Dear Editor,

In Athens, young adults spent two years in public service. Many over 30 formed a huge city council to make laws for the population.

In Rome, citizens had extensive and regular civic duties. Elected officials served only one-year terms, so many would have the opportunity of being leaders.

In Israel, land-owning parents administered the law among all relatives, boarders, and workers on their land. Parents taught law and literacy to their children.

In England, families contributed labor to the castle guard, just as in America, men rotated duty as night watchmen. Both democracies had extensive militia and jury duty requirements.

Today, Americans shirk even jury duty and can’t be bothered to vote in local elections. We have withdrawn from charitable causes, and civic, electoral, and church participation. We are too busy with social media, video gaming, Netflix binging, online shopping, and the new sports gambling craze to be of service to our country and our fellow human beings.

The shame falls squarely on business, political, and even church leaders, who regularly invite us to lead highly privatized lives dedicated to their products, services, and causes. Can’t we do better?

Kimball Shinkoskey

Woods Cross, UT

The post Democracy requires getting off our butts first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.

Dear Editor,

It turns out that the sacred record of the western world is at its root much different than what we have made it out to be.
The scripture is a deep history meant to pass along how successful societies ensured that their people obtained knowledge, created lasting families, organized gainful work, and served in public affairs.

The scripture encourages democratic societies to require compulsory education, free enterprise, codes of ethics, laws against crime and civil wrongs, and rotating leadership in government. In a word, the scripture presents a general program to deal with all aspects of public life.

Churches have lost a sense of this grand purpose and have substituted in its place a very private way of life that includes things like religious images and objects, special clothing and training for holy persons, well-guarded liturgies, ornate buildings, a sense of social aloofness, and a claim of ethical elitism.

To the contrary, Jesus invited ordinary folks to come out of private shadows and join a public kingdom advancing the needs of all of the people.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Woods Cross, UT

The post The story of scripture first appeared on The Standard Newspaper Online.