religion
Easier to Ask
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 | Life, Politics | No Comments
Grace Hopper is credited with the quote “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission,” so she might be to blame. This seems to be the rallying cry of the last few weeks.
The two most recent occurances seem to be from Joe Wilson and Kanye West. At this time the House has decided to formally rebuke Republican Representative Joe Wilson for his “You Lie” comment.
The Republicans are crying that the Democrats are politically motivated. They are saying that they should be talking about healthcare; that they are wasting valuable time. Was this the same Party that wasted time with the Clinton Impeachment? I guess the difference is that they were the ones wasting it then.
I know that many people feel that freedom of speech is at stake here but we don’t truly have unrestricted free speech. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. So, yes, there are times when the government has decided to restrict our free speech for the public good.
I have friends that don’t have the same religious views as I do and I know that if I talk to them about religion I might lose friends. If I were to invite them to my house and embarass them by attacking their religion I would be solely responsible for losing their friendship and also a poor host. Not only was Rep. Wilson a poor host, he was also an embarassment to the people he represents. I’ve often heard about Southern Hospitality, if this is an example then I’m staying in the North.
Then we have Kanye West who interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to inform us of his opinion. Now he had the opportunity to vote like everyone else but he felt that we were waiting to find out, not what the majority of people thought but what Kenye thought: guess again. Now I could understand if it was Jay Z up there cause he was going home with Beyonce but I think he has too much class to do that. Maybe that is the answer. We may live in a classless society but that doesn’t mean our society shouldn’t have class.
God’s Faults
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Economics | No Comments
Don’t get too close! Lightning may strike. You read it right, God’s Faults. I realize that many people consider God infallible but I am still trying to reconcile my intellect with my Catholic education. I think that my intellect is in the lead but I still would hate to find out I was wrong. My religious education also makes me fear less an extended stay in a torrid netherworld than a group of ninja nuns.
Okay, my computer is still working so here goes. I was listening to a local radiio station and they were discussing the Madoff case. He had decided to use his freedom on bail to divert funds to his relatives and friends to escape using these funds to make restitution. (This could lead to confusion for me. Imagine I get an email that starts: Hi, I am Bernard Madoff and I would like you to deposit one billion of money I stole in your account because my government is persecuting me… I will be willing to give you 10% for this service… Do I believe this one? Do i trust that he won’t clear out my account like he did Steven Spielberg’s? Will this be one of those reversals where he flees the USA to go to Kenya and become a king?) So they are discussing the case and they say that he may beat the case or skip the country but they conclude that he will suffer when he gives up the ghost (which seems to be the only thing he may be willing to give up). Now this, I think, is God’s fault, God has turned into a wimp. God of Old would have at the very least turned Madoff into a pillar of salt. God must have taken an anger management course because we don’t even get frogs.
The religious people think that we are responsible for all that is wrong with the world and therefore should be punished for it. I think that God is partially to blame; when He had that “spare the rod ” philosophy the Ten Commandments weren’t just a Charlton Heston movie.
There is also the out of sight out of mind reason for God to git to whippin butt. Give us an example of His Righteous Wrath. When someone steals from the poor we can understand God not doing anything but these were celebrities. These people are the demigods of our world and God does nothing?
I just thought that maybe the problem is that God has retired. Maybe He is in a retirement home and His Son has taken over the family business
Godless Republicans
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Politics | No Comments
When I was younger I thought that there were clear differences between the Republicans and the Democrats. To me the Republicans were the party of business and the Democrats were the party of social justice. The Republicans were more likely to lower our taxes and the Democrats to raise them. The Democrats were more likely to extend unemployment benefits and the Republicans were more likely to put us on unemployment
They seem to have changed. It might be difficult to suggest that the Democrats will be turning into Republicans because they may have to raise taxes this term. If Paris Hilton’s had been elected she would probably raise taxes (the possible tax exception being Prada bags). The problem seems to be that Republicans seems to be afraid of socialism and communism but a theocracy is all right.
There are more registered Democrats then Republicans. Assuming that all the Democrats vote for Democrats and Republicans for Republicans then the Democrats always win. Despite the media’s insistence that women or blacks or blue eyed Eskimos were the swing vote minority that won the election, the real swing vote were independents.
McCain and the Republicans made a big deal about Sarah Palin invigorating the base. which is one of the reasons they lost. They should have worked on the independents. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that If the Democrats outnumber the Republicans they have to get votes somewhere.
The Independents are for the most part middle of the road. They see a need for taxes and social programs. They don’t like extremes in politics or religion.
I think that this is one of the mistakes that the Republicans made. They seem to be going from a political party to a theological party. They include in their platforms things that are more concerned with religion than politics. Yes I’m talking about abortion. I don’t understand how a party that doesn’t like the government to intrude on their life with taxes and governmental regulations is fully willing to force someone to have a baby.
I don’t understand how the Christian Right was all for Sarah Palin when she chose to run for office. She has a special needs child at home. I know people with special needs children and it comsumes most of their time. They don’t have time to run for the PTA let alone the Vice Presidency. Her husband might be filling in but from what I understand he is away from the house weeks at a time for his employment. So who is taking care of Trig?
Okay, I digressed, the point I was trying to make was that the Republicans should become Godless. Get away from the Bush and Palin belief that God has annointed them for a new religious crusade (remember how well those crusades turned out for us) and get back to the Coolidge Idea: The business of America Is business.
Will that mean that they will lose the Christian right? Where will they go? Will they threaten to vote Democratic? Even Hillary supporters’ claim that they would vote for McCain had more of a chance; because they hoped that he would turn rogue once he got into office. They should aim for the center and let the rest follow. If you aim for the center you have more chance of hitting the bullseye.
Warren
P.S. They are misinforming us again. Having worked at GM I know that union members do get 95% of their pay but half of that is Unemployment Benefits which all of the unemployed are entitled to. The problem with GM is that while Japanese CEOs earn no more than 50 times what the lowest paid worker makes;American CEOs make upwards of 500 times the lowest workers pay.
P.P.S. I would like to thank all of the people who have sent in comments. You have encouraged me to keep on going (possibly to the regret of some). I had considered replying to some (especially those young nymphomaniacs with daddy issues) but my wife informs me it would not be in my best interests.
Warren