Church, State, and Life

Recent history and judicial decisions have strongly favored a separation of Church and State, so that America is devolving into a secular state, which in principle is a wholesale rejection of our Judeo-Christian heritage.  While there are many that applaud such a separation, this should be tempered with the wisdom that one should be careful what they wish for.  For instance, should America become a country that completely marginalizes religion, that would mean in effect, that our fundamental and inalienable rights would no longer be considered legally or otherwise to have come from our Creator Himself, but from the State, and what the State provides, it can also take away.

For those that love the fact that America has become essentially a secular state, they should take into their hearts a significant warning, that with God conveniently pushed out of the way, this now permits everything within reason for the State to set the rules of, without the worry or inconvenience of the moral and ethical authority that trumps all that God brings to the table. 

Most people would consider the greatest power that any government can hold over its people as being the power of life and death. There has not been a draft initiated in America since the Vietnam War, because America has been able to fill all their recruitment needs with volunteers.  The fact that America's military is able to get all the recruits that are necessary for their personnel needs has probably more to do with the state of our economy, the poor employment opportunities for so many young Americans, and the overall good benefit package provided for those that serve in our armed forces. 

The United States takes its military needs quite seriously, which is why, even today, with an all volunteer force, males aged 18-25, are required, by law, to register with the Selective Service, to which these aforementioned designated males, would be the first to be subjected to a draft call-up, if authorized by Congress.  Should a draft be re-instituted into America, very quickly, there would be a certain segment of those eligible for conscription that would try to postpone, defer, or to be exempt from such service, all with the basic attitude that they did not want to risk their lives on behalf of their country.

This means that there is an inherent hypocrisy for at least some Americans that support a secular state. Because when God is marginalized from the public square, and subsequently certain citizens are required by their government's law to put their own lives or their children's lives at risk on behalf of their country, they will then call upon a higher or alternate power forsome sort of exemption to this compulsory service.

The problem with exemptions, deferments, postponements and other excuses for not fulfilling your compulsory duty to serve your country, if called, is that the government has an overriding obligation to see that all citizens are subject to equal application of law, and not that some citizens should be able to circumvent these laws at their convenience. 

A State without an omnipotent God, allows the State to become as if it is god, which ultimately means that your life is sacrificed to the State as they best see fit.

Cell Phones are the New Nicotine

There use to be a time when smoking a cigarette was an accepted part of everyday culture, to which you could smoke at your desk, inside your house, at your leisure, in the park, at a restaurant or bar, and even incredibly on an airplane, but those days are either long gone or have been compromised significantly in many respects.  Nowadays, often we find smokers huddle together in hidden and dark crevices outside of office buildings, as if what they are doing is obnoxious, dirty, or vile, which is what many non-smokers often believe.  Although, cigarette smokers still smoke for the pleasure and comfort that it gives them, especially too treating their cigarette as a reliable and unquestioning friend that helps them to sooth away their frazzled nerves, as well as to deal successfully with the stress and disappointment of everyday life, it just isn't quite as good as it was back in the day, before the smoker was ever branded as some sort of disgusting pariah.

Yet, when we fast forward to the present day, we see that although cigarette smokers are on the defensive, often furtive in their smoking habits, we find that those that have the makeup of what would have been a smoker in the past, are in a figurative sense, smoking, but it isn't tobacco, it isn't nicotine, they are instead using their cell phone as a proxy for the whole cigarette smoking experience.  It seems that the way that so many people use their cell phones today are quite similar in nature to the way that people use to smoke cigarettes, back when smoking was socially accepted in America.

For instance, one of perceived cardinal sins in America, is to ever appear to be alone, or lonely, in just about any social situation.  Well, that can be easily rectified by simply having a cell phone and either blithely texting away or chattering away to another person, which is proof positive that you are an important and valued person.  Also, when you are bored in school, or at work, or just about anywhere, whereas previously there may have been a tendency to light up and smoke, now you just need to tap a few keys on your cell and you're in touch with a friend, or the internet, and all is well.  Of course, too, if you want to prove to your peers what a great time that you are having, you can effortlessly snap a picture with your phone, post it immediately, making you feel as if you are on top of the world.

There is also too a social aspect to cell phones which is quite similar to smoking, although it isn't quite as easy as asking for a match or to borrow a cigarette, but you can just as easily start a conversation with someone, by asking them if what they have is the latest this or that phone, or do they have the latest this or that app, and the social experience is eerily similar to two smokers, interrelating to one another.   So too, are cell phone users branded much like smokers, dedicated to a certain operating system as well as a particular cell phone manufacturer, to which they all have to have the coolest and sleekest phone, because that defines them.  No longer are they stuck pretending to be riding a horse, independent and strong such as the Marlboro man, they are instead today's iphone men, so beyond cool.

You cannot hide from God

We are use to talking to people through words, verbal as well as written, but communication between one to another often times encompasses many more things than just the words themselves, such as: the tone of our voice, the exaggeration of our words or actions, exclamation marks, our body language and our disposition and so on.  Good communication can become a problem because some people will tell us one thing with their words, but the intent that they want to get across is nearly the opposite, such as “you don’t care about me,” to which the translation may well be that “you don’t care about me in the manner that I desire you to,” and so forth.

When it comes to God, however, there is absolutely nothing lost in the translation, in fact, God knows you to your very being, to your very soul, much more so than you think that you know yourself.  Further to this point, while in the material world you can fool some of the people some of the time, and most of the people most of the time, you cannot fool God at any time, ever.  The knowledge of this fact should be disturbing for some people, because they rightly fear that the foundation of the lies and deceits that their life has constructed may will ultimately become their eternal prison to extricate themselves from.

The fact that you cannot hide from your Lord, and further that you cannot keep any secrets from Him, should be a source of comfort for most people, because this makes your Heavenly Father, your Father confessor, your Spiritual Guide, and your rock to build good character from.  The fundamental difference between God and fallen man, is that although your Creator knows you through and through, for instance, He knows all your weaknesses and all your foibles, He is ever there to help you, to guide you, to aid you, and always with your best interests in mind, whereas even your best earthly friend, could turn on you; God will not.

