Generation X-tian

Born at the tail end of Generation X, I recognize many of the traits often associated with the generation in my own life—the ironic attitude, cynical nature, bitter realism and the refusal to take myself or anyone else seriously. Perhaps nothing captures the true essence of this generation—my generation—like Richard Linklater’s movie Slacker.  Released in 1991, the movie chronicles the lives of roughly one hundred X’ers on the streets of Austin, presented in the form of brief vignettes, connected by intermingling characters. There is no plot, per se, and most of the dialogue is improvised. Instead, Linklater expresses the frustration, fears and truths of a generation by examining the most mundane activities of life.

 

In one scene, a young couple walks the streets of Austin on their way to an afternoon movie. As they walk, they pass a beggar on the streets. The young woman offers the beggar some change and Diet Coke. As the couple turns the corner, the young man expresses his frustration, “You know, there’s something very wrong with that.” The lady, obviously a bit taken back, inquires whether her date refers to offering the beggar change or a soft drink laden with possible carcinogens like NutraSweet.

 

The young man confirms that not only was he referring to both the soda and the money, but that the action was bad for the beggar and the giver. “Him because it’s not really gonna help him. And you because that relationship is naturally going to involve that condescending element, maybe even contempt.”

 

The two continue to walk and continue to talk—the lady admitting that a couple of nickels won’t have a tremendous impact on the beggars life and the young man stating that the lady’s compassion prohibits her from realizing the beggars true “potential”, before he finally issues his thesis, accusing her of being chained to a “slave morality.”

 

“But it’s like all these other futile causes that you fall into. They all stem from a certain weakness.  You know, psychologically helping everyone else out is easier.  It’s an escape from working on yourself, from perfecting yourself.”

 

I’ll admit that I’m partially drawn to this scene because of it’s not so subtle reference to Nietzsche, but also because I think it’s a perfect illustration of the schism between the “belief centered Christianity” and the “transformation centered Christianity” of the Left. Indeed, we could draw direct comparisons between these often conflicting disciplines of Christianity and of Nietzsche’s “master” and “slave” moralities.

 

As many of you know, I grew up in a traditional United Methodist Church, focused on traditional, “belief centered” Christian values. God created Heaven and Earth. Humans were a fallen race. Jesus was born of a Virgin, died on cross and rose from the dead, so that we were a fallen race with hope. In high school, I felt God’s call in my life, devoted myself to the ministry of Jesus Christ and became enamored with the charismatic movement in the Christian church, specifically its roots in the Holiness movement and the Methodism. I go off to college, lose my faith, and became a liberal and agnostic.

 

Somewhere along the way, I reconnected with God and He revealed Himself to me in new ways. As I started returning to Christianity, I noticed the entire landscape had changed in about five years. When I began to lose my faith in the late 90’s, the charismatic movement dominated Christian culture. The “Toronto Blessing” and revivals in places like Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, pointed towards a “Third Great Awakening” within the Christian church, preparing the world for the eminent return of Jesus Christ.

 

Imagine my surprise when I return to find the Christian culture now dominated by “Christian spiritualists.” Similar to the “Jesus movement” of the 60’s and 70’s, this new wave Christianity promised a mixture of the feel good idealism of the Left and the evangelism of the Right. This new group went by several names, “emergents”, “New Monastics”, “Red Letter Christians”, anything to distance themselves from the more conservative, Christian traditionalists. Now, I’ve written extensively about these people in the past, but let me stress the first thing that stood out to me about this group was their “group think” and use of talking points—post modernism, rejection of labels and, yes, social justice.

 

It was obvious why the term “post modern Christianity” offended me. The term suggested that somehow the Christianity that existed for 2,000 years was no longer relevant to the lives and must change, not evolve, radically in order to survive. For some reason, the “social justice” label bothered me even more. Like any moral human, I desired to help others. Throughout the Bible, I saw commandments to believers to assist those in need and I longed to do my part to make the world a better place with less hunger and less poverty.  I read the Bible and believed that, “as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)”.

 

Ironically, I relied partially on my knowledge of Nietzsche, one of the harshest critics of Christianity in Western thought, to expose the fallacies of the “social justice” argument. I reflected on the scene from Slacker that I described above. In this instance, the girl represented the new wave, Christian Marxists, devoted to “social justice”, chained to slave morality and the guy represents the Christian traditionalist or, in Nietzsche’s world, master morality, except unlike Nietzsche’s version, this is a Divinely inspired, not a man made philosophy.

