Our local schools have had a rash of bomb scares and threatening calls over the past few weeks. This is not what you ordinarily experience in a small backwoods community in northern Minnesota, and it not only closed the schools several times but also raised apprehension in the locals. Today I saw a in a local newspaper that the culprit had been arrested: a twelve-year old boy who will now have a criminal record to live with for the rest of his life. I thought immediately: What has happened to our children?
Of course, we are shocked. Nay, we are outraged that a boy this young would think of doing such a thing. But should we be? Are not the papers filled every week with news reports of teens and pre-teens committing petty crimes, doing drugs (an online paper tonight had an article about a toddler and his five year old brother smoking marijuana given to them by...their teenage uncle!) and even committing violent crimes? Do all these children come from neglected homes? Indeed not! Then what is the influence common to all that perverts their sense of right and wrong? What is destroying our children?!
Children are great mimics and what they see as acceptable behavior, or what appears “cool” to them, they are likely to do. That gives pause for thought, because what are children filling their minds with these days but violence and crime? They absorb it from the endless hours of television they watch, wherein every sort of vice and depravity is blatantly portrayed as being normal and entertaining. They absorb it from the computer games they play, many of which make the violence on television appear tame by comparison. They absorb it from the music they listen to, the lyrics of which are filled with blasphemy, cursing, sex and violence. How can we expect these children to know right from wrong when we allow them to bombard themselves with such depravity as “recreation”?
This is where an opinionated blogger begins to skate on thin ice. You see, it is the responsibility of parents to see that their children are protected from evil influences, and today’s parents, by and large, are not doing so. It is so much easier to give little Johnny what he is begging for, and computer games, television and rock CD’s keep him out of mom and dad’s hair. After all, these things can’t be so bad…right? WRONG. The eyes are the windows of the soul and what we view regularly we become. The ears have a direct line of contact with the brain, and what we hear regularly we retain in our subconscious. Depravity fed to children through their eyes and ears will make depraved children.
So what is the solution? Simple: throw out the TV, the computer games and the rock music, and have a family life together. Sure it’s hard at first, but well worth the effort; not only for the entire family but especially for the children who will grow up in a wholesome atmosphere which will allow them to develop their personalities and character. Parents, do you love your children? Then do what is best for them even when it means making a sacrifice! You won’t regret it, and when your children are older they will thank you. I know – I’ve been thanking my parents for doing the above for years now!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Love is not a feeling or a four letter word.
The dictionaries have been updated. The original definition of love, once upon a time, was to desire and work for the good of other. That was the primary definition with attachments and add ons about feelings.
Poets and writers, media, dictionaries and a multitude of others have changed and hidden the real meaning of love. Love is portrayed as an ooey gooey feeling. That's silly and it's not only detrimental to our mental grasp on sanity, it's insulting to people who think!
Try telling a mother nursing her child through a fatal illness and attending a death bed that love is warm and fuzzy. Go ahead and tell her that she should be "feeling"ooey gooey. The truth is what she is DOING is love. Not only is she truly loving, she is loving to an heroic degree.
To tend a sick child or loved one who is vomiting on your feet is love. Taking the garbage out so someone else doesn't have to do it is love. Cleaning off and warming up a snow covered car on a sub-zero morning so someone else doesn't have to do it is love.
For women, the endless chores of cooking and cleaning and nursing and shopping, in other words housework is love. For men the endless pursuit to provide for his family and keep things in working order is love.
Are there feelings attached to love? Of course there are, but those are feelings aren't love. Feelings were given to us so we'd have a gauge to measure things by. Fear keeps us safe. Emotions have a use. The feelings we have come to accept mean love are given us to encourage us to keep showing love. It's unfortunate that we lost that understanding and we often make decisions based on feelings rather than on logic and reason.
Jesus, dying on the cross didn't feel good, but what He was doing WAS love. He told us, in so many words, that the greatest love is to give up one's life for other. We do that when we DO for others, especially when that doing doesn't feel all that great.
It's a bit sad really that we've come to a place in our society where we actually believe that love is some great feeling that we're supposed to feel. So we buy that and when the *feelings* are overshadowed by the reality of the repetitive tedium of every day life, we move on to find the will of the wisp feeling we have been conned into believing that we're supposed to have.
"What fools these mortals be."
Poets and writers, media, dictionaries and a multitude of others have changed and hidden the real meaning of love. Love is portrayed as an ooey gooey feeling. That's silly and it's not only detrimental to our mental grasp on sanity, it's insulting to people who think!
Try telling a mother nursing her child through a fatal illness and attending a death bed that love is warm and fuzzy. Go ahead and tell her that she should be "feeling"ooey gooey. The truth is what she is DOING is love. Not only is she truly loving, she is loving to an heroic degree.
To tend a sick child or loved one who is vomiting on your feet is love. Taking the garbage out so someone else doesn't have to do it is love. Cleaning off and warming up a snow covered car on a sub-zero morning so someone else doesn't have to do it is love.
For women, the endless chores of cooking and cleaning and nursing and shopping, in other words housework is love. For men the endless pursuit to provide for his family and keep things in working order is love.
