Pardon the Partisanship

hello again

2011-12-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

many moons ago i posted thoughts, some of which may have changed, some of which have stayed.
well starting today, the blog is back on like donkey kong. readers or not. :D

2009-03-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted. Too long. In fact, my apathetic lack of posting probably contradicts what I am about to write about now.

No matter though, because I will post it anyways.

I have heard you before. You being that young, energetic, hip, dynamic, innovative person. I have heard you act as if the world around you doesn't matter. You say, "The world of politics is corrupt, politicians and policies are boring, and it doesn't affect me anyways".

O but it does! And that's the scary part.

Politics should be of importance. Let me put this into perspective for you. God is the number one priority in my life. Why? Well first off because He created you, because He commands you to serve Him, etc. But think about it using a human argument. God is the One who judges. God is the One who controls all of life. Wouldn't you think it would be intelligent to put Him as number one on your list of priorities?

I am not writing here today to convince you to do that though. That's not my topic for tonight. If you need convincing in that department, then I encourage you to read His Word, the Bible, and listen to sermons and messages delivered by ministers, who are much better at doing that convincing than I am.

My point was to connect the (human) reason for prioritizing God to the reasons for prioritizing politics (although not as number one, of course). Government is a necessary evil. I agree. It is somewhat evil. But it is necessary.

Government makes and enforces the laws.

Government collects taxes.

Government provides military protection.

Government regulates industries.

Government creates and changes policies.

And so on and so on. Now I don't know how you feel, but I know what I gather from this. The government of your country, and subsequently those who are in charge of running it, should be a high priority, shouldn't it? These people, the ones we vote in, they set your taxes. They pave your roads. They provide your healthcare. Is that not a big deal? When aspects of my every day life are affected by the people in office, and I actually have the ability to help choose them and influence their decisions, then I can't help but think that there's a responsibility to be involved.

People across the world would die for what we have here in North America. Yet we take it for granted. We actually sometimes hate our system, because of corruption, abuse, and the media. But in reality, what we have here is relatively amazing compared to what millions across the world have had to live under.

Do you agree with aborton? I most certainly don't. And I know hundreds of others who don't either. But do we bring it (or any other issue we have) up with our local MP? Do we email them, do we participate in peaceful protests... do we do everything humanly possible to let the leaders of this country know how we feel on the issues that matter to us? Maybe you do. Kudos to you! Keep up the good work!
I know I don't do enough of it. Personally, I spend far too much time simply wasting time.

And we wonder sometimes why we don't get anywhere with promoting our beliefs. "It's the liberal media, they prevent us from getting our voice out there". A part of the reason, perhaps. But a small part. Nations are not run by silent majorities, they are run by loud minorities!

Now maybe you really don't care. You don't vote, you don't have an opinion, you don't discuss this boredom. Fine. I can't convince you to do otherwise. I can encourage you, but I cannot change you. Only you can make that choice.

But here's what you may not do if that's the choice you make. You may not complain about pot holes in the road. You may not complain about taxes. You may not condemn government for allowing abortion or promoting ungodly morals. And don't talk about how long you had to wait in the hospital. Because you, you don't care! What difference does it make to you anyways right?

Let me liken it to this. Your family decides they want to buy a new computer. Everyone is encouraged to go shopping to help pick one. But you tell them that it's a waste of your time or that you're not interested, and allow them to go ahead and choose it on their own. However, once they've purchased one, you begin to complain about the screen size, or how slow it is, or that they failed to include the video card you need to play your new game. Is that not ridiculous? In this world, if you do not make an effort contribute now, your opinion is unwanted and useless at a later time.

So you, and me, we really have one of two choices. If you care about the state of your country, and not only how it affects your life, but how it affects millions, then be involved. Don't immediately dismiss it as a waste of time. I don't care if your only level of involvement is voting. That is plenty enough.
Or, don't get involved. But then seriously, don't get involved. Don't even begin to talk about any of it. Because then you would be contradiciting yourself.

The choice is yours, mine, ours. Don't dismiss this as boring, irrelevant, and a waste of time. You might be regretting it later.
Take that energy, that creativity, and that awesome personality you've got, and use it! Use it in every way possible.

