Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details.Time to end evangelical conservatism By J. G. Fabiano Once again I find myself sitting in my old and dilapidated beach chair reminiscing about the summer that was about to come to an end. The last of our summer visitors are enjoying their final times on the beaches and in the sun. The final summer visitors of our beach seem remarkably white this year; almost translucent. It is as if they are worried about the world they have to go back to after their time in the sun. Those of us who are fortunate to spend a lot of time on the beach call these people "August Whites". Of course, this is not fair because it is obvious these people have worked hard during the summer months but, why does everything have to be fair? I always consider this time my New Year's Eve. Being a teacher this end of summer marks the time when I can once again become part of the dreams and aspirations of many young men and women. Every year these future citizens of our nation become smarter and more motivated. The news reports that state today's children are not as smart as the children of the past simply don't get it. Today's youth have to deal with technologies and matters of society no child in the past has ever been confronted with. A simple test cannot judge a child. The future of that same child should be the judge of how competent our public education system is. Because of this, my final day on the beach is a great time to think about the past and wonder what the future has in store for us all. There is one thing I am sure of this year. It is definitely time to end our nation's obsession with evangelical conservatism. This means we have to finally come to the conclusion that in order to have a strong and healthy society we can no longer continue to attempt to find the least expensive means to do this. We can no longer afford to follow a dogma that the cheapest way to do things is the best way to get things done. The infrastructure of our nation is literally falling apart because we have followed leaders who believe our society should not be asked to take care of itself. The bridge disaster in Minnesota clearly demonstrates this problem. We have to start taking care of our own instead of taking care of everyone else. The concept of spending more money in Baghdad than New Orleans should not be a reality. The concept of spending more money on the education of a foreign society instead of our own children should no longer be tolerated. The concept of spending more money destroying instead of building should once again be considered the greatest sin of any society. The concept of giving a foreign land free medical assistance while tens of millions of our own citizens go without should be considered one of the greatest sins of our time. As a nation we also have to stop wearing our religion on our sleeves instead of keeping it where it belongs in our hearts and souls. We can no longer allow our Constitution to be treaded upon by the religious beliefs of others. We can no longer allow the sick of our society to have no future because of some antiquated idea about what is and what is not holy. We can no longer allow the few to dictate to the many what their values should be. We can no longer allow the legalization of discrimination because of how the few translate what they believe to be righteous. Not so long ago the definition of political conservatism was a belief in Constitutional Law and fiscal responsibility. Our Constitution clearly states that religion should never be an integral part of our government. Our founding fathers saw the danger. It is now time for our present leaders to see the same. As far as fiscal responsibility is concerned it is time to bring our riches back to the people who produce them in order to make sure we remain a great society instead of squandering them away in some foreign adventure. Once again I find myself sitting in my old and dilapidated beach chair reminiscing about the summer that was about to come to an end. I, like the August whites are a bit more concerned this year. Did I say concerned? I meant angry. The End.
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