Welcome to the brand new JefferySexton.com, where I'm just going to have some fun. I'll talk about the things that interest me and whatever is running through me head that I want to write about, and y'all can feel free to join in the discussion at any time.
Among what you may find here:
Discussions of books/movies/music/video games I'm digging at the moment.
Random philosophical/religious insights
Posts about my life/family in general.
Who knows, we may even throw in some sports or other random stuff occasionally.
Dustin Townsend is a guy I consider a friend. We’re both officers in the Libertarian Party of Georgia, and Dustin works just as hard as I do to promote our cause. That said, as another friend of mine, Jason Pye, knows all too well, I do disagree with my friends occasionally, and typically it results in a public conversation.
As pretty much everyone should know, I myself am a strong supporter of Gary Johnson. Honestly, outside of Johnson I will more than likely wind up voting for the LP candidate simply because they are not the Democrat or Republican, if for no other reason. (I’ll wait until the results of next year’s Nominating Convention in Las Vegas – which I hope to attend – before I commit to voting for the LP candidate because they are a good candidate.)
As many people also know, Ron Paul was one of my primary driving factors in becoming a Libertarian in 2008. I had already been disillusioned with the GOP, but I saw Ron Paul as a breath of (desperately needed) fresh air. When I saw how the GOP treated him, and when I saw my former Congressman Bob Barr get the LP nomination, I became an official member of the Libertarian Party within days of the 2008 election.
So I really like Ron Paul. I really, really do. If nothing else, I owe him a debt of gratitude for helping finally direct me to my political home.
With that said, there is a FAR superior liberty-oriented GOP candidate this year in former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson.
and thus, the segue into my response to Dustin, which originally appeared as a comment on his blog (so if you followed the link, you’ve already seen it):
The problem with Ron Paul is simple: he doesn’t walk his talk. YES, he is by FAR better than any Republican running OTHER than Gary Johnson. But when compared to Johnson, Paul fails MISERABLY.
Ron Paul TALKS about limiting Federal spending – and then ranks near the top of the pile in amount received via earmarks.
Ron Paul TALKS about free trade – and then wants to arbitrarily limit the movement of labor, which is the foundation of trade.
Ron Paul TALKS about being free to make our own medical decisions – and then says States have the right to limit them.
If he were the only liberty-oriented candidate running, as he was in 2008, I would be behind him under the “80% friend is not 100% enemy” rule. Unfortunately for him, he is NOT the only liberty-oriented candidate running for President this year, and the other one is VASTLY superior in terms of WALKING his TALK.
Governor Johnson TALKS about limited Government – and as Governor, VETOED more bills than *EVERY OTHER GOVERNOR OF HIS ERA COMBINED*.
Governor Johnson TALKS about free trade – and as a 2 term Governor of a Border State with a 55% Hispanic population, he has learned first hand the benefits of WALKING that talk.
Governor Johnson TALKS about being able to make our own decisions in life – and then WALKS that talk by being the only Presidential candidate to admit that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol.
If this were 2008, Ron Paul would have my support. Unfortunately, it is 2012 and there is a FAR superior candidate – Gary Johnson.
I really don’t have time to write right now, but I wanted to post a teaser about something I’ve been pondering for nearly a week and will try to put some serious thought into now that this site is once again operational.
Right now, I know it as “More Community. Less Government.”. Originally, I thought of it as simply a possible new slogan for the LP. Then, I realized that it was actually more than that – much more. It goes beyond politics and into religion, and beyond both of those into every facet of our communities – I think. All I know is that it is what is currently on my heart, and so I’ll continue to explore it.
But something that was “random”/ “coincidental” today (which in matters of God are rarely either): I’ve barely mentioned Shaunti Feldhahn or her research into how men and women think in nearly 5 years – until today, at lunch at work when I started a very – interesting – conversation where I wound up pretty well getting beat in the debate, because it has been so long since I looked at this stuff.
Anyways, that seemingly “random” conversation led me to look at her site, Shaunti.com, tonight. As I looked at her biography page where it talks about her writing her first book – a balanced, Christian perspective on the then-headline grabbing Y2K scare, she has this quote from Experiencing God:
We so often limit God, by not responding when he calls us to do something, because we look at that thing – whatever it is – and we say ‘I can’t possibly accomplish that.’ But that is the whole point! If it is really something we can’t accomplish it, only He can accomplish it, and then it becomes obvious to everyone – including us – that it was a God-sized work and was not our own doing
While I hope I can share some information that proved extremely enlightening to me, my thinking right now is that the particular conversation at lunch today was meant for me just as much as them – it was meant to lead me to that quote, in much the same way as other decisions throughout my life have ultimately led to exactly where I sit now.
