Things I Think
1. I have come to loathe writing anything that may have a “political” component to it, but the events of the past weekend make my conscience demand I say something.
The person that walked into a place of worship Saturday and slaughtered 11 people wasn’t born hating Jews.
That kind of hate has to be planted from the outside and then nurtured until it bears the sort of harvest we witnessed.
Because we live in a land where we understand that the freedom to speak means the ability to speak evil as well as good, there were many places to fertilize his rage.
Eventually, he acted on what he’d been taught.
This morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that 5000 troops are being sent to the border in anticipation of the “caravan” from Honduras.
The message being sent to us is that there is a great threat approaching…one that demands military intervention.
That’s simply a lie…just like the lie that there are many “Middle Eastern” agents among the horde and the lie that one man is financing this whole operation to destabilize our government, that they are diseased, that they are criminals… and those are just the lies I write off the top of my head this morning.
The truth is that this caravan isn’t unique (they’ve happened since 1999) and they are only a threat to the patience of those who take asylum applications.
The objective is to make you hate and fear these refugees and to compel you to vote for those who will “protect” you.
The problem is that you will still fear and hate these people after the election and you will spread that hate to your own circle of influence.
That hatred will eventually lead to violence as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow.
We will blame each other for the inevitable slaughter because we are learning to hate each other, too.
This is simply a call to stop before we lose more innocents…and another piece of our souls…
2. The enemy delights in making us hate someone or something that Jesus loves…like each other…
3. Some churches and some pastors/priests are not “safe”. That is without question. However, most of us are out here trying to do our best, ministering with our hearts and through Word and sacrament. Blanket indictments of “the church” keep people away from all churches and in doing so, damage souls. We must speak against the abusers, but lift up the true shepherds with equal vigor…
4. The fact that I as a pastor I may hold to traditional views of sexual identity does not make me a danger to anyone…and I reject the idea that I’m “abusive” if I hold to 2000 years of moral tradition…
5. If someone can persuade you to hate another person or people group, you wanted to be persuaded…
6. Are there some bad people among the refugees in the caravan? Of course…and there are some bad ones supporting them and some bad ones wanting to stop them. Depravity is a fact of life…
7. I’m not safe either…hopefully, I’m repentant..
8. Jesus commands us to “fear not”…because nothing is more corrosive to faith than fear…and nothing suffocates love faster…
9. Yea, I’m afraid sometimes too…
10. Modern baseball is rather dull…but I did watch the highlights of the Boston win…not much strategy to miss…
#1
Eventually, he acted on what he’d been taught.
Yes.
A doctor and president of one of the hospitals in Pittsburgh (and is Jewish) talked with the perpetrator and said he’s totally bought in to the “noise.”
“He listens to the noise, he hears the noise, the noise tells him his
people are being slaughtered, he thought it was time to rise up
and do something…he’s completely confused, and words mean
things, and the words are leading people to doing things like this,
and I find it appalling.”
Thanks for this Michael. I decided a few days ago to stop posting and reading at a certain Christian blog due to the relentless hate and fights on display there surrounding the topic of….wait for it…politics. It was depressing me and egging me on and my sin nature was reveling in it. Every time I came back here I felt refreshed and like I was with family and friends (that’s the truth!). My bad for having a sin-sick heart that wanted to feast on fights and hate.
Good point too for #7.
Dan,
I hope everyone here always feels like they’re among family and friends…even when we disagree.
For what it’s worth, I’m grateful that House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, deleted his anti-Semitic tweets in the aftermath of the massacre.
While i’ll offend some and i cannot argue against mercy…
It is possible to see a danger in ignoring national boundaries without hating or wishing harm to those who would ignore the required entry procedures. Yes, i know one can come across without permission and request asylum thus using the law of compassion that we grant to those escaping danger. It is not a law that was well thought out or else it is being abused – IMV
Our military is being deployed to maintain order and i would be shocked to find them shooting women and children or even the preponderance of able bodied males.
