Category: Christianity

The Dream Lives On…

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment, Politics4 Comments

Today, a lot of Americans, including me, have the day off.  Why?  America is observing a national holiday in observance of a civil rights pioneer:

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters…

And he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, on August 28, 1963, in front of the Lincoln Memorial:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

Also during those years…

He conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

As I wrap up today’s blog, allow me to share a vivid memory, of a life ended way too soon:

It’s the night of April 4, 1968.  A 9 (and almost 1/2) year old boy is watching a program on a black and white television set in his home in the mid-town area of Memphis, Tennessee.  Suddenly, the screen changes to the Civil Defense logo and he hears a voice saying:

Will all members of the National Guard, please report to the Armory and all police and fire personnel please report to their stations.

Normal programming resumed.  Then, all of the sudden, or so it seemed, President Lyndon Baines Johnson came on the television saying:

I come to you tonight with a heavy heart…

And everything changed.

But, the Dream lives on.

Tim Tebow: Forever a Winner

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment7 Comments

I received this picture in an e-mail from a friend the other day and it asks a very good question:

Tim Tebow, former starting quarterback for the University of Florida, and, presently, starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League, is the most controversial figure in professional sports today.

Tebow is a devout Christian.  He is someone who talks the talk and walks the walk….a very rare quality for a professional athlete to have.

Because he dares to be a witness for his faith, he is  a huge target for Liberals in this country, who would rather Christians sit down and shut up, while at the same time hollering at the top of their lungs that Conservative Americans are intolerant, because we refuse to embrace Sharia.

For example, on December 28th, 2011, abc.com reported the following:

A tweet from liberal firebrand Bill Maher has incurred the wrath of conservatives across the U.S., who are now calling for a boycott of the political commentator’s HBO series after he slammed Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Maher, after the Broncos lost 40-14 to the Buffalo Bills Saturday, tweeted, “Wow, Jesus just f***ed #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler “Hey, Buffalo’s killing them.”

Tebow, who has left sports fans in awe of his prowess on the football field, is known to be devoutly religious, and has popularized the term “tebowing” – as in getting down on a knee and praying as events, such as a football game, still unfold around you.

The comment by Maher, who is an atheist and took world religions to task in his 2008 documentary “Religulous,” led to some colorful backlash, notable from Fox News’ Eric Bolling: “Bill Maher is disgusting vile trash. I can’t even repeat what he just tweeted about Tebow..on Christmas Eve. #straighttohellBill,” a tweet from Bolling read.

Meanwhile, a movement to boycott Maher’s HBO current events show “Real Time with Bill Maher” is developing across Twitter. The comedian has yet to comment on the controversy.

Maher’s tweet must have been missed by Tebow himself, who after the game wrote on Twitter, “Tough game today but what’s most important is being able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everyone GB2.”

What is it about a Christian man giving thanks to God during a professional football game that is so controversial?  Last Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked a couple of “experts”:

…What is it about him that has drawn so much attention and controversy?

One thing may be how visible Mr. Tebow is, said Brian Miller, an assistant professor of sociology at Wheaton College, a well-known evangelical school in Illinois. His practice of singing gospel songs while on the sidelines, taking a knee in prayer at the conclusion of the game, thanking Jesus Christ in postgame interviews and telling reporters “God bless,” before leaving all are hard to ignore.

“I think that ties to his outspokenness,” Mr. Miller said. “Any time someone talks about religion that strongly, people will react strongly.”

By contrast, players like Mr. Polamalu are quieter in the way they signal their faith or discuss it.

“When he crosses himself, he isn’t really talking to anybody, he’s not necessarily on camera,” said Mr. Miller.

The concept of “civil religion” helps explain the reaction to Mr. Tebow, Mr. Miller said. Civil religion is a term used in the sociology of religion field, he said, in which “you can invoke God sort of vaguely in American life” without spurring many objections. Examples would be a politician saying “God bless America” at the end of the speech or the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

But “when you get to specifics, like mentioning Jesus,” you have crossed a boundary from the socially acceptable “generic Christian culture” and into the realm where people become uncomfortable, or angry, Mr. Miller said.

Others see Mr. Tebow as courageous and a representative of what faithful Christians should do.

“If you believe in God, if you believe in Christ, and you want to show it, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Mr. Clark said. “I think sometimes people criticize what they don’t understand. I think he takes a little bit of negative criticism that’s unwarranted. Also, I think sometimes they make it like he’s the only Christian in the NFL. And that’s not right, either.”

