Friday, July 09, 2010

Trouble Right Here in River City

Somebody must have put in a pool table, look at all the trouble we’re in now. Heck, it’s gotten so’s a body can’t offer up a proper prayer or teach school without raisin’ up a ruckus.

That Music Man feller’ passing through warned us about having a pool table; should’ve listened to him. Look what’s happened to our country; ever since our youth have been “Fritterin’ away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too Hit the ball in the pocket”. Instead of pulling weeds from the garden or patching the screen door, you’ll have, “young ones peekin’ in the pool hall window after school”. Yes Sir, somebody must have put in a pool table.


“Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City
with a capital ‘T’
and that rhymes with ‘P’
and that stands for ‘pool’.”


Ya’ don’t believe me? Take a look at what happened when somebody prayed during a session of congress, offered a blessing in the name of our Savior over in North Carolina .


“A North Carolina pastor was relieved of his duties as an honorary chaplain of the state house of representatives after he closed a prayer by invoking the name of Jesus…He had been invited to lead prayer for an entire week but his tenure was cut short when he refused to remove the name Jesus from his invocation.”


I suppose there might be some folks attending sessions of congress who’d feel uncomfortable or offended hearing the name of Jesus. Satan has plenty of his followers passing legislation these days.


The University of Illinois fired a professor, one assigned to teach Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought. Professor Ken Howell, a Catholic, was fired for teaching the tenets of the Catholic Church, that homosexuality was/is immoral and then added he believed that was correct doctrine, An unidentified student complained to the administration, considered Professor Howell’s added opinion “hate speech”. Howell had emailed all his students to help prepare them for an upcoming test, “teaching his students about the Catholic understanding of natural moral law.”


“Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing,” the student wrote. “Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another.”


Many students have fragile emotions and are unprepared for interacting in the world where he/she might have to face the fact that not everyone has the same beliefs or set of core values; but, Ann Mester, an associate dean at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said Howell's e-mail justified his firing.”


How do you get to be an associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences without having a functional brain? Perhaps, just perhaps, someone should check under Ann Mester’s fingernails for telltale signs of pool table lint or traces of cue stick chalk.


“Friends, the idle brain is the devil’s playground, trouble!


Oh, we got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here in River City
With a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for ‘pool’
That stands for pool
We surely got trouble
We surely got trouble
Right here in River City
Right here


Gotta figure out a way to keep the young ones
moral after school.”


There are folks who can’t stand the fact that “In God We Trust” is printed on our money, emblazoned on 30% of Indiana state license plates or placed in many classrooms of public schools. The mystical separation of church and state is the penumbra used to assault the mention of religion in public, something which is not in the constitution; but which the Supreme Court declared must be in there somewhere because Thomas Jefferson wrote the line in a letter,


“In Indiana, the American Civil Liberties Union is waging a legal battle over the state’s “In God We Trust” license plates, which now appear on over one third of all passenger cars statewide since its introduction at the beginning of this year, according to the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles.”


If you read the historical background regarding “In God We Trust”, the record would lead back to 1864 when it first was stamped on the two cent coin . It has since been added to other coinage and printed money.


Our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner , is the result of a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, “Defence of Fort McHenry”.  The words “And this be our motto, In God is our trust” are plain to see and yet many folks claim the phrase is a modern contrivance signed into law on July 30, 1956 by then President, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Separation of church and state is the contrivance, an attempt to rewrite our Creator out of American history.


“Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule?
Oho, we got trouble
We’re in terrible, terrible trouble
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is the devil’s tool
Devil’s tool
Yes, we’ve got trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, yes, we got trouble here, we got big, big trouble…
…with a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for ‘pool’!”


Yes, Sir, somebody’s putting pool tables in towns across this land, corrupting our youth for several generations. We’ve reached the point where closing a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is cause for dismissal, teaching basic Christian principles is a “hate crime” and “In God We Trust” is offensive; that’s my two cents worth!


This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

9 comments:

Stephen said...

I am not a religious person. I hesitate to say I am an atheist because it immediately associates me with a pack of raving morons.

It seems to me that if you invite a pastor to lead a prayer for a week, you really have no rational basis for being upset when that pastor actually leads a prayer.

I give the pastor credit for not editing his invocation to appease the idiots.

T. F. Stern said...

Stephen, Thanks for your comment. It would seem that NC wants a motivational speaker to get things started rather than a prayer.

Stephen said...

The single biggest problem with religion is the insistence of some in forcing their belief system on others. Either religious belief or anti-religious belief.

But it seems to me if you invite a religious person to give an invocation or teach a class on religion then you should probably expect some religion! At the very least you should not be surprised and offended.

Mostly I think a lot of people need to grow up and accept the fact that not everyone on the planet thinks and believes as they do. They also need to learn that simply being exposed to an opposing view of the universe doesn't mean their beliefs will be shattered.

I've handled money that reads "in God We Trust" for most of my life. I've recited the Pledge of Allegiance proclaiming "One Nation Under God" more times than I count. I have seen innumerable religious displays on private and public property. None of this has offended me. None of this has changed my view of the universe.

Mike Landfair said...

And yet the authorities have given approval to build a mosque on the World Trade Center site where 3,000 died and Muslims in other countries danced in celebration.

T. F. Stern said...

Building the mosque at Ground Zero is a challenge, no different than throwing down the gauntlet. Our community organizer in chief likely applied pressure to favor such an insult to America. The natural man within this work in progress is struggling to contain my disdain and anger to any who would spit on such sacred ground by building a tribute to those who destroyed so much.

MathewK said...

The truth is that these scumbags are not offended by the mention of religion.

And they know that no one is forcing them into the church or anything of the sort.

Truth is that they don't believe in God, call it disbelief and they'd like to force that upon every one else.

Stephen said...

MK,

For people like that atheism is a religion and like some among the devoutly religious they feel compelled to prosthelitize. They go out of their way to find incidences of religiosity so they can pretend to be offended and oppressed.

Whether this comes from an arrogant belief that they are right and everyone should be forced to lives as they do or a deep seated fear that they just might be wrong, I don't know.

T. F. Stern said...

Stephen,

I'd agree with you, atheism has the ear marks of a religion. We are all made in God's image and have an eternal spirit and are able to recognize right from wrong; even the most perverted among us. Some are not content unless they are miserable and do what they can to force everyone around them to be equally miserable.

Stephen said...

There are of course those of us who don't feel compelled to compel or convince anyone to think the way we do. Just as there are those who are religious who don't feel compelled to compel or convince others to believe as they believe.

I like to refer to those people as decent human beings.

Present company included.