Month: August 2018

News story, on the campus of a North Carolina university a group of protesters tore down a statue because they imagine that it is somehow racist. First of all a statue is a work of art created by a gifted person who put much time and effort into it. Some are big like the Statue of Liberty and some are small like a two inch tall carving of a fish I once created. It would break my heart to see it destroyed because someone didn’t like what it represented.  Liberty represents many aspects of our wonderful country. Will some crazed radicals try to destroy her next because of some perceived negative thing she represents?

Yes, some statues do represent negative things  such as slavery, war, or even famously horrible people.   Some statues represent things I find appalling, but I have no desire to destroy them. It would not change the fact of what they represent or lessen the impact they had on people or the country. And if we choose to erase the past I think a wise man once said; “we are doomed to repeat” things if we have nothing to remind us how bad they were.

Terrorists in the Middle East are working hard to destroy anything that represents Christianity. What, through this is their goal? What, by this means, are they trying to accomplish. I assure you that God will not allow His people and their faith in Him to be destroyed by a group of radicals who oppose Him and what He stands for.

 

Politics has taken over the news and I know that is a very important subject but I have not , at least recently, heard anything about ISIS. Does that mean they no longer exist? Have we won the war against that terrorist group?Are we still engaged or have we just quit? We are still having terrorist attacks so they are obviously not gone. I believe that if there is still one fighter dedicated to their plan of world domination, we are not safe and should make sure he is either killed or converted to a nonthreatening view of the world.

If you get in a fight and manage to knock your opponent  down, do you step back and allow him to compose himself and attack you again, knowing that he intends to kill you? I think not! I want to know that the enemy is completely and utterly defeated with no chance of coming at me again. After that, we still must maintain vigilance and stamp out any sign of resurgence. Can anyone assure me we are there and that is why I’m no longer hearing about them on the news?

Overall Hitler was absolutely wrong in what he tried to do! He was right though, on one thing. He said; ” He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” And he said, and I quote; “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

I believe the “liberal left” has adopted this theory. They have, to a great extent, taken over the education system of the U.S. from top to bottom. They are teaching, or more accurately indoctrinating our children in liberal beliefs and values. I fear we are loosing our nation to an indoctrinated generation who believe a rewritten history and socialist ideals. In the Bible the Israelites could,and did turn away from God and His laws and plan for their lives, sometimes in one generation. It is common for each generation to say “I don’t know if we can survive this generation, ” but I truly fear it may be true this time.

Schools in the U.S. have , from the beginning been respected and trusted to teach our children and young adults factual information and lessons to help them become productive adults in our society and culture.Most early schools taught morals and manners, as well as math and science, generally based on the Bible with ,at times the bible as the only book available. The universities were pretty much all started as Christian institutions. Math and science are pretty much indisputable. Numbers don’t lie and science, while greatly advanced, when properly applied brings one to the correct conclusion or solution. History and social studies, however allow for tremendous opportunity for the teaching of misinformation and outright lies. The history books of fifty years ago bear little resemblance to those of today.

The events of the past have not changed but the way they are taught today would give you a totally different impression of what happened. Often the facts are changed by omitting some of the facts or emphasizing others. many “facts” are in fact absolutely incorrect, but taught as gospel.

Outside of our schools some in our society seem to be trying to change history by erasing symbols of what happened in the past. This changes nothing but the way some people think about the past. Good or bad , what happened, happened. Instead of just being angry about bad things that happened, we need to work to assure that they are not repeated and that the good things are repeated and improved upon.

 

I think our culture and education system have superseded or destroyed two very valuable tools for our lives. In my early years ,and I’m 68, people seemed to have a lot of what we called common sense. In reality this was nothing more than the use of logic.

There also seemed to be more use of critical thinking or reasoning when confronted with a question or situation with no known or apparent solution. I believe our school system, pre k through PHD have played major role in causing this problem. Where WE were given a question and told the process or tools to find the answer,  I believe students of all ages are now given the question and told the answer and are expected to accept and remember it. Nuf said! Of course in math you have a set formula or process to reach a set answer which following the process properly always gives you the correct answer. Numbers don’t lie.

In life things are not so “cut and dried” as we used to say. This is where reasoning or critical thinking comes into play. A question may not have a single or certain answer. Most questions in life, society, culture,and various situations may have a number of “correct” answers. Unlike math, life has infinite variables which must be considered through critical thinking in order to reach the (or a) correct answer or solution.

I believe students today are being indoctrinated, not  taught. They are being told WHAT to think not HOW to think. Because of this we are becoming a nation of, to quote Rush Limbaugh, “mind numbed robots” with no critical thinking skills.

I’m sure those doing the teaching are convinced they are right and are doing a wonderful job of preparing their students for life, probably because they have been indoctrinated by the education system. Some may know better but are cowed into or forced to follow the current program of education.

Some things about, now president, Donald J. Trump are undeniable. In his early adulthood he made some missteps in both life and business. Even now there are things about him that do not thrill me, some I detest. Some people, regardless of human flaws, manage impressive accomplishments in their lives. Not that I’m comparing them but a good example of a flawed man doing impressive,even incredible things, is Sampson. He had undeniable flaws and weaknesses, yet God used him as a judge over His chosen people to turn them back to Himself.

Again, not to compare the two, but I believe God is using the imperfect Donald J. Trump to turn our nation back from a path that would lead to (self) destruction. While things he says and does still greatly frustrate me, his accomplishments in the face of tremendous opposition, nonetheless are impressive and overall positive.

Sometimes things which were once considered unacceptable, after years of becoming more common or normal can become accepted by the general population. Good or bad doesn’t matter, if it is common/normal it becomes accepted, even popular.

Some examples are: women smoking, homosexuality, abortion, etc. which used to be unacceptable. Now these things and many more are not only considered normal, but even desirable. Does this acceptance make them right or moral? Think about it! Were the people living at the time when these things were not accepted, or even allowed, wrong , crazy, TOO moral? Who makes the decision of acceptability? I know only One who has the right to decide the acceptability or morality of any given thing. It ain’t me and it ain’t you!

I understand “facts” to be statements or information accepted as or proven to be true and accurate beyond doubt. So I have a difficult time understanding how I can be presented two sets of “facts” which could hardly be more opposite. So whose facts are true and accurate and how do I decide whose facts to believe?

I choose, as I’m sure most do, to believe those that align more closely with my own beliefs and opinions. Now I believe people are only going to accept information from sources they believe in. Therefore, most people are not likely to encounter information that might change their opinions.

I believe it is a “fact” that our education system is controlled, beginning to end by people with a liberal bent (or who are absolute liberal radicals) who help to form the beliefs and opinions of people from preschool to P.H.D. And in today’s culture, social media plays a role in developing beliefs and opinions which also leans left. I fear, therefore, that conservatives are quickly becoming outnumbered, which I fear will end this great nation. Some nations have been overpowered by others but most have died of internal rot. Consider the Roman Empire.

If you doubt me, I ask you to consider young Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and her supporters and what she wants to introduce into our government!