The Founding of the FBI

Today (26 July) marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the FBI. Probably not the greatest anniversary for Average Joe to celebrate, but they've done a lot to ensure the safety of our great nation over the last 100 years. I thought it was worth noting for all those that might be unaware of the fact.

(And it also is proof positive that I'm not dead, just too busy to blog anything long enough to be considered insightful.)

Not Wearing Green For St. Patrick's Day... Again

Last year (2008) I was a week late for tomorrow's holiday, so here is a re-vamped version of last year's post: Immured in Green:

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Every year I'm asked why I -- as a "religious" fanatic -- never wear green on St. Patrick's Day. While I do attend church every time the doors are open, I'm actually not "religious" -- religions are based on tradition first. In most areas, I'm not a traditionalist by any stretch of the imagination. Although I wear suits & ties with dress shirts several times every week, I quit wearing white dress shirts entirely sometime back in the late 1990s. The one exception being a white shirt I rented for my wedding day. Plus, I usually wear cowboy boots with my suits.

People think of me as "religious" because I do attempt to live right, to base my beliefs on the Bible, and to teach my kids to have their own set of high ethical standards based on the Bible. Of course, just like everyone else, I still succeed some days and fail on others -- depending on the minute, hour, day, week, month, and year, but when it comes to St. Patrick's day I avoid including green in every (visible) part of my wardrobe. Instead, I wear maroon -- and that prominently.

I started my personal "not wearing green" trend in junior high and continued this non-conformist trend throughout high school, college, and to the present. Prior to college, without some explanation, few understood why I wouldn't wear green. Every year I explained that both Catholics and Protestants celebrate St. Patrick's Day, all the Catholics wear green, and all the Protestants wear orange. As an orange-wearing kid, in green-wearing schools, I'd get the inevitable, "Prove it," every year. Thus would commence a short social sciences lesson on the Irish and their flag. I'll relate it here, very briefly, for those that may not have heard it before:

The Irish flag consists of 3 vertical stripes, green at the pole, orange at the opposite end, and white between them. Green signifies Catholics, orange -- Protestants, and white -- the peace that should be between them. Their "Irish-ness" supposedly enough to unify even opposing religious views.

After that brief explanation, most understood my self-imposed abstinence from green for the holiday, and a few others even began to wear orange as I did. In more recent years (I believe it was in college, but am uncertain), I've refrained from wearing orange as well -- this change was brought about by studying church history. I am a Baptist, and Baptist history is a very different, separate "tree" than both Catholicism and Protestantism.

The "dark ages" lasted a little over 1,000 years -- different people observe differing events to "mark" the beginning and end, but the approximate dates are 450 AD to 1600 AD (I usually allow +/-75 years to and from each end). "Protestantism" began as an off-shoot out of Catholicism as the early champions of the Bible attempted to reform the Roman Catholic church. They wanted worship to line up with the Bible rather than the traditions of men. Officially, Protestantism is said to have "started" when Luther broke away from the Roman Catholic church in the early 1500s. The Lutherans were followed by the Church of England, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and many other denominations that all now claim to be Protestant.

The difference between "Baptist-believing" churches and all of the others, is that they existed prior to Luther (as early as the 1400s) and all held to the belief that for baptism to be of any effect, it had to be practiced Biblically. The Bible states baptism is to occur after one's salvation as an act of obedience to God and as an identification with your faith in Christ as Savior. "Baptizo" meaning to "immerse completely," has a definite and entirely different meaning than "rhantizo" -- "to sprinkle."

These Baptistic churches were persecuted throughout the entire dark ages because they wouldn't conform to Rome's mandates, but only to the scriptures. Prior to being called "Baptist" these churches were called by many other names: Ana-Baptists, Anabaptists, Montanists, Novations, Paterins, Donatists, Paterins Cathari, Paulicians, Arnoldists, Henricians, Albigenses, and Waldenses. Generally, these all believed in rebaptizing any new converts coming from churches holding views unaligned with the Bible (i.e. Catholicism and Orthodoxy). Wittenburg wrote in 1607, "Our modern Anabaptist are the same as the Donitists of old. They took no account of the baptism of others ..."

