It Seems There’s Some Confusion Between American Faith and Faith In American leadership

Head’s Up! This is a rant!

I know with certainty that I have friends who hold very different values from my own. I also know that even though it’s not my intent, this particular rant will likely piss some of them off.

So here goes: I ask you, Is the United States the same country it was just a few years ago? Does holding onto patriotism mean we must lose our compassion? And just what values are we willing to sacrifice for “patriotism”?

There are people turning up at the U.S. boarders who are fleeing tyrannical leaders and vicious cartels. They give up everything they have and risk their lives in hopes of giving their children a better life. (According to a Fusion investigation, 80 percent of women and girls crossing into the U.S. by way of Mexico are raped during their journey. They know this and still they take the chance because what waits if they stay is worse than being raped.)

There are people; men and women in the U.S. (and many other countries) who wake up every day tortured by the overwhelming certainty that they are not “normal” in the eyes of society. They may feel that they were born into the wrong gender; they may wish with all their hearts that they were attracted to the opposite sex, or just one sex. These people are our sons and daughters, our nieces and nephews, our grandchildren, our friends. And yet we tell them that they are an abomination; we scorn them and commit acts of violence against them.

Today in the United States there are people who are afraid to walk down the street in an affluent area because they may be harassed by the police, arrested, or even shot and killed because of the color of their skin. What’s even more horrific is that those oppressing these people claim that they are the ones being oppressed! 

When did the U.S. become pre-Mandela South Africa?

What happened to American leadership?

As a kid, I looked at the U.S. as the land of opportunity. To me it was the birthplace of civil rights, freedom of speech, banning of the bomb, women’s rights, travel to the moon and the place where anyone could fulfill their dreams. It was a place where all things could be achieved for those who worked hard, because courage was always bigger than fear.

One thing I particularly loved was the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. To me it said, Here you will find open arms, no matter what your socio-economic background, your beliefs, religion or Faith.

This is hard for me to publicly admit, however, today I find myself sometimes struggling with my own cynicism. I am aghast at laws that discriminate seem to be becoming more prevalent. I am shocked at the country where the American cop I looked up to as a kid now often looks more like the militarized enforcer of the fascist regime that I saw as a kid under Spain’s General Franco.

The U.S., a place where I believed religious freedom was of the highest value, now seems to be filled with fear-mongering religious nuts who condemn rather than console.

A place where people will bomb abortion clinics to save the lives of the unborn, saying every life is sacred, while, at the same time, killing those who disagree with them. I see people who cherry pick messages from the Old and New Testaments to justify their bias and their actions, all the while seeming to forget that the man they say they follow preached only love. These people seem to have forgotten that without compassion they are a long way from the path they claim to traveling. Sadly, these are often the same people who turn their back on children at the border, shipping them back into the hands of their oppressors. 

Politicians, our “elected leaders” spout “Christian values” while saying the very thing those they claim are their enemies are saying—that it is right and just to destroy those you disagree with. They wave the Bible, while saying that the answer is to wipe those other people off the face of the earth because they don’t believe the “right” thing.

Both sides claim that God is with them. They may be right if God is a sociopath who loves war and rejoices in suffering.

These same high and mighty folks often enter into politics, and whatever their original intention, they become deeply and morally crippled by the financial corruption that is required to be a politician in America today. leadership has gone from being a government of The People, by The People for The People, to becoming a government of The Corporation, by The Corporation for The Corporation! 

There is so much more I want to say, but I for now I want to close by saying that it is we, the people, who have allowed these things to be the representation of what it means to be American. Therefore it is we the people who can and must change this.

I still want to believe in the USA. I believe that we are better than this! 

However, it Seems to me that there is Some Confusion Between American Faith and Faith In American leadership

Remember the words of Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Tell me, what do you think, are we better than this? Or is this just the way it’s going to be?

I trust that you found this article valuable, if so, feel free to send this to your friends. I eagerly anticipate your feedback and comments.

Please share, like and comment below!

With gratitude,

Dov Baron 101 Top Leadership Speakers

Dov Baron Speaks internationally and is The Leading Authority on Authentic Leadership  and creating a Corporate Culture of Fiercely Loyal Leaders.  In 2014 he was sighted as one of the Top 100 Leadership Speaker to book for your next conference!

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