This might be the summer for change. Ask your friends about their beliefs. Are they religious? Are they finding their religious values conflicting with their political party? Do they believe in living within their means (even if it means a struggle)? Are they working hard to get ahead, hoping to save and offer a better life for their children…in other words, living the American Dream, while watching the government growing by leaps and bounds? Are they looking at the future of programs like Medicare and Social Security worried whether there will be any money left in the bank when they are ready to retire? Are they watching city governments struggle with bankruptcy because pension plans cost more than the city takes in but the unions aren’t willing to compromise?

Are they concerned that this country is headed the wrong direction?

Many people vote for one party because that’s the way their parents, family, community always votes. Years ago my sister moved to a small mining town. While ballots and actual votes were secret, her party affiliation was not. She quickly discovered if one did not register as a Democrat one would not be included with the town decision makers.

But times have changed. Today many are discovering their core values don’t line up with the party they grew up in. Perhaps your friends are discovering the same. This week two prominent Democrats announced they have changed allegiances to the Republican Party.

Artur Davis: Former Black Caucus member wrote on his blog:  “Democratic Label No Longer Matches What I Know About My Country … As I told a reporter last week, this is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party (and he knows that even if he can’t say it).”

JoAnn Nardelli: Vice president of the Democratic State Committee Women’s Caucus for Pennsylvania, a member of the State Committee Executive Board, and was the founder of the Blair County Federation of Democratic Women and the Women’s Equality Coalition of Blair County. But Nardelli is also a committed Catholic, pro-life, and in favor of traditional marriage. In her resignation letter she wrote, “I will miss you all very much as you are all a part of my family; however, it is time to move forward with my life in a direction that is more in line with my faith.”

Whether due to fiscal or social issues many moderate Democrats are finding themselves outside the policies being set forth by the Obama administration. Sometimes a party shift is gradual and many don’t feel the movement. But, sometimes, as in the case of the ObamaCare law, the new regulations suddenly make everyone take notice. Churches who generally stay outside the political fray are being forced to take a stand. Constitutionalists, and those who worry about the restrictions and regulations on religious organizations, are speaking out in fear that their own religion may find itself embroiled in the church-state separation issue. Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece Alveda King shared in her blog this week the growing concern that many religious blacks have for the left leaning policies of this administration.

For others there is great concern about the generational theft being thrust upon our children and grandchildren. The ceaseless spending and growing debt are of increasing concern to those who believe that the country, like our families, should live within our means.

If your friends are concerned about taking a stand on being pro-life or traditional marriage they should take heart. Gallup polls this week show 50% of the population are now pro-life with a rising trend.  Additionally, every time voters have had the opportunity to reaffirm traditional marriage it has been upheld.

While some are quick to criticize the ‘right wing nut jobs’ it’s worth remembering that the left also has it’s share of extremists. Contrary to media biased information, the Conservative Party is not just a one issue party. As disenfranchised voters compare their values they are invited to check the GOP party beliefs.  The always newsworthy Tea Party, while siding generally with Conservative values, has been working to remind us of our need for fiscal responsibility and made up of people from all religions and walks of life. Also surprising to some, the GOP is not a party of only the wealthy. Indeed, many middle and even lower income families support the Republican platform, the belief that less government is better to promote the American exceptionalism we all remember. Helping the needy is important but done better and more efficiently through private charities than government. Families are vital to a strong America. And a hand up—not a hand out is the mantra of many.

So when you talk to your friends who are looking for direction why not share this list with them and invite them to the fold.

GOP Beliefs

We’re fortunate to live in America
The Republican Party believes that the United States has been blessed with a unique set of individual rights and freedoms available to all.

You can be what you are, and become what you are capable of becoming
The Republican Party is inspired by the power and ingenuity of the individual to succeed through hard work, family support and self-discipline.

Helping those around you is worthwhile
The Republican Party believes in the value of voluntary giving and community support over taxation and forced redistribution.

Small government is a better government for the people
The Republican Party, like our nation’s founders, believes that government must be limited so that it never becomes powerful enough to infringe on the rights of individuals.

You know what to do with your money better than government
The Republican Party supports low taxes because individuals know best how to make their own economic and charitable choices.

Free markets keep people free
The Republican Party is supportive of logical business regulations that encourage entrepreneurs to start more businesses so more individuals can enjoy the satisfaction and fruits of self-made success.

