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Monday, December 28, 2020
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Why, Mommy? (A Voice We Never Hear)
Why, Mommy? Why did you do it?
I thought you wanted me.
I thought you would be glad I was on the way to
your home, to be in your life.
Was I no more than a pile of bacteria to be washed away with
antibacterial soap?
I felt so much joy to think of growing up and learning about life and
enjoying everything you've enjoyed.
I even thought that one day I could be a mom, like you.
Why, Mommy?
Didn't I have a right to my body too?
Now it's all gone--I'm all gone!
Why, Mommy, why?!
(Keywords: abortion, pro life, pro choice)
(Keywords: abortion, pro life, pro choice)
Monday, August 14, 2017
Memo to America - IMPORTANT
Everyone loves to pass on happy little slogans or cute little puppies on their social media. But seldom does anyone seem to want to pass on things that remind us that we have responsibilities or problems to fix.
I wonder, what will you do with THIS post?
We seem to have two extremes: people that spew toxic posts on social media and those that mostly spread "sunshine and butterflies" posts (or a play-by-play of their own life).
But in light of tragic events like Charlotte, NC and too many others to enumerate, more needs to be said. We have problems that WE need to fix.
We need to call evil what it is. We need to stand up for what is right, voice it, and make it clear. A silent majority of good people isn't going to work.
----
All the anti-people-of-some-group attitudes and rhetoric in our country is evil and darkness. Anti-Muslim, anti-illegal Latin immigrant, anti-same-sex-attracted, anti-government-officer, anti-Christian, and all those other antis are not going to make our country any better. They will not make America great.
----
All the anti-people-of-some-group attitudes and rhetoric in our country is evil and darkness. Anti-Muslim, anti-illegal Latin immigrant, anti-same-sex-attracted, anti-government-officer, anti-Christian, and all those other antis are not going to make our country any better. They will not make America great.
Every person in our country, including those entering legally or otherwise are worthwhile people. They are "created equal" in value and worth to ourselves. We need to remember that. Even when they make mistakes--and we all do--we need to remember their value and worth, be willing to forgive, and even to help them.
If you belong to any religion that espouses the idea of "love one another" or "love thy neighbor," go be a part of it. Don't slack in it. Support it, spread it, teach it to your children. If you have a Bible or other sacred text, read it. Don't leave it for the dust balls to fester.
If you're patriotic, follow the words of President Lincoln when he spoke of "charity for all."
If you're atheist and believe in evolution, remember all of "we the people" descended from a common ancestor, making us all cousins--family. Let's treat our fellow members of the human family with respect and caring.
And especially, if you believe in God who created us or a higher being than ourselves (who cares about us), seek His guidance. Teach others to do the same, especially in your family.
We need to foster unity among our people. It doesn't come by accepting and tolerating every practice that comes into the mind of man. It doesn't come by condemning or attacking every person or group that is different than ourselves.
I believe the three principles below are essential principles of unity:
1 - Have charity for all. This is the most important principle of unity. It means that no matter who the person is, what he/she does, or lifestyle or status, we need to care enough that we would be willing to help them, especially regarding life-saving needs. It means we work to forgive the mistakes of others. It means we appreciate the good in others--everyone has some good.
2 - Seek and share truth. In our country, too many false ideas and concepts under-gird our culture. Only when truth is prevalent, can we expect to advance the cause of unity. When we all genuinely seek the truth together, it can unite us; but when we deceive each other, it destroys unity.
3 - Keep desires and passions in their proper place. It is often the case that when our desires get out of control, people get hurt. This destroys unity. For example, when the desire for business profits overrides honesty, integrity, or people's well-being, we've seen the results too many times. When political or ideological ideas become stronger and more valuable than our respect for human life, we see events like the one in North Carolina.
I can't emphasize it enough:
Remember UNITY!
Don't just leave this post here; share it!
Thursday, March 2, 2017
A New American Attitude: Unity
We're supposed to be making America great! We can't do it by tearing down fellow Americans. We need unity for the strength of our nation.
