My fellow Americans, we have a situation in our country that demands our immediate attention and action. You probably have seen the news about organized mobs out in the city of San Francisco going into dozens of stores and looting them, leaving the shelves completely bare. This could be called looting or shoplifting, but there is another word that is more appropriate, and that word is stealing.
This is wrong and must be stopped. God takes a very dim view of stealing and made it one of His Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus Chapter 20, where it says, “Thou Shall Not Steal.”
The reason this is taking place is because the local authorities in some cities are soft on crime, changing the laws to make shoplifting a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Also, when the value is less than $1,000, police do not even respond to shoplifting. I am told that many businesses in San Francisco have been forced to close. To me this is a very sad day and in time will be corrected, but there are already many people who have been hurt by this.
A little closer to home in Little Rock, our state’s capital city, a gang of thugs went down a row of parked cars during the night, and smashed the windows with iron bars, and reached in and grabbed everything in sight. You might ask, “Why is this happening?” It is because a high percentage of our nation’s youth were not taught character education at home and in many schools.
I believe you will agree that it is high time we change this. Because of the very nature of the problem, the solution must be long-term, but in the short term we have something called public opinion that can help. The authorities across our nation who are soft on crime must be put on notice that, come election time, they will be voted out of office by those who have some common sense. While this will take some time, it will happen.
Today, I have a long-term solution that I want to tell you about. The solution involves character education as featured in my new book “Your Future Begins Today.” With the help of gifted teachers, we can solve this problem, and in time I believe character education will be taught in every school in America. This is just common sense, which is in short supply these days. We must begin in preschool and in the early elementary grades.
Every school district should have a character education coordinator, who will recruit a few of the best teachers in the district to teach this important subject. The rest of the teachers should be given a book to reinforce the concepts, as the opportunities come along. Believe me, this is far more important than much of the subject matter they are now teaching. Here is the great news. My plan does not cost the school district a penny.
As 501c3 corporations, Kiwanis Clubs across the nation can invite local banks, hospitals and other organizations to provide the books to the schools and pay for them. Clubs can then use the profits to begin bookcase projects in other communities to improve literacy for children being reared in low-income families. Personally, my wife and I will not earn a penny, as this is our way of giving back.
My book has been called “America’s Book” and should be in every home in our nation. You can help by ordering a copy of the book and telling others about this plan. To God be the Glory.
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(For a personally signed copy of my new book ‘Your Future Begins Today’ send $20 — includes postage & handling — to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)