Category Archives: Patriotic

WHAT WERE THE REPUBLICANS THINKING???


BLOG POST 10 - What Were They Thinking

Having been absent from my post for a few days doing stuff and dealing with issues, I failed to post this.  I realize that many have moved on from this topic but I feel the need or have the desire to express a few things regarding the omnibus spending bill and the abdication of responsibility by the GOP leadership…  I pray this will not be the open door which allows the Leftist to regain control of Congress…

Dierks Bentley has a country song “What Was I Thinkin” and the question is applicable to the Republicans in Congress in their recent Spending Bill.  Bentley said in his song, “I know what I was feelin’ but what was I thinkin’?”   The more I review what the Democrat Spending Bill passed by the Republicans includes it causes me ask of the Republicans, “What were you thinking?”  Better yet, “Why weren’t you thinking?”  I could even ask, “Are you Republicans or simply Democrat pawns?” 

The ridiculous argument that CNN and other media outlets have attempted to make is that the Republicans passed this bill, not because they wanted to but because they had to compromise with the Democrats to get things done.  SERIOUSLY?  I thought that the Republicans held a majority in both the House and Senate.  I recall the Democrats, when they were in the majority passing whatever they pleased with no consideration of what the Republicans wanted, demanded, or asked for.  Remember Obamacare?  There are other examples but that is the most glaring one and one that everyone should remember.  They locked the Republicans out of the discussion and Queen Nancy even had the audacity to tell us, “We have to pass it to find out what is in it!”  WHAT A WAY TO GOVERN!  Perfect if you are advancing a tyrannical agenda of fundamental transformation and empowering the federal government to have total control in every aspect of life.  However, it is a horrific way, if your desire is to be a Representative Democracy or the Constitutional Republic, as we are supposed to be.

I am fed up with the current leadership of the Republican Party and their collusion with or cowardice in dealing with the Democrats.  The omnibus spending bill is another example of Big Government Political Elitist entrenched in the Swamp revealing what they are all about.  I am furious with the Republicans for supporting this.  I prayed for the President to have the will have the fortitude and foresight to VETO the bill, but he signed it.  You may think the bill is a good thing, but I do not, and I will attempt to articulate some of my reasons.

The Freedom Caucus opposed the Bill and rightly so, in my view.  Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called it TERRIBLE and I believe he is correct.  Speaker Paul Ryan said that Representative Jordan is wrong and that the bill does fund the Wall – THAT IS A FABRICATION or an incredible twist of reality.  It funds portions of a “fence” not the wall and does nothing more than what has already passed.  That point caused Nancy Pelosi to gloat with glee as she does an ‘in your face’ to the Republicans and all of us who voted for Trump in the Election of 2016.  The Spending Bill provides funds for Planned Parenthood, the NICS gets money, and the Gateway Project gets money (indirectly funding Chuck Schumer’s tunnel project).  The American taxpayer gets an additional TRILLION DOLLARS in deficit spending.  Although there are a few good things in the bill, as are in most of them, overall it is a BAD PIECE OF LEGISLATION!

It seems that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) may be the only person in Washington who is actually reading and studying the bill which is so lengthy that it would take an Army of Lawyers to truly interpret.  He tweeted that this bill has the crazy provision of $10 MILLION for disadvantaged Egyptian students.  WHAT?  Where did that come from?  We can find MILLIONS for that?  I understand that the Republicans, holding 51 Senate seats do not have a Super Majority of 60 votes required to break a filibuster under current Senate rules.  Maybe it is time for that to change.  However, for them to concede without a fight is not only cowardly it is cause, to seek their ouster in the coming elections.

What is in this bill?  Obviously, I cannot go into everything because of time, space, and what I know, but let’s consider some of the delectable morsels they have given us.  The bill is 2.232 pages long, that alone should send up red flags.  The Bill provides funds for the Fix NICS “National Instant Criminal Background Check System.”  It does nothing to fix it only spends money supposedly to hold governmental agencies accountable if they do not upload records.  Election Security gets $380 MILLION, again doing virtually nothing to fix any issues but to provide funds to STUDY and PROPOSE fixes.  Infrastructure (where the Gateway Project gets its pork for Chuck Schumer).  Although the infrastructure situation is needed there are so many open doors to fund pork projects it is frightening.  The provision to fix the “grain glitch” in the Tax Bill and to get that the Democrats got a boost in the affordable housing tax credit.  Restaurant Tips?  This bill allows a restaurant owner to pool the tips and redistribute them among the employees.  WHY DO WE NEED MONEY FOR THAT?  There is an increase in Child Care and Development Block Grants, increased daily pay for federal jury duty, an expansion of low-income housing credit, more funds for the national parks, a pay raise for the troops, more money for veteran’s hospitals and veteran’s homes, $2.3 BILLION for school safety.  The bill DOES NOT defund Sanctuary Cities.  There are good things and bad things in the bill, but the size and scope of the bill make it bad, in my view.

Republicans, you do not have to have 60 votes to control the negotiations, but you continue to allow the Democrats to act as though they were in the majority.  I do not expect the Republicans to get everything they want in legislation but to get nothing they want is disgusting.  They have leverage but seem unwilling to use it and that is still a mystery to me.  Maybe it is because the Party Leaders, want much the same thing the Leftist Liberal Democrats want.

There is a way to do this and the Republicans either are too inept or forgetful of history to remember when the Democrats controlled Congress?  There is a way to get this done following the normal process of Congressional Rules.  First, pass a bill in the House, the majority party can get a general consensus enabling them to do just that.  (The Democrats have done it before).  Next, take that bill to the Senate and dare the minority party to filibuster.  (Call their bluff and if they are not bluffing use that against them in the upcoming elections).  Then, if necessary, let the government shut-down, and blame the opposition (Democrats).  Finally, bide your time and wait for them to cave, or make concessions and re-open the government.  That takes courage and would work but the Republican leadership has no stomach for a fight for America and appear to be better suited for being in the minority rather than the majority.  NO!  I am not suggesting that we take that path but that we consider REPLACING the current leadership with Senators and Representatives who will govern in the best interest of America, the Constitution, and the constituents.

If the Republican Leadership is unwilling to govern in a manner in keeping with the promises they have made, the voters will grow weary with them and allow the return of power to the Democrats.  The voters did not elect the Democrats to control the United States Congress, but the Republican Leadership is allowing them to do just that.  I am concerned that actions like this will return control of Congress to the Democrats in November and if that happens this is a drop in the bucket to what we will see in the days to come.  America, we CANNOT AFFORD the government we now have and MUST take steps to Reduce the Size, Scope, and Power of the federal government and STOP the insane spending that politicians have a propensity to engage in.

God bless you and God bless America!

 

 

THE FULL SURRENDER OF OUR REPUBLIC BY THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT…


BLOG POST 11 - Surrender

Barack Obama said, “Elections have consequences” and I was hopeful that with the Republicans having a majority in both houses of Congress and the election of a Republican president that the 2016 election would have positive consequences for America.  I guess I was wrong because what I see happening from even before Donald Trump was inaugurated was a positioning of the GOP Establishment to SURRENDER and SELL US OUT as a Republic.  Am I being too harsh?  Hopefully, but thus far I see no evidence to suggest that I am wrong and a myriad of examples that suggest I am right.