It must be said that you are never alone, not even in your darkest moments.  You are never forsaken, you are never forgotten, and you are never unloved, because no matter where you are, no matter what you are, you are loved, no matter what.  While some needlessly fear that God will annihilate them for what they have done or thought this simply is not the case, nor will it ever be the case.  Too often we attribute male characteristics to our God, and not often enough do we attribute female characteristics to our God and thereby it certainly behooves us to conceive of our Lord as our eternal protecting Mother, and we are Her children, so that no matter how we behave, our loving Divine Mother will nurture us, and perhaps sometimes scold us for our own good, but She will always wish the best for us, always knowing that through our trials and errors that one day, we will do right by Her, and that day will come for all of us, without exception.

Every day our Divine Mother watches over us, with a smile on Her face, knowing, even if we don’t, that whatever pleasures or miseries that we have here on earth, are transient, but her Love for us is not.  Hebrews 4:13 says: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight…”  God knows us all, from the beginning to the end, She is that eternal Light, ever vigilant, our new Colossus, beckoning us to the lamp of all lamps and entrance through the golden door.

The Unintended Consequences of the Birth Control Pill

We live in a man's world, and if that has changed somewhat, we still live in a male-centric world to which certain long-standing rules and standards are far more favorable to males as opposed to females.  One of the most important aspects of humanity, is having control and self-direction of one's own body to which when it comes to sexual intercourse a man need never worry that he, himself, can become impregnated, whereas a woman without any sort of birth control or access to it, recognizes that anytime she engages in coitus she may become impregnated, whether that is or is not a desirable outcome for her or the couple.

While there has always been some form of birth control that has been utilized or performed by one partner or the other throughout history, their reliability has almost always been put into question.  Additionally, despite the fact that dependable cervical caps as well as diaphragms had been created in the 1920s, because of the puritanical and religious background of America, laws, and the reluctance of the physicians to insert/implement these birth control devices, woman in America, were still significantly underserved in regards to being able to control their own body in regards to procreation.

The modern day birth control pill was theorized, developed, and ultimately created in the 1950s.  In 1957 the FDA approved the pill for severe menstrual disorders, and in 1960, it was approved for contraceptive usage.  The primary advantages of the birth control pill for woman were that its effectiveness was nearly 100%, it didn’t necessitate a physician's appointment to insert a birth control device, it was relatively inexpensive, and it also allowed the woman to control her ability to conceive without having to notify anyone.  This meant in the 1960s, many women for the first time, felt as if they were truly in command of their reproductive system, meaning that they now could enjoy sex without having to worry about the possible consequence of becoming pregnant.

If the birth control pill, remained a woman's little secret, and completely unknowable to man, its unintended consequences, may well have been mitigated, but point of fact, once men became aware that woman could now have sex and not get pregnant, it produced a fundamental shift in the sexual relations between man and woman.  While, on the surface, it appeared that the reliable birth control pill, freed up forever, the woman's fear of unintended pregnancy, which it did; the other shoe dropped, because sexual relations morphed into more of a free-for-all, pleasure seeking escapade, where men now too recognized that they could have as much sex as they wanted, with as many partners as they wanted, because they need not worry about impregnating anyone.

So while on the one hand, woman have escaped for the most part from "shotgun" weddings, as well as becoming mothers at an early or unwanted age, or having more children than they desire, along with having the ability to enjoy sex without having to unnecessarily worry about become impregnated; they have lost from many men their commitment to a long-term and meaningful relationship.  In an era, when it would appear that everything is allowed before marriage or a true meeting of the minds, it isn't surprising that so many men will simply walk away from anything that even hints of responsibility.

The Supreme Court and the destruction of our Judeo-Christian Heritage

The Federal Supreme court is the highest judicial body of the land, to which the nine justices, have the privilege of deciding what is and what is not Constitutional law in this country.  This means that their rulings whether right or wrong, are effectively treated as lawful, often times superseding State or local law, and any of those people that disobey implicitly or explicitly the Court's rulings will be liable to the full force of law.  Because all humans are fallible, the Supreme Court justices do make error in law, and have done so since the inception of the Supreme Court and will continue to do so as long as this remains a Constitutional country.   Additionally, the prejudices, the mores, the background, the politics, and the actual appointments of Supreme Court justices themselves most definitely impacts what is and what is not made to be the majority opinion, so that it is an absolute truism that the supreme law of the land is absolutely contingent upon the makeup of the Supreme Court itself.

The First Amendment is an important amendment to our Constitution, which somehow seems to be manipulated to favor whatever decision a court wants it to favor.  The First Amendment clearly states that the Federal government is prohibited in establishing a designated religion, which has been construed to mean in recent history that essentially prayer, the Bible, Christian and other religious professions of faith, have no part in public educational schools as well as other public or governmental forums.  Instead, the Supreme Court would have one believe that the creation of America, its founding, and its Constitution, was secular in nature, and that the intention of our Founding Fathers from day one, was that there should be a wall of separation of church and state, and that thereby each of these institutions should not interfere with the other.  The thing is, most reasonable people would see prayer, and the learning and cultivation of scripture as part of a sound moral foundation which aids in the necessary good character development an individual needs, understanding well that the absence of God would entail the issue as Dostoevsky wrote:  "If God does not exist, everything is permitted." 

The Government and the Supreme Court are absolutely determined to do everything within their power to knock down the foundation of our Judeo-Christian heritage and to replace with Federal power, secularism, atheism as the authorized federal religion, and governmental paramilitary and police forces to control the masses.  This means that the primary reason for the Supreme Court to rule against God and prayer, so as to create a secular state in purpose, laws, and function, is so that the common citizen would now no longer see God as their liberator, protector, and savior, but instead they would now see the Federal Government and its entire apparatus as their rightful benefactor.

