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| Has America lost the real legacy of our Civil War? |
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. – Abraham Lincoln
This afternoon, I came across a news article that really caught my eye. Believe it or not, the United States Government is STILL paying two children of Civil War veterans a monthly pension. I made sure I wasn’t losing my mind, read it again, and then one more time. It’s really true.
I knew that the last widow died over 15 years ago, and I guess I thought she was the last living connection to the Civil War. However, as I read that article today, the last words of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address played in my mind – “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations…” – and I realized that my assumption was so very wrong. And this has nothing to do with those two pensions.
Each and every one of us has a living connection to the Civil War in one way or another. Some of us have ancestors who fought on either (or in my case, both) sides of the conflict. Many of us help protect hallowed ground – from standing toe-to-toe with rich money-loving moguls to stop a casino at Gettysburg to sending a $10 check to the CWT to save a 1/8th an acre of the Perryville Battlefield. Others will volunteer for park clean up days. Many, many, more make visiting a Civil War battlefield a portion of their family vacation every year.
However, the American connection to the Civil War doesn’t stop with blood lines or battlefields. Lincoln admonished each and every American to practice the arts of kindness, concern, consideration, and perseverance. He did so because Lincoln understood something that the rest of America had cast aside to fight each other. Lincoln realized that the greatest legacy of the Civil War was not the veterans, or the widows, or even the children across the generations. It was, and still is, the ideas and philosophies that make America a great nation. When the war was over and the malice was placed to the side, our nation grew from the ashes of Civil War to an international superpower that was the envy of the world.
As we mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Americans are still paying a price for our great national conflict, and in more ways than just a couple of pensions. Lincoln’s admonishments have been forgotten and malice is again taking over. Don’t start pointing fingers, as we are all guilty as sin.
Don’t blame one political party or another: both are shameful. Our political systems from the local level to the office of President are as corrupt as I can remember in any generation. Any American who tries to stand up and make sense of the political nonsense is shot down as ignorant or racist. What happened to government of, for, and by the people?
We can’t seem to come together as a nation about anything. It took the tragedy of September 11th to bring about a very short-lived peace in our national government. Now, we can watch CSPAN and witness debates about bills that can’t even make it off the floors of Congress. If Congress will just look down for a second, they will see the Constitution and Bill of Rights being stomped on, along with all those failed bills. Our ancestors would die all over again if they could witness the daily garbage-fest known as Congress in “action” today.
We have Americans camping out in tents to make a point while making no sense at all. They complain about not having jobs, yet I don’t think they will find a position doing anything if they spend all their time occupying a park. Why not occupy your mind and time, and do something useful instead? Hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans need some kind of assistance every day. Children need foster parents. Schools need volunteers. I just don’t get it.
Our children are falling behind a little more every year in subject areas that we use to dominate. Most kids, according to surveys, can’t even tell you who Lincoln was, much less remember anything he said. How in heaven’s name are our children suppose to be productive citizens when they can’t tell you a darn thing about how we have made it this far? And since when was it considered wrong to ask a child to pledge allegiance to their country?
Neighbors depended on neighbors; families went to church on Sunday; children who were fortunate enough to obtain an education cherished it and used their learning to help their community. If you wanted to chat with your neighbor, you walked to their house. Birds tweeted, not people (unless they were being silly). Community actually meant something. Now it’s just a place where your house is. Most of us don’t know our neighbors, and we wouldn’t dare talk to them even if they made the effort.
Why is it wrong for a person to pray? To thank God for a meal? To ask for protection and blessing? Yet, our government wants to force religious medical and educational institutions to provide a morning after pill for those little moments of indiscretion and lack of responsibility. I am a Christian, and my religion taught me the basic tenants of responsibility, among other things. Going to church on Sunday didn’t hurt me at all, although the hard church pews made my rump sore if the preacher was long winded. Maybe once our Congressmen pick the Constitution up off the floor, they will actually read the darn thing. At that point, they will realize that citizens are protected from theological government rule. No one is trying to force you to believe in anything just because the word “God” is used! The Bill of Rights grants freedom “of” religion, not “from” it.
Now, can anyone really ask why it is that people in general seem to care so little for our Civil War heritage? Why it is that battlefields are being paved over in the name of “progress”? If this world as we know it today is progress, give me a horse and a buggy, hoop skirts and corsets, barn raisings and Sunday dinners on the church grounds. Give me the world that Lincoln envisioned…this one isn’t it.
