Now is a Time for Prayer

COMMENT SUMMARY:  No comments received.

MY COMMENT:  As a veteran, the right to vote is very important to me.  I have voted in every presidential election, since I became old enough to vote.  For me, it would be dereliction of my duty as a citizen not to vote.

• In 1972, I voted for George McGovern.  I was much more liberal when I was younger, but the vote was more a vote against Richard Nixon than it was a vote for McGovern.  I had a “gut” feeling that Nixon had no loyalty to the law, and was obsessed with power.  My gut proved to be correct. 

• I voted for Gerald Ford in 1976.  He was a better man than people gave him credit for being, and it is my opinion that he saved the country in a time when we were in serious trouble.  That was a wholehearted vote, and I chose Ford gladly over Jimmy Carter.  Unfortunately, Carter won, and he proved to be a terrible President.

• The first time I voted for Ronald Reagan, in 1980, I had doubts about his ability to govern.  However, I thought that almost anybody would be better than President Carter.  In 1984, I was able to choose Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale without hesitation.  President Reagan proved to be the man that the country needed at that time.

• Choosing George H. W. Bush over Michael Dukakis in 1988 was both easy and difficult.  Mr. Dukakis was clearly not presidential material, but Mr. Bush was what used to be called a “Country Club Republican” or a “Rockefeller Republican.”  He was a card carrying member of the American political class, and any concern he had for the common man came from a sense of “nobles oblige” rather than a sense of a shared struggle.

• I really preferred Ross Perot, in 1992, but I voted for George H. W. Bush.  I thought that President Bush was the better of two bad candidates, and that a vote for Mr. Perot was a vote for Bill Clinton.  At this point, I found myself in almost complete disagreement with the positions of liberal candidates, and President Bush was less liberal than “Slick Willie” Clinton.

• In 1996, I voted for the hapless Bob Dole.  By this time, I believed President Clinton was a disgrace to the office and a menace to freedom of speech and thought.  I didn’t want to vote for Sen. Dole, but I blamed Ross Perot for President Clinton’s victory in 1992, and there was nobody else that had a glimmer of hope to defeat Mr. Clinton.  This was a true “hold your nose” vote.

• I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.  I was hoping for a revival of Ronald Reagan’s economic policy in 2000, but that did not materialize.  I thought President Bush was magnificent after 911, and remain convinced that the world would be different today if we had actually followed the “Bush Doctrine.”  As the Democrats swung further and further left, I found almost nothing I could support in what they advocated.  Al Gore and John Kerry were examples of the famous Reagan quote:

The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; 

it's just that they know so much that isn't so.

• Enter Barack Obama.  In 2008, I voted for John McCain with confidence and hope for the future.  In 2012, I knew Mitt Romney was not electable from the start.  Every working man and woman in America recognized Mitt Romney as the guy who signs the “pink slips.”  However, I voted for Gov. Romney anyway because President Obama’s policies are destroying the country.  The choice was clear … anybody but Obama.

Thanks for putting up with the foregoing.  I wrote it to show that too often the process of selecting a President has been one of choosing the better of two bad candidates.  Certainly, 2016 is not the first time that unworthy people have run for, and may be elected to the office of President.

Mrs. Clinton is a flawed candidate who should be easy to defeat.  A relic from the 1960’s, Bernie Sanders, is giving her all she can handle in the Democratic primaries.  Nevertheless, the Republican’s seem determined to lose.  Hillary Clinton is unfit to be President because: She has abandoned Americans under attack in Libya, and she did it for political convenience.  She has used public office to enrich herself and her husband, rather than serve the people.  She has neglected to safeguard classified information.  She abandoned Israel and paved the way for the Iranian Nuclear Agreement.  And, these are only a few of her more recent “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

I fear that she will be the next President if she is not indicted first; and I will be surprised if she is indicted at all.  Even if the FBI recommends it, I don’t think President Obama’s Justice Department will do it.  I speculate that they will have her back, using the excuse that they cannot, by policy, interfere with a presidential election.

Donald Trump’s candidacy reminds me of Germany in the 1930’s.  Defeated abroad and caught in an economic collapse at home, the German people chose a “strong man” to lead them.  Adolph Hitler was very popular prior to World War II because he restored German prestige abroad and brought economic prosperity at home.  However, he plunged the world into an apocalyptic war that killed multiple millions of people.