 

As such, I think what the guy says conveys a relevant message for us all. The “social justice” of the new wave Christian, of the girl, involves going out giving money to the poor, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, regardless of the situation. We must put change in the coffers of the beggar. Very little, if any, thought goes to the beggar’s spiritual state or the cause of his poverty. The Christian traditionalist looks at the beggar and seeks to first address the obvious needs—clothing, food, shelter—but in the process reach out and witness to the beggar and bring him into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Christian traditionalist realizes the awesome, transforming power of Jesus Christ, and realizes that once the beggar is saved he will be well on his way to breaking the poverty cycle. Instead of constantly giving hand outs to the beggar, the redeemed beggar learns from the Christian traditionalist how to become a contributing member of society and starts to earn an honest living. In other words, it goes back to the old saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

 

Why does the new wave Christian insist on giving as opposed to teaching? Simply put, it is easier. Anyone can give. Giving is easy and it serves as a good masking agent for guilt. However, it is hard to come to terms with some of the truths of Christianity. It’s hard to accept the fact that “original sin” exists. It’s hard to accept the fact that we need to be redeemed. It’s hard to accept the fact that God so loved the world, He gave His only Son to die for this redemption. It’s hard to understand the renewing of the mind and spirit we experience once Christ comes into our lives, a renewing that will eventually lead to our perfection—not here, but on God’s celestial shores(Romans 12:2). It’s hard to accept the fact that those around who refuse to believe that Jesus is indeed the only way to God live in sin. It’s hard to look at the lives of those close to us and realize that certain aspects of their life may be incompatible with Christianity. It’s hard to look at our own lives and realize that certain aspects may be incompatible with Christianity.

 

Indeed, Christianity is hard! The guilt of being a sinner and falling short of the Glory of God is nothing new. Paul writes about the experience extensively. What is new are the methods man will invent to cope with this guilt. We have a choice. We can accept Jesus as the Jesus of the Bible, trust in Him, have faith in Him, and believe that He will help us carry our cross. Or, we can pervert Christianity to fit our modern times. Modern man often chooses to fight guilt by using the almighty dollar or seeks to use political power to legislate their view of morality.

 

I remember vividly a sermon from UMYF. Our youth pastor preached a sermon entitled, “Generation X Christian”. His entire sermon focused on the use of the letter “X” to represent Christ in popular culture (e.g. X-mas, etc.) and how we had the power to make Generation X, a true Generation of “X” (i.e. a generation of Christ). We were well on our way as well, but somewhere along the way, the poison that is secular humanism seeped into the evangelical wing of the Protestant church and distorted our vision of the Christian faith, chaining us to the “slave morality” that Nietzsche spoke of, and giving credence to the teachings I have heard regarding “false teachers of Christ” since I was a child.

 

Indeed, I remember from my earliest days in Sunday school, teachers warning us about a brand of Christianity that “sounded good”, but was void of Christ. I look at the church today, specifically the United Methodist Church, and certain leaders who wish to pollute it with secular humanism. I look on this board and I see people who are literally offended by the story of Christ and the hymns of faith. Every time I question these people, they throw one term back in my face—“social justice”. The church needs to focus more on “social justice” and less on evangelizing. The church’s top priority should be “social justice.” I hear the word “social justice” and I all think about is pride—the folly of these secularists, to believe that we humans have the power to bring about “social justice.” Justice will be served once every knee bows and every tongues confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Until then, the best that we can do is to lead others to Christ, show love to our neighbors and pray for those in need.

 

 

NewsScroller | msnbc.com

NewsScroller | msnbc.com

I’m Still Here

I apologize for the long delay in between new posts. I’m still trying to get settled in from a recent move, so my free time has been spent taking care of those issues. However, I promise to have some new posts, very soon. In the near future, we will dicuss Barry Obama’s recent comments involving middle-class white Americans, we’ll discover why Democrats would have us to believe that this is the Age of Entitlement, we’ll have a little history lesson and learn how Ronald Reagan was a punk, we’ll look into the interesting links between big government, Marxists organizations in tihs country and millions of yuppies, we will examine the differences between hope and faith and of course, we’ll have some good fun picking on “Big Weather” and the Global Warming nuts.

Until then, we recently lost one of the last great conservatives, not only in Hollywood, but a great conservative outside of the Left Coast in Mr. Charlton Heston. I’d like to share with you a speech Mr. Heston gave, which was actually sent to me by a liberal friend. Enjoy and RIP in Chuck!

 

The following is a speech NRA President Charlton Heston gave to the Harvard Law School Forum on February 16, 1999.

I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. “My Daddy,” he said, “pretends to be people.”

There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling repainted I’ll do my best. There always seems to be a lot of different fellows up here. I’m never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I’m the guy.

As I pondered our visit tonight, it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to re-connect you with your own sense of liberty…your own freedom of thought…your own compass for what is right.

Dedicating the memorial at a Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, “We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”

Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that’s about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you…the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.

Let me back up. About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve…I serve as a moving target for the media who’ve called me everything from “ridiculous” and “duped” to a “brain-injured senile, crazy old man.” I know…I’m pretty old…but I sure Lord ain’t senile.

As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I’ve realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it’s much, much bigger than that.

I’ve come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.