Most of us, who view ourselves as conservatives, constitutionalist, patriots, and lovers of liberty and freedom have grown weary with the whining of the GOP Leadership and Establishment that nothing could be done without having both houses of Congress.  We gave it to them and they whined that the pen of Obama, the maliciousness of the MSM, and the uncooperative Democrats prevented them from achieving their promises and our wishes.  They then pleaded that we give them the White House along with both Houses of Congress.  We did and now they whine that either Donald Trump is the wrong man to be in the Oval Office or that the uncooperative Democrats won’t let them fulfill their promises.  Their new claim is they need a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate to do what they promised.  I wish I could believe that, but I do not. 

It is more than the omnibus spending bill that has set me off, it is the lack of willingness to get behind this president and advance the agenda that was promised in the 2016 elections.  There are members of the GOP that openly express their venom toward the president and side with the Leftist Democrats to block his agenda.  John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, John Kasich, and even the Bush Family have either joined the chorus against Trump or sat silent when their support would have moved the needle positively for America.  The GOP leadership acts as though Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi were still in the majority and rather than doing what the Democrats did in ramming Obamacare down our throats and using the nuclear option to silence the Republicans, they cave or collude and the Democrats win virtually every battle.  WHY?

The omnibus (Omni = all) and (bus =what we are being thrown under) bill is probably the last straw for many who voted Republican in the 2016 Elections.  I talk to more and more patriots who have grown weary to the point they are fixated on the GOP Establishment’s continual failures and WILL NOT VOTE except on local and State issues.  They have declared, “If the Republicans want to act like the minority party, let them become the minority party.”  I keep holding on to the faint hope that there is hope and alarmed by the glaring truth that if the Democrats regain control WE ARE UP THE PROVERBIAL CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE.  America cannot afford Democrat control, nor can we afford RINO control of Congress.  I see the GOP Establishment and leadership of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as being in FULL SURRENDER MODE.

In eight years under Barack Obama, we saw our national security weakened, our military decimated, our borders erased, our healthcare system damaged incredibly, and spending spiral through the roof.  Our national debt doubled during the Obama years and the Republicans promised to repeal Obamacare, secure our borders, strengthen our national defense, reduce our taxes, and reduce spending, the debt, and deficit.  They have fulfilled very little of those promises and with the latest surrender, and the act of cowardice, and/or treason toward their promises and supporters one has to wonder if the MAGA agenda of Donald Trump dead?  What will happen to the conservative judges he seeks to appoint?  Will the GOP Leadership once again, run into the shadows and allow the Democrats to block those appointments?  What will happen to border security and in the illegal immigration situation?  Will the GOP Establishment and Leadership once again allow Schumer and Pelosi to control the agenda?  Will people like Adam Schiff become the drivers of the truck of state and the Republic be hijacked by the Leftist while the GOP (the party in the majority) sit in silence in the shadows and watch it happen?  HAVE THEY FULLY SURRENDERED THE REPUBLIC?

I realize that this continual dripping of water on the rock of freedom will have a negative effect and those that reluctantly supported Trump will bail saying, “What difference does it make?”  My concern is that with the continual failure and cowardice of the GOP Establishment many who are truly lovers of liberty, freedom, and the Constitutional Republic will also turn their backs on the Republicans in November.  I am not trying to pick a fight nor am I degrading anyone who makes that choice, because I understand where they are coming from.  What keeps driving me to VOTE NO on the Democrats is what I know they will do and the damage to the Republic that will ensue.  Will the GOP do better?  I guess I have to ask, “Is even marginally better not better than sure destruction?”  Please, don’t attack me for that because I am in the same boat with every other lover of America, patriot, and conservative who values the constitution and rule of law.  I am more than disturbed, I AM ANGRY!

Someone suggested that the Russian Collusion charges, Stormy Daniels, and the many other things which have been thrown, at Trump have had little effect, but the abandonment of the Promises by the GOP have.  They argue that the GOP Establishment, the Anti-Trump faction, and the Democrats have found the Achilles Heel of Donald Trump and the way to separate his supporters from him and that is through forcing him into a no-win situation where he signs bills like the omnibus spending bill.  That kind of event could and likely will cause many supporters to head for the exit and declare that the proverbial “fat lady” has sung.  America, we can only win this war if we both defeat the Democrats and replace the GOP Establishment Leadership in Congress.  No, I’m not forgetting the need to Drain the Swamp and Dismantle the Deep State, but until we truly control Congress that is not possible.  CAN WE DO IT?  That depends on our resolve and how much ground we lose in 2018 and/or 2020.  The Battle for America is not an easy one and the duration of the war may extend over multiple election cycles.  ARE WE READY TO RUMBLE?

God bless you and God bless America!

OUR SNOWFLAKE SOCIETY – Endangering our Republic…


BLOG POST 2 - Endangering America

Before you toss me overboard and kick me to the curb over the title let me elaborate on what prompts me to make that statement and sound that alarm.  CNS News reported a statement issued by the United States Marine Corps Commandant regarding the low percentage of our youth that is qualified to join the military.  He said it was less than 30% and if that is even remotely accurate that is alarming!    General Robert B. Neller told Congress that recruiting was incredibly difficult today because of the incredibly low numbers that are qualified and of those qualified few are interested in serving.

I was impressed and encouraged when he said that 99.7% of those who join the Marines are high school graduates.  In today’s digital world, the youth are technologically savvy and are being impacted heavily by video games and social media.  Some are impacted positively, and their skills can translate to abilities useful in the military and others are affected negatively and rendered unqualified for military service.  He also said that 62% of the Corps is 25 years old or younger.  That is encouraging and troubling at the same time because of the inexperience and lack of fundamental development of sound judgment that often only comes with age.

The reasons for not being qualified include physical, mental, and moral issues.  The Pentagon released a report that stated that 71% of the 34 million 17-to-24-year-olds do not qualify for military service!  The reason for their being unqualified included:  health, physical appearance, education, and ethics.  We have an epidemic of youth and adults who are obese, there is a growing number of those without a high school diploma or a GED, far too many are convicted felons or drugs (prescription or recreational) and lack of allegiance to the United States of America.  The report stated that only about 1% of those in that age category are both eligible and willing to have a conversation with the military.  That makes the pool incredibly small in seeking to keep our military strong and our Republic safe!  

This situation has resulted in some branches of the service lowering their standards in order to fill the numbers needed.  That is frightening or should be!  It is reported that about 180,000 men and women volunteer for and enter active-duty forces each year and the lower standards have resulted in only 79% having a high school diploma in 2007 as compared to 90% in 2001.  The trend is continuing, and we are headed toward a situation where we will have a very uneducated and otherwise unqualified military force in the years to come.  Can we afford to allow men and women in the military who are not physically, mentally, or morally qualified to protect and defend this nation? 

According to the Defense Department’s spokesman Nathan Christensen, the military has a ‘zero-defect mentality’ and they evaluate each applicant from a ‘total-person perspective.’  We need a certain number of warm bodies to serve in our military to function minimally, but quantity can never replace quality.  Through years of experience, we have learned that the qualifications of military personnel must include: knowledge, education, aptitude, skill, and motivation.  The most important qualifications are identified as being: Aptitude (as measured by the AFQT – Armed Forces Qualification Test) and a high school diploma; and Good Physical Health and Moral Character (e.g. no criminal record).  I readily acknowledge that our military has not always demonstrated those characteristics and character qualities.  I readily acknowledge that during the draft we threw the net over a very large swath of personnel and got some very bad eggs to go with some very good ones.  But today, we have a Voluntary Military and that demands that we have the highest quality individual possible.

