CommenTerry

Random Rants and Raves #127

Never hold back on your talent or intelligence to keep someone else from feeling inferior.            

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Whenever someone offers you a chance to sample something before you buy it, take him or her up on it. 

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The best defense against those who ask too many questions is to ask them a lot of questions in return. That will usually cause them to back off. Most people can't take the kind of stuff they dish out -- habitual questioners are no exception.

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There are some things I will not do because of fear and pride -- fear that those actions might injure my pride.

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When you don't do enough, you'll often be accused of not doing anything.  

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Fear is one emotion that will not respond to reason or logic.

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You know you're just an overgrown child when you look at a Toys-R-Us catalog and find yourself wanting some the items.   

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Show me someone who has good health, intelligence, and plenty of money, and I'll show you a person who has all the ingredients necessary for a happy life. 

Tax Cuts for the Rich?

I get tired of hearing people whine about George W. Bush's tax cuts being for the rich. Yes, the rich probably got the most benefit from them, but that's because they pay the most in taxes. That only makes sense to me. Actually, I wouldn't care if the rich got a 100% cut in taxes as long as I got a nice share of the cuts myself. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I received a nice dividend from that round of tax cuts. In fact, everyone who pays taxes got a cut, as Bush cut every tax rate. That's the way tax cuts are supposed to be done. So, I hope Bush's tax cuts will soon become permanent.

They definitely beat Bill Clinton's targeted tax cuts, which never found a way to target me. That's because, instead of cutting the tax rates like Bush did, he offered cuts based on how people spend their money, which isn't any of the government's business anyway. If you spent your money in Clinton's prescibed manner, you got a tax cut. If you didn't spend your money that way, you got no cut. Funny thing though, his tax increases managed to hit everyone. Go figure!

The Natural Law of Self Defense

When individuals or nations are attacked, I believe they have the right to use any means they deem necessary to defend themselves, regardless of man's law. In cases like those, I believe the natural law of self defense trumps any man-made laws.

First, let's look at an example of an individual being attacked. Let's suppose two men get into a verbal argument, and one physically attacks the other. As far as I'm concerned, the man who is attacked has every right to do whatever he feels necessary to prevent himself from being beaten or killed, including shooting or stabbing his attacker, regardless of any laws regarding the use of deadly or unnecessary force.

Now, let's look at an example of a one nation attacking another. When one nation invades another for whatever purpose, right or wrong, by default it gives the regime of the nation it invades a blank check to do whatever it deems necessary to defend itself, regardless of any laws governing war crimes. That nation has a natural right to attempt to drive out, discourage, intimidate, terrorize, or otherwise thwart the invading force. Rules of war shouldn't apply to a country that's being invaded anyway, as the act of starting a war is, by definition, a lawless act.

The Empty Thrill of Ownership

When I was a child, it was always a special thrill to be able to buy a book instead of borrowing it from a library. In fact, ownership of anything made me feel so proud. However, I eventually grew up and got over that sentiment, although I’m amazed at how many of my peers never did get over it. I now look at things from a completely different perspective. Now, I refuse to buy anything, especially books and DVDs, if it’s more practical to rent or borrow them. The way I see things, the more one has, the more one has to worry about – and keep up with.

I can’t understand why people buy music (CDs, downloads, etc) when they can listen to it for free on the radio. I can’t understand why people buy DVDs when they can rent them from Netflix or Blockbuster. I can’t understand why people buy books when they borrow them from a library or even access their contents over the Internet.

Obviously, some things are impractical and/or don’t make good financial sense to rent or borrow. These things would include a house, a vehicle, clothing, tools, furniture, appliances, and other big-ticket items. However, for most of the little things, I’ll avoid ownership whenever possible, thank you.

A Challenge to Catholic-Haters

There seem to be a lot of right-wing fundamentalist nuts these days who like to bash the Catholic Church. One example is Pastor John Hagee, who often refers to the Catholic Church as the “Great Whore.” However, at the same, these guys will tout the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the entire Bible, including the New Testament. However, they can’t have it both ways.

Circa 400 A.D., the same Catholic Church that these fundamentalists like to disparage determined by a vote which books would be included in the New Testament. Its 27 books were selected from more than a hundred possible choices, including those books that make up the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yes, it was the Catholic Church that judged which writings were divinely inspired (and therefore included in the New Testament) and those which were not (and therefore left out).

