I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT A HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL CAN SEE THE PROBLEM, WHILE, APPARENTLY, OUR SOCIETY CAN NOT. IF I OFFENDED ANYONE BY THIS, I REALLY DON'T CARE.
This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football game at Roane County High School , Kingston , Tennessee , by school Principal, Jody McLeod "It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and Country."Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it "an alternate lifestyle," and if someone is offended, that's OK.I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If someone is offended, that's OK. I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a "viable! Means of birth control." If someone is offended, no problem...I can designate a school day as "Earth Day" and involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess "Mother Earth" and call it "ecology." I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depicts people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as "simple minded" and "ignorant" and call it "enlightenment."However, if anyone uses this facility to honor GOD and to ask HIM to Bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, then Federal Case Law is violated.This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone, except GOD and HIS Commandments. Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical... I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. For this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this time." However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank GOD and ask HIM, in the name of JESUS, to Bless this event, please feel free to do so As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet." One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another and began to pray.They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand and they prayed in the Announcer's Box!The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United States of America- the Seat of "Justice" in the "one nation, under GOD." Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee Remembered what so many have forgotten. We are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion. Praise GOD that HIS remnant remains!JESUS said, "If you are ashamed of ME before men, then I will be ashamed of you before MY FATHER."
If you are not ashamed, pass this on. I'm not one bit ashamed to pass this on
SilverWolf's Response:
I am offended! You can continue to teach your children to violate the law of the land and to applaud those who do so if you like. There is a proper time and place to contest laws that you feel are wrong. However, at a local public high school, or an event hosted by, and at, a public high school is not a proper venue for such actions. I try to teach my children to obey the law first, and then to follow lawful procedures that are in place to bring change to those laws they think are unjust. This school principal is certainly not a princi"pal" to "all" the students who attend his school, only to those who consider themselves "Christians" it would seem. Therefore, I feel that he does not deserve to be in the position that he holds, he surely doesn't teach the students to respect "all" people and their civil rights. He it would seem teaches them, or advocates teaching them to only consider the civil rights of those who identify themselves as "Christians"; for they are the only ones who matter. I do not even know why I find this behavior surprising; it is typical of the Christian faiths continued intolerance of any religion not their own. It is our way or to hell with you! If you people want to pray to the Christian God and Jesus at your child's school and school sponsored events; if you want to openly practice Christian religious rites at your child's school or school sponsored events, then by all means send them to a Christian school. There are parochial schools all over the place. The local public school and public school system, however, is not the place for these types of activities. Get used to it, and learn to accept it. Yes, this country guarantees the freedom of religion, all religions, and that is why there are churches of all types of faiths all over the land. If you feel the need to worship then go to your faiths church and do so, or go to your home and do so. The local public high school football game, however, is not the place to go to worship your deity. The local public high school football game is where you go to watch your child's local public high school's football team play football to win, while their friends and families cheer them on, hopefully to victory. I believe if people were to spend more time reading their bibles they would see that they are missing a very important lesson therein. God wants "personal" relationships with his followers, and he wants "willing" followers. This desire for "personal" relationships is why he teaches his willing followers that when they pray to, go into their inner room, and after closing the door, to pray to their father who is in secret, so that their father who sees in secret, will repay them. He then also teaches his followers that when they pray they are not to be as the hypocrites, because they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, (or perhaps at local public high school football games) in order to be seen by men. He further teaches that those who do so have their payment in full. I would think that what he means by that is that their payment is the adoration and possibly even applause of those adoring fans of this hypocrisy all around them. Why do I say this? You see and hear the question all the time; "What would Jesus do?" Do you think that Jesus would have taken part in that little show? I don't think so. I don't think so because of who was glorified in that show that took place at that stadium that night. God was not glorified in that show. All those people who took part in that show, they are who was glorified. They were not worshiping God in their acts. They were participating in an act of defiance against a law that they felt was unjust. I have read and studied the bible for many, many years, as I know countless others have. I guess though however the Jesus that I came to know