Doing Good in Our Hometown

(This is an appeal about something in St. Marys that is important to me. I hope you are not offended by my suggestion.)

Recently, I have enjoyed sharing memories of St. Marys and a time gone by on Facebook. With friends and acquaintances, I’ve reminisced about growing up in a community that was, to my childhood mind, the perfect place to live.

St. Marys, indeed all of Pleasants County, has been blessed throughout the years with wonderful people and tremendous resources. Our little FB group recently determined that in the late 50s/early 60s, St. Marys boasted: 2 movie theaters, 3 department stores, 4 hardware stores, 3 car dealerships, 2 dress shops, 2 cobblers, 2 jewelry stores, 4-5 main street eateries, 2 drugstores with soda fountains, 2 dry cleaners, 2-3 beauty salons, 2-3 barber shops, and 7-8 grocers. That’s impressive! When someone asked what happened, the sad reply was “Progress”.

Yes, progress has changed St. Marys. Despite the fact that it is no longer the town of my childhood, it still has many wonderful resources. And one of those is the Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County.

Not many communities this size can boast of having a Boys & Girls Club – let alone one that has produced SIX State Youths of the Year. I spent five years with this wonderful organization and personally witnessed the tremendous impact that it has on local youth. For some, it means help with homework after school. For others, it means not being home alone before and after school. During the days of my childhood, it might have been acceptable and safe to be left to your own devices after school. Not so today – not even in Pleasants County, West Virginia.

Pleasants County has always supported its youth, and the Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County should be part of that support. Bill Hanlin, the man so many of us know as “Coach”, understands and appreciates the Club; he has supported and worked tirelessly for the organization for years. The Facebook page that we “senior citizens” visit to reminisce about our own glory days was created by a young woman who was one of my “Club kids”. I don’t know what Morgan’s intent was when she started the page, but we all thank her for it; we are having a blast.

And just as we cherish the nostalgia of St. Marys, today’s youth should be creating their own memories right now. The Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County can help them do that. But it needs our support; it cannot serve Pleasants County’s youth on club dues alone.

St. Marys may no longer be the same community we grew up in, but it should be the best community we can give the children living there today. Even if you no longer live in St. Marys, remember what the community meant to you as a child and how that shaped the person you are today. Help the Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County provide part of what we enjoyed as children. Please consider contributing to this wonderful organization in that wonderful community that we called home. Kids like Morgan will thank you for it.

NOTE: If you want to make a tax-deductible donation to the Club, please send your check to:
Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County
605 Cherry Street
St. Marys, WV 26170

Mama, Weer All Crazee Now!

Celebrities as role models hold the attention of enraptured masses. Violence-charged spectator sports draw huge crowds. The wealthy few distance themselves from the impoverished, unemployed masses. Elected officials collect huge pay-offs from anyone who will pay for their votes while placing themselves above the law. The military occupies foreign countries while unauthorized wars rage.

Patience runs short. Tempers flare. Culture is replaced by drunken debauchery. Civility dies as it becomes everyone for him or herself. In desperation, people turn blindly to religion as an answer to their woes. Each side points fingers and calls the other wrong, neither seeing nor accepting what each has to offer.

Sound familiar? Bet you think I’m talking about 21st century America. Oh, I easily could have been, but I’m not. If you are any student of world history, you will recognize the conditions that plagued Rome – shortly before the fall of the Empire.

Sadly, while these same conditions exist here in America today, we are choosing to ignore them – and their consequences. Did the vast Roman Empire survive this internal strife? No, and neither will America if we don’t learn from history, instead of revising it.

We have so lost our way in this country that up seems like down and doing the right thing is somehow wrong (sorry Spike Lee). We can’t be civil or polite to each other. Hell, we can’t even be kind to our animals. And forget caring for our youth, our elderly, our veterans, our disabled, our infirmed. It’s every man, woman and child for him or herself.

