Be of Great Courage amid conflict

I do not endorse or encourage any acts of physical violence. I am very much a peace-loving man and when I have had to “take up arms” to deal with a pest on the farm, I have done so reluctantly and only for the greater good of my own livestock and property. In today’s world I see little reason for us to literally take up arms. I like to believe, and hope that we have progressed in maturity, knowledge and understanding to be able to negotiate and resolve great issues without it coming to blows. Does resolution mean total agreement? No, but at times a realistic compromise is the best solution, or even at times, if it is a non-essential, just drop the matter and move on. At the end, I will provide the inspiration to stand and fight.

Drop it and move on

I once had a disagreement with a neighbor over the access to a public utility service that was establish years before they lived there. I was totally taken off guard that they did not want to allow that access now. I could have pressed the matter to a legal level and won, but would I have truly won? As it is, I suspect that I pushed the matter hard enough that the relationship was damaged. The good news is that after a time and the dust settled, I’ve had conversation with them and I believe we are restored. Unfortunate for the relationship, but as it turned out, there was other technology coming along that ended up being equal or better. This is a good example of when to drop the matter and move on.

Did you ever make a mistake while driving and wish you could just say “Sorry” or “Excuse me” to the other driver, all the while they are cussing and swearing at you? Or maybe the reverse is true. Someone else made a driving mistake and you, while tempted to start making hand gestures accompanied by a few choice words, suddenly remember that time you cut someone off because you didn’t carefully check before changing lanes?

Have sober judgement of the size, geography, and demography of your audience

I am all for free speech, so long as I can disagree with you and be accepted as just as legit as your beliefs. I am open to allow all to express their beliefs even when I may disagree with them. I also accept that others may not even listen to me, just as I at times will just choose to not listen to that other opinion and change the station. We all have that freedom and need to respect and protect it. However, in the same way that many do not want me to push my beliefs on them, they must not force theirs on me. For example: Please don’t paint a rainbow crosswalk on a main thoroughfare, where the general public have to accept that and explain it to their kids and in addition where young people will intentionally do burnouts on it to express themselves. That kind of action merely incites violent actions. Do that in an appropriate neighborhood where a small liberal minority gather and can celebrate it. There are topics or issues that you see as black and white while I may see them absolutely in reverse. In most cases, one of us is actually right and the other is actually wrong, but we can resolve to disagree despite the facts or interpretation of the facts. We best learn the lessons of grace, understanding that no man holds all truth and express those things in the appropriate time and place. Keep in mind also, that very likely in a few years, or decades in some cases, your viewpoint may change.

Some have said it this way “They want everyone to be open to all things, until you disagree with them”. Strip me of my freedom to express my beliefs with no respect and you will lose all respect in return.

Take a stand

I do not endorse being a doormat. We must stand for our moral, core values and boundaries, all while extending grace for the mistakes that all make. There are some core beliefs that are unwavering. For me, it is the Bible. If the thought, theory, or concepts do not align with the Holy Scripture, then I cannot and must not accept it… even if I want to.

Many of the foundational values that this country and culture was founded on, are under violent attack.

• Freedom to pray in public
• Freedom to protect our religious beliefs
• Freedom and Justice for All: It seems we have slid into an era where there are different forms of justice for different power or wealth class of people. The examples abound.
• Multiple taxation: Not just double taxation, but things like property tax that we pay repeatedly every year, or sales tax on a vehicle that gets collected every time the same vehicle is sold. Consider a $40,000 vehicle that is sold every 5 years. By the time it hits 20 years of age the net tax rate on that vehicle is about 16% and $6400 of tax has been collected by the state government.
• Freedom to maintain the definition of words such as; Marriage, gay, rainbow, black, white, male, female, sexual identity, patriotic, justice, accountable, progressive, etc. (remember when a thong was something you wore on your feet?). Please refrain from redefining long established words. I see that in some cases these appear to be a deliberate attack on the related association
  • Example: Marriage was established by the God of the Bible, so have a “Civil Union” or some other word, but there is no need to redefine the word. Make up a new word that is unique to this situation or something.

Many of these words and more are being redefined. Where there is much confusion, God is not there. Much of history is being redefined and removed from the education system. Evolution is presented no longer as a theory, but as fact and Creation is relegated to a fringe religious belief despite all the science that supports it. The Grand Canyon is explained as a little water over a long time, when just as believable is a lot of water over a short time. Contradictory fiction supporting evolution that takes much more faith to believe than to accept the Creator. This all in the pursuit to exclude the Creator and justify an agnostic existence.

The Hollywood Inspiration – Braveheart (based on a true story)

Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace…

William Wallace is 7’ tall….

Yes, I’ve heard, kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here, he would consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his ass. I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You’ve come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?

…against that? No, we will run, and we will live…

Aye, fight and you may die, run and you’ll live. At least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our FREEDOM.

Go in Peace and with Great Courage!!!

There are times I feel passionate about a topic and I write. It is very likely that no one ever sees the words I write, but I feel I am better off expressing them so I can learn and grow from the process. I do not believe that I have yet attained, nor ever will reach the pinnacle of truth. I do believe that I am a warrior on a journey to learn and grow.

What do we actually do?

So, while for me this is somewhat inspiring, like you it leaves me with the final question. What do we actually do? There is no single or simple answer to this and I’ll continue to ponder and meditate on it for myself. When I have consolidated some ideas for me, I’ll update and share them here.