Sloth, Lust, and Vanity Plates

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." -Russell Baker

When did decency go out of style? What about pride? How did hard work become a dirty concept? These questions are especially apropos today. We live in a society where entitlement is abound. From government subsidies for almost everything to the horrid trend of spoiling children simply for existing, we're a bunch of 'gimmie' junkies. Though the symptoms of this sickness may be invisible to many, there are still some of us who see the signs and are very, very disappointed.

In the last century, we saw a lot of things go the way of the dodo. Ladies stopped wearing gloves and hats. Housework became an offense. Men went from alpha to beta and stopped opening doors for women as not to patronize them. The thought of talking on the phone, much less texting, while at dinner was unheard of. Now, we're lucky if anyone sits down as a family for a meal anymore. With all the advances in technology and general knowledge, we lost more than I fear we can ever regain. The term 'manners' is almost extinct. Who cares if an individual's need to express said individuality offends someone? The person offended is simply a bigot, a rube, or a racist. We've resorted to attacking those who only wish to live in a civil society because we can't stomach the thought of having to be responsible for ourselves or in general, be decent human beings. No one wants to be inconvenienced.

I was raised by an older generation than most of my peers. Some kids my age had grandparents younger than my parents. As I've said in posts previous, both were of the Great Depression/WWII generation. Things were different then. I was taught to have manners, to know my place, to respect elders. Common decency and a strict sense of right and wrong were the lessons of the day for me. We had family meals, we talked about our day, and I wasn't allowed to eat in front of the TV until I was in high school, and then, begrudgingly. I learned to hold my tongue in sensitive matters and certainly mind the feelings of the people around me in conversation. To me, there was nothing wrong with being civil and, God forbid, have normal opinions of things. I suppose, as an artist, this upbringing may have set me up to not circulate well in the art world. You see, I don't think of myself as an art goddess. I wasn't told everything I did was perfect simply because spoiling the child was a trend. I was encouraged to work hard at a goal by myself, and excel the proper way.

One thing that was never appropriate for general public conversation was sexual matters. Sex and things of sexual nature, were private. Don't get me wrong, I don't think moderate sexuality in entertainment is going to send me to hell, but there are some things that just aren't appropriate for the public. Honestly, there are some things that aren't appropriate at all. I don't care how someone may view individuality. I don't care what's deemed okay in other countries. Some behaviors are just inherently wrong. I've learned to ignore some things because the law says I have to. This specific thing of which I will share with you, is not one of those times.

On a trip to the grocery on day last year, I saw something I will never forget. I was walking through the parking lot and spied a vanity plate. Everyone knows, vanity plates can be, well, nasty sometimes, but this one tops the charts. In the world of manga and anime, there are a lot of... odd things. I can understand, to a point, but past that point, I believe the stuff should be sold only in sex shops behind a curtain. There's a kind of manga and anime, a type, if you will, that I discovered unintentionally one day on the fabulous thing called the internet. This type is specifically about children in sexual situations. Art, comics, animated work, and even novel-type fiction, it's all there. You heard me, minors, children, kids, in sexual situations. This is something adults read and pass it off as literature or who knows what. Essentially, the license plate advertised that the owner of the car was into kiddie porn.

Does it make it okay that the kids aren't real? Nope. Fantasy is just one step away from reality. Anyone who's read a crime novel or watched a crime show on TV knows that criminals usually fantasize about committing a crime before they actually commit one. Does it make it okay for them to do this because it's their right to express what they like? Nope. Sorry, but all sorts of rules of the land and rules of decency say no. You wouldn't stand for someone driving around with an 'I like kiddie porn' bumper sticker, would you? I don't care what people in Japan think is okay as entertainment. Here, in this country, child porn is not okay.

