Killing Our Heroes

In the days following the death of Charlie Kirk, who was a hero in the faith for the young, I am remembering when my hero was assassinated, too.  It was November of 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was killed.  I was just twenty-one and an idealist who had answered his call to the young of the nation.  “ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.”  I had applied for the Peace Corps having earlier gone to college to major in chemistry because our nation was behind the Soviet Union in science.  The youth of our nation rise up when they are called to greater things.

Why then are our inspirations assassinated?  In these days I believe that we are a divided nation with a people who are sold out on their political party and taught to hate the opposition. This divided nation has families where half the members who are Democrats won’t speak to the Republican side and visa-versa. What has happened to our one nation under God?

 I am sick and tired of hearing Republicans declare that Democrats can’t possibly be Christians, and hearing Democrats attack President Trump in a disrespectful way.  I am tired of Republicans promoting a national religion that makes all Democrats uncomfortable, and Democrats refusing to go to a prayer meeting because the leadership calls us to pray for our president.   

I Timothy 2:1-2 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

I am challenging all of us who are Republicans to hear what the Democrats have to say and all of us who are Democrats to listen also to the Republicans.  Let each of us build a bridge of understanding with those who think differently politically than we do.  Let us create a reservoir of common goals for the life, liberty, and happiness of the American people.  We all want to honor God and promote freedom and justice for all.  When we cannot agree, let us be a TEAM OF RIVALS as Abraham Lincoln had when he welcomed his enemies to his cabinet back in the 1860s, like that referenced in Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

 BUT PLEASE, LET US BE A TEAM!