Friday, August 19, 2005

Comments From E-mail

I received this in an e-mail yesterday. I don't know who the author is, but I don't have a lot of time to post a comment of my own today. I'm not sure I completely agree with the sentiment but it does give us something to think about:


WE ARE DONE
To whom it may concern...or not...
We, the hard working people of the United States are done.
We have, for the most part, remained silent except for the occasional grumble at the gas pumps, at the dinner tables, at our places of employment, and places where we socialize. Well now...We are really done.
There will be no school this year because teachers cannot afford the gas to drive to work, and the parents are unable to drive their children to school anyway, and school buses cannot afford the fuel to pick up and deliver the children.
There will be no more food...Truckers nation wide will come to a stand still...They can no longer continue to haul freight when every penny of their pay check goes for fuel to keep them on the road.....
There will be no doctors or nurses at hospitals because they no longer can afford the commute.
We see billions of dollars being spent in foreign aid but where is our help...Visit a United States Emergency Room and count the dehydrated and emaciated babies that enter those portals for perhaps the last time...because they have no fluids or food to sustain them.
Go knock on a card board box to check on a homeless person living in filth beneath an overpass...
People who are working are working hard to try to pay their bills and feed their families and every penny will go for fuel.
King Fahd died and once again the prices at the pumps soared...Hello......Anyone out there listening?
We are now fighting a war of insanity in the United States. If the terrorists don't get us then surely poverty will take us down. The fat cats in their ivory towers just smirk and blame our president...and OPEC just shrugs and continues doing what they do best.
An outraged mom parks herself near Crawford, Texas to protest a war. My son would be so ashamed of me. How dare she protest the very reason for which he so willing gave his life...I guess so people like her and others could protest. What a tribute to her heroic son.
Our media spouts gloom and doom worldwide on an hourly basis but I don't hear or see any solutions out there.
But I do see them scrambling to be the first network to break any tragic story.
The democrats and republicans squabble and nit pick until I want to send them to time out. My two year old grandson exhibits more compassion and understanding as well as diplomacy.
How much more are we willing to take? I have often said that where Iraq is concerned we need a media black out and now I am saying we need a United States GAS OUT...
What would happen if next week every teacher, doctor, nurse, truck driver, store clerk, etc. would just call in and say "I can't come to work until the price of fuel goes down..I don't have any money."
There are already senior citizens that are going without food so they can buy their much needed medication...You think that is not so...well believe me this is true....
What is it going to take? If you have any suggestions please share them with the powers that be because I am done.
I am proud to be an American and I love my country, but I am sickened at the rapid rate of our decline.
We all watched in awe as millions of dollars blew out into space...for what....Won't do much good for all of those wonderful discoveries if our country is dead in the water...
My friends.....We are circling the drain...

I have now exercised my freedom of speech...


Perhaps we need divine guidance. Here is a prayer that was recited in the Kansas House of representatives, by a pastor, Joe Wright, from Wichita, who borrowed it from a pastor in Louisiana. It made the rounds of the e-mail circuit, too, but I remember when this happened. It made the news because some of the press and a lot of congressmen were so outraged. Judge for yourself if it is something to be outraged about.


"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek direction and guidance. We know your word says "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word, and called it Pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods, and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion, and called it alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor, and called it the lottery;
We have rewarded laziness, and called it Welfare;
We have killed our unborn' and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists, and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children, and called it building self esteem;
We have abused power, and called it politics;
We have coveted our neighbors possessions, and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography, and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers, and called it enlightenment;
Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior Jesus Christ. Amen."


Have a blessed day.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think there is a way to block repeatedly insulting commenters. Does anyone know how?

Anonymous said...

And Jesus loves YOU, Bruiser!

Anonymous said...

Actually Jesus doesn't love Bruiser. It came as a suprise to the Holy One, but when the subject of Bruiser came up, He said, "Wow. I don't love him. But I thought I loved everyone." Heaven met today to consider the situation and will call a press conference later.

rich bachelor said...

We, as always, thank Anonymous for Its bravery in the face of these deeply powerful enemies who sit around typing things on the internet.
Now, when anyone has any further mewling to do toward me about why, exactly the separation of church and state is needed now more than other, check the gentleman with the horrible tie up above.
Like I say, it was supposed to be a bargain-you don't meddle in politics, we don't tax your churches. The churches (at least the sort that that Gawdawful tie wearing man up there heads up)have never honored their side. So the answer is?

rich bachelor said...

"more than others", or "more than ever", of course, was what the kid was really sayin' there.

rich bachelor said...

