Tue, Apr 22nd - 9:41PM

So I am a racist, am I?

I was going to lunch. Innocently enough, I talked to a stranger.

It was a casual conversation. Today is Earth Day. So I was talking about conservation. As most of you may know, my view on environmental law is anything but typical of a person commonly accused of being overly conservative. To me, something about conservation and being conservative seems to just line up in a natural way. I dunno. I think they were meant for each other…

So we were talking, and rather than me going off on a weird tangent, he seemed to be at ease enough to do as I do and just spout off. I cannot fault him for that. He asked me if I thought Obama would be a good choice for President. I said, frankly, no. Not at this time I do not.

His response was to automatically ask me: "Is it because he is black?" Man, I thought he was going to get whiplash from his knee jerking so violently…

My response was just as heated and quick: "No. Are you supporting him because he is black?"

And I did emphasize that word "is". I remember a quote somewhere about a Recent President arguing about what "is" is. Somehow I think my emphasis of the word "is" is more significant than someone else attempting to hide behind the technicality of the tense of the verb. I seem to see that kind of attitude with way too many Politicians of late. Ignore true meaning, and spin it against the truth. And Obama is a slick speaker. He is even slicker than one of the Clintons, I dare say.

Oh, and you should have seen that little tilt of his head in superiority to look down his nose at me and hear it in the delivery of his voice as he said: "Of course," in his matter-of-fact way.

I really wanted to slap him. The urge was undeniable and palpable. Yes, I resisted, but not without a red face, I think. He did not outright call me a bigot, but you and I both know that is exactly what he meant to say. And he knew he was superior for supporting the minority candidate, because of course, that was the "Politically Correct" thing to do. Man the smugness with which it was said was beyond annoying. How do these people avoid getting themselves knocked senseless? Is there something about hitting a person who is too stupid to make them any dumber if you kill off some unused brain cells by smacking them silly?

Folks, go to the dictionary. Get a definition of bias, or bigotry or just plain prejudice. Is voting for someone because of their race a racist thing to do? If you say no, than let me rephrase slightly: If I was to vote for McCain because he was white (the lie insinuated by the other person in this conversation) would I be a racist? Do you understand my point, or is Sophistry the only thing that makes sense?

Dear Lord, it’s a nuthouse down here and the inmates are running the asylum. What am I supposed to do? Come quickly; we need help!

In Truth,

Mel

Tue, Apr 15th - 11:32PM

Thermonuclear Physics and the Tooth Fairy...

Just a place holder for an idea that came up talking to my nine year old daughter.  And, yes, that is the appropriate title, I think...

:'{P

Sat, Apr 12th - 2:34PM

My children continue to teach me...

A while ago, I was catching up on allowances for my two children.  I give them $10 a week.  Normally, I give them exactly one $5 bill and five $1 bills each.  I give it to them as we are walking into church. (When Abraham needed a sacrifice to replace his son, God provided at that very momment, also it gives them no time to foolishly spend it all!)  For the prior two weeks, I had only been able to give them the $1 for the offering.  They are young, but not that young.  The eldest is now 9 and the youngest 6.  They are only beginning to understand the big things, but they have a glimmer.  Well, I did not have enough $1 bills.  The youngest I gave her full $30 and gave her five $1 bills.  The oldest, I had bought some things for her over the past few weeks, telling her she would owe me for one, and might for another.  One was a fish, and I forgave that one completely.  She owed me nothing.  The other was earbuds for her MP3 player.  They cost about $10.  I gave her $25, making her pay for only half of that one.  She is very much aware of the math. I know she was aware of her debt, because she was aware of what I promised her and she could eventually expect.  And so far, I have given her no reason to not trust this will eventually be so.  She will bug me about what I owe her from time to time, but has learned where the line is about how much she may ask and how she may ask but not demand.  Now the youngest one piped up as we were going in and said that she was going to put $1 in the offering.  She was giving the rest back to me, right then and there to hold for her, which is her habit.  Usually she does this right after the offering plate has passed, so why she chose to do it now, I can not say.  God can!  She will ask for the rest back when we get home, for that is her way.  I told her that $1 was ok, but that $3 was better.  (the math for 10% is a little beyond her, but she understood she had more to give from)  The elder understood, and kind of supprted what I said.  I had to tell her not to wrry about her sister.  She also knew that she had no $1 bills, and the discussion was already open.  So she asked if she could just wait until next week to put her $3 in.  First of all, I know she can do the math and come to $2.50 if she only accounted for what I put in her hand.  Of the two of them, she is the one I see as more selfish -- specifically between sharing with her sister versus her sister sharing with her.  Yet, her discernment was keen enough to see that the $30 was what she "owed" on. (I say that because I really don't see it that way, but I know that is the limit to which I have been able to give them understanding)  I said, sure, but pointed out to her that I had already given her $5 she did not expect.  She could put that in and she would still be $2 ahead of where she would have thought she should be.  I made the little one hold her money until after the offering, just in case naything sunk into her little head.  I had made the comment glibbly to the eldest, expecting her to follow her own wisdom, which she is quite capable of doing, I might add, very much like me!

