A rose by any other name

      Most of us have heard the expression "A rose by any other name . smell as sweet". It seems to me that the underlying thought of that statement is being adapted to the strategy of those who would completely change society to fit their desires by changing the definition of words.

     Ir worked for the rose so let us change the definition of marriage.  Even though for thousands of years the word, according to all of the dictionaries, said: Marriage is the union between a man and a woman.  So change the definition.  Why not make it between any two consenting adults.  Why not go farther and make it a union between a cowboy and his horse.

     There once was a time when a person was a racist if he judged a person by the color of his skin.  He or she was a lower class person simply because their skin was a different color.  But that has been changed so drastically that you cannot use an expression like Chinese virus.  It makes no difference that the use of the word simply denotes a suspected source of a virus and no judgmental opinion on any citizen of China.  I suppose an Irishman could object about the use of the term Irish Potato.

     We have never had a problem with bathroom privileges until we have a group of people who are in the process of changing their gender.  All of a sudden we have a problem.  I fail to see why a person would be uncomfortable in using the bathroom they have been using all of their life.  However, I will give them that possibility that they may have become uncomfortable with that restroom.  But, what could possibly be wrong with having three bathrooms or even four bathrooms.  

     Much of the changes that we are facing today have more to do with not wanting others to have what they have had for years and for them to accept the life style of others,

     The aroma of a rose would be there if you changed its name.  Very few  words are compatible with more than one accepted definition, To do so weakens the word to where it has no meaning or definition.

Halt! Who Goes There?

     Having been absence from my post of blogging for such  a long time, I find it difficult to zero in on one particular subject.  Nevertheless, I will give it a try.
     It is a very difficult time that we live in today; black snow falls, faith's wings have been clipped by reason's scissors, those things that used to be right are now considered wrong, and those things that were considered wrong are now considered right.  I seems as if there are no longer any absolute values in which something is absolutely right or absolutely wrong.  Even in our churches we have tried to make room for everybody.  Brother that's too much room.
     The latest attack upon society is the wave of interest in the transgender demands.  Here we have cries to disregard the wishes of the majority of the nation to satisfy the whelms of less than 1% of people who claim to be a transgender identifying as a person opposite to their natural identity at birth.
     No one has come close to explaining how a transgender person is being discriminated against if you have bathrooms for male, bathrooms for female and bathrooms for transgender people.  Even where is the problem of having a unisex bathroom where a person goes in an locks the door.  There is no way to protect the girls and women in the bathrooms from a grown sexual pervert who wants to claim that he now identifies as a woman.
     In Texas recently there was a person born as a female, identifying as a male who was in the process of taking testosterone and wished to compete against girls.  As in so many situations here is a person who wants their cake and eat it too.  We have opened Pandora's box! 
    

Truths, Half-Truths, White Lies and Lies

It is a long time until the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  Between now and that time you will hear thousands of lies.  There will be a mixture of truths, half-truths and lies.  If I had the vocabulary of some of my Democrat friends I would add their third category-d___ lies.  Make no mistake about it both the Democrat and the Republican party will lie, even if it hurts the nation, if it will advance their cause.   

     I recently saw a post on face book that I wish to address in this blog.  The post was prepared by an individual evidently and then shared by others, entitled, “3 Republican Lies About Welfare.”   I notice there is a prevailing trait among everyone to share those things that they believe in without checking the accuracy and to check the accuracy if it does not agree with their thinking.

.     First, I wish to address the title.  I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I have been guilty of voting for both parties and think the death of both parties, as they now function, probably would be good for America.  I have never had a Republican tell me those “lies or facts” as they are presented.  But I am sure there are elitists in both parties that individually accept those three things as fact.

