demanding...in a nice way :-)

In a small area of my heart there is a grand celebration going on right now. As we move closer to the November elections I am pleased to announce that the vaunted republicans are literally eating themselves alive. They hate their own candidate. For those of you paying attention from home, here’s how it looks on the big screen….

For the last 7 years we have endured one of the single most greatest failures by a leader of any country, let alone one of the greatest countries in the history of mankind. Never has there been more derision and in-fighting among every day citizens than there is now. Our economy is in the toilet. The US dollar is weaker than it has ever been. Our children consistently score lower and lower every year in tests when compared to any other major country in the world. Consumer confidence is lower than it’s been since the Great Depression. The president’s approval rating is the lowest for any war time president ever; in fact it is lower than any president has ever had at any time during any term in the history of the United States.

Meanwhile, the list of Forbes top 400 (yes you read correctly) wealthiest individuals continues to get wealthier, read here. In order to get into this group, you need a cool 1.3 billion just to make the list…what in the world is wrong here!

We could argue all day long you and I regarding the evangelistic fundamentals of why this is and how we got here, but let me be quite frank for those that have dozed off recently.

In 1999, hard and soft line conservatives nationwide bought into a candidate out of Texas that wowed people with his hard stance on conservative issues. This individual made some encouraging statements back then, concepts we could all be proud of, regardless of which side of the fence you call home. In an interview with the Washington Post in March of 2000, he spoke of revenge and being good neighbors (Please read the third paragraph from the top). Here is an excerpt from that interview…”you cannot lead America to a positive tomorrow with revenge on one's mind. Revenge is so incredibly negative.”

In May of 1999, George Bush was interviewed by David Horowitz of Salon.com (Read the whole article here). What I want to point out specifically from this is a particular paragraph that is so poignant…

David Horowitz: “Ronald Reagan had the only successful two-term presidency since Dwight Eisenhower. Part of the secret seems to be that he focused his attention on two important goals -- lowering taxes and winning the Cold War. What are your priorities?”
George Bush: “One is prosperity: to make sure that we continue to be prosperous by lowering taxes and by fighting off isolationist and protectionist policies and politics. A second priority is to make sure that we educate children. A third priority is to promote the peace. America must be strong enough and willing to promote peace. One way to do so is to bring certainty into an uncertain world, and I support the development of anti-ballistic missile systems to do so. These are three priorities.”

Please note that your current President specifically pointed out as a priority that he wanted to promote peace, to bring certainty into an uncertain world. Forgive me for sounding glib, but throughout this Presidency, peace has never been a priority. In fact I will go out on a limb here (trust me it’s more sturdy than it looks), but George W Bush is not unlike any candidate to ever grace the oval office in regards to one simple aspect, he said what he needed to get the votes necessary to get elected.

In an article here, our current President literally goes against the very statements made in the Salon article regarding his priority involving peace. If we were so in jeopardy here in America, why didn’t we do something about this threat before then? Why was intelligence information that has been clearly documented prior to 9/11 ignored? These are some really hard questions to swallow for passionate conservatives all too willing to forgive a man who claims to be “born again”. But this term gets thrown around so loosely any more in public circles that even the much defamed liberals of our day have thrown it around in order to gain fundamentalist evangelist votes.

Next…

For all of the belly aching that goes on around this time relating to pro-life versus pro-choice, let’s get one thing straight. Pro-choice is an absurd excuse for saying it’s your body and so you get to make that choice. What about the choice of the unborn? The absolute ridiculousness of this law can be read here. And another good article here with unending wisdom and insight regarding the history and destruction of the family since the 1950’s.

With that said, abortion rates are down, read here. This is especially encouraging as it appears that more and more men and women are coming to value life on a scale unlike anything we have seen for nearly fifty years. Based on these facts, the most startling thing is this continuance to “support our troops” or even to support the war. If fundamentalist Christians are so against abortion, how can they be for killing another human in the context of war?

So the point here is that our current administration is more concerned with waging the wrong war. We are closer now than we have been for over 30 years to overturning Roe v. Wade and yet our current president hasn’t even whispered a thing about it. Instead, we are told that the surge is working, when in fact we lost more troops in January of 2008 than in nearly any month since the war began!

Please pay attention to who you are planning to vote for. John McCain would literally have us never end the war (and just for fun, Mr. McCain is pro-choice). Instead of concentrating on a different type of war right here at home, the men and women running this country would have you believe that killing thousands of Middle Easterners is in the best interests of America. Those in the paranoia machine that is certain extremist outlets of the media would rather polarize this country with the idea if we don’t fight them over there, we will have to fight them here on our streets, in our neighborhoods.

Wake up people, especially those that call themselves Christians. You have been duped by the Republican Party for too long. A group of individuals who claim to be “conservatives”, yet are anything but.

Now before my faithful readers decide to rush over to my house and string me up for crimes against humanity, let me make something clear. I am not specifically endorsing the Democratic Party. To be honest, they have not exactly shown signs of brilliance in the last 4 years when in fact they could have dominated the political landscape given the debauchery that is our current leader and his troop. What the Democrats lack is the confidence of anyone who is truly conservative in nature. Democrats right now are believed to be truly immoral and unethical.

The thing missing however in any current popular statements regarding the Democrats is the truth. There are a few shades of it if you look closely but let’s look at a few facts together. First, start here and here to get a good insight into the history of the party, including the fact that the Democrats were considered conservative all the way until the days of Roosevelt (in fact, Grover Cleveland was the Ronald Reagan of his day). At that time, due to the inability to control the country’s economy by Herbert Hoover and crew, Roosevelt took a more “liberal approach” to government.

Speaking of President Reagan, in his 1981 inaugural address, Republican President Ronald Reagan summed up his belief in limited government when he said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." I’m all for limited government, trust me, but our current president has decided that he IS the government and has so trampled on the US constitution that the original document is barely legible any longer. Here is an excerpt (the whole article is here) you may find revolting…

“President Bush is a proponent of the unitary executive theory and has cited it within his signing statements about legislation passed by Congress. The administration's interpretation of the unitary executive theory was called seriously into question by Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, where the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the President does not have sweeping powers to override or ignore laws through his power as commander in chief, stating "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails." Following the ruling, the Bush administration has sought Congressional authorization for programs started only on executive mandate, as was the case with the Military Commissions Act, or abandoned illegal programs it had previously asserted executive authority to enact, in the case of the National Security Agency domestic wiretapping program.”

For an in depth analysis of our current presidents’ performance over the last 7 years, please go here.

Ok, so now for the personal reflection part of this series.....

From a purely biblical perspective, I am supposed to support my government leaders and stand behind them, as in Ecclesiastes 10:20 which says, “Don’t bad mouth your leaders, not even under your breath…” (The Message)

However, Proverbs 14:28 says this, “The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following.” (The Message)

Of course for further perplexity there is Romans 13:1-2 which says, “Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen.” (The Message)

Just prior to those last two passages is some extremely relevant information found in Romans 12:14-21…this is profound!!! “Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.”

“Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

“Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.” (The Message)

Before I climb off this box tonight, let me say this; I love our current president as a brother in Christ and I pray for his salvation. However I refuse to turn a blind eye to what Jesus says so clearly in Matthew 5:38-48 (The Message).

Jesus lived on this earth in human form and tried to teach us all a few things. Namely to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. That is the number one command. Secondly and almost as important said Jesus, we are to love each other as much as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Here’s the deal, we are called to love one another as Jesus loved us. There are not asterisks in that statement. Nowhere does it say that if someone torches my house I get to torch theirs, it doesn’t work any other way than what Jesus prescribed. At some point in our lives here on this earth we have to accept that or face the consequences on judgement day.

my life is not mine, and yet it is mine to live for Him. Peace to you all.

D

2008 Breast Cancer 3-day walk....from my sis

The following is from my sister-in -law (Michelle Roberts) who lives up north of Seattle. If you recall, I posted her amazing accomplishment from last years walk, here on this site. Please read the following and if you have it in your heart to donate to this worthy cause, I believe the link is embedded below. If you have any questions regarding this please feel free to email me.
Thanks. D





Yes, I’m doing it again! I registered for the 2008Breast Cancer 3-Day. I had such an incredible experience doing the 3-Day last year that I’m going back for more. I’m so excited about this event, even though this year I really know what I’ve gotten myself into.

This 60-mile walk over the course of three days raises funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Last year, I raised $3005.00 and heard so many amazing stories along the way. The stories covered all walks of life. Like the guy and his 4 friends that were walking in memory of his wife. They decided to walk during one of their poker parties, he was my age. There was the woman that walked all 60 miles on crutches! Or the husband and wife that were on the “survivor” team, walking in her honor. Our family knows of 6 women who have fought this disease. Not all of them have won their battle. Walking 60 miles was hard, but I will keep walking until breast cancer is no longer. I walk because EVERYONE DESERVES A LIFETIME. I walk because I can.

I need your help. I am raising the minimum goal of $2200 with the hopes of attaining last years’ total. I couldn’t have done it last year without all of your generous support, and can only hope for the same generosity this year. Please make a donation to support my fundraising efforts. They have also made it possible to make a donation every month for four months if you donate online at http://www.the3day.org/. You may also make a one-time donation. Many companies have matching gifts programs, so please ask your employer if they will double your donation with a matching gift.

To make a donation, go to http://www.the3day.org/, click on Donate now, and search for my name. Once you get to my personal fundraising page, scroll down and click on the button to donate to me. If you don’t want to donate online, you can download and print a donation form from that page that can be mailed in with your donation. You can also send the check directly to me, payable to the Breast Cancer 3-day and I will submit it.

If you have any questions or want to hear more about what I am doing, please let me know. Thanks for all of your support!