Based on my study, there were churches referred to as "Anabaptist" as early as the 200s -- predating the reign of Catholicism's Constantine (306 A.D. - 312 A.D.).


I said all that to say, as a Baptist, I won't be wearing green for this holiday -- ever. Associating myself with the Roman Catholic religion that has (over many past centuries) killed thousands that believe the Bible as I do would be remiss on my part. EDIT: (I realize, in the USA, as well as most other parts of the world, this is no longer condoned by anyone in the Catholic Church. Although, the Muslims have picked up where the Catholic church left off a few hundred years ago.)

I could wear orange, as many different Protestants of today hold beliefs quite similar to my own (and the general public cannot differentiate between a Protestant and a Baptist). However, in the early days of Protestantism, many of those denominations also held beliefs widely divergent from Baptists, and some went so far as to persecute Baptists, just as the Roman Catholics did.

No matter how similar my beliefs are to those of others, I know that I'm not Protestant. Because I'm a Baptist (of the conservative, independent, and Biblically-based fundamental variety... that have existed "underground" for centuries), I hold to views that are separate from both Catholicism and Protestantism. So, as a matter of personal preference, I eschew BOTH green AND orange on St. Patrick's day.

If I don't have any clean maroon shirts, I'll substitute red -- whatever color I have that is as close as possible to the color of blood. Maroon and red are close to orange (as many of my beliefs are close to mainline Protestants of today and of old), but are obviously different colors.

In this way, if someone asks about my lack of green (or orange), I can point to my red article of clothing and explain God's exclusive requirement of Christ's blood sacrifice to remit any and all sin -- the importance of accepting this sacrifice -- and how (as a Baptist that follows the Bible over traditions) it's my belief that each convert should be baptized after their salvation.

Explaining the green/orange observance of St. Patrick's day has yet to enable me to lead anyone up to (or through) the Bible verses that promise 100% certainty of salvation (and eternal residence in heaven), but maybe this St. Patrick's day will change that.

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As a side note, I am part Irish, BUT I am NOT Catholic, never have been, never will be, and if you attempt to punch or pinch me for not wearing green... well, let's just say you may contribute to my delinquency. =)
(That's a joke... don't forget to smile.)

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* * * * * * * EDIT * * * * * * *NOTE #1: Actually left home early in the morning on St. Patrick's Day for an appointment. Was running behind, and couldn't find any clean maroon (or red) shirts -- so I looked for an orange stand-in -- came up short there too. Ended up wearing white. (Was able to find a maroon polo later when I came home for lunch.)

NOTE #2: Was able to use my non-green shirt as an "opportunity" for the first time!

Happy Kwanzaa? Really?

For me, learning is fun. When anyone, any time, anywhere, asks anything, I like to know the answer. Therefore, I read often. My mind is an eclectic mix of all types of information that I can hardly help but offer in various amounts (ranging from snippet to discourse -- depending upon how much I've studied the topic in question). For some unknown reason, this year I decided to educate myself on the "holiday" celebrated in the U.S. called Kwanzaa.

Prior to doing any research on the subject, I thought Kwanzaa was a holiday created by African Americans to celebrate Christ's birth from an "African Heritage" viewpoint. I was wrong -- in fact, if I were to graph how far off I was with a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game, my pin would definitely be in another county or state, perhaps even off-planet. So now that I'm slightly more educated than I was last week, I thought I'd put thoughts to... er... blog and educate anyone else that happens to be interested. DISCLAIMER: if you don't like my opinions, if you are blinded by what you consider to be "your civic duty," OR if your "open mind" only refers to viewpoints you agree with -- too bad. I call them like I find them.

