Tag: Government

America Welcomes the World

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In May of 1895, the ship Teutonic left the port in Liverpool, England, bound for the United States of America. On the ship was a three-year-old girl, Hannah Askew. She and her family were traveling to America to be reunited with her father. The family had moved from England to Australia in 1888, because of the shortage of work in England. Life in Australia, however, was not much better than life in England, so they had moved back to England. When the Panic of 1893 hit, Hannah’s father went to America to find work. He worked sporadically in different jobs until he got a well-paying job in the iron mines near Ishpeming, Michigan. After procuring lodging he sent for his family. Now the family was coming to meet him and begin their new life in the United States.

The ship had rough sailing and Hannah, her brother and sister, and mother were constantly sick. The quarters on the ship were cramped and miserable and she was kept inside for much of the voyage. The family finally arrived in the United States on July 3, 1895, and were welcomed at Ellis Island. That night they stayed at a friend’s house who fed them a dinner of bread and milk. They traveled from New York by train to Michigan and were reunited with their father. Hannah Askew is my great-grandmother and one of the millions of immigrants that came to America in the 1800’s.

As immigrants like Hannah entered New York Harbor, they passed under the welcoming arms of the Statue of Liberty. On the pedestal of the status are these immortal words:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these the homeless tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door!”

The people who came to America were usually not the rich or the famous; they were the tired, the poor, and the wretched seeking a golden door. That golden door was opened for them in America and so they came seeking a golden opportunity an opportunity that was found in the great cotton and wool mills of the large cities, opportunity that was found in the mines, the farms, the west, and the railroad

These immigrants contributed to our culture and much of the richness that we now enjoy. Immigrants from Norway and the Netherlands brought many of our Christmas traditions. Italian immigrants brought some of our favorite foods. Immigrants from Ireland brought their legends of Saint Patrick. Movies were introduced to America by the Russian Jews and the Greeks. The log cabin was introduced by the Swedes, and the Germans organized symphonies and clubs. Because of the diversity of the cultures that are mixed to form the American culture, we have the richest culture in the world. America’s welcome became America’s wealth.

Since the days of the Ellis Island, we have continued to welcome immigrants and their descendants. We have strived to accept and befriend all people into our churches and our schools. We have elected them to public office and befriended them in our neighborhoods.

Although our doors may not be opened as wide as they were in 1895, when my great-grandmother arrived, our hearts are open still. In our hearts America still welcomes the world. We welcome them by carrying their burdens, by lighting their way, by reaching out to them.

The United States has helped people recover from war, and improved living conditions in third world countries. We have been a major contributor in disaster relief throughout the world and have been the intermediaries and helpers of many struggling governments.

In no war in which the United States has been engaged has it seized property or land from an enemy as a treasure of war. Always we have graciously helped the people in countries regain their lives. After World War II, the United States gave Japan millions of dollars to build steel factories and to help restore what had been destroyed by the war. When soviet armies blockaded Berlin, we airlifted thousands of tons of food through the winter to keep the people from starving.

The United States has also played a prominent role in disaster relief around the world. When there were earthquakes in India the US helped immediately. Rescue workers from the US were sent to help. Food was sent from the Red Cross and many religious institutions. When rain waters flooded the country of Bolivia, we again sent workers and food to help the suffering people.

Just as our government reaches out to others, so do our people. As individuals, we welcome the world. The United States is home to thousands of humanitarian organizations that routinely send help and supplies to the poor and needy of the world. In high school I traveled to Peru with one of these organizations. We took simple things such as nails, hammers, crayons, beads, and educational supplies, and we taught them how to use them. We taught them how to build an efficient stove out of mud, and helped put in a water system to help with sanitation problems. We helped them to improve their overall experience of life by taking America’s richness and sharing it with them.

Many other people help the poor and needy people of the world. We have organized groups like the Oulessabougou Alliance whose mission is to help the people of Mali. This organization raises money by selling goods produced by villagers in Mali to people in America. This money then goes back to Mali to pay teachers and to send educational and medical supplies. By helping in this way, they do not make the people dependent on America for leadership and organization. Almost all of the leaders in the alliance are from Mali and will continue to live there and support their country. The founders of the alliance have reached out with their hearts and helped to take the golden door to Mali.