Still it is a situation that is volatile enough that we should all pray for an orderly outcome no matter our view of charity v national borders
Or so it seems to me today… ?
I don’t see any political component at all in the evil massacre in Pittsburgh other than the media turning it into one.
Em,
The only volatility is that which is being manufactured.
That’s a fact.
These sort of events have happened at least a dozen times over the years and no one even knew the difference…because it wasn’t an election year.
No one is even hinting at ignoring the proper entry procedures…these people are following the law.
https://towardfreedom.org/archives/americas/life-laid-bare-in-honduras-how-the-migrant-caravan-makes-neoliberal-dictatorship-visible/?fbclid=IwAR00rJZQ4jIw6KYiSpZ5ZtdS_XZtaid_ZvvuBPKN8L7W3FfZ4xK8MdJ7fQw
https://theintercept.com/2018/10/29/trump-manufacturing-border-crisis-families-caravan/
So…if you’re interested in another view of what’s happening, those two links will help you a lot.
The first also details how we helped create the crisis people are fleeing from in Honduras…
Michael, you are correct that this is not new and we are in agreement that politics exploit things such as this – and no one has ever benefited from that, other than the ambitious, power hungry self interests of those who would “govern” us… sigh. ?
“So…if you’re interested in another view of what’s happening, those two links will help you a lot.”
Michael, remember that this is post-modern America, where views are just constructs. Please don’t attempt to divert us from our road to glory.
Jean,
I was just telling Duane that I managed to run off 1000 readers in a matter of seconds by posting this…but I’ll sleep with a clear conscience… or lay awake with one…
“The migrants are 2 months away if they make it here at all. Tomorrow is one week before the midterm election, which is what all of this is about. There is no invasion. No one is coming to get you. There is nothing to worry about.”
Shep Smith, FOX News
For those who don’t believe me…
I think you and Duane are well aware of the influence of enlightenment philosophy on all of us, to a lesser or greater degree. The Christian literally must relearn learning. There is an objective truth, which is both a Man and His Word. That Truth is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
On the other thread, some of us relented the abandonment of tradition, but in today’s Christianity in many churches, we have abandoned the fourfold Gospel itself. That Gospel is not a museum to visit every now and then for some sage advice; it is the Gospel!
What has become of the rich man and Lazarus; of the Good Samaritan; of the Unforgiving Servant; the [fill in any number of stories and parables]?
The idea that any sane Christian would be hood winked by the President sending 5,000 soldiers to the border into thinking that our nation is subject to invasion or that our existing border infrastructure is incapable of dealing with the matter in a usual manner is in bondage.
I say we petition Fox News to fire Shep Smith. He must have blood coming out of wherever…
On Em”s thought…
That is probably 1/2 the reason someone in the c executive cabinet gave Trump the idea to send the military, to maintain order.
But he has let it be politicized and there are those progressives in most of mainstream media who want it politicized.
Problem is I fear there are too many idiots clambering for a fight on both sides, on both outliers as well.
Jean,
We live in difficult times.
I wrestle mightily what what to say and more so…how to say it.
I am more prone to brawling and coarse language than anyone here.
I enjoy it, to be truthful.
However, I’m convicted that if I don’t speak in such a way that people will listen, I’m just beating the air with my words.
My inner Anglican is coming out… 🙂
Let’s address the issues and leave the personalities out of it as much as we can…
Jerod,
There is no lack of order that needs maintained.
It’s all a political ruse…except for the real money spent paying for 5000 troops to stare at each other for two months…
Isn’t it sad how the country is reflecting the massive uptick in the division, the slander, the libel that the church has been practicing for the last few decades?
We have royally screwed up as the children of God.
“We have royally screwed up as the children of God.”
And we’re not finished yet…
Michael,
I’m not talking about the overwhelming majority of the Caravan. I mean the few opportunists that are on both sides of this issue and those are clamoring for a fight. For example I fully expect Antifa and some white supremacist group to show up and start something within and against the Caravan,
respectively, wherein our military is caught in the middle. That will be spun to no end.
