Tioga Herald

Ideas in Spirituality

CC: Letter to “Hour of Power” in response to program broadcast 8 am (EDST) on Lifetime.

For details about the program, go to http://www.hourofpower.org

Essentially, Dr. Schuler had a guest from American Idol who sang a “Christian” rock song.

Dr. Schuler’s message was based on Matthew 6 about praying in private and what we need to consider when we pray. He tied this together with Christ’s progressive ideas about shedding the complexities of rules in favor of a simplistic life “loving God … and loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

He also mentioned Paul’s words about “faith, hope, and love.”

Are we able to “walk the walk” or are we hypocrites like the leaders Christ identified in the world he lived on earth.

The actual CC:

Your guest speaker and his song were awesome, except… who is it, after walking in life, do we “know?” Implied in the context to which it was offered, but could be mis-understood elsewhere (i.e., Paul’s message about homosexuality offered in the context of absolutely lewd behavior and public displays of sex – something many homosexuals do not endorse and Jesus Christ never condemned homosexuality).

Beyond that, a further comment. Your guest twice mentioned “he did not endorse male crying” as he described his own tears. He finally DID say he guesses he endorses male crying. To which I would offer: Jesus – THE MAN – wept several times. He “wept for Jerusalem.” He wept when learning about the death of his friend Lazzarus.

To your guest: men should never be ashamed when there are times of crying. It is the opposite of laughter due to joy. We should differentiate between an occasional controlled weeping and uncontrollable weeping that continues non-stop.

Take responsibility for our actions – through faith, hope, love – the most important is love!

Thank you, Dr. Schuler, for a wonderful message today! It is the reason why I have never had concern for removal of school prayer. A moment of silence for each person provides the necessary time to repeat the Lord’s Prayer or, even at the least, pray according to the concepts Jesus Christ outlined in that prayer!

If we take responsibility for our own actions – with confidence generated by faith, hope, and love – we can each do it. We don’t need someone standing in front of us at commencement or in the classroom preaching a prayer to us. We can each do it ourself!!!

Praise God because this is the day God has made for us!

Compromise

We say compromise is necessary in democracy. But is compromise necessary in every single instance?

Was compromise necessary when the original USA colonies came together and considered the issue of slavery? The nation’s Constitution was written in the late 1700s after the American colonies defeated King George’s troops from England. By 1807, the parliamentary democracy in Britain chose NOT to compromise on the issue of slavery because it was an issue about human lives. There was no compromise. Yet, the supposed “democracy” across the sea continued to “compromise” on the issue of slavery and, when slavery ended, compromised on the issue of white supremacy. There were those against white supremacy who let the racist devils do what they wished. “Jim Crow Laws” and KKK. Compromise? More like fear endorsed by narrow-minded idiots.

Even when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, nearly two centuries after the nation was born, there were still those insisting on compromise. Yet, Britain did not compromise with regard to racial hatred. Canada and the other nations of the British Commonwealthy did not compromise (except the dolts who once ran South Africa). When Michael Moore produced his documentary following the shootings at Columbine, he brought out the racial divide still existing in 21st century America that has been vastly reduced in the nation and its commonwealth that made slavery illegal in 1807.

Compromise about slavery was wrong in the 18th century. Wrong. It was wrong because it was hurtful to a large portion of people.

Today, compromise with regard to civil rights of GLBT people is also wrong. Compromise means, “well, we like GLBT people but we don’t believe they should have rights.” Oh? Then, maybe the people who say this should not have rights, either.

The gay couple harassed by neighbors. They have a right to live in any neighborhood they desire. As a matter of fact, there is evidence that GLBT people are hard working (not meant to compare to any other single group) entrepreneurs who, due to being very particular about matters, help develop and refurbish homes in order to improve their surroundings. And I refer to all GLBT of any race, ethnic origin, or religion. Left to their devices, they do.

There is only hysteria and false conclusions about GLBT people. They do not prey on others any more than straight guys do in a seedy hetero bar. Straight guys deliver knock-out punches with “date drugs.” Society backing people into corners causing the marginalization of good people is the cause of most problem people. This is called a sicko society. And it is.

A sicko society proclaims compromise is always good. With regard to a gay marriage amendment that attacks the very lives of GLBT, there is no compromise. Charlie should be ashamed of himself for resorting to deceptive and lying actions reminiscent of the Republican Watergate era.

