Came across this on Facebook. Just a taste of the craziness we have to deal with in this country.
Sorry about the formatting, you should be able to figure it out.
Laurie Lee Masterson
Laurie Lee Masterson **AND THIS?** ## Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. ## Discredit the American founding fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man”.
Yesterday at 7:14pm
2 people like this.
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Laurie Lee, this is what amazes me the most about this bum of a president. I just absolutely do not think this election was on the up and up. This was known before he was elected. I just don't get it, I just don't.
Yesterday at 7:21pm
Julia Foreman
Julia Foreman
How does another failure in passing a jobs bill play into "the plan"?
Yesterday at 7:25pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
More people dependent on the government through food stamps etc and government food banks, medicaid, medicare and what ever else the government chooses to "give them"
Yesterday at 7:27pm
Jon Cross
Jon Cross
OBAMA IS DOING MORE HARM TO THIS COUNTRY THAN OSAMA DID!! WHO IS THE GREATER THREAT??
Yesterday at 7:28pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Osama/Obama as far as I'm concerned they are one in the same!
Yesterday at 7:30pm
Gary Munson
Gary Munson
Laurie, Ideological morons can be convinced of anything, given enough time...
Yesterday at 7:31pm
Gary Munson
Gary Munson
Obama Bin Laden...
Yesterday at 7:31pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Good one Gary!
Yesterday at 7:32pm
Gary Munson
Gary Munson
:).....
Yesterday at 7:34pm
Belinda Manning
Belinda Manning
RIGHT ON DONNA E. I feel the same way.
Yesterday at 7:36pm
Belinda Manning
Belinda Manning
@Jon C. Right on to you too Jon. Obama is out to destroy our country and I will always believe that about that non American. Many say im a fool but i don't care. I know what my gut is telling me and what his actions show me.
Yesterday at 7:42pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Why does everyone think he is trying so hard to strong arm amnesty for illegals, because he is one of them.
Yesterday at 7:44pm
Carol Nichols
Carol Nichols
Please pray for our country and other countries also. The leaders need God in their lives to do whats right.
Yesterday at 8:09pm
Bruce J. Bennett
Bruce J. Bennett
Liberals thought I was an idiot when I said 'doesn't anyone seem alarmed about his middle name being 'Hussein'?'
Yesterday at 8:27pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Aw! Bruce! Don't you know we can't cal him 'Hussein', or talk about his ears or talk about his 'name change'? Teee(smurking)
Yesterday at 8:31pm
Bruce J. Bennett
Bruce J. Bennett
No, but I like calling him Barry O. Y'know - like the mid-'70's crime drama with David Janssen...
Yesterday at 8:32pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Yea, yea. I like calling him a bozo eared bafoon! LOL!
Yesterday at 8:33pm
John D Hall
John D Hall
My Congressman calls the Constitution "fixed in time. a guideline"
Yesterday at 8:45pm
Shelly Gabriel Rowe
Shelly Gabriel Rowe
we call him king barry the weak...
Yesterday at 8:46pm
John D Hall
John D Hall
Obama bin Lyin
Yesterday at 8:47pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Man, that is sad. How can someone pledge to defend and uphold something they don't know anything about! Sad, sad
Yesterday at 8:48pm
Matt McKee
Matt McKee
Those were part of the communist party goals of 1963 right? They have had a great deal of success. They're patient and determined. Remember, the issue is not always the issue, the issue is always the revolution.
Yesterday at 8:53pm · 1 person
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Right Matt! We can not lose focus on the truth!
Yesterday at 8:55pm
Gary Earp
Gary Earp
What he says and what he does have nothing to do with each other!
Yesterday at 8:58pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
Slight of Hand. Don't watch the left hand, watch the right while the left stabs you in the back!
Yesterday at 9:00pm
Matt McKee
Matt McKee
The purpose of a political argument is not to refute your opponent "but to wipe him from the face of the earth. -V.I. Lenin
Yesterday at 9:05pm
Donna Epperson
Donna Epperson
You go man, you go, we all must march forward together we will prevail!
