Louis R. Avallone

Category: Pop Culture

  • The Truth Shall Set You Free

    Watching a magic trick can make us feel like a kid again. It might be as simple as the disappearance of a coin from our hand, and having it appear again behind our ear, but it still delights us. It’s thrilling because we’re all attracted to things we cannot explain logically. How was it possible to cut the magician’s assistant in two and then see her safe and sound minutes later?

    Interestingly, some people don’t want to know how a magic trick is performed. Maybe that describes you. “For those who believe, no explanation is necessary,” said a famous magician with a grin, and “for those who do not, none will suffice.”

    Maybe it’s because we prefer illusion to the truth, and that we often see what we want to see – like a magician making someone look like they are levitating on stage, or someone so clairvoyant that they know the exact number you are thinking in your head. Is it really magic?

    The trouble is when we find out how the trick is performed, many aren’t amazed by it any longer because the attraction is now gone. That’s the main reason why magicians don’t reveal their tricks. And, if you ask me, this is why so many (who claim to protect the freedom of speech) are rushing to shut-up Kanye West – they don’t want him to reveal their tricks…and for the very same reason the magician won’t because, when that happens, the attraction to whatever they’re selling is lost.

    That’s why you have folks like British journalist Piers Morgan tweeting, “Shame on you, Kanye West, for betraying all black Americans with your disgustingly offensive garbage.” And you have Representative Maxine Waters saying that Kanye “…talks out of turn and perhaps he needs some assistance in helping him to formulate some of his thoughts.” And then the band leader for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon tweets out himself wearing a t-shirt reading, “Kanye doesn’t care about black people.” And this is just a sampling of the disapproval he’s received, from so, so many.

    Even his wife, Kim Kardashian distanced herself from her husband, explaining “I have no idea what Kanye’s tweets mean either.”

    And what, you ask, did Kanye do to receive such dishonor and disdain? He began tweeting that Americans ought to think for themselves. Yeah, how dare he? He even tweeted a picture of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. He tweeted quotes from Thomas Sowell, such as “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” And then quoting Thomas Sowell again, he posed this idea to his 27 million followers on Twitter: “The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best. The welfare state is not about the welfare of the masses. It’s about the egos of the elites.”

    But why are these ideas so offensive to so many? Isn’t Kanye just like the millions of other Americans who are tired of being told what is politically correct? Isn’t Kanye’s recent cultural epiphany emblematic of anyone in our country who is simply tired of being told what to do?

    And while I’m thinking about it, who does Maxine Waters think she is to tell Kanye (or anyone else, for that matter) when it’s their “turn” to talk? Because he’s black, and he shouldn’t be saying what he’s saying? Should Kanye have waited until Maxine Waters helped him to “formulate some of his thoughts” first, before voicing any alternate opinion to hers?

    It’s an Orwellian-irony that many modern “liberals” want to silence dissent when it goes against their preconceived opinions. How can one be liberal and yet not fully support the freedom of speech? This fundamental liberty is a cherished conservative value and the founders knew exactly what they were doing when they put it at the top of the list.

    But for liberals, folks like Kanye represent an erosion of the idea that black Americans should be treated as one dimensional, or as a monolithic “black” voting block, instead of as the independent thinkers they are, with beliefs as diverse as our country.

    The liberals’ fear of free speech is not irrational, however, because “their” voters may very well be abandoning them right now (and not coming back). In fact, we see that support for the President among black men has doubled since Kanye started tweeting about Trump and these approval numbers are the highest Trump has enjoyed in the survey among black men all year.

    Coincidence? Maybe. But just to be clear, what’s exciting here is not Kanye’s celebrity. No, these issues are so much larger than any one individual. Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether his name is Kanye West, or Kanye South. It’s about seeing someone excited about an idea, and who challenges the notion that we all prefer illusion to the truth or the stereotypes peddled by those who want to keep our nation divided.

    For as it says in the Bible, won’t the truth set us free? If so, who gets to decide who goes free, the Maxine Waters of the world, or you and me?

  • 15 Minutes of Fame

    We’ve all heard the phrase, “In the future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes.” Along with radio, television, and the growing affordability (and accessibility) to Internet technology, combined with our instinctive appetite for the urgent and dramatic, there are now billions who have the opportunity to seek the attention of billions of others. But for most of us, it’s more about the attention we’re giving others (e.g. what they said, what they did, etc.), rather than seeking from others.

