Applewood's Blog

This blog is based upon the premise that our country is in moral decay.  If true, and obviously I believe that it is, there are many contributing factors to it.  I want to focus on one factor in particular.  Religion, and Christianity in specific.

History teaches us that when societies lose their moral compass, they are doomed to failure.  The only possible exception to this is the Roman Empire that arguably transformed itself into the Holy Roman Empire, but even that is in its last throws.

The basis for the eastern religion called Christianity, is the bible.  The church has taken the course of accepting its message only in areas that fit modernism or worldly societal trends.  For instance, homosexuality is condemned consistently throughout the Word, both the old and the new testaments do not deviate from this position.  God declares Himself to be unchanging.  Neither the Creator nor the Word changes to fit the mood of mankind, His creation.   When many denominations are either openly accepting or discussing the acceptance and even the ordination of homosexuals it is a disgrace.  Cellebacy is no opt out position.   Either the Word is true or it is not, churches cannot have it both ways.   The Word of God cannot be a little bit true, nor can man elect what is to be believed or disbelieved.  If this could be true then the entire religion is vain.

The first chapter of Joshua tells us to meditate in the Word (Law) day and night.   The Bible teaches that we are to pray without ceasing.  Yet the population that calls themselves Christian is content to rely solely on what is spewed by the pulpits to shape their beliefs rather than engaging in personal study (not reading) of the Word.  Assuming that there is a day of reckoning, the excuse that believing a lie is the responsibility of the teaching clergy will NOT wash.  We are individually responsible to pray, study, and meditate upon the Word. 

The Word consistently teaches that there is no forgiveness without repentance, but many churches are teaching that it is Christian to forgive under any circumstances.  It is not only NOT what the Word teaches it flies in the face of the crucifixion itself.  When Jesus said,"...my God, my God why have you forsaken me...", it was because He was still bearing the sin of the world.  Until He defeated death and hell, His fellowship with His Father was at a halt.  It is proper to let go of ill will in favor of prayer for one's enemy, but the unrepentent enemy gets no forgiveness.  Further, when the enemy is the enemy of God we are instructed to be at war with him as it is the definition of evil.

Sexuality is described as between man and wife.  There is no mention of sex outside of marriage that is descibed in any way that could be called positive.  The Word does not leave room for sexualtiy outside of marriage and as a recreational pastime.  In fact the Word commands that we be fruitful and multiply.  Churches that espouse, " the woman's right to choose", are in complete disregard of the Word of God.  Again, the Word does not change to fit the mood of the world.  If there is a God, He is so far above us that it is pure arrogance to contemplate that He is subject to our carnal desires.

The good news is that He knows our weaknesses (He created them so He should) and has provided every means to have prosperous and happy lives.  It's too bad that so many churches don't believe that, in fact they completely miss the point most of the time.  It is also too bad that so many who call themselves christian, do not know that He is sufficient.

God is sufficient.  He is not the father of lies.  He alone is capable of managing the course of this world to His desired end.  He desires a people who worship Him of their own desire.  He desires a people whose faith is so perfect that the wars and rumours of war, the occurrence of famine and sickness, the existence of poverty and sadness that are in the world do not distract them from their devotion and desire to worship Him. 

It is not easy to put aside the cares of this world in favor of the unseen.  I wrestle with this daily, but faith requires belief in the unseen.  His Spirit is the evidence.  Contrary to the teaching of many denominations, the presence of the Spirit is not taken by faith.  He is recieved by faith, but He is experienced.  To those who might question this, I suggest that you search from Genesis to Revelation and find one instance where the Holy Spirit came upon anyone when there was not a visible and significant change in that person.  Find just one and we'll talk.

As with most rot, the moral decay among christians is coming from within.  There is no compromise, and there cannot be, if God be True.

There is a dead zone larger than the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Texas and Louisiana.  A dead zone is an area where the water lacks enough oxygen to sustain life.

What has caused this are the polutants that are being drained into the gulf by the Mississippi river.  Where are the polutants coming from?  They are coming from states like Iowa where the huge corporate farms of Cargill and  ADM are growing corn and soy beans and then dumping their wastes into the tributaries of the Mississippi.