Our Armed Forces defend and protect our democracy
The Republican Party is committed to preserving our national strength while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

Throughout history man has been witness some deplorable events which have left a mark from one generation to another. Although the idea of slavery in itself is despicable, the reality is that it was very much a part of life and history and not limited to just the black man and his family. This is not meant to be a history lesson, rather it is an attempt to help people realize that the constant use of the race card, as a means of discrimination, is really getting old. For decades now we have become so complacent to the feelings of others that we use the word tolerance over and over again, and in the process we have become more intolerant of Christians, Jews, conservatives, and anyone whose ethical and moral beliefs are not in sink with the norms of the twenty-first century. History brings with it the events of the times, right or wrong, they are what they are, and cannot be changed. But for some groups to claim they are being held captive by the oppressors of yesterday is truly biased and unfair to modern civilization, most of which would agree that they hold a certain level of contempt for the very idea of slavery. Those people who love to stir-up trouble and sensationlize every story, truly need to find a way to move on and find something better to do, something more productive. The very government some of these people support, is the same government responsible for their poverty to begin with. Entitlements make people dependant; they lose hope and desire to change what for them is truly changeable. Slavery by definition is submission to a dominating influence. (Merriam – Webster) The influence in this case is more likely big government — each man becomes a slave to his own beliefs whether real or imaginary, and to believe that big governemnt is not a form of slavery is to be delusional.

Plato was taught by Socrates, Aristotle by Plato. Together they comprise the most influential figures in Western Philosophy. The philosophy of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) is what influenced St. Thomas Aquinas. He was also the teacher for Alexander the Great. In one of his more famous writings, The Politics, Aristotle asserts: “But is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right, or rather is not all slavery a violation of nature? There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.” (1) Aristotle believed that some people were naturally slaves and some were not, those who were not Greek were considered barbarians and therefore more likely, by nature to be slaves. The color of a man’s skin had no bearing on the issue of slavery back then. Aristotle went on to discuss the nature of things which played an important role later on in history. Although the idea or justification of slavery in itself is never justified the importance behind the theories of Aristotle cannot be ignored or replaced.

Another example of slavery existed in Europe who had more African slaves then any other country in the world. England, France and Portugal used slave labor in their colonies while others, such as the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, were mainly active in the commercial trade and shipping, thus contributing to the trade by carrying slaves from Africa to the Caribbean and Latin America. France was a major player in the slave trade and many of its cities on the West Coast(such as Nantes, Lorient, La Rochelle, and Bordeaux) have built their wealth through the triangular trade. Slaves on French vessels were mainly taken to the French Caribbean colonies such as Saint-Domingue and Martinique. In addition, France is also notorious for introducing the Code Noir (‘black code), a decree written in 1685 providing formal regulations for the treatment of slaves, governing their lives, deaths, freedoms, religion and how they were to be bought and sold. This gruesome document served to de-humanize the enslaved Africans even more by institutionalizing the trade in humans even further. France eventually outlawed the slave trade in 1830 and slavery itself in 1848. (2)

Since slavery was not limited to African’s, I must say that I do not hold anyone responsible, nor do I play the race card, in the event that at one time or another perhaps my ancestor’s might have been held captive as slaves. Likewise, I am not responsible for slavery or events that occured in the past. We need to consider the reality that we all have the free will to determine our own fate. We have the means and the ability to work to achieve our individual goals, follow our dreams, and determine the path we choose to walk. To hold on to the ideals that somehow every white man, women, and child born in the United States is somehow responsible for the oppression of Black people is ridiculous. The race card is so over played and reverse racism has become the norm for some people. In addition, whoever came up with the idea of adding the word American on to an ethnic group e.g. African-American – is equally stupid. Seriously, this idea was derived by someone with to much time on their hands. Clearly, whether you are black, white, pink, or purple, and if you were born in the United States, it is presumed you are an American, there is not need to put the American after your ethnic group.

The lesson to be learned here is that History is important. Without the truth and clear understanding about who we are as a people we can become misguided and lose faith in what is important. The truth of the matter is we are all children of God, whether we believe in him or not, it doesn’t matter, and we are all made in his image. What we need to do is treat everyone the way we would want to be treated, even the annoying person who we try to avoid; maybe that person even more. Hope is what allows us to persevere even in the worst of times — never lose site of that. Naturally, it is essential to realize that if we ignore history we are destined to repeat it.

References:

1 Aristotle’s theory of slavery is found in Book I, Chapters lll through Vll of the Politics and in Book VII of the Nicomachean Ethics.

2 http://www.realhistories.org.uk/uploads/File/Europe_Slavery.pdf