About 24% of the Air Force enlisted personnel are female and virtually all jobs in the Air Force are open to women.  The Defense Guidance says, regarding Education, that at least 90% of non-prior service accessions must have a high school diploma.  Regarding Aptitudes, a minimum standard must be achieved in terms of the categories of the AFQT:  Cat. I 93rd – 99th percentile; Cat II 65th– 92nd percentile; Cate IIIA 50th– 64th percentile; Cat IIIB 31st– 49th percentile; Cat IV 10th– 30th percentile; and Cat V is below the 10th percentile.  What does that mean?  Those in Category V are ineligible to enlist by this statute.  No branch of the service is allowed to enlist more than 20% Category IV recruits.  At least 60% of the accessions should be Category I-IIIA.  No branch service should enlist more than 4% of Category IV, and all should be high school diploma graduates.

There are concerns and requirements regarding health including being free of contagious diseases and/or STDs as well as being free of mental health defects or issues that require medication, counseling, or institutionalization.  The moral issues are of concern to the military and the focus is largely judicial restraint (bond, probation, imprisonment, parole, etc.).  Those previously separated from the military with discharges that were less than honorable or for the good of the service are ineligible.  The age requirement is 17-35 and must be a citizen or a permanent resident and if married having no more than 2 dependent children under the age of 18 years.

I have offered a lot of fodder to get to a small bit of grain in this article but what I hope you see is both the importance of our military for our National Defense and the dangers of the modern youth snowflake movement in America.  With the Progressive, Liberal, Leftist academia, the Entitlement mentality, the lack of discipline, the decline in two-parent families, and the growing physical inactivity we are rapidly becoming a society dependent on technology and more and more are lacking ability and skills to do things WITHOUT that technology.  In War, and I can attest to this, you must possess a certain level of physical and mental ability to survive.  I served in Vietnam and some of those serving were not as committed to the task at hand as they needed to be and endangered the rest of us.  We knew who they were and took steps to cover our backs when they were going to be involved.

I support our military and will defend them whenever and wherever I can.  I appreciate their sacrifice and commitment and have little respect for those who trash them.  We are the Home of the Free because of the Brave men and women who have served protecting and defending our Freedom.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!  Parents we need to ensure that our children are physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally fit.  I want no one in the United States Armed Forces who is not 100% committed to the Constitution and the Republic.  If you embrace any religion or political ideology that seeks to overthrow the United States, then I do not want you to be allowed to serve.  When I was in Vietnam my mother sent me an article from the newspaper regarding those “burning their drafts cards” and “protesting the war”.  The article said, “Send them to Vietnam.”  I immediately wrote back, “Please don’t send them over here we don’t need to be watching our backs fearing attack from those supposedly on our side, we have enough of that with the Viet Cong posing as South Vietnamese patriots.”  If you disrespect the Flag, the National Anthem, the police and our military I respect the fact that you have a constitutional right to your opinion and some actions but do not ask me to honor you or even respect you.

Lovers of Freedom, American Patriots, and Defenders of the Constitution the task is before us to fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom.  We need to instill in the youth we have influence with the qualities needed to keep America safe and free.  Therefore, I implore you to become an intercessor and to REMEMBER NOVEMBER and prevent the Democrats from reclaiming power in Congress.

God bless you and God bless America!

 

HOW CAN WE TRUST GOVERNMENT???


BLOG POST 1 - Trust Government

How can we trust the federal government or believe the activist who wants to strip us of our 2nd Amendment Rights, when we have documented evidence of gross incompetence, failure, or complicity by the FBI, Law Enforcement, and the Government?  I know that paints a target on my back but in most of the most recent mass-murders, we have factual evidence that the FBI knew there was a potential problem and FAILED.  They failed to act!  They failed to warn!  They even cleared some of the shooters BEFORE they committed their acts.  With that kind of track record, how are we to trust the government? 

I would like to think that the FBI is simply overwhelmed or undermanned and unable to keep up with the demands to investigate and respond to the clear and present danger signals of mass-murder.  I would like to think that, but with the incredible investment of resources in trying to find something or anything on Donald Trump in the RUSSIAN COLLUSION theory, I cannot give them a pass.  NO, I do not blame most of the rank-n-file agents, I blame those at the top who are giving directives counterproductive to good law enforcement and transforming the agency into a political arm of the Leftist.  Therefore, it is imperative that we find a way to replace the Swamp Denizens in the FBI with honest people who will provide good Law Enforcement that is unbiased and follows the Law and the Constitution.  Is that possible?  Not with the current state of Washington, D.C. but it is possible!

The egregious failures of the FBI, local law enforcement, the school, and others in the Parkland, Florida shootings scream INCOMPETENCE and reveal a willingness to ignore problems in order to advance an agenda.  The Obama plan to reduce the statistics of “classroom to courtroom” and jail among school-age students.  It became a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy where Law Enforcement ignored crimes at school to facilitate that agenda.  That is not just wrong it is criminal and destructive, in my view.  If the Parkland shooter, Nickolas Cruz was an isolated case I would not be so adamant in my insistence that we cannot trust the government and cannot believe them in their demands that we give up our inalienable right of “self-defense” or the 2nd Amendment.

Omar Mateen, the diabolical individual who killed 49 people and wounded 58 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016 is one of the many who had been on the FBI’s terrorist watch list.  He was cleared by the FBI BEFORE he committed his act of treachery.  WHY?  Next, we must consider, Esteban Santiago who committed an act of terrorism and mass-murder, killing 5 people and wounding 8 more at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport, walked into the FBI’s Alaska office with a “loaded handgun magazine” two months before his crime and told them “I have terroristic thoughts.”  They ignored him and dismissed the matter without following through.  Devin Kelly, the individual who killed 26 people at a church outside San Antonio, Texas this past November had been booted from the Air Force following a conviction and prison sentence for domestic violence, but the Air Force forgot to notify the NCIC, so he would be prevented from purchasing firearms.

We dare not omit, Major Nidal Hassan, the shooter at Fort Hood in Texas for we are aware there were a number of warning signs including email exchanges between the Major and Anwar al-Awlaki, a known terrorist.  The Major had expressed his support for suicide bombings and the killing of civilians in the name of Islam.  He wrote in one of his emails, “I would assume that (a) suicide bomber whose aim is to kill enemy soldiers or their helpers, but also kills innocents in the process is acceptable.”  The FBI had been aware of him for over two years but did nothing and the result was the loss of lives at Fort Hood.  What about the Tsarnaev brothers in the Boston bombing massacre?  The FBI and the U.S. Government had been warned by those dastardly evil Russians that these brothers were terrorist.  They warned a full year and one-half before the bombing that the older Tsarnaev brother was a violent radical Islamist.  What did the Obama administration do?  NOTHING!

To complicate the matter, even more, we now have findings that the FBI gun background-check database is missing records of millions of cases making it inept at best and useless at worst.  But rather than fixing the cracks in the floor the Leftist and Gun Control Activist insist that we need MORE LAWS and BAN GUNS.  That has never solved the problem and will not solve this one.  A report from the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics reports that as many as 7 million records are missing from the FBI database and that 25% of felony convictions are not logged into the system.  Where is the problem?  Is it the evil gun or is it the ineptitude and flaws in the current system?  Remember Dylan Roof who committed his act of terror at the church in Charleston, South Carolina?  The FBI declared, after the fact, that the previous confession of felony drug possession should have disqualified him from purchasing a gun, but the FBI missed it.  Doesn’t that make you feel good?  But rather than deal with the problem let’s BAN GUNS is the cry of the Left.  STOP THE INSANITY!  We are dealing with problems of the heart, the mind, the morals, and the ideological beliefs of individuals not the weapon of choice.  We are paying the price for the toxicity of liberalism and political correctness that is running rampant in our nation.

