A Civilized World

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        Grandmother visited us today with homemade cookies and homemade ice cream, and we had a wonderful visit. She told us that the folks down the road just bought a new Ford station wagon and that they were willing to take anyone to town for grocery shopping, or any emergency.
        Crime, in all major cities, is at an all-time low. Last month there were no muggings, no stabbings, and no murders. City Councils are even discussing laying off some unneeded officers on the police force. Gang activity has been almost diminished due to interaction between church officials and gang leaders.
        These stories would be true if:
        There was not war in Afghanistan. Leaders there want us to fight their wars as long as their government can call all the shots. America has pumped billions of dollars into this small country to help them to become civilized. We are now pulling out because we see that it is a hopeless cause.
        Afghanistan is a very civilized country!
        We spent billions of dollars in Iraq to help them become a democracy. The chaos there has worsened since our pull-out. When will we realize that these desert tribes have been killing each other for thousands of years before America was even thought of. Who are we to think that we can make different factions love each other and ‘just get along’?
        Iraq is a civilized country!
        We have sent billions in aid and American dollars to Egypt to assist them in loving each other. Islamists and Christians continue to kill and maim each other just because of some misinterpretation of scripture by one of their leaders. Surely they have killed enough people to appease their different-thinking gods.
        Egypt is a civilized country!
        Israel and Palestine have been fighting since the days of Abraham who was one of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament. Abraham, by the way, was father to both factions. Their rockets, tanks, and huge guns have killed and maimed innocent children, the elderly, and anyone else who happened to be in the line of fire. Carnage is seen on every hand and blood runs in the polluted gutters. It seems that their wars are as when two children fight at school: “He started it, no he started it, no he pushed me first, no he spit across a line that I drew in the sand!”
Israel and Palestine are civilized nations!
        Syria has experienced civil war for several years. Government forces have rained shells, sent rockets and dropped bombs upon their own citizens. ‘Rebel forces’ in turn have killed and maimed many Government soldiers. The U.S. is now raining fire upon Isis in order to save other lives.
        Syria is a civilized nation!
         India and Pakistan is essentially the same people. They share the same religions. They speak Hindi, Urdu, or Kannada, Punjabi, etc. as the case may be. In light of all this, they have been fighting for hundreds of years. Most of the little skirmishes are not even noteworthy nowadays, but, nevertheless, the hatred still exists. Old hatreds die hard.
        Both these countries are civilized!
        America is becoming fractionalized! Northern and Southern California are in a tug of war over water rights. The present drought and hotter temperatures are causing unrest among the different factions in our cities. Crime in major cities has skyrocketed.
        Policemen are moving to smaller cities in hopes of living a while longer. Cities cannot maintain a decent police force anymore. Costs are too prohibitive, they say. Taxes on everything have been raised to the highest levels ever. Food prices are shooting upward as this is written. Buying a home is for the rich only.
        America is a civilized nation!
       Rodney King once said, “Why can’t we just get along?” This saying resounds over and over as things seemingly get worse and worse. Nations are crying peace, but there is no peace. Special interest groups throughout the world have demanded their fair share of the pie, even if they have never bled and died, or even worked a day, for their share.
        As one studies past civilizations, it is not difficult to see what works and what does not work:
Democracy is all sails and no rudder! Dictatorships are all one way in favor of the ruling faction. Communism is worse than a dictatorship! What is left? A king, such as Solomon, who treated everyone fairly, who was able to discern between right and wrong and cared for the welfare of his subjects. One thing was required of all his subjects: they had to do as much work as the person was capable of producing!
        Aren't you glad you live in a civilized world?