We as people exhibit the ability to make rational decisions based on our own free will. Which by this we are able to process information and make rational decisions based on the input received. For someone to say that we are supremely impervious to the thoughts and influences of authoritative figures that we look up to would be a false statement. However, I believe that we take what we need to make an informed decision to apply to our personal lives.
Recently, we have been faced with a judge of character placed on Sen. Barack Obama that suggests that we should ignore slightly his ability to make an educated decision as to how he lives his life. (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4443788) The allegations are such that Sen. Obama is deemed racist due to the beliefs of his mentor Rev Wright. If I am not mistaken these are men that exist on two different planes of existence and should not be judged as the same person due to association.
We can assume that he is racist based on the actions of others however when you bring up history no one wants to live in the past. How about the presidents who were openly racist up until the civil rights movement and actually past that! When America was in a different place so was our frame of mind. I am not in any way, shape, or form stating that it is OK to be racist and nor do I support the fact that African American racism is justified. On that same token I know that at least 16 out of the first 18 American presidents owned slaves. Well, maybe we should just forget that or look at it as a charity. Those presidents were just looking out for our economy and giving jobs to otherwise unemployed imported citizens. How can I talk so negatively about the past leaders of our country? I must not be American.
I am really impacted by how the people who intend to change our state of mind always end up face up and six feet under. Also, why the lame and uneducated cling to the beliefs that went out of fashion along with Parliaments powdered wigs. I believe that the color lines have been blurred or smudged and made a mess of with the uprising of today's culture. We rely on our elders to teach us the ways of the past but for the wrong reasons. We are supposed to exhibit free will and take this and make a new way for ourselves and not make the same mistakes. Not everyone exercises this right to make choices. Most people are drones who have no direction and so it is easy for them to assume that everyone follows leaders blindly and without question.
I think that we should just face facts and follow issues. Let's at least hear the man out before assuming the unknown and beating him down for something that may or may not prove true. Every one knows what assuming does!
