The Drake Musing
3.31.2005
 
Healthcare 101
Two interesting little tidbits about how America's health care system stacks up to other countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This study, commissioned by OECD and written by individuals whose only agenda is to examine the issue of waiting times for 'elective' surgery in OECD countries. Here are some interesting facts and a conclusion about why the U.S. is not among the countries where this issue is a concern.

181. About 86% of the U.S. population is covered by health insurance. About 14% of the population has no insurance coverage, although subsidised programmes facilitate access for the 40 million uninsured (Docteur et al., 2003). Most of the working-age population and their family are covered by employer provided insurance plans. Medicare, a publicly-funded program, covers the older population and some of the disabled. Medicaid covers the poorest part of the population.

187. Conclusion. The United States spends much more on health care compared to all other OECD countries. Although bed capacity is lower compared with countries without waiting times, day surgery capacity is probably comparable or higher. The majority of providers of surgery is private and is highly incentivised to meet demand by activity-related payments.

The system ain't perfect, but it's a damn sight better than anyone else's by pretty much any objective standard.

 
Sad
Recently, I've felt overwhelmed by a great heaviness whenever I think about blogging. The Terri Schiavo situation took a great deal out of me and showed me that the blogosphere is of limited usefulness in making any kind of difference about what happens in the real world, changing people's attitudes or effecting any kind of cultural change.

As I've experienced it over the past week, blogs are places where you can either indulge yourself in the warm commiseration of like-minded people, engage in useless debates with those who hate everything you stand for (or what their impression of what you stand for happens to be), or just write whatever you want and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks.

Frankly, I would rather choose the third option. I know who I am and what I believe. Far from being convinced that I know the right answer to everything, I nonetheless know that I am on solid ground in what matters most. My life is far too rich and rewarding to waste it engaging in mental combat with unarmed people.

Sometimes its funny to read the utter nonsense the gets posted out here in blog-o-land (read A-jinghip-E's post on 20 Ways to Make the World Better for an example). But mostly it's just plain sad that people simply aren't willing to be honest about their motives as the source of their self-righteous indignation.

Terri Schiavo is dead, her life taken by force. The asendancy of the Culture of Death is nearly complete, utter evil wearing the masks of compassion and the rule of law. Most of the people in this country really don't seem to care about the implications, but every person who has a loved one with any kind of inconvenient condition -- from mental retardation to end stage kidney disease -- is one court ruling away from having that person subjected to death by force of law.

But enough of that. On another front, I have been offered a full-time position here where I am consulting. The role I am slated for has great potential to provide me with interesting, rewarding work. But the pay is less than what I am already making. Were it not for the current consequences of my past mistakes, this would not be an issue for me. However, a couple hundred dollars a month off of my current gross puts me in a very precarious financial position should any emergencies arise.

Conventional wisdom says that I should go with the security of FTE, tighten my belt, and focus on future rewards. However, I am working with a 2-5 year window to restore my financial health and allow me to get out from under some serious burdens. I personally do not care about my 'career', as my work is only a means to another end -- which is a life lived in service to my God, my family and my community.

D. and I had an awesome Easter weekend with all of the kids, save one, who had his tonsils out on Good Friday and stayed with his mom to recover. A deeper friendship is developing between us, as we each wrestle with the issues in our lives and stay committed to one another and the Lord. It's pretty amazing, considering that we were both so depressed two months ago that we were both ready to just end it and get on with life.

Things are still tough on occasion, but now conflicts last a few hours - a day at most - before we reign ourselves in and re-emphasize our beliefs and commitments. In the past, we would each retreat to our individual havens, stew in our resentments, and convince ourselves of the futility of it all. Not good.

So, all in all, I have much for which I am thankful. However, I am learning (slowly) that the walk of the Christian in this world in one of paradox -- deeply joyful for the blessings of heaven, but deeply troubled by the sorrows, injustices and evil of this earthly life.

But still...

Shalom!

3.23.2005
 
Golgotha and Pinellas Park
"...I thirst"
-Jesus, on the Cross as recorded in John 19:28
-Terri Schiavo, for the past five days


Is it just me, or does anyone else making the connection between the suffering of Terri Schiavo and that horrendous suffering we Christians are meditating on during this year's Holy Week. How fitting that this atrocity of our country's self-centered culture of convenience should unfold as many of us whose hearts are wrenched by this unspeakable depravity prepare to remember Christ's death on the Cross.

Consider the parallels:

Both were betrayed by one they held close to their heart. Judas and Michael Schiavo.

Both were deemed worthy of death by a court of unjust men without having committed any crimes punishable by death in either of the reigning legal systems. The Jewish Sanhedrin and the lawyers of Michael Schiavo, along with Florida state Judge Greer.

Both had their fate sealed by a cowardly judge more interested in political matters than justice. Judge Whittemore and Pontius Pilate.

Both were defamed and mocked on their way to death. Jesus as the ridiculed and despised King of the Jews. Terri by her husband's infidelity and cruelty, not to mention the horrific things I've heard said about her in liberal blogs.

Both were condemned to die in an agonizing and humiliating fashion. Jesus, stripped naked, scourged and crucified in front of a mocking crowd of his detractors and Roman soldiers. Terri Schiavo, denied food and water in front of a world watching on TV.

