One of my regular rants is toward people who make the opponents of their opinions and political or religious views out to be evil villains. This is a sign of total ignorance and usually blatant hypocrisy as well. We hear a lot about “tolerance” which has become such a cliché that most of us cannot even tolerate the word, itself, anymore. Tolerance (just so we can start out on the same page) is defined as “a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one’s own.” It doesn’t mean agreeing with the opinions of others and it doesn’t mean that you cannot stand in opposition to the differing opinions and agendas of others. But it does mean that you allow and accept the fact that there will be those that disagree with you and they have a right to do so. I often wonder, has the Christian community that firmly believes that homosexuality is a sin, abandoned their principle of “love the sin, hate the sinner?” Or is it just that the homosexual community sees any opposition to their lifestyle (even a loving one) as equivalent to bigotry and hatred? I would say it is absolutely BOTH. The picture attached is a prime example of the ignorance and intolerance I speak of. A homosexual individual, one also claiming Christian faith, places a bumper sticker on his vehicle to express the fact that he abandoned his support of a (soon-to-be) president. Not because that president changed his position on homosexual issues but because he chose to associate with someone who disagrees with his position on homosexual issues, Pastor Rick Warren. Is it an appropriate response by one touting themself as “tolerant” to demonize (literally) what is supposedly his brother in Christ? We, as a people, are just so very wretched, ignorant and pathetic. And we are so blinded by our own views of the world that we cannot even see how pathetic and selfish we really are. We do not see truth and love as it is but rather our own distorted version of truth and love (which always places us at the center of our own universe)….and this coming from my view that love does not necessarily equal acceptance of all things.
The devil prays for a president…or something less dramatic. January 14, 2009
This home is made of 75% recycled materials August 26, 2008
I am reading this book called Crunch Cons. Basically, about those who don’t fit in either stereotypical left or right wing groups… generally morally and politically conservative but also think conservatism extends to environmental, social and economic matters as well that cause the typical right wingers to think you’re a liberal… or a hippie. I cannot wholly recommend it as I have not finished it but so far it seems like a good read whatever way you lean politically. Anyhoo, I got to looking around my house to see if I am truly conservative. I was delighted to realize that most everything in my house is recycled. All furniture is family, estate sale, antique store, craigslist or freecycle finds. The only new items I have are a few picture frames, kitchen utensils, bedding/linens and a piece of wall décor. Although I must admit that this happens for several reason beyond political conviction A)I am cheap but like things made of higher quality and B) I happen to like mid-century stuff which, of course, is old and must come used.
War Stories June 23, 2008
We hear a lot about the war. Everyone has their opinions on this war. I do believe that you can be against the war and still support the troops but this weekend I experienced a conversation that I found totally repulsive. And that feeling has stuck to me. I sat at a dinner party with a former US Marine who had served in Iraq. We were discussing all the things he experienced; just little stuff like the spiders, the heat and things of that nature. He told us a few things that I found very compelling; very touching human stories. He started by telling us about how things changed during the course of his time in Iraq. He recalled a time when he first got there and he accidently glanced at a woman for a split second. Women are not to be acknowledged and because he did so haphazardly glance toward her she was beaten in front of him because it was her fault that she had been acknowledged. He stood there not being able to do anything about it. Later, once women were given rights, he could intervene in that type of situation.
As the conversation continued he was talking about how the “enemy” did not engage in ethical warfare. He experienced having an injured individual surrender. Because he was injured they are required to render aid. So he tells another “Go cuff him so we can take him to a hospital. He is shot.” The other Marine goes to cuff him and the “surrendered” pulls a grenade killing them both.
The most compelling moment was him telling about people aiming at them with car bombs. They shoot once to tell the driver to stop and then they shoot to kill. Realizing that they do this, the driver would include his family in the car in order to cause hesitation in the Marine. He says, “I can see them through my scope. I can see a man driving full force at us and I can see his wife and kids screaming in the car. What do I do? Do I kill a family or do I let them blow us all up? What do I do?”
Later I was talking with another dinner guest who overheard this conversation. He says, “I couldn’t stand listening to that Marine talk all heroic about the war.” And I literally became sick to my stomach. Here there is this guy who was there, lived it, saw it first hand and was talking about his life experiences; very profound life experiences. This other guy was so self-righteous in his anti-war stance that he couldn’t even understand the value of such a human experience. He had no respect for this man who went over there and laid his life on the line day after day, had to deal with gut-wrenching moral dilemmas, and watched his friends get blown up before his eyes. Not to mention the lasting mental/emotional effects that would have on a person.
I really could not believe my ears that someone who probably sits behind a desk with a computer and AC all day could speak with such complete and total disdain in their voice regarding someone who had the guts to serve their country. I was completely disgusted. Despite my sarcasm I am generally all roses and sunshine in my outlook on life. But ever since then all I can think is how terrible this world is and how wretched we all really are.
Ask NOT what your country can do… May 15, 2008
Lately we have had a lot of political debate. Hillary, Obama, McCain, Ron Paul and so on. I think my biggest problem is that it seems that we are all sitting around waiting on our government to do for us what we are unwilling to do for ourselves; but to quote John F. Kennedy, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” And this from a democrat, no less. However, it would benefit us greatly to live by this famous command. America is still the greatest country; we still offer endless opportunity for better life. People across the oceans and borders are still trying to improve their life’s quality by coming here. Still, I am constantly burdened by the bellyaching of my fellow countrymen.
