Life as a Reactionary

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am a reactionary. Not a revolutionary, but a reactionary.  The on-line dictionary says that reactionary is “of, pertaining to, marked by, or favoring reaction esp. extreme conservatism or rightism in politics; opposing political or social change.”  Now not all of that definition pertains to me but, if I could modify a portion of it, rightism in matters of the faithis what compels me to reaction. That does NOT mean I am right or intend to be right. It does mean that my desire is for right thinking. Thinking rightly about faith, scripture and the interpretation of scripture. Again, that does not mean my interpretation is right, simply that good, serious, dialogue about matters of the faith are essential to growing in the faith and I react when that is ignored or skirted in any environment were there is a pretension to call something Bible Study that is barely recognizable as study.

It probably goes without saying that people do not respond well to reactionaries. We tend to rock the boat of mediocrity and the dispensing of pablum when it comes to the things of faith. Often we do so simply and purely to get a rise out of people and push them to think beyond the scripted notions they may have adopted simply because someone, somewhere,  from a puplit said something was true.

Now I must be careful here so that I’m not misunderstood and seen as making any kind of comparison whatsoever for that is not my intent. But wasn’t Abraham a reactionary? And what about Elijah or Elisha, Daniel, and Micah. Dare I mention John the Baptist or Jesus,  John or Paul…weren’t they all reactionaries?  None of them seemed surprised that people did not respond well to their message. They were not concerned about being liked. They did not spend sleepless nights wondering if someone would be upset by what they said or even the way they said it.  They all learned, in some manner, to shake the dust off their feet and move on if people were unreceptive or ridiculed their message.

Perhaps political correctness has crept into the church to such an extent that tolerance of different, even very different views are no longer tolerated. Heaven forbid if  people get upset or feel challenged in their shallow beliefs. It is more important for some reason to finish a scripted lesson instead of exploring the free exchange of ideas.  After all, most people have studied and want to know what the leader has to say about the material. Right!!!!  When was the last time you ever attended a Sunday School class were more than a minority of the people actually studied the lesson ahead of time. Some may have read it the night before but study… I find that highly doubtful. They want some one to feed them the Word, not read the Word for themselves.

Do I enjoy being a reactionary? Not always. However I will confess that there is exhilaration in depositing ideas that force others to “react” or think about what they say or the ramifications of certain beliefs. I find some joy in pushing the edge of the envelope of faith. Letting the Word challenge me and finding courage to tackle the tough questions really is exciting.

Divorce Not Just for Marriage

A couple of weeks ago a friend posted a piece about divorce on his blog. It was an interesting look at his own life experience and one that set me to thinking. Having been divorced myself and coming from a home where divorce was a factor, I began to consider the effects of such an experience. The truth of the matter, I don’t suspect any one who experiences divorce ever really fully divorces from that individual. Whether it’s the presence of children – custody or visitation – the other spouse is always “in view.”  Not only that, even though we may find ourselves on the “other side of the river”, there are various times when the what if ghost of times past haunts the conscience.

Recently, I received an email with a piece that had nothing to do with divorce as it relates to marriage. But that email, just like my friends blog, set me to thinking. Could I ”divorce” myself from the liberal swing of our countries politics and leftist agenda? Could I divorce myself from all that is wrong and renew my vows to all that is right with our country?  Probably not, but it is an appealing thought.

I know that tolerance and sharing different opinions is what built the fabric of our democracy. But if you look carefully, the moderate to conservative opinion is no longer tolerated. It is viciously attacked on several fronts by those who believe their opinion and agenda is right and no other opinion matters.  You will see this played out in detail with the recent appointment of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court by President Obama. Those who examine her credentials with a thorough process will be called “racists” or “bigots.” Which is unfortunate because a judge who will sit on the highest court in the land should be thoroughly examined and questioned until EVERY ONE is satisfied that this person can be impartial and fair in their dealings. That they can put the robe of impartiality on with grace and make decisions based on the Constitution, not their wonderful upbringing or ethnic roots. I suspect we will see how this all plays out over the next few months.

In the mean time, here is the email piece I mentioned in the beginning.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT OUTSTANDING

 Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:

 We have stuck together since the late 1950’s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

 Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by land mass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

 We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).

 We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s and rednecks. We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and  Hollywood . 

 You can make nice with  Iran and  Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them security.

 We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill. 

 We’ll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find. 

 You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We’ll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute Imagine, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World. 

  We’ll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name and our flag. 

 Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and\ if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years. 

 Sincerely, 

 John J. Wall

Law Student and an American 

Post #2 for May 27th

I originally received the comments below via email from a friend. I not only found them profound, but a bit scary. It’s a long post, but worth the investment of time.

 PLEASE READ THIS ALL
  THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM.
  by Pam Geller

  Pamela “Atlas” Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer as Associate Publisher.  She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child, but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School.
 
 
   After 9/11, “Atlas” had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government wouldn’t cover or discuss.  To wit:

I am a student of history.  Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life.  I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis.  Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

 Something of historic proportions is happening.  I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it..  Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 – 15 years.  The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

 We demanded and then codified into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we knew could never pay back?  Why?  We learned recently that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has “loaned” two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms.  That is our money. Yours and mine.  And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September.

 Who has this money?  Why do they have it?  Why are the terms unavailable to us?  Who asked for it?  Who authorized it?  I thought this was a government of “We the People,” who loaned our powers to our elected leaders.  Apparently not.

 We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy.  Why?

 We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving.  Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate.  Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity.  Why?

 We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman.  Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?).  We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic.  To what purpose?

 Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government.  Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.)  The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.  It is potentially 1929 x 10.   And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

 And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska.  All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders?  No?  Oh, of course.  The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it.  Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)

 Mr. Obama’s winning platform can be boiled down to one word:  Change…radical change.  Why?