As our government continues to push fuel made from corn down our throats instead of the much more efficient sugar beet or sugar cane, just remember the power of the lobbyists from these two corporations.  We get higher food prices, higher fuel prices, and very questionable atmospheric benefits by using corn to create ethanol.  Oh, and let's not forget where this blog started, these companies also continue to kill the Gulf of Mexico.

Once again this is NOT a Dem or Rep issue as some partisans may want to claim, it's a bought and paid for Congress that's at issue.  We need to vote them all out, even if they are good at the moment.  Changing majorities has gotten us nowhere.

Because I wrote this a few days ago and the latest tragedy has happened since, I wanted to amend it slightly

I don't know about you, but at this point I would absolutely love to be charged with the crime of being in contempt of Congress. Why in the world do I say that? Two reasons come to mind. 1) I DO hold the Congress in contempt, and 2) because I'd love to go into a court and prove that the Congress is, in fact, contemptable.

Why do I hold them in contempt?

1) Congressman and women who are elected by small segments of our national population speak on the national stage and then refuse to allow the affected citizens to question their comments or respond to them.

2) Because Congress spends huge amounts of time examining situations and events over which they have absolutely no authority solely for the purpose of embarrassing the other party.

2A) Because Congress has completely bent, buckled, and distorted the Constitution in order to do their selfish deeds. (for you Graywolf)

3) For thirty years they have done absolutely nothing about health care, overall insurance reform, tax reform, maintaining our infrastructure, border (national) security, or energy independence.

3a) They allow us to be blackmailed by impotent countries rather than pursuing the national business as listed above.

4) They conduct business in secret through earmarks and closed session committees.

5) They listen almost exclusively to political action committees, special interest groups, and campaign contributors rather than the people who elected them.

5a) They have a pattern of coming to office with moderate wealth and leave with millions, while asserting that they care about the working person.

5b) The only people who can run for office are the rich.

6) Because relatively few of them or their children have ever served this country through military service, yet they are all experts on the very thing that they avoid.

7) Because they send out tax money to: a) foriegn lands to try to buy alliances, b)Mars and Venus for God knows what reason, c) purchase arms for people who will be using them against us in less than ten years........

7) Last but not least, they have exalted the well being of their parties over the well being of the people.

This is just my perspective, but frankly I feel like instead of doing the people's business there is a well orchestrated effort in the Congress (both parties) to utterly destroy everything that this country has stood for throughout its history.

I don't know about you, but at this point I would absolutely love to be charged with the crime of being in contempt of Congress.  Why in the world do I say that?  Two reasons come to mind.  1) I DO hold the Congress in contempt, and 2) because I'd love to go into a court and prove that the Congress is, in fact, contemptable.

Why do I hold them in contempt?

1) Congressman and women who are elected by small segments of our national population speak on the national stage and then refuse to allow the affected citizens to question their comments or respond to them.

2) Because Congress spends huge amounts of time examining situations and events over which they have absolutely no authority solely for the purpose of embarrassing the other party.

3) For thirty years they have done nothing about health care, overall insurance reform, tax reform, border security, or energy independence.

4) They conduct business in secret through earmarks and closed session committees.

5) They listen almost exclusively to political action committees, special interest groups, and campaign contributors rather than the people who elected them.

5a) They have a pattern of coming to office with moderate wealth and leave with millions, while asserting that they care about the working person.

5b) The only people who can run for office are the rich.

6) Because relatively few of them or their children have ever served this country through military service, yet they are all experts on the very thing that they avoid.

7) Last but not least, they have exalted the well being of their parties over the well being of the people.

This is just my perspective, but frankly I feel like there is a well orchestrated effort in the Congress (both parties) to utterly destroy everything that this country has stood for throughout its history.

Let's pull out of Iraq.

We went in there with questionable reasons but with good intention.  We rooted out a horrible dictator and his henchman.  In the process; however, we allowed another enemy to come in and gain a strong hold.  Our lack of a plan for the post Saddam era allowed age old discords to re-emerge as well.