Yesterday at 9:07pm
Older Posts
Republican political activist spurring on the birthers. What a mess.
WiredForStereo
Showing posts with label Conservatism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservatism. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Great Facebook Experiment
So I did just that. I made a nuisance of myself.
I posted horribly mundane status updates. I posted an update every few minutes for nearly an hour. I got excessively political, starting fires in political threads, and who could resist with all the politically charged things that have happened lately. I posted personal information. I started my own fan club. I made fun of Glenn Beck (got a great response there.) I posted about bodily functions. I posted links, videos, and pictures that had very little to do with me. I carried on pointless arguments about things I don't really care about. I picked fights with conservatives and libertarians. I posted status updates which were descriptions of stereotypical status updates except that they contained no actual information. I went so far as to impel someone to "unfriend" me. I did all of this and more, and I made regular announcements about what I was doing, but I included the caveat that just in case someone took offense, it was actually directed toward them personally, which if you think about it, is completely ludicrous.
So, what did I learn?
I learned that many people are simply unable to control themselves when they see something that gets on their nerves. Even though I made it clear that I was doing an experiment, there were still quite a few people who could not help but to take the bait. Despite my repeated assertions that what I was saying was not serious, several people were simply unable to comprehend that there was no reason to debunk or politically correct what I was saying. I found myself saying that there's no reason to agree to disagree or compromise or mature because the whole thing was an experiment. And still people didn't seem to get it. It seems to me that there is a distinct inability among a group of people today that is entirely unable to comprehend duplicity. It seems to me, that is where guys like Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity reside. They take up residence in a cohort that cannot tell when they are lying, or simply are unable to suspect it.
On the other hand, there are many who can get it and love to play along. These people are the most fun, because it challenges you to come up with ever more creative and provocative statements, posts, and links to try and draw them in, and sometimes you can succeed when they forget that you are yanking their chain. Some are quite entertained by it. On the other hand, there are those who start calling names and eventually unfriend you because they just don't get it.
I also had a flameout involving global climate deterioration as well. One of the posts immediately below is in regards to that one. I was having a friendly (or not) discussion about the subject (which I happen to be neutral on) and people were getting pretty heated. Then my friend's mom comes on and posts that bunch of nonsense you see below. This is the kind of thing that really tells me what I have ahead of me as a progressive follower of Jesus, but this wasn't the forum for it, so I ignored it. Now that the experiment is over, I may have to actually go back to working on the things that are important to me, like the environment and conservation and things like that.
As I mentioned before, I posted a lot of posts close to one another several times. I posted a lot of statuses, most of which were very funny if I do say so myself, and I linked my Facebook account to my Discus account so that whenever I left comments on a blog or website with Discus, they would also show up on my Facebook account. I heard from several people that they thought about ignoring me, but didn't.
I suggested nudism to a few women that I know, didn't get many reactions to that. And don't misunderstand, it was not in a crude way, I am a proponent of Christian Naturism, I just haven't had the opportunity to practice it myself.
But it was those older people who couldn't understand what I was doing that made me decide to end the project. I left a status update similar to the Onion News Network story about being sorry that it wasn't Glenn Beck who had died tragically in some accident. Nobody got it. My mentor, my wife's grandfather, they were not happy at all. They thought I was inciting violence. My wife's grandfather pulled the old "I'm older, so that means I know better than you" argument which is about the first thing that will make me lose all respect for anyone.
So I had to quit it.
It was kinda cool though that several people expressed the sentiment that they enjoyed watching what I was doing because it was entertaining. These were most of the same ones who had played along earlier, and even at times added to the project.
My conclusion is that Americans need much more to be critical (the good kind) of everything, especially the things they hold most dear. Never accept any information without a challenge to the ruler of truth. Understand that people can and do lie regularly. Everyone, especially those who claim to believe in truth or have the truth or want to tell you something they say is the truth. Like Jack Sparrow said, "it's the honest ones you have to worry about mate." You just did the voice in your head didn't you, so did I. Don't accept something as fair and balanced just because the one who told you said it was. Doubt everything. Doubt motives, doubt unproven or unprovable facts, doubt everything someone who is paid to have an opinion says.
