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Another Time Today

June 23, 2025 by

Remember the time when we were a little freer, our minds were more open to new ideas, and our hearts were more open to not judging others based on differences. Am I imagining a time that wasn’t, a time that only existed in my mind?

I think these might have been only fleeting moments when we all seemed to step closer to each other and to understanding. Then, as suddenly as it came, we were pulled back into the all too familiar grip of division, fear of others, and hate. I know it is human nature, the longing for connection, yet here we are, building barriers, shouting slogans, and tearing at the connective tissues of hope.

Unfortunately, some of the people I once believed I knew, who were part of my inner circle, have changed, and I no longer recognize them. It saddens me, as I have grown older and expanded my own understanding of the world, to realize what it means to be open to new ideas, people, and cultures, just how small some people’s minds truly are. My worldview changed as I traveled and saw the world, while others tightened the cocoon around themselves and demanded that nothing change, or worse, that things return to a time they do not even remember.

Even more importantly, my understanding of how we individually affect others expanded, and I became more self-aware of the impact that both acts of kindness and acts of cruelty can have. I walked the grounds of Buchenwald, Dachau, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. I was soul-sick for days; something in my spirit folded up. As a young person, I visited Southern plantations and warehouses where human beings were bought and sold, beaten and belittled simply for their higher melanin. Their humanity ignored in favor of a monstrous false layering of ‘not like us’, therefore inferior to justify the hundreds of years of brutality this nation imposed upon a people they stole from another land, beat, and bred into inhuman enslavement.

By the time I was old enough to understand there was something fundamentally wrong in the world, I had begun to question my place in it. I questioned everything. My place in my family, how I fit with my peers, and where I fit in the world around me. My conclusion? I didn’t fit anywhere; I always seemed oddly outside of those around me. I rebelled, and I paid dearly for my rebellion. I broke my own heart more times than I can count. I had my spirit and my body broken by those who wanted me to fit into boxes that made them comfortable. Yet even when I thought there was nothing left of me, something rose up and fought, demanded I survive.

There are days even now that I question my place in the world, and I wonder why I fought so hard to get this far. There are mornings when I wake up after a restless night of bad dreams, where my body aches, my heart hurts, and my spirit is lonely; I wonder out loud why I fought so hard? There are days when my solitude weighs heavily on me, and I wonder aloud, why am I so alone now when I poured so much into so many for so long?

There are times when my spirit feels weighted down, and my heart is cracking. Those are times when I remember there was another time when it wasn’t like this, and I wonder if maybe the reason some of us from that time are still here is as a reminder of those days when we were walking toward something better? I think maybe it is, and those of us who still remember are the quiet reminder that it is worth the fight, even as we break inside.

Yes, it’s terrible today, and it feels as if everything has gone sideways, but some of us remember a different time. We remember, and we know there is a better way, but we also know we failed when we turned our backs and became passive. We own this failure; we may not have voted for it, but we failed to stand up and demand better, so we own it. Now, we must own correcting fifty years of ongoing and persistent destruction of everything we fought for.

If we don’t stand up now, tomorrow is lost, and the promise of this nation, however imperfect, will disappear forever and for all of us.

Filed Under: Random Thoughts Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dear God XV

June 10, 2025 by

Dear God, I know, you grow weary of our cries for your intervention after we make our stupid mistakes and our own ignorant choices.

Dear God, the world trembles under the weight of cruelty, indifference, and greed. Across countless lands, where humanity should find its unity in compassion, the fractures deepen, and the cries of the suffering echo louder. The shared blessings meant to nourish and uplift are instead hoarded, wasted, and weaponized against those who need them most.

I don’t blame you; if it were me, I would be sitting back on my throne and saying to my angels, well, it is time for them to reap what they sowed or FAFO. I am sure your patience must be worn thin, your last nerve must be frayed; certainly, mine would be watching the shenanigans of those who speak in my name. But God, they are the worst of us; they are the dregs and corrupt beyond measure; they are not all of us.

Dear God, it is difficult to watch as the once most generous nation in the world becomes the most selfish and self-serving. It is hard to know there is food rotting in warehouses that could save the lives of the starving, all to serve the ego and evil intentions of the most powerful and the ultra-wealthy. I am appalled and ashamed of my once wonderful nation and its people as so many cheer on these terrible crimes of slow genocide, whether by starvation or acts of war. God, I can only find one thing in common, other than starvation; these nations are all populated by people who are “not like us,” they are African and Middle Eastern nations. The people in this administration, this President, and the people he surrounds himself with despise them and look upon them as beneath them and beneath their contempt.

Gaza * Sudan * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Lebanon * Jordan * Syria

Refugee Camps – Afghanistan * Sudan * Yemen * Bangladesh

Dear God, human beings are dying of starvation while food rots in warehouses.

Dear God, human beings, entire family trees are being wiped out by drones and missiles – Palestine * Ukraine

Dear God, have you noticed a trend? I certainly have, but now it isn’t a trend; it is a national agenda to destroy the country then the world that doesn’t bend the knee to their chaos and disorder. This President has one agenda, to dismantle all the past progress to make this nation Free and Equal for all people. Have you watched the outright cruelty? The attacks on people simply for the color of their skin, their country of origin, their sexual orientation, their gender. These attacks are blatant, no longer under the sheets and pointed hats of yesteryear, but now under the power of the President and his sycophants.