Are there feelings attached to love? Of course there are, but those are feelings aren't love. Feelings were given to us so we'd have a gauge to measure things by. Fear keeps us safe. Emotions have a use. The feelings we have come to accept mean love are given us to encourage us to keep showing love. It's unfortunate that we lost that understanding and we often make decisions based on feelings rather than on logic and reason.
Jesus, dying on the cross didn't feel good, but what He was doing WAS love. He told us, in so many words, that the greatest love is to give up one's life for other. We do that when we DO for others, especially when that doing doesn't feel all that great.
It's a bit sad really that we've come to a place in our society where we actually believe that love is some great feeling that we're supposed to feel. So we buy that and when the *feelings* are overshadowed by the reality of the repetitive tedium of every day life, we move on to find the will of the wisp feeling we have been conned into believing that we're supposed to have.
"What fools these mortals be."
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Will polygamy win?
What people are missing is that these people don't even qualify for the name Christians. They do not believe that Jesus is God, that He died for our sins and the Bible DOES teach about marriage. Tthey don't follow even the sketchiest outline of Christianity. Essentially these people are pagans who have defied the laws against bigamy in this country for nearly 100 years and whatever they claim, they DO commit child molestation from one generation to another.
Giving their children in marriage while they are still children and training them to accept whatever alpha male in the pack is picked for them and perverting marriage to mean multiple mothers sharing the same male is the grossest betrayal of innocence and marriage for all but the most depraved of cultures. The idea that these people are raised and trained to do that is the stuff of the depths of hell.
Will they win? Probably! The line was crossed when Christian people began to accept ideas and compromises in matters of divorce and then after that it was abortion. Once upon a time, people knew that those things were offensive and sinful. All Christians believed that divorce and abortion were evils. As soon as those things became acceptable the downhill slide into the maw of hell was assured. It hasn't stopped yet.
In general people no longer grasp the concepts of right and wrong. It's only wrong when one "feels" it's wrong. They've lost the ability to discern truth and goodness. Truth is what you "feel" you believe, truth has nothing to do with the case. Laws have been struck down, NOT because they are no longer good laws or that they are no longer true, but because it became inconvenient to follow those laws.
The conscience of the world is unconscious.
Many years ago I had a conversation with a woman who told me that she couldn't believe that abortion was wrong. The reason was that she'd had several. She couldn't afford to believe it was wrong because she would have had to admit that what she had done was evil. Homosexuality was once acknowledged to be a choice of evil. Now we're expected to believe that it is not a choice but that we are simply born that way and can't change it. The mental gymnastics it takes to live with that takes a terrible toll on the soul. There are hundreds of thousands of men and women who have suffocated their consciences in order to do whatever they "feel" like doing.
Precious few people repent and find their way back to Truth.
Precious few people repent and find their way back to Truth.
You can pretend that truth isn't truth, but you can't make it so. Gravity does work! When we do what we feel like doing instead of what we know to be right, we pay a terrible price. The state of the world is that price.
Full of pride and self-righteousness we claim that we want to leave the world a better place for our children and for our grandchildren. We're liars. We don't care about them because we refuse to acknowledge what we know is true and act on it. We damn future generations because we don't "feel" like turning back to the truth and living the way we know, (and deep down we do know) is true.
Instead of healing the world by turning back to real Truth and good values, we have come to a pass where those who remind us that the "Emperor isn't wearing any clothes" are allowed to be persecuted.
Instead of healing the world by turning back to real Truth and good values, we have come to a pass where those who remind us that the "Emperor isn't wearing any clothes" are allowed to be persecuted.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The hidden child abuse
Lately in the news, we get frequent reports of children either beating each other, their teachers, or being assaulted themselves. What's happened to our children?
The answer is us! We are the culprits and we are perpetrating a form of child abuse on them that goes largely unnoticed. We neglect and refuse to teach our children. We've been sold a bill of goods that discipline is abuse and we no longer discipline our children.
Constantly we see in public, parents pleading with their children about one thing an another. Children are permitted to throw tantrums, both at home in private, and in public. The adult authority in the child's life stands by desperately trying to placate the child, or bribe the child, or reacts in anger, thus teaching the child that it's OK to get angry and say and do mean spiteful things when angry. We have abdicated our authority and we put children on the same level with us. In essence we demand that children be miniature adults, even though they lack the skills and the experience to behave as adults. We put an enormous burden of responsibility on our children that does not belong to them.
Remember that children learn what they live?
The greater problem is that adults very often do not practice self control. We are so focused on pleasing ourselves (it teaches selfishness). We're impatient and rude to those who stand in service of us at the check out counter (it teaches arrogance). We cut each other off in traffic and fill the air with expletives blaming anyone but ourselves, showing gross disrespect to those around us( it teaches that others are not important, only we are important).
We feed our minds garbage in our reading and television watching (it teaches a lack of taste and discrimination in what they feed their minds).
Our work ethic is atrocious. We tell "little white lies" on a regular basis and justify it (it teaches dishonesty). We eat too much and drink too much and cater to our whims too much. We put ourselves in enormous debt, spending way beyond our means in order to feed our desire for whatever interests us (it teaches a lack of self control). In some cases we even punish our children for imitating us in these things.