The truth is out there, but you have to go find it yourself, don't trust ANYONE to bring it to you, even me.
WiredForStereo
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Do they really hate the poor?
I was talking to one of my setup guys Sunday morning about the pending health care bill and he was spouting off the typical disinformation that has been floating around lately. I was trying to explain to him how he was mistaken (with a growing amount of frustration as you might imagine) and I tried to use a metaphor as I often do. I know he has about a dozen brothers and sisters and so I hypothesized that he must know how difficult it is to obtain health insurance for that many people.
What happened next positively astounded me.
He though I was accusing him of being poor.
He really did, and not only that, but he took offense and completely refused to carry the conversation along any further. Now I'm a bit more educated on this guy than most because his family history is a matter of public record. I read his mother's book. I know for a fact that his family home was foreclosed upon several times while he was growing up. I also know he was fairly young at the time, so he may not remember, but all this is beside the point. Not only is being poor not something to be ashamed of, but as a Christian, care of the poor should be high on his priority list as one of the faithful.
As someone who did grow up legitimately poor, I am seriously concerned about the implications of this conversation. And I hope and pray (yes really pray) that it is not the case that conservatives hate poor people. And I hope and pray that this is not a growing trend among churchgoers. However, the disdain I see for the impoverished in our country gives me pain. And I hear it almost exclusively from the right.
The same thing happens in all sorts of situations. It's about dehumanizing the opponent so you can feel better about destroying them. From whom do you hear all sorts of arguments against the poor? You hear that they are poor because they are lazy (Limbaugh.) You hear about welfare moms driving Cadillacs (Reagan.) You hear about drugs and alcohol. While all of these things may exist, in reality the vast majority of the poor are working poor. They are people who have jobs and live in crappy apartments or homes, drive well used (crappy) cars, and still don't make much money. But if you can convince people that your enemy is a horrid filthy creature, than you can convince them that the horrid filthy creature will always be a horrid filthy creature, and even if you gave it a bath and a meal, it would still be a horrid filthy creature. Hitler did it with the Jews, so we know it works. The truth is, most people considered "poor" don't get welfare because they simply don't qualify. They are honest hardworking, poor.
It is completely disgusting to me to listen to people who were never poor talk about poor people. You people simply have no idea what you're talking about. I grew up poor and I know for real what it's like to take the abuse from people who have more money, are better dressed, and think they are generally better than you. I know what it's like to eat shitty government peanut butter. I know what it's like being cold, and being unable to turn up the heat. I know what it's like having to sleep in the same bed with your two brothers and piling all the dirty clothes on the top of the blankets because it's going to be really cold tonight. I know what it's like for the water heater to go out and not get another one until someone buys one for you. I lived in a house without carpet. I lived in a house without a phone. I lived in a house with an outhouse out back because there's no septic tank. When I was a child, just about the only time I saw a doctor was when I had severed body parts. Don't talk to me about poor people, because you have no idea what you are talking about. You talk but you are like a clanging bell. You are a neighbor's constantly barking dog.
And for the guy who got offended at the idea that he might be poor? You just swiftly exited the list of people I respect.
WiredForStereo
What happened next positively astounded me.
He though I was accusing him of being poor.
He really did, and not only that, but he took offense and completely refused to carry the conversation along any further. Now I'm a bit more educated on this guy than most because his family history is a matter of public record. I read his mother's book. I know for a fact that his family home was foreclosed upon several times while he was growing up. I also know he was fairly young at the time, so he may not remember, but all this is beside the point. Not only is being poor not something to be ashamed of, but as a Christian, care of the poor should be high on his priority list as one of the faithful.
As someone who did grow up legitimately poor, I am seriously concerned about the implications of this conversation. And I hope and pray (yes really pray) that it is not the case that conservatives hate poor people. And I hope and pray that this is not a growing trend among churchgoers. However, the disdain I see for the impoverished in our country gives me pain. And I hear it almost exclusively from the right.