For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 – long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else’s pride, they called me a racist.

I’ve worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe.

I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite.

Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.

From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they’re essentially saying, “Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!”

But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we’d still be King George’s boys – subjects bound to the British crown.

In his book, “The End of Sanity,” Martin Gross writes that “blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.

Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don’t like it.”

Let me read a few examples.

• At Antioch College in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation…all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive.

• In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDS, the state commissioner announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not…need not…tell their patients that they are infected.

• At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team “The Tribe” because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name.

• In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the rights of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery.

• In New York City, kids who don’t speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R’s in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic.

• At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students.

Yeah, I know…that’s out of bounds now. Dr. King said “Negroes.” Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said “black.” But it’s a no-no now.

For me, hyphenated identities are awkward…particularly “Native-American.” I’m a Native American, for God’s sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife’s side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American…with a capital letter on “American.”

Finally, just last month…David Howard, head of the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word “niggardly” while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, “niggardly” means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign.

As columnist Tony Snow wrote: “David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn’t know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn’t know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance.”

What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can’t be far behind.

Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America’s campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who’re supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression?

Let’s be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe?

It scares me to death and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason.

You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that…and abide it…you are – by your grandfathers’ standards – cowards.

Here’s another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they’ll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayors…pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers.

I don’t care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, “Don’t shoot me.”

If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don’t celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe.

Don’t let America’s universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.

But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation?

The answer’s been here all along.

I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people.

You simply…disobey.

Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely.

But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don’t. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.

I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King…who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.

Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea in to Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Viet Nam.

In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous law that weaken personal freedom.

But be careful…it hurts.

Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies.

You must be willing to be humiliated…to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma.

You must be willing to experience discomfort. I’m not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story.

A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called “Cop Killer” celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world.

Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so – at least one had been murdered. But Time/warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black.

I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time and decided to attend.

What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of “Cop Killer” – every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.

“I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF

I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF

I’M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF

I’M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF…”

It got worse, a lot worse. I won’t read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that.

Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.

“SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY…”

Well, I won’t do to you here what I did to them. Let’s just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said “We can’t print that.” “I know,” I replied, “but Time/Warner’s selling it.”

Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T’s contract. I’ll never be offered another film by Warner, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.

When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself…jam the switchboard of the district attorney’s office.

When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors…choke the halls of the board of regents.

When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl’s cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment…march on that school and block its doorways.

When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you…petition them, oust them, banish them.

When Time magazine’s cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month…boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.

So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobediences of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God’s grace, built this country.

If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree.

Thank you.

Friday Night Lights

Standing in line at local drug store this afternoon, a magazine headline caught my eye, “Why You Should Hate Southlake!” It was the September 2007 edition of D Magazine, a magazine I tend to avoid like the plague because of their constant interference in the lives of my sister’s boyfriend’s family (they once published his Outlook Calendar on their society blog and tried to advertise the places he would be; they also love to badger his famous brother). With that said, I couldn’t resist purchasing the magazine.

My fascination with the Southlake Carroll football team dates back to my childhood. I was raised in a small East Texas town with a 3A school. I would hear stories of this suburban Dallas school that featured an offensive line with average SAT score of 1300 and an all white backfield. It sounded a lot like Columbia University of the Ivy League, which at the time was in the midst of the longest losing streak in the NCAA. However, this Southlake school found a way to win, including several victories over East Texas power houses.

As I grew older, this school moved up classifications and I no longer paid attention to their program. After all, as a loyal Atlanta Rabbit fan, all I cared about was 3A football, but then in 2003 I accepted a job covering East Texas for a major high school football website. Their D/FW message boards were flooded with Dragon fans and for some reason they made me sick. First, I had grown disillusioned with the philistine lifestyle of the Dallas suburbs, but I was also sickened by the schools lack of diversity. Every media outlet in the D/FW area and the state fell in love with SLC and I aimed to be different, so I began to attack the school on every level.

I got home this afternoon and began to read the article. It opens with a very poignant exchange on airplane bound for Lubbock between quarterback Riley Dodge’s girlfriend and an Odessa Permian football fan. The Permian fan, whom D Magazine portrays as a country bumpkin, not unlike the Hollywood portrayal, tells the girl about the history of “Mojo” and the Permian tradition. Juxtaposed with that is Dodge’s girlfriend, who is portrayed as the all-American girl-smart, athletic, attractive and unlike our Permian fan, the magazine doesn’t describe her accent. The article continues to compare the two cities, Odessa the town that dried up with 1980’s oil bust and Southlake the most affluent burg in the D/FW area outside of the Park Cities.