A University of Pittsburgh religion professor said that it’s what Mr. Tebow says, as well as his style, that attracts criticism.

“I would first point out that if God exists, it seems unlikely that she spends her time worrying about the results of football games,” said Paula M. Kane, Marous Chair of Catholic Studies at Pitt, in an email response to questions.

She said that Mr. Tebow “represents a certain tendency among American Christians to adopt or opt for that kind of evangelical model of being highly (some would say obsessively) focused upon Jesus and imagining that only those who embrace his style of Christianity are true members of the faith” and who “see others as prospective converts because they are somehow defective.”

Mr. Tebow said he is not trying to make a grand statement with his words and actions; he simply wants to be a good Christian.

“I’m just somebody that has a relationship with Jesus Christ, and if they view that in me, then that would be a huge honor,” Mr. Tebow said. “Hopefully they just see someone that loves other people, loves what he does, tries to get better every day and tries to be someone that goes out there and makes other peoples’ lives a little better.”

Often, he said, his religious expressions are as much for him as they are other people, to “humble myself and continually tell myself who I’m putting as No. 1 in my life.”

In a telephone survey conducted by Poll Position, 1,076 Americans who are familiar with the player were asked, “Do you believe that any of Tim Tebow’s success can be attributed to Divine Intervention?” Forth-three percent of respondents said yes, 42 percent disagreed, and 14 percent expressed no opinion.

Tebow and the Broncos lost their Play-off Game last night, 45 – 10, to a strong bunch of New England Patriots.  I’m sure there will be some idiots out there today, questioning the sovereignty of God, and the entire efficacy of Christianity, over the outcome of one professional football game, a myopic view of egregious proportions.

What the critics don’t understand is, that when it comes to the game of life, Tim Tebow has already won…even when his team loses a game.

When Did I Turn Into My Parents?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment, Politics6 Comments

What made the “Greatest Generation” great?  Was it the technology available to them?  No.  Was it, as with today’s generation, worship of shallow politicians and movie stars?  No.  Per valuesofamerica.com, it was something else:

As this generation came of age, their future seemed to crash around their shoulders as the economies of the world collapsed. But this generation, following the leads of their parents and the entire heritage of America, would not surrender. They did not bow their heads in misery and despair.

During the Great Depression, the Greatest Generation, with their parents, accomplished whatever tasks opened before them. They built Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building under budget and under schedule.

Hundreds of CCC projects around the nation were completed creating many of the courthouses of the nation, many improvements to the national parks and all manner of public work.

The burden of the Second World War fell almost entirely upon the shoulders of the Greatest Generation. Their backbones had become as strong as steel, their shoulders wide enough to carry the republic through the turmoil of complete war, through rationing, past defeat and into the atomic age.

I’ve written about my Daddy (Southern colloquialism for male parental unit) before. He was a member of the Greatest Generation.  He was a Master Sergeant in World War II, who landed at Normandy, during the D-Day Invasion, as a part of an Army Engineering Unit.  They went on to help clear out the concentration camps.

He never talked about the Invasion.  All I knew was that he was in Europe during World War II, and his first wife sent him a “Dear Ned” letter while he was over there.  When he got back, he worked at various jobs, including being a car salesman, and driving a truck for a beer distributor.

One of those jobs was as a furniture salesman for Sears.  It was there where he met my Mother.  She worked in Unit Control, where she ordered women’s shoes.  She, too, was divorced and had a young daughter, whom my Daddy proceeded to raise as his own.

They had a daughter together, my sister, and settled into the day-to-day-business of living, believing their child raising days would soon be over.

The Lord, as he often does, had other plans.  I arrived 9 years after my sister was born, and 3 days before my Mother’s 40th birthday.   To this day, I believe that they were going to name me “Oops”.

I had a typical American childhood, being raised by 2 Middle Class Working Parents, in a Christian home.  My parents were a little different from others.  My Daddy sang in church, had a joke or story for every occasion, and made friends with every one he met.  My mother was a sports fan, who loved  St. Louis Cardinals Baseball and Memphis State University Tiger Basketball.  She’s the one who pushed me as a child.  So much so, that I wound up graduating high school 30th out of a class of 360.   Our couch always seemed to have one of my sister’s friends camped out on it, who was having trouble at home.  They knew where they could find a sympathetic ear.