Our biggest problems are not illegal immigrants, or global warming, or the economy. We've become a bickering nation, engaged in a social civil war. Our biggest problem is Americans divided. We need unity among our people more than anything else. Unity will make our nation stronger and will help us fix many of the other problems.
The first step toward that unity is caring about each other. We need to adjust our thinking so that we can look at any American (or any person) and have this sort of attitude:
[Thought bubble] "I don't believe in what you believe in, I don't agree with your political choices, I don't like some of the things you do, but as a fellow American and fellow human being, I will treat you civilly and with basic respect. I have faith that you see or feel something that leads you to think and act the way you do, but I just may not be able to see it. I will try to understand your side and I expect that you will try to understand mine."
Our biggest problems are not illegal immigrants, or global warming, or the economy. We've become a bickering nation, engaged in a social civil war. Our biggest problem is Americans divided. We need unity among our people more than anything else. Unity will make our nation stronger and will help us fix many of the other problems.
The first step toward that unity is caring about each other. We need to adjust our thinking so that we can look at any American (or any person) and have this sort of attitude:
[Thought bubble] "I don't believe in what you believe in, I don't agree with your political choices, I don't like some of the things you do, but as a fellow American and fellow human being, I will treat you civilly and with basic respect. I have faith that you see or feel something that leads you to think and act the way you do, but I just may not be able to see it. I will try to understand your side and I expect that you will try to understand mine."
Monday, April 11, 2016
The Eagle's Plea
Value addressed: Love people (have charity for all)
Do you hear that?
Don't you hear that mournful cry?
The eagle: she's hurt, wounded by the division of her people.
She searches desperately for someone to unite them once again.
Will she succeed?
Will her people unite again as one nation under God?
Many of her people have learned to use their freedom to hurt and make
afraid;
they claim their enumerated rights to make themselves superior to
others.
And others waste their resources living artificial lives of vanity,
while nearby wounded souls struggle to survive.
Her young are no longer taught to fly,
but instead learn to fear, to abase, to disgrace.
She watches sadly as joyful love fades into feud,
leaving the young tossed from house to house according to legal
decrees.
Doesn't it tug at your heart when you see her teardrops fall
as she witnesses another American die at the hands of a fellow citizen
or even by his own hand after giving up on a life made hard by those
who should have cared?
Confused, at a loss, she searches further
for those who'll help unite her people.
for those who'll help unite her people.
Now she’s turned her head, she’s looking straight at us,
waiting, hoping that we’ll give her the nod to say we’ll help.
Can we ignore her plea?
Can we pretend we don’t see?
It will take great effort by you and me.
We will have to change ourselves,
focus less on “me” and more on “we,”
less on agendas and more on the truth,
less on what we want and more on what we should do.
So what will we choose? How do we respond?
She’s waiting, watching for our signal.
Let's make that eagle proud, heal her heart, and help her soar again.
Let’s give her our nod of support.
Then let’s go to work.
America (the eagle) is in our hands!
What to teach children:
Teach them that America needs their help to "be great again"
Teach them that, as a nation, we need unity more than anything else
Teach them unity can make us stronger as a nation and happier as individuals
Teach them to care about others, to appreciate the good in them, to be willing to help
Teach them to value truth more than getting their way
Teach them to keep their wants within proper boundaries
Teach them about the founding of the United States of America, the Constitution, the Founding Fathers
Teach them about threats of communism and other destructive ideas
Teach them how marketers and entertainers can manipulate their values and way of thinking about things
Monday, January 18, 2016
I Have a Dream
Values addressed: Love people, Seek and share truth
Today we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Since those days that Dr. King spoke his famous words, “I have a dream…” we have made considerable progress in empowering black Americans to take hold of the “American Dream” and to pursue happiness. We now have black members of Congress and even a black president. Many honor, perhaps worship, various black athletes and other sports and entertainment figures. We have black entrepreneurs and black teachers and professors. We have black doctors and lawyers. Some blacks have become wealthy, as well. The African American has now made his/her way into most spheres of American life.