Social Studies teachers have failed America, and parents by and large have done nothing to stop this atrocity.
We all know these famous words:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The problem is that not so many of us are as familiar with the rest of that second paragraph beyond the first sentence, where the entire case for independence from Great Britain, rather than simple autonomy within the nation, is laid out. First, we have the philosophical reasons, which are the most remarkable – and revolutionary part of the document:
— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
But perhaps Social Studies teachers have failed us even moreso than simply not teaching our kids those extra few lines. Because as revolutionary as they are, as absolutely imperative as they are, they only lay out the “ivory tower” reasons for independence. They say “this is in general why the current system of government is wrong”.
The next part goes in to say in particular why the current government is wrong:
— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Note that of the 27 or so particular reasons that the government of King George was wrong, and so wrong that the valid philosophical reasons should be invoked in the real world at the cost of blood and fortune to the very men crafting this document and thousands of their friends, families, and countrymen, I can count at LEAST 12 *DIRECT* parallels to actions of the US Government in the course of my lifetime, and possibly as many as a dozen and a half.
But the document goes on, noting the numerous attempts made to resolve the conflict peacefully and without outright separation – something the Founding Fathers clearly saw as imperative before the “ivory tower” philosophical reasons to absolve government were invoked. Finally, it notes that since EVERYTHING ELSE has been tried, they have to admit reality: there is no other option but war, but as soon as the war is won, friendship should once again reign supreme:
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
And finally, the coup de grace, the statement that marks each of these men traitors to the country they have been a part of – and Founding Fathers and Patriots to the country they are now founding:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Outside of the New Testament, this is the single most radical, most revolutionary document in history.
Yet our Social Studies teachers have failed us in not teaching us every aspect of it, and forcing it to memory as much as the opening two sentences.
Maybe if they had not failed us, maybe if our parents had not failed us in doing the same, MAYBE we would not be at a point where more and more, the specific reasons for separating from King George were becoming specific reasons that men like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, John Adams, and the rest would also separate themselves from the current government of the very nation they founded.
Yesterday, “conservatives”, fanned by Faux News and Mr. RomneyCare himself (with several others) began pitching a fit that President Obama was “turning his back on Israel” (one of the gentler phrases I heard repeated quite a bit).
Here’s the problem: He didn’t. Yet again, conservatives LIE to push their own agenda, and in Faux News’ case, to increase their ratings.
Here, via the LA Times, is the section of BHO’s Mideast Speech yesterday that deals specifically with Israel and Palestine. Other than the fact that he repeatedly pledges American assistance – to BOTH groups – it is actually a reasonable approach, one centered on trying to at least get a truce in a 6,000 year old war that truly won’t be settled until Christ returns. (With various emphases added by me)
For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could be blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them. For Palestinians, it has meant suffering the humiliation of occupation, and never living in a nation of their own. Moreover, this conflict has come with a larger cost to the Middle East, as it impedes partnerships that could bring greater security and prosperity and empowerment to ordinary people.
For over two years, my administration has worked with the parties and the international community to end this conflict, building on decades of work by previous administrations. Yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues. Palestinians have walked away from talks. The world looks at a conflict that has grinded on and on and on, and sees nothing but stalemate. Indeed, there are those who argue that with all the change and uncertainty in the region, it is simply not possible to move forward now.
I disagree. At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent than ever. That’s certainly true for the two parties involved.
For the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won’t create an independent state. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.
As for Israel, our friendship is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values. Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. And we will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums. But precisely because of our friendship, it’s important that we tell the truth: The status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.
The fact is, a growing number of Palestinians live west of the Jordan River. Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself. A region undergoing profound change will lead to populism in which millions of people -– not just one or two leaders — must believe peace is possible. The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome. The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.
Now, ultimately, it is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No peace can be imposed upon them — not by the United States; not by anybody else. But endless delay won’t make the problem go away. What America and the international community can do is to state frankly what everyone knows — a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people, each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition and peace.
So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.
As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself -– by itself -– against any threat. Provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a resurgence of terrorism, to stop the infiltration of weapons, and to provide effective border security. The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state. And the duration of this transition period must be agreed, and the effectiveness of security arrangements must be demonstrated.
