Letter to the Editor: To Protect and to Serve?

I pledge to uphold the laws and constitution of the state of Michigan.

This pledge of to protect and serve has been uttered by so many people, not just elected officials—soldiers, policemen, firemen and our locally elected government officials have all taken this pledge.

We look to these citizens to lead our communities in good times and in bad.  Hopefully through the use of things like reason, dialogue, moderation and sometimes compromise they can guide us though troubling times.

We are normally a tolerant nation/society. Our constitutions, both state and federal, were written to guarantee civil rights and civil liberties. Sometimes we have to bear witness or tolerate radical viewpoints or dogmas, such as the distasteful preaching of pastor Jones against Muslims and the Koran.

Now, due to this economic depression we find our state in and ourselves in, a new radical viewpoint has arisen. The representatives of our state government are encouraging disharmony between the people that have benefits and those who don’t. These are things a lot of people can’t see themselves as achieving or having in today’s economy. This viewpoint vilifies anyone making a living wage, has health insurance or has a pension. And it blames all state employees for our state crisis.

Our state residents are feeling apathetic, hopeless and depressed. We have realized that our recently elected officials have forgotten their oath of office. The pledge to protect, to serve, and to uphold our state constitution. The oath they seem to have taken is one to punish and to subdue the citizens of this state and to dismantle or ignore the laws of our constitution.