Consider the huge differences:

Jesus Christ allowed himself to be taken to the Cross and endured the sufferings and humiliations willingly to save the world. Terri Schiavo, through no choice of her own, is being slowly murdered to save a few bucks and a whole lot of inconvenience.

Jesus had all of the power in the universe at His disposal, and the angels of heaven to defend Him, had He desired it. Terri Schiavo has no power, no rights, no protectors.

Total depravity, pure and simple.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

3.21.2005
 
Weekend Bits
This weekend was a pretty good one for The Drake. I performed a comic bit at church for the Palm Sunday service on Saturday night and twice on Sunday. It went pretty well, despite a couple of dropped lines, and it was good to get back into the dramatic thing after so many years.

D. and I have been getting along very well recently. We spent Sat. afternoon shopping and discussing plans for the house -- which we are going to start working on again with a renewed vigor. We bought a new router table to help with some of the stuff I have to build.

We are going to re-model our powder room, and have come up with some pretty spiffy ideas. I am pretty happy about our renewed cooperation and hope we can use this time to grow closer in intimacy.

There are still some minor frustrations which I have to learn to deal with more positively. The dog is still nowhere near housebroken, and we are beginning a new method this week -- which has to be more effective than me making the poor thing piddle every time I react to her latest transgression.

Anyone want a six-month old Shih Tzu?

The stepkids are also continuing to provide me with daily challenges, like finding batteries in the dryer this morning. This after telling them dozens of times to stop taking them out of the remotes. Ever see what battery acid does to clothing? Not pretty.

Anyone want a couple of adorable, energetic boys? Please?

3.18.2005
 
A Survey
Everyone who is a Christian can point to a specific point where the Light went on, we slapped ourselves on the forehead, and said, "It's true! Every bit of it!" From that moment, our lives were changed forever.

what I'd like to know from a variety of people who've come to this point is how they got there, specifically what was the first trigger that led them down the road that inevitably led their first sincere confession of faith.

Here are the possibilities that I've come up with:

1. The influence of someone in your life who was a sincere believer. This could be a friend, family member, co-worker, whatever. But they have to have been a regular part of your life, and the way that they lived (or changed) as a result of their belief in Jesus Christ had to make an impact on you.

2. A simple presentation of the Gospel. This could be a tract, film, TV show or a sermon you heard when your grandmother dragged you to church on Easter.

3. A deep, painful recognition of your sinfulness. At some point, your life's circumstances got so bad that you came to the conclusion that you either needed to check out or find God. Or something like that.

4. A natural predisposition towards the spiritual. Maybe you dabbled in Eastern religion in the 60's because of the Beatles, or the Wiccan religion because you thought it would be cool to do stuff like Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or you were a philosophy major in college and studied all the various world religions. Whatever the detail, you just decided to seriously investigate the meaning of life, and you just started to see something different about Christianity.

5. You were raised in a Christian home and were saved at an early age. This could technically fall under #1, but I figure that there are people out there who had more than one person influencing them if they were raised Christian. The point being, that your conversion wasn't as much of a crossroads experience as it was an inevitable consequence of your upbringing. I could be totally off base here. I don't know.

So, if you consider yourself a Christian, let me know what your initial influence was that set you on the path to salvation. Feel free to put in your own scenario, as I'm sure I haven't covered everything.

Thanks.

 
Retraction
It's become necessary for me to make a public repentance for my comments in yesterday's post to The Urban Princess.

In response to your response:

Ouch.

First, let me say that it was never my intention to offend you in any way. I was merely trying to respond to the closing question in your 'drunken' post -- "Why is being honest about what we're feeling deep deep down so hard?" On reflection it appears I did so poorly. Mea culpa.

Second, my opening comment should have been more specifically tied to that question, and I fell into the trap of writing in absolutes, instead of owning up to the fact that I'm speaking primarily from my own experience. I don't know you. I only really know me, and sometimes I even wonder about that. Suffice it to say, that your post and that final question triggered an empathy in me. An empathy which I obviously failed to communicate in my vain attempt to make some grand statement about the human condition.

Please accept my apologies.

Third, I'm glad that you still drop by from time to time. And thank you for setting me straight.

3.17.2005
 
Blogger Blows Goats
Thus making me having to post my comments to some of my favorite bloggers in this post. I hope everyone get these.

To The Unseen Blogger: I'm all for ANWR drilling, but with reservations. We who love the creation as the Lord's handiwork need to realize that America's addiction to oil is making us vulnerable. Even if ANWR produces enough oil to completely relieve us from the death grip of OPEC for the next hundred years (which I doubt), we need to move forward in our research of alternative means of transport fuel. I also would be very disappointed -- but not surprised -- if we didn't take every care to ensure the continued maintenance of the ANWR eco-system. That said, it is critical that we pursue this avenue RIGHT NOW!

To Willow: You go girl! I am thrilled for you and your move into a vocation and lifestyle that is free from the shackles of corporate bullshit. I am envious.

To The Urban Princess: I think that we humans are unwilling to honestly own up to our true feelings because they reveal us as irrational. We are attracted to people who aren't good for us. We want things that will ultimately harm us. We want to deny the pain and longing that comes from being sinners in a broken world. And most of all, we just want to feel good forever. At least I do. Acknowledging this honestly, especially before God, often brings us to a choice we don't want make. Or to the recognition that we've already made a choice that we shouldn't have, the consequences of which are ours to bear.

