Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Everyone’s Entitled… Or Are They?

// August 8th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // My Thoughts

I have to say that I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I read the “Onion” article that stated “Study: 38 Percent Of People Not Actually Entitled To Their Opinion“   But It really got me thinking… I am a pretty opinionated person, so how many of my opinions are actually not mine?  Well truthfully I rarely just pick up an opinion and begin using it for my own… most often the reason for this is that I am a bit egotistical i guess…I like figuring things out on my own. I seek out truth at all costs… the result, I may actually be entitled to my opinions… not that they are great or even very accurate but in most circumstances my opinions are mine and mine alone.  However this is not so true for the average person I rub shoulders with… Call me an egotist if you like, but I rarely meet individuals that actually think for themselves these days… in general they seem to just jump on somebody’s band wagon and hang on for the ride.   Most commonly I find people regurgitating the opinions of  talk radio hosts, activists, TV personalities,  and they often are intensely confrontational and outspoken and feel very strongly about “their” opinions.   Like the staunch conservatives that are protesting the health care reform, they talk about “socialized medicine” and “single payer plans”.  And yet have no problems  avoiding a co-pay  for immunizations by going to a county health clinic to get them for free… something wrong there… right?   So where are you in this?   do you just quote Rush Limbaugh or some other outspoken personality that has whipped you into a furor about a certain subject?   You have to know that politics these days depend on the gullible public to believe in the hype surrounding an ideology and rarely provide accurate facts. This forces people to make decisions based on “feelings” rather than on “facts”  so if everyone “feels good” about a war… then we can be at war for 20 years and no one will complain… but alas if some soldiers die, well then people start feeling bad about things… so they no longer want to be at war.

I am not trying to be insensitive here… I just think that a lot of people need to begin pulling their head out of the sand and realize that the majority of the US population is manipulated spiritually, religiously, psychologically, and physically through fear, and misinformation. It is an old trick that if you want to advance an agenda then you need to get people upset about something else.  Once they are focused on your distraction then they rarely recognize that something else more sinister is going on… It is called “diversion”   So the next time that someone gets you all worked up about something… you need to think about what might actually be going on in the background.

Just take a moment and be honest with yourself… are you really entitled to your opinion?  or are you just borrowing someone else’s

Tags: activists, Art, choices, conservative, decisions, egotist, fear, hype, My Thoughts, Obama, politics, President, reform, Religion, rush limbaugh, sin, single payer, sleepwalking, spirit, talk radio hosts, truth

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When is enough… enough? GET OVER IT!!!

// August 4th, 2009 // 14 Comments » // My Thoughts

man pulling his hair out in frustration

I think this adequately describes my emotions at the moment of inspiration

It seems the media these days is full of news… about the economy, the democratic agenda, the republican agenda, whats happening on Wall Street, how somebody got away with something and everybody else had to pay for it. In some ways.. its good to know the truth about things… to be informed so that you can make good decisions and survive in an increasingly “dog eat dog” world.

I tend to enjoy the social media circle to some extent..I use twitter, facebook, most often and I like to share my favorite websites on Stumbleupon.com . I like being connected to people, my family, friends, and just the occasional acquaintance… I even check in on a few enemies occasionally to see what they are doing in their mad scientist laboratories!

Recently however my social media has become crowded with… how do I say it nicely RAVING LUNATICS!   it seems everywhere I go I am barraged by virtual sign waving screaming crowds of “conservative protesters”  they fill my normally entertaining social media with “this is why obama is evil”, “this is further proof of obamas evil plan”  and “here is even more proof! he was actually born in Australia and they wouldn’t take him!”  the list of antichrist predictions, conspiracy theories, petitions, videos, crappy photo montages attached to sappy music, are more than I can stand!  Please PLEASE!!! I really hoped that the community of Christians was made up of more than this!  the number of people continuously regurgitating unconfirmed and often stupidly one-sided views is absolutely ridiculous!

I am not here to discuss whether I agree with Obama’s ideals or how he is running the country.  Honestly the fact that anyone can keep this flaming runaway wagon of a country within the white lines is a feat of unbelievable skill… America is so fickle that we can single-handedly will bring about our own destruction with or without ANY president’s help.

