Immigration from Mexico.
Why does there seem to be so much opposition to immigration from Mexico? I don't see strong feelings against Russian, German, Italian, Japanese, or any other group of foreign nationals. Why Mexicans? Some say it is because we once fought a war with them. But we fought wars (hot or cold) with others, and those memories are faded.
My opinion:
I have spent some time in Mexico. Acapulco, Mexico City, Cozumel, Cuernavaca, Columbus, and many trips to Ciudad Juarez. I have some familiarity with Mexico and Mexicans. Mexico is a beautiful country. Spectacular mountains. Beaches that are the envy of the world. A gentle, pleasant climate.
Mexican people offer much to be admired. I have found them universally a warm, friendly people. Strong family values, strong religious faith. I go to Mexico and stumble through my broken Spanish, always to be met with patience and understanding. I once translated a Spanish saying for a granddaughter and was congratulated by an elderly Mexican woman for having translated correctly. And, Mexicans are most often hard-working, industrious people.
But, in Mexicans there is an interesting dichotomy. One that is deep-rooted and slow to change.
It all began with the Aztecs. Legend has it that the Aztecs were a tribe located somewhere in (what is now) the southwest United States, or northern Mexico. For some reason they migrated south, settling where they found an eagle, perched on a cactus, devouring a snake. (Honest!) That area is now known as Mexico, D.F. - Mexico City.
The Aztecs were a highly advanced people with one major flaw: their religion. Like the innocents of Jonestown, they let their priests convince them that human sacrifice was required to appease their Gods.
The Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortez defeated the Aztecs, but while the Spanish rulers brought much modernity to Mexico, their ways were nearly as harsh as the Aztecs (minus, of course, the human sacrifice). Eventually, the Mexicans overthrew the Spaniards.
Next it was the French. The madman Maximilian was installed as Emperor of Mexico and continued the oppression of the Mexican people until the French, like the Aztecs and the Spanish, were thrown aside.
A purely Mexican (or Indian) government was installed. Sadly, they had learned governing from the Aztecs, the Spanish and the French, and corruption was all they understood.
Then, of course, came the Americans. Mexicans tried to claim all the territory once held by Spain, but the onslaught of western migration in America by European immigrants overwhelmed them. Eventually all territory north of the Rio Grande was lost to Mexico, by force or otherwise.
Fast-forward a century and a half. South American drug cartels, thwarted at delivering their wares to American consumers, through the Bahamas, Florida and gulf cities, or the coast of California, chose to move through Mexico. This brought a wave of violence unequaled even by the Aztecs, plus a flood of cash to tempt the population.
Today, the retiring police chief of Ciudad Juarez estimates that 80% of the population of his city are involved in crime to some degree. Not necessarily what we would consider "serious" crime, but a willingness to be complicit in some degree of corruption if it is of personal benefit. It is all the Mexicans have ever known.
In the United States, we began as a government of the people.We have held respect for our government officials. Despite the tendency of our youth, since the 1960s, to 'question authority', Americans largely respect the rule of law.
Many Mexicans, with good reason, have no such grounding. We often see it in an unwillingness to assimilate. A willingness to accept government largesse, deserved, earned, or not.
Many Americans resent this. But mostly they resent the speaking in Spanish. Generations of immigrants have come to America and have learned to speak English. Imperfectly, perhaps, but they worked at it. Always speaking Spanish is like speaking in code - Americans do not understand. And they greatly resent telephone answering systems that require 'press one' for English.
Yes, there are the youth - the gang-bangers. But that is a stage, inherent in people of most every ethnicity. I have seen virtually no adversarial tendencies in Mexican adults.
Mexicans are good people. They become great Americans. Consider how many persons of Mexican descent have proven their courage and loyalty in the U.S. military. How many Mexican Americans have distinguished themselves as jurists, legislators, educators, entrepreneurs?
Perhaps it will be those outstanding Mexican-Americans who will teach their former countrymen that there is no part-time honesty. That corruption is never acceptable, in any degree. And, that assimilation into American culture and language would be very much appreciated.