The same thing happens in all sorts of situations. It's about dehumanizing the opponent so you can feel better about destroying them. From whom do you hear all sorts of arguments against the poor? You hear that they are poor because they are lazy (Limbaugh.) You hear about welfare moms driving Cadillacs (Reagan.) You hear about drugs and alcohol. While all of these things may exist, in reality the vast majority of the poor are working poor. They are people who have jobs and live in crappy apartments or homes, drive well used (crappy) cars, and still don't make much money. But if you can convince people that your enemy is a horrid filthy creature, than you can convince them that the horrid filthy creature will always be a horrid filthy creature, and even if you gave it a bath and a meal, it would still be a horrid filthy creature. Hitler did it with the Jews, so we know it works. The truth is, most people considered "poor" don't get welfare because they simply don't qualify. They are honest hardworking, poor.
It is completely disgusting to me to listen to people who were never poor talk about poor people. You people simply have no idea what you're talking about. I grew up poor and I know for real what it's like to take the abuse from people who have more money, are better dressed, and think they are generally better than you. I know what it's like to eat shitty government peanut butter. I know what it's like being cold, and being unable to turn up the heat. I know what it's like having to sleep in the same bed with your two brothers and piling all the dirty clothes on the top of the blankets because it's going to be really cold tonight. I know what it's like for the water heater to go out and not get another one until someone buys one for you. I lived in a house without carpet. I lived in a house without a phone. I lived in a house with an outhouse out back because there's no septic tank. When I was a child, just about the only time I saw a doctor was when I had severed body parts. Don't talk to me about poor people, because you have no idea what you are talking about. You talk but you are like a clanging bell. You are a neighbor's constantly barking dog.
And for the guy who got offended at the idea that he might be poor? You just swiftly exited the list of people I respect.
WiredForStereo
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Find some common ground in the abortion debate.
I was out mowing the lawn today and as usual, I was thinking of ways to solve problems in the world, because that's what I do.
So here's what I came up with.
The abortion debate as you know is a heated one, and I feel that most of the discord comes from both sides' unwillingness to actually do anything about the problem. Secondly, both sides are entirely unwilling to come together to solve the problem and are unwilling to make any sort of concession or give up any power.
First the democrats. The democrats need to stop fighting so much for choice and start fighting for social change. We need the kind of social change that tells a young woman that there are better options than killing the baby. The democrat mission statement or whatever it is says safe, legal, and rare. We have save and legal, let's actually work on rare now.
To get anywhere, the conservatives must give up control. What I mean by control is that conservatives seem to want to go about the problem by controlling everything, especially things they got no business controlling. They must give up the gay marriage debate. That single issue is the one that tells the rest of the world that conservatives (and by extension Christians) want to control you and what you do in your own private life. There is no scriptural basis for such a supposition. Sinners will sin, and Christians must allow sinners to do what sinners do. It is not nor has ever been our job to with the law correct others' sinful behavior. Remember, the major corrections meted out by Jesus were all directed toward the religious leaders of the day.
Unfortunately, the conservatives are not going to win this battle. You cannot legislate your version of morality. You cannot call someone immoral simply because they disagree with your version of morality. In case you have missed it, over time, governments and laws just about always trend in the liberal direction. It's the new, the progress, the adventure in people. We find new and better ways to do things, and so we do them in those ways. The old, the tried and true things will slowly pass away. The key is to work within the progress to affect positive change.
Do what's best, work together.
WiredForStereo
So here's what I came up with.
The abortion debate as you know is a heated one, and I feel that most of the discord comes from both sides' unwillingness to actually do anything about the problem. Secondly, both sides are entirely unwilling to come together to solve the problem and are unwilling to make any sort of concession or give up any power.
First the democrats. The democrats need to stop fighting so much for choice and start fighting for social change. We need the kind of social change that tells a young woman that there are better options than killing the baby. The democrat mission statement or whatever it is says safe, legal, and rare. We have save and legal, let's actually work on rare now.