To all the acolytes of The Bohemian Mama: Repent! All of this drivel about evangelical Christians being the unwitting dupes of evil, thus enemies of the 'noble poor' is giving me gas. If you are truly interested in helping the poor and oppressed of this country, read this.

That's it for now. The Drake needs to get some work done.

Shalom!

3.15.2005
 
Late Entry to Blog Party
I missed the blog party hosted by MCF where we name our favorite sitcom supporting characters. I'm going to toss in my two cents. anyway.

1. Nicholas Colasanto as Coach from Cheers.

2. Bernard Fox as Colonel Crittendon from Hogan's Heroes (also as Dr. Bombay from Bewitched)

3. And I can't figure how no one put this guy on their list -- David Hyde Pierce as Dr. Niles Crane from Frazier. One of the funniest bits I ever saw on TV was his opening to the 1999 Valentine's Day episode, where he notices a crease in his trousers, pulls out the ironing board, and ends up passed out on the floor after fainting from seeing his own blood. Priceless! I almost passed out myself from laughing so hard.

3.14.2005
 
A Tale of Two Gospels
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

Galatians 1:6-9

When I came into work this morning, I was transfixed by a couple of other events that took place this morning. Praise God for Ashley Smith's faith and heart to bring Brian Nichols back from the edge before anyone else died. I love the fact that this woman's testimony is being broadcast worldwide today. Makes my little speech look trivial in comparison. This woman, from all accounts, lived the character of Jesus and loved this desparate man as her Lord would have. It's hard to say how things really went down, but after shooting five people and killing four, it's nothing short of a miracle that either of them came out of that apartment alive. A co-worker of mine didn't want to hear any of my opinion that God really showed Himself in this situation, choosing instead to state that if God was going to intervene, He should have done it in the courtroom. I don't care what anybody says, I believe that God acted in a powerful way. It's a definite tragedy that four people had to die, and Brian Nichols will have to face those consequences. But I can't help but rejoice in the prospect that, because of this one woman's faith, he might not lose his soul when he loses his life.

In contrast, there's the sorry spectre of evil in the midst of the Church, as it played itself out in Wisconsin this weekend when Terry Ratzmann killed seven members of his church before turning his 9mm on himself. Unfortunately, Mr. Ratzmann and all of his victims were members of one of the all-too-numerous Bible-based cults, The Living Church of God. Yet this tragic event is going to be played out in the media as the inevitable unhinging of violence on our society by the intolerance and mind control practiced in Christianity. Undoubtedly, there was mind control going on in suburban Milwaukee, but no Christianity. As I have been getting re-acquainted with God's Word and the fellowship of other believers over the past year, it has struck on more than one occasion how easy it is to be deceived when you are hurting and alone in this world. The tactics used by these groups are truly diabolical. They target the immature or weak-minded individuals who don't quite feel like they belong and make them feel special. They model the kind of love and acceptance we all want but so few have found in this me-first culture, while spoon-feeding them distortions of the Bible's teachings. Before long, they are so dependent on these groups' for affirmation and direction, they are completely under their control and are usually giving them inordinately large percentages of their disposable income in exchange.

What I take from these two incidents, conveniently being tied together by the media as incidents of 'gun violence', is really the story of two different Gospels. Ashley Smith dealt with the unspeakable sorrow of losing her husband to violence six years ago by turning to the Jesus revealed in the Bible and finding a spirit that would allow her to feel compassion for a man who had murdered others. Terry Ratzmann, on the other hand, surrendered his ego to an abusive group whose only use for Jesus is as a manipulative tool to extract money from vulnerable prey. Whatever it was that Ratzmann heard in a service a couple weeks back, it triggered something savage in him. The sweet, loving character of Jesus Christ was not evident in his actions because it had never been modeled for him. Jesus Christ doesn't inhabit lies or greed or manipulation. Jesus tends the broken-hearted. He doesn't drive them over the edge.

One of the victim's brothers asked a reporter where God was in all of this. An odd question, considering how far God had been removed from the teachings and practice of this false church. No, this weekend God was in Atlanta, giving comfort and courage to a young widow who wasn't sure if she was ever going to see her little girl again.

 
A Lesson In Humility
I had a really eventful weekend. On Sunday, I spoke in both services at church about my journey out of the wilderness and back into the light of a relationship with Christ. I was asked to do this because of my involvement in the 12-step ministry there and its role in my reconciliation with D.

I was going to decline to do this initially, because of my recent depression and really poor behavior. However, with the help of some medication and the decision to eliminate TV from my life, I have been able to re-focus what energies I have towards living the life to which I believe God has called me. I had been given about three weeks to decide, and went from an outright "NO WAY!" to asking D. if she thought it would be OK -- thinking that she would just tell me that she wasn't comfortable with having me tell the whole church our business.

To my surprise, after the morning service last week, she told me that she was ok with me doing it. I needed to give an answer that morning, and I asked her to pray about it and tell me what she thought at the end of the service. She did, and came to the conclusion that God was doing something in my life which was bringing me all this attention. She decided that there must be a reason, so even though she wasn't comfortable with it -- she felt I should do it.

