I keep hearing comments like, “I’ve read the book and I know how the story ends. I don’t have to do anything. God’s in charge.” I’ve listened to and respected everyone’s opinion. Now it’s my turn. Is this a true belief or an excuse to justify inaction?

Over the last fifty years Americans have excelled at finding ways to excuse themselves from taking any sort of action regarding the oversight of their own government. Either we believed we’d hired such an honest and trustworthy group of legislators that supervision wasn’t required, or we were simply too busy doing whatever one does while their employees turn on them and seek to destroy them and their chosen way of life. Any time two or more people gather it’s customary to denigrate our representatives, so the former option doesn’t seem realistic. By default the latter appears to be the most likely.

I’m going to ruffle more than a few feathers and that won’t be unintentional. My mission is to start conversations. I don’t expect anyone to think like I do, but I do expect everyone to think. Feelings run deep on these topics and I’d appreciate explanations as to why my opinions are wrong rather than attacks on my character or the supposed lack thereof. Purveyors of ad hominem attacks will no longer be tolerated.

Throughout the years I’ve encountered almost every form of rationalization imaginable when it comes to the avoidance of responsibility for the oversight of those we elect to represent us in our government. Is the following topic one of those efforts or is it simply one of the billions of concepts I don’t completely understand?

Often, when I encourage people to take action, on their own behalf, I’m told something like, “I read the book and I know how it all comes out. I don’t need to do anything.” They usually explain that “the Book” is the Bible and that they’re referencing the book of Revelation inside “the Book.”

I do understand the book of Revelation describes the end of the world and that many Christians believe it to be a prophecy of the end times. I’m up to speed with that doctrine. Where I derail is the methodology, or the lack of methodology, used to determine that we are, truly, in the end times. That is a critical factor, isn’t it? Let’s explore the concept and find out.

I’m a big believer in responsibility. Responsibility was something I was taught for as long as I can remember, and the ultimate responsibility was forced upon me at age 27. I wasn’t given a choice or any significant options. One day I was a wife and Mom of two wonderful little boys and within days I was a disabled single Mom trying to find ways to pay the rent and to put food on the table. Some say it’s unfortunate, but I was taught pride alongside responsibility. I did receive some help. Practically all of it came from one person who was a lifelong friend. Pride prevented me from applying for SSDI. The taxpayers never paid one penny for the support of my boys or myself nor did I want them to do so. I got myself into the situation, so the results were my responsibility. I don’t tell this because I want your pity. I do it to establish my bona fides; to show that I’m not just running my mouth while having no idea what I’m talking about. I have an understanding of responsibility.

To me, responsibility includes a serious attempt to leave a better nation for my children and their descendants. I brought my children into this world. They didn’t ask to be born so I owe them the effort to assure their lives are at least as good as mine and, hopefully, better. I’ve been close to too many of those who have fought and died so I could live free. Also, should I ever meet up with them in the hereafter I can’t imagine how I’d explain why I allowed their sacrifices to be wasted. I feel it’s my duty to leave better than I inherited. I clean up other shooters messes at the private shooting range I belong to and I pick up other’s trash at parks. When I leave, the environment is as good or better than it was when I arrived. It’s how I was raised.

I’ve been interested in claims of “the end of the world” for most of my life. I’ve pestered friends and members of my adoptive family for their stories and recollections of such claims. My adoptive great-grandfather was born in 1898 and our lives overlapped long enough that he told me he remembers claims that “we’re living in the end times” since he was a small child and that the claim was a staple of revival meetings. I have an eyewitness account that the claims go back well over 100 years. Others, who I consider to be more knowledgeable than myself, claim that the Disciples believed, after the Crucifixion of Christ, that they were living in the “end times.”

A Wikipedia article, List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events, lends credence to the idea that such claims have been being made for 2,000 years. This leads me to a disturbing conclusion. I can understand the belief that if these are the “end times” the events will play out just as they are described in Revelation... that the events have been predetermined by God and are chiseled in stone, so to speak, “if” these are truly the “end times.” What if these aren’t the “end times?” If they’re not then the events described so vividly in Revelation aren’t applicable. They are not going to happen at this point in history. It’s not the time for them to happen. Man can still influence his own future both positively and negatively. Our fate is sealed, or it isn’t. Didn’t we need to determine which is the case before we set a course of action or inaction?