First, a little about the "father" of Kwanzaa: Dr. Maulana Karenga. Born Ronald McKinley Everett, he first changed his name to Ron Ndabezitha Everett-Karenga (ndabezitha is Zulu for "your majesty" and karenga is Swahili for "nationalist"). Later, when Karenga founded the "US Organization" (United Slaves Organization, or US) he shortened his name to Maulana Karenga (maulana is Swahili for "master teacher" or "lord").

I'm no psychologist or psychiatrist, but generally, when I find out someone has changed their name (except in the case of changing one's last name at marriage), a big warning bell goes off in my head:
Why?
Are they selling something?
What are they hiding?
If they aren't hiding something specific, then what are they trying to deceive others about?
No surprise then to find a criminal record that included jail time. Convicted of sexual assault and torturing his own (female) followers would definitely keep him off most individual's list of people to emulate, except that he's s'posed to be this exceptionally enlightened torch-bearer for civil rights, so -- he got a free pass on that one. Never mind that he jammed a flowing garden hose in these girls' mouths, put one's toe in a vise, stuck a hot soldering iron in the other one's mouth (after he burned her face with it). Yes, definitely a pillar of the community.

Next, I thought it expedient to look at the good Doctor's educational credentials. He was a professor of black studies at California State University (Long Beach) when he created Kwanzaa in 1966 (years later, he chaired the department -- after serving time for sexual assault!!). Curious as to just what exactly a "professor of black studies" would be teaching, I dug a little deeper. It seems Dr. Karenga was doing what today is commonly called "community organizing" -- but in order to differentiate him from the masses (since he was the head honcho) the more politically correct way to phrase his work would be so say he "led" a "black freedom movement" or a "cultural black nationalist group" in the 60s. If you didn't use one of these PC terms, Dr. Karenga might sound too much like a thug, and we wouldn't want to besmirch his less-than-stellar reputation.

You see, I also discovered that his "movement" wasn't your run-of-the-mill garden-club-variety group of peace-loving-children-of-the-60s. "US" (sometimes called "Organization US") was so violent, that when they had a disagreement with the Black Panthers -- US resolved the issue to their satisfaction -- by offing 2 Black Panthers! Evidently, for all their militant radicalism, the Black Panthers didn't quite live down to the low standards of US Organization.

In looking for any other sociological "problem areas" in his life, character, and actions, I discovered he met Malcolm X in California a few years before Malcolm's assassination. Just how important Malcolm X was to Dr. K can be found in his own words:

"Malcolm was the major African American thinker that influenced me in terms of nationalism and Pan-Africanism."

The "Why" and "How" of the purpose of "US" is simply put, in his own words:

"...I founded it [US], as the sons and daughters of Malcolm, and as an heir to his legacy."

What a legacy. I should point out however, that when he was released from prison in the mid-70s, he "re-established" US Organization. Unfortunately, it was not for the better. Instead, he infused his newly acquired Marxist views, with his already suspect thuggish tendencies. I can only hope that the movement doesn't continue to add to its legacy in future generations of melding the worst of all the world has to offer.

In closing, I did read thru the seven tenets of Kwanzaa -- twice. At first glance (before I knew anything about the man) they seemed to be OK, the type of rather bland statements usually proffered by politicians attempting to retain their seat at election time. Once I understood his background, philosophy, and ideals I reread the same seven tenets. Although thinly-disguised, the Marxist ideals of community activism, collectivism, and blind adherence to those in leadership clearly shone thru.

For my part, even if a "Happy Kwanzaa" is offered, I'm done wishing anyone anything but a "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year." They were sufficient for hundreds of years, and I personally don't want to be misunderstood to be promoting those degenerate ideals for which he stood.






PS -- If you'd like to know more, I found numerous links to Karenga and Kwanzaa with Google. Two of the shorter, more informative were the following:

newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/12/23/kwanzaa-created-rapist-torturer

wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulana_Karenga

Immured in Green

I realize this post is a week late, but if I wait until next year, it will probably be a week late then as well, so... three hundred fifty-eight days early... here's my 2009 St. Patrick's day post:

Every year I'm asked why (since I'm so "religious") I never seem to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. It's not that I attempt to be "religious" I just try to live "right" -- and of course, just like everyone else, I succeed on some days and fail on others. On St. Patrick's day I actually make every attempt to avoid green -- on every part of my wardrobe (I don't check the tags of my clothing or the toes of my socks, just the visible portions of it).