Dear God, admittedly, we did not make the progress we should have. We took baby steps rather than great strides, and for every three steps forward, we took at least one step back. Now though? We aren’t just undoing progress; we are undoing the very foundations of this nation. We are undermining everything we built on, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and two (2) centuries of precedence. Dear God, are we truly and forever lost?

Dear God, we have become mean, bitter, vengeful, vicious, and petty. Indeed, there were always people who were all of this, people who could not get beyond themselves without stepping on others. Yet now we have an entire population that is bent on the destruction of those they see as the reason for their own failure in life. Whether these failures are personal, professional, or something else entirely. Their misery is being transformed into a living object, something tangible and so filled with venom that it poisons everything it touches. Whether it is a person, an ethnic group, a concept, a Right, or even a Nation, the poison is flowing fast and spreading, killing everything in its path, everything it touches.

Dear God, we are falling fast as a people. Perhaps it is simply that all our failures are finally rising to the surface, so we can no longer avoid them. We can no longer turn away from how mean-spirited and terrible a history this nation is built on. We can no longer ignore the foundation of cruelty and abuse. We either face it full on, or we sink further into the quagmire of self-deception that we are somehow better, more moral than other nations. But the truth is, we are not. If anything, we are worse because we continue to turn a blind eye to our history, even going so far as to attempt to erase what makes us uncomfortable or challenges our ‘high ground.’

Dear God, I am an imperfect spokesperson. I acknowledge that my voice has not always been raised in protest when it should have been. I know there are days I have remained silent, sometimes because I am weary, other days because, like so many others, I was afraid. But God, this is enough; we are all afraid, all weary and yet it is growing worse. The hounds are baying at the gates, and soon, there will be no place for the righteous to seek sanctuary. The guns are being turned on the innocent, and poverty, sickness and hunger will follow; not just in this nation but across the world because of our actions. Those who speak in your name from the pulpit rejoice in evil, while those who pray on their knees in the quiet of their prayer rooms, as you command, are fearful to speak in your name.

Dear God, something evil this way comes, and it is us. Without the reins of moral consciousness, we are doomed to repeat our history until we commit every atrocity known to man, but with far greater efficiency. Families are being torn apart by the divisiveness within our nation, by the greed, pettiness, and unencumbered desires of a group of small men who want everything for themselves, no matter the cost. Fear rules us, and at the top of the heap, we have one man who has tapped into that fear, uses your name when convenient and his own as a substitute, to divide us as a people.

Dear God, maybe this is your plan. Perhaps my cry for your mercy and intervention falls on deaf ears, not because it is just one of many, but because you think we should fix our messy world on our own. I don’t blame you, as they say, FAFO. But God, some of us knew, we have known for decades, and we tried. Maybe you could just gently nudge some of the worst of them off the map, you know, balance the playing field a little bit.

Dear God, my apologies for the length of my entreaty today. I know I had too much to say and waited too long to say it. Maybe you could also nudge my writer’s block out of the way for me? That is all I will ask for myself. Thank you, God. I know you are busy; there is much to do in the world every day and I know your calendar is full. Your people, all of us, surely could use a bit of help.

Filed Under: Series: Dear God Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

I Dissent

July 14, 2024 by

I Dissent

Not respectfully. But full on and with nothing but disdain, I Dissent.

I am appalled at the levels of criminality within our highest government and justice system. I am furious at the disarray within the Democratic Party when they should be standing together, holding the line and ensuring there are no cracks to be seen. I am terrified we are losing the fight to retain our Democratic Republic, our potential, and our opportunity to march toward a better nation and a better future.

I Dissent

For over a century, this nation has marched toward a better future. We stumbled, we often failed in our progress, but we moved forward incrementally, dragging those who fought against a better world with us. We had individuals willing to march, sit, and fight for freedoms and rights guaranteed by our Constitution, though in all too many cases never granted. Each right won, and new freedom granted seemed a step toward a more perfect Union that promised a dream of equality for all.

I Dissent

With a profoundly corrupt SCOTUS and unconcerned their corruption is public knowledge; we sit on the precipice of losing everything one hundred and twenty-four years of progress gained us. In fact, we are on the very edge of losing our Democratic Republic with their latest rulings. When we add the swamp of the GOP and their unwavering loyalty to a man who is wholly unfit to be on the grounds of the White House, let alone in the Oval Office as President, the most powerful man of the free world.

If the principle foundation of our justice system is that no person is above the law, then our thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS has broken trust with the nation and cracked the foundation. With every ruling, they have opened the door to further erosion of our systems of justice and democracy. Every erasure of rights and freedoms signals their disdain for our Constitution and our progress toward a more equal nation.

I Dissent

Finally, looking across the aisle at the sniffling, hand-wringing, and disastrous upheaval in the Democratic Party because Joe Biden is OLD and may have slowed down and had a bad day. Well, yes, he did. He had a bad day and, in truth, had a terrible showing at the debate. But instead of all the chicken with your head cut off running about the yard spewing bullshit coming from within, why the hell didn’t you stand behind your President? Why, in all the burning fires, can’t the Democrats act more like the Republicans, just once? Joe Biden can’t win? Well, clearly not if all the Democrats can do is talk about how he can’t beat the 34 times convicted felon, wanna-be Dictator, sexual predator, sociopathic narcissistic, pathological liar. What the hell?