My opinion.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Insanity
Either Albert Einstein or Benjamin Franklin first said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. That should not be confused with the 'try, try again' maxim, which would suggest you try, try something a little different each time. But if something fails, it does seem insane to do the same thing over and over again.
In 1919, Americans decided to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages. Resulting unintended consequences proved to be untenable and the policy was changed. More recently, we launched the 'War on Drugs'. Unintended consequences are everywhere, most notably in the violence of drug cartels and the overcrowding of our prisons. We are waiting for a better idea.
Now it is guns. Unlike a club or a sword, a gun is easy to use. A small woman can pull a trigger. More Americans own guns than ever owned swords. And, those guns in the hands of law-abiding, peaceful citizens pose no problems. But, a gun in the hands of a criminal, or a deranged person, is very much a problem.
It is fair to note that there have been a high number of murders in Russia, mostly from domestic violence, often with alcohol involved. Since guns are effectively banned in Russia, those murders are by primitive weapons.
In America, like Russia, we could just ban all guns. But no thinking person believes a criminal would give up his or her gun. Which means we could only ban guns from law-abiding citizens. If you want to see the results of that policy, look to Mexico. Recently the soon-to-retire Police chief in the Mexican city of Juarez said he will have to leave his country when he retires, as so many Mexican criminals have promised to kill him. As a private citizen in Mexico, he will be prohibited from defending himself.
In light of recent shootings in America, numerous politicians are vowing to fix the problem. So far, none have offered a new idea. Perhaps some day, someone will.
Either Albert Einstein or Benjamin Franklin first said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. That should not be confused with the 'try, try again' maxim, which would suggest you try, try something a little different each time. But if something fails, it does seem insane to do the same thing over and over again.
In 1919, Americans decided to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages. Resulting unintended consequences proved to be untenable and the policy was changed. More recently, we launched the 'War on Drugs'. Unintended consequences are everywhere, most notably in the violence of drug cartels and the overcrowding of our prisons. We are waiting for a better idea.
Now it is guns. Unlike a club or a sword, a gun is easy to use. A small woman can pull a trigger. More Americans own guns than ever owned swords. And, those guns in the hands of law-abiding, peaceful citizens pose no problems. But, a gun in the hands of a criminal, or a deranged person, is very much a problem.
It is fair to note that there have been a high number of murders in Russia, mostly from domestic violence, often with alcohol involved. Since guns are effectively banned in Russia, those murders are by primitive weapons.
In America, like Russia, we could just ban all guns. But no thinking person believes a criminal would give up his or her gun. Which means we could only ban guns from law-abiding citizens. If you want to see the results of that policy, look to Mexico. Recently the soon-to-retire Police chief in the Mexican city of Juarez said he will have to leave his country when he retires, as so many Mexican criminals have promised to kill him. As a private citizen in Mexico, he will be prohibited from defending himself.
In light of recent shootings in America, numerous politicians are vowing to fix the problem. So far, none have offered a new idea. Perhaps some day, someone will.
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Tea Party. Recalcitrant? You bet!
Some years ago, following a presidential election, one of the broadcast networks, NBC, I think, did a documentary they titled "The Right Man".
I no longer remember the content, but the gist of their argument was that even with all the rough and tumble of our political campaigns, we always manage to elect the right man - or woman.
We believed that.We lived through Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and some 25 Congresses, always believing we had elected the right men and women to trust with our government... the business of running our country. We proceeded to build our careers and our homes, we raised and educated our children.
Then came the year 2009 and we started hearing alarming sounds of deficit and debt. What? This rich and powerful country of ours seriously in debt? Cannot be! We took a look. They told us our national debt was some twelve trillion dollars. We did a little fourth grade math;
$12,000,000 000,000. (OUR DEBT)
300,000,000 (OUR POPULATION)
Holy cow! That's $40,000. for every man, woman and child in the United States! We said, Stop! For the first time in our lives we began protesting, out in the street, carrying signs! And, we campaigned for like-minded candidates, managing to take back one house of Congress in 2010.