is not the same person that everyone else met in their studies. Why do I say that, well, because the Jesus that I came to know by reading the bible was a considerably different person than that I see being put forth in the actions of those that now call themselves Christians. The Jesus I came to know didn't go around endorsing violating the law of the land. And he most certainly did not incite, encourage nor advocate others to do so. I also don't believe that if he disagreed with some particular law that he would advocate much less participate in the violating of it to show his objections to it. I believe that he would instead, suggest that you go about seeking that change which is desired by using the lawful procedures that are provided and in place. Jesus was not a militant man as best I can tell, seems to me that before he began his ministry he was a carpenter. In other words he was a constructive man, not a destructive man. He was a peaceful, constructive law abiding man. He was not concerned with whether or not you could stand and make a public spectacle of yourself by standing and praying before an audience. He further most definitely did not try to force a captive audience into listening to his teachings (or prayers obviously). He wanted, or wants personal and private relationships with his followers. He traveled all about the land teaching any and all that came to him to hear him and learn. Note that these people came to him with the expressed intent and desire to hear him and his teachings, not to watch a public schools football game. This is the way that he instructed his apostles as well. No captive audiences there like you would find at a public schools event. You only had willing people interested in and desiring to hear their teachings. And those teachings were being held in a lawful manner and place. As to the captive audience thing, yes, the people at that event who were not Christians were a captive audience. They should not have had to endure in any way the arrogant actions of those there who called themselves Christians. Furthermore, to suggest that if they didn't want to participate in, or listen to, this open public performance of a religious rite then they didn't have to stay, or be there, is at the very least typical of the mindset of those who now call themselves Christians. Not everyone who attends a public school is a Christian. That is why it is a "public" school and not a "Christian" school. All faiths have the right to be at public school events; parents, friends, family members and students. And yes, the actions of all those at that stadium that evening who participated in that show, advocated and encouraged, by that school's principal was hurtful to some adults and children in attendance. But obviously that fact is of no concern to those fine upstanding Christian people is it? Nor is it of any concern to you as you stressed in this message that you so boldly put out on the internet for all to see. I am sure that God and Jesus is very proud of you for this. So, go ahead and walk about proudly with your chin held high, pounding upon your chest for the brave good deed that you have done for your God. I myself would be ashamed to call myself a Christian if I had done this, or found this to be something to be proud of. But hey, go ahead and continue to further the cause of Christian intolerance and arrogance and by all means, be proud of yourself for it.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Reply re: "What do you call a Black Man with a PhD., pt. 2"
Dr. Spence,
With all due respect, I have to disagree with you on one point. "Because the entire concept of racial profiling is based on class–on the idea that black middle and upper class men are treated as if they are POOR and black." This point that you are making here (in my opinion) is not one hundred percent correct. In my experience, "racial profiling" has evolved with time. I believe it is now more correct to call it simply, "profiling". The reason for this shift is actually because of the social "class" that you refer to in your statement. In today’s society, and all the varied dynamics there in, race has gradually become less of an indicator, and thus less important. As a retired police officer it was my personal observation (in the location of my job) that the areas in which crimes were most likely to occur was of course in the more depressed areas of town. With that said I believe that you can agree that economic depression knows no race and therefore is neither biased nor racist. Anyway, in these areas you will find all races of people just as you will all across the land. I can of course only speak to the area in which I live and worked, but race was simply not a factor in determining who was suspect in any given crime. I suppose the point I am trying to get to is that a persons race is becoming less a factor in these matters. There will always be those instances where a particular officer will be the exception, but it is quickly becoming, not the rule. In today’s lawsuit happy society police officers have to be very careful in all that they do, because generally speaking they are usually guilty until proven innocent, and it is a well know fact that even the appearance of a racially motivated action can be a career ender.
One last point, I only worked for two different departments during my career, but in both of those departments it was against department policy to handcuff any suspect’s hands in front of their body for officer safety reasons. To violate this policy could and usually would result in time off without pay, regardless of the suspect. It is very easy to sit in judgment of police officers. The public in general wants to hold them to an all but impossible standard, always wanting to overlook the fact that they too are human. I would venture to guess that if more citizens were to go to their local police department and request to ride along with an officer for a week or two that they would walk away with a vastly different view of police officers. You know... walk a mile in their shoes.
I seriously doubt that Dr. Gates was placed in handcuffs and arrested because of his race. Oh and no, the police officer isn't necessarily always without fault, nor are they necessarily always right.