Number one:  Undocumented immigrants abuse the welfare system.  Is the statement saying illegal aliens abuse the welfare system or undocumented immigrants?  There are some words some folks cannot say.  The next thing I wonder about is the use of the word abuse.  Is that saying that they use the system illegally or in some way else abuse the system?  I interpreted the statement to say that illegal aliens are receiving funds from the welfare system.  At least his “fact” is clear; They cannot qualify for any form of public assistance.  Unfortunately his fact is a lie.  First, no person citizen or noncitizen can be denied Medicaid funds.  The 1996 reforms changed almost every aspect of non-citizen eligibility for welfare.  I will not burden the reader with all of those reforms but just enough to prove that the fact is a lie.  Refugees are eligible for all welfare benefits.  A person who has worked in the United States for ten years, citizen or not, is eligible for welfare benefits and his dependents.  I think also that children born in the United States, they are citizens, and probably their parents, citizen or non-citizen, would probably be entitled to aid.

With some exceptions, non-citizens entering the United States after August 22, 1996, the date of enactment of the welfare reform legislation, are not eligible for most welfare benefits, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), SSI, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), UNTIL they have been in the U.S. for at least five years. Keeping this general principle in mind, a more thorough review of the 1996 provisions reveals both their complexity and breadth.  

Number two:  (Lie) Welfare encourages people to not work.  His fact:  Most welfare recipients work.

This is so shallow that it scarcely deserves any type of response.  Obviously, most welfare recipients are not encouraged to not work.  Many are old, retired and/or physically unable to work.  But I know folks who will not take a job for fear of losing their welfare check.  And what type of fact would his fact be since most folks are not even in physical condition to work.

Number three: (Lie) Most welfare recipients are minorities.  His fact:  Most welfare recipients are white.

This one is a classic.  We can talk about the number of folks on the welfare roles by the actual physical numbers or we can refer to them as a percent of the population.  Before I present the actual numbers of the welfare system permit me to use a specific case.  I know a town in Mississippi in which there is not a single white person on the welfare role.  By the same token, every person receiving welfare is black.  Sounds like something a racist would say.  However, those two statements say nothing at all because the town is an all black town.  Could be that only one person is receiving welfare; but the per cents receiving welfare still remain the same—white 0%; black 100%.

     According to the 2010 census the population of the United States was 309.3 million: of that number 223,553,265 were white, 38,929,319 were African-American.   Thus you have percentage wise: 72.4% white, 12.6% African-Americans.    23.1% of white population, 54.6% of the  African-American population, and 54.1% of the Hispanic population are on the welfare roles.  Thus the comparison is: obviously there are more whites on welfare because they make up 72.4% of the population.  But, when you compare percent of the population to the percent receiving welfare you receive a total different picture.

     If I may conclude with the immortal words of the great leader of the Democrat party, “What difference does it make?”  She was speaking of the deaths of men.  Surely, I can say the same words about the welfare system.  It matter

s not the number receiving welfare, what does matter is the number of able-bodied men and women who are abusing the system.

That Is Who We Are

President Obama tries to view the world through rose colored glasses and does not see things as they really are he remarks, “That’s not who we are.”

     There are times I try to give the man the benefit of the doubt and say that he just does not understand.  However, there are times when I think he knows exactly how things are and his goal from day one of taking office was to weaken America among the nations of the world.

     Our very existence was driven by the necessity of trying to survive.  For two hundred years we grew and expanded because of who we were.  The strongest survived, the weak did not.  We refused to bow down to the tyranny of the laws of Great Britain.  Thus, a little rag-tag band of men took up arms and defeated one of the more mighty nations on earth at that time.

     We formulated our laws based upon the Judeo-Christian concept and it stood the time and tests of two world wars, the civil war and numerous “police actions”.  He does not get the concept of our citizens owning guns.  The Japanese understood that point perfectly and did not try to attack our mainland.  Yes, Mr. President, we are a people of guns; have been and always will be.  And never forget there are still many who are a people of the bible as well.

     There are numerous things that he would learn if he would read upon American History and how the great presidents reacted.  Thank God, he was not there when the Muslim pirates demanded tribute money.  Thomas Jefferson knew exactly what to do.  President Obama would have bowed down and kissed their shoes.  Most of our presidents recognized danger to our country and reacted bravely.  Carter banned those from Iran to enter the country and even sent some home that were already here.  Obama and Hillary want to open the doors and let all come in who desire.