This afternoon, I came across a news article that really caught my eye. Believe it or not, the United States Government is STILL paying two children of Civil War veterans a monthly pension. I made sure I wasn’t losing my mind, read it again, and then one more time. It’s really true.
I knew that the last widow died over 15 years ago, and I guess I thought she was the last living connection to the Civil War. However, as I read that article today, the last words of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address played in my mind – “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations…” – and I realized that my assumption was so very wrong. And this has nothing to do with those two pensions.
Each and every one of us has a living connection to the Civil War in one way or another. Some of us have ancestors who fought on either (or in my case, both) sides of the conflict. Many of us help protect hallowed ground – from standing toe-to-toe with rich money-loving moguls to stop a casino at Gettysburg to sending a $10 check to the CWT to save a 1/8th an acre of the Perryville Battlefield. Others will volunteer for park clean up days. Many, many, more make visiting a Civil War battlefield a portion of their family vacation every year.
However, the American connection to the Civil War doesn’t stop with blood lines or battlefields. Lincoln admonished each and every American to practice the arts of kindness, concern, consideration, and perseverance. He did so because Lincoln understood something that the rest of America had cast aside to fight each other. Lincoln realized that the greatest legacy of the Civil War was not the veterans, or the widows, or even the children across the generations. It was, and still is, the ideas and philosophies that make America a great nation. When the war was over and the malice was placed to the side, our nation grew from the ashes of Civil War to an international superpower that was the envy of the world.
As we mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Americans are still paying a price for our great national conflict, and in more ways than just a couple of pensions. Lincoln’s admonishments have been forgotten and malice is again taking over. Don’t start pointing fingers, as we are all guilty as sin.
Don’t blame one political party or another: both are shameful. Our political systems from the local level to the office of President are as corrupt as I can remember in any generation. Any American who tries to stand up and make sense of the political nonsense is shot down as ignorant or racist. What happened to government of, for, and by the people?
We can’t seem to come together as a nation about anything. It took the tragedy of September 11th to bring about a very short-lived peace in our national government. Now, we can watch CSPAN and witness debates about bills that can’t even make it off the floors of Congress. If Congress will just look down for a second, they will see the Constitution and Bill of Rights being stomped on, along with all those failed bills. Our ancestors would die all over again if they could witness the daily garbage-fest known as Congress in “action” today.
We have Americans camping out in tents to make a point while making no sense at all. They complain about not having jobs, yet I don’t think they will find a position doing anything if they spend all their time occupying a park. Why not occupy your mind and time, and do something useful instead? Hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans need some kind of assistance every day. Children need foster parents. Schools need volunteers. I just don’t get it.
Our children are falling behind a little more every year in subject areas that we use to dominate. Most kids, according to surveys, can’t even tell you who Lincoln was, much less remember anything he said. How in heaven’s name are our children suppose to be productive citizens when they can’t tell you a darn thing about how we have made it this far? And since when was it considered wrong to ask a child to pledge allegiance to their country?
Neighbors depended on neighbors; families went to church on Sunday; children who were fortunate enough to obtain an education cherished it and used their learning to help their community. If you wanted to chat with your neighbor, you walked to their house. Birds tweeted, not people (unless they were being silly). Community actually meant something. Now it’s just a place where your house is. Most of us don’t know our neighbors, and we wouldn’t dare talk to them even if they made the effort.
Why is it wrong for a person to pray? To thank God for a meal? To ask for protection and blessing? Yet, our government wants to force religious medical and educational institutions to provide a morning after pill for those little moments of indiscretion and lack of responsibility. I am a Christian, and my religion taught me the basic tenants of responsibility, among other things. Going to church on Sunday didn’t hurt me at all, although the hard church pews made my rump sore if the preacher was long winded. Maybe once our Congressmen pick the Constitution up off the floor, they will actually read the darn thing. At that point, they will realize that citizens are protected from theological government rule. No one is trying to force you to believe in anything just because the word “God” is used! The Bill of Rights grants freedom “of” religion, not “from” it.
Now, can anyone really ask why it is that people in general seem to care so little for our Civil War heritage? Why it is that battlefields are being paved over in the name of “progress”? If this world as we know it today is progress, give me a horse and a buggy, hoop skirts and corsets, barn raisings and Sunday dinners on the church grounds. Give me the world that Lincoln envisioned…this one isn’t it.