These principles provide a foundation for negotiations. Palestinians should know the territorial outlines of their state; Israelis should know that their basic security concerns will be met. I’m aware that these steps alone will not resolve the conflict, because two wrenching and emotional issues will remain: the future of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
But moving forward now on the basis of territory and security provides a foundation to resolve those two issues in a way that is just and fair, and that respects the rights and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Now, let me say this: Recognizing that negotiations need to begin with the issues of territory and security does not mean that it will be easy to come back to the table. In particular, the recent announcement of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for Israel:
How can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist? And in the weeks and months to come, Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question. Meanwhile, the United States, our Quartet partners, and the Arab states will need to continue every effort to get beyond the current impasse.
I recognize how hard this will be. Suspicion and hostility has been passed on for generations, and at times it has hardened. But I’m convinced that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians would rather look to the future than be trapped in the past. We see that spirit in the Israeli father whose son was killed by Hamas, who helped start an organization that brought together Israelis and Palestinians who had lost loved ones. That father said, “I gradually realized that the only hope for progress was to recognize the face of the conflict.” We see it in the actions of a Palestinian who lost three daughters to Israeli shells in Gaza. “I have the right to feel angry,” he said. “So many people were expecting me to hate. My answer to them is I shall not hate. Let us hope,” he said, “for tomorrow.”
The GOP reaction of the past 24 hrs or so does NOT move us forward – it is hard to go backward in this case, and I do not believe the GOP reaction does that, it simply makes it that much harder to move FORWARD, and FORWARD in this particular case is towards a lasting peace that should be the goal of ALL nations.
To the rabidly “pro” Israel crowd, (I would actually say they are very much “anti” in their actual positions, based on their words and actions), I point out that Obama specifically left a MASSIVE concession to Israel in there: that a Palestinian State would not have a military to defend itself with. Were I a Palestinian, that would be one of the first things I would take OFF the table – but it would not preclude me from going to the table to begin with.
How would the US like it if someone told US we had to give up our entire ability to defend ourselves??
But as you can see above, what ACTUALLY happened and what the conservatives said happened was, as is FAR too often the case, EXTREMELY different from each other, and is yet another reason why conservatives should NEVER be trusted without triple checking them, and then triple checking them again.
This is a post whose idea has been floating in my head for a couple of days, so bear with me here.
A couple of days ago, my mind wandered while waiting for a test document to load. (For those curious, it sometimes seems like a large part of being a programmer is making a minute change, then waiting several minutes while the computer decides whether your change actually worked. Rinse and repeat.) So I wrote the general idea on my palm, shoved it back to the back of my head, and continued debugging my program.
One of the things I’m currently somewhat excited about is buying my first gun at some point in the near future and learning how to use it effectively. The primary reason here is that my wife and I will be on our own, with no family around, for the first time in our lives. And I’m doing everything I can to protect her – which means both of us are getting guns and learning how to use them, while hoping we never have to fire a shot for defensive purposes.
So during that particular test, my mind wondered to what would happen if someone actually did break in. It is these mental exercises that I use to prepare myself for any and every emergency, so that even without actually practicing the maneuvers physically (which would be even better), my mind reacts “instinctually” as soon as one of the scenarios begins playing out.
During this particular scenario (someone breaking in during the night, with both me and my wife asleep in the bedroom), the response I decided on was pretty straightforward. Both of us grab our guns and my wife takes the dog and the cat and hides quietly, while I venture out carefully to find out what is happening and deal with it.
But it is what happens next in this scenario that made me start thinking even more:
She needs to alert 911 that something is happening, but I do NOT want a sound coming from where she is hiding, as that could expose her to even more danger. If she calls, no matter how quietly she talks, in a silent apartment it will be loud enough to be heard.
She needs to TEXT 911 and let them know what is going on…
but no 911 system I am aware of has such a capability!
911 systems are some of the best, most capable emergency response systems around. They could pinpoint a phone (using addresses and landlines, or even a rough triangulation using cell phone towers) long before GPS was a standard cell phone feature. They can direct any number of emergency responders to any location in their area within seconds.
Yet they cannot handle a simple text message, something virtually EVERY OTHER SYSTEM currently in use (most social networks, cell networks, even some VOICE networks can translate text to voice and vice versa!) can do.
I don’t know what it would take to upgrade a 911 system to handle text messages. I’m pretty sure they can already do at least some level of data exchange, due to the fact that they can communicate with the in-dash systems in police and other emergency vehicles.
But think of how much safer our families would be if they did not have to give away their location in a life or death, “someone is literally here and willing to kill me” situation!
Like I said, somewhat rambling post, the idea is still running around the back of my head. But what do y’all think?
As most of you know, I’m currently living in Aiken SC. I moved here a month ago, while my wife is still in Leesburg finishing up her teaching contract with the Lee County School System. Memorial Weekend, we’re FINALLY reunited on a permanent basis again. While I’ve enjoyed the past month of learning to date my wife again (though it SUCKS being away from her during the week), I’m REALLY looking forward to Memorial Weekend.