THEN we have the nerve to wonder what's happened to our youth.
Children learn what they live.
When you hear that men stood around watching while a stranger was beaten or killed, or when those who witness injustice keep silent. When we knowingly spending money for "frills" knowing that we can't really afford it. When we steal time from the workplace by not diligently attending to our duties and goofing off, telling fibs and outright lies. That is what our children are learning.
Once upon a time, courage, honesty, diligence, self sacrifice, integrity, ethics, self control, respect for authority and elders were instilled in children. How seldom we see those things now.
Children learn what they live.
Everything we see in our children is what they've been taught. When we fail to train and discipline our children to a moral standard that gives them to tools to become happy, productive adults, we perpetrate one of the worst forms of child abuse. We've condemned that child to a miserable life. What is even more shocking is that we then refuse to admit that there's something wrong and help the child justify what they've done. In doing so, we heap more abuse on our children and on society at large.
How long will we continue to build prisons by neglecting and abusing our children? Silent and deadly child abuse. The invisible child abuse of training our children to be hedonistic, selfish mean spirited creatures. How cruel we are.
Children learn what they live. What are you teaching?
The answer is us! We are the culprits and we are perpetrating a form of child abuse on them that goes largely unnoticed. We neglect and refuse to teach our children. We've been sold a bill of goods that discipline is abuse and we no longer discipline our children.
Constantly we see in public, parents pleading with their children about one thing an another. Children are permitted to throw tantrums, both at home in private, and in public. The adult authority in the child's life stands by desperately trying to placate the child, or bribe the child, or reacts in anger, thus teaching the child that it's OK to get angry and say and do mean spiteful things when angry. We have abdicated our authority and we put children on the same level with us. In essence we demand that children be miniature adults, even though they lack the skills and the experience to behave as adults. We put an enormous burden of responsibility on our children that does not belong to them.
Remember that children learn what they live?
The greater problem is that adults very often do not practice self control. We are so focused on pleasing ourselves (it teaches selfishness). We're impatient and rude to those who stand in service of us at the check out counter (it teaches arrogance). We cut each other off in traffic and fill the air with expletives blaming anyone but ourselves, showing gross disrespect to those around us( it teaches that others are not important, only we are important).
We feed our minds garbage in our reading and television watching (it teaches a lack of taste and discrimination in what they feed their minds).
Our work ethic is atrocious. We tell "little white lies" on a regular basis and justify it (it teaches dishonesty). We eat too much and drink too much and cater to our whims too much. We put ourselves in enormous debt, spending way beyond our means in order to feed our desire for whatever interests us (it teaches a lack of self control). In some cases we even punish our children for imitating us in these things.
THEN we have the nerve to wonder what's happened to our youth.
Children learn what they live.
When you hear that men stood around watching while a stranger was beaten or killed, or when those who witness injustice keep silent. When we knowingly spending money for "frills" knowing that we can't really afford it. When we steal time from the workplace by not diligently attending to our duties and goofing off, telling fibs and outright lies. That is what our children are learning.
Once upon a time, courage, honesty, diligence, self sacrifice, integrity, ethics, self control, respect for authority and elders were instilled in children. How seldom we see those things now.
Children learn what they live.
Everything we see in our children is what they've been taught. When we fail to train and discipline our children to a moral standard that gives them to tools to become happy, productive adults, we perpetrate one of the worst forms of child abuse. We've condemned that child to a miserable life. What is even more shocking is that we then refuse to admit that there's something wrong and help the child justify what they've done. In doing so, we heap more abuse on our children and on society at large.
How long will we continue to build prisons by neglecting and abusing our children? Silent and deadly child abuse. The invisible child abuse of training our children to be hedonistic, selfish mean spirited creatures. How cruel we are.
Children learn what they live. What are you teaching?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Some Thoughts on Freedom
The recent annexation of Tibet by Communist China has given me pause for thought about freedom. How I pity any country unjustly invaded and subjected to the oppression of a totalitarian regime! What a great blessing freedom is, and how often we take it for granted.
But what is freedom? Nowadays it is confused with license, and people claim the “right” to do whatever they please without thought for their fellow human beings or the common good of society. So we see sodomy and abortion claimed as “rights” even though both are against the moral law and crimes that call to heaven for vengeance. Both are fatally destructive to the family and to the common good of society. What a vile caricature of freedom it is when such aberrations are called “rights”!
Freedom is a gift from God for one purpose: that we may be free to choose the good and serve God as He intended in this life so as to merit heaven. Freedom brings with it an obligation. We are not morally free to willfully embrace error, to commit sin, to oppress our fellow human beings, or to transgress against the rights of others. We may be free to do these things according to civil law, but we are not free to do them according to God’s law, which is the highest law.
