Typical Alabama Politics

Our illustrious governor, a man that I have mostly been proud to support has proven to be just another politician. Following is a copy of a letter I sent him. It remains to be seen if I get a reply.

Dear Governor Riley,

I was proud to vote for you both times you campaigned for Governor. I believe you have by and large done an excellent job throughout your tenure…until recently.

Your anti-gambling task force is an embarassment to this state and to you personally. The fact is you have been in office for seven years and all the while, casinos similar to and including Victoryland have been in operation without any apparent interest from your office. I am befuddled that you would wait until the last year of your term to make that your cause du jour.

While I am not always in agreement with our current attorney general, a man you placed into that position if memory serves, I believe you would do well to heed his advice in this instance: proceed with caution and allow a referendum on the issue. Frankly whatever the Alabama State Constitution says is probably a convoluted mess.

You have exercised poor judgement in selecting first David Barber who was easily discredited and then John Tyson who comes across as half pit-bull/half KGB agent. He would remind most folks of the bully from high school who you didn’t like then and still don’t like now. I also do not miss the irony that Tyson was Troy King’s democratic opponent in the last election. This reeks of being a backhanded slap at your hand-picked attorney general. Is King being punished for having a mind of his own, and not merely your yes man?

You may conclude that I am a supporter of legalized gambling. In fact I am ambivalent about it. I have never set foot in Victoryland, Whitehall, Country Crossings, or any establishment of similar nature. But I am practical enough to know that those predisposed to gambling will find an outlet for it, be it in Mississippi, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or with Milton McGregor. Surely it is preferable, if the people, not you sir, ordain that we want casino gambling, to keep the money within the state.

Trust me when I say that you have severely injured your public reputation, and your legacy. I have spoken with many people about this, and to a man, they express bewilderment and disappointment at your actions. I am guessing you are too prideful to reverse course now. This is not so much about being a moral imperative or even a point of law. It is your own personal crusade. It cost us $130,000 for our fine law enforcement officers to be diverted from their normal duties. I could pay off my house for that. As it is your aborted raid is just money wasted foolishly.

A different sort of post from me.

If you are one of the two people who have read this blog for any length of time, you’ll note that I mostly stick to commenting on things external to me, rarely venturing into the realm of how I feel about something particular to my own life. Honestly I just don’t do that well. I’m not one to share a lot of touchy feely emotions. Maybe I have them, maybe I don’t. But now I’m going to tell a story about something that happened to me one time and how it made me feel.

In early January 2000, my wife Emily and I found out that she was pregnant with our first child. It was planned so it was rather joyous news in our household. We kept it a secret peculiar to us for the appropriate amount of time then we shared the news. We were living in North Carolina at the time so we had to make a flying trip to Alabama to share the news with Emily’s parents. Some things deserve to be told in person, we believed.

During that trip, Emily’s father, Charles, asked me to consider working for him at his company, Doors by Decora, here in the city I live in now, Montgomery, Alabama. I was surprised by that, and I took several months to decide. I was working in an industry that was slowly dying in this country, but on the other hand my Tar Heel (not the basketball team which I loathe) roots ran deep.

After seeking wise counsel and spending no small amount of time in prayer, I ultimately decided that it was in the best interest of our family to make the move. I was working on the second shift, from 3 until 11 pm. Remembering that our entire family was always at home in the evenings, I did not want to raise children with their father absent in the evenings. It just wouldn’t be fair to them, I reasoned.

We decided to postpone the move until after our baby was born. Emily was already established with an OB group in North Carolina and we really didn’t want to leave my parents just yet. This was in April. The baby was due in September which would put our move in the middle of October.

The company I had worked for since 1981 was Cleveland Mill Company, a textile facility that was part of the Spartan Mills Group. I had held a variety of jobs within the company, but the job I had then was as the second shift supervisor in our dying department.

