To the Religious Right - There ARE Christian Democrats

Thursday, August 28, 2008
I have been thinking about the "If You're Christian You'll Vote Republican" viewpoint (as if you are NOT Christian if you don’t). We all love God. The Secular World is not Christian - they're entirely unChristian, or Babylonian, which means they are, for the most part, openly unChristian, or guilty of hypocrisy.


The more self-righteous and churchified known sinners get, the more worried I get. The crusades and many many great evils in the world were built on Man's Religion. The last thing we need is a self-proclaimed "righteous" guy with a literal gun in his hand on a "Mission From God."

We need pure religion. And James defines pure religion as this:

James 1:27 - Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.

These men - these candidates - are probably both spotted with filth from the world. I highly doubt that George W. Bush or John McCain or Barack Obama or any of the other candidates/politicians are saved at all.

So, suddenly, the "religion" question is a moot discussion, and the question becomes one of "moral values."

But, as has been stated: gay people didn’t get married under the Clinton regime. They got married under the Bush regime. Why is that? Why if Bush and the Republican agendas are so upright and anti-gay, have they managed to undo the sanctity of marriage on the Moral Republican watch? Why, if Democrats are so hedonistic and sinful, did they manage to forestall such an abomination as gay marriage?

Why, if Bush and the Republican agenda is so peaceful and God-loving, did our country come to war under the Bush/Republican regime, after having years of peace and global advancement under Clinton ? Is that what God wanted? (This is a rhetorical question I ask myself).

Why, if the Bush and Republican agenda is so upright and right, did every wallet tighten the moment Bush came into office? Why is our dollar flagging, our country in trillions of dollars of debt (and still hemorrhaging money) and our economy shuddering on the brink of collapse? All this in a mere 8 years from Bush's first inauguration - a day when our country stood flush in money - one of the first real times we were in the Black as opposed to the Red in decades. I suppose that money burnt a hole in our pocket.

I admit that there is wisdom in the whole "moral right," and it wouldn’t be fair to discount it. It is good to acknowledge God; it is good to strive to do right (some think it is good to pretend to strive to do right). It is good to openly acknowledge God, and to strive to keep God in our lives as Americans. It is good to vocally combat abortion and gay marriage, and to be seen to "stand against it." It is good to say - [I]"I am not going to become tolerant of sin or the moral decay of American society and/or ideals."[/I] These are good things - and I don’t discount them at all.

I don’t think any Christian discounts these things. We can’t, because we love God. And we love what is right, and God is right.

What we DO discount, though, is hypocrisy. And from what we have seen, often and repeated, the "Moral Right" is just as sinful and wrong as the Left. They just keep it in the closet. Or maybe their sins aren’t as repulsive - say, embezzling thousands of dollars from public companies, or simple adultery rather than horrible homosexuality. I just believe that even Republican women have aborted children.

So, if very generally, Republicans sin and/or are just as bad or as hell bound as Democrats, what difference between the two are we really lauding? The fact that Republicans can fake it better, or ... the fact that they WANT to fake it? (This desire to appear moral, even if you are not, is apparently believed by some to be a good thing.)

It bothers me, because we combat REAL religious hypocrisy every day. When passing tracts or witnessing, we shake our heads at it, we have real concerns. Because we KNOW that religious people are some of the most hardened sinners we will ever meet. Harder than even some of the most rank openly sinful sinners we've come across. The great danger for them is that they believe they are right, because they feel right, because they have the trappings of morality. Yet they sin.

I am reminded of Luke 18:10-13: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

To me, the "I'm moral, therefore I'm right," attitude is this exact same attitude of the Pharisee. And at least we know that the Pharisee was actually doing the commandments of the law. We have no such assuredness about all Republicans! In fact, we have the opposite: war abounds; gays marry in our country, etc., etc.

