Category: Political

Obama, Socialism, And My Story

I started a thread on TheologyWeb where I often post about what Barack Obama said to a plumber who is concerned about his tax plans. I won’t deny it here. I am not a fan of Obama in any way. I urge you if you are though to not stop reading now. I’m not writing this to attack him specificially. My stance is against his for another reason though. I wrote on this on TheologyWeb and a wise friend suggested I blog about it. I resisted it, but I thought eventually I might as well. 

My stance was that I find what was said insulting. I don’t appreciate the idea that if I’m going to be a success, I need the help of the government. Someone responded to me and told me that some people have inequalities and it isn’t as easy for them so get over it. Now that really ticked me off and I had to respond and I am giving a longer form here of what I said there.

I’ll also say that this is something difficult to write. My wise friend would tell me that if anyone attacked me for anything I said here though, it would be their problem. I agree with her astute wisdom once again.

The truth is, I have those inequalities. My scoleosis is well-known actually though. In speaking about that, I’m not really limited. I played ultimate frisbee earlier this month at our Seminary and I was the fastest one on the field. It is interesting to go to the Y though and be at the mirror and keep trying to contort myself in every way to see the scar on my back and how it is, but I can’t. No one has ever asked me about it though, but I honestly wouldn’t mind if they did.

At an earlier age, I was diagnosed as autistic. Some people think I’m Asperger’s, so I prefer to say Aspie/Autistic these days. I’m not sure what it is entirely, but I will say life is difficult at times. If I get in a social situation, I’m not really the best. I thrive on the intellectual. I see the world through a different set of eyes. I can illustrate this with my coming into work today and a co-worker trying to engage me in a conversation. This person started the conversation.

“Hi!”

“Hi….”

“How are you?”

“Hello.”

“Anything new?”

“Hello.”

“Are you reading anything new?”

” ‘The Trinity’ by Saint Augustine.”

The other questions are the small talk questions that don’t really go over so well. I never know exactly what to say with my penchant of wanting to be honest and realizing that if I’m honest in this case and I’m feeling great, what will happen in the day when I’m not? If I’m not feeling great today, then it is not appropriate to be honest.

If anyone wants more info on this, I recommend reading a chapter of a book by a guy with Asperger’s named “John Robison” called “Look Me In The Eye.” The chapter is called “Logic and Small Talk.” I read through it at the bookstore and thought the guy was inside my head. This is a book I definitely plan to buy someday.

Let me go back to my history some though and talking about inequalities.

I remember being taken by my parents often to the Birth Defects Center as it’s believed I have some muscle disease also that limits my strength. It’s not conclusive. A muscle biopsy didn’t reveal anything as far as I know and I don’t think about it much, but the autism aspect I think was a strong reason behind my being there.

Let me be clear. My parents are very good people and very supportive. They didn’t do perfect though. They shielded me from a lot and I had to learn a lot when I got out on my own, but I did prove to them that I can handle things and with their last visit here to see me, they got to see that firsthand. It’s still hard for them of course, but they’re pleased. They are also both Christians who raised me in the church.

I also hate that kind of term though of the place I was. “Birth defects.” I may not be functioning on all cylinders like everyone else, but I am not a defective product. Could it be part of our view that tends to treat people like they’re machines? I do not socialize well. That is true. Because of my condition though, I do a lot of other things well.

As an example, I was talking to a philosopher friend of mine on Facebook recently and he was surprised when I told him I’ve never had a formal class on logic. He told me he was stunned because I seemed to have such a grasp of it. Well that’s the way my mind works. I can see a 10-digit number and memorize it. I do mathematics the way a lot of people breathe. It’s just innate. 

However, many counselors seeing me growing up were quite hesitant. I was told for instance that I would never finish High School.

I was in public high school and I didn’t have special help. The only case really was when I had the scoleosis surgery and due to physical weakness then, someone else had to carry my bags for me and I had to leave class five minutes early so I wouldn’t be out in the hall during the rush when the students got let out.

Nevertheless, I finished. I would say I was a lazy student though simply because I did not need to study. I grasped ideas immediately and was able to recall them. Did I interact with students a lot though in things like dating and such? No. I had a lot of crushes, but I didn’t really act on them. My friends were few, but they were there.

I graduated though. Okay. The other side was wrong.

So I go to Bible College. I hadn’t even heard of apologetics yet, but there was a lot of stuff going on in my life and I needed to find answers and I had a natural grasp of the Bible and I had friends telling me I should be in ministry as I was already doing evangelism on the internet and actually enjoying that more than anything else. 

