"Hope is the pillar that holds up the world." - Pliny the Elder

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Expressions will be within the next few days. Submissions are still being accepted.

A Message For The People Of America From A Young Citizen

My fellow Americans, my brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors,

We stand at the dawn of a new and dangerous age for our republic. Days ago we watched in helpless horror as citizens from all over the world lost their lives in a series of terrorist attacks. We wept as we saw the bravest and most unselfish of men and women rendered powerless as their comrades died trying to save others. Yet even before the fires died down and the rubble settled, the country turned like a wounded and cornered animal, readying its claws in anger for its tormentors. From the four corners the questions came like a wind: Who would do such a thing? Where are they? How shall we punish them? The tide of anger swells already, and with it the danger to everything we hold dear!

Friends, patriots, all who say that America has been attacked, I implore you to remain calm! Let us pause and consider this: Those souls who perpetrated the attacks on our institutions and families had long ago been lost in the darkness of fear, hatred, and supreme ignorance. Shall we now rush to follow them into that abyss? Many think that no price is too high to pay for the message that we must send to these violators, yet so must our attackers have thought!

Our leaders are moving forward with great boldness in their denouncements of the responsible groups as evil, degenerate fanatics who care nothing for the value of human life. Clearly, then, we must not stop until this sub-human threat is wiped out. May God have mercy on all who feel this way! Have we matured so little as a species that we are still manipulated so easily to destroy? As our appointed officials attempt to demonize a group that is as of yet unknown to us, we ought as citizens to be especially wary of the consequences of such actions. It is always easier to kill anyone, military or civilian, if the moral safeguards that prevent us from doing so are suspended or excepted. Just ask the victims of Hiroshima or Bataan.

We must remember that everytime we try to distance ourselves from history's monsters and atrocities, we are in great peril of ignoring the truth of our own human nature and diabolical potential. Would we be hearing about the despiccable acts of these terrorists if they had not been brought up in a world where death, hopelessness, and desparation were not everyday facets of their existence? I think not. These poor, misguided creatures were not fanatics or psychopaths. They were people who sincerely believed that the miserable condition their world is in was due largely in part to activities of the U.S. and allied nations such as Israel. They were indoctrinated with the belief that giving up their lives while fighting to make their truth known was the highest calling of a person and guaranteed a place for them in heaven. It matters not that their beliefs were maligned and perverted, but if indeed our nation played a part in making them so then we ought to take a long look at ourselves and those who are trusted to carry out our wishes in government.

Look for America, and you will not find it hidden in millions of tons of steel and concrete. America is an idea, one that long ago took hold in the hearts and minds of our founding fathers. It is a concept that transcends nations and ages, growing at times vague and at times clear. At the time when our country was founded our forebearers had the fortune to understand it with great clarity and urgency, and it is in such works as the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution that their vision was recorded for our future benefit. An entire fleet of stolen airliners could not destroy or even injure America, so long as there is at least one person standing who "holds these truths to be self-evident." People of influence all around the world have known for over a century that America could not be destroyed from without, only from within. The greatest danger can strike only when our citizens become complacent towards infringements upon their rights, distracted by things of no real importance, and divided by controversies that have no solution.

Do not let your guard down, and do not be quick to rally behind those who provoke us to bloodshed. Yes, justice must be meted out to those responsible. Yes, our punishment must be swift and decisive. It does not, however, have to be immediate. I for one fear for our country, not because of those who would commit desparate acts but because of those who would manipulate such events to suit themselves. Trust in yourselves and your neighbors, and you will be strong. Keep your leaders on a short leash, remembering that "governments derive their powers only by the just consent of the governed", and you will be safe. Teach your children not to hate, and our nation will be loved around the world.

Thank you, and God bless.

Graham Wheeler

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