Forsyth County Georgia Board of Education - Jere Krischel - 7/19/2022

Happy July, the birthday of the greatest country ever, The United States of America!

Some people believe that our country is not great, but rather, inherently systemically racist. But no one can point out any country they think is actually better.

In the year 2022, we still have active slavery across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. We have government racism in India with Scheduled Castes and Classes. No European country has nearly the diversity or inclusion that is the basis of America, and despite an ever expanding federal government, no country in the world, has ever had as much freedom as we enjoy.

Of course, the history of our country, like any other country, is filled with bad things. Democrats, chasing Black Republicans, out of Forsyth County in 1912. Democrats, building their party power, on the backs of slaves. Democrats, founding the KKK, and imposing Jim Crow laws. Democrats, destroying black families, with welfare programs discouraging black fatherhood, or the careful placement of abortion clinics, to reduce the black population.

But more than any other country, our history is filled with good things. Republicans spilling their blood on the fields of the Civil War to free the slaves. Strong protections for the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms. Grand victories in both World Wars, against the fascists, and victory in the Cold War, against the oppressive communist Soviet Union. Even in 2022, under the most corrupt president and congress in history, we can be grateful for a Supreme Court willing to stand against executive overreach, to stand for unborn lives, and to protect our right to keep and bear arms.

So what will we focus on? Will we wallow in what makes us angry, and resentful? Or will we rejoice in what makes us feel gratitude, and hope? I choose to let go of resentment, and forgive our Democrat brothers and sisters, rather than holding them eternally responsible for the sins of their fathers.

Even as an atheist, I see the incredible value, in the idea of forgiveness, and repentance, and atonement, and I know that a focus on gratitude makes all of our lives better.

So let me declare how grateful I am for Forsyth County, its school board, its superintendent, its schools, its people, and its freedoms. As a refugee from the People's Republic of California, I am grateful to live in a state that ended its lockdowns in April of 2020, instead of continuing them until July of 2022. I'm grateful to live in a state that respects the 2nd Amendment. I'm grateful to live in a state that protects our school employees and school students from ideological indoctrination.

In California, children are regularly abused with sexually explicit content, sexual grooming by teachers, medical procedures performed without the consent of parents, and state supported indoctrination to try to turn children into far-left activists. In Georgia, we have strong support for laws that criminalize such behavior.

That being said, I understand that the fight will never be over. There will always be some reason, to encourage people to be resentful, rather than grateful. There will always be some ideology, trying to push its way into our institutions, to crush our freedoms. But there will always be good, grateful people, willing to stand up, and take their turn resisting the forces of resentment.

Thank you very much for your time, and again, I'd love to have lunch with anyone who disagrees with me.