So you didn’t get the president that you wanted, you are mad.. you lost your 401K, and you may have to pay for someone else’s insurance, or foot the bill for their bonus while you bail them out.  So you may pay higher taxes, the president may be a fraud, he may be the “AntiChrist”, he may be secret friends with someone that is completely vile and distasteful to you. So you are angry… about all of this… but why? why are you angry? did  you expect the world to just come whimpering to your feet and give you every thing you wanted? Who the heck asked you how things should go?  Since the beginning of time tyrants, dictators, coups, and all around nasty empires have risen and fallen… and no one has ever stopped to ask… “oh… so mister John Q Christian, what should we do next?  do you like how things are working out for you?”  America is NOT  YOUR COUNTRY!!! HEAVEN IS YOUR COUNTRY!!! get it through your thick heads!  this country is not a “CHRISTIAN” country! It is the same heathen country that it has always been.  Sure many of the founders were Christians, Almost every great empire has been founded on good ideas and good principals… because they work!  But man is always self seeking and ultimately undermines all the good intentions and even the best laid plans can work to benefit the corrupt. Why do you insist on meddling in the politics of a country that you don’t even belong to?

So again… you are angry, you feel betrayed, you feel taken advantage of, you feel like things are not going the way you like… Get Over It!!!  Focus on what matters, people are jobless, people are homeless, people are hopeless, people are directionless!!!

Instead of just adding to the confusion how about you step away from  your stupid,  Protest-a-matic, Spam-a-holic, mailing list and actually help the people that are hurting!  This is an opportunity to promote “LEGAL IMMIGRATION” to the Kingdom of Heaven!

Tags: capitolism, christian, christians, conservative, decisions, dog, economy, facebook, Family, financial problems, friends, heaven, music, Obama, politics, President, ranting, running, sin, temporal world, thick heads, truth

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Disdain

// December 23rd, 2008 // 3 Comments » // My Thoughts

I have to start with a disclaimer, or maybe just a qualifier… I am SO grateful for my upbringing and the experiences I had, at home and church, my parents did a great job raising me to love Jesus, and to love truth. However despite that appreciation, there are things that happened, or rather things I saw happen to those I loved that made me sick to my stomach and left lasting impressions. Legalism, complete and utter dishonesty, politics, and outright deception were commonplace among those “Christians” I saw as a child and adolescent. As I grew up a little I realized that every “church” I had ever been a part of had exhibited some of these horrible qualities…and I began to think there was no real “Church” left. You know, the Church Im talking about… the one Jesus started…the one Peter and the Apostles baptized 3000 into on Pentecost. All I had seen had been so fake, so based on appearance, or status, or knowledge, or whatever else the head honcho decided was important…there was not a REAL person among them. I was angry. I would find things about those people that disgusted me and I would speak out against it with zeal and energy. I would write long articles detailing the utter stupidity of the things they were doing and why they should stop…knowing all the while that I was offending and angering and even just irritating most folks. I became something of a religious activist for my own little cause… I then decided I needed to be educated in the scriptures…so I went to a place to get educated. I left home and want far away… and I met some good people…people that seemed real…people that had problems and didn’t have all the answers…people that disagreed with me and yet still loved me…people who refused to argue and fight or condemn another for disagreeing with them. I began to realize that there were good people left… that some wanted the same thing I wanted and that they were struggling with the same things I was…I slowly began to learn that my anger and disdain and activism, were not productive, and in most cases had been counterproductive. I learned that people don’t change their minds just because you tell them they should, or because you have all the scriptures and proofs necessary to make good argument… I learned that being honest, is valuable, but being mean, and calling it honesty is what we usually do, and it does nothing more than hurt feelings and build walls…I learned to keep my mouth shut, even in the face of argumentative and divisive people…and even when my own morals and values were being challenged… I began slowly but surely unbuilding the structures and edifices of religion and christianity I had built for myself over my short life as a christian…I did not abandon my values, or toss them by the wayside, but rather pulled them down from the places I had put them, and stacked them neatly to the side until I could learn where they needed to be and how they should be expressed. I began to climb down off of the mountain of what I had always stood on and believed and stand down on the ground with everyone else.