God and State are forever at odds, to which the State, so often, takes on the guise of liberator, but in fact, is the annihilator of human liberty.  America was created with the knowledge that our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness were our rights as given to us by God, Himself.  Today's Supreme Court, and today's Federal Government, wants instead to erase any vestige of that past; why else, would they fear something as innocuous, for example, as a desire by an individual or a group of individuals or a school to pay homage to He who created it all.

The Beaten South

As soon as Lincoln was elected in 1860, the southern States began to secede from the Union, with South Carolina being the first State to secede, and with Tennessee being the last and the 11th State to secede, although, in fact, the Eastern part of Tennessee remained staunchly pro-union.   These eleven States took up arms against their own Federal Government, repudiated Federal debt, conscripted its citizens, and brought on war against their own country, even though Lincoln had made it known in his first Inaugural address that: "The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."" The south, though took it upon themselves that if they could not legitimately win by the ballot, and even though Lincoln had assured the south that he would not: "…interfere with the institution of slavery…" none of this prevented the south from taking war into their own hands against their own fellow countrymen.

If would be one thing if the war between the States had been a war of just a few months, and a few thousand deaths, but it is an entirely different thing that the war was instead four long and bloody years, with an incredible amount of destruction of material wealth, along with the deaths of 620,000 men, and countless injuries both physical as well as mental.  The South did everything within its power to try to win their "freedom", to create their own country, to make their own Constitution, all without a legitimate and valid reason to do so, while also keeping a significant portion of their fellow human beings in abject poverty and chattel slavery.

Fortunately, for this country, the South was defeated, to which Lincoln was gracious enough to offer to the South, his terms of surrender and the re-admission to the Union, which essentially was permitted when 10% of the population of a given State had pledge both their allegiance to the Union as well as their adherence to the principles of the Emancipation Proclamation.  As for the military officers and soldiers of the beaten south, with the exception of certain tribunals set aside for prisoner of war camp abuses, most everyone else was let go on their own recognizance.  This meant that no Confederate general, no Confederate politician, such as Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, suffered the indignity of a trial, of punishment, or execution.

The upshot of confederates not being severely punished was that even though they had been defeated, what we found was that within a very short period of time, it was if the South had never lost the war, as the planter aristocracy asserted their power and influence throughout commerce, law, and politics.  Additionally, those that had formerly been slaves with no rights, were now in the South simply slaves in principle, if not in name.

We will never know what would have happened, if instead of the South being treated as errant sons and prodigals, embraced by a loving father; if it had instead been subjected to the full wrath of the American government which was never unleashed, to which if it had the vanquished would have been held accountable for their war crimes and sentenced appropriately for it; as well as undoubtedly we would have seen the commensurate destructionand the evisceration of the Southern aristocracy, which was the real cause of the war, once and for all.  This would have left a different South, humbled and occupied, never to rise again on its own undemocratic terms.

Prisoners Should Guard Prisoners

The United States is a country that believes strongly in the necessity and in the effectiveness of incarcerating all sorts of malcontents in federal, state, and county prisons and jails.  It is estimated that there is approximately two million Americans that are imprisoned at the current time, to which it is further estimated by abcnews.com that "The average in state and federal prisons is one officer per 5.6 prisoners."  This means that the taxpayers throughout this country are responsible for not only the payment of the facility incarceration structure itself and its incumbent infrastructure, but also the labor costs of compensating the staff necessary to guard and to maintain order in these prisons.  As reported by chron.com, "As of 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that correctional officers earned an average of $43,300 per year."  Additionally, while the skill-set needed to be a correctional officer does vary  it is basically sufficient to have a high school diploma or better, with a professional certificate in criminal justice or equivalent also being desired. 

While, on the one hand it may seem insane to have prisoners guarding other prisoners, in point of fact, the technology and the security of modern-day prisons, clearly allows a hierarchy of labor in regards to the duties and functions of correctional officers.  This means that while the integrity of the security of a given prison must be maintained by professional correctional officers, this does not necessitate that everyone serving in the capacity of a correctional officer, needs to actually be one.  People are in prisons for all sorts of reasons to which the majority of these prisoners will one day be released from prison.  If, we do not allow these prisoners the opportunity to show their maturity and responsibility while in prison, their chances of success outside of the prison, are thereby minimized.

While many Americans wrongly believe that only the worse of the worse and thereby the most violent and incorrigible are incarcerated in America, the fact of the matter is that most prisoners are in prison for offenses that are non-violent offenses.  It is therefore these non-violent prisoners that could have the capability to become guardians of other prisoners, to which I suspect that a meaningful portion of them would have an abiding interest in any opportunity to show their worth and would welcome the challenge to demonstrate that they could perform their duties in a professional and effective manner.

In America, too often, when it comes to our disgraceful amount of humans that are incarcerated, that the basic attitude can be summed up into "out of sight, out of mind", but all that really does is two things: it just kicks the can further down the road without resolving anything, and it is an unnecessary waste of the taxpayers' money. 

A policy to which you treat a man as if he should be broken down into a docile animal, does not make for a future, good and viable citizen, it instead does more to break the spirit of that man, and his self-esteem.  Under the right conditions and under the right programs, prisoners could indeed guard other prisoners, giving these men the chance to demonstrate courage, conviction, responsibility and negotiation skills.

Only One Dual Purpose NFL Stadium

There was a time when it was fairly common for NFL franchises to share the stadium that they played in with a MLB team, the greatest number of NFL teams to do that according to footballgeography.comwas: ”In 1971, 17 of the NFL’s 26 teams shared a stadium with a MLB team.” That was then, and this is now, so that the only NFL franchise that currently shares a stadium with a MLB team is in Oakland, and that is it.  While there are perhaps another 10 NFL franchises that share their stadium with a collegiate football team, the rest of the NFL franchises are standalone stadiums, to which the NFL season consists for most home teams typically of two preseason games and an additional eight regular season games, with no further games guaranteed unless that NFL team makes the playoffs.  The fact that millions upon millions is spent on the construction and the maintenance of these stadiums, it would seem that logically that there should be an incumbent duty upon the envisioning and construction of these stadiums to consider the overall utility of the project at its inception.

