Political Popularity Smokescreen

I gotta give it to President Obama for motivating me to go against my why vote philosophy.  Actually, it was a combination of his 2004 campaign, my grandmother being a sharecropper, my parents growing up in the Civil Rights Era, and me even experiencing a relative form of bigotry that lead me to ignorantly (meaning not researching all of the information) vote for him.  But a part of me realizes I shouldn't have gone about it like that.  Looking back, I know I got caught up.  I mean, the events, the rappers, the Rock the Vote, the clothing, the history.  We're talking growing up in the capital of the Confederacy and possibly seeing a black president here.  And it was infectious and fun.  It was exciting and inspiring.  It was free-spirited but passionate all at once.  But the reality is the party ended quickly (as a small business administrator at the time, I have a not so happy experience with the Affordable Health Care Act).  And I should've just...paid more attention.

The Cool Christian Phenomenon

I got deleted twice on Facebook last week...earning all the awards I think are available on the Delete-A-Friend checklist.  Let's see, leading off Friday with the Outdated Award, I also earned the Denying People Love Certificate, the Hater Medal, and the coveted Who Are We to Judge Trophy.  I cleaned up; but when you collect all that hardware that usually equals four or five deletions.  But I only got two, so not all was victorious...but I'll get there someday.  I'm positive more effort towards truth will position me to obtain the ultimate title of Super Spiritual...which some think I've gotten already, but the data shows I still have too many slightly spiritual social media friends to be graced with such an honor...I digress.  What a life.

The Black Confederate Down the Street

It's a strange feeling when I'm just heading out for the morning and that dude's out there mowing his lawn with his rebel flag bandanna around his mouth.  And he always turns around to watch me come down the street, too.  He never really waved and he doesn't at all now; that might be because I used to  wave but he rarely waved back...so I stopped.   I don't know if he's of Confederate soldiers' ancestry, but it's quite possible he is.  The area in and around our neighborhood was once a very large plantation.  Some slaves in the area took up their arms with their masters during the Civil War, and when it was over they built communities on the abandoned farms.  But who knows.  I just know he reps....hard.  I've never talked to him and don't plan to...well, maybe.  No beef...it's  just strange.

Prophets vs. Profits

The time is right around the corner when churches and other religion-based business  are going to have to pay taxes.  It's just too much money for the U.S. government to let go by; particularly with the public scrutiny Christian ministries have been getting since the '80s, something is gonna get done.  You can save all the loopholes and technicalities that prevent this from happening; and it's not necessarily a matter of national endorsement for any type of faith.  The Feds will start looking at churches for what they really are...businesses.  And though a lot of people tend to have some challenging emotions when churches are referred to in this matter, the reality is that 1. the American Church industry is one of the most profitable "non-profit" sectors anywhere and 2. churches paying taxes is biblical (see Luke 20:21-25).  I say all this to say that I believe it would be healthy if we stop looking a church organizations as some fantasy group of good-willing hippies and see it for the money making machine that it is.

The Sword is Pretty Mighty

Back in my...let's say distorted reality days...my friend and I were doing our usual riding around the region being aimless, uninspired, and lazy.  We were coming out the a Wal-Mart parking lot...riding slow as the uninspired does...and this guy comes flying by us and cuts me off; blowing hard on his horn and appearing to let out some curse words.  He was stopped in the turning lane by a car in front of him who was awaiting the passing of the oncoming traffic, and now he was directly in front of us.  Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of the type of young men he had honked and cursed at.  Before I could come to a complete stop and started banging on his window.  At that time, a young black man in his early twenties wearing a dingy white T-shirt and his hair half cornrowed in itself was a little scary for some people.  But then to have this type of person screaming at you "honk that horn now" in complete rage was and still is the definition of fear.  From my position still in the car you could tell the Caucasian gentlemen was deathly startled...and thank God this wasn't when people were recording everything.  In the end, nothing happened; except that maybe that guy learned that when acting in a manner that suggests you're ready for action...be ready for action.