The reference to Permian immediately conjured up images of Friday Night Lights. I remembered the first time I read the book as an 8^{th Grader and the immediate connection I felt between the plains of West Texas and the pine hills of East Texas-communities whose identity were directly shaped by the local high school football team. Over the past couple of nights, I’ve watched Season One of the television series of the same name, and fought back tears as memories of my days of growing up in Atlanta were brought to life on screen. Dillon, Texas could be Atlanta, Gilmer, Tatum, Arp, Alto, Daingerfield, Tyler or Longview, but after reading the article I don’t think Southlake could ever be Dillon.}

You see, where I come from you look on your roster each season and the only thing that changes are the first names. Our communities, our schools, our teams are comprised of families who gave their money, blood, sweat, tears and prayers to shape and form a community in the middle of nowhere. When I return to watch a Rabbit football game now, ten years after I graduated, I recognize the name of the players by association-I played with his brother or cousin, that’s such-and-such’s kid, his grandfather was on that ‘52 team.

You don’t get that at SLC. Indeed, the Dragon’s football history hardly existed prior to 1980. In fact, the magazine directly references the town and school’s growth to their success on the football field. Affluent non-Texans who relocate to the Dallas area for work want an idyllic community to raise their family. What says “Texas” more than a successful high school football program? This is what you get, a community full of Type-A personality transplants, with no real connection to the land or school, desperate for their kids to experience success, so they enroll them in a ready made trophy factory. In 20 years, the parents will retire to Boca and the kids will have graduated college and have jobs in other cities across the United States, a new slew of transplants will have arrived in Southlake and the cycle will start again.

Don’t mistake my animosity for jealousy. My beloved Atlanta High School has experienced her share of success on and off the field-state titles in football, baseball, and track, the overall team state title in academic UIL and a Lone Star Cup-not to mention several successful alums (i.e. comedian Ellen DeGeneres, former U.S. Congressman Max Sandlin, Washington Redskin’s running back Derrick Blaylock). I just want the real thing when it comes to Texas high school football and I just don’t see it in Southlake.

Ironically, the article closes with a quote from Todd Dodge, speaking about the community of Southlake, a quote who stole from Texas A&M, “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.” The same can be said for understanding Friday night lights. In the end, Southlake may experience and understand success on and off the field, but they will never understand the meaning and passion associated with the glare of the Friday night lights.

SMU

Over the past two years, Southern Methodist University, the quaint, liberal arts college with the Methodist name, nestled among the upscale Park Cities neighborhoods of Dallas, has gone from a regional hub for trust fund babies to the forefront of the national media’s attention. From the nomination of Harriet Miers to the bitter debate over whether or not the George W. Bush Presidential Library should be built on campus, the media has focused intently on the juxtaposition between the left leaning faculty and administration at both SMU and Perkins School of Theology and the conservative power brokers who make up the SMU student body and association of former students. One story ignored by the national media emerged over the course of the past year, with the deaths of three SMU students attributed to drugs and/or alcohol.

Allow me to preface this post by saying that SMU is an institute that I hold near to my heart. Several members of my family and of my fiancée’s family attended SMU and Perkins and from my earliest days it was the only college I wanted to attend. After all, as a child in the early 1980’s who wasn’t drawn to the exploits of the “Pony Express” and the SMU football team (that program too was rocked by controversy in the late 80’s-see “NCAA” and “death penalty”)? A Methodist college with a great football team, there was nothing better for the Methodist kid who loved football.

As a senior in high school in the late 1990’s, I applied for admission to SMU and received an information packet about the university. At that time, I was shocked and appalled to learn that SMU, an institution of the United Methodist Church, had a student organization for gay students. I immediately called the admission office, hoping to hear their justification for the organization, but I was informed that the United Methodist Church no longer had anything to do with the university itself, only Perkins. Needless to say, I chose not to attend SMU and chose a United Methodist college that reflected my values.

While I’m happy to report I’ve matured and moved past the bigotry of my youth, I can’t help but think back to this example of SMU’s moral ambiguity when I read a story similar to the one in the Sunday, August26, 2007, edition of The Dallas Morning News.

Staff writer Holly K. Hacker wrote an “above-the-fold” story titled, “SMU Opens With Sobering Mission,” chronicling the tragedies of the 2006-2007 academic year and exposing SMU’s plan to deal with the problem.

Here are the facts:

In December of 2006, a SMU sophomore is found dead in his bedroom of his frat house. Autopsies revealed a deadly cocktail of cocaine, alcohol and prescription painkillers in his body.

In May of 2007, a freshman was found dead in his dorm room, blood tests revealed that his blood-alcohol levels were five times over the legal limit.

Perhaps the story that garnered the most attention was the case of the 21-year old senior who simply vanished, keys left in her new car parked in the garage of her apartment. Her body would later be found near Waco, Texas, stashed in portable toilet outside a construction site. Her death was ruled an overdose due to cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone. As this story developed, details emerged linking the lady to a drug dealer known to frequent the campus.