But though we’ve made some progress, by far, it’s not perfect. We still have some white arrogance manifested in presumed white superiority and antagonism against blacks. We still see racial incidents occur. We also now see the rise of some black arrogance leading to words and actions that seem to imply black superiority.
Since Dr. King’s stand for the equality of people, another group—inspired by the civil rights progress many blacks have enjoyed—has been attempting to use the umbrella of civil rights to advance its own cause. They want us to believe their cause is as worthy as the one Dr. King fought for, and that there is little substantial difference.
It is true this group has often been treated unfairly—even inhumanely, just as blacks have been. Their plight indeed reminds us of Dr. King’s view that we are all children of God and should be treated with decency and civility. As with black Americans, these Americans are in the midst of uncivilized conduct between opposing groups. In fact, it seems now that hostility between orientations is now a prominent feature of the American cultural landscape.
However, while the African American civil rights movement was really about one single issue, the LGBT groups are attempting to push two completely different issues through as a single one. The earlier civil rights movement was about treating people decently and fairly as human beings. That was basically the total sum of what the movement was about—a worthy and long-overdue goal. This newer movement, however, connects behavior and choices with human rights, in effect telling the world, “We are people worthy of decency and respect, so you must accept our behaviors and choices.”
This is a fallacy, an attempt to twist a little truth with a little lie. And people seem to be buying into it. The truth is that we should indeed treat all people with respect, appreciate the good that is in them, and be willing to help them, regardless of their color or race, their gender, or their choices regarding sex. This is a worthy and morally upright thing to strive for. On the other hand, one’s behavior is not automatically acceptable because of this. Many, from a religious perspective, regard sex outside marriage and sex between people of the same sex as morally wrong. The very first right enumerated in the Bill of Rights refers to freedom of religion. If we truly value that right of freedom of religion, then we shouldn’t expect people to support or encourage what they view as morally offensive behavior.
As society seems more accepting of people’s choice to live in same-sex relationships, we have now seen the rise of some gay arrogance. On occasion, we hear news reports of lawsuits by gays against businesses for refusing a service to them. Rather than choose a business that is willing to perform the service, some have chosen instead to use the legal process to attempt to force businesses to cater to their wishes, against the moral or religious views which they hold. To me this seems a form of reverse intolerance. A business should always retain the right to refuse types of actions and services that they find unprofitable, offensive, immoral, or not in good taste. At the same time, they must always be careful to clearly distinguish that they refuse to perform specific actions regardless of who it is for, rather than refusing to serve the individual.
The validity of refusing specific actions is more obvious when we use other types of examples to illustrate the point. So here are some scenarios to compare against the attacks made by gays against businesses.
1. Gays have made legal issues about businesses refusing to make a cake for same-sex weddings.
- Compare: A man goes to a bakery and orders a cake with the image of a package of cigarettes and one cigarette off to the side that is lit and smoking. The person at the counter says, “I’m not going to make a cake with cigarettes on it. I don’t feel it’s right.” Does this guy have a right to sue? I doubt many people would think so. It would probably be classified a frivolous lawsuit.
- What if the man had asked for the image of a machine gun to be on the cake? Should he sue if the cake maker refuses? Not the way I see it!
- For another perspective: Suppose the cake maker refuses to sell a cake to a college student who says it’s for a fraternity party. The cake maker, knowing the nature of these parties, refuses. I’d say he has a right to refuse to support the party, if he genuinely believes the party is likely to be a menace to the neighborhood.
2. Gays have also made an issue about photographers refusing to take photos at same-sex weddings.
- Compare: Suppose a photographer is asked to take seductive photos of someone’s girlfriend (with her consent), but the photographer refuses. He has a right to refuse such a service on moral grounds.
