When I started blogging, nearly 3 years ago, I wanted to change things by influencing the way people think.  I spent nearly15 years in radio and longer in personal peacemaking, and my desire isn't to express my own anger, stir things up, or join a mob of unhappy dissidents.  I am as persuaded today as then that we need a better way to work things out than most of the methods we use.  Our American culture has become hostile and oppositional in the extreme; even our elections "go negative" despite promises to the contrary.  Some would say this is because negativity works; certainly the media have learned that it sells.  Still I believe that many would prefer a more constructive, thoughtful approach.

Unfortunately, many of us no longer know how to be "thoughtful."  Rational thinking and analysis are largely neglected skills; people have learned to live in the moment, encouraged toward immediate gratification by many powerful voices in our lives, none more significant than commercial advertising that says, "You need this now!"  Merchants promote impulse buying, news fosters the idea that we need moment by moment news coverage, and Hollywood and Nashville entertain us with the message, "Do what you feel; never deny your feelings."  If only schools still provided a truly "liberal education" as described by Thomas Huxley:  "That man, I think, has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself."

Knowing that God created Man in his own image, making him a rational creature, giving him a purpose, and filling him with a need to be goal-oriented, much of the dissatisfaction and malaise that people feel arises from a failure to express and utilize this aspect of his nature. Men and women strive to be happy and fail as a result.  They use "sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll" to numb this sense that something is missing.  I believe we have the opportunity to help them discover a better way to live if we can learn to reach them where they live.

This sense allows me to be optimistic about the future.  It helps knowing that this is a God-given task, the work of evangelism, and one he promises to bless.  I am encouraged because times of suffering and loss prepare people to consider a different source of well-being than their immediate disappointing circumstances.  Right now, many who opposed Barack Obama are disappointed, worried, and even afraid.  In the not too distant future, many of those who supported him will be disappointed and disillusioned; other will hope against hope.  The reality is that no one could live up to the hype of that campaign, but it will be interesting to see if he even tries.

As I think over what I have been writing, recently, I see several themes.  I decided to use my newest blog for a local Christian cable channel to focus on "good news,"exploring the broad message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It has proven an interesting challenge to find a positive, hopeful focus and post something fresh and thoughtful at a minimum of several times each week.  Recently, I have discussed the one sure way to have a hopeful outlook, how to encourage rather than discourage people, and the certainly that nothing will extinguish the light of Jesus Christ.  My favorite, I think, was Don't Fear Freedom, in which I touch on a pivotal truth for both the church and the country.  I believer the best humanity has to offer will arise out of the creativity of people unfettered either by their own fears or by the conforming demands of oppressive leadership.  Sadly, I think both the Church and the United States having been moving in the wrong direction.

As my heading indicates, I try to be civil, simple, and solid.  Posts on my Table Talk blog arise from my commitment to Biblical peacemaking and Christian discipleship, so they are all about "civility."  We need to learn and promote civil discourse, constructive engagement, and not argumentative contention.  We authentic Christians also need to demonstrate that we only want the freedom to celebrate and share our faith and live our traditionally Biblical lifestyles without government interference, to counter the fear that we really see a theocracy.  Hopefully, this emphasis come through in my Somewhat Random Thoughts and 10 More Random Thoughts, related to the election and the future.  I don't think God leaves us here, just to mark time, nor merely to created a secure earthly future.  A friend challenged the idea that a certain view of the future encourages Christians not to engage in building God's Kingdom, and it led me to ponder the question, "Why Are We Here?"  Finally, the last of my recent postings is expansion of the Love Chapter. in which I suggest the things not to do if we are serious about learning to love.  This is to be the manner of God's people, a practice that renders our efforts worthwhile but the absence of which renders them useless!  Table Talk was my first blog, and I have been posting there for nearly 3 years; please feel free to skim through it to see what I have been writing.