The failures by the government and arms of government in doing their due diligence, their jobs, and enforcing our current laws are far more the issue than any firearm.  BUT, we know that the knee-jerk reaction of politicians who seek to be on the “vote getting side” of any event or wave of public sentiment will result in MORE LAWS and MORE RESTRICTIONS on our 2nd Amendment Rights.  What do I say?  I say it is time that we SHOW THEM THE DOOR and find people who will honor the Constitution and defend our inalienable rights.  We need to find people who will demonstrate integrity and help us return to our moral moorings and foundational principles in America not gravitate to the Political Opportunism and become Political Elitists.  It is time to TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY and RESTORE THE REPUBLIC.

God help us if we fail to do this and I pray that God will bless you and America again!

 

THIS IS US, and THIS IS OUR TIME…


BLOG POST 2 - Who We Are

I am going to incorporate my devotional and my observation of what is happening in this present world in one blog post today.  As I have prayed, studied, read, mused, contemplated, and examined what I see happening in today’s world, the thought came to mind, “This is us, and this is our time.”  As I read the Bible I am constantly confronted with what could be an exegesis of today’s world and it is almost as though I am reading newspaper headlines and hearing newscasts.  It is troubling but in that dark cloud I find a ray of sunshine and can see the silver lining behind the dark and ominous clouds of today.  This will resonate with some and will be objectionable to others, but it is my view and so deeply embedded in my thinking I cannot sit silently.  Therefore, if it resonates with you hopefully, it will inspire you to invest yourself more deeply in find solutions and restoration.  If it does not, I still pray that it will motivate you to more deeply examine what is happening and in so doing, I believe you will begin to see Who We Are and The Time In Which We Are Living.  I write from a platform of Hope rather than Despair and with a desire to Unite Not Divide.

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we find this description of the Last Days, “But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. 2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.”  Can we examine that briefly?

Depending on the translation or version of the Bible you use the descriptive phrases of these times include, “perilous, difficult, dangerous,” and other adjectives, all of which highlight the graveness of that period, time, or era.  We are living in a world where terrorism is rampant, mass murders all to commonplace, genocide acceptable on many levels, lasciviousness and debauchery deemed accepted norms.  We are living in a world that has become SELF-CENTERED to the point of danger.  Hollywood, the media, activist, organizations, and politicians are giving praise to groups that can only be described as radical hate groups.  I don’t care if it is the KKK or the Black Panthers, ANTIFA, or any other group if that group’s focus is hatred toward opposing views or ethnicities THEY ARE EVIL and should be condemned.  The Entitlement Mentality of so many today is dangerous on many levels.  Life is not and will never be FAIR in the sense that everyone gets the same thing regardless of effort or involvement.  Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people or as the Bible says, “God sends the rain on the just and unjust alike.”  There will be an accounting of our lives when we stand before God in Judgment but here on planet earth, Life is Not Always Fair!

GREED is rampant and so infectious in our society that we violate one of the basic commandments of God, “Thou shalt not covet…”  Wicked people, with wicked agendas, have found that they can fan the flames of hate through envy, jealousy and drive a wedge between people based on WHAT THEY HAVE and WHAT THEY DO NOT HAVE.  Racial discord and prejudice is an affront to the biblical truth that we are ALL, everyone one of us, CREATIONS OF GOD and members of the Human Family or Human Race.  The highlighting of various ethnicities as RACES is damaging to our ability to move forward productively as Human Beings.  The Love of Money inspires actions or attitudes that are anathema to the very principles of common decency.  The arrogance of today’s world and the political correctness that is INTOLERANT to the point that any disagreement of the PC Police’s mandate must be silenced, and the offender destroyed.  That is foreign to the heart of God and violates the core tenets of the Bible.   Let me walk through the list in Timothy alone and you decide if this is us and describes our time.  Narcissism, Self-Focus, Lovers of Self, Lovers of Money, Impelled by Greed, Boastful, Arrogant, Revilers, Disobedient to Parents, Ungrateful, Unholy, Profane, Unloving and Devoid of Natural Human Affections, Calloused, Inhumane, Irreconcilable, Malicious Gossips, Devoid of Self-Control, Intemperate, Immoral, Brutal, Haters of Good, Traitors, Reckless, Conceited, Lovers of Sensual Pleasure rather than Lovers of God, Outward Religion with no substance and foundation, values or commitment, and the like.   Tell me that is not descriptive of our time!

We are a DIVIDED NATION and PEOPLE.  I am reminded of the admonition of the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12:14-22 about the human body and the Body of Christ.  If you will allow me, I also compare that to the Human Race and even the United States.  Our Pledge says, “One Nation Under God…”  Our Declaration of Independence declares, “All men are created equal…”  The human hand is a hand and has a specific function and the hand will never be a foot, an ear, an eye, or a nose but it is no less a part of the human body than those members.  The hand cannot function effectively or efficiently without the brain and the other parts of the body.  No matter your ethnicity, socioeconomic status in life, education, or public prominence YOU ARE IMPORTANT.  You have a part to play and although the political elite and many activists do not believe that those who look different, believe differently, or think differently are valuable – YOU ARE!  You are important for the Nation, the Republic, Society, and the Kingdom of God.

The depravity of our day, the events transpiring in our world, the state of politics, the focus on WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME is causing our foundations to crumble as a nation, a society, and individuals.  This is Us, and this is Our Time!  If we continue the HATRED and allow the CONTEMPT for everything not in harmony with our preference to continue to be bred and promoted, we will incur such destruction that we will despair of life.  I AM SOUNDING AN ALARM!  Yes, I speak from my Faith, but I also speak from my love for Country.  I want to resolve the issues confronting us in America.  I want to see the Greatness that America enjoyed for decades and over two centuries to be restored.  I want to see the “propitious smiles of heaven” upon this nation and see a return to the place where nationally we are, “One nation under God with liberty and justice for all.”  I want us to return to a recognition that, “All men are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  I want to see us return to a place spiritually, where we recognize God and seek the smile of His providence upon this nation.  I want to see us return to a place societally or socially, where we respect the differences of others and treasure each other as members of the same family – The Human Family.  Can we return to that place?  I BELIEVE YES! 

This may not set well with everyone but I believe the prescription is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14-13 – “If I shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence and plague among My people, 14 and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”  THERE IS A REMEDY!

I love America, I love my Family, I love my Freedom, and most importantly I love My God, the Living God, the God of the Bible.  I will pray for you and for America and hope you do the same for me and for the Republic.  My simple prayer is, “Father, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”   Thank you for allowing me to express the cry of my heart.

God bless you, God bless America, and may we all, regardless of nationality experience the blessings of the Lord and learn to live in peace.