So, regarding the wisdom of the "moral right," this is a scripture that first came to my mind:

James 3:15-18: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but [is] earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

But as I began writing, I also thought of this scripture:

Philippians 1:16-18: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

And so, the Moral Right, even it if is led by men who are likely unsaved and hypocritical, is not, in and of itself a bad thing. Because either way, Christ is preached. And in that, we rejoice. THIS is why I am not anti-John McCain, nor am I anti-Republican. In fact, had Hillary Clinton become the Democratic Nominee, I would have voted for McCain on principle alone.

Because when I excise religion from the equation and step back and look at the whole picture of Democrat and Republican; Right and Left - I don’t see Right v. Wrong, or Black v. White - I see a choice of evils.

And as I consider the decline of economic parity among Americans - the widening of the class system (in that fewer people can afford college tuition, etc.) and the destruction of the middle class, the growing unemployed and impoverished, the loss of social security, the lack of social programs and the decline of funding for social programs - the party most concerned about the poor, the downtrodden, the immigrants and the minorities, etc., ad nauseum, I find that I am most inclined to gravitate toward a party that gravitates toward me. That supports me. That fights for me. That has stood for me and my rights, and for things that I care about.

This gravitation, however, has its limits. For me. And, though I do not speak for anyone other than myself, I would venture to say that it has its limits for everyone. Hillary Clinton as President in 2009 was my limit. Not because of race, not initially because she was a woman, but singularly because I found her to be too Pro-Gay.

So. We all have choices to make, and they are not so simply as black and white (pun intended) as the authors of these articles make them. I have the utmost confidence that a Republican has considered that the Republicans in office are not Holy Men or Women of God - that they probably are not even of God at all, and may likely be being used by the Devil. I've considered it for Democrats - I think we all have.

And so, whatever decisions we make, I trust that we will all of us, Democrat or Republican, make them for reasons most paramount to us, after we have weighed the factors that impact us the most, including and beyond religion, and acknowledged God.

Hey, I, too, want to be pure, peaceable, and easy to be intreated - I don’t want to fight about "which side" I'm on, or have my salvation taken away because I stand for/with a party that abolished Jim Crow laws, or that I feel fights for the little man. I've expressed this not to offend or to prolong or to debate, but because I, too, have endured the long, protracted anti-Democratic thoughts that find their way to me with relative silent disagreement.

And if silence is assent, then in some way, Imay have been giving the wrong impression these many days. I wanted to simply say, at least once, that I am saved, I love God - I am a Democrat, and here's why.

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Excellence Version 2

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I was having this discussion with someone else, and decided that since I dont have children, maybe I'm not the best to judge this. Also, having skipped an entire bloc of basic education, it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to dogmatically suggest that all advanced children be forced/allowed to compete on the same level as the others.

Ok. Fair enough.



But I do think that one of three things is happening: we are seeing a trend of media overblown-ness in these stories; we are seeing scattered incidents where parents/coaches are behaving selfishly; or we are seeing a consistent lack of phenom-escalation in sports specifically.

Because I think there is a forum for educational/academic graduation of advanced children. Why wouldnt that same forum for systematic advancement based on skill level not also apply in the sports arena?

...oh wait. It does apply .... if you're a high school student being drafted for the NBA.

In this case, you're right, we dont have all the facts. But I think that one could make a basic assumption that should not be made: how can you be sure that there WAS a next level into which this boy could have advanced? I have played summer league baseball, and depending on where you are located and how rural the location is, some leagues only go to certain ages. Granted, often there are other leagues for older children, but in some cases, there are not.

What then? In that sort of a vacuum of sporting outlets, what mechanism allows children like this to also be allowed to play at that point, or do we just give them a bench spot where they, too, can clap with the cheerleaders? Back the team with the rest of the spectators?

I would have liked to see the following:
1. If the boy is advanced, the league and his parents should have advanced him to the next level based on his skill set. Assuming there IS a next level.
2. If there ISNT a next level in this league - granted, his parents could/should look into getting him on some other team/league in the surrounding area. But barring that, if none exists, I dont agree that its fair that he should be benched or worse, fired, so-to-speak.