We, as of today, are not technically in a recession and yet people talk as though it is the second Great Depression. I had a lady tell me that her daughter thinks it is so bad here that she plans on moving to Mexico. Mexico! I think the fact that we have 13 million people crossing the border to come HERE illegally (and work for less than minimum wage) should make it apparent that moving to Mexico to improve your financial situation is plain idiotic. In the next sentence she made the point that “we could buy smaller, more economical cars to help with rising gas prices, but who wants to do that?” Then please tell me why you are complaining. Oh, becasue it is easier just to blame George Bush. ultimately what you are telling me is that you don’t want to change your lifestyle? Well, I guess the folks at Exxon don’t want to change theirs either, or that of their employees. So when crude prices rise then, naturally, so does your gas bill. If you cannot make the sacrifice then why would you expect the corporations to do it for you?
Universal healthcare is the next big complaint. It is so terrible that the average person cannot afford healthcare so you tell me that my tax dollars should go to take care of those unfortunate people. Are Americans healthy? Not usually. Is it the lack of healthcare coverage? I happen to think not. Americans are FAT! Americans eat cheap, low quality food stripped of nutrients. We spend time hurried and stressed and then only break to spend hours with our beloved electronic devices. Is it any wonder we are ill? And instead of considering a change of lifestyle, we run to the latest prescription drug that costs money we don’t have. I resent the fact that the only proposed solution to this healthcare issue is taking money from MY paycheck to pay for healthcare costs that are the result of others not taking responsibility for their own health. Again, if you’re not going to make the sacrifice, why should I?
Abortion, the environment, social programs, etc, etc. All of these issues really go back to one thing; personal responsibility. When you have a country that embraces convenience before health, temporal pleasure over morality, personal victimization over ethics and hard work then you have…well, exactly what we have now. As a nation we have to stop expecting help from the government or anyone else. We have to take total responsibility for every aspect of our own lives and go out of our way to help our fellow man (and I don’t mean with government funded programs. I mean WE have to help). We have to acknowledge and accept responsibility for our own choices. And we MUST, we MUST, realize how tremendously blessed and truly rich we actually are. So please ask yourself what YOU can do for your country. At the very least, ask what you can do for yourself.
Battle in Seattle-content review April 7, 2008
This weekend I went to the AFI Film Festival in Dallas where the film Battle in Seattle was screened. This was a political film about activist protesting the WTO in Seattle and the corporate injustices. That alone is enough to make my eyes roll. Still, despite the fact that it was the same ol’ stale whine from Hollywood, I think there was an attempt at fairness on the issues. After the screening there was a panel discussion with writer/director Stuart Townsend, actor Martin Henderson, and actresses Charlize Theron and Michelle Rodriguez.
One of the comments Stuart Townsend made regarding his inspiration for the film was the imbalance between those that go hungry and those that make billions of dollars. Disclaimer: I am not saying that people should be rich at the expense of others in need. You should fight injustices of the world. There are problems and, yes evils, to combat within corporations. However, I find it ironic that here sits a guy from Hollywood dating and living with Charlize Theron. While I do not personally know her salary I am guessing that as an Academy Award Winning ® working actress she makes pretty damn good money…millions…being an ACTOR! It isn’t that acting and filmmaking aren’t worthy professions. They are and I went to college to pursue such things. If you make .85 cents on every movie ticket sold and that turns into millions then that is the nature of your business and money you rightfully earned. But taking that into consideration, please spare me the lecture on wealth distribution. Filmmaking is an effort to communicate truths and inform mass groups of people and that it is an outrageously expensive endeavor. You know what is even more expensive? Drilling and refining oil so that the world can keep production going in order for millions of people to have and keep their jobs and, therefore eat and live. The irony continued as people applauded how bad corporations are as they took pictures of the Hollywood stars from their iPhone.
Oh and p.s. Thanks Target for sponsoring this event.
Charlize Theron being smart said, “We are not anti-corporation just pro responsible corporation.” How can a corporation be evil or irresponsible? A corporation is nothing apart from the people who make up that corporation so evil or irresponsible ultimately lies within an individual. So to answer the film’s question…apparently an individual CAN make a difference…whether good or bad. This brings me to my final point. Michelle Rodriguez was actually very well spoken when answering questions from the audience regarding film content and the research of her character. At the end she is telling us about a funny moment when she was in jail (for a DUI). At that moment she negated anything she had previously said. Don’t talk to me about corporate irresponsibility (which as I just stated is individual irresponsibility) when you just nonchalantly and jokingly refer to your own lack of personal responsibility when getting behind the wheel and putting yourself and countless others in danger with your negligent choice.
And ask yourself where you would be and what state the world would be WITHOUT corporations. Keep this in mind and, at least, be willing to acknowledge your own hypocrisy from time to time.
no one owes you anything! April 5, 2008
Recently, with all the polarized politics in the world, I have taken a step back to see why I believe what I do. Why do I vote one way and not the other? It comes down to these few thoughts:
personal responsibility-all I have is my own initiative. I am responsible for my own choices. I am responsible for the consequences of those choices. Everything is a choice.
no one owes me anything- all I have is my own initiative. I live in America where I have the greatest opportunity to be what I want to be. I have the right to live free and that is enough to survive in the world.
Lately I am reading a lot of political postings about “the rich.” But who are the rich? According to the post I read the rich are these evil elite who live in mini-mansions and get huge salaries. Take a look around you! Do you have a car? Food? Shelter and clothes? Then YOU are rich! If you see a need in the world it is just as much your responsibility to help as it is those who make six figures.
My generation can be such a bunch of titty babies who complain when they don’t get something for nothing…or when others don’t get something for nothing. Why should you? You have a chance. Thank God you have it and then work hard for whatever it is you want. Why should some corporate CEO and his salary bother you? Do you go hungry because of their salary? I doubt it. So mind your own business and be thankful for what you have. Quit envying the rich….or should I say the mega rich. Be thankful that if you want to work hard enough you can be the mega rich too.
The only person you can be responsible for is you!
