Although this was initially written years ago it still holds true today.
Where I Come From
Alan Jackson is one of my favorites. I like many of his songs, but I especially like “Where I Come From.” Over and over in the chorus is the refrain “where I come from,” XYZ. That song in addition to a poem that was recently sent to me, got me to thinking, “where is the country that I thought I came from?”
That poem written by a fifteen year old in Minnesota starts off as follows:
| Now I sit me down in schoolWhere praying is against the ruleFor this great nation under GodFinds mention of Him very oddIf scripture now the class recites,It violates the Bill of Rights |
It goes on for another twenty-six lines, but here’s the stanza that captures the gist:
| It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong.We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.We can get our condoms and birth controls,Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,No word of God must reach this crowd |
I thought that it was well written and on the money, but more importantly it got me to thinking . . . “What’s happening to our great country?” Or perhaps more to the point and pertinent . . . “What’s happening to our great country under of guise of ‘freedom’?” What is happening to the country “where I come from?”
I do not want to be perceived as standing up in a pulpit, but to me it seems that “our country is slowly being undermined by evil.” I know, strong words, and perhaps I ought to rephrase it . . . “Our country is slowly being undermined by evil disguised as “freedom.”
I hear “Nonsense! Give me some examples.”
If one questions what happened in the last election, he/she is deemed a conspiracy theorist. The fact that there were many strange occurrences in many different states are pushed aside . . . “everyone deserves to have their vote counted,” without mentioning what the term ‘everyone’ actually means. Although not verbalized precisely by some . . . “it’s okay to cheat in elections because . . . err, yada, yada, yada, something to do with everybody having the “freedom” to vote. Where I come from cheating is wrong and to sanction it as ‘okay’ is evil.
It’s okay to riot in the streets and destroy property because protest is one of included freedoms that we have. If one tries to replace ‘protest’ with ‘peacefully protest’ in the conversation, then he/she opens him/herself to woke criticism. From where I come from wantonly destroying the property of others is wrong. To sanction it as ‘okay,’ is evil.
Where I come from killing is wrong. A few years back when ISIS was killing, raping, and pillaging innocents, most thought that they were evil. However taking the life of an innocent fetus is “okay,” because a woman has the freedom to decide what to do with her body. To that I ask, “When does a fetus become a person and thus have the same freedoms that everyone else has?” Perhaps at conception, but certainly when it has a heartbeat. Where I come from, if it has a heartbeat, it is certainly alive.
Does a fictional Supreme Court Justice in “The Keneally Chronicles” think in the same way? BTW “The Keneally Chronicles” is available on Amazon both where you come from and where I come from!
12/4/23