 

THE PROBLEM, THE SOLUTION, and THE DELUSION…


BLOG POST 4 - The Real Problem

I have some people who stand firmly beside and behind me in our fight for the Constitution, Rule of Law, Liberty, and Freedom but disagree with me as to the “root cause” of the problems and the “real solution.”  The reason they disagree is they do not share my Christian Faith and therefore, reject the idea that the real solution is God and addressing the moral issues of man’s heart.  Most of them are staunch defenders of the 2nd Amendment as an inalienable right that government has no right to infringe but they are hard-pressed to define where those rights come from, if not from God.  Those on the Left who follow the Leftist Liberal Socialist Globalist philosophy ideology and agenda seem to believe that our rights come from government and therefore can be altered, amended or, revoked by the government.  I mention those realities to highlight the different views as to what the problem in America truly is and the correct pathway to find a resolution.

Therefore, I argue that if we do not recognize, diagnose, define, or acknowledge the Real Problem we will NEVER pursue the Real Solution and often follow Delusion and thereby heighten the problem and frustration in society.  When we pursue a wrong diagnosis the treatment often worsens the condition rather than relieving the symptoms or finds a cure.  That, in my view, is the pathway we are traveling in this current debate regarding “guns” and how we curb the mass-shootings being talked about.  I find it curious that there is no outcry over the daily shootings in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and other highly gun restrictive cities, but there is a major outcry when there a single shooter in a school or as the one in Las Vegas.  I find it somewhat odd that some I have discussed the matter with regarding the murders, muggings, and mayhem in Chicago often black on black crime with those on the Left they call that a moral and heart issue but in Florida and Las Vegas it is a gun problem.  They have yet to explain the difference to me and in that failure, I see delusion, deception, and denial when equates to no solution and suggests that this type of action will multiply leaving us more and more disheartened and leave us feeling helpless.

I believe that what we are calling “mental illness” is sometimes simply “evil” that may, in fact, be a type of mental illness but not the classic definition.  If a person has an “evil heart” no law will prevent them from pursuing their diabolical act of murder and mayhem.  No posted sign, no threat of imprisonment, or any other edict from the government will deter them.  Evil holds no respect for the moral or civil law and the type of evil as witnessed in mass-shootings has no regard for human life, even their own.  They thirst for blood and destruction and nothing will satisfy that longing except carrying out their heinous acts.  You cannot stop evil with legislation.  In the case of evil, aside from a spiritual conversion, the only way you stop an evil person intent on murder is with deadly force.  That may not play well with some, but if you are honest in your assessment you will know that is the truth.  How then, will we make our children safer or ourselves safer by “disarming” good, moral, sane, and sensible people?  How is taking away our ability to protect ourselves, our families, and our property the right path?

As for the matter of “mental illness”, we have allowed government and the liberal leftist mindset to prevent the finding of a solution and further endanger society.  The first public hospital, in America, built to care for the “mentally ill” was Eastern State Hospital, built in 1773 in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Many more followed and in 1955 there were 560,000 patients housed in state mental institutions in America but by 1977 that population had been reduced to 160,000. What was the cause of such a dramatic reduction in institutionalized patients diagnosed as suffering from some form of mental illness?  In the 1970’s, there was a dramatic rise in people advocating for the closing of mental hospitals because of the new psychotropic drugs available.  It was argued that people with mental disorders, even the most violent or potentially violent, could live unrestrained among the population.  In 2013 an article by Dr. E. Fuller, founder of Treatment Advocacy Center, titled “Fifty Years of Failing America’s Mentally Ill”, contended that this had not gone the way the advocates had planned or hoped.  His study reported that the “mentally ill” were responsible for 10% of all homicides (an even higher percentage of mass murders). They represent 20% of prison inmates and 30% of the homeless.  That suggests a failure on the part of the government, society, and the medical community in dealing with this issue.

I believe that “mental illness” is a very real problem, especially as it relates to murder (mass or otherwise).  The federal government has invested BILLIONS in building treatment centers and funding doctors and programs to deal with the issue and rather than curbing the problem it is growing.  We need to, as with most things, get the federal government out of the “mental health” arena and return control to the State and Local entities.  A Supreme Court ruling in 1999 (Olmstead v. L.C.) held that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with mental disabilities have the right to live in integrated community settings rather than in institutions.  Some have benefitted from this ruling, many others have been harmed, not to mention the harm to the public.  President John F. Kennedy proposed the CMHC program funding of $1 BILLION, or in today’s dollars $10 BILLION.  The total annual public funds for support and treatment of the mentally ill is over $140 BILLION. 

Is the answer to institutionalize everyone with a mental disorder?  NO!  But those who show a propensity to or demonstrate a bent toward violence pose a danger to themselves and others should be carefully supervised and treated.  My heart breaks for anyone suffering from or any family dealing with the “mentally ill.”  I do not want to treat them as sub-human and simply cart them off to an institution, lock them up, and forget them.  I want to seek solutions to the problem while keeping them safe and the public free of the threat of that individual committing a crime such as the one in Las Vegas or Florida.  I am not saying that either of those was caused by mental illness but some of the mass murders have been.  If we deny the problem of either evil or mental illness and make the firearm (gun) the culprit, we become entrapped in a delusion that will fail to recognize the real problem and prevent us from finding a solution.  I do not have the answers to solving the “mental illness” issue but throwing more and more money at the problem with no visible result is not the answer.  The definition of insanity that has been used (not the technical or medical definition) is: “Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.”  I believe that we are dealing with a HEART and MIND issue that is the result of our drift from our moral moorings in America and the indoctrination which has virtually become brainwashing of our kids and society by the politically correct rhetoric, diatribe, and ideology.  The Real Problem is not the weapon of choice but the choice to use a weapon!  If we continue to react as many businesses, activist, and politicians and target the wrong source we will open the door to a continuing and growing problem.  The mentally ill need our compassion, understanding, and help to help prevent them from harming themselves or others.  Dealing with “mental illness” effectively will not remove the threat of mass-shootings because of the existence of evil.  Evil called by any other name empowers it!  Hear me carefully, if there is a person shooting up or attempting to shoot up a school or a public venue it does not matter, at that moment in time, if they are suffering from a mental disorder or simply venting evil – THEY MUST BE STOPPED!  If you strip me of my right and ability for ‘self-defense’ you make me a victim and you have no right to do that!

God bless you and God bless America is my prayer and desire!

 

WHAT WILL MOTIVATE VOTERS IN NOVEMBER???


BLOG POST 3 - Motivated Voters

I realize that, in many ways, November seems an eternity away, but it is only 8 short months until American voters will largely decide the direction of this country for the foreseeable future.  Yes, I believe it is that serious and the reason I constantly contend for the Constitution and Conservative values, the values that helped this nation become arguably the greatest on planet earth.  I believed that the 2016 elections were the most critical we had faced in our lifetime and we fought, worked, prayed, and voted as a nation winning a battle which has given us a small window of opportunity.  NOW, we face another battle in this raging war for America and Constitutional Republicanism (Liberty, Freedom, and Limited Government).  What will motivate those on the Left and on the Right to shake off apathy and go to the polls and exercise their constitutional privilege and duty?  What will it take?  What will transpire?  How many of the current hot issues will cool and what new hot issues will surface?

One thing of which I am 100% certain, the Left, the MSM, the Activist promoting the Liberal Leftist Socialist, Globalist Agenda will find something as they attempt to “press people’s buttons” and motivate them.  They will never allow a crisis to go to waste and will politicize anything and everything as they fan the flames of paranoia, fear, distrust, envy, and hate.  I do not give very much credence to the POLLS but sometimes what they are reporting are revealing if not factual.  What are the current issues that are motivating people to go to the polls in the primaries?  A secondary question would be, “Will those issues continue to ignite people in November?”  But, what are the issues that are “hot buttons today?”