To get anywhere, the conservatives must give up control. What I mean by control is that conservatives seem to want to go about the problem by controlling everything, especially things they got no business controlling. They must give up the gay marriage debate. That single issue is the one that tells the rest of the world that conservatives (and by extension Christians) want to control you and what you do in your own private life. There is no scriptural basis for such a supposition. Sinners will sin, and Christians must allow sinners to do what sinners do. It is not nor has ever been our job to with the law correct others' sinful behavior. Remember, the major corrections meted out by Jesus were all directed toward the religious leaders of the day.
Unfortunately, the conservatives are not going to win this battle. You cannot legislate your version of morality. You cannot call someone immoral simply because they disagree with your version of morality. In case you have missed it, over time, governments and laws just about always trend in the liberal direction. It's the new, the progress, the adventure in people. We find new and better ways to do things, and so we do them in those ways. The old, the tried and true things will slowly pass away. The key is to work within the progress to affect positive change.
Do what's best, work together.
WiredForStereo
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
“We Want Another Reagan Conservative! What? No We Don’t." A Treatment on Taxes and Other Money Stuff.
The
Many conservatives favor stuff called supply side economics, or Reaganomics, or basically tax cuts for the rich to make more money.
The gap between rich and poor widens.
Celebrity worship and greed fueled a now bursting housing bubble.
Government spends too much money, much of which is wasted.
I’d like to say first of all that I am not one of those dorky single guys that live at home with their mom. I live 2200 miles from my mom. I don’t sleep between Star Wars sheets, I don’t own a video game younger than ten years old. I have two associates degrees and a job. My wife has two bachelors degrees and a job. While I work only part time, my wife and I are paid adequately for the specialties we both have. I’m not trying to brag here. I am just trying to say that I understand fully what it takes to make a life. I am not some moron whose mouth runneth over and has no idea what they are talking about.
On the other hand, guys who come up with supply side economics are guys who have degrees in Political Science. That’s right, not economics, not math, they are fully equipped to be politicians. A few definitions should follow. Supply side economics is essentially the belief that if you make incentive to produce products by lowering taxes on the producers, you will get enhanced economy as a result. It is really saying “we’ll let you keep more of your money, so you should invest it so you can make even more money which we’ll then take our share of.” The past two double term republican presidencies have been big into this, also recessions. The basic problem is this: If you give someone more money, chances are, they’ll just want more money. More money is usually gotten by laying off people, paying people less, and moving production over seas, and likely a combination of all three. If all the money moves overseas, then we don’t get any of it.
We poor people (read “middle class”) don’t understand this. Why? Because it doesn’t make any sense. If you want more money, you take more taxes. The reason why the conservatives tell us that it is working is they cut taxes in one area, then look at all revenues to see the result. Sure, the
I have a friend in our church small group who always brings up the “punishing productivity” argument whenever we have this discussion. He says that keeping taxes high on the rich punishes them for working hard and making more money. Since we are making sense today, I’ll admit, that does make a little sense, but only a little. However, every dollar has two sides. If you lower taxes on the ones who can afford it, you punish those who cannot. What it says is “Oh, you have money, here, have some more,” and “You over there don’t have much, give me some of it.” Do you see the problem? You may be rewarding productivity, but you are punishing misfortune. Most physically hardworking families whose jobs are strenuous but not well paying are not there because they don’t work hard. They are not being supported by welfare, they are not popping out kids left and right so they can get tax rebates and welfare checks. The whole “working hard” paradigm is completely meaningless. Working hard does not equal more money. The hardest work I’ve ever done paid well less than $10 an hour, and the easiest work I’ve ever done pays more than that. What’s the difference? Education, skill, perseverance, paying dues, work ethic, opportunity, and actually enjoying the work I’m doing. I would also like to say from a spiritual perspective that giving tithe, offerings, and works of service to God makes a ton of difference as well because he is the one who makes that whole list up there possible. See the book of Malachi.
