Senator Marco Rubio

An open letter to Senator Marco Rubio
Dear Senator:
Congratulations on your party's recognition of you and choosing you to give the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union. You are the personification of many good and positive values that have made this country great.
Your work ethic is admirable; your Florida mentor speaks very highly of your dedication and tireless efforts in serving the community where you grew up and continue to live. Your sense of responsibility and making the very best of the opportunities given to you despite initial economic hardship are commendable. Your commitment to your faith and your family exemplify a personal level-headedness and integrity all too often missing today. Your youth, intelligence, and articulation have earned you statue and recognition that many will want rewarded even further.
Unfortunately, you are also the personification of many negative values  that challenge and threaten our country today. These have earned you recognition from Democratic opponents as a force to be reckoned with in the future. Those values, in my opinion, are:
1. a libertarian philosophy that does not recognize the historical and moral shortcomings of laissez-faire economics (history has proved this to be morally bankrupt and let me quickly say as morally bankrupt as communism), that has distorted the true meaning of freedom (true freedom recognizes the difference between what I can do and what I should do as a responsible citizen of society and the world), and that is ignorant of the requirements of contemporary society (population, communication, transportation, etc.) in its demands for smaller government. [Let me quickly say that I am in favor of efficiency and effectiveness over size!]
2. a tired, very tired old Republican same song and verse that offers nothing new to move us forward and serve the needs of our citizens today. You continue obstructionism and negativity.
3. a blind and ignorant repetition of lies and groundless charges such as, the Obama administration is out to destroy our Second Amendment rights. This is fabrication, distortion, and an outright lie. It seems to be your and your party's plan to tell the lie often enough, so that, the American public will be deceived.
4. lastly, and sadly, even being a co-sponsor in the Senate of comprehensive immigration reform, you do not have the integrity to say you agree with President Obama on a responsible path to citizenship and falsely accuse him of weak borders and irresponsible Homeland Security. It is well and good to disagree on substantive issues; it is childish and immature to oppose for opposition sake because you did not phrase it their way to begin with.
Senator Rubio, you have the potential to lead. Please gird yourself with truth and integrity and a deep and selfless service of the American people.
Respectfully

First Amendment vs First (Greatest) Commandment

            Our society/culture could well be characterized as one of chaos, confusion, and double talk. Up is down, and wrong is right. One need look no further than the demands to impose sectarian prayer with mandatory Bible reading in schools and religion-specific rituals and icons in the public forum accompanied by the irrational and misinformed insistence that the right to have a semi-automatic rifle and multi-capacity ammunition holders is necessary for freedom.

            I quickly admit that these are complex issues, but I was saddened recently when I put a copy of the Constitution beside a copy of scripture based on and revered by the Judeo-Christian traditions. A contrasting parallel grabbed my attention.

            When Jesus of Nazareth was asked what is the greatest (First) commandment [Matthew 22: 37; Mark 12: 28-31; Luke 10: 25-28], he quoted his scripture (Deut.6:5) saying we are to love God completely. The Bible thumpers and denominational leaders of our society say the First Amendment means the imposition of their beliefs and morals on the rest of us. They have made an idol of their god and scripture and ignored the heart of the message. [Southern Baptists leadership’s attack on the Boy Scouts’ recent reversal of policy on gay leadership would be funny if it weren’t so pathetically sad.]

            Then Jesus followed without hesitation with his admonition for the Second commandment, again quoting his scripture (Leviticus 19: 18), saying to love our neighbor as ourselves. The NRA and violence-obsessed culture responds by saying that guns are required to reduce the killing in our schools and on our streets. In their paranoia the “tyranny” our founders identified has become our own government. Love and concern for neighbor is absent in their (lack of) thinking.

            This is the double speak I mentioned earlier. The freedom of religion (anti-establishment and free exercise) has become the power to impose beliefs and hand-picked morals on this country. The freedom to bear arms as intended has become the license to stock pile these weapons, bear concealed weapons in public, shoot at will if you think you are threatened, neighborhood vigilantes who answer to no one, perverted mentality that says we must kill to be safe. That is like saying we must continue to eat to prevent obesity.

            Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; they are not entitled to their own facts. Silence is complicity. I refuse to yield the moral ground to ignorant, misinformed, self-centered militants with no concern or compassion beyond themselves.