Of the many polls out there, many or most are skewed to elicit the response desired to achieve an objective is the USA Today, Suffolk University poll.  It reported that the top issues are immigration, border security, and gun control and the Russian “collusion” is dead last.  If that is true, then why would Mueller and the Democrats keep pressing that issue?  That, I’ve attempted to answer before but let me reiterate IT IS NOT designed to find criminal activity by Donald Trump but to build a dossier that the Democrats could use in attempting to provide a preponderance of evidence to support an attempt to Impeach the President should they regain power.  They fully believe that is going to happen in the November elections and are making plans to oust Donald Trump as early as January 2019.  Will they succeed?  That depends on us, the American voter.

Border Security and Immigration is the top issue for Republicans (17%) making that number one.  In comparison, only 9% of the Democrats view those issues as number one.  That is a bit surprising because of the hoopla that continues to be presented in the MSM and by the Democrats in Washington.  On the other hand, Gun Control is the number one issue for the Democrats (17%) as compared to Republicans (9%).  The third issue that is a “hot button” to voters is TAXES. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are incredibly vulnerable on this issue and Queen Nancy’s “crumbs” comments and Senator Chuckie’s declaration of the Un-Americanism of the Tax Cuts leave them open to rejection.  I say that because between now and November millions of Americans are going to realize benefit from the Tax Cuts and that could translate to a loss of votes for the Democrats running on repealing the cuts.  Additionally, the Democrats are running on a platform of Impeach the President and that issue is a virtual non-starter as only 1.4% of voters felt that Impeaching the President was a top issue.  Even more troubling, to me, is the findings of this poll that 75% disapprove of Congress, 48% do not view the Democrats favorably and a whopping 60% have an unfavorable view of the GOP.  It also reported that when asked, “Who would you most likely vote for as a member of the House of Representatives?”  47% of the voters said a Democrat and 32% said a Republican.  That is troubling!

Again, this poll has an agenda and like most polls, I’m confident it is somewhat skewed but the issues that are “hot button” items is interesting.  The economy is not, and I believe that is because the economy is moving in a positive direction.  Political moods are like the weather in Texas, they change daily if not hourly.  What new crisis will surface or be manufactured to motivate voters to go to the polls in November?  I cannot answer that question, but I will predict that the Mueller investigation will have more indictments in September or October to cloud the issue and in the hope of the Democrats motivate their base.  Let me also predict, there will be another mass murder or attempted mass murderous rampage in the Fall to motivate people to become fearful enough they are willing to elect Democrats and give up their right to keep and bear arms.  No, I did not say that the Democrats or governmental agencies will manufacture the event but the political correctness, the indoctrination in academia, the media, Hollywood, and by the activist will allow someone to slip through the cracks and evil perpetuates evil.  Another disgruntled or deranged person with evil in their hearts will seek to make their statement by this kind of horrific evil.  Can we prevent it?  Possibly not, but we can take positive steps to reduce the probability.

Here’s what I want to convey to every person who loves Liberty and wants to maintain America as the Constitutional Republic that our Framers and the Founders established – STAY FOCUSED.  If we grow apathetic or allow our personal distaste for any particular politician to cause us to withhold our ballot in November we will, by that action, allow the Democrats to gain inroads.  If we allow the Left to regain control of one or both Houses of Congress we will have surrendered many if not most of our inalienable rights protected by the Constitution.  We will open the door to the further “fundamental transformation” of our Republic into something other than a Free Nation and expand Government and Governmental Power to the point of no return.  You may or may not like President Donald Trump but surely you like some of if not most of the things accomplished or attempted to be accomplished.  Surely, you want to see the campaign promises kept and the American agenda advanced which would, in some measure, drain the Swamp and dismantle the Deep State.  Surely you want to see government become more limited and control of our healthcare returned to patient and doctor rather than government bureaucrats.  Surely you want to keep more of your hard-earned money rather than giving it to an inefficient bureaucratic government that is incredibly wasteful.  However, if you want to see Government become more and more powerful and are willing to trade your liberties for a false sense of security, then the Democrat pathway is your pathway.  If you want Freedom, Liberty, Limited Government, a Secure Border, a Strong National Defense, and your Constitutional Rights to remain intact, then Defeating the Democrats is your only option.  THAT SHOULD MOTIVATE EVERY PATRIOT!

May God bless you and may He bless America again!

 

IS MY VIEW FATALISTIC???


BLOG POST 2 - Fatalism

I ask that with all seriousness because I had a person who identifies as a constitutional conservative accuse me of that.  He used the following quote in his argument:  “Fatalism is the lazy man’s way of accepting the inevitable.” I will go into why he leveled the accusation momentarily, but first I’d like to walk through what I see happening in the political world, especially in Washington, D.C. today.  I do not see a rosy picture where optimism is high, and the glass is half-full, but I also do not see total cataclysmic doom either.  I try to be realistic without being pessimistic and find the best path to travel in this journey of life and the fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom.

In the aftermath of another mass shooting in a public school, the Leftist are everywhere demanding more stringent “gun laws” with many demanding a “total ban” on what they are calling military-style weapons and often referring to them as “automatic weapons”.  Style, if we mean appearance might be accurate but when they call a semi-automatic firearm a machine gun or an automatic weapon they are not only wrong they are purveyors of hysteria and paranoia that is dangerous and detrimental to our Free Society. That is the kind of misinformation that continues to be reported by the Mass Media Outlets usually amounting to nothing more than the “talking points” of the Leftist who have a Globalist Agenda and desire to strip citizens of most if not all of our inalienable and constitutional rights.  The saddest part of this equation is that there are too many, and one would be too many, Republicans joining the chorus and singing the same song.  That demands action on the part of the voters and identifies the depth, breadth, and width of the Swamp and the Deep State.  We truly do need to “clean house.”  That is an undeniable reality, but HOW?  How do we “clean house” in Washington and purge the ranks of both Democrats and Republicans of all who will not honor, protect, and defend the constitution and follow the rule of law WITHOUT destroying ourselves in the process?  That’s my problem and part of why I was told that my views are fatalistic.

When people like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice make public declarations such as, “I think it is time for us to have a conversation about what the right to bear arms means in the modern world.  I don’t understand why civilians need to have access to military weapons.”  First, Secretary Rice, THEY DON’T!  The AR-15 IS NOT a Military Weapon and you should know that but then I never considered you a true constitutional conservative any more than I considered your former boss one.  As to the conversation about the right to bear arms, it is one of our INALIENABLE RIGHTS and if you were truly a constitutional scholar and one who wants to protect and defend that document along with all our rights and freedoms you would understand why the Framers and Founders included it.  People of her mindset are another evidence of the need to “clean house” in Washington, D.C., a fact I readily acknowledge.  But again, HOW do we do that without destroying ourselves in the process?

I need say nothing with regard to the Leftist, Globalist, Progressive, Liberal, Democrats and the need to defeat them but when I call Republicans to task I am questioned as to why I would ever vote for one of them again.  That is a valid question and one that I’ll try to answer and if you find yourself in the same boat facing the same predicament maybe it’ll resonate with you.  If not, you too will likely view me as being fatalistic and not appreciate my reasoning.  First, I am very Pro-America.  I consider myself a patriot, I am a Vietnam veteran, and believe that my views are both constitutional and conservative.  I am a Christian and believe that the Bible is our Guide and Rule for Faith and Practice in life.  Those views place me at odds with many politicians on a regular basis.  If I allowed myself I’d be continually frustrated and angry with the Democrats to the point of wanting to slap some sense into them.  If I allowed myself I’d become so discouraged over the Republicans I’d desire to be a recluse, throw up my hands, and give up.  I cannot do either, for the Republic called the United States of America is too valuable to cede to the Leftist who want to “fundamentally transform” her into something other than what the Framers and Founders envisioned and established.

