Who are the Haters?

Mr. Bost, thank you for your response of July 13 to my guest box, “Lest We Forget”.  Your argument sounds rational but your history is scrambled, to say the least.  This may play with the under 40 crowd that has been educated by our failed educational system, but this old fart knows better.  Take the Civil War, I ask you, who were the haters, Abraham Lincoln, those Americans who died at Gettysburg?  My American history says that there are times in the life of men, when it becomes crystal clear that freedom for all is worth my dying.   Abe stood up among his fellow Americans, calling them and us to protect the freedom of all Americans, including those trapped in slavery and racial hatred.  It is a sorry truth that we won’t see this truth in our modern progressive history textbooks.  Can you handle the truth?

True freedom for all the people is worth the reality and finality of death for the few who are called.  Jesus is probably the best example.  Regardless of whatever else men may say about him, at least, he died to protest the inhumanity of men who rule over us, top down, for any reason, religious or political or sometimes both.

 

G.Goslaw

Landers, Ca   

Every

Sitting on the front porch and watching the sun rise over Goat Mountain every morning is the best of each day. The wonder of the rising sun, day after day, year after year, century after century, why should it be so?  It is quite impossible for we humans to fathom the meaning of that little eternal word, every.  Can the rising sun be that consistent?  Such a question leads to others and we are forced to think beyond our petty limitations.  Perhaps, Burt Bacharach was searching the “every question” when he penned the tune so many years ago, “What’s it all about, Alphie”?

The lyrics of this song say the answer is love toward our world and humankind but is this not, in at least one important way, an answer based upon our limitations?  Is it not an earthbound answer?  There was a time in my life when such thoughts or questions were understood to be nonconsequential to this seemingly significant human.  There was a time in my life when it seemed prudent to shift into that comfortable place, the God scenario of heaven and hell as an excuse to never have to ask such questions again.  There was a time in my life when I gave up asking or thinking about the eternal question because there were no answers that seemed appropriate.  The asking was pointless and so far removed from the daily grind.

This time in my life, the “every question”, remains the only question without a full blown answer.  Could this not be an answer?  Our limitations were meant to leave the individual, every individual, without an answer.  As humans we are meant to freely search the hinterlands for the consistency that the sun brings every morning, to search without success in this world.  Life is either that pointless or our search was meant to teach us the meaning of something.  If there be a God, an architect of this unknowable seemingly immoral existence, the word that he would have us swallow is freedom.  We are free to make our limited world whatever the individual reckons to be most rewarding. Freedom cannot be the exclusive possession of the few.  Freedom was designed to be the highest order of this world.  Freedom is for everyone, it is meant for everyone and we depend upon every other human to achieve that freedom.  Freedom is the life value most desired by humans whether we acknowledge the desire or bury it.  Yet, freedom is the most difficult value to give to another.  Now that is a long term goal that makes sense.

The evil in this world says just trust me.  Evil says don’t search, don’t think, don’t question, just trust me.  The mother goose of religion says just trust me.  The mother goose of political government says just trust me.  The mother goose of social order says just trust me.  The mother goose of wealth and privilege says just trust me.  The mother goose of human allegiances gives comfort to life but it also says, just trust me.  The mother goose of violence says just trust me.  Each claims to have our future best interest as their motivator but the claims are a lie.  Self-interest is at the heart of their message.

There is only one messenger from whom I would take counsel and from whom I have failed to emulate.  Jesus of Nazareth never used the word freedom but he lived the word on this earth for a few short years.  He was truly free from the political intrigue of his time and place.  He was truly free from the religious dogmatism of his ancestors and so-called leaders.  Jesus condemned no one but encouraged all to endorse and embrace  the eternal value of the rising sun, the freedom of another day or days.

G.Goslaw

Landers, Ca.

Suffering and Death

All of us should give thanks to Herb Orban for his shared testimony about the End of Life Option working it‘s way through the California legislative process.  Those of us who await the death scenario, somewhat removed from its reality, cannot fully appreciate the angst of his circumstance.  We do, however, respect his courage to share his suffering in order to help free California from the legal complications of death.

