To All My Liberal Friends, Part II: I Will Not Be Silent

I guess you thought that after the election I’d shut up and go back to being the same old “don’t make waves so everyone is happy” conservative friend. Wrong, but you figured that out already. I can’t and I won’t be silent about the destruction of our nation and shredding of our Constitution. I can’t and won’t be silent about the immorality I see around me, and the affect it has on my family and community.

I will not be silent.

So what brought this up again? I posted a meme on Facebook. I know, gets me every time! Now, keep in mind that I only post a small percentage of the political memes or stories that interest or upset me. I know that I have friends of all political stripe, so I restrain myself. I don’t like seeing politics constantly, and I’m sure they feel the same way. I still post about my kids, my pets and my life in general, but that also includes my feelings on politics.

So I post links to my own articles, as well as others that outrage me or conversely tickle my funny bone. One of these was a cartoon that did both. It was a spoof of a “Peanuts” cartoon that pointed out the hypocrisy of the liberal view of “choice.” A liberal friend took exception to this and sent me a message. It basically boiled down to this person’s view that by pointing out hypocrisy I am “judging” and I should instead “forgive” and live my faith.

Here we go … judging. One of the verses used most to condemn judgment is from the Gospel of John, “Let he among you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw the stone.” Or as it is translated “you’re not perfect so you can’t judge me!” Wait! You have to keep reading, because Jesus goes on to say to the adulterous woman brought to him to “go and sin no more.” Sin no more? How judgmental is that!

Jesus also says “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24). This is important, because it tells us that we may not make assumptions about other motives or unspoken thoughts, or what is in their hearts. We absolutely can judge, but are to judge according to “righteousness” or knowing the facts. No one can know the motives or thoughts of another if they are unspoken or un-conveyed. BUT, we all should make judgments based on words and actions of others. Without this ability, our legal system would crumble. If we couldn’t judge the words and actions of people on any level, we couldn’t say they broke a law!

Ok, now forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean being blind to wrongdoing or keeping people from facing the consequences of their actions. Forgiveness acknowledges that whatever offense was committed may have been inexcusable, but pardons the offender anyway. C.S. Lewis noted, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” If my children break a rule, I have a responsibility to them as their parent to enforce consequences, but to also offer love and forgiveness.

So yes, I put things up on my Facebook and Twitter to make people think, and to protest things that I see that are, quite frankly, un-American. I have to, even if there are consequences.

I will not be silent.

Another meme popped up, just after I answered my friend, and I posted that as well. It was a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican, and it gave a quote of his: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

I will not be silent.

I am well aware that many of the things that I write, post, repost or “like” offend those who are liberal. Guess what? They post things that offend me, too. Much of what I see going on in our nation offends the hell out of me. Our Constitution being shredded, millions of babies being aborted every year, the terrible waste of our tax money, the entitlement attitude and political pandering to it, a President who goes to bed while four in Benghazi are murdered, a President who feels entitled to million dollar vacations while millions of Americans struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their heads … all of this and so much more offends me to my very core.

I will not be silent.

The person who many people used to know, the “I won’t say anything that might upset someone and make them mad at me or not like me” person is gone. I can’t in good conscience let the evil I see going on around me go and not say a word. If that means, as my friend said, I lose friends, then so be it.

I will mourn the loss of those friends, because apart from politics, we have shared interests and experiences that I treasure. It’s sad that remembering all of those shared experiences seems to be less important and more of an effort than simply ignoring political things. I would never dream of asking them or expecting them to be silent about the things they find offensive or outrageous. But they should know…

I will not be silent.