My parents were Southern Democrats…until Ronald Wilson Reagan came along.  It’s funny, looking back.   I was experiencing a political awakening, while working as the Campus Radio News Director as a 20-something collegian, and so were they.  As the Democratic Party they knew and loved all those years, morphed into an unrecognizable Liberal imposter of its former self, my parents bid adieu and became Republicans.  So did I.

This joint political conversion should have given me a clue.

I eventually married and gained a step-son, then a daughter of my own.  Looking back, as I was holding and loving my special child, I was mimicking my Daddy.  My special girl is 24 now, and I value every moment I get to spend with her.

I went on to have two more step-sons, both remarkable young men now.  My current step-son and his wife have presented my bride and I with a wonderful grandson, now 4 years old, as a playmate to keep around the house and send him back home when we’re through spoiling him, or, he wears us out, whichever comes first.  I truly believe that his first words were:

Grandpa…cookie!

Looking at the way I relate to him, and the way I related to my step-sons, my darling daughter, and even my niece and nephews, I look in the mirror and see my Daddy.  In my 30 years of singing in churches and leading services, I’ve heard him standing right beside me, singing in my ear.

Every time I watch my Alma Mater, the University of Memphis, play basketball, or watch the St.Louis Cardinals play baseball, I think of my mother.

So, when did I turn into my parents?

It happened the moment I started accepting responsibility for those other lives that God gave me stewardship over.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kingsjester’s 2011

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

Hello, 2012!  It sure did take you a long time to get here.  It feels like forever.

But, by God’s Grace, we’re still here, living in the greatest country on His green Earth.

Last night, my bride and I were watching a Gaither program on our local PBS station, that was taped at the Billy Graham Training Center.  The great Rickey Skaggs was on the program and he sang a song, whose words touched my heart.

And I as sat down later and read about this Blog’s accomplishments for 2011, the words hit me right between my eyes:

Somebody’s praying

Somebody’s praying for me

Mighty hands are guiding me

To protect me from what I can’t see

Lord I believe

Lord I believe

Somebody’s praying for me

Angels are watching

I can feel them

Angels are watching over me

There’s many miles ahead ’till I get home

Still I’m safely kept before Your throne

Lord I believe

Lord I believe

Angels are watching over me

Well I’ve walked barren wilderness

Where my pillow was a stone

And I’ve been through the darkest caverns

Where no light had ever shone

Still I went on ’cause there was someone

Who was down on their knees

And Lord I thank you for those people

Praying all this time for me.

Thank you for supporting me this year.  You are my experts, my critics, and, truly, the wind beneath my wings.

Today is my 640th post.  I could not have written one, with your prayers and support.

As we head toward Election Day, November 6, 2012, I resolve to continue to fight the good fight, to write about the country I love, and the American values that have made her great.

I’m going to keep my chin up.  You do the same.

Now, please click on the following link to see what we have accomplished together in 2011.

I love y’all.  God bless America! – KJ

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 58,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 21 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Celebration of the Greatest Gift of All

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity4 Comments

Luke 2: 8-14 (ASV)

8 And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

9 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:

11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

In 1912, C.P.J. Mooney worked as  the editor for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN.  He wrote an editorial that has become a yearly tradition, not only in Memphis, but around the world.  Here it is, presented for the second year, as my Christmas Gift to you, my much appreciated readers.

Jesus, The Perfect Man

There is no other character in history like that of Jesus.

As a preacher, as a doer of things, and as a philosopher, no man ever had the sweep and the vision of Jesus.

A human analysis of the human actions of Jesus brings to view a rule of life that is amazing in its perfect detail.

The system of ethics Jesus taught during His earthly sojourn 2,000 years ago was true then, has been true in every century since and will be true forever.

Plato was a great thinker and learned in his age, but his teachings did not stand the test of time. In big things and in little things time and human experience have shown that he erred.

Marcus Aurelius touched the reflective mind of the world, but he was as cold and austere as brown marble. …

Thomas a Kempis’ ”Imitation of Christ” is a thing of rare beauty and sympathy, but it is, as its name indicates, only an imitation.

Sir Thomas More’s ”Utopia” is yet a dream that cannot be realized.

Lord Bacon writing on chemistry and medicine under the glasses of the man working in a 20th century laboratory is puerile.