Western civilization became great because it adhered to God’s law, which was reflected in the civil laws of nations. It should come as no surprise, then, that when the Western world abandoned the law of God, tapped into the keg of Liberalism and became inebriated with the strong ale of Humanitarianism, Western civilization went into a tailspin from which recovery seems impossible. Liberty became synonymous with license, and in no little time crimes became “freedoms”. For example, murder of the unborn became “freedom of choice”; the practice of sodomy became “freedom to live an ‘alternative’ lifestyle”; propagation of intellectual error became “freedom of Press”; and atheism became “freedom of religion”. But these aberrations are not freedoms! Is one free when enslaved by ignorance of truth? Is it freedom to be a slave of disordered passion? Is a woman who murders her unborn child a “free woman” or a barbarous monstrosity? Freedom gives us the right to choose the good, not to practice evil.
Is it too late to recover Western civilization? No. With God all things are possible, but without Him we are doomed. When people begin to recognize God’s rights as Creator and Redeemer, and once again take up and live the moral law, our society will slowly climb out of the liberal cesspool which threatens to drown it entirely. But this must be a “grassroots” effort - we must each begin with ourselves. And what is the best way of beginning? By getting down on our knees and raising our hearts to God. He always listens if we are in earnest.
But what is freedom? Nowadays it is confused with license, and people claim the “right” to do whatever they please without thought for their fellow human beings or the common good of society. So we see sodomy and abortion claimed as “rights” even though both are against the moral law and crimes that call to heaven for vengeance. Both are fatally destructive to the family and to the common good of society. What a vile caricature of freedom it is when such aberrations are called “rights”!
Freedom is a gift from God for one purpose: that we may be free to choose the good and serve God as He intended in this life so as to merit heaven. Freedom brings with it an obligation. We are not morally free to willfully embrace error, to commit sin, to oppress our fellow human beings, or to transgress against the rights of others. We may be free to do these things according to civil law, but we are not free to do them according to God’s law, which is the highest law.
Western civilization became great because it adhered to God’s law, which was reflected in the civil laws of nations. It should come as no surprise, then, that when the Western world abandoned the law of God, tapped into the keg of Liberalism and became inebriated with the strong ale of Humanitarianism, Western civilization went into a tailspin from which recovery seems impossible. Liberty became synonymous with license, and in no little time crimes became “freedoms”. For example, murder of the unborn became “freedom of choice”; the practice of sodomy became “freedom to live an ‘alternative’ lifestyle”; propagation of intellectual error became “freedom of Press”; and atheism became “freedom of religion”. But these aberrations are not freedoms! Is one free when enslaved by ignorance of truth? Is it freedom to be a slave of disordered passion? Is a woman who murders her unborn child a “free woman” or a barbarous monstrosity? Freedom gives us the right to choose the good, not to practice evil.
Is it too late to recover Western civilization? No. With God all things are possible, but without Him we are doomed. When people begin to recognize God’s rights as Creator and Redeemer, and once again take up and live the moral law, our society will slowly climb out of the liberal cesspool which threatens to drown it entirely. But this must be a “grassroots” effort - we must each begin with ourselves. And what is the best way of beginning? By getting down on our knees and raising our hearts to God. He always listens if we are in earnest.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
All things being equal
Once upon a time, people were polite. They were raised to conduct themselves with at least the appearance of being polite and treat others with courtesy.
Now the phone rings, when one answers "Hello" one hears "Is *Bobby* there?" Not "This is Sam, is Bobby there please?" The lack of respect from the first word on is sad. Not only is the individual showing a complete lack of manners, but they are exhibiting the lack of respect they have for themselves.
There was a time when all persons in a position of authority were addressed by their title. Mr., Mrs., Miss, Dr., Professor etc. That imparted a sense of dignity to everyone. It helped to keep order and show respect for others. After the sixties everyone was on a first name basis. It made us all "equal". This practice is the more subtle, insidious side of a mentality born of raucous pride and envy. Vive la revolution.
The only place we are equal, is that we all have a soul made by God for Himself. Every other front has a hierarchy.
Michael Angelo, Einstein, Madame Curie and Queen Esther are NOT my equals. I can neither paint like Michael Angelo nor cipher like Einstein further the cause of science like Madame Curie or save a nation like Queen Esther. My skill in any of those fields is decidedly below theirs. It does not harm me that I am not equal to these people. Indeed neither these people, nor any other can be equal to me. I am the only person who can adequately be me.
To pretend that one is equal to everybody else is to denigrate oneself. There is a natural hierarchy in nature. Surely it's a no brainer that a rock is not equal to a swan. Neither is an animal equal to a human. Rocks are made to complete a certain function and they do very well in their own realm. Should we find them attempting to rule nations we must know that sanity has deserted us.
Humans, cultivate, explore, investigate, experiment, build up and increase in knowledge and skill. No other creature does that. We each have various levels of talent, intelligence and understanding. We are not equal one to another. There is a hierarchy among human beings on multiple levels. Having been created equal by virtue of the soul given us by God, we each fall into our own place in the scheme of things.
A good man is greater than an evil king. They are not equals.
Every human being is the only person who can be exactly who they are. In that respect, none of us have an equal. It is wisdom to know that and to be content to be who we are and to achieve what we are capable of achieving.
It is success to know, love and serve God while we live, so that we may be happy with Him hereafter. In order to do that we have no need to be equal.
