Making any resolutions for the New Year? It’s an old custom.
Apparently the ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year, while the Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named, who had two faces, one looking forward and one looking back.
I’ve never been one for making resolutions, but this year I’ve been thinking about resolution wishes I have for our country, resolutions I wish we as individuals, groups, and the nation as a whole would make and keep in 2015. As the New Year approaches, here are some of them.
First Resolution Wish: That politicians would stop using the phrase, “The American people want…”
For one thing, they don’t know what we want. Secondly, they don’t care. If they did they would, for example, have voted for common sense gun control laws after Newtown when 80 plus percent of the public was in favor of them. Smart politicians should know the cat’s out of the bag. We know they care what we think about as much as we care about their political careers. So let’s hope they will stop using us as a justification for doing what they want to do whether we like it or not.
Second Resolution Wish: That ministers would stop saying, “The Bible says…” or “God’s will is…”
The truth is, no one knows what the Bible says or what the will of God is. The only thing any of us can do is to say what we believe the Bible says or God’s will is. We may be right or we may be wrong, but that is the best we can do. Any claim beyond that becomes hubris.
Third Resolution Wish: That people who write letters to the newspaper would heed the ancient adage, “It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”
While everyone is entitled to their opinion, letters to the editor these days prove what I used to tell my students, that there are a lot of stupid opinions around. Better to remain silent.
Fourth Resolution Wish: That Fix (Fox) News would report the news instead of making it up.
Honestly, you have to wonder how these people look at themselves in the mirror. Over and again their reporting has been shown to be doctored, skewed, and made up out of whole cloth. They give real journalism a bad name. It would be refreshing if they decided to have more integrity.
Fifth Resolution Wish: That Rachel Maddow would stop beating dead horses.
I have the greatest respect for MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. She’s as smart as they come, tries to be accurate and digs deep into stories, but every night she repeats the lead-in to a story so many times you almost forget what she is talking about. She takes ten minutes to say what can be said in two. It is good to put a story in context, but it doesn’t need to be a dissertation.
Sixth Resolution Wish: That we Americans would be able to know when someone is saying nothing even if they are saying it well.
Years ago I used to carry a card to faculty meetings that read: “I’m somewhat of a bullsh#&ter myself, but I always enjoy seeing a master at work. Please carry on.” More than a few people, especially religious and political leaders, could use that card. Taking it to heart would significantly raise the level of debate in this country.
Seventh Resolution Wish: That all Americans would see that the common good is more important than the bottom line.
Money, growth, power, prestige, these are bottom lines our competitive, capitalistic culture creates and encourages that often require sacrificing the well being of all for the sake of the well being of a few. No great nation can long survive as a great nation when this happens. It is already happening here in the U.S., but my hope is that 2015 will be a year when we as a people see what we are doing to ourselves and have the will to stop it.
So these are some resolution wishes I have for the New year. What are yours?