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone becomes a football fan on Super Bowl Sunday. It's the biggest television event of the year, year fter year, and yet millions of people watching it....know nothing.

I kind of laugh. The real football fans, like myself, follow every game, every week. We live and die by our teams, by each game. We celebrate big plays and yell at our favourite players on stupid mistakes. We analyze statistics, we have all the playoff scenarios memorized in our heads, and we will defend our team to the teeth.

And most of you, you make fun of us. For cheering it day by day. For talking about it. Get a life, they tell us. There's a bigger world than sports. Get your priorities straight. Etc.

Until Super Bowl Sunday. You ask who we think will win the game. Many of you don't even pay attention to the game, but you've got your "favourite" team. Some of you do pay attention to the game, and then talk and pretend to know something about it. In reality, if my team is not playing in the Super Bowl, I simply watch it for the comedy of hearing everyone else put their two cents in about this or that play.

O I'm not mad. I think it's great. Hilarious and ironic actually. :)

Of course, this applies to the Stanley Cup Finals, World Series, or any other finals. It's just that the Super Bowl provides the best example. The best example of bandwagoning....not for a team, but for a sport.

The 44th President of the United States

2009-01-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

How ironic and coincidental that my blogspot begins the same day as Barack Obama begins his presidency.
Or...not.

Mmm Barack Obama. Seems like he is the man of the hour. Politicians are true celebrities now! (for now) As I am writing this, there are probably 1 million pro-Obama bloggers on the internet discussing what a wonderful day this was, thousands of pro-Obama groups toasting themselves for electing him, and millions ready to throw me to the dogs for what I am about to say.

I don't like Barack Obama. Okay, okay. I shouldn't say that. (I would probably enjoy sitting down with him for lunch for a real face-to-face chat. He would have time for me right?) He seems like a nice guy. Charming, without a doubt. A great orator. And from what I can see, a Christian, a moral man, and a real family man. (Or maybe that's just part of the campaign plan, to create a nice family man that we will all love). Jokes aside, the media really has created his image more than he himself has. (If the media and the celebrities love him, you can bet your fortune that I won't love him) Before his inauguration he has been compared to some of the greatest leaders in American history. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. (Is it worth mentioning that the first owned slaves, and the Jefferson was in favour of a strictly limited federal government? Or are those not the comparisons we are looking to draw? O and, a comparison with the greatest president in history, is, to say the least, insolent). If any comparison is fair, maybe it's FDR. But even still, people, we are comparing Obama to these men of history, yet he has in fact done....nothing! (so far. I am obviously expecting him to have every person in America, or the entire world for that matter, eating well-cooked turkey dinner and drinking red wine every night, as it is daily delivered to food distribution centres from the central distributing centre known as the Government of the United States)

I mean to say that I strongly disagree with Obama on many of his policies and his campaign speeches. He speaks of ramping up responsibility, or that we are entering the era of responsibility (say what? so Mr. Obama, with all due respect, the Founding Fathers, the writers of the Declaration of Indepedence, and your favourite friend Abraham Lincoln....they weren't living in the era of responsibility? please). In the words of Rush Limbaugh, Mr. Obama's era of responsibility, and his form of government is essentially this: "Those who have been responsible are about to have their pockets picked in order to pay for those who have been irresponsible." In other words, the hard-working people of America, those who earn their living honestly, are about to have their taxes increased in order to pay for those people who don't do anything in terms of work or helping their economy. And I know what you're thinking, that these poor people, with no jobs, need money and help from their government. I am not going to disagree with the fact that there is a problem in the American economy right now, or that the credit failure is a big problem, or that there are thousands of problems that need fixing, etc. I just don't think his policies are the ones that are going to fix these things. Redistribution of wealth has never worked in any society, except maybe the early church in Acts. The reason why? Because it takes away the motivation to work hard. And hard work drives the cash flow in the economy.