But the spending has not stopped. Now the debt is $16.4 trillion and the population is 308 million. The debt is now $43,000 per person. We prayed for election day to come. It came and low-information people re-elected much of the government that got us into debt. This government tells us they need more money, and more spending. They want to raise the debt ceiling at will. They say we must compromise or we will go over a cliff.
We are already over a cliff. There is no way we can pay back this debt, short of near-miraculous growth. We cannot wait for miracles. We must stop this government now.
No compromise! No more taxes! We want spending cuts. Significant spending cuts and we want them now.
Rid the military of all the unneeded, unwanted bases and weapons programs protected by politicians. Lessen our military footprint on foreign soil.
Change the retirement age for Social Security. Stop providing benefits to people who did not pay into them. Social Security was instituted as old-age insurance. You do not collect insurance benefits unless you have paid the premiums.
Change the eligibility age for Medicare. Get serious about cutting Medicare fraud - it is rampant!
Cut wages of government employees to levels matching salaries of like skills in the private sector.
Eliminate collective bargaining for government employees. Cut excessive pensions for government and private sector employees alike.
End welfare for able-bodied persons. Work or go hungry.
End base line budgeting. Forget last year's budget, start from zero every year.
Completely eliminate government programs that are not working: The departments of Agriculture, Energy, Education, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Commerce, and, yes, the Post Office and Amtrak. All these programs have failed in their intended purpose. Why are we going deeper in debt to support them?
That is a start. That is my idea of compromise. When that is done we can start talking about more cutting.
Some years ago, following a presidential election, one of the broadcast networks, NBC, I think, did a documentary they titled "The Right Man".
I no longer remember the content, but the gist of their argument was that even with all the rough and tumble of our political campaigns, we always manage to elect the right man - or woman.
We believed that.We lived through Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and some 25 Congresses, always believing we had elected the right men and women to trust with our government... the business of running our country. We proceeded to build our careers and our homes, we raised and educated our children.
Then came the year 2009 and we started hearing alarming sounds of deficit and debt. What? This rich and powerful country of ours seriously in debt? Cannot be! We took a look. They told us our national debt was some twelve trillion dollars. We did a little fourth grade math;
$12,000,0
3
Holy cow! That's $40,000. for every man, woman and child in the United States! We said, Stop! For the first time in our lives we began protesting, out in the street, carrying signs! And, we campaigned for like-minded candidates, managing to take back one house of Congress in 2010.
But the spending has not stopped. Now the debt is $16.4 trillion and the population is 308 million. The debt is now $43,000 per person. We prayed for election day to come. It came and low-information people re-elected much of the government that got us into debt. This government tells us they need more money, and more spending. They want to raise the debt ceiling at will. They say we must compromise or we will go over a cliff.
We are already over a cliff. There is no way we can pay back this debt, short of near-miraculous growth. We cannot wait for miracles. We must stop this government now.
No compromise! No more taxes! We want spending cuts. Significant spending cuts and we want them now.
Rid the military of all the unneeded, unwanted bases and weapons programs protected by politicians. Lessen our military footprint on foreign soil.
Change the retirement age for Social Security. Stop providing benefits to people who did not pay into them. Social Security was instituted as old-age insurance. You do not collect insurance benefits unless you have paid the premiums.
Change the eligibility age for Medicare. Get serious about cutting Medicare fraud - it is rampant!
Cut wages of government employees to levels matching salaries of like skills in the private sector.
Eliminate collective bargaining for government employees. Cut excessive pensions for government and private sector employees alike.
End welfare for able-bodied persons. Work or go hungry.
End base line budgeting. Forget last year's budget, start from zero every year.
Completely eliminate government programs that are not working: The departments of Agriculture, Energy, Education, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Commerce, and, yes, the Post Office and Amtrak. All these programs have failed in their intended purpose. Why are we going deeper in debt to support them?
That is a start. That is my idea of compromise. When that is done we can start talking about more cutting.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
You Can't Fix Stupid. (Oh, Yeah?)
Some idiots who call themselves Handgun Control, Inc. made a poster. Pretty picture. Stupid copy.
Comparing such numbers without relating to population, or individual nation's restrictions on gun ownership makes little sense. You can surely post startling numbers by comparing traffic deaths, deaths from falling in the bathtub, or any of many other human mishaps.
