A Song of the Current with Remembrance of Times Past

View from the top: Europe early 1930's

View of the bottom: New World early 2000's

                                                                            

                                                            Second-Greatest Generation©

Don’t do torture, round here

Cause it ain’t what the good Lord said,

To do-- oh, no

We don’t do that round here

But who knows?

Or who cares?

What maybe gets done

Over there?

We got reasons, we got needs:

They sing for Uncle when

You break their knees.

It ain’t easy, seeing the light.

It ain’t fighting when you’re in the right.

It ain’t inhumane, it’s just saving lives.

We got reasons, we got needs:

We got a Gitmo Jesus on our pin-striped sleeves.

Oh no, we don’t do torture round here,

Oh no, we don’t do that round here:

We got reasons, we got needs.

Got a law that says “Commander do what you please.”

Don’t need Einsteins to tell us what’s right;

Can’t be blamed when innocents buy it in our fights,

Ain’t cruel, it’s just the culture of life.

We got reasons, we got needs:

They got someone’s savior begging on his knees

Oh no, we don’t do that round here

Oh no, we don’t do that round here.

We got reasons, we got needs:

Got a waterboard Jesus on our cowboy sleeves,

Oh, no we don’t do torture round here.

But who knows, or who cares

What maybe gets done over there?

I have reason, I have need:
I have to sing for all living on their broken knees,

Oh yeah, let’s sing out loud right here.

Commentary:   Acts of severity untempered with mercy, as time and circumstances change, can lead to an erosion of faith in those in whom we place our trust.   The leaders who are lionized by the acclaim of history are those who have realized this dynamic, and have made perfect compromises for the sake of growing tolerance and justice.

 As we, the followers, grow in understanding-- the consequences of our own actions become more and more apparent, and it becomes easier to take action which reflects the foundational teachings of the great minds of our heroes, rather than to simply follow the leader of the moment.  When we understand that the Other has the same right and privilege to seek  the same self-interest that we desire for Ourselves, then we hear a voice that cannot be simply ignored.  And once the message is heard, it becomes an obsession to act in favor of balancing severity with mercy.

The leaders of great movements who are remembered with devout fondness and lasting honor are those who have listened to this voice, and have moved to act in concert with those who see Themselves in the Other.  It is never too late to think to listen, to hear, and to act accordingly. The glory of aligning with Justice, whose twin scales are mercy and severity, is said by sages of all Faiths to be everlasting.

(The curious are invited to inquire about the location names of the photos at the top of the post.)