Beyond The Pale

 

While the assassination of Charlie Kirk is the latest and perhaps most notable event in a never-ending cycle of killings, what is most chilling is the response from those who hated his message.  

 

The cold-blooded murder of an insurance executive is met with cheers from the crazy crowd, and the assailant becomes a folk hero.  A madman attacks children attending morning mass at a Catholic school and the tragedy immediately becomes a politicized moment for gun control while denigrating those who simply ask for prayer.  Even those who died at Camp Mystic are fair game for those who never miss an opportunity to make it about their agenda (climate change) or worse yet to mock the Christian faith of the families who lost children and grandchildren in the flood.  And now we see people on Tik-Tok gleefully singing “they shot Charlie in the neck” and mainstream media vultures opine that just maybe Charlie had it coming.  These are sick people.

 

To be clear I don’t think these “celebrations” of death or callous efforts to politicize tragedy are exclusively left-wing behaviors.  But it seems clear enough that ever since Trump came along in 2016 and MAGA began its march to control all three branches of the federal government, many on the Left have decided to say and do “whatever it takes” to fight back.  If the shoe were on the other foot, I expect the far-right loonies might respond similarly as we saw on January 6, 2021. But for now, we are where we are and too many on the left are celebrating the death of those who have different ideas about what America should be.

 

We have lost our way in a maze of irreconcilable differences. There are simply too many fundamental issues where there is no common ground for compromise.  Our republic is broken.  States are divided; counties and cities are divided.  Not all, but more than enough Americans no longer share common values and with that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to live under the same flag.

 

All of this will not end well, but it will end.  What will be left of America and what it will look like only God knows.  Some of us still hope and pray that He cares.

Remembering Genesis 3

 

The light was fading in Paradise

As the couple walked out the gate.

Animals wandered aimlessly

Uncertain of their fate.

 

In the shadows a creature crawled

Leaving a message in the dust.

A warning to all children

The price of broken trust.

 

In the twilight the wind was blowing

The hot dry smell of death

No more walks in the garden

No more peace or rest.

 

The Grievance Collectors

 

This is from a recent article in the National Review by Jim Geraghty:

“Time and again I have written about mass shooters and how many fit a psychological profile as “grievance collectors.” Willard Gaylin, one of the world’s preeminent psychology professors, writes about the dangers of “grievance collecting” in his book Hatred: The Psychological Descent into Violence:

Grievance collecting is a step on the journey to a full-blown paranoid psychosis. A grievance collector will move from the passive assumption of deprivation and low expectancy common to most paranoid personalities to a more aggressive mode. He will not endure passively his deprived state; he will occupy himself with accumulating evidence of his misfortunes and locating the sources. Grievance collectors are distrustful and provocative, convinced that they are always taken advantage of and given less than their fair share. . .

Underlying this philosophy is an undeviating comparative and competitive view of life. Everything is part of a zero-sum game. Deprivation can be felt in another person’s abundance of good fortune.

At the heart of the grievance collector’s worldview is that he is not responsible for the condition of his life; a vast conspiracy of malevolent individuals and forces is entirely at fault. There is always someone else to blame, and these mass shooters always find ways to excuse their own actions and deflect the responsibility to others.”

And so we get down to the heart of the matter. The human condition. Beginning with Cain and right up to the present day, grievance collectors have been responsible for much of the violence and chaos throughout history. At some level most all violence and chaos can be traced back to some individual or group grievance. I have often said that anger and fear are two of the three most powerful human motivators, the other being love.  Grievance collectors have no room for love in their heart, only hatred born out of anger and fear.

We can do things to limit the damage.  More restrictive gun laws, better security around soft targets, improved mental health treatment, closer monitoring of social media posts and the “dark web”.  But it will not change the sickest human hearts. The grievance collectors among us will continue to lash out and find ways to make a statement by killing people.  

As a Christian, I must consider that we may be in “the last days”.  At some point, God will say time is up. Satan knows it’s coming but not when it will come. He’s been working overtime since the beginning and most of all for the past two thousand years to transform or destroy God’s creation. We are now just living in the latest battleground of this cosmic war. Only God knows when the war will end.