But here in America, we have a different take on things. We look at the history of some of our neighbor nations and we remember The Nazi Holocaust; The Soviet Gulags; The Chinese Cultural Revolution; The Pol Pot Killing Fields. And we remember the Japanese massacre of innocents in Nanking. and on and on.
So, we have revised their silly poster:
Yes, we American gun owners deplore the loss of innocent life at the hands of thugs, murderers, and madmen, by use of guns or any other means. We search for ways to protect innocents. But, when we propose to arm the innocents to level the playing field against the thugs, we are met with frantic opposition by people proposing the very policies that have enabled mass loss of life around the world.
7000 Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto and millions more in the Nazi concentration camps. The Jewish people said "Never Again" and they meant it. Today Israel is a well-armed nation able to protect its citizens.
We look at the world's mass murders of the past and we say "Never In America!" We want our citizens armed. And they are. There are over 100 million gun owners in America. There are 41 million military veterans, all with some military training, many with extensive combat experience. Among them are tens of thousands of veterans who were highly trained, highly skilled, high-ranking officers who could provide command and leadership at the blink of an eye. That makes American citizens the world's largest army, in reserve.
And this American is a proud member of the National Rifle Association!
Some idiots who call themselves Handgun Control, Inc. made a poster. Pretty picture. Stupid copy.
Comparing such numbers without relating to population, or individual nation's restrictions on gun ownership makes little sense. You can surely post startling numbers by comparing traffic deaths, deaths from falling in the bathtub, or any of many other human mishaps.
But here in America, we have a different take on things. We look at the history of some of our neighbor nations and we remember The Nazi Holocaust; The Soviet Gulags; The Chinese Cultural Revolution; The Pol Pot Killing Fields. And we remember the Japanese massacre of innocents in Nanking. and on and on.
So, we have revised their silly poster:
Yes, we American gun owners deplore the loss of innocent life at the hands of thugs, murderers, and madmen, by use of guns or any other means. We search for ways to protect innocents. But, when we propose to arm the innocents to level the playing field against the thugs, we are met with frantic opposition by people proposing the very policies that have enabled mass loss of life around the world.
7000 Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto and millions more in the Nazi concentration camps. The Jewish people said "Never Again" and they meant it. Today Israel is a well-armed nation able to protect its citizens.
We look at the world's mass murders of the past and we say "Never In America!" We want our citizens armed. And they are. There are over 100 million gun owners in America. There are 41 million military veterans, all with some military training, many with extensive combat experience. Among them are tens of thousands of veterans who were highly trained, highly skilled, high-ranking officers who could provide command and leadership at the blink of an eye. That makes American citizens the world's largest army, in reserve.
And this American is a proud member of the National Rifle Association!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Negative Speech... or something.
We hear it often these days, but most frequently from our super-intelligent, Harvard educated president:
"I couldn't be..."
I couldn't be more clear. I couldn't be more proud. I couldn't be more pleased. Oh, yeah? Supposing that, right after you said that, Michelle handed you a double cheeseburger, large fries and a 42-ounce Coke! Wouldn't you then be more pleased?
The point being, whatever happened to "I am proud..." "I am pleased to announce..." You might even say "I am most pleased" or "I am very proud". Must it always be "I couldn't be more"?
Being a high-school dropout, I guess I am just stupid. But as a one-time broadcaster I learned to KISS, or to "Keep it simple, stupid"!
We hear it often these days, but most frequently from our super-intelligent, Harvard educated president:
"I couldn't be..."
I couldn't be more clear. I couldn't be more proud. I couldn't be more pleased. Oh, yeah? Supposing that, right after you said that, Michelle handed you a double cheeseburger, large fries and a 42-ounce Coke! Wouldn't you then be more pleased?
The point being, whatever happened to "I am proud..." "I am pleased to announce..." You might even say "I am most pleased" or "I am very proud". Must it always be "I couldn't be more"?
