bits, pieces and ruminations from this past Sunday's show
as far as the Kim Davis thing is concerned....
this
woman's personal belief system and her commitment to it are NOT the reasons
that her behavior is inappropriate...
1.
she is an employee of the county clerk's office
2. she is refusing, for personal reasons, to carry out her duties as an employee of the county clerk's office
3. she is in violation of the verbal/written contract she made when she took the job that stipulated her duties as an employee of the county clerk's office.
4. at this time, she is also, now, in violation of a Supreme Court edict that she faithfully carry out the duties of the county clerk's office
5. she is, like any human being, entitled to her beliefs and to the expression of those beliefs.
6. she is NOT, like any employee of any company, entitled to refuse to carry out the duties of the job she was hired to do AND the job that she is being PAID, by ALL taxpayers, regardless of race, creed, color, gender and/or sexual preference, to do.
7. her particular protest is not illegitimate nor inappropriate.....the manner in which she is CONDUCTING that particular protest IS inappropriate and, technically, illegal.
8. cashing a paycheck for doing this job while refusing to do this job and justifying her refusal by citing religious objections is, at best, hypocritical and, at worst, damaging to the legitimate cause of protesting the issue of same sex marriage....
2. she is refusing, for personal reasons, to carry out her duties as an employee of the county clerk's office
3. she is in violation of the verbal/written contract she made when she took the job that stipulated her duties as an employee of the county clerk's office.
4. at this time, she is also, now, in violation of a Supreme Court edict that she faithfully carry out the duties of the county clerk's office
5. she is, like any human being, entitled to her beliefs and to the expression of those beliefs.
6. she is NOT, like any employee of any company, entitled to refuse to carry out the duties of the job she was hired to do AND the job that she is being PAID, by ALL taxpayers, regardless of race, creed, color, gender and/or sexual preference, to do.
7. her particular protest is not illegitimate nor inappropriate.....the manner in which she is CONDUCTING that particular protest IS inappropriate and, technically, illegal.
8. cashing a paycheck for doing this job while refusing to do this job and justifying her refusal by citing religious objections is, at best, hypocritical and, at worst, damaging to the legitimate cause of protesting the issue of same sex marriage....
a
pastor friend of mine put it exquisitely and spot on:
"...
I admire her conviction to her faith but I think she is missing the point. When
Jesus called Matthew he left his positions as tax collector and followed
Him...."
Kim
Davis is one very blatant example of why those who are still willing to listen
to a well-articulated perspective on spiritual and/or Scriptural issues are
increasingly LESS, rather than more, inclined to keep listening.....
Parents gathered outside of a school board meeting Thursday night to pray. They feel that 17-year-old Lila Perry, a transgender Hillsboro High School student, should not be allowed to use the women's locker and rest rooms.
Perry was born a boy, but identifies as a girl. The school provided her with a unisex restroom.
In an interview earlier this week, Perry said she wanted to be treated like the other female students.
"Gender neutral restrooms, it feels like I'm being segregated out, I feel like I'm being pushed out, like they're trying to put all the transgender people together."
Local attorney Derrick Good is a Hillsboro High School graduate and father of two daughters. His oldest daughter attends extracurricular activities at the high school a few days a week. Good says students should have the right to bodily privacy, and parents have provided the school board with a nine page letter and sample policy with the hopes that they lay clear cut ground rules for gender neutral restrooms.
"We shouldn't put everyone else in an uncomfortable situation just because one person doesn't like the accommodations that were made," Good said.
School leaders didn't comment on the mounting concerns at the school board meeting Thursday, going straight into executive session.
Meanwhile, many of the parents who gathered outside of the meeting to pray also signed a petition, hoping that sex segregated restrooms and gender neutral restrooms would be established.
ONE CALLER earlier in the week mentioned the obvious risk of actual sexual deviates dressing up like women to gain access to the locker rooms and/or restrooms….ANOTHER caller, half kiddingly, referred to the “apparatus” of the male versus the female….and that rang a bell for me……….
TWO CENTS….in lieu of adding “gender
neutral” facilities which is unlikely in existing structures for no other
reason that it’s an expense a building owner is unlikely to take ………..here’s
the solution: we stop referring to them as bathrooms, locker rooms, rest rooms
(which, frankly, confused me until I was about 13…who’s resting in there?) and
call them simply…penis stations….vagina stations…..and in the penis stations,
no vaginas allowed….in the vagina stations, no
penises allowed...from this day forward it has ONLY to do with the actual
equipment entering the space, it has NOTHING to do with what or who is attached
to it….while it’s all very compassionate to try and accommodate those who
“identify” with being one sex when they are, physically, another sex, but its
this business of “identifying” that is the slippery slope…because Identifying
is really nothing more than a big word that means “feeling like” or “in the
mood to be”….and while I don’t have a problem with you coming home for eight
hours as a lumber jack and putting on a pretty pair of pumps, I do have a
problem with you taking your penis into the same bathroom where my 10 year old
daughter is pulling down her pants to use the facilities….it’s not one’s right
to shame someone else for their “feelings”….but those “feelings” shouldn’t be
used as an advantage that puts parents and grandparents at a DISadvantage….
someday…gender neutral toilet
facilities might be the norm…until then….in the grand tradition of no shoes, no
shirt, no service……no penises allowed HERE and no vaginas allowed THERE…..
