Dear Fellow Christians

I’m ticked at you too.

I shake my head and pray to God when I see some of your social media posts.  You scream about this being a country built on Christianity.  No, it was a country built on immigrants.  This is a country built on allowing people to believe what they want to believe.  This country was founded on FREEDOM, including religion.  This includes freedoms for agnostics, atheists, Hindus, Muslims, Wiccans, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  Just because things aren’t going the “christian way”, doesn’t change that one iota.

Here’s a history lesson for you - “In God We Trust” wasn’t put on our money until 1861.  Theodore Roosevelt tried to remove it in 1907.  TEDDY ROOSEVELT.  Later in the 1950s it was accepted as our national motto.  We went almost 200 years without it.  Two.  Hundred.  Years.  How on God’s Green Earth did we make it that long???

And, to top it off, “Under God” wasn’t added to the pledge until that same timeframe.

So, I have to ask - why are you so concerned about America being a Christian nation anyways?  Is not our treasures outside of this world?  Are we not called to carry the cross that He did?  Are we not called to be persecuted for His sake?

Are we not called to be apart from this world regardless of the consequences?

People have been martyred for our faith - fed to lions, strung up on poles, beheaded, burned at the stake or beaten.  None of which has happened in the US, at least not to heterosexual, caucasian, male, protestant christians.  Some outside that demographic haven’t been so lucky.  So, maybe you should think about that before getting too uppity about not being able to have a “Christmas” party at a school.

In the end, what are you so afraid of anyway?  The unknown?  Loss of your faith?  Children drifting off to join the CoFSM?  

Doesn’t the phrase “Fear not” show up in the Bible about 87 times?  Matthew 10:31 - “Fear Not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.”  

So why are you worrying?  Why are you pushing?  Why are you digging your heels in over a civic government entity? Why create more of a hostile environment for people who are already dealing with a world of hostility?

Yes, I know we are called to conversion and to be His hands and feet. But those hands and feet shouldn't be kicking and slapping people who don’t agree.  We should be the hands and feet that are working the fields, serving the poor and healing the sick.

So stop worrying about something that isn’t of our concern.  America wasn’t founded as a nation “under God” - this is a nation founded against tyranny.

Don’t undo that by making Him a Tyrant.

Uncivil disobedience

I had my first experience with the absolute $%^&-show known as the Rep Andy Barr Town Hall this week.

I can't detail everything that happened, as I could not hear everything.  Why, you might ask?  Well, I'll tell you why.  75% of the audience decided it would be more effective to yell and scream at him.  Barr decided to use Powerpoint slides with too much text on them so I couldn't read anything either.

The whole experience made me sad.  The saddest part was when I looked over at a couple of ladies who were yelling earlier to see them look at each other and giggle between outbursts.

Really?  This is funny to you?  You are finding it entertaining to just yell randomly from the back row?

I wasn't the only one who felt this way. A lady next to me said, "I've never experienced something like this before" and commented on how uncomfortable she was being in the middle.  I had to agree.  I was worried a fight would break out.  I left 30 mins early.  I was disappointed because I had adjusted my schedule that evening to go and participate.

Listen, I'm not on board with the Republican agenda either.  I think walls are counter-productive.  I think the middle class needs to be taxed less.  I don't believe the right thing at the moment is to completely repeal the ACA.  Leave NAFTA alone, let low paying jobs go and focus attention on training people for better paying jobs in more innovative industries.  I don't believe removing EPA regulations will improve anything, certainly not our health. I don't believe the school vouchers will fix our school systems, it just allows a larger percentage of kids escape them, leaving the most vulnerable kids to stay in the cycle of poverty.

I don't believe either party has the right answers either.  Both have parts to the greater whole.

We need to be able to challenge to create a sociologically, economically, and ecologically sustainable world.  Neither party is capable of this on its own. You might scoff at that, but diversity of thought is a good thing.

Both ends of the spectrum are necessary.  It's in those extremes where the new crazy ideas come from, and, occasionally, those ideas have merit.  Those ideas force a change in dynamic of the conversation and a re-evaluation of previously held truths.  This a good thing, but it can't be one sided.  With every crazy idea comes high risks.  Risks that need to be weighed against the gains.  You need the naysayers to pick things apart and shed light on areas that require improvement. This is a tough process, but it is necessary.  There are no better naysayers than those who are diametrically opposed to you cognitively.

This is ok.

This is healthy.

What's not ok is being completely unwilling to listen.

Until we come to terms with the fact we need each other and our differing views, our society will continue on a path towards its eventual downfall (either through a broken economy, ecological disaster, terrorism, war or full-on self implosion).

Any unchecked ideology will lead to our destruction.

So what can we do?

We can start by being more civil towards one another.  This involves being clear, concise, and authentic with our message and constructive in our criticisms.  I heard none of this Monday night.  I saw chaos between an angry mob and a lone carnival barker.  It was anything but civil.

_________

I will leave you with my recommended agenda changes for the next town hall:

6-6:30PM:  Piñata (in the shape of Trump, Barr or even McConnell). Works out the aggression
6:30-6:31:  Washington Update
6:31-7:00:  Heavy Metal Karaoke.  Allows people legitimate reasons to scream indoors
7:00-7:01:  Q&A
7:01-7:30:  Round of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" because the lines are made up and the points don't matter.

Weed, Not Jesus, Would Have Saved Us From Trump

Sorry, Jesus, but the real savior we needed in 2016 was marijuana.

*await smiting for 1 minute*

*nothing happens*

*opens one eye*

*opens other eye*

Ok, maybe I’m safe.  Or, maybe Jesus agrees that America needs help to chill out.  Let’s face it, too much wine only leads to cat fights, and that’s pretty much what we’ve had for the past year.

About a week ago, Bloomberg posted a article about “Deaths of Despair”.  Apparently, the majority of opioid overdoses are surging amongst the white working class.  All other demographics aren’t going in this direction.

Taking a step further, opioids are a gateway to harder drugs, like heroin.  The growth in opioid use is leading to a rise in heroin.

So, opioids lead to heroin, heroin and opioids both lead to overdoses in working class white people.  And what did these people do?  They voted for Trump, according to a Penn State election study:  “Trump over-performed the most in counties with the highest drug, alcohol and suicide mortality rates.”

So what does this have to do with Mary-Jane?  Another study found lowered opioid use in states that have legalized marijuana.

So, legal weed leads to less opioid use which leads to less Heroin which leads to less voting for megalomaniacs who likes to make jokes about sexually assault women. (Yeah, I know… correlation doesn’t imply causality, but work with me here.)

We should have legalized weed a long time ago.  We’d be much more chill, much less dependent upon opioids and possibly have a better president.  Maybe we should work towards legalizing it to keep this from happening 2020+?

I must admit, the immature part of me just wants to see the Weed 2020 political slogans...

"There’s Hope in Hash"

"Let them eat Space Cake"

"Welcome to the Bong Show"

"High Times"

"Sorry, too busy blazin' to start wars"

"We are going to light up this joint!"

What would be your slogan?