Modesty, decorum, manners, human compassion: we're so lacking in these things. We've become obsessed with ourselves and the pleasure we can gain for ourselves that we've turned into slothful, hateful, monsters. We parade our 'individuality' as a banner that says "treat me like royalty because I'm different". But why does different always have to mean super strange and fringe? Why can't different denote a skill, a specialty, or a penchant for perfect manners? In this politically correct world of entitled whiners, some things have been edged out. People must step up and say enough is enough before the damage to our society is irreparable.

Of Rocks and Sand: Words About Faith

"You know, sometimes, when you trade tradition for progress, you wind up with neither." -Rabbi Samuel Garfinkel from USA's In Plain Sight

Faith is one of those things which thrives well on tradition. Along with family and country, faith instills in us the comfort of a higher power, the conviviality of people who believe as we do. Faith gives us reasons for the things that happen and consolation for pain. But just like family and country, when faith is shaken by any force, our lives can be changed forever.

I used to be under the employ of a protestant denomination. I worked in their national headquarters for almost seven years. When I took the job, I wasn't terribly familiar with what made them different than the faiths I knew. I had been raised Baptist and converted to Catholicism in college. This denomination was somewhere in the middle. The longer I worked there, the more understanding I became as to why people referred to them as 'reformed'. Though Baptists and Catholics are far apart on the Christian spectrum, there's one thing that gives them staying power: unyielding tradition.

The area in which I worked wasn't terribly engrossed in the policy-making part of the church. Though I tried to know as little as possible about the political leanings and goings on within this church organization, I couldn't help but know some things. Most of the people were liberal, supporting everything from extreme 'green' legislation to openly condemning Israel for, what it seemed, the simple act of existing. Though some of this liberal bias was merely a preference for the people who worked and worshiped there, some of it had permeated the very structure of the church. Some traditions, carried on for decades, were cast aside like yesterday's biodegradable coffee cup. The next big liberal agenda was the next big church agenda. Doctrine seemed to change like the weather.

As the years went on, I unfortunately learned more and more about this auto-immune illness that had struck the denomination. Their churches were faltering, like many at the time, but when the trend died down in others, this particular sect did not recover. They tried to sugarcoat things, saying there were signs of progress and growth, but like the government's much-hailed 'economic recovery spurred by stimulus,' news of lifting fog could be traced back to a few strategic press releases tinted with rose-colored glasses. Church attendance could be called abysmal at times. Their faith base was aging; the most recent average age of people active within this denomination was listed at 60. The youth were turning away, so were young adults.

Explanations were abound. People in high places struggled to put a name to what was happening, all the while continuing on their progressive path. To a member of the faith, this was a crisis with no clear cause, one that could be allayed by the careful application of new rules or the dismissal of human failure. To me, an outsider looking in, I saw the biggest cause as plain as the sunrise. In their quest to change always with the times, they had abandoned the traditions and beliefs that brought them together as one in the first place. They had changed so often and so drastically in efforts to appease this group or that group, they had begun to appease no one.

In spite of some people's love for spontaneity and ever-changing atmospheres, some things should never change so quickly. Long-standing traditions and beliefs deserve the slow evolution intended by God and nature. Families change, countries change, faith, at it's core, should not change in this way. As Christians, we must take a cue from our grandfather in faith, Judaism. This time-tested, human-tested faith has stood strong for millennia. In the face of evil's attempts to eradicate them, they have remained faithful. To this day, the Jews, specifically of Israel, are the most devout and stalwart people on earth. This strength must come from a strength of tradition in the light of changing times. Small things may have changed, but the important things remain. God's mandates remain.

As membership declined in my employing denomination, the funds to keep the headquarters afloat declined. A massive amount of the blame was shifted to the down economy, which I can see as a partial contributor, but not the main cause. Downsizing had occurred in the years prior to my employ, but in the years since, the downsizing had become almost an annual ritual. I survived three of them before having my position eliminated this year. Some of you may attribute this post to bitterness, but I can promise you, I harbor only a small amount of bitterness. I pity them. I pity them for what they have brought upon themselves. I pity them for the ignorance that will undoubtedly be their downfall. I pity those people whom I grew to love who remain there and what may happen to their livelihood in the months and years to come.