Well, I agreed and was asked to put together a draft of what I would say for the pastor's approval. I put together a first draft on Monday, and emailed it to the pastor, the church's Director of Congregational Care, and D. D. was the first to give me feedback, and it was not positive. I was confused, so I sent a draft to a trusted friend, who felt that it was right on target. Then more positive feedback from the Care Director, my therapist (a member of the church), and finally, the pastor. D., however, was very unhappy about what I had written and threatened not to be in church that day.

I was very upset about this situation. I looked over the draft and prayed and asked God to help me ensure that I was going about this in the right way. I found a few sentences where the wording could have been construed as blame. For instance, the original draft contained the phrase "D. left me", which I change to "D. and I separated". Another paragraph contained the phrase, "D.'s conviction that our marriage should end strengthened...", which I omitted completely. I became sensitive to her discomfort over having her business aired publicly. Yet I knew that I needed to tell MY story, even though part of it -- the best part -- included her and her humanity.

I continued to pray to God to bless my efforts and to keep my prideful and approval-seeking tendencies at bay. D. and I got into a fight over stupid stuff Saturday morning. I withdrew and prayed -- hard. Then we got back together and did something constructive in getting the kids (mine were there for the weekend) on board with our ongoing battle to housetrain our dog.

When Sunday came, I got up early, made some final tweaks to the speech, prayed really hard again, and got everyone out the door on time. The experience was amazing. When I had finished speaking after the first service, I actually got a standing O. One guy I barely knew came up to me and hugged me before I got back to my seat. I was overwhelmed and kinda embarrassed. Then I looked over at D., and that brought me down a few notches. But I was also OK with it. I mean other than telling the world that we were separated for almost five months, I said nothing that could possibly reflect negatively on her. I realized that this was her problem, and that all I could do was be there for her.

In between services, I was virtually besieged by people coming up and thanking me for being so 'brave' or 'courageous', but I think it was D. who had the real guts to sit in the service and face her own fears of exposure. Although she did bail out of going into our small group during the second service, not wanting to face our friends on the heels of the big deal that was being made over me. In fact, she shared with me later that one of the single women in our group came up to her and started to tell her how great it was and the whole I'm so brave thing. She couldn't get out of the building fast enough after that. I really did feel bad for her.

As for me, I felt very humbled and even frightened that people were making too big of a deal over me. I also felt a release, a freeing of my soul, that allow me to find all that much more passion and joy in the worship yesterday. I pray that I can continue to be as free inside as I felt yesterday. There is a saying in the 12-step community that "you only as sick as your secrets." I think I may have taken a very important step towards wholeness. As people kept coming up to me after both services and thanking me, I began to say that I was hoping that this event would help to break down barriers to open confession in our midst.

While I don't advocate just spilling the beans on every sin in your past or present, I do believe that judicious confession opens the door to true fellowship. One of the fears we all have is that our confessions will be used against us to hurt us. I believe that is one of D.'s biggest fears. However, it's been my experience that no hurt that another human can do to you as a result of knowing your past sins compares to the hurt that you can do to yourself by hiding from them.

3.10.2005
 
Why I Think Unions are Bad
As a Christian with Conservative views, I find myself constantly confronted with the popular notion that I am a minion of the evil rich -- and that I have abandoned the Great Commission in my implicit support for the Republican Party's "oppression of the common man".

This point of view is particularly virulent in the area where I grew up, and where I still live. This is especially true of those who believe that unions are their only hope to obtain a 'good' life. People who are much younger than I, and who have never even worked in a union shop, are convinced that unions would magically open the doors for them to obtain a 'livable' wage. I put that last phrase in quotes because most of these people seem to be living quite well. They don't appear to be missing any meals, they drive automobiles, have cable TV, and their clothes seldom appear to be rags.

Having lived through the height of the United Steelworkers dominance in our local economy, I can attest to several destructive effects that is their true legacy.

1. Unions are prone to corruption.
Unions are democracy gone bad. Rampant cronyism and tribal politics often dictates who sits in the offices of leadership and at the negotiating table to represent the rank and file. The people who run unions no longer work in the shops they claim to represent, and their salaries and benefits are often well beyond what they could have hoped to earn in their former occupations. Like all political offices in this country, save the Presidency, these folk's primary concern after achieving office is often just to stay there. From these positions of power, political alliances are forged, often at odds with the values and preferences of the membership majority. The pilot's union is an excellent example of this.

2. Unions destroy workforce productivity.
In a union environment, how much you get paid and how much vacation time almost always depends on your length of employment under union contract. Performance rarely, if ever, figures into how much a union employee gets paid. All one has to do is maintain a level of performance high enough to avoid termination by the company and wait for someone to retire or orders to pick up in order to get more money. Of course, unions make it extremely difficult to terminate anyone for performance reasons, because the contracts are structured in such a way that it's easier to convict someone of conspiracy in federal court than it is to prove that a union worker isn't doing his job to agreed-upon standards. Human nature takes over at this point. If I'm going to get paid the same whether I bust my ass or sleep my whole shift, I am going to sleep. In the late 70's, this was the best way to actually get extra money in your pocket. Go to the mill on the midnight shift, make about $20/hour while sleeping, then take advantage of your rested condition to make money from a side business in one of the trades -- which, btw, you only know how to do because you learned it at the mill. It takes a person of rare character to do otherwise, given the opportunity.

Those who were even less ambitious often showed up for their shifts drunk or high. I myself spent many a shift in the mill under the influence of one substance or another. We often lit up right on the shop floor. Needless to say, more than a few accidents occurred under these circumstances, resulting in injury, loss of production time, and occasionally -- death.