     We also are a people who believe in--live and let live.  At every turn he has tried to push religious freedom for and upon the Muslims.  Does he not get it; they do not want religious freedom.  They do not practice religious freedom nor will they allow others to have religious freedom.  And yet throughout this land people are being forced to grant to them freedoms that even others do not have. Until the Muslims arrived I never heard of someone demanding of an employer to give them time and a place to pray.

     Until lately our country has been one of open arms, come and join us, come and help us.  And they came from every country of the world and literally became and American.  But today, they want to come and bring their flag, bring their language, expect us to accept their cultural traditions.  Can you imagine a woman wanting to have her picture on the driving license with their face covered?  I suppose she thought that Americans were really that stupid, did we not elect Obama twice.

     I hope it was only America wanting to do what was politically correct when we elected him as president.  After all, there is nothing wrong in an African-American being president.  There were just too many red flags about this man.  Apparently is grand-father and father were Muslim, he received much of education in a Muslim school, he attended a “Christian Church” in which the pastor openly said, “God Dam, America.”  I have no way of knowing where he was born, perhaps in Hawaii, but many red flags go up about his birth certificate.  The one I think is so damaging is that his race is listed as African-American.  I have lived through the times when each and every birth and death certificate listed the black race as either, Negro, colored, or black.  The term African-American showed up around the eighties.

     He has done a lot of damage in America, but thank God, his days are limited.  The greatest fear we have today is that Hillary will continue his agenda and also add him to the Supreme Court.  God have mercy upon us.

      

      

Fulfilling the Dream

Normally, I do not blog about anything that is personal, but today I wish to make an exception.  Those of you who know me already know most of the facts presented here but this is a special tribute to a special person.

      On February 6, 1958 I had the fortune of being married to Doris June Robinson.  For fifty years she was, as is noted on the door of the conference room at South Arkansas Christian School, the perfect “preacher’s wife.”   I can truthfully say, I would neither change any of the things she did, nor things that she did not do.  Oh, we had some disagreements along the way but  usually they were my fault.  The only time the kids felt any tension between us was when a leaf fire that she was burning, spread and caught the dog house on fire to which my bird-dog was chained.      At that time I told her, Honey, you can find a wife any day of the week, but a good bird dog is hard to find.  Things were a little tense for a while.

      Early in our marriage we moved frequently; changes between schools and churches.  She never complained.  She taught herself to drive during one week when I was away for church camp.  We had our moments of sadness, as everyone has.  Our first child was premature and only lived twenty-four hours, we lost another because of a miscarriage that was caused by an automobile wreck.  Then there were the normal loses of parents and the other relatives.  We each tried to always be there for the other.

     Her work ethics were tremendous.  Often she worked at two different jobs and then loved to get out and mow the lawn.

     We had no particular dream in life except to be together, raise our family and worship our God.  Then things suddenly changed.  A single cancer cell was discovered in her breast.  By this time two of our great-grandchildren were here.  She was so determined to have a part in raising those kids that she chose to have both breasts removed to avoid the return of the cancer.  Then a few months later the words no one wants to hear—stage four cancer.  Her cancer was a cancer of the lungs, which had spread into the bone and into the brain, thus major surgery, chemo, radiation.  Not one time did she ever complain.  However, it seemed as if her concern for the children was even stronger.  In the last few months of her life she would often waken and ask, Honey, is her head uncovered.

     She told me during those last weeks, Honey, take care of those kids.  That was her dream.

     Thus, the title, fulfilling the dream.  There are some things in life to which no question is asked, a person just does it.  There have been many who made mention of the difficulty of raising teen age kids today.  I remember a picture many years ago of a boy carrying a smaller boy on his back.  Someone asked if he were heavy.  The older boy responded, No, sir, he’s my brother.  The task of providing for Bailey and Charlee is not a burden, it is a joy, because I am Fulfilling a dream.