Now the phone rings, when one answers "Hello" one hears "Is *Bobby* there?" Not "This is Sam, is Bobby there please?" The lack of respect from the first word on is sad. Not only is the individual showing a complete lack of manners, but they are exhibiting the lack of respect they have for themselves.
There was a time when all persons in a position of authority were addressed by their title. Mr., Mrs., Miss, Dr., Professor etc. That imparted a sense of dignity to everyone. It helped to keep order and show respect for others. After the sixties everyone was on a first name basis. It made us all "equal". This practice is the more subtle, insidious side of a mentality born of raucous pride and envy. Vive la revolution.
The only place we are equal, is that we all have a soul made by God for Himself. Every other front has a hierarchy.
Michael Angelo, Einstein, Madame Curie and Queen Esther are NOT my equals. I can neither paint like Michael Angelo nor cipher like Einstein further the cause of science like Madame Curie or save a nation like Queen Esther. My skill in any of those fields is decidedly below theirs. It does not harm me that I am not equal to these people. Indeed neither these people, nor any other can be equal to me. I am the only person who can adequately be me.
To pretend that one is equal to everybody else is to denigrate oneself. There is a natural hierarchy in nature. Surely it's a no brainer that a rock is not equal to a swan. Neither is an animal equal to a human. Rocks are made to complete a certain function and they do very well in their own realm. Should we find them attempting to rule nations we must know that sanity has deserted us.
Humans, cultivate, explore, investigate, experiment, build up and increase in knowledge and skill. No other creature does that. We each have various levels of talent, intelligence and understanding. We are not equal one to another. There is a hierarchy among human beings on multiple levels. Having been created equal by virtue of the soul given us by God, we each fall into our own place in the scheme of things.
A good man is greater than an evil king. They are not equals.
Every human being is the only person who can be exactly who they are. In that respect, none of us have an equal. It is wisdom to know that and to be content to be who we are and to achieve what we are capable of achieving.
It is success to know, love and serve God while we live, so that we may be happy with Him hereafter. In order to do that we have no need to be equal.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Demise of Logic
It is becoming increasingly obvious that as a society we have lost the ability to think. Read the newspapers (or rather, don’t) and you will see what it is that tickles the fancy of an unreasoning world. Scandal, murder, and abominations form the staple of daily reading for the mindless masses. What has happened to the common sense and lofty idealism that once characterized our beloved America?
Alas! The 1960’s happened…an era of rebellion against authority, morality, reason, and all that conduced toward making this country great and its people noble. Truth was cast aside for relativism and objectivity; authority was denied as being too restrictive; morality went the way of the flesh…in more ways than one; and reason gave place to mawkish sentiment and self-will.
One of the tragic victims of this disastrous revolution in society is Literature. Why do I mention it when speaking about logic and our ability to think? Because, as Dr. Carol Byrne pointed out in an article published in the Spring 2006 edition of Mater Dei Magazine:
"Literary works – in the sense of the imaginative and creative kind, such as drama, poetry and fiction – have for centuries been playing an important role in shaping human thought for good or ill. By appealing to our imagination and our sense of enjoyment in reading, they become part of our mind’s life. And we know from the Scriptures how thought determines action: as a man thinks in his mind, so he is in life." – “The Inside Story, Getting to Know Ourselves through Good Literature”, pg. 1. [My emphasis]
That is rather an alarming thought when you stop to consider what people are filling their minds with! Is it any wonder that western civilization is tumbling down around our heads?
Perhaps it is time that we as individuals take a small step toward shoring up the bastions of civilization by turning off the television, setting aside the newspapers and rag-mags, and taking up the reading of good Literature. Yes, that was Literature with a capital “L” as opposed to the genre of cheap, filthy, frothy, mindless novels that go by the misnomer of literature.
I can already hear the clamor of dismay: “But that is so hard! Those books are so boring…nothing ever happens in them!” To which I reply: Yes, it is hard at first to take up good Literature, and one must develop a taste for it. Why? Because good reading is filled with principles and ideas. Most of it concentrates on character development rather than on sexually lurid and yawningly boring plots that a six-year-old could see through. That good Literature is unappreciated is not the fault of the works themselves, but of our minds being so ignorant and lazy that we will not attempt to read and understand good books; and if we do make the attempt and encounter difficulties, we have become too lazy and sensual to persevere in our attempt. But how much we lose by not persevering! Good Literature ennobles the mind, instills lofty principles, and gives us courage to climb out of the cesspool of mediocrity toward the pinnacle of knowledge.
Today’s version of literature does just the opposite. As one astute author put it:
“Considered in relation to knowledge, popular literature is a powerful strengthener of self-ignorance; considered in relation to feeling, popular literature simply serves to make sure that we love and hate and feel virtuous according to conventional rules that ignore the complexity of life.” (R. Hellman, The Ghost on the Ramparts, Athens (Georgia), University of Georgia Press, 1973, p. 24. Quoted in abovementioned article by Dr. Carol Byrne. My emphasis.)
The choice is ours: Do we wish to develop our reason as God intended, so that we are able to think logically and embrace truth, or are we content to mill with the herd and stampede like lemmings over the abyss? Our decision will not affect ourselves alone. It may very well affect the destiny of western civilization.