No, this post was in response to something that happened recently with this denomination. I fear one of the cornerstone beliefs of this faith is in real jeopardy, something that if lost, would cause the ultimate loss of membership. Added to the already sparse membership of this church, a hit like this could be fatal. I am a Christian, regardless of my chosen denomination. I believe in God, in Christ, in the church. My faith sustains me and it gives me a sense of oneness with those who share my faith. But I know my faith is built on the rock of Christ, first and foremost. Humans, politics, policy, those things are ever shifting. Christ does not shift. A church bound to stand the test of time, must be careful where they choose to build. This denomination has succumbed to the intoxicating will of weak, attention-seeking human interests and taken their eyes away from the divine. I have heard, a house built on shifting sands cannot stand, something gleaned loosely from Matthew 7:24–27 (see below for complete passage). Divinity and nature dictate this to be true. No house, no family, no country, and certainly no faith can stand if left to ride the shifting sands of human failing.

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." -Matthew 7:24–27 (New International Version)

Lambs and Lions

Where conscious subjectivity is concerned, there is no distinction between the observation and the thing observed. -John Searle

Almost everything humans do is done with intention. The creative endeavors almost always say something, try to convey something. But there's a variable that all creatives must consider: human subjectivity. If two people see or hear the same thing, I guarantee the will get different things out of the experience. Our observations are tinged with history and feelings that an outside force cannot predict. For instance, if two people see a photo of a dog, the animal lover will feel happiness whereas the person who is afraid of dogs will exhibit fear. It doesn't much matter the intention of the photograph at that point. To one, the dog is not a dog, but rather happiness, to the other the dog is fear.

These days, it seems Hollywood is more in the business of propaganda than pure entertainment. From children's programming to late-night comedy, everything is pushing a message. With the loudest voices in Hollywood being liberal ones, that message is usually pro-liberal/anti-conservative. This may serve to wear down softer minds, but a number of us know it's not necessarily about what is overtly presented. The key to being entertained by entertainment is to be objective whenever possible.

Robin Hood opens soon and it's already creating buzz on both sides of the political spectrum. Conservatives see a character who stands up for the rights of everyone, crusading for the advancement of deserving souls, whereas liberals see someone exacting vengeance on the affluent and redistributing their wealth. When broken down, the story ceases to be cut and dry on any issue and it's certainly not 100% for or against either points of view. The minds behind the film have gotten antsy at the thought of Robin Hood being an encouraging force to 'Tea Partiers.' But in spite of all their efforts, viewers are going to have their own opinions. Once the film is taken in by the individual and processed through their unique filters, the message ceases to be as intended and becomes as interpreted.

Hollywood likes to think they are the sighted leading the blind, but I believe the opposite to be true. As I examine my life and the things by which I've been entertained, I find the intended message is not always how I take it. To me, Star Wars was never a working-man's battle against evil capitalists, Star Wars was about the power of honesty, tenacity, and forgiveness. X-Files wasn't a few stalwart liberals facing a corrupt conservative government, it was a pained search for truth against the forces of people who valued only self-preservation. Though I'm disheartened by the talk of what Robin Hood is intended to be, I know only what I feel when I hear things like "It is time for lambs to become lions." For too long, the taxpayer, the Christian, and the middle class worker have been trampled on. For too long, the Constitution has been ignored. If there are any lambs in this country with the strength and will to become lions, conservatives are those lambs. Liberals simply don't have the stomach for it.

Kick Ass!

I saw the movie Kick Ass over the weekend and I liked it a lot. I never doubted that I would, however, seeing as though I'm a huge comic book fan. In a Kick Ass world, regular folks could stand up to drug lords and murderers leaving a trail of scumbag corpses in their wake. But we all know this sort of thing could never be in the real world. The law forbids that kind of justice and instead, we're left with corrupt peacekeepers and slimy lawyers who think we are best served by molding us into the cream-filled weenies depicted on Law & Order.

