The media is frenetically agog with news of the acceptance speech Mr. Obama is about to make. They're nearly dizzy reporting about the who, what when, where, how and HOW MUCH.
Ladies and gentlemen, not one of them have posed the question, why is this man who pretends to be holier than thou, and who decries the supposed over spending of the Republican party spending this obnoxious amount of money just to make a speech?
Hello? What's wrong with this picture? Ok, folks, he's not even elected yet and he's spending the money of the general public with abandon.
This isn't his own personal money he's using. This is Your money. This is the money of the people who've donated their supposed "nickels and dimes" to the Democratic party to get him elected. He's using it to have a big party. Can we say frivolous spending boys and girls?
This is supposed to be a man who will be fiscally responsible? He can't possibly expect us to believe that if he spends this much money on a speech, he's going to be fiscally responsible with our money should he inhabit the White House.
Not one peep from the media. That's weird.
God help us if he gets elected.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
What's in an apology?
Apologies abound around the world. Presidents, the Popes, heads of state, heads of organizations, celebrities and unknowns have "stepped up to the plate" to apologize.
My question is why?
A sincere, humble apology for the harm one has done, perpetrator to victim is the beginning of justice.
A mass apology from an individual for events and transgressions decades or centuries long past is madness. Why are gownups acting like this? People who appear to be sane are doing it. It's not an act of sanity.
For an apology to have any meaning, it must be given from the perpetrator of the wrong deed to the recipient of the harm in such a way that it at least mitigates, if not rectifies the harm done.
The apologies are flying through the air for deeds and misdeeds as long ago as several hundred years and more. Mass apologies remind one of the *air kiss* familiar to most of us. It's patently false and means absolutely nothing.
The fact that this is all done by supposedly mature adult people is appalling. One has NOTHING to apologize for in this life except to God and to those whom one has harmed in some way.
For those who expect apologies for deeds done and undone in the past not directly related to themselves, please worry about your sanity. The whole idea is DAFT!!! You do not owe apologies to people whom you've never met and whom you have not harmed.
Apologizing for things you haven't done isn't the act of a sane, thinking person. Nobody calm, in their right mind does things that have no meaning.
Apologizing for things YOU haven't done and over which YOU have had no control is NOT an act of sanity. If you're doing this or if you're expecting this, you need to worry about your mind. You're out of it!
My question is why?
A sincere, humble apology for the harm one has done, perpetrator to victim is the beginning of justice.
A mass apology from an individual for events and transgressions decades or centuries long past is madness. Why are gownups acting like this? People who appear to be sane are doing it. It's not an act of sanity.
For an apology to have any meaning, it must be given from the perpetrator of the wrong deed to the recipient of the harm in such a way that it at least mitigates, if not rectifies the harm done.
The apologies are flying through the air for deeds and misdeeds as long ago as several hundred years and more. Mass apologies remind one of the *air kiss* familiar to most of us. It's patently false and means absolutely nothing.
The fact that this is all done by supposedly mature adult people is appalling. One has NOTHING to apologize for in this life except to God and to those whom one has harmed in some way.
For those who expect apologies for deeds done and undone in the past not directly related to themselves, please worry about your sanity. The whole idea is DAFT!!! You do not owe apologies to people whom you've never met and whom you have not harmed.
Apologizing for things you haven't done isn't the act of a sane, thinking person. Nobody calm, in their right mind does things that have no meaning.
Apologizing for things YOU haven't done and over which YOU have had no control is NOT an act of sanity. If you're doing this or if you're expecting this, you need to worry about your mind. You're out of it!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Seriously, now...
It seems that our society has developed a strange phobia to seriousness. Perhaps we should coin a word for this strange phenomenon, something like “Soberphobia” or “Earnestophobia”. How often we think of a serious person as someone who is gloomy, a “wet-blanket” or a pessimist. But this is an entirely incorrect view! To be serious is a good thing. It denotes responsibility and careful consideration of life’s priorities. Perhaps that is why we do not like it.
A serious person is not a gloomy person. A gloomy person has their priorities of life all mixed up. Such a person views life through blinders, seeing only the bad and giving each situation encountered in life the worst possible interpretation. A gloomy person views everything subjectively. Incidents in life are viewed solely by how they affect him, whether they are according to his tastes. A serious person, on the other hand, sees life for what it is: a period of preparation for what is to come, namely eternity. He views life objectively and is not so foolish as to blind himself to truth. He recognizes that God exists and that objective truth is. He knows that he is body and soul and that his soul is immortal. He expects judgment by God and realizes that eternal recompense for good or evil done by him in life is inescapable. This does not make him gloomy! It makes him routinely view life with the eyes of eternity and make decisions based on where he wishes to spend his eternity. Such a person is joyful rather than gloomy. A gloomy person has blinded himself to truth and that is the source of his gloominess. A serious person recognizes and accepts truth and that is the source of his joy.
Look around you and you will see many unhappy people. What is the source of their unhappiness? They have turned their back on God and blinded themselves to truth. They are not serious about life, despite the fact that they may be serious about some aspects of life. They are very serious (even gloomy) about their financial state and the economy. They are very serious about having their way and enjoying the sensual pleasures offered by the world, but this does not make them happy. Happiness can only be found when conscience is at peace with God.
It is high time that we begin cultivating a little seriousness about the things that really matter. Life is not a game played out on the playground! It is serious business and the consequences of our every thought, word and deed are eternal. Ignoring or denying the reality of God will not make Him any less real and the same may be said of the moral law. God is, and His law is binding on every human being. Now that’s something to take seriously, don’t you think?
A serious person is not a gloomy person. A gloomy person has their priorities of life all mixed up. Such a person views life through blinders, seeing only the bad and giving each situation encountered in life the worst possible interpretation. A gloomy person views everything subjectively. Incidents in life are viewed solely by how they affect him, whether they are according to his tastes. A serious person, on the other hand, sees life for what it is: a period of preparation for what is to come, namely eternity. He views life objectively and is not so foolish as to blind himself to truth. He recognizes that God exists and that objective truth is. He knows that he is body and soul and that his soul is immortal. He expects judgment by God and realizes that eternal recompense for good or evil done by him in life is inescapable. This does not make him gloomy! It makes him routinely view life with the eyes of eternity and make decisions based on where he wishes to spend his eternity. Such a person is joyful rather than gloomy. A gloomy person has blinded himself to truth and that is the source of his gloominess. A serious person recognizes and accepts truth and that is the source of his joy.
Look around you and you will see many unhappy people. What is the source of their unhappiness? They have turned their back on God and blinded themselves to truth. They are not serious about life, despite the fact that they may be serious about some aspects of life. They are very serious (even gloomy) about their financial state and the economy. They are very serious about having their way and enjoying the sensual pleasures offered by the world, but this does not make them happy. Happiness can only be found when conscience is at peace with God.
It is high time that we begin cultivating a little seriousness about the things that really matter. Life is not a game played out on the playground! It is serious business and the consequences of our every thought, word and deed are eternal. Ignoring or denying the reality of God will not make Him any less real and the same may be said of the moral law. God is, and His law is binding on every human being. Now that’s something to take seriously, don’t you think?
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