I was, like Mr. Orban, raised in a very evangelical church and have since dispensed with many of the “drills”, as he calls them.  The church can be a comfort to all in the midst of suffering unless the ultimate freedom of the individual to choose death without condemnation is breached.  Something is wrong with the church and the state when both are dishonest and hide from the people and patient the reality of death.  Can anyone explain the irony of a medical situation called hospice that eliminates hydration for the patient so that they die legally?  

For two thousand years the church has considered itself the gatekeeper of eternity demanding that the dead and dying conform to the drills or be banished for an eternity in hell. This gatekeeper mentality of the church is a vicious falsehood that itself must be put to death.  God is the gatekeeper of eternity and there is no human organization that can arrogantly cancel Him out or issue speculative promises to anyone.

I can only share my personal opinion on the eternal matter.  God would not be God if he kept a pit of eternal fire that burns but never consumes and  reserves it for anyone who does not measure up or conform.  Only a sadist God or a radical Muslim terrorist could think up such a place. At least this one person believes that the ancient hell belief of the church is not necessarily a Christian belief.

Suffering is the path that must be traveled by everyone in preparation for eternity.  We human beings are hopelessly selfish beyond all logic or justification.  When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, God banished them from the garden to dig a suffering existence out of the dirt.  Suffering as the plan of God is the narrow road that Jesus spoke about and upon which he saw few travel because most of us get bitter, depressed and angry.  The miracles from God that Jesus witnessed were a promised future and destination that awaits every one of us when we are ready.  

Our modern pill popping culture avoids suffering yet everyone will be filtered for eternity by suffering, on this side of death or beyond. We have  no idea what that filtering process will entail on the other side so why not embrace suffering in this life when it comes our way.  Popular wisdom has long noted the redeeming quality of suffering by saying, “whatever does not kill you will make you stronger”. Choosing death at the slightest provocation should suffering come upon us is to sell life short, we may just surprise ourselves.  One should ask, is avoiding pain and suffering by ending life a worthy life decision?

An elderly preachers wife suffers for thirty years with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis yet she possesses a saintly character that out shines that of her husband and most other folk.  This lady must have been 99 and 44/100 ready for eternity when she passed from this world. Selfishly, you and I would not want her pain but her life was a successful life, judged not by the standards of this world but by a character that is out of this world.  This kind of selfless character is shown to us by Herb Orban as legislation is written that hopefully gives death authority to the individual while preserving the sanctity of life.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

FLT 370

The 777 turned left, turned off the transponder and said good night to Malaysian air traffic control.  FLT 370 began a climbing zigzag pattern with no running lights, completely in the dark.  The pilot was looking for another aircraft below heading west, probably a regularly scheduled aircraft who knew nothing about the 777.  Upon sighting the lights of the possible westbound plane, the pilot of the 777 entered a dive to approach from the rear and ride on the coattails of this plane all the way to Pakistan or Iran.  The Indian radar would never have been able to detect the 777.  Was there such a westbound flight, please, somebody check the flight schedule?  This would have been a risky and fun move by the pilot of the 777 but it may account for most of the reports to date.

At this hour the Australian Prime Minister has alerted us to possible aircraft debris off their west coast. Really, the search had previously investigated an erroneous satellite sighting by the Chinese just a week ago? Just when many knowledgeable opinions were gathering for a Pakistani or Iranian hijacking, we are distracted in the opposite direction.  Our timid politics would really like this debris to be the 777, they would breath easier if all these people were dead from an accident or a suicide by pilot.  There would be no hostages to be rescued and no national confrontation with paranoid nuclear countries. This sounds like peace but at what price?  

One would hope that someone has a method to this madness.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca.      

Aroma of Sacrifice

The sin of preaching a highly favored theology is that it places the believer in control of God, when it should be God influencing the affairs of men.  It is an extremely simplistic theological overreach that is intended to please the narcissism of the listener.  The assumption is that faith is all about me!  What do you say, those of you who have lived a least favored theology?

