A little bit of us dies each time.

Today marks 26 years since I came home from the first Gulf War. In many ways it seems like it was a lifetime ago. Heck, it feels like 3 lifetimes. The world has changed a lot in 26 years. Then, very few were protesting the war in Kuwait. Now, they are protesting democracy and free speech. It seems like the country was united then. Now we are divided with a civil war of conflicting ideologies. On one side we have those who work every day, they love their country and what it was founded on, and on the other side are those who want nothing more than to live free without consequence and feel safe to do anything they want.

I remember coming home, thinking everyone and everything would be the same. I was wrong. Things were different. Not in any major way, but in a way that was just significant enough that I had trouble reintegrating into life once I was back. I remember how angry I was that everyone had changed around me. My friends and family, my neighbors. The only people who didn't really change were my buddies.

Well, the truth is, I had it backwards. We were the ones who changed. The truth is, whenever you are in a high stress situation (like a war or something similar in its stress levels), a little bit of you dies there. You never come back the same because you really aren't you when you get back. My brothers who served after me and those who went before had it much worse. There are no safe places in trauma centers or during war. There are no safe places for first responders (fireman, cops and EMS).

Is it any wonder that so many who have served end up homeless or divorced? We live in a world where college kids need a safe space when the VP wants to come to their school and give a speech, they need safety pins to reassure them that their silly little ideas that their professors are feeding them are ok when they experience a conflicting worldview and they need to hug a puppy when the real world hits and they don't get a participation trophy for their candidate coming in 2nd place.

How does someone live and cope in a world so diametrically opposed to everything they left home for? Think about it. Our troops and soldiers and first responders are sacrificing their lives every day. They don't have the luxury of hugging a puppy when their sensibilities are offended. They aren't living in a world where a conflicting idea is presented in a classroom, it is presented on the street or battlefield where their lives are at risk. Conflicting ideas means death to those that serve. It means a gun fired at a cop or EMS worker, it means an IED or sniper fire for the soldier or sailor.

And I wonder... Everytime we see a tragedy on TV like a cop being gunned down, and innocent child caught in gangland crossfire, news about X number of soldiers dying in battle, does a little bit of us die each time? Are we so immune that our compassion has died?

I had a conversation with a Deacon in our old church. He once told me that there is no such thing as a "poor person" in America anymore. Only people who have done themselves harm. I won't tell you what my initial reaction was, but I remember restraining myself quite nicely and gritting my teeth to reply: "It must be nice to have always had enough to have never struggled in your life." Not directly related, but it illustrates my point. Are we so insulated that we've forgotten compassion? Have our ideologies become so ingrained that we cannot have civil discourse and are instead hell bent on a path to civil war? It's not a war progressives want. They don't want to piss off the vets, the first responders, the EMS, the people that have kept them safe and allowed them their (wrong and misguided) opinions.

I see what's coming and I don't think it is going to be pretty. I pray that our civil servants will respond and intervene before it comes to a head. I have had enough happen in my life that I look back and mourn the death of my own self, knowing that every time something happens that is major in my life, a little bit dies. I'm not the same dude I was 3 years ago, 10 years ago, 26 years ago. Every event has killed a little bit of me. I mourn the fact that so many of my friends are the same.

An Easter Message of Hope, Faith and Love

This week I had an opportunity to work with a man from Salvador. He came over in the 80's under Reagan and got his citizenship. He worked hard for it. He is very proud and happy to be an American, a citizen of a new country after leaving a war torn area depressed by civil unrest and war. As we were talking, he mentioned to me that he was a Christian and always wanted to learn Biblical Greek. I told him I could give him a book that would help him start to learn it and he asked me if I could teach him a word or a phrase to practice this week. I told him since it was Easter, his word for the week was "tetelestai". It is from John 19:28-30. Jesus' last words as he hung on the cross. You might remember the words: "it is finished".

John tells us in his gospel:

John 19:28-30  28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst."  29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.  30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

 There are three interesting points to this passage worth noting as I write this. 1) Jesus knew that all was completed 2) The vinegar (sour wine) was on a hyssop branch 3) There was a real completion with his words, but what exactly did he mean?