    Unfortunately, many times it’s the whiny, rude, selfish, defiant, and violent to whom we give our most attention to. Does any one really care, for example, about what a Fresno State English professor said recently, following Barbara Bush’s passing, when she called Mrs. Bush an “amazing racist” who “raised a war criminal” and that she was “happy the witch is dead?”

    Does it really matter that millions pay attention when Jim Carrey tweets about White House Press Secretary Sara Sanders that her “only purpose in life is to lie for the wicked?” Or when Rosie O’Donnell says that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is going “straight to hell?”

    Or how about when Jimmy Kimmel makes fun of Melania Trump’s accent when she speaks? Or when Joe Biden says “Republicans don’t want black folks voting?” Or when Joy Behar says on national television that hearing from Jesus is actually called “mental illness?”

    Yes, in fact, this does matter. A lot. And it’s because freedom of speech, or free speech, is the single biggest influence on our society, and it is guaranteed to each one of us, regardless of our gender, sex, religion, race, nationality, or any other identifying factor – regardless of how ridiculous, illogical, hypocritical, vile, or plain-stupid sounding your speech may be (there are exceptions, of course, present company excepted).

    Well, at least that’s the current popular opinion in our society. That may be changing, though. A study just last year says only 59% of Americans believe that you, or me, should be allowed to express unpopular opinions in public, even those that are deeply offensive to other people.”

    But for anyone wondering why so-called offensive speech should be free, the first question you should ask yourself is who gets to decide what’s offensive? You see, free speech enables the truth to emerge from diverse opinions, even if those offering those opinions are insatiably seeking their own “15 minutes” of fame, whether on social media or on national television. And having the government decide the “truth” of any matter is censorship, plain and simple. And as George Washington once said, “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” Who’s got time for that?

    The real issue isn’t as much what others say, but what we’re paying attention to, instead.

    Consider the disruptive behavior of school children who repeatedly leave their seats without good reason. Typically, the teacher interrupts the lesson to reprimand them. But researchers found reprimanding often increases the frequency of wandering, and that when the teacher ignored children who wandered, and “paid attention to those who worked hard, the frequency of the problem behavior usually fell sharply.”

    In other words, threats and criticism seemingly reward bad behavior, but when children got attention by behaving well, they did.

    But as adults, we can’t help ourselves. We are far more likely be attracted to annoying behaviors, than the desirable ones, especially if you’re a “problem solver-type” In fact, adults typically ignore 90 percent or more of the good things children do, but then pay lots of attention when children are behaving badly.

    Perhaps the most recent generation of parents can’t help it, though, because they have been raised in a culture that only paid attention to them as young children when they were complaining, and then were made to feel better by blaming someone else, becoming a victim, and giving them a trophy for just participating.

    This is more than just anecdotal evidence to make a point. You see, our misplaced adult attention may be creating the next generation of whiny, rude, selfish, defiant, and violent personalities because this is what we have taught them we pay attention to. It’s like the old saying, “Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”

    The bigger question going forward is this: “Is what you pay attention to consistent with who you want to be?”

  • Polarization of America

    Nearly halfway into President Trump’s first term, there are some who might say that America today is more polarized than at any time in its history. And this goes behind mere partisan disagreements, or bickering, regarding any number of subjects – taxes, healthcare, immigration, education – or even more fundamentally, the role of government itself.

    Although many Americans are divided on the issues today, the fact is we have always been. Going back to the election of 1824, no President has ever been elected with more than about 60 percent of the American people’s support. It is expected (and encouraged) that Americans will disagree on what candidate should occupy the highest office in the land, but that alone doesn’t necessarily mean that America is polarized, which is altogether more sinister to our union. Here’s what I mean:

    You see, the polarization of America is defined by the extent to which public opinion is divided into the extremes, often encouraged by factions, within a political party, or by special interest. The casualties of a polarized nation are those moderate voices, in the middle, which often lose much of their power and influence within the political process.

    But in 2016, these moderate voices (sometimes referred to as the “silent majority”) reclaimed their power and influence, just long enough to elect Donald Trump as President, defying the conventional wisdom of those “who knew better.”

    And ever since, “those who knew better” have strained their minds, wrung their hands, pulled out their hair, and lost countless nights of sleep trying to explain what happened in the 2016 election. In fact, the coverage of President Trump by the “Big Three” broadcast networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — has remained 91 percent negative.

    It’s almost as if the media is working off the same script and afraid to report any thought, idea, or reality that is outside their own confusion. For example, if you’re a reporter, and your circle of contemporaries believe that President Trump is racist, sexist, greedy, heartless, and elitist, then it would strain credulity for you to report anything else, right?