So, now let's just pull out.  Clearly, the American and Iraqi lives lost to date can be rationalized by finding fault with those who we think had/have poor judgement and planning skills.  Given that Iraqi lives are no where near as valuable as American lives, it is perfectly understandable why we Americans can find it so acceptable to leave a country with a mess that we are largely responsible for creating.

So to all of those who rant and rave that we shouldn't have gone into Iraq in the first place, and to those who think that continually bombarding us with the analysis of who is at fault and who should be impeached, let's pull out of Iraq.  Quitting is so easy to do when that we know who to blame.   Is it not the American people who elected the Clinton's for two terms even though their continual lies and moral terpitude is unquestionable?  Is it not the American people who elected Bush twice?  The Iraqi mess is the fault of Bush and Clinton, not the people who elected them.  Right?

Wrong!!  We the people did this.  We the people are responsible.  If we leave this mess unresolved, every Iraqi life and every American life lost is on our heads...not Bush and not Clinton.  We elected these people and we the people are responsible.  It is we who are responsible to fix the mess that our irresponsibliity  created.

Of course, if we the people think that American blood is more precious than Iraqi blood, then it really doesn't matter, does it?

Let's pull out of Iraq.

We're hearing a lot these days about the ineffectiveness of the Iraqi Parliament.  Their inability to get anything done is beyond disputation.  It is sad to see the suffering of the Iraqi people being absolutely ignored by a government that they risked much to elect.  It would be nice if the Iraqi Parliament would do somethiing other than bicker and debate about things for political gain.

We're hearing a lot these days about the ineffectiveness of the American Congress.  Their inability to get anything done is beyond disputation.  It is sad to see the suffering of the American people being absolutely ignored by a government that they risked so little to elect.

Just exactly who are these arrogant people in Washington who have the temerity to hold another country's government accountable for not achieving benchmarks that are not of their own making?  It would be nice if the American Congress could live up to its own demands before it holds another country accountable for doing what it obviously cannot do itself.  Instead they bicker and debate about things they can't possibly pass, and they do so for nothing more than political gain.

As I read the blogs about the ill behavior of our young folks and the refusal to accept any responsibility for that behavior on the part of their parents, it dawns on me that our society has lost any sense of right and wrong.

This begins at the top.  Our leaders (Executive, Legislative, & Judicial)  make their decisions based on right and left leanings, and party welfare.  In the past thirty years or so, what decision has been made by our government based on what is right or what is wrong?  In fact, what is the reaction when someone tries to base a decision on common sense or right and wrong?

In our society, anyone who submits to Mosaic Law is immediately branded as an extremist that is incapable of tolerance.  The Progressives would have everyone adopt the notion that every person should be free to exercise their life according to any standard that seems good to them.  Anyone who is intolerant of anything is ignorant and lacking in compassion.

Just exactly what is wrong or even religious about:

Don't murder

Don't Steal

Don't  go to bed with someone else's spouse

Don't lie

Honor our parents

Don't worship idols (money, drugs, political leaders, political parties)

Don't envy (covet) the fruit of other people's success

Don't make false gods (political leaders, our children, money, science, religion)

Taking a day off each week to rest and to contemplate.

Maybe, just maybe if we looked at these laws as they were given instead of always equating them with religion we would be better off.  The Law was given to make our passage through this life prosperous and happy.  It was never given to cleanse anyone's heart as it has been made out to be by those who want to control rather than lead.

Well Hillary finally confirmed Ann Coulter's assertions out right!

In response to the President's veto of stem cell research, Hillary was quick to point out that the veto was proof that the President put ideology ahead of science.  Well she's right, but her real message is this:  Science is sacred and anyone who is guided by an ideology is suspect.

When did having/following a belief system become wrong, and exactly what is so sacred about science?  How many edicts have we heard from "scientists" that have been withdrawn, modified, or just plain debunked?  How many drugs have been certified as safe by "scientists" only to be found harmful.