All of my blogs are about truth, but my Bedrock blog focuses primarily on the foundational truths that made this country a place of freedom and faith.  It is clearer than ever to me that our friends and neighbors, even and perhaps especially our children, need to learn these historic truths about the United States.  Not only do the public schools fail to teach them, but they and the colleges and universities aggressively promote secular, progressive, socialist ideas.  The communist-leaning counter-cultural flower children of the 60's and 70's, who learned at the feet of an earlier generation of anti-American professors, have largely taken over education, media, and a good deal of the political establishment.  Far too many in the Church share the same ideology, while others imagine we dare entrust the work of God to the secular powers--federal government or the United Nations.

Our current President took us in the wrong direction domestically, while he was doing some of the right things in dealing with terrorism. Our next President seems set to move in mostly wrong directions across the board although I pray I am mistaken.  I try to remember that even an American President, elected by the people, still serves under the providential authority of God.  That often puzzles us when we consider a Hitler, a Castro, or a Kim Jong-il, as we wonder why he allowed their evil to endure for any time at all.  Then we recall Pharaoh, whom God removed despite ample warning.  The Old Testament recounts several occasions where God permitted nations to conquer and oppress to discipline his children, and that may be in store for us here.  What is important is to be and do what God's people should, and we will see him meet our needs in all necessary ways.

I've been really busy.  I started a new blog for a local cable channel, and I've been working to keep that fresh.  You may check it out here.  It's different from my other writing in that I avoid analysis and extended opinion and try to stay spiritually upbeat.

I haven't been to excited about the election, mostly just bored with it.  I did write about change, last week, and today about the First Amendment.  Anyone with any sense knows that unspecified change or change just to change is stupid.  A good many people actually find change rather threatening; humans generally like stability and familiarity.  Change, in this case, is really just a code word for "get rid of Bush!"  That change will happen in a few months, regardless, and John McCain is clearly not George Bush, not matter how the Democrats or the Obama campaign try to make it so.

My point is that change is already happening, and many of the changes are not good.  Even those with good intentions often lead to unintended consequences.  The bigger and more powerful the government the greater the chance for good intentions to cause negative results.  We don't need any more of that!

I doubt I have anything really new to say about the First Amendment.  Perhaps a few people will read and understand, for the first time, just how important these freedoms are.  I heard someone remarking, just the other day, that places like France and Great Britain already have less free speech, less free media, and less freedom in general than we do here.  Government tends to want to prevent criticism; big government, and ours has become immense, despises critics.  If we don't rise up as a nation of citizen activists and demand they stop messing with our freedoms, we simply won't have them.

Why are these matters important?  For me, one very important reason is my desire to influence my community and world with the love of Jesus Christ.  The culture wars, the war on terror, and conservative political activism have led to the charge that Christians want a theocracy.  I doubt that very much, except in the rarest cases.  The Bible is so clear.  The power of our faith is in love, love like what Paul describes in I Corinthians 13.  Commands like the greatest one--love God with all your being and love our neighbor as yourself--directly counter any sort of Christian oppression or domination; a person who attempted to amass earthly power would be ignoring Zechariah 4:6, which says we aren't to operate by power but by God's spirit.

What I sought to do in my Love Challenge was to amplify Paul's words to give them a fresh sense, especially for those who have heard this passage for many years.  Someone I knew, read this piece when I wrote it, a good many years ago and contacted me to say that it spoke about a love that was totally unfamiliar.  This person asked for help to understand and come to love, like this.  It's isn't easy.  As I edited it, I was convicted by my own words.  People who love like this will never be a threat to anyone else's freedom, even if their choices are self-destructive.

    If you know me, either personally or through my writing, you know that I have an intense commitment to truth.  Either things are true, or they are not true; any other view is irrational.  Those who deny absolutes live in denial, the most likely option, or they are insane.  To make any kind of sense of the world or its people, we need to know what is true.  Unfortunately, those whose job it should be to help us have decided that their job is to control us by manipulating information.  Such people can be found in several places:  the media, politics, and schools.