Mr. Trump speaks of nuclear weapons the way teenage boys talk about large fireworks.  He is vindictive, lashing out at anyone who opposes him.  He holds women in contempt, and treats them like property.  He has no core values, and changes his positions on a whim.  His personal life has been fraught with broken marriages and extramarital affairs:

Trump has said of his early dating life that he felt "like a great and very brave soldier" and "lucky" 

to have avoided the contraction of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, calling it his 

own "personal Vietnam". "If I told the real stories of my experiences with women, often seemingly 

very happily married and important women, this book would be a guaranteed best-seller",

 Trump wrote in his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

I heard him say that he is a good Christian, and a Presbyterian.  However, actions speak louder than words.  To my mind there is only one thing worse than a Trump presidency, and that is if Hillary Clinton is elected.

In 2012, the Democrats won control of the Colorado legislature and the governor was also a Democrat.  Many of their campaigns received a lot of money from Michael Bloomberg.  The very first thing they did after taking office in 2013 was to pass a series of restrictive gun laws, which were signed immediately by Governor Hickenlooper.  At that time, I was a Colorado resident, and registered to vote as an Independent.  I sent the Governor an Email telling him that I had voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past, but promising him that I would never ever, ever, ever vote for another Democrat again.

I am not a one issue voter.  I have, however, sworn several times in various capacities to uphold and defend the United States’ Constitution.  I think that President Obama has repeatedly acted in ways that show the contempt with which Democrats treat the Constitution.

I honestly can’t say how I will vote at this time.  I am trusting the Lord for guidance, and I suggest that my readers do the same.  Prayer is not the least we can do ... it is the most we can do.  Please join me in prayer to Almighty God that something miraculous will happen to change the course of the 2016 presidential election:

Our Father in heaven, your Name is Holy.

Please let your will be done for our country.

Forgive us, oh Lord, for we have wandered far away from you.

We have sinned as individuals and as a people.

We have rebelled against you and the way you want us to live.

We humble ourselves, we repent, and we ask that you heal our land.

Your Word tells us that no ruler reigns unless you cause it or allow it.

We pray that the next President will lead our nation according to your Word.

We ask that you give us peace of mind and heart,

knowing that the next President to hold office will do so as part of your plan for us.

Please give us someone who is worthy of the office.

Please work these things together for the good

of those who believe in you and are called according to your purpose.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

NOTE: For a very interesting diversion please see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_candidates

for a list of various persons who have run for the office of President of the United States to date.

What Now?

Last evening Ted Cruz suspended his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, and John Kasich has since followed suit.  That leaves us with a choice between three major Republican and Democratic candidates.  I know there are a lot of people who support them, but it will be difficult for me to vote for people like Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or Bernie Sanders and still be at peace with my conscience.

QUESTION:  Out of a nation of over 350 million people, can’t we do any better than this?

Let go and let God

COMMENT SUMMARY:  No comments received.

MY COMMENT:

NOTE:  I hurt my back working on the house, and sitting at the computer has been very painful.  I’m slow getting back to my postings as a result, and I’m sorry for the delay.

Things that annoy one person may not annoy another.  Still, we all run into the problems of everyday living.  Following are some examples of things that many people find irritating:

Barking dog at 5:00 AM

Leaking roof

Home Owner’s Associations

Car trouble

Backseat drivers

Traffic jam

Windows 10

Hillary Clinton’s voice

Plugged drain

Stupid boss

Snow on TV satellite dish

Skunk outside bedroom window

Loud TV in motel room next door

“Have a nice day”

“At the end of the day”

Long lines

Interruptions

People who disagree with you

Yeah, I know … picky, picky, picky.  One thing is for sure though, and that is this kind of stuff can make you really bad company when it gets to you. Sometimes, we can “blow off” things like these when they happen one at a time. However, if you are a grouchy person to begin with, if the “small stuff” comes all at once, or if it continues over time without relenting, then it can contribute to bad behavior.

Unrealistic expectations account for a lot of the upset we feel when things go wrong. 