THIS WEEK'S PARTING SHOT..............GORT....and FREEDOM
on this
Labor day weekend, I wanted to share some thoughts on that most treasured of
our American possessions: freedom
we are free
to eat what we want, when we want, where we
want and as
much as we want…300,000 of us will die this year from obesity---
we are free
to drive automobiles and motorcycles and while there are, laughably, speed
“limits”, we mostly drive as fast as
want, where we want, whenever we want---3,287 of us die each DAY from car
crashes---
we are free
to drink wine and beer and whiskeys, pretty much what we want, whenever we
want, wherever we want, as much as we want and 88,000 of die each year from
excessive alcohol use…
we are
still free to smoke, if not where we always want, then still pretty much
whatever we want, whenever we want…16 million of us are living with a disease
caused by smoking…480,000 of us will die from smoking, 42,000 of us from the
second hand smoke coming from others---
we are free
to own weapons, the weapons we want, as many weapons as we want, when we
want---34, 000 of us will die this year from gunfire---
we are free
to live the kind of life we want, when we want it, where we want it, for as
long as we want it…and 836,000 of us will visit an emergency room this year for
self inflicted injury, over 41,000 of us will kill ourselves…
we have the
freedom of expression, the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the
freedom to worship as we choose and we use those freedoms to call each terrible
names, yell and scream our hatred for each other and one another at the top of
our lungs, angrily, even violently insist that OUR freedom is to be respected
but ANOTHER’S freedom is to be questioned, even denied, if it doesn’t agree with our own way of
thinking and/or belief system…we read a thousand different versions of the same
news story from a press that stands passionately up for their freedom of the
press but no longer feels the need to include the responsibility of reporting
that news without prejudice or personal or corporate agenda, even without
regard for simple human dignity and decency, we use our religious beliefs as
crutches, shields, hammers, swords,
flamethrowers, in a word, weapons, as opposed to words and deeds and
philosophies intended to close wounds and heal and join us together…
we pride
ourselves on our patriotism, most often exemplified in the expressions of all
of the aforementioned freedoms when, in fact, we are to sincere and thoughtful
patriotism as toddlers are to mature adults,
tantrum throwing, crying, screaming, whining, selfish, undeveloped and
immature babies…wanting what we want, when we want it, where we want it and how
we want it and wobetide the reasonable voice or soul or body that stands in the
way of that want…
America is
a two hundred and 39 year old nation filled with two year olds…we’re incapable
of feeding ourselves, incapable of disciplining ourselves, incapable of
governing ourselves, incapable of understanding the difference between rights
and privileges, between religion and worship, between lighting a torch to lead
others out of darkness and lighting a rag topped bottle to burn down a
neighborhood…
we are
free…and freedom is killing us….
in the 1951
sci fi classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still, the main character Klaatu,
talking to a DC politician, explained patiently, as one would explain something
to a two year old, that long ago, his home planet recognized, and admitted to,
their inability to rise above the petty and dangerous squabbling inevitable
between the immature, unevolved inhabitants of their planet and in order to try
and save the best of who they were while doing away with as much of the worst
as possible, created a race of robots and gave them supreme and absolute
control over the planet’s population….the programming was based on core values
of common sense, love and peace…
those
unable to live in love and peace and common sense were dealt with accordingly,
with no exceptions, no deals, no extenuating circumstances, no excuses, no plea
bargains, no allowances for this hair split or that technicality, no wearying
wiggle room allowed in which endless, mindless, childish arguments could be
argued whether that argument be over which God was the real God or the best God
or the just God or the fair God or the God to follow or the God to ignore, even
disrespect, even vilify….
just common
sense, love and peace….
as we are
bringing up our children in this life, one of the first, most basic tenets we
follow is to never give a child more freedom than the child is capable of
handling in a responsible manner…we don’t hand a baby a fork until the baby is capable
of eating without stabbing itself, or others, in the face…we do not put a child
on a bicycle until we are sure the child can balance and ride safely…we do not
hand a gun to a child who is not mature enough to understand and totally
respect the life or death power the weapon possesses (well, actually, that one
isn’t all that true anymore)…and we don’t put a child behind the wheel of a car
until we have some sense that the child understands the machine can just as
easily end lives as it can make life easier….
but here we
are…all 320 million of us….afforded the freedoms that allow us to do almost
anything we want, when we want, where we want, with who we want, as much as
want, as long as we want, in whatever way we want….
and we are
hating each other in record numbers, killing each other in record numbers…and
dying in record numbers… in the word, we’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd
in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median
household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports. We lead the
world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita,
number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we
spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies. And THAT
dollar amount is sadder, even more offensive, when you take into account that
next to NONE of it is spent on the men and women who actually serve and
sacrifice in our military..
by now...if
you’ve been listening long enough to what I’m offering here, you’re likely in
one of two groups….
a group
that agrees with most of what is being said here, angry and resentful that the
once greatest country in the world has fallen so far and is falling so fast and
ready, honestly ready, for solutions that will work and not just more bumper
sticker bullshit—
or you’re a
member of a group that can’t or won’t listen to anybody, anytime, say anything
except God bless America, it’s Obama’s fault and my personal un-favorite phrase
that pays, America, love it or leave it….