    Because of the first, those who supposedly report news in print an broadcast media, many don't really know what is going on.  They are ignorant of fact, truth, and reality; such ignorance is dangerous and must go.  This subject holds some degree of personal interest for me because I learned to report news, when objectivity and impartial presentation were the absolute norm.  I have written for newspaper and for radio, where I broadcast the news.  I find the present lack of principle and, therefore, credibility pathetic and harmful.  People must recognize the problem and demand a restoration of appropriate standards of reporting.

    The second group of people who seek to confuse by dishonesty are generally recognized, so much so that "honest politician" is practically an oxymoron.  What troubles me is the willingness or gullibility of those who ignore the half truths and other lies of a Barack Obama or any other candidate they prefer.  Elections offer us less choice and seem to limit our influence over dishonesty, but I suspect we get it because we tolerate it.  Consider Bill Clinton, parsing words like "is" to rationalize his flagrant deceit; it cost him his freedom to practice law, and yet people still admire him.  Perhaps that shows just how deeply our national character has slipped.

    The third group, like the others, ought to be people we may trust.  The difficulty here is that many are not so much dishonest and deceived themselves.  What an irony it is that those who teach have been mislead by those who have taught them.  I have gained a great deal of disheartening insight into the government-controlled system of schools, overshadowed by all manner of sociological mandates and burdened by a surfeit of highly paid bureaucratic agencies and administrators, none of whom teach.  Today, I learned why, and I will write more when I have digested what I have discovered.  For now, you might check out John Taylor Gatto, a recognized New York City and New York State "teacher of the year" and author of The Underground History of American Education, which you can read on his web site.  I highly recommend his American Education History Tour, which takes only a few minutes to take.  I also listened to a recording of his appearance on a radio program; I think it's worth the time investment, especially if you are a parent or a teacher.  One professor of education has called his books "scathing" and "one-sided and hyperbolic, [but] not inaccurate," a rather telling observation.

    How long can our nation and culture survive this deluge of dishonesty?  Why do we tolerate people who mislead us and, by doing so, lead us only God knows where?  Gatto might say that we are the victims of a decades long effort to make us ignorant and biddable, so that the movers and shakers behind the scenes, what some call the "shadow government" can take us into "a new world order."  He doesn't call it a conspiracy.  As one who believes in God and in His and our adversary, I could see a more "devilish" plan.  Regardless, to know is to gain power to do.  We don't have to let other mislead or mis-lead us.  We have the brains and, as yet, the liberty to take charge of the direction of our lives, to liberate the lives of the next generations, and restore truth to our nearly truth-less society.  The question is "Will we?"

    I see a tension between legitimate progress and patriotism.  The American ideal, while sometimes flawed in its execution, remains the best so far.  In a world populated by sinners, where we can never be sure of the character of a leader, our system prevents oppression and tyranny.  In that light, then, progress is refinement, making the the American system more free, more capitalistic, less centralized, and certainly less bureaucratic.  The progressive Left, who favor regression not progress, don't understand or don't care.  They have been working hard to indoctrinate successive generations to regret the American way in favor of something else; whether you call it European socialism or Soviet communism, it isn't American and it isn't progress.  The challenge, as I have written, is to find ways to explain and persuade those that the Left has manipulated, kept ignorant in many respects, and turned into blind followers.

    Listen to Barack Obama, the current crop of Democratic, and many Republicans, and you will hear defeat.  America's best days are gone, and we can only give up the things we love--cars, freedom, and even food--to "save the world."  When I worked as a programmer for a young company, the board brought in a new CEO who thought the best way to make a profit was to fire people.  Like many today, he couldn't imagine pushing forward to success, solving problems, and creating something new.  For so-called progressives, we cannot really "solve" the energy crisis; we can only stop using energy, a plan they insist on despite growing opposition from all sectors, regions, and political persuasions.  Our congressman Mike Rogers proposed a multifaceted approach--drilling for oil, building nuclear plants, and seeing new technologies.  I heard someone else suggest a "Manhattan Project" sort of commitment, pulling together the best and the brightest to find new answers to meet our energy needs.