The eldest gave $5.  The youngest $1.  Now, since she had given enough in the prior weeks out of what I had given her only to make an offering, I could not be upset with the youngest.  As far as I could see, she fulfilled what was not required, but what I expected of her or desired of her.  But the eldest child, well she showed heart.  And I had not really expected it from her!  I shed a small tear of joy over that unexpected event.

So the lesson for me was that even though I think I know my children's hearts, (and among all people I know I think I know their hearts the best) I know nothing of their hearts.  My expectation was exactly the opposite of what I saw!  Should I hang my head in shame?  No, but I needed to learn something, and God found a way to show it to me very concretely and undeniably.  It is fair to try and discern ones heart to help them but not to judge them.  For you and I can never truely know it.  Only God can.

AMEN,

Mel

Fri, Apr 11th - 7:33AM

What for a man to talk about?

Ok,  I woke up at 2:00 AM or so and again just before 5:00.  I am tired.  I supposed that I knew I needed to do laundry, and God was giving me an opportunity to take care of something I thought needed doing.  So I went downstairs and was shocked.  My wife had done the laundry!

Now those of you who undertand some of my strange attitudes may find it hard to concieve of that I would consider that unusual.  After all, I am a "woman should be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen" sort of guy in your minds, am I not? I realize not all of you think of me that way, and I am grateful for your kindness.  I also realize that some of you think this, but will never dare to speak truthfully of it.  For you, I am sad.  There is a story here, but I think I will go to a larger picture, for now.

Frederick Meekins, in his blog, had something to rant about on the 10th.  I must admit, it rang off very strongly in my mind.  You see, I see prejudice and bigotry differently than mainstream America.  I am almost (7/32, I think) quarter blooded Native American Indian.  That strongly colors my perceptions, and they are not kind to those who are bigots and call others by that name!

Prejudice is something you and I have.  It may be something like "I like steak and potatoes for dinner" or some such cultural disposition.  Another person likes Tofu Burgers and Salad.  Now I clearly understand that moral stands can be taken on this issue even, and I don't deny you the right to take such a stand.  Rather, I will say that for most, this prejudice is not one we must address directly.  If it becomes bigotry, and I say I will not eat with you unless you like steak and potatoes for dinner, that needs to be dealt with.  If it is a moral issue for you, and you will not kill any animal you do not have to, examine your values continuously before speaking and be careful how you make a judgement!

What I want to speak of is an article in a Local Rag that I know is pretty self righteous and would be what most would call "liberal" although I think that is a pure trash label.  (most "Liberals" now have their own status qou agenda to preserve and further promote -- to say otherwise is purely a lie!)  At first, it seemed to be a reasonable breath of fresh air.  They were addressing a problem about racial profiling, which is quite real, I am sad to say.  They were talking excitedly about these new watchdog programs being set up to report these kinds of abuses.  Well, Amen!

