In the time I laid off of this blog, so much has happened. The stimulus package, the health care debacle. LOTS of stuff. However, what has happened, for me at least, has been something that has renewed my faith in the people of this great nation. I am proud of the folks who are finally standing up and voicing their opinions to the politicians.
A scant few of the politicians are even listening. They see the every-day folks get up and voice their protests and opinions or ask tough questions as nothing but white noise. They accuse the folks trying to hold them accountable of being paid protesters and the movement for accountability as being "astro turf" instead of grass roots.
I own a barbershop in a small Texas town. I get people of all walks of life coming in, because I am on a highway that runs between more populous areas. The folks that I talk to on a daily basis are telling me the same things and wanting to ask the same questions as the very people in the "town hall" meetings.
I know people who have never even voted in their lives and they are now getting out and going to tea parties. They have registered to vote, and they are going to be counted in 2010. The majority are still listening, still hanging back, but they are beginning to get involved.
I am proud of people for standing up for what is right and trying to hold their representatives accountable. The ultimate expression of that sentiment comes in a years time and at the polls. The people of this nation may have seemed to have a short term political memory in the past, but that has changed.
God bless America! God bless the freedom loving people who are fighting to preserve this nation! I love you guys!
SO much has happened!
The Blog is Back!
Okay, folks. I did not realize how many people were actually looking at this blog. People all over Tatum have been asking me what happened to it. When Coach D. asked me what happened to this blog, I figured I would put it back up, regardless of the threats I have received over my opinions regarding the Carrie Prejean story.
So, yeah! The Redneck is BACK!
Miss California + Carrie Prejean
Miss California: Carrie Prejean, (Courtesy of Foxnews.com)
Don't get me wrong, I think it was an honest answer, but there could be a better way to answer this question if one is prepared with a better answer.
When I am asked about same-sex marriage, I have a short answer first, which inevitably leads into an explanation: "Since same-sex marriages cannot, and do not harm the sanctity of traditional marriage, I don't worry much about it."
If pressed to explain, I will: "As a Christian, I have to believe what the Bible tells me or I cannot honestly call myself a Christian. It tells me that we all fall short of the glory of God. That's number one. The Bible also indicates that God does not honor sexual relationships between two men and/or two women. Therefore, if they cannot force God into a holy union, there is no way same-sex couples can harm or endanger the sanctity of marriage."
Then the inevitable question comes about: "Well, then, what do you think of same-sex marriage?" I have two answers to that depending on the tone of the conversation and the audience. The blunt answer is: "Jesus said '...let the dead bury their own dead,' so I say let the dead marry their own dead." The answer to keep someone interested in what I have to say, however, is a bit more complicated and I'll just go into that explanation without quotes.
I don't have a problem with men marrying men, and women marrying women, because it does not effect me or my faith. I know they cannot force God to recognize or honor something He has called an abomination. So as long as folks are not using the argument that marriage is a civil right to force churches and ministers to perform the marriages against their will under the threat of prosecution for a hate crime or any other penalty for that matter, then let them have their civil unions. I will fight tooth and nail to keep our government from violating the first amendment by forcing churches to perform same-sex marriages, which is what I think the whole same-sex marriage movement is about, the underlying purpose, if you will.
If it is a case of wanting to make a commitment to each other, that is admirable, and does no harm. I'm all for people who share a household and household expenses to also benefit from whatever relationship they have as a family unit, no matter how much I disagree with their lifestyle. Insurance, life insurance, etc should be available to all who share a home trough any benefit package. For that very reason, same-sex unions actually make sense.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating same-sex marriage. I don't agree with it, but it isn't for me to say what others do with their lives. They are not a danger to society or their neighbors simply by living in a way that does not concur with the Bible. Jesus said about such folks that they have their reward, but those who follow Him will be granted greater rewards in heaven.
So, I'm not going to even pretend to think I have a moral obligation to tell people who they should and shouldn't marry, especially if they reject my Lord and my beliefs. I used to be one of the knee-jerkers who would jump up and say stuff like, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," but who does that serve? Not God, I can say that right off and it only harms any chance one may have to turn a lost person toward taking a closer look at a relationship with God.
The amazing thing about this stance is it makes BOTH sides of the argument angry with me. Which means I may be onto something. It also means that they aren't wanting to resolve anything. They want to WIN the argument. In the end, they all lose.
I would join the Republican Party if...
I would join the republican party if they would stop being such a bunch of panty-wastes.
I like Michael Steele. He seems like a decent guy. He would have been a much better candidate for president than McCain. Lest anyone forget, McCain nearly joined the Democrat party in 2001. Then he is the candidate for president in 2008? Something is wrong with the Republican party, and I don't think Steele can fix it. It isn't that I think he is incompetent, I just think he is too much of a politician now to recognize what needs to be done. That's not his fault, the political machine got its hooks in him and he, like most others just became another cog.
And I see MORE wrong. The rest leadership in the GOP is weak. They have no voice. They are out of touch with main-stream America. The tea parties (organized mostly by independent and third-party folks) proved this. And we will continue to speak out. Our collective voice will not be unheard.
One of the mistakes that the GOP has made is to have a knee-jerk reaction to so many issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, etc. There is a way to deal with those issues without alienating folks who feel like nobody represents them at the moment. There are people who are against both, but like to think that individual liberty is more important than imposing morality. Besides, we have bigger problems to deal with, and those two issues are symptoms of the bigger problems.