With all due respect, I have to disagree with you on one point. "Because the entire concept of racial profiling is based on class–on the idea that black middle and upper class men are treated as if they are POOR and black." This point that you are making here (in my opinion) is not one hundred percent correct. In my experience, "racial profiling" has evolved with time. I believe it is now more correct to call it simply, "profiling". The reason for this shift is actually because of the social "class" that you refer to in your statement. In today’s society, and all the varied dynamics there in, race has gradually become less of an indicator, and thus less important. As a retired police officer it was my personal observation (in the location of my job) that the areas in which crimes were most likely to occur was of course in the more depressed areas of town. With that said I believe that you can agree that economic depression knows no race and therefore is neither biased nor racist. Anyway, in these areas you will find all races of people just as you will all across the land. I can of course only speak to the area in which I live and worked, but race was simply not a factor in determining who was suspect in any given crime. I suppose the point I am trying to get to is that a persons race is becoming less a factor in these matters. There will always be those instances where a particular officer will be the exception, but it is quickly becoming, not the rule. In today’s lawsuit happy society police officers have to be very careful in all that they do, because generally speaking they are usually guilty until proven innocent, and it is a well know fact that even the appearance of a racially motivated action can be a career ender.
One last point, I only worked for two different departments during my career, but in both of those departments it was against department policy to handcuff any suspect’s hands in front of their body for officer safety reasons. To violate this policy could and usually would result in time off without pay, regardless of the suspect. It is very easy to sit in judgment of police officers. The public in general wants to hold them to an all but impossible standard, always wanting to overlook the fact that they too are human. I would venture to guess that if more citizens were to go to their local police department and request to ride along with an officer for a week or two that they would walk away with a vastly different view of police officers. You know... walk a mile in their shoes.
I seriously doubt that Dr. Gates was placed in handcuffs and arrested because of his race. Oh and no, the police officer isn't necessarily always without fault, nor are they necessarily always right.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Not cut out for this job...
So after landing my new job as a Wal-Mart greeter, a good find for many retirees, I lasted less than a day...... About two hours into my first day on the job a very loud, unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into the store with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance. As I had been instructed, I said pleasantly, 'Good morning and welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?' The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, 'Hell no, they ain't twins. The oldest one's 9, and the other one's 7. Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or just stupid?' So I replied, 'I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am, I just couldn't believe someone slept with you twice. Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart. My supervisor said I probably wasn't cut out for this line of work.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Another, Someone Did Someone Wrong While At War Song!
Blah, blah, blah. Men with arms; against men with arms is called war. War is hell. No matter how it comes to pass, whether it is in the jungles, mountains or in the streets of your own home town. All the crying and finger pointing, after or during, won't change a thing. Another thing to consider as well is the fact that whether or not anyone gets "punished" for whatever "crime" someone comes up with regarding the battles of war will not change a thing when the next "war" comes around. Someone will get tortured and someone will die. These are the facts of war. The only difference that may be brought about by the punishing of some "scapegoat", is that the "facts" of the next war will be hidden much better from the view of a public that feels that it has the need/ right to know and judge every aspect, of every action and act, of everyone who is involved, in any way, in or with, the war and it’s battles in the future. This country seriously suffers from a very bad case of the armchair quarterback club syndrome. Does there need to be oversight? In a word, yes. But that oversight is already in place. We have the elected officials that we the public put in place by our votes to do that job. If you don’t trust them to do their jobs then don’t put them there in the first place.
It is ridiculous the way our media sniffs out something that they feel could be perceived as a wrong, and then they latch on to it like a pit bull dog and turn it into a media circus. I used to think that we should load all of the lawyers in this country onto a sinking ship at sea to feed them to the sharks. Now I feel that I have found an even more irritating class of people, the reporters of the American News Media. Maybe it isn’t the reporters themselves as much as the various media networks that are to blame. Just because a reporter thinks that they have sniffed out a story doesn’t mean that it should be, or that it needs to be, published. However, we would then be on another subject, that of “Responsible Journalism”, which we know is a fairy tale in our country.