America has welcomed the world in different ways throughout its history. In the 1800’s we welcomed thousands of people to our shores and our way of life. These people brought their culture with them and enriched our culture by it. People still come to America and we should welcome them still. Today we welcome the people of the world into our hearts as we not only welcome them to our shores but also build them up in their native lands and help them better their lives. Our welcome reaches across borders, it embraces all people, it seeks to better the whole world.

This text is a slightly reworked speech that I gave as part of a Independence Day speech competition in 2001. I think it is pertinent today

Vote FOR Evan McMullin . . . not AGAINST another candidate.

AdamLeave a comment

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, … to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” Abraham Lincoln’s immortal words seem, on this election day, to call to us from the grave. The Civil War had not yet ended when Lincoln spoke these words, yet they were a call to action. Today, as they were in 1865, they are a call for civility, a call for unity, a call for loving our neighbor.

While this election season has drawn out some of the worst in the citizenry of our great nation, it has also drawn out some of the best. I have seen friends thoughtfully and courteously engage with others in discussing the candidates and issues so vitally important in this election. I have seen neighbors kindly entertain conversations about the important problems and the great strengths of our country. I have seen politicians and statesmen stand up for just and true principles before the derisive noise of the popular media and powerful political influence.

Because I subscribe to Lincoln’s dearly held belief that we are better as a unified country, I have decided this election to vote for a man for president who I believe is uniquely qualified to help us achieve that unity – Evan McMullin. Evan McMullin is described quite well by a quote from years ago by a great religious leader and statesman, Ezra Taft Benson, who said: “Unlike the political opportunist, the true statesman values principle above popularity, and works to create popularity for those political principles which are wise and just.” Evan McMulllin is this kind of man. He has taken a stand for our founding principles of individual liberty and our God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He has taken this stand in the face of overwhelming odds and despite very low chances of actually winning the race for the Presidency.

If we as a country are to return to our moral and founding principles, I believe we must stand for what we believe in and cast our individual votes for people that embody those principles. Please don’t just vote against a candidate. Join me and hundreds of thousands of others in voting for Evan McMullin for President of the United States of America.
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Ten Years

Adam

I assumed that first period AP Chemistry class that day would be just as it had been for the first few weeks of school. When I walked into the classroom, however,  I knew that something was wrong. The TV was on and I saw that the first tower of the World Trade Center was on fire. I didn’t really know what the twin towers were but I knew that something very bad had happened. As my class sat there in kind of a stunned silence, we watched a second plane explode into the second tower. Then we really knew that things were changed forever. As the rest of the day unfolded and we learned about planes crashing into the Pentagon and into the field, an almost deadly silence settled over our school and over the country. The suspense and fear was palpable. The first thought on the mind of most of my peers was, “What does this mean for the rest of my life? Will we go to war? How will our generation grow up in this new environment?”

Shortly after we learned about the Pentagon being hit the school forced us to turn off the TVs and “go about our normal business.” This infuriated me. This was my country that was under attack. This was my new reality. Yesterday’s “business as normal” was not normal any more. I could not believe that the school administrators thought that we were so immature that we shouldn’t know about what was happening to our country.

After school I went home and attended my mom’s home school English class and LaDawn Jacob’s history class. The class was full of very patriotic young men and women and we spent the whole 3 hours watching the news and talking about what this meant for our country. I remember standing on the front porch with some of the guys and talking about the possibility of our having to change our life plans and having to go to war.

That evening I had to go to work. I worked at a fast food place where business was dead the whole night. Only one gentleman came in, and I talked to him for half an hour. He was an old cowboy from Lehi, Utah, and had seen a lot in his life. He talked about how shocked and angry he was and how he wanted to get revenge on the terrorists.

As the images and stories of heroism surfaced over the next few weeks, I was touched by the greatness of the American people. I respect and honor the firefighters and police officers that risked and gave their lives for those that had been directly attacked. They are examples of the unconquerable Spirit of America and of the courage and bravery of our people.

