Are You Afraid to Disagree?

*Special Assignment at the end of this post!*

In the world of political correctness, I am afraid we are becoming a nation of yes-men (and women). Especially in the conservative and Christian segments of America.

• We are told that all religions are equal and valid. Yet Christians better not display their religion in public for fear of offending someone.
• We are sold the “pro-choice” position, but when someone speaks out for the choice of life, they are being hateful.
• If we want to secure our borders and keep our country safe, we are racist.
• We are told that political dissent is patriotic, and must listen to our leaders being called Naz*is, fasci*sts and liars. But when we speak out against the liberal political agenda, we are engaging in the politics of hate.

A woman in one local mom’s group to which I belong stated that she didn’t believe we should be disagreeing with each other at all. We should not bring up subjects with which another person had a different view. And if they do have a differing opinion, we should stop talking about it.

I am not saying we should purposely antagonize someone’s views, or constantly bring up divisive subjects. But when did American women get so afraid of disagreement? Should we be afraid of sharing our true thoughts , even if they are different? Can’t we still be friends, even if you don’t see the world through the same lens as I? Even though you’re atheist or agnostic, and I’m Christian, can we still value each other?

OK, here’s the fun part.

I am the poster-girl for Fear of Rejection! I’m about to have a panic attack just thinking about what I’m about to write. I get so much encouragement from the beautiful supportive comments of others here! However, I decided to do something today to face my fear! And maybe help you get over your fear of being real, even when you’re different.

Here’s your assignment:
If you agree with this post, don’t say “Oh, I totally agree we need to disagree more!” (…Am I really about to do this?)

• Find something somewhere on my blog with which you disagree. Tell me about it! (respectfully, please!) Don’t just attack my position, but share your heart on the issue, and feel free from the constant pressure to conform.

(I reserve the right to delete any comment with which I disagree – just kidding!)

You might want to start with something like “I totally disagree that you are air-headed, and how could you say such a thing!” OK, so go find something…can you tell I’m stalling?

…shaking in my boots…

I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENT!!

Independence Day

As we celebrate this Independence Day, I was going to write a sappy post about what makes America so great. This truly is, as Michael Medved says, “The greatest nation on God’s green earth.” But I have a few thoughts that I just can’t keep silent. These thoughts shouldn’t be controversial, but some in this country think they are.

I am reminded of the way our forefathers faught and died to be free from a truly Imperialist Empire, as England was at the time. At this time, England wasn’t interested in helping our territories form our own government and set up a free, democratic (well, representative republic, anyway) society, and to protect us from foreigners who wanted to take us over. They simply wanted to rule us and reap taxes from our citizens. I’m not faulting England for this, it was the way of the world at the time. So when a totally new idea arose, we had to fight for it. And thousands died for it.

It pains me to see some in our society trying to undermine our forefathers’ fight to be a sovereign nation, to define and defend our borders. Oh, they don’t realize this is what they are trying to do, but that is what the end result will be. Thousands died so that we could define our borders.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t accept immigrants and refugees. And we do! As far as refugees, we led the world by roughly $42,000 in 2005, according to the United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees:

MAIN COUNTRIES OF RESETTLEMENT OF REFUGEES[in 2005]1
Country Total

United States 53,813
Australia 11,654
Canada 10,400
Sweden 1,263
Finland 766
Norway 749
New Zealand 741
Denmark 483
Netherlands 419
United Kingdom 175
Ireland 117
Brazil 76
Chile 46
Argentina 34
Iceland 31
Mexico 29
1 Source: Governments/United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

I love the fact that people from other cultures come here. I celebrate the diversity in our society. But that doesn’t mean that we have to accept every poor person who can sneak in from a poor country. Yes, we need to help poor countries, but the US is not responsible for every corrupt, ineffective government, and we cannot overhaul these governments without being charged as Imperialistic. The key is for poor, oppressed people in other countries to learn a lesson from our forefathers. If you don’t like your country, change it. We should help them, but the key to any kind of self-esteem, even national self-esteem, is to overcome adversity and accomplish something difficult-on your own.

This is a very complicated issue, and I don’t have all the answers, but my point is this:

Do we need to overhaul the immigration policy in America? YES
Do we need to make it easier for immigrants to come and work in America? YES
Do we have the right to secure and defend our borders? YES, our forefathers paid dearly with their lives to earn this right.

I realize everyone will not totally agree with me on this, but feel free to comment in a respectful way, even if you disagree. As I said, this is a very complicated issue, and you may have a perspective I haven’t thought about.

I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENT!!

George Bush – Superhuman Evil Genius

Disclaimer: This post is political. I have tried to stay away from politics on here because God’s Kingdom is far more important than ours, but I can’t help myself today. I try not to talk about politics unless someone asks me, and I know no one will ask me my thoughts on George Tenet’s book, so you are the lucky one! If you despise politics or are a Kool-Aid drinker on either side, please don’t read this!!

Yesterday on my XM Raido (Love it!) I heard an interview with George Tenet, former director of the CIA. He started off by saying that before the Iraq war, George Bush and his team were determined to go to war because of WMD, and wouldn’t listen to opposition. I’m paraphrasing here. Tenet and the CIA tried to advise him that Saddam may not have the weapons Bush thought he did, but the warmongers in the White House wouldn’t listen! My ears perked up, because I am certainly not a fan of the way the war is being waged by the White House, or of Bush, our not-so-conservative President. Then I heard the next statement, which perplexed me. The interviewer asked Tenet whether he himself thought, before the war, that Saddam had WMD. Tenet replied that he was absolutely convinced he did have weapons!

Here are my questions for Mr. Tenet, which you will not hear any media personnel ask him:

• Forgive my confusion, but who is the freaking director of the CIA? I must have mistakenly believed it was his job to gather the intelligence and deliver it to our leaders! Not the other way around.
• Also, If he believed there were WMD, how could he tell Bush there were not?

Just like OJ, Tenet thought he’d write a book telling the public what they want to hear and make a boatload of money. Thanks to the media, Tenet, however, is actually getting away with it.

So here’s my new scenario for a book: “If He Did It, Here’s How” chronicling how the evil genius, George Bush, deceived the entire world, just because he loves war.

• First, he heard the news that some Islamic Jihadists hijacked airplanes, and destroyed the World Trade Center and 3000 lives. Immediately thinking of how he could maximize the damage, he wired tower 7 with tons of explosives, and blew it up himself because he likes playing with fire.
• Then, he went over to Europe, convinced the entire British intelligence service and Tony Blair that Saddam had WMD, and was pursuing nukes. He also convinced the IAEA and UN Security Council (who always takes Bush at his word)
• After this, he traveled back in time, and convinced…no, brainwashed, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, the entire CIA, the Iraqi people, as well as countless others with absolutely no proof! This man is remarkable, even superhuman. They should add him as a cameo on Heroes!

Phew! President Bush really is the most powerful man in the world! It couldn’t possibly be that Saddam was the one who lied! No.. he wouldn’t do that. Nor would he ship all his WMD into Syria and Iran before we got there, since in this day of politically correct war, we gave him plenty of notice.

The Point? We can disagree on the war, but this is getting ridiculous! His tactics are different, but George Tenet is no different that the disgruntled, fired postal employee, who goes back into the office and shoots everyone whom he blames for his own failure.

(It felt good to get that out!)

I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENT!!