Many of you never had the pleasure of knowing my dad. Charles Roberson was one of a kind! He died of a massive heart attack at the age of 61, in April 1989. But in his 61 years he used all of his runway and a little of someone elses. As I approach that age it amazes me how much I look and sound like him and that is a little scary. Why you ask? Because there was never a less politically correct man placed on this earth! So as you read this blog entry just think of me as channeling my dad.
There has been a lot of attention being paid to same sex marriage these days. Could be because the president is trying to shore up his base with the gay/lesbian folks. Election is coming you know. Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A started a firestorm the other day by daring to speak out in favor of the traditional definition of marriage, that being between one man and one woman. The immediate reaction from GLAAD was to call for a national boycott of his restaurants. Jim Henson decided to pull their Muppet toys from meals sold at Chick-Fil-A. Apparently it is not allowed to have a difference of opinion. So the fight is on and the Christian groups are lining up being Chick-Fil-A and politicians, Hollywood types, and the gay/lesbian folks are trying to brow beat the public into supporting their side. Mind you Mr. Cathy has not been accused of discrimination against anyone. He is guilty of having an opinion that is not shared by some people. The last I checked that was still allowed.
So I got to thinking WWDS? (what would Dad say?) Let's pretty this up by saying that Dad was a 100% heterosexual male who would take offense at the presence of a gay guy. Back in his day homosexuals had good reason to stay in the closet because coming out would be detrimental to their health. I had a conversation with him about this subject shortly before his death and to say he would be against same sex marriage is an understatement. His opinion was very mainstream back then and to even suggest same sex marriage was ludicrous.
Times do change and thankfully so have our attitudes of acceptance of the lifestyles of others. For whatever reason not all of us are wired the same way so what I see as "correct" may be diametrically opposite of you. God will sort it all out soon enough and I have more important things to do that beat you up about who you sleep with. Choices will be made, consequences will be suffered. I do think that too much effort is being made on both sides to legislate a definition of morality that includes whichever side your group happens to be on. The government has no place in defining relationships and should not be dictating to businesses how they perceive it. If Mr. Cathy and his company chose to support the traditional definition of marriage what is it to the government? The answer is that the government with its GLAAD allies want to shove their definition down his throat and make him pay for benefits of same sex "spouses". I am glad they are the tolerant ones!
In seven weeks I will turn 61. I am different from my Dad just like he was different from his. I am more educated and a little more tactful but the values have not changed. He taught me right and wrong and I tried to teach that to my children. Unfortunately it is a constant battle to maintain those definitions when society keeps moving the ball on you. I suspect Mr. Cathy was taught similar values and is not afraid to stand up for them. It will probably cost him and his company some money. The thing it will not cost him is his self respect. He'll be okay.
So the next time you see a Chick-Fil-A will you drive by or stop and have a sandwich? I will be having a sandwich or two.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Looking For A Reason
Since everyone and their liberal dog is talking about it I guess I will too. "It" is the murderous event that occurred in Aurora, Co. on Friday morning. Note that I do not call it a tragedy, or a massacre, or any of a number of euphemisms used by the press to describe what happened at that movie theater just after midnight on Friday morning. My inclination would be to call it what it appears to be; wanton, willful, premeditated murder. We can spend endless hours contemplating whose "fault" it is but the long and short of it is that this 24 year old man decided to commit these murders and if all indications are true should rot in Hell for doing so!
What I am going to explore is an observation I am sure most of you have made - the political machine never sleeps! In our 24/7 news/entertainment cycle we see the worst of this illustrated. It is not as important to be accurate as it is to be first it would seem. For example, the television media is never content to report what happened or is happening. They want to draw a political connection to everything. Upon learning the name of the perpetrator Brian Ross, a veteran reporter with ABC news researched the Tea Party records and found a man named Jim Holmes was a member of that group. And of course he puts that out as fact on national television. The problem is that it was a different Jim Holmes, he being 52 and the perp being 24. Fact check Brian? More importantly, what possessed him to search the membership of the Tea Party to begin with? The same thing happened in Arizona right after Congresswoman Giffords was shot. There was an attempt by the news media to draw a connection to the Tea Party in both cases without any information being released that indicated a link. Moreover why is the media prejudging the Tea Party as a group of violence when nothing could be further from the truth? The simple answer is that The Tea Party has challenged the status quo and every step to discredit them will be taken. A correction was released later but the damaged was done. Can't unring that bell!