Jerod,
After the election you won’t hear anything more about it at all…unless someone wants to make political hay in a general sense.
If you recall, there was one in April that Trump tried to make a big deal about…until it fizzled just like this one will.
Don’t remember, hope you’re right. I fear another Charlottesville may be near…
Jerod,
I’m right…the fact that you don’t remember the headline blared over and over just a few months ago proves my point…
Talking to a Dodger fan today he turned off the game after that 2 run govern in the – Second inning, was it?
Brother time goes so fast now something that happened 2 weeks ago seems like it happened 2 years ago
Jerod,
I hear you on that one…
Just remember that about half the group coming are women and children, the others men looking for work…who all just walked at least a thousand miles.
I get blisters walking through WalMart…these people aren’t in any shape to fight…
I suspect the common man cannot impact the very insidious evil that has created the migrations north workdwide, but using our present President as a major threat is, in my view, missing something much bigger going on now…
As Christians, it just plain stupid to look for individuals, big or small, to hate. We need do need discernment, we do good where we are able, but what is afoot is global and is, i believe, beyond our control, or understanding – perhaps beyond our influence… is that a defeatist attitude? Hope not…
Yet we cannot go wrong focusing on Christ, on our walk with Him… the more we do, the greater will be His presence on display to the world and that is why He leaves us here….
The folks looking for people to hate and actualizing hate are the folks making scapegoats out of ethnic, religious and racial minorities. Michael is doing a good service and aiding discernment by exposing the lies of the government.
Michael does more than expose government lies. IMV God has given him the gift, the maturity, to help us face our blind spots, our foibles and, occasionally our self righteousness?
I am against open borders and illegals entering at free will, it’s national suicide! let them come in like millions of other legal immigrants, LEGALLY!
Illegal is illegal!
Lawlessness will abound in the last days!
Bob,
I hate to break it to you, but this is the legal way…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/powerup/2018/10/30/powerup-u-s-troops-head-to-the-border-just-in-time-for-the-midterm-elections/5bd757ee1b326b38c0be1262/?utm_term=.f0e138229a35
‘A MISUSE OF ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY’: Power Up spoke with Gil Kerlikowske, the commissioner of U.S. CBP under President Obama, moments after the Pentagon’s announcement. Here’s what he told us, edited for length:
Q: Are 5,200 military troops necessary?
A: I was confirmed in 2014, when we had 68, 000 unaccompanied children that summer and [CBP] handled it quite well. So, to say that this clearly isn’t a political stunt is misleading the public. It’s certainly a misuse of active duty military. If the National Guard, which was called out by both Obama and Trump, hasn’t been a deterrent, I certainly don’t think an additional set of armed troops for a very small group of people headed to the border, that won’t even be there for some period of time and have already made clear their intention of asking for asylum, will be.
Q: How many troops did you have at the border?
A: We had the amount of border patrol people in the Rio Grande Valley … there were around 3,000 agents assigned there and then we brought in people from temporary duty, probably no more than 300 or 400 — and then we did some unique things. Everyone that comes and tries to enter is apprehended and needs to be processed.
Q: Can you speak to the safety of border towns?
A: The border towns from San Diego throughout New Mexico, Arizona and Texas cite lower significantly lower crime rates and greater levels of safety. El Paso and Tucson and the others have lower crime rates than a number of cities in the rest of the country. So to paint it as a war zone and national security issue — anyone who has spent more than a day on the border knows that this isn’t a national security issue. This is a broken immigration issue.
Q: What do you think your reaction once photos of thousands of troops lined up along the border are inevitably released?