    And this is much of what is polarizing our country.

    It’s why comedian Kathy Griffin thought it would be a good idea to pose with the bloodied, severed head of Donald Trump, and yet she still sold out her show at Carnegie Hall within 24 hours. Or why a crowd of marchers in Washington, DC erupted in applause when Madonna said that she’s “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”

    You see, partisanship is healthy in a free society because it promotes the debate of ideas.

    Polarization, on the other hand, is more about silencing ideas with which you disagree. It dehumanizes those whose opinions are different than yours, and doesn’t allow compromise, whatsoever.

    But a great example of the difference between being partisan or polarizing is the recent re-boot of the television show, Roseanne, which continues to draw a record number of viewers, more than anyone expected. While many say that Roseanne is a mouthpiece for conservatives and the millions of Americans who were so backwardly hillbilly-ignorant to vote for Trump, the show’s success is really a good example of how to disagree without being disagreeable.

    Actor Rob Lowe saw it immediately, and tweeted, “The secret to [Roseanne] massive ratings is that it celebrates people with huge political differences who are able to laugh and love together as they passionately disagree.”

    But we don’t do that any more, do we?

    How can you “laugh and love together” as a liberal, if you believe every conservative would like to reinstate segregation, pollute the drinking water, and take food out of the mouths of starving children? How can you “passionately disagree” as a conservative, if you believe every liberal only wants to grow the government, then tax the rich, and weaken our military?

    So whichever side of the aisle you may sit, or stand, it is more important than ever that we return to a healthy partisanship, not polarization, and come together as one nation, under God, and indivisible.

    You see, a divided America only encourages our enemies and weakens our courage And yet, we have Democrats traveling to foreign countries and disparaging the American voter, late-night talk show hosts demeaning the President and the First Lady, and a press corps that focuses on our differences and the trivial, rather than those principles that bind us together as a nation.

    And Abraham Lincoln was right, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. This was a valuable and costly lesson of history and the real question is why aren’t more of us heeding it?

  • Shame on You

    Shame on You

    A recent survey found that more than 96% of women feel guilty at least once a day, and almost half of them experience guilt up to 4 times a day. If you are a woman, you know exactly what that’s like. Culturally, women are encouraged to empathize, or otherwise take the perspective of the other, so much more than men. Susan Carrell, author of Escaping Toxic Guilt, says, “Women feel guilt when they don’t think they are being good enough in their various roles – especially as wife, mother and daughter.”

    Psychologist Benjamin Voyer explains, “Guilt is what psychologists call an ‘other-focused emotion’ – that is an emotion that involves thinking about others,” and it’s typically a female trait. Maybe it’s balancing life as a working mom, or eating chocolate, or spending too much money – whatever it is, women are likely storing up guilt everyday like a last-minute squirrel collecting nuts before the first snowfall of winter.

    So what do women do with all this guilt? They make up for their actions in some way to repair whatever “mistake” that made them feel so guilty in the first place.

    They may overcompensate by spending more time with their children (and less at work), or eating more carrots (instead of chocolate), or clipping every coupon (instead of spending). Or, they vote Democrat (instead of Republican) during the 2018 mid-term elections. Really?

    Yes. And if the Democrats’ tactics start to work, the same women who supported Trump in 2016 won’t be voting for anyone who even resembles Trump in the 2018 mid-term elections.

    Not out of being an informed voter, but out of being shamed.

    Within just the last 30 days, the Democrats have stepped up their offensive on women who voted for Trump. First, Hillary Clinton said women who support Trump are “publicly disrespecting themselves.”

    Then former first lady Michelle Obama added, “Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,” and not only do these women dislike themselves, but she said women voted for Trump because “they only like the things they were told to like.”

    And if that wasn’t enough, even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg chimed in and said yes, sexism was a “major, major factor” in Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump last November.

    And then came along tennis icon Billie Jean King who slammed a whole group of women because of their skin color and said, “I’m upset with the white women that voted for Mr. Trump. I think they really don’t like themselves…”

    Look, none of these attacks on women are coincidental. I believe it is part of a concerted strategy for the 2018 mid-term elections. It started in January, when Democratic women in Congress wore white during President Trump’s first major Congressional address. White was chosen because it is the historical color of the suffrage movement, but also because it “shows we don’t want to go back” or roll back women’s rights, said Representative Lois Frankel, at the time.

    Roll back women’s rights? How about starting with not shaming women for the free exercise of their right to vote? Seriously.

