DISAPPOINTED

 

DISAPPOINTED

As I was driving down main street by the courthouse Saturday morning 8-23 about 9:45 A.M. I saw a lone young man standing on the sidewalk waving a flag. This flag said F… Trump. I was briefly offended but not surprised. As I came back through about 11:00 he was still there but had been joined by at least a dozen other people. I couldn’t read their signs but I hope they weren’t as bad and I hope they didn’t feel he was representing them also. That is one of the problems with individuals demonstrating this way. Oftentimes outsiders assume this one individual is representative of all who don’t like a particular person or group, and that is not true. This was even more true after reading the opinion page last week. The other unfortunate feature of this immature, juvenile behavior is it plays right into the hands of the opposition and they use this example to portray the attitude and character of everyone who opposes their candidate or position.

Peaceful demonstrations and speech are guaranteed by our Constitution as free expression, but is it necessary to use such derogatory and defamatory language and/or gestures? What has happened to the character and integrity of some of us? Can we actually call ourselves citizens of this country when we express ourselves in that way? We don’t have to like the “majority” elected politicians of this country but we should always respect the office they hold. They are there for a reason and all we have to do is read Romans 13 to discover this truth. They represent this country to the world which of course includes all of us and if we don’t like what they say or do there are ways to make legitimate course corrections, or we can leave.

I think this type of behavior leads me to ask the question: Did you vote and have you ever served this country in any way? If you didn’t vote you have no say and if you did you should accept the outcome, as you would expect others to if your candidate won. This country's future is more important than our personal opinion and we are to be united. That’s the way Democracy is supposed to work.

I have been around as an adult for 60+ years and have witnessed many demonstrations through the years and I can honestly say they seem to be getting worse all the time. I have to ask these people how they would like it if they were in office and others demonstrated this way about you? What makes people feel so entitled to behave like immature spoiled little children who didn’t get their way? What we think or say may or may not be truth but we should say it in a civil respectful way and have the evidence to verify it.

I think probably one of the worst things about this type of demonstration is the example we show to the children of this community. Do we want our children to act and speak this way? Do we want all the people driving through this community to witness this type of behavior and take it back home to share with others in their communities? Do we want others to have such a misrepresented opinion of Weaverville? The behavior of a single person or a few does not reflect the general character of Trinity County. It certainly doesn’t reflect my character and I know it doesn’t reflect the character of the many people I know in this community.

We can do so much better and it doesn’t require much effort on our part. Let’s be a grateful, respectful and friendly people showing these attributes to our children and all the others we come in contact with on a daily basis. We are a proud people but we are also a generous, compassionate and loving people willing to persevere through the tough times helping one another while always trying to remain optimistic and hopeful. This is the way we honor God and the founders, principles and precepts of this great nation. Read Romans 5:1-6 to understand peace and acceptance.

Love and Peace, Amen

Pastor Walter C. Scott