Veritus -- A Poem by Veritus

Write for Freedom!
      by Veritus

Write for Freedom!
Liberate a thought!
Resist the chill!
O' Muse,
Death breathes 
From lips of Slaves:
I'm Free to think, for NOW!

A reply to: Defusing political conflicts: Q&A with Jonathan Haidt,,,,,

Yea, good luck with this happening! The past is always seen through nostalgic eyes. Jefferson and Adams hated one another. They called each other horrible names. Each was highly critical about how the other was running the Country. Frankly, neither had much hope for the future of Our Great Country. They understood two things very well though: Politics and Freedom. They knew that the natural state of man was to be Free. They meant the Freedom to think what you want and the Freedom to express those thoughts without fear! And trying to control thought and expressions by calling it 'hate speech' or demanding 'politically correct' speech, either forced by government or convention, would have been an anathema to them. When groups, Left or Right, use their code words, it's not meant to be pleasantries but pejoratives! They mean to marginalize and minimize the other's position with the intent to shutdown the debate! I've spent many years of my life trying to reason with Leftists. I eventually realized many, even most, of Leftists don't operate from reason, but from pure emotion. How is that a rational place to begin any real debate? Kids get murdered in a gun free school zone, and they feel bad about it. And then they demand that I give up my Constitutional Right to have a gun! Give up my right to protect myself from the very kind of psycho who would murder innocent kids in the first place. That's just irrational! Yet those same people who argue for controls on guns to protect kids from being murdered, refuse to reason that any controls on abortion mills murdering babies in the womb days before they are born is well, crazy, right wing-nut, nazi talk! Never mind that the innocent victim of late term abortion is a Human Individual with a Constitutional Right to Life! That's too irrational to understand?

So, if you want to find common ground between Left and Right. And I'm not conceding that that is even possible. Let's all start from what we actually have in common: we're Humans and we are Americans! Our Founders may have been just some old white guys who owned slaves, but they left US two documents: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In those documents they assert, and I believe, that man's rights come from his Creator and NOT some other man, or king, or government! Can we start there and agree that is true, and our rights as listed should NOT be infringed by Government?  My years of experience say no! 

Jefferson and Adams both died on the same day July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the founding of our great country. The afternoon of their deaths each was penning a letter to the other with their respective concerns about the state of the country. I don't think they called each other names in those letters....Joe Schwarz 6/13/2013