Tradionalist thinking is sicko. Traditionalist notions ruthlessly enforced upon other people in society are the most mentally ill indicators of our society. We can change, but the tradionalist bullies refuse. Doing the same thing over and over again and never solving the problem is a sign of mental illness (perhaps Benjamin Franklin said this?) Traditionalists and their ruthless fear-inducing control over society are sick and mentally ill. They need to be locked away.

There is no compromise with regard to the rights of people. None. There is no compromise with regard to bad treatment of blacks, gays, Indians, or any other group is simply wrong because it engenders hatred. It engenders hatred spawned by ignorance – the ignorance of stiff-necked self-righteous bastards who lack the humility necessary for learning.

The other notion about compromise regards the compromise of our Founding Fathers when it comes to separation of church and state. This was a necessary compromise because it infringes on NO ONES rights. Everyone is free to worship as they desire. Everyone is free to pursue their own spiritual connectivity. I maintain the biggest problem are those in a free society who proseletyze freely and are not told to restrain. For this infringes on the rights of those people who choose not to follow a particular religious group.

The other problem with this compromise are the ones who mock the system of religion by trying to define the tax-exempt status with a broad definition of what a religious group is – even if it may be a cult. The problem is NOT the separation of church and state, but the existence of a regressive punitive tax system that needs to be replaced by a wholesale tax (not retail tax) on goods and services – a value-added tax. Think about it: a VAT is more productive than a retail sales tax because there are less outlets from which to collect the tax. More money becomes available in the economy for the most productive events in society, not lawyers and accountants for enforcing tax laws on every business around.

The VAT is better than the regressive income tax because there are no loopholes (or should not be). No sales tax collected at the retail level means churches can hold their functions and sell their items and, presumably, the tax was paid long before the chicken arrived for the chicken Bar-B-Q or before the candles arrived for the candle sale.

Compromise that yielded the separation of church and state in the 1700s was a great thing. The Democrats’ (during the Wilson administration) implementation of the income tax was lousy. It is regressive because it rewards in a negative manner. People should be inspired to create businesses without the impediment of an income tax. People should be able to collect more income without the impediment of an income tax. The income tax should not be ELIMINATED, but REPLACED by the VAT.

In Florida, the property tax should not be ELIMINATED for schools, but REPLACED by the VAT, not the retail sales tax.

Compromise on taxes has resulted in a messy income tax system all the way around. Let’s replace it with something else. The same thing with property taxes, considering the homestead exemption all the rest of the cow muffins.

The level of compromise related to decision-making has been defined by Roberts’ Rules of Order. We think in terms of decisions made solely by a “simple majority.” Wrong. Roberts’ Rules of Order stipulates various ways for a governing body to make decisions. Three-quarters and two-thirds majorities are specified for those decisions of high impact. Unanimous decisions are also specified for very important decisions. Jim Crow Laws had an adverse impact on a huge group of people in our society. Perhaps the Jim Crow Laws should have been decided by a unanimous vote of ALL voters who should have been able to vote without intimidation. Unanimous decisions do not require compromise, so therefore they ARE necessary at times.

The hetero (anti-GLBT) marriage amendment in Florida should carry a requirement that it be passed by a unanimous decision. There is no compromise. When jerky Anita Bryant threw her cow muffins at gay people with regard to adopting children, the decision should have been made only by a unanimous vote. These decisions impact a large segment of society and it is very necessary we recognize there is no room for compromise when considering adverse effects on large numbers of people.

Then… there is the UN and its Security Council. Should it REALLY be restricted to decisions by unanimous decision only? Again, that is overkill. There are some where it becomes necessary and some when unanimous decisions may not be necessary. Also, the nations sitting on that council need to be re-evaluated in the 21st century. At least I don’t knock the entire organization like some people do.

Productivity

America under the Republicans have implemented screwy ways to account for productivity. What is productivity? What is GDP?

Hell if I know – and I did before Reagan / Bush of the 1980s.

It’s not that I have become dumber, either.

Remember Woody Horton and the work to reduce paperwork? Was this a leftover from Jimmy Carter’s administration and given mere lip service by Reagan / Bush and the narrow-minde Repubicans?

Productivity. Are lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits (and judges listening) productive for America? True victims need to be defended. The litigious society has created far too many victims. People enjoy becoming victims when there may be no real proof. Just invent the proof. In this way, true victims are ignored because they become one little number in the midst of the assholes.

