Give Me That Old Time Religion

My friends, please pardon the caps (“shouting”) in the following but I felt it was a necessary part of the story . . . . when a preacher preaches and shouts, those shouted words should be in caps!

The old-time preachers really went after sinners in their sermons.  They shouted and jumped about and worked themselves up into an awful frenzy trying to save souls! 

They preached about damnation and the fate of fire-and-brimstone for those who sinned by breaking one or another of the Ten Commandments!  That was then; this is now.

Today, a lot of people today take a quite different approach.  They personalize their conception of the Lord, merging moral and spiritual values together.  In this manner, they create a new harmony in how they live their lives, how they treat others, and how they want to be treated. 

But the old-time preachers were fist-bangers; they banged their fists down hard and shouted for sinners to come forth and repent!  They shouted out about sin and they might single out a member of their congregation for particular attention . . . they might shout:

“ADULTERER!   FORNICATOR!!   PREVARICATOR!!!    BLASPHEMER!!!”

“YOU ARE LYING AND SINNING BUT OUR GREAT GOD WILL FIND YOU OUT!!”

The old-time preachers took the Commandments very seriously and they surely expected their congregants to do the same.  It was the “Lord’s Word” they was a-preaching! 

“THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”

“THOU SHALT NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WIFE”

These commandments kind of speak for themselves, don’t they? 

As for “fornication”, that’s an older way to refer to people who sleep around too much, especially two persons, not married to each other, having sexual intercourse.

“Prevaricator” may sound like “fornicator” but it’s just a fancy way to say “LIAR”, a person who speaks falsely:

“THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR”.  (Quit your lying ways!) 

“BLASPHEMY” means showing contempt for God.  Certainly if a prevaricating fornicating adulterer goes around adulterating, fornicating, and prevaricating that pretty much establishes proof that person is showing contempt for the Commandments and the Author behind them: hence “BLASPHEMER!”

Well, young people today might laugh to hear talk of such sermons but these Old Time Preachers took it all mighty seriously and the E-VAN-GEL-I-CALS claim they still do. 

Their play book is pretty simple:

If sinners break one or another of these commandments some very bad things will happen; namely, they can’t be saved.  Instead, they will suffer eternal damnation in the fiery pits of hell! 

What’s even more amazing is the fact that one of these preachers could be invited to the White House to preach,, maybe even in the Rose Garden.  If that happens, the preacher could look the president right in the eye and shout out:

“ADULTERER!   FORNICATOR!!   PREVARICATOR!!!    BLASPHEMER!!!”

“YOU ARE CHEATING, LYING, AND SINNING BUT THE GREAT GOD WILL FIND YOU OUT!!”

It doesn’t bother me so much this scenario isn’t ever likely to  happen but it surely does make me wonder about all them smug uppity-lip holier-than-thou E-VAN-GEL-I-CALS.   

After the election of Donald Trump, they seem to have chosen a mighty strange time to keep real quiet (considering how much noise they’ve been making right along). 

This is their religion, isn’t it?  These are their commandments, aren’t they? 

You gotta wonder if they aren’t breaking a few rules themselves by keeping silent.  Surely such willful blindness must be a form of prevarication all by itself!

The Bible teaches that we are all brothers and sisters.  Common sense tells us that we are responsible for one another. 

Whether we are religious or secular-minded, we must speak up when we see a whole lot of sinning and a whole lot of prevaricating going on, even if it’s the president . . . especially if it’s the president.    

Think of it!  Each and every one of these four denunciatory nouns can be leveled against the president of the United States and yet these Holy-Holies are keeping their mouths tightly shut.   

In olden times, they would have been the first to jump to their feet and join the preacher as he warmed to his task, as he got to preaching and signifying--only too glad to help him condemn some poor sinner’s wayward path in life! 

Now, not even a peep loud enough for anyone to hear.  Listen to that silence.   

No man, great or small, is free from having his character weighed on the scales of truth. 

I reckon it’s time for the Holy-Holies to start examining their own house to put it in order. 

There’s something wrong when a Holy-Holy can sit still and keep quiet while a preacher can look the president straight in the eye and shout out, loud and clear, for all to hear:

“ADULTERER!   FORNICATOR!!   PREVARICATOR!!   BLASPHEMER!!!”