Firstly, it is important to know that when John tells us that Jesus knew that all was now finished (and we will talk about what he knew in a moment), that Jesus did not just know in the "human" sense. Jesus knew. in verse 28 where it says that Jesus "knowing", it is important to note that the Greek  ēdē tetelestai, or "knowing the accomplished" is in grammar what we call a perfect passive indicative.  What it means in plain English is that Jesus knew the full significance of what was happening. Now, the only way Jesus could know was if he was more than a man. In order for Jesus to fully know, he must be both God and man. Historically, this is what Christianity has held to. That Jesus was not just a man, and he was not only God, he wasn't a demi-god, or some weird hybrid of meta-human. He was both fully God and fully man. We will come back to this in a moment, because its significance is great. Jesus would have to be both God and man in order to fulfill what was happening on the cross. Now, if you aren't catching the full significance of this here, bear with me. It will all come together in a moment.

Secondly, the passage tells us that when he was thirsty he asked for a drink was was given sour wine on a hyssop branch. Why is this important? Wine was a symbol of communion, of when things were joined together. During a wedding, after the husband and wife were joined, it was celebrated with wine. Contracts were sometimes ratified or made good over sharing a cup of wine. What about hyssop? What is its significance? Well, hyssop was a prickly thorny type plant used in purification services (exodus 12:22, psalm 51:7). in fact, it was a vicarious form of purification. Here is the importance of what's going on here. A hint, if you will, into the fullness of what is happening on the cross. See, one man cannot pay for his own sin. A good man cannot pay for another good man's sin, because he cannot even atone for his own. It takes a man who is both fully man and fully God to be able to atone for sin because of the great debt it puts us into with God the Father. See, here is the genius of God's plan of love for His people. That he loved us (you) so much that he sent Jesus to fulfill all the requirements, to pay all the debt, for us, so we would not have to. Now, there is a whole slew of theological rabbit trails we could go down here... We could talk about the sacrificial nature of Christ, the scapegoat, the Lamb slain, etc... but for now, this will have to suffice. Just remember this. A God-man was required to pay the debt of eternal separation from the Father. This is why Jesus, feeling that abandonment cried out "my God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?". I believe this was doubly felt and seen with the wine served on a hyssop branch. It was sour wine, I believe, signifying separation or broken communion. If good wine is served when communing, then spoiled wine shows a spoiled communion. Jesus, as our representative on the cross, also experiences that spoiled and broken communion. The fact that it is served with hyssop may point to the radical need for man's purification and cleansing from that sin. Jesus hints at the great love he has in doing this for us. He tells us in John 15 that love has no greater gift than this: That a man lay his life down for his friends. Now isn't that cool? Jesus loved us so much he laid his life down for us! The sacrifice was in essence a radical act of love for His people.

Now let's see if I can tie this all in with the third point. That Jesus, in committing the ultimate act of love by laying his life down, accomplished the ultimate act of redemption for those that believe and trust. See, Jesus, being God, knowing that the time of completion is approaching, knowing the great separation from God he is experiencing on the cross which is partially symbolized in the sour wine and hyssop, now, moments before his death makes, perhaps the most important declaration in the history of the world. He says tetelestai, it is finished. He's telling us that with his death, we can have the same love that he demonstrated towards us. He's telling us that the separation we so richly deserve from God because of our own sin is now no longer held to our account. He is telling us this and so much more. That we can have hope, because he took our sin and laid it to his own account (only one who is fully man and God can pull this off). We can have hope because everything that Jesus was born for, the fulfilling of the ceremonial, civil and religious law, was accomplished by him and reached its fulfillment in him.

And we can have faith too. Faith, because we have his resurrection that we celebrate on this day. A resurrection that tells us death no longer has a sting to it. It is not permanent, it is not final. Oh man, here's the thing about the death and resurrection... When Jesus accomplished his work, it left one thing... the application of that work. There is a looking forward as the application of the work Jesus performed works itself to its final completion. The love shown to us as symbolized on this day, gives us hope that it was for us, and faith as we look forward to the consummation of that work where death (which died in the death of Christ) will be no more. It points us to a time where John tells us:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

(Rev 21:3-5)

Happy Easter--Tetelestai...

