Pride and Prejudice

I'm going to get a bit personal today here at Contemplation, because I'm being led to expand the ministry and this subject has been on my heart in preparation for some time.  It's so easy to get caught up in the "them against us" mentality, and to argue over moral legislation, but I have a different perspective.  I don't argue against what I don't believe in, I try to make the positive change before it comes to that. While the decided adults are arguing the results of the SCOTUS regarding DOMA, there is a generation of kids who will be greatly influenced by the outreach of the new agenda.  I heard over and over at the celebration, that "it's about the children;" and it is! 

I refer to myself as a disenfranchised or solitary heterosexual. I am a woman, and I identify as a woman. I'm not attracted to women, I love men, but as friends, and so far they feel same toward me . . . I'm not speaking against marriage, I've tried it several times.  As it turns out, I am passionately platonic . . . I support marriage for those who can do it, but personally, I celebrate celibacy. 

I'm addressing the fact that there are individuals who do not desire heterosexual intimacy but do not identify LGBT, and we're being left out; disenfranchised. I think people, especially young people, are being pressured to gender identify and it's causing confusion for many people. There has always been religious pressure to marry, but not all of us are marriage material. Paul referred to this in I Corinthians 7, and I received a real revelation that our sexually exploitative society pressures everyone to “identify.” It used to be okay for men to be confirmed bachelors or cranky curmudgeons and spinsters could be crazy cat ladies, and that was okay! Everyone doesn't have to fit a sexual stereotype, although I guess that description was pretty stereotypical.

I wasn't the "princess type" Daddy's girl, I refer to myself as the un-son that could put a spiral on a football and go off the diving board before I was old enough to go to school. I identified with my Dad's interests, but never even thought it required a sexual identity, just interest.   My mom, however; thought otherwise, so I was forced to do feminine things like play the piano, with the musical talent of a rusty gate hinge. It's like all the things she wanted me to do, I wasn't good at, which certainly could have caused issues . . . She sewed and dressed my younger sister and I alike until I was in Jr. High, which did, in fact, inspire me to take up sewing so I could make my own clothes. 

On top of being a bit on the tomboyish side, I was the darkest child in my classes until desegregation.  In elementary school I was bullied, so I didn't really have friends, but due to my home life, even though bullied, school was my refuge.  None of us know which children are seeking acceptance or refuge now, really; for whatever reason.

 As I got older, my friends at school were mostly guys and they didn't want to date me.  I usually did have one or two “token” female friends, in an attempt to not just be "one of the guys."   In those days, I was not dating material.  I was too dark for the white guys, and there were very few black families in that small community, who pretty much did their own socializing. Back then, I was just an awkward brown dork, but now 35 to 40 years later, somebody would be telling me otherwise . . . I would have been targeted [invited] for this social agenda!

Some people simply do not define themselves sexually, beyond what YHWH has defined; in male or female.  Some people are more defined by interests than gender identity.  I believe there are a number of young people who just don't fit the gender stereotypes or the "fit in" herd mentality, who are being programmed to believe they are LGBT.  Now that a "Q" has been added to this agenda, for those who would "question," I have a question. 

How many young people have ever taken their questions about sexuality to their parents or religious leaders? 

I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.  But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.  -  the Apostle Paul

Freedom . . . Nothin' Left to Take

Snowden is in the news every day and I continue to wonder how this turns out.  Of course, he's charged with something . . . he didn't "just follow orders."  It's getting easier and easier to see why those guys at Nuremberg chose the answer they did.  I'm not condoning their actions at all, as there is no excuse for what took place in Nazi Germany, but just comparing the fact that they didn't have the chutzpah Mr. Snowden did.  I'm finding the questions and comments quite interesting.  Is he a traitor or a hero?  One comment stood out amidst all the rest.  "He's not a hero, he simply did the right thing."

I'd like to think most Americans have a line they have drawn that would simply be where they dig their heels in and say, "That is beyond what I can accept as acceptable."  I don't know where that is for others, and I don't think others know where that is for me, but it is essential that we each examine ourselves and truly determine where that is.

This land of the free and home of the brave is under surveillance, and the same power that can monitor my phone, cannot find the illegal immigrants or stop a bombing.  I'm reminded of a time several years ago, when I found a "home made bomb" at the corner of my house.  At least that's what the officer called it, when I reported it.  He borrowed my husband's pocket knife to destroy the evidence, explaining that it had enough gun powder in it to blow the corner out of the house, but he didn't opt to make a report.  When I enquired as to why, he said the chances of catching the person who had done this was too slim to put the man power on it.  This was after 9/11 and the USA Patriot Act.

Now this was the same city that was monitoring the height of the grass and giving citations for unexposed brick sidewalks, that resulted in liens against properties.  This was also the same city that was absolutely surrounded by property for sale, but set it's sights on the business property of an independent who had been in business for 50 years.  Within a year of the SCOTUS decision regarding eminent domain, the business man was out of business.

The Powers That Be can take our land, monitor our phone calls, and now randomly take DNA samples.  Oh, I know, it's only under loosely defined arrest circumstances.  How long do you think it will be before a crisis check point uses biometric ID for the victims to be allowed back into the homes in which they have paid for, maintain, and pay their taxes?