Actually, instead of making fun of the guy's tie or correcting my own grammar, what I really meant to say was:
That piece at the top was beautiful. the little swipe at sheehan was silly-she has every right to make an ass out of herself in public, even over a choice her son consciously made-but otherwise, perfect. Eventually people break, when they've been pulled too many directions simultaneously.

Liam said...

Oh get a grip. In the UK we pay twice to three times what you pay for gas and our country doesn’t grind to a halt because we drive fuel efficient cars rather than the leather-upholstered Sport-Utility-Tanks which are so popular in the States. Also, give your town planners a good kicking; America is built around the car and now you are suffering for it. Get out of your cars and walk a while – it’s good for you, it’s good for the environment and it’ll save you those few cents on the gas!

Mark said...

For those of you who are athiest or agnostic, or just don't believe, i have a question for you.

You say when we die, that's it for us.

I say when we die we will go to either Heaven or Hell, depending on whether we have been redeemed.

If you are right, no big deal. You and I will end up just so much compost.

But if I am right, I will go to Heaven and you will go to Hell. For eternity.

Doesn't it make sense to bet on the positive outcome?

Mary said...

We aren't done. That "sky is falling" mentality is ridiculous.

Visit a United States Emergency Room and count the dehydrated and emaciated babies that enter those portals for perhaps the last time...because they have no fluids or food to sustain them.

What? That's nuts.

Gas prices will have to go up a lot higher before doctors will be unable to make the commute.

I don't like the high prices and I'm sure they will have an impact on the economy, but the country isn't falling apart.

The author of that piece needs to go for a long drive on a quiet country road. That might help. The person seems to have a fuel phobia of some sort and should confront the fear.

Francis Lynn said...

Here's where we part company with other Christians. There is no Hell, there can be no Hell (not counting marriage to my ex). My God is not punitive - at least not for eternity. God is not a vindictive sadist. You cannot say that you brought it on yourself, because, still, God sets the conditions & eternal damnation is way over the top. If anything, God would set a kinder, gentler punishment.

Some say that instead of fire & brimstone, Hell is really eternal separation from God. This is lame. An all loving God would not even allow this.

Instead, an all loving God would embrace all His creations. There may be a process, a catharsis, whereby one renounces his past evil deeds or comes to realize it was not God's way & learns what the right path is. This process is similar to those who have experienced NDE's - near death experiences. But to suffer Hell for eternity? No.

And with no Hell, yes, there is no Satan in it. Even Satan is redeemed. A God who creates a Hell is not on my favs list.

Mark said...

Francis, My Bible says there is a Hell and a Satan, and I believe it. I don't understand the mind of God, I just accept it. That is what faith is.

God says, in Job 38, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words withoput knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you shall answer me."Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone -- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy."

Dust off your Bible and read the rest of the chapter. Those who claim to know the mind of God don't know God at all.

Francis Lynn said...

The problem with quoting from the Bible is that if it is the literal Word of God, word for word, then His Word has survived hundreds of centuries of oral recitation before it was written down, the translation errors, the editing & the prejudices of those who decided what to put in the Bible & what to leave out. This would make sense if God directed that His Word survived through these processes. Still, the literalist concept brings about its own internal inconsistencies & contradictions in the Bible.

If the Bible is not the literal Word of God, then it is a recounting of what God said & did. It opens the door to interpretation by those who wrote it & those who read it now. For instance, "Adam" in the Aramaic language in which the text of the original scrolls were written, can be translated to mean Adam- a persons name, or Adam- meaning mankind or adam - red, reddish color. Most scholars today believe that the Bible is a guide to God & not the literal Word.

Did God really say, "Who is this that darkens..."? Or did someone put words in God's mouth, so to speak? It is a dicey proposition when quoting the Bible. I am not a literalist.

As an aside, Jesus spoke Aramaic. If you want to see the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic & hear it recited in Aramaic, as it would sound if Jesus spoke it, go here:
http://www.v-a.com/bible/prayer.html

Francis Lynn said...

Michael, one may choose to walk proudly into Hell. But we humans are fallible, God is not. We cannot imagine a God who would create an Eternal Hell as an extreme punishment for such fallibilty. God is better than that. Or you think not?

We are not questioning whether there are errors in the Bible, we are saying that every "the", "if", & "but" in the Bible is not in there at God's direction. We are questioning who wrote it - Man(interpretive), or God through Man(literal). We believe Man wrote it & as such, Man's prejudices & mistakes can creep into it.

Francis Lynn said...

Bruiser - gee, when I have time I'll laugh at your funny comment. By the way, still off the medication, huh?