Barb's Burblings

God help me, I'm going

God help me, I'm going to quote Gordon Haaland (esteemed president of Gettysburg College). Well, I'm going to quote whoever wrote this speech.

“These events may be unfortunately, part of the price we pay for our freedom. We have the freedom to move about; we have the freedom to say and think what we will. Here in Gettysburg, we have a special understanding of the cost of freedom because it was here that Lincoln said the test of this battle was nothing less than a test of whether a nation dedicated to principles of freedom could long endure. We have not only endured as a nation, but since Lincoln’s day we have thrived to become the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world in part because of the principles of our founding days which he understood and enriched.

“We also cannot help but think about justice. Those who perpetrated these acts should be brought to justice. We can only pray that our leadership has the wisdom and patience to correctly identify the guilty. Justice and retribution must be consistent with the principles which created and maintain our freedom. This nation was built by people who came from elsewhere, whose beliefs were diverse. In our anger, we cannot afford to wrongly judge the innocent because of religion or national identity.

“It is more difficult to think of mercy. Any retribution puts innocent people at risk in an exacting justice. We diminish our freedom and justice if we do not temper our outrage and demand for justice with mercy and understanding.”