That said, this presents a problem:
She still owns the house in Leesburg, and obviously we can’t afford a mortgage and rent on only one salary. So we need to sell this great house right beside nearly every school in the best school system in the Albany Ga general area.
Here’s the ad my wife just put up on FB, newspaper style:
FOR SALE: 3BR/2BA house in Leesburg. 1400 sq ft, master suite w/ 3 closets, split floorplan design, sprinkler system, 6 ft privacy fenced backyard, energy efficient, close to schools, very cute! Only $113,900 OBO. Call Tonya Sexton at 229-881-3499 for more information. Please repost if you think your friends might be interested.
And here’s a few of the better pics of us in and around the house over the past 4 yrs…
and we should have more (and better!) pics up soon, so check back!
Going into Good Friday 2011, I decided to repost the past two Good Friday entries, as that seems to be the one day in a year where I KNOW I will write something for this site. This is last year’s entry. If you’ve already seen it, maybe you need to re-read it? If you haven’t, give it a shot. It was written much in the style of Jesus’ own model of standing and speaking at the Feast of Tabernacles…
Christianity was founded roughly 2,000 years ago on the shores of a big lake in the Near East that still exists today – the Sea of Galilee. It has its roots in a small town that still exists today in present-day Israel – Bethlehem. Its foundation was made permanent a city of much strife for thousands of years both before and after – Jerusalem.
It started out as a small sect of Judaism that most in its day found humorous at best, blasphemous at worst. A small group of fishermen, tax collectors, whores, and other assorted scum of the earth claimed to have met the Messiah, and that he taught that to live, you must die. He claimed he was God, a claim that makes him (paraphrasing CS Lewis here) either a liar, a lunatic, or LORD.
The Messiah had already drawn large crowds during during his life, but that was nothing new for the era. “Messiah”s of various forms had been rising up for hundreds of years before this one, gaining large crowds during their lives, only to die (usually by execution) and have their names be forgotten in the annals of history.
No, two things made this Messiah different: 1) After his extremely brutal -so brutal that he was no longer recognizable as human- and extremely public -so public that people from thousands of miles away saw it first hand- execution, he was seen by thousands living and breathing, with barely a scar on his body. 2) Because of this resurrection, this Messiah continued to draw large crowds after his death.
But 2,000 years later, his followers have devolved to where many of them – perhaps even most of them – have lost sight of the true Jesus Christ of Nazareth and what he did.
Christianity has become a cult.
You see, Christianity today worships itself over the reason it exists – Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
We Christians willingly accept bondage Christ never meant us to have. We get wrapped up in our multi-BILLION dollar per year subculture, and we put blinders on as to what is going on with our next door neighbor, with the guy across the street, with the people down in Cat’s Alley. I’m as guilty as anyone here, don’t think I’m not preaching to myself as well.
We get wrapped up in what Casting Crowns appropriately calls the “Stained Glass Masquerade“. We go to church because we’re expected to go to church. We wear what we are expected to wear – no tshirts and shorts in OUR Sunday morning services, thank you very much! We stand up/sit down/stand up/sit down and dutifully sing and listen to the speaker, as expected. We shake hands with 2.5 of our pewmates and exchange pleasant hellos, as expected – even though we MIGHT see these people once a week, and that is in this very pew, where both we and they have sat all our lives on for 1.5 hours on Sunday morning.
We create our own rules – no mowing your grass on Sunday, no sandals in church, drinking alcohol or smoking anything at all is forbidden, no dancing, only “Christian” music at weddings. We pride ourselves in following our insane rules, and we berate those who don’t obey them – ESPECIALLY if they don’t believe them!
We have become EXACTLY what the Pharisees of Christ’s day were – the religious Judge, Jury, and Executioner. WE are the pious, and anyone who is not one of us is a heathen, to be spat upon and mocked.
Here’s the problem for us: Christ didn’t exactly hang out with the Pharisees in his day. No, he went directly to the fishermen, the tax collectors, the whores, and the other scum of the earth, and he made those people his best friends, his closest confidants, his most trusted disciples. He didn’t reach out to the religious leaders – they already had their religion. Instead, He reached out to the down and out, and he brought them up. Fishermen – a dirty, stinky profession – became Fishers of Men – men tasked with spreading Christ’s teachings throughout the world. Tax collectors became social workers, taking in the voluntary contributions of those who had extra and giving it to those who genuinely most needed the extra help. Prostitutes became models of propriety in how to live as a woman for Christ.
