A Treatise on Treason

"The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty."
- Abraham Lincoln

That quote alone greatly raised my esteem for our 16th President. It's also a great starting point for describing the decay of our country. Many people use the same words in their arguments, but the meanings are opposite. Both the sheep and the wolf cry out for liberty but the first wants the freedom to live and the second the freedom to kill.

You can see struggles like these in our political battles. There are those who want freedom from religion and those who want to be free to force their religion. There are those who want to be free from pollution and those who want to be free to pollute. And there are those who seek equity in our workplace with rules for safety and wages and those who wish to be free of those safeguards.

As I've stated before, you cannot serve your country if cannot serve the truth. When the greatest ship in the world has its hull pierced, the passengers fall into two groups. The loyal group loves the ship truly and speaks out, calling for its repair. The selfish group loves riding on the ship only and decries anything that takes from their enjoyment. They call the first group "traitors" for saying their ship is anything but perfect.

The countries that have risen to greatness did so by serving the truth. Ancient Rome disdained the tyranny of an emperor and rose to great power. And then backslid into the corruption of an all-ruling power. Had they kept serving the ideals of a free republic, who knows what may have happened. And as we now turn our backs on our freedoms, that same question will be asked of us.

Today we stand with a President as a traitor. How can a man lie to his country, spill the blood of his fellow citizens, bring terror to the world, and call himself loyal? These are dark times indeed. To fix this we must come clean. Admitting we are wrong will not destroy us, it will heal us. But to not do so is fatal - and treasonous.