America is under attack. This is not an open shooting war attack like we saw on Pearl Harbor when the Japanese took aim at our military there. It is not even an attack we can easily identify because it takes on too many forms and expresses itself in multiple ways. Many will even question the use of the work "attack" and certainly not accept my premise.
But I believe this is an attack on our individual way of life. We are losing our identity and our means of expressing our concerns and we are allowing the magnitude of our problems to overwhelm us as individuals. I would suggest our leadership in Washington senses the same problem and doesn't know the answer to our nation's problems either. So we, and they, try to find a way to avoid facing the problems and resort to self-satisfying entertainment and/or just bury our heads in the sand.
As we saw last week, an Illinois man allowed his anger to spill over onto a baseball diamond early in the morning in the quiet suburbs of Alexandria, Va. We will never learn all we might want to know about his motives and what finally led him to that specific neighborhood on June 14, but the FBI will piece together enough to satisfy the television audience. So far there is little to indicate he was about to take the tragic steps that led to the shooting of Republican legislators, but we would prefer not to know too much lest we incriminate ourselves and acknowledge we can't stop people from feeling ignored and unheard and doing violent things to express their displeasure.
When I see people, young and old, covered with tattoos and body piercing jewelry in ears, noses and other areas, it makes me wonder what else they will do to stand out in a crowd. People have the freedom to do what they like but some of these identity issues are permanent. The most popular bands seem to be those with the most radical attire, loudest music and brightest light shows. Are these the things we do when we are trying to get attention? It certainly is with the bands because they are dependent on an audience's pocketbook to afford their lifestyle.
The newspapers tell us people are overdosing intentionally or unintentionally on illegal drugs at record rates. Far too many are not surviving and families are left to question "why"?" What we don't know is how many are running "to something" and how many are "running away from something." I've never been there, but I'm sure "the unknown" can look better to some people than having an uncertain but personally overwhelming fate staring them in the eyes.
The only meaningful answer I know to these questions lies in the most available book ever published -- the Bible. Yet we spend most of our time in our society trying to escape the meaningful teaching of a man called Jesus. He lived over 2,000 years ago and never tried to own a lot of real estate or accumulate wealth, but He did try to share some common threads of a peaceful and contented life.
He didn't charge for His seminars or (as far as we know) even take up a collection to meet expenses. Wouldn't sharing His knowledge with those seeking solitude in drugs benefit society more than resorting to mind altering drugs? Would His way of living help the man who tried to singlehandedly wipe out the Republican Party?
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 06/28/2017