First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

 Pastor Martin Niemoller 1892-1984 (concentration camp prisoner WWII)

Is it time to take down the Statue of Liberty? In 2016 are we no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave? But instead the land of the fearful and the home of the afraid?

Since time began, people have used a variety of religions and scriptures to validated their bad behavior.  Hitler was an atheist and a fear monger. And yet he motivated a whole nation of professed Christians with propaganda and fear. Are Americans destined to be that part of history that repeats itself? I don’t want to be remembered for repeating that part of history.

Judge not lest ye be judged. American’s rape, rob, shoot, and bomb ourselves more than any outsider ever thought about.

There are lots of speculation about why this happens; lack of church in the schools, abandonment of dinner time with families, too many after school lock key children, over population, etc. I am a simple person and can’t begin to know the answer to such a complex social and criminal issue. I reconcile the problem with the knowledge that humans are flawed. You might simplify it even more and by thinking “Boys will be boys”. To that I respond “Women will be women”. Therefore, my arms are open to all that suffer and are oppressed.

I vote in 2016 to leave Lady Liberty standing tall and bright, a beacon for those to find their way to our shores, our land of opportunity that welcomed my ancestors, lest we fall into the lament of Pastor Martin Niemoller.