The Pharisees had their religion, their cult. They didn’t need Christ, he didn’t fit into their system – and by and large most of them are burning in a literal burning Hell right now because of that rejection.
Christians today face a similar choice. We can choose to be part of the Cult of Christianity and revel in our Stained Glass Masquerade. Doing so rejects Christ, and in my opinion is exactly what Christ spoke of when he spoke of separating the good wheat from the bad. If you remember, the bad wheat was burned in the fire – in the Cult of Christianity’s case, just as in the Pharisees’, it will be the literal burning fires of an everlasting Hell.
Or we can choose to embrace Christ and Christ Alone. We can embrace the Change. Traditions do not matter – Christ does. Appearances do not matter – Christ does. We follow Christ and Christ alone, and we leave tradition and worrying about appearances in the dust.
Heaven is counting on us making the right choice. There is a world out there begging for the Freedom that can only be found in Christ – not just in China, India, or some other far off place. It is in our nation, in our State, in our Counties, in our Cities, on our streets – and in our homes. In our own hearts.
Twelve men, scum of the earth when Jesus met them, once changed the world. There are millions that claim Christianity now in the US alone. Just think of what they could do if they actually embraced Christ and all that He is.
Going into Good Friday 2011, I decided to repost the past two Good Friday entries, as that seems to be the one day in a year where I KNOW I will write something for this site. This is the 2009 entry, where I discuss the original ‘Good’ (really anything BUT!) Friday.
As we enter into one of the most holy days of Christianity, I wanted to share my thoughts on the concept of ‘Good’ Friday.
You see, to me, most people get lost in either the genuine holiness that is Easter Sunday – which is a good thing, so far as it goes – or they get lost in the traditions and celebrations that are only marginally connected to the day itself, such as the Easter Bunny and all of its trappings.
But by and large, ‘Good’ Friday is largely ignored. Sure, there are cross walks in many towns across this country where local dignitaries carry a large cross from some point to another, with the typical destination being the town courthouse. But these are rituals, nothing more, and are largely ignored by the public at large. Indeed, I can’t even tell you whether or not such events are happening in either Albany or Leesburg, and I’ve lived here for nearly three years!
To me, ‘Good’ Friday being ignored is perhaps one of the single greatest tragedies to ever occur. YES, the celebration day is undoubtedly Easter Sunday. But without a deep reflection on the events of ‘Good’ Friday, there is no deep understanding of the true power of Easter Sunday. You cannot fully appreciate a perfectly sunny, cloudless day without also having experienced the darkest of dark nights, and the same holds true here.
You see, there was nothing ‘good’ about the original Good Friday. I may have my timeline slightly off, but I believe the Last Supper happened on Thursday night/evening. Towards the end of it, Christ calls out Judas Iscariot as his traitor, and basically tells him to go do what he is destined to do. He then retires to the Mount of Olives with the disciples to pray, and even at this point – even as Iscariot is leading the men who are about to arrest Jesus to him – Jesus of Nazareth begs his Father to find some other way to redeem mankind. This is a man who knows he is about to die but wants to live. He KNOWS his death is the only way to redeem mankind, but he is still BEGGING for another way. And he knows all of this even as he KNOWS that his human death only releases him back to his full glory as God the Son, one third of the Trinity yet fully God. Even knowing this, he still doesn’t want to face the full pain he knows is coming, but he readily accepts it anyway. Could you say you would do the same? Don’t answer that blindly. Deeply consider it. Knowing everything that would happen – and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, for all of its brutality, probably STILL doesn’t come close to what actually happened – could you WILLINGLY endure that to save a single life? Christ did.
But I get ahead of myself. Once at the Mount of Olives, the disciples are tired. They’ve traveled a long way, and they’ve just had a very emotional meal with the man they deeply love and consider the Messiah, the man who will overthrow Rome – and he says he is about to die. So they get to the Mount of Olives, and they fall asleep. I dare any of you to say you would have actually done any differently, knowing only what they knew at the time. Jesus comes to wake them a couple of times, urging them to prayer and telling them that his time has nearly expired. Yet they still fall asleep, even while their Messiah begs for his life.
Finally, around midnight – against Jewish law, by the way – the Jewish leaders, led by Judas Iscariot, come to the Mount of Olives to arrest Jesus. Peter is so alarmed (and so belligerent by nature), that he draws his sword – but he is so tired that while aiming to cut a guy’s head off, only gets his ear. Jesus heals the ear and allows himself to be arrested. I can’t help but think of how Frank Peretti would probably describe the scene, with hoards of demons ready for all out war and relishing in their victory over the Son of God readily submitting to them, all the while as the entire Host of Heaven stands by, their weapons sheathed at the command of the Father. If an angel cries at the sins of one man, how much more sorrow must they have felt watching the Son of God submit himself to the full fury of Lucifer.