This Supply Side Economics, or Reaganomics, or Trickle Down Economics stuff is just bogus. I don’t remember who it was that said this, but it is not the rich who are owed because of their success, it is them who owe us who made them successful. You can’t get rich by yourself but you need underlings, people whose work you profit from. No one person can have the skill or more importantly time to be every employee of a multi-million dollar company. There is almost always someone profiting from someone else, and the some ones who make more money should have to pay taxes at no less a percentage rate than the person from whom they are profiting.
It is not like buying toilet paper bulk, so you actually pay less per roll. In fact it is the reverse. Let’s just assume a 10% tax because it is easy to calculate, in reality it is much higher. A person making $20,000 is not very able to pay $2,000 in taxes, while a person making $2,000,000 is very easily able to pay $200,000. In the same way, a person is more able to pay $10,000 if they make $100,000 that if they make less. It is very simple. In fact, if a person making $2,000,000 can live like a person making $100,000, which anyone can, then they can afford to pay far more. Of course, I am not suggesting that we force people who make a lot of money to live as if they don’t, but I AM suggesting that they do it themselves.
The big overriding problem above all this is the problem of people with money, oh, I mean people with our money. If the government wants to cut taxes, please do, but you must also cut spending. I don’t have any credit cards, so I really can’t spend more than I have without immediate consequences. So we live what most of us would call “within our means.” Why can’t our government do the same? All of the presidential candidates right now are proposing new spending when we already are having a deficit every year. And all the republicans are proposing tax cuts. What nonsense! All of it is nonsense!
The solution.
As far as taxation goes, I can see no better option than the Fair Tax. The more you can afford to buy, the more you can afford to pay, and there are no arbitrary percentage rates for anyone. If you buy a $20,000 car, $4,600 of that is taxes, if you want to buy a $100,000 car, $23,000 is taxes. So simple. Please, buy a $10,000,000 house, we need the $2.3 million in tax revenues. It works everywhere. If all you can afford is a $2 box of macaroni, then all the tax you’d pay is $.46, but if you want a $40 steak meal, then you pay $9.20. It is just like giving a tip, only slightly more than we would often give, but hey, it’s taxes! I know it is hard to really work out the math, but, you must stop to calculate that the value of money will be different. If you were to make $40,000 a year, right now, that is something like $28,000 after taxes. With the Fair Tax, if you were to make $40,000 a year, you would be making $40,000 a year. Wow, that was easy, and there wasn’t any stress in April.
Tax this!
WiredForStereo
Friday, December 7, 2007
Future Fuels and Personal Standards.
Now in true virtue of combining blogs, the corresponding sustainable living discussions.
I know there are millions of statistics running around about all the stuff we have to do and the dangers of not, and the results, and costs.
I'm not going there today. I wanna talk about practices and philosophies and attitudes, not statistics and costs.
I was wandering through Lowe's the other day with my friend. We happened upon one of his friends (or acquaintances, not sure) while we were perusing through the CFLs and she was looking for light bulbs as well, and my friend suggested a CFL. She went on to explain that she was such a conservative that she just wanted to drive the biggest vehicle she could find, go home string up a million Christmas lights, turn the heat all the way up, and open all the doors and windows and watch her 8 foot wide plasma tv. Of course I'm exaggerating a bit, and I hope she was kidding because she really was looking at the CFLs, but it was the attitude that she had that really made me think. And thinking is what will solve the problem, not global warming, but of limited energy supplies. I've said it before, Arkansas has one wind turbine but is 27th in the nation for wind resources. We're surrounded by coal and natural gas power plants, and there's a nuke just down the highway. We do have a number of hydroelectric dams, but they are of limited elevation drop and therefore limited power. Their primary function is as sources for various water needs. The only solar panels I have seen lately are the ones that power the emergency roadside signs. The thing is, you can't burn coal or NG again, but the rain will bring us water again, and the winds will come again, and the sun will shine again.