How did I get there? My family is not rich. VOCRehab paid for my education. It’s an organization that pays for those with “disabilities.” They didn’t really like my choice though. They urged me to not go into ministry as my mind could be better put to use in something like engineering (Which I had no interest in) and I just couldn’t speak well of course.

It’d have been nice if they’d had been there when I preached my senior sermon before the faculty and student body of my Bible College which would be about 1,000 people.

I loved my college years and was increasingly educating myself. For the first time after having discovered apologetics, I was buying books and books and books. Last night, I told my roommate that I’m going to need to go and buy another bookcase. This had never happened with any interest before. Before too long, I was an authority.

Did I graduate? Yes. I am the first in my family in a long time to have a college degree. Looks like VOC Rehab was wrong.

However, I have yet to get a ministry position and in my hometown, I eventually knew that I wanted to come where I am now. I moved out on my own to a local apartment which my folks had concern about. Nevertheless, I proved to them that I can budget and in fact, they tell me that I budget better than my married sister. 

VOC Rehab when they found out had offered to give me classes on living on my own. Forget it. I don’t need a class on that. I taught myself much of what I know. They also offered to have someone help me get a job. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t care for my job at all. However, I also wanted to be sure of something. I plan to get a job because I’ve earned it and not because I need help due to disability.

I got accepted to the Seminary I wanted to go to and I am there now. My president knows my condition as do much of the staff. I try to be open with them about it. They don’t treat me the way they do out of pity though. They do it because they respect me and believe that I have the ability to do the things that I want to do.

I work right now in a situation where I am doing a non-intellectual job that is socially geared. It’s anathema to me. That kind of stuff just wears me out. When there’s too much activity going on and too many people talking, it wrecks my thinking. It is that time at the end of the day when I sit down and read or do something else I enjoy that I get restored.

I am especially thankful for my friends, especially my roommate. I find it amazing at times that he willingly agreed to live with me knowing all these things about me. It is thinking of a friend like him that gives me some comfort in whatever goes on in my life. Of course, this doesn’t discount my Christian faith as keeping me going, but I’m so thankful that God gave me friends.

Sometimes, those of us with Autism/Asperger’s are seen as rude and we really have a huge disadvantage. If you see someone in a wheelchair, you don’t challenge them to a footrace. If you see someone without arms, you don’t ask them to play a game of catch. When you see me though, I look like everyone else. You can’t see a social disorder like that.

My friends though are the ones that I can be open with, but even still I can be guarded. I speak more with sounds and actions. Music plays a big part as I usually have a tune or a song in my mind. I will often try to gesture to someone that I don’t know. It’s a lot easier to me than talking and frankly, I can’t tell you why. The exception is if the conversation is about something I know and it can be anything. Talking about Smallville, for instance, can get someone into my world.

Btw, that’s another reason I love Smallville. I see a lot of myself in Clark Kent. Why? Clark Kent lives with a secret and he looks like everyone else. He wrestles so much with existential struggles involving his humanity and what it means. How are people supposed to feel? Nevertheless, he’s out there trying to use his abilities to make the world a better place.

Now what about VOC Rehab also? Are they paying for my Seminary? Nope. I made something clear. I would not get my education out of pity. I would get it out of ability. I am paying for everything. If I earn a scholarship, that is different. Right now, I’m not sure how things will be paid for, but they will be. I have some dentistry bills coming. I’m not sure how it will be paid for, but it will be. 

What does this have to do with Obama and his statement? Here’s the truth. I don’t want pity. I want the government to simply ensure that I can have the freedom to go out and make a success of myself. I consider Obama’s idea that I need that help an insult. Do I have an inequality? Yes I do. Don’t underestimate me though. I have overcome a lot thus far and I can rest assured any detractors out there that we’ve only just begun.

Connecticut Lifts Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Normally, I don’t like to go into politics here, but this is one of those areas where there is a tie between Christianity and politics. Interestingly, politics was originally about producing a good state. Today, it seems to be just about producing a state and often, goodness has nothing to do with it. In fact, it seems the antithesis of politics.

I have here an article from the DrudgeReport on the decision:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93NOK900&show_article=1

For all who are interested, The Connecticut State Constitution can be found here:

http://www.harbornet.com/rights/connecti.txt

I found this decision not surprising, but very depressing. Especially since the reasoning behind it is nonsensical. Consider this from the first article.

“Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote in the majority opinion that overturned a lower court finding.

What equal protection principles though? Perchance there are more, but I am wondering what one is being protected from in this case. Is the report wishing to say that all people are equal? In a sense, they are, but in a sense they are not, and this is a very fine distinction that must be made if we are to understand what is going on. 