- Suppose a photographer refuses to take pictures of a legally appointed execution because he doesn’t believe executions are morally right or because she just doesn’t want to be exposed to the gore that would be present. Again, the photographer has a right to refuse on moral grounds or just out of plain disgust.
I have a dream that we all will make Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream of people treating each other as equals come true for our nation. So help us, God and bless our nation.
What to teach children:
- Remember that all people have value and worth, no matter how they live, their genetic characteristics, their statuses, their beliefs, and so on.
- Because everyone has value and worth, we should have “charity for all” (Pres. Lincoln’s words)
- Behaviors are not the person and are not above question
- Stand up for what they believe is right, but don’t clothe it in lies to sell it
- Religion was such an important issue that the Founding Fathers included it first in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, and as such we should respect each other’s religious faith.
Today we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Since those days that Dr. King spoke his famous words, “I have a dream…” we have made considerable progress in empowering black Americans to take hold of the “American Dream” and to pursue happiness. We now have black members of Congress and even a black president. Many honor, perhaps worship, various black athletes and other sports and entertainment figures. We have black entrepreneurs and black teachers and professors. We have black doctors and lawyers. Some blacks have become wealthy, as well. The African American has now made his/her way into most spheres of American life.
But though we’ve made some progress, by far, it’s not perfect. We still have some white arrogance manifested in presumed white superiority and antagonism against blacks. We still see racial incidents occur. We also now see the rise of some black arrogance leading to words and actions that seem to imply black superiority.
Since Dr. King’s stand for the equality of people, another group—inspired by the civil rights progress many blacks have enjoyed—has been attempting to use the umbrella of civil rights to advance its own cause. They want us to believe their cause is as worthy as the one Dr. King fought for, and that there is little substantial difference.
It is true this group has often been treated unfairly—even inhumanely, just as blacks have been. Their plight indeed reminds us of Dr. King’s view that we are all children of God and should be treated with decency and civility. As with black Americans, these Americans are in the midst of uncivilized conduct between opposing groups. In fact, it seems now that hostility between orientations is now a prominent feature of the American cultural landscape.
However, while the African American civil rights movement was really about one single issue, the LGBT groups are attempting to push two completely different issues through as a single one. The earlier civil rights movement was about treating people decently and fairly as human beings. That was basically the total sum of what the movement was about—a worthy and long-overdue goal. This newer movement, however, connects behavior and choices with human rights, in effect telling the world, “We are people worthy of decency and respect, so you must accept our behaviors and choices.”
This is a fallacy, an attempt to twist a little truth with a little lie. And people seem to be buying into it. The truth is that we should indeed treat all people with respect, appreciate the good that is in them, and be willing to help them, regardless of their color or race, their gender, or their choices regarding sex. This is a worthy and morally upright thing to strive for. On the other hand, one’s behavior is not automatically acceptable because of this. Many, from a religious perspective, regard sex outside marriage and sex between people of the same sex as morally wrong. The very first right enumerated in the Bill of Rights refers to freedom of religion. If we truly value that right of freedom of religion, then we shouldn’t expect people to support or encourage what they view as morally offensive behavior.
As society seems more accepting of people’s choice to live in same-sex relationships, we have now seen the rise of some gay arrogance. On occasion, we hear news reports of lawsuits by gays against businesses for refusing a service to them. Rather than choose a business that is willing to perform the service, some have chosen instead to use the legal process to attempt to force businesses to cater to their wishes, against the moral or religious views which they hold. To me this seems a form of reverse intolerance. A business should always retain the right to refuse types of actions and services that they find unprofitable, offensive, immoral, or not in good taste. At the same time, they must always be careful to clearly distinguish that they refuse to perform specific actions regardless of who it is for, rather than refusing to serve the individual.
The validity of refusing specific actions is more obvious when we use other types of examples to illustrate the point. So here are some scenarios to compare against the attacks made by gays against businesses.
