Month: November 2018

I make it a point to get together with people that lift me up and provide both fellowship and growth. I try meeting up with at least one of them weekly, at the least. Most of the time they are friendships that I have built up over years and decades despite my best efforts at being a jerk, and every time it is a learning experience.

This week a friend of mine observed how odd languages can be.

For example, when you have things in a row.

A row of horses. — Cavalcade
A row of columns — Colonnade
A row of riflemen — Fusillade

So who screwed up a row of lemons?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I posted earlier a criticism on voting the party line. I’ve watched and read a lot of things the past eight months during this election cycle. A lot of back and forth. Advertisements for and against. A lot of blatant lies.

But people believed and endorsed those lies. Believed them because they refused to question them. Refused to do the research to verify the claims being made. I don’t doubt it was mostly because the claims made readily supported their world view. Better to lie and feel right than to to be honest and thought wrong.

They endorsed them for similar reasons. “No this advertisement doesn’t actually reflect my personal experiences. No, it contains little to no actual facts supporting its claims, but I feel or wish it was right because I think that’s the way the world should be.”

Right or Left, it turns out many of the people on social media are emotional snowflakes. Peer too closely at the claims being made, question the “facts” one too many times and “Whoosh!”, let it rain. The flames of self-righteousness are applied and down you go. Melted by those who can’t stand the crucible of public scrutiny.

People,

There aren’t two parties. It’s not black and white. Your neighbor is not your enemy. Show me a real parent that does not want to see their children thrive, whatever their race or religion. Show me a real person that does not feel pain when those that they know suffer tribulation. Should you find such examples, ask yourself whether they are the exception, instead of the norm. Better yet, if you have to ask at all, perhaps you had better examine yourself.

Your baseline is everyone is human. Grow from there.

It’s been a few days, where’s the political post?! – Some random people on the Internet

Okay. How’s this?

Principles above actions.

In other words, what the person stands for is more important than what they do.

Some common things that cross my feed…

I endorse President Trump because he is part of the Republican Party.

I endorse the Republican Party because they are against abortion, taxation, for state’s rights, etc.

“Train your child up in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” – Proverbs 22:6

Or perhaps it is Mathew for your consideration, “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, …” – Mathew 23:1-39, paraphrased.

In short, do as I say, but not as I do.

If you have a leader that says one thing but offers another, you do not have a leader. If you are the mother or father of a daughter, or a son that you have raised to be a real human being, the example that our current leadership offers you is unacceptable. That their policy might publicly support a biblical principle, or that they might have a more preferable Vice President, is no substitute for the leadership and example that they provide in person.

If your leadership offers you principles but acts the opposite, you need to stand against them. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but the foundations are built on hypocrisy, I promise you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if they offer you a crumb in exchange for a cookie, you need to question your loyalty, your support. That’s not accepting the lesser of two evils, it’s selling your soul for a dollar more than the guy down the street. Sure you got more than the other guy, but you’re both damned. That’s not good enough.

So what about them Democrats?

If you support a woman’s right to freedom, independence, contraception and sexual freedom, but oppose abortion because it is morally reprehensible… Where does that leave you? If you support corporations and private enterprise while endorsing socially and morally responsible governance, where does that leave you?

The Democratic party will leave you out in the cold, that’s where. If you think that Conservatives are thinking people with some valid points, you won’t see support in today’s Democratic Party. It’s my way or the highway. You’re either part of the Think Right or you’re ostracized.

So much for a tolerant Left. That only applies when you agree with them 100%.

You have options people. You can make choices. Agitate for change within the party, or… Make a new party. One that understands that that there are more than two points of view, more than black or white. It’s not capitulation, it’s understanding that there was always more than one way to do the most good.

Or not. Keep on doing the same thing. Keep on selling your soul in favor of the party line. Sacrifice the principles, the moral obligation in favor of the lesser evil. Adopt the slogan, “Cause the least harm.”.

Yeah, that’s a legacy worth leaving.

Totally unrelated to anything I normally post. Somebody I know is currently in the delivery room expecting her first child. There’s a book on her tray, “Breastfeeding Made Simple”. According to Amazon, this book weighs in at 352 pages. I’ve had Algebra books with fewer pages. I’m not sure the book understands its title…
https://media1.tenor.co/images/b02cb61d2bc21e8e40c5a757e375e232/tenor.gif?itemid=3811367

A friend of mine is running in this in February. For many of you it is far from where you live. Maybe it doesn’t affect you, maybe you’ve never heard of it, or maybe, just maybe, you’re looking for some way to impact the world no matter the distance. Regardless of the circumstances, please take a minute to see what he’s doing and see if you might be able to throw $5 his way. Charity or good will, at any level, makes an impact. Thank you.
https://my.cupids.org/switcherstreaks

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