Dying fabric is not something you can learn to do overnight. It’s honestly part art and part science. You have to know a good deal about chemical interactions, but you also have to have good color vision and know how to make use various dye to obtain the desired shade of fabric. You weren’t allowed to just be close.

Knowing this, I told my company officials shortly after deciding to move, that I would be leaving the company in mid-October. In one respect this was a stupid move on my part. But my motive was pure. I simply wanted them to be able to get someone trained to do the job so that my leaving would not be a burden on anyone else in my department. It was an act of loyalty.

On August 11, 2000, when my wife was eight months pregnant, I was summoned to the personnel office and told that my resignation was being accepted effective immediately. I was to receive a week’s vacation pay, but no severance pay since I was “resigning.” To my credit, rather to the credit of the Holy Spirit, I accepted my fate at that hour with a gentle heart. I thanked them for taking care of me and giving me a place to get a paycheck for 19 1/2 years. Then I walked out with my head held high.

One thing that helped me cope with it during the immediate aftermath was the fact that a girl I had grown up with and was currently attending church with had died tragically after a long and brave struggle with cancer. At her visitation that evening, I knew deeply in my heart of hearts that I no problems compared to the man she was leaving behind to raise two sons.

The next day I discovered the duplicity. It turns out the powers that be from Cleveland Mills had attempted to give my job to my work partner on the finishing side of the plant. They had made that attempt prior to ever letting me go. He told them to stick it. Actually that is probably a nice way to put it, but the meaning is the same. I urged him to reconsider. There was reason for him to be without a job. He was told take it or face unemployment. He stood firm and entered the ranks of the unemployed at the same time I did.  They had sold this whole thing as a reduction in force due to business conditions, but a few weeks later they hired a new person for the job I had been doing.

I felt betrayed. I guess I’m just an idiot because I believed that loyalty was a two-way street. I had sincerely wanted to take care of them by giving them as much notice as possible, but when it come down to it, there was no loyalty shown in return. They told me they had accepted my “resignation” but I had never tendered one. I only said that I was planning on leaving the company in the middle of October. But that was just a semantic trick to deny me any sort of severance pay. I was supposed to have received a week’s pay for every year of service I had with the company. They certainly didn’t want to pay me for 19 weeks.

I felt angered and cheated because I had harbored these fantasies about coming back for visits when I was home and just being able to enjoy being around good friends and former co-workers without the stress of trying to get a task accomplished. They had stolen that from me. I felt like after having served a company for 19 1/2 years I had the right to be able to leave and having good feelings about it.

My wife felt angered enough that she called up the personnel manager and blessed him out. You do not want to incur the wrath of the red-headed wife.

There was the concern about money. Fortunately that concern was taken away. The Sunday evening after this happened, we shared this news with our pastor, Eddie Brackett. Emily, myself, Eddie, and his wife Hilda joined hands on the front steps of the church and Eddie prayed for us. He specifically prayed that we would not have difficulty with finances and that we would not have worry concerning them. God answered that prayer immediately. I never worried for a minute after that and it seemed like money was never a problem in the interim period.

For weeks I let it fester. I burned with anger and feelings of humiliation.

Four weeks later my daughter was born. It was the most profound and moving moment of my life, holding an infant that shared my blood, only minutes away from being in the comfort of her mother’s womb. I wept unashamedly as I held that child. I was simply overwhelmed, humbled beyond all measure.

But in the days that followed I simply felt like I was the most inadequate person in the world. I had not been worthy of  having loyalty shown to me and here I was about to turn 40 with an infant. I had never been around babies much and had no idea what I was supposed to do. So I spent the next few weeks feeling sorry for myself. I’m really good at self-pity.

When we moved I had the triple whammy of turning 40, starting a new job, and having to learn how to be a father all at the same time. Again I just wallowed in self-pity rather than face any of them head on. I should have thrown back my shoulders and said, I’m ready world, bring on the changes. I’ve always said that change is good, but I don’t believe it even for a minute. The truth is, I hate change. I hate progress. I want everything to be like it always has been. And here I was facing a whole lot of change at the same time. Why me, I kept asking myself.

