slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

"Hatred makes us forever ready to offer insult and injury, to make much of small things, to be haughty and unreachable. The partisan spirit leads to frequent collisions and bloody contests, often over accidents and trifles."

A Speech Worth Heeding...

The name of American, which belongs to you, must always stir the just p***e of patriotism far more than any narrower association. With slight shades of difference, you have the same beliefs, manners, habits, and principles. You have fought together, and triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the fruit of joint efforts, of common dangers, and of shared sufferings.

All parties, begun under wh**ever banner, that have as their real object control over the natural deliberation and action of elected authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle of unity. They serve to make the will of the nation secondary to the will of the party, and not even the will of the party as a whole, but that of the few. They serve to make government bend to their alternating whims, as opposed to a natural subservience to those consistent plans thought up by common counsel and modified by mutual interest alone.

I warn you of the dangers of parties, especially those of geography. But let me also warn you, in the most solemn manner, of the destructive effects of the partisan spirit itself.

It distracts, divides, and weakens. It agitates with invented jealousies and false alarms. It brings r**ts and r*******ns. It kindles hatred. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which ever enter through channels of party passions, to the end of causing the policy and will of one country to become subject to that of another.

This is why you must promote, as a matter of supreme importance, institutions for the spread of knowledge. In so far as public opinion is what drives government, public opinion must be enlightened.

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that bias toward some and favoritism toward others should not be found among you. In their place should be just and charitable feelings towards all. Those who see others with a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness are to some degree s***es — shackled to animosity and affection, whose chains so often keep from our higher duties.

Hatred makes us forever ready to offer insult and injury, to make much of small things, to be haughty and unreachable. The partisan spirit leads to frequent collisions and bloody contests, often over accidents and trifles.

Love, too, can beget as many evils as h**e. Sympathy for those we prefer creates the illusion of common interests, and leads to the hatreds of one becoming the hatreds of another. This false love also leads to the granting of privileges via judgments other than those of justice, thus breeding ill-will and eventual vengeance. It also encourages the corrupted and the deluded to put their loves ahead of their own country’s needs, masking their wickedness with the appearance of virtue, often to applause, when all underneath is infatuation and self-interest.

My countrymen, please take these words as the counsels of an old and affectionate friend. They won’t make the enduring impression I desire. They won’t prevail against the strong current of the passions. They won’t keep even this great nation from running the course that has become the destiny of all who came before. But these words may lead to some good, however small, however short. They may, now and then, I hope, help tame the fury of the partisan spirit, reminding the hearer to be aware and on guard, especially against pretended patriotism.

What I say here — these words of hope — are my best answers to my concern for your welfare, which has guided my pen all along.
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Note: The above was excerpted from George Washington’s Farewell Address. Liberties were taken in modernizing the language and trimming considerable length.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

President Washington was a Prophet.

John P

I am glad we had great wise men to guide our country.

Trooper745 Loc: Carolina

George Washington had one trait that gave him great strength and great wisdom. He was a devout man of God. The word of God was his master, and he openly worshiped his Almighty God in sincere submission and prayer. I would bet that most of today's preachers are not as totally dev**ed to Almighty God, as Washington was.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

https://www.csmonitor.com/1984/0917/091707.html

George Washington: On religion and government

September 17, 1984

By Thomas V. DiBacco Thomas V. DiBacco is a historian at The American University.

George Washington's eminent stature among presidents is attributable, in large part, to the wise precedents that he set - in the relation of the chief executive to Congress and the judiciary, in the conduct of domestic and foreign affairs, and even in the matter of separation of church and state. To be sure, Washington's statements on religion and government do not constitute a major part of his writings, but they are not difficult to find.

For example, Washington throughout his tenure in office referred to the ''Almighty Being,'' ''the Benign Parent of the human race,'' the ''Great Author of every public and private good,'' or ''the Invisible Hand.'' But these references in major documents - from his first inaugural address to his farewell speech - were unaccompanied by specific religious objectives.