1. Gays have made legal issues about businesses refusing to make a cake for same-sex weddings.
- Compare: A man goes to a bakery and orders a cake with the image of a package of cigarettes and one cigarette off to the side that is lit and smoking. The person at the counter says, “I’m not going to make a cake with cigarettes on it. I don’t feel it’s right.” Does this guy have a right to sue? I doubt many people would think so. It would probably be classified a frivolous lawsuit.
- What if the man had asked for the image of a machine gun to be on the cake? Should he sue if the cake maker refuses? Not the way I see it!
- For another perspective: Suppose the cake maker refuses to sell a cake to a college student who says it’s for a fraternity party. The cake maker, knowing the nature of these parties, refuses. I’d say he has a right to refuse to support the party, if he genuinely believes the party is likely to be a menace to the neighborhood.
2. Gays have also made an issue about photographers refusing to take photos at same-sex weddings.
- Compare: Suppose a photographer is asked to take seductive photos of someone’s girlfriend (with her consent), but the photographer refuses. He has a right to refuse such a service on moral grounds.
- Suppose a photographer refuses to take pictures of a legally appointed execution because he doesn’t believe executions are morally right or because she just doesn’t want to be exposed to the gore that would be present. Again, the photographer has a right to refuse on moral grounds or just out of plain disgust.
I have a dream that we all will make Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream of people treating each other as equals come true for our nation. So help us, God and bless our nation.
What to teach children:
- Remember that all people have value and worth, no matter how they live, their genetic characteristics, their statuses, their beliefs, and so on.
- Because everyone has value and worth, we should have “charity for all” (Pres. Lincoln’s words)
- Behaviors are not the person and are not above question
- Stand up for what they believe is right, but don’t clothe it in lies to sell it
- Religion was such an important issue that the Founding Fathers included it first in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, and as such we should respect each other’s religious faith.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Unpopular Truth Vs. Popular Lies
Value addressed: Seek and Share Truth
Check out this cool video. I really like it and I believe in its message.
https://youtu.be/q_TEOyhy7Bg
This video reminds us of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It is true that many people these days
dispute the truth of Jesus Christ as the savior for mankind or as Son of God. For me, though, there is
enough evidence for me to believe. While many like to use science to declare there is no God, science
has nevertheless not disproved God’s existence, but has only raised valid questions we need to answer.
So long as I have my personal evidences of God and so long as true science has not been able to
convince me otherwise, I must believe.
I absolutely believe in truth—seeking it and sharing it. If it could absolutely be proved, to my
satisfaction, that there were no God, then I would have to stop believing. If something is true, let’s
believe it; if it’s not, let’s don’t believe it. We mustn’t get caught up in believing things solely for
emotional reasons. We should value truth more than emotional securities created by false ideas. If I’m
wrong, I want to know how and why, then I want to know what the truth is, so I can learn it. I will also
share what I have found to be true, so that others may gain that knowledge. So, as I find truth in my
Christian faith, I want to share it.
In contrast, I just read yesterday an article that seemed to take a blatant falsehood and attempt to paint
it as an indisputable reality that people are naively ignoring. The headline reads “Transgender man in
Ecuador makes history by turning pregnant!” I first saw it on Yahoo news, but it is showing up on other
sources too. Hooray, what an amazing miracle! A man becomes pregnant! What utter nonsense! The article
spells out its own falsity. The “father” was born female and the “mother” was born male. At some point
they transgenderized (my word). The one born female, now calls herself a man and the one born male,
now calls himself female. And the article says that “neither has undergone gender-reassignment
surgery.” It even says the child was conceived in the old fashioned way. So in other words, the man who
calls himself a woman performed the function of a man by fertilizing the egg. The woman who calls
herself a man performed the function of a woman by carrying the child in her womb. So this is the great
history-making miracle: a man got a woman pregnant but they decided they would call themselves the
opposite genders.
