Kontos Column: Time to speak up. Time to speak out.

By Dan Kontos

For those who regularly read my columns, you may have noticed that I have been away for a bit. I took the opportunity to catch up on family and work, celebrate important milestones, complete a few projects, and contemplate the blessings that I have been given.

I cannot tell you how nice it is to hear from people who enjoy my pieces, not because they agree with me, but because I write about things that agree with them. The fabric of our society is strong, but it’s also under constant attack.

One thing I found during my recent reflections is a renewed call to speak out against the forces that seek to fundamentally change the way we live, especially here in central Wisconsin. I’ve often written about the beauty and comradery that we enjoy living here. I’ve also called out those who hate the way we live, and poison our society.

Let me be clear. If you disagree with an opinion of mine, that does not make you a bad person in my eyes. Reasonable people can have differing approaches to life. What I’m seeing is much more than that. Let’s just call it out for what it really is; evil.

Whoa, whoa, whoa Dan, let’s not go down that road!

No, let’s go there. Time to put on your big kid pants and see the world for what it is. Evil is real, it’s here, and lots of “useful idiots” are being duped into perpetuating the demise of our society.

C’mon Dan, surely you’re just now being hyperbolic.

I respect your opinion but trust me when I tell you that I’m not. Let’s take a quick look at what is going on.

Do you ever get the feeling that the world is upside down? Good is called bad, and bad is now somehow good? That our language is being twisted and hijacked to confuse and embarrass us into not speaking up? That the disgusting and profane are now celebrated as right and virtuous while living a moral and godly life are something to be ashamed of? Yeah, me too.

We’re constantly bombarded with malevolent messages, from the media, from politicians, from celebrities, and from the ignorant. Some of these are as plain as the sun in the sky, while others are more subtle, meant for the shallow and sheep-like amongst us.

Think about it. In what sane world do we deem people to be racists and oppressors solely  because of the mere lack of melanin in their skin, while we perpetuate the soft bigotry of low expectations for others? When did it become appropriate to revile parents who try and protect their children, while insisting that deviants should be allowed to waive their privates in their faces during drag events?

The world tells us that free markets are oppression, while socialism will lead to freedom. We’re told pornography is art, but a religious symbol is hate. They tell us that speech is violence, but rioting, killing, and burning down buildings is mostly peaceful.

How did we get to a point where people celebrate terrorist attacks, killing, kidnapping, and raping innocents, while gleefully advocating for genocide? (That’s you “from the river to the sea” people.) How did we get to a point where people blindly accept killing babies at the moment of birth, and defending the mutilation and castration of our children who aren’t even old enough to vote?

Call it what it is. Evil.

How do we blindly believe our “leaders” any more, after they have lied to us on just about everything? COVID, the border, the economy, Ukraine, masks, the environment, elections, corruption, the police state, censorship, and the list goes on. They have ruined faith and trust in our government, our institutions, and so-called experts. We didn’t do that, they did.

Please send me more conspiracy theories, because all of the old ones have come true.

We continue to see it trickling down even here at the local level. Are you alright with all of this?  I’m not. There are a lot of good and decent people working hard every day, but they need our help.

It’s not too late, but it is time to speak up and speak out. One lone voice in a sea of madness may be drowned out, but together we can amplify each other and be heard.

There are many issues that will attract our attention here in Portage County, and we plan on being right in the mix.  I hope you will join us and lend your voice.

We have elections next year in the spring and fall. Register now. If you are already registered to vote, sign up for absentee ballots for the whole year starting in 2024, just to make sure that nothing happens that will keep you from the polls on election day. Recruit others who don’t vote and help them to understand the importance. Volunteer to be a poll worker, to knock on doors, to send financial help, and attend local governmental meetings.

Yes, brazen reprobates may scoff and mock you. They will falsely accuse you of all the sins and inequities that they themselves are guilty of. You may lose some fair-weather friends. Maybe you are better off without them. It’s time to speak up, time to speak out. Stand with me, and let’s roll.

I think this break was good for my resolve.

So, with that, let’s meet in the opinion section to talk about all of it, boldly, fearlessly, honestly, and with a healthy respect for the truth, our nation, our community, and each other. Until then, remember that God loves you, and so do I.