Thought of the Day

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer should hire spirituality guru and philosopher Deepak Chopra to become a spokesperson for the drug Zithromax. It could be called the "Deepak Z-pack!" Have a great day.

Who is bailing out whom?

This past week the US House of Representatives passed an order proposing a 90 percent tax on bonuses to employees of companies that received federal bailout money. I know this probably goes against popular opinion on so many levels, but you can't give or lend people money and then place stipulations after you give it. Next, what most people don't realize is that that most Fortune 500 companies don't just offer bonuses to their executives, but to all employees; even the ones making $9 to $15 per hour. Granted these employees aren't receiving large bonuses, but the accumulation of all these bonuses will be devastating to local economies across the country. Finally, there is the arrogant presumption of the House of Representatives who is punishing executives for running their companies into an unmanageable deficit while congress has been voting themselves pay raises while this country has been operating at a deficit since the 1940's!

It is incredibly shortsighted to lend or give money to these companies and then place stipulations after the fact. First of all, these executives who received the bonuses are all under contract based on revenues, cost reduction, and budget maintenance; even while the company is operating in the red. If the companies didn't pay these bonuses, the executives would have a guaranteed law suit against their employers. I supposed congress could have mandated that these bankrupted companies renegotiate contracts with their executives before they received their bailout money, but they did not. Imagine the bank loans a family money to buy a house and in the loan agreement only gave the details for repayment and management of the loan. So after the loan has been paid and repayment has begun the bank starts mandating what color the family can paint the walls or whether or not they can have any more children. Finally, the federal government didn't just give bailouts to the "Big Three" automakers and banks; they gave us all a bailout in terms of stimulus checks. What sort of outrage would there be if congress mandated how we could all spend our individual stimulus checks or tax refunds?

I work for a major shipping company. At the end of every quarter we receive a bonus check based on company revenue, production efficiency, and minimizing OSHA accidents. This is a practice that is generally held by most Fortune 500 companies whose workforce is based on manual labor. Now my last bonus check was around $50, but think about how much money that is spread over the entire blue collar workforce in this country. The "Big Three" automakers, who all received bailout money, employ 240,000 people in this country. That comes out to roughly $12 million each quarter or $48 million per year. With such a large number of these "Big Three" employees working in Detroit, think of what a detriment that would be to their local economy! With people moving out of that area in droves, a few million dollars per quarter would be a huge detriment to an already flailing economy.

On a side note, I love that former professional pitcher Roger Clemens was indicted for lying to congress when everybody in congress lies to congress! That is why I ironically love the idea of the US House of Representatives reprimanding executives of bankrupted companies that received bailouts while those same congressmen and women are operating this country under a deficit; all the while voting themselves pay raises. I propose that congress also pass a 90 percent retroactive income tax on all salaries that congress and the President have received above their 1940 salary when the national debt began. If we really want to punish this sort of behavior then maybe we should start at the very, very top of our social hierarchy and work our way down. This might seem farfetched, but how about we let our country's criminals write our crime legislation or let race car drivers set the speed limit?

Now I know when most people heard about this legislation, they though "right on!" The point I'm trying to make is that this is a more complicated, far-reaching piece of legislation that people realize. This won't just punish those "fat cat" executives, but it will punish hard working Americans and local communities. This is just a typical congressional overreaction in an attempt to pander to voters without thinking of the social and economic implications. This legislation will absolutely not make any headway in the attempt to change corporate corruption. It will only be another in a long line of failed, hypocritical attempts by congress to take money out of the pockets of hard working Americans to bailout a woefully inefficient federal government that is $14,300,132,000 in debt… $14,300,133,000… $14,300,135,000…

Jesus-ism: a case in point

So a few moments ago, I was at the gas station pumping gas when a woman pulls up in a minivan. She was maybe a hundred pounds, had very few teeth, and was totally strung out. She called over to me, but I couldn't understand so I walked up to the car.

"Can I get some gas?" she asked "I got no money and I'm gonna be stranded out here if somebody doesn't help me."

I thought about it, decided there was little risk of harm at this well-lit gas station and replied,"I don't have a lot to spare, but if you pull up to a pump I can out ten dollars in."

"God bless you! God bless you!" she exclaimed.

We pumped her ten dollars worth and before she got back in she screamed at me,"God is gonna bless you and pay you back 10 fold for this; I'm gonna make sure! I'll pray for you and pray for you! I swear it!"

I said I appreciated the gesture but explained that I was in fairly good health with a good dependable job. I wasn't a felon and I didn't have any children to worry about. I said,"I'm in a pretty good place right now so why don't you save those prayers and that energy for yourself so that one day you won't find yourself in this situation."

"Oh, I'm just goin through hard times right now; that's all."

"So why don't you pray about that, let's make you the most important in this situation, and when you're in a better place, and if you remember me, you can put in a good word for me with the guy upstairs. Deal?"

She wept a little and as she climbed into her van she agreed but said,"the Lord sees everything so you still gonna be blessed. I can't thank you enough!"

That's Jesus-ism for you in a nutshell. "Paying it forward," not for what you might receive in the future, but because it's the right thing to do. I didn't pump free gas for the karma or the blessing, but because helping others makes you feel better about yourself and gain insight into who you really are as a person. So that 10 dollars I spent helping that poor woman get home, but in doing so I learned something about myself making the return on my investment absolutely priceless. Down with scripture, down with dogma, but up with Jesus-ism where we can actually make a difference in people's lives. Don't think we can make a difference? Just ask the woman who is home safe with her faith intact instead of passed out in a ditch or run over by a car. She is definitely a believer!

Go Bulldogs!