There's something noble about standing up for basic good when people look only to words in a law textbook for the difference between right and wrong. Few seem to realize these days that some things can't be found in dusty tomes and amendment-addled legislation. Some things are just what they are, as they have been for centuries upon centuries. Perhaps this blind faith in words is due to a evolutionary inability to make decisions. Instead of doing what must be done, people mull their decisions until someone or something talks them out of going down the right road. Unfortunately, liberal ideology is wrought with 'easy way out' shop talk that often leads the weak astray. Just as the hybrid car crazy demonstrates, something may seem like a good idea at first, but really isn't if you examine the basic facts. A hybrid may use less gas, but it costs much more than a regular car and makes little monetary difference in the long run. On top of that, half of the environmental impact is simply displaced to the power companies. Just because you get to plug the car in instead of always filling it with gas doesn't mean you're being any more 'green'.

The Arizona illegal immigrant legislation is a perfect example of taking the reins and making the right decision, no matter what some may think. This move on Arizona's part is a natural, common sense maneuver to protect its citizens, something the federal government doesn't seem to have the stomach for. Either D.C. is bogged down in chewing their 'social justice' cud, or they're scared to step on toes, either way, Arizona beat them to the punch. And just like scalded law enforcement, the 'feds' are irritated that a state dared to take justice (albeit perfectly legal) into their own hands and make them look bad. The Obama administration has been drawing weak-principled lines in the sand for a while. It was high time someone braved to step over.

The arguments against the legislation are many and as most liberal arguments are, they're as noisy as a flock of agitated geese and just as messy. Does it infringe upon basic human rights as they may argue? No, not really. When someone comes across our border, they must abide by our laws of immigration and naturalization and if they don't, they must be removed. Is it hostile? No, if done properly as dictated in the actual legislation, it is not. But the senseless anger continues. None of these protesters seem to care about the welfare of actual U.S. citizens. Arizona is simply doing what it must in a charged climate, but the liberal machine and jelly-spined RINOs, won't have it. Basic good, common sense, these are not things in which they dabble.

In the film, Kick Ass says "with no power comes no responsibility." Later on, he retracts that belief. In some cases, those without power are the ones who must make efforts to be responsible; those with power too easily forget how. Just like Arizona, the conservatives in this country have spent too long believing they are powerless to instigate real change. And just like Arizona, we must wake up and realize that we do, in fact, have power. If evil does truly triumph when good does nothing, we can't watch from our windows any longer as freedom is beaten to death. My friends, it's time to kick ass!

Dear Hollywood: Stop Bullying Me!

When my husband was in lower education, he was bullied quite a bit. He was overweight, wore glasses, and spent a lot of time in shop class. Through the eyes of a jock, he had the geek trifecta. The jocks called my husband names, they knocked his backpack off his shoulders, and one particular bully made a game out of running up behind my husband and knocking his hat off his head nearly every day with a rather violent slap. After months of this behavior, my husband had had enough. When he heard the footsteps behind him one afternoon, he steadied himself, turned, and punched the bully in the face. Shocked by the show of initiative from this 'freak' and nursing a bruised ego, the bully skulked away, never to speak of the incident or repeat the bullying again.

I like to hear that story. Aside from how it makes my husband look (quite manly), it makes me feel better about having stood up for myself over the years. Sure, it's wrong to resort to physical violence most of the time, but it's more wrong to needlessly bully someone. In recent years, people have become more vigilant about bullying. We've all seen PSAs on the subject, from the 'old-fashioned' kind, to the cyber kind. Bullying can do a great deal of damage to a child. But what about adults? What about groups of people? What does bullying do to them?

