Even a blind pig can find an acorn, once in a while

On Religion, War, Politics and other things which don't keep your belly full and your mind peaceful.

(In other words, stuff that isn't all that important!)

While I am far from being an admirer of ANY member of the Clinton family, I have to admit that I agree with The Hillary-beast today, for the first time.  Ever.

 A young girl declined to stand and pledge allegiance to the flag.   Some folks got their panties in a bind over that.  Hillary said (in essence):   "That's okay, you go girl!". 

I say, "that works for me".

(SCROLL to the bottom of the page for the quote.)


IN MY OPINION ... the Pledge of Allegiance is an entirely personal OATH which has been turned into an obligatory rote action by nothing more persuasive than habit and social pressure.  That I choose to recite it means that I believe it. 
Folks that don't believe it may be Americans of Conscience.. their reticence doesn't necessarily mean that they are anti-American; just that there are a lot of commitments included in the text of the Pledge which they may not honestly support.

It has been a long time since I recited the Pledge of Allegiance, but to the best of my recall this is what I use to say (while facing the flag with my hand over my heart, to demonstrate my earnest intent):

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the country for which it stands; One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I've pledged allegiance to the flag thousands of times, and I have also sworn to defend the flag 'and the country for which it stands' when I was drafted.     I paid my debt to my country many times over, and I respect my flag.

(I'm not quite sure about God.  I've prayed and asked for guidance from above; still waiting for HIM to return my call.   But I'm patient ... God must have a huge backload of celestial-phone messages. Maybe He's still returning calls from falling sparrows?)

But anyone who has chosen to NOT offer their allegiance gets a pass from me.
 If, for example, you're an Atheist you might refuse the pledge because it includes the phrase "... under God ...".  (IIRC, it was President Eisenhower who added the sub-phrase some 50+ years ago.)

That makes you no less a patriot; it only establishes that you refuse to take an oath which you cannot support theologically.   In a very real way, it makes you more sincere and more aware of the nuances of the oath.    Some folks will disagree; it's one reason why Americans might wish to reconsider the exact wording (eg: excise the Eisenhower Update).

The Pledge of Allegiance is too important to be automatically assumed. 
If you are not fully and personally invested in the responsibilities of citizenship, you should not be hounded or ridiculed  because you either stand by your conscience, or decline to lie under oath.   The Pledge is entirely voluntary,  and those who think it should be obligatory forget the concept under which America was founded: 

"This is a FREE country".

Personally, I may not respect anyone who declines to accept the same dedication to my country as I do.  Also personally, I fought a war (sort of a war; except that men died and I was unhappy, it wasn't much of a war), and all American wars are purportedly waged to re-establish the American Way Of Life.

The American Way Of Life not only allows dissent, but encourages it.
If everybody agrees with me, we don't have a Free Society; we have an ant colony of mindless workers.

I never wanted to live in a homogeneous society.   I like folks who think differently.  They teach me lessons I would never have learned, values I never would have considered, if I lived in a Vacuum.

Your Opinions May Vary. 

If you don't agree with me ... your either an idiot or a villain.

(This is MY blog; I can say anything I want; so can you.)

Where Was She During the 'War on Drugs?': Hillary Called Out for Supporting Girl Who Knelt for Pledge | Fox News Insider: As seen on Tucker Carlson Tonight Hillary Clinton is taking criticism for offering encouragement to an 11-year-old student who made headlines for kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance. Clinton tweeted in response to a NowThis report on Mariana Taylor, a Maryland sixth-grader who refused to stand for her classroom’s recitation of the pledge, instead adopting the form of protest used by some NFL players to demonstrate against police brutality and racial injustice. “It takes courage to exercise your right to protest injustice, especially when you’re 11!  Keep up the good work Mariana,” Clinton tweeted.

Helpful Advice from the Theocratic Republic. of Iran

The Supreme Ruler says we need better gun control in America.

I'm touched that the leader of a Theocracy is willing to provide helpful advice to the infidels of America.   I'm only surprised that he hasn't been engaged in extended conversations with leaders of the Baptists, the Catholics, the Mormons, the Shakers, the Episcopalians and the Muslims who constitute only a few of the many, many religious denominations which comprise the religious leadership in my native country.

The experience might help him to understand why we so vigorously defend our freedoms.
But that's not going to happen, because the Ayatollah only recognizes his own religion.

(Well, that's his job.)