Normally, I do not blog about anything that is personal, but today I wish to make an exception.  Those of you who know me already know most of the facts presented here but this is a special tribute to a special person.

      On February 6, 1958 I had the fortune of being married to Doris June Robinson.  For fifty years she was, as is noted on the door of the conference room at South Arkansas Christian School, the perfect “preacher’s wife.”   I can truthfully say, I would neither change any of the things she did, nor things that she did not do.  Oh, we had some disagreements along the way but  usually they were my fault.  The only time the kids felt any tension between us was when a leaf fire that she was burning, spread and caught the dog house on fire to which my bird-dog was chained.      At that time I told her, Honey, you can find a wife any day of the week, but a good bird dog is hard to find.  Things were a little tense for a while.

      Early in our marriage we moved frequently; changes between schools and churches.  She never complained.  She taught herself to drive during one week when I was away for church camp.  We had our moments of sadness, as everyone has.  Our first child was premature and only lived twenty-four hours, we lost another because of a miscarriage that was caused by an automobile wreck.  Then there were the normal loses of parents and the other relatives.  We each tried to always be there for the other.

     Her work ethics were tremendous.  Often she worked at two different jobs and then loved to get out and mow the lawn.

     We had no particular dream in life except to be together, raise our family and worship our God.  Then things suddenly changed.  A single cancer cell was discovered in her breast.  By this time two of our great-grandchildren were here.  She was so determined to have a part in raising those kids that she chose to have both breasts removed to avoid the return of the cancer.  Then a few months later the words no one wants to hear—stage four cancer.  Her cancer was a cancer of the lungs, which had spread into the bone and into the brain, thus major surgery, chemo, radiation.  Not one time did she ever complain.  However, it seemed as if her concern for the children was even stronger.  In the last few months of her life she would often waken and ask, Honey, is her head uncovered.

     She told me during those last weeks, Honey, take care of those kids.  That was her dream.

     Thus, the title, fulfilling the dream.  There are some things in life to which no question is asked, a person just does it.  There have been many who made mention of the difficulty of raising teen age kids today.  I remember a picture many years ago of a boy carrying a smaller boy on his back.  Someone asked if he were heavy.  The older boy responded, No, sir, he’s my brother.  The task of providing for Bailey and Charlee is not a burden, it is a joy, because I am Fulfilling a dream.