    But Democrats have lied to women for years. Remember in 2010 when the Democrat Party warned everyone of the impending Republican “war on women?” They predicted how Republicans were bent on restricting women’s rights, from reproductive rights to protecting women from violence to making it easier to discriminate against women in the workplace. 

    Well, Democrats lost that argument in the 2010 elections – by a landslide – it was all fake news. But that’s not stopping them now from pivoting that war on women and shaming women for what they have done to themselves by voting for Trump.

    What they have done to themselves? Really? What about what was done to women during 8 years of the Obama administration? The poverty rate among women is at a 20-year high. The labor force participation rate of women is now the lowest in more than 25 years. More women today are out of the labor force and not collecting a paycheck.

    Actually, under the Democrat’s watch, 3.7 million more women fell into poverty, and the median annual wages for women dropped. And to add insult to injury, 92.3% of the jobs lost during Mr. Obama’s first term were lost by women.

    And now Democrats want to add to the guilt so many women are carrying around by shaming them as subservient, non-thinking, self-loathing, “do-as-I’m told” voters, all because they didn’t support the Democrat candidate?

    No, it’s Democrats who should be ashamed of themselves. The women who supported Trump aren’t guilty of anything – other than the good sense to know the difference.

  • Basic American Values

    Basic American Values

    By now, you know that Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise was wounded, along with two Capitol Police officers, a congressional staffer, and a lobbyist, after a shooter opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The shooter’s motive is thought to be related to his expressed grievances online about President Donald Trump and Republicans. Our prayers continue for a speedy recovery of all that were injured during the shooting.

    Unfortunately, this has all tragically happened before, though.

    You know – a member of Congress being shot.

    Remember in 2011, there was Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head during a shooting rampage at a public event outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people were killed, and 13 wounded, including Giffords.

    In 1968, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles, moments after declaring victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. Five other people were injured in the shooting.

    Then there was Louisiana Senator Huey Long in 1935, who died in Baton Rouge after being shot in the Louisiana state Capitol, allegedly by Dr. Carl Weiss.

    These are all isolated examples, in the long history of the world, that acts of violence will always be with us, however random or nonsensical they may seem. Violence, actually, is an expression of the need for survival in all living things.

    Perhaps liberals feel their existence is being threatened into extinction after last year’s elections.

    Maybe that is why Hillary Clinton’s former running mate Tim Kaine called for Democrats to “fight in the streets against Trump.” Or that the New York Times is currently sponsoring a play that features the assassination of President Trump. Perhaps the “need for survival” is why former CNN host Kathy Griffin posed for an ISIS-inspired photo holding Trump’s decapitated head.

    But is violence the only way to survive? For some, it obviously is.

    Is that why Madonna told the Women’s March on Washington, the day after the inauguration in January, that she fantasized about blowing up the White House. Is survival the reason that Snoop Dogg references assassinating President Trump in music video?

    If so, then this may explain why so many of our fellow Americans tweeted thousands of messages like this one, after the shootings: “Will the @SenateGOP reflect on today’s shooting and invite the Dems into the political process that’ll shape our healthcare system? Doubt it.”

    Others justified the shooting by tweeting, “The shooting today today is horrible but what the GOP is trying to do to Americans with health care is also horrible.”

    So if violence has always been with us, and will always be with us, why does violence feel so much more likely to happen today, in places where we least expect it, for doing nothing more than expressing our opinion on the issues? Whether it’s a bumper sticker on your car, or wearing a t-shirt, or sticking a campaign sign in your yard?

    Maybe it’s because our basic American values now seem so diluted in our culture. There seems to be less empathy and optimism, and more uncertainty and indecisiveness.

    There’s less congruency between how we want others to see us, with how we actually are. Our faith in God has declined, and there’s less a sense of community, or belonging, than ever before.

    There’s an interesting study that looked into the shift of our basic American values. The study analyzed the values expressed on the most popular television shows, from 1967 to 2007, namely: Andy Griffith, The Lucy Show, Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days; Growing Pains, Alf, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, American Idol, and Hannah Montana.

    For these television shows, the most expressed values were community feeling, benevolence, tradition, and popularity. The least expressed values included fame, physical fitness, and financial success.

    In the last decade, though, those values expressed have flipped – from top to bottom. The new top values expressed include: fame, achievement, popularity, and financial success (with self-centered, attention getting, comparison to others, and power, all following close behind). It seems we’ve become more narcissistic than ever before.

    So, is this why the recent shootings feel like so different? Like it may be a sign of things to come – unless we can return to the basic American values that made America great?