 I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.  This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life.  In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure.  Change is indeed coming.  And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

 And that is only the beginning.

 I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s.  In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing.  What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises.  Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker.  And he smiled and waved a lot.  And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his “brown shirts” would bully them into submission.

 And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression].  Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy.  The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think.  How did he get the people on his side?  He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex.  He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world.

 He did it with a compliant media – Did you know that?  And he did this all in the name of justice and…change.  And the people surely got what they voted for.  (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.)  Read your history books.  Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of.  When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker.  He was right, though.

 Don’t forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe.  It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities.  And in less than six years – a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency – it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.  All with the best of intentions, of course.  The road to Hell is paved with them.

 As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice:  I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me.

 Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both.  Perhaps I am.  But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe – and why I believe it.  I pray I am wrong.  But, I do not think I am.
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Since many of you enjoy senior citizen status or will sometime in the not too distant future, I thought you might be interested in this information.

 IN GOD WE TRUST

 Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close, or knows somebody that is.

 Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the “stimulus” bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens.  The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle, was credited by Bloomberg with the following statement.

 Bloomberg:  ”Daschle says health-care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them.”

 If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own healthcare plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes.

 Please use the power of the Internet to get this message out.  Talk it up at the grassroots level.  We have an election coming up in one year and nine months.  We have the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction the Obama administration and its allies have begun and in the interim, we can make our voices heard!  Let’s do it!

 If you disagree, don’t do anything

Why Quickly?

Why is quickly an adverb that Obama finds he must use with regularity? He wanted his stimulus package passed quickly, he wanted his auto industry reform moved quickly, he wants his health-care package passed quickly.

One gets the sense that much of his agenda is being rammed down the throat of the American people. Much of the legislation and proposed legislation having never been read thoroughly, if at all, by the men and women who are voting on it. These are the men and women elected to represent the people. An idea that has long been discarded as so much litter along the highway of political process and posturing.  

Acting quickly is a good thing at times. However, when it comes to government policy and programs that will shape or misshape our country for years to come, I’m not a big fan of that type of process. After all, what is the President afraid of when it comes to a thorough and careful process of examination when it comes to his policies? As we are seeing now, those once in high favor of closing “Gitmo” are now saying, “Wait, shouldn’t we think this through with regard to where we’ll put these people when the facility is closed?”  Duh!!!!

Then there is national health-care. Something that has never been done in this country and something that should not be done in this country. But between the President and GE it is on the fast track? Why? Shouldn’t this type of policy change and reform be given close and careful consideration not just by lawmakers but by the American people? It will not be FREE for those who have no healthcare currently but will under the proposed legislation. It will be a cost heaped on the back of the rest of America and the business community.  When it comes to government, NOTHING is free – ever.

This whole process and political expediency idea concerns me greatly. Not because some of the programs are not needed or good. Rather because it appears like we are being sold – pushed like some shady used car salesman to sign on the dotted line before we actually read the contract for the lemon we are being sold.

I love my country – I suppot my President, not because I like him or voted for him, but because he is the President and deserves a hearing. But shouldn’t he also be giving the American people a hearing instead of mocking those who disagree with him or oppose his policies. Shouldn’t he be careful in pushing his personal agenda before anyone has a chance to study its ramifications?  Or is quickly the order of the day simply because he does not want his agenda examined? 

Why quickly? is a question many Americans should be asking.

Just Wondering

Currently, to get me out of the house and earn some loose change, I’m working in a retail environment. It’s not always fun. I can’t really figure out why people have to open things – I suppose they think the product inside will somehow look oddly different than the picture on the box. Or why, once they have something and decide they don’t want it, they just put it anywhere instead of returning it to its place. I could go on.

Today, once customer brought me to a realization. I exude Christian character. Well…maybe that’s not quite true, but this customer did set me wondering about some things.

In NC there are about a dozen mega churches. These churches are, by definition, churches with an average weekly attendance of two thousand or more people. In fact, almost half of those churches are in and around the Charlotte area where we live. One is just down the street from where we live and the church we currently attend is fast moving toward the designation of a mega church. My point?

During my work day I often provide customer service to  ”church” folk. I know they’re church folk because they talk about looking for items to use in church, for church, or to promote church. In the past seven months only one church person said anything to me about their church or the gospel. Actually, it was only about their church and he was the pastor. 

Today, one of my customers was a JW. She identified herself as such. Once we found the product she was looking for, as I was walking away, she asked, “Have you every read any of our material and how it relates to the Bible?”   I was a bit taken back by her question and after thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I simply looked her at her intently and said, “Ma’am, believe me, you don’t want to go there with me!”  

After thinking about her question, I realized that with all the Christians in all the mega churches around where I live, I have never had any one —NEVER HAD ANYONE – approach me with the gospel of Christ. Now what are the odds of that?

When I was in college, the girl I was dating at the time was devastated one day because someone had “witnessed” to her. She could not believe that her life seemed so unchristian that someone would think she needed to be evangelized.  I tried to explain to her that it was not an indictment of her character, but an encouraging indication that students on campus where actively sharing their faith. After all, believers don’t go around with a “believer’s mark”. So how does anyone know unless they ask?

Now I suspect that my life is such a reflection of love and grace that people readily see that I don’t need the gospel of grace. If they only knew!     But it does make me wonder.  In fact, I can say in the past 15 years, no one has ever presented the message of grace through Christ to me or in my presence to another. Wait, I could go back twenty years, even twenty five, perhaps even thirty years if my memory was still that good. 

 Just wondering what are the odds of that?