Post It Not

 

Call me a slow learner, but I have come to realize that social media posts do not change the attitudes or opinions of those with whom one disagrees. Mostly they are just noise in the echo chamber made up of those who agree with you, an audience carefully selected by a particular social media algorithm. But on the occasion when your “opinion” post slips through to someone who does not agree with you, it tends to only increase their contempt for you and your opinions. It certainly doesn’t convert them to your way of thinking. People rarely agree with someone who tells them they are wrong, especially if they truly believe they are right.

Leading up to last year’s Presidential election I was a frequent poster or re-poster of articles, comments and cartoons which were critical of Democrats. As expected, they got likes and positive comments from those in my “tribe”.  Occasionally a left-leading rogue family member or a progressive friend of a friend might see the post and respond with the obligatory “Trump is a convicted felon” or “remember January 6^th” or similar barbs.  Even if they made a point that was factually correct, it didn’t matter.  I knew what was best for this country and they most certainly did not.  The back in forth did not change my mind or my vote, nor did it change theirs.

I still make comments or post an article that is favorable to the conservative cause.  But I also try to be more balanced and acknowledge where conservatives are going wrong. Still, it doesn’t matter much.  Some of my fellow conservatives will be angry with me because I not a being MAGA enough.  And the few progressives who may occasionally pay attention to what I have to say will just see me as patronizing.

I expect the world would be a better place if we stopped taking shots at each other verbal or otherwise. Perhaps it’s time to give the other side the benefit of doubt and appreciate their point of view.  My side is not always right.  Let’s face it, the Democrats have not cornered the market on bad ideas. They just don’t have many good ones. (OK, I couldn’t resist taking one last jab.)

And as I walked on through troubled times my spirit gets so downhearted sometimes.  

So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony.

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.

What’s so funny ‘bout peace love and understanding?

-Elvis Costello lyrics from the song “Peace, Love and Understanding”.

Commentarii et Sententiae II

_I. Putin is not giving up on taking a large chunk of the Ukraine unless it becomes too painful for him to keep trying.  He knows the West is not jumping into a full-scale war with Russia.  Not because Russia is a military powerhouse, but because the Ukraine isn’t worth it.  Europe, China and India all need Russian oil and gas, and Putin knows it.  Eventually the Russia-Ukraine war will end.  Putin will get most of what he wanted and Zelensky will be replaced by someone more acceptable to those who wish to determine the future of Russia’s neighbors.

_II. On a recent trip to the nation’s capital, I spent the better part of a day in the Smithsonian National History Museum.  Conservatives have been complaining that the Smithsonian has gone too far in promoting revisionist history and “woke” ideology.  For that reason, I seriously considered not going.  But, at the last minute I decided to go and I’m glad I did.  Indeed, a lot of America’s dirty laundry was on display.  Some of it was prominently displayed and “hyped”.  Likewise, many of our finer moments did not get the attention they deserved in my opinion.  But overall, I didn’t think it was that bad.  Perhaps because I am a history buff, I was well aware of the good, the bad and the ugly of America.  But for the benefit of the young and easily influenced, I’d prefer to see a bit more flag waving and celebration of our successes.  Let’s just not swing too far in that direction and ignore the bad stuff.

_III. It would appear that New York City is well on the way to electing a real Socialist mayor.  Zohran Mamdami checks all the boxes.  Young, dynamic, personable, has a great smile and is unencumbered by white privilege. He’s also playing to an audience of people who are struggling to survive, much less get ahead; especially in a high cost-of-living location like New York City.  And he has broad appeal with young voters who have been sold “soft” socialism in one form or another since grade school. Mamdami and the New York mayoral race is just the tip of the socialist iceberg.  Millions of people in this country have given up on capitalism and think it’s time to reset and re-distribute wealth and resources in ways which they consider to be more equitable. “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.” – Margaret Thatcher

Commentarii et Sententiae

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” – Thomas Jefferson

 

Over the past couple of years I’ve shared my thoughts about various subjects under the heading of “My Two Cents Worth”.   Several readers have commented that the term “My Two Cents Worth” sounds really old and dated.  Considering that I am old and dated, I figured I might as well go all in.  Thus “My Two Cents Worth” is now “Commentarii et Sententiae”.