    If being self-centered or attention-getting are the values that are growing in our country, then such acts of violence will surely continue, and the number of Americans justifying such horrific crimes will only grow, as well. Too many people place blame on others today – but not themselves – for everything that isn’t right in their life, whether it’s shooting at a police officer, or blocking city streets in protest, or setting a neighborhood on fire and looting.

    Have we become so enamored with ourselves, or self-absorbed in what we think, that common sense and decency has evaporated? And that lying, cheating, or hurting others doesn’t seems so out of place, as long as the ends justify the means?

    Well, call me old-fashioned, but maybe it’s time to turn Laverne and Shirley back on.

  • Safety Goggles

    Safety Goggles

    In Berkeley, California, masked protesters smashed windows, stormed buildings, and set fires recently on the campus of the University of California to shut down a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, a Breitbart News editor. The university canceled the event and blamed “150 masked agitators” for the unrest, saying they had come to campus to disturb an otherwise peaceful protest. Five people were injured and the university police locked down the campus for hours, but not until the protesters had caused $100,000 worth of damage to the campus.

    That followed a bloody frenzy in Seattle on Inauguration Day, last month, where protestors tried to prevent a speech by Mr. Yiannopoulos again, but this time at the University of Washington.

    Then there was Madonna on Inauguration Day, who said she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” while speaking to protestors at the Women’s March in Washington. On that day, hundreds of thousands marched against Trump, and for everything from gender and racial inequities, to the right to organize and fight for a “living minimum wage” for all workers, plus comprehensive reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant and refugee rights.

    “This is not just the beginning of the ‘tea party of the left’ but a larger movement for civil rights that could make history,” said Moumita Ahmed, founder of “Millennials for Revolution,” an offspring of the Bernie Sanders campaign. “The steady flow of protests will absolutely continue and get bigger and bigger.”

    These often violent protests, and efforts to silence free speech, remind me of conservative writer William F. Buckley when he wrote, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”

    But none of us should be bullied into silence, however growing the flow of protests become. The truth is, many of you who feel that your candidate won in November, are still struggling to find your voice. You still bite your tongue, or hold your comments back in polite conversation, afraid that you will be called racist, elitist, sexist, or anti-environmentalist – regardless of whether it’s true or not – simply because of how you voted, or what you believe.

    It’s our natural fear of isolation from others that keeps too many of us from sharing our opinions, and this encourages a sense of apathy, or a “to each his own” mentality, instead. This is where we just go along, to get along. The problem with that, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., is that “(o)ur lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

    With the Democratic Party interests so defeated this past November, and yet so vocal now, especially through the rise of professional protest groups around the country, including those sponsored by brands like Nike and Starbucks, what role do you have now, in taking a stand for what you believe, and the values you hold? A big one.

    In fact, even if you feel you “won” last November, it’s more important than ever to remain vocal about the things that matter.

    No, it’s not enough to watch the same conservative television or radio shows, or read the same conservative-minded publications. Or visit with your friends and families about the decline of our country, or the ridiculousness of the violence by protestors. Or which party or demographic population that is mostly to blame for it all such issues.
    But you shouldn’t keep preaching to the choir, either, and expect much to change, and blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, it will not change you – or our country – and it won’t succeed in changing whatever is making you unhappy, or that you feel is wrong with our country.

    Instead, you must evangelize the principles upon which our country was founded — economic freedom, equal opportunity, and self-determination – especially to those who may very much disagree with your perspective. These are the fundamental principles of our Declaration of Independence, and when followed, these won’t ever confuse caring, with actually helping, or doing, with actually accomplishing something.

    So don’t be silent about things that matter, and call it like it is, no matter what side of the aisle you are on, and even if your candidate won in November. And if anyone happens to get offended by you defending what you believe, especially the intellectuals who “know better” than the rest of us, just tell them to go join a protest. And bring some safety goggles.

  • For Crying Out Loud

    For Crying Out Loud

    Good grief, Charlie Brown!

    In December 1965, nearly 15 million viewers, or one-half of the television viewing audience, tuned in to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It has become the longest-running cartoon special in history, but it almost was canceled before it ever was aired. You see, the CBS network executives were less than impressed. Aside from the technical criticisms, resulting from a rushed production schedule, the executives did not want to have Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. It was thought that viewers would not want to be preached upon by an animated cartoon, especially from Biblical passages. Obviously, after 50 years of airing every Christmas, receiving an Emmy and a Peabody award, those CBS executives got it wrong.