I Dissent

The political rhetoric, the calls to violence, the pure nastiness we all see and hear every single day is beyond politics as usual and has divided us as a people. Calls for Civil War and calls for secession can only lead to one thing, and we see it at Trump Rallies, on bumper stickers, and even the halls of Congress every single day, an escalation of violence. Now, a Presidential candidate has escaped an assassination attempt. Yes, I think this makes it worse; no matter how I view the man himself, I believe violence doesn’t solve any problems and, in fact, only makes him both a martyr and a hero in the eyes of his base. With his ear winged and Secret Service surrounding him, he pumped his fist in victory. Members of the audience who were interviewed said this ensured his victory in November, does it? Nevermind one person lost their life, or others were critically injured, it took a bit to acknowledge them in the race to blame the Democrats and pump up the Orange One as a Hero.

I Dissent

To all of it, I Dissent. Look below at all we have to lose and ask yourself, are you willing to stop trying? Ask yourself, are you willing to give up on progress? Are you so numb to it all that you are willing to sit it out because you don’t like either candidate, really, is that what you are going to do, to yourself, to the future? Our very existence is on the line, so ask yourself what are you going to do?

Filed Under: Politics, Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dear God, XIII

May 13, 2024 by

Dear God, it has been a while since we have had a heart-to-heart. Not that I don’t talk to you every day about the small things, about family and friends who need your guidance or small blessings. I do this every single day. Not that I don’t thank you for my own small blessings, including just waking up every single day; you and I have this chat more than once a day, sometimes more. I know God; much of our talks are not what many would consider ‘prayer,’ but they are the best I can do, and I know you aren’t as concerned with form as you are with the simple act of acknowledgment. Talking with you, God, it seems to be falling on Deaf ears, so I thought it was time for another letter.

Dear God, have you noticed the direction your people are taking? Your church is falling apart and using your name to oppress rather than lift up. I am constantly reminded of the lesson of Matthew 25:35-40

 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Dear God, this nation has turned its back on these foundational standards. The very church that claims a direct line to you has now stated these words are those of a too-liberal Jesus that is no longer relevant in today’s world. Preachers from the pulpit claim the admonishment to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-48) is too weak, that violence must be met with greater violence and encourage their parishioners to acts of sedition, racial hate crimes, and openly carrying weapons of war on the streets of our cities.

Dear God, this nation and the church that claims you have been overrun by charlatans who have only two aims, their own enrichment and the destruction of the country. They have chosen as their representative a man who has stated he has no need to ask for forgiveness as he has never done anything that requires your forgiveness. Yet, today, this man will be sitting in a courtroom for one of the many crimes he has committed, all breaking your commandments. The man chosen to lead the Evangelical Church to power, to gain a minority of this nation the power it does not deserve, has broken all but one of your commandments, and in doing so, the Christian White Nationalist Church has followed him. So, let’s check those mighty rules and see if there are any the CWN and their orange Idol have missed?

  • You shall have no other Gods before me
  • You shall not make for yourselves an idol
  • You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God
  • Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it Holy
  • Honor your Father and your Mother
  • You shall not murder
  • You shall not commit adultery
  • You shall not steal
  • You shall not give false testimony
  • You shall not covet

Dear God, do you know I don’t think there isn’t a single thing there isn’t a single thing they have missed, Trump has even said he would kill his enemies if he is elected again. I know you say he is guilty for the thought, but to be fair he hasn’t done it yet and for those who haven’t read your word I don’t want confusion.

Dear God, have you been watching and thinking to yourself, “I am just going to let those dumbasses go and see where it leads.” I wish you would look down with a bit more compassion; there are innocents who are dying down here, women and children bleeding out in their classrooms and in hospital parking lots while you ‘wait and see.’

Dear God, the cruelty is untenable. The young are falling away from your teachings in droves. Only those who love the violence, who worship the darkest parts of this new and ugly church that has risen in your name, are following. The inevitable end will be nothing short of catastrophic; millions will suffer and die if you allow these liars and false prophets to continue to speak in your name. Only those who embrace the worst in humanity will be left standing to speak your name if you continue to allow them to claim you as their own unless there is a reckoning.

Dear God, I am not asking for much. I am only asking that those who have shown their truth to be vicious, cruel, violent, and lacking in compassion be set aside. I am asking that the blinders be removed from the eyes of those who can see and that we are given the ability to take back this country and return to the progress we were making.

Dear God, one final thing. Thank you. I know I seem ungrateful at times, but that is not the case, I am most grateful for all you do for me and mine.

Filed Under: Series: Dear God Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Challenges and Concerns: Evaluating the Integrity of Systems in the United States

May 11, 2024 by

When we think of corruption, what first comes to mind? There are many meanings of the word, if we look the word up in the dictionary, there will be several different definitions:

  1. dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers):DEPRAVITY

  2. : inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (such as bribery) the corruption of government officials

  3. a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct the corruption of a text the corruption of computer files

  4. DECAY, DECOMPOSITION the corruption of a carcass

    1. chiefly dialectal: PUS

  5. archaic: an agency or influence that corrupts

Merriam Webster 2024

Where would you say the United States of America falls on the meter of Public Corruption today? At one time, we were the beacon of all that was good; our systems and public institutions were seemingly incorruptible. Our efforts to move the nation forward, while slow, were at least moving toward that promise, penned by Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin in the Declaration of Independence, that:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Of course, at the time, Jefferson and Franklin did not foresee that statement encompassing a country of such diversity. Indeed, they did not imagine one day, the people they held in human bondage would be free and standing alongside their progeny as equals. Clearly, with the words “all men,” they failed to imagine that one day, women would rise up, independent of their fathers and husbands. Yet here we are, men and women, standing in the town square and speaking out with diverse voices and experiences.