To be honest, I'm a bit weary with the religious patriotism and the just following policy nationalism.  The people of our nation are being divided on issues that are already out of our control.  This is not one side of the aisle doing this, it's coming from both parties.  It's been building law upon law, loss of freedom upon loss of freedom . . .  I am not advocating anarchy, I'm advocating awareness!  The choice we have left in this land of the free and home of the brave is simply where we, as an individual say, "I'm brave enough to say this land is no longer free?"

I've included some links, for events that may be coming soon, to a random check point near you!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/03/supreme-court-dna-samples_n_3378379.html

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/opinion/sobel-id-immigration/

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.  a Proverb of Holy Scripture

Dear Mr. President:

Every President since I became of voting age has received a letter from me, but to be honest, I just wasn't sure about what to write to you.  I can't see much difference between your administration and the previous one, except you seem so aloof.  I will tell you this, I didn't vote for him, but GW had much better correspondent banquets because he didn't mind being the butt of everyone's jokes.  They were really funny, like a roast!  Yet I digress . . .

Now, I know what I want to discuss.  Privacy.

I grew up with an intrusive micro-managing mother who kept a lock on the gate in the backyard.  She listened to my phone calls, read my diary, and her choice in the doctor was like a god.  She laid the groundwork for political correctness with mandated and enforced sibling peacekeeping.  I couldn't wait to grow up and be free!  Well, I was 43, when the USA Patriot Act was signed into being, so I did enjoy about 25 years of freedom.  Believe you me, I know the difference, from both directions in life!

Mr. President, unless you are planning to place yourself in some sort of permanent position of authority, you really don't want everyone counting down the days until 2016, do you?  I mean, I feel Washington DC is far removed from American life that it's just a matter of changing names every 4, 6, or 8 years and noticing the catchy campaign slogans that make useless promises.

I was truly hoping America would wake through the Reagan years, or at least after; but money was more important than freedom and now America is broke and we're losing our freedoms as well.  Mr. President, you have done for America what my mother did for my sister and I.  Locking us all down and making us say the right things, and don't even get me started on medical matters . . . has only served to divide the country further and cause most of us to realize, we're not even being heard.   The US of America is just as dysfunctional as the American family, and as I have learned, only the special interest groups or those in abject lock-step are accommodated.

Mr. President, the democratic party has become just as intolerant, extreme, and out of touch as the republican party; just at the other end of the political spectrum!  I've had the feeling for a few years now, the political agenda in Washington is simply to keep the people divided while our representatives and "leaders" live like aristocratic royalty . . .  For a guy that offered hope and change, and now forward, it seems the opinions of the we the people simply don't matter.  Mr. President, to feel that I'm reliving the invasively mandated, containment of my childhood, was not the change I was hoping for.

Mr. President, Sir, you should know that invasiveness, intrusion, surveillance, and containment are the opposite of freedom.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free ~ words of Messiah

Red Herring - IRS

With Congress passing the appeal to Obama Care and the IRS under fire right before it was supposed to become the enforcement arm of mandatory health insurance, I smell a red herring . . .

I could include a few links to the "IRS hearings" going on, but to be honest, I truly do think it's smoke and mirrors.  There is something more ominous than the IRS picking on the Tea Party.  No offense to the Tea Party, but they had pretty much fizzled out and they had their 501c4 granted, even though it was a long and arduous path, which is uncalled for, this still smells like an old red herring . . . or perhaps a blue herring.  Color not withstanding, American politics just stinks.

As Congress plays with Obama Care, yet again, after the Supreme Court has already made a decision, we know that's a herring of some color, too.  Health care in this country has to be reformed on some level.  The fact that the IRS is now under fire tells me the IRS is about to be moved or transferred into a position of great government authority.

Here's the way I see it, and perhaps I sound skeptical, but truth be told, I think terms like skeptical, cynical, and even conspiratorial have replaced the term, logic, in our society.  We simply can not get rid of taxation now.  We can't stay ahead of the debt with taxes!  There has to be some sort of assessment, collection, and enforcement.  We all know that, it's a given.  Without taxes, there is no infrastructure, which by the way has also been neglected and in disrepair while taxes have been collected.  So, basically, these hearings will result in greater governmental power to include the IRS as a powerful arm of authority.  

The IRS is a service of an agency within a department, under the commission of the federal government, yet can't really fire the woman who won't resign . . . The IRS maintains a very nebulous description of what governmental power it truly has, yet exercises great authority.  So much authority, the top officials still get paid while refusing to resign, even after stating they aren't very good at math . . .

I am expecting a new arm of enforcement to arise from all of this.  I expect laws to be in place that the head of this service/agency/department/commission will wield a great deal of power to collect and incarcerate, even more than in the past.  I also believe a great deal of this power will be aimed at those who do not choose to be a part of Health Care Reform.   Cases of opting out of health care for religious reasons are already being prosecuted.  Now, a plan that doesn't meet the government criteria will also be prosecutable, and most everyone who is already using the ER for a primary physician will fall into the category of supplemental vouchers or medicaid.

These red herring hearings will produce a greater connection between oversight and taxation, and the people lose, either way, but with these hearings, some are given the impression they are being heard.  I've listened to a few of these videos and to be honest, much of it seems staged.  We are looking at the true change from presumed freedom to mandatory indentured servitude.  Revision in the IRS will be the path to debtor's prison and manual labor.

We know the Revelation tells us at some point there will be no buying and selling without the mark of the beast.  There is already in America, no buying and selling, no doing business, no taking donations, and now very soon, no health care without the authority of the IRS.

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.  the Revelation of Holy Scripture