The liberal media machine is excellent at the art of bullying. No one seems to know better how to sucker punch conservatives and their values. They will do and say almost anything to paint a sad, stupid, or evil picture of the people who oppose their opinions. If it isn't a crime show plot about a right-wing Christian with a sex addiction who abuses children, it's constant one-liner jabs about how stupid Sarah Palin is and how people who like her have to be equally as inept. Of late, the Fox hit Glee amplified its stance on conservatism by blatantly smearing Palin and making veiled jokes about Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. It wasn't enough they had already blasted conservative principles on numerous occasions. They even went as far as to suggest the stereotypically stuffy, obviously well-off white Christian parents of a teen mother would kick her out of the home for the shameful sin of pre-marital sex. I don't know any Christians who would do such a thing.

Glee is supposed to be about the struggles of outcasts. These are geeks, freaks, and pariahs with issues ranging from dowdiness to obesity to homosexuality. These kids are the epitome of bully fodder, but yet the show continues to senselessly pelt its viewers with hate. Perhaps its the pressure to be 'cool' or the need to 'fit in,' but I find it rather sad. How on earth are you supposed to teach individuality and strength when you go out of your way to run with the crowd?

You'd think as an informed society we would be more opposed to overt bullying. Perhaps it's that trembling child in all of us who takes the punches, just waiting for the beating to subside so we can run away. But I think it's time for us to turn around and face the bullies. It's time to make a statement. If you see something in film or on television that upsets you, complain! If it's bad enough, talk to your friends about it, and stop watching. My husband and I gave up on Family Guy a long time ago. No amount of Star Wars jokes were worth the hate directed at what I believed and who I respected. Though I enjoy a lot about Glee, I'm growing weary of the taunting. It's truly a shame when bullying becomes so strong that an attack on an idea can be as painful as a slap to the head, but I am ready to fight back.

Space: The Wayside Frontier

"Space is the breath of art." -Frank Lloyd Wright

Who among us has not turned their face to the evening sky and wondered what was out there in the deep vastness of space, dotted with firefly-like stars, swathed with the gauze of galaxies. The unknown, which is now known a bit better thanks to the innovations of Americans stands to fade again into the realm of private industry seclusion. Thanks to Obama's cuts to the shuttle program and the cancellation of a possible second NASA moon voyage, things for NASA are looking rather... terrestrial.

It's important to say that I don't believe space travel is completely dead at this juncture. No, private industry will do fine with it as long as the government doesn't interfere, but there's something noble about our country leading the way into the last frontier. The quest for understanding of the heavens brought a unique kind of patriotism to the United States. Children were able to see their fascination with space meld with service of country. Budding scientists and physicists were led down a different path, from development of weapons to development of innovation. One of the most significant human accomplishments was the moon landing. What more proof of forward thinking and hard work could there have been than planting the Stars and Stripes on the moon's surface?

When I was a child, there was still a lot of interest in space. We had lengthy studies in my middle-grade schooling on the subject. One of my science classes actually built a shuttle simulator. Space was the things dreams were made of, it was the wistful impetus of imagination. 'Space Camp' was almost as cool as Disney World and was a huge experience for many children. Though I understand the effort to cut funds, I don't understand the choices of where to cut. We've essentially given up our interest in the last, untamed frontier in favor of yet more entitlement programs. We've tossed aside the pioneering spirit that made us Americans in order to pay for things we should never be paying for.

The quest for the conquest and exploration of space is an ideal, a symbol, like the flag or the bald eagle. There's something uniquely American about it. Now, like many things, Obama has seen to ignore that tradition in favor of things he feels are better traditions: entitlement, repression, and domination. I say we rebel; I say we fight back. Tell Washington what we want, what we need. Let November 2010 and every following November be a testament to American values and dreams. Look up to the sky, lose yourself in the infinity and smile; because as long as there is a canopy of sapphire and diamonds above our great nation, there will be genuine hope.