A: Well, it’s coming just before the midterms — it’s clear what the intention will be. This reminds me of my days in the U.S. Army, my active duty days, when the military used to deal with anti-war demonstrators by surrounding the Pentagon, blocking the 14th Street bridge [in Washington, D.C.], with troops. I think to send a signal that we are at war [with migrants] is a huge error. And it’s one that just isn’t supported by any facts. If the U.S. handled 1.6 million people in border apprehensions in 2000, and now we are down to 300,000 or 400,000 … these are things that CBP can actually handle quite well on their own.
The caravan is 900-1000 miles away, covering 20-30 mph a day.
Do the math. They won’t be anywhere near the US for several weeks.
This is a political ploy, plain and simple by the Trumpies, to seed fear into voters before the election next week.
bob 1, actually the political ploy is on the other. What is in question right now is why they are still coming to the USA? We are continually told by the loose to open border left that they want jobs, asylum and medical care and we need to show compassion.
Well, Mexico has formally asked them all to stay – will give jobs, temp visas, medical care and asylum. But that does not fit the political agenda of the Democrats here or the leftist organizations / governments in some South and Central American countries. These groups, and perhaps you include yourself don’t care beans for these people and use them as political pawns.
Shame on the left.
MLD,
I know no one in favor of open borders.
I’m not in favor of open borders.
Many of them are staying in Mexico, many know it’s close to a failed state.
I’m not going to allow any misrepresentation.
And if we are going to evaluate who spews the hate – let’s look just at today – (1) Hillary says all black people look alike when discussing Eric Holder and Cory Booker (who both recently made violence and hate comments). (2) actor James Cromwell calling out for violence in the streets if the GOP remains in power, and (3) why is the Pittsburgh rabbi getting death threats (which we know are from the left) for being nice to Trump?
Michael – you weren’t addressed.
I’m addressing you and anyone else who wants to obfuscate what I write. I address one issue and it only. I will hear reasonable arguments but not the same old nonsense. The next step will be banning and doing so swiftly.
Everything I said came out of Reuters and the Washington Post 3 days ago. Take it up with them.
But I guess you support bob 1’s comment without reservation.
But as they used to say in the newspaper business, “you can’t argue with someone who buys their ink in 55 gallon crumbs. It’s your blog.
Should read 55 gallon drums
“Hillary says all black people look alike when discussing Eric Holder and Cory Booker”
Um, well, no, if you read the :: actual :: news and see the :: actual :: video she was being obviously facetious.
Fact-based comments are preferred here.
Just sayin’
Martin Luther’s Dementia,
This issue is the caravan of people from Central America, not your straw men and red herrings. Stop imputing motives and beliefs to people you are conversing with here. Lastly, please go back in doors.
Last word.
I will not have this blog turn into another site of liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, etc.
I’ve spent years studying one subject…and when I see bald faced lies to create fear and loathing among my neighbors, I’m going to say so.
I’m not going to engage the full spectrum of politics, nor will I allow it by others.
Both sides are corrupt and leading us to an abyss we will need generations to recover from…if recovery is possible.
Facetious Hillary? Yes, she was. The trouble is, she has mastered passive aggression and sometimes one cannot be sure… She needs to retire and take up oil painting or some such… ?
G, racial joke of any kind are unacceptable. How many here let Trump get away with joking about the guy’s body slam of a journalist. He too said he was joking.
Michael at 12:29… Good words as i suspect both parties want to hold up as many red herrings as they can to keep the oublic eyes off of their true goals… dunno, tho, do i? Cuz i trust Trump … somewhat… ?
Em,
You’re trusting someone I have showed without a doubt is purposely creating fear and hatred regarding the refugees.
I don’t understand that, but I did my best to show the truth.
Jean, I did not attribute motives at all – I addressed only one person — bob 1 (who I guess others think is incapable of answering for himself.
But if you (I am addressing only Jean here) want to check out my claims, look how many Latin groups mentioned in this caravan’s formation have either no borders or open borders in their name.
Also, we should shame those here who make light of people and their states of dementia – I was just reading a sad article about former MLB catcher Bill Freehan who has a serious case of dementia – not a joking matter.
False equivalency, with societal hell to pay this last week.
