We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
I close each episode of the LifeBlood podcast by saying, “We’re all in this together” and I mean it. Though imperfect, the United States of America is the best country that’s ever existed, and this is the best time ever to be living here. Right here, right now. You and I are extremely fortunate and privileged.
And we’ve got some work to do.
Each of us has to commit to coming together to move our Nation, and humanity, forward. Each of us must do our part, and we do that by doing our best.
The promise of America is that we are the land of opportunity. We’re a cultural melting pot where anyone can come and make a better life for themselves and their families. That was true in 1776, and it’s true today.
We need to get back to learning and benefiting from our differences, instead of using them to divide and segregate us.
Right now, we appear to be at one another’s throats more than ever. But I don’t think it’s true, it just seems that way. Profit motives have perverted our media, social, traditional and new alike, and we get a constant diet of extremism and polarization designed to get clicks, eyeballs and attention. All of this has polluted the national conversation.
Are there bad things happening? Yes. Is there evil present? Of course. But objectively, things are better than they’ve ever been by most every metric. And even if you don’t believe me, here’s the good news; we’re still standing. And since we’re still standing, we can still fight for the promise of America. But you have to be willing.
I’m sick of polarization and I bet you are too. So how do we get past it? You and I have to take the first step. We need to realize that no one is coming to save us, and if we truly desire change, we need to be the ones to enact it.
Let’s start engaging one another civilly and genuinely. Let’s commit to working to find middle ground.
We’ll have to interrogate our own realities and our own thinking first. This morning, I spent time trying to understand all the sides of Roe versus Wade. I read pro-choice view points, pro-life view points, and tried to understand why the Supreme Court ruled the way it did.
I did this because there’s never been a more important time to come to my own conclusions about things. There’s never been a more important time for you to make up your own mind. We need to take the time to educate ourselves, think critically, and form our own opinions.
I had the good fortune to become a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity when I was in college, and I wanted to share one of our most beautiful pieces of public literature.
The Spirit of Sigma Chi
The Spirit of Sigma Chi as conceived by the founders more than 140 years ago, yet visible and alive today, is based on the theory that
…Friendship among members, sharing a common belief in an ideal, …
… and possessing different temperaments, talents, and convictions, …
… is superior to friendship among members having the same temperaments, talents, and convictions, and that …
… Genuine friendship can be maintained without surrendering the principle of individuality or sacrificing one’s personal judgment.
So long as we share a common belief in the promise of America, our differences are what will carry us through these difficult times.
And as long as I’m standing, I’ll continue to fight for the promise of America. I hope you’ll be standing next to me.
Happy Fourth of July and God Bless America.
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