Or are we?

The world is holding its breath, watching our once incorruptible institutions and wondering what is next and what in Hell is wrong with America. Did our systems hold after January 6? Or are we in a tailspin of failure, heading into the autocracy so many on the right seem to embrace with shocking enthusiasm?

Look closely at the systems, local to federal, and even the fourth estate, the Media. What do you think? Are the systems holding or putting us and the world at risk?

I have often said two truths can be equally valid, and this is one of those times. We are faced with a vacuum of misinformation fomenting fury, stirring hate, and closing the hearts and minds of many during their most formative years. We have young people screaming HAMAS slogans without understanding their meaning, thinking they are standing up to tyranny and genocide. Why do they do this? What is the root cause of this fundamental ignorance?

Here is a sad truth about Americans, one-fifth of Americans between 18-29 believe the Holocaust is a myth. WTF you say, right that is what I say, too. The truth is, the genocide of six million Jewish people, the destruction of the European Romany people, the cruel murder of those deemed ‘less’ the crippled, the mentally disabled; all of this isn’t taught in many US public schools today. But there you have it, the failure of the local systems to teach ‘real’ history about genocide, slavery, and land theft; all of it means we have two, maybe three generations of ignorant, myopic, selfish, and ill-prepared human beings entering the world and these are the leaders of the future; God help us.

The failure of our education systems, from kindergarten to public and private universities, is our most egregious failure. This isn’t accidental; it was planned and executed to near perfection. The final nail in the coffin has been banning books throughout our public schools and libraries; the suppression of knowledge and the ability to develop critical thinking skills in our young people leads to what we see today across the country on university campuses.

Courts and justice systems will be the next significant failure. Over the last 30 years, the erosion of the judiciary branch has slowly been overtaken by political appointments at every critical level. The US Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have been overtaken by the political appointments of the extreme right-wing, fueled by the Heritage Foundation, and funded by those at the top with money to burn and a deep fear for anyone who might jeopardize their power.

Many of us remember the Obama years when the Federal bench sat empty of judges because the US Senate, led by Mitch McConnel, refused to do their job. Here is a stark reminder if you have forgotten:

Obama – 179 Nominees, 142 Appointments – 16.5%

Trump – 239 Nominees, 193 Appointments – 22.4%, including three (3) Supreme Court appointments, one that should have been Obama’s.

So, a stockpiled federal court handpicked by the Federalist Society, with lifetime appointments and intent on destroying progress. We have seen how this is working out for the nation:

Roe v. Wade – overturned

Biden v. Nebraska – Student Loan Forgiveness unconstitutional

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard & North Carolina University – ruled Affirmative Action in admissions unconstitutional.

Finally, we have to look at the cases that struck the heart of Voting Rights and have slowly but surely diminished all that was won.

Shelby County v. Holder 2013 – struck down preclearance

Abbott v. Perez 2018 – the court ruled state legislatures were entitled to a presumption of good faith in redistricting.

Brnovitch v. DNC 2022 –  in which five so-called guideposts were identified to assess whether election laws were discriminatory under Section 2, devised by Justice Samuel Alito. Voting Rights advocates and election attorneys decried them as too broad and designed to undercut future challenges.

So ask yourself, are our systems holding? The two presumptive nominees for President are running neck and neck right now. One is currently sitting in court every single day as a ‘defendant’ in one of many of his criminal cases. The other is the President of the United States. One wants to be a Dictator. The other wants to be President one more time. Both are in their sunset years. One is a vulgarian, a want-to-be despot, and a traitor to everything this nation says they hold precious. The other, well, he has served this nation his entire adult life; I know that I haven’t always agreed with him, but I also know that he doesn’t want to burn this nation down.

So, where do we go from here? Will our systems hold? Will we kick the minority-majority to the curb come November, show them what we are made of, and begin to truly rebuild this nation? It is up to those who genuinely believe we can be great; no one will if we don’t do it.

Filed Under: Op Ed, Politics, Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Define Humanity

January 20, 2024 by

What do you think gives us our “humanity?” Do you think it is our ability to use tools? Or perhaps it is our mathematical comprehension and ability to use logic and solve complex problems. Some would tell you it is our social organization and ability to work together. While others are convinced, it is our spiritual curiosity. Finally, there are those who would tell you unequivocally that the basis of humanity is our self-awareness.

I would argue that we are simply searching for ways to set ourselves apart and make ourselves better or on a higher rung on the ladder than other creatures inhabiting Earth.

We think very highly of ourselves, don’t we?

We use tools, as do Chimpanzees and many other members of the ape family. We simply took it a step further. Why? Because we were unable to survive without protection and thus had to create habitable conditions to preserve ourselves. Of course, given our rather aggressive nature, we also rather rapidly created weapons to ensure we could kill not just our food but others that looked slightly different; thus, murder and mayhem very rapidly ensued.

Humans have been, it seems, murderous and ‘eat our own’ species from the very beginning.

