Day of the Innocents
Even in the midst of the joy of the Christmas season, there is time to remember the darkness that is inflicted on our most vulnerable. Our children, our innocents. This day marks Herod's decree to murder all male children under the age of two in an effort to kill the Messiah, who he viewed as a threat to his power.
Too often the innocent are forgotten. Those who are most vulnerable to victimization and neglect are the ones left behind, belittled, pushed aside. They are sacrificed on the altar of self-interest, selfishness, and greed. We scream about our rights at the cost of our children's innocence. We take our vengeance on the innocents. We act without thought or compunction, considering them unfortunate "collateral damage".
We sit on our thrones of moral superiority in the throne room of righteous indignation built from the stones of grievance. We make grand proclamations and edicts while the innocent pay the true costs. We proclaim meaningless platitudes of "thoughts and prayers", yet are unwilling to enact meaningful change to protect those most in need of protection. We rob them of what little safety net they have to fill our coffers and consider our own wealth and comfort while they sit cold and starving.
“Why do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness, if I am not making mistakes? I work hard, I’m an honorable person.”
As Christians, it's easy to place the blame on God being taken out of our schools. Yet if we truly look at what's happening, God has been removed from our homes and our churches, unseated by the god of self and the cult of personality. It is time for us to repent of the sins we commit and our violation of the Commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
We need to begin viewing people with the heart and eyes of Christ. He loves everyone, regardless of their background and experiences. For God so loved the world; not just the Christians, not just the Jews, not just the people who dress right and say the right things - the world. I don't have all the answers, and I'm still figuring out how I can be effective. I am speaking to myself with these words as much as I'm putting them out for other people to see.
There have been too many incidents too close to home for me this year. I am angry, and you should be, too. I try really hard not to be political, because it is often the problem, not the solution, but I am tired of our children bearing the brunt of our politics. If you're not happy with the rhetoric out of your state legislature or the federal legislature, vote for people who will actually govern. Use your voice to call for real conversations. Pester your state and federal representatives about talking across the aisle and developing real solutions TOGETHER.
Vote for a third party candidate or write-in. That is not throwing away your vote, it's making a conscious decision to give our current political structure a vote of no-confidence. The two main parties have no interest in the people they govern, but only in the advancement of a self-serving agenda. This will not change until we take action at the polls.
When we view each other as Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, we act only in the interest of that specific party or ideology. Children are not and should never be Republicans or Democrats. They are CHILDREN. Yet they have more maturity, ability to admit wrongs, and willingness to change than our politicians who are willfully ignorant and knowingly amoral.
I don't know where we go from here, but I do know that if we don't start proposing solutions and trying them, things will never change. Personally, I will be searching for organizations and people who are actively working to protect our innocents and finding out what I can do to help.
And next year, when I post on this day, I am holding myself to the commitment of posting options and solutions, and highlighting those who are making a difference.