Alas! The 1960’s happened…an era of rebellion against authority, morality, reason, and all that conduced toward making this country great and its people noble. Truth was cast aside for relativism and objectivity; authority was denied as being too restrictive; morality went the way of the flesh…in more ways than one; and reason gave place to mawkish sentiment and self-will.
One of the tragic victims of this disastrous revolution in society is Literature. Why do I mention it when speaking about logic and our ability to think? Because, as Dr. Carol Byrne pointed out in an article published in the Spring 2006 edition of Mater Dei Magazine:
"Literary works – in the sense of the imaginative and creative kind, such as drama, poetry and fiction – have for centuries been playing an important role in shaping human thought for good or ill. By appealing to our imagination and our sense of enjoyment in reading, they become part of our mind’s life. And we know from the Scriptures how thought determines action: as a man thinks in his mind, so he is in life." – “The Inside Story, Getting to Know Ourselves through Good Literature”, pg. 1. [My emphasis]
That is rather an alarming thought when you stop to consider what people are filling their minds with! Is it any wonder that western civilization is tumbling down around our heads?
Perhaps it is time that we as individuals take a small step toward shoring up the bastions of civilization by turning off the television, setting aside the newspapers and rag-mags, and taking up the reading of good Literature. Yes, that was Literature with a capital “L” as opposed to the genre of cheap, filthy, frothy, mindless novels that go by the misnomer of literature.
I can already hear the clamor of dismay: “But that is so hard! Those books are so boring…nothing ever happens in them!” To which I reply: Yes, it is hard at first to take up good Literature, and one must develop a taste for it. Why? Because good reading is filled with principles and ideas. Most of it concentrates on character development rather than on sexually lurid and yawningly boring plots that a six-year-old could see through. That good Literature is unappreciated is not the fault of the works themselves, but of our minds being so ignorant and lazy that we will not attempt to read and understand good books; and if we do make the attempt and encounter difficulties, we have become too lazy and sensual to persevere in our attempt. But how much we lose by not persevering! Good Literature ennobles the mind, instills lofty principles, and gives us courage to climb out of the cesspool of mediocrity toward the pinnacle of knowledge.
Today’s version of literature does just the opposite. As one astute author put it:
“Considered in relation to knowledge, popular literature is a powerful strengthener of self-ignorance; considered in relation to feeling, popular literature simply serves to make sure that we love and hate and feel virtuous according to conventional rules that ignore the complexity of life.” (R. Hellman, The Ghost on the Ramparts, Athens (Georgia), University of Georgia Press, 1973, p. 24. Quoted in abovementioned article by Dr. Carol Byrne. My emphasis.)
The choice is ours: Do we wish to develop our reason as God intended, so that we are able to think logically and embrace truth, or are we content to mill with the herd and stampede like lemmings over the abyss? Our decision will not affect ourselves alone. It may very well affect the destiny of western civilization.
God bless the children
Increasingly we hear reports of children doing terrible things. Children as young as First Grade are committing crimes one would think wouldn't cross the mind of a child. Children with guns, children who murder, torture and steal. Children who who have been robbed of their childhood.
Last evening while watching a young girl weep because nobody understood her and I was enraged. I felt sorry for her. The rage was directed at the adults in her life, particularly her parents. WHY did they do this to her?
There's a pervasive attitude that childhood is a time for play and indulgence. The idea that childhood is the training ground for adulthood is completely lost. Our children have one shot, and one shot only at a decent life. Childhood is the "classroom" for our future adults.
Childhood is where you learn respect for authority, compassion for those less fortunate, honesty, integrity, self control, diligence, where they learn HOW to be a functioning adult. Collectively our society has completely lost the understanding that feeding, sheltering and watering children isn't enough. They have to be taught. The most important lessons a child learns are the lessons of what is right and what is wrong. They must learn how to distinguish right from wrong and how to build their character so they have the strength to choose right over wrong, AND for the right reasons.
Evil legislators are now working full time and diligently to make sure that the hands of parents are tied legally by attempting to enact legislation to prevent parents from disciplining their children. No thinking person considers that a well timed spanking is violence. No rational person ranks spanking with beating and abusing a child. Such people are either insane, or evil. To rob parents of their tools to discipline their children is a moral crime that either demands that the perpetrator should be on medication or deserves a time out in the State Penitentiary .
When will we stop this evil child abuse by refusing to teach and discipline our children. Society at large seems blind to the fact that we are reaping what we sow by being forced to build more and more prisons and to have a larger and larger police force.
In the meantime it's the children who suffer. They suffer all the way into adulthood and lead miserable lives because they weren't given the tools while they were children to have the strength, self possession and knowledge to lead themselves in productive happy lives as adults.
We treat our children worse than we treat our animals.
Last evening while watching a young girl weep because nobody understood her and I was enraged. I felt sorry for her. The rage was directed at the adults in her life, particularly her parents. WHY did they do this to her?
There's a pervasive attitude that childhood is a time for play and indulgence. The idea that childhood is the training ground for adulthood is completely lost. Our children have one shot, and one shot only at a decent life. Childhood is the "classroom" for our future adults.