Being a high-school dropout, I guess I am just stupid. But as a one-time broadcaster I learned to KISS, or to "Keep it simple, stupid"!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Suffering Fools
Centuries ago, Saint Paul told the people of Corinth, "ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise."
That phrase has been used and abused in many ways, by many people. Today some aver that they do NOT suffer fools gladly. I tend to join that group, while adding that I do not consider myself wise. So, what is a fool? Why are we intolerant of them?
I consider a fool a person who does foolish things. I have been there, done that, time and again in my youth. Some times just for fun. Many times unaware of the danger I posed to myself or others. Today I see young people doing foolish things, having fun, and I hope they do no harm.
But those are not the fools we fear. We fear the fools in positions of power or influence who choose to ignore facts of history, thus placing many in harms way. Maybe not physical harm, but harm, no less.
Our nation's current fiscal problems are a classic example. We are repeating tragic mistakes of the past while refusing to recognize past successes.
Today we are again on the brink of a big battle over gun control. Our nation's founders had seen the consequences of an unarmed population with a tyrannical government. They sought to prevent that happening in this new nation by providing protection for the right of the population to be armed. But that right has been twisted until it is now blamed for the actions of a deranged person who became a mass murderer.
As to the original purpose for an armed population, some anti-gun activists insist that people with small arms are no match for a modern army protecting a tyrannical government. Maybe they haven't noticed what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, or Libya, and what is currently happening in Syria. Insufferable fools.
But many of these fools are in positions of great influence, like the national news media; or positions of great power, like the President of The United States and members of the United States Congress.
Their current boogey man is the 'assault rifle', which, like the monster under the child's bed, does not exist. When I attended an Army Infantry Training Center, we employed long rifles with wooden stocks, patterned somewhat after the style of the muskets carried by my ancestor at Valley forge.
In recent years, the Army began using rifles of an entirely different style. They surely have some advantages, perhaps with added features, perhaps just in ease or cost of mass manufacture. But they look different. As may be expected, many private citizens wanted their personal rifles to look like the modern style military rifles. Gun manufacturers complied with this market demand.
Some find the new style rifles scary looking and have dubbed them 'assault weapons'. A traditionalist, I just find them ugly! Whatever your opinion, these new rifles on the civilian market are different in appearance only. No matter. The fools will insist they be banned.
So, we must fight the gun battle again. Not with our little rifles, shotguns or pistols. Rather, with our pens, our telephones and our emails. But fight we must, or we'll find ourselves suffering at the hands of fools, and not so gladly!
Centuries ago, Saint Paul told the people of Corinth, "ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise."
That phrase has been used and abused in many ways, by many people. Today some aver that they do NOT suffer fools gladly. I tend to join that group, while adding that I do not consider myself wise. So, what is a fool? Why are we intolerant of them?
I consider a fool a person who does foolish things. I have been there, done that, time and again in my youth. Some times just for fun. Many times unaware of the danger I posed to myself or others. Today I see young people doing foolish things, having fun, and I hope they do no harm.
But those are not the fools we fear. We fear the fools in positions of power or influence who choose to ignore facts of history, thus placing many in harms way. Maybe not physical harm, but harm, no less.
Our nation's current fiscal problems are a classic example. We are repeating tragic mistakes of the past while refusing to recognize past successes.
Today we are again on the brink of a big battle over gun control. Our nation's founders had seen the consequences of an unarmed population with a tyrannical government. They sought to prevent that happening in this new nation by providing protection for the right of the population to be armed. But that right has been twisted until it is now blamed for the actions of a deranged person who became a mass murderer.
As to the original purpose for an armed population, some anti-gun activists insist that people with small arms are no match for a modern army protecting a tyrannical government. Maybe they haven't noticed what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, or Libya, and what is currently happening in Syria. Insufferable fools.
But many of these fools are in positions of great influence, like the national news media; or positions of great power, like the President of The United States and members of the United States Congress.
Their current boogey man is the 'assault rifle', which, like the monster under the child's bed, does not exist. When I attended an Army Infantry Training Center, we employed long rifles with wooden stocks, patterned somewhat after the style of the muskets carried by my ancestor at Valley forge.