I just don’t understand this innate desire to try to find something to “cry” about and start pointing fingers of accusation at someone once the battles really start and we begin getting our noses a little bloody. All of a sudden it is time to start with the second guessing and questioning, “What business is it of ours? What are we doing all the way over there anyway? It’s not our job to be the Police of the world!” A personal opinion of mine here is that we have only the media to blame with this regard as well. They fuel most of the negative publicity fires with gasoline that they can find and then channel them into our homes via every media vehicle imaginable. They dig for any and all subjects that they can find to stir the public emotion to promote their own viewer or readership numbers and ratings. Unfortunately, the most volatile thing in a drawn out campaign of war, is to fixate on the negative aspects of battle. They prey on the public's desire to jump into battle and achieve victory a couple days later, then jump back out, without any casualties mind you! War doesn’t work that way. Sorry. We, the public then further hamstring our troops by demanding to know what their plans and strategies are for handling the war on a daily basis with up to the hour reports on progress. I guess whoever we are battling doesn’t watch the news. We want to experience the battles so up close and personal that we put reporters right up there with the troops while they engage the enemy. Anyone remember what happened with Geraldo Rivera while he was accompanying the 101st Airborne Division while in Iraq? But as we know, the public has the right and need to know so it is the journalist’s job to get us this information. Otherwise how could we judge, cry or point the finger of accusation?
Now, regarding this torturing of prisoners of war and their “rights” thing. Are you kidding me? Alright, I know the two wrongs don’t make a right thing, and “We shouldn’t lower the level of our standards down to theirs” mantra; but maybe you should ask some of our own American POW’s about how much their “rights” were honored while they were held captive. Ask them if their “rights” were considered and upheld while they were being tortured. I wonder if they felt comforted there in their pen knowing that we as a nation over here; were worrying about whether or not we were looking out for the rights of our prisoners of war and making sure that they were served three squares a day and such. Yep, I’m sure that knowing those facts kept them cozy, warm and “smug” at night. Let’s put the POW’s that we hold through a court proceeding all nice and clean and swear them to “tell the truth” as per their “rights” and expect them to do so. I am sure that a terrorist is going to do just that. Oh, and as to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba being closed regarding the housing of prisoners of war, well how about we just move all those people over here and house them in your back yard. That way you can keep a much closer eye on how they are being treated; and if they look like they might be getting thirsty or something you can bring them a nice cool glass of water.
I have one more personal opinion to state here before I end this trip to my soap box. I believe that our country would benefit greatly if the “Military Draft” were not voluntary. Yes! I mean that I feel that all citizens of the United States should be required to serve a tour in the armed forces. I believe that if all the citizens of this country were to do so that you would see a complete shift in what “Patriotism” meant to the public at large. I believe that you would also find a drastic shift in what would be viewed as “Responsible Journalism” as well. I think that the media might suffer a bit with a requirement of this nature though. I believe that the public at large might not be quite as supportive of the media’s current reporting practices then, and because of this, instead of directing their anger, caused by something that the media has reported on, towards the US Government and its Armed Forces; they might instead direct it at the media networks themselves. What a wonderful thought.
I believe in and support all the Amendments and the Constitution of these United States whole heartedly. I do however feel that these are at times abused, and quite a bit so here lately. We as a country I believe have become much too liberal in our ways and apathetic in our security. What happened to being prepared and ever vigilant? We sit back on our laurels not feeling the need to keep and maintain a ready and fully capable military force. Why, because we are arrogant and think that there isn’t anyone out there that would dare to attack the mighty US of A. So here we sit, a prime target waiting to get caught with our pants down. We have become much too gullible and allowed ourselves to be lead around by our noses by the world media networks. If they report it then it must be gospel! Not only that but also we allow the media to do our thinking for us and allow them to spoon feed us our opinions and to make our decisions for us. Which way shall I vote when I go to the polls to cast my vote on this bill? Well, let me see what the FOX News Network says I should do. This is of course assuming that they go out to vote at all! And we all know what happens when one “assumes”, right?
So how about it America, get up off your asses, grow a pair, open your eyes, engage your brains and get away from the media’s death grip and see things for yourself and make your own decisions about things. Take the media’s spoon fed opinions out of your mouth. You might just discover that their opinions have left a shitty taste in your mouth!
It is ridiculous the way our media sniffs out something that they feel could be perceived as a wrong, and then they latch on to it like a pit bull dog and turn it into a media circus. I used to think that we should load all of the lawyers in this country onto a sinking ship at sea to feed them to the sharks. Now I feel that I have found an even more irritating class of people, the reporters of the American News Media. Maybe it isn’t the reporters themselves as much as the various media networks that are to blame. Just because a reporter thinks that they have sniffed out a story doesn’t mean that it should be, or that it needs to be, published. However, we would then be on another subject, that of “Responsible Journalism”, which we know is a fairy tale in our country.
