Some Things We Never Forget

A representative to the U.S. House of Representatives is shot down, and others killed, at an otherwise happy, public event. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Men, women and children who attended, and survived, will never forget the sights and sounds of that day. Some things you never forget.

I served in New York City as a chaplain immediately following the tragedy of 9-11. One assignment was to attend the funerals of first responders at St. Peter’s Cathedral. The grief on the faces of hundreds of firemen and policemen; the street lined with officers from all over the U.S. as the bagpipes played; the empty body-bags being carried on a fire truck; and the need for answers – and God – in every person’s eyes. Some things you never forget.

A seven year old first grade boy, doing what he does every other day of the week, was struck down as he crossed over to his house. The students on the school bus, the drivers waiting behind the bus while students disembarked, and the driver of the bus, and the driver of the pick up, were unwilling witnesses to this tragedy. Lives are changed forever in a flash, in a heartbeat, in just a moment’s time. Some things you never forget.

Where was God? If He is good, merciful, kind, and really loves us, where was God when all this happened? The answer: He was watching – and He was grieving – the same way He was watching and grieving the day His Son was being crucified on a cross. God’s Son died for our ultimate delivery from this earth of tears, pain, and death. I pray this is will one of those things we never forget.

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King, a Baptist preacher, stressed the viability of the Constitution of the U.S. and constantly urged Americans to seek the rights already guaranteed them therein. MLK knew that it was hard work, individual liberties, and constitutional government that would give all men equal opportunity and equal access to the pursuit of happiness.

There's a debate raging over which party MLK belonged to. The fact is, he stressed the tenets of Christianity and faith in Christ more than political parties. And with that being said, let's take a quick history lesson.

Most black voters in the 1950s and 60s were registered Republicans. In their segregated South, it was the democrats like Lester Maddox, Al Gore, Sr, and George Wallace that fought for segregation, "whites only" schools, and "separate but equal" public facilities. Even John F. Kennedy voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 when he was still a senator.

The Civil Rights Act of 1963 passed because of the Republican Senators that supported it. Al Gore's father voted against it. Senator Fulbright, Bill Clinton's hero, voted against it. Leading Democratic Senators across the board, mostly southerners, voted against it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican appointed the Supreme Court justice that would lead the charge to overturn the Jim Crow Laws. It was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, that maintained a strong hatred of slavery and racial injustice. A southern democrat killed him.

There were racist Republicans, too, like Senator Jesse Helms, but their voices never resonated among true constitutional conservatives or the Republican Party as a whole.

The debate goes back and forth about which party favors the minorities in this country. And there are racists in either camp. But it's the constitutional conservatives of BOTH parties that carried the day. Eventually, JFK came around and demonstrated conservative views. For example, he was pro-life and against big government handouts. Remember this: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." That should be a bumper sticker!

I say, let's drop the party labels of Democrat and Republican when we talk about the direction of our government. We should clarify whether a person is a constitutional conservative, or a constitutional revisionist. The framers of the Constitution were visionary, intelligent, God-fearing men. Most hated slavery but were unable to end slavery using the Constitution. The best they could do is include this: "all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; among which are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

They added "liberty" so that future courts and generations would be able to end the atrocity of slavery. They added "pursuit of happiness" because they knew it was not the government's place to guarantee happiness.

That's a fact that we learn from all the letters and journals written by these great men.

There's enough fault to go around in both parties. Let's stick to the Constitution as our one and only reference point for all our laws and government reach. Then, like President Washington said, we too will agree, that "no government can rightly rule without the Bible."

I, too, dream of a country where people are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Thank MLK for that dream. I hope that dream will belong to all us one day.