Which Side Are You On?

LIKE IT OR NOT, OUR WORLD TODAY PRESENTS US WITH STARK MORAL CHOICES. At some cost in terms of friends and fortunes, I've made mine and done so without regret. The cost, measured against what some have given, is minescule. At times I wonder about the cost since I've tried to always keep in mind that I could be wrong. Then I run into the stark contrasts of basic human decency seen here and my resolve strengthens.

If you think about these two links below as a forking path, which one you choose to take will say a lot about you and the world you inhabit and the world you would like to leave to those who will come after us. The first looks at the manifest evil currently blooming around the world and here at home and decides to do something, a very little something, but something to make the world better in just one household.

The second seeks to exploit hate, bitterness, and what can only be described as an insect mindset. And it seeks to do it for its own personal enrichment. I once thought it was important to try to understand this kind of poisoned American mind. Now I know I understand it all too well.

Here then, are your choices. I've made mine. It is time you made yours:
The Command Post - Iraq - A Response To Murder: Strengthen The Good

A Response To Murder: Strengthen The Good

Tonight, I finished watching the HBO documentary My Flesh And Blood, which tells the story of Susan Tom, a 53-year-old single mother in Fairfield, California. Susan is the mother of 13 children, 11 of whom she has adopted, many of whom suffer from handicaps and diseases. Teenagers Hannah and Xenia were born without legs. Anthony has a degenerative and usually fatal skin disease. Eight-year-old Faith has disfiguring scars and no hair from being badly burned as an infant. Joe, 15, recently passed away from cystic fibrosis. Margaret, 18, helps Susan raise the family

That was one way of responding to the hate and the evil of the world. To date they have raised more than $11,000 for this family from small contributions.

Here is where the other path leads:

Search and Destroy

Tillman Toon Original

Many people have written to ask about the price for the original artwork for last week's Tillman cartoon. Current high bid is $4,500; whoever is the high bidder as of Sunday night gets it.

For those who wonder, my originals normally sell for $500-$750.

This tells us, if Rall is telling the truth which I doubt, that there is someone in the world so disturbed and so lacking in elementary decency, that they would spend a significant sum of money on a cartoon that denigrates and cheapens the death of an American soldier and athlete.

No, it tells us that there is more than one person. Think about that. One person would be too much, but more than one tells you a lot about how low some people have sunk.

At any rate, that's today's branch in our garden of forking paths.

Take one.

Posted by Vanderleun at May 14, 2004 8:14 AM