To make matters worse, and probably the most significant reason, why so many coliseums are built with the purpose of only glorifying the NFL, is the fact that it is estimated by Mark Fabiani, special counsel to the San Diego Chargers that: “The average subsidy in the NFL is about 65 percent of the costs of a stadium is paid for by the public.” It is a truism that one spends other person’s money differently that one spends their own money, after all, if one can fleece the public and get a large group of people, that is to say the taxpayers of a certain community, to foot the bill for the so-called “greater good” of creating a stadium solely meant to be used for NFL games, it will be done.

While there are many good and valid reasons why it is senseless to build expensive state-of-the-art stadiums which sit basically unused for virtually every day of the year, it is a real tragedy that in many major cities the NFL could avail themselves of sharing their stadium with a MLB team, which would make the overall building proposition logically more cost-effective and fairer to the taxpayer who is left stuck subsidizing some of the richest men in the entire world.  The fact of the matter is that the technology and experience today needed to create a successful multi-purpose stadium is far greater than back in 1971, yet we have gone in the exact opposite direction and the stadiums built in the present day are the most expensive behemoths on record.

It’s bad enough that out in the real world, that there is mega division between the truly rich and powerful in comparison to the common American, what makes it even worse, is to take America’s most popular sport and instead of offering the taxpayer fair entertainment to soothe his psyche after another week of drudgery mix with frustration, we instead, empty his pockets out, figuring him for a sucker, because, well, he is.

Judge the saved by their fruits

The world is full of professed believers in the religion of their faith, but a significant portion of those self-professed believers do not come close to measuring up to their faith.  In point of fact, it is difficult to believe in a risen Savior when those that claimed to be born again, or to have been saved, or reformed, or redeemed by His blood, appear to be the same as they ever were; perhaps with the exception of such modest changes as the blessing of their food before they eat it, or a portion of their money being given to charity, or a general more pleasant countenance.  While we can always be grateful for any change that is made that improves the character of one’s fellow being -- true believers are rather in short supply.

I am not here speaking of fanaticism when it comes to religious faith as being the apogee of it, because fanaticism can be the very worse aspect of any religious faith, for unreasoning faith can easily degenerate into demagoguery, oppression, narrow-mindedness, and bigotry.  The religious faith that I am referring to, is the type of faith that truly changes the character of your being in its actions, in its goals, and in its thoughts, or for those that were already on the good path, it strengthens and encourages them in their convictions and allows them to become a better vessel for God’s handiwork on earth.

The great avatars of this world incarnate again and again to serve as the prime exemplars of what man can become if he but turns away from his wickedness and selfish decisions.  The change that so many people cry for, starts within us, because God is not our puppeteer, He has instead given us free will, and with that will we can either take steps forward onto the straight and narrow path: “ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14) or suffer the results of our willful meanderings.

Each person should ask themselves, this one fundamental question, who is that I respect the most out of all the people that I have met in person, and the answer that you will find upon contemplation, will often be the person that walks the path of conviction in his actions, and in his ways, in his achievements, and in his advice.  You cannot possibly be a man of real religious faith if it does not make you a better man for having done so.  This faithful man will give drink to the thirsty, will feed the hungry, assist the stranger as well as the sick, and minister upon all of them, without hope or desire of receiving compensation or necessarily gratitude from them in having done so.

The mark of a man of real religious faith is someone that respects and loves his Lord, as well as proving this tenet by treating his neighbor as his own, because he recognizes as few do, that the One beget many, but all of those many, all of them, must one day return to being just the One.

Government Spying Agencies

According to businessinsider.com the: "… U.S. intelligence community is vast, composed of 17 distinct organizations each operating under its own shroud of secrecy".  Additionally, businessinsider.com estimates that the classified budgets of these intelligence agencies may be as of a 2012 estimate: "… pegs the cost at about $75 billion…" which is an astonishing monetary figure.  While, in theory, these various spying agencies are accountable to someone or somebody or some government oversight committee, and in theory, operate strictly in accordance with United States Constitutional law, the truth lies far outside these boundaries.  While we can take some solace in great organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, whistleblowers, certain citizens, certain blogs, and various media outlets, as well as the Freedom of Information Act, for the most part the general public, the citizenry of this United States, is basically left in the dark in regards to domestic spying which is either unwittingly or deliberately performed against them.

Because of technology, there has never been a better time to be a spy, and the government thereby has very little interest in walking away from all its capabilities of learning just about everything of actionable value against any citizen or groups of citizens as it pretty much desires.  If would be one thing, if the government had the best interests of its citizens in mind, when it performs its domestic spying, but in actuality, primarily, the government tries to place itself into a position to which they can argue, somewhat successfully, that all this data, all this intrusion, is necessitated by their concern for the welfare of the country as well as its citizens.  Francis Bacon said long ago that: "knowledge is power," and this government absolutely knows that this is true.

When the government essentially knows everything about you in the sense of where, why, and how, then they own you, lock, stock, and smoking barrel.  When you play a game of cards and you cannot read or see your opponent's cards yet they can read and see yours, preferably without you knowing it, you cannot hope to win.  That is the situation that our citizens are in, in which, they are effectively having their Fourth Amendment rights to be secure violated in that we read: "… in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…"   Today's government relishes the fact that their extensive intrusion electronic devices in conjunction with their massive databases allows them to search, to correlate, to analyze, to track, and to document just about everything that has an electronic footprint for their own purposes.

The legitimate government of this country is meant to be for the people and by the people, but this has been subverted over time to simply mean, that the government knows best and woe unto he that should question this wisdom.  There was a time, when J. Edgar Hoover, was perhaps the most feared man in the USA, because of his position as the director of the FBI, a post which he held through Democratic as well as Republican administrations, for nearly fifty years.  Hoover was legitimately feared because he had information, lots of it, so we can only imagine what Hoover would give to be alive today with all this advanced technology at his disposal, but unfortunately for us Director Hoover is dead, yet the legacy of Hoover lives on today in the specter of all our government spying agencies, which are far more menacing, far more diabolical, far more destructive, and far, far, far, beyond the pale.

