"United we stand, divided we fall." -- Abraham Lincoln

Remember those words?

"This world of ours must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect." -- Dwight Eisenhower

What about these words?

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- John F. Kennedy

These three great American presidents warned us what would happen if we let the enemy divide us, and we always believed that we would stand strong together. We stood together as a nation after terrorist attacks, such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and the Boston bombing. It saddens my heart to finally concede that we are no longer the great country that once stood strong and proud against adversity. We no longer spit in the face of our enemies; we now give into the hate and spit in each other's faces. We are the marionette and the enemy is our puppet master. Before, there was no way they could get through our ranks and divide us. Now, all it takes to create chaos in this country is a shooting. All it takes is a non-politically correct word for hatred to take over.

All over Facebook, I see pictures showing anti-police, pro-police, #blacklivesmatter, #alllivesmatter, anti-republican, anti-liberal, pro-life, pro-choice -- the list could go on and on. All I see are people, who don't want to be labelled, labeling everyone else. It's an us-against-the-world mentality and it's this way of thinking that is destroying our nation. We split off into groups and to be fair, people do it so they can have a sense of belonging. But how incredibly tragic is it that we have to divide in order to find that feeling, when we used to unite? It's the 1950's all over again, but possibly even worse. Everyone gets offended by everything and a comment made in innocence can be taken in the worst way possible. We're scared and we let that fear rule our hearts and minds. We demand that our country serve us instead of serving our country. Things have become so incredibly backwards. Call me naive, but I'm not pro or anti anything specific to race or orientation. I'm pro-love and anti-hate. I'm pro-America. Pro-World. I'm #propeople.

In a previous article (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/people-who-live-g...) I referred to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It's not only one of my favorite verses, but it's also a necessary message during this time of domestic turmoil. Terrorists, such as ISIS, hardly need to lift a finger because we are destroying ourselves with our constant anger and hate. We hate people who are different from us. We hate things we are afraid of. Instead, we need to open our hearts to love. Nobody is perfect, and I don't think we'll ever live in a perfect world while politics are prioritized above morals and values, but love is the first step to healing this nation. In fact, it's the first step to healing this world. When you love someone, you don't want to hurt them. When you know and understand a person better, there's less anger involved. Love begets compassion and peace while hate begets destruction. If we continue down this dangerous path, there will be war.

So you want to know how to make all of these senseless tragedies stop? They won't go away by making more laws or reinforcing laws. It starts at home. Children need to be taught early on the difference between right and wrong. They need a rock solid foundation in healthy values that puts human life over people's sensibilities. They need to know what love is and how to share love. I used to roll my eyes when people said that love was the most powerful weapon of all. I didn't really understand, but now I do. If we let it, love can save the world.