Prodcutivity. Are accountants productive? Are they productive when they cook the books for the conservative right wing? Do accountants provide productivity for America when money in the economy is directed towards loopholes, tax credits, refunds, and deductions in Federal income tax? Are lawyers adding productive resources to this nation when money is spent on these services. Just think. When Americans must spend their money on these cow muffin un-productive things, how much is left in the economy to produce goods and services that advance our society? How do numbers compare when America truly was productive? Anybody know or do everyone just keep blindly moving forward, listening to the bull muffins of the Libertarians?

Productivity. Is it productive to keep so much paperwork with regard to retail sales taxes? How does this “produtivity” compare to what is involved with property taxes? Seems to me it’s very unproductive for the Florida economy to be spending money to account for taxes each time there is a transaction for food, clothing, or any retail item. It is a waste of money, taken from more productive measures in which Floriidians could spend their money.

Am I endorsing no taxes at all? On the contrary. I am endorsing productivity. I am endorsing a more reasonable approach to our lives in this state and country. I believe we have somehow covered over the low productivity by cooking the books. Meanwhile, we are told there is not enough money for teachers, nurses, firefighters, police (police dept. in Lake Worth disbanded and handed over to Sheriff’s Dept.), EMT, and other necessities of life. Meanwhile, these civil servants have larger chunks of their budgets removed to pay for paper shuffling bull muffins in our economy. These really productive people are devalued. These productive people are given crap. These productive people have seen an increased portion of their budget drained by cable television to pay a few high priced sports figures; drained by advertising dollars that pay for virtually the same thing; see the portion of their income for cars go from purchase prices of new ones at about 2% to over 14%; have seen the portion of their income to put a roof over their head increase from about 20 – 25% of their income to about 50%. All going to business creeps who claim we pay too much in taxes. Gee, I wish we really paid so much in taxes as these creeps say – because life might actually be better for the Middle and lower classes. And our investments in taxes net better returns on investments.

I endorse a tax at the wholesale level. The Value Added Tax or VAT. It has been proven to work in other western nations. We need this in Florida. We need leaders who will change the unproductive tax cow muffins into productive ones and put people back to work. Not enough money to fix our American infrastructure of dams, bridges, etc.? That is bull muffins. We could produce enough money. The accountants, lawyers, and IT people who wish to put good teachers out of work should perhaps change their tune and stop being lazy Americans – work towards a more productive America. That means accounting paper, lawyer frivolous crap, and IT technology for the sake of technology are unproductive crap. We need to re-focus and collect taxes in the most productive way – the VAT.

And talk about productivity and paper shuffling. Consider the paper shuffling in healthcare. Screw all of that and create a better rationed system than what we have today: create a single-payer system. Screw the un-productivity and uncover the truth about paper shuffling in cooked ledger books, waste tax loopholes, and litigious bull muffins. Put America back to work.

Speaking of productivity… investments and when are investments “productive” for us? I had some returns on investments of about 21% when the Democrats controlled the White House from 1992 to 2000. Since Bush and the Republicans stole the 2000 election, I have actually lost money in my business investments and watched as my return on investments due to taxes have been deliberately reduced by lousy Republicans.

Wonder why I am so angry at the Republicans? I don’t care who they put up to run for the White House. I have had enough of them. The Democrats may not always be gems, but they have barely ruled the White House in the last 56 years. The Democrats MUST be in control of the executive branch once again. And no matter how much the Republicans and their goons try to make false witness against the Democrats, they are liars and deceivers we do not need.

I was once a Republican, but I find them to be lousy traditionalists who once booted progressive Teddy Roosevelt out of the party. They have accomplished the same during the lousy Reagan- Bush era of the last 20 years (with a respite with Clinton..). We need the Demorats in charge to overturn the unproductive crap.

There can be better productivity if we censor the money worshiping crap who run our lives. They direct this nation towards Genghis Khan style crap. They are not wanted and need to be removed from office. Create a productive nation and stop using excuses about not having enough money for healthcare (USA spends $6000 per person on a lousy rationed system; Britain spends $2000 per person on a single payer system based NOT on making money by money worshipers, but to actually treat and help patients – with no questions about pre-existing conditions and all the other bull muffins); stop the excuses about not having enough money to properly pay people their worth; stop the g.d. excuses for their not being enough money. Look around. What we pay for paper shuffling in taxes can be reduced with a VAT – what we pay in society to create victims (while real victims lose out) through a litigious society; stop the g.d. excuses that we lack money for public transportation or investment in American energy independence. It is bull muffin.

We could be more productive and this does not require some g.d. work ethic, either.