Posted by
The Warrior's Pen on Monday, March 26, 2007 1:34:42 AM
After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the
officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your
brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."Nehemiah 4:14
One of the most disturbing videos I have seen in a long time involves the beating of a waitress by off-duty cop Anthony Abbate. I know there are pigs and bullies in the world willing to pick on whomever they can, even a woman. But the distressing part isn't that this sorry retard beat a woman.
The part that got to me was being able to see that he wasn't in the bar alone. The tape of the event clearly showed other men watching the attack-and not intervening. Is this really what manhood in America has sunk to, that we won't even come to the rescue of a defenseless woman? Not even after he has thrown her to the floor and is in the process of beating the dog snot out of her? Our fathers and grandfathers must be proud. We went from the nation that turned the tide against Fascism to one that can't handle a single bully in a bar.
This should not be surprising to us-we have been programmed for decades to be ashamed of being men, to despise our strength, to reject our masculinity. And more often than not, we do. The men who we find attending anti-war rallies are not there for a noble purpose, they march because they do not wish to fight and do not want to be singled out as cowards. They march because all their lives they have been raise in a culture that tells them to seek their own good before the good of others, and they do not know any other way.
What I do not understand is why a woman would bother with such a man. How could any woman lie in peace next to a man who just publicly proclaimed he would not defend her?
Recently I ran into an old friend of mine in the university computer lab, someone I hadn't seen in a long time. The last time I saw her she had just become pregnant, and now she is just a few weeks from giving birth. The change was disconcerting, to say the least. But our accidental meeting was far more important to me than that. She reminded me of why I do what I do. I do not serve in the military, but the soldiers in Iraq and I have some common goals. The brave soldiers serving or country kick down doors and take bullets, while I am merely a writer, using words to wrestle for what is right and only take the barbs of scorn from opponents. What I do is minuscule by comparison.
But like them, I do what I do so that my friend and her currently unborn baby can live their lives in peace. So that her daughter can grow up without fear. That she can dream big dreams for her child and see them come to pass. Right now, there are thousands of men and women in Iraq doing this work far better than I could ever hope too.
But as the old saying goes, "charity begins at home". We all have a role to play in defending our values, and sometimes the enemy is sitting on the next barstool. Sometimes he lives in the apartment upstairs. And while we may not wear a uniform or receive combat pay, it is our duty to carry the responsibility of a free nation on our shoulders wherever we are. Being a free man is both a privilege and a duty, and it is time for us to tend to our own garden.
The people around me should have the confidence of knowing that I am willing to take my share of responsibility for what goes on around me, that unlike those other men in the bar, I will not slink away. That I will not be a coward. They have that right of me. It is the voluntary actions of a people that determine their destiny, not the minimal functions required by the state. A nation is great when it is filled with men willing to act upon their morals and values regardless of the cost, and ceases to be great when it is not.
Shame on the men in that video. Shame on the men who march against duty. Shame on men who will not get involved out of fear they may become a criminal's target. Shame on men who run and hide when they are needed. Shame on
us.