We ask “Why is this happening to me?” as if we are so special that things should always go well for us.  Or, we engage in formula thinking.  “If I follow all the rules and do everything just right then everything will turn out well.” Except, sometimes it doesn’t, and we feel like we have been cheated.  One of the managers I worked for once told me that the most frustrated and disappointed people in our organization were those who thought they could get ahead by doing a good job.

A bad system will beat a good person every time. (W. Edwards Deming)

  

Life isn’t fair, and sometimes we lose it when some jerk cuts us off in traffic.  Regardless, it just isn’t realistic to think things will always go easy and turn out well.  Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.

The prevailing wisdom counsels us to keep our perspective.  “You can’t always control the things that happen, but you can control how you react to them.” The idea is that our cognitive processes (thinking) can keep our emotional reactions under control if we are able to remember to do it.  We are also told to be patient, be persistent, take a deep breath, gut it out, try a different approach, check yourself before you wreak yourself, get a bigger hammer, do an end run (etc.)

We are advised of certain healthy ways to work out our frustrations.  I like to go fishing.  Some people like to run, walk, or work out.  Others meditate or do yoga.  Pets are nice.  Staying away from unhealthy habits like booze, cigarettes, drugs, and overeating make sense, as poor health can contribute to irritability.

There is much that is helpful in worldly wisdom.  However, it all depends on what we are able to do in our own strength.  Further, there is nothing new in it.  Most of us have heard it. Some of us benefit from it.  A very few of us are able to maintain it as a lifestyle. 

There is another way.  Jesus said:

Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the father who sent me.  All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:23-27 (NIV)

I have told you these things, so that you will have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33 NIV)

I struggle with aggravation, stress, impatience, irritation, and upsetting myself over things that are just part of life.  Each day I must put the old self aside and yield to the Holy Spirit’s comfort, counsel, and direction.  If I don’t, I bring unhappiness on myself and those I am around.  God is still working on me.

We should not, however, feel we are the only ones so afflicted.  Even the Apostle Paul was given “a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan” to keep him from becoming conceited.  He prayed for it to be taken away three times, but it was not.  The Lord told him:

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:2 NIV)

Put your faith in Jesus, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  If you do you will find:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:14 NIV)

Annoyance

Sometimes things just get to us, and we get annoyed, aggravated, frustrated, upset, irritated, stressed, or vexed.  I am chief among those so affected.

QUESTION: Why do we “sweat the small stuff,” or the big stuff for that matter?

Abortion

COMMENT SUMMARY: No comments received.

MY COMMENT:

Nothing that follows is intended to judge, accuse, condemn, or hurt women who have had an abortion.  According to the Holy Bible, Jesus was merciful to women in similar situations. (Luke 6:41-42, Luke 7:44-50, John 8:3-11) One of the reasons that I am concerned about “a woman’s right to choose” is that it places the bulk of the responsibility for ending a pregnancy on the expectant mother, who may be under tremendous pressure at the time she makes the decision. 

The Declaration of Independence states that people have the God given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  The Constitution provides that a human life cannot be taken without due process of law.  Consequently, to determine whether abortion should be legal we need to decide when human life begins.

Conception occurs when an egg is fertilized by a sperm cell in the fallopian tube.  At that point, the DNA from the man and woman involved is combined, and the genetic code of a unique human person comes into being.  Immediately, the cells in the zygote begin to multiply, and each new cell contains this newly created genetic code.  The genetic code determines the hair, eye, and skin color that the child will have if the pregnancy is carried to term.  It determines some personality characteristics, and the genetic susceptibility to certain diseases.

A viable pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg continues down the fallopian tube and attaches to the mother’s uterus.  If not interfered with, gestation will continue until a live birth occurs.  Sometimes the pregnancy ends with a miscarriage:

A miscarriage is the loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. The medical term for a miscarriage is spontaneous abortion, but "spontaneous" is the key word here because the condition is not an abortion in the common definition of the term.

According to the March of Dimes, as many as 50% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage -- most often before a woman misses a menstrual period or even knows she is pregnant. About 15-25% of recognized pregnancies will end in a miscarriage.

More than 80% of miscarriages occur within the first three months of pregnancy. Miscarriages are less likely to occur after 20 weeks gestation; these are termed late miscarriages.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-miscarriage

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the zygote attaches to the fallopian tube, rather than the uterus.  Such pregnancies are terminated because there is no chance for the baby to live, and the mother’s life is at risk if the pregnancy continues.