The next 18 hours or so fly by as the disciples are scared out of their minds. The Messiah has been illegally arrested on false charges, and yet he is being sentenced to die, and the Romans are playing along with the Jewish leaders. They’ve been seen as Jesus’ closest friends for the past 3 years, and they could be next! They are afraid for their lives, yet at least two of them hang back in the crowds as Jesus is tried, tortured, and executed.
One of them, Peter, denies three times knowing Jesus, even going so far as to curse and swear that he does not know the man – just as the rooster cries. You see, 12 hrs earlier Peter had said that such would NEVER happen, and Jesus told him it would. He hangs his head in shame and we don’t hear from him again until Sunday. My bet is that he went into hiding somewhere where much alcohol was available, but no one on this side of Heaven knows exactly what he was doing in this period.
The other, John, follows the crowd even to Golgotha. There, Jesus tells him to watch over Mary, Jesus’ mother. What love must he have had, and what strength, to watch someone he so deeply loved tortured and executed in such a brutal fashion. And the same goes for Mary, who we haven’t heard much from since the Christmas story 33 years earlier. She knew from the beginning that her first son was God’s Only Son, yet he was STILL her first born. And she was having to watch him be beaten beyond all recognition as human, only to then be crucified along side common thiefs.
Finally, we come back to the view from Christ himself. Up until he goes up on the cross, he has enjoyed constant communion with he real dad, God the Father. But once Jesus is on the cross, all of humanity’s sins from Adam until the very end of time are placed on Jesus. Everything the worst people in history have ever done, God considered Jesus to have done it. Every lie we tell today, every affair we have, and any other sin we to today in our every day lives, God considered Jesus to have done it. And he was so incredibly repulsed by it that even He had to turn his back on such vileness. When Jesus was on the cross, in his hour of most desparate need, he was so despicable to his own father that he could not look at him. No one else in all of history has been so despicable to God as to warrant such an action, and because of Easter Sunday no one ever will be.
The next days are again a blur, we know nothing about them. The disciples, presumably, are in hiding at best, drunk and/or suicidal at worst. The man they love most, who they genuinly believed would overthrow Rome, has been arrested by the Jewish leaders and executed by Rome, and they could be next.
Finally, the very darkest hour arrives. After all of the weekend’s prior events, some of the ladies go to where they laid Jesus’ body in a borrowed tomb, only to find the tomb unsealed and the body missing.
Not only has everything else happened, now someone has stolen the body! This is rock bottom, things can absolutely get no worse.
And they are right. For there in the garden with them is a lowly gardener. They probably saw him as they walked in. The ladies run to Peter and John with the news, and Peter and John come to investigate – because they don’t believe the ladies that such a terrible compounding of their situation has happened-, only to see exactly what the ladies saw.
Finally, Mary comes back. She encounters a couple of angels who tell her that was Christ had said would happen has happened. Puzzled and still in the deepest of sorrows, she walks back into the garden, where she encounters the gardener. He asks her what she is looking for, and she basically says that if he has taken the body, PLEASE tell her where she can find it, and she’ll put it back in the tomb. She is DESPARATE at this point, and she is begging just for the body. She knows the Christ is dead, but she still wants to at least give his body a proper burial.
But the gardener says one single word instead:
‘Mary’.
He calls her by her name, and she instantly recognizes him. HE’S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!! JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH IS ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE SAW HIM TORTURED AND EXECUTED, BUT HE IS ALIVE STANDING HERE WITH NOT A SCRATCH ON HIS BODY!!!!!!! HE’S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That, my friends, is how you get the full impact of the story of Easter Sunday, and it is why the song ‘He’s Alive’ is one of my all time favorites. Growing up, I heard it sung by Mike Lemming live in concert several times, and it truly sums up Easter. I leave you with the lyrics:
The gates and doors were barred and all the windows fastened down;
I spent the night in sleeplessness and rose at every sound
Half in hopeless sorrow and half in fear the day
Would find the soldiers breakin’ thru to drag us all away
And just before the sunrise I heard something at the wall
The gate began to rattle and a voice began to call;
I hurried to the window and looked down into the street
Expecting swords and torches and the sounds of soldier’s feet
There was no one there but Mary so I went down to let her in;
John stood there beside me as she’d told us where she’d been.