A friend of ours comes from Honduras. She is a US citizen, as is her son. She managed to keep him on the straight and narrow until a sports injury turned into opioid abuse. When he came out of treatment, he wanted to go live with his grandmother in Honduras for a summer. Within six weeks he was targeted by a gang. He could join (having to kill someone as the way in) or he could be killed. An evangelical pastor took him in… until the pastor’s house was firebombed. He’s now back in the US, but his family is fractured and split between the two countries. The family in Honduras cannot escape the violence which is continual. They also have to take only the work that allows them to leave the house in daylight and return in daylight.
I don’t believe that the caravan is a danger, for all the reasons put forward by Michael. I do believe that what is happening in Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, etc., on a daily basis is a danger. Perhaps not this week or next week, but in the years and decades to come. There are no easy answers – especially not walls and troops. What I am convinced of, however, is that the constant demonization of these populations increases the danger rather than diminishing it. That is the practical side. The moral side of the question is even more discomforting… at least if we take “the plain meaning” of Scripture seriously…
Amen.
Michael, your point is taken at 12:41… I hear you and I do not discount the points you make…
I did qualify my declaration of trust – somewhat trust… are all his crude declarations calculated or simply up front transparent views of where he stands? I believe they are a mix weighted on the side if the latter… His relationship with our Lord is tenuous. I wouldn’t bet on it, but only God knows for certain
but i do not think that i have seen anyone in authority propose a solution to what forms the risky immigration deluge.
We went into Iraq to get rid of Saddam, but no one has suggested a military invasion south to wipe out the drug Lords and the “industry” evils… They are there to stay? No one has suggested a viable guest worker plan to allow Latinos to support their families by safe travel to work here, but keep their homes in the land and mores of their birth.
We have people running things that are not exactly public servants, to say the least. I wont mention the book recently published again, nor the author’s name, but i think the man describes exactly what we are up against today… We don’t see the firest fir the trees IMV
All pontificated out now… I think ?. God keeo
“the risky immigration deluge.”
Michael, is this a reality or imminent risk?
Jean,
Migrations of third world people escaping poverty and violence are a fact of life and without guidelines for now and the future they will pose real risks that we don’t want to talk about.
This is happening intercontinentally and we’re passing the buck to future generations.
The truth is that no one in this country politically is interested in solutions…because solutions would end a big election issue.
No one especially wants to end the drug problem…that cash props up banks and governments…
To answer your question directly, the “deluge” ended about 2012…
Jean, we tend to see what we want to see when reading .. but to be clear, the risk is to the people making these journeys – some die… taken over time and world wide “deluge” is an appropriate definition – as i see it….
and there are a couple misplaced “i”s i see in my previous post
Approximately 200 people a year die in the Arizona desert…so the risk is great for some indeed…
For those interested in the history of the drug stuff and Mexican relations, Charles Bowdens “Down By the River” is still the classic text…things haven’t changed much in way of motivations…
Way more than 200 Americans die per year in some of our cities.
Compared with most other countries, America is the leader in the death and murder of it own by its own.
I just had to sit down and regroup.
I’m emotionally exhausted from the weight of trying to speak to this issue as I believe the Scriptures would have me do…and the weight of the memory of a great man who died trying to do the the same, though he acknowledged the Lord not.
Human beings made in the image of God hated and feared because of their need and place of birth.
Broken families…used as political pawns in a game we’re all going to lose.
If I had any energy left …
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/14/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/
And more evidence that he knew it was all a lie…
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-migrant-caravan-border-troops-1193694?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter
I am going to speak out of turn and presumptively – i apologize
Michael, in all likeyhood, you will not bring about a solution to this problem. I know that this has impacted you up close and personal and you can’t help but be frustrated with folks like me. One does the best one can with what one has… and you are doing that…
You are not God (that’s not news, i know ? ).