The world’s most learned doctors until 150 years ago gave dragon’s blood and ground tails of lizards and shells of eggs for certain ailments. The great surgeons a hundred years ago bled a man if he were wounded.

Napoleon had the world at his feet for four years, and when he died the world was going on its way as if he had never lived.

JESUS TAUGHT little as to property because He knew there were things of more importance than property. He measured property and life, the body and soul, at their exact relative value. He taught much more as to character, because character is of more importance than dollars.

Other men taught us to develop systems of government. Jesus taught so as to perfect the minds of men. Jesus looked to the soul, while other men dwelled on material things.

After the experience of 2,000 years no man can find a flaw in the governmental system outlined by Jesus.

Czar and kaiser, president and Socialist, give to its complete merit their admiration.

No man today, no matter whether he follows the doctrine of Mill, Marx or George as to property, can find a false principle in Jesus’ theory of property.

In the duty of a man to his fellow no sociologist has ever approximated the perfection of the doctrine laid down by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.

Not all the investigations of chemists, not all the discoveries of explorers, not all the experiences of rulers, not all the historical facts that go to make up the sum of human knowledge on this day in 1912 are in contradiction to one word uttered or one principle laid down by Jesus.

The human experiences of 2,000 years show that Jesus never made a mistake. Jesus never uttered a doctrine that was true at that time and then became obsolete.

Jesus spoke the truth, and the truth is eternal.

History has no record of any other man leading a perfect life or doing everything in logical order. Jesus is the only person whose every action and whose every utterance strike a true note in the heart and mind of every man born of woman. He never said a foolish thing, never did a foolish act and never dissembled.

No poet, no dreamer, no philosopher loved humanity with all the love that Jesus bore toward all men.

WHO, THEN, was Jesus?

He could not have been merely a man, for there never was a man who had two consecutive thoughts absolute in truthful perfection.

Jesus must have been what Christendom proclaims Him to be — a divine being — or He could not have been what He was. No mind but an infinite mind could have left behind those things which Jesus gave the world as a heritage.

So, on this Christmas Day, as you spend time with family and friends, remember that we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ the Righteous…and Rejoice!  For unto us a child is born…unto us a Son is given.  Hallelujah!

From the Innkeeper’s Point of View

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity8 Comments

Luke 2:  1-7 (ASV):

 1 Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.

2 This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

5 to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.

6 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I remember it like it was yesterday.  Caesar Augustus had come up with the bright idea that a census should be taken of the whole Roman Empire, in order to more effectively tax the stew out of all of us.

It especially hurt small businessmen like me.  You see, I’m nothing but a lowly innkeeper, barely keeping my head above water, working 16 hour days.  Oy!  I could continue to gripe, but who would listen?

Anyway, like I said, Caesar decreed that everyone should get themselves registered for the Census.  In terms of business, that actually turned out to be a good thing.

I was about to lock up for the night, when a young man and  woman came to the door.  He was a strong, rugged-looking young man.  I think he was a carpenter.  She was a beautiful, pregnant little thing.  Bless her heart, she looked like she would deliver at any moment.  Their names were Joseph and Mary.

My inn was packed, for once, and I had no rooms available.  But, some part of my heart told me that I just couldn’t send them away, so I offered them my stable, which would at least offer some protection from the elements.

What happened that night was wondrous.  Men are still talking about it to this day.  A precious little baby boy was born that night and the most miraculous things happened.  People said that animals actually spoke!  And the local shepherds said that angels came to them and told them about this baby.  They sang His praises and told the shepherds that they needed to come to my stable to see and worship that little baby.

Three wise men, sent by Herod, showed up later, bearing gifts for that special infant.  They were overcome by that little one and decided that they would not report back to Herod, but, instead, would return to their homes.

It was quite a remarkable time.  As the years went by, I heard stories about that child.  They named Him Jesus.  He grew in knowledge and stature.  At 12, his parents lost Him.  They found Him in the synagogue, teaching the old men that should have been teaching Him!  Can you imagine?

He grew up working beside His father in his carpentry business and when He was 30, I heard that He was baptized by that wild man, John The Baptist.  According to witnesses the heavens parted, and they heard the voice of God saying:

This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

For three years, He traveled with a group of twelve disciples, performing miracles, preaching and teaching about God’s love and His plan for mankind.

And, now I’ve heard that just yesterday, they nailed Him to a cross, executing Him as they would a common criminal.