I do love
it…and I don’t want to leave it…but it’s broken and it needs to be fixed… and
while I’m proud to stand next to any of you and wave our flag, I’m not willing,
ready or about to wrap myself IN our flag so tightly that it cuts off the flow
of blood to my brain, blinding me and deafening me to the honest, real and
frightening problems that we face right now…and tomorrow…
and so,
now, after all these words describing the problem…what is the solution?
first,
here’s the bad news: there is no simple, quick fix, couple of words answer to
that question…..
what I DO
know is this: replacing the inept,
corrupted, broken parts of our governmental system with new, inept, corrupted
parts is going to accomplish nothing more than keeping this sputtering,
smoking, weaving POS Chevy we call the executive, legislative, judicial system
of ours sputtering, smoking and weaving down the road toward that big cliff
comin…with US in the back seat
and letting
one political party or another, or one demagogue or another, TAKE OUR COUNTRY
BACK is going to accomplish nothing because given the nature, and
limitations, and flaws, of human beings
TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK doesn’t mean what we’d all like to think it means….that
the country will be reacquired from those who hijacked us off the road toward
happy ever after and started driving us down the road toward the end of
days----what TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK really means is “WE want to be in charge and
we don’t really know what to do or how to do it, the only thing we DO know is
that we don’t want YOU to be in charge”…..
Immaturity
and self interest and selfishness and greed and abuse of freedom and power
comes in all shapes, sizes, genders, colors and political affiliations….
and when it
comes to the childish, petty, temper tantrum style of politics that we’ve
allowed to flourish in this country in the last, say, twenty years or so, personnel changes are going to accomplish
squat…nothing more than a new coat of paint on a house that’s falling down….or
as my colorful grandpa used to say, “you can put plush, white shag carpet
inside an outhouse…It’s still an outhouse----“
so, once
again, we’re back to what do we do?
well, try
this on for size….how about we turn to technology for the answer….how about we
create a race of robots, have them programmed by a neutral group of anonymous
scientists with no political axe to grind whatsoever, program them to protect
us, shelter us, to assist us and, more importantly, to keep each and every one
of us on the right of the line separating spirited discussion and temper
tantrum…and the premise of the programming? common sense…love….peace….. no
exceptions, no deals, no extenuating circumstances, no excuses, no plea
bargains, no allowances for this hair split or that technicality, no wearying
wiggle room allowed in which endless, mindless, childish arguments could be
argued whether that argument be over which God was the real God or the best God
or the just God or the fair God or the God to follow or the God to ignore, even
disrespect, even vilify….
but, those
without any real sense of the danger facing us, complain…what about our
FREEDOM? we want our FREEDOM! you cant take away our FREEDOM!...........
well, look
around….and go back and look up some of those numbers I shared with you
earlier…..freedom is killing us…..
at least
the freedoms that our founders gave us with every reasonable expectation that
we would be worthy of them….that we would grow up as a country the way a child
grows up to become a responsible, caring, loving, selfless adult…..
so far, not
so much…and lately, not at all….
some might
say to my idea, you need to just shut up or get on out of this country if you
don’t love it because we aint gonna hand over our freedoms to no robots…..
well,
first, to those folks, let me offer that I already covered that love it or
leave it business a few minutes ago and, as usual, you wasn’t listening…..and
nobody is talking about handing over any freedom to anybody, not even to no
robots…..
with one
exception….we would be handing over the freedom to abuse all the other
freedoms….and admitting that we are smart enough, wise enough and brave enough
to ask for help when we need it…even if that help comes from a highly advanced
machine….
yeah, I
know…the whole idea sounds crazy….
not crazy
like letting ignorance and stupidity and vanity and selfishhess and greed and
sloth and avarice and pride and petty bickering and squabbling and arguing and
fighting and too much fried chicken and too many shots of Jack Daniels and too
many cigarettes and too many 90 miles an hour rides down 30 mile an hour
streets and too many AR-15’s on the shoulders of your everyday department store
shopper and too many inciteful words of hatred and venom and vitriol and
viciousness put the final fatal blows to the country that we all love and
respect….
not crazy
like that….
but,
yeah…crazy…..
thanks for joining me on the show....till Sunday night at 7P....see ya.....
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