That said, even if you were, it is evident that our omniscient, omnipotent God is allowing this evil here in time. But He sees and, if our Nation is the cause of this sorrowful time or volitionally compliant in it and there is evidence that we well may be, He very likely will judge us. That should worry everyone.
From what little history i know, the human race does suffer when sin and evil gain control. If anyone has an answer to this, a solution that we can implement… ? … barring a miracle of God, the only answer i can see involves bloodshed – war.
Someone here observed that resorting to prayer is just a cop out, but right now that is all i have … so i pray…
May God mercifully give strength and wisdom to do what we can… and give comfort when we can’t prevail – we wait for His timing in all things
I know I can’t bring change.
I can bring information.
When the President is lying about people who are desperate, it should matter.
Together we could impact this problem…but I’m resigning myself to reality…slowly.
Michael, the trick is to do what you can (you have been) and be at peace with that – God hasn’t outfitted you with a blue leotard, and a cape … don’t call it resignation, that implies giving up and you’re not the type to do that gracefully ?
Time for me to stop doing the mom routine and bow out here
God keep
“Lasting change is not forced, but inspired.”
I will say that it’s odd that the government of Mexico, which protects its Southern border pretty fiercely according to my wife who lived and taught in Guatemala for over a year, what a caravan of thousands of people right over their border. The politics of this seems to be being utilized by the left in Central American countries clothing material support. But where do you draw the line between left-leaning governments getting material Aid to a caravan to further their propaganda and people just being kind to one another? That’s the tricky part.
Let a caravan…
Common sense people … NO OPEN BORDERS PERIOD!
Bob,
Can you find one person here in favor of open borders or do you just like to yell?
Michael, I think there are many folks with common sense… just maybe not on your blog 😉
Bob,
I’ve stated for 15 years that I’m not in favor of “open borders”.
In all the years I’ve been involved in this, I’ve seen very few people who are.
There is a reasonable space between open borders and a militarized wall…
“There is a reasonable space between open borders and a militarized wall…”
You must mean something like legal points of entry where individuals or families fleeing violence or political repression can legally request asylum and then be treated with due process according to US laws. Michael, is that what you have in mind?
Duane,
That was my thought…
The sad thing here is that Bob hasn’t read a word I wrote or anything I linked to…it’s all reaction to perception.
We’re headed for deep waters in this country if that will be the norm.
Bob at 10:36, i come from a long line of people just loaded with common sense – with a couple of notable exceptions, it is in the marrow of our bones 🙂
Em, I am just calling for LEGAL immigration, is that not common sense?
Bob,
Can you point to someone here advocating anything else?
I haven’t seen them yet…
Ok then Michael, we ALL agree! PTL!
Bob,
You obviously are not here to engage thoughtfully…so I think you’re best suited to Breitbart for your blogging pleasure.
Blessings.
Bob,
I moderated you because you’ve chosen to misrepresent and insult myself and my readers.
Your comments would be approved based on whether they fit our guidelines, not whether you agree with me or not.
Your last comment in moderation turned this into an outright ban and showed who you really are.
I’m in favor of open borders if someone wants to yell. Of course, my libertopia would have no income tax and no welfare state, so it would be like the fantasyland my grandfather immigrated to in 1903, or the colony the other side of my family help become a country. It was sink or swim, with the family and the Church helping those who couldn’t swim. Just to leave no stone unturned, compassion at the point of a gun with other people’s money (and other people’s guns) is just too easy these days.
no one has advocated open borders here that i’ve seen, and i agree with Jim’s 2 pm as that is what my ancestors faced from the time of the original colonies (yes, the land was taken away from the native Americans and made into a nation – a great one for a time – was it right? dunno, but it was in the plan of God for the playing out of history, i suspect…)
that said, if one favors mass immigration today i would have to say that they haven’t really looked at the state of California now… it isn’t that one is not compassionate, rather, if California is our example, we just don’t have a successful plan in place to handle a large influx of desperate people…
we’re looking left and right for people to blame when it appears to me that the blame goes to the underworld… dunno – just another conspiracy theory 🙂
“if California is our example”
California is the 5th largest economy in the world.
