Us and Them

One hears a lot of complaints about “the government” these days. There seems, at first blush, to be a very distinct line between us and them. Everyone from politicians to activists offer their thoughts about the relative merits of real America and the Washington D.C. government which is out of touch with the real American values.

As an aside, I find it kind of strange to hear politicians rant against the “out of touch government” while they work so hard to get inside the D.C. beltway. Rarely have I found any of them to perform noticeably different from their predecessors.

Anyway, back to the us against them mentality. To me it seems to be counterproductive at best and a denial of reality at worse. It is too simplistic to point our fingers towards those who have been elected as our leaders and tell them how they screwed things up.

To be sure government at all levels, federal, state and local, has, at times, demonstrated an amazing level of incompetence, inefficiency, self centeredness, sometimes stupidity, a lack of self-control, and even greed. But to sit back and blast away at them, as if they alone are the problem, is to display a collective lack of self-awareness.

Our founding fathers set up this system of government where the people are represented by elected officials; government by the people and for the people. So I submit if we really want Washington, or them, to change we need to change as a society. Rarely have I seen a society as litigious (greedy) as ours. We willingly live beyond our means and rack up massive amounts of consumer debt, and then wonder if there is a program to help us out of the mess (lack of self-control). We tend to be far more concerned about “us four and no more” than we are about the whole of society (self-centered). Even in the community of nations, our collective desire to live as if we are alone on the planet, comes through in less than helpful ways.

Of course you and I wouldn’t actually live that way. We live on a budget, we pay our taxes, and we do our part for the community. It’s the others who are selfish, irresponsible, stupid, and greedy; yeah, it the government and other people, but not us.

Really? Nope. We all carry tendencies towards being selfish and greedy! It is our collective problem and those we elect merely reflect the state of our negative failures along with the good values we hold dear.

I am not saying that everything about our society is bad! We have many admirable traits including generosity, selflessness, ingenuity, and bigheartedness! And I love the relative freedom we enjoy. I only want to point out that we seem to have drawn a line between the government (them) and we the people (us), and this line inhibits our ability to look closely into the failures of our own hearts.

So if, as I contend, there is no them that means there is only us. And if that is true then the only way to change the dysfunction in our government, is to change the dysfunction within our own hearts. And we need to work at it together as a society.

Lord have mercy.

Leon

Please Stop The Craziness

I remember where I was when President Kennedy was shot…on the playground at school. I also recall where I was when President Reagan was shot…traveling from PA to VA. The morning Robert Kennedy was shot Mrs. Michaels told us how she cried when she heard the news. While I didn’t like the policies George Wallace espoused, the news that he had been shot and seriously injured while campaigning for president hit me hard. He was the first presidential candidate I of whom I was really aware. President Ford had two attempts made on his life in the 70’s, but escaped injury. However the list of politicians in this country who have been attacked is long and the record shows much tragedy.

To the above list one can add the following presidents/politicians on whom assassins unleashed their hatred: Add Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, both Roosevelts, and Harry Truman. Not all died, but all had attempts made on their lives. That is 20% of our presidents, not to mention a Senator and a Secretary of State .  Then there are the civil rights and religious leaders who have been shot from Vernon Jordan and Dr. King to Malcolm X and numerous others. It seems clear that politics and guns in our culture do not mix healthily.

Additionally, over the last 50 years, there have been hundreds of innocent people in our country who were shot at colleges, high schools, malls, gyms, in the workplace, and in churches; by people who had real or imaginary axes to grind. But no one, politician or otherwise deserves to be shot due to someone having a grievance with them or anyone else.

So here I sit watching news reports of people bringing loaded guns to events where our president will be speaking. Is it any wonder why rational people get a little nervous? The second amendment notwithstanding, this dangerous behavior is a simple invitation to disaster.

When guns are coupled with shouting, anger and emotional outbursts reminiscent of rioting and out of control mobs (the emotional fervor against this administration is almost cult-like in nature); then danger is present. When guns are coupled with people who say and believe statements like “Obamanation, Obama’s will have death squads, Obama is the Anti-Christ, he (Obama) will destroy our nation, he (Obama) wants to do as much damage to our nation as fast as he can, or someone should put a slug in his (Obama’s) head;” there is a serious problem! When guns are coupled with imagery equating our president and NAZIS, the SS, and Hitler (read deadly enemy) the chances of someone needing to shoot to defend the nation raises dramatically.

I see no good reason why anyone, other than law enforcement, should be allowed to bring a gun within miles of the president. Some will cry “This is a restriction of my constitutional rights!” And I say in response, “One cannot shout fire (when there is no fire) in a crowded theater without the expectation of prosecution, and that is not a violation of freedom of speech. It seems to me that these folks showing up at town hall meetings, especially where the President is present, are trying to bait the administration. By bringing guns to such events, they are clearly making a statement that goes beyond a simple exercising of their second amendment rights. If the authorities dare to ban such demonstrations, this administration will be accused of trampling the second amendment. In that case I fear the almost unhinged folks will become all the way unhinged.