Do not be Ashamed to be Christian

Some people, wear their Christianity as a badge of honor, some do not, and some profess their faith only amongst those of a similar faith, whereas some do not, and further some when giving the opportunity to testify for their faith simply remain silent, whereas some do not.  While it is true that many of us are not gifted in our ability to proselytize or to testify about our faith, it is a form of hypocrisy to change our habits and our being in order to conform to certain social orders or to not rock the boat, or other assorted reasons of convenience.  Christianity is not meant to be convenient, Christianity is not meant to be hidden, Christianity is not meant to be testified to only when you are in some place of safety, and Christianity is not something to be turned on and off like a light switch.  You are either a Christian, a real Christian, or you are not, and those that feel shame when given the opportunity to speak truthfully of their love for our Savior, have done immeasurable harm to themselves as well as to those that weren't able to feel the warmth of their witness.

Unfortunately, too many of us live lives of conformity, to which we want to be polite, to not stand apart, to not be a bother, so consequently we adjust our habits and mindset to match perceived social customs of the day.  That type of wrongheadedness does not produce a man of real worth, because only a person that is alive in the spirit can go against the flow, whereas those that are dead have no choice but to go with the flow.  While there is nothing wrong with being humble in your faith, or shy in your countenance, a true Christian should always have the resolution that when something abuts up against their faith that they will not abandoned it out of mere convenience or cowardice. 

The essence of being a Christian is that you do recognize that you are beholden to a Higher Power.   We read in Mark 8:38: "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed…"  A Christian cannot have it both ways, either you are Christian and your faith is a true foundation to build upon, or you are shifting sand, lukewarm, and an abomination because of your hypocrisy to the faith.  True Christianity is not a "get a free pass to Heaven" card; it is instead an eternal commitment to Christ in spirit, words, and in action. 

As a Christian, you are given the responsibility to be accountable for your actions and deeds, both implicit and explicit.  While there are some so-called Christians that turned their back on Christ, when really put to the test, there are many others who abandon Christ through thousands upon thousands of little, minute missteps, always intending to do the right thing at some unspecified future date, but never getting around to it, all because of convenience, or possibly because you are caught up in this world, or really because you believe that you are a Christian, but not one of those kind of Christians, where you have to be a servant to anyone, because, for example, washing an impoverished person's feet is something that is disgusting, even shameful.

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.” -- Voltaire

According to Wikipedia.org: "In the 29th annual List of global billionaires, a record 1,826 billionaires were named with an aggregated net worth of $7.05 trillion…"  Whereas according to globalissues.org: "Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day."  The fact of the matter is, wealth cannot be created out of thin air, while it can in many countries and families be passed rather easily from one generation to another, and/or be taken from other people or organizations through outright State-sponsored theft; wealth does not create itself, it is created by some sort of labor, and most probably financial legerdemain.

Those that have become extremely rich by creating something of value like to fool themselves by contending or believing that we live in a world that consists of "an economic invisible hand" that somehow produces a fair equilibrium in regards to products and pricing, to which they, these particular skillful game players, are able to profit fairly from.  While it might be comforting to believe that each person is given a truly equal opportunity to be successful, in actuality a significant amount of people born into this world, have virtually no hope of ever rising from the abject poverty that they are born into.

In one way or another, the rich depend upon the abundant supply of the poor so that they can utilize them and to exploit them, which allows them to become rich in the first place, or to maintain their wealth, if they already have it.  There are very few people in this world that are entirely self-sufficient, that is to say, each of us needs food, shelter, clothing, electricity, plumbing, and well, the internet, of which none of these things just appear out of nowhere, as if by magic.  Because a lot of what we utilize can simply be purchased, a disconnect is created between the real cost of these goods in sweat labor, in comparison to what they simply cost us in ready money.  This means that the creature comforts that we often take for granted, often consist of millions upon millions of poor people behind the scenes, unknowable to us, and/or their resources that have been either exploited or simply just taken.

The reason why the moneyed elite do not have a vested interest in the elimination of poor people and/or people that is dependent upon their largess, is because their wealth would dissipate quickly.  The access to cheap labor and also cheap or undervalued resources are absolutely critical in keeping the superrich--super-wealthy.    This wealth also allows these privileged people to essentially rule their domain as they best see fit, and to become untouchable, and sometimes even championed.

The wealth of a country such as America, in so many instances, is based upon the outright exploitation and the taking of labor as well as resource wealth from countries around the world, often having regimes that are easily placated or soothed so as to allow this plucking to take place.  The rich understand the value of living to the adage that you can shear a sheep many times but you can only slaughter it once.  The poor of this world are those sheep, often ill-educated, ill-fed, ill-sheltered, but typically given just enough to live another day, and given too just enough hope to believe that meaningful change might actually come,  never suspecting that their end has already been pre-determined from the beginning.

Where was Jesus from the ages of 13 through 30?

We read in Luke 2 that: "… when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem… And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers…. And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"  So, we find that at age 12, Jesus was well aware of his earthly mission and of his purpose and understood exactly who his Father was, yet we are led to believe by many Biblical authorities that Jesus from the ages of 13 through 30, spent his time and his activities as a carpenter with his earthly father.  While it is certainly possible that Jesus did so, with the exception of some scriptural passages that imply that the population knew him as a carpenter's son and as a Nazarene, this general belief by the public could just as well have come from the fact that as a child, Jesus grew up in Nazarene and that his earthly father was a carpenter.

When it comes to the missing years of Jesus life, one must ask yourself the basic question, as to how do people become great lawyers, or great doctors, or great composers, and the only logical answer is that they become so by hours and hours and years of learning, listening, applying, and much dedicated practice and work.  It isn't possible to become a great master of anything without sitting at the feet of those that have accomplished these things themselves, and testing your knowledge and your skills against those that have the insight to help guide you and to correct you.  For those that accept Jesus as the Christ, as the Son of the living God, how is it even conceivable to believe that the Christ would waste away his time as a mere carpenter for eighteen long years?  I suppose the answer could be that God works in mysterious ways or to show the humility of the Christ, but neither of these is satisfactory, whatsoever.

