The comparisons are hard not to make. The small voice of a teenager compared with the giant powerful voice of a dictator. The voice of hope compared to the voice of death. In the end, these voices both made giant impacts of our history. Which voice do you hear more easily? The whisper of a child in hiding or the frantic yelling of a murderer?
Which voices of this era will resonate with our descendents? The putrid vile of hate from extremists who hate this country and continue to try to tear it apart? Or will it be the voices of reason, the small voices that whisper in the wind?
Will we pass on the firefighters who went back into those towers because people needed to be saved; only to tragically die themselves? Or will our mantra be "Bush lied, people died"? Will we be defined by the events of September 11th? Or will that event be written in our history books as "well-deserved" pay back? Will our troops be honored or will the message "we support our troops when they kill each other" be our cry? Will Michael Moore, George Soros, Howard Dean be revered as American Heroes? Or George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfield and our men and women sacrificing everything for America be esteemed? What will our history be? Which voices will persevere?
Which voices will die? Anne Frank's voice never died...it continues today. Her whispers made in an attic drown out the screams of a dictator.
A blog is not very important in the scheme of things, not much more than an individualized record of time. Much like a diary. Not to be presumptuous that my blog will ever make it in the pages of our history books, but maybe the collective voice of those not willing to surrender their country to extremists will. Maybe my whisper and your whisper can drown out the screams from those who wish to bring down our country. Right now the voices may seem too loud, too hard to ignore, too vile, too putrid, too harsh. Our options are to scream back, or to continue to whisper...
I choose a whisper. Lower your voice and notice those who strain to hear you.
Were you once a Republican but now a Democrat because you read "Kos"? Did you become a Christian because the lunatic on the street corner calling you a "whoremonger" and told you were going to hell, convicted you? Or did you walk on by? When was the last time you changed something about yourself? What was the catalyst of that change? The look of disappointment on your husband's face? The tears from your mother? The shock of a nation attacked? The words of a friend? The life of a neighbor?
In less honest moments, I have taken a much more extreme position about certain things to write a good blog entry that would generate the "hits". I faked a little moral outrage to "rile" up the troops. It's been easy to do, most people can't ignore the screams of extremism, most seem to even prefer it. It quickly polarizes the audience to those who will fight for you and those who will fight against you. But it never changes a mind. When my opinions are strong, you will certainly know it; I refuse to dilute my beliefs but I will not season them as well. What you see will be what you get.
What will your voice be?
(cross posted at Merri's Musings)