The media will defend itself by whining about the pressure to be the first to release the information. Obviously it is a different environment for them than it was for Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw. So? Whose job has not changed in the past 20 years due to the internet and other technological advances? Do they not understand how low their credibility is with the public? Much of this can be attributed to their obvious bias but some is also because of the inaccurate information put out at the expense of being first. So the cost of being first is very high indeed!
I guess it is human nature for us to try to find a reason someone goes off like this guy did. As if that will make everything better? Some want to blame his parents, many the availability of firearms, still more some kind of mental instability. What reason in this world could justify that kind of carnage on a bunch of people watching a movie? You put a room full of Rhodes Scholars on this question and they will get bupkiss.
The simple conclusion I draw is that there is evil in this world and it was visited upon that movie theater in Colorado. Just like it is visited on millions of people around the world on a daily basis. Admittedly when you have an event such as this with the injuries and loss of life it is more sensational. However evil is evil and should be confronted and defeated! The abusers that do it for years without challenge are just as bad as this guy. We have a responsibility as human beings to identify evil, bring it out of the shadows, and bring it to justice. We have stuck out heads in the sand too long and it's time we called a spade a spade! Truth be told someone knew this guy had the potential but ignored it or didn't want to get involved. Sorry that doesn't cut it with me!
So as the dead are buried, the wounded recover, please don't write this off as an aberration. Hopefully you will never witness such an event but if you pull your head out you will see other less dramatic events where you can make a difference in someone's life. Please don't pass on the opportunity.
What I am going to explore is an observation I am sure most of you have made - the political machine never sleeps! In our 24/7 news/entertainment cycle we see the worst of this illustrated. It is not as important to be accurate as it is to be first it would seem. For example, the television media is never content to report what happened or is happening. They want to draw a political connection to everything. Upon learning the name of the perpetrator Brian Ross, a veteran reporter with ABC news researched the Tea Party records and found a man named Jim Holmes was a member of that group. And of course he puts that out as fact on national television. The problem is that it was a different Jim Holmes, he being 52 and the perp being 24. Fact check Brian? More importantly, what possessed him to search the membership of the Tea Party to begin with? The same thing happened in Arizona right after Congresswoman Giffords was shot. There was an attempt by the news media to draw a connection to the Tea Party in both cases without any information being released that indicated a link. Moreover why is the media prejudging the Tea Party as a group of violence when nothing could be further from the truth? The simple answer is that The Tea Party has challenged the status quo and every step to discredit them will be taken. A correction was released later but the damaged was done. Can't unring that bell!
The media will defend itself by whining about the pressure to be the first to release the information. Obviously it is a different environment for them than it was for Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw. So? Whose job has not changed in the past 20 years due to the internet and other technological advances? Do they not understand how low their credibility is with the public? Much of this can be attributed to their obvious bias but some is also because of the inaccurate information put out at the expense of being first. So the cost of being first is very high indeed!
I guess it is human nature for us to try to find a reason someone goes off like this guy did. As if that will make everything better? Some want to blame his parents, many the availability of firearms, still more some kind of mental instability. What reason in this world could justify that kind of carnage on a bunch of people watching a movie? You put a room full of Rhodes Scholars on this question and they will get bupkiss.
The simple conclusion I draw is that there is evil in this world and it was visited upon that movie theater in Colorado. Just like it is visited on millions of people around the world on a daily basis. Admittedly when you have an event such as this with the injuries and loss of life it is more sensational. However evil is evil and should be confronted and defeated! The abusers that do it for years without challenge are just as bad as this guy. We have a responsibility as human beings to identify evil, bring it out of the shadows, and bring it to justice. We have stuck out heads in the sand too long and it's time we called a spade a spade! Truth be told someone knew this guy had the potential but ignored it or didn't want to get involved. Sorry that doesn't cut it with me!
So as the dead are buried, the wounded recover, please don't write this off as an aberration. Hopefully you will never witness such an event but if you pull your head out you will see other less dramatic events where you can make a difference in someone's life. Please don't pass on the opportunity.
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