In point of fact, to become the Christ, to become the savior, is not only an act of obedience and surrender to God, but also necessitates the mastering of this particular skill-set to the highest possible degree so as to later conduct his Father's business without error or fault.  This type of divine expertise must be nurtured and developed over a considerable period of time, as they that believe that one is simply born into greatness are hopelessly misguided, as greatness is something achieved only through perseverance, consistency, application, and guidance.

While we may not know physically where Jesus was from the ages of 13 through 30, we do know for a certainty that during those years, he was activity pursuing his Father's business so as to master his trade and to become both the son of Man as well as being the son of God.  One would do well to acknowledge that the earthly plane is not the same as the heavenly plane, and that the earthly brain is not the same as the omnipotent and omniscience God of the universe, the God of all creation, the Alpha and the Omega.  In actuality, to be the Christ, necessitates the disciplining of the physical body, as well as the emptying from the mind of one's ego, with the replacement of this with divine wisdom.   This is the only way that Jesus the Christ could become God manifest.

The Police Back the Status Quo

It has been said that government is force, and for those that doubt this, just look at the power that any given police department has within its community in its ability to confront, interrogate, disrupt, and arrest just about anyone that it so desires, understanding that in virtually all circumstances that these specific police force actions and policies will be back by the powers-to-be.  The police force does the things that it does within a community not so much because it is a power unto itself, but more akin to that there is an implied understanding as to what actions that the police may take that are desired or considered desirable by the status quo.  This means that while we can rail against injustices performed by police officers within our community, ultimately little or nothing will change, unless those that control those forces, sometimes little known, make it a policy to do so.

While we might like to think that our police force is really here to "protect and to serve" its community, the reality of the situation is, that the police force answers mainly to those that have the money, power, and authority over them, and these influential people may well have a diametrically different viewpoint of what they wish their police force to accomplish within a given community.  While it may be true that a notorious case can become a nationwide cause célèbre, as well as it can be true that certain media outlets can focus attention on particular outrageous police actions, for the most part, to effect real long-lasting change within your community in regards to police force actions and its attendant mindset, there must be a change of perspective from those that have the ultimate power over the situation.

This means that if you are not part of the status quo, that if you are not part of the city council, or the city manager, or the county executive, or the city commission, or the mayor, and assuming that any of these positions are the effective manager(s) of the police force, your power as an individual citizen to effect change is virtually negligible.  For instance, the one thing that any competent police force is good about doing is following structure, rules, bureaucratic paperwork, and order; which means that the appropriate civil authority which is the administrator to the police force has the power to mold such a force in such a way so as to have the police behave in a way that it is acceptable to community standards.

While it is convenient to lay all of the blame of excessive police brutality, violence, discrimination, unequal application of the law, at the feet of the police officers themselves, in actuality, you would be far better to lay the blame to where it should be, upon the shoulders of the status quo that actively encourage and abet this behavior by police officers within their community.  The fact of the matter is, federal law trumps state or city or county law, and all the civil rights that citizens essentially need are contained within the 14th amendment to our Constitution, which states that all persons are entitled to equal protection of the law as well as the due process of law. 

If, in fact, the application of law is discriminatory within your community, recognize that the real enemy is often not the police, for these are best seen as messengers of your community law; the actual enemy instead is those that mastermind the police force, becoming a law above Constitutional law.

The Opium Hypocrisy

The usage of the opium poppy for pain tolerance and its general euphoric effects has probably been around since the consciousness of mankind was first formed.  Even though, the opium poppy is still cultivated and used today legally through pharmaceutical companies that produce opiate drugs such as oxycodone or vicodin or hydrocodone or codeine as well as methadone or morphine or similar, the opium poppy and its derivatives are for the most part demonized by the United States Federal government as a Schedule II narcotic which is regulated by the government.  This means in a nutshell that the usage of opiates is managed and controlled by the US Government in conjunction with medical authorities so that any abuse of the above products is subject to penalties, civil fines, and/or criminal prosecution. As for heroin this is considered to be a schedule I narcotic and is illegal in any of its forms in the United States with significant penalties associated with its illicit usage.   

The hypocrisy of the United States can be essentially demonstrated by the fact that the opium poppy is fine to be utilized as an appropriate medicine if it has been prescribed to you by a medical authority, but if on the other hand, you should try to utilize the opium poppy yourself, without prescription, you are in essence, a criminal, even if there may be mitigating circumstances for your usage of opium.  The basic reason why this is hypocrisy is the sheer quantity of Americans that are prescribed opiates in the first place, as reported by abcnews.com in 2011: "The United States makes up only 4.6 percent of the world's population, but consumes 80 percent of its opioids."  What this really tells us, is that opioid prescriptions in America are undoubtedly overprescribed, abused, and are readily available to certain segments of the population for specious reasons, and ultimately profit for the pharmaceutical companies.  While it is certainly true that opioid prescriptions are necessary and of immense value to patients as a whole, the corollary is also true that deceitful patients do take advantage of their ability to receive access to the opioids whereas others on the outside are essentially heavily penalized for their apparent inability to "game" the system and thereby suffer the consequences of that failure.

It appears that when it comes to the opium poppy in the United States, that governmental authorities recognize the importance and strength that opioids provide to the population for pain control, pain relief, and general blissfulness, so consequently legal opioids are both heavily marketed as well as distributed in America through approved governmental sanctioned regulations.  Additionally, pharmaceutical companies recognize the great profit that they can make from the selling of these drugs, to which IMS Health estimated that:”In 2011, U.S. sales of prescription painkillers amounted to $9 billion."  All of this essentially means that while on the one hand, the United States spends a considerable amount of money attempting to eradicate, interdict, and to destroy the opium poppy in countries all around the world, on the other hand, it maintains its own opium poppy distribution chain in order to synthesize the chemicals necessary to create derivatives from the poppy that ultimately produces the painkilling prescription pills that its denizens consume at record levels. 