Then they lost it.  They bemoaned, with what I wish were feigned indignation but suspect is not, that the police <<gasp>> were profiling our youths who would walk around wearing their "colors".  In other words, watching a gang member brazen enough to advertise it, (and for most part their special sub culture demands this) was a heinous thing.  I am sorry, but they are prone to violence and other bad things.  They are indoctrinated in racism that would curl your toes if you truely understood it.  They are seething cauldrons of hate and bigotry waiting for an opportunity to give expression to their considerable rage.  There may be reasons for why they are the way they are.  That is the sum total justification that "liberal" thinking needs to excuse this.  But, if being in an abusive home doesn't give a person the right to themselves be abusive, I don't see why I need to quitely be shot at random by these punks because some bleeding heart is bemoaning the way they saw their brother shot as a child.  Never mind that they were most likely shot by another person of their own violence supporting sub culture.  Read the statistics.  Yes, they are the biggest killers of their own!  Grasp the truth of the ugliness here.  These are people who do not believe in Satan, but willingly serve him anyway!

I make this accusation in light of the fact of another thing they bemoaned.  Namely that police efforts were ineffective in "racially repressed" neighborhoods.  (their language, meant to instill guilt, I think)  Funny thing was, I remember this same arguement from some time ago, when the "Don't Snitch" T-Shirt thing was going strong.  Where do you think this idea took hold the most?  If you don't talk to the cops, how effective do you think they are going to be?  If you are a criminal with even half a brain, or just plain stupid and lucky because you "take a crap in your own back yard", where do you think you are going to get away with crimes again and again?  The police spelled this problem out.  Now I do think prejudice did arise out of this, but truthfully, they brought it upon themselves as much as Ford Motor company did when they went really poor quality for a while.  They may not deserve the reputation anymore, or they might have given up on fighting for respect.  I don't really know.  But, I understand the sins of the father being visited upon them in this way.  Racially charged rhetoric does nothing to solve the problem, however.  So stop it already.

You want to call that racial profiling?  Most alarms are in affluent, mostly white neighborhoods.  Recently, false alarms have become such a problem that the police are lowering the priority for alarm responses.  Who, racially speaking, could argue with similar logic that they are being profiled?  This is also pure nonesense, I might add.  The response to false alarms, while not perfect, is a reasonable thing to do considering the limited nature of the resources of the officer's time.  If alarms in certain neighborhoods were not as likely to be false, maybe this should be modified, but that is not a call for you or I to make.  I see a potential opportunity here, but it may not be anything at all.

Mr. Meekins addresses the guilt thrown at us for "our" racism.  I'll comment and say, that in some cases, it might be warranted, and specific churches may deserve this.  But I don't get that general impression.  I seriously wonder about Obama's church, by the way.  Mr. Meekins points out, what to me, is outright flagrant racism.  And Obama defends this, albiet, only by not condemning it as strongly as he should.

Some churches are predominantly white or black or asian or whatever else they may be.  I think it may be that there are aspects of the cultures that are hard to adjust to if that is not the "way you did it growing up" and we are not color blind as we want to be.  Our doors should be open without regard to this.  Few may take advantage of this.  If you need to understand why they might not, take and once a month go to a different church (attending your own at a different time if you can)  Think about what made you feel welcome and what did not.  If you visit a "white" church and you are not white, ask yourself if anything really bad was done to make you uncomfortable.  Was it just different, and that was the reason?  Or was it that you saw their color and your color, and that made you uncomfortable?  If it is your perception causing the problem, don't lay the fault at someone else's feet.  Come clean and deal with it if you must.

If you are "white", you need to understand how this feels, I think.  Try doing the same thing.  Some places will go out of their way to overcome what is going on here.  Take and learn from them, and if they are not violating scripture, see if you can adapt and use it.  Don't be so damnably stuck up and proud!  But stop blantantly making blanket accusations.  If you need to accuse someone specific about a specific act, that is one thing.  This Liberally fueled hate mongering has got to stop.  They are ourright bigots, and I am telling them to stop!  Will you?

In Truth,

Mel