In time, all these feeling began to diminish. I was able to forgive Cleveland Mill Company for robbing me of what I felt like was my right to have. I slowly learned how to become a father and today I treasure the time I spend with my two precious children. God equipped me for being a father, and while I am by no means perfect at it, my children know that I love them. I spend time with them I tell them I love them everyday and always give them plenty of hugs.

There is one final part of this story. In May 2001, seven months after I moved to Alabama, Cleveland Mill Company abruptly shut its doors forever. Many good and decent people I knew and loved were suddenly without employment. Unlike me they did not have a place to go. God took care of me the whole time. I was just too short-sighted to see it until later. God gave me my time at home to experience the joy of a newborn baby and to be there for my wife. But sadly I was too ignorant to see that until it was too late. Sometimes we don’t embrace our blessings because we are too busy worrying about what we don’t have.

I wonder why God chose to take care of me in the way He did, but not others that I knew?  Well that’s something in which only He knows the answer. For myself, all I can do is thank Him and praise His name for it.

Pet Peeves – Part 1 (Mac fanboys)

Pet Peeves!!! We’ve all got them. They hang around in our lives like a burr under the saddle. I have several of them. Beginning today I want to share my pet peeves with the both of you who read this.

My biggest pet peeve – today anyway – is the legions of fanboys who grovel at the feet of Steve Jobs and Apple Computers. Now before I get started good, let me say that I am not opposed to owning a Mac. I simply can’t afford one. My HP laptop is blazing fast, does everything I want it to do, and almost never crashes even though I am running (insert sound effects of doom here) Windows Vista. So why would I spend twice the amount of money just to own a computer with an Apple logo on it?

A good part of it is the oh so smug attitude the Mac crowd has developed. Somehow they are just superior because they own a Mac. “We never get viruses,” they crow. Well guess what? I don’t either. I have something called common sense. I know not to open suspicious email attachments and I know the sorts of places to avoid on the internet. Some Mac users claim that there is no such thing as a virus for the Mac. A quick google serach will show that while they are still rare, they do exist. Besides if I was a virus writer I’d want to take out as many computers as possible. That means I’d not waste my time writing one to attack Macs.

“Macs never crash,” the fanboys trumpet. Oh yes they do!!! I know quite a few people who own Macs who are more than willing to admit that their precious sacred Mac crashes just as much as their Windows-based computer does. And remember what I said above. My HP laptop running Vista almost never crashes. I won’t lie. It has before and it will again, but it’s not an everyday thing. Maybe every three or four months is more like it.

And let’s talk about the cult of personality. Steve Jobs. Okay I’ll admit Steve is a visionary in many ways. He has this uncanny ability to predict what will be the next big thing. Or does he? Anyone remember the Lisa?  And besides, this is the same guy who is such an egomaniac that he was fired from the very company he started. He is known to be aggressive and a control freak. And in spite of his considerable fortune, there is no record of Jobs contributing to any charitable projects. Don’t believe me? Do a google search.

On the other hand Bill Gates is scorned and reviled  for being a greedy tycoon. Yeah he’s been the richest man in the world a few times and every jealous silicone valley failure has tried to sue him. It’s all Gates’ fault, they claim. He’s unfairly limiting competition.  

Gates on the other hand has been instrumental in putting the personal computer with his easy to use and affordable Windows OS  in the majority of American homes. The fanboys claim that the Mac OS is oh so much better and more stable. But more affordable it ain’t. Let’s assume it is better – and I don’t believe it is for one minute. A Ferrari is a better car than a Dodge Grand Caravan, but guess which one I can afford?

Now let’s talk about Bill and Melinda Gates some more. Their charitable foundation (the largest one in the world) has donated $28 billion dollars to charity including organizations that promote world health. How much have you ponied up Steve?

It seems clear when comparing the egotistical Jobs to the benevolence of Bill Gates just who the better man is.