So, this leads me back to what defines us, specifically what separates us from other animals and makes us ‘human.’

We organize ourselves into ‘tribes’ and give ourselves rules to create socially acceptable conditions for our tribes to grow and thrive. Usually, these rules are constructed around “Gods” and religions, which men conveniently translate into laws for the masses. There is always a hierarchy within these religions: men who know all the rules and gather all the wealth for themselves. Within the hierarchy, there is always an enemy: the non-believer, the unrighteous, the weak, and those the believer could justify making war upon and enslaving at will.

Before we could make war, before we could enslave, before we could commit any atrocity, including rape, or murder for the amusement of the masses though we had to dehumanize the ‘other.’ We had to be convinced our ‘enemy’ was less human than us. We had to name them less than us and diminish them. We had to strip them of the essence of their humanity to enable and validate our cruelties.

This cycle has been pursued by the tribes of man since we have walked upright. We have certainly refined our cruelties; we have sought out different victims over the eons of man. Would it surprise you to know the word Slave has Slavic origins? Over time, as those boys over there in Europe became less pagan, well, they took a dislike to the enslavement of their own, meaning White Christians, so they had to search further afield for free backbreaking labor.

Again, I must ask what causes us to believe we hold some special place on the evolutionary ladder.

The atrocities we commit upon our fellow human beings are beyond the pale. Murder, mayhem in the name of what? Religion, state security, power, racial purity, borders, political ideology; all of it is incredibly ignorant. Honestly, what it boils down to is fear. Are we not so far up the ladder from the animals we pretend to be ‘better than’? We measure ourselves on dominance, not compassion, not empathy, but pure dominance.

We are nothing more than hairless apes with better and far more destructive tools. I frankly fear where this ends. As so many throw out even the façade of being enlightened, following the teachings of a faith that proposes kindness and loving others. We descend into the madness of pure anarchy and a return to the days when none were safe; I fear for all of us.

So finally, I return to my original question. what is humanity?

Filed Under: Sociology & Evolution Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Mud, Muck and Fear

December 23, 2023 by

Do you wonder sometimes what is wrong with people? Do you listen to what others say and think, “Do you believe what you are saying?”

I do.

There are days when I hear the words that fall from the mouths of strangers and people I thought I knew, and my head tips to the side in astonishment and dismay. Sometimes, I want to scream at them, “What is wrong with you? Are you stupid?”

I realize this isn’t a good response. I know in my heart I shouldn’t do this, and I don’t because it wouldn’t do a bit of good. Besides, they might actually take it as a challenge.

The truth is, though, I think people really are losing their ability to reason. I believe a large swath of the population has decided to accept blatant lies as unimpeachable gospel as long as those lies support their desired outcomes. This same group will say anything, do anything, and sacrifice anyone to gain and hold power over those they fear or despise.

Those with power play on the fears of those who want power. Those who want power, even false power, reach out toward the lies told with open arms and embrace it as if it were manna from the lips of the God they pretend to worship. When you listen to them justify their stance and reasoning, it is difficult not to weep or shake them until their necks snap. When you question them, and all you get is soundbites with zero truth, zero logic, and even less real-life foundation, it is nearly impossible not to scream at them, “You are a fecking idiot!”

We are a land of terrified White Men who see the world they once knew changing and who are willing to do anything, up to and including giving away democracy. What is fascinating and terrible about this is that most of those White Men are poor, under-educated, and under-employed. Truthfully, they are no better off and in some cases, worse off than the people they despise. What they know is that their hero has promised them a better, whiter world where they will thrive because they will once again be at the top of the food chain.

He has promised them a world where they are Kings once more. A world where they aren’t competing with Women, Black people, Hispanic people, Asian people, or any other Vermin. He has promised them a world where their sperm is safe, and they are free to impregnate without consequence. He has promised them a world where their insufficiencies will be rewarded without question. He has promised them a world where they are free to shoot to kill without paying a price for their fear of others. He has promised them a world where their ignorance, hate, greed, and inconsequential contributions to the betterment of society matter and everyone else’s lives will not.

He has promised them paradise.

Naturally, they are so ignorant they are incapable of reading between the lines of his rhetoric. What is truly stunning? His most devoted are nothing to him; they are cannon fodder in his war against the United States, against the Constitution, against democracy. They are nothing more than money to feed his never-ending need to pay his lawyers. But they don’t care; they just keep giving and giving as if a self-proclaimed billionaire would need their last $5.

Four indictments and ninety-one counts. It’s a witch hunt.

Business fraud? They lied and cheated; it’s a witch hunt.

Sexual molestation, guilty! They lied; it’s a witch hunt.

Nevermind their God-Hero worships the very worst autocrats and dictators of this century and the last. That he quotes them and exchanges love letters with them. He had friendly meetings with them before, during, and after his first presidency. Well, for some reason, his worshippers seem to think this makes him all that much more worthy of respect and worship.

I sometimes sit in disbelief and wonder what the Hell is wrong with these people, these pseudo-Christian pretend patriots. What in all God’s love happened to them that made them go this wrong?

I have no answer. I only know this. The soul of this nation is on the line, and these people have lost their way; from the top down, they have sold their souls to power and are willing to sell this nation into Hell to keep it.