So sad.  But, you know, there is a still, small voice inside of me that’s telling me that His story is not over, yet.

I truly hope that you enjoyed this post today.  I originally wrote the preceding story 1 year ago today in honor of this special night.

Tonight, we celebrate the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ.  In closing, I want to share two videos with you.  The first is a video entitled, “That’s my King!”, as read by Dr. S.M. Lockridge.  The second video is a song that I’ve had the privilege of performing many times.  Written by Gaither Vocal Band member Mark Lowry and musician Buddy Greene, it has become a favorite of Believers everywhere.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!  And may God bless us, everyone!

The FFRF: Suppressing Faith in the Name of “Freedom”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics8 Comments

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has had a rough week…and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch:

The Texas Attorney General has offered to defend a Texas county under attack by a group of Wisconsin atheists who are demanding that a Nativity located on the lawn of the Henderson County courthouse be torn down.

“Our message to the atheists is don’t mess with Texas and our Nativity scenes or the Ten Commandments,” Attorney General Greg Abbott told Fox News & Commentary. “I want the Freedom From Religion Foundation to know that our office has a history of defending religious displays in this state.”

Abbott sent a letter to Henderson County Judge Richard Sanders offering whatever help he could provide in the event the county is sued. He also assured the judge that the county has no legal obligation to remove the Nativity scene from the courthouse grounds.

Attorney General Abbott said the [Freedom From Religion Foundation] organization is trying to “bully local governmental bodies” and he said he wanted to make sure Henderson County knows “there is a person, a lawyer and an organization in this state that has their back, that has the law, that has the muscle and firepower to go toe-to-toe with these organizations that come from out of state trying to bully governmental bodies into tearing down things like Nativity scenes.”

Many residents and ministers in this east Texas community have vowed to fight back. Hundreds of people are expected to attend a rally on Saturday to show their support for the Nativity. Nathan Lorick, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff is one of the organizers of the rally. He called on residents to gather peacefully and in a spirit of love.

“It’s time that Americans stand up and take America back for the faith that we were founded upon,” Lorick told Fox News & Commentary last week. “We’re going to stand up and fight for this.”

…The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group based in Wisconsin, sent a letter to Henderson County explaining that a local resident had complained and they wanted the Nativity removed.

“It sends a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians and non-believers this time of year,” FFRF co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told television station KFDW.

She said the location of the Nativity — on the lawn of the courthouse in Athens, made non-Christians feel unwelcome.

“Anybody walking by that is going to say, ‘Hmmm. This is a Christian government building. I’m not welcome here if I’m not Christian,’” she told the television station.

A real charmer, isn’t she?

This past Friday, Gaylor was on “Talk Memphis”, the morning radio program on 98.9 WKIM-FM in Memphis, TN.

She had been invited to speak about the local battle that the FFRF was engaging in with the town of Whiteville, TN, who had dared to place a cross on top of a water tower in a country where 92% of the citizens believe in God.

The conversation started out pleasant enough. Eventually though, this snobbishly bitter individual’s true nature surfaced, as it always does.

She made the statement, that the mission of this 13,000 member Atheist Group to remove any mention or symbolism of Christianity from America’s public life (and private, if they could get away with it) was comparable to all of the heinous things that Blacks endured in their struggle for Civil Rights.

Well, that did not sit too well with Andrew Clarksenior, the Conservative member of the announce team, which also features Bev Hart and Ken Kincaid.

You see, Andrew is a Christian, who just happens to be Black.  Andrew served our country for 22 years in the Armed Forces and has gone on to a distinguished career with the West Memphis, Arkansas Police Department.
Andrew literally opened up a can of verbal whoop you-know-what on Little-Miss-I’m-Smarter-Than-You, much like the can that Fox Business Network Anchor Eric Boling opened up on her bitter ex-minister husband earlier in the week:

What was supposed to be a civil discussion about a nativity scene on public property in Wisconsin quickly turned into a rapid-fire attack upon Christianity when Boling interviewed Dan Barker, a spokesman for the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation. When asked why his group was pushing for the nativity scene’s removal, Barker began to attack Christianity, first by declaring that America is not Christian.

“America is a diverse country. It is not a Christian country,” Barker firmly stated. He went on to say, “The nativity scene basically is an insult to human nature, that we are all doomed and damned…”

Boling quickly cut him off by saying that he was a Christian and the nativity scene was not an insult to him. He then tried to steer the conversation back to the issue at hand – whether or not the nativity scene should be allowed on public property.