The bottom line? The companies with union contracts were forced to function at less-than-optimal capacity, with higher-than-optimal labor costs, and with little recourse other than raising prices on their customers for a product of ever-diminishing quality.

BTW, these are not just opinions. These are observations of my experience of having worked 3 summers in a local steel mill while I was in college.

3. Unions seldom negotiate in the best interests of their members.
If one considers that the best interests of any community of workers means keeping the maximum number of them employed at the highest wages and benefits possible under current economic conditions, then unions fail miserably. Most major unions at the leadership level are practically indiscernable from the Democrat Party. They have a national, political agenda that runs counter to being able to effectively negotiate on behalf of workers in a specific location. Businesses exist to make a profit, whether for private owner or corporate shareholders. Raising the standard of living for the surrounding community is only a side effect of a either businesses functioning with a social conscience and voluntarily giving away a portion of their profits to motivate and retain a productive, loyal workforce, or the result of a healthy business climate generating enough local wealth and opportunity to create enough of a demand for good labor, that they are forced to pony up what it takes to hire and retain the best workers in the community.

Whenever unions begin to interfere in the dynamics of the local economy, one of two things inevitably happens: either an atmosphere of animosity and intimidation develops, making the working conditions worse, not better, for the workers (i.e. - retributive pay cuts or layoffs); or the companies simply shut down operations altogether and go looking for a more hospitable environment in which to conduct their business.

4. Union mentalities destroy local economies.
I live northwest of Pittsburgh, in a region that once employed over 30,000 people in the steel industry. Taking into consideration the satellite industries of transportation, fabrication and plant administration, the total number of people gainfully employed in that local economy was well over 100,000 in the early 1970's. Now there are less than 5,000 employed in similar capacities. The causes of the collapse of the domestic steel industry in the 1970's is a subject of much debate, depending on which side of the ownership/labor argument you want to support. The fact is that both sides were to blame. The world market got competitive while U.S. companies failed to re-invest capital to keep up, preferring instead to maximize payouts to stockholders, who in turn took their money elsewhere when the steel companies started to lose money. On the other hand, the unions refused to see the writing on the wall, refusing to give concessions which would have allowed the companies the opportunity to re-tool and stay in the race with Japanese imports.

In the end, the mills shut down, either because they didn't have the capital to stay in business or because the unions' unwillingness to negotiate forced them to relocate to places like Alabama or Mexico, or to simply abandon the older mills in Pittsburgh and concentrate on the more modern facilities in the Great Lakes region. Tens of thousands of people, who could have had remained employed at 2/3 or even 1/2 of their wages were now without jobs at all. And many were never able to find work at anywhere near the wages that were offered by the mills when things went bad. To this day, the county where I live has yet to recover to the point where people who live there can find career-type jobs. In the 20 years since I graduated college, I've only had one job locally that paid a good wage. The rest of that time, I either worked for subsistence wages locally or worked in the city of Pittsburgh.

Our region is unable to attract new business which offer the potential for large employment numbers, whether in the manufacturing or service industries, because even after two decades, the unions continue to insert their poisonous influence.

One recent example that supports at least three of my points is the recent strike by the PA Tollbooth Operators. These are they guys who sit in tollbooths on toll roads, hand out tickets and collect tolls. The only skills these guys need is the ability to make change and remain conscious while sitting on a stool for eight hours. I guess it gets cold sometimes, but it looks to me like these booths do have heaters. Anyway, these guys went on strike for several weeks this past fall for more money. I might have been tempted to sympathize with these poor schmucks, until I learned that they made around $19/hour and had FULLY PAID BENEFITS!

And the worst part? They got what they wanted. Why? Because they are employees of the Commonwealth, and their bosses, corrupt minions of the State Democrat Party that they are, will simply raise my taxes AND the toll rates rather than fire these ingrates and bring in the hundreds of thousands of people across this state who would LOVE to make that kind of money and have those kinds of benefits. So we are forced to endure one of the worst tax burdens of any state in Union to keep a sick economy on life support because the moronic political ideology of the Democrats refuses to admit that they are wrong!

To close out this rant, I am not against the concept of unions. I just think that their current functioning is harmful. Unions could be a powerful force for good in our society, creating an apparatus of accountability, decency and social responsibility to keep business' tendency towards rampant greed and environmental rape in check. They could be a resonant voice for ensuring that no man, woman or child in this country is without basic and necessary medical care. But they choose instead to pursue a hostile agenda towards all that is RIGHT with capitalism, simply because those in positions of power have much to gain from this largely fabricated class war.


3.09.2005
 
Death Watch
One thing that I've learned in my struggles to become a better person is that real and lasting change is about re-drawing lines that you will not cross. Those lines are established, at least in my life, by becoming convinced that the price of crossing them is simply not worth it.

We in the evangelical community often speak of conviction, but I often wonder if that term carries the appropriate amount of weight in our conversation that it should. As I understand the term, it encompasses both the judicial and moral definitions. If I am spiritually convicted of the rightness of something, I usually am both feeling the remorse of being guilty of not having complied with that rightness, as well as utterly convinced of its rightness and that the consequences of my non-compliance were not worth it.

