How the Debate is Framed

The question is being framed thus: Would you rather have insurance companies being in charge of your healthcare or the government being in charge your healthcare? False choice. How about you being in charge of your own healthcare under the advice of your physician?

Saturday Night Beck - Bill Bennett - The Corner on National Review Online

This article reminded me why I respect Bill Bennett and am troubled with Glenn Beck. It bothers me that I have heard people in my own church quoting the guy like he's God's anointed.


Saturday Night Beck - Bill Bennett - The Corner on National Review Online

John Lennon's "Imagine"

Heard this as background music today in (of all places) the hardware store. The lyrics were a mainstay for a certain segment of my own generation, but today as I listened to the words, they struck me as being particularly horrid. Am I the only one who looks at them this way?

Imagine

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Jennifer's Biggest Fear

My daughter Jennifer wrote this from her college dorm. I am delighted to share it with you.

My Biggest Fear

[[This is the result of about a year's worth of thinking and observing, as well as recent conversations with Levi Osborn, George Constantine, and Bri Bernardy. I don't aim to call you a bad Christian, but I do hope to point out that if you are comfortable with your faith and your relationships, you probably aren't doing it right.]]

Ghandi was such an observant, wise man. His muses serve as wisdom for people seeking to improve the world even today.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Lately, I've been pondering what kind of change I wish to see. Ridding the world of poverty or disease would be cool. Making sure everyone has drinkable water is important. It would also be nice if people would stop killing each other. But those aren't exactly things I can accomplish on my own. I cannot be the end of starving children. How, then, can I "be the change"?

These issues our world faces today largely stem from one root problem, another thing that Ghandi so articulately stated:

"Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Our deviation from what God wants for us —to be Christ-like—is what causes us to sin, to abandon God's way.

To be honest, Christians really get on my nerves sometimes. We become so content and comfortable with our perfect little lives that we cease to become a tool in the hands of God. Jesus subjected himself to 40 days in the desert knowing full well that he would be uncomfortable AND that Satan would tempt him. Why, then, are we so afraid of being temptd and uncomfortable? Why do we limit ourselves to like-minded friends? Why do groups like Campus Christian Fellowship (CCF) have to be a "community," and therefore isolated and sheltered? Why do we move across the country to live near Christians that we are comfortable with instead of into areas where we can do good?

Who would Jesus hang out with if he attended Truman State University? Certainly not CCF. I think he'd pop in every now and then, but he'd be chillin' in the Student Center talking to anybody willing to listen. If Jesus came to the Winter Family Weekend in Lexington, he'd be talking to a new person every time you saw him; he would never limit himself to those already familiar with him.

Valuing like-minded people and old friends is good; don't think I'm downplaying the importance of that. They hold you accountable, keep you rooted to the ground, and know where you'll need help.

However, lately I've noticed just how much we restrict ourselves to these people we've known forever, go to church with, feel "connections" to. I firmly believe that this attitude harms the spread of God's word more than just about anything. It is the greatest temptation—something almost godlike, a second-best "community" that fails at imitating the Kingdom, but is close enough that it distracts us from ministering.

Who are we serving by isolating ourselves from the tax collectors and prostitutes of our society? Certainly not Jesus, who spent his time on Earth having dinner with the same people we tend to avoid. We are serving ourselves—it is a prideful, selfish act that claims that your comfort and your image are more important than your fellow humans experiencing the Good News of our salvation.

Really: what would Jesus do? I don't claim to know, but I am fairly certain that he would not condone the self-righteous act of isolating oneself from the world that makes us afraid. I just want everyone to examine his or her life and the choices he or she makes. Are you isolating yourself from the "sinners" around you, or do you welcome friendship with everyone? Do you shine your light out into the world, or do you and your fellow candlefriends huddle under that notorious bushel out of fear of the outside? The "city on a hill" shouldn't be a tantalizing, untouchable mystery to those around it. It should be the reality of everyone in the world, and it could be if we Christians were more like our Christ.

Go be the change you wish to see. Are you uncomfortable and a little scared? Good!

My Tax Refund Is My Road to Serfdom

My tax returns are now complete for 2009 and it was a surprise to see a large refund on my federal returns – until I looked at it and realized the number of one-time tax credits that I had overlooked.

But then I realized that these credits are gifts of Congress and Obama Administration, paid for with money borrowed from the Chinese that some day we’ll all have to pay back with interest.

So I’m not going to spend the money. It wasn’t really a gift. It’s more of a loan, except I’m the one providing the collateral for the money the gub’mint borrowed. Frankly, I worked hard for many years to get out of debt, and I don’t like the gub’mint deciding for me that I need to get back into debt – especially to the Chinese.

Passing Through the Waters

If someone were to ask you, “Who parted the Red Sea?” odds have it you would say Moses. You would be wrong. Without being too analytical about it, the correct answer is “God”. God parted the Red Sea, and Moses was merely the agent.

That’s a good thing to remember when good things happen at your hand. Moses didn’t always follow that rule, and at least one time it got him crosswise with God. (“Must we fetch water from this rock for you?” See Numbers 20:10-12). Big mistake. Moses had no business taking credit for what God was about to do.