But Barker only wanted to continue hurling insults.

“By the way, why was Jesus even born?” Barker asks. “To save us from our sin. What an insult to say we are degraded and depraved human beings.”

Again Boling tried to cut him off, firmly stating, “I cannot allow that on my show. … You sir, are denigrating the name of Jesus and I’m not going to let it happen.”

He then dismissed Barker from the show, cutting to another guest’s comments. Barker was not seen further in the rest of the show.

I have been writing this post with a smile on my face.

It’s time for Americans to stand up to what I’ve labeled as “The Tyranny of the Minority”.  As I’ve written before:

Per gallup.com, 92% of Americans believe in God and 75 % of Americans proclaim their Christianity. Therefore, it stands to reason that only 8% of Americans are Atheists.

This little organization out of Wisconsin has made money from suing 57 American high schools and other entities for daring to exercise their Christian Faith in public.  I would like to know, because I’ve researched, and the actual amount is nowhere to be seen, how much these bitter snobs have made off of their endeavors.  They are not as noble as they claim.

So, on this Sunday morning, I’m  saying a prayer of thanks, support, and supplication for the folks in Henderson County, Texas and Whiteville, Tennessee.

Stay strong, y’all.  The overwhelming majority of Americans are behind you.

If “Ifs and Buts” Were Candy and Nuts..

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics11 Comments

As I write this, I have been “puzzling my puzzler”, contemplating several “What Ifs”?

What if…President Barack Hussein Obama actually loved this country, her history, her culture, and her people?

But, instead, he said this during his Presidential Campaign:

Barack Obama described small-town Pennsylvanians as “bitter,” distrustful have-nots who “cling to guns or religion” – prompting his foes to accuse him of being a condescending snob.

During a private fund-raiser last weekend in San Francisco, Obama said “the jobs have been gone now for 25 years” in a lot of small towns.

“They fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate. And they have not,” Obama continued in the riff first reported by the Huffington Post Web site.

What if…his Domestic Policies had actually worked?

But, instead, Americans are struggling in the worst economy in our lifetimes.

While the official unemployment figures continue to hover around 9% in the U.S., the real unemployment rate is closer to 16% when you factor in all those who are unemployed or significantly underemployed.

What if…we had a First Lady who took on a worthwhile cause like, say, Literacy?

But, instead, we have one that accomplishes this:

“Jumper in chief” Michelle Obama led 464 local students on the South Lawn in an effort to break a Guinness World Record for the most people jumping in a 24-hour period — the old record was 20,425. On Monday, National Geographic Kids magazine and the first lady revealed the results of the challenge.

“Today, I am proud to announce we broke that old record — and not by just a little bit,” she said in a video about the “Let’s Move” project. “With your help, we had 300,265 people jumping that day.”

To be fair, not every kid at the White House did jumping jacks for required one minute — some were so excited to be with the first lady that they just bounced up and down next to her. Apparently not a problem, though. It’s the fifth Guinness record the magazine has helped engineer, following Longest Line of Footprints and Largest Gathering of Plush Toys, among other things you didn’t know they kept records on.

What if…we had a Congress who actually performed their duties?

But, instead…

The Senate on Wednesday [12/14/11] voted against changing the Constitution to require a balanced budget as Congress hit yet another dead end in its search for a way out of its fiscal morass.

Two proposals for balanced budget amendments were doomed by the partisanship that dominates Congress. All but one Republican voted against a Democratic measure, and every Democrat opposed the GOP-backed version. Amendments to the Constitution must be approved by two-thirds of the House and Senate and three-fourths of state legislatures.

With the votes, Congress fulfilled a commitment to take up balanced budget amendments that were part of the agreement last summer to raise the government’s debt limit in exchange for $2 trillion in future spending cuts.

The House held its vote last month, falling 23 votes short of reaching the two-thirds majority.

Last month also marked the failure of the supercommittee, another product of the debt limit agreement, to come up with a course of action for making inroads into $1 trillion-a-year deficits and a national debt that has topped $15 billion.

And finally, what if…Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin had not dropped out of the race for the  Republican Presidential Nominee?

But, instead…we’ve got the Battle of the Squishes:

Mr. Romney is seeking to paint Mr. Gingrich as “an unreliable conservative” on issues like climate change. And he is seizing on a remark Mr. Gingrich made this week, condemning Mr. Romney for profiting from layoffs and corporate restructuring he oversaw in his years running Bain Capital, that many conservative commentators said sounded like a Democratic antibusiness refrain.