California is the most innovative economy in the world.
California has 5 of the 10 highest property value zip codes in the U.S.A.
The top public universities in the U.S.A. include UCLA at #1, UC Berkley at #2, UC Santa Barbara at #5, UC Irvine at #7, and UC Davis at #10.
There’s a reason world leading companies either HQ or have a big presence in California.
Jean, California has a very divided social structure today. What you are describing only benefits a privileged minority. If that is your idea of successful governance, you must belong to the elites. But, as a serious Christian, you’ve expressed concern for the average and the downtrodden among us today, so i doubt you consider the elites as the deserving and, for certain, they are not the majority.
California debt? In trillion territory
With 12% of nation’s population, California accounts for 1/3 of welfare checks and leads nation in food stamp use
State taxes total highest in nation
California has 22% of nation’s homeless
And then there’s San Francisco. …
Statistics sent to me by my cousin… I trust her veracity and her accuracy … a now retired, wealthy woman, she just relocated to another state
As an economic and social policy refuge from California I can say that Em statements are correct and I have this question.
If the California system is so great, why is Kamala Harris trying to push through a national housing subsidy for wage earners who make less than $117K per year?
The fact they are the 5th largest world economy means nothing. The USA is #1 and if you listen to the left, all of our policies are of the devil.
To be clear, the housing subsidy is to get the nation to subsidize CA residents only, as $117k just does go as far as it used to. 😉
I look not at political spin, but at statistical facts. Where do world class companies locate? Where to world class talent want to work and live? Where is world class higher education? Where is world class innovation occurring? It’s happening in California. It happens elsewhere too, but not on the aggregate level of California.
I have friends who are business people in CA.
Very successful, very generous.
They would get the hell out of there tomorrow if they could.
It’s a hellish place to try to run a small/medium sized business because of government regulation and taxation.
I’m a traditional liberal…but California and my beloved home state of Oregon have gone so far left they may drown in the sea…
Just a side road…this becomes a kingdom issue because these folks would love to be able to spend the money they use to defend themselves against predatory lawyers on missions and ministries.
Lawyers are people too. 🙂
Jean,
Here in Oregon, we’re just now accepting that Californians are people too… 🙂
LOL.
The homeless end up in CA for the same reason as big business – the weather and the beaches.
Having grown up in Calif., most of my family are still there, and knowing a bit about statistics, they can be conveniently cited, i trust honest eye witnesses. UCLA? Good school, my late husband graduated from it. Lawyers? Some are good. I miss ours. He’d advise over the phone and never send a bill…
Ah the beaches… I miss hearing the surf roll whispering in after the wave broke… Up here it just crashes, like it is angry … come to think of it, it occasionally kills someone by rolling a log over them… ?
God keep, and give us wisdom in these confusing times
The problem is, with a LOT of BABBECs (Born-Again, Bible-Believing Evangelical Christians),
“Trump Tweeted It, I Believe It, THAT SETTLES IT!”
He’s the Second Coming of Christ to some of these guys, with a new Twitter-based SCRIPTURE already cut up into 140-character Verse, all ready for application, AKA “I Know I’m Right — I HAVE A VERSE!”
I think it’s because his attitude and behavior echoes that of Moses Model Head Pastors, and a lot of Christians are pre-groomed to see that behavior as God’s Anointed. And when someone else acts even more so, well, it’s like that kid raised in a Holiness church who went Mormon as an adult because “Mormons don’t drink or smoke”. i.e. They displayed all the tribal-marker behavior that he’d been taught was the signs of Righteousness and Salvation, except more so, so they had to be more Christian. (And then you get the “Court Evangelical” Christian Leaders(TM) who bring their flocks with them on the pilgrimage…)
Headless – you do an outstanding job of modeling your own personal form of fundamentalism – closed minded and no signs of generous orthodoxy.
Great opinion.