WILL THAULT: If you can’t say something nice …

Some of you who follow this Opinion Page may be wondering why I’ve been silent these many weeks. I’d like to apologize with a somewhat lame explanation. Being old school, I was raised on the adage that “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Proverbs 10:19 puts it this way, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”

Well, given the heat of social media and today’s politics of polarity, most would laugh and say that this is yet another antiquated aphorism that has long since been unceremoniously dumped in the ashcan of irrelevance, along with civility – another quaint idea lost to the past. Fortunately, I’m old enough to recall a time when the dying act of civility was last practiced by those of us who were “raised right.” We called it Southern hospitality or simply good manners. On rare occasion, you’ll still see the embers of civility cast a spark. A smile. A courtesy. A kindness to strangers, expecting nothing in return.

So, in memory of the following recent events tempting my response, but giving me pause because I couldn’t say “something nice” about them, I list as topics so that you may fill in the blanks instead:

♦ Runaway Inflation

♦ Supply Chain Disruption

♦ Worker Shortages

♦ Energy Crisis

♦ Dependence on Chinese Imports

♦ Southern Border

♦ “Tagging” Parents

♦ War Between the Vaxxed & the Unvaxxed

♦ Identity Politics

♦ Censorship of “Misinformation”

♦ Mandates

♦ The Paris Accord

Whew, it’s a relief to get that off my chest. And I neatly yielded the space to your imagination as to the content of these unwritten articles, without compromising my principles. Now it’s on your conscience. But, be honest. How nicely did you deal with these issues?

Sorry. That was a trick question.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m no saint. I have blind spots the same as anyone else, so in the future I’m sure to fall off the wagon from time to time. But I promise that if I run across a topic that catches my eye or my imagination, I’ll struggle to find a solution that unites, rather than divides us.

There’s a quote from the late former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that underscores this idea. It’s taken from the transcript of a Commencement Address he gave at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in May of 1994.

“Above all, never lose faith in America. Its faults are yours to fix, not to curse. America is a family: There may be differences and disputes within the family, but we must not allow the family to be broken into warring factions. From the diversity of our people, let us draw strength and not seek weakness. Believe in America with all your heart and soul, with all of your mind. Remember, that it remains the ‘last, best hope of Earth.’ You are its inheritors, and its future is today placed in your hands.”

America, the “last, best hope of Earth” Powell spoke of, must be protected. It’s a heritage envied by many, as well as despised by suppressors of freedom and the human spirit. These “differences and disputes within the family” can be mended, but we must be willing to listen and be listened to.

Late President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

During this Thanksgiving week, let us give thanks for the opportunity to live in a country that was founded upon the God-given right of free will, not a worldly King’s rule. Freedom is a fragile concept. It can be used for good or ill. We mustn’t take it for granted nor spit upon it out of ignorance or hate. Own it. Cherish it. Protect it. Find good in those who wish to destroy or demean it, for their reasoning has been distorted by their anger or prejudice. Listen to them with an open mind, but at the same time have them understand that the art of conversation is by its very nature a two-way street.

If we can find common ground, no enemy within or beyond our borders will ever be able to overcome the strength of the Great Experiment the world calls America.