politically. I have more respect for them than I do for anyone who will not take a stand for anything. Those who will not take a stand one way or another on important issues are cowards.
It isn’t that I don’t understand why people are afraid to take a stand. Our government has become so corrupt and completely out of sync with the Constitution that people are afraid of being disappeared or worse. I, on the other hand, am not. If the government wants to suicide me or make me disappear for the remainder of my life, so be it. At least then I will KNOW beyond doubt that I am on the right side. I will KNOW that I have stood for what I believe in and I struck a nerve that scared some corrupt politician. I will know that my voice was heard and my thoughts and opinions are out there for all to read and ponder.
It is better to die for what I believe in than to kneel obediently before a corrupt system. And I will never represent myself to be anything but that.
Does this mean that I am going to go all Dorner on people? Hell no. That is a fool’s choice. Does it mean that if the Gestapo (known in America as the DHS) should come to my door and shoot me dead, that I won’t fight back? No. That is also a fool’s choice.
What it does mean is that I have a sense of right and wrong and I am willing to stand and fight for that. I am willing to make the sacrifice, if needs be, to forward those ideals.
But most importantly, I have a daughter who will know that whether I win or lose, I stand for what I think is right. It is a value that will be instilled in her and I will know that for at least one more generation, there will be at least one more person who will hold that value. And, to me, that makes it all worth while. The fight for right must continue.
It isn’t that I think evil will ever be destroyed. That will never happen. Evil is a necessity. Without it, we would not know what is right or wrong. We would not know the difference between freedom and tyranny. So, it isn’t my goal to eradicate evil. It is my goal to be a righteous warrior who will stand in the face of evil and spit on it.
Sometimes the righteous will gain the upper hand and sometimes evildoers will gain the upper hand. It is a battle as old as time itself. Right now, on planet Earth, evil has the upper hand. It is therefore, incumbent on all the righteous to train their children in the ways of good and instill the value of courage in them. For if we do not, the reign of evil will be prolonged and mankind’s suffering will be increased many fold.
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