Staying Consistent in a World of Sound Bites

We live in a world of soundbites and scrolling slogans.  More than ever before, we need to be a people who think deeply and remain consistent in our approach to the challenges our culture is facing.

If we don’t take the time to really examine our own ethics, to develop our morality in a way that is consistent, we’re not going to have the answers we need when the challenges get complicated.

Recent events at our nation’s border have really left a lot of people upset by what they are seeing, and for good reason.

I don’t know enough about what is happening at the border to offer the solution for handling people who are illegally entering our country, but taking children from their parents can’t possibly be the right answer. Surely as a nation, we can do better than that.

Some people have pointed out that human traffickers thrive on lenient policies to get their victims across borders.  I hadn’t thought about that.

Not to mention the fact that just governments have the duty to try to stop people from entering our country who have the intention of doing harm to innocent people.

I think we can all admit it’s complicated, but I do think we are a nation of good people who can come up with a just solution to the problems we are facing.

I have to be honest, I was so upset by the thought of somebody ripping my own child out of my arms that I was tempted to see the first post that offered a solution and do whatever it suggested to solve this problem.

I came upon one post that said, text the word “resist” to this number and we’ll give you instructions on how to contact your representative with a solution.

Honestly, to text a group I knew nothing about and to tell a representative to support a bill that I knew none of the particulars would have been more about appeasing my desire to “do something”, then it was about actually helping those poor families at the border.

We can’t throw reason out the window.  The most vulnerable amongst us need us to think these things through before acting in a way that could do more harm than good.

There are people who are using these stories at the border to promote their own agendas, which have nothing to do with helping children.  These people really bug me.

To manipulate an awful situation for personal or political gain is entirely reprehensible and in my opinion disqualifies them from having a moral leg to stand on in the discussion.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can’t allow ourselves to become pawns in the games of political parties, greedy organizations, or 24 hour news channels — we need to develop a thorough and consistent approach to the human person that doesn’t waiver with public opinion.

We need to stand up for what is right, even when it’s not popular — but that takes courage and it takes a well-formed understanding of the human person and the inalienable rights given to us at conception.

I feel blessed to know that whatever the issue is, there have been men and women who have thoroughly thought about and developed an approach that respects the dignity of the person and the worth that they have in the eyes of God.

God gave us a Church, with over 2,000 years of consistent teaching to lead us down the right path when things get confusing.

We have a catechism and amazing men like St. Thomas Aquinas — who gave us probably the most thorough approach to human morality the world has ever known.

We have the Magisterium to reiterate the teachings that have been consistently taught for over 2,000 years.

It is the Christian tradition that has given us important concepts like, “the end doesn’t justify the means”.

In other words, even if the end of protecting our nation is a good one, the means that we implement to ensure that safety must also be just.  That’s an important distinction to help clarify the proper response.

Most of our laws are based on the Christian principles that guarantee certain rights to all people because they have been endowed with these rights by God himself.

Christian or not, society benefits from the Christian concepts of law, love of neighbor and religious tolerance, to name a few.

Sadly, as we begin to usher God out of our culture, I’m afraid these inalienable rights will also be ushered out.  The powers that be will then be responsible to make their own laws based on their own whims and interests.

I worry where this nation will end up if we refuse to acknowledge an all loving God who sees our actions and will judge our actions one day.

I worry that people of faith will just sit down, get comfortable and stop speaking up for what is right.  I worry that we will no longer spend the time to critically approach the challenges of our time.

As Edmund Burke famously said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

I like to think that if Burke lived in modern times he would have amended that famous quote to read, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing… or to make emotional decisions based on sound bites rather than on sound judgements“.  

We can’t just sit back and watch unjust laws or practices happen.  We need to continue to speak up for the vulnerable, to protect them when possible,  to move beyond sound bites and get to lasting solutions that respect the basic rights and dignities of every person.

We have a duty to stay involved in the political process — and this is coming from a girl who has grown more and more disenchanted with politics — but I know I can’t give up on it.

We have to keep fighting for a consistent approach to the human person, and we have to support the incredibly brave men and women who are willing to stay in the political sphere and fight for what is right.

At the end of the day, we all have a part to play.  I am geographically very far from the southern border, but there are still things I can do to make a difference.

In our own state, there are foster care programs that are taking in some of these immigrant children.

It’s heartbreaking to think that these sweet children can be so far removed from their parents, but there are needs that can be met in the form of diapers or bottles or other things.

There are things all of us can do to promote a culture of life for all people, and we can not forget we are responsible for our brothers and sisters in need.

Lastly, we can’t let all the darkness overwhelm us and distract us from our jobs of loving the people around us.

Sometimes we can get so focused on the horrors happening around the world, that we end up being overwhelmed by that  darkness — till there is no light left in us.  We can’t let that happen.

As St. Francis of Assisi famously said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

We need to be that light.

We have to continue to hope in the goodness of men and the Goodness of our Father in Heaven.  We need to look to Him and see how we can best serve His creation on this earth.

Mother Teresa was an amazing woman, and yet, she knew she’d never end poverty in Calcutta.  Instead, she focused on loving one person at a time and serving one person at a time.

I think that has to be the way we approach the evils around us.  We fight them with love — first in our own homes and then working our way outwards.

We have to believe that one act of love creates ripples that will move beyond our own homes and our communities.

So let’s stay involved, let’s stay consistent, and let’s never give up trying to do something beautiful with our lives.