Friday, March 21, 2014

A Semi-Christian Nation?

America as a Christian nation. I have heard that by many that we are a nation that was founded upon Christian principles. I rarely try to interject that most of the people that settled in America came here so that they may have freedom from the Church of England. That would destroy the Romanticized of God, country, and apple pie. Fake historian David Barton has made an entire career perpetrating this ideal. Never find those facts that the founders desired the completed opposite and that there is an implied separation of church and state in most of our founders writings.

Facts are stupid things.

The fact is, that most of these people who continue to push this Christian nation idea are individuals who have not seen the inside of a church in years. I can look past that. You do not necessarily need a church to be of faith. What I have to wonder is, why do we not ACT like a Christian nation. Why are we so quickly to dismiss the less fortunate? Why are we so quick to not look twice upon that homeless man we walk by on the corner? There is a pretty good chance that homeless man was a former service member. Why is America so quick to demonize being poor? We tell them to stop but they just can’t, as if these people actually choose to be poor. We hurry to embarrass these people by requiring them to take drug tests to get public assistance. It is the same public assistance that so many are working so hard to cut and ultimately, eliminate. The discussion of making children sweep and clean their schools for school lunches is not dismissed, but advocated as a good idea. Those are the same individuals that will fight for the right of these kids to be born but yet, will not fight to make sure that they have the accessible healthcare or nutrition.

Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t there a big part of the Bible that advocates for taking care of the poor? Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple scriptures that address that. Mathew 25:35 is the most direct, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Is that the Bible discussing food stamps? One of my personal favorites is John 3: 17-18 which basically asks how a can a man of faith turns away from one in need? I could go on and on with examples but one other point in the Bible that stays pretty consistent is the disdain for money and material goods. My all-time favorite is Mark 10:25, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven”. As much as I would like to see many Goldman Sachs executives in hell, does that also mean that Bill Gates will not see heaven despite all of the charities that he gives to? Since the Bible is the textbook for members of a certain party, why do they remain so steadfast in their desire to eliminate any and all programs designed to help those who need it the most. Do these people see no hypocrisy in their political philosophy and their faith? On the contrary, the less fortunate are seen as leeches on society. Their mere existence is a burden upon the rest of us God-fearing, free market loving, Americans

Oh yes, there are those words, “the free market”. The free market is the Utopia for these same religious people. Little or no restrictions on the economy or the commerce of our country. A Laiseez Faire world where businesses could do as they pleased. I ask, isn’t the free market a direct contradiction of the charitable and loving ideology in the Bible? If so, what is more important, the love of the free market or the religious ideals that you have embraced for all those years?

I do not believe you have both. And deep down, their party knows it too. Want proof? Ask Jan Brewer in Arizona.

Monday, March 17, 2014

History Says What?

Let’s preface my rant by saying, I love history. History has been and always will be one of my favorite subjects. It is one of the few things that captured my attention and my imagination. To me, it has always been fun to read about our past times and ask, “What if”. It is mind blowing how a chance occurrence or crossed paths can change the course of history. History is not only fascinating but it is also so very important for a society. There is a reason why it is taught from elementary all the way through graduate studies.

Past is prologue.

Learning history can prevent you from learning mistakes of the past. Am I in the minority with this opinion? I watched a program last night where Judge Andrew Nepolitano was seriously trying to argue that the American Civil War was unnecessary because slavery was dying out by itself and that people should not hold Abraham Lincoln in such high regard. This is an educated man that was making such an insane argument. For the sake of this rant’s length, I will not even delve into the numerous reasons why he is wrong but it takes me to my overall pet peeve, revisionist historians. Granted, many perceive a bias in the news however they choose to get it. Many even try to give their own spin on history. But, as in Nepolitano’s case, to outwardly change historical facts to suit your purpose is wrong. Even worse, they are changing history to suit their ideology. It should be the other way around. You should suit your ideology around historical facts. Another example is “historian” David Barton that has argued that the modern day separation of church and state is not what the founders of our country wanted. One of his most blatant lies is his misrepresentation of a Christian Thomas Jefferson as one of the foundations of trying to make his argument (Jefferson was at best agnostic but probably atheist). His “facts” were so false, that his own publisher pulled his last book off shelves.

What troubles me most, is that future generations are depending on us to document history. To pass it down as accurately as possible that so others can learn. What will happen if we start revising history and future generations try to learn from that? It troubles me a great deal. Recently, I was having an exchange with a libertarian where I was trying to explain to him that the closest thing to a free market that we have recent in recent history was 2000-2008 thus causing the Financial Meltdown of ’08. He refused to believe despite all of the facts that I had showing the deregulatory actions that made Wall Street a Laissez-Faire environment. This exchange caused me some reflection. Perhaps he could not see a repeat of lax regulation and how it correlates to poor economic conditions. Then the realization occurred to me that as a country, we did not learn from Herbert Hoover’s inaction leading to the Great Depression. We, as a country, failed to learn from history.

How many times must we practice the definition of insanity?