To wrap things up, I don’t hate Macs. I’m not opposed to them. My only thing is just drop the superior act. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of being told I’m not as good as you are because I didn’t want to spend double the amount of money on a computer that does the same thing. I’m tired of your smugness. I’m tired of it. Get over yourself. Get your sense of self-esteem from something else other than owning a certain brand of computer.

My name is Mojo and I’m a PC (because I’m not an idiot who wants to spend much more than I can afford on something that does the very same thing.)

What to do about Santa Claus??

Back when I was growing up in the 1960s, Santa Claus was a fact of life. Nearly everyone who was civilized made Santa a part of their Christmas. Of course there were some we knew about, mostly Jehovah’s Witnesses who didn’t celebrate or acknowledge Christmas but everyone knew they were going to hell anyway.

As time passed many in the evangelical community took a hard look at the tradition of Santa Claus and concluded that including a mythological being (based on a historical figure) with immense magic like power robbed God of the glory that was His in the sending of His Son. I myself said on many occasions that how can we tell our children that Jesus is real and Santa is real too, but then admit to them as they grow up that Santa is about as real as professional wrestling. Doing that we have in essence practiced deception.

A few years ago I definitely took the hard-line approach against the inclusion of Santa. I took it in my own mind but acquiesced due to a long-standing tradition in my wife’s family. When my own children asked if Santa was real we told them the truth. No he is not real. All those presents are from us. Rather than being disappointed, my children both smiled and said thank you for all the presents. I don’t believe their enjoyment of Christmas has in any way been diminished by their knowing the truth.

When word spread that my children no longer believed in Santa Claus, it was met by a measured amount of hostility from some of our family (not all I wish to be careful to point out.) We were told that if our kids spilled the beans to their kids, it would be on. We were astounded.

I think that in some cases the Santa Claus tradition is more important to the parents than to the children. Like I said, my own children were not disappointed at all. You can go to the mall and see tons of families with children so young that they don’t have a clue what’s going on, waiting in line to see Santa.  Most of time it ends with a crying child. Let’s face it, while Santa might look warm, friendly, and inviting to an adult, he might look pretty scary to a small child that isn’t used to the image of Santa and what he represents.

I have to admit, my thinking has mellowed somewhat. I don’t think celebrating Christmas with the inclusion of Santa Claus necessarily causes permanent and lasting harm to a child. Nor do I think it is necessarily wrong in all cases. Like I said, when I was growing up Santa was just about universally a part of everyone’s Christmas. Looking forward I know many Christians who are deeply committed to serve the cause of Christ who came from that same tradition.

So my opposition to Santa is essentially this: I prefer to keep Christ the central (and only) focus of the day we have set aside to celebrate as His birthday. I would have no problem with having a separate day to deal with the things of Santa Claus. Ironically, many of the traditions we celebrate as Christmas had their roots in pagan solstice holidays. Santa Claus in many ways has a more Christian pedigree than Christmas itself.

Do I condemn families who cling tenaciously to the tradition of Santa Claus? Absolutely not!! I even have a cousin who is a real bearded Santa that I am very proud of. I simply believe that for our family, it is better not to include Santa. Other families should examine their conscious and determine if they feel free in their Christian liberty to include Santa or not include him.

And finally, we have instructed our children not to say anything to any other children. We have instructed them emphatically and often. We truly do not desire to spoil it for anyone who is a Santa Claus tradition practitioner.

Merry Christmas and War Eagle!!!

 

A Picture of Glory

A local church is in the midst of a leadership crisis. Since I am a member of a church that suffered a bitter split four years ago I can remember all the sleepless nights and all the worry and anxiety that came along with it. God worked it out for good though, as our church righted herself, called a strong pastor and is in better shape than ever. I give God all the glory!!!

Having been through the turmoil I am burdened for this church and am going to commit to pray for them. While the issues my church faced were spread through whispers and gossip in the community, this church is much bigger than mine and their issues have caught the eye of the local media, sadly.

