Two Opinions

Yesterday's blog on Prayer elicited some very strong responses --  I share their well-expressed opinions and I would like to share them with you today.  The first came from a friend on Facebook, Jan Hoffman, and the other one,  from our mutual friend, Richard Schwartz, a Vietnam Vet and contributing writer here on Memoirs:

Prayer in America

My Opinion
by Jan Hoffman:

Here, Here, CJ!  This Great Nation was FOUNDED on Religious Principles and it was written into ALL of our Guiding Documents.

If our Doctrines are so OFFENSIVE to these IMPLANTS - - I say GET OUT or SHUT THE HELL UP!  They knew, when they first decided to come to this Great Nation, what this Country's Beliefs and Principles were all about - - yet they came - - to get away from the very Oppression they are trying to SHOVE down OUR Throats!

I say to them:  "This is OUR COUNTRY - - LOVE IT and ALL IT STANDS FOR - - or LEAVE IT and find a country that better suits YOUR beliefs!"

This is being written by a Great-Grand-Daughter, Grand-Daughter, Daughter, Niece, ex-wife, and the Mother-in Law of Military personel who fought, were wounded, and gave their lives to Protect & Defend our Rights!

Sincerely,
Jan Hoffman


My Opinion
by Richard Schwartz

Its a cultural war.  Either we defend our Judeo-Christian heritage or we lose it!  Since I was a child, people have been wishing me Merry Christmas.  Should I be offended because I'm a Jew?  Of course NOT! I'm happy that someone takes the time to wish me well during their holiday.  And my Christian friends send me a Happy Hanukkah message during my holiday and some of them even wish me well on the Jewish High Holidays.

It's no coincidence that, in order to be considered an educated person at the time of the founding of our country, you had to know enough Hebrew to read the Hebrew bible in Hebrew besides having a thorough knowledge of the Christian Bible.  All the founding fathers could read Hebrew and most could write it.  Our concept of liberty and freedom is firmly rooted in our Judeo-Christian heritage.  We need to keep this in mind when we vote.

If you want to know how awful it's really getting, please read a copy of Mark Steyn's "America Alone"  where he describes how political correctness and multiculturalism is destroying Europe.  (Note Angela Merkel's recent comment that Germany's attemp at multiculturalism has failed).  If you want to study an interesting difference in beliefs on your own, investigate the story of Abraham and the binding of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible vs. the account of the same story in the Koran.  The difference is 180 degrees.

Notice the firing of Juan Williams from NPR. Apparently, he is not sufficiently "politically correct" for NPR.  My politics tend to be conservative and libertarian. Juan Williams' views are liberal,  I ALWAYS look forward to listening to him because he makes me think about my beliefs.  In my humble opinion, NPR firing him is another shot in the culture war in this country and I've already written notes to my local NPR station, CPR, and my representatives in Washington concerning this incident.

Oops -  I didn't mean to get on a soap box, but when our local school has to start calling a Christmas tree a "Holiday" tree, our culture is drowning in the political correctness swamp.

Carolyn and I, (mostly Carolyn!), just got our garden in shape for the winter with weeding, tilling, and planting a rye grass cover crop. The weather is turning cooler and the rains are starting up here in Maple Valley.  The salmon runs are over. It was a curious salmon season.

Locally, we had a below-average number of returning salmon.  At the Frasier river in Canada, they had a tremendous salmon run such that the salmon canneries were begging for extra workers.  I've talked to a number of marine biologists and no one seems to know why the difference occurred.  The leaves on the deciduous trees are turning beautiful reds and golds, while the evergreens will maintain their intense green through the winter.  I even heard that the mountain pass a couple of hours' drive away from Maple Valley got a dusting of snow last night.

My best to you and Robert,

Richard


As always, I thank the two of you for your thoughts -- and for taking the time to share them.
My warmest regards, a hug, and lots of respect,
CJ


“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale