What is happening here?

Once again, it has been a long time since I’ve shared my thoughts here.  Not for lack of wanting, but as personal and professional crises came and went (some more than overstayed their welcomes), time marched on.  Or should I say ran on at a breakneck pace.

And not for lack of material, either.  Let me clarify:  The thoughts are always there, wandering in and out of my daily processes.  Until it’s time for them to materialize and they begin running amok and refuse to organize themselves into something rational.

It is past time for me to get these thoughts out of my head and onto something less porous, and I have been laboring long over the best words to describe them.

What is happening here?  Less than half of our American citizens (based on the vote totals) were sold a bill of goods by a carnival barker; a snake oil salesman.  Yet he is now less than two weeks away from moving into the White House.

Where is the moral majority?  The religious right?  Where are the Evangelicals?  Over the last several years they have been more than vocal about requiring “people of faith” to occupy our highest offices, and they now support a person who cheated on his first wife with his second, and then cheated on his second wife with his third.  A person who boasted about how “hot” his daughter was on a nationally syndicated talk show!

There is something seriously wrong with this person.

Where are the grownups?  The adults?  This is an individual (I won’t call him a “man,” in my opinion he hasn’t earned the distinction) who is on tape bragging about groping women, on tape mocking the handicapped, on tape throwing “F” bombs from the stage, on tape denigrating women (“blood coming out of her ... wherever”), and spends more time on Twitter than a teenager on recess.  I’m sorry, but when a serious question is posed to the presumed leader of the free world, the response should never begin with “I tweeted”.

There is something seriously wrong with this person.

Enough.  I’m going on a tangent.  But that’s the way I see it.

You're burning what?

Haven’t written in a while. Not for lack of desire, mind you, but life has blessed me with other more pressing priorities.

I heard this morning that a non-denominational church in Gainesville, Florida is planning to host a “Burn the Quran Day” on September 11, their reason being that Islam is “of the devil.”

Are we to believe then that Muhammed Ali is evil? His daughter, Laila? Kareem Abdul Jabbar? Shaquille O’Neal? Former NFL star & tv sports personality Ahmad Rashad? Cat Stevens? Jermaine Jackson? And then there’s Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, U.S. soldier who gave his life in the Iraq war. All these people are of the devil?

It never ceases to amaze me, the ignorance that drives some otherwise intelligent individuals. Don’t get me wrong, I was as hurt and angered by the events of 9/11 as most, having both family and friends that work or live in Manhattan. But let’s be realistic. Religious extremism, it turns out, is not the sole property of a handful of Muslims. I say handful, because facts be told, the Muslim religion as a whole is one of peace. Their core beliefs are not so different than those of Christianity, and surprisingly, in many countries, Christians, Muslims, and Jews get along just fine with each other.

And what about Christianity? When other nations and other religions look at us, what do they see? An extremist that calls himself a hero because he murdered a doctor. And he’s especially proud that he murdered him in a Church. A Christian Church. And then there are our “friends” over at godhatesfags.com, actively protesting the funerals of our fallen heroes because they feel the American military condones homosexuality. Patriots, have we expressed our feelings about this? Not that I have heard. And then there was the head of the Evangelical Church preaching the evils of homosexuality and drug use from the pulpit, while buying crack cocaine and “massages” at an out-of-state gay resort. And his equally homophobic associate, traveling abroad with a “rentboy.”

Sadly, these are not isolated, and are only a few such individuals. It’s not just the Christian Church, either, but it seems these days the Christian Church is the most vocal about such things. Imagine how you’d feel hearing that some group was planning to burn Bibles because they think Christians are evil.

What I’m getting at, essentially, is that we should always look at ourselves before we judge others (wait, didn’t Jesus say something like that?). When you preach anger, bigotry, hatred or intolerance, you are not speaking on behalf of Jesus Christ.

And when we take our lessons on morality from folks like Rush, Newt, Rudy, Bill-O, Sarah, and others like them, who do we represent then?

That’s the way I see it.

What would people think?

A long-haired, brown-skinned, jobless, homeless middle-eastern Jewish man comes into town.

What would people think?

He does not own any personal property beyond the clothes he is wearing.
He is pro-peace, anti-war, anti-death penalty.
He is anti-capitalism, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer.
He does not claim to be anti-gay or anti-choice.

What would people think?

He spends a lot of time in the company of common criminals, blue-collar workers and those considered too "sick" to be accepted by good folks.
One of his close confidants is a prostitute.

What would people think?

He helps those in need wherever he goes, but never charges a fee for his services.
He tends to the inflicted, but never asks for a co-pay.
He claims the wealthy can not go to Heaven.

What would people think?

This man is Jesus Christ. A peaceful, radical, non-violent revolutionary.
Jesus was the most liberal, socialist character in the history of spirituality or literature.

Something to think about: An estimated 45,000 Americans will die this year for no other reason than they could not afford health care. Good Christians do not deny care to the sick.

Something to think about the next time you feel a need to go protest in favor of the insurance company that refused to cover your spouse or child for a "pre-existing condition."

Something to think about the next time you feel a need to go protest in favor of the insurance company that dropped you when you lost your job.

That's the way I see it.

Who's the real Patriot?

This being my first entry will be rather short. As I develop, my thoughts and opinions will likely become longer and hopefully more thought provoking.

I grew up in the suburbs of NJ near NYC. My parents were both WWII veterans. My dad served in the Pacific, my mom was in the Marines (don't know what they called female service people then, not WACs but similar I guess). Growing up, I was taught to love my country and all in it. I was also taught that real patriotism, like real Christianity (we'll get into that next time), was something that was felt more than displayed. Granted, we flew our flag on holidays, marched in parades, etc., but other than that we never felt a need to "advertise" what we were or what we believed. My siblings and I were raised to believe that actions speak much greater volumes than words, and you didn't have to tell people how much of a patriot you were, if they had hearts and minds, they would just know.

Now to my point:

For several years after 9/11, talkers of the "right," such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Glen Beck and others made a very comfortable living and developed a strong base declaring anyone who would question, insult or disagree with a sitting President, especially during a time of war was unpatriotic and hated America. Now that we have a new President, these individuals have done nothing but attempt to tear down the very fabric of our democracy, charging Mr. Obama and other Democrats with everything short of the Lindbergh kidnapping. Sean, Glen, Rush, Bill; why do you hate America? Mr. Beck & Mr. Limbaugh have called President Obama both a fascist and a socialist in the same sentence. Now, the irony of that, if you pay attention, is that those two philosophies, or "ideals," if you will, could not be farther apart. In order to be both, you would either have to sit perfectly in the middle (which doesn't seem bad when you think about it), or be the most bi-polar individual on the planet. Now, since Michael (Savage) Weiner has declared bipolarism to be a farce, we must assume the former.

My question, then, why don't we all stop listening to the rhetoric for a moment, review facts and try to have honest debate?

I'm Homer Sapien (6), and that's the way I see it.