So it would appear that as long as our government, its agencies, and its multi-national pharmaceutical companies make their coin, and unauthorized countries and individuals do not, that we have paid proper homage to "the business of America is business."

Residential Streets

Different communities have different rules when it comes down to residential streets, all dependent on so many factors that there is a lack of uniformity.  That, however, doesn't mean that there shouldn’t be an ideal standard for residential streets now and into the future.  When it comes to residential streets, there are several factors that come into play, things such as the speed of the vehicles along with safety of the pedestrians, parking on the street or not, and sidewalks, to mention some of the largest issues.  Another very important factor, is the fact that land costs money, so from a development standpoint, if one can develop residential streets that are, for instance, 32 feet across, rather than 36 feet across, the developer of the residential community will be able to be more efficient in the usage of that land, and in all likelihood, be able to pass along to its consumers the cost savings, thereof, so that the width of streets most definitely has a cost factor involved.

When it comes to residential streets, at a minimum those streets must be able to allow traffic to flow in both directions, as one-way streets in residential sections is simply too restrictive and undesirable.  Additionally, there must be a discussion as to on-the-street parking, to wit, allowing cars to park on either side of the street is most desirable, since it favors neither side, and also depending on the location of the residence, it may be necessary to mandate parking permits in the neighbor so as to cut down on unsolicited visitors from using residential streets as their preferred free parking location, for work, for school, or whatever, as well as encouraging the residents themselves to park their vehicles in either their garage and/or driveway so as to leave the street essentially free to true residential visitors, only.

Additionally, with very few exceptions, there should be sidewalks within a neighborhood, because without sidewalks, those walking, running, walking their dogs or whatever, will be walking out into the street, and/or possibly trespassing on a neighbor's lawn.  In order to use space efficiently, though, only one side of the street needs to have a sidewalk, as one sidewalk should be sufficient to accommodate pedestrians.  Also, to cut down on the speed of vehicles for the protection of pedestrians, some neighborhoods like to use speed humps, which ideally should never be used on flat surfaces but only in cases in which the road is sloping downwards in order to slow down the vehicle as necessary. 

An ideal residential street would be one with one sidewalk, parking on both sides of the street, and wide enough that two cars can easily pass each other on the street when there are no vehicles parked on the street, but, however, when there is a car parked on the street, one car must yield the right of way to the other.  Today, with the cost of land so high, there isn't a need or justification for two sidewalks, nor for a street to be so wide so as to easily accommodate traffic flow in either direction, even with cars parked on either side of the street.  The fact of the matter is a narrower street will for the most part allow residents to be about their business without any noticeable downside, yet still providing all the desirable things that a good residential street should have, all with the understanding, that for the vast majority of the time, there won't be any undue inconvenience.  

Mandatory Retirement Age

In an era to which more and more people are working for government agencies, it is important to recognize that in some of those government jobs, mandatory retirement is a fact of life.  Not only will good and experienced individuals lose their employment, solely based on their numerical age, but the overall age for mandatory retirement, in an epoch to which people are living longer and longer quality lives, is ridiculously low.  For instance, state and federal police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and airline pilots are all subject to mandatory retirement between the ages of 55-60, even though the continued life expectancy at that age is approximately another twenty-five additional years.

While it is true that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) does not permit mandatory retirement of workers in the private field, except under very specific conditions, that does not mean that in function as well as in action, that these workers too aren't subject to discrimination and/or pressure to retire at an age earlier than they so desire.  The problem that older workers have when they are laid off, replaced, or encouraged into early retirement, is twofold; one is that they will normally continue to live for a considerable period of time and if they do not have the savings, and/or affordable healthcare, and/or enough social security or pension benefits, they will not have the necessary income to sustain their lifestyle; also the additional issue with older workers is despite all the laws on the books about the illegality of discrimination against elder workers, the fact of the matter is, most older workers after losing employment, will not be able to find a suitable or replacement job at or near their previous employment salary, despite their years of experience, reliability, and wealth of knowledge.

All people do not age at the same rate, nor do all people have the same maturity, work ethics, vision, health, wisdom and other attributes, so that to arbitrarily take a certain age, and to declare to that person, that they are no longer of worth to a particular company or agency is hypocrisy.  In general, there should not be a mandatory retirement age in any job or any sector, although it is reasonable to assume in some jobs that involve the maintaining of safety for others, that a periodic testing of the applicable skills of a given employee in order to sustain their current employment would be reasonable.  Additionally, just because an employee fails a test, should not terminate that employee, as there should be reasonable access available for another position within that governmental agency, that could still utilize that particular person's experience and skill but without negatively impacting the quality of the service provided by the overall government agency as a whole.

While it is true that most people want to reach a time or an age when they can walk away from their employment so as to enjoy their sunset years, most of those employees do not want to be compelled to do so before their time, especially considering that they have the experience, the knowhow, and the mindset to provide good and competent service to their agency on behalf of the people.

Guardian Angels

It doesn't matter what your religious belief or faith is, or whether you consciously have faith in a higher being or not, or where you were born, because in all circumstances for everyone, in every case, there are guardian angels that are there with us, to comfort us, to guide us, and to succor us.  This does not mean that guardian angels run our lives, our make our decisions, or rule the world, because God has gifted each one of us with free will and that therefore we are not automatons, so that our free will, our decisions, truly trumps all.  However, God, out of his great love for us, never abandons us alone to our own devices, instead he sends out to each of us guardian angels, that help to guide us and in truly exceptional cases directly come to our aid.

For many people, there is a suspension of disbelief that any unearthly power at any time could possibly influence or be a part of our lives, but that is simply because their vision is trapped within the deception that all there ever is -- is physical.  The best way to look upon our guardian angels is to equate them to a great teacher or to our loving parents.  The fact of the matter is our earthly parents cannot be with us 24/7, yet, they truly want us to be protected by them at all times, whereas our guardian angels have no distractions, and have no need for sleep or rest, so that they can monitor and aid us at any time of the day. 