I will not belabor the various stages of pregnancy further.  Most readers are familiar enough with it.  It suffices to say that as the fetus develops there are various milestones, beyond which some consider it to be a human being.  These are typified by things like a heartbeat, the development of bodily extremities, reaction to stimuli, ability to feel pain, and evidence of cognition.

Each of us must examine our conscience to find the point at which we believe that aborting a pregnancy involves taking a human life.  Then we are obliged to try to influence the collective decision making in our society to ensure that other human beings are not deprived of life without due process of law.  I believe that terminating a pregnancy must not be done for personal convenience, and abortion must not be just another method of birth control.  From following the issue in the media, I believe most Americans oppose late term abortions and so called partial birth abortions.

I believe that the unborn should be treated as human beings at the time the fertilized and developing egg attaches to the wall of the mother’s uterus.  At that time, the unborn child has human DNA in a combination that has never existed before, and will never exist again.  The pregnancy is viable and will result in a live birth; unless ended by natural causes.  Consequently, I believe that ending the pregnancy after this point is taking a human life.  The Lord is pretty clear about that when He says “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13 NIV) I believe that God will hold us accountable for the decisions we make as individuals and as a society.  Therefore, I believe it is wrong to use public money to support abortion in any form or any agency that provides abortion by any of its policies or practises.

I believe that a woman has the right to choose with regard to her health and what happens to her body; before that choice results in the taking of human life.  I believe that a woman has the right to self-defense.  If carrying a child to term means a substantial risk to the mother’s life, she should have the right to end the pregnancy.  If a pregnancy results from incest or rape, and there is a risk that the mother will commit suicide or suffer permanent psychological damage, (as determined by an independent, licensed mental health practitioner), by carrying the child to term, then she should have the right to terminate the pregnancy after receiving information about the long term physical and psychological effects of having an abortion.

Sometimes I think that modern medicine provides us with too many choices.  Testing can now determine, with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, whether a child will be born with birth defects or profound mental retardation.  Prospective parents may have to decide whether to live a life that involves caring for a special needs child, and incurring the expenses that go with it, or ending the pregnancy.  Occasionally, life is brutally unfair.  Dreams of raising a healthy baby may be shattered, and the parents may carry the emotional effects of terminating the pregnancy for the rest of their lives. Nonethelesss, I will ask the question that must be asked.  If the child is born alive, or if the child is say five years old, do the parents or the community have the right to kill it?  I don’t think so.  Therefore, I do not think the option should exist to kill that child before it is born.  Society should have programs to assist the parents with the difficulties of raising such a child, and programs to provide for the child should the parents decide to relinquish it for adoption.

As was demonstrated by the Prohibition Era, there are difficulties with legislating morality.  In the case of abortion, the most obvious difficulty associated with making abortion illegal may be deciding how to enforce it.  When abortion was illegal in the past, there were problems with an illegal abortion industry that was unregulated and dangerous.  Further, women were injured, and sometimes died, when they attempted to abort their pregnancies themselves.

After watching the media reaction to Mr. Trump’s statement (which he subsequently modified) about prosecuting women who have an illegal abortion, I believe there would be very little public support for it.  However, I believe society could do a lot more to encourage women to carry a child to term, rather than to end the pregnancy.  Free birth control for needy men and women, improved sex education for teens and adults, counseling, shelter care, public service advertising, and readily available adoptive services are some of the ways society could improve its support for both men and women.

Certainly, today there is less social stigma toward unmarried women, (or married women who become pregnant in adultery), who become pregnant than there was in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.  Hopefully, not as many women would now attempt to terminate their pregnancies themselves.  However, if society provides support and education, the number of these attempts may be reduced.  Regardless, after society has fulfilled its responsibility to provide support, there is a point where people become responsible for their own actions.

Should abortion become illegal, I would support the criminal prosecution of the providers of illegal abortions.  As citizens of a representative democracy, we all bare some of the responsibility for what is allowed, or prohibited, in our society.  Therefore, I feel it is my responsibility to do what I can, even though it isn’t much, to reason with others about abortion.

