Apathy of Biblical Proportions- Monica Benderman

[Clara T]

Apathy of Biblical Proportions
by Monica Benderman

Across the country men and women have been jailed, not for committing a crime, but rather for making a conscious choice to live by their moral principles adhering to the laws of a higher authority. They are jailed because those who believe themselves to be in positions of authority are frightened by the truth of their stand and the strength of their convictions.

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Some people write and say we must “submit to authority” and many argue that we must respect authority when authority tells us what to do. Who is the authority of which they speak? If they are referring to those currently in positions within our administration, what made them the authority? Until we, the people, elected them to their position, they were no different than us. Why do we believe that we give people who live, eat and breathe as we do authority over us - when we have simply given them an office from which to carry out the work given to them by “we” the people. Wouldn’t that give us as much authority as those who have been given the position by which to keep our country steered in the right direction? Isn’t it simply a matter of using our authority to make the system of government we have in place work for us?

There is ONE authority, and it speaks, well tries to speak to all of us. Some of us have chosen not to listen, while others have chosen to allow themselves to be led to believe they are not able to hear its voice without an interpreter. We all can hear the voice, if we are human. It comes to everyone of us - it is CONSCIENCE.
When did we, the people, reach the point that we needed someone to tell us right from wrong? We didn’t elect people to office to tell us the difference between the two. We elected them because they claimed to understand the difference and took an oath to keep this country moving in a direction far away from wrong. They have simply been given a position in a government designed to keep the country organized, not to keep the people from having a voice.

Now we are being tested. Some have risen to the test and have faced the challenge. Men like Sgt. Kevin Benderman saw wrong in the direction this country was being led, listened to HIS conscience, and refused to be part of what moved us further in that direction. For daring to listen to true authority, he was imprisoned. In a country where those in our administration had sworn to uphold the right to freedom and steer this country with integrity, Sgt. Benderman is imprisoned for demonstrating integrity and declaring his right to freely choose to follow his conscience.

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10206