    That's the America I love, and why I am a patriot.  I am not an isolationist, but I am a United States first kind of guy.  Elitist want to become Europeans, for some reason.  I don't see the success and progress there that has been the hallmark here.  Too many of our leaders seem to have suicidal tendencies, when it comes to this nation, which we elected them to serve.  Judges appeal to European or international law, instead of the Constitution.  I think Pat Buchanan has a point when he says we have lost our independence.

    To make matters worse, we have been forced to listen to candidates and party leaders make promises that they cannot or will not keep.  People are worse than gullible; they are uncritically accepting, naively optimistic, and foolishly presumptuous.  They don't ask what or how; they simply assume that what they want is what the candidates are promising.  They don't check to see if their record matches their rhetoric or confirms their character. 

    In a different vein but somewhat relevant, I had reason, recently, to ponder Job's friends.  Job, the oldest book of the Old Testament, tells the story of a man who God allowed to lose everything to prove that he would remain righteous.  Job's friends, after a week of simply sharing his grief, told Job that his sin caused his suffering, including the loss of his children in natural disasters.  I have had friends like that, but, worse, I have been a friend like that.  It's the danger in political conversations, too.  Even as we seek to prevent disaster and restore what we have lost, we must take care not merely to point the finger (I won't say which one).  Blaming does little to fix what is broken, if in fact those we blame are even responsible for breaking it, whether their personal lives, their families, their communities, their businesses, or even their country.  It is a piece, and a counterproductive one, of what makes some talk shows destructive rather than constructive.

    In my Independence Day blog, and in my contrasting progress and progressives, and even in the heading of this blog, I try always to balance what I consider to be the bedrock values of faith and freedom with a civil, constructive approach to advancing them.  Personally, I get tired of those who accuse others of hate; I personally resent a charge that is diametrically opposed to what most Christians are.  What can we do to counter the often aggressive efforts to destroy Christian influence and Christianity's very presence in this country?  I believe the answer, contrary to our natural impulses, is peacemaking.  In this case, I'm not talking about world peace, interpersonal peace, or inner peace, although I touch on all of these.  In the contentious, anti-religious, and often openly anti-Christian environment in which we live, we need to commit ourselves to "true peacemaking," which is the very soul of our faith and the very heart of our God.

    In these days following Independence Day, it can't hurt to remember, "(I)f the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).  In this freedom, is peace, joy, and love, virtues that are the very essence of a life of true peace.  In this freedom is real hope, the anticipation of good which God has promises to create, not a political slogan empty of meaning or substance.  In this context, we have the ability to change for the better, apart from political rhetoric and sloganeering, changing ourselves not our government or way of life.  Yet, in this spirit, we also have the tools to work toward the changes we truly desire though constructive engagement with the people we know and meet, in our families, at our workplaces, and in our neighborhoods.  As a patriot and a peacemaker, I feel pretty good about that.

That may not be a revelation to anyone, but my life has been especially crazy, lately.  I haven't posted anything here in over two months.  I know I had overdosed on political news.  Then, I found myself with no place to live, evicted after my landlord lost the property.  I had hints but thought things were under control; then, in a matter of days, I learned I had a month to be moved out after living in the same house for nearly 20 years.  During the same month, my 80-year-old mother had knee replacement surgery, my school choirs had a concert, and I had to figure out what I was going to do, where I was going to live, and how I was going to pay for it.

Because I tutor refugees, paid by the hour by government grant, underpaid I should say, I have less than adequate income and no benefits.  I have stuck with my students because I care about them and they have no one else.  You can read about that, if you'd like to know more.  I have been appalled by how poorly public schools seem to teach students who are not fluent in English.  As a teacher myself, I naturally assume that schools would test them to determine their various abilities and proficiencies and then provide appropriate instruction with those needs in mind.  As far as I have been able to determine, none of the schools where my students attend, except the private, Christian schools, do that.  They are supposedly required by law to do so, but they simply ignore the law.  Unbelievable!

