Other Columns by Kevin Fobbs
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"We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution, "President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address.

The moral clarity of President Kennedy's statement speaks to us today just as concisely as it did 44 years ago. President Kennedy was calling upon the better Angels amongst us to understand and respect the need for equality and the value that each human life in our nation had as part of the collective of the whole of our society. He felt as millions of us do today, that we are summoned forth from the comfort of our backyard barbeques, our television remotes that dart back and forth between Trading Spaces, 24-Hours, The Apprentice and who is sleeping with who in whatever is America's newest replacement for Peyton Place adult evening soap box drama.

Do we even notice anymore when a neighbor down the street goes off to war and doesn't return home again, like Medal of Honor winner Army SFC Paul Smith, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic sacrifice, protecting the lives of 100 soldiers before he died in combat? He made a difference, but did you notice if your neighbor returned, if your co-worker returned, or if your fellow parishioner did?

Most of those who appear reasonably disengaged from their surroundings would rightly claim, that they're too busy to spend what little time they have in sacrificing it for neighbors they do not know, for causes they would never volunteer for; after all it doesn't pay, so why bother? They are not selfish as much as they come by this disengagement honestly. There is not history in their "family culture" to care about helping anyone but themselves. Their parents did not do it; their grandparents may have suffered from the same virus as well.

When President Kennedy issued his famous patriotic remarks "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," those disengaged American's parents were probably answering Kennedy's call for involvement through their raised beer can or martini glass, and uttering "What're you going to pay me?"

The Pope made a difference and his individual transformation of our world and his influence on the young people of our nation was a clarion call to the soul of America, which is each and every one of us. He reminded us that we were not disconnected from each other, but rather shared a common bond and a common respect for the life and welfare of each and every person in our nation. This is as the Pope put it the ultimate test of our nation's greatness.

Yet, are these disengaged Americans the majority? Do they make up the great silent members of our society who are reflected in polls demonstrating less concern for the life of a human dying by starvation than whether or not their pet received their next round of shots, or heaven forbid they have to come to the sad conclusion that the pet has to be put to sleep, because the quality of the pet's life is over...but starving the pet would not only be unmerciful, it would also be illegal.

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