In recent years, the Army began using rifles of an entirely different style. They surely have some advantages, perhaps with added features, perhaps just in ease or cost of mass manufacture. But they look different. As may be expected, many private citizens wanted their personal rifles to look like the modern style military rifles. Gun manufacturers complied with this market demand.
Some find the new style rifles scary looking and have dubbed them 'assault weapons'. A traditionalist, I just find them ugly! Whatever your opinion, these new rifles on the civilian market are different in appearance only. No matter. The fools will insist they be banned.
So, we must fight the gun battle again. Not with our little rifles, shotguns or pistols. Rather, with our pens, our telephones and our emails. But fight we must, or we'll find ourselves suffering at the hands of fools, and not so gladly!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
A Christian Atheist?
Impossible? Let's explore. The true history of the man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is sketchy. There is little record of his existence other than in the writings of His followers. But then, any recorded history from that era is sketchy. There were no printing presses, no paper or pen as we know it. Recording information on lambskin or papyrus with some kind of quill pen and plant dyes was tedious.
But, there is no denying that Christ was the most influential man in the history we know. His teachings are guidelines for many persons who have no affiliation with any organized church. That is not to say that Christ was the first to advocate principles of love, but certainly those principles are most closely associated with Christ's teachings.
People call themselves a Liberal or a Conservative, simply because they believe in most of the tenets attributed to those labels.
Many hold that to be a Christian, one must believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Some liberal Christians, however, do not accept a literal bodily resurrection, seeing the story as a richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Still, they consider themselves Christians.
An atheist, on the other hand, is a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings. While it is common to define atheists as persons who want to ban Christmas trees, nativity scenes or even the phrase 'Merry Christmas', many Americans who claim to be atheists do enjoy Christmas. They observe it as a National Holiday celebrating love, charity, and the joy of giving. And they are okay with calling it Christ's birthday. Why not? Those are the things He taught.
Some well educated, well read, critical thinking Americans believe strongly in the principles taught by Christ. They believe in equality, in fairness, justice, honesty, and truth in all cases. They try to instill these principles in their children. But they do not belong to, or attend services of any organized church. Can they not still be called Christians?
They do not believe in a Supreme Being. They believe in Christ as a man, a Rabbi, a teacher but do not believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection, or that Christ is the Son of God - unless we are all "Sons of God".
And they do not believe in an afterlife, believing instead in Moses' recounting of God's sentence to Adam in Genesis 3:19, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Are they not atheists? Christian atheists?
Impossible? Let's explore. The true history of the man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is sketchy. There is little record of his existence other than in the writings of His followers. But then, any recorded history from that era is sketchy. There were no printing presses, no paper or pen as we know it. Recording information on lambskin or papyrus with some kind of quill pen and plant dyes was tedious.
But, there is no denying that Christ was the most influential man in the history we know. His teachings are guidelines for many persons who have no affiliation with any organized church. That is not to say that Christ was the first to advocate principles of love, but certainly those principles are most closely associated with Christ's teachings.
People call themselves a Liberal or a Conservative, simply because they believe in most of the tenets attributed to those labels.
Many hold that to be a Christian, one must believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Some liberal Christians, however, do not accept a literal bodily resurrection, seeing the story as a richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Still, they consider themselves Christians.
An atheist, on the other hand, is a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings. While it is common to define atheists as persons who want to ban Christmas trees, nativity scenes or even the phrase 'Merry Christmas', many Americans who claim to be atheists do enjoy Christmas. They observe it as a National Holiday celebrating love, charity, and the joy of giving. And they are okay with calling it Christ's birthday. Why not? Those are the things He taught.
Some well educated, well read, critical thinking Americans believe strongly in the principles taught by Christ. They believe in equality, in fairness, justice, honesty, and truth in all cases. They try to instill these principles in their children. But they do not belong to, or attend services of any organized church. Can they not still be called Christians?
They do not believe in a Supreme Being. They believe in Christ as a man, a Rabbi, a teacher but do not believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection, or that Christ is the Son of God - unless we are all "Sons of God".
