BEWARE DRINKERS

 In case you missed the announcement, I'm patiently waiting for our country to take another shot at prohibition. See my earlier blog for details. But let me offer a friendly warning to my friends who choose to consume adult beverages. Beware of the socialists amongst us. There was a report on the news today about how many more health problems drinkers have and how, because of Obamacare, those costs burden us all. Socialised medicine, or single payer, or Obamacare, provides an end run to the sluggish and painfully slow process of passing legislation. With the government in control of health-care they will seize control of your behavior and force you into life-style choices you are opposed to. Instead of the predictable and non-discriminatory actuary table determining your premiums and thereby offering a type of incentive to alter your behavior, or not, depending on your personal choice. Your decisions will be dictated by the benevolent government who will be acting on behalf of the people who will be reacting to the latest pseudo-scientific study showing that YOU are costing us all lots of money so you will be required to change your behavior. After all, it isn't fair to the rest of us that men engage in sexual behavior with other men which increases their risk for contracting AIDS resulting in higher health-care costs for all of us. (Yeah, right, like that's gonna happen). Anyway, you get my point. The government already knows how much water you should need to flush your toilet and take a shower. They already figured out that you need smaller, lighter, more dangerous cars to drive so we don't kill the Earth. Additionally, they see the sacred wisdom in using everyone's money to finance the harvesting of body parts from unborn, and born, children for profit. By using everyone's money then we all have blood on our hands, not just the animals we are employing at these houses of worship. So, as you can see, there are none more qualified to tell you what to eat and drink, how much you can eat and drink, and when you can eat and drink those pre-determined amounts of food and liquid. After all, if the government didn't have your best interest at heart would they have offered you "free" healthcare?

It's Hard To Be Eeyore

They say it's hard to be humble, but I never really had any trouble with that. In fact I'm quite good at it. But maintaining a consistently gloomy disposition really is hard. There is quite a lot of rather disappointing news coming at us from all sides these days. News that is often presented in a more negative way than would be supported by the actual facts. After all, they need to sell newspapers and radio and tv ads. So the truly disappointing and tragic events are mixed in with the media's default position of taking the most negative tack on every story until it's too late to redeem it to its more factual state. How often are we left basing an opinion of a situation on an intentionally incomplete set of facts because the media isn't as well-served with the truth as with the more extreme notions conjured up by editors whose strengths seem to lie in the art of deception? I would suggest if we could pull the curtain of selfish ambition away from the news media long enough to see the real world we would be pleasantly surprised at how far our society has come in its 236 years. Upon a solid foundation of a constitution that balances and limits the government's power, which helps insure the people's continued freedoms, our society has moved into and beyond many difficult and troubling issues. We are still somewhat free, and we are more tolerant and accepting than we've ever been and moving in the right direction all the time. Lest you feel obligated to offer a disparaging word about those nasty intolerant Christians please allow me to interject a quick word. I hang around a lot of these "Christian" types and if I may, they are much more tolerant and loving than most of the people who find it so easy to criticize them. Yes, the media are fond of finding someone who calls themselves a Christian but whose mouth seems to run in opposition to that claim. Or they will edit responses from respected Christian leaders in such a way as to see that no one's prejudice is negatively impacted. Jeepers Wally, where have all the good reporters gone? The news is what it is, but they seem to want to make it what it isn't. Alas, I digress. Negativity, often within my own life, seems to abound and find a quick friend within the human spirit. There is something that wants to move me in negative directions and pull me out of earshot of the love of God. This morning, with a near full moon in the West and soon rising sun in the East, we sang songs and read scripture about the most blessed event this earth has ever encountered. It distracted me long enough to catch a refreshing, positive, uplifting song from Calvary's tree. A profoundly blessed moment that is there for the taking each and every day. May we all look more intentionally for God's love in every day.

So heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
(David Crower Band from the song How He Loves)

May God surprise you with a kiss this day.

EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION

Evolution of thought; evolution of a design; evolution of laws; evolution of a culture; evolution of a company; and yes, evolution in the animal kingdom. I would suggest that evolution is as common as breathing. The slow process of change or discovery is the engine of evolution. It would seem the only thing that has not evolved over time would be the Theory of Evolution as presented by Darwin yea those many years ago. Even religious understanding that seeks truth has evolved. Things that once seemed supernatural are now understood as operating within the laws of physics, leaving us with the perception that the body of supernatural events has diminished over time. So why the stiff-necked support of a theory whose author was so forthcoming with his own skepticism? Why has all the spit and polish been applied to this theory by lawyers, the media and even the scientific community? Why are thoughtful, intelligent people who see "holes" or "problems" with Darwin's theory ostracized and ridiculed? And why does it seem the media has corralled the discussion to the arena of public debate where the dissenters are, by definition, excluded from the more informed community of scientists? If you form your opinion based on the media treatment of evolution you would conclude that Darwinian evolution is all but settled fact. Kind of like a great sports figure just waiting for his induction into the Hall of Fame. And the challengers to this theory are always pulled from the "uninformed", or less informed, masses, (or as Mr. Boortz refers to them, dumb masses), who are ridiculed and demeaned to try and discourage such challenges. Granted, if I were put in front of a camera to support my view on almost anything, with my comments left to the scrutiny of an endless line of "experts" interviewed by an agenda driven news media it would be a simple task to make me look even stupider than I am. But a thoughtful interview with a scientist who sees problems with Darwin's theory, often simply confirming Darwin's own concerns about his theory, seems to be out of the question. Where are these curious sorts of reporters who ostensibly have devoted their lives to getting to the truth? Wouldn't they be anxious to validate Darwinian evolution? Are they too busy preparing the world for its imminent destruction due to people like me not recycling every bit of cardboard that comes into their lives, to bother with such trivial matters? Or have they, and the public at large, been scared into submission by the threat of personal destruction to anyone who dares challenge this "sacred cow" of alleged science. This is my contention. A little like the media-impaired discussion on man-made global warming which is far from settled fact.

"Why?"

I learned in philosophy class 35 years ago that this is an important word. One which needs to be applied to even our most prized personal convictions. Otherwise we run the risk of living our lives based on well- protected misinformation rather than truth. And we all know who the "Father of Misinformation" is. So, if I may, I would like for us as a diverse and curious people, to take another look, not just at the theory of Darwinian evolution, but at the societal dysfunction that has exacerbated this ACLU empowered theory.

Thank you and have a nice day. Oh, and go help someone who needs a little help or encouragement today.