I know this, we are in a fight for our lives and our freedom. We cannot afford silence. We cannot afford complacency. We cannot afford to sit back and laugh at the ignorance of those on the other side any longer. It easy to hope the Devil will be found guilty of at least some of the charges brought against him. That hope isn’t enough to keep him off the ballot or out of the White House.

It is easy to complain about the age of Joe Biden or that you didn’t get everything you wanted in this administration. Okay, so what! That is what democracy is: negotiation and compromise all day and every day. I can only say this, maybe if more of you got out and voted at the local level and for every single mid-term, Joe Biden would have gotten more done.

Here is my one truth. I am terrified for my children, for my grandchildren and for all the young people I see every day at the High School behind my house. What kind of nation will we leave them if we don’t fight?

Filed Under: Op Ed, Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dear God X

December 22, 2022 by

Dear God, in the interest of not repeating myself and railing at you about the dead children and lunatics with guns, I skipped Uvalde. To not step on toes, you know, those over-the-top ones who claim to speak in the name of your Son, I also skipped Dodd and the devastation it has wrought across this nation on women and girls. I have kept my peace about some of the lunatics still inhabiting positions of power across this nation and wielding it to destroy the lives of those who are different. Haven’t we seen this before? You remember Germany, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Cambodia, Darfur, and the first Ukraine, just in the last century. When we add the Slave Trade and North American Natives, God, we are not doing a very good job down here left to our own devices.

Dear God, how do you not look down and at least nudge folk a little tiny bit in the right direction? I have to ask, are you asleep or simply disinterested? Do you see what is happening, not just here but across the world, with the general movement toward the more ugly, hateful, and terrible that humanity brings to the table given even the slightest opportunity to show its ass. Do you see and say to yourself, “well, let’s just see how far they will go before I smite a few of them back onto the right and righteous path.”

Dear God, I know you must be busy though I am not certain about what these days other than the thousands showing up on your doorstep every day. Aren’t you just a bit weary of all the dead children? I know their parents would have preferred to keep them here, raise them up and watch whom they would become. Do you plan this to determine the worthiness of this world? Do you count the hairs upon the heads of the elders and the children who lay dead by violence and think, “Damned Shame that happened again.”

Dear God, we are led by charlatans, imposters, and Cons, many suited up every Sunday and professing to speak in your name from pulpits of mega-churches across the land. The things they say in your name should make your head swim; indeed, your greatest angel dances gleefully in Hell with all your inattention as he leads the faithless towards even worse malevolent acts every day. With each mass murder, as the bodies lie bleeding, unrecognizable from the destruction of the bullets shot from weapons meant for battlefields, these pretenders offer up “thoughts and prayers,” I can only wonder to whom; surely it can’t be you or your son.

 

Dear God, in a couple of days, we will celebrate the birth of your Son. For the believers, this is a day of great celebration. Many no longer believe because of the great evil done in your name. You have seemingly turned your back and left the world to its own ways; what could possibly go wrong? God, look through the eyes of those of us who still have a smidgen of hope, and see what we see:

  • A Black Man was recently stopped and harassed by the police in Michigan for looking at a White woman ‘wrong.’
  • Congress had to fight to pass a bill to respect marriage for Americans, whether Gay or Interracial, in America. Even in 2022, some people still believe others do not share the same rights as White Heterosexuals. Last I checked, God, you did not say a Blessed thing about Homosexuality; this bastardization of Leviticus is all in the filthy minds of White Male Preachers. I know you didn’t say a damned thing about the color of one’s skin being a deciding factor in love.
  • A few weeks ago, a nightclub was shot up because of its clientele; the worst part was that families were there to support friends and family members.
  • Across the nation, antisemitic rhetoric is on the rise leading to real threats to communities and places of worship. Remember the Camps across Europe and the millions who died because they, too, were Jews, it seems we are seeing this again, but now it is here in this country, this land of the free.
  • A young Black Man is shot in the street, walking to the grocery store, nothing more. The White Man who does this vicious and ugly act of violence isn’t charged with attempted murder or a Hate Crime. He is charged with Assault; you know God, they don’t want to overcharge this 56-year-old white man with the obvious crime, just in case.

Dear God, this is just the tip of the iceberg; come on, you count the hairs on my head, but you can’t count the intent of these murderers. You know all of this, as it happens, don’t you? You see the fuckery down here, and you know it is getting worse by the day. We have members of Congress armed and dangerous, bragging they wouldn’t have lost if they had planned the recent insurrection. We have wars inside our nation perpetrated on those who don’t look or pray the ‘right’ way. Every small step we took forward in the last one hundred years is being lost, stripped away by a small minority, and they do it under your banner. People are so afraid, and that fear is turning into hatred; soon, God, we will be a nation at war again, though it will be far worse this time, and the body count will be yours.

Dear God, it is time for you to act. Nothing big and flashy, but something. I am tired, and so are others. I worry about my friends visiting me. I worry my friends and those I love will eventually have to choose sides and will have to leave me behind simply because I don’t look like them. I don’t blame them; I hurt for them and for me. Dear God, it is time for you to step into this mess you have allowed to fester, it isn’t going to self-correct, and these monsters of self-righteousness believe they have you on their side in their hate and fear.

Dear God, I still have hope. There remain so many good people doing so much good in this world. There are still so many acts of kindness every single day. So much compassion, in this broken world. Don’t you hear the voices raised begging you to shine a light, send warmth to those in need, send healing to those hurting and broken?