This is much like a scientist declaring that the sky is now green, though when we look at it, we see no
change from the standard blue. But the scientist and the scientific journals proclaim the great geological
spectacle of the age, now that the sky has turned from blue to green! What an amazing marvel! But as Juliet
said to Romeo, “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
This is a far cry from seeking and sharing truth. We can’t expect to advance our species when we are
willing to buy and sell lies. We can’t expect to build unity if some of us can look at truth and blatantly
construct and distribute nonsensical lies. We become more united as we work together to know what is
really true. If some of us want to sell lies to promote some other agenda, divisions will arise.
What to teach children
- Teach them to evaluate what they hear and read against tried and true knowledge and experience
- Teach them to distinguish between wanting something to be true and discovering sound evidence that
it is true
- Teach them about the sources of truth, such as history, science, religion, mathematics—help them to
understand the nature of each, the potential for errors in each, and the types of truth generally derived
from each
- Teach them to withhold judgment on something if they can’t determine the truth; don’t just make up
things, but rather state what they do know and what they don’t know
Merry Christmas to all!
Check out this cool video. I really like it and I believe in its message.
https://youtu.be/q_TEOyhy7Bg
This video reminds us of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It is true that many people these days
dispute the truth of Jesus Christ as the savior for mankind or as Son of God. For me, though, there is
enough evidence for me to believe. While many like to use science to declare there is no God, science
has nevertheless not disproved God’s existence, but has only raised valid questions we need to answer.
So long as I have my personal evidences of God and so long as true science has not been able to
convince me otherwise, I must believe.
I absolutely believe in truth—seeking it and sharing it. If it could absolutely be proved, to my
satisfaction, that there were no God, then I would have to stop believing. If something is true, let’s
believe it; if it’s not, let’s don’t believe it. We mustn’t get caught up in believing things solely for
emotional reasons. We should value truth more than emotional securities created by false ideas. If I’m
wrong, I want to know how and why, then I want to know what the truth is, so I can learn it. I will also
share what I have found to be true, so that others may gain that knowledge. So, as I find truth in my
Christian faith, I want to share it.
In contrast, I just read yesterday an article that seemed to take a blatant falsehood and attempt to paint
it as an indisputable reality that people are naively ignoring. The headline reads “Transgender man in
Ecuador makes history by turning pregnant!” I first saw it on Yahoo news, but it is showing up on other
sources too. Hooray, what an amazing miracle! A man becomes pregnant! What utter nonsense! The article
spells out its own falsity. The “father” was born female and the “mother” was born male. At some point
they transgenderized (my word). The one born female, now calls herself a man and the one born male,
now calls himself female. And the article says that “neither has undergone gender-reassignment
surgery.” It even says the child was conceived in the old fashioned way. So in other words, the man who
calls himself a woman performed the function of a man by fertilizing the egg. The woman who calls
herself a man performed the function of a woman by carrying the child in her womb. So this is the great
history-making miracle: a man got a woman pregnant but they decided they would call themselves the
opposite genders.
This is much like a scientist declaring that the sky is now green, though when we look at it, we see no
change from the standard blue. But the scientist and the scientific journals proclaim the great geological
spectacle of the age, now that the sky has turned from blue to green! What an amazing marvel! But as Juliet
said to Romeo, “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
This is a far cry from seeking and sharing truth. We can’t expect to advance our species when we are
willing to buy and sell lies. We can’t expect to build unity if some of us can look at truth and blatantly
construct and distribute nonsensical lies. We become more united as we work together to know what is
really true. If some of us want to sell lies to promote some other agenda, divisions will arise.
What to teach children
- Teach them to evaluate what they hear and read against tried and true knowledge and experience
- Teach them to distinguish between wanting something to be true and discovering sound evidence that
it is true
- Teach them about the sources of truth, such as history, science, religion, mathematics—help them to
understand the nature of each, the potential for errors in each, and the types of truth generally derived
from each
- Teach them to withhold judgment on something if they can’t determine the truth; don’t just make up
things, but rather state what they do know and what they don’t know
Merry Christmas to all!
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