It is also a celebration of the men and women who are on their way into harm's way. They work to ensure that I will continue to have the liberties that allow for personal responsibility. I cannot follow them to the front lines -- I was built for another service -- so it is imperative that they know that we know who they are and that we hold them in the highest esteem for what they are about to enter into.
There are times in our lives when we don't deserve the life we enjoy in this country. When I slept on watch, I did not deserve the freedoms I have always enjoyed. But one of the great blessings our nation offers is membership in its citizenry, even when we don't necessarily deserve it. This affords us the opportunity to learn why what we have is so rare and precious --they may be rights, but they're still exceptions.
Which brings up another cornerstone of conservatism: gratitude. It is the antidote to the majority of aggravations our charmed American lives present us. But I haven't the room herein for that conversation.
To cement this dialogue, I ask about who you are. What happened to you that brought you to believe what you do? I ask you to write a letter to the editor or leave a comment on this column's Web page. Not because I will benefit from it, but because you will. Putting your beliefs into words forces you to understand yourself.
If this sounds too touchy-feely, allow me to rephrase: Go do something with your life that doesn't begin with "advanced placement" before accusing me of party-line bigotry or thoughtless jingoism. Because the dander raised over my opinions have nothing to do with me. It is ire projected onto a complete stranger. It is the product of insecurity and misinformation, and impetuous adolescence. Write your beliefs out in plain English, study them, and test them by living them. It has benefited me to no end. I am prone to the same insecurity and misinformation as my ideological opponents, but I take consolation in my incessant need to know when I'm wrong.
In the meantime, let's discourse -- without the conversation-halting epithets. I'm not so self-important to think a discussion must involve me, but discussions fail without those who differ.
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Well written, thank you for sharing.
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Mr. Gillispie very well stated. Thank you for your sincerity and candidness in your article today. I tip my hat to you for being so bold to expose your past indiscretions and in the end learn from your erroneous thinking. That my friend is a sign of maturity, that is what being a man of character is all about. I applaud you.
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