    “There will always be an audience for innocence in this country,” said Charlie Brown’s creator, Charles Schulz. Nonetheless, the religious celebration of Christmas continues to face trivialization by an increasingly vocal and secular strain of society today.

    Retailers have tried calling Christmas trees, “holiday” or “family” trees. They’ve pressed-on with “Happy Holidays,” even though 67 percent of Americans prefer the greeting, “Merry Christmas.” Advertisers have pushed out “Christ” from Christmas and pushed on with “X-Mas.”

    Last year, a group calling themselves “American Atheists” purchased billboards that proclaimed, “Go ahead and skip church! Just be good for goodness’ sake. Happy holidays!” The year before that, another activist group spent big bucks to purchase a billboard advertisement in New York City’s Times Square – a 40 by 40 image that asks, “Who needs Christ?” and answers that question with “Nobody.” In 2012, there was another Times Square billboard that urged viewers to, “Keep the Merry. Dump the Myth,” with an image of Christ beneath a photo of Santa Claus.

    And as our 2016 elections fade, future candidates for public office will increasingly find that secular voters are the fastest growing minority group in America, all who are committed to keep religion out of government.

    After all, the number of people in America who believe in God has dropped almost 10 percent since 2009. And in our public schools, there is increasingly no room for recognition of any faith whatsoever, Christianity or otherwise. And more than 10% of the U.S. House of Representatives believe that the mere presence of our national motto (“In God We Trust”) on currency violates their Free Speech and Free Exercise Clause Rights.

    Goodness gracious. So what is it about Christ, or Christmas, that is so offensive?

    Well, you see, it’s not about Christmas at all – it’s Christ that’s the issue. While many might deny the existence of God, it’s much more difficult to deny Jesus, for whom we have historical evidence of his existence, even from secular sources that are outside of the Bible. Still, the life of Jesus is so powerful, and his words so meaningful, that even atheists cannot seem to get Him out of their minds. They must find it helpful to mock the religious beliefs of Christians everywhere with their billboards, even as they encourage non-Christians to do the same.

    Last year was the deadliest, worst year for Christian persecution than any other time in modern history – over 7,000 were killed. Additionally, over 2,400 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed last year, which is more than double the number from the year before that.

    Even while it is true that 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, only 51 percent consider it a “religious” holiday – and that number is declining. That means that the odds are pretty good, that when you are out Christmas shopping, the person ahead of you in line, or the person behind you, probably doesn’t consider Christ’s birth as the significant “reason for the season.”

    They may not realize either that buying more and more expensive gifts or all that “stuff” we buy at Christmas doesn’t mean we “care” more about our family or friends, especially when the teachings of Christ can demonstrate that love so much more than buying another gizmo or gadget. In fact, the person in line with you may not know the life of Christ very well at all, or his teachings of tolerance, and respect for one another and the goodness of life. Or of gratitude, and humility.

    So, while Charlie Brown first asked the question in 1965 on national television, “Isn’t there anyone, who knows what Christmas is all about?!” The answer has been the same for over 2000 years – it’s Christ. And for crying out loud, we ought to put that up on a billboard too.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

     

  • A Fool’s Choice

    A Fool’s Choice

    Manners tell us what to do, and what to expect others to do, in return. We say “please” and “thank you”. We don’t intentionally embarrass one another, or ask personal, prying questions. We hold a door open for someone, give up our seat in a waiting room for someone who needs it more than we do.

    We dress appropriately, and shake hands with others when we greet them, and we don’t chew with our mouths full. These are all good manners.

    We do these things to show respect for other people, and as Emily Post says, because we are “recognizing and acknowledging their worth and value as human beings, regardless of their background, race, or creed.”

    So when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem before games because he believes the United States oppresses blacks and other minorities, many couldn’t stop shaking their heads at just how unmannerly he was behaving (it’s not suprising that 3 out of 4 of us already feel that our country is more rude and less civilized than it was 30 years ago, but that’s another story).

    First, let’s get this out on the table for Colin, and those who feel his pain: The United States enthusiastically elected its first black president in 2008, and the American people, including white folks, decided to re-elect him in 2012.

    Secondly, since 2008, black poverty is up, and black employment is down, even as Democrats controlled both the White House and the Congress. Forty percent of black males are incarcerated, and 72 percent of black children are still being born to unmarried mothers. There are fewer blacks participating in the labor force since 2008, and the unemployment rate among blacks is more than double than it is among whites. And this is all happening under an administration filled with Democrats, whom black voters have supported 95% of the time in election, after election, after election. The same Democratic Party that has spent more than 50 years, and billions of dollars, on social welfare programs of every kind, only to have the poverty rate even higher today than it was back then.