So, now here I stand on the same plane as the rest of the world…I say that tongue in cheek… I don’t think I know very much, and I don’t feel like teaching anyone what I do know…I have no desire to argue or prove anything, I have nothing to argue or prove. I am like a newborn baby again, not knowing how to walk, or even stand really at this point… I just watch the big people walking and talking and wonder if I will ever do that. Then I wonder if I ever want to do that again…or would I rather lie here and let Jesus take care of me…It is in our weakness that He is strong… but then I feel like a backslidden Christian. I feel like one of those people Paul talked about that should have been able to digest heavy meals of meat, but instead were still drinking only the milk of the Word. I’ve been a Christian for almost 15 years… but I feel like I have regressed to the point of a brand new convert…except I don’t have the excitement and enthusiasm but rather I have fear and hesitation to once again plunge myself into the world of “Religion” and once again find myself drowning…

I have found a group of people who do not know who I was before…they see only a sincere, weak, wounded brother, and they have loved me…they have shown me that there is still a “Church” to be found here. They couldn’t argue any of the issues, in fact they haven’t heard the issues of the various religious eras I have passed through… they barely know the songs that we sing…but they know Jesus…and they know their sobriety dates. Some of them are alone after a nasty divorce that was their fault, some are going to and from court to settle charges against them…some hope not to get stopped by police cause they have warrants…some come to church still feeling the effects of last nights indulgence…some are still fighting the craving for illicit drugs as they sit in the chair beside me listening to the Word of God being spoken, some hold guilt, anger, and fear at bay for actions of their past, some have simple struggles and some have nothing to fear or feel guilty for and simply seek true religion, but they all crave Jesus…they all want to be more than just christians by name, they refuse to claim to be anything unless they have truly become that…If they struggle with a sin, they tell you… in church… and they try to fix it… and they are loved before they fix it… while they are swimming in sin, they are loved and encouraged…no one writes articles about the sins others commit, nor do they say mean things under the guise of honesty…if honesty is sought, it is given…but usually they don’t offer what isn’t asked of them.
Strangely, I find my faith at this point to be stronger than ever. My understanding that God always takes care of me and will always love me is from experience and not theory…I struggle with sin just like I always have, only now it’s a common struggle. I struggle together with others who are like me. There is no religious aura around us prohibiting us from speaking our struggles out loud, or shaming us for having them…and I find myself strangely unsure of how to be a Christian…how to live my life in a way that is useful to others, encouraging, real, and faithful to Jesus…It seems way too simple now…there must be more to it…but what if there isn’t. What if the complexity of my yesterlife was a product of that very thought… not a result of reality. Perhaps it is simple…perhaps it is nothing more that loving God, and loving people and living a life that is honest and real…

Tags: anger, Art, brother, christian, Christianity, christians, drugs, Faith, fear, God, greed, how to be a christian, jesus, legalism, Love, Mac, politics, Religion, sin, truth, upbringing

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Time for Change

// November 5th, 2008 // 7 Comments » // My Life

Well … history is made, and things have definitely changed!

Despite all the blather and people freaking out about… well everything (including the antichrist!)
We have a new president!
the cool thing is that God is obviously doing something different.  The majority of christians I know disagree with this election. And as I write this there are many others wondering what will happen, HOW! could this happen?
it all comes down to perspective really.
My daughter firmly disagrees with every punishment she receives, there is no way that I can convince her that it is “good” for her.
I  however do know what is “good” for her in most instances. 
and this is where the sovereignty of God comes into play… First of all this election is not punishment… but God knows something that we do not.   He knows how this will be “good” for us. and he also knows that we may perceive what he knows is “good” as “bad”  the point is that we really have no idea what is “good for us” or “bad for us” but we absolutely want the choice to choose it!
her are some “bad things”   post some comments on how these could actually be “good”
  • the death of a best friend
  • a natural disaster
  • a night in jail (mistaken identity)
  • a night in jail (being an idiot)
  • witnessing an assault
  • a broken leg
post more!   and comment!
Tags: choice, christian, christians, God, Obama, perspective, politics, President, sin

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Re: Politics. From the "Other Bald Guy"

// October 20th, 2008 // 11 Comments » // My Life

So I gotta weigh in on the politics discussion. Ive actually just been thinking a lot about the issue recently…and I still don’t know exactly what I think about it…however, I have come to some conclusions about it.