Not that Washington was without denominational attachment. He was an Anglican , or Episcopalian, in practice. In spirit, however, he was ecumenical, contributing to various churches and corresponding with such diverse groups as Roman Catholics, Quakers, and Jews, each of whom noted his toleration. Privately a deist - that is, he saw God as a clockmaker whose instrument ran according to laws that man could discern - Washington early on in his public career recognized the pitfalls of espousing specific religious objectives. ''(Shall I) set up my judgment as the standard of perfection?'' he wrote. ''And shall I arrogantly pronounce that whosoever differs from me, must discern the subject through a distorting medium, or be influenced by some nefarious scheme? The mind is so formed in different persons as to contemplate the same objects in different points of view. Hence originates the difference on questions of the greatest import, human and divine.''

It would have been easy for the first President, given his enormous personal prestige, to blend the religious and patriotic fervor that typified the post-Revolutionary years. The Constitution, for instance, could stimulate patriotic p***e but was barren of religious principles. In fact, the clause forbidding religious tests for officeholders raised scarcely a stir among the delegates in Philadelphia in 1787, but it rankled a good many Americans, including New Englanders, whose intermingling of church and state would continue in some respects until well into the 19th century.

When Washington toured New England in the autumn of 1789, his first year in the presidency, a group of ministers urged him to recommend the infusion of Christianity into the Constitution. ''We should not have been alone,'' they write, ''in rejoicing to have seen some explicit acknowledgement of the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent inserted somewhere into the Magna Charta of our country.''

In spite of the fact that the religious majority in America at the time was overwhelmingly Christian, Washington came down not hard but deftly for separation of church and state: ''... I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the Magna-Charta of our country. ... To the guidance of the Ministers of the gospel, this important object is, perhaps, more properly committed - It will be to your care to instruct the ignorant and to reclaim the devious - and, in the progress of morality and science, to which our government will give every furtherance, we may confidently expect the advancement of true religion, and the completion of our happiness.''

Not surprisingly, the matter did not surface again in Washington's presidency , and neither government nor religion would appear impairedas a result.

bahmer

Excellent and now how do we get both sides to mend the fence and sit down together and brake bread together like they did in the past. At some point we have become divided and are refusing to come together. The disagreement has now become hatred and we on both sides are determined to usurp our will over the other no matter what. In an interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg in which I was wondering if she wasn't asleep she brought up about her confirmation hearing as well as Antonin Scalia's confirmation hearing and how they both received a majority approval at the time and that is how it should be and not this bickering like little children. Now the major question arises how do we get back to the type of congress and senate. One side wants to throw Trump out and put Hillary in and the other side says we v**ed and won. What do we do? Can we become mature and go forward or do we destroy the country over this and all of us with it or can we come to our senses before that happens?

badbobby Loc: texas

It seems that a whole lotta folks forget
that we
are all in this thing together

tactful Loc: just North of the District of LMAO

I have been leaving this comment message for a long time!
it seems no one " gets it" or wants to ?
if everyone read between the lines and did get it
we would probably have a discussion board instead of an argue board.
just sayin

Mikeyavelli

As long as it ain't organic gluten free non gmo with quinoa I'll break bread with the lefties. Better have real butter too.

Mikeyavelli

Bullmueller. Half of you want Benaayzooayla and our half wants America.
Then go. They need your money.

bahmer

Nice thick tender steaks with baked potato with butter and sour cream a salad with blue cheese or roquefort cheese and a oil and vinegar -dressing. Or we could have Lobster tails with drawn butter and au-gratin potatoes again with a salad similar to the one above. Some red or white wine depending on whether you are having the lobster of the steak of course. Now we should be able to break bread with that menu.

Mikeyavelli

Excellent! And if they insist on tofu and kale, they can break wind by themselves.
Steak for me, prime strip, med rare, baked, butter, sour cream, four green beans for conscience, and a bottle of 20 year old Barolo.
Cheers!

bahmer

I like both myself but the tofu and kale no way. Do you live near a Costco?

Comment Loc: California

We are but, I h**e those who sheet in my Fox Hole. They could be more considerate and use their own helmets to throw it over the side.

Mikeyavelli

Everyone lives near a Costco, but I belong to BJ'S and Sam's Club.
Both have excellent steaks, prime too.
I was in the restaurant business for 32 years. Wine importer, and food and wine educator. I love to dine.
Why?