Living in the Land Where Thinking It Makes It So

     Somehow we have lost our way.  During the space of time that God has allowed me to live upon the face of His earth we have turned many things completely around.  We do not live in a perfect world.  There are situations every day in which there is no perfect solution for everyone a concerned.  We must remember that my rights end where your rights begin.  But we have forgotten that most important concept.
     I am not questioning the rights or the wrongs of any of the sexual preferences of those involved, but I am questioning the handling of many of the decisions that the government is forcing upon society.  Because of space allotted I will only deal with the transgender topic at this time. 
     I understand that there are some born as a female who wish to be a mail and the expression is they identify as a male and then there are those who are born with the sexual attributes of a male and they desire to be a female.  The much worn phrase is they identify as a male or female.
     Enter a problem, what do they do now?  For thousands of years these individuals, assuming that this condition has always existed, have coped with the situation and were able to live productive lives as others who have conditions in their life to which they had difficulty adjusting.  Obviously that would be one solution.  The opposite end of the spectrum they have the option of having very expensive, radical body changing surgery.  (Is this now a civil right that a person has for the government  to pay for any change in their life in which they find themselves uncomfortable.)  There are many who have in the past and obviously will in the future who will proceed with the surgery.  The liberal group would say it is not right for them to have emotional struggles with the identity problem.  It is very doubtful that the emotional struggle will be over when the surgery is finished.  It may just be starting.  Some statistics show that the suicide rate among those who have had the transformation take place is twenty per cent higher than the normal population.
     In the meantime we have another problem.  Let us look at what might be a typical classroom setting in which we have five boys, five girls and two transgender persons--one a male who identifies as a female and the other a female who identifies as a male.  They are now all sixteen years old and for all of their school life they five boys and the male who identifies as a female have all used the same bathroom and shared the same dressing room/shower facilities.  The situation being the same for the five girls and the female who identifies as a male.  Each group has seen each other in the nude all of these years.  Now the male identifying as a female wishes to go into the girls dressing room, restroom and shower.  He is uncomfortable after all of these years being with the boys and wants to be with the girls.  Our great leader says to the school, if you don't let him do this we will cut off your money.  He would echo what many liberals are saying, you must consider his situation and not treat him any differently.  May I ask a simple question, What about the rights and feelings of the five girls and the one girl who identifies as a male, do they not have any rights?
     Do you imagine there might be a little different situation with the other group.  These five male and the male identifying as a female have shared the same dressing room and shower for years and here comes a girl to dress and shower with them.  You would have to be a fool to not see that acceptance and/or rejection is going to be different in the two different dressing rooms.
     Up until now we have always acknowledged two groups, male and female, and have provided, accordingly, facilities for two groups, male and female.  So, since we now have a third group, what could possibly be discriminating about having three facilities, male, female, transgender.  What's that?  It would make the transgender stand out if he/she had to use a separate bathroom.  Not as much as the nude body would stand out in a group of nude girls.
     Outside of the three bathrooms, the only other logical situation is one unisex facility; go in, lock the door and have your own preferential privacy.
     As an afterthought, if you can't beat them join them.  I have always wished that I could sing.  So, hereafter I shall let it be known that I identify as a musician.  I need a little funds to get me to Nashville, Tennessee.  I am sure that the government will force any of those recording companies to give me a lucrative contract.  I have in mind about the same amount that a sex-change operation would cost.  It obviously does not make any difference that I do not know one note from another, all that matters is that is the way I wish to be perceived.  Better times are just on down the road.

The Election Everyone Dreads

     I do not know of anyone in my circle that is looking forward to the presidential election of 2016.  It is a sad time as we consider the process of choosing between two candidates that many wish would just go away.  But they are not going to go away and we will either vote for one of them, waste a vote on a third party candidate, or stay at home and not vote.
     Russell Moore, who heads up the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, would like to simplify your choice for you.  He says if a person stands up to Donald Trump, he will "be on the right side of Jesus."  That makes about as much sense as when the mother of James and John wanted one of her sons to be on the either side of Jesus.  I would hope that everyone has a better reason to cast a vote than just standing up to Donald Trump.
     Let me make it perfectly clear, I don't like Donald Trump and I dislike Hillary Clinton even more, but  I will cast my vote based upon the following issues.  Whichever candidate supports things that I hold dear to my heart will receive my vote.  I am opposed to killing infants in the womb.  If there were no other issues, this one alone would secure my vote.  A nation that will kill infants in the womb will also eventually allow the old people to die.
     Secondly, I believe I have a right to own a gun.  I want to know where these candidates stand on taking away the right of Americans to bear arms.
     I think our borders, north and south, must be protected.  I have many dear friends who arrived here from Mexico.  I never asked how they crossed the border.  Some of them became naturalized citizens, some married American citizens, some were born here but I still say close the border.  If children can walk across the border, you would be stupid to think that a terrorist would not do so also.
     We must be extremely cautious in admitting the war refugees and make certain that no terrorists have infiltrated the group.
     Any individual wishing to come to America should be willing to come desiring to assimilate into the mainstream life.  Do not expect us to give you a handout.  Leave your flag behind, we have enough flag problems.  There is only one set of laws in America.  If you love your set of laws stay where you are.  Over a period of 300+ years we have developed a culture and for some of you our eating habits may be different than yours.  You know that when you come.  Don't even claim that seeing an advertisement for a pork chop offends you.  You don't have to eat it and we will not be offended when you don't.  You did not like the country you left, so don't try to make this country like the one you left, obviously you didn't like it.
     I could go on for some time, and probably will later; but these are a few of the things that will shape the final decision for who I will vote for, not whether it is Democrat or Republican, not whether it is male or female, certainly not whether it is Trump  or Clinton.