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 It was the hymn that she requested be sung at her funeral.
Voices rose thunderously in Brooklyn United Methodist Church as the
congregants pounded out the words, "My eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord."
I've always loved that song because of its uncompromising zeal to
fight for freedom.
Julia Ward Howe wrote the verses in 1862 while the nation was in the
midst of the Civil War.
One of its most stirring lines is: "Let us die to make men free."
One can imagine young men in blue marching into battle singing that
hymn. They were willing to give their lives for a cause bigger than
themselves.
There was no room for comprise in those words.
But such sentiments are no longer politically correct.
After all, today compromise is the name of the game. We are told
there are no absolutes. "Go along to get along" seems to be the
mantra of many in Springfield, Ill., and Washington, D.C.
It is no small wonder that in recent decades there has been a
movement to reword that line in the great hymn to: "let us live to
make men free."
After all, is freedom really worth dying for?
Yes, it is.
The men who charged the beaches of Normandy knew that all too well.
So did those who gave their lives at Hue and Iwo Jima.
Imagine where we would be today if George Washington had chosen to
compromise rather than fight. British tyranny would have prevailed
and the greatest nation on earth never would have been born.
Martin Luther King Jr. recognized the temptation to compromise and
addressed it in his great "I Have a Dream" speech:
"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the
fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or
to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the
promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley
of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice."
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King knew some things just were non-negotiable.
Nowhere in that speech will one find the soothing balm of
compromise.
Those who are regular readers of this column know that I don't often
take a middle ground.
As they say in Texas, "The middle of the road is a fine place to
be — if you're a dead armadillo."
Some things in life are non-negotiable.
In a recent column, I was blunt in explaining why the recent pension
compromise was bad for our state and will do little to resolve the
Land of Lincoln's ongoing fiscal ailments.
I wish I was wrong.
But I cannot remain silent on a matter that imperils the future of
this great state.
I have not the slightest doubt that the issue of pensions will be
visited again and again in coming years because this "compromise"
does little but saddle future generations of Illinoisans with our
debt and likely will burden the current generation with higher
taxes.
Some will say, "Scott, the matter has passed and is now law. It's
time to remain quiet."
Some things, such as our children's futures, cannot be compromised.
So I will not be silent.
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Scott Reeder is a veteran
Statehouse reporter and the journalist in
residence at the Illinois Policy Institute. He can be reached at
sreeder@illinoispolicy.org. Readers can subscribe to his free
political newsletter by going to
ilnews.org or follow his work on
Twitter: @scottreeder.
[This
article courtesy of
Illinois Watchdog.]
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