Random Quotation
“Until you are ready to change any minute, you can never see the truth; but you must hold fast and be steady in the search for truth.”
—Vivekananda
Are You Proud to Be an American?
By Lester | September 15, 2011
Are you proud to be an American? Do you proudly recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the way we used to be taught in school, and don’t care who it offends nowadays?
Consider this: Jesus said, “My brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation” (James 5:12; also Mattthew 5:34).
A true patriot doesn’t need a pledge, nor the words “In God We Trust” on our money. (Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip!) Those things are mere lip service. And if we aren’t careful, they become mindless war chants.
If you’re a Bible believer, you have to admit that book takes a pretty dim view of pride. Consider Proverbs 11:12, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom,” or the famous Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Consider the apostle’s words in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” In fact, it seems impossible to find a single positive use of the word pride in those scriptures.
Here’s a list of synonyms Microsoft Word supplies for proud: “arrogant, conceited, self-important, swollen with pride, pompous, self-righteous, overconfident, bigheaded, egotistical.”
So no, I’m not proud to be an American. I’m happy to be an American. Thrilled, even! I’m exceedingly pleased to be able to speak my mind on subjects like this and continue a tradition of democracy and debate. If you’re of a similar disposition, let’s celebrate our freedom together!
Otherwise, please tootle your proud horn somewhere else.
Photo by Sam Howzit
Topics: Announcements, Commentary, Politics | No Comments »
Twitter Promo
By Lester | September 11, 2011
Hmm. I currently have 593 followers on Twitter.
Tell you wnat: I’ll send the 600th follower a Popcorn Press book of his or her choice.
And if you Tweet this or make a Facebook post, and send a message saying so to contact at popcornpress dot com, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a free Popcorn Press book as well.
Image from Twitter Buttons
Topics: Announcements | No Comments »
Neither/Nor
By Lester | August 17, 2011
What does the photo above say to you?
My first reaction was confusion: Which way are we supposed to go? Left? Right? Confronted with such a dichotomy, given so little context, how are we to choose? Like the photographer, we stand flatfooted, unable to proceed.
Then another reading occurred to me. In the words of the George of the Jungle theme song, “Watch out for that tree!”
Or, put more simply, “Go around.” There’s no need for utterly committing to a 90-degree turn. It doesn’t have to be “either/or.” One quick jog to the right or left, and we can resume our course straight on.
I suspect there’s a political metaphor in there somewhere.
Topics: Announcements | No Comments »