Here are some questions that Catholic-Haters need to answer: If the Catholic Church is such an apostate, then who or what gave it the authority to piece together the New Testament? If the Catholic Church is indeed the Great Whore, then why should we trust its decisions about which books to include in and exclude from the New Testament? If we as Protestants have the truth on our side, should we not re-look at all the prospective divine writings from the first century and determine for ourselves which are divinely inspired and which are not?

Don't It Make My Red States Blue

There are at least two indicators that the Democratic nominee will win the presidency this fall. The first is the fact many more people have participated in the Democratic primaries and caucuses than in the corresponding nominating contests conducted by the Republicans. There just seems to be more enthusiasm for the Democrats this time. The second is the poll released last week in which Americans indicated that they are worse off now than they were eight years ago. That kind of sentiment is almost always an omen of a change of parties at the White House.

Of course, this will mean that several previously red states will turn blue this fall. Florida and Ohio, both of which voted Republican in the last two presidential elections, will likely go for the Democratic nominee this time around. If just one of them switches, the Democrats would win the White House, assuming all the other states vote as they did four years ago. Also, consistent GOP-voting states like Virginia and North Carolina might fall to the Democrats in November.

Places That Should Be Avoided by People with Good Credit

People with good credit should never buy a car, furniture, appliances, or any other big-ticket items from places that offer credit to all. Most of the people who frequent these places are those who can’t purchase anything on credit anywhere else and cannot afford to pay cash. One thing I’ve noticed about these places is that their prices tend to be higher than those charged by retailers who are more discriminating in their offers of credit. That’s because they have built their anticipated losses (from those who are likely to default on their loans) into the sales prices. Therefore, when those of us with good credit purchase things from those places, we are, in effect, helping to pay for the items purchased by deadbeats. When we get near one of those places, we should keep driving.

Why All the Church Hopping?

It has recently been reported in the media that more and more people are switching from one church to another or one religion to another. This is contrary to the behavior of previous generations of Americans, who generally stuck with the church or religion of their upbringing. So, what’s the reason for all the church hopping (or church shopping) nowadays?

I believe this is happening because too many people are coming to church with the wrong attitude. The purpose of the Church is to praise, honor, and worship God and to advance His Kingdom on earth. It does not exist to make us feel good or give us some kind of high. Those who believe it does will never be satisfied very long with any church they attend. People have obviously become so self-centered these days that they even view the Church as something to manipulate for their personal gratification. On the contrary, we are to conform to what God’s Word demands – and not try to make it conform to our pre-conceived belief systems.

To paraphrase Jack Kennedy, Christians should not ask what the Church can do for them; they should ask what they can do for the Church. If Christians keep their eyes on a fixed point (i.e., the Word of God), they will not be influenced by what’s popular or trendy, or even their own feelings, for that matter. I will stick with my church even if everyone else forsakes it. I refuse to look around and see what everyone else is doing and let it influence me.

Classic Rants and Raves #37

An informal education can be more costly than a formal one, as the most expensive university in the world is the University of Trial and Error!      

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I wouldn't have the attention span to follow a soap opera on a regular basis. They are just too vapid to keep my attention for very long.    

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There are some comedians who can't seem to ever come out of their comedy routines and act like real people for a few minutes. Jonathan Winters and Gilbert Gottfried are two that come to mind here.

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When your power or phone service goes out, never assume that someone else is going to contact the power company or phone company.

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A guy went to see his optometrist for his annual eye exam. After it was completed, the eye doctor told him that the exam revealed the fact that he was presbyopic. Caught completely off guard by the diagnosis, he replied, "That can't be, doc, I'm Baptist!" 

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I hate it when someone makes me feel like a VUP - very unimportant person!

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Ecclesiastes 9:4 (KJV) says, "...a living dog is better than a dead lion." I wonder how many people take that verse seriously.

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When you are told that something is dangerous or difficult, believe every word of it; when you are told that something is safe or easy, be very skeptical.

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Never become too attached to (1) money that has yet to be taxed, (2) something you don't own outright, or (3) something that can be taken away from you at a moment's notice.

Why Are Some People Apolitical?

I believe there are two main reasons why some people are apolitical. One is that they may feel disaffected. They just don't feel that politicians ever address their concerns and/or that they don't ever keep their promises anyway. For others, their lack of interest in politics is just a part of their overall disinterest in anything larger than themselves -- they are so caught up in their own little worlds that they are not curious about the world around them.