Personal responsibility is important. We all need to do our part for society to be functional and even successful. That starts with ourselves, as individuals. But there comes a time when that expands outward and upward from individuals to groups of people to businesses.

I saw Facebook is finally taking down notices that declare the holocaust a fake. FINALLY.

It's absurd that this gross historical fact continues to flourish because of antisemitism. Because people allow themselves to believe conspiracy theories.

I remember in college The Daily Texan published an article about a full page ad on the back of the paper. It declared the holocaust a fake too. They published it in the name of free speech.

That's the First Amendment of the Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

And yet… Facebook is actively removing hate speech from its platform.

Is that an assault the First Amendment?

First and foremost… no.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

Facebook is not Congress.

They are a business and they have every right to censor hate speech.

In fact, I'd argue they have a moral duty. It is their “personal responsibility” to do so.

I was thinking about the news problem our nation is facing. News organizations are manipulating viewers to their extreme positions. Every post by MSNBC has an alarming headline that conservatives are ruining the world.

Visit the Fox News website and read their articles and you'll see they put a higher preference on biased opinion than actual news. And even their news articles offer more are biased against liberals. Read the words. You'll see.

I feel like CNN might be the worst of the bunch. Not because they don't offer real news. They do. They're probably the most solid news organization of the three.

Rather the problem is their financial motivation. They bias their news to make more money. And why not? MSNBC and Fox News do it. They should too, right?

I disagree. Why?

Because of personal responsibility.

We are at a crossroads. Our country is falling apart.

I got an accidental email from a family member, basically calling me a “libtard.” I have barely talked to that family member since then. Because I'm so disgusted by their support for a person without ethics.

In fact, that's my biggest complaint about Trump as president.

When Reagan was president, our society became all about making money at any cost. That was the message from the president. It was all about money. Republicans in the 90's argued that Clinton's infidelity set a similar tone for our country.

Then there's Trump. He has repeatedly shown a complete lack of ethics.

What's the message that he's teaching Americans? Our children?

He's teaching us that lack of ethics is acceptable and, in fact, encouraged in our society.

It's okay to cheat the government out of taxes. It's okay to lie over and over again if it sells your point. If it makes people believe. It's the Machiavellian belief that the ends justify the means.

I don't believe that. Humans are better than that.

Kindness. Compassion. Generosity. Honesty. Humility.

Those things are far more important. And as a Christian, they are a fundamental part of my belief system.

Sure. There are always exceptions.

I was watching The Good Place. Season 3 makes the argument that our world is far more complicated than it was 500 years ago. There should be a lot more exceptions to the rules. And I think they are right.

If we were on a point system, I don't think any person, in the world would get into The Good Place. Be that Heaven or whatever.

Nevertheless, we need rules. And those rule should start with personal responsibility.

We should look out for each other. Not expect the worst from them.

We should be kind. Not excuse meanness.

We should encourage generosity. And turn away the greedy.

We should be humble. And disregard those who boast.

When people suffer, we should show non-judgmental compassion, not persecution.

And to be clear, we don't do any of this because it's the way it's always been. Because times change.

People don't deserve respect because that's how we have always treated our elders. They deserve respect because they are people.

That's how we should be. Everyone should be treated with respect. And they should be shunned if they are unable to do that. Because that is the only way they will learn personal responsibility.