In order to confront this nasty trend, the SMU brass has set out to implement new efforts to try and combat substance abuse among the student body. However, some members of the SMU faculty feel that the new efforts are nothing more than a charade. I’ll spare you the rather mundane details of their efforts, but feel to check them out for yourself on the Dallas Morning News website, just suffice it to say that they ignore the source of the problem-the spiritual health of the student body.

One would think that with the resources SMU has, a divinity school and one of the nations largest United Methodist Churches on campus, that they would turn to God in their time of need. Am I naïve enough to believe that implementing harsh, legalistic codes would reduce the use of illicit substance among college students? No. I’m not far removed from my college days and I know that temptations abound even for the most faithful of students.

I do think that abolishing the political correct mindset that permeates the campus and returning to the schools Christian roots would be a great start. What this campus needs is spiritual renewal in the vein of a good old fashioned Wesleyan camp meeting. Someone, preferably a campus administrator needs to stand up and declare the truth, that is that SMU is a Christian school, founded by Christians, on Christian principles. Students come to college to learn and gain life skills necessary to succeed in the “real world,” part of the life skills needed for surviving in the “real world” involve accepting Jesus Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior and experiencing the transformation of one’s man and spirit that Paul wrote about in Romans. (Romans 12:2) The truth is that in the absence of this transformation it is impossible to be free from any addiction or vice.

Perhaps the most disheartening part of the article is the reaction of parents and students. Many of them feel that drugs and alcohol are just a big of problem on campuses all across the United States. This may be true, but how many of these “problem campuses” are Christian colleges? Do you think Oral Roberts University has a bigger drug and alcohol problem than SMU? What about Liberty, Baylor or even Notre Dame?

As I mentioned earlier, I chose to attend a United Methodist College that reflected my values. Lon Morris College is an institution of the United Methodist Church located in Jacksonville, Texas. We didn’t have strict rules to live by like students at ORU, Liberty or Baylor, but we were told repeatedly that Lon Morris was a Christian school and we were to act like Christians. We were not allowed to have members of the opposite sex in our dorm rooms, alcohol was prohibited on campus and at social functions and several students were expelled from the school for simply having a smoking pipes and papers.

In the end, I really don’t expect much action from the school. After all, it was faculty members at Perkins that complained about a lecture on campus dealing with intelligent design and the same Perkins faculty members who rallied against the building of Bush library. Their rhetoric indicts them and their political and theological agendas are clear. They embrace the moral ambiguity championed by the liberal wing of the United Methodist Church, the true disease threatening our great church-SMU is merely a symptom.

 

Lepert’s Early Failure

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-lepperthisp_03met.ART.State.Edition2.4364eaf.html 

Long before he picked up an Oscar nomination and even before The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will Smith formed one of half of the rap-pop duo, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Their most famous song, and the one song that launched Will Smith into stardom, was “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, a song chronicling one teenager’s angst with the level of control parents wield over their children. When I think of our elected officials response to the immigration problem, I think of this song, because our elected officials, like parents, just don’t understand.

For the past two years, radical, extremist organizations like L.U.L.A.C. and La Raza have pushed our Federal government to ease restrictions on the criminals who have immigrated to this great country-illegally. Last spring, they took to the streets, waving their native flags, shouting in Spanish, giving you, me and every other American the middle finger. Their leaders used fiery rhetoric to try and garner sympathy for a band of villains who supposedly lived “in the shadows” of American society. In the end, these illegal rallies accomplished little, except for forging an unholy alliance between “Big Business”, who saw an opportunity to flood the country with cheap labor, and the political opportunists on the far Left who saw an opportunity to flood the ballot box with millions of illegal voters.

Instead of simply securing the borders and enforcing the laws currently on the books, our elected officials felt it would be easier to first grant amnesty to those who are here illegally and then institute a system that would allow tens of millions of more illegal aliens to enter our nation, costing the taxpayers millions and compromising our national security. Legal American citizens flooded the Senate office building with phone calls and letters, demanding that they vote against any new immigration legislation, yet the Bush administration sent out damage control teams to conservative talk radio shows to claim that a majority of Americans supported the bill, and in doing so supported amnesty.

In the mean time, local governments, those most closely in-tune with the electorate, decided they would send Washington politicians a message. Several cities, across the United States, passed ordinances providing real solutions to the illegal immigration problem. In the D/FW area, Farmers Branch passed legislation that would make it illegal for illegal immigrants to rent housing and declaring English the official language. The Latino extremists were outraged and demanded that public be allowed to decide the matter. The Farmers Branch city council obliged and put the matter on a ballot. In May, citizens of Farmers Branch overwhelmingly supported the measure, yet the extremists were still unconvinced and bitched and moaned in front of a Federal judge, a Clinton appointee, until the emasculated judge finally relented and put a temporary moratorium on the legislation taking affect.