Progressive Politics and Chairman Mao

I wonder how many people have considered how influential Chairman Mao has been in our colleges, among our educators and their students. I know a lot of my friends have been somewhat baffled at how kids from even conservative backgrounds end up throwing burning chairs at windows and jumping and beating demonstrators, speakers at campuses and trying to intimidate those that disagree with them.

It is difficult for many to pin down how we lost a generation to liberalism, but I believe if we take a look at everyone's favorite Chinese Revolutionary, we can begin to understand a little better how we ended up with a class struggle/racial struggle/revolution in this country being fueled by our campuses and their progressive liberal professors and their students who act as their arm outside the classroom. Well, we gotta start somewhere, so let's start here. Mao wrote in "The Orientation of the Youth Movement":

“Our young intellectuals and students must go among the workers and peasants, who make up 90% of the population, and mobilize and organize them. Without this main force of workers and peasants, we cannot win the fight against imperialism and feudalism, we cannot win it by relying only on the contingent of young intellectuals and students. Therefore, the young intellectuals and students throughout the country must unite with the broad masses of workers and peasants and become one with them, and only then can a mighty force be created...But the intellectuals will accomplish nothing if they fail to integrate themselves with the workers and peasants. ”

In case that comes off as confusing, let me see if I can boil this down a little. Essentially, Mao is saying that in order for a proper social revolution to happen, you have to have 3 basic groups: 1) Intellectuals
2) Students, and 3) The working class.peasants. Now think about this... The intellectuals are our university professors and progressive politicians, they educate the student class, which once indoctrinated, moves into the working class, the broad masses. They demonstrate, recruit, and infiltrate society. I know, I know... This sounds very...um... conspiracy theorist... but hey, some conspiracies are true! Think about what we are seeing across the country. Soros paid activists, the wall street revolters, the Never Trumpers and BLM are all rooted in socialism/communism.

I believe what we are in the midst of, is a political revolution. That's where it starts. Every revolution has to rely heavily on the youth to make it work. It's from there that they integrate into what Mao refers to as the three parts: The workers, peasants and soldiers where physical revolution begins. Mao continues by warning about intellectuals as being opportunists and not being able to trust them, because of this, and their tendencies towards leftism and anarchism.

And this, is, I believe where we are today. We have had intellectuals teaching our children and they have moved towards Identity politics, political correctness and anarchism. The "rule of law" is no longer respected by the left, and political correctness is the law of the day. It is in essence, anarchism, self governed societies... Government is bad, laws are bad, law enforcers are the devil in this view, so revolution is their next logical step. Mao uses conservatives to steer clear of anarchism in the larger picture because it desire to overthrow all government, but uses it to help overthrow "imperial" or "feudal" (ie: Democratic) government.

What happens in the midst of this (I believe this is what is happening in our country right now) is that you have to tow the "party line", in order to be accepted. You have to accept the progressive agenda or you are a fascist, a Nazi, a racist, entitled, bigoted, misogynistic, or horror of horrors... A Christian... There are many more, but the truth is this: There is a script, a set cult-like response (some call it a party-line) that progressives follow, and deviation from it means exclusion from the herd. You become an outcast, a pariah worse than a leper. It is a philosophy of multiculturalism that destroys creativity and individualism because you cannot, just like in Mao's revolutionary China, speak out against it, or you are shunned. You are deplorable. If you stand against a culture (say the culture of Islam because you believe it demeans women and abuses them, or suppresses free thought), you are labeled racist and archaic. There is a failure to nuance positions, beliefs and ideals. There is no distinguishing between multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity. America has not been a multicultural country at it's heart. Sure cultures subsist within it, but at it's heart, it is a melting pot. Cultures are absorbed into American culture, not segregated into many separate subcultures competing for dominance. Historically, when immigrants came, they adopted America and became citizens. Multi-ethnic, not cultural. Never in the history of America have we experienced a cultural segregation as we have today.