So, how do we change things so that we can sustainably support ourselves as a culture? Some have said that we cannot support our current standard of living. That may be so. So, we change our standard of living. Standards are made to become more strict, a standard is a minimum requirement, and as time goes on, standards become more stringent. Examples: gas mileage, home insulation, safety belts, child car seats, wiring, plumbing, internet speeds, video quality (HDTV), bullet proof vests, helmets, airbags, buildings and structures, pollution restrictions, lead based paint, asbestos, fire retardants, CFCs, water quality, flammable Halloween costumes, fire suits for race car drivers, computer speeds, fuel quality, and bridge construction, need I go on? Our standard of living must not drop, because standards do not drop, our standards must be raised, but not in a way that we live more opulently, and more wastefully. Our standards must include those that are more efficient, they must include changing or altering our sources of energy, food, and leisure, and most of all, we must change our rate of consumption.
Consumption, what did Jesus think? Jesus was, more than most else, interested in how the poor were cared for. He railed against the wealthy religious leaders, said things like "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven," and picked his disciples from among the working class. There is so much I could say, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
So, what did I say here? (Pauses to actually read what he wrote.)
Well let me say what I meant in the above paragraph. I am not saying that you cannot be rich. I say do it at your own risk, but the wealthy are in a position to do more than many of us can, both to make their lives more efficient, but also to help the rest of us by for instance helping the car companies decide to make more efficient cars, because though I'd like to, I cannot afford to build my own car right now.
Ok, the real conclusion. Raise your standard of living. Grow your own organic food. Insulate your house so it stays really warm in the winter and really cool in the summer without using any outside power. Raise your standards, don't go the cheap (actually more expensive {costly} in the long run) way, don't do what everyone else is doing (some of you reading this will not be in Arkansas and will be in a more environmentally conscious area, and for you, do some of what everyone else is doing)
Live the way you were meant to.
WiredForStereo
*Would I say God is on my side?
I might think it, but I won't say it, hopefully I'm on God's side.
I know there are millions of statistics running around about all the stuff we have to do and the dangers of not, and the results, and costs.
I'm not going there today. I wanna talk about practices and philosophies and attitudes, not statistics and costs.
I was wandering through Lowe's the other day with my friend. We happened upon one of his friends (or acquaintances, not sure) while we were perusing through the CFLs and she was looking for light bulbs as well, and my friend suggested a CFL. She went on to explain that she was such a conservative that she just wanted to drive the biggest vehicle she could find, go home string up a million Christmas lights, turn the heat all the way up, and open all the doors and windows and watch her 8 foot wide plasma tv. Of course I'm exaggerating a bit, and I hope she was kidding because she really was looking at the CFLs, but it was the attitude that she had that really made me think. And thinking is what will solve the problem, not global warming, but of limited energy supplies. I've said it before, Arkansas has one wind turbine but is 27th in the nation for wind resources. We're surrounded by coal and natural gas power plants, and there's a nuke just down the highway. We do have a number of hydroelectric dams, but they are of limited elevation drop and therefore limited power. Their primary function is as sources for various water needs. The only solar panels I have seen lately are the ones that power the emergency roadside signs. The thing is, you can't burn coal or NG again, but the rain will bring us water again, and the winds will come again, and the sun will shine again.
So, how do we change things so that we can sustainably support ourselves as a culture? Some have said that we cannot support our current standard of living. That may be so. So, we change our standard of living. Standards are made to become more strict, a standard is a minimum requirement, and as time goes on, standards become more stringent. Examples: gas mileage, home insulation, safety belts, child car seats, wiring, plumbing, internet speeds, video quality (HDTV), bullet proof vests, helmets, airbags, buildings and structures, pollution restrictions, lead based paint, asbestos, fire retardants, CFCs, water quality, flammable Halloween costumes, fire suits for race car drivers, computer speeds, fuel quality, and bridge construction, need I go on? Our standard of living must not drop, because standards do not drop, our standards must be raised, but not in a way that we live more opulently, and more wastefully. Our standards must include those that are more efficient, they must include changing or altering our sources of energy, food, and leisure, and most of all, we must change our rate of consumption.