Even in junior high and high school I insisted on running the risk of resisting the green trend -- granted, it was very small risk, but risk nonetheless. (For some reason, jr. high boys like to punch and the girls like to pinch any non-greenies they can find.) I was constantly explaining that both Catholics and Protestants celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the Catholics wear green, and the Protestants wear orange. Although I'm a small part Irish, I'm NOT Catholic, never have been, never will be, and I shouldn't be punched or pinched for wearing orange. Then I'd get the inevitable, "Prove it," which was rather simple if the person had ever seen an Irish flag.

The Irish flag consists of 3 vertical stripes, green at the pole, orange at the opposite end, and white between them. Green signifying the Catholics, Orange the Protestants, and White signifying the Peace that should be between them -- their shared "Irish-ness" unifying even opposing religious views.

In recent years, I not only refrain from wearing green, but orange as well -- the change was brought about by studying history. I'm a Baptist, and Baptist history is a very different, separate "tree" than Catholocism and Protestantism.

The "dark ages" lasted a little over 1,000 years -- different people observe differing events to "mark" the beginning and end, but the approximate dates are 450 AD to 1600 AD (if you allow +/-75 years to/from each end you'll avoid much contention). Protestanism had earlier champions that attempted to reform the church to line up with the Bible, but didn't officially "start" until Luther broke away in the early 1500s. The Lutherans were followed by the Church of England, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and many other denominations that now claim to be Protestant.

There were "Baptist" churches prior to Luther (as early as the 1400s) and prior to being called "Baptists" these churches were called "Ana-Baptists" or Anabaptists. There were persecuted churches throughout the entire dark ages that were called Ana-Baptist and Baptist, but sometimes they were called by other names as well. A few of those other churches holding to "Baptistic" or "Anabaptistic" beliefs were the Montanists, Novations, Paterins, Donatists, Paterins Cathari, Paulicians, Arnoldists, Henricians, Albigenses, and Waldenses. Generally, these all believed in rebaptizing any new converts coming from churches holding heretical views of the Bible. Wittenburg wrote in 1607, "Our modern Anabaptist are the same as the Donitists of old. They took no account of the baptism of others ..." To the best of my knowledge there were churches referred to as Anabaptist as early as the late 200s (predating Catholicism's Constantine).

I said all that to say, as a Baptist, I would be remiss in wearing green and associating myself with the Catholics that have over the centuries killed many thousands that believe the Bible as I do. I could wear orange, as many different Protestants of today hold beliefs similar to my own and the general public cannot differentiate between a Protestant and a Baptist. However, in the early days of Protestantism, many of those denominations held beliefs widely divergent from Baptists, and some went so far as to persecute Baptists.

No matter how similar my beliefs are to those of others of today, I know I'm truly a conservative Baptist (of the independent and fundamental variety), and have views that are separate from Catholicism and Protestantism. So, as a personal preference, I've decided to eschew both green and orange on St. Patrick's day. I now wear maroon, or (if I don't have any clean maroon shirts) red. Maroon and red are close to orange (as many of my beliefs are close to mainline Protestants), but are obviously different. And if someone asks, I can point to my red article of clothing and explain God's exclusive requirement of Christ's blood sacrifice to remit any and all sin, the importance of accepting this sacrifice, and how, as a Baptist, it's my belief that each convert should be baptized after salvation.

Explaining the green/orange observance of St. Patrick's day hasn't yet enabled me to lead anyone up to (or through) the Bible verses that promise 100% certainty of salvation (and eternal residence in heaven), but maybe the next observance of St. Patrick's day will change that.