It is scientists that tell us how the world and all life came into being.  It was scientists that said the world was flat.   It was scientists that said letting leaches suck our blood would cure sickness.  In Hillary's world, anyone who exalts a creator over "science" is a throwback and unworthy of recognition.  In Hillary's world it is illegal to even breathe disagreement with science, and let's not forget dear old Mr. Gore's highly qualified opinions about global warming.

In Hillary's world our children will be taught  to question nothing and that those in power are the only ones who know what is good for you.   

It's a different time, but we're still being encouraged to allow leaches to suck our blood.

It seems to me that much of the discussion about immigration is missing the point.

The issue is who is coming across the border in a time of war.  This isn't a Mexican issue it is a national security issue.  What has happened is that the government is inducing us to take our eyes off the ball by making this a illegal alien issue.

It is becoming increasingly apparent, in spite of the daily death count reports, that this country, and remarkably our government, does not know or take seriously that we are a country at war on several fronts.

We are fighting a controlled exercise of violence overseas and leaving our borders open to anyone who wants to attack us.  This does not lead me to believe that our  government has any intention of winning, or protecting its citizens from anything.

We might want to quit worrying about the Mexicans and get a grip on who else is coming across the border.  Wouldn't you think that should be the focus?

So the legislature has decided to keep the Hwy 121 project in the public sector.  Hooray!

The decision to do so was based on which applicant would generate more profit. 

Profit???? 

What the heck do we pay taxes for? 

Does it not cost the tax paying public enough to build and drive on roads already?? 

Why is a road now used as a profit center?  Could this just be another example of taxation without representation???

If road building is no longer for public infrastructure, then maybe Walmart should get into the business.  At least then the taxpayer might have a choice about whether to drive on it.

Hwy 121 is a main road upon which taxpayers drive to and from work.  How much tax do we pay to the state per gallon of gas, and now per mile driven?  This is quite a scam being perpetrated on us by those who claim to serve us.

I rarely have much problem with ultra-conservative points of view on things, but on the subject of McCain's stance on torture, I think that some need to reconsider the decibel level of their vocal disdain.

I'm certainly not saying that you don't have right to feel the way that you do, but McCain understands torture better than all of us, and that should be respected. To call his stance against torture wimpy or to imply that he lacks courage completely disregards and disrespects his experience as a POW on behalf of this country.   McCain is no wimp and his broken body is testimony of that fact.  Should he be elected, the enemy would encounter a very Reaganesk adversary.  He will not play the games that were played with him.

In case you are wondering where I come down on the subject, I don't believe in torturing prisoners either. I don't believe in taking prisoners.  The enemy is fit for killing not babysitting.   Something tells me that McCain wouldn't be setting rules of engagement or taking many prisoners either.

As far as the rest of McCain's politics are concerned, the jury is still out.  

I had decided not to write any blogs again, but I heard something on the news yesterday that gives me enough pause that I thought I'd do an off the cuff comment.

Mrs. Clinton has proposed that all children in this country should have government funded/mandated pre-kindergarten education.  She based her proposal (if elected to president) on the opinions of experts and corrections administrators.

I strenuously object.

1) Who are these experts?  What qualifies them to be called experts?  We need to question this when someone uses the term "expert" without identifying the source.  Every child is different and the person best positioned to determine when a child should do anything is the parent, not the government.

2) Who are the corrections officials who look a test results of third and fourth graders to determine the bedding requirements in our prison system?  I would absolutely love to find one corrections official who has the time to ponder the reading comprehension of  third and fourth graders.

3) Given the results of having our children in govenrment sponsored training from Kindergarten through 12th grade today, what makes Mrs. Clinton think that an additional year will do anything positive for our children.

I propose that learning the abc's and and counting to thirty by four years of age is far less developmentally important to an average child than learning how to interact with others in play.  Further, a four year old should not be far from the arms of mommy and daddy.  They do not need to be in the custody of a government sponsored program.

I suspect that what Mrs. Clinton really wants is more access to forming our children's minds after her own agenda, and to get what few remaining mommy's who are at home with their children into the work force where they can pay taxes.