GLOSSARY:

Adulterer: one who cheats on his/her spouse during marriage. 

Prevaricator: one who prevaricates, someone who habitually tells lies.

Fornicator: an unmarried person who engages in sexual intercourse, especially when considered to be of an illicit or illegal nature.

Blasphemer: one who is disrespectful toward god, who uses god’s name in vain, who breaks sacred commandments.

Why Won't Congress Vote?

Wow!  What a week for the White House and politics in the nation’s capital! 

A lot has been happening this past week.  Instead of the usual one or two newsworthy items competing for the limelight, there are at least half a dozen issues: some national, some personal.   Let’s take a look, one at a time.  For today: Congress and gun control.

The president gave mixed signals on supporting legislation aimed at improving gun control.  Congress immediately took its cue from his uncertainty and said they would not address the issue, citing as a primary reason the president’s wavering. 

The reasoning of GOP leaders went something like “Why bother if we can’t be sure if the president will even sign a new bill?”  That’s a novel take on this historical moment with seventeen more high school students shot and killed with an AR-15 rifle last month. 

Apparently what we were taught in school is not really true, that Congress is the legislative branch of government and passes laws for the good of the country.  We were taught that If Congressmen feel strongly about an issue, they may address it with legislation--regardless of how the president feels. 

Their current position seems to transform Congress into a rubber stamp mill; they can only approve what the president already approves, effectively offering to surrender their independent initiative.  (If this reminds anyone of how dictatorial powers evolve, your eyesight is fine!)

If Congress stood up and passed new gun control laws in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, they would be applauded by many for their courage and principle; polls indicate 70% of the American people favor such action. 

Even if the president were to veto the bill, so what?  At least the onus would be on his shoulders, not theirs.  At least they could say proudly: “Just because the NRA gives us lots of money, it doesn’t mean they control every vote we take on gun control legislation”.  Sadly, they cannot yet make such a claim.

Further, these GOP representatives conveniently forget the key provision in the Constitution that allows Congress to override a presidential veto.  Heavens to Betsy!  Who knew?  You mean to say Congress can still introduce, debate, and pass laws without the president’s approval? 

Who would have guessed the Founding Fathers ingenious enough to craft such a well-balanced system?  Their ideas on self-government seem wise and far-reaching.  Unfortunately, the current Congress seems hell-bent on undoing these guiding principles for balancing the three branches of government. 

This is a serious abdication of Congress’ responsibility, particularly in light of a president who lacks mature leadership skills and sound judgment.  Congress should be stepping up to the plate, not shying away from legislation because of NRA lobbying. 

Is it not better to stand on principle and be defeated in the next election than to become merely another mouthpiece for the NRA while American children lay dead on a high school campus? 

The NRA coffers are filled with blood-soaked money : the blood of 17 innocent high school students whose lives were cut tragically short.  Why has Congress coldly abandoned their grieving families? 

How many more school massacres must we endure before Congress is moved to act?

A Question of Prejudice? Immigrants Go Home!

Speech before the Ruling Council

    

Are you tired of all these illegal immigrants the way I am?  I think they have some nerve! They leave the country where they were born and come to America because they believe things will be so much easier for them here.  Do they ever think about the people already here? 

They come to this land thinking they can do anything they want.  They don't have to care about the culture or customs or laws of the people already living here.  Sure, maybe they were sick of the oppression and poverty in the old country but does that give them a right to come here? 

Maybe they should think about staying where they were born and try to fix the problems of their own societies instead of coming here and creating more problems than before.

You know, my brothers and sisters, the ways of the illegal aliens are way different from our own.  They don't live like we do; they don't have the same values and beliefs.  We know how to keep ourselves and our homes clean; they are dirty to us.  They bring guns and violence with them; they kill animals and people, sometimes without thinking! 

Yes, I am very sick of all these illegal aliens who come to this country without papers, who get off the boat and don't ask anybody for permission to land, who set up their houses and farms anywhere they want, even if it means destroying the way of life of the people who were there first!

“I say to all of them- go back home! 

I say to all the Pilgrims and Puritans and other illegal aliens and all their descendants: Go back home to your own country! 

To all the Germans, Italians, and Russians, I say the same thing: Go away! 

We don't want you here!!!” 

P.S.  You may come back and apply for admission when your papers are in order!