Ayatollah Khamenei Calls for Gun Control—in the U.S.: (CNSNews.com) -

Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has released a statement calling on the United Nations to “seriously” pursue seven “human rights” cases in the United States. One of these is what Khamenei perceives as the need for gun control. “Another case which the UN should definitely pursue is the freedom of selling guns in the US with which so many crimes are being committed,” Khamenei said in a statement published today.

Get your own house in order, "grant" them the same freedoms as American .. and then we'll talk.

We are Americans ... all of us.

Even those of us who don't agree with everyone else.

Oh ... that's all of us.

Who is this, who tells me that I MUST denounce firearms ownership?

In BALTIMORE, one of the most violent cities in America, the Catholic Church will propose a Fatwa against law-abiding owners of firearms in America.  Isn't THAT ironic?

Is the Pope U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops aware that the level of firearms violence in MOST of America is not comparable to BALTIMORE?


Protect life: limit access to guns - Baltimore Sun:

Next week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will meet in Baltimore to update its "quadrennial statement on political responsibility, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship." The document, which is essentially a voters guide for American Catholics circulated before presidential elections, outlines key church teachings, areas of emphasis that should inform how Catholics decide upon various candidates. The bishops must urge the faithful to support candidates who stand up to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and advance the cause of gun control.

   A "Voters Guide for American Catholics" makes Peck a Bad Boy?


If I (we) are Bad .. it is NOT because "they" (you and I) are trouble makers ... but because we have a similar level of interest in firearms ownership as criminals who use their guns for violent actions (while we keep them for sporting purposes, and to defend ourselves against violent action).

So why is the Catholic Church in America picking on me?  

I am so very proud to have been singled out by "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship".
As if I have no conscience, and am not a citizen (regardless of my "Faith", which is none of your business thank-you-very-much).

Yes, I am insulted. I resent the insinuation that because I own guns I am a faithless marauder.

 Gun violence in America disproportionately afflicts the poor and marginalized, especially impoverished black communities in our cities. Jeffrey Goldberg writes in the Atlantic that between "1980 and 2013, 262,000 black males were killed in America," the vast majority from guns. The murder rate for African Americans is eight times higher than it is for white Americans and 12 times higher than other developed nations, reports statistician and blogger Nate Silver; the closest comparable murder rates are found in the developing world. Urban murder rates have soared again this year — especially here in Baltimore, right under the bishops' noses.

"The murder rate for African Americans is eight times higher than it is for white Americans and 12 times higher than other developed nations."

Yes. Well, I haven't murdered anyone for ... oh, I can't say; it has been SO LONG since I have murdered anyone I can't even remember it.  Am I bad?

Maybe the Catholic Church should go to those "impoverished black communities in our cities", and take a close look at exactly WHO is responsible for that disproportionate level of Gun Violence.

Here's a hint:  They Are Not Catholic!

I live in a college town in the Pacific NorthWet, and I suppose I should not feel offended by this sweeping accusation.
But I do.
Most of my friends are Friends Of Guns.  We have shooting competitions regularly. Many of my friends hunt regularly.

None of my friends murder people regularly.

Where in this "Document" does it mention that the majority of Americans do no indulge in frivolous mayhem?

The bishops must urge the faithful to support candidates who stand up to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and advance the cause of gun control.

What is this word, "must"?

MUST!  Is this, like, a Mandatory thing?  One Catholic Priest decides that the entire community which he heads must follow his arbitrary lead?  And he is unaware of the upset he has allowed in his community?

[Out of respect for the faith, I have deleted several dozens of lines of comments regarding the above subject matter]

My friend, The Hobo Brasser (who happens to be a Catholic) must find himself in something of a quandary here.  He knows that all of the hundreds of "gun nuts" among his plethora of friends are honest, responsible firearms owners.  But still, the Leader of his faith *(or his designated minions)* has declared that my friend MUST hold his nose and vote for the illegitimate bastards who would undermine our constitutional freedoms.  (Is my friend the only conservative voter in his church?)


Which draws a schism between himself and his duty to his church.  (And also between him and me, because my faith does not require me to make such schismatic decisions.)

I haven't been a member of the NRA for 20 years, but only last week I joined just because  I hoped it would piss off the hoplophobic people who denigrate me and my ilk because of our own personal beliefs about our constitutional rights (which are, I remind you .. "God Given".)

Now THE POPE is on record against me?

Brother, I take this as a personal slight.

My best friend must decide who to trust: his religious leader, or his friend of 20 years.