I can look at our government easily and say that based on our Constitution, that we believe all men are created equal. That is equal in ontology though, that is, our nature. We are all fully human. No one is 99% human. Everyone is 100% human. That’s what humanity is. You either are human or you don’t. Now you can act ways that are or are not humane, but you cannot change your ontology. 

We all know that men and women are different though. Blacks and whites are different, but not in ontology. There are some diseases black people are more prone to and there are some white people are more prone to. This is not a racist statement. This is simply a matter of fact. To point out a difference in race is not to be a racist.

We also know the sexes are different, and we should all be thankful for that. (This single guy definitely is.) Not only in their reproductive systems, but in other ways men and women are different. A Harvard president had to step down for saying men might be better at certain things than women. There was a huge outcry from the world but one question was never asked. “Was what he said true?” Well if it was, then it’s true. There are things women are better at than men. That’s not sexism in any way. It’s simply truth. If you said women are less human for what they can’t do as well as men, then that would be sexist, and vice-versa.

Also in our world, everyone has equal rights. That is, there are some things that people are not allowed to take from you within reason. You have a right to liberty, but that doesn’t mean you have the liberty to go rape a girl you find attractive. Note also you have a right to the pursuit of happiness. You do not have a right to happiness. The government is not entitled to make you happy. They are just to protect you in your pursuit of it.

Homosexuals don’t want the same rights though. They want different rights. They want a right that others don’t have and that is the right to marry someone of the same sex. That has not been observed because of what sexual intercourse is. It is the method whereby the human race continues and if you are a homosexual in union with another homosexual, that is not going to happen. Homosexuals do not reproduce together. It is not because a part in the system is broken, such as in the case of sterile parents, but it is because the system itself cannot bring about that function. 

What we are doing is a dangerous activity. We are re-defining what the world is to suit our purposes, including what marriage is. If you have the right to marry who you wish, then how long until someone says they want to marry their sister? Why can’t NAMBLA get to have what they want? How long will it be before Mormon women have to start dealing with polygamy again?

Ultimately though, I believe the problem is much deeper. Homosexual marriages will strike at what it means to be a man and a woman. They will be seen as interchangeable in their most unique area and in the end, we will have male and female be simply social constructs. There is no objective male or female nature. Society simply creates that idea. 

Well why can’t society just construct human nature then and re-define what it means to be a human?

And when we do that, won’t some people be ruled out by definition?

Either we will bow ourselves to reality or we will try to re-create reality after our own desires. The latter is a dangerous game no one has ever survived.

I don’t think we’ll be the first.

A Nation of Wimps

Exactly when did America become one? I saw another news story today about a statue of Moses with the Ten Commandments being removed because some people found it offensive. This boggles my mind how much we in America give in to fear. Could it be we fear violating everyone’s personal god, themselves, expressed through their own prophets, their feelings?

<> Not all offense is wrong of course. There are some things that just shouldn’t be done in public. I do believe in decency laws. There is another kind though where the word offensive isn’t enough. When you hear a story about rape or child abuse or the like, then you should not feel offended. You should feel outraged.

<> Outrage isn’t allowed though. You’ll hurt someone’s feelings. Geez. We need to grow up then instead of having a nation of children. It is a shame we can’t have rage due to the threat that we might actually hurt someone’s feelings. Forget how they treated their victims. Be sensitive and understanding. No. Here’s another idea. Give justice.

<> Yet this permeates our whole society. The employee gives in to the angry customer lest he hurt their feeilngs and they complain to the manager. The manager does the same lest the district manager does the same. The district manager does the same lest the, well, you get the picture.

<> I really think we need to recover the fine art of offending people, especially those of us who are Christians. Why do I say that? Because Christ called us to go out into the world. He did not call us to have the world walk all over us. When they say they don’t want to offend anyone, orthodox Christianity is always the exception. You can say what you want about the Evangelicals. Just don’t insult group X.

<> We don’t need to be needlessy offensive of course, but we need to be tough. The only way we’ll get some people to move is by stepping on their toes. In fact, the gospel should offend people. It should still offend us. Do you like being told that you’re a sinner after all? Do you like that your choices on how you live your life are called into question continually by the carpenter from Nazareth?

<> I speak especially to my fellow men. We need to be men. There was a day when a man was considered to be a warrior. Today, we are turning men into pushovers. Yes. Men and women are ontologically equal, but we are not entirely equal and thank goodness for it. You would rather go on your honeymoon with Danielle than with Daniel if you’re a guy.

<> What’s at stake? Everything. Our story is that we have allowed ourselves to be walked on in the name of political correctness. Truth knows nothing of this. Truth is willing to offend people if it will do them good in the long run. What is the purpose of protecting a feeling that is not only wrong but will lead away from truth?

<> Go out then! Be a warrior!