But imagine this scenario with me for a moment. During the previous administration an American citizen, wearing a turban, or perhaps just looking like they might be from the Middle East, shows up at a presidential event bearing a loaded assault rifle. Do you honestly think those who currently support the folks showing up at meetings with guns would demand that this individual be allowed to exercise his/her second amendment rights? I doubt it. More likely such a person would have been accosted, arrested, hauled off, and perhaps even tortured.

Folks. We have to stop the craziness! We must open our hearts to respectful dialogue. Polite discussion must replace hate speech. Wild tales must cease. Like cream in the proverbial bucket of milk, those who really love our country need to rise to the occasion and demonstrate visionary restraint. We must show that there are more of us who value respectful dialogue and reason than there are of those who would tear us apart through unrestrained emotion that could lead to dangerous acts; like using the guns brought into volatile situations.

Peace

What Kind of Dictator Would You Be: And Other Topics My Kids Bring Up

Driving around with my kids can be a wonderfully mysterious, often hilarious, experience. Getting to hear their insight into life, experiencing their wit and emerging ideas can have you in stitches, or tears, depending on the subject matter.Recently we were out and about grocery shopping when I was startled by this question from my son.

“Dad, if you would be a dictator, what kind of dictator do you think you would you be?”

Well now there’s a question you don’t get every day. In fact, I don’t think I have ever given it a thought! I was not sure how to begin to answer his question, so I did the classic; I have no idea where to go with this one, move and turned it back to him.

“Hmmm. Not sure son. What kind of dictator do you think you would be?”

Unlike me he had obviously given this a good deal of thought, because he immediately responded.

“I would want to be a good dictator so people would like me and stuff. I would try to make everything equal for the people. I would try to show people how to do God stuff, show them right from wrong. And I would avoid death at all costs!”

At first I wondered how avoiding death was a political objective, but after I thought about it for a bit it did make sense. However, I am not sure he’s picked up on the difference between a democratic leader and a dictator, but that is one of the reasons the conversation was so funny. And I guess I had better inform him that eventually death is in the cards for all of us.

On another recent trip, he reminded me to “buckle up.” I thanked him for reminding me. After a brief moment of silence he burst out with.

“You must have AIDS!”

“What?” I asked, shocked and surprised.

“You know. It’s a disease that makes you forget stuff. And you forget stuff all the time so you must have AIDS.”

It was very hard not to burst out laughing. “Do mean Alzheimer’s?” I asked him.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “That’s the one I mean.”

This morning on the way to church with my kids we talked about the economy and the political will to make hard choices. They brought it up and off we went. At one point we stopped the conversation and I was told,

“This is a good conversation and I’m enjoying it so don’t stop talking.”

On the way back we talked about abortion and war, why they exist and what Jesus might want for those situations. After that we discussed homosexuality and the Kingdom of God. Believe me that was a challenging conversation to have with a twelve and fourteen year old.

What a gift my kids are. While they are typical kids, they think deeply about life. Sometimes I expect them to be occupied only with fun thing like sports, cell phones, and music. But I am constantly challenged with their deep thoughts about the nature of life.

Lord have mercy. I need far more wisdom than I have to guide them.

Peace.

Obama, Black Friday, and Immorality

So today is the day after Thanksgiving, a day of reflection and rest for our family. We have had a leisurely time and will soon go out and cut down a tree as per our family Christmas tradition. We enjoy the decorating process, and having the tree up for a whole month is something our kids look forward to each year.

This restful time is not how many people around here, and across the nation, spend the day after Thanksgiving. I never heard of Black Friday until I moved up here to Pennsylvania. Maybe I lived in a cave or under a rock or something, but when I arrived here I discovered people got up at three and four in the morning to go shopping in an orgy of consumption on the day after Thanksgiving. There are stores that open at twelve midnight so the fun can begin even earlier. Hotels are filled to capacity on Thanksgiving evening as people anticipate the rush of finding “bargains” and sales for things they probably do not need all that much. I am sure this existed in Virginia where I grew up and I was just unaware of it. Plus I lived several years in Europe and the practice did not exist while I was there.

It is scary that our economy is built around this level of consumption. I find it distasteful. It could just be my personality. I generally get up early, but I like to begin my day in the quiet, reading, thinking, drinking coffee; just being. Going out to fight the crowds and finding the best deal does nothing for me. Sometimes I think of the Christian martyrs and how they fought a different battle altogether and it makes more sense to me. Instead of struggling to find a deal and pushing past the fellow inhabitants of the planet, they struggled to achieve closeness to God and engage their fellow travelers in the process. I have a long way to go to become that focused on being holy, but it is a battle I aspire to.

Today I was listening to the news and saw how a worker at one store was trampled to death by the pressing crowed. The people literally pushed the doors off the hinges and rushed in, trampling the hapless clerk in the process. A young pregnant woman, and several other people, were also knocked around and needed to be evaluated in the hospital.

In my opinion this kind of behavior is obscene and immoral. And by that I do not only mean trampling someone to death. Some of the same people who are concerned that Obama will lead our society to a less moral state freely engage in this orgy without a second thought. Some of the most socially/politically conservative people I know seem not to think of this obscenity as anything but normal behavior. But in our fixation on our own comfort we ignore those who need clean drinking water. As we rush to buy the latest time-saving device, those who hunger must look on in amazement at such self-focus.

