Are we a Christian nation?

President Obama recently stated that the United States is not a Christian nation. The United States was most certainly created by Christians who used the Judeo Christian ethic as a model for the basis of our nation and laws. While he is historically incorrect, perhaps we should use his statement as a warning. I think our nation is indeed sliding toward becoming not only a non Christian nation but a non religious nation. This can only lead to moral decay and corruption, which has in human history always lead to the downfall a civilization. What can we do to reverse the degradation of our society? It is up to us to do the very hard work of making sure the leaders we elect are worthy of our Founding Fathers. On what framework can we make this decision? The Bible and U.S. Constitution are the best resources we can use to elect wise leaders. Anyone who tells you that the Bible and Constitution not relevant today is not to be trusted. The Bible and Constitution are based not on a historical timeframe, which changes, but on human nature which has remained a constant throughout recorded history. I ask that you consider what I have written. Datadiver08

This must be relayed to your friends

It's not typically my style to present others words, but when they make such a profound statement, I am compelled to make the exception.

Following is a speech given by Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, who was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's sub-committee. They were in for quite a surprise.

I am sending a copy of this to my state and federal representatives.

Now for the kicker, Mr. Scott gave this speech in June of 1999.

Do you remember ever seeing this in print or TV news? Interesting how selective our news organizations seem to be.

Datadiver08

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Since the dawn of creation there has been both good &evil in the hearts of men and women.. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out f or answers.

The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter.. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,

Your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage,

You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,

And ask the question "Why?"

You regulate restrictive laws,

Through legislative creed.

And yet you fail to understand,

That God is what we need!

Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!

Gaia Worship?

In the local newspaper today was an column titled "Go on a picnic with the sun". While I agree that going on a picnic on a sunny day is preferable, that was not what the column was about. Gaia worship is a movement that is sometimes called earth worship. The best definition I have seen of Gaia worship is that Gaia worship is diametrically opposite to Christianity, Judaism and Islam beliefs and makes no allowance for a one true God who created all things of nature. Instead, it holds that all earth and all of nature is god, comprised of many gods and goddesses. I enthusiastically sent an e-mail to the newspaper hoping they will have the courage to print it as a letter to the editor. You can read the column at http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2009/03/22/columnists/orso.txt In case the newspaper decides not to print my letter to the editor I will add it to this blog. ************************************************************ If you did not read Joe Orso’s March 22 column titled “Go on a picnic with the sun” I would encourage you to do so. I read it four times.

• The first time I thought that perhaps he was a flower child misplaced in time from the 60s.
• The second time I thought the column should have been on the religion page with the sub title “How I became a Gaia Worshiper”.
• The third time I thought surly he was being sarcastic.
• The fourth time I became concerned that he was being serious.

A few of the more memorable excerpts are; “The sun can no longer be only a source of light ……….. we have to make friends with it” and “…. we must come to see the obvious, we are not the only things alive here, nor the most important” and “you can ask ……….. the cardinal can teach you about death.

I certainly hope my thought about this column being sarcastic was right because if it was not, Joe it’s time to go on a picnic with a psychiatrist.

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Datadiver08

Setting the record straight

I am getting quite tired of watching and hearing the Democratists play the saint when it comes to the current economic problems. 1977: Pres. Jimmy Carter signs the Community Reinvestment Act into Law. The law pressured financial institutions to extend home loans to those who would otherwise not qualify. 1992: Despite warnings from GOP members of Congress in 1992, Clinton uses Carter's Community Reinvestment Act to push through extensive changes, which included harsh new regulations, that require lenders to make questionable loans that they previously would not have. 1995: Robt. Rubin’s Treasury (Clinton administration) reworked rules, forcing banks to satisfy quotas for sub-prime and minority loans to get a satisfactory Community Reinvestment Act rating. 2003: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), at a hearing in 2003, “I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two government sponsored enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis”. 2004: Rep. Frank ignores the warnings, accusing the Bush Administration of creating an "artificial issue." 2005: the Senate Banking Committee, then chaired by Republican Richard Shelby, tried to rein in the two organizations by passing some strong new regulations. Democrat Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut successfully threatened a filibuster. Barney Frank continued to defend Fannie and Freddie as "fundamentally sound" and labeled President Bush's proposals as "insane". All the Democrats, including the current chairman, Senator Chris Dodd, voted against it. Both he and Frank blocked the Housing Reform Act, which would have forced oversight and audits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 2007: Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Democrat Christopher Dodd ignores the President's warnings and calls on President Bush to "immediately reconsider his ill-advised" position. 2008: President Bush urges Congress to pass the much needed legislation and "modernize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 2008: Democrats in Congress forget their previous objections to reforms, as Senator Dodd questions "why weren't we doing more, why did we wait almost a year before there were any significant steps taken to try to deal with this problem? Now, two questions for you to ponder. When demand exceeds supply what happens to prices? They increase. When demand is less than supply what happens to prices? They decrease.