If I were a Butler Bulldog I'd be vomiting with the knee knocking more than if a lady friend said she had to go to the doctor for morning sickness, alcohol aversion, and a missing period! I don't know how they do it, but I'm sure glad they do. Win or lose though, they are the class of college basketball and fantastic representatives of our state.

"when I say go you say Bulldogs!"

"go!"

"bulldogs!"

"go!"

"bulldogs!"

The Birth of Jesus-ism

"The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle... That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable" Rev. Brennan Manning

As you may or may not know I work the third shift so the other day I came home at 5:15 in the morning and found that their was nothing to watch on television. So I was mindlessly clicking through the channels when I came across one of the Christian networks. I found myself intrigued by this gentleman who was so passionately preaching the word of God. He was running around on stage with a Bible in hand, sweating profusely, gesticulating wildly, and literally screaming into his wireless headset about how the path of Jesus is the path to our salvation and I found myself thinking, "wow, that is a really nice suit." I'll admit that I could hardly concentrate on his words, but I so intrigued by his surroundings.

First of all, though they called it a church it was really an amphitheater which probably held a couple thousand attendees. Next, the digital production technology was advanced enough to be used on Broadway or to put on a major market rock concert. Finally, the minister was wearing a thousand dollar suit while preaching in front of a 50-foot high neon cross with these beautiful angels adorning each side. I just kept asking myself how this multi-million dollar operation expected anyone to understand the teachings of a homeless traveler that spent his life preaching about such virtues as love, compassion, empathy, and most important: charity.

I see these large churches all over town. Churches that are so large that they have off-duty police officers on rental to control the traffic flow in and out on Sunday mornings. These places aren't churches, but more like religious complexes with more than enough room to utilize as the congregation sees fit. Some of these complexes even have a gymnasium, separate from the sanctuary, which leads me to ask what God needs with a gymnasium in his house. I don't think Jesus is planning on going on "MTV Cribs" anytime soon. It drives me bananas that these religious organizations, in the name of Jesus, pool their money and resources to build these complexes, which are truly monuments to their own collective wealth and accomplishments, when all of that money could be better used for the homeless, the hungry, the sick, and the weak. If you remember from the Bible, Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers and ran them out of the temple, so what do you expect he would think of these multi-million dollar complexes built to celebrate his teachings when there are people living in the trailer park down the street trying to financially triage what they can keep and what they must sacrifice to make it until their next paycheck; if their is a next one.

In my community meals-on-wheels doesn't operate on Christmas Day. So for over a decade members from my church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Hendricks Country, wake up before 5am on Christmas Day and prepare a hot meal to be either delivered or enjoyed in-house for those elderly and less-fortunate that are either financially or physically unable to prepare a meal on this very, very special holiday. Because of these economic times, what started as generally a hot meal for the elderly has begun to include more families with children in need, so we also include a bag full of clothing and toys along with these, shall I say, quite delicious hot meals. Last year, in anticipation of serving over 400 meals, our minister approached the other local ministers at their monthly meeting and asked for any assistance possible from the other churches only to be received with silence and one question, "yes, but where do your congregation stand on salvation?" I just find it so interesting that on the celebration of Jesus' birth, a man who championed compassion, love, and charity above all else, the only people practicing what Jesus preached are the atheists, agnostics, Wickens, and religiously confused.

I have become slightly annoyed recently at the number of scriptures that are popping up on Facebook and the calls to find Jesus because the earthquakes, tsunamis, and collapsing economies and governments are indicators of the end of days. Now I would gladly and passionately defend everbody's right to say whatever they wish and practice whatever religion they desire, I do want to offer the parable of the loud prayer and the soft. Jesus tells of two people that enter the temple. The one walks into the center of the sanctuary and cries out his love for the Lord so that everyone can here him. The second person hides in the shadows and prays at a whisper so that nobody can hear this conversation with God. Jesus finishes the story by explaining that only the soft prayer would be heard by the Lord:

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6: 5-6

Personally, I don't care what people post on Facebook because if I get tired of it I can always block them or take them out of my feed, but what I do find disturbing is that these folks that love to quote scripture never seem to mention how they spent the day ringing a bell for the Salvation Army or volunteering at a soup kitchen. You can tell your spouse that you love them every morning and evening and spend the rest of your day sleeping with other people and we would all conclude that you don't really love them, but why do Christians that praise Jesus only with their words get a pass in life?

That is why I am a Jesus-ist. Whether you believe he is the son of God, or even if God exists, there is a historical basis for the existence of Jesus and that, in my own words, he was pretty cool. I don't memorize scripture, I don't take communion, I don't care how or why the world was created, and I don't sit around with others talking about how great Jesus was. I do though champion the virtues of love, compassion, empathy, charity, and understanding and I know it is cliche, but talk truly is cheap but actions do speak forever. If you love Jesus then don't just memorize his words but try to apply them to your life. If you were to ask Jesus today, or for that matter Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, or even Gandhi, they would all tell you that they could care less that you remembered their words, but did those words affect change? I should warn you though, being a Jesus-ist isn't strictly a Sunday morning sort of thing, but a full-time job. Jesus-ism includes things like asking a stranger with a troubled look if they need some help, or holding the door for others. Being a Jesus-ist also includes things like meeting frowns with smiles, always offering a helping hand, and above all obeying the Golden Rule!

Now please, please, please don't contact me with any sort of retort or conversion attempt because the way I see it if you have the time to change my heart or mind you have the time to research a good local charity where you can volunteer your time. Now I will take requests for how we can meet up so you can drop off clothing for a tsunami victims clothing drive we are starting because that is "What Jesus Would Do."