God grant us mercy to find the proper balance between thrifty purchases and sharing with our neighbors across the street and around the world. And may God grant mercy on the family of that poor man who was trampled to death for the sake of a good deal.

Peace,

Leon

Jesus Might Have Been a Liberal

I have been known to be accused of leaning to the political left, but really I am just a moderate. Now Jesus…I am not sure, but I think Jesus might have been a liberal and maybe even a Democrat. He didn’t seem to be much of a Republican “Why do you think that?” You may ask. Well just look at the kinds of causes he championed: Health care, gun control, anti-violence, and environmentalism. He sure sounds like a liberal democrat to me.

Universal Health Care:

Jesus had an amazing health care program that covered most everyone we read about who needed care. I mean, he even brought back a couple of guys from the dead. Now that is a liberal universal health care policy if I ever heard of one. Can you imagine how much damage that did to the enterprising funeral industry? If he messed up the free market, he couldn’t have been a Republican.

Gun Control:

Well perhaps we had better say weapon control since they didn’t have guns back in those days. He did seem to want to limit the amount of swords his disciples had around at the time of his arrest. And he disapprovingly told Peter to stop using his sword and that it was a way to get himself killed. Sounds like a democrat to me.

Anti-Violence:

Some might say that this could include war; others would argue that it was only personal violence. But pretty much everyone would agree that Jesus was a big proponent of turning the other cheek in the face of violence as opposed to fighting and responding in kind to the slurs and violence that came against him. Liberal propaganda.

Environmentalist Agenda:

On more than one occasion Jesus’ followers were known to pick up food left behind at huge picnics and gatherings. This demonstrates that Jesus must have had a concern for the environment. What is it that Rush says about these environmentalists? Wackos?!

So that about sums it up. Here are four big liberal agenda items that Jesus seemed to care about. Yep. He must have been a liberal. I sure hope those people over at FOX News don’t start dissing the good Lord over his political agenda.

Wow. My cheek is hurting. Must be my tongue sticking in it.

Peace,

Leon

Obama Took a Potty break During the Pledge of Allegience (and several other important issues ABC missed)

www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obama-took-a-potty-break_b_97516.htmlBuzz up!

I must give credit to Frank Schaeffer for the following post on his blog at Huffington Post. It is so rib-tickling funny that I was laughing out loud as I read it. I wanted to share it with you. While Schaeffer is an Obama supporter, his point on cheap politics (focusing on so-called issues while ignoring the really big ones) cuts to all sides. So as we prepare to vote on Tuesday do so in all seriousness and with a lot of laughter.

Have fun.

Leon

Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos did an outstanding job questioning Senator Obama during the PA debate. But even though they spent the first hour on many substantive issues–such as Obama’s pastor’s comments–they missed several key points that voters deserve to know.

Amongst them are these:

Obama took a potty break once in first grade during the Pledge of Allegiance.

In kindergarten Obama finger-painted an American flag with the incorrect number of stars.

Obama’s second grade teacher was quoted as saying “I think Switzerland is cleaner than America” and yet Obama still describes her as a “good teacher.”

The pilot of Obama’s charted campaign plane was at a baseball game three years ago and forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner and yet Obama has refused to distance himself from him.

Obama’s fourth cousin was accused of shoplifting a pack of gum seven years ago, and yet Obama was photographed hugging him at a family reunion just four years ago.

Asked to respond to these new concerns Hillary Clinton remarked–

“The media continues to give Obama a free ride. How else can you explain that he isn’t having to explain this part of his public record? By the time I was in first grade I not only knew the correct number of stars on our precious flag I had sewn hundreds of flags with my father and mother to hand out to blind cancer patients in Altoona, PA on the Fourth of July. How can the people of Pennsylvania feel comfortable with any candidate who would think that a bodily function is more important than the Pledge? I think Obama shows disdain for working people who never go to the bathroom during patriotic moments. I once held it for 48 hours just because I was thinking about our brave war dead from Western Pennsylvania. And we all might have relatives with a past. But Obama has known about his cousin’s key role in organized crime and done nothing about it! This so-called cousin didn’t just steal a pack of gum, there were many packs taken by his friends. This is an insult to all those hard working ordinary law-abiding Americans in Philadelphia who play by the rules and that I’ve spent thirty-five years fighting for ever since I was born near where they live and loved it. And I want you to know that Bill and I once actually canceled a state visit by the pope because we remembered that I had inadvertently picked up a mint at a hotel lobby in Pittsburgh–one of 80 countries I’ve visited while under fire–and when we got back to the White House it occurred to me that I hadn’t paid for it so we flew all the way back to return it. It turned out the mint was free, but I live by an inner code and got that code from the gun owners of Western Pennsylvania when my dad took me bowling–which I do well, by the way, since it is a really American thing to do–to learn right and wrong from people who don’t “cling” to religion but love God, not because they are “bitter” but because they love America. You all in the media have sifted my record for 30 years now, it’s really time you look harder at Obama! What else did his teachers do?”

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of “Crazy For God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back”