Because that would be a horrible waste of talent, and essentially, without benefit of other outlets, you are basically burying a boy like that by taking away the only opportunity he has to play.

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When Did Excellence Become a Bad Thing?

Monday, August 25, 2008
Good god, what's next? I mean, granted, I know that in the rat race of corporate america, and no doubt corporate anywhere, there is a deeply competitive culture that advocates deep-sixing your adversary, or sabotaging your adversary (excuse me while I puke over this philosophy - but then, hey - I'm the one now unemployed, so go figure), even when you KNOW your adversary is your better. I mean, you KNOW it. Everyone KNOWS it. And instead of just accepting it, you go behind the scenes and mess something up. y'know. like ripping the pages out of the only book in the library that has the legal precedent that EVERY OTHER STUDENT NEEDS TO FIND to get an A. So yeah. You’re complete slime, and you've just ensured that you are the only student to get the A.

Why? Because you've unbalanced the playing field. You've thrown off the scale by adding a greater burden on all others than the burden placed on you. By doing so, you've not only sabotaged everyone else, you made sure that you will win.


And you know what else? You made sure that the person in the place of leadership and power is not the best person for the job. Not the kind of guy/girl that can actually win and hold the position on skill or ability alone. You've actually weakened your organization, your team, your group.

Because you've replaced Greatness with Mediocrity.

Is this what we've become? No. I get it. I know that we deal with this as adults in the Cold Cruel World.

What I didn’t know was that we bring this same ugliness, this same pettiness, this same self-serving abortion of anything good into the lives of small children. Children who haven’t even developed a real sense of self.

This is what we're teaching our children these days?

1. It is bad to be good.
2. It is really bad to be really good.
3. You a bad person if you are really good.
4. Don’t be excellent. Nothing good comes of it. You will be punished. Your friends will be punished. Your family will be punished.
5. If you're excellent, if you excel your peers, you will be punished.
6. Adults don’t really want you to excel. At least don’t be better or smarter than their child in something that THEY control. ;) You will be punished.
7. Average is best. ;) Great is bad. Excellence is anathema - you dirty little DEMON!
8. Just be average. Can’t you see that you're making all the other children feel bad by being so great??
9. Excellent children aren’t welcome here (unless they're the bosses/coaches/company execs child), or unless they play on the team we tell them to play on (read: unless we control them).

Are we really becoming a society where we deep-six CHILDREN too?

How about they all get an F for poor sportsmanship and being poor losers (I’m mad so I take my bat and ball and go home? What are we? Children??)? Sue me, I thought teaching them good morals and sportsmanship was one of the reasons for child sports too.

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Fall, Pollen & Allergies, Oh My!

ok, so before mark left this morning I turned off the air and opened the house to air it out. i kid you not guys 20 mins after mark was gone I could barely breathe for sneezing and itchy nose. I ran through a whole box of tissue in that time frame. i could see the pollen coming in through the windows. my eyes started to itch too. i was like WOW - is THIS what I have been missing by not having to go outside?? is what is in the air out there?? my GOD!!!!!



so anyway. even though it is really nice outside, I decided to close the windows back to perform a test to see if I would breathe easier and my eyes would stop itching. I turned the air back on, and put it on FAN so it would blow through the whole house.



do you know my sneezing problem cleared up IMMEDIATELY??? not later. not after the central fan cycled the outside air through. immediately.



so. i hate to break it, and im sorry but were stuck in the stank air conditioned house. one consolation is that i did manage to air it out in that time frame, and maybe if we keep the air-out periods short, we can do that from time to time.



so much for enjoying the fall breeze!
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Death

Monday, August 18, 2008
An acquaintence of mine's Dad died the other day, and I found this poem relating to death to be very appropriate.

Reluctance
by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

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