During my nearly 2-month-long crisis, I picked up a book by John Whitehead, and that prompted me to check out his website.  I have been deeply concerned about what happens to my students in the immigration system, and I wrote Mr. Whitehead, looking for information or help, I'm not sure which.  He wrote me back and asked me to write my concerns into an article for their newsletter.  By then, I was partially moved but had a ton of stuff still left in my old house.  I asked how soon, and he said as soon as I could; so, I found time to write and submit my article.  It should be published in the next edition of their newsletter.

I liked my house, and I didn't want to move.  Basically, I have always hated moving.  I have thought that, if they could collapse my house on top of me and put a marker on top, that would be the best way to deal with my body and a lot of stuff important only to me.  For a time, I was overwhelmed by the seeming impossibility of the task; I was also feeling rather sorry for myself.  With a little help from my friends, I finally face the challenge of moving on, and that got me back to writing again.

I started blogging as a step toward something a friend and I were developing.  My postings really represent an attitude that I believe is necessary for us to challenge effectively the ideas, people, and movements that threaten the very basis of American culture and freedom.  The heading of this blog--keep it solid, civil, and simple--summarize that approach.  Solid, in this case, represents absolute truth of basic ideas that work; I write about those bedrock ideas and post them here.  My Table Talk Blog deals with the matter of civility--of reasoning without arguing, of making peace, and of winning other over to a better point of view.  I'm working on simplicity, which doesn't come easy for me.  I try to write summaries here of what I discuss in greater detail elsewhere.

My latest Bedrock posting encourages a more constructive method of conversation or dialog, recognizing that too many of us react to hot button words without really understanding what those words mean.  Such words or labels have divided people for generations, at least here in the West.  I feel we've reached a point in the disintegration of our culture and political system where we can no longer afford to argue, react, and condemn; we need to break through that sort of divisiveness and find better ways to win people over to the ideas we hold.  We cannot afford to fail; the results threaten the very substance of our culture and heritage.  We must start "Making our Case Successfully."

Speaking of nuts, I could write volumes on the current crop of presidential contenders, the looming prospect of accusations of racism, the need for a third option than either of the presumptive nominees, the insanity of the trendy preferences of progressive Americans as we face the consequences of those preferences--escalating gas prices, food prices, and lawsuits against everything.  My one comment is this:  Only people living in liberty and prosperity have the option to destroy their own liberty and prosperity.

Perhaps nothing is more relationally or culturally destructive than dishonesty and promise-breaking, a virtual hallmark of politicians, but sadly all too characteristic of too many of us citizens and even Christians.  That's another kind of crazy, but just as self-destructive.  My most recent post, to date, is called "Promises to Keep."  Please, check it out.

(Updated 06/10/08)

Having said that, here are some things to think about come time to vote, compliments of the Patriot Post:

"There are seven reasons for anyone to support the eventual nominee no matter who it is: The war and six Supreme Court justices over the age of 68."—Hugh Hewitt

"Kamikaze Republicans—those who say they'll never vote for John McCain because he isn't conservative enough—may get what they deserve. The Clintons... It isn't necessary to love everything McCain has done to vote for him should he be the nominee. But it isn't possible to argue that there's no difference between McCain and Clinton (or Barack Obama), as some Republicans insist."—Kathleen Parker

"A wise aphorism has it that the perfect is the enemy of the good. While conservatives tilt their noses expressively in the air at the idea of John McCain's representing a movement he votes with 85 percent of the time, Democrats offer the electorate two strong believers in the power of big government, two babes in the woods when it comes to foreign policy, two fast friends of every liberal interest from pro-choice to gay rights to let's-kill-the-Bush-tax-cuts."—William Murchison

"We are a movement that believes in personal responsibility, so it's time to take some. There are consequences to losing. Now is the time to rebuild and re-group, not whine or complain or sulk. Reagan lost many political battles along the way but never lost hope in the enduring nature of basic conservative principles. Neither should we."—Laura Ingraham