 

_I. That recent job numbers were massively revised downward comes as no surprise to those of us who are close to the front lines. I didn’t believe the numbers when they initially came out.  And the GDP numbers are just about as misleading considering that the major factor in the recent quarter’s GDP was the “favorable” trade balance as the result of tariffs.  We’ll see how this works out over the next few quarters, but I’m not seeing much good news on the horizon.  Trump’s Tariff Wars will benefit the few at the expense of the many.

 _II. Gerrymandering is just one more shady trick politicians have been using for decades to boost their careers.  Both parties have used it to gain the advantage and it has only served to divide us even more.

 _III. My Texas Tech Red Raiders are the poster boys for the new “money ball” and now everybody hates us.  We all know the money game has been played for years under the table.  Back in the good old days the “blue-blood” programs could stack up talent by offering pathways to championships and professional careers.  But start throwing million dollar deals out there and we see that “pay me now for real” beats “pay me later maybe”.

 _IV. I recently joined the Creatine craze and the results have been positive. Even though I’m old, I still workout and I can tell the difference in recovery and energy levels. It also seems to help a bit with mental sharpness and focus. The only downside is that it tends make your body hold water and you’re likely to carry a few extra pounds.  

 _V. North Texas’ infrastructure has forever failed to keep pace with population growth, and it seems to be getting worse.  I suppose our politicians are so intent on increasing their tax base in the short run that it doesn’t matter much what it’s doing to the quality of life for those taxpayers in the long run.

Cheap Grace and a Bowl of Soup

 

"And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple."- Luke 14:27

I grew up in a mostly Baptist family.  I also got a good dose of Methodism and a few warning shots from Church of Christ relatives.  But the message I heard loud and clear was to believe that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, that He died for my sins and rose on the third day…confess that or spend eternity in the fires of Hell.  So, at the ripe old age of ten, after hearing a sermon about a selfish Rich Man and a poor beggar named Lazarus, I walked down the aisle and “accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior”.  I was as sincere and as a frightened as a ten year-old boy could be; therefore I did what was necessary to avoid punishment.  I accepted Christ and He accepted me.  What a relief.  If only I had known what it really meant to be a Christ-follower.

As I grew older and discovered things like beer and girls, I grabbed the wheel of my life and proceeded to systematically move Jesus to the passenger side, then to the backseat and finally put him in the trunk.  I was still a “believer”, went to church occasionally; and might even read the Bible and pray when times got hard.  But my priorities were not God’s priorities; and in the end, as it says in The Book, you cannot serve two masters.

I ran in circles where most people didn’t talk much about God other than in profanities.  The few who admitted to being believers were mostly like me, content to stay on “the front porch” of the faith enjoying the blessed assurance of salvation and counting on their fire insurance.  Some still gave time and money to their church.  Those who were serious about their faith did more.  The Baptists were all about witnessing.  Do you know Jesus?  Say you believe, get baptized and go bring some more folks to church.  Cheap grace.  The Methodists and most of the other “mainline” denominations seemed to be more interested in charitable activities and just being respectable citizens who could check the right boxes.  Show we are Christians by our love… and give them a bowl of soup.

Witnessing, sharing your faith and being a good neighbor are foundational to being Christ-followers.  These are surely good things. But something was missing. When the covers were pulled back most believers’ lives weren’t much different from the non-believers.  Certainly mine was not. We clung to our “belief”, to our “faith”; but our actions betrayed us.  We might say the right things and even do some of the right things; but most of us were just Christ fans, not followers.  We were hypocrites at best, heretics at worst.

Now late in life, I realize that one can waste their life doing the wrong things while still believing the right things.  Cheap grace is not what God is offering.  The grace He offers costs Him everything.  While we can do nothing to earn God’s grace and mercy; if we are to accept it, we must accept it on His terms…and that is not cheap.