When optical illusions burst into politics… watch out!
Why do people see the same things so differently? I don’t know why; but I do know it can lead to problems. Sometimes very big problems.
I see a cat, you see a dog. We can both be wrong, but we can’t both be right. Turn right or turn left, you’ve got to make a choice.
How strong is our nation’s commitment to peace and order?
I’m afraid we’re going to find out the hard way.
It is as the Lord told us in Matthew 24, and Luke 17 and 21. We cannot turn this around on our own, but if we think on II Chronicles 7:14, and DO it, we might get some relief.
At a very basic level, worldview explains the differences. Cain had a different worldview than Abel. Cain believed that he could offer sacrifices of vegetables, while Abel sacrificed animals. One sacrifice involved lifeblood, and was accepted while the other did not.
I was raised in a devout home, in spite of the human shortcomings all of us had. Responsibility and accountability to a Higher Power we’re always present, even though my parents practiced their faith quite differently from one another. When I got to Kindergarten, I quickly learned that not everyone saw things that way.
I don’t recall any declared atheists in my early school years, and I would venture that like must of the Midwest, Lutherans made up the largest demographic, followed by Catholics, and then various Protestant denominations. I can only guess, but I suspect that probably 80% of my classmates attended church at least some Sundays, and that over 50% probably attended weekly. During my first few years, most school days were started with a prayer, ostensibly to the God of the Bible.
But by the middle of my grade school years, many of the kids were reluctant participants, who did not claim to care what God thought about their works. Some of this was, no doubt, just childish rebellion, but as the years went on the contrast became ever more apparent. By 7th grade, a fair number of kids were doing things that would not have invited praise from a pastor. Shoplifting, drinking and some degree of sexual experimentation started to enter into the picture, and the kids who sincerely practiced their faith began to go in one direction, while kids who felt no accountability to a Higher Power went in another. (Strangely, I was caught in the middle, believing strongly in a Creator, but not practicing my mother’s religion, and mostly avoiding what was a very touchy subject in our home. I grew up in a religious no man’s land.)
I no longer think in terms of Democrats vs Republicans, and I think that the terms Liberal and Conservative are no longer adequate to describe the situation. A cornerstone of Conservative thought has always been personal responsibility and with the number of philosophies that now compete to be thought of as mainstream Conservative, I see a sense of personal responsibility as my touchstone in unraveling all of this.
I believe in freedom, free enterprise and free expression, but my practice of these freedoms is informed by sense of responsibility to my Creator and by respect for my fellow man, because all of us are God’s property, even people with whom I disagree.
As I look at the social and political landscape, I see a lot of people that seem to see themselves as not having any responsibility to a Higher Power. Some might give lip service to the existence of God, but many do not seem to consider responsibility to anything higher than their political party or some human philosophy.
And that’s what I see. I believe in freedom, but freedom comes from our Creator. The US was unique, in that it attributed the source of our rights as being God Almighty. While I vote for candidates I believe will serve the American cause, I know that the ultimate solution is with our Maker. Amen, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
My family was about 50/50 Protestant and Catholic; but they all agreed that the children should know Jesus and go to church. I wandered away from that when I was young: that’s what happens when you go to public school and get socialized by your age-group peers. But the foundation that my family–all my family, nuns included–laid for me proved firm in the end. Thank God for that!
I really really really want to see a picture of that clear plastic trash bag you spent time writing about! You probably didn’t take a picture, I am so very sad, now I will never know, was it really a face.