"Conservative principles are timeless, and will outlast any politician."—Alfred Regnery

"God still governs. The times and providence called forth the right man to lead America for such a time as this."—Rep. Mike Pence

Dare we trust God enough to accept that he will manage to see His will carried out regardless of whom we are foolish enough or wise enough to elect? Even when he tried, Balaam could not oppose God (Numbers 22-24). I wonder… Could Bill Clinton become “Balaam’s donkey?” He’s already acting a bit like one…

And I don’t want to know what this is about: “It’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech.  My, I felt this thrill going up my leg.  I mean, I don't have that too often,” says Chris Matthews on MSNBC.

    Like most people, I have been on my own since I left home for college.  For you, it may have been the military or marriage or your first apartment.  It is normal for kids to want to separate from Mom and Dad and find their own way, although it is probably exaggerated in American life.

    What is not normal is to exchange the womb or the family for the dubious care of the government, but that seems to be what many Americans are seeking today.  It scares the living daylights out of me!  David Harsanyi has written a book called Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children, but I have yet to read it.  When I think of a nanny, though, it seems to me that government makes one nasty nanny!  I have written just why I think so.  Check it out, and let me know if you agree.

    Today, I heard Lars Larson discussing mandatory dress codes at schools, and it occurred to me that such requirement teach kids to accept government restrictions rather than learn to live responsibly in freedom.  I tend to prefer conservative school rules, personally, but I have to admit that somewhere we need to develop in young people the discernment and responsibility that freedom requires.  Otherwise, they cannot become citizens who love freedom but enjoy it wisely, a problem I fear we are already experiencing.  So, in writing this time, I made myself think...

    I listen to some talk radio, I read quite a bit, and I talk to people.  I'm not a political junky, and I'm relatively low key about catching the daily news, although I usually catch the highpoints while I'm in the car.  It's interesting to note the amount of fear, panic, and doom from report to report, conversation to conversation, and talk show to talk show.  We hear that Hillary has it all wrapped up, that the US economy is about to implode, that this or that candidate is finished, just before they win a primary, and that conservative talk radio is dead.

    I'm not surprised there are lots of anxious people and others who are angry, but I'd rather not tie my personal well-being to such things.  Can we function in the chaotic environment of news and politics and stay calm and upbeat. Of course, Rush Limbaugh seems to manage despite his critics and detractors and even when the conservative landscape looks a bit barren.  Sean Hannity, on the other hand, seems to operate on the edge of disaster on many of his programs.

    I like the word contentment, and I have tried for many years to be content in whatever circumstances I may be, to learn the secret the Apostle Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:11-12.  I'm convinced people can enjoy their lives amid the chaos and confusion of our noisy culture.  One lady I knew used to say "Worry works because most of the things people worry about never happen."  I may not agree with her method, but she is right about most of the things we fear...They never happen.

    My thoughts are a little deeper than that.  With the rejection of God and absolutes, people have nothing on which to anchor their hopes, except people like our current crop of candidates.  I feel sorry for them.  Not even the candidate I like best is worthy of such regard, and many of them are simply not to be trusted at all!  Sadly, some who still claim faith in God act like He has little power or compassion for us mere mortals, and they live in uncertainty too.

    You won't see me with some senseless smile pasted perpetually on my face, but I don't live my life in a haze of anxiety and doubt.  God is real, and He is sovereign, whether we acknowledge Him or not.  He gives us, who trust Him, perspective, and, in that viewpoint, we can all enjoy serenity and hope.

    

Can We Not Have Both?

    I believe the United States became a great nation, blessed by God, because of two things--individual freedom and a generous spirit.  The first created an environment where people could imagine, work hard, and achieve their dreams, among them a prosperity unrivalled anywhere or any time in our history.  The second, out of that abundance, provided compassionate to less fortunate people here and around the world.

