Role Models?

   So far this day I've read two articles by sportswriters in two different cities concerning athletes exerting their influence to aid the cause of social change.

   While it may be true that young people by the millions idolize professional athletes, they are hardly role models. Ninety-five per cent of Americans don't come within the same galaxy as far as income; these athletes, for the most part, can't/don't/won't understand the 40-hour plus work week and the struggle of common America to keep a roof over the heads of their families, put food on the table and keep them clothed. Major sports athletes don't worry about the cost of health insurance, working two jobs to make ends meet or being able to buy a decent, safe car for the teenage driver in the family.

   The real role models for our youth should be found sitting across the dinner table from them in the form of their hard-working parents; they should be found in our religious leaders; they should be found in those that educate our children and those that protect our country for less than a fraction of what professional athletes spend on their wardrobes.

   But they don't bother to look in those places.

   They're too busy keeping up with all the social media platforms, inundated daily...no, hourly...by tweets/posts covering everything from the Kardashians to Pokemon Go while at that dinner table, staring at their phones the entire time. They're sitting in front of a video game console for hour upon hour upon hour, demanding every new version of whatever game they play as soon as it comes out. They listen to 'music' endorsing violence, crime and drug use, following every social media blurb issued by those 'artists'.

   And now these athletes and artists are going to influence our social mores?

   God help us.

   Seriously...God help us all.

Dangerous times...

Days of rage. That's what these are, misguided as they may be. Police officers are being shot on an almost daily basis for actions of a microscopic few who also just happen to wear badges.

As I said in an earlier post, I don't know all the facts surrounding the police shootings of two black men in two different areas of our country; I will not indict the officers involved because of that.

There are two sides to every story. Sometimes there are three. Victim, suspect...and the actual truth.

I DO know that three more police officers were shot and killed in Baton Rouge yesterday morning, and a fourth is struggling to survive. They were shot by a Marine veteran who was black, ostensibly in retaliation for the deaths of the aforementioned victims at the hands of police. But here's a question: where is the rage when a black American shoots another black American, an act that occurs much more frequently?

This senseless violence, no matter the race of the victim or the person responsible, has got to stop. Now. Today.

It is a divisive force, one that will shatter the unity of those of us who are proud Americans if left unchecked, and it is up to US to stop it. Vengeful, hate-filled rhetoric from activists and transparent attempts to blur truth need to cease.

I am fearful that it won't. I am fearful that the violence will continue, now with the city of Cleveland, this week hosting the Republican National Convention, in its cross-hairs.

I pray for the safety of law enforcement officers, convention delegates and attendees, even those who will protest the convention.

Pray for peaceful times.