Redstate

By Patrick Murdock Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Senator Obama said today:

"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it."

"We need your service right now, at this moment — our moment — in history."

Senator Obama, I always find such comments interesting because it seems to say that most of us civilians are not involved in any service to our country - that civilians are not making any sacrifices in their lives to make our country better and to help others. And that the only legitimate service is one where you are employed in some program or service operated by the Federal, State or local government.

The reality is that tens of millions of Americans serve their country, their community, their neighbors, a friend, the poor, the addicted, the down and out, those who need a helping hand in one form or another every day of every week of each year. They don't go about making a big deal of it, and it happens so often that most of us don't even think its a big deal, its just being American - helping others.

Churches, Synagogues, and houses of worship of all types have programs that help those in need in their communities and even those outside. And the members of those faiths on a weekly basis volunteer (that's means no pay Mr. Obama)to help in these programs.

Drive through any town any time of the year and you are certain to see signs or banners at houses of worship where they are holding some event to raise money - often to help someone else, or to support some program or mission. And people give - not thinking its a big deal - just the way we are - Americans.

You can find quite easily too non-profit organizations that are dedicated to helping a specific cause (finding a cure for some disease, for example). Some of these organizations are very big but many are small and often started by some individual or group of individuals who wanted to help make some improvement in the lives of others, usually after having experienced the problem they are trying to solve themselves or having witnessed it happened to a close friend or family member. And they often do so without pay. And let me tell you something, millions of Americans are glad they are there because it is organizations such as these that provided the help and support they needed when it could be found no where else.

And then they are other organizations, such as The Rotary Club, the Lions Club, and other groups that work to help people in our communities, our country, and throughout the world for that matter. The Rotary, for example (and I'm not a member), mission "is to provide service to others, to promote high ethical standards, and to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders." And its stated goal is to eradicate polio. The Lions Club is another, and one of their goals is to help end preventable blindness. Again, Mr. Obama, these are organizations that Americans volunteer for with their time and money.

There are plenty of other examples but I'm going to finish now with just this one. The individual. You know them. The one, like my mother-in-law, who without prompting, payment, or thought of service to their country, goes out and brings someone who is sick with cancer, and alone, and needs a ride to the doctor's office so they can get their tests for cancer or a chemo treatment - and then stays there and takes them home - and listens to them when they need to talk (no matter what time of night it is), arranges for dinner to be brought to their house so they don't have to worry about it nor use energy they really don't have to make it.

Mr. Obama, Americans serve others - we always have and always will. You might even say its part of our nature. And we don't need you nor any government to tell us how to do it.