Progressive politics is an ideology that is antithetical to free thought and expression. They fight against the very things that they claim to champion and divide rather than unite. At its heart, progressive politics, while their agenda might be slightly different (or maybe not) from Chairman Mao's, holds to the same philosophical underpinnings. They abandon the epistemological (epistemology = How do I know what I know) underpinnings of what our country was founded on (outlined in the constitution), and adopts instead a fluid epistemology that say "every man can do what is right in their own eyes", because they hold to an existential philosophy that is rooted in doing what you **feel** is right as opposed to what you **know** is right. You might read this and think I am crazy. You may be right, but it is something to think about...

Drunk as a Skunk...

This has been an interesting year for not only our country, but the world as a whole. Not so many years ago, we were enjoying a relative time of peace and stability, particularly in America. Even when war broke out, we experienced a kind of national pride and respect that made one proud to be American... But something changed. There has been a paradigm shift in the country in the last 10-12 years. I'd like to put it all on Obama, but the truth is, it began before that. Maybe it was the sustained war that seemed to drag on and on, with no clear end in sight. Maybe it was seeing our kids come home changed. Maybe it was a tanking economy and shrinking wages. Heck, maybe it was all of it. I don't quite know. What I do know is that things have changed in this country and around the world. Global liberalism has taken root. open borders, bankrupt nations and politicians with immeasurable power, not derived from the people, but from within their own organizations. It has resulted in an ever growing corruption in government, and politicians are drunk.

This election in America has been an interesting one. Why? Because we now have a president who has never been in politics before and he is in a giant swamp filled with power hungry politicians. Except something has begun to change yet again across this globe. I've said it before, the people are tired of business as usual. What has come to light as a result is this: Politicians are drunk with power, and the recent elections and votes not only in America, but worldwide have left them experiencing withdrawal. We (the people) are fed up with open borders and globalism. Brexit in Britain is proof of it, as is the election of President Trump. Denmark's Anti-immigration party is now the 2nd largest in Denmark. We want borders. Why? Let me put it to you in this way: Why do you lock your car in the parking lot, or lock your front door? Is it because everyone in the neighborhood is a criminal, or everyone coming out of Target want to steal your car? No, it's the realization that there *MAY* be someone like that out there. So we do it as a a precaution. This is why so many of us are in favor of a travel ban, in favor of a wall (it will only keep the honest people out, right? But just the thought of a crackdown has already reduced illegal immigration by 40%), in favor of a national identity.

Here's the truth of the national identity thing too. Those who are most drunk on their power are trying to destroy that. To reform it into something foreign to us. Identity is important. I identify as many things... Irish, Italian, American (most of all), a Marine, Father, Husband. To remove identity is to remove something that sits at the very heart of what we are as humans. Labels are important, it is not enough to just say we are all human. We were made to name things, to classify them. We are Americans for a reason. We left other places to come here for a reason. If you remove our identity as a nation, you strip the nation of who and what it is. We are a nation of legal immigrants and real refugees. Our laws are in place to help, not hurt.

And here's the rub. Those power drunk folks who are trying to make laws for us and legislate are trying to remove those laws. For some reason they forgot that boundaries are not only in place to keep things out, but also keep things in. Let me give an example: When my kids were little, they were allowed to play in the backyard without me sitting there all the time. Why? Because the fence kept them in. The border provided a measure of safety for them. Sure, it wouldn't stop someone hell-bent on breaking in, but there was a measure of protection there. Walls do that. So do laws. Even many of the seemingly stupid ones. Ones like the travel ban that say "if your country is unstable, if it is producing large amounts of terrorists, you need to stay home and not come here". Our laws are for us and not everyone else in the world. That is why we are unique.

This is what heartens me now... Those who are drunk with power and going through their withdrawal are showing their true selves. These leopards can't really hide their spots anymore. Their children are protesting in colleges across the nation, they are funding them, because they don't work. They are holding up laws and orders that are put in place to protect them, but they are more concerned with currying favors and winning demographics that they are willing to sacrifice everything for more power. They pedal the soft bigotry of low expectations for minority groups by providing them with special treatment instead of equal treatment. They do more disservice to them in the long run by this than help. They are handing out fish without teaching them how to catch a fish.  They encourage poverty to fund their coffers of social justice, they fuel a quiet racial hatred by creating special categories for people instead of putting them on equal footing. They encourage entitlement by giving things away without requiring anything in return.