The person that called me a Fatalist said so because he thought I should abandon all Republicans and vote for the particular Third Party he was embracing.  He argued that we need to lose a few elections by withholding our votes from the Republican Candidates in order to dismantle that Party and formulate a replacement.  I asked, “How many elections we would have to lose to accomplish that feat.”  I also asked, “What Third-Party is going to replace the GOP?”  I had a number of questions along those lines and then what made him furious was my question, “In light of the eight years of Barack Obama, how long do you think it would take the Democrats to totally transform the Republic, strip us of our gun rights, entrench Obamacare to the point of making it impossible to remove, repeal the Tax Cuts, open the borders and give Amnesty to millions of illegals, and strip us of most if not all our constitutional rights?”  The speed with which they advanced their cause under Obama was alarming and had Hillary won it would have been going forward at “warp speed” today.  Therefore, is it more principled to withhold my vote from a Republican that from time to time or even most of the time shows a liberal bent to make a statement or to prevent the Leftist Democrats from completely destroying the republic?  He became furious and called me names that I would never have expected to hear from a person claiming to be a Christian who is a constitutional conservative.

In my home state, Texas, we are seeing the color of political purple becoming more and more apparent and that troubles me.  With the increase of illegals and the outside money flooding into our Statewide as well as some local elections the influence of Liberalism is growing.  One of the doorways through which this liberalism is gaining inroads is by people willingly withholding their votes for the Republicans and voting Third-Party or not voting.  If the Democrats become energized and smell blood in the water heading to the polls in droves while the conservatives and constitutionalist stay home or split their votes the result will be the Red State turning Purple or Blue and that would be a disaster for the State and the Nation.  My position has long been that IN THE PRIMARIES we need to attempt to unseat the RINOs and replace them with constitutional conservatives.  However, because of the incredible danger, I see if the Democrats win the General Election, I see little alternative to voting for the Republican BECAUSE I do believe there is enough difference in the parties to matter.  I readily acknowledge that far too often there is little difference BUT there is a small sliver of hope if the Democrats are stopped.  Is that a fatalistic attitude?  Possibly.  Would we be better off ceding the election and the republic to the Democrats in an effort to create a viable Third-Party to replace the GOP?  If I thought, we could do it without losing the Republic I’d likely get onboard, but I don’t see that train as having enough steam to climb the mountain while providing a defense against the globalist leftist liberal agenda of the Democrat Party.

I’m quite sure that I’ll get some negative reaction for what I’ve argued but in Texas and across the United States of America this 2018 mid-term election is, in my view, the most critical we have faced.  If we allow the Democrats to take back one or both Houses of Congress any hope of realizing the fulfillment of the Promises made to us in 2016 will be history.  We will be stuck with Obamacare permanently, our Tax Cuts will be in danger, Impeachment will become a reality (maybe not a conviction but impeachment), our borders will be thrown wide open, Amnesty will become a reality, spending will go through the roof, and our national defense will be in grave danger.  I cannot, in good conscience, participate in that so, if you deem my view of STOPPING the Democrats as Job Number One fatalistic, I can live with that.  I believe it is Patriotic and my duty as a lover of Freedom. 

God bless you and God bless America!

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Do We Truly Comprehend What We Have in this Republic???


BLOG POST 1 - Pledge of Allegiance

We are continuing down a path that began long before Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the National Anthem.  That is the path of disrespect for America and what America stands for.  It is an expression of hate.  You may find that objectionable but to declare that you are protesting the anthem or the flag over your perception of the existence of systematic racism by the police and America you cannot claim it is not about the anthem or the flag.  The Anthem and Flag embody what America was, is, and will be!  They are a vehicle by which every American can express his/her loyalty and allegiance to America.  If there are flaws in our system and in our interpersonal relations disrespecting the flag and fanning the flames of hate are not the solution, they are an extension of the problem.

Johnny Cash, the country star is reported to have said, “I believe in your 1st Amendment Right to burn the flag if you choose, but I also believe in my 2nd Amendment Right to keep and bear arms and I’ll shoot you if you burn mine.”  I am not advocating that kind of violence for the terribleness of the former does not justify the latter, it only makes the divide greater.  I hold the Flag, the National Anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance in high esteem.  I am a Vietnam veteran and consider myself a patriotic American and a devoted Christian.  God is first in my life, family is next, and country follows them.  The Pledge is more than a statement of respect and an expression of allegiance it is a commitment to adherence to the values, principles, freedoms, and rights that every American citizen is blessed with.  There are few countries in this world where one could openly burn the flag and publicly disrespect the anthem of that nation.  America affords that liberty and yet those who exercise that liberty do so without a full comprehension of the damage they do in their actions.

In our original pledge of allegiance to our Republic, which was established by God, penned in 1892 by Reverend Francis Bellamy was used by educators in Chicago during the 400th celebration of Columbus landing in the New World.  In 1923-1924, the phrase, “the flag of the United States of America” was added to replace Bellamy’s original wording, “my flag.”  The Pledge then became: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  You will no doubt notice a missing phrase, “under God.”  .”  In 1942 the Pledge was officially added to the U.S. Flag Code but the phrase “under God” was not added until 1954.  It was birthed largely as the result of a sermon preached by the Reverend George Docherty of Scotland, who was, at that time, serving as pastor just two blocks from the White House at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.  On February 7, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was sitting in the front row with numerous Senators and Congressmen.  The sermon reviewed how the hand of God was evident in American history and how America had taken the precepts of the Bible and incorporated them into American life and culture.  He declared that America had continuously acknowledged God as being essential to our foundational American identity.

The Reverend Docherty went into a lengthy conversation he had had with his son and in that conversation, the matter of the pledge of allegiance came up.  He reminded the audience that the beginning of each school day there was the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was so commonplace that no one would expect any other beginning.  Reverend Docherty related his preparation for a Lincoln Day celebration and in his studies, he discovered how frequently Mr. Lincoln used the phrase, “under God” and wondered why that phrase had not been included in the American Pledge.  From the beginning of our founding, it is evident that certain basic principles were laid down not only by the Founding Fathers who began their first proclamation with the words, “In the name of God, Amen,” but also by the Framers of the Declaration of Independence.  In that document they declared that “all men were created equal” and there can be no creation without a creator.  This was a clear revealing of their cognizance of the hand and influence of the Creator in the formulation of the American Republic.

Including the phrase, “under God” immediately separates our Pledge from the Communistic and Socialist governments of the world who disbelieve the existence of God.  It presents our view and interpretation of the meaning of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in a much different light than in those nations.  When Mr. Lincoln used the phrase, “Under God” it was a reminder to all Americans that the United States that our only basis and source for our true freedom is God.  After the sermon, President Eisenhower approached the pastor and said, “I think you’ve got something!”  The next day, a bill was introduced to add “Under God” to our pledge and the members of Congress acknowledge that the sermon was the catalyst and inspiration to take this action.  Four months later President Eisenhower signed the bill that included “Under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance.