Childhood is where you learn respect for authority, compassion for those less fortunate, honesty, integrity, self control, diligence, where they learn HOW to be a functioning adult. Collectively our society has completely lost the understanding that feeding, sheltering and watering children isn't enough. They have to be taught. The most important lessons a child learns are the lessons of what is right and what is wrong. They must learn how to distinguish right from wrong and how to build their character so they have the strength to choose right over wrong, AND for the right reasons.
Evil legislators are now working full time and diligently to make sure that the hands of parents are tied legally by attempting to enact legislation to prevent parents from disciplining their children. No thinking person considers that a well timed spanking is violence. No rational person ranks spanking with beating and abusing a child. Such people are either insane, or evil. To rob parents of their tools to discipline their children is a moral crime that either demands that the perpetrator should be on medication or deserves a time out in the State Penitentiary .
When will we stop this evil child abuse by refusing to teach and discipline our children. Society at large seems blind to the fact that we are reaping what we sow by being forced to build more and more prisons and to have a larger and larger police force.
In the meantime it's the children who suffer. They suffer all the way into adulthood and lead miserable lives because they weren't given the tools while they were children to have the strength, self possession and knowledge to lead themselves in productive happy lives as adults.
We treat our children worse than we treat our animals.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
On legal and illegal immigration
This came in on one of the lists I frequent. One wonders when it became legal to break the law in this country. More to the point one wonders when somebody will notice that it's illegal to break the law. The fact that there are citizens in this country who stand up and argue in favor of ILLEGAL (meaning against the law) aliens defies understanding.
This letter to the Editor says a mouthful.
Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they
either deem
politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the
philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great
letter to
the editor that should have been published; but, with your help it
will get
published via cyberspace!
New Immigrants
From: 'David LaBonte'
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
Register
which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by
sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
Dave LaBonte (signed)
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange
County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made
up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the
Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated
the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of
entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.
Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of
immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of
Europe to come to the United States , people had to get off a ship and
stand
in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on
their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to
uphold the
laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made
learning
English a primary rule in their new American households and some even
changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new
life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate
into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to
protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had
brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their
children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought
alongside
men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and
Japan .. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought
about
what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting
Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United
States of America as one people. When we liberated France , no one in
those
villages were looking for the French-American or the German American
or the
Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we
carried one
flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would
have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to
represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their
parents who
had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it
meant
to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white
and blue
bowl.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same
rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a
different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a
guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not
what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who
landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that
for all
the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to
create a
land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better
life.
I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by
those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it
happens
to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I
wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL THE RIGHTFUL
MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET!! LET THIS NEVER HAPPEN!!
I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
This letter to the Editor says a mouthful.
Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they
either deem
politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the
philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great
letter to
the editor that should have been published; but, with your help it
will get
published via cyberspace!
New Immigrants
From: 'David LaBonte'
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
Register
which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by
sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
Dave LaBonte (signed)
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange
County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made
up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the
Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated
the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of
entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.
Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of
immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of
Europe to come to the United States , people had to get off a ship and
stand
in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on
their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to
uphold the
laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made
learning
English a primary rule in their new American households and some even
changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new
life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate
into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to
protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had
brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their
children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought
alongside
men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and
Japan .. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought
about
what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting
Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United
States of America as one people. When we liberated France , no one in
those
villages were looking for the French-American or the German American
or the
Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we
carried one
flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would
have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to
represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their
parents who
had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it
meant
to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white
and blue
bowl.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same
rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a
different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a
guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not
what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who
landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that
for all
the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to
create a
land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better
life.
I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by
those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it
happens
to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I
wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL THE RIGHTFUL
MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET!! LET THIS NEVER HAPPEN!!
I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
There IS no "Mother Nature"
"The government spends too much money", comes to mind. Actually this type of statement is so common we almost don't realize that we've fallen into the trap. There is no single sentient entity that does anything. The reality is that thousands of individual people hold positions of authority and they choose sides on issues and make them happen. The cause is people, the effect is very often disaster.
The government doesn't spend money, people do. The government doesn't legislate immorality, people do. The government does not go to war, people do. There is no "person" who is government. Government is hundreds of people who generate enough cooperation amongst themselves to cause and effect events, laws etc.
It's easy to see why we fall into this trap because the words are used so often that we don't think about them anymore. The problem with that, is that we also fall into the trap of believing that the "government" is evil. The government is not evil, the people driving the government are either good or evil as individuals. When you have enough individuals of like-minded evil, you have bad government. NOT a bad government, but bad government. The semantic difference is huge and the slip from one mind-set to the other is quick and small.
While we're on the subject, lets get another thing straight........*There is NO Mother Nature*. Such a creature does not exist. It's disheartening to hear how often the news agencies and weather agencies use this term as if there is a monstrous, living, breathing virago somewhere who's tools are tornado, flood, blizzard, earthquake, etc. and uses them to beat us with. SHE does not exist.
Truth to tell, God controls the weather. That the general public would rather believe that some bizarre, monstrous banshee controls the weather is weird. That little collective flight into fantasy is so widespread we aren't even conscious of it anymore.