I'll admit that I give in to this selfish, uncivilized streak myself. I become outraged with what I perceive as anti-women, anti-education, anti-equality rhetoric, and question how people can be so stupid as to not see things as I do. And I spend at least 75 percent of my driving time hurling epithets at other drivers whose sole purpose is to slow me down. But I do not want to live in a perpetually pissed-off state just because I don't agree with others, or because our difference of opinions lead them to think poorly of me. This lack of civil discourse is one reason this country is in the mess it is now.

Contrary to current popular belief, America was founded on religious freedoms, liberty and tolerance. Now we cannot tolerate anything different from our own personal beliefs. We won’t even consider discussing an idea counter to our own, let alone entertain it as a possibility. We have taken to rewriting history, the Bible, scientific fact to suit our own agenda. Instead of holding our politicians to a higher level – instead of expecting them to be statesmen – we have allowed them to become outrageous hypocrites and grifters – and we reward them for their behavior. The likes of Gingrich, Romney, Santorum should be ashamed of themselves for their deceit and hypocrisy, while Obama and others must own up to their failure to deliver on their promises.

What has happened to the spirit of “bring me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses”? Given the current state of mind in America, let’s change that inscription to “fuck off, we don't want you here.”

But do it quickly, before we go the way of the dinosaur and the dodo bird. Before our descent into the rabbit hole becomes complete. Before the fall of the American Empire.

You Can Get It Wrong and Still You Think That It's All Right

Recently, I read a fairy tale about a college professor who conducted an experiment in what he deemed “socialism” in his economics class. As a result of his egalitarian approach to grading, all students failed the course. While the article made some reasonable points, I was appalled by the professor’s cavalier attitude toward his subject, completing disregarding the facts in order to cast aspersions on the POTUS. He did a tremendous disservice to his students by failing to explain the true meanings of socialism and equating a classroom grading curve to a free market economy.

This tale alludes to the students’ belief in the success of “Obama’s socialism”. At no time does the professor discuss true socialism nor the students’ misguided belief in President Obama’s support of such a theory. Missed a “teachable moment” there, buddy.

Please explain when and how President Obama has been a proponent of socialism. Socialism itself has more than 40 possible definitions. Which one do you mean? Perhaps the nationalization of production and distribution? I’ve never heard the POTUS suggest that.

Or maybe you refer to the complete control of production without oversight from the state? I believe that is something currently being supported by Obama’s opponents. How about redistributive taxation and government regulation of capital within the framework of the free market economy? Now that our economy has gone belly-up from the lack of these, the average American has begun calling for greater controls and fair share taxes.

Or perhaps because Obama tends to promote that which helps the common people, you mean the social justice aspects of socialism. You remember: equality and solidarity, a system that understands and values human rights while recognizing the dignity of every human being. Guess what? That brand of socialism comes straight from Christian teachings, the very thing that we profess to value above all else in this country. We thought it was great, and supported it wholeheartedly when Poland embraced it, but we don’t want it here? Talk about a double standard.

So exactly what form of socialism is Obama foisting upon unsuspecting Americans? Supporting a national healthcare plan, regulations upon out-of-control financial institutions and corporations, protection of the food supply and the environment, improving our educational system, and creating a system of taxation in which everyone pays their fair share is not socialism. Those items all fall under that wonderful phrase in the U.S. Constitution that requires our government to promote the “general welfare” of the people.

The professor, or perhaps the writer, goes on to list five points that explain why an egalitarian society will not work. While these are all true in theory, they are absolutes that do not allow for the variations that happen in a society – shades of grey that occur simply because you are dealing with human beings. You will always have those who think they are entitled, just as you will always have those whose physical and mental limitations require society’s support.

Yes you cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of it. No one has suggested that this be done. Asking that everyone pay his or her fair share to support the system in which they exist is not placing undue burdens on the wealthy. It is, however, the basis for a successful economy as described by Adam Smith, the acknowledged father of modern economics and capitalism. Did this professor skip class on the day his instructors talked about Smith’s theories and The Wealth of Nations? Evidently.

