What The Hell Happened?!?

I remember, as a child, growing up in a small, nothing town in Northeast Louisiana.  It was (and still is) a poor little town with 1 gas station, a cotton gin and fields..lots and lots of fields.  The thing that sticks out most in my mind is that we didn't lock the doors.  I don't even know if we had keys for the doors.  We didn't lock them when we left, we didn't lock them at night, we never locked them.  I'm not sure if it was because we were in small town nowheresville where everyone trusted everyone or  if it was because, in that day, crime was rare.  There was no elevated terror threat, bomb threats weren't a common daily occurrence and people weren't scared to send their kids to school every day.

What happened? Everyone has their own opinion.  Obama ruined the economy and now people are desperate.  Children watch too many violent shows and play violent video games.  God was removed from our country.  Obama wants to bring us to our knees because he hates our county.  We are ruled by a corrupt government that is willing to sell us out for a dollar.

Is there 1 answer to this question? So much has changed so quickly and its seems that things will never be the way they were in the past, the good ole' days.  I believe that our problems are bigger than any 1 person, any violent video game and any group of people that feel our country should fail.

I am patriotic.  I support our soldiers. I proudly display an American flag in my home.  Whether you support war or not, you can't deny the selflessness required in putting your life on the line to protect your country, family and millions of people you will never meet.  It takes a special person to be a soldier, a person that loves their country completely and is willing to do anything necessary to secure and protect it.  That is a hero.  Regardless of if they ever stepped foot on the battle field, in my mind a person that freely volunteers to do this is a hero.

Again, what happened? Our country is weak. Our economy is shot.  People can't afford groceries, gas or utilities.  We have citizens that desperately need help and can't find it.  We have citizens that are fully capable of supporting themselves but instead they chose not to.  They chose to live off of the government. The working, middle class families that NEED help can't get it because they are considered rich in comparison to the poor lower class. I have nothing against the lower class.  I have been broke, totally and completely broke and I don't mean Hillary Clinton broke.  If someone works 40 hours a week for minimum wage and needs help then they should not feel one bit of shame in asking for help.  Maybe if more people were working during the day they wouldn't have the free time required to shoot up schools full of innocent, helpless children.  And since race is a "hot topic" right now I will throw in that this includes people of ALL races.  I have witnessed just as many white people receiving welfare while they are self employed meth makers as I have of every other race. 

Our country is divided.  Instead of being referred to as Americans we refer to people now as white, black, illegal, poor, rich, democrat, republican, liberal and the list goes on and on.  As a nation we are so full of hate toward each other that we can't see that we all have one thing in common..we are Americans.  We were once proud to stand up and say that but that rarely happens now.  Flags are removed because of HOA regulations, citizens join terrorist organizations and we display, for all of the world to see, just how weak and vulnerable we are. 

We are ruled by political correctness.  A Christian can not pray because it may offend an atheist. You can not support traditional marriage because you are then a bigot that hates homosexuals. You can not disagree with the president or you are a racist.  Here is a wild and crazy idea: maybe, just maybe, someone can disagree with you and NOT hate you.  The most discriminated group in our country is Christians.  Everyone preaches tolerance toward their particular group however when it comes to Christian beliefs and moral there is no tolerance.  Christians are described as Bible carrying, extremist, Republican bigots.  Why is it offensive for me to support prayer but not offensive for an atheist to be against it?  Why is it offensive for me to support traditional marriage but not for homosexuals to be in support of gay marriage?  Why am I racist just because I disagree with Obama? 

A lot has changed since I was a child.  We are spoiled.  We feel entitled.  We feel that it is our country's job to support us.  We feel that we are right about everything and any other opinion is stupid and offensive.  Personally,  I miss the way things were.  I miss the feelings of security,  pride in my country and respect.  If we ever want to see those days again we have to stand united.  We have to look past all of the things we disagree on and focus on the things we have in common. We have to peacefully coexist.  We have to put on our big girl panties and stop crying every time someone does something we don't like.  We have to remember that this is OUR lives, country and future.  The government, police and media wont fix our problems.  It is up to us to carve out a new path for our children. One that shows them the united America we all remember.