    But the bottom line is this: It really doesn’t matter what he believes or knows about the facts of oppression in our country, or whether he’s unpatriotic, or he is simply wanting attention from the public. It’s unmannerly not to stand during our national anthem. Bottom line. And just because you can do something, whether you have the right or not, doesn’t mean you should.

    If Colin refuses to stand during the national anthem, then it is his freedom of expression to do so, whatever his beliefs. After all, some Americans do agree that our country is oppressive.

    On the other hand, many don’t agree with any of that, but they say they will defend Colin’s right to believe whatever he wants, nevertheless.

    But these are all fool’s choices, aren’t they; when we mistakenly think there are only two options, when in reality there are more? Do we have to choose between supporting Colin’s disrespect of the national anthem or silencing his freedom of expression?

    Of course not. You can pledge allegiance to your country, AND still exercise your freedom of speech. You can honor the United States Flag Code (Title 6, Section 301) which says that, “Everyone present, except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the American flag with the right hand placed over the heart,” and still effect change in your community.

    You can be tactful, or understanding of other people and sensitive to their opinions and feelings, and still assert your own ideas in a well-meaning fashion. But to do otherwise is simply unmannerly.

    Being mannerly means being aware that what you do, or share with others, affects the greater good for us all. It means recognizing that no one should “feel” good at the expense of everyone else’s liberty, whether it’s removing references to God in our schools or disrespecting our law enforcement.

    And if tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy, Colin Kaepernick’s rudeness during the national anthem is proof of what 3 out of 4 us already believe about the decline of politeness in our country and that we’re making enemies of one other as fellow Americans – far more often than not.

    It reminds me of what Abraham Lincoln said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

    This is why there’s more at stake here than a football player sitting on his ass. And there’s no more polite way to say that, at all.

     

  • There’s an Old Saying…

    There’s an Old Saying…

    There’s an old saying, “Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.” So, who are you? Who are we, I mean, as a country?

    We pay attention to what Miley Cyrus twerks, what Jay-Z and Beyonce say, and a hundred other insignificant matters, but fewer than half of all Americans know that there are 3 branches of government, or can even name them. We obsess over an American dentist who shot a lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe and a bison calf that had to be euthanized in Yellowstone National Park, but don’t even give more than a glancing look at the almost 1 million abortions that are performed every year in our country – even with organizations like Planned Parenthood chopping up and selling baby body parts, like a poultry processor, and yet a majority of Americans still view Planned Parenthood favorably and want the federal government funding for them to continue.

    Are you kidding me? But I get it, in a way, though. It’s easy to get spread out too thin, and get distracted from what’s most important. And sometimes the urgent in our life wins out over the important.

    Like how too many in our country are obsessed with making it more acceptable, and accessible, for grown men to go to the restroom alongside our aging mothers and young daughters. The media and Washington, D.C. crowd choose to focus more on the 0.3% of the population in our country that could be uncomfortable going into the restroom of their natural, physical gender, even though there are 40 million more of our young daughters (who are under 18) that may now feel uncomfortable themselves going into the restroom, as a result.

    But what about getting uncomfortable about the senseless killings in our communities? Or generational poverty, or rising incarceration rates? What about becoming uncomfortable with rising unemployment, or a generation of Americans growing up without fathers, or the risk of terrorism here at home?

    Bottom line, you can’t do big things if you don’t know what the big things are in the first place, and you can’t know what those big things are if you’re distracted by all the small things. It’s a bit of a chicken-in-the-egg situation, here.

    It’s like when President Kennedy told Congress in 1961, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

    That was a “big thing” and with that vision, Kennedy directed the attention of a country towards what was important, and mobilized the best and brightest our country had to offer, in the process. From medical imaging, to enhanced dialysis, and even the cordless vacuum – all were the result of our country’s commitment to doing a “big thing”.

    What “big thing” is our country doing today? Or, are we so distracted by the insignificant that we are focused on “no thing”. If you feel we’re not doing any “big thing” in our country today, maybe it’s time we start focusing on the lack of leaders in our country, elected or otherwise, who have forgotten that leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.

    This is no doubt what causes too many of us to have a sense of helplessness, or to feel we have no influence on what happens in our lives. But it’s not entirely our fault. In fact, Margaret Thatcher once lamented about Great Britain that, “…we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.”