Consumption, what did Jesus think? Jesus was, more than most else, interested in how the poor were cared for. He railed against the wealthy religious leaders, said things like "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven," and picked his disciples from among the working class. There is so much I could say, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
So, what did I say here? (Pauses to actually read what he wrote.)
Well let me say what I meant in the above paragraph. I am not saying that you cannot be rich. I say do it at your own risk, but the wealthy are in a position to do more than many of us can, both to make their lives more efficient, but also to help the rest of us by for instance helping the car companies decide to make more efficient cars, because though I'd like to, I cannot afford to build my own car right now.
Ok, the real conclusion. Raise your standard of living. Grow your own organic food. Insulate your house so it stays really warm in the winter and really cool in the summer without using any outside power. Raise your standards, don't go the cheap (actually more expensive {costly} in the long run) way, don't do what everyone else is doing (some of you reading this will not be in Arkansas and will be in a more environmentally conscious area, and for you, do some of what everyone else is doing)
Live the way you were meant to.
WiredForStereo
*Would I say God is on my side?
I might think it, but I won't say it, hopefully I'm on God's side.
Conservatives
Ok, I'm gonna rail on conservatives for a while.
Well, it goes like this. I listen to Rush Limbaugh from time to time, usually just to remind myself why I am not a republican. You see, to me it is weak to do and agree with anything someone tells you. And that's how it seems that Rush does things. If the Republicans are doing something, then it must be good and right and God's will. The thing is, Rush is not a Christian. He only invokes the name of God to further his own ends. He is a conservative Republican, not a Christian. I am a Christian, and he doesn't represent me.
I would submit that the Christian Right, long ago (I am young) has convinced many Christians that you have to be a republican to be a Christian, as if that is what God wants you to do. The problem is that those people, the politicians especially and to a lesser degree the televangelists do this sort of thing not because it is what God wants us to do, because biblically it is not, but to gain power and money because often they go hand in hand.
How is waterboarding not torture? How can torture be ok? What happened to the golden rule. Paul said we do not wage war like the world wages war, our battle not with people but with spiritual strongholds and powers. How can our politicians not get that? Knowing the way of things, how can a Christian become a soldier for this country? And yet, so many do, because they have been told that Christians are conservatives, and conservatives go to war.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be a Conservative to be a Christian. You'll notice I rail more on Republicans than Democrats because most democrats dont pretend to be something their not, that is to say, they don't say they are Christians but give God a bad name, and that's really what I am disgusted with. Because our goal is not political power, it is to become Christlike. And Jesus never waterboarded anyone.
How about diving boards?
WiredForStereo
Well, it goes like this. I listen to Rush Limbaugh from time to time, usually just to remind myself why I am not a republican. You see, to me it is weak to do and agree with anything someone tells you. And that's how it seems that Rush does things. If the Republicans are doing something, then it must be good and right and God's will. The thing is, Rush is not a Christian. He only invokes the name of God to further his own ends. He is a conservative Republican, not a Christian. I am a Christian, and he doesn't represent me.
I would submit that the Christian Right, long ago (I am young) has convinced many Christians that you have to be a republican to be a Christian, as if that is what God wants you to do. The problem is that those people, the politicians especially and to a lesser degree the televangelists do this sort of thing not because it is what God wants us to do, because biblically it is not, but to gain power and money because often they go hand in hand.
How is waterboarding not torture? How can torture be ok? What happened to the golden rule. Paul said we do not wage war like the world wages war, our battle not with people but with spiritual strongholds and powers. How can our politicians not get that? Knowing the way of things, how can a Christian become a soldier for this country? And yet, so many do, because they have been told that Christians are conservatives, and conservatives go to war.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be a Conservative to be a Christian. You'll notice I rail more on Republicans than Democrats because most democrats dont pretend to be something their not, that is to say, they don't say they are Christians but give God a bad name, and that's really what I am disgusted with. Because our goal is not political power, it is to become Christlike. And Jesus never waterboarded anyone.
How about diving boards?
WiredForStereo
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