Just this morning an article appeared in The Montgomery Advertiser concerning the problems. Since the Advertiser allows readers to make comments I read a few of those too. But I was dumbfounded and profoundly saddened when I read this one:

Frazer is one of the churches that cater to non-Whites by having services in other languages and teaching English to help water down the influence of Whites in this town and country. Churches are supposed to ministry to their communities – not destroy them by encouraging race-mixing.

What kind of person could have possibly made a remark of that nature? A comment so vile and divisive that it is right out of the Jim Crow south of 60 years ago.

I doubt the writer of this evil statement will ever read my words but if they did here is what I would like to say to them. Read the scripture and know that it is the Word of an Almighty God. John under the influence of the Holy Spirit writes in Revelation 7:9-12:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and {all} tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches {were} in their hands;

and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

And all the angels were standing around the throne and {around} the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, {be} to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Isn’t that a beautiful picture!!! People of every tribe, tongue, and nation, bowing together in perfect obedience to worship God!!! And having been cleansed of our sin once and for all, we can gaze at our brothers and sisters through clean and untainted eyes and see only a fellow saint.

I want to be brutally honest here. I have struggled with prejudice in the past and still do to some extent. That’s due to being brought up in the South during the time of integration, but mostly from my own sin nature. But God in his grace has allowed me to overcome much of that, albeit not perfectly.

A few years ago we attended a birthday party for one of my children’s friends and I happened to notice that my wife (a Caucasian lady) was sitting on the sofa with a Hispanic lady, and African-American lady, and an Asian lady. The remarkable thing about this is they were all laughing and giggling together in perfect fellowship with one another, unaware of the picture of glory they were representing.

In May 2008, God gave me another glimpse of glory. I went on a mission trip to Japan and was tremendously blessed to sing Amazing Grace in English along with some local Christians who were singing it in Japanese. (Men of every tribe, tongue, and nation.)

If we having true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, one day we will stand with the saints in glory, men and women of every tribe, tongue, and nation, around the throne, divided no more, but washed clean by the blood of the lamb. We will be able to see each other as God sees us, without prejudice, without preconceived notions, and without the blemish of sin coloring our thoughts and deeds. What a glorious day that will be!!! Maranatha!!!!

To the person who wrote those horrible remarks I pity you. I pray that God lifts the veil that Satan has put over your eyes so that you may see that our God is the God of all races. We will worship together in glory. It cannot be wrong to worship Him together on earth. In fact, it may be wrong not to. And I pray that this local church is blessed as much as God blessed our church in the midst of troubles.

My Daughter’s Latest Obsession

My daughter turned nine back in September. She’s very normal by anyone’s definition. She loves her friends. She loves all the TV shows that her friends love. She is girly. She likes clothes. She likes her pet chihuahua Peanut.

But she also has some not quite so normal interests for a nine-year old girl.  A few weekends ago we were in Georgia for a family reunion. The morning of the reunion, while my wife was getting ready I flipped through the channels and found some History Channel program about the John F. Kennedy assassination. Next thing I know she was sitting on the floor in front of the TV just glued to it.

In the weeks since, I have answered tons of questions about it. She developed a fascination for Mrs. Kennedy and has asked what happened to the pink dress and pillbox hat? (The dress is in the National Archives; the pillbox hat is not.) Who shot him? (Lee Harvey Oswald did, acting alone. Sorry but the simplest answer is usually right. I don’t smell a conspiracy at all.) Was President Kennedy a good president? (That all depends on who you ask but on the whole I think he was). Why did Jack Ruby shoot Oswald? (Not sure anyone knows.) Is Jackie still living? (No she died back in the 1990s.) Where was he shot from? (The sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.)