The latest example of an elected official, snubbing his nose at the electorate, comes from right here in the great city of Dallas. Newly elected mayor, Tom Leppert, announced last week that he supports recommendation from the pro-illegal immigration caucus for the city of Dallas to form an office of immigrant affairs, which according to the above referenced Dallas Morning News article, would be “…dedicated to assimilating immigrants, legal and illegal, into the city of Dallas.” The News article implies that the taxpayer-funded office would seek to connect “the foreign-born to social service agencies in the city.”

Dallas, the city whose government refused to use taxpayer dollars to fund the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium, a facility that would have created millions of dollars in revenue for the city, would rather use taxpayer dollars to fund an office that would encourage criminals to drain our revenue. Can someone please explain that one to me?

Leppert, like every other elected official, knows what American citizens think about illegal immigration; the poll numbers speak volumes. Yet, Mr. Leppert’s connections to the construction industry speak louder. Like many other corporate “yes-men”, Leppert sees these criminals as nothing more than dollar signs and wishes to exploit their services by any means necessary.

I’ve never been one to criticize a policy without offering an alternate solution. While Leppert’s plan seems deceptive and vague, I aim to offer a plan that will benefit not only Dallas residents, but also all American citizens.

Personally, I like the idea of a municipal office set up for the purpose of dealing with immigration issues, although for different reasons than Tom Leppert and the pro-illegal immigration caucus.

I say establish an office of immigration services, but instead of relying on taxpayer money, charge a fee for all immigrants and allow service organizations to fund the program in exchange for their services. Every immigrant would be required to register with the city office, which would conduct a standard background check on the applicant (i.e. criminal background check, employment history, family history, medical history). The applicant must prove that he or she is in the United State legally and working towards citizenship. The office would then seek to help the prospective American citizen assimilate naturally into American society.

One of the largest problems associated with illegal immigration is that illegal immigrants do not have insurance of any kind. Every day, American citizens must deal with illegals who can’t drive, have wrecks and don’t have the insurance to cover their mistakes. Likewise, area hospitals suffer financial strains when illegals show up seeking free treatment. The Dallas Office for Naturalization and Assimilation of Prospective Americans would require immigrants to purchase auto and health insurance from the city. Insurance companies would bid with the city for the right for this business, helping to fund the office.

Many illegals enter this country with little or no formal education and with little or no knowledge of the English language. The Dallas program would require all immigrants to participate in an educational program with a local community college, who like the insurance company won through a bidding process, in which the immigrant would take courses in English, government and American history.

Additionally, the office would work to remove the restraints from our law enforcement officials and allow them to ENFORCE all immigration laws on the books. This includes, but is not limited to, asking about immigration status, conducting raids on businesses known for hiring illegals and deporting any person found to be in this country illegally–regardless of circumstance. Businesses found employing illegals would face hefty fines as would property owners found renting to illegal aliens.

It takes more than mere ideas, democracy requires action. We must organize and act and with that I would like to announce the formation of Keep Dallas Legal, an organization devoted to the enforcement of immigration laws in the city of Dallas. We believe that Dallas is an American city, built by hard working American citizens for American citizens, governed by officials elected by American citizens. When these elected officials place the desires of non-citizens above the needs of American citizens, we feel that we must take political action through letter writing campaigns, phone banks, voter drives and other forms of political activism

 

 

 

Presidential Plan

With the campaign trail heating up, the media bombards us with talking points and policy promises of presidential hopefuls. Judging from the reaction of last week’s Democratic debate, the jury is still out on who the “perfect candidate” might be.

If you were running for president, what would your priorities be? I’ve been thinking about this and I’ve come up with a five point plan.

1.) Comprehensive Immigration Reform To me, immigration reform is the most important issue facing our nation, even more important than the “war on terror”, because it affects our nation on so many levels. Here in Dallas, illegal immigration is a huge problem, leading to school overcrowding, rise in the crime rate and our social services being milked dry. The first thing I would do is take the restraints off our law enforcement officials and allow them to ENFORCE all immigration laws on the books. This includes,but is not limited to, asking about immigration status, conducting raids on businesses known for hiring illegals and deporting any person found to be in this country illegally–regardless of circumstance. Businesses found employing illegals would face hefty fines as would property owners found renting to illegal aliens.

Simultaneously, I would work to close down and secure our borders. I support all efforts to build a fence along our southern border with Mexico and would support efforts to construct a similar fence along our northern border with Canada. Additionally, I support the efforts of our very own “citizen border patrol, The Minutemen, and would relieve any restrictions preventing from doing their jobs.

Next, I would institute strict guidelines for immigrant workers on their path to citizenship.–a five year program. Most importantly, the immigrant must have a job offer before coming across the border. Once an offer has been made, the immigrant would submit to rigorous background checks regarding family, criminal record, finances and any ties with criminal or terrorist organizations. If the immigrant passes the background check, he or she would be allowed to enter the United State as immigrant worker. The immigrant worker would be taxed at rate 10% higher than that of a citizen and would face stiff taxes for any money sent out of the country. The immigrant would not be eligible for any government benefits, until the completion of the five year process.