Most of us come into adulthood with some of these lines already drawn, but have you ever wondered what it is that keeps you from crossing them? For instance, I have never murdered anyone or hit a woman. To even contemplate such actions horrifies me. Why? Because I have experience enough of the consequences of such actions -- or similar actions -- on others that I am repulsed by the mere thought. Now I've never seen anyone killed, but I have witness the death of various animals and seen their suffering and the suffering of people who cared about those animals. My father never hit my mother, either, but he did physically manhandle her on occasion to such an extent that the violence in his actions traumatized me as I watched helplessly.

As an adult, I've found that the only means by which I've been able to draw in my lines of conduct has been through a painful process where I fully recognize the pain and suffering my actions have caused. One of the major reasons my second marriage ended was my insistence on calling my wife vile names, particularly the c*** word, during our many fights. Being forced to recount those incidents in an abuse group for men caused me to feel the full revulsion of the evil of my deeds. It was too late for the marriage, but I can assure there are a few misogynistic words that are no longer a part of my vocabulary. No matter how angry I may get at D. when we are disagreeing, I have never resorted to that tactic.

Working Steps 4 and 5 in my recovery group are having a similar effect on me. I am forcing myself to not just gloss over a wound I've inflicted by saying, "God forgive me for losing my temper." No. I believe it's important to relive and recall every word or action and remember or consider the hurt it caused another. Then I can grieve my idiocy and truly repent. Nor is it just enough to ask God for forgiveness. We are called to make amends. This is another aspect of the process that helps me get that line drawn firmly. After D. busted me using Internet porn a couple of months ago, I had to face her and see the pain and humiliation and anger in her face. I had to endure the tears, and I had no excuses or rationalizations to hide behind.

This is why the Steps work. To really follow them, you have to truly face what is wrong in your life and the consequences of what you've done.

By contrast, the culture around us seems to be re-drawing the lines further out. On March 18, Michael Schiavo may just get his wish to be allowed to murder his wife, Terry. The appalling nature of this looming crime is almost beyond my comprehension. This selfish bastard has been pushing for 12 years to force the medical community to watch a person, who is by all appearances conscious and able to maintain every life function except eating, to remove her feeding tube and watch her slowly starve to death.

Why would anyone want to do this to another human being? It's incomprehensible. Of course, this evil man hides behind the excuse that he believes that she would have wanted it this way. Of course, no one can confirm that, seeing as she did not have a Living Will stating that. Medical experts are debating back and forth over the her state of consciousness, but if there is even the smallest of doubts, who can justify taking the risk of forcing a helpless person to suffer such a death, which might take up to two weeks.

Of course, Michael Schiavo won't be there. He's long since moved on with his life, getting his needs met with other women and spending the money gained in malpractice awards at the expense of his wife's most basic medical needs.

If Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer want Terri to die so much, why don't we let them kill her. After all this shouldn't be much of a problem for Mr. Schiavo, considering the mounting evidence that the 6"6' 250 lb. coward is responsible for the multiple, unexplained fractures found in her body during by doctors shortly after the 1990 collapse in her home.

Only this time let it be done in front of the world. Give him a gun and a legal guarantee of immunity from prosecution and make him do his dirty work himself. Put a camera on him as he walks into the room where his still conscious wife lies, looks her directly in the eyes and blows her still functioning brain against the wall. After all isn't that a more 'loving' thing to do than to allow the woman you claim to love so much suffer a slow death? We treat farm animals better than Mr. Schiavo wants to treat his wife.

Make this beast watch the natural consequences of his self-centered mission to take this life. Would he have the guts? I doubt it. But it would be the merciful thing to do -- to give him an opportunity to re-draw his lines. I doubt this fool realizes that he is probably the most hated and ostracized man who is not in prison since O.J. He will once he gets his way.

I also wonder what the liberal screamers who have spent so much energy decrying the torture of our enemies in the war on terror have to say about this. Not much I suspect. But isn't this among the cruelest forms of torture -- to deny a living, breathing human being food and water and watch them slowly suffer and die?

I guess it's a little different when the victim poses no threat. So much for the liberal claim to defend the weak and helpless. Here is someone who has no voice, where is the ACLU?

Just another example of how liberal values are in the process of turning the greatest, most free nation in the world into a living hell.

3.08.2005
 
Bono, Chairman of the World Bank?!?!


Yep, you heard right. U2's frontman is being held up as a legitimate possibility to fill the current vacancy to head the global institution.

Treasury Secretary John Snow spoke highly of the Irish singer in a public statement over the weekend and would not rule out putting him on the short to present to President Bush.

"He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development," Snow said.

"Most people know him as a rock star. He's in a way a rock star of the development world, too. He understands the give-and-take of development. He's a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person," Snow said.

Bono has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless campaigning for rich nations to forgive third world debt. This is an effort I am completely behind. If we lose Africa to the perception that we are brutal Shylocks demanding our pound of flesh instead of purveyors of freedom and democracy, we are gonna have some serious -- and deserved -- trouble in the years ahead.

I've always been a big fan of Bono, ever since I heard "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" back at school. Despite the fact that he is undoubtedly a liberal, and a huge critic over the years of American Conservatism, Bono has more than walked the talk in his efforts to use his fame for a higher purpose.