And here's the interesting thing. America has had enough. The world has had enough. We want pride in our countries. We want people to earn what they have. We want our laws to be obeyed and to be safe, without fear of some refugee bringing terror to our soil (remember that the Boston bombers were refugees as were the 9-11 terrorists). We want to know that those we have elected have stopped drinking in their power and are now sober, serving the people instead of themselves.

For Everything There is a Season: Why Progressive Liberalism Fails

Even if you are not a reader of the Bible, I would bet that you know the preacher's words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. He writes:

Ecc 3:1-8  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:  (2)  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;  (3)  a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  (4)  a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  (5)  a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  (6)  a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  (7)  a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  (8)  a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

These words are just as true today as they were when they were written so long ago. Who can argue that life and society and governments go through seasons of change? It seems to me though, that many of us have forgotten that there is a time for *every* matter under heaven. I have never seen so many politicians and college aged kids and celebrities and even my own peers so distraught over the fact that those who have been silent in America and even around the world are now speaking out against the tides of liberalism, pluralism and political correctness that has swept across the west. I hear the 60's were close, but no where near as global. Brexit in the UK, the growing conservative parties in Holland, France and Germany, the middle America backlash in America has proven that it is far more than politics that we see taking place in the world, it is a cultural rebellion. It is a revolution of the people, maybe even a civil war of type, with competing ideologies.

I think of the preacher's words when he says there's a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. A little over 210 years ago, there was this thing called the French Revolution, with their call of "No God but Man", Fraternity, egalitarianism, and a deep seated hatred and distrust for the governments, which were rooted in the philosophies of John Locke and Rousseau. It was an idea of democracy, but not a democracy rooted in a Republic as we conceive of it, but more in line of that of a re-imagined Roman Empire. The idea of Liberty, Freedom, Natural rights, and Constitutionalism were not necessarily bad, as they were rooted in a Nationalism that set France as the center of their loyalties. However, the idea of egalitarianism, and a fraternity was severely flawed and rooted in a type of socialism that has crept into our own government and society.

Egalitarianism is that ideology that all men are not only created equal (which I believe firmly), but that they also deserve equal treatment and opportunity (which are also noble ideas I am in agreement with as well). The problem with Egalitarianism is that the logical conclusion of that thinking cannot be left there is a socialistic way of thinking. You necessarily have to take opportunity away from some to bolster the opportunity of others. In other words, if the person working harder and earning more and doing better because of his merit is progressing past the others, we must take from him and give to the one who is not as skilled, talented, etc.. Instead of that person working harder, training more, or moving to another occupation, or simply even remaining where he is because of his aptitude, egalitarianism instead teaches that everybody deserves the same thing regardless of ability. In other words, it neglects the fact that while we may all be created equal, we do not all remain equal, while we may all have equal opportunity, not all can or do make use of that opportunity. In other words, Egalitarianism in it's enlightenment context means that in order to achieve enlightenment equality, special treatment (not equal treatment) must be given to those who cannot or do not achieve as well as others. It is an unequal leveling of the playing field at the expense of others. This is perhaps one reason why there is a time to plant and a time to pluck. There are, at times a separating of wheat and tares, of plucking bad plants from the crop to allow good ones to grow. And of course the good harvest from the planting. Every seed starts with equal opportunity and receives the same treatment in its planting , but not all seeds produce the same results.

In Western Society however, we will nurture the failing plants at the expense of the ones who have the potential to thrive. This is why socialism fails. Here is another reason why. Our progressive culture in the west fails to recognize a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up.  Whatever good intention might have lain at the heart of the beginning of the movement has been removed and obscured by selfishness to be heard, to be right, to quench any real freedom to express dissenting opinion. Instead, they riot, they shout down and they obstruct. How contradictory is this from the idea of Liberty that we have held so dear for so long in the West? A time to kill and a time to heal means someone has to lose. A time to break down means we remove what was once there and a time to build up means we replace it with something else. It is the way society works. It ebbs and flows, it peaks and valleys. Social progressives and many liberals fail to recognize this, and instead see it as a threat to our established way of life. They believe there must be a pluralism where absolutely everything except a dissenting opinion must be accepted and practiced. It is in essence a Stalinistic, neofascist, Islamic ideology rooted in submission to their ideology only, or revolution is the only option left.

