Friday, April 19, 2013

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

A solid week of bomb coverage.  A solid week of speculation of who, what, why, etc.  Discussion's ranging from terrorist to how lax our security is in this country.  Then to wake up this morning and see that these thugs are Chechnya nationalist here on some type of student visa.  While I could easily fall into the whole immigration debate, I'll try my best to take the high road.  Just because you have Internet access that teaches you how to build a bomb, doesn't mean you should.  We as a country have the ability to take in millions and give them a free education, but that doesn't necessarily mean we should.  The issue of having "soft targets" or not enough security is part of the ideals of the American dream of a free land.  You don't insure freedom by creating a state of Marshall law.  A price must be paid from time to time for Americans to live out the ideals of our founding fathers.  That price was paid at Pearl Harbor, at 9/11, and obviously at the Boston marathon.  It is the morals of the people that prevent them from flying planes into buildings or putting bombs next to 8 year old children.  No police state or government law can dictate the morals of a man.  The only way to prevent these things is to practice the beliefs of our founding fathers.  All men are equal and have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Just because you have the ability to interfere with those ideals doesn't mean you should.

This applies to more than just terrorist.  We should practice restraint in our everyday lives.  We have the right to free speech.  Does that mean we should bad mouth the government 24/7?  Don't get me wrong, you can share your views but surely you can find more than one topic to speak about.  We have the right to pursue happiness but should it come at the expense of others?  Just because you are having a bad day doesn't mean you should ruin everyone else's day.  When you make others pay for something that they had nothing to do with, you are no different that these Chechen terrorist.  They are unhappy with the affairs of their country so they will get revenge by blowing up innocent Americans.  The common thinking of the day is take advantage of everything you can, but does that mean you have to?  You can lie on your resume to make yourself a little more impressive.  Does that mean you should?  You can lie about your marital status to get more welfare assistance.  Should you do that, just because it's easy?  If no one is watching the back door at the appliance store, must you grab a flat-screen and run?  Just because you have the ability to write a hateful letter to someone should you actually send it to them? You can easily lead a double life without your wife and kids knowing about it.  That doesn't mean you should.  Again, a society without restraint is a society that will readily destroy itself.  

Without some moral code we are nothing more than vicious animals.  If we don't have a moral compass we will surely get lost in ourselves and do irrevocable harm to others.  Just because there is an opportunity doesn't necessarily mean you have to take it.  In the end if you are not true to yourself, no one will be true to you.  When you meet your Maker, the conversation will be on your choices not your abilities.