Dear God, we are not yet entirely broken, but it is time to show yourself and remind those who speak in your name of the truth and the power of love.

Filed Under: Series: Dear God Tagged With: , , , ,

Murder, Mayhem and a Reckoning

May 29, 2022 by

Do you know how things change? When enough people say enough. When the pain is bad enough, all the small differences finally melt away, and people find common ground and say to each other, “this shall not pass.” Things change when good people no longer turn away.

That is how things change.

We are currently a nation ruled by a vocal, heretic minority. They are mean-spirited, illiberal, unprincipled, power-hungry, and terrified. They are also violent and growing more so by the day.

When we, the majority, stop being weak-willed and selfish, when we the majority, become the genuine ‘Big Tent’ rather than the fractious, tribal-focused standard-bearers of our own self-interests that we are today, things change. When the majority stop infighting, stop name-calling and demanding absolute adherence to bullshit standards, that is when things will finally begin to change.

We, the majority, are always screaming bloody murder about one thing or another, the problem is it is usually directed at our own rather than those who are against us. Still, we can’t even put together a ‘true’ timeline of the crucial milestones, and how to define our messages of hope and victories. Nope, we only care about history if it suits our own beleaguered agenda, and losses that prove our point. We would rather attack our own President and those on our side, just to make a point. We would rather stand with the enemy, or stay at home because we didn’t get all we wanted then whine when we lose it all. 

The messaging is winning the day because those in the middle, the majority, don’t know how to confront the stridency of the Right or the Left and we are weary of both. Just some of the foolish things I have been confronted with since Buffalo:

  • Mass Shootings are due to a mental health crisis in America.
    • Oh, okay then. We are the only country in the world with crazy folk. So the solution to this crisis for the G.O.P. is to strip funding from Mental Health and put guns in the hands of the Mentally Challenged. Well, you know, that makes perfect sense to little ole me.

      Morals in America?

  • Mass Shootings are because parents are too lenient, children aren’t disciplined at home, there is a moral crisis with prayer being denied in school, Christianity is under attack, and schools have a leftist agenda.
    • Ummm, oh, okay. That might explain that whole Baptist thing with the entire conference sweeping decades of sexual abuse under the carpet, right? Or maybe it is the decades of proof that whooping your child with a belt doesn’t really do any good; it only makes the child resent you and grow more aggressive? The whole prayer in school? Yeah, you can still pray till your knees turn into a bloody pulp; you simply cannot force others do so in compliance with your selected faith. Despite your instance otherwise, America was not designed or intended to be a theocracy; it is not a Christian Nation; rather, it is a Democratic Republic with a citizenry that is a majority Christian, though this is rapidly changing.
    • I had to take this one separately because the entire issue of public schools and public school teachers having a Leftist agenda is both ignorant and insulting. Teaching true history, real science, accurate sex education, real social studies, and real political science all at the right time during a young person’s maturation cycle is not Leftist; it is called EDUCATION and Preparation. This education is vital for young people; it prepares them for the world they are entering; they are entitled to it, and your fears and bullshit stand in their way of becoming fully empowered and enabled adults.
  • It is our Constitutional Right to own Guns; we are a free nation because of this Right.
    • I think this might be one of my favorites. This one is close to an all-time high in the ignorance category. I can only shake my head at how truly myopic this sounds; these folks should get out of their Faux Hole more often. There are fourteen (14) countries that rank higher than the United States of American on World Population Review, Freest Countries. Guns make us free? This is by far one of the most asinine things I have read. Guns do not make us free; they force us to live in fear, our streets run with blood, and our schools are places of terror rather than learning.

There were so many more that I would spend the next week documenting them all and likely not even scratch the surface. Everything from the trite comparison between guns and cars to the regular refrain of “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” There is always a piece of me that wants to slap the holy hell out of these fools with their talking points that seem to slip between their lips with such ease; they run from the truth, staring them in the face, dead people calling them from the grave demanding answers for their failures.

We, the majority, are the only ones who can give our dead the answers they deserve. We can do this thing that we have failed to do for so long. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his Congress did it in 1968 by passing and signing the Gun Control Act of 1968, driven primarily by the assassination of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The act prohibited mail-order sales of rifles and shotguns; it also banned most felons, known drug users and those found to be mentally incompetent from purchasing or owning guns.

“If guns are to be kept out of the hands of the criminal, out of the hands of the insane, and out of the hands of the irresponsible, then we just must have licensing. If the criminal with a gun is to be tracked down quickly, then we must have registration in this country. The voices that blocked these safeguards were not the voices of an aroused nation. They were the voices of a powerful lobby, a gun lobby, that has prevailed for the moment in an election year. But the key to effective crime control remains, in my judgment, effective gun control. And those of us who are really concerned about crime just must—somehow, someday—make our voices felt. We must continue to work for the day when Americans can get the full protection that every American citizen is entitled to and deserves-the kind of protection that most civilized nations have long ago adopted. We have been through a great deal of anguish these last few months and these last few years—too much anguish to forget so quickly.”