Saeed Abedini
Kenneth Bae
Charles Albert Poland Jr.
Jim Elliot
Wang Zhiming
Chet Bitterman
Lucian Tapiedi
Dusty Miller
Kaj Munk
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mehdi Dibaj
Paul Carlson
John and Betty Stam
Mother Teresa
Martin Luther King
Mahatma Ma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela

The list goes on and on, these few are from the last 100 years.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca.

War

The Israeli nation is at war.  Rockets raining down from it’s neighbors can only mean war.  If America was besieged under the same circumstances, would we remain passively defensive?  It is time for the little strip of land, a democratic oasis surrounded by homicidal adversaries, to conquer Hamas in the Gaza.  These terrorists have no regard for the value of life, either that of the Jew or that of the people of Gaza.  What would be an appropriate response under these circumstances?

Why not try my way?  Give the people of the Gaza notice that 20% of their territory will be leveled on such and such a date, at such and such an hour.  There will be no invasion, risking the lives of Israeli troops, but  not one stone will be left upon another within that death zone.  If that fails to change the Hamas agenda, then the next round of bombings should be upon 50% of the territory, then the entire Gaza should be saturated.  At this point, it would be time for Israel to invade and make the Gaza their own once more.  

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Optimal

Not optimal, Mr. President, not optimal you say.  We say they did not have to die!

G.Goslaw
Landers, CA

Chain of Command

The house committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform, lead by Representative Daryl Issa, helped to flushed out the Obama administration and the State Department as to the security failure during the terrorist attack on our Benghazi consulate and the murder of four Americans, including our Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.  The hearing on Wednesday October 10, exposed the dysfunction between our politicians and the salaried employees of the State Department who are charged with the day to day security of our diplomats.  The members of the committee rightly voiced outrage at the faulty judgment of both high ranking politicians and employees who scrambled for cover using lies and political spin to hide the responsible parties, President Obama and our illustrious Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.  The obvious motive of the administration was and is to deflect responsibility away from the Democrats during this presidential election season.

While acknowledging the extreme value of this hearing, one more question needed to be asked of Ms. Lamb, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. In regards to her directives to give our diplomatic mission ever decreasing security manpower, she claimed that those were her instructions from above.  A very simple follow-up question needed to be asked, Ms. Lamb, to whom do you report?  We all have used this question in our daily lives as we deal with a variety of bureaucracies.  She avoided the question and attempted to blame an imaginary shadowy authority figure when her boss sat in the next chair, Patrick Kennedy, the under secretary for management in the State Department.  Patrick Kennedy reports directly to the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.  This chain of command relationship was not clearly identified by the committee or the resulting questioning.  If it had, a reasonably inquisitive committee member should have asked Mr. Kennedy, “did you make this decision for less security from your own experience data bank or were you instructed from above to put American lives and the mission in extreme peril, almost naked of  protection?  We still would like to know your answer, Mr. Kennedy.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Apologies

Death has come to another American, this time on the Mexican border. Four diplomatic personnel including our ambassador are murdered in Libya, all in a matter of weeks.  Three of the deaths were to U.S. personnel not directly charged with security for the ambassador.  Fifty one American soldiers have been murdered by our so-called friends in Afghanistan within the last eight months.  Who are we if we fail to protect our own?  Our president goes around the world apologizing for American pride and then allows American blood to be spilt whenever it is convenient for our enemies to make a statement.  Apologies be dammed!

In the 1949 movie, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, John Wayne’s character had the correct posture.  He advised, “never apologize and never explain … it’s a sign of weakness”.  Apologies never work in diplomatic circles, they further embolden our enemies. This reader is not sorry for the burning of the Koran, although it would be better if it had not happened. This reader is not sorry for the anti-Muslim video but it would have been better if it had not been produced.  This is America and we all have rights, the majority and  the minorities.