Sowing Seeds of Self Love

"The biggest problem we have in the world is lack of self love. Every cruelty comes from those who don't understand what they're worth!" -Jim Carrey

Mr. Carrey posted this on twitter recently, smearing his pompous ignorance on the computer and iPhone screens of millions of fans. With these two sentences, he proves he actually does know how to tell a joke. This joke is on him and all those who somehow find sense in his logic. Indeed, self love is the biggest problem we have, but a lack would only be the solution. Theodore Dalrymple on Self-Esteem versus Self-Respect states: "Self-esteem, it appears, is like money or health: you can't have too much of it." I think this is one of the reasons the 'self love' Mr. Carrey speaks of is such a pox on our society. Just like lusting after money, we have a need, an addiction to self-esteem. We crave prop-ups and pedestals, we thirst for mere ounces of praise and when we get them, we thirst for gallons. As the gallons come, we search for easier and easier ways to get more. Like Narcissus and his reflection, we've become unable to tear ourselves away... from ourselves.

Years of liberal indoctrination and preoccupation with 'self love' has seen to the formation of the 'entitlement gene'. This gene is passed from one self-esteem drunken moocher to the next by way of crippling stereotypes and baseless buzzwords. If you break down a great deal of the activism in our society today, you will always find overblown narcissism hiding under a rock in the background. Let's look at some examples.

• ACORN and other community-activist-type groups grew from the notion that by rights of ethnicity or degree of laziness, people are entitled to homes and sneaky tax breaks. We know now the lengths these people would go to in order to get their agenda across. The offenses range from advising a pimp on how to make his 'business' appear legitimate to the US government to registering dead and imaginary voters as default votes for Obama. There was nothing humble about ACORN. Everyone involved saw their cause justly because it's what they would want from the world. Why would they advise law-breaking prostitution-peddlers to clean up their act when they themselves live on the stolen rewards of other people's hard work? Why would they be equal in their voter canvasing when they know the 'other guy' makes no promises where entitlement is concerned? Every decision, every bit of advice, came from their darkened heart of self-adoration.

• Feminist organizations come from the same stock. Most believe women deserve certain things just for being women. If a woman and man were up for the same job, the woman should automatically get the job even though the man may be more qualified. And why would someone believe that? Simple. These women know that's what they would want. They know genuine respect comes from genuine hard work and frankly, they're not ready to do that hard work. They look in the mirror and hear the oft-whispered mantras "women are special, things are harder for women so the world must make consolations, women deserve to this respect because they're women." Humility teaches that in order to surmount obstacles, you must work harder. Vanity uses non-issues as crutches to hop undeservedly into the 'special' line.

• Anti-war fanatics, aside from being grossly undereducated in history and civics, are usually the kind of people who wish nothing more than to rule as dictators over their own life and the lives of those around them. Their crusade against war is a surrogate for the battle they are afraid to wage against their own insecurity. Facing up to the truth of the world would mean facing up to the possible lies they live by and that's just not easy for people who think the world tips on them as an axis. War is a mirror and these people prefer only the mirror that tells them they're the fairest in the land.

Communists, socialists, and entitlement junkies everywhere are little more than vain children. How else could you explain someone's belief that the spoils of hard work and dedication of someone like Bill Gates belongs to them when they've done nothing to deserve it? When I think of entitlement, I recall the folk tale 'The Little Red Hen.' The hen works at planting wheat, cultivating it, harvesting it, and baking to produce a loaf of bread. From the planting stages to the work of baking, she asks for help from her farm friends who all simply say "Not I." When the bread has been baked, the friends are more than happy to help the hen eat it. She, in efforts to teach her friends the errors of their selfish and lazy ways, refuses to share her bread.

Our society today is so poisoned by entitlement it's hard to imagine a future without it. But we must soldier on. Peace, charity, hard work, all of these things have a requirement so many refuse to fulfill: humility. On the hard-labor-bended backs and in the blister-peppered hands of those before us, our country has been carried in humility. Wars have raged, tensions abroad and at home have waxed and waned, tragedies, both man-made and natural have tested us, and we have remained. We must now concoct an anecdote to the self-love epidemic that ails us. We must replace selfish esteem with self respect. You reap what you sow, not what others sow for you. The entitlement gene is pushing the American ideal into extinction. Now is the time to sow humility and accountability before all that remains is ashes and dust.