Thursday, February 28, 2008

Sit and Spin

Let me start off by saying I am what would be considered a conservative Christian. I began my relationship with Christ at the age of 14 and have experienced the far ends of the spectrum in the 33 years in between. This election year has caused me more grief that any in recent history. I have become more tolerant of people over the years because I have seen what intolerance does to society.
In the 40's there was intolerance for Jews (Future Israeli's). In the 50's there was still a lot of intolerance for Blacks (Afro American, Negro, People of Color). In the 60's there was a lot of intolerance for Hippies (Future Democrats) and the Vietnam War (Fascist Pigs). In the 70's there was intolerance for Disco (Weird dance rituals). In the 80's, it was Punk Rock, Madonna and Michael Jackson (Come to think of it, the Jackson thing might not be so wrong). In the 90's, it was Gays (Anti-Christians, Abominations of God, Queers, Fags, Interior Decorators), Abortion (Anti-Life/Pro Choice--Depending on your spin) and Liberals (Present Democrats). Today, it is anything that is not what you believe in (Gays, Abortion, Marriage, War, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, America, Islamic People, Atheism, Christianity).
Everyone has an agenda and everyone that does not believe like you do is "The Enemy" (The Big Satan, Infidels, Whore mongers, Idolaters, Liberals, Right Wing Christians, Fundamentalists, Atheists, Godless Heathen, Secular Humanists).
As I write this, I wonder when did we all become so all knowing as to what is right or what is wrong? Whether you are a Christian or an Atheist or somewhere else on the theocracy spectrum as Time Magazine refers to it, we all seem to thin we and only we know all the answers. I have news for all of us---WE DON"T KNOW JACK!!!
It is not a matter of who's right or who's wrong, it is a matter of What is right and What is wrong. No matter if you are a Christian or a Muslim, Jew, Atheist, Mormon, ET AL, it is WRONG to try and force your views on others. America was founded because people wanted religious liberties. They wanted to be free from having to worship as the State (England) dictated.
Religious freedom not only means to be free to worship as you please, it means to be free NOT to worship IF you please. Our founding fathers created a wonderful document, that has lots of checks and balances to make sure no one group can force their will on any other. All groups have equal opportunity. With that said, I would like to address everyone in the world (Yes, I am sure everyone reads my blog) with the following thoughts:
Christians--If you fall into this category, then you probably believe that the Bible is the word of God. If you do believe that, then this section is for you. (If you don't believe that the Bible is God's word, then skip to the next section).
I want to start by saying that God, when He sent Jesus to the Earth, knew that Man (and woman) was sinful and He knew that He had given Man (and woman) free will to accept Jesus or not. Humans have a choice and it is up to them to choose. When Christ sent the Disciples out on the "Great Commission", He told them to go door to door, carrying only the clothes on their back and tell the people the good news. If the people accepted the news, they were to stay with them and teach them. If they rejected the good news, then they were to "shake the dust of your feet" and leave.
I have found nowhere in the Bible where Christ told them to form mobs and protest people that did not believe as they did. He never once ordered His followers to call people "baby killers", "Queers", "Faggots", "Towel Heads", or the like.