Mr. Romney said voters should take a closer look at Mr. Gingrich’s history of policy ideas.

“Zany is not what we need in a president,” Mr. Romney said. “Zany is great in a campaign. It’s great on talk radio. It’s great in print, it makes for fun reading, but in terms of a president, we need a leader, and a leader needs to be someone who can bring Americans together.”

Supporters, advisers and donors to Mr. Romney acknowledge a deep sense of concern. Mr. Romney finds himself in the vexing position of being perceived in many polls as the strongest Republican candidate to challenge President Obama by being able to attract moderates and independents, but facing an increasingly difficult battle for the Republican nomination because of resistance to his candidacy among conservatives.

It is a pleasant diversion to ask “what if” every now and then.  It’s a welcome relief from the stress of reality.  Unfortunately, for most of us (except Paulnuts), reality is where we live.

Yes, if “ifs and buts” were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas.  But, you know, take a word of advice from ol’ KJ, and don’t let the stress of a failed economic policy and the reality of a cobwebbed wallet spoil your Christmas.

Draw your family and friends close to you.  And together, remember the Reason for the Season.

A Yuletide Message Featuring Ben Stein and Tim Tebow

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics5 Comments

Back in 2005, writer/producer/actor/financial expert/whatever he wants to be Ben Stein wrote the following piece about The War on Christianity and Christmas:

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:

I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise’s wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It’s not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

Little did Ben Stein know that a young man from the University of Florida would become a focal point, reminding Americans about those values he espoused 6 Christmases ago.

I realize that I’ve written about Denver Broncos starting Quarterback Tim Tebow before, but, especially during this time of the celebration of the first Christmas gift, God’s only begotten son, I believe that spotlighting something extraordinary that this young man did (besides winning a 13-10 game yesterday against the Chicago Bears) is very appropriate:

An 8-year-old cancer patient, Blake Appleton, received a much-needed morale boost recently — a surprise phone call from his long-time hero Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos.

The call came this month at a particularly grim time for Blake and his family. Blake, a native of Lake Worth, Fla., recently had told his mother that he no longer wants to undergo cancer treatment after being diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor. “Without treatment, he may only have six months,” his mother, Miranda Appleton, told MyFoxOrlando.com.

“We’re in the restroom of all places, and he starts to cry,” she said. “I asked him why he was crying, and he told me, ‘Mommy, I don’t want you to be unhappy with me, but I don’t want to do anymore chemotherapy. I can’t handle it anymore.'”

Blake’s mother told MyFoxOrlando.com, “I don’t have time to cry. It might be a moment I’m missing with him.”

One of the family’s happier moments happened last week, when Tebow, a former Florida Gators star, called Blake in the hospital and sent him a personally signed football.

Saturday, Patton Dodd, writing for the Wall Street Journal, wrote:

Last week, after the Broncos’ victory against Minnesota, Mr. Tebow was asked by a reporter to name something memorable that had been said to him in the wake of the extraordinary win.

“I’ll tell you one thing that happened during the week that I remember,” he said. Mr. Tebow proceeded to talk about spending time with a young leukemia patient from Florida who had just been transferred to hospice care and about how delighted Mr. Tebow was to say the kid’s name on television and to let him know that someone cared.

Mr. Tebow may or may not enjoy long-term success as an NFL quarterback. His current streak will run its course, and the Broncos might well move on to another quarterback, one who is more obviously suited to the pro game.

But win or lose, Tim Tebow will compete hard—and when he’s done, he will thank God and remind all of us that it’s just a game.

And, as we move from quarter to quarter during this game we call life, as Ben Stein and Tim Tebow remind us, it’s important to keep heading toward the end zone and to remember The Reason for the Season.


Battleground Texas: Away in a Manger

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics7 Comments

As we draw near to Christmas, this weekend will be a maelstrom of activity, as Americans attempt to finish their shopping and struggle to finish putting up their Christmas decorations.

Among those decorations in the overwhelming majority of American homes will be a nativity scene, depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in a lowly manger, a little over 2011 years ago.

Nativity scenes, in both public places and private homes, have been around since right after World War I.  By the time the 1950s rolled around, companies were selling lawn ornaments of non-fading, long-lasting, weather resistant materials telling the nativity story.