No, we cannot legislate morality, but people can take a stand. Right now the minority is at the wheel. They control education, they control entertainment, and they control the news. It is the fact that they are unbending, event though they claim to be tolerant and accepting, but that is propaganda to farther their own agenda. They are unbending, and unwavering in their own "values" if you can call them that.
Unfortunately, those who value the family, traditional marriage, and religion have done nothing but kowtow and compromise when confronted. Those who stand up are called intolerant, hateful, and fascist among other things.
So what do people do when the see this? They simply say, "Nothing I can do about it." even though they hate it. Why? Have we become a nation of cowards?
The blood of our forefathers would be boiling at the state we are in as a nation. That same blood runs through the veins of many who have already thrown up their hands. What has happened to us?
I can tell you point blank. There are no more leaders. Period.
It starts with school. The children with imagination, initiative, and spirit are now labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactive Disorder. What used to be valued traits in boys is now called a DISORDER! Most education at the elementary level is geared toward GIRLS, not boys. So how on earth does anyone expect a boy to sit still and pay attention? If he isn't browbeaten or drugged, he's considered a problem. So our future leaders are destroyed by the process of making everyone the "same." Initiative is no longer rewarded, it is punished. Thinking outside the box is considered wrong even if the child gets the desired results in a class. In essence everything that makes a leader is quelled early on in school.
So the first thing we need to do is to have a rallying call to all the men and boys who have been pushed down, muzzled, essentially castrated emotionally to stand up and be counted. NO MORE! We need leaders, and if I just hit a nerve with anyone who reads this. Good! Now man up and be a leader! Don't be like the guys who talk a good talk but when it comes time to walk the walk they make excuses like, "I'm more effective as a radio/television host." or "I don't want the pay cut." Rush, Glenn, Sean, Bill. You know who you are. MAN UP!
I would join the Republican Party if the men and women in it or who are joining decided to be leaders. I want to see statesmen/stateswomen at the helm of a party before I ever join it. I want to see folks willing to take a stand. Yes I want to see people admit when they are wrong as well, and not see it as a weakness to admit a mistake. A real leader learns from mistakes and is wizened by them.
So here is the thing. Fix the Republican Party, and I'll join. At least the GOP has a foot in the door even if the other foot is in the grave, but it is a start.
I have a suggestion for people like Steele and others who lead the GOP. Stop playing the game. Be real. Remember the passion that got you where you are? Where is it now?
Booker T. has got me thinking about our current leadership.
NO! Not Booker T. the wrestler. Booker T. Washington. I may be a dumb redneck, but Booker T. Washington is one of my heroes. He was not a professional wrestler, he was not a basketball star or a football star. He was educated and educated others.
I've been reading some perspectives and quotes by Booker T. Washington, and frankly, I would have to say that based on his own words, Washington would be greatly disappointed in the leadership of this country today; black, white or other, Democrat or Republican.
Lets just get a look at some of his quotes:
“Most leaders spend time trying to get others to think highly
of them, when instead they should try to get their people to
think more highly of themselves.
It’s wonderful when the people believe in their leader.
It’s more wonderful when the leader believes in their people!
You can’t hold a man down without
staying down with him."
“Character is power.”
“No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” (Does this apply to jobs at McDonald's?)
“Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.”
“Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.”
- Booker T. Washington
The man understood that the building blocks of society had a foundation of common labor. Without that foundation, the rest does not function well. Our current leaders don't seem to understand this. They have what I call "Top-down" thinking. Only those at the top, the elite, the upper echelon, are those who matter, and the scraps fall wherever they fall.
The elitist idea that intellectual property comes above and before labor and manufacturing will be the ruin of this nation, if that hasn't already happened. I just hope that Obama will heed some of the wisdom of a hero we share in common. Though it is easy for an elitist to forget where he comes from, no matter how humble his beginnings. Unfortunately, he is married to a social climber, and the evidence shows that he is one himself, and experience has shown me that social climbers rarely show true compassion for those who are below their perceived station. That doesn't bode well for most of us.
Bail out the banks but put the screws to the Vets
Well, our fearless leader has done it again. He's alienated veterans now. Obama plans to charge vets for care involving injuries during service.
I'm with the head of the American Legion on this one. I'm angry.
So, just to get things in perspective... ...we bail out the banks who messed up on their own with BILLIONS of dollars. However, to save $540 million (probably a generous estimate) they want to charge vets for care.
Have I woken up in an episode of The Twilight Zone?
I am such a failure! MAN!
I found out today that I am a TOTAL AND COMPLETE FAILURE!
I messed up! I'm a dolt, a maroon, a boob! I didn't go to Yale, Harvard, or Princeton! GAH! Why did I NOT go to one of those schools?
If I had done so, I could be milking taxpayers in D.C. with my Ivy League brothers and sisters.
I hear Cornell is acceptable, as is Brown, but I didn't think of either of those schools. Of course I never looked into studying abroad at Oxford either. Man I'm an idiot!
Well, I guess it is three strikes against me. I'm just another of the unwashed masses. Strike 1. I'm from the South. DOH! That's a big one! Strike 2. I work as a barber. GAH! That's bad. I definitely don't know anything about economics. Strike 3. I attended a private Christian university that ranks higher that some of the "better" schools. Man, I'm such a heel.
Hey? Has anyone called Bill Gates and told him he's a failure? He didn't even finish college, you know. How about some of the fathers of industry who never went to college? Could they be the reason our economy is failing now? Could it be that they weren't lawyers? After all, lawyers who get elected to office are much smarter and better than the rest of us, ESPECIALLY if they went to the right school. Just ask our current president and our Congress.
I'm sure glad we have such fine, smart, sophisticated people taking care of us, because I don't know what I would do without them.