Betting on these being the “end times” and being locked into a predetermined series of uncontrollable events doesn’t appear to be a wise choice. Many claims that “we’re living in the end times” have been made in the last 2,000 years and precisely 0.0% of them have been factual. It has never happened, obviously. I’m sure someone thought every claim was the real deal, but none were. None, not a single one.

I’m a big fan of the Alternate History genre of books by the likes of Harry Turtledove and especially the group efforts between Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. Let’s apply the concept to some actual history. What if...

· Between 25 – 27 July 1941, the United States didn’t join Britain, Australia, and New Zealand in freezing Japanese assets because of American citizens voicing their feelings that, since the end of days was coming soon, there was no reason to do anything to stop Japanese expansionism and every reason to remain neutral and passive

· On 7 December 1941, because of the United States refusal to freeze Japanese assets as was done by Britain, Australia, and New Zealand the Japanese Imperial Navy didn’t attack Pearl Harbor

· On 11 December 1941, Germany didn’t declare war on the United States because the

attack on Pearl Harbor, which would have brought the U.S. into World War II, never

happened

With the United States sitting out the war, many valuable contributions to the effort to stop Germany, Italy and Japan would have never existed and...

· The considerable contributions of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen would never have been realized

· The massive manufacturing capability of the United States wouldn’t have been available to those nations and troops fighting the Axis powers

· Along with the lack of arming and equipping many Europeans, the lack of food provided by the United States would have been sorely missed

· It may have been interesting to see how well Bernard Montgomery would have fared in Sicily without his nemesis George Patton

· The China, Burma, India theater and the Pacific theater would have probably been no more than a stalemate without the U.S. Navy and Marines although Australia and New Zealand would have been attacked and, most likely, China would have been pillaged on a larger scale

· Without Curtis LeMay and the B-29 Superfortress bombers of the Army Air Corps it’s unlikely the Japanese mainland would have been attacked in any meaningful way

· Without the manpower and equipment provided by the U.S., Joe Stalin’s Red Army may not have reached Berlin, partly because the second front demanded by Stalin may well have failed or had never been attempted

· Nazi Germany may have created the second front themselves. With their factories unmolested by daylight bombing the German war machine could turn out enough aircraft to prevail in the Second Battle of Britain and an invasion of Britain would have been likely

· One other commodity provided by the U.S. was leadership. Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight Eisenhower, was an adequate tactician and logistician, but he excelled at diplomacy although his services may not have been as necessary without the need to stroke Montgomery’s ruffled feathers and massive ego

· Without the pressure provided by America, Hitler may have found the time and resources to complete his Final Solution

· There is every likelihood that a much larger percentage of the planet would speak German, Japanese or, possibly, Italian. For those who choose to divide the world into good and evil, there’s an overwhelming probability that evil would have prevailed

I suspect that sometime before the onset of the Korean Conflict, if such an action ever took place, some would have realized that the world hadn’t ended and that the cost of their inaction was paid for with the blood of innocents the world over. Inaction can begat consequences more grievous than even improper action.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke

There have been many who have devoted years of their lives in an attempt to raise the awareness of our fellow citizens. My personal effort began about twenty-five years ago. Our goal was to end the treachery and deceit being perpetrated against us by those we chose to represent us. If we could have raised a unified force with a common voice and screamed loudly enough, long enough, and often enough, “We will tolerate this no more,” and behaved as if we meant what we said, we may have saved our once-great nation, this Great Experiment brought to life by our Founding Fathers.

My uncle was very fond of the saying, “Even a blind squirrel sometimes finds an acorn.” Sometimes even a Liberal rag can accidentally tell the truth:

Democracy Dies in Darkness

― The Washington Post

All we needed to do was shine a bright enough light. That’s all. I’d like to say, to those who chose inaction for the reasons stated above, “We surely could have used your help.” In my humble opinion, unless we’re graced with a Biblical grade miracle, our Great Experiment has already ended in disaster due to our rampant apathy. To those who chose the easy route, I want to repeat the words of a great man...

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”

― Sam Adams

There are times when forgetting comes hard. This could be one of them.

A pdf copy of this article can be downloaded here.