Don't forget your smile

If nothing unexpected comes up, at this time next Monday we'll be in a plane headed homeward. Our first week of vacation was enjoyable. I have coughed quite a bit more than normal, but as long as I keep taking the 12-hour Mucinex every 10 hours I've been fine. (As far back as I can remember I've needed to take stronger doses of medicine than "normal" people -- and usually for longer periods of time than others. When my 4 wisdom teeth were pulled, they told me the dose of anesthesia I took should have put someone twice my weight out.)

This morning I donned my favorite winter-time t-shirt: it's a large yellow smiley face wearing a Santa hat. It works rather well at home in south Florida as well as indoors here in Pennsylvania. On the occasions I've gone outside here, I make sure to bring along an extra flannel shirt and hooded, lined, wind-breaker.

Before breakfast my wife informed me she wanted to go shopping at the shops at "The Promenade." I offered to go with her to "Help watch the kids," which is code for, "Please don't leave me home -- alone -- with the Varmints 3 -- again -- for several hours -- on my vacation!!" She doesn't know the code, yet; I expect it won't be long before she deciphers it.

I'm not exactly certain what attraction "The Promenade" has here in PA. I can understand a bunch of shops grouped together, all with exterior exits (and no interior connecting hallways) in south Florida (if the sidewalks have awnings or some other type of rain protection). I understand it in Florida because it's warm there. We only get a few weeks of weather cold enough to warrant breaking out my flannel shirts. However, here in PA it gets cold -- and very windy -- and sometimes there are large patches of snow and ice to traverse when walking and driving outside. Perhaps outdoor shops are a novelty?

Whatever the attraction, we went. It was cold -- and windy -- and although there was no ice on the ground, little white flakes of snow were whipping past us. After a quick walk-through of L.L. Bean (the Varmints 3 enjoyed peering into the fish tank, Daddy liked browsing through the various multi-tools, and Mommy just wanted to be able to say she'd "Been there"), we decided to go down to Barnes & Noble. The wind was chilly, so we didn't dawdle.

The Varmints 3 weren't impressed with Barnes & Noble. They did enjoy digging under the clearance table in the bins of stuffed Halloween toys -- for all of 30 seconds. Then they admired the various tractor calendars -- that lasted less time than digging in the bins. Then we discovered the Children's section. It had a Thomas the Train table set up (and track glued down) to amuse the little people. I quickly went to the clearance tables, and after a bit, picked 3 books. (I was rather pleased that my 3 books retailed over $75, but only cost me $10.) I went back to "supervise" the train table with the Varmints 3 -- and had a good time with the turntable, roundhouse, and miscellaneous rolling stock they had put out for the children. The other small kids were surprised to see a Daddy on the floor playing with trains, so I got a few free hugs before my wife finished and we left.

Our fun had not yet begun. On the way back my wife and I convinced her Mom, that since we were already out, they should stop for groceries, while I took the kids, went down the road to the gas station, and filled the tank. This car automatically locks all the doors when it's put in drive, or park, or switched into reverse. I've never seen a car lock itself up so often. Before leaving the grocery store I took the ignition key off of the ring (so they could swipe the little discount tag at the checkout). Upon getting out at the gas station, I had the presence of mind to grab my windbreaker (the wind was briskly driving the snowflakes across the top of the hill) and the car key, but didn't think to grab my flannel shirt -- or check to be sure the doors were unlocked before closing my door. I did however, check it AFTER I closed it: the doors were not unlocked. Even better, the ignition key doesn't open any locks (a supposed "safety" feature). Best of all, neither "Nana" nor "Pop pop" have ever used the electronic keypad to unlock the doors -- they don't even know if it works! (In my mind, that just did not compute; why would you purchase a car and not ask if everything on it worked?) While pumping the gas, I calmly called my wife -- so as not to cause a panic in the backseat.