Finally, the tale ends with a lengthy, convoluted attempt at describing what appears to be our welfare system, asserting that is the beginning of the end of any nation. Strangely, history has proven over the centuries that societies in which there is a great disparity between the wealthy and the poor are those that actually fail.

This college professor failed his students in more ways than one. Yes, he failed them in terms of the grading standard. Worse though, he failed them academically by not correcting their misconceptions about socialism and the President, and by not teaching them that there are no absolutes, that these theories are not always the antithesis of each other, and that social justice always has a place in a free market economy. In short, he failed to teach them anything at all about capitalism and socialism and how aspects of each are necessary to a diverse, evolving nation.

And for those who bandy socialism around as though it is a dirty word, remember this. “That word you keep using. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Look it up and learn.

All Tebowed Out

I guess I am missing out on something here. What is the BFD with Tim Tebow?

Yes, he is an outstanding football player. And yes, he is a devout Christian. But people are acting like he’s the second coming of Christ. If he is, oops. My bad!

Seriously though, people are making an idol out of this celebrity athlete. The media is especially guilty of perpetuating the Tebow cult of personality. And he doesn’t seem to mind. That certainly doesn’t say “Christian” to me.

Which brings me to the practice of Tebowing. Come on, it’s just genuflecting. Catholics have been doing it for centuries -- and no one has rushed to imitate them. It has become such a phenomenon that kids of all ages are doing it everywhere. My question is, are they actually praying when they kneel, or are they just emulating their idol, Tim Tebow? If they are praying, fine. Pray away! But if you are assuming this attitude of reverence for no other reason than you admire a professional athlete who does the same thing, you’re gonna be in big trouble. You are engaging in idol worship. Don’t know about you, but I was taught that is a BIG NO-NO. In fact, it’s in God’s Top Ten -- as in Commandments.

Recently, when Tim was criticized by the supposed Jeebus-Haters, a preacher actually claimed from his pulpit that to “hate Tim is to hate Jesus”. Whoa, back that bus up a minute! This supposed “man of God” believes Tim equals Jesus? Isn’t that a blasphemy? And where do they get this shit? Wouldn’t this man serve his flock better by providing spiritual guidance than by talking about Tebow and the Jeebus-Haters? (Wait, let me write that down because that sounds like a good title for a book.)

Tim bows to pray every time he does anything. That’s fine, but that’s your business Tim, not the whole damn world’s. If you want to thank God for the talent he gave you, go right ahead, but do it on your own time, not ESPN’s and mine.

And while you’re at it, contemplate this. Your talent may be God-given, but you have worked your ass off to become the outstanding athlete you are. God didn’t make that touchdown for you. You, your hard work, your coaches and your team mates did. So give credit where it’s due. Besides, I really don’t think God has time to watch football on Sundays. He’s too busy checking all the prayer requests from the other Christians who don’t bother to think for themselves.

Now praying is fine, if that’s your thing. Lately though, it seems to have gotten out of hand. We’re praying to God for good crops, rain, winning the World Series, wealth and power, death to liberals, death to gays, death to anyone who isn’t an evangelical, Pentecostal, apostolic, full-gospel, Jesus-lovin’ American. First, praying for the end of those different from us doesn’t quite sound like the message Christ gave us. Second, praying for God to take care of everything under the sun is something you stole from the pantheists and pagans. “Athena grant me wisdom.” “Ares, bring me victory in battle.” “Demeter, grow these damn crops.” You just traded multiple gods for one, but you’re still abdicating responsibility.

I’m no theology student, but I seem to remember something in the Bible about God giving man free will. That means you think for yourself and don’t expect God to give you the answer to everything. He already gave you a brain. For God’s sake, use it!

And stop with the “Tebowing”. Get up off of your knees, start thinking for yourself with your God-given brain, and actually accomplish something.