In America, we had 8 years of progressive liberalism that left us with a time to seek. Conservatives and many others spent that time watching and reflecting on our failures and needs and our country spoke in the last election. We endured our time to lose, sometimes with dignity and sometimes not, but we never rioted, burned or assaulted others in violent protest. 

Now we sit at a precarious time, because we are in a time to heal, a time to embrace. We need to heal from the horrible leftist policies that have hurt us, we need to embrace each other not as ones who accepts every idea or practice that reflects our own ideologies, but as Americans, or Frenchmen or Germans or whatever western country you are from reading this, because our uniting bond is that we were all created equal and deserve equal treatment and even though we don't all achieve equal success, we deserve equal dignity for who and what we are. This is real liberty. It is ok to disagree, it is what sharpens us, and we should be united under the ideals of liberty. We need walls. Walls keep out those who undermine liberty and freedom. Not every ideology is healthy or good. Some are destructive and damning. This is why vetting is necessary. How many people live without doors on their homes? Doors are like walls in one respect. They can shut things out or keep them in. We find them necessary because the truth is, there are bad things out there that would do us harm. 

And there are. Bad things that is. That would do us harm. This is why there is a time for war. No one is fond of war, but it is a necessity. General Robert E. Lee once said "It is good that war is so terrible lest men grow too fond of it". He hated war and thought it should be avoided when possible, but that at times it is necessary to protect the people. In our age of Islamic terrorism, we are in a time of war. It is time to make our plowshares into swords and stand. A country with no military or defense, a country with no borders or gates is no country at all. Restrictions are there to provide freedom within its bounds. Socialistic Globalism seeks to eliminate boundaries and in reality destroys liberty and freedom. When that happens, when pluralism takes root we cease to remain a nation and we cease to be a people. When the vision dies, people perish.

Oh yeah, and another thing, and while I am on the subject...

Well, I got that Hollywood junk off my chest and I feel a little better, they were driving me nuts. It's been a weird week at work finishing up our project and my friend brought something to my attention on Monday while we were working the federal holiday. He looked down to me, shook his finger and said "and another thing... How come we pay federal workers for a day off and we have to work?" 

Dang, that's a really good question. You know, with as many taxes as we pay for these guys to work in government, why do we (the working class), get stuck working on federal holidays while they get the day off? Here's what I propose:

1. Our excess tax money should be funneled back to us. How? Federal holidays should mean that we get the day off at the government's expense. The FEDS should be giving US a holiday.

2. Do they really need that many days to begin with? There's like 650 of them. What happens on those days besides the banks screwing us by not allowing us to deposit checks and pushing new comics off until Thursday. Let's cut the number of days.

3. Aren't government workers civil servants? In what way are we being served with their days off? I mean, seriously. I see a lot of my money being wasted here... 

And while I am on the subject, who does these public civil servants serve exactly? Who do they serve at the pleasure of? John Lewis is who is on my mind. A man who had a great civil rights start at the beginning of his career working for equality, but now has become part of the problem. So he was a great civil rights activist......... 40 years ago. So what? Now what I am hearing is you can't speak out against him if you are white? Hogwash. Let me ask... What has he done lately? Isn't Atlanta his congressional district? One of 6 people in Atlanta live in poverty, and they rank 15th in the nation for crime... Not bad, except there are roughly 19,429 cities in the US... Oh snap, 15 doesn't look so good for "Hotlanta" now...  

Hey, did you know that Atlanta is now a major transportation hub when it comes to trafficking young girls from Mexico and is one of the fourteen U.S. cities with the highest levels of sex trafficking of children.

Why do I say all this? Because you can't rest on your laurels. What you did yesterday only counts for yesterday. Every day is a new day, and that means we must work anew to earn or keep the respect and reputation that we have earned in the past. For a man who wants equal standing, he sure doesn't want to extend the same equality to our soon-to-be-president. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Mr. Lewis has missed what it means to be a public servant and what it means to honor the office of president, even if he doesn't like the man. However you feel about the new president, there is an office and to boycott the inauguration shows an ignorance of both what it means to hold an office and how to honor an office. 