Any child born or brought over during the five year time period would be considered an immigrant worker and would face the same restrictions as their parent. Additionally, there would be a mandatory fee, based on a percentage of immigrant worker’s income, for enrolling the child in an American school–enrollment for all school aged children would be mandatory. If the child dropped out, the child and parents would face immediate deportation. If the child or parents are convicted of anything greater than a Class C misdemeanor, they would be subject to immediate deportation as well. Failure to comply with any of the restrictions or to pay any of the fees associated with the process would also result in deportation. Once the parent(s) complete the citizenship process, the tax rate would revert to normal, the restrictions would ease and the child would be eligible for citizenship.

Finally, the immigrant worker must complete a set amount of community service hours, show fluency in the English language, pay an up front fee and pass a standard test, administered only in English, in order to achieve the status of “citizen.”

2.) Reorganize the “War on Drugs” If there has ever been a bigger war failure than Iraq, it has to be the “war on drugs.” While I do not support the legalization of drugs, I do support a reorgranization on how we fight the problem. Securing our borders is a huge first step of cutting off the supply. Next, I would pull all of our resources of Latin and South America used for combating the “war on drugs” and direct half of it to education and rehab. programs in the U.S. and the other half to our war on terror.

I would call for an immediate release of ALL non-violent drug offenders in our jails. They would not be released to the general population, but instead released to rehab. facilities. Non-violent drug offenders would face stiffer fines and longer rehab stints, but only multiple offenders (3 or more) would face jail time.

3. “Reorganize the “war on terror”Anyone that watches the nightly news knows that the “war on terror” is not going as smoothly as it should. As numerous people have noted, we are engaged in a war of ideas, fighting a “state-less” enemy. Victory cannot be achieved by “killing more of their people”; we must look to change their world view. The terrorist we fight have their world view shaped through their religion, so we must start there.

Utilizing the troop surge, I would seek to redeploy our troops to several strategic locations. At the same time, I would seek to use our special forces to infiltrate and capture the fanatical religious leaders. These leaders would be brought directly to detention facilities in the U.S. and forced to survive among the general population of jails. Likewise, all foreign detention facilities would be closed and prisoners transferred to U.S. soil.

I would seek to work hand-in-hand with American media companies to establish 24-hour religious radio and TV stations and newspaper devoted to legitimate Islam. Take away radical Islam, replace it with liberal Islam and the world view will soon change. Insurgents will be exposed as radicals and population will demand more moderate leaders who will work to restore order and eradicate the terrorist cells.

Our military will still be needed, but more in the background than at the forefront.

4.) Ease the tax burden Regardless if you are rich or poor, you are over taxed! We must ensure that the current tax cuts are maintained and make them permanent. At the same time, we need to examine our tax laws and find ways to ease them even more, especially on the lower and middle class incomes. By implementing my immigration reform, we will be able to push a lot of the tax burden on those who are not yet citizens. After all, our forefathers gave of their sweat to make this great land. The immigrant fees and taxes will ensure that the immigrants do their job to contribute financially to our great country, allowing citizens to enjoy more financial freedom and invest more in our economy.

Eventually, over my first four years, I would hope to push more of the tax burden into the marketplace and off our pay checks. Many Americans, including those involved in illegal enterprises, do not pay their “fair share”. By putting more of the tax burden on goods and services, we ensure that everyone in this country–tourist, drug dealer, prostitute, criminal, etc.–pays their fair share to our country, not depending on “blue collar” America to foot the bill for them.

5.) Promote strong fiscal responsibility One of the reasons we are over taxed is that our government is way too big and spends money on things our government is not responsible for. We are obligated by our love of our founding fathers, to examine all government programs and make cuts where necessary to ensure that the necessities–defense, education and infrastructure–are funded properly. I would strive to change the mindset in America from one of entitlement to personal responsibility. The days of the government playing “Daddy” and/or god would be over.

 

Tara Reid

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=3bf41dbf-acbb-4cae-86bc-41f85240d2ce&f=00&fg=copy

 Define “bimbo”…I think this video clip does a pretty good job it.

Tara Reid, party girl extradoinaire, has some bad plastic surgery and we’re supposed to feel sorry for her?  Come on, she brought it on herself.  I feel no sorrow for anyone, male or female, who suffers from any elective cosmetic surgery.  

The promo stated that Reid was on a crusade to warn other females about the dangers of plastic surgery and to prove that her party days were behind her.  Did anyone notice how strung out she looks and sounds in the clip?  Let me tell you something, that chick ain’t clean. 