I have been particularly impressed with his more conciliatory posture towards America in recent years, including his gesture during the halftime show at the Super Bowl the year prior to the 'malfunction' when he opened his coat to reveal the stars and stripes, as the victims of 9/11/ scrolled across the stage backdrop. Compassionate and honorable, I say. His recent willingness to sit down with Bush Administration officials and negotiate for what is obviously moral and right is another sign that some of the bombast is giving way to informed maturity.

I doubt I could stand to sit down and debate our differences with this guy for more than a few minutes, but I love so much of the music he has helped to create over the past 25 years and respect this current work for debt relief, that I gotta give the man his props.

Shalom, Paul Hewson!

3.03.2005
 
Farewell Laertes!
Today was a red letter day for the Drake. It appears that a liberal blogger named The Bohemian Mama has blocked me from her comments section. Turns out that open exchange of ideas only flies when you agree with the liberal worldview. Well, that ain't gonna happen here at The Drake Musing! Bring it on, I say.

Like all unbelievers, the liberal clique at Bohemenian Mama's place are committed to denial of the truth, choosing to engage in emotionally charged rhetoric whose only aim is to silence those who would dare to point out that their peculiar brand of love, compassion and justice are lies from the pit of Hell.

Why are Christians perceived by the unregenerate masses as such a threat? I believe it's because we are a witness to their pending doom. We intrude on their blissful dream of non-accountability because we believe the following things:

1. There is one, and only one, God who created all things. He is the giver of life and has the ultimate power over man's eternal destiny.

2. This God is pure and holy. His motives and judgements are unimpeachable.

3. This God has put forth a standard of holy conduct that all men are to be judged by. The righteous to eternal life in paradise, and the unrighteous to an eternity of conscious torment separated from the love of their Creator.

4. No man ever born, save one, has been able to live up to that holy standard to God's satisfaction. Therefore, all men stand condemned before the living, almighty God based on their character and the conduct of their lives.

5. That single exception, Jesus Christ, was sent from God in His infinite mercy and love to provide a way of salvation from our deserved judgement. Being the human incarnation of the living God, Jesus voluntarily died a horrific death on a Roman cross in substitutionary atonement for our sins - past, present and future.


6. Every person who has ever come to believe in his heart and confess to others the above propositions has only been able to do so because God granted him the ability to believe (the gift of faith) and the desire to repent of his sinful behaviors. Any such person has been granted eternal life with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven, no matter what they have done or may do in their earthly lives.

What galls people who stand outside of the faith is their inability to reconcile the holy wrath of God with His infinite love and goodness. I admit that I have had my share of struggles with some of the Old Testament revelation like that found in Numbers 31:15-18, where Moses, by the command of God, orders the slaughter of every male and woman who has ever known the touch of a man from the people known as the Midianites. No one likes the thought of having to kill a small frightened child or a virtually helpless woman simply because God didn't like their religion. However, closer inspection of the facts reveals that this society was totally depraved, guilty of sacrificing their own children by fire to their god Baal. Moreover, God also killed thousands of the Israelites during their Exodus to the Promised Land when they rebelled against His Rule.

Liberals and other committed unbelievers have taken to calling my God a mass murderer and child rapist, using these narrow quotations of Scripture to paint God as a hateful, evil, bloodthirsty figment of our imagination -- and his followers as the worst kind of threat to society because we build our hope and value systems from this insane example.

Far from being a threat, however, we who know the blessing of salvation have come to understand both the heart of God and our own vileness through the life changing power of the truth and life contained in His Word.

The heart of God as I understand it is this:

God loves us more than any human parent could love a most precious child and wants desparately to hold us close to Himself for all of eternity. However, we generally want no part of that. We recognize in the world around us and in the stirrings of our own soul that we are separated from our true life and purpose, but we tend to stubbornly refuse to seek out the God who declares Himself so plainly to us. Therefore, we choose guilt and death over life, liberty, joy and peace. Because God created us with free will, He honors our choice -- albeit with tears and grieving.

But God is also the Supreme Being of the Universe, and He will tolerate no interlopers. He is also holy, meaning that He will not allow evil in His presence. He casts anyone who clings to evil into outer darkness.

We see this in our world, but will see it even more plainly after death.

So it is the Christian's sad duty to inform all who refuse to bow to the God of Hosts and declare His Christ as Lord and Savior -- the only means to escape final judgement and eternal (ongoing) pains of death -- that they are lost and condemned. Not by us, and not by Jesus, but by their own choice.

But it is also the joyful privilege of believers to share the Good News of hope in Jesus. This is sometimes hard, given the hostility that often comes against a person who will not just go along with the perishing crowd. I am very bad at this, I confess. Now that Bohemian Mama has shut her gates, I wish I had said some things with more love. I regret that at times, I was more concerned with winning an argument or delivering a verbal smackdown than I was about the desperate need of those with whom I was sparring.

Forgive me, Lord, for my arrogance, and create in me new and humble heart that rejoices more in the message of the Gospel than in the retribution of your judgement against the wicked. Especially since I must count myself among their number. Purge me, O God, of the vanity and bitterness and vengeful hatred that spills out sometimes in the words I type -- revealing the ugliness of a heart not in tune with your calling on my life. By whatever means necessary.

Grant me, God of everything, the grace to restrain from engaging in tit-for-tat debates with those who hate me because they hate you and everything you are.
I ask for your power to give my life to unselfish service in Christ's Name, because I have no taste for it in and of myself.

In the Most Holy Name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Shalom!



