FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)Story By Jay Liner
Eunice Kennedy Shriver died this week. She was 88 years old, a resident of Maryland and a citizen of the world.
She was an inspiration to those of her generation—a bygone era of people who believed in sacrifice—and to those later generations for whom sacrifice was a foreign concept. She epitomized the kind of person who believed in true selflessness and practiced the tenets of dedicated and unyielding commitment to public service.
Today, cynics would describe her as a do-gooder and shower scorn and derision upon her and her great deeds. With her death, it is appropriate to take a closer look at the concept of public service. Here are my announcements on the subject at hand.
If you think I am engaged in hyperbole, check out a few of the recent examples of what I am saying and the BS that has permeated the mindset of the sheep that have been herded in furtherance of their agenda. For example, Al Gore, defeated candidate for president in 2000, who since has dedicated his endeavors to enlightening us and taking up the task to fight global climate change. He won an Oscar, an Emmy and showbiz aside, the Nobel
Peace Prize for his work. Yet, he’s labeled a charlatan and even a liar by the denizens of Fox News.
This is a prime example of the thanks he gets from the malcontents and those duped into believing the dogma.
It is the same crew who won’t acknowledge anyone who hasn’t loyally served time in Nirvana with Ronald Reagan
and the concept that he alone was responsible for the mythical and glorious rise to the summit to which he took the country.
Another example is the Christian Right, the biggest hypocrites that ever inhabited the planet. Helping the poor and needy was never in the equation. Those principles are long gone, along with the ghost of Elmer Gantry. Their idea of making the world a better place includes turning the Constitution into a religious document, getting in bed with the Republican Party and promoting a social agenda that suits their own purposes by trampling on everybody’s beliefs that don’t concur with theirs. Stopping abortions, preventing stem cell research, and denying gay rights
are the staples of their world. What happens to those who are less fortunate than them is simply God’s will.
A final example concerns John Ensign and Mark Sanford. It’s not the marital infidelity that matters to me. It is the arrogance and belief that they are entitled to stay in office after their indiscretions were made public. Both of these sinners actually believe that maintaining and holding elective office is all that matters and that resigning is not in the public interest.
Both of these men are disciples of a Christian Fundamentalist Sect called The Family. This group does not espouse the usual Christian litany of social concerns. This group believes that Christ was put on this earth to support the strong and support those who are preordained to attain power. In their eyes, Stalin,
Hitler and all the others who exercised unchallenged and complete power were anointed by Christ and were put there under his approval. I am not making this up—check out a book called “The Family.”
As to the late Mrs. Shriver and her husband Sargeant Shriver, what they did was become the foremost advocates for the developmentally disabled. Their legacy includes endowing the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins, and starting the Special Olympics—which has become so large that over a million
children from over 160 countries participate in it. Her husband, also an aristocrat by birth, was the first director of the Peace Corps, which was inaugurated and conceived by President Kennedy.
Their children have also stayed true to the course by staying committed. This family practiced what they preached and unfortunately you will not see their likes ever again.
This is not to say that there are not those who have sacrificed their own welfare for the benefit of others. Recently, we heard the sad story of a wonderful couple from Florida who were murdered in their home, and had taken into their care over a dozen foster children.
There are many great people doing great deeds and do not seek the limelight or choose to call attention to themselves. Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s death should serve as a tribute to those who
have followed in some measure by helping their fellow man.