Here’s the bottom line, if you want to alter your body, you have to understand that you’re playing with fire.  If something should go wrong, don’t bitch, you’ve been warned. We have people storming into schools shooting kids, American children going to bed hungry every night, a war in Iraq that’s not getting better, yet NBC tells us that we should feel sorry for Tara Reid because she had a bad boob job?  Get real…. 

TXU

Anyone who knows me, know that brevity is not one of my gifts. With that said, I will try and keep this vignette short, because I want each of you to read the entire piece, as I feel it will give an inside view to the corrupt world of power companies.

Two years ago, when I initially moved to Dallas with my sister, we set up our apartment with TXU as our electrical provider. Besides the outrageous energy rates, the first few months went by without any problems. In December of 2005, we noticed that we did not receive a bill for November. January rolled around and we did not receive a bill for December.

Alarmed, we contacted TXU. As an aside, I’ll let you know that I can see the TXU building from my dining room. However, my call was transferred to a call center in India where we were forced to speak to poorly paid foreigner who obviously spoke broken English with no knowledge of American idioms. After a 45 minute conversation, the Indian informed us that our apartment did not have any electricity. Literally, those were his words, “your apartment has no electricity.” Obviously, we knew better and informed that in fact we did have power.

He suggested that we contact the Texas Utilities Commission, as he feared our power had been slam, a process in which electric companies illegally switch your provide without your permission. A quick call to this agency soon proved that this was not the case and we dismissed the problem entirely. After all, why should we worry about TXU’s problem?

Well, I came home from work one day in March to find that our electricity had been turned off. Immediately, I stormed down to the leasing office to explain our situation. Magically, the leasing agent seemed to have the answer to our problem.

The leasing office located in the lobby of our building serves as the leasing office for a building recently built across the street. Evidently, someone moved into the building across the street, in an identical apartment number, and used the address from the leasing office’s business cards. TXU assumed that we had moved out and transferred the account from our name to the new guys name, without contacting us. In short, this guy was being billed and his invoices were being returned to TXU because of improper address.

The leasing agent attempted to call TXU to explain the mix-up. Remember what I said about TXU headquarters being located less than 5 minutes from building, but their call center being located in India? Well, obviously explaining a situation like this requires a good working knowledge of the English language and requires more than the ability to read a script off of a computer. It took us three hours to finally reach someone who spoke English and could put in an emergency order for our power to be restored.

March and April passed by without any more issues, but May rolled around with no bill for April. Again, we contacted TXU and again they told us that there was no power in our apartment. Again, they were wrong and again I would come back home from work in June to find the power cut off. Again, the jack ass across the street had used the wrong address.

This time the leasing office offered to have the power restored on the building’s account, to be transferred to our account at a later date. We agreed and reopened our TXU account in July. The leasing office sent us an invoice for the time period in which the power was in their name and we wrote a check to cover the difference. Finally, it appeared that all of our bases had been covered.

Not so fast…

In September, we received another disconnect notice from TXU, stating that we owed over $600.00.

Hold up playa, I like it cold, but we’ve never used that much electricity in one month.

When we transferred the power back into our name, from the leasing office, TXU had closed down the leasing office’s account. The check they sent to TXU was then forwarded back to them, since you cannot pay on a closed account. This forced us to pay TXU the money and wait for the leasing office to reimburse us, but we did avoid having the embarrassment and hassle of having our power cut off.

You read this story and there are a lot of idiots in the ring, TXU, the dude across the street, and the leasing office. However, a co-worker recently shared with me a similar story about her dealings with TXU that lead me to believe that they may shoulder a majority of the blame.

Seriously, I’d welcome any of you out there to share any positive stories you may have dealing with TXU.

 

Isami-fascists Strike Again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11100895/

 I wrote about this previously, but saw this article on MSNBC this morning and felt compelled to raise the issue once again. 

 While the Bush administration touts Iraq, the media bombards us with horror stories of a nuclear North Korea and the Democrats talk sex, the Islami-fascists continue to destroy Somalia. 

 Why should we care?

 Like the regressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the Islami-fascists trying to control Somalia seek to establish a government based on the principles of sharia law. Do we really need another Afghanistan? God knows the average American didn’t even realize that Afghanistan was a country prior to 9/11, much less understand the nature of the religious nuts that ran the country.

 At least with Somalia there is some recent history.  Sadly, we didn’t finish our mission in that country.  For political reasons, many on the left would like us to pull out of Iraq, just like we did in Somalia.  It’s safe to assume that if we pulled out of Iraq now it too would turn into another Afghanistan or Somalia.  That’s why in spite of my objections to the war in Iraq, I feel it’s imperative that we maintain our presence.

 Did the Bush administration lie? No doubt…

 Should we have attacked Iran instead of Iraq? Of course…

But it’s too late to second guess.  We’ve left Iraq with no legitimate government and no legitimate army and the minute we pulled our troops out the world would have on more government led by militant Muslims. Let this story be reminder of why, regardless of your political affiliation, we must “stay the course” in Iraq.