We conservatives have always been in the right in our opposition to abortion. There certainly are differences in time and strategies....but our majority has been and still is....for life. There are many other areas that would plant us firmly on the high ground in American government....but there have been mudslides on that high ground....and the rains have been such that we are in danger of sliding all the way down that hill.
We are always robust in our crowing about how we are the greatest country in the history of the world....but Great Britain rid itself of an evil long before we did....and it did not take a civil war to do it. It took a Christian man....William Wilberforce. Slavery of course is that evil. We champion efforts today against human trafficking....but we have never come to grips with our past. We point out that we were not the party of discrimination and worse in the South. We point to Abraham Lincoln....and we point out how the other party is the party of urban blight.
This is all well and good....but it is grossly incomplete. We talk about the Founding Fathers as if they are players on our favorite sports teams today. We claim them as ours....particularly because they knew that religion was necessary if the republic was to last...but we don't claim their baggage. They are our heroes because of the Constitution....but they in effect kidnapped....or allowed to be kidnapped.....hundreds of thousands of people.....to be brought here.....if they were lucky enough to survive the death ships....to beef up our economy.
The population of slaves grew of course....and eventually they were freed....sort of....they just had to drink at their own water fountains....and mind their manners. This isn't ancient history. This was still going on long after I was born. The other side surely doesn't care about the descendants of slaves....they just want their votes. It wasn't always that way. I would argue that in my 74 years I have never seen a politician more compassionate and caring than Robert F. Kennedy.
As for us....we have our talking points memorized.....black employments figures before the pandemic....just don't build low income housing too close to us please. So....ultimately....if we were honest....we should at least wonder how we can give ourselves so much applause for being....for life.....when poorer minority communities incur only our wrath....and not our compassion.
I've been in the habit of using the rock band Starship's 1985 song....We Built This City....to describe the involvement of all of us in our urban problems. We built this city.....America.....on rock & roll. The city gave us what we wanted....sports stadiums....concert venues....Fourth of July celebrations....(that rarely had anything to do with the original 4th of July)....theaters and the the symphony and the ballet....while the people living within the city limits....well....they should have gotten out like we did.
Our real pastors....(I'm not talking about church pastors where....Ichabod....the glory has departed)....but our real pastors....talk radio and Fox cable hosts....and now podcasters....have turned minorities into the enemy. Our black descendants were terrorized and brought here against their will....and at best always thrown morsels and told to pull themselves up by their boot straps....as we did....(I didn't....I benefited from white privilege....please see my April 1 post by that title)....but we have forgotten that past....and simply cannot see how hard it would have been to not become isolated and forgotten....and then used and abused and confused.
There are mitigations to my argument. I acknowledge that....but the essence of what I'm saying is sound....and since 2015 we been drawn farther into this blame game....armed with what we see as facts....but totally devoid of any real analysis of how this came to be....and who all hold culpability. I have had mature Christian men rant and rail to me on what goes on in many cities....and this indeed is part of the collapse of America....but they do this seemingly without an ounce of empathy....or consideration of the command...."Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Note: I'd like to recommend a movie that you can just boot up and watch on your computer....a wonderful film from 2006....Amazing Grace....with a fine cast including Benedict Cumberbatch and Albert Finney.
