More on Responsibility

Each of us has been created to be free. We are each given unique characteristics, talents, personalities, and histories. I contend that we are also given the charge to assume full responsibility for ourselves and our individual lives. Obviously, for many years, we are not able to be fully responsible for ourselves because of physical limitations, immaturity, and lack of knowledge. That period of time, known as "childhood", requires others to be responsible for us to varying degress. But during this time, we each need to be learning and preparing for the point in time at which we assume full responsibility for our behavior. At this important juncture, we take over pilot status for our lives. Our behavior is ours for which to be accountable. No blaming. No excuses. Our life needs become our responsibility, and our means of earning a living is now our responsibility.Our respective happiness, spiritual searches, relationships, values, and activities are now ours to define. There is a wonderful sense of freedom included with this responsibility. Sadly, some postpone this transition as long as possible. Others never get there. We may cling to a delusion that someone else "owes" us our lives or some part thereof. We blame, avoiding accountability and hoping to put the responsibility that is inescapably ours on someone else. We become convinced that the government "owes" us a job, or that society should take care of us if we make poor choices. Our present societal situation tends to view this as acceptable, and seeks at greater and greater expense to accomodate those who believe this way. We try to be "compassionate" and caring by helping those who have made a lifestyle out of irresponsibility. I contend it is neither caring, nor compassionate to cheat an individual out of his/her legitimate responsibility and freedom. And it is criminal to do so by burdening others with someone else's abdicated responsibilities.

ON SELF ESTEEM: One of the most overused terms in today's world is "self-esteem". Few people in America are unfamiliar with the term, and it has become indicative of our love affair with pop psychology. We are told we should feel good about ourselves, and that it is only with "good" self-esteem that we can hope to meet the challenges of the modern world. On the other hand, a "poor self-esteem" is cited as a formula for disaster in our lives. Some use that term as an excuse for immoral, illegal, and injurious behavior. Rather than a description of one's psychological status, "self-esteem has been reduced to a justification for poor behavior, and a means by which an individual can try to escape responsibility for his/her actions. I would suggest that any human being on the face of this earth has intrinsic value and needs no outside validation. We are born as special and unique in God's sight, loved and cherished in ways unapproachable by other human beings, even by our parents. I would contend that it is the world that usurps this state of self-acceptance, teaching us that somehow we just aren't good enough. Some of us have relatively loving and supportive experiences as we grow, so the damage is reduced and does not severely incapacitate us. Others, unfortunately, experience the darkest sides of human behavior and are reduced to a belief that only through extremely self-destructive behavior or suicide can the pain be reduced or eliminated. That people suffer in this way is undeniable. We have only to look around us to see the suffering, the violence, and the deterioration of values that characterize a damaging environment. Whatever the horror of a person's life, the absolute value of that individual as a child of God remains. The separation of the person from God is the real tragedy here. As the individual descends into self-disgust, self-hate, and a sense of shame, s/he moves slowly away from the Source of all value. What shall we suggest to these people, to help them regain that sense of significance, importance, and fulfillment? One might suggest three separate, but related strategies. Firstly, to become well-acquainted with, and accepting of, who you are. Included in this step is the rejection of shame, comparison, past experiences, and human standards that tell you that you do not measure up. Seek to regain the view of God, who loves you as you are. Secondly, come to a firm, committed decision about the values by which you choose to live. Again, look to God for the benevolent, loving values He has placed before all of us. Choose to live within these values and to demonstrate them in how you live. To fall asleep at night with a clear conscience is a blessing indeed. Finally, dedicate yourself to overcoming the problems from which you ran previously, and set goals for improvement and accomplishment. Work hard to find the course for your life, consulting with God through prayer for direction. Nothing brings about a sense of value than to accomplish something previously thought to be impossible. The lie of shame, which tells us that we are inadequate, unloveable, and defective, is an falsehood that disappears when we shine the light of truth on it.

I would like to begin with a qualifying statement. Given the complexity of the modern world, and the deeply entrenched nature of the social and political ills from which we suffer, no solution or groups of solutions can be "simple". The notion that there might be a rapid remedy to the problems is misdirected. Another fallacy that might confound the reader is the possibility that the solutions will be easy. It cannot be stressed too often that hard work, sacrifice, and diligence will be required in amounts unparalleled in our history. As a people, we have grown complacent, lazy, and ignorant. This is not to say that the American people are in any way inadequate, bad, or worthy of harsh judgement. But many of us have bought into an idea that we are the focal point of the universe, that our individual "needs" are so important as to make permissible the rejection of time-honored ideas and traditions. There will be no simple, speedy recovery from what ails us.

In the spirit of common sense, then, let us begin with a proposal to return our country to some basic documents which served as the foundation for its evolution in the first place. These are the Constitution of the United States, and the Bible. The initial reaction of many to this modest proposal is that we already have these documents. Truly said, on a superficial level. But I would suggest that possession of these sources is not the same thing as thorough and forthright adherence to, and application of, them. Many of us are woefully ignorant of the historical context of the Constitution and what it truly says. In a little over 200 years, our courts have interpreted this document to such a degree of liberalism as to render it a corruption of that which the Founders brought into being. Instead of the Constitution protecting the freedoms of the States and the individual, it has been interpreted as giving more and more power to an increasingly corrupt Federal government. Individual liberty is being usurped in a gradual and systematic way. The Bible, as the spiritual guide of Christianity, has been pushed aside by those uncomfortable with the demands it exacts of the true believer. We have taken the hackneyed phrase "separation of church and state" and used it to gradually remove religion and faith from public discourse. And yet, the moral teachings, character building, and faith available in the Bible is what we need most in this country at a pivotal point in our history. Having begun this section with a proposal to restore these two documents to a place of prominence in our society, I invite the reader to meditate on the points made here before moving on to the next essay.

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