Blessings of Liberty

O God of all Creation: You have cared for the earth, and have filled it with your riches. Abundance flows in your steppes, through the pastures and wilderness. You provide for our land, softening it with showers, bathing it in light, and blessing it with growth.

The hills sing with joy; the meadows are covered with flocks; the fields deck themselves with wheat; and together they glorify your name!

On this occasion of our Thanksgiving, we as a nation take rest from our labors to consider your many blessings. We thank you for our freedoms, and for the opportunity to contribute our skills, our attributes and our values toward the good of society.

We thank you for the mixture of our cultures, blending us into one people under God. Help us to be a light unto other nations, and to further the cause of freedom and justice all over the world.

We remember those who are less fortunate than we. We lift up in prayer the victims of poverty and racism, and all those who suffer from forms of political and economic oppression. Let the word that goes forth from our mouths speak of your peace, and let us proclaim our hope in Christ as Savior of all humankind.

We pray that you will bless all those who gather here, as we have come to experience your presence among us. Give us your guidance, O God, and empower us for your work. For we claim nothing for ourselves, but return all honor and glory unto you, and offer our thanks and praise. Amen.

From “Prayers for God’s People”
Thomas P. Roberts, editor

I watched the South Park episode referred to in this segment. It was funny. A bit overdone, but funny. The only thing I found offensive was that Cartman never proved Wendy was a slut. Beck has provided proof of his accusations – most often in the accused own words. It’s all fine and good to make fun of conservatives and their ideals, but we are proud of those ideals and the truths we expose. Liberals hide from theirs.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said of Fox News, “I have watched many stories on that network that I found not to be true.”

Which stories, Mr. Gibbs? Your statement is broad and needs to be narrowed more than just a little.

If Fox News is spreading untruths, set the record straight. Tell the people which stories are false then back up your claim with verifiable facts and sources. Otherwise, quit your bellyaching.

Since it was announced that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize I’ve been trying to come up with a good blog post that adequately conveyed my thoughts. It’s a difficult task as I’m outraged, flabbergasted, awed and so many other adjectives.

Fortunately, Tim King expresses himself with ease. His sense of humor and writing style make this article at J. Timothy King’s Freedom Blog a delight to read.

Enter the contest (I did)

This is wrong on so many levels and it makes my blood boil.

“I find it amazing this is on the ballot for a couple reasons. First of all, we all know what’s really promoted in most schools, heterosexuality is promoted in most schools. Every time kids read Romeo and Juliet or their version of the prom or whatever it is, kids are aggressively recruited to be heterosexual in this country, and you know what, it doesn’t work. The reality is is that if schools could effect your orientation there would have been no gay people in the first place. But there’s still people out there who believe that myth because you know what, its easy to panic people if you make them think that their after your kids.”

So, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet as propaganda for heterosexuality? What the…! We read several Shakespeare plays in high school and college and the sexuality of the characters never came into question. Why? Because the majority of humans are heterosexual; homosexuals are in the minority.

Just because students are required to read books, plays or short stories that feature a romance between a man and a woman doesn’t mean the school or the teacher is aggressively recruiting them to heterosexuality. Some of the greatest works of fiction feature heterosexual relationships. They are used as teaching tools simply because of the author’s ability to weave a tale.

Before you go calling me homophobic or a gay basher, know that I have homosexual friends. I care for them deeply. That doesn’t mean I approve of their way of life. It isn’t my place to judge; I leave that to God. Schools don’t influence sexuality and I personally believe the issue has no place in academia. It is a personal issue and if it takes an outside influence to convince you that you are a hetero or homosexual then maybe you should do a bit more soul searching.

Frankly, I’m offended by those who try to promote one sexuality over another. The practice doesn’t belong in schools. I’m offended by those who belittle me for my religious beliefs which sees homosexuality as wrong. I make no apologies for my faith and if I’m deluded (which I doubt), it will hurt no one but me.

We don’t need a “Safe Schools Czar” policing our schools. We need responsible adults to teach and raise our children.

While I truly believe our health care system is NOT broken I realize it does need changes. Costs are too high and folks with preexisting conditions get lost in the shuffle. I’m no expert and have very little in the way of ideas to change things but I firmly believe giving the government more control of the situation is the absolute worst thing we can do.

President Obama says things that make we wonder if he’s delusional or an outright liar. What he wants for the health care system will crack open doors that need to remain shut. If the government gets a foot in the door we can’t go back. What he considers a good thing today will hurt this country in the future.

He says Medicare recipients won’t lose anything. What about the Advantage Plans? Those extra insurance plans Medicare pays for that makes the difference between seeing the doctor/buying a prescription and being able to buy groceries during the month. I’m familiar with these plans because my parents have them and I’ve just enrolled. Medicare alone is weak and the advantage plans help tremendously.

It’s not opposition to health care reform. It is opposition to giving government more control over my life.

We often find ourselves in a quandary. The need to stand up for what we believe wars with time constraints and commitments. Some things are too important to overlook. We must make time and compromise so our voices will be heard.

I’m worried about the direction our country is headed. Many of our personal liberties are lost; our representatives took them while we were pursuing happiness. We’ve become so self absorbed that we don’t notice the political machine as it devours power. We hear their rhetoric and shut our eyes to their mismatched deeds.

Do we really want to give our government more power over us? Are their decision making capabilities so superior to ours that they can choose what’s best for us without knowing us personally? No!

It’s time to wake up, America! Pay attention to the fine print and hold elected officials accountable.