Government is no more evil than a rock, even though both are used to kill.
Here's the link to my blog if you'd care to have it. Please book mark the blog if you find the comments here interesting.
| http://aboxofopinions.blogspot.com/ |
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Watching the race from the sidelines
I've been AWOL for the past week in blogland, but that doesn't mean I haven't been listening with my ear to the ground.
The newspapers, radio, internet news and blogs and of course the TV news and programs are in a continual uproar with the ever popular "he said, she said", "they're lying", "ummm, I'm telling", and endless discussion about the finer points of the lies and tattles told.
Pardon me for asking, but don't we want grown ups to be sitting in positions of authority and power in the government.
Hillary's little gaff about the sniper fire shows an ease of abruptly departing from reality which doesn't bode well for answering the red phone at 3 am.
Obama would have us believe that he attended a church and was extraordinarily friendly with his pastor, but hadn't a clue about the outrageously nasty poison the man was spewing from his pulpit. That begs us to suspend reality all the way to unconsciousness. It goes way beyond, Miss "Look at me wasn't I brave in Bosnia". As creative as that little story was, Obama wants us to pretend that the vitrol poured out in the church he attends was "taken out of context".
Essentially, we're being told that what we heard isn't what we heard and if it was we only have to remember what is, is folks! Not only that, we're being asked to swallow that that's what Christianity is. Bile rises in the gorge!
Mr. Maverick McCain, for all his faults looks absolutely domesticated beside those two. He's not perfect but he certainly looks like a rose blooming in a city dump at the moment.
Then there's the 3 billion dollar assistance BOTH Hillary and Obama want to send out to save their people. Tommy rot!!! We are dancing with the devil when we cry that the government is responsible for our debts. Truth to tell, it does look as if the banks played a May game with people who wanted to buy homes and offered terms that are now coming home to roost. Scores of people who made a bad choice are now paying for it.
However innocently made their mistake was, it's a worse idea to give even more power to the federal government so they will bail out all those who are in foreclosure. The government governs, it's not Mommy and Daddy and it's deadly dangerous for us to treat them that way. Conversely, it's even more deadly for us to let them treat US as if we're children who need looking after.
The long and short of that is that if either of the Demo(lition) party candidates have their way, taxes will soon be rising to the top like cream again and I'm pretty darn sure none of the people who are purportedly being saved by these two eager volunteers will see any of the cream for themselves. I can however, see the Demo(lition crew) licking cream from their chops.
It boggles the mind that so many are so fooled so much of the time. The show is not over yet and it bids fair to becoming a horror story to rival Mary Shelley.
P.S. hehehehe, remember that comment I made about having my ear to the ground? I meant 30 billion, not 3 billion. What is that new phrase? Oh yeah, "my bad"!
The newspapers, radio, internet news and blogs and of course the TV news and programs are in a continual uproar with the ever popular "he said, she said", "they're lying", "ummm, I'm telling", and endless discussion about the finer points of the lies and tattles told.
Pardon me for asking, but don't we want grown ups to be sitting in positions of authority and power in the government.
Hillary's little gaff about the sniper fire shows an ease of abruptly departing from reality which doesn't bode well for answering the red phone at 3 am.
Obama would have us believe that he attended a church and was extraordinarily friendly with his pastor, but hadn't a clue about the outrageously nasty poison the man was spewing from his pulpit. That begs us to suspend reality all the way to unconsciousness. It goes way beyond, Miss "Look at me wasn't I brave in Bosnia". As creative as that little story was, Obama wants us to pretend that the vitrol poured out in the church he attends was "taken out of context".
Essentially, we're being told that what we heard isn't what we heard and if it was we only have to remember what is, is folks! Not only that, we're being asked to swallow that that's what Christianity is. Bile rises in the gorge!
Mr. Maverick McCain, for all his faults looks absolutely domesticated beside those two. He's not perfect but he certainly looks like a rose blooming in a city dump at the moment.
Then there's the 3 billion dollar assistance BOTH Hillary and Obama want to send out to save their people. Tommy rot!!! We are dancing with the devil when we cry that the government is responsible for our debts. Truth to tell, it does look as if the banks played a May game with people who wanted to buy homes and offered terms that are now coming home to roost. Scores of people who made a bad choice are now paying for it.
However innocently made their mistake was, it's a worse idea to give even more power to the federal government so they will bail out all those who are in foreclosure. The government governs, it's not Mommy and Daddy and it's deadly dangerous for us to treat them that way. Conversely, it's even more deadly for us to let them treat US as if we're children who need looking after.
The long and short of that is that if either of the Demo(lition) party candidates have their way, taxes will soon be rising to the top like cream again and I'm pretty darn sure none of the people who are purportedly being saved by these two eager volunteers will see any of the cream for themselves. I can however, see the Demo(lition crew) licking cream from their chops.
It boggles the mind that so many are so fooled so much of the time. The show is not over yet and it bids fair to becoming a horror story to rival Mary Shelley.
P.S. hehehehe, remember that comment I made about having my ear to the ground? I meant 30 billion, not 3 billion. What is that new phrase? Oh yeah, "my bad"!
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