Here's a theory. Lower taxes allows people to buy more goods, which causes more jobs to make those goods, which creates more taxpayers! More taxpayers, each paying less tax! But then you ask, how does the government deal with that initial tax cut, and how does this government pay off that massively huge debt that they're dealing with? It's simple really. By downsizing the government. The Founding Fathers never intended for a federal government of this size and magnitude. The government's original purposes? To protect the nation, to enforce laws, and yes, collect taxes for their work (but only what was absolutely necessary), etc. But nothing like what we see today.
To quote Rush again: "Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work." Enough said. Private entrepreneurship drives the economy. The federal government needs to stay small so they don't need as much money to operate! Keep the money in the hands of the people, in a competitve environment.

So if these policies are so smart, and his policies are so dumb, then why did he get elected? Change right? Quite wrong. It's about the social issues. It's undeniable that the social issues, the minorities, and the little guy are what got Obama elected. Now, I've heard arguments that these issues either a) aren't huge issues or b) are never going to change. I tend to agree with the latter. When I was in university at McMaster, I questioned if we created social issues, or exaggerated them. Racism, poverty, and all the other issues are always going to be there, despite our best efforts. And don't get me wrong, we should all continue to put effort into doing whatever we can to help those dealing with these issues. But of course, the liberals live on these issues. It's too big a business for the left to keep all those things alive, these things that divide the people of the United States of America into groups that are against each other.

Speaking of race, it was a cute story the first time we talked about Obama being the first black president. But it's getting a little old. He is the president of the United States, he's a human being, and his ideas and policies are what count for me, not his skin color, not his past, not whatever ties he doesn't have to being down with the struggle, all of that's irrelevant to me. He could be black, white, pink, or aqua blue for all I care! My only question is, is he the best man for the job? I continue to argue, most certainly not.

Now, everything I have said so far is definitely debatable. (Although, I am always right. You understand?) But here's something that I think, in the minds of most who will read this, is definitely not debatable. And that is the issue of abortion. Barack Obama is apparently pro-life himself. But in October 2007 he voted against banning partial birth abortion. Now, Obama has argued that a president cannot impose his own religous beliefs on the rest of the country. Actually, here is a direct quote from the president himself: "Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all." (excuse me while I vomit)

I am sure many of you know (or maybe just a few, because I should never assume) the name Dr. Dobson, from Focus on the Family. His interpretation of the above quote is as follows: "What the senator is saying there, in essence, is that I can’t seek to pass legislation, for example, that bans partial-birth abortion because there are people in the culture who don’t see that as a moral issue, and if I can’t get everyone to agree with me it is undemocratic to try to pass legislation that, uh, I find offensive to the scripture. Now that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution." AMEN

But this, friends, this vote against partial birth abortion was done as a senator! As one man among 99 others. (I am suggesting he stick up for his beliefs, because if partial birth abortion was denied, it would be due to 2/3 of the votes against it, which would suggest a...majority?) I, for one, could never support a president who allows (or doesn't even attempt to stand up against) the murdering of partially born babies. It's despicable. It goes against everything that the title "Christian" stands for. I ask Barack Obama the simple question, what would Jesus do? (a cliche without a doubt, but think about it!) Mr. Obama, did you desire to seek political office so that you could stand down on the very moral issues that threaten to shake the very ground which we stand upon?!? Then sir, why did you ever consider political office? You would have been more effective as a private citizen, where you could feel free to openly express your views on such issues.

Have I been harsh? Perhaps. Have I been true? Judge amongst yourselves.

Introduction

2009-01-20T15:14:00.001-08:00

This is my blog. Redundant eh?

You're probably going to find that a majority of things discussed here are about faith, politics, and sports. These happen to be the three things that intrigue me more than most other issues.

You've probably already seen my title. Partisan - "a fervent and even militant proponent of something", or "an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity". And so, I might come across strongly on issues. Perhaps, too strong for your liking. I don't apologize for being passionate, or for irritating you. I'm just forewarning you, it's what I do.

And you're probably going to disagree with a quite a few things that I say. Which is okay, in fact, I prefer it that way. Because if you didn't disagree, I wouldn't feel a need to write about anything at all.

So, reply. Post away. Looking forward to it.