Abroad, fear is the only reality that will keep the peace.  Would that Barrack and Hillary had the moral fortitude to stand up instead of lying down, almost prostrating America before our enemies of this world.  It is no wonder that the world believes they have a license to kill us.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca  

Playing Nice

Some time ago the our household received a phone call from the principle’s office.  We were informed, “your son has been fighting on the playground and we need to talk”.  The talk involved a lecture about fighting with no concern for the cause which was bullying and the establishment of a schoolyard pecking order.  The school administration was reacting in the same way as the Obama administration in the face of the slaying of four, supposedly diplomatically protected Americans, including our Ambassador to Libya.  The Clinton state department and the President say, “we must take the long view despite the evil intentions and actions of the Muslim Brotherhood”.

A now famous LA video star asked a question from the city courthouse steps,  “can’t we all just get along?” The answer to that question and the continuing dysfunction in the Middle East should be a resounding no, we can't!  Somewhere there has to be an American leader who will admit that politically and religiously motivated humans will never just get along.  There will always be bullies on the school yard playground, eventually we will have to stand up like a man.  Instead, this cow tailing president insists on playing nice with those who wish us and ours dead!

G.Goslaw
Landers, CA.

To Whom It May Concern

October 21, 2009

On July 20, while driving on Bear Valley Road, the privilege of experiencing this life in this world ended for Evangelina Niche. Ms. Niche was the victim of a teen driving a suburban which veered unexplainably across the centerline into oncoming traffic and the Niche Honda. This murder by suburban was investigated by the Victorville Sheriff. At first contact the department said wait for the investigation. Upon follow up, the investigation found no overt reason for the “accident”, drugs or alcohol were not involved.

This concerned citizen was informed that the investigation would be sent the District Attorney but that the sheriff would not recommend criminal charges. The Daily Press newspaper has been gravely silent when pressed,although it initially reported the accident.

The issue, of course, is the juvenile status of the perpetrator in the suburban. Everyone is fearful of a lawsuit bases on California juvenile offender law. Justice for Evangelina Niche seems to be the concern of no one. The sheriff’s representative suggested that a solution may be for the family to sue for damages in civil court. How can a dollar value be placed on a human life? This is not justice. This independent concerned citizen would like to make recommendations to the parties of all parts.

To the politicians … change the law. Any youth who is old enough to drive a suburban legally is old enough to have his name associated with any possible accident and stand up to public responsibility just like the rest of us. No back room manipulation of justice should be tolerated by the political system. Evangelina deserves better.

To the Sheriff and the District Attorney… quite hiding behind the law, step out and do justice. Backroom investigations and deal making is child’s play. You are directed by we the public to facilitate justice not political expediency. What if the murderer by suburban was texting while driving? Is this not a criminal action, should he not be tried as a adult? Instead we the public get a grand silence. Evangelina deserves better.

To the Daily Press … who are you? This concerned citizen has written you and called twice about this accident and by your lack of response you have communicated no concern or courtesy. Arrogance seems to be your rapport with we the public and co-incidentally your subscribers. The article in today’s paper about teen texting, if connected to the accident, would be a grand cop out on your part. Do you wield the gavel of justice or are you a facilitator like the rest of us? Evangelina deserves better.

To the family of Ms. Niche… let this concerned citizen express the condolences of your community for the tragedy on Bear Valley Road that took the life of your family member. As the greater community, we share in your sorrow for the event which could have traumatized any of our families. Should you find the strength, going public at the appropriate time would enhance healing for us all. We should be a party to all the facts so that justice can be served. Evangelina deserves better.

To the unnamed teen driver … man up! For some unexplainable circumstance, you have taken another human life, a life that was of equal value to yours. If you play your cards right, criminal responsibility may be avoided but you shall always live with the death sentence imposed upon Ms. Niche. For your own sake, own up to that responsibility and be a party to greater healing for the community as a whole. A sincere public apology would do wonders, for we are all prone to err. Evangelina deserves the best.

G.Goslaw

Victorville, CA