Jesus never ordered his disciples to plant bombs in the homes and workplaces of the Greeks and Romans (who just so happened to be the most Libertarian/Secular Humanist in all of history. If you want to read about some sick puppies, read about Alexander the Great, read Homer, study up on Caligula Caesar).
In fact, He taught that when a man hit you, you were to turn and offer him the other cheek also. When the Adulteress was about to be stoned, He asked those without sin to cast the first stone. When the woman and He were left alone, He told her to go sin no more.
Sure, Jesus got angry too. He overturned the tables of the money changers (Today's equivalent might be the "payday advance" people or the "sub-prime" mortgage lenders that prey on people who have no money), saying that they turned His Father's house into a "den of thieves!"
The ones He got angriest at were the religious leaders of the day, because they were so busy trying to force their interpretation of the law onto everyone else. Sound familiar? Moses brought 10 simple rules down from the mountain and the religious leaders turned those into hundreds of inane rules that the people were expected to remember and follow. "Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy" turned into not being able to walk more than so far or it was considered work. Jesus was derided for pulling an ear of corn off the stalk on the Sabbath because it violated the "Sabbath" law.
Getting back to the Adulteress mentioned above, Where was the male of that story? There is no mention of the Adulterer, just the Adulteress. The law of the day demanded stoning of the guilty party in adultery. Of course that only meant the women, since the men would not have committed the act if not lead into temptation by the woman.
I am disheartened that after 2000+ years of Christianity, we have learned nothing from the Man (GOD) called Jesus. To be professors of the ideals He taught, we have a strange way of showing that faith.
In this election year, I have received emails telling me that Barack Obama is a Muslim waiting to take over the US "from the inside". The justification of his Muslim-ship? His Father was a Muslim and he attended school in a Muslim country for a brief period--Despite his own admission of being a Christian. To follow that logic, then noted Christian Apologist, William J. Murray is an Atheist, despite his claims to be a Christian because his MOTHER was noted Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hare. (I am not a supporter of Obama's but I believe he believes in his cause and that he has a right to say how he feels. He is a man that reminds me very much of JFK, who possessed the power to bring the people together for a common goal. In spite of politics, that is admirable.)
I have heard of Gay people being called nasty names. Abortion activists planting bombs and killing people in the name of "Right to Life" principles.
Christians claim that they are right and that God is on their side. That is a matter of how you spin things. The argument might be made that Gays are right because they believe that God made them the way they are and He would not have made them that way if He thought it was wrong. Same for Muslims, Mormons, Hare Krishna, and any other religion. They believe that their way is best--AND it is!!!!...for THEM.
Let's just say that Christians are correct and that one day in His judgement, all Gays and Abortionists, Muslims and etc go to Hell. Then, according to Christian teaching, they are responsible for their own lives. A Christian's job is to make the "good news" known and then provide assistance if asked. It is not to force our way on them, any more than it is the Gays or Abortionists or any other religion to force their way on us. If they refuse to hear us, then we are to shake the dust off our feet and leave them to their fate.
If Christians are to gain the respect they want, then they need to stand up for their beliefs and make them known but to resort to violence and name calling in the name of God is an absolute abomination. To lie or spread rumors and half-truths to further the cause is still a lie and an exact opposite to Christ's teaching.
The religious leaders of the day crucified the Man (GOD) Jesus because he taught Tolerance, Love, and rebuked the Status Quo--We are not too far from that now. Next time, the other side gets it.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Prodigal



Here I am with my youngest son at my youngest daughter's (his sister) wedding.

When my first wife left me after 16 years of marriage, I spent the next five years as a Single Dad raising our two children. I never even considered not being in my children's lives. I would have died inside without them those first few years. I kidded myself that they needed me, however in retrospect I would guess we needed each other equally.

I gladly did many things to rearrange my life to take care of my kids and my company and boss were very sympathetic, giving me extra indulgences not normally given a District Manager. Then on what should have been the happiest day of my life to date (when I met the woman God gave me for the rest of my life) my son told me he wanted to live with his mother. I was devastated! After much prayer, I finally relented because I wanted him to be happy.

I spent much of the next year trying to get him to visit me and my new wife (his sister stayed and moved with me). I even went back to court because his mother refused to "make" him come to see me on my visitation weeks, even though she gladly took my child support checks. I finally stood up in court before the judge (after my son asked me, crying, not to force him to do something he didn't want to do) and told him that I wanted to visit with my son but I did not want to force him to see me if he didn't want to. Over the last 5 years, I have seen him maybe ten times, even though we live just 16 miles apart.

I say all this because I experienced many turbulent moments with my daughter over the next few years. At one point she yelled to me that she wished I would just drive off a cliff and die. Now, as she carries my first grandchild, I speak to her nearly every day. Many times several times a day.

My son turns 18 in just four months and says he will join the Marines at that time. I learned this two weeks ago when I met his mom at the oral surgeon's office to wait while my son had all his wisdom teeth.

I worry as a parent that he might have to fight in Iraq if he does join, but I also know he has to find himself and become what he is meant to be. I have hope that the years he was with me have been a stablilzing force on him and that he will remember the love I have had for him from the day he was born. His sister came home and made amends with me so there is that hope. Until then, Ipray that God keeps him safe. I love you son,