    I oppose socialist schemes of redistribution whether they are part of a big government, high tax bureaucracy or of a power-grabbing United Nations.  Individual freedom and capitalism are responsible for our wealth, and sacrificing them will lead quickly to poverty.  The solutions to the economic troubles of the world depend on liberty and capitalism finding root elsewhere, not in rooting it out here.

    Unfortunately, too few of our citizens and leaders seem to understand this reality, and the schemes they create are destructive of the two very blessings that have made us a great people.  The immigration issue provides a good example.  Our policies regarding legal immigration as well as those dealing with illegal entry must first protect our American way of life, especially our heritage of individual liberty under the U.S. Constitution.

    Multiculturalism opposes this, in acting as if every culture is equally good.  Plainly, they are not.  Most of them have produced poverty and oppression that we are often involved in trying to relieve.  American public schools teach multiculturalism rather than our historic heritage, and immigrants are allowed to "preserve" their own heritage instead of embracing ours.  Frankly, most of them, had they preferred their own heritage, they would not have made such an effort to come to the United States.

    The tolerance or willingness to look the other way while millions of people cross our borders illegally has a similar purpose, I fear, in addition to a rather flagrant desire for votes on the part of politicians and an equally glaring desire for cheap labor on the part of some business people.  As a result, not only is our liberty threatened but our reputation for compassion, if what I suspect is true.

    As a citizen and a Christian, I want my government to provide both security and fair, compassion treatment toward people, even those trying to get into our country illegally.  As I have written previously, for the first time in my life, I suspect that what is happening is evil, not just wrong or stupid, because those involved are kids.  Recent experiences are not changing my opinion.  I rather hope that someone reading my thoughts will provide an explanation that proves me wrong.  Otherwise, I will be looking for answers myself and, where I can, providing alternatives to the failures of the system as it relates to the young people I tutor.

    As a Christian, in particular, I cannot do otherwise.  Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Regardless of my concerns about our American way of life, these kids are my neighbors, and I will do my best to show them the compassion of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As for closing the borders, we must do so, I believer, but we must also work hard to address the conditions that exist in the places illegals are trying to escape.  In this, I agree with our President that we must export freedom; that is the most compassionate thing we can do.

    As for refugees as well as illegal teenagers who come, we must not pretend to offer them our best, only to cleverly deny them the genuine opportunity to have it.  If we either bring kids or allow them to stay merely to have a cheap, low class labor force, then that is the evil that we must identify and stop.  Otherwise, the blessings of God will disappear because no wise person would expect him to ignore such evil.

    It isn't a choice between self-preservation and compassion.  Our history proves that both are possible; they have been the practice of Americans for most of our history.  They can be the effective choice of our future, as well.

    No!   I have no idea who would make the ideal President of the United States.  Whoever it might be, I don't think that person is running.  Even the best candidates are imperfect because we are all imperfect.  To what dream, then, am I referring?  Actually, on this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I am somewhat thinking of his dream, but I fear he might regard it as having become a nightmare.

    Dr. King imagine a future where individual character was more important than skin color or some other basis for superficial judgment or discrimination.  In one sense, I think we have moved substantially toward that goal, despite the rhetoric of some in the civil rights establishment and in the Democratic party.  In many ways, we have indeed become a "color-blind" society, and the threats are no long merely those of narrow-minded, white racists.  In fact, few of us respect such people, but another kind of bias has risen, strangely twisting the way people think.  I have about that, but that's a small part of the nightmare.

    How will anyone judge character if the idea of character itself is scorned and neglected by our leaders?  When you listen to the field of presidential hopefuls, the question of character is one we all should be asking, for their is a notable lack of character being displayed by most of them.  Some promise change; others try to be the "conservative torch-bearer," the next Reagan.  Are any of them trustworthy enough to support?  What kind of character does a liar have?  The nightmare is in wondering if liars are the best we have?