The guy in the store liked my Smiley t-shirt with the Christmas hat. He even laughed when I told him it was a "Little colder here than it is at home in Florida." When I got back to the car, Little Bear was very unhappy when I didn't immediately open the door and get in the car. It didn't help to play "peek-a-boo" either -- he freaked out and tears were flowing immediately. Neither Tank nor Sugee Boogee cried though. They matter-of-factly attempted to unhook their car-seat belts. Little Bear was so hysterical his attempts to help them were only a hindrance.

After 20 minutes of coaxing and talking to them through the windows, Tank was disturbed that he still couldn't unhook his belt or get out of his coat -- he REALLY wanted to unlock the door for me -- he wanted to be first. Sugee Boogee was 3/4 of the way out of her car-seat and could reach the lock, but lacked the strength, knowledge, or concern of the boys. Content in her own little world, she calmly played with her seat, sang songs, and waved at me. Little Bear, still bawling uncontrollably, finally wriggled himself up out of the middle seat belt. He unlocked the door as my wife called for the last time (I lost track of the number of calls that went back and forth).

A good Samaritan at the grocery store overheard a phone conversation and offered to bring her (and the rest of the keyring) up to the gas station to let us into the car. She thanked the nice lady as she got out of her car, and waited at the store for our return. It's a good thing she called that last time, I wouldn't have been there when they arrived.

This evening after dinner, Little Bear looked at my t-shirt and said, "I think you are a Smiley man because of your smiley shirt." I tried to explain that we shouldn't forget our smile when scary things happen, because Jesus is watching over us, but he was more interested in hiding under the bed, and not missing his turn in the bathtub. It was an eventful day -- but I just realized, I forgot to ask if they even needed to swipe the little discount tag at the grocery store.

Thankful Random-ness & Multitudinous Blessings

As the year closes, I've been considering a number of various items. So many that I couldn't possibly blog everything in a coherent or cohesive manner. Consequently, I feel it's my duty to inform you: This post will be disjointed, but, in spite of that, will still (hopefully) convey a glimmering of my thoughts.

Blessings:
- great wife (patient, loving, compassionate, even-tempered)
- Little Bear is alive, healthy, and normal -- in spite of the DRs' predictions
- so are the twins
- Varmint #4 is on his (or her) way
- have a great pastor, a very good church, & (soon) a hard-working assoc pastor
- able to work (& have more job offers than I can accept)
- our mini van has needed minimal repairs... since 2003!!
- my new (to me) trumpet


Things I enjoy:
- the twins' nap-time (Mommy likes it more)
- Sunday church services (even if I preach)
- Organic candy (candy that's good for me -- imagine that!!)
- receiving a backrub (without asking for it -- "just because")
- King's Kids on Wednesday nights
- helping others
- listening to Little Bear pretend to preach, lead singing, prepare messages, & volunteer to do special music for church: "so Daddy doesn't have to do so much"
- Publix Premium Eggnog ice cream... need I say more?
- finding "new" passages in my Bible that somehow I've missed over the years
- grimy little hands that want to give me hugs (& dirty little faces that still want to kiss my "scratchy-face")
- watching the Varmints 3 grow, develop new skills, & learn new things
- reading a book (OK... several books)
- listening to good, conservative music (our "christian" radio stations aren't)
- finding money (& saving it, & receiving it, & getting gift cards, etc...)
- building things for the Varmints 3 -- and watching them enjoy them
- feeding cows (a few of them let me pet them)
- being given a box of new (to me) books to read
- keeping informed of what's happening in the lives of friends & family thru their blogs and Facebook pages
- petting the neighbor's Rottweiler (she's 100+ lbs, & thinks she's a lapdog)


Things I like:
- being the best Boggler in a small church =D
- cool & nifty new gadgets, and I really want a bug (of course, then I'd feel like I must teach myself to program them, so it's probably best I don't)
- getting a start on cataloging all our books at LibraryThing (if you don't want to click the link, scroll down this page and you'll see a list of random book covers on the left -- altho for some reason a few don't show the covers)
- the versatility of e-Sword (free Bible study program)
- being able to renew my library books online
- having an alternative to Wikipedia -- even if it isn't complete yet