A Plea to Be an Educated Voter

A Few Thoughts About the Current Situation in Our Country

As a teacher who teaches English and Social Studies, it is disconcerting to me to say the least how ignorant people are today, especially the younger generations. In an effort to educate those who don’t know about the different forms of government and what they mean and stand for as well as a plea to be educated voters, I offer the follow teaching. For the most part, this is not my opinion. I want to outline facts well known from history and from definitions found in the dictionary. Towards the end I will share from my heart my beliefs. If you already believe you know, then feel free to skip it. If you don’t agree with or want to believe the information presented that is your prerogative, but not believing the truth does not change the fact that it is the truth. However, if you are teachable and truly want to understand, read on. Please research and further educate yourself when you are done as I can only give a brief explanation since this is not a book.

First, a few Definitions:

democracy
1a: government by the people especially: rule of the majority
b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

republic
• 1. a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

socialism
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Based on these definitions, The United States of America is most accurately considered a Democratic Republic.
A couple of founding principles, include Capitalism and Religious Freedom.

Capitalism also known as The American Dream. People from all over the world have and still come to America to find a better life through hard work. It is the principle and belief that we can all make a good life for ourselves. It means anyone can start a business and trade goods and/or services for currency or other goods and/or services. Unfortunately, there are also many who come to take advantage of hard-working people.

Freedom of religion is the belief and desire that we can worship God as we see fit. Many of the first pilgrims or immigrants came to America as a means to escape religious persecution. They desired to worship God freely as their beliefs dictated. They did not want to be told that they had to be a Catholic or a Protestant based on the personal religious beliefs of a Monarch. You will notice that in the early settlements there was not even a consideration for “no belief in God.” Those who refused to worship God were exiled. Those who worshiped other gods or practiced witchcraft were burned at the stake.

In the past few decades, many have come to America or risen up from within who want to dictate what God we should worship or even whether or not we are allowed to worship God at all. The religious freedoms so dearly bought by our Founding Fathers are being eroded more and more every day.

Also, many are rising up in this hour to kill the American Dream through a form of government called Socialism. The principles of Socialism say that everything belongs to everyone. This means that you and I cannot have our own property (house, car, furniture, cell phone, etc.) or own a business that we work hard to get and build. It is also the first step to Communism which says the Government owns everything and will distribute it as they see fit.

Do you really want everyone to have equal ownership of your stuff? Do you want someone else telling you if you can or cannot have a house or a car or what you can watch on TV? Do you want to turn to a form of government that is failing in other parts of the world and people are coming to America to escape? I know I don’t!

One more point I want to address is the new term “Democratic Socialism”. What exactly is this term supposed to mean? That we elect people to tell us how to live and make sure everyone has a share in everything? I for one do not believe that the Founding Fathers had this in mind when they wrote the Constitution. I certainly do not want everyone to have ownership in what I have worked hard to build. I do not want the government telling me how to live and worship or that I cannot worship. I am a firm believer in the founding principles of the Constitution and the rule of Law. What this means is that I am a Constitutionalist and a law-abiding citizen who worships God according to my personal convictions.

What I see a lot in the news today are a bunch of ignorant lawless people spouting a bunch of nonsense about things they have not been educated about. They are being stirred up by emotions and empty promises to destroy our country and the ideals it was founded on. This is a major insult to all of those people from when the Pilgrims first came over all the way to today who have given or are giving their lives to purchase the freedoms outlined in the Amendments to the Constitution.

Please people…educate yourselves and vote to protect the Constitutional Amendments and the ideals this country was founded on. Please do not vote for the Socialist policies being promoted by many in the Democratic Party and even some in the Republican Party. Carefully consider who you are choosing to represent us and read about their beliefs and policies from their own websites as well as look at their track records. If they have a past of voting a certain way, then they will most likely continue to vote that way in the future. And please, vote the issues not the race or gender of a candidate. We should have moved beyond the bigotries of the past by now and be able to look at a human being as a human being and consider their capabilities without looking at skin color or gender.

If you are still reading, thank you for taking the time to hear me out. May we all choose to live the American Dream!

Rev. Dr. Miri Gyrfalcon