I am a Democrat but I’m not anti-Republican. I am a Liberal but I am not anti-Conservative. What I believe is that liberalism is necessary to move our conservative nature in the direction of progress. Believe me, I have as many friends on the right side of the aisle as on the left and they…
Author: gary1164
I'm an advertising executive and former actor/producer
Christians, Deists, and Atheists, Oh My!
200 years is a long time to keep anything going. Consider the world 200 years ago and you won’t find much that resembles the world today; not in the United States, anyway. 200 years ago the War of 1812 rocked our newly won sovereignty to its core as residual resentments between our Union and Britain…
A Casual Reply…
Boy, can I step into a fire, or what? I probably use Facebook too much and lose sight of my own dictum that social media does not contain nuance and tends to absolve false premises, but I do enjoy laughs and posts that can stimulate debate. Sometimes I will repost a meme that I thought…
Doggone it! People LIKE me!
It occurred to me….I’m not helping. I’m not calming anyone’s nerves, I’m not making fewer people angry, and I’m not convincing anyone who didn’t already agree with me to listen or, God forbid, change their mind. When I was door knocking as a candidate for the Iowa House, 4 years ago, I often joined a…
Though Love and Life make tearful intercession…
Theologian, A H Strong, defined the human will as “the soul’s power to choose between motives and to direct its subsequent activity according to the motive thus chosen.” No more ideal description of a public servant could be written. Such reflection strengthens our moral purpose; the convergence of ideas and motives reveal what kind of…
May Blessings Upon Thee Fall!
I have a dear friend, who sadly passed away a few years ago. He was a dashing, British actor named Peter Dennis who was delightfully full of himself, as only British folk can pull off with graceful aplomb. I think of him all the time, but the pearl of kindness that he always imparted upon…
The Wrath of God
Whenever there is a disaster, natural or human-caused, it seems that an evangelical will make a statement that it confirms God’s wrath. And each time I hear a new pontification regarding Holy punishment due to gay marriage, legalizing pot, or for debunking trickle-down economics, I am compelled to look critically at their religious cause. Evangelicals…
“Put your bodies upon the gears…”
There sure is a lot of talk lately about that venerable old document we call the “Constitution.” There’s a lot of disagreement over how it is to be interpreted, and the intentions of the original Framers regarding language, but one thing everyone seems to agree on: No one is getting it right…except for ourselves, of…
Feeling Social?
Since “socialism” and “social democracy” are going to be hot button topics for the next several months, it might be a good idea to calibrate some understanding. I have preached until I am blue in the face that many people think they are saying “communism” when they say “socialism” but that isn’t resonating. Even pundits…
New Deal
As Bernie Sanders shows strength toward the possibility of becoming the Democratic candidate, the issue of his association with “socialist” ideas will weigh more and more heavily within our political rhetoric. Sanders identifies with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal. Fair comparisons can be made with regard to how Sanders proposes to focus federal…