1. Forcing lending institutions to give questionable loans increased the demand for house purchases and therefore stimulates increasing prices.
2. When the prices get so high that the demand equals supply prices become stable.
3. When more housing is built on the premise that demand is still strong then the scale tips to supply exceeding demand and prices fall.
4. About the time prices started falling, adjustable rate mortgage balloons come due. Since the house is now worth less than size of the loan, there are a limited number of possibilities,and here are two of them. (1) Defaulting on the loan and (2) the inability to refinance, both of which bring more housing into the market and driving prices lower.
5. Recycle to point 4 and keep repeating the cycle.

What is ironic, and sad, is that the persons who have been put in charge of remedying the problem are; drum role ....................... Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who both played a large in creating the problem.

Are you having fun yet? If you want an eye full go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HQWk1Wp3L4 Datadiver08

Tipping the scale

We need to start planning to win the war against the gimmies and guilty white people. First, I want to make sure you know my definitions of gimmies and guilty white people.

Gimmies are anyone who want the government to provide for their existence. Examples of gimmies are;

• Unions, especially the Teachers Union. Actual teachers are not necessarily included in this category. The Teachers Union is another matter. The Teachers Union is really a big bad pseudo corporation and they act as such. Most of the teachers I know are held back by the Teachers Union rather than promoting the good ones. As with most unions, the good workers are held back while that bad workers are propped up.
• Anyone who can but won't support themselves. This includes the majority of persons who have been on welfare for more than 2 years total in their life. As with politics, welfare was never meant to be a career.

Specifically excluded from the list of gimmies are those who cannot help themselves.

Guilty white people are primarily white liberals who have taken it upon themselves to make sure minorities are held down by telling them repeatedly that they cannot make it in society unless the guilty white people help them. Examples of guilty white people are;

• Liberals who have money. They just know that at some point one of their ancestors made their money on the backs of minorities and others to which they feel superior.
• The Jessie Jacksons of the world (yes, you can have 'black' angry white people) who have made a great deal of money through the extortion of business, primarily owned by other guilty white people.
• Liberal politicians of all colors. Yes, being a guilty white person is an equal opportunity position.
• Anyone associated with the ACLU.

If the balance tips, us who fund the "gimmies / angry white peoples" projects (of course they would never think of using their own money) will become an endangered species and the United States will go the way of the Roman Empire. If we all do our part, we can stem the tide and prevent the destruction of the greatest, most generous, and benevolent country the world has ever known.

How can you stem the tide? Let your senators and representatives, both state and federal, know your thoughts. Use the Internet to find out who they are and do it!

Datadiver08

Get Involved

It came to my attention that there were a couple of items at the state government level needed my attention. What I did you can also do. Please get involved in matters that are important to you. Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent to my state senator and state representative. It took very little time and you can have an impact.

To: Sen.Kapanke@legis.wisconsin.gov Rep.Shilling@legis.wisconsin.gov It has come to my attention that there are two matters that important to me that are being considered in the legislature.

• Castle Doctrine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Doctrine legislation one of the pieces of legislation. I believe it is sponsored by State Senator Jim Holperin in the Senate and Chris Danou and Ann Hraychuck in the House. As I understand it there is not bill number assigned or I would have provided it in the e-mail. I have read a considerable amount on Castle Doctrine legislation and it seems to be little more than common sense. Also it appears that a number of other states have enacted similar legislation. A person must have the right, and I think the civic responsibility, to defend one's family and community from the persons who have no regard for the law and no regard for civility. Please act favorably toward, and help sponsor this bill.

• The second piece of possible legislation is the increase of gun ownership background check fees from 8 to 30 dollars. This is an insult to the intent of the second amendment and should be immediately removed from consideration.

I trust that as my representatives you will consider my views and requests. Sincerely,

datadiver08

How slippery has our slope become?

There seems to be drastic shift in some of the basic tenets of our society.

• Right and wrong have been replaced by an infinite number of shades of gray.
• Fair has morphed from making sure everyone has the equal opportunity into the quest for equal results.
• Honesty for its own sake has developed into anything is OK if you don't get caught.
• Integrity has been replaced by naked ambition.
• Compassion has changed from empathic kindness into a self serving search of love from anyone who wants something.
• Being humble has become an embarrassment instead of a virtue.
• Patience has given away to impulsiveness.
• Peace has changed from a goal worth fighting for (no, peace and fighting are not mutually exclusive concepts) into an excuse for avoiding conflict at all costs.

We must take it upon ourselves to teach our children and each other what is really important in this life. The alternative is one that I would rather not encounter.

Datadiver08