 
Who'd a thunk it?
Jeez! It's almost embarrassing! Does this mean I'm kicked out of the mean and nasty Conservative Club?


What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

3.02.2005
 
Principles
Every morning on my drive into work, I listen to teaching programs on the local Christian radio station here in the 'Burgh. My drive only takes about 45 minutes, so I only get to hear one program fully -- Walk In the Word, with Dr. James McDonald. I only recently (about two months ago) started listening to this program because of a choice I made to move my work time back an hour -- meaning I get in and leave work an hour earlier than I used to. Anyway, I made this decision in reaction to a situation with my wife, but I did so reluctantly and somewhat angrily. Despite my bad attitude, my decision was driven by a desire to do something helpful (i.e. -- be home in time to make dinner for the family).

Anyway, as a result of my change in drive times, I have been really digging on the message and ministry of Walk In The Word.

This morning, Dr. McDonald finished a series on living in holiness with a teaching on Eight Principles to Live Your Life By. I can't remember the exact wording of them, but I've got the gist of them listed below.

1. Do all things for God
McDonald said that anytime you're thinking about doing a specific thing, say to yourself, "God, I'm doing this for you." If it sounds ridiculously stupid, then you shouldn't do it. Good idea. I think if I started doing this to myself I'd be walking around either laughing out loud or looking appalled all the time.

2. Do all things in the light of the judgement seat of Jesus Christ
This is something I've reflected on most of my life. Only a lot of the time in the past, I just felt doomed anyway, so it didn't make much difference in my behavior. My perspective is changing a bit these days. Now I am starting to not want to hear the disappointment in Jesus' voice when I stand in the Judgement.

3. Do all things in consideration of my weaker brother
This used to really annoy me. I highly resented having to walk on eggshells around legalists, particularly my parents. Recently, however, I've seen some new Christians really struggling to keep it together, and I don't want to be a cause of stumbling in them.

4. Do nothing that I am not convinced is right to do
This one perplexes me a bit. There are tons of things I do on a daily basis that I am somewhat unsure about. The pastor's point here is to develop into a person of conviction and to live out my life from my convictions, instead of convenience. I get that, but still feel like I could spend most of the day doing nothing in a state of moral paralysis. For instance, I don't really think it's right to be writing a blog post during the work day, since they are not paying me to blog. However, I don't have a lot to do at the moment, having worked hard all morning taking care of stuff. Of course, he didn't say that this was going to be easy or comfortable.

5. Do nothing that has the appearance of evil
He talked about stuff like riding in a car alone with a woman who is not my wife or close relative. I am onboard with that. I will not even allow myself to develop a relationship with another woman that is not in a group context. Women at work? Forget about it! As for other evil, I have a hard time picturing something that appears evil that isn't ACTUALLY EVIL. Maybe he didn't use the word evil. Maybe it was something like wrongdoing or sinful behavior. In any case, I have started to take a look at how others might perceive what they see me doing.

6. Do nothing that could enslave me
This is the one thing that I TOTALLY understand. Hence, the Drake no longer has TV service in his home. Hopefully, I'm running out of things that turn me into a dope.

7. Do all things to the glory of God
This is a popular refrain, but I'm not always sure what it means. I've always sort of thought of this concept as one of deflecting praise for things I've accomplished to humbly recognize and state that if it wasn't for God's grace to me, none of the progress in my life (such as it is) would have happened.

8. Do nothing that Jesus wouldn't do
I find this principle the most compelling of all, because it's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I am confronted by many of my tendencies to be mean or critical or self-centered in my dealings. On the other hand, however, I am inspired that much of what I say or do in confrontation is probably close to the mark. People tend to forget that the Jesus who forgave the woman caught in adultery was also the same Jesus who took a whip to the money changers in the Temple. Of course, it's very easy for me to fall into the trap of using the Bible as a bludgeoning tool. I just have to continuously question my motives.

All in all, I find these principles to be well thought out, but a bit overwhelming to put into practice. One of the things that I have been struggling with is the overwhelming opposition there is to a holiness approach to Christianity. I often feel alone in my desire to follow God -- at home, at work, in the blogosphere, and sometimes even at church. I would much rather have everyone on the same page, but it doesn't seem to work that way.



3.01.2005
 
Note to Anonymous Redux
Recently, I've been getting quite a bit of comments posted under anonymous. It's clear that there is more than one of you out there, unless we're dealing with a split personality.

One of you seems to be trying to encourage me, and another appears to be quite annoyed with me. It also seems like there could be a third (or even more) lurking out there and tossing in a few innocuous comments. For instance, someone shared a link to a blog called Kingdom Seeker. I'd like to thank that person, for I find a kindred spirit in this young man's writings.

Anyway, what I'd like to say to all of you, however many there may be, is that I'd like to be able to tell you apart. Please leave some sort of handle at the end of your posts, something made up that maintains your anonymity, reflects your POV and helps me not to be confused. Most of all, I'd like to be engaged in meaningful dialogue where it makes sense.

Some things I'd like to know about you:

1. How old are you?
2. Gender?
3. Where are you located?
4. Are you a believer and follower of Jesus Christ?
5. If so, what is your theological tradition (e.g. - evangelical, Catholic, Reformed, Arminian, fundamentalist, etc.)?
6. If not, why do you read this blog?
7. Who do you admire most?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Shalom!


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