    If the same is true about America today, this cannot end well for any American, for freedom anywhere, or the legacy of so many that fought and died protecting this experiment in liberty called America.

    After all, the Bible says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” But if we don’t pay attention long enough to see what really matters, and are distracted by the inconsequential instead, what other outcome can there be?

  • Wanting It

    Wanting It

    Many admire that he says things other people are afraid to say. The conventional wisdom was that his popularity would fizzle, but instead, it has sizzled. He’s just a showman, they say. He’s been called an entertainer, and criticized as not being a politician. He’s not spent any time volunteering for political campaigns, walking neighborhoods, door-to-door, or spent much time at all in Washington, D.C. or pandering to the political class, or establishment politics.

    In fact, they say he is taking full advantage of the lack of leadership in the GOP, and having a little fun at his fellow Republicans’ expense. He’s been viewed as a growing problem for the Republican Party and a serious liability that continues to damage the GOP brand. He’s even been called “incendiary” and “ugly” by the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

    Many dyed-in-the-wool conservatives feel he has become a clown and a laughingstock to the general public. They say he’s not concerned about being correct, as much as he is about being loud, and that therefore, he’s just not credible.

    As one writer put it, “I think the problem is the Republican leaders…and the other candidates, don’t have the courage to say what they say in quiet, which (is) they think he is a buffoon…(t) hey think he is like a clown coming out of a small car at a circus.  It’s great he is entertaining and all that.  But nobody takes him seriously.”

    Many cringe when he says what he says about the issues, and conservative supporters become almost apologetic to their “more enlightened” family and friends, to excuse his comments. They almost always follow-up nervously, and dramatically, with the reminder that, “He just cares so much about this country, and wants to see it great again.”

    But for others, his success – and his millions of dollars – simply has not translated into any kind of respect, deference, or validation for his positions on the issues facing our country.

    And while many of you may think you know exactly who we’re talking about here, the rest of you think we’re talking about Donald Trump – but we’re not.

    In fact, every comment, which has been recited above, has been said, or written about, Rush Limbaugh. Yes, Rush Limbaugh. And yet it is also being said, almost verbatim, about Trump, as well.

    Even with such criticism of Rush, and after almost 25 years of folks demonizing him, 20 million Americans still tune in every day to listen to Rush, and his message.

    Many say it’s because he lifts the spirit of the average conservative American, who feels that our country’s best days are slipping behind us, and that the American dream no longer exists. Like Trump, and with pep-talk enthusiasm, many say that Rush makes his listeners believe that America is still an exceptional nation, that it’s best days are still ahead, and that Americans are capable of doing the extraordinary, when it comes to their own personal achievement.

    And like Trump, Rush may not be an expert on foreign diplomacy, agricultural subsidies, or military strategy, but his activism produces public action because his message inspires. His listeners also pay attention to what’s going on – even as voter turnout numbers continue to plummet across the country.

    His message is not unlike the one from Ted Cruz, who explained how his father fled from Cuba and arrived in the United States penniless with $100 sewn into his underwear, and that he was grateful to God that some well-meaning liberal didn’t come put his arm around his father and say, “Let me take care of you.”

    Rush’s message is along the same lines of the famous Zig Ziglar who once said, “Building a better you is the first step to building a better America.”

    You see, the message of Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Zig Ziglar, or Rush Limbaugh is much larger than these men, their fame, or fortune: it’s about we, the people, and realizing our greatest and best potential comes from within us, granted by God – not from what some government bureaucrat decides is best for us. This message is why Rush Limbaugh now has 20 million listeners a day, and why Trump continues to lead in the polls.

    Yes, maybe the message can be said better, or more nicely. After all, the Bible says, “Speak the truth, but do it in love.” But the popularity of Trump’s message is not primarily because of Trump. It never has been, and it never will be.

    Like Rush’s nearly 30 years on the radio, Trump’s message will continue to resonate this year with millions of Americans – not because of his showmanship or his knowing the art of the deal, but because it’s a message that we already know to be true: We can do more for ourselves than we think is possible, and that there is greatness within all of us.

    While many may get distracted by the pundits who offer their critical commentary about Trump’s presidential campaign, his credibility, consistency, integrity, his qualifications, intellect, or even as they ridicule his supporters, and what damage this is all doing to the Republican Party, just remember this has all been done before – including to a man named Ronald Reagan.

    Trump may not be the best politician, or the best choice for a nominee, but as conservatives, we just want it to be morning again in America. And we want a leader, whatever his name, to want it as badly as we do.