She said “They moved Him in the night and none of us knows where;
The stone’s been rolled away and now His body isn’t there!”
We both ran t’ward the garden, then John ran on ahead;
We found the stone and empty tomb just the way that Mary said.
But the winding sheet they wrapped Him in was just an empty shell;
And who or where they’d taken Him was more than I could tell.
Well, something strange had happened there,
but just what I didn’t know;
John believed a miracle but I just turned to go.
Circumstance and speculation couldn’t lift me very high
‘Cause I’d seen them crucify Him, then I saw Him die.
Back inside the house again the guilt and anguish came;
Everything I’d promised Him just added to my shame.
When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name;
And even if He was alive, it wouldn’t be the same
But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume;
Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.
Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide;
And I fell down on my knees, and just clung to Him and cried.
He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes,
Love was shining out from Him like sunlight in the skies
Guilt in my confusion disappeared in sweet release
And every fear I’d ever had just melted into peace
CHORUS
He’s alive! He’s alive, He’s alive and I’m forgiven!
Heaven’s gates are open wide:
He’s alive, He’s alive, oh He’s alive and I’m forgiven
Heaven’s gates are open wide
He’s alive, He’s alive, hallelujah He’s alive
Since December, I have known I would be leaving Leesburg soon. For a while, I thought I would be going to Macon, where my job was at the time. The job was great, but the city was not.
That changed about a month ago when I decided to look for another job. Within a month, I had found another job with a very cool sounding title – Nuclear Software Engineer – in Aiken, SC. Aiken is a much better town than Macon, and I’m very much looking forward to living in the Central Savannah River Area.
Looking back on my time in Leesburg, I have no regrets. I came to the town because my then fiancee, now wife, was a native of Lee County, having grown up barely a half a mile outside the Leesburg City Limits and was living her dream – teaching at Lee County High.
As with any new environment, I started out quietly, trying to observe more than talk. To this day, I still remember the first time I had a political encounter in Leesburg. It was the summer of 2008, and some guy named Jim Quinn showed up at my door asking for my vote in his run for mayor. I didn’t know anything about the politics of the city at the time, but when it came time to vote, his was the only name I knew and thus he got my vote.
A few months later, I started a blog that came to be known as SWGAPolitics.com, which we just shut down less than a month ago. At first, it was primarily focused on looking at the legislative record of the various SWGA legislators.
In March and April of 2009, I began to use SWGAPolitics.com in a more local role, using it to coordinate news of the brand new (at the time) Tax Day Tea Party events in both Albany and Leesburg. Indeed, I was listed as a co-organizer of the Leesburg event.
In the summer of 2009, I made one of the biggest mistakes I made in SWGAPolitics.com’s history – I added a man as an author on the site who turned out to be a liar and a lunatic. When his lies were brought to my attention, I gave him a chance to come clean. He did not, and I removed him from SWGAPolitics.com, vowing never to affiliate myself with any group which he was a part of – a vow I have kept.
It was due to this situation that I first began talking to Ed Duffy and Rick Muggridge – the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners. In August of 2009, I began attending every meeting of the Board and writing about them, as well as live tweeting them on my twitter account. In September of 2009, I began doing the same with the Leesburg City Council meetings.
Also that September, I learned that the Leesburg City Council was having elections that November, and that there was expected to be no opposition to any of the Councilmen. This was and is completely unacceptable to me, and so I decided within about 24 hrs that I would run. I challenged Richard Bush and ran a campaign centered on being a newer, younger voice that was at the same time more politically knowledgeable than my opponent. That was a great learning experience for me, one I will never forget even though I lost handily 70-20 – out of nearly 1500 registered voters.
As that campaign began, I did something I had never done before – I videotaped the meeting of Lee County leaders and the brand newly-appointed State Transportation Planning Director Todd Long. Not only did I videotape this meeting, but I also put that tape on YouTube so all could see for themselves exactly what was said, absent even my own commentary.
The next meeting I taped was the December 2009 meeting of the Lee County Board of Commissioners. For Christmas that year, I got a tripod for my camera, and with it I began videotaping every meeting I went to.
After the November loss to Mr. Bush, I had intended from the very moment I learned the results to try again. In April 2010, Steve Kitchens – the man I was considering challenging in my next run, though this is the first time I’ve publicly said that – resigned from the Council, setting up a Special Election that turned out to be in September. I hadn’t intended on running again so soon, but neither could I pass up the opportunity. So I ran, and from what I have been told some people began recruiting opposition for me – Rhonda Futch was apparently at least their second choice.
