A Country Aesthetic

Recent ICE raids in Ohio

llabounty — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:06:31 +0000

Imagine this scenario: You come home from work and your spouse is gone, carted away by plainclothes, government agents, and you are not told where they have been taken. Your children are questioned on their way to school and threatened if they don’t give information about their neighbors. Your grandchild is taken from your daughter and you have to appear at a government office to get the baby returned.Where did this take place? Hitler’s Germany in the thirties? Mao’s China? Stalin’s purges? No! These violations of personal freedom and dignity allegedly took place in Lake County, Ohio in May, 2007. Supposedly a crackdown on illegal immigrants ( a euphonism for Mexicans ), individuals were targeted because they “looked” Hispanic . It appears that human rights were violated, with no warrants, and that these alleged actions took place because certain special interest groups pressured the immigration authorities. The “crime” committed by these individuals was that they sought a better life for their families. Precisely the reason this country was founded.

Since our government no longer takes the high moral ground and has pretty much given up on recruiting people capable of critical and moral thinking , and uses our young people (including a disproportionate number of Hispanics and Blacks) as fodder for a war based on economic considerations, we have to be more vigilant. Our form of government has worked well up to a point, but it cannot continue if it becomes non-representative, made that way by our apathy and our obsession with ease and with ourselves. Just as a soul can be possessed by demons when there is a spiritual vacuum, so too can greed and ignorance befoul the body politic when reason and compassion are no longer present. Who will be the next group to be singled out? Blacks? Arabs? Asians? You? Me?

Sexuality…Homo and reg’lar

llabounty — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:29:41 +0000

A major problem with arguing the sinfulness of homosexuality is that one must define “sin” before making any intelligent comment We must first understand what a sin IS and why certain acts have come down to us as sins. Did God arbitrarily choose some acts and omissions and throw them in to the pot marked “SIN”? Or, is there some reason that we have been given this lengthy list of “dos” and “don’ts”?
William Spurrier defined sin as: “….the belief that man is self-sufficient, that he is the master of his fate and the captain of his soul.” In other words, we want to be like God. We tend to think that His commandments can be altered to fit our particular circumstances. Our pride makes us believe that we can save ourselves from ourselves and live our lives according to our own constructs. There are two important reasons why we always get into trouble when we try to run the show: 1. Sins are immutable, there is no turning away from them, and they always shall be as set forth by the word of God and cannot be altered to fit popular opinion or current custom. 2. Sins are acts or omissions that interfere with the natural order of things, per God’s plan. Acts that will, ultimately, destroy us.
So what does all this have to do with homosexuality? Does God care if members of the same sex share committed relationships? Probably not. Does it concern Him that members of the same sex can find themselves in love? My guess is not. Why is it, then, that “homosexuality” is among those acts that are designated as sin?
Some conservative Christians claim that HIV-AIDS is God’s way of punishing homosexuals and that God inflicts this disease on those who stray from His direction. Fortunately, God doesn’t work that way. But suppose that the situation is turned around? Suppose that there is an aspect of a sexual activity that is destructive to mankind? So destructive that it cannot be abated and no matter what measures are taken, may disappear only to return in some more virulent form. Would not this activity, with its potential to destroy lives, fit the above definition of sin? It seems to me that it would.
Now ….if we all agree that that activity is a sin (I’m a dreamer) then how ought Christians deal with the homosexuality problem? I’m going to think about that.

My definition of God

llabounty — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 02:08:08 +0000

God, by a popular definition is: One’s ultimate reality or that than which there is nothing greater in one’s life. Recent studies seem to indicate that humans are “wired” for a god and that we ALL have a god. That god might be money, power, position and even an all consuming belief and dedication to a concept or particular value. It can be said that even atheists have a god….their dedication to their idea. Certainly, it can be said that the God of the Christians and the Jews is their ultimate reality. He is now, always was and forever shall be. God does NOT exist in the sense that some folks would like him to. For something to exist, it must be created. God was NOT created. As explained in the Athanasian Creed: Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit. The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite. When we try to make God conform to OUR idea of existence, we demean him, anthropomorphize him and turn him into an idol.