Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Precious Freedom

What is going on? Bombs in Boston, shootings in Newtown, Aurora and other American towns and cities, ricin sent to Senator Wicker and President Obama, and today, an abandoned truck  found next to an office building in Oklahoma City.

It is crazy. People are crazy. All this craziness, it is becoming fearful to go outside. But we are Americans, people who live in the land of the free and home of the brave. We stand up to this sort of violence and hatred, and rail at those who try to take away our freedoms.

99% of us are law-abiding citizens, just trying to get by in our humdrum lives, going to work, food shopping, taking our kids to soccer or dance. We are appalled and angered when these happen, and grateful it didn't happen in our neighborhoods.

But the problem is this. It is happening more frequently than we can imagine, and each time it is getting closer and closer to us. Soon, it could be the house down the street or the house next door. Or it could be us.

So, what do we do?

We need to stay strong and vigilant, looking for odd scenarios which don't make sense and report them to law enforcement. If we see a bag, or a pressure cooker, which looks out of place, we can't ignore it. We need to take more responsibility, be proactive, and not leave it for someone else to deal with the problem.

After 9/11, we did exactly that, but as time went on, we became as laconic as we were before that terrible day, and retreated into our comfortable cocoons.
We can't do this again.

So, let's remember that we are land of the free and home of the brave because we have fought for those ideals before and won those battles. It is time for us to take a stand again.

Or soon, those ideals will be lost forever due to our indifference.

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