When I think of what America means, I am always conscious of the sacrifices that have been made throughout our history to establish and preserve the Republic in which “all men are deemed to have been created equal” and have “God-given rights that no government or man can or should infringe.”  Our Republic has a Constitution that details the pathway to implementing new laws, rules, and regulations and that deserves our respect.  The National Anthem is an expression of the treasure we have in our Free Constitutional Republic.  When you disrespect it, you trash the very precepts and principles that were the basis for founding a nation so wonderfully free that you can disrespect it without fear of incarceration or execution.  You may have problems with various institutions, organizations, or arms of government but you should never allow your dissatisfaction grow to the point of disrespecting the sacrifices of the men and women who paid the ultimate price to afford you that freedom.

The flames of hatred are burning high today and disrespecting the anthem, or the flag of the Republic will not resolve the problems that exist.  Disrespect breeds contempt and contempt drive wedges that produce impasses virtually assuring there can be no compromise or common understanding.  It becomes “my way or no way” and both sides rigidly stand unwilling to honestly discuss the issues of concern.  If you value Freedom and Liberty and want to preserve the Constitutional Republic, our Founders fought for and our Framers formulated a Pledge of Allegiance is not too much to ask.  I am not asking that you blindly follow and never express your dissatisfaction but out of respect for the sacrifices that have been made and out of an appreciation for our Freedom and Liberty, I ask that you stand for the Anthem and realize that the Pledge of Allegiance is not a declaration that there are no problems but that this Republic affords the priceless Freedom and Liberty and that treasure is too valuable to lose.

God bless you and God bless America is my prayer and desire!

ARE WE DEALING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS or EVIL???


BLOG POST 1 - Evil or Disease

There is a difference and I am not qualified to give a medical diagnosis and go into the many parameters involved although I do have some training in Psychology (I am not a Psychologist), have been educated in Bible College and served in Christian ministry for over 40 years.  That gives me a small foundational base from which to address the issue.  However, in this article, I acknowledge that I am approaching it from a personal viewpoint and the research I have been able to do concerning mass-shootings and mass-murderers.  Therefore, my opinion is my opinion, and yours is yours!

There is much speculation as to the mental state of the most recent confessed mass murderer Nikolas Cruz just as there has been about every other such incidence and person.  Mostly it is speculation and sometimes it is the spin of the desired narrative by some group or entity.  The fact that few know anything concrete about his mental state or the possible mental illness he may have been suffering from.  Likewise, describing his act as one of a driven evil person would not be fair, if he is truly suffering from a mental illness and his ability to comprehend the evil of his actions.  That has not prevented virtually everyone speaking publicly on the matter from diagnosing him as one suffering from some incapacitating mental issues.

Why is that a problem?  I see it is a problem because it allows a justification if not an excuse for the evil, at least in some measure.  It seems that in our modern society we are more comfortable with labeling someone as “mentally disturbed” or suffering from some form of “mental illness” rather than defining them as “evil.”  If we can characterize them as “disturbed” we do not have to confront the terribleness of evil and can totally divest the moral or biblical aspects from consideration.  We do not have to address the possibility of the devil being involved and the need for God.  We do not have to investigate the possibility of supernatural influence through the demonic and can completely secularize the matter and sanitize it, in a measure, as being something clinical rather than spiritual.  We can make it a matter of the mind rather than the heart and that seems to be a safer position and allows those who want to target the GUN or the NRA to do so without holding the shooter totally accountable for his/her actions.

If we can make the crime pathological and move from the old viewpoint of the criminal “getting what he/she deserves” or JUSTICE, we feel compelled to cure him/her and the punishment become therapeutic rather than punishment befitting the crime.  C.S. Lewis addressed the “Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” and described this approach as removing the concept of “desert” [d’ZERT] from the equation.  He said: “[The] concept of Desert is the only connecting link between punishment and justice. It is only as deserved or undeserved that a sentence can be just or unjust…Thus when we cease to consider what the criminal deserves and consider only what will cure him or deter others, we have tacitly removed him from the sphere of justice altogether; instead of a person, a subject of rights, we now have a mere object, a patient, a ‘case’.”  The danger is that a wicked government is allowed to categorize crime and disease as the same and the masters of the state can choose to call anything the desire a ‘disease’ and when a crime is so labeled they no longer seek punishment, but cure and the deterrent of punishment loses its effectiveness.  That helps to facilitate and invite heinous criminal behavior for the evil person knows they have an out in the societal and governmental view of the matter.  Thus, evil is called disease and rather than treated as unadulterated evil it is treated as a disease beyond the criminal’s ability to control.

C.S. Lewis also said, “We know that one school of psychology already regards religion as a neurosis.  When this neurosis becomes inconvenient to government, what is to hinder government from proceeding to ‘cure’ it?”  That is frightening and part of what the Framers and Founders wanted to protect us against in the 1st Amendment’s provision of Freedom of Religion and the prohibition of Government infringing upon it.  Joy Behar and a myriad of others, I suspect, would welcome such a move by the government because she believes that if one believes God talks to man, they are suffering from mental illness.  I say, “Ms. Behar, you are treading on dangerous grounds and demonstrating a lack of understanding of the Bible and God.”  From the beginning of Genesis to the conclusion of Revelation, God speaks and speaks to man, frequently, clearly, and personally.  No, I am not suggesting that everyone hears an audible voice, but that does not mean He is not speaking through impression and the revelation of His written word.

Do you not see the problem in placing in the hands of ‘doctors’ the responsibility of administering justice and punishment and thereby stripping the jurist of that mandate?  The doctors, frequently know nothing of the law and would then be permitted to using their own pre-conceived ideas, ideological beliefs, and clinical understanding to administer punishment eliminating desert from the equation.  If we allow criminal behavior to become defined as a disease then what is to prevent the doctors from, over time, deciding that it is neither a disease or a crime and the new normal?  Yes, I am stretching the matter to the limits but what has the government not stretched to the limit when allowed to infringe upon our rights?  Are we becoming a society where there are no parental rights or expectations with regard to discipline, which often leads to evil being borne in the heart and the total devaluing of personal accountability?  When I was a child and when my children were young, “temper tantrums” were not tolerated and certainly not called “releases of frustration.”  They were deemed “bad behavior” and corrective action taken.  Tragically, there are countless numbers of those who have grown up with “no discipline” in their lives and commit heinous acts such as that in Florida and there is the view that they are not to be judged harshly for their actions and drugged rather than required to face the consequences of their actions.  That is not a solution and does far more harm than good.  It does harm to those who are truly mentally ill and endangers the masses by subjecting them to the dangers of the uncontrolled behavior that is evil at its core rather than simply being “mentally disturbed.”

I am concerned that the continued removal of God from the equation of our expected behavior patterns and the amoral view that is prevalent will result in the government issuing edicts and regulations banning the practice of teaching Christian values even in the home or church.  The shootings in Las Vegas and in Florida were evil.  The shooters may or may not have been suffering from some form of ‘mental illness’ but UNLESS that is unquestionably diagnosed this shooter needs to be subjected to JUSTICE and his punishment needs to fit his crime.  It is my view, that to do less is an open invitation to others to copy his actions and act out their particular brand of hate or fulfill a misguided desire of notoriety.  The subject matter of discussion in seeking a way of preventing this type of tragedy should be the heart and the mind, not the firearms or weapons used.  The weapons are simply tools, not the cause.  We need to refocus on the importance of the home, family, and discipline rather than seeking an explanation or a justification for these acts of evil.  I believe the Bible when it declares in Proverbs 26:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

God bless you and God bless America!