That day ten years ago changed my life and my world forever. I had grown up with a great pride for America and with the belief that this country was founded by God and that God watched over the welfare of this country. I still hold to that belief. I believe that America is a land favored by God and that He will protect us. My religious belief teaches that God established this country as a place where people would have freedom.

“And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. . .  That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.” — D&C 101:80

While I mourn and commemorate the events of September 11th, 2001, I also fear that our country has moved itself from this fundamental role of protecting freedom. We have worked so hard at making ourselves safe that we have lost the freedom that our forbears sacrificed and gave their all to build. We don’t want to see airplanes become weapons again, and so we have voluntarily given up our privacy to what once would be considered an unlawful search at airport security checkpoints. We want so badly to catch terrorists that we allow the government to monitor our phone and other conversations without a warrant. We are so afraid of Muslim extremism that we have sometimes denied basic religious freedom to our Muslim brothers and sisters here at home. These and other examples should concern all freedom-loving Americans and cause us to reflect on the cost of this increased “safety.” Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as having said,

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Our founding fathers pledged to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in pursuit of freedom from oppression and tyranny. As we strive to increase our security and safety, we must remember that freedom is paramount. As we remember this anniversary, let us pledge and commit ourselves to not only fight terrorism and tyranny where we find it but also to strive to protect freedom and liberty here. Let us retain the greatness that we have enjoyed by continuing in the goodness upon which we were founded.

It is for Us the Living

Adam

On this Memorial Day we remember those that have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve and protect our sacred freedoms. Those brave men that have gone before us deserve our honor and respect. They also deserve our continued vigilance to preserve freedom and the Constitution of the United States. As Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” We have the duty and responsibility as citizens of this great country to make our voices heard in defense of liberty and freedom.

Obama’s Lack of Trust in the American People

Adam2 Comments

The free world is cringing at the liberty-killing health care mandate that is President Obama’s signature piece of legislation.  There are many aspects of ObamaCare that are distasteful to the American people but the purpose of this short article is not to discuss those details of this law.  I’d like to discuss what I believe may be one of the motivating forces which moved Obama, and liberal Democrats in general, to craft such an onerous piece of legislation.

One of the motivating factors of the liberal agenda, especially as manifest in ObamaCare, is a fundamental lack of trust in the American people.  The liberal agenda assumes that a few elite elected officials in their offices in Washington know better what is good for the American people than the American people do.  This assumption fundamentally means that our government doesn’t trust us to solve our own problems but assumes that they have all the answers.

ObamaCare claims to address many problems that do exist in the health insurance system.  It claims to “make insurance more affordable,” to “set up a new competitive health insurance market,” and to “bring greater accountability to health care” (whitehouse.gov).  Most of the American people would agree that these are worthy goals and that these ends should indeed be achieved to fix our current health care system. The trouble isn’t that the goals are wrong but that they are being addressed by government!  The liberal establishment in government asks us to trust them that they know what is right.  The goals of health care reform, however, can be much more efficiently achieved by leaving these problems and their solutions to the people.  Leave the money in the hands of the people and allow them to address their own problems.

Ronald Reagan addressed this lack of trust when he said, “‘Trust me’ government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what’s best for us. But my view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. The trust is where it belongs-in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it belongs, in their elected leaders. That kind of relationship, between the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact” (July 17, 1980).

As Reagan stated, our government today needs to return the trust to the people. The values that Reagan spoke of that “transcend persons and parties” are the values that were fundamental to the founding of our country.  These values are those of Life, Liberty, and Property. We trust our elected leaders to preserve these values — we also trust them to never encroach on these values.  In this election year candidates for office should remember that the American people trust them only to the extent that they trust the American people.  The role of government is not to increase itself, but to protect the liberties of those who are its creators — the people.

I welcome your comments and discussion.

Some interesting side notes. . . This graphic represents the bureaucracy created by ObamaCare! I look at graphs like this a lot in my work and this is one of the most confusing ones I’ve seen.  It makes a good children’s game to follow all the lines and see where they go!