More "What the Bible Says About Money"

A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it
away. Proverbs 13:23

He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats
over disaster will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him
for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out
and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes
to them receives many curses. Proverbs 28:27

The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no
such concern. Proverbs 29:7

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the
land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or
tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely
lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked
thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so
that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him
nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be
found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a
grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you
in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will
always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be
openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your
land. Deuteronomy 15:7-11

What the Bible has to say about money...

I'm about 3/4 of the way through reading "Atlas Shrugged", and I can't
help but notice how Ayn Rand's perspective seems to be the absolute
opposite of the God of the Bible's. I'm going to do more research on
how much of the Bible is spent talking about caring for the poor, but
here are a couple passages that came immediately to mind.

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were
arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and
needy."
Ezekial 16:49

" 1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery
that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten
your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will
testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded
wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the
workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of
the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have
lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened
yourselves in the day of slaughter."
James 5:1-5

To What, Exactly, Are You Referring When You Say, “I Want My America Back?”

I'm sure everyone has seen the video of the lady crying at the town hall meeting that she was scared of the direction our country is going and, with real passion and sincerity, “I want my America back.”

Now, I fully acknowledge that, as a Northeasterner, I do not live in Sarah Palin's "real America." Regardless, this "my America" to which the aforementioned town hall speaker refers seems way faker than the America I happen to live in.

To which "my America" is she so nostalgically referring? Andy Griffith's or the Hardy Boys'? Sorry, that's fictional. Definitely not Woodstock or life in the Haight-Ashbury. Hopefully not the days of slavery, sweatshops, and wars against Indians. Previous to 1900, a healthy person's life expectancy was less than 50 years. Let's not forget that 100 years ago women could not vote! Frontier America is nice to romanticize, but an honest reflection sees it for what it was: a nearly-lawless expanse which was ruled by whoever had the biggest guns and the most money. Liquor flowed, gambling was rampant, sex-for-pay was easy to find, and if you didn't die young from a horrific accident, a drunken bar fight or in childbirth, you probably died from fever, measles or a host of other now-eradicated diseases.

Up until the 1970s companies thought nothing of pouring toxic waste into public drinking water. In the 1950s someone who had a grudge against you could devastate your career simply by pointing and shouting "communist." I'm sure the "my America" she's talking about is absolutely not the America of millions of African Americans, Chinese, Native Americans, Polish, Quaker, Catholic, etc., etc., US citizens who have made this country their home for hundreds (in the case of Indians, thousands) of years.

Personally, I cannot imagine an America I'd rather live in than the one I live in today. I am thrilled to be a member of this society--with all the craziness that entails--and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am more free than I ever could have been as an American in any other decade.

Thank God I live here now.

You Gotta Love Stock Market Analysts

So, I'm perusing Yahoo! Finance, trying to figure out how to get rich quick the good ol' American way--by doing nothing--and the first heading I saw was this:  

Stocks Shake Off Jobs Report To End With Big Gains -- Wall Street has put an upbeat spin on the government's report that the nation lost more than a half a million jobs last month.  Stocks reversed early losses to finish sharply higher as the job numbers raise hopes that Washington will again step in to help the economy.

Big job losses is good news because it means that maybe we'll get free money?  What?  That's like saying it's good that we didn't clean our rooms because maybe now our parents will get annoyed and clean them for us and give us our allowance anyway.  

Then there's another article on how gas may go down to less that $1 (whoa!).  Purely speculative, as is just about everything but the punctuation on this site, but it's a nice idea.  Let's see, how could I capitalize in the stock market on cheap gas.  I can't buy stock in oil companies (unless, of course, you use the above logic, in which case, free money again!), so who profits from cheap gas?  Probably not Ford and GM...they're too busy trying to look not-rich.  My best answer so far is Coke and Doritos:  if you just saved at the gas pump, maybe you'll be more likely to go into the little Mart and pick up a snack!  

Does anyone out there have some oh-so-logical advice on picking up a few stocks CHEAP!!!  ON SALE!!!  EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! as they seem to be so much these days?

Why Liberalism is not Socialism

Liberalism (US version)	Socialism
Favors a multi-party system (i.e. conservatives can kick them out whenever they get enough votes)	Favors a single-party system. My way or the highway
Favors free speech	Favors acceptable speech
Favors individual social freedom	Prohibits all deviancy from the limited accepted social formula
Favors personal career fulfillment	Favors subordination of your vocational desires for the good of society
Favors total religious freedom and equality	Favors no religious freedom in order to create the greatest equality—absence of any religion
Favors taxes that require more from those who have more	Favors taxing you 100% and doling back out to you your "fair share" as determined by the government

So how is Obama a socialist again?

How Can We Possibly See Things So Differently?

I have the privilege (or disadvantage, depending on your perspective) of living in a blue state with many blue friends while having mostly red family members and many red friends as well. Unfortunately this does not allow me to peacefully wallow in my own opinion buttressed by nothing but confirmation of my inherent rightness. I'm forced to confront the reasonableness of the other side as well as the fact that generally they're just good people.

Sadly, it appears that many of my friends, family and acquaintances are not in this position and feel much freer expressing serious contempt for the "other side". And I don't think they know they are or mean to, or perhaps they are expressing contempt for "those other people"...whoever they are. Regardless of your perspective on how the country should be run, being inconsiderate of other people's ideas isn't exactly helpful. In fact, isn't the best way to listen very carefully to what the other side has to say so that you can both come up with the best of both worlds? If nothing else it's important to note that if millions and millions of people think something, shouldn't you pause to just consider it? That many people cannot be that dumb. Otherwise our society wouldn't have lasted even as long as it has.


Anyway, it'd be great if our disagreements would involve a little more listening and a lot less malevolence.

MARKET that baby!

Somebody get Bristol Palin an agent!! Or better, one for Baby Palin-Johnston. A few professional shots of the happy family sold to People magazine should get them, what, $1 million? I mean, I suppose they're not Brad and Angie, but if they market this right, they could sure have the Grocery Aisle Pile drooling. If Bristol and Hottie McHotPocket Levi Johnston know what they're doing, they'll pay for Baby Palin-Johnston's education the good ol' American way...by leveraging their total hotness, dramatic situation and the fleeting and forgetful eye of the media, which currently is batting its flirty eyelashes behind some marvelously (and rare) rose-colored lenses.

If Vanity Fair and the Hallmark Channel are your bootstraps, I suggest you pull them up. Besides, I'm looking forward to seeing that cute baby ;).