Some years after this, the children of Israel were once again at the edge of a body of water. This time Joshua was at their head, and what stood between them and the Promised Land was the Jordan River (Joshua 3). This time God left no doubt who was their deliverer:

1. Unlike Moses, Joshua did not go before the people. The Ark of the Covenant did. That was a reminder that is was God who was leading the people, not a man.

2. One man from each of the tribes of Israel was to carry the Ark across the Jordan. Normally only the Levites were allowed to bear the Ark. This tells us that in their journey the people were partners with God. God expected them to be actively involved in his workings, unlike the previous generation whose slave background led them to expect God to do it all. Joshua’s generation was a generation forged in freedom through trials in the desert. God expected them to be players on the field rather than spectators in the bleachers.

3. Unlike the Red Sea, the waters only parted when the twelve strong men stepped off the edge and into the river. The Israelites of Moses’ day had to see the waters part before they trusted God. Joshua’s generation stepped out on faith and entered the water before the miracle occurred. Only after the people took the step of faith did God part the waters.

God had it right when he chose Joshua’s generation to fulfill his promise. The parents of this greatest generation had too much of the slave mentality to appreciate both the blessings and responsibilities of freedom. More than once they longed to go back to the slavery of Egypt where they at least had the security of whatever food the Egyptians decided to give them. Instead of being thankful for the freedom God was offering them, they complained about the discomfort and challenges that come from being responsible. They preferred the certainty of slavery over the challenges of being free.

It took some measure of faith to leave Egypt, but in order to reach the Promised Land one must also pass through waters and wilderness.

If third parties are a viable option, why does Ron Paul run as a Republican?

Third parties in the US need to take a different form and have a different mission than they do in most other countries.

In much of Europe, governments are formed through a coalition of parties who agree to form a coalition government. That only happens after a general election that decides the number of seats each party will have in parliament. In order to form a government, various parties must agree to come together in such a way that they, together, can have a majority of parliament.

In the two-party system, each party tends to be made up of coalitions. The Dems consist of a coalition of unions, greens, education lobbyists, socialists, university professors, certain ethnic groups, Wall Street (yes, they break toward the democrats), etc. The Repubs are a coalition of farmers, small to mid-size businessmen, social conservatives, pro-lifers, low-taxers, a sizable portion of blue collar people, traditionalists, the religious right, and what some call the country club crowd, etc.

The differing elements of these coalitions can change party affiliation over time. For example, the vote of the black American was once a reliable one for the Republican Party on up to the second half of the 20th Century. Wall Street was once a reliable Republican bastion, and the American South was once completely Democrat. The Repubs were once the isolationist, anti-war party. The Democrats were once the party of states’ rights.

Once the parties form their coalitions, they form their platforms and loosely run on those platforms. The winning party essentially governs, but with a powerful opposition from the other party acting as a check.

So in Europe coalitions are formed after the election, while in the US that happens before an election.

Having said that, the real power in third parties can be illustrated by the 2009 special election in New York’s 37th Congressional District. New York’s Conservative Party candidate nearly won the election, but this was an anomaly because normally the Conservative Party prefers to endorse existing candidates from another party. They will only run their own candidate if they do not like the existing alternatives.

The Conservative Party does what the Tea Party people should do nationally. That is, if there is a viable candidate from one of the two major parties, endorse that candidate and run that candidate on the ballot as the Conservative Party candidate. If neither party has an acceptable candidate, endorse another candidate from a third party, and if there is no acceptable candidate, run your own candidate.

That’s a powerful recipe, and in fact it looks to me that this is the exact model this movement will embrace.

My Congressman

It gets interesting around the 1:40 mark. The Congressman must have attended an interesting church in his youth. My comment: 'Tain't never enough.

The Math Is In

The math is in, and you won’t like it. This is the time of year when I spend several hours sorting through papers from the previous year to deliver to my tax guy so that he can deliver them back to me with his bad news.

I know the Bible says to pay your taxes (“Render to Caesar” and all that jazz), but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it. And because I’m sometimes a glutton for self-flagellation, I decided to tally up how much I’m paying in taxes every year.

On my not too lavish income I figure I pay the following:

Federal Income Tax (average rate): 11.00%
Social Security (deducted from my pay): 7.65%
Social Security (employer share): 7.65%
State Income Tax: 6.00%
Property Tax: 4.00%
Sales tax: 4.00%

Total as a percentage of income: 40.3%

Plus --- taxes not included in this total are government charges on my phone bill, utility bills, toll booths, gasoline taxes, excise taxes on tires, car batteries, license fees, and disposal fees on old motor oil and tires.

So the math is in at least somewhat, and it looks to me like almost 50% of what I make is going into public coffers. Even so, those folks are telling me that I’m not paying enough, and I shouldn’t be so selfish as to say otherwise. Just sit down and shut up!

I reflect on this because even Pharoah’s Egypt required only 20%, and that resulted in the people’s subservience to the state. God seems to think that 10% is enough to do his work. But of course we get more from our government than we do from God. Don't we?