By the 1970s, churches and community organizations increasingly included animals in nativity pageants. Since then, automobile-accessible “drive-through” scenes with sheep and donkeys have become popular.

In 2005, President of the United States of America, George W. Bush and his wife, First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush displayed an 18th century Italian presepio in the East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C., United States. The presepio was donated to the White House in the last decades of the 20th century.

On her Christmas Day 2007 television show, Martha Stewart exhibited the nativity scene she sculpted in pottery class at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia while serving a 2005 sentence. She remarked, “Even though every inmate was only allowed to do one a month, and I was only there for five months, I begged because I said I was an expert potter—ceramicist actually—and could I please make the entire nativity scene.” She supplemented her nativity figurines on the show with tiny artificial palm trees imported from Germany.

Perhaps the best known nativity scene in America is the Neapolitan Baroque Crèche displayed annually in the Medieval Sculpture Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Its backdrop is a 1763 choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid and a twenty-foot blue spruce decorated with a host of 18th-century angels. The nativity figures are placed at the tree’s base. The crèche was the gift of Loretta Hines Howard in 1964, and the choir screen was the gift of The William Randolph Hearst Foundation in 1956.

Since it is Christmas, there has to be an Ebeneezer Scrooge,  someone who is too filled with bitterness toward the Almighty and their own miserable lives, to allow others to celebrate the joyous birth of the Christ child.

In 1969, the American Civil Liberties Union (representing three clergymen, an atheist, and a leader of the American Ethical Society), tried to block the construction of a nativity scene on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The case continued until September 26, 1973, when the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and found the involvement of the Interior Department and the National Park Service in the Pageant of Peace amounted to government support for religion. The court opined that the nativity scene should be dropped from the pageant or the government end its participation in the event in order to avoid “excessive entanglements” between government and religion. In 1973, the nativity scene vanished. Nativity scenes are permitted on public lands in the United States as long as equal time is given to non-religious symbols.

In 1985, the United States Supreme Court ruled in ACLU v. Scarsdale, New York that nativity scenes on public lands violate separation of church and state statutes unless they comply with “The Reindeer Rule”—a regulation calling for equal opportunity for non-religious symbols, such as reindeer.

In 1994, the Christmas in the Park Board of San Jose, California, removed a statue of the infant Jesus from Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park and replaced it with a statue of the plumed Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl, commissioned with US$500,000 of public funds. In response, protestors staged a living nativity scene in the park.

In 2006, a lawsuit was brought against the state of Washington when it permitted a public display of a “holiday” tree and a menorah but not a nativity scene. Because of the lawsuit, the decision was made to permit a nativity scene to be displayed in the rotunda of the state Capitol, in Olympia.

This year is no different.  The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a group of 13,000 atheists from the Great White North, whose mission in life is to stamp out Christianity in public places , and making themselves a bunch of money by filing lawsuits against Christians, are at it again.

Theblaze.com reports that

Christian pastors in Henderson County, Texas, are fighting back against atheists who are demanding that a nativity scene located on a courthouse lawn be taken down.

The group behind the complains, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, frequently targets faith and religion projects that are placed on public lands. The group sent a letter to the county that explains how a local resident, who wishes to remain nameless, is offended by the scene.

Here is some of the text from the letter (via Malakoff News):

It is our information and understanding that a large nativity scene is on display at the Henderson County Courthouse and that it is the only seasonal display on the grounds (see photo enclosed). It is unlawful for the County to maintain, erect, or host this nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for, and endorsing one religion. The Supreme Court has ruled it is impermissible to place a nativity scene as the sole focus of a display on government property. […]

We request that, as Henderson County Commissioners, you take immediate action to ensure that no religious displays are on city or county property. Please inform us in writing of the steps you are taking to remedy this First Amendment violation so that we may notify our complainant.

“That Christianity was being promoted, endorsed by local government and this made them feel unwelcomed,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-founder of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. “It sends a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians and non believers this time of year.”

As I have documented in previous posts, this group of bitter 8 per centers  erroneously believes that their right to exercise their belief system trumps the right of 75% of Americans to display their Christianity in public.

Regarding the public nativity scene, I have a couple of suggestions for the FFRF:

1.  There are three other doors to the courthouse.  Use one of them.

2.  If the public nativity scene offends you…don’t look at it.

Merry Christmas, y’all!