Thou Shalt Not Comment

It was Sunday afternoon, on the way home from church we had stopped off to pick up a few groceries (odds and ends to fend off starvation throughout the remainder of the weekend). Mom had gone inside the store, I was posted in the car with the kids. I was trying to back track from an off-hand statement I had made earlier: we had stopped on our way out of the parking lot to speak with Grandmother and Papa (my wife's parents), as we were pulling up beside them I had joked that maybe they would like to have us over for lunch.

Our kids latch on to anything that bears a remote resemblance to "GO!" and they will tenaciously hang on to the possibility of "GO-ing" until it has been determined beyond the shadow of any doubt that "GO-ing" is completely out of the question. They had heard my comment and were going through the tedious process of determining if, in fact there was any possibility of us going to Grandmother and Papa's house.

So as we sat in the parking lot, I answered the question for the third time - "no, we are not going to Grandmother and Papa's house for lunch and they are not coming to our house - I was only making a comment!"

AA, my six-year-old said, "oooh Dad, your not s'pose to do that - it 's in the Bible!"

My siblings and I have a sort of running gag in which we jokingly attribute ridiculous things to the Bible: "You shouldn't put ketchup on that - it's in the Bible, I think!" or "Isn't there something in the Bible about 'thou shalt eat dinner at your Mama's on Sundays'?" It's a gentle jab at people who - in ignorance- attribute some rules and regulations to the Bible that really never existed there.

Anyway, I assumed AA's statement was along those lines so I responded that the Bible doesn't say anything about that.

"it does" he shot back defiantly - "you told us the Bible says, 'thou shalt not comment-'".

Now because my son is a lot like me (sometimes to the chagrin of his mother), I understood right away that someone had miscommunicated. "Thou shalt not comment" was actually, "Thou shalt not commit..." and something had followed (as in "thou shalt not commit murder").

In these days in which our nation is experiencing - what I believe to be - an unprecedented dearth of leadership, people seem to be living under something of a self-imposed commandment - "though shalt not comment".

Perhaps it is not because they fear that to comment would be inappropriate, but rather they just feel that it would do no good. Who would listen?

It's true that there are countless avenues for one's voice to be heard these days. People rant on television talk shows, they pour forth in blogs, one can participate in a plethora of polls on a daily basis. But the people with the power to do something - are they listening?

In America there has historically been one comment that counted for something - our vote. An opportunity every couple years to "vote the bums out" if they were not behaving properly. It helped keep politicians honest (to some degree); but this year, in the presidential race Americans are in the unique position of having three candidates (at this point), all from the Senate and none that shows any real leadership ability. Unfortunately, they really agree on a lot of things.

So I find myself - without comment; without a candidate. I will not vote for a liberal. And barring some unforeseen event, I do not believe I can vote for the Republican candidate. He has sought for too long to do too many things counter to conservatism. The assumption that conservatives will fall in line and do anything to keep Obama or Clinton out of office is appalling and arrogant.

There are no strong voices in favor of fiscal conservatism...
no one attacking- or even questioning the global warming hoax or why its target is always freedom and free enterprise...
no one touting the common sense reasoning that went on in our decision to go to war in Iraq...
no one standing up for achievement and sponsoring a system that rewards those who work hard...
no one mentioning a return to personal responsibility and morals...
no one saying that this idea of a government by the people, of the people and for the people, works...
no one talking about limiting government...
no one espousing the ideals of life and family.

It is like Henry Ford offering Model T's painted any color as long as its black; our political process has really offered us no choice this year.

In essence they have said - "thou shalt not comment".