And they do not believe in an afterlife, believing instead in Moses' recounting of God's sentence to Adam in Genesis 3:19, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Are they not atheists? Christian atheists?
Sunday, December 09, 2012
First Amendment
As we near the Christmas holiday, we hear more and more protests over Christmas symbols on public property and,well, you know the drill.
What's the problem? After 225 years, why are people sill arguing over what the Constitution means?
I believe it all boils down to the definition of the word "religion", as used in the wording of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
What, exactly, did the Framers have in mind? Having read a fair amount of original writings, I conclude they were concerned that America, like most European nations, would establish a "national" church.
They had seen what President Calvin Coolidge would have seen when, in 1926, he spoke of "entire congregations and their pastors emigrating to the colonies." If you are, say, a Lutheran, and the "National" church is Roman Catholic, you are probably going to feel isolated.
It seems apparent that by "religion" they meant, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Greek Orthodox, or whatever. There is no evidence that the Framers were opposed to religious faith in general.
Today, unfortunately, many people believe the Framers meant to ban anything remotely connected to faith. And, they wrongly believe that "Christianity" represents one or all of those "churches" that follow the Christian philosophy.
In reality, the fact that many churches adhere to the principles of Christianity does not make Christianity a "Religion".
And, so, the beat goes on. People continue to believe that any act or symbol related to a religious faith represents a "religion", which, by virtue of The Constitution, must not be "established". How narrow!
As we near the Christmas holiday, we hear more and more protests over Christmas symbols on public property and,well, you know the drill.
What's the problem? After 225 years, why are people sill arguing over what the Constitution means?
I believe it all boils down to the definition of the word "religion", as used in the wording of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
What, exactly, did the Framers have in mind? Having read a fair amount of original writings, I conclude they were concerned that America, like most European nations, would establish a "national" church.
They had seen what President Calvin Coolidge would have seen when, in 1926, he spoke of "entire congregations and their pastors emigrating to the colonies." If you are, say, a Lutheran, and the "National" church is Roman Catholic, you are probably going to feel isolated.
It seems apparent that by "religion" they meant, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Greek Orthodox, or whatever. There is no evidence that the Framers were opposed to religious faith in general.
Today, unfortunately, many people believe the Framers meant to ban anything remotely connected to faith. And, they wrongly believe that "Christianity" represents one or all of those "churches" that follow the Christian philosophy.
In reality, the fact that many churches adhere to the principles of Christianity does not make Christianity a "Religion".
And, so, the beat goes on. People continue to believe that any act or symbol related to a religious faith represents a "religion", which, by virtue of The Constitution, must not be "established". How narrow!
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Smokin' and Tokin'
People smoke tobacco and marijuana for the same reasons. They burn some dried leaves and inhale the smoke to achieve some kind of "high", a euphoric feeling of some sort, or perhaps just for the satisfaction some tobacco people promise. Now they claim marijuana smoke eases pain, or something.
Just as smoking tobacco is being considered a dumb idea, the opposite is true of marijuana. Lawmakers and regulators seem bent on making it an okay thing to toke. Many citizens are lobbying for toking. If that bit of euphoria, or satisfaction, or pain relief is important enough to you, light up. But anyone with a brain must realize that purposely inhaling the smoke from burning leaves can't be good for the lungs.
Numerous studies assert that smoking tobacco causes lung cancer. Some very well done studies. What they actually prove is that the incidence of lung cancer is much higher among tobacco smokers. But there is always the guy who will tell you his grandfather started smoking tobacco when he was twelve and smoked every day of his life, until he died at age 90 when he stepped in front of a bus. Still, purposely inhaling smoke from dried leaves, up close and personal, cannot be good for lungs.
Tobacco companies' brands are enormously valuable. They have spent much treasure and at least one life promoting their brands. (The macho Marlboro Man died of lung cancer, widely attributed to his smoking habit.) They spend even more protecting the consistency of their brands. There was a time when tobacco companies distributed cartons of their best brands, free of charge, on college campuses. The idea being that if you smoked a carton of 200 of their cigs, you would be hooked on their brand.