Your conscious mind can drive away the voice of your guardian angels at any time, at any juncture, but often you will feel the tugging of conscience at yourself for having done so.  An even easier way to push aside your guardian angels is to enslave yourself to substance abuse, so as to drown out their voices, or to give in to temper tantrums, or to your ego, or to selfishness in such a manner as to ignore voices of reason and love.  Man, ever can walk away from light, even to his own destruction, as that is the nature of man's law.

Each of us has a purpose here on earth and our guardian angels are forever assisting us in trying to maintain and to achieve our objectives, as they wish for nothing more than to see us successful in our endeavors.  The best way to listen to your guardian angel is through calmness and the incumbent desire for their infinite wisdom, as their voices are never silent; we only have to truly open ourselves to hear their words and to act upon them.

There are too extraordinary situations where guardian angels will save you from physical damage or harm, often without you being consciously aware of it, as it actually happens, but only upon quiet reflection will their actions begin to be felt deep within your being.  A guardian angel can do nothing for he who would jump off a high cliff, with the mistaken belief that God will catch him; whereas, for someone through happenstance, should stumble by a high cliff in such a manner as to bring the possibility of great physical harm, may find themselves saved at the last moment by a branch that just happens to be in the right place at the right time.

Our guardian angels are ever with us, never judging us, and are reflections of God's unceasing and unyielding love for those that He created in His image.

Eyesight

Probably the most common handicap that people have is the need for eyeglasses so as to correct our vision so that our vision is clear.  It is estimated by the Vision Council of America, that approximately 75% of Americans need some sort of vision correction.  As you might well imagine, for those over 50 years old, that percentage increases appreciably, to somewhere around 90%.  While there are many theories put forth as to why so many of us need glasses, such as the vision stress of modern day technology, in which so often our eyes are glued to computer screens, or smart phones; as well as the nature of our work, which instead of being of the 'hunter-gatherer" type, we are alas too often stuck with jobs performed under artificial lights, and thereby the necessitating of the constant focus on objects that are near to us, as opposed to taking in the panorama of the outdoors world.  For whatever it is, the amount of people necessitating vision correction is staggering, and it is a blessing that we have so many options to help correct, maintain, or to improve our vision available to us.

While it is said that exercise is good for the physical body, we probably need to more carefully look into the proper care and maintenance of our eyes.  For instance, some optometrists recommend a simple routine of for every twenty minutes of up-close focus that you perform, that you should then take a twenty second break and focus on some distant object, so as to keep your eyes more limber in their focusing ability.  Additionally, it is important to practice consistent blinking so as to not dry out unnecessarily the moisture for your eyes and unduly strain them.

It is amazing, how much that we take our eyesight for granted, when if you think about it, the productivity and lifestyle of so many individuals would be damaged significantly without the aid and usage of corrective lenses.  The invention of aids to improve one's vision has apparently been around since at least the 13th century probably because those that suffered from poor vision recognized that they had a need to improve that vision in order to successfully function within society, and subsequently were able to discover that convex-shaped glass was able to improve one's eyesight.

In today's modern world, the lack of corrective lenses to improve your vision is extremely debilitating as so much of what is required from us on a given day, necessitates the ability to focus on objects close to us so as to manipulate them or to properly utilize them.   It is extremely fortunate that corrective lenses are available to us at such a low cost for what they provide to us in return, because an inability to focus and to see the world as it is, negates our powers of observation, and truly handicaps us.

As the truism goes, you truly don't appreciate something until you lose it, and those that use corrective lenses to correct their vision, certainly appreciate that aid, perhaps spending little time though, truly appreciating just how absolutely vital that it really is.

Dual Income Married CouplesToday vs. Two Generations Ago

According to TED: The Economics Daily, for married couples: "53 percent had earnings from both the wife and the husband in 2011, compared with 44 percent in 1967. Couples in which only the husband worked represented 19 percent of married-couple families in 2011, versus 36 percent in 1967."  This means that from a percentage basis that in 2011 there was an increase of just over 20% of married couples in which both partners were working than was previously seen in 1967. Additionally, in comparison of 1967 for married couples to 2011, the husband was the sole earner at nearly a 90% greater rate than 2011.  If we were to simply look at this information, and nothing else, our conclusion would be that because that there are more dual-income married couples today, that the material worth and/or the disposal income in constant US dollars of these couples must be better than their 1967 counterparts, but in actuality that isn't the case.

In point of fact, rather than looking at the increase of dual income married couples as being of great benefit for the couples themselves, from both a financial as well as a self-worth perspective, it is too often been, more often a perceived necessity for these couples that both adults work just to make ends meet.  What has occurred in the interim from 1967 to 2011, is several-fold, for instance, both the size as well as the price of housing has gone up considerably since the 1960s, so that the amount of money being needed to budget for a home for rental or purchase has increased markedly.  Additionally, two-income families have had to spend considerable more money on vehicles and their incumbent insurance, because usually both workers need to have their own car.  If, these couples also have children, they then need too to pay for childcare.  Also, because the income tax is graduated, the more that you make, the greater that percentage that has to be sacrificed for federal as well as state taxes; in addition to tax rates overall having gone up, this should also include the increases for both sales tax as well as property tax rates.  Furthermore, the access to easy credit, as in credit cards, is considerably higher than in 1967, signifying for a considerable portion of married couples, additional bills and interest payments that were pretty much unknown two generations ago.  Finally too, healthcare as well as college costs have soared from 1967, with often married couples, having to budget their funds to pay back their college loans that have reached staggering amounts exceeding the high five figures or more.

While there are many married couples that have no interest in returning to a time when the man was traditionally the one to be the breadwinner and the woman stayed at home, that option, in any variation, for many married couples, isn't even available any more.  Today's married couples need both incomes just to keep their heads above water, meaning that if either worker loses their job, that they are up against it; whereas years ago, with one adult held back in reserve, there was always available to that married couple, the opportunity to increase their wages seasonally, periodically, or in times of urgency.

Today's married couple's work harder than ever before, but too often their harvest is paltry.