Frank Underwood's God issues

Francis Underwood has some God issues.  The last episode I watched, he was in a church and spit on the crucifix.  Just prior to that, he asked a bishop why Jesus allowed himself to be killed and the bishop had no answer.  Would a real bishop know the answer or is this art imitating life?  Personally, I don't see how you can be in the church long enough to become a bishop and not know why Jesus had to die.  Its a basic premise taught in Sunday school.

I was not so shocked at the scene where Frank spits on the crucifix.  God is so much bigger than that.  And the scene is just there to make the show edgy.  But what is interesting is that Frank seems to be torn between doing what is right and doing what he wants to get ahead.  The notion of love your neighbor has no use in his life. 

That's ok for a fictional character but what happens is people are sitting on the couch watching this.  Through these shows, television tells people what to think, how to think and what is ok.  Viewers begin to assimilate to the characters they watch on these shows and take on their characteristics.  I know that sounds ludicrous but it happens more often than not.  No one wants to admit it because  they'd be embarrassed.  How many men started acting like Don Draper after Mad Men first came out?  I imagine a lot. 

So we watch these scenes and feel like we get some kind of "hall pass" to enter into a place where otherwise you feel like there's no access, because after all, Frank Underwood did it.  The only problem is, where does it take you and is that really a place you want to be?  I think we have to remind ourselves that this is just television and we really should think for ourselves.

Immigration

My parents are immigrants.  My father came her from Peru in 1955 and my mother from Argentina in 1960.  They met in Chicago.  But before they came, they got their papers in order and came here legally.  They went through the citizenship process and have paid their taxes all these years.  I don't remember once where my father ever had the idea or the inclination to take a hand out.  He knew that hard work was the only way he would ever get anywhere and the only way he would ever want to get anywhere.  I remember once he told me the story that he got into a car accident and the doctor got mad at him because he would not fake injuries.  I think the doctor called him stupid for not taking whatever money he could have from a claim.  But that was my dad and he wanted to be able to look at himself in the mirror every day.  He wasn't perfect but he had integrity. 

I am a first generation American and I was born here.  So that makes me an American citizen and I am proud of that.  I've never seen myself as anything but American, even though my heritage is not.  How would I feel if I were born here and was not given citizenship?  I think pretty bad.  I don't have a connection with South America because I didn't grow up there.  So would I feel like a person without country?  Maybe.  I don't think that's right.  Do I agree with what Donald Trump proposes about the "anchor" children?  No.  We do have a right as any other country to secure our boarders but there are so many issues involved that I think deserve careful consideration. 

Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.  

Please Hit the "Like" Button

Facebook is creating a very fragile society where if what you say or do isn't liked, then your self worth is diminished.  Being from a generation that didn't have computers or cell phones growing up and even out of high school, I can leave the Facebook world and its subliminal message of conformity very easily.  But what about the younger generations that know nothing but this?  What are the adults of the future going to be like?

I ask this in the aftermath of the Supreme Court making gay marriage legal in this country.  I'd like to believe that I would be sober enough to argue that the non-elected justices in the Supreme Court should not create laws, regardless of whether I was in favor of the issue or not.  It so happens I am not in favor of gay marriage so its an easier conclusion for me. 

Personally I don't care if gay people get married.  Its not like straight people honor the institution of marriage for what God created it to be.  My problem is that it is going to propel the criminalization of Christianity and that has already begun.  In Oregon, a bakery turned away a gay couple and the State issued a gag order against them, stating that they could not talk about their faith because it was discriminatory.  What a minute.  If homosexuality is against my religion, why do people get to flaunt it?  Isn't that discriminatory against me?

Most of the country is not in favor of gay marriage, to be completely honest.  But you wouldn't know it.  The day after the Supreme Court decision, lots of people on Facebook put the sheer rainbow over their profile picture.  Did anyone put up a traditional marriage symbol?  No.  Because if you do, you get stomped on.  You get called names and might even - gasp - have people unfriend you.  Not like you actually talk to each of those 3,000 people on your page.  Its not like you actually know what's going on in their life or even give a shit.

I posted something on my page.  I posted a sign that said "Keep Calm, Marriage is Between a Man and a Woman."  I got one like.  But I didn't post it to get liked.  I posted it because my conscience wouldn't allow me to just sit there.   Its not like we have to thump the Bible over peoples' heads.  But we should exercise our right to speak up, shouldn't we?  Because at the end of the day, the most important person who should "like" you, is you.

Indiana

What is wrong with this country?  People will not be happy until we've become completely godless.  If you are a Christian and aim to live your life according to God's will, then there are things that you don't want to be involved in and should not be involved in.  But if you stand up for yourself, you are called a hater.  The other side screams discrimination.  And the problem is they scream louder than the Christians trying to hold on to some rights in this country.  The headline in the newspaper that reads FIX IT NOW, the boycotts and demonstrations are just a few examples.  Only one group will prevail.  And its always the louder group. 

We voted on Prop. 8 and it passed.  But then people started yelling and screaming and it was overturned.  Our votes didn't count at all.  We had no voice anymore.  Liberals are all about civil rights but only if their issues prevail.  Christians are being pushed into the closet and there seems to be nothing we can do about it.  Sometimes we're too quiet.

Getting Older

I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago.  This whole year I was terrified of the idea until it happened and now I realize its no big deal.  I don't feel any different.   A friend of mine told me I can now tell people to piss off.  I think there's some truth to that.  We live most of our lives worried about what other people thing, that at some point, we need to drop that burden.  I know I do.  I also discovered that maybe I'm not married because I didn't want to marry.  I certainly had opportunities but there was something there that kept me from doing it.  I always thought it was a bad thing but now I don't think that anymore.  Maybe its just a part of who I am.  Its parents and society that force the idea of marriage upon women (mostly) and that you are defective if that doesn't happen to you. I don't feel defective.  I know that others made me feel that way.  Why is it that married people want everyone else to be married?  If marriage is so great, why is the divorce rate 50%?  And of the 50% that remain married, how many of them are staying together for the kids or because its cheaper than spousal support? 

Being free is not just about not caring what people think about you because you're single.  Its about not caring about anything that they think.  I know people in their 70s who still care what others think and I see how oppressive it is for them.  How horrible to live all those years and never be free of that thing.  

I believe one thing to keep in mind is that appearances can be deceiving.  You might see someone who seems to have a perfect life with everything going on but underneath it all, there's a lot of misery.  And that might be the person who you are trying to get approval from.  Doesn't make sense.  Our thoughts, our decisions, our daily life should never be influenced by what others think, even if they are family members.  We still love them but  we can't live our lives for them. 

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Recently a picture of that knucklehead Kim Kardashian came out that defies all rational thinking.  Is America this dumb?  Why does anyone follow her?  Do we not have our own interesting lives to cultivate?  I'm just at a loss.  Her aim was to "break the internet," I suppose by re-tweeting the idiotic picture of her until the entire system breaks down.  It was re-tweeted a lot but with scathing remarks.  The best thing we could have done was completely ignore it.  But because its too stupid to believe, everyone passed it around, with their heads photoshopped on it, with a donkey's ass photoshopped on it, etc.  Yeah, those are funny but its still being talked about.  That's what she wanted.  I don't think she even cares that people make fun of her, as long as you just talk about her.  She's an embarrassment to the Country.  And her mother of all people applauded her.  WTF?  I know we have freedoms in this country but some people use this freedom to act as inanely moronic as humanly possible.  Oh the fear of becoming irrelevant.