I ran a much better campaign the second time. I learned from my mistakes from the first time in relying on newspaper ads, and I made it a point to actively knock on doors and call people. I solicited and received campaign donations, and was able to thus get several dozen yard signs, which I worked to get out at strategic points for visibility. I also made a few mistakes on this campaign, going off message late in the game and not responding in the press as I should have.
As a final note on that campaign, I want to point out a couple of things:
1) I still believe I was by FAR the better choice. (And seriously, why would anyone run any campaign if they didn’t believe that to their very core?) That said, Ms. Futch has managed to surprise me on a couple of occassions, and she may yet turn out to be a force for – if not good, at least not as bad as I had feared.
2) I want to thank all roughly 120 or so voters from that 2010 campaign, as well as the 90 voters from the 2009 campaign. Those that voted for me made the right choice for Leesburg – and those that voted for my opponents unknowingly (even I didn’t realize it at the time) made the right choice for me personally. It was because of those nearly 200 votes against me that I was in the position I was in last month in being able to leave SWGA, and for that you have my sincere gratitude.
While I’m on that particular topic, I want to address one criticism I’ve heard through the grapevine in the past few weeks. It has been said that I somehow do not love Leesburg because I have chosen to leave it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Leesburg will always hold a very dear place in my heart. It is my wife’s hometown, the town we lived in for most of the first four years of our marriage, and the place where I came into my own as a man. Moving changes none of that.
Back to the videotaping: There are those who like it, and those who don’t. By and large the ones who don’t like it feel this way because either a) they can’t control it (as some have said rather directly in meetings I taped) or b) because they didn’t want the public to know what was said – something that fortunately none were brave enough to outright admit to. However, it did have those who at least appreciated it, saying that it made them at least be more careful in how they presented things. In all honesty, that was exactly one of the secondary goals of that project. The primary goal being simply to give those who – for whatever reason – could not make the meetings a chance to at least have a complete and accurate record of exactly what happened gavel to gavel, absent any news media limitations or comments. In that goal, the videotaping was a success the moment I put the first tape on youtube.
Some final thoughts:
First, there are going to be three seats on the Council open for election this November. There needs to be a minimum of 6 candidates. As of the last time I filed, the filing fee itself is only $54 to run. Beyond that, it is possible to win with little money spent – simply knock on every door and call every single person in Leesburg. Money makes things a bit easier, but I’m pretty sure I outspent my opponents in both of my races – and we see where that got me.
Second, Leesburg has 1500 or so registered voters. While I am somewhat pleased that I managed to drive turnout higher for a special election than for a general election, the turnout figures in both of my races was absolutely pathetic. Take pride in your town, Leesburg. Even if you’re not going to go to Council meetings, at least get out there and vote. Letting not even 10% of the voters make your decision for you is not democracy – it is oligarchy, and one you can change!
Third, people need to step up and fill the void I am leaving. I am no one special – anyone can do what I was doing, and probably even more effectively than I was. Videotaping the meetings and putting them on youtube requires only about 4 hrs of your time in any month (for just Leesburg City Council meetings) and is not a difficult process. The software is dirt cheap – the programs I use were $60 and you get a wide range of audio/ video tools combined. All it requires is a dedication to serving your town and working to make it better.
Fourth, my wish for Leesburg and Lee County: Learn to have your own identity. Don’t be content with being the bedroom community for Albany – make Albany the bedroom community for you! Having lived in both Dougherty and Lee, I can say without equivocation that Lee is by FAR superior, so start acting like it! Don’t let businesses such as Kohl’s, Best Buy, and others locate within a mile of the border in Dougherty County – get them to move within a mile of the border in LEE County! The corollary to this to get active in ALL aspects of your community – religion seems to be very active, but community service such as Rivers Alive and the Butterfly Kisses build need your help. Politics needs your involvement – even as simply a concerned citizen. Spread the message of Lee County as an attractive destination for both people and businesses to move far and wide. Take both ownership and pride in your town! Don’t just sit back in anonymous forums such as commenting online, the Soapbox, and the Sqawkbox and bitch – put your name to your work, take a stand, and DO SOMETHING to fix the problems you see!
Finally, I want to thank the friends I’ve made along the way – Jim Quinn (Leesburg Mayor/ publisher of Lee County Ledger), Carlton Fletcher (Lee County reporter/ metro editor for Albany Herald), Jana Barnello (formerly of WFXL), Romney Smith (WFXL), Casey Moore (Leesburg City Manager), and Veronica Johnson (Lee County Elections Supervisor) in particular. These are some of the best reporters/ officials in not just Lee County, but in my experience living all over Georgia, some of the best in the State.