In the conversation she also became aware of something known as the Zapruder film, a home movie which shows the fatal head shot in graphic detail. Naturally she wanted to see it.  It’s a part of history and so many of our young people grow up ignorant of  our history, our triumphs and our tragedies. After thinking about it, we watched the video. That brought up more questions. What was Jackie trying to do when it looked like she climbed onto the back of the limo. (Retrieving pieces of his skull.) Had he already been shot when he grabbed his neck? (Yes I think so.) Did Jackie get hit by a bullet? (No. Only President Kennedy and Governor Connally were hit. Jackie and Nellie Connally were not hit.)

I know that a nine-year old girl being interested in something like the JFK assassination might seem a little strange, but honestly I’m proud of my daughter. I’m thrilled that she realizes that much came before her and wants to know about it. I plan on answering all the questions she has.

My Thoughts on Halloween

Halloween is a mostly secular holiday that has rather obscure origins. It is a strange amalgam of the pagan Celtic day Samhain and the Christian All Saint’s Day. As it exists today it is neither particularly pagan and certainly not Christian. It is a largely secular celebration that gives retail outlets another opportunity to make money. That is my opinion.

As a child growing up, Halloween meant dressing up in a mask or a costume and going from house to house in the neighborhood collecting candy. We only went to houses where we knew the people. We were encouraged to ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL remember to say “Thank you.”

If you went trick or treating several years in a row you learned that some people always gave out the same treats, year after year. One house always had popcorn in a small brown paper bag with the top neatly folded and stapled twice to keep the popcorn from spilling out. The bottom of the bag alway had that dark spot where the oil had dripped down.

Another house we always stopped at always had Three Musketeers bars. I have always loved those and that house was a must do. Sometimes we’d get a candied apple and we always ended up with plenty of tootsie rolls and random hard candy.

It was a lot of fun and it was innocent. We’d even have a Halloween party at our school where invariably some Mom would send cupcakes for everybody. Who wouldn’t dig that?

As we got older somebody decided to spoil the fun. Rumors began to circulate that malevolent individuals were inserting razor blades into apples and injecting “dope” into the candy. Parents began to be more cautious. Hospitals began offering to X-Ray candy to make sure it was all free from “foreign objects.” (I always thought if you were the type who would go so far as to have candy x-rayed, why didn’t you just go to the store and buy some that you could be reasonably assured had not been tampered with.)

Halloween began to have a bad name. With the rise of modern-day evangelicalism, many began to reject Halloween and the celebration of as being un-Christian. Many churches began offering a Halloween alternative, a Harvest or Fall Festival. Stores even got in on the act. Entire shopping centers began to allow children to trick or treat there.

Because Halloween has some obscure pagan origins, and because the influence of Hollywood monster movies has permeated the secular celebration of it, Halloween has become viewed as being evil by many evangelical Christians.

For my part, I think that is a bit of an overreaction. But again that’s just my opinion. One of the dearest friends of our family does not celebrate Halloween as a matter of conviction. I have no problem with that and whole-heartedly support their decision.

I hesitate to bring this up, but it’s a lot like the Harry Potter debate. Quite a few intelligent, thinking, respectable people I know want nothing to do with Harry Potter due to the biblical prohibition of dabbling with sorcery. That’s fine with me and I don’t say they are wrong.  I however, believe that Harry Potter is merely a fictional universe created by a clever writer for the purposes of entertainment, not an apparatus to covertly guide the readers down a dark and sinister trail that must end with a wholesale embrace of the occult. (That’s what Freemasonry is for, not Harry Potter or Halloween).

See over the years I’ve heard people make the statement, “It’s not like it used to be.” Oh really!?! I’ve taken my kids trick or treating a few times and it’s exactly like it used to be. We only take our children to the houses of people we know (or their grandparents know). We encourage them to say thank you and we all have a good time doing it.

October 31 was also the Day that the Protestant Reformation officially began in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the All Saint’s Church. If you are a card-carrying Protestant as I am, then I suggest you combine the celebration of the Reformation with Halloween. Print out a copy of the 95 theses and under the cover of darkness (tape, not nail) them to the door of your local Catholic Church. You can commit a harmless prank and help correct wrong doctrine all at the same time.