Relative History

History. Those who forget it are doomed to repeat it, or something like that. But what if you don’t forget it, you just change it to meet your own agenda? For instance, some people want to believe the Holocaust didn’t really happen, it was just a Jewish fabrication. Or other lies like the 9/11 attacks weren’t really terrorists, but a government plot. You see all kinds of revisionist thinking in the Wonderful World of Oz called America.

States throughout the U.S. are constantly deliberating what should be included in history textbooks for public schools. Some of the stories should make you cringe. For instance, in Texas a committee charged who deciding who is included in history textbooks made some interesting decisions. Apparently, they chose to remove George Washington, Ronald Reagan, Albert Einstein, Madame Curie, Jonas Salk and Neil Armstrong. Who did they choose to include, you ask… Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Oprah Winfrey, of course. There are educators out there who stress that efforts to end the whaling industry are just as important as the D-Day invasion of World War II. This is the kind of thing that is happening all over this great country of ours and if you don’t think it’s important you’re fooling yourself.

In my opinion, it all comes down to truth and, guess what, truth is not relative. What really happened, really happened. We can’t change that. If I drop a glass and break it, it is broken. I can’t change the fact that it is broken and I can’t change the fact that I broke it. I can blame and make excuses and lie about it, but it won’t change the truth. Even if I can convince myself and others that the glass is not broken…guess what, it is still broken. No matter how much you want to forget the Holocaust, it still happened. No matter how much you want to hold Islamic terrorists blameless for 9/11, they still are. No matter how much you want to change the faces and places of history, you can’t change the truth.

There are many things in my personal history that I would like to change or forget, but I can’t and I won’t because, for better or for worse, they make me who I am. America can’t change its history but it can learn from the actual people and events of history and move forward, wiser and stronger.

Many people say that America can overcome anything because of our “can-do” attitude and the toughness and strength of the American people. I pray that this is true, but I am beginning to have my doubts. Does anyone truly believe that the generations of today could survive and triumph like the generations who lived during the Great Depression and World War II? I don’t think we have the intestinal fortitude to continue to be great. Americans feel entitled and owed. We are quick to fight for the rights of animals and enemy combatants, but not unborn children. We are quick to be offended, but reluctant to offend those who attack us. In 1940s America, Nazis were bad guys. In 2000s America Islamic terrorists aren’t necessarily bad, maybe a little misguided.

America needs the truth. America needs to embrace the truth and feed on it. We cannot change the truth and if we continue to turn our backs on truth, we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past and the past of other great societies.

Leaning, Leaning....

I am not liberal. I am not progressive. If backed into a corner and forced to classify myself, I would come down squarely as a conservative. That wasn't always so. As a young man, I believed very little. Live and let live. Eat, drink and be merry. To each his own. Oh, how foolish I was. I do not live in a vacuum. My actions and decisions affect others. Their actions and decisions affect me. Our lives are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, the way you lean can have important consequences for us all.

Unfortunately, in America today most people adopt a position based more on ignorance than on conviction. They base their opinions on sound bites and spin. Yesterday, I heard someone referred to as a left-leaning evangelical Christian. I had to scratch my head over that. The man the speaker was referring to supported abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia. I could quote chapter and verse in the Bible about God's displeasure with these things, but rather than give you my answer, I'd rather encourage you to find God's answer in the Bible on your own.

So, I guess that leaves the Christian faith squarely with those of us who are "right-leaning." Not so fast, the right, fairly or unfairly, suffer from a perception that they care little about the poor and disenfranchised or the environment. I'm not sure this is true or fair, but it is widely believed. I don't know about other conservatives, I can only speak for myself, but I care about these things as I believe my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ did. I don't take my political or social opinions from man, but from a loving, faithful God.

So if you're going to lean, don't worry about leaning left or leaning right, but lean on the everlasting arms of Christ. If you lean too far left or too far right, you run the risk of falling off the narrow path that Christ has laid before us.

Things Don't Always Go According to Plan

As my wife laughs at me while I attempt my first blog, I must admit the ridiculousness of it all. I am not tech-savvy, nor am I particularly eloquent or even moderately articulate. I don't have much to say that would be considered profound, but I do have opinions.

I have always seemed to have opinions and, for the most part, they have bordered on convictions. I'm sure I am no different than anyone else, in that I believe my opinions are right or, at least more right than those who oppose me. As a child, this caused much conflict with my brothers and others. I have always been willing to embrace conflict and confrontation to defend my position. I may not have always been more right than my opponent, but I have typically been more adamant. I have a unique ability to wear others down and make them give in.

However, God, in His infinite wisdom, has given me Diane. If you don't know my wife, Diane, you should. God gave me Diane as an obstacle to my arrogance and my "spoiling for a fight" attitude. God has used Diane in my life to teach me that not only am I not always right, but that I don't have to be. Being right isn't the way to win in life, following God is the way to win and Diane has been a major reason why I have learned this.

This is not a sappy, love story with my wife (although it probably should be). This is a love story with God and I pray that it never ends.