And is my friend going to get rid of his guns?  Well, neither of us are very good at our sport, but we enjoy both the activity and the community of pistol shooting.  I know what I'm going to do .. but what is HE going to do?

In truth, I'm only insulted.  Chagrined.
Dumb-struck by this unexpected shot in the back. (sorry, couldn't resist.)

But my Catholic friend ... I am concerned because this proposed document puts him in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether to obey his spiritual leader, or do what he knows in his heart is the right thing to do.

How many other devout Catholics find themselves in the same quandary?

And how must the leader of a proud and righteous faith reconcile his good intentions with the harm which his arbitrary, unilateral pronouncements have imposed upon his followers?

I would like to say that I speak more in sorrow than in anger, but that whole anger thing kind of gets in the way of my good intentions.

Taliban ... "Still Crazy, After All These Years"

Taliban gunmen kill 9 at luxury Kabul hotel:
 (March 21, 2014)

Four young Taliban gunmen died Thursday night in a shootout with Afghan security forces hours after they slipped into a luxury hotel popular with Westerners in central Kabul and fired on guests during a new year's celebration, officials reported. 

--

Sources told NBC News that the nine guests were killed execution-style, including five women and two children. That claim could not immediately be verified. 

Interior Ministry spokesman Sidiq Siddiqi said the four gunmen hid three hours in bathrooms at the Serena Hotel during a celebration of Nowruz, the Afghan and Persian new year marking the spring equinox. 

 He said the attackers, who appeared to be about 18 years old, had concealed pistols in their socks and slipped into the heavily guarded five-star hotel about 6 p.m. by claiming they were there for a special buffet. About 9:15 p.m., when the dining room would have been packed, the attackers emerged and fired at diners.

 Commandos killed all four and secured the hotel two hours later, Siddiqi said.

I don't know how anyone can claim that their religion mandates such a senseless slaughter of innocents.

I do know that in America there is at least one Baptist sects *(Westboro)* which goes around to the funeral of American servicemen and praise their deaths.  They are entitled to their opinion, although it causes much grief to the families of the dead.    Still ... they don't kill people!

That may be the defining difference between American religious extremists, and the Eastern Brand of religious extremists.  I can't say that I find any personal affinity between my personal religious beliefs and either of these, but I can say that any religious conviction which deliberately causes harm/grief/death to other people is not one which I can accept.

Who ARE these people?  And why are they so filled with hate?  Both the Baptist and the Muslim faith claim to be the Religion of Peace.

I doubt them all.

Calendar pokes fun at Mormon mom stereotype

The Associated Press: Calendar pokes fun at Mormon mom stereotype

I'm ... not really certain how to report on this subject, delicately.

I have several Mormons in my family, and while I don't necessarily agree with the constraints of their religion I respect their beliefs. I don't mind the "No Television" part, but "No Smoking" and "No Drinking" are a direct assault on my personal life-style. I admit I would be a better man if I observed these restrictions, but it probably ain't gonna happen. (There was a time in my youth when I admired, but was unable to accept, the precepts of B'nai B'rith ... but the same problems arose. Probably due to same problems which made this raised-Baptist boy a functional agnostic.)

Okay, there's probably no way to "report on this subject, delicately". Let's just see what reportage is already available:

SALT LAKE CITY — The latest installment of a calendar series that pokes fun at Mormon stereotypes is putting a twist on motherhood.

The "Hot Mormon Muffins: A Taste of Motherhood" calendar features 12 mothers who claim membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in vintage pinup picture poses. Each month also has a muffin recipe.

It's a companion piece to "Men on a Mission," the three-year series of calendars that featured 12 male church missionaries who doffed their signature white shirts.

Last year, a dustup over the calendar ultimately cost its creator, Las Vegas entrepreneur Chad Hardy, his membership in the church and his diploma from the church-owned Brigham Young University.

Hardy said the projects are designed to shake up stereotypes that paint Mormons in general as stuffy or hyper-conservative and mothers in particular as homemakers from another era.

"For Mormons, the most holy calling next to missionary work is motherhood," said Hardy. "But they're not all the subservient housewives that people think they are."

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah declined to comment on the calendar Monday.

Here are some of the videos available through the website "Hot Mormon Muffins".
Episode 5: Every Muffin a Missionary:

Episode 7: Mormon Muffins for TV Dinners:

I'm re-thinking my earlier decisions vis-a-vis conversion.