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. (George Orwell)

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=george+orwell 

Abortion

Yesterday, CNN was carrying the report that Donald Trump had “changed his position on abortion.”  The report was that Mr. Trump said that if abortion was made illegal, then women should be subject to criminal prosecution if they have an abortion.

QUESTION:  How should we determine as individuals, and as a society, if and when a pregnancy can be ended by any means other than by natural causes such as a miscarriage?

Not a Socialist

COMMENT SUMMARY: Happy Easter!

MY COMMENT:

The late 19^th, and the 20^th, centuries saw the development of social movements, political parties, and violent revolutions that sought to establish socialist systems in which the means of production and distribution were owned and controlled by the people, (read by the government.)  Socialism is an attempt to bring about social justice, equity, and fairness through government control of centralized production and distribution systems, the elimination of private ownership of property, and the equitable distribution of wealth.  It was often coopted by Totalitarianism.

Most pure Socialists fall into two groups.  Some, like the Communists, believe that a socialist society can best be achieved through violent revolution. Others, like the original Social Democrats, seek to achieve a socialist society peacefully, by democratic means.

It is easier conceive Socialist ideas than it is to make them work.  In short, centrally planned economies have failed everywhere they have been tried.  True equity has never been achieved, and systems of social organization controlled by one movement or political party lend themselves to the abuse of power.  The reader is referred to George Orwell’s books, Animal Farm” and 1984, and to the failure of Socialist economic systems in Russia, China, North Korea, and Viet Nam.

In the United States today, some Americans, like Bernie Sanders, find the policies of today’s European Social Democrats attractive.  These policies amount to a modified form of social democracy that provides for government intervention within the framework of a capitalist economy. They like the idea of a “big government” that provides “cradle to the grave” programs to help people to support themselves; funded by higher taxes on business and industry, and higher taxes on their fellow citizens who are relatively well off.  They also want aggressive government regulation of the private sector of the economy to ensure that it operates in the public interest.  Many self-avowed Socialists see the above as incremental, evolutionary movement toward a truly socialist society.  These include some college professors, the students they influence, and very likely Bernie Sanders himself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie Sanders and/or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social democracy

Some opponents of European-style Social Democracy point out that it’s costs exceed the revenue that may be realized by higher taxes on the rich, and that in Europe everybody is taxed heavily to support the “welfare state.”  They point out that European-style Social Democratic policies are only possible there because the United States bears much of the cost of their national defense.  Further, even without heavy defense spending, some European countries are in economic trouble, due to the high cost of their social programs.

  

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money. (Margaret Thatcher)

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_government.html

I personally believe that we have a social responsibility to our fellow man.  To that end, I support basic programs that provide a “safety net” for the poor and a base upon which people can plan for their retirement.  In the same way, we should have programs for the support of those who are genuinely unable to work, due to disability, and for our disabled veterans.  To the extent possible, the “safety net” programs for the poor should be structured so that they do not break up families and do not create economic dependency.  That the government has mismanaged these kinds of programs now, speaks to the inability of the government to do bigger and better things without bankrupting the nation.

Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. (Will Rogers)

            Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_government.html

I believe that if the government controls your medical care, education, at least some of your income, has the power of eminent domain, and the power to tax, then the government can control you.  Listen up, Big Brother is alive and well in Washington, D.C.  For example, the government is already restricting the clergy from endorsing candidates or political parties by threatening the tax exempt status of their churches.  Those nonprofits, including “faith based programs,” that accept government money find that it comes with strings attached.  The Obama IRS has attacked the tax exempt status of organizations they are opposed to, and this during an election year.  The more that the government can control your quality of life, the more they can control you.  That is one reason why I oppose all forms of socialism.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government

 big enough to take from you everything you have. (Gerald R. Ford)

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_government.html

I have learned that the only security we have is that which we obtain when we trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, and surrender to the Holy Spirit the direction of our lives. Jesus said:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:25-26 (NIV)

And, again He said:

Then give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

 Luke 20:25 (NIV)

So then, since God gives us the faith through which we believe (Romans 12:3), and it is by faith that we are saved (John 3:16); and it is by the same faith that we live the Christian life (Hebrews 10:35-39, Hebrews Chapter 11); let us give to God what belongs to God.  Trusting the government to meet all our needs is giving to government what belongs to God.