Oh, I'm glad you asked.....

Oh, I’m glad you asked……

Recently one of my childhood friends sent me a video of a parade we marched in way back in 1968. This was the same day last week that once again at home terror was inflicted on innocent Americans, and most of them were about the same age as I was in 1968.

Ohhhh how much better it was then! Great fun times like parades, pick up softball games, hide and seek and tag have become foreign words to the youth of today in America. Often times those words were replaced with video games of destruction, dark movies and all too familiar disregard of human life everywhere we look. We have really failed the youth of our country

Initially as usual some people decreed that guns, or the availability of same was the reason all these senseless acts were happening. It can’t be that simple from where I sit. On 9-11 over 3000 Americans were murdered and not a single gun was fired, hatred and disrespect have become wayyyy to prominent in life in America—we have almost become numb to these occurrences it seems they happen every month or so.

Like a lot of you that read my writings I am upset and concerned about the steady decline of life here in America, While I don’t have children I have many relatives, friends, and friends with children who are facing the most uncertain period of our lives. Where/When will it happen next? At press time there were copycat like threats in New Brunswick and Mahwah. There is no safety anywhere!

I don’t advocate gun confiscation, there is no reason to deprive all of us of our constitutional right to bear arms. Thousands are killed by cars every year and we don’t confiscate cars in most cases we punish the drivers. These menaces to society have made up their mind to act and doing so involves any means necessary. Someone sent a relative of our president an envelope filled with white power that could have been a danger to their lives. Sadly, remedies to these acts of violent terror will not be swayed by laws, actions and behaviors must be addressed.

This might not be the most politically correct thing to say at this point but ALL OF US are responsible the situation we are in. Specifically, parents are responsible for not raising their children in order to become buddies with them, the craziness going on in the world today and America specifically is a learned behavior, I am glad to say that I wasn’t raised this way. Many of my generation were taught to behave AT HOME BY OUR MOTHERS. We were taught that there was accountability for our actions. We were not allowed to be affected by TV, movies or computers, or smartphones. We had no idea what the latter two were. We were punished by being made to stay inside and not allowed to be outside----playing, or socializing with our friends.

We must realize that we caused this, and the only way to change it is to change our behavior even if it means significant changes to our current way of live---maybe it needs to be changed.

I read somewhere that if we examine ourselves be humble and pray that our land can be healed, there is still some hope albeit fading for American. This country was founded by people seeking religious freedom---maybe it’s that same religious freedom that is our only beacon of light in the darkest hour of my lifetime