Hell, maybe Trump was right. Maybe he (and all the other men and women serving in office) should stop looking out for themselves and realize that they are servants. They SERVE, not rule. Stop playing a victim and play at being adults that are mature! Have we forgotten what that means in this country? Not my president? Pfhtbbbt! He is, unless you are not an American, in which case, shut up and get out of the country.

That is all.

More Hollywood Hysteria: An Open Letter to U2

My friends that know me, know that U2 is my all time favorite band. Musically, I believe they are gifted beyond belief, their music is thoughtful and purposeful and it speaks to me on multiple levels. Heck, I even liked POP when it came out. In addition to that, I believe that they have used their fame to do much good in helping those in need. Where they fail, is in their politics. Sadly, they have missed the mark, and with their recent announcement that they will punish America for our presidential choice this year, have proven that they are only hurting themselves. They are not the spokespersons for the American people. Our spokespersons were elected this year. With that said, let me present an open letter to the band, which I hope you will share and spread to as many people, both liberal and conservative as you can.

Dear U2,

It is with much sadness that I write this to you. America has voted and our president is elected (despite much protest from those unhappy). It was the will of the American people. It has never been the popular vote that has elected any president in this country, in fact, while our system is not perfect, it is the best we have. I understand you are not happy with America's choice of president, many are unhappy. It will not change the fact that he is our leader now. We live in a world where we don't always get what we want. So, with that said, here are a few things I would like you to consider:

Just because things didn't go your way, I would like to remind each of you that you are a man, not a child. A mature response would be to say "even though I do not agree, I respect the process and the decision and I will follow".  I know you feel things are out of control, but as Christians, you must know that God is in control, even if you are not.

In fact, what it really seems like is that because things didn't go your way, that you are now in a place where it feels like the streets have no name, that you think we can't live with or without you, and you really just want to throw a brick through a window to express your disappointment. The truth is, you are acting like a boy and not men. I would dare say that you feel like a stranger in a strange land, and refuse to rejoice along with the rest of America.

You think you are punishing us for the choice you made, but what is going to happen in 4 or 8 years when our new president leaves office? Will you be expecting a sort of homecoming? I doubt you will be missed. I am sad to say that you will fade from the eyes and ears of the American populace as you take your exit, because we have chosen to not run to stand still and will indeed make it with or without you. So go ahead and trip through your wires, your money will run out and you will find out that sometimes you can't make it on your own.

It is interesting that someone who takes such pride on declaring things in the name of love has no desire for freedom for my people. If you want love to rescue you, maybe you should see that the hate being spewed is not from the supporters of our current president, but his opponents. If you fail to see that, then you're really going to miss it when love comes to town. But I think you already have missed it haven't you? You already caught that train.

Maybe if you gave us a chance you might see that we really are even better than the real thing, that it is not the end of the world, that we are not quite so cruel as you would believe, and that there are other ways (like ours) to accomplish throwing your arms around the world. I know it seems like we as a country are acting in mysterious ways, but take a step back and look at yourself. What is your one love? Why are you acting so cruel? Maybe it wasn't us, but you who missed it. I mean, after all, Love is blindness, right? When you look at the world, what is it that you see? Please! Wake up dead man! Maybe you have spent too much time in your relative safety and comfort and have become disconnected with us as a country because you have spent all your times in Discotheques and in the Playboy mansion?

Maybe the problem is not us. Maybe you are stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it. I know you want peace on earth. We all do. Personally, I don't want to see you just "walk on".  Or have you forgotten grace? Do you remember your own words? Do you live by them?

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace, it's the name for a girl
It's also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because Grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Maybe, if you gave America a chance, you would be one step closer to knowing. The truth is, there is no Miracle drug to fix things in this world. You act like everything is love and peace or else, but just breathe. Remember, we all grow and change with every breaking wave, and as men who grew up in Ireland during one of its darkest times, I would implore you to not be a perpetrator of the Troubles here in America, but rather help us work towards mending the rift that was created in our country and worsened over the last 8 years. 

You have a wonderful gift in your music and talent beyond most of ours measures, but you are squandering it on identity politics and selfish desire. You really are only punishing yourselves as you end up losing more fans. 

Think about it.