    As a Christian in a land founded and shaped by Christians but now often scorning them, I find the efforts of Democratic candidates to be accepted as Christians strange, the attacks on a Mormon unpleasant and wrong, and the appeal to be the unchallenged "Christian" candidate juvenile at best.  I would love to vote for a Christian statesman, but I don't see any such person.  I would be happy to have someone like Ronald Reagan, warts and all, and hardly the ideal Christian.  I respect the last Christian President we elected, but I have a lot of issues with George Bush like immigration, over-spending, and the further federalizing of education.  Picking a good candidate who might become a good President is more than a label, even one I carry.

    I have a number of good friends who think Ron Paul is the answer, and I didn't even mention him there, although I believe what I have written does apply.  I didn't refer directly to the person for whom I voted in our Michigan primary, so you may figure out who that was, by process of elimination.  My purpose here isn't to pick the one I think is best; I'm not yet sure who I think that is.  My purpose is to challenge all of us to demand better from our leaders, perhaps be demanding more first from ourselves.  Without character, integrity, honesty, and virtue, we don't have a very bright future.  For all seriousness of the radical Islamic threat and the War on Terror, despite the fears of economic collapse which are well-warranted I believer, and no matter how much illegal immigration and open borders may change the very fabric of the United States, without character none of the rest really matters.  Certainly without character, we have no reason to expect the person we elect will do what they have promised; most don't!  Without character, we simply won't have much of a culture to protect and preserve.

    One of our forefathers said, “Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.”  Our departure of faith and character already erode our freedoms and the pursuit of happiness.  Thomas Jefferson said, "There is no vice... so contemptible; he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual."  Among a people who have become habitual liars led by leaders who are habitual liars, we have few we can trust.  What kind of life will we have with no one we can count on?  Ronald Reagan said, "I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."  Well, that one need no comment.  Finally, Jesus said, "The truth will set you free."  That one is oh, so controversial, isn't it?

    I have no desire to minimize the suffering that real racism has created in the world.  Believe it or not, the United States is not the worst offender nor ever has been.  Many Muslim North Africans despise, enslave, and kill the darker skinned people in places like Sudan and Mauritania, and ironically the American black community show little concern for the African people from whom they claim a heritage.  Martin Luther King's reputation may well have grown beyond historical reality; such is the nature of our heros, but no one can argue the merit of his dream.  I just hope we may achieve it, in all that its words represent, a people free, equal, and measured by genuine character.

    Nothing like a break from the routine abetted by a cold to keep a person out of circulation.  Then, when the routine kicked back in, in kicked in with a vengeance.  When my students get hammered, as they do at semester's end, then their tutor gets even busier.

    Two items in the news caught my attention.  The first was another bad report on American public school effectiveness.  So what is the answer?  Unfortunately, like Humpty Dumpty, this broken system is beyond repair.  It took me 30 years to come finally to this conclusion.  If you are a parent or grandparent or just care about kids, you can't wait that long to catch on.  Their futures are at stake!

    The other item was a survey that found the majority of unchurched people think we Christians are phoneys.  The charge of hypocrisy isn't a new one, but the numbers in this one could seem daunting.  I see it as an opportunity.  One rather obvious conclusion is that people who don't really know us have a negative opinion of us, and giving them a chance to know a genuine Christian, warts and all, should give them a better opinion.  To do that, of course, you do need to be an authentic Christian, not just a nominal one.  You also need to be honest about your failings, what some call sin.  When we publicly decry the moral climate and the abandonment of absolutes, we easily create the impression that we don't sin or that genuinely Christian people cannot sin.  That is a misunderstanding that we may reinforce by acting more self-righteous than we are.

    I haven't written about the Presidential candidates, and the Michigan primaries have come and gone.  We get to hear a large number of people massage their records when they're not simply lying.  The refrain we hear often is the need for change and who will bring it.  Change to what?  Change for change's sake isn't just meaningless; it is scary.  Trusting people who can't be trusted to change things is irrational, and I hear plenty of insanity.  Don't you?

    My friend wrote this to me, "I can't help but think of your words that 'we Christians get the candidate we prayed (or didn't) for.'  Reminds me to start praying!"