I just don’t understand this innate desire to try to find something to “cry” about and start pointing fingers of accusation at someone once the battles really start and we begin getting our noses a little bloody. All of a sudden it is time to start with the second guessing and questioning, “What business is it of ours? What are we doing all the way over there anyway? It’s not our job to be the Police of the world!” A personal opinion of mine here is that we have only the media to blame with this regard as well. They fuel most of the negative publicity fires with gasoline that they can find and then channel them into our homes via every media vehicle imaginable. They dig for any and all subjects that they can find to stir the public emotion to promote their own viewer or readership numbers and ratings. Unfortunately, the most volatile thing in a drawn out campaign of war, is to fixate on the negative aspects of battle. They prey on the public's desire to jump into battle and achieve victory a couple days later, then jump back out, without any casualties mind you! War doesn’t work that way. Sorry. We, the public then further hamstring our troops by demanding to know what their plans and strategies are for handling the war on a daily basis with up to the hour reports on progress. I guess whoever we are battling doesn’t watch the news. We want to experience the battles so up close and personal that we put reporters right up there with the troops while they engage the enemy. Anyone remember what happened with Geraldo Rivera while he was accompanying the 101st Airborne Division while in Iraq? But as we know, the public has the right and need to know so it is the journalist’s job to get us this information. Otherwise how could we judge, cry or point the finger of accusation?
Now, regarding this torturing of prisoners of war and their “rights” thing. Are you kidding me? Alright, I know the two wrongs don’t make a right thing, and “We shouldn’t lower the level of our standards down to theirs” mantra; but maybe you should ask some of our own American POW’s about how much their “rights” were honored while they were held captive. Ask them if their “rights” were considered and upheld while they were being tortured. I wonder if they felt comforted there in their pen knowing that we as a nation over here; were worrying about whether or not we were looking out for the rights of our prisoners of war and making sure that they were served three squares a day and such. Yep, I’m sure that knowing those facts kept them cozy, warm and “smug” at night. Let’s put the POW’s that we hold through a court proceeding all nice and clean and swear them to “tell the truth” as per their “rights” and expect them to do so. I am sure that a terrorist is going to do just that. Oh, and as to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba being closed regarding the housing of prisoners of war, well how about we just move all those people over here and house them in your back yard. That way you can keep a much closer eye on how they are being treated; and if they look like they might be getting thirsty or something you can bring them a nice cool glass of water.
I have one more personal opinion to state here before I end this trip to my soap box. I believe that our country would benefit greatly if the “Military Draft” were not voluntary. Yes! I mean that I feel that all citizens of the United States should be required to serve a tour in the armed forces. I believe that if all the citizens of this country were to do so that you would see a complete shift in what “Patriotism” meant to the public at large. I believe that you would also find a drastic shift in what would be viewed as “Responsible Journalism” as well. I think that the media might suffer a bit with a requirement of this nature though. I believe that the public at large might not be quite as supportive of the media’s current reporting practices then, and because of this, instead of directing their anger, caused by something that the media has reported on, towards the US Government and its Armed Forces; they might instead direct it at the media networks themselves. What a wonderful thought.
I believe in and support all the Amendments and the Constitution of these United States whole heartedly. I do however feel that these are at times abused, and quite a bit so here lately. We as a country I believe have become much too liberal in our ways and apathetic in our security. What happened to being prepared and ever vigilant? We sit back on our laurels not feeling the need to keep and maintain a ready and fully capable military force. Why, because we are arrogant and think that there isn’t anyone out there that would dare to attack the mighty US of A. So here we sit, a prime target waiting to get caught with our pants down. We have become much too gullible and allowed ourselves to be lead around by our noses by the world media networks. If they report it then it must be gospel! Not only that but also we allow the media to do our thinking for us and allow them to spoon feed us our opinions and to make our decisions for us. Which way shall I vote when I go to the polls to cast my vote on this bill? Well, let me see what the FOX News Network says I should do. This is of course assuming that they go out to vote at all! And we all know what happens when one “assumes”, right?
So how about it America, get up off your asses, grow a pair, open your eyes, engage your brains and get away from the media’s death grip and see things for yourself and make your own decisions about things. Take the media’s spoon fed opinions out of your mouth. You might just discover that their opinions have left a shitty taste in your mouth!
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