I would like to take a moment to respond to the editorial published on June

14th concerning the “survival of the USA”. It seems the author’s primary

concerns regarding our nation are first a perceived threat from the

nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and

President Obama’s decision to promote greater tolerance for this same said

community on the international stage and secondly the fear that “our

beloved nation is also under attack from atheists and Islamists…”. I

would agree with the author that our nation is indeed at a crucial point in

its history and that decisions being made today will have a long lasting

effect; however, what threatens us as a people aren’t our gay neighbors and

brethren, nor is it those who choose to worship God differently than we do.

First, I’d like to applaud our President on his standing firm on the

principle that all human life has sanctity and is deserving of equal

protection under the law. One of the greatest documents to come out of the

20th century was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the wake of

the tragedies of WWII and a loss of human life that had never before been

witnessed was born a firm and steadfast resolve to develop a Declaration

like the world had never seen before, because all nations would be held to

the doctrines and standards to be set forth. Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of

FDR, chaired the committee and when adopted in 1948 the Declaration set

forth many of those ideas which have so defined us as a people and enable

our nation to still serve as a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity to

those oppressed around the world today. In his commitment to Human Rights

abroad our President has shown a moral courage and fortitude in defending

what is best about America: all human life has sanctity and deserves

protection from arbitrary oppression and hate.

Secondly, when our Founding Fathers convened in Philadelphia they did pray

for Divine guidance…at the same time, with many of their own families

having recently left Europe for greater religious freedoms in the New World

they knew the dangers of threading too closely the machinations of the

church with that of the state. Over the course of a long, hot summer and

countless hours of debate a small group of brilliant American statesman,

through compromise, drafted what was to become a hallmark of Enlightenment

political philosophy: the United States Constitution. Their work, and their

compromises, lay the foundation of what would become the United States of

America and the nation which we hold so dear to our hearts.

All of history is littered with zealots on both sides of every issue, and

the West is still in a pitched battle against the zealots of Islam, just as

we have been for the last 1500 years. What is important to remember is our

nation is stronger than such zealotry and a people that love liberty will

not lose itself to such fears, hate, and divisiveness. The vast majority of

the Islamic world is a peace loving people whose concerns match our own: a

desire for economic security, the freedom to raise and love their children

in a world free from violence and war, and the freedom to worship freely.

Never let us forget that the children of Islam are children of Abraham as

well.

Which brings me to the real matter at hand…is our nation under attack?

What really threatens this nation we so love and have watched our mothers

and fathers work and die for and be buried in its rich dark soils? The

threat is a two-edged sword slicing at the very heart of America. On one

side is the failure of every American consumer to support American workers.

Every time we reach on the shelf of the local market and spend American

dollars to purchase inferior foreign made goods we help to tear our

national fabric a bit more. We must bring American jobs back to America and

the only way we can achieve that is to create a demand for American made

goods. The other side of the sword is education…we are now nearly two

generations behind much of the rest of the developed world when it comes to

the most basic measures of literacy, math, and science proficiency…the

American legacy of our forefathers demands better. And yet, in the recent

political climate few groups are under attack as much as our public school

teachers. It is a travesty that those who are entrusted as the guardians

and keepers of our very future should continually be expected to work

harder for less pay and with less respect. We must make education our

nation’s foremost priority. A failure to educate and ensure jobs for the

future citizenry of our nation is a far bigger threat than those who simply

love or pray differently than you do I assure you.

Please hear my words with an open heart,

Dave Northcutt

A New Testament Democrat