Learning to Get Along

The Trayvon Martin case in Florida has rocked this country with outrage.  As Americans, the majority of us learned long ago that the only way our country can progress is to treat all Americans with the same respect and consideration that we wish to have shown to us.  When we learn to respect each other then we can get along together, work together and build a great nation together.


Our country did not become the most powerful nation on the planet solely by the works of the White Anglo Saxon Protestants who first arrived here.  It was the influence of many groups of people who all brought something to the table that make this bountiful banquet.  That first began with the Native Americans who continually get the short end of any negotiations with our government. 


When countries throughout the world have hard times, some of their people come here and by welcoming those people, we open our doors not only to those yearning to breathe free but also to some of the most incredible minds that help to shape our country and make it better.  Those minds are not restricted to one race or nationality or gender.  Brilliance comes in many shapes and sizes and by welcoming so many different people to this country, our nation has become great.


Trayvon Martin has shown us that not all Americans respect the diversity of our country but this does not mean that we, as a people, do not respect each other.  This type of killing was commonplace at one time and the fact that it has been so newsworthy shows that our thinking toward each other has changed.  We have learned to get along and the outcry against Zimmerman (the man who killed Trayvon) is not restricted to the black community.  Those of us who are white are just as outraged by this action.


We should be taking our political ideology beyond our own borders.  We should be showing other countries that even though they have people living within their country with whom they do not get along, they can overcome their differences if they try.  Our nation went through a terrible civil war because of the issue of slavery and even when the blacks were freed, it was still decades before they finally achieved full civil rights.  To this day we still have individuals who do not believe in those rights but the majority of us do.  The majority of us proudly elected our first black president to lead this country.


We need to help other countries to achieve this and the first place we should start is in the Middle East.  Ever since declaring statehood in 1948, Israel has continually fought with the Palestinians who live within her borders.  For more than 60 years the bloodshed continues not because of terrorist attacks against Israel, as the Israeli government would have us believe but because Israel is conducting the attacks.  


Israel has a strong army and one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East.  Much of the Middle East is wealthy with oil yet not Israel.  So how does this country pay for an army, for nuclear weaponry and for such a high standard of living?


We pay it.  The United States gives the state of Israel more than two billion dollars a year.  This is not a loan.  This is money that hard working Americans pay as taxes that are then given away to a country that refuses to work in good faith toward peace.  Because they don't have to.  They can continue to support their army and build nuclear weapons because we are paying for them.


This needs to stop.  We need to stop all foreign aid to Israel and put that country in a financial position where it will have to work with its neighbors.  Force the Israeli government to sit down and fairly deal with the Palestinians.  Force Israel to return the land that they stole from the Palestinians.  Return the borders of Israel to what they were in 1948 when the country was first declared independent.


Further, the United States needs to work with the United Nations to grant statehood to Palestine as well.  By putting Palestine on an equal footing with Israel, it gives further encouragement to Israel to finally make peace.


Our nation has demonstrated that it is possible for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Atheists and all other religions to live and work together.  We have shown that black, white, yellow, brown and red can all live in harmony.  We need to spread that message to the world and at the same time, stop paying other countries to kill those they don't like.