You can buy a pack of Marlboros in Los Angeles, then buy a pack in Boston, and the taste and aroma would be the same. They carefully select their tobacco leaves. They carefully handle and process those leaves in a certain way. All to achieve that valued consistency. Not to protect you, to protect their brand!
Not true of marijuana. There is no brand name on a plastic sandwich bag of weed. No billboards or neon signs touting a name. Just a bag of weed. No one knows where it was grown. How it was handled. How many unwashed hands processed it. If there is a bit of pesticide or herbicide on the stuff. What kind of tropical mold spore or insect eggs may be included.
When I was in the Army in the Pacific, it was rumored that bootleggers were opening bottles of whiskey, somehow preserving the seal. They drew off 10% of the liquor, replaced it with water and re-closed the bottle. Do this ten times and you've added a free bottle of whiskey to your inventory. Maybe true, maybe not. But how much easier to "cut" that marijuana stash with a little jimson weed, or something, to increase your profit? If grown in South America, the pot has leaped many hurdles to reach Chicago streets. Why not, now, expand your inventory?
The idea being that when you set a bong of marijuana on fire and suck the smoke into your lungs, you must be performing the dumbest act of your lifetime.
You know what is said of restaurants: if you saw what goes on in the kitchen you would not eat the food. But again, the restaurant has a brand to protect.
If you knew what is in that bag of week, would you still toke?
People smoke tobacco and marijuana for the same reasons. They burn some dried leaves and inhale the smoke to achieve some kind of "high", a euphoric feeling of some sort, or perhaps just for the satisfaction some tobacco people promise. Now they claim marijuana smoke eases pain, or something.
Just as smoking tobacco is being considered a dumb idea, the opposite is true of marijuana. Lawmakers and regulators seem bent on making it an okay thing to toke. Many citizens are lobbying for toking. If that bit of euphoria, or satisfaction, or pain relief is important enough to you, light up. But anyone with a brain must realize that purposely inhaling the smoke from burning leaves can't be good for the lungs.
Numerous studies assert that smoking tobacco causes lung cancer. Some very well done studies. What they actually prove is that the incidence of lung cancer is much higher among tobacco smokers. But there is always the guy who will tell you his grandfather started smoking tobacco when he was twelve and smoked every day of his life, until he died at age 90 when he stepped in front of a bus. Still, purposely inhaling smoke from dried leaves, up close and personal, cannot be good for lungs.
Tobacco companies' brands are enormously valuable. They have spent much treasure and at least one life promoting their brands. (The macho Marlboro Man died of lung cancer, widely attributed to his smoking habit.) They spend even more protecting the consistency of their brands. There was a time when tobacco companies distributed cartons of their best brands, free of charge, on college campuses. The idea being that if you smoked a carton of 200 of their cigs, you would be hooked on their brand.
You can buy a pack of Marlboros in Los Angeles, then buy a pack in Boston, and the taste and aroma would be the same. They carefully select their tobacco leaves. They carefully handle and process those leaves in a certain way. All to achieve that valued consistency. Not to protect you, to protect their brand!
Not true of marijuana. There is no brand name on a plastic sandwich bag of weed. No billboards or neon signs touting a name. Just a bag of weed. No one knows where it was grown. How it was handled. How many unwashed hands processed it. If there is a bit of pesticide or herbicide on the stuff. What kind of tropical mold spore or insect eggs may be included.
When I was in the Army in the Pacific, it was rumored that bootleggers were opening bottles of whiskey, somehow preserving the seal. They drew off 10% of the liquor, replaced it with water and re-closed the bottle. Do this ten times and you've added a free bottle of whiskey to your inventory. Maybe true, maybe not. But how much easier to "cut" that marijuana stash with a little jimson weed, or something, to increase your profit? If grown in South America, the pot has leaped many hurdles to reach Chicago streets. Why not, now, expand your inventory?
The idea being that when you set a bong of marijuana on fire and suck the smoke into your lungs, you must be performing the dumbest act of your lifetime.
You know what is said of restaurants: if you saw what goes on in the kitchen you would not eat the food. But again, the restaurant has a brand to protect.
If you knew what is in that bag of week, would you still toke?
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