The first question I asked myself was: How do I treat other similar issues in my life. Issues like, what job I want, or where I want to move, or what kind of vehicle I need to purchase. Well if you look at my “God’s Will” post, you will see that for me, there is no mysticism or hokus pokus in how I make choices in my life. If I need to buy a car, I decide what kind of car my family needs, and how much I can spend, then I go buy a car. If I’m looking for a job, I…well, I…go look for a job. See its the beauty of the garden of Eden. You know the time God said,here is what I want you to do, and if you do “x” you will regret it…and we did “x” and to this day I am a little ticked off with Eve. However the beauty of it is that God gave us the ability and the freedom to do what we pleased…and hoped we would please, to please Him… sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t, but we live and die on our own choices. Despite His cosmic supremacy, and sovereign, He doesn’t threaten us with a lot of scary things if we don’t do what He wants us to. He gave us the option and the list of consequences, and said make your choices.
So every day I make choices. Some are good choices, some are informed and wise, some are spur of the moment and perhaps regrettable, but they are all my choices and if I keep on walking in the light of Jesus, His blood, like a good set of windshield wipers wipes away the sins nanosecond by nanosecond. SO I do my dead level best, and trust Him to keep me safe.

So why would I treat politics any different. There are two choices, one seems to be in opposition to many things I value, one seems to be more in favor of things I value… I have an opportunity to cast my vote… so I do, and then I go on with life trusting God to do what He wills, despite my humanity and perhaps shallow-ness of mind. That’s it… I’m no activist, I don’t go to rallies. I have yet to make any poster board signs with life altering phrases for the masses to read as they drive by, but I make my choices every day. I know those who don’t vote (fine by me) and their reason is that it doesn’t really matter if we vote or not, God places the leaders in place as He sees fit…” I agree with that partially, I mean I absolutely believe God does what He wants to do, but follow the logic of that train of thinking…
First, is it good to have good leaders? (Christianity will survive no matter what)
– yes, remember in Acts when they pray to live quiet peaceful lives? IE. good leaders.
Second, does anything we do, have anything to do with what leaders we get?
– Yes, in this nation we are allowed to choose who we want to lead us…
Third, Is it wrong for us to make choices?
– No, God built us on the premise that we make our own choices?
Fourth, can God do as He wills no matter what we choose?
– Absolutely.
Fifth, Will God override our choices and force something on us that we don’t choose?
– If that was God’s MO (modus operandi) ,then why not just force us to Love Him… He hasn’t done that yet, Obviously.

My conclusion is that we treat politics just like everything else we do as Christians. Make a choice and walk on, trusting that God works all things for good to those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. Don’t be so arrogant to think that God needs you to make things run smoothly…but also don’t underestimate the value God places on people…humans, to accomplish His will. IE. David, Sampson, Moses, Solomon, Gideon, Abraham…all people, and all making their own choices, and all vitally important to the scheme of our salvation.

So go vote, and then go on with your life and live with what happens. That song by “RUSH” called “Freewill” has a line that says, “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” Pretty much right on… you made a choice, It’s just been a lazy choice, one that did’t require much from you, but I guess to each his own right? God is still God no matter who gets elected.

Fat to chew on. Do you have “Rights” as a Christian?

Tags: Art, choice, choices, christian, Christianity, christians, consequence, consequences, Family, God, God's will, jesus, Love, Mac, peace, politics, sin

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conflict – politics

// October 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // My Life

OK,   I am looking at my post on politics, and I can see how it could be inflammatory. I am not condemning folks that are political. I just find the position awkward, the problem is that my personal belief is that everyone should be moral, ethical, good intentioned human beings!  but legislating that type of morality is #1 impossible, and #2 (to me) conflicts with Gods design for free will! All of the sudden I find my self sounding like a liberal! Again I realize that laws to legislate basic morality are necessary, but I struggle with how far that should go. I can only go with what I see and what I see is that the further we go trying to enforce Morality in our society it backfires on us and actually accomplishes the opposite.

examples:
  • prohibition served only to increase the hostilities between the two sides and led to the increase of organized crime. 
  • the antagonistic political attacks against homosexuality have actually caused an equally aggressive counter attack on the values and morals of this country.  instead of living peacefully now some homosexual activists are aggressively attacking every facet of society to promote their lifestyle.
This only proves what we have always known.  ”tell me I can’t do it and I will” It is an inherent tendency in man tracing all the way back to the tree of knowledge of good and evil! 
So what do you think???    Come on!!    weigh in on this!!   Flame me if you will.  The truth can and will come out!!!
Tags: activists, Belief, God, peace, politics, truth

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