Values

What are your values? What is your value system? I was raised in a Christian family and spent years studying the Bible. Many of the values of the West are based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. The American value system have these values. Such things as the idea of turning the other cheek which is often expressed as forgive and forget. This value maybe the reason that Americans seem to tire of war and conflict are much quicker than many of the other people on this planet. We also have such a diverse population, it is hard to stay angry at any group for very long due to this interaction we much more easily overcome our prejudices. We sometimes forget that those who wish us harm are no so forgiving.

Look how quickly we became close friends with Japan and Germany after the Second World War. We were able to quickly forgive those who we called enemy in the 1940s. I don't see any sign that the idea of forgive and forget exist in the Arab value system or the Muslim religion. In the Middle East they still teach their children the evils of the Crusades as if they occurred just a few years ago, even tho it has been around 740 years since the last Crusade. They stoke this fire of hate against the west and show no sign of changing. This is not a way to promote peace as the West understands it.

Another one is the idea of fair treatment. This is based upon the idea of the Golden Rule or do unto others as you would have them do upon you. The idea of honesty, our system of contracts, and fair dealing can be seen as having their roots in Judo/Christian values. Even many of the values that are professed by Atheist are based upon the lessons related in the religion that they hate.

One of the greatest dangers faced by the West is this misunderstanding of their own value system and what it is based upon. Too many seem to assume that our values are universal. They think that our ideas of peace, honesty, forgiveness, property, and fairness are the same world wide. They seem to think that all societies are based upon our values. Because we think peace means live and let live does not mean that other cultures believe the same thing. We must remember that when Adolf Hitler said he wanted peace, it only wanted it long enough for him to gather his forces.

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Our values have served us well in our recent past. Our blending of peoples from around the world and their integration into our society has created a very strong and diverse nation. Our internal peace stand in contrast to the home countries from which many of our immigrates have come. Those who have come to this country with the intent to join our society must learn these values to succeed. Those who carry the baggage of the past have a much harder time. This is where many of those who have come here in recent years differ from the immigrates that helped build the nation.

We find ourselves at a dangerous time. There are well know stores of Americans who have forsaken their heritage and impressed the culture of other nations. Americans who now take up arms against the US. We find that our values and trusting nature is being used against us. We believe people when they tell us they only want peace without questioning the meaning of that statement. It is frightening to see how many people never question when told "Muslims don't lie" without knowing the truth behind that statement. Too many of us accept the view of foreign countries about this country and that our system is evil, when they have never been taught or bothered to read our governing documents. We expect all religious leaders to show the same values, without knowing their values.

We have been told that we are intolerant when we are the most tolerant nation in the world. Looking at the Middle East I don't see tolerance. I see hate in the Arab nations. For a people who say they don't lie and only want peace, they seem to only preach hate and genocide. They say one thing among themselves and another to us. This is not part of American values but is within their value system. We must understand our value system, but we also understand the value systems of others. We must also understand the goals of those who we deal with around the world.


©2010 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Compromise

I remember something that politicians would say from years ago. They would say that the only way that anything happened in Washington was through compromise. That without compromise then there was only deadlock. This statement never really rang true for me. I understand that when ever you work with others you are never going to get 100% of what you want. But the word compromise also different meanings.

From dictionary.reference.com/

com·pro·mise   [kom-pruh-mahyz] Show IPA noun, verb, -mised, -mis·ing.
–noun
1. a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.
2. the result of such a settlement.
3. something intermediate between different things: The split-level is a compromise between a ranch house and a multistoried house.
4. an endangering, esp. of reputation; exposure to danger, suspicion, etc.: a compromise of one's integrity.
–verb (used with object)
5. to settle by a compromise.
6. to expose or make vulnerable to danger, suspicion, scandal, etc.; jeopardize: a military oversight that compromised the nation's defenses.
7. Obsolete .
a. to bind by bargain or agreement.
b. to bring to terms.
–verb (used without object)
8. to make a compromise or compromises: The conflicting parties agreed to compromise.
9. to make a dishonorable or shameful concession: He is too honorable to compromise with his principles.

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Throughout life we must make certain compromises. I would have loved to gone to the local pancake house for breakfast this morning, but I decided it was better for my weight and general health to have cereal and skip the extra fat and sugar. I wanted to get the extra large milk shake yesterday at the Dairy Queen, but I decided to get the small. We make this decisions everyday and call them compromises, but these are just choices we must make or endanger our happiness, wellbeing, and general lives. There are times when you have choices to make, but you need to consider the long term as much as the short term.

When I was young that was something that I remember being told; "never compromise your principles or values." Over the years our elected officials have compromised too many times. Piece by piece I've seen our American values denigrated, denied, and chipped away. The compromises made slowly gave those on the left what they wanted and has been eating away at our freedoms. I also remember being told by a friend a story of his marriage, He said that his wife wanted a cat, he didn't want a cat. So they compromised...and got a cat. This is the same way our government has been working for years. The Progressives haven't always get what they wanted at one time, but they keep pushing their agenda until they finally get every thing they want. Today we see the Progressives saying that anyone opposed to their radical agenda are only saying NO with no real answers. But with a President and Congress that is willing to pass 2000 to 3000 page bills without bothering to read them, it is time to say no. They are giving us no reason to trust what they say or do. Doing nothing sometimes is better than doing the wrong thing.

They have used our system against us. Our system only works if both sides play by the same rules and there must be trust and honor. Starting in the 1990s we lost our freedom of speech through the process of "political correctness" that was pushed through the Left Stream Media. But while our freedom of speech was compromised, the "protected" peoples are allowed to say anything. Slowly but surely other of our rights are being eroded. Few people even realize or don't seem to care about the dangerous growth of power that is being centralized into Washington. It is clear that those in Washington have become to use to the art of compromise and are willing to takeaway our freedoms. As these people continue to collect and centralize their power, they will compromise away our nation.

We can no longer compromise our values, principles, ethics, and morals. If we expect to save our freedoms then these compromises must stop and we must protect and reclaim our liberties. We must reclaim our God given rights, and run the tyrants out of power. Honor and ethics must return to the nations vocabulary. We must not stand for those who compromise our system who don't enforce the laws and attack those who enter the national debate and asks for a fair hearing. Because any sailor knows that a ship no matter how big will sink once its structure has been compromised beyond repair.



©2010 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.