Lyndon B. Johnson, Oct 22, 1968 upon signing the Gun Control Act

In 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence and Prevention Act updated the Gun Control Act of 1968. This amendment was a direct result of the attempted assassination of then-President Ronald Reagan. The Brady Act added Background checks and created a list of prohibited individuals:

  1. is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
  2. is a fugitive from justice;
  3. is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
  4. has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
  5. who, being an alien (a bunch of set-asides on this one I am not going to list);
  6. has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

What should we want? Where should we go from here? Honestly, we should stop with talking points to make all the crazy and fringe folks happy. We shouldn’t be taking all the noise into account; instead, we should be talking about reasonable solutions that make sense for the problems facing us today. I am a survivor of gun violence; many of my family members are gun owners and hunters. I argue with them about this issue because we talk over each other instead of listening carefully to each other. They sometimes forget I carry the trauma of gun violence every day of my life. I believe in my heart there is a common ground; if reasonable people talk with each other, there is a solution to what we face today on this issue. Here are my thoughts on the subject of Gun Safety and the incremental steps toward a safer Nation for all of us:

  • Raise the age limit to 25 for all gun purchases.
    • Exception: Honorable discharge from any branch of the military.
  • National Background Check database, with a minimum 24-hour waiting period.
    • Shut down internet purchases with the direct-to-home shipment. Must be shipped to a local handling agent who can validate I.D. and license.
  • Enact Red Flag Guidelines federally. This would trickle down to the state level, with states able to add to them, creating more effective solutions for their state. Federal Guidelines should simply provide minimums.
  • Safe Storage Laws this is critical to prevent the ongoing child accidents we see so often in the news. At a minimum, households with guns should have liability insurance against accidents.

For me, that is ground zero.

Today, in Uvalde, Texas, nineteen (19) babies are being memorialized, and two (2) teachers are being remembered. In Buffalo, NY, they are still burying their dead.

Buffalo May 14, 2022
Uvalde May 24, 2022

Today, we still don’t have the heart to do something. If not now, when?

Filed Under: Guns & Violence, Op Ed Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dear God IX

May 23, 2022 by

Dear God, have you seen the devastation? Have you heard your name called out in pain, fear, or the desolation of lost loved ones to terror and violence? Have you heard your name lifted in prayers for solace and aid in the face of great evil? Where in heavens name are you?

How do you continue to allow this horror show to continue in your name and do nothing to stop it? Is this a test of how long and how much people will take before turning away from you and toward something more substantial than future promises of salvation?

Dear God, have you noticed lately how the worst of us are using your name to do terrible acts of violence against the most vulnerable? Is this in your plan, and the rest of us are missing it? Should we be thanking you for the terrible lessons we are watching played out against those who simply wish for a seat at the table, a place within a society that has time and again rejected their humanity.   

Really, God, I am beginning to think you have forgotten the entire premise of Love and are simply letting humans run rampant down here on this little spec in the universe. Has something else caught your attention? Have you lost interest? Or have the unmitigated and unrelenting bombardment of hate-filled lies in your name finally been too much for even you?

Dear God, I know you have many things on your plate. Millions of prayers to answer, millions of things to answer every day. As it says in Matthew 10:

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

So I understand; you are busying counting all those hairs and worrying about all those falling sparrows; you really can’t be bothered with what folks are doing down here to each other in your name. But God, are not all the bodies piling up deserving of a little tiny bit of your attention? You know, just a little bit?

Buffalo Shooting Victims

Dear God, there are ministers at the pulpit today preaching in your name and calling entire groups of people demons for voting contrary to their personal beliefs. This means all those in this nation who voted for a Democratic candidate in 2020 were described as Demons, God Haters, and non-Christian. These ministers, weekly stand in their pulpits and, in your name, demand those who disagree should be sent to Concentration Camps (remember the last time you allowed this to happen God). Do you forget your own words, the words of your Son that only you may name one a demon? Acts 19:

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all[d] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Klan Wedding, 1926

I am struck by those who are driving your narrative. I am discouraged by your seeming indifference to the corruption. Or have you decided to allow rebellion as part of the game? I must say, God, this game is horrible, and the victims are piling up. Do you meet them at the gate and apologize? Are you slapping on their wings and introducing them to the promised eternal life with a shrug of your shoulders and a dinner invitation? Are their ancestors there, or maybe their enemies are there with an act of contrition. Just a thought, God, some of those enemies probably should not be in White Robes; it would be a bit disconcerting to the newly arrived.

Dear God, isn’t it time for some smiting? You know, a lightning strike here or there might be in order right about now. Something very focused and specific would be helpful, I think. Those who spend their time lifting up your name are beginning to wonder where you are as those they love lay bleeding on the streets. It becomes more difficult to believe when the sanctity of church and home is invaded by weapons of violence, in your name, God. The prayer we lift to you for safety, peace, and a place at the table is seemingly ignored.

We are told to accept as our rights are stripped away, and our humanity trampled. We watch as lies are told night after night until they become the truth for countless of our fellow Americans, and we have no recourse, no voice to speak for us. God, I think you have turned your face from those who have been your most loyal servants, who have held up your name and shown your true spirit in the face of tremendous adversity.

Dear God, shouldn’t you be providing something more? Clearly, the thoughts and prayers of the adversary are unwelcome, and hopefully, you are not hearing them as sincere or legitimate. If you can’t separate the insincere thoughts and prayers of the enemy from the wails of the grieving families in churches across this nation, might I suggest a Cochlear Implant? Technology today has made great strides for the unhearing.

Filed Under: Series: Dear God Tagged With: , , ,
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