Teddy Roosevelt on Immigration

Just wanted to share this little tid bit of information. This was written by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. It holds just as true today as it did almost 100 years ago:

Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Let’s Blame….. Everyone Else!

Not sure how much everyone knows about the Destiny Norton case because I’m not sure it made the national media. Anyway, 5-year old girl, Sunday night (July 16th) has been making a lot of headlines around here. She walked out of her house around 8:30pm and that was pretty much the last time she was seen alive. Her body was discovered yesterday in a neighbor’s house.

A massive police/volunteer search has been going on since the disappearance. Police, off an unknown tip, got a warrant for the suspects residence and found her body in his basement.

Now, while this is a very sad story and our hearts go out to Destiny’s parents, one thing that the article stated is that now we are playing the blame game. They are stating that the police didn’t do their job. To those people, I understand you are grieving, but don’t blame the police. First off, is it the police’s responsibility to babysit your kids? Where were the parents during all this?

Second, our country has given each person rights, good or bad, we all have rights. “Searching” a home may be a little more difficult than you think because the Bill of Rights gives each person protection from illegal search and seizure. There is nothing in the suspects history that would have ever led anyone to him as a suspect.

So, imagine this. Police go to the house, knock on the door, person answers. “Have you seen this child?” (Holds up picture of Destiny.) Suspect: “umm, no..” End of story. If he doesn’t give them any other indications, they can just go in and say “Hey, there’s a missing child. We are searching your entire house to see if she’s here.” If she IS, illegal search and seizure… suspect gets off without even a slap on the wrist. May even be elligible to sue the police department for illegal search and seizure.

Had we not had that little quirk in our laws, sure.. Police could have done door-to-door and found her within hours of her abduction. It is unfortunate that laws work in favor of criminals but if they didn’t, we wouldn’t have any privacy and the innocent could be harrassed.

I’ve known several of the SLPD and a lot of them are a great group of guys who want to help. That’s why they became police. To say they didn’t do their job or that its their fault that she’s dead is totally wrong. Let’s blame the suspect. He’s the one that actually killed her. Let’s blame the parents for not keeping better tabs on their kids. Let’s blame Destiny for not staying in her yard. I know your grieving and its a hard thing to deal with but don’t spend time pointing fingers. Spend time honoring what Destiny was.

There are bad people out there. Its a fact of life and it seems things are getting worse. If you keep blaming the people that are trying to help, they will eventually stop helping.

Innocent Life Extinguished

Everytime I try to hold out hope for humanity, it goes and does something stupid.

After getting to work, I opened the paper to read THIS story. How arrogant we have become as humans to believe we are actually in charge of this planet or that we own it. This planet is not only our home, but is teaming with life from the microscopic to the extremely large. Given the numbers of other critters and creepy-crawly things on this planet, we are significantly outnumbered. But still, we are the one’s with higher brain functions. Maybe we should learn to use them.

First of all, with the growth and expansion of “civilized” society, we keep taking away land and homes from inhabitants that have occupied that are for centuries. Then, when we spend time in the homes of other animals, we are suprised when they come for a visit. I guess you could consider us such horrible neighbors that any critter or animal that comes to visit or to be in proximity to us crazier than a cow with mad-cow disease, but do they really need to die because of it?

This innocent bear, looking for food, where it probably roams YEAR ROUND smells what she thinks is food through a tent and tries to take a taste. Given that what she actually tasted was aweful to her pallet, she abandons her quest at that point leaving a couple of marks on an 11-year olds arm. No harm, no foul. A little bit of a startled kid and minor damage to the tent. So, LET’S KILL IT!!!!

Good answer…. Idiot.

I’m not above the killing of animals if there is a purpose or valid reason. If the bear had rabies or some horrible disease that killing it would be better for the bear and any other animal it came in contact with, that would be a justified killing. If the campers were lost and their only source of food was a black bear that happened along, well, eating bear meat may not be the best idea, but it will sustain you. Because the natural predators are all gone or diminished in numbers and there is an over-abundance of that animal causing a strain on the natural resources of the area, fine.

Because a bear is hungry and tries to search for food, let’s kill it for coming to a campground that has been her natural backyard for centuries. A home her father and mother maybe roamed. Her ancestors roamed this area well before man was here. Its maintained as a “modified wilderness” so we can camp in the great outdoors around nature. We interact with nature and need to kill it.

What is even funnier is that the article stated “None of the campers wanted to see the bear killed but most agreed it was necessary.” Its ok to kill a bear in its natural habitat because it was looking for food, but you can’t kill a criminal who’s evil has caused the terror and lives of innocent people? A bear leaves a couple of marks on a person due to a mistake, not even to the point of being considered wounds, but a maniac is given a life sentence because we don’t believe in the death penalty? What idiot thought of that?

Human life and death

One subject that has always confused me has been that of death. While I’m not looking to die anytime soon, there are a few truths that I do understand. For many, you know I am a follower of Christ and the plan of the Father for all of us, his children. So, let me set down some base beliefs for the rest of this argument:

First, this life is temporary. We are all eventually going to die from one thing or another. Whether it be an accident, natural event, death by murder, disease, doesn’t really matter. We all will eventually die. I’m not trying to invite death, but I know it will come eventually to all of us in one way or enother.

Second, bad things happen. Is it the Father’s design? Possibly. Each of us is allowed to make choices, even if they are bad or evil. God doesn’t allow bad things to happen as some would believe, He allows for everyone to make choices with the consequences to come at a later date. If some of us suffer, it is not His fault, but is the fault of the individual that causes it. In the case of no-fault or disease, well, that’s thirdly.

Third, we are imperfect. We have imperfect souls and bodies. We are basically incomplete. Because we are mortal, our bodies are breakable. They are also prone to disease and damage. Is that God’s fault? Well, if you blame Him for that, you also blame him for all the good that comes from having a physical body. It is a temporary vehicle for our souls to use in a temporary environment until we are able to be resurrected with perfect bodies to live with Him forever (or without Him forever….)

So many people don’t understand how God can allow bad things to happen, and once you come to grips with the idea that it isn’t God’s fault as would be the case for blame, then you begin to scratch the surface of this part of the eternal plan.

Now, with that as a basis, I approach another subject currently in the media. It has been in the media for quite some time but has made headlines again because of the VETO of President Bush and that is the use of stem cells for scientific research and possibly as a method for curing certain diseases and damaged cells.

President Bush stated that he could not, in good conscience, pass that bill because it was against his religious convictions. The debate of when a person is considered alive continues to crop up. Does life begin at conception or does it begin once the baby makes it out of the mother. This is a long drawn out debate mostly using human concepts to justify the killing of innocent children. As a brief tangent, one arguement exists that if the baby cannot exist outside of the mother, it is not a complete life. I disagree with this stance: Any baby, child, person cannot exist in an outside environment if they are not given substance with which their bodies may be fuelled. This goes for everyone. At different stages, from a single cell to old age, we require different methods of feeding and/or sustinance. At the zygote and embryonic stage, we are given oxygen and sustinance from the mother. After birth, we are given milk from our mothers to sustane us. As we grow, baby food, formula, and cookies eventually replace the need for mother’s milk. It continues. If, at any stage of life, we are not given the life sustinances, we die.

Now, back on topic. I’ve disagreed with the abortion clinics. At one point, I thought stem-cell research would be a good thing, but as I realize that to obtain stem-cells, abortions had to be made, even if the life were started in a test tube. So, kudos to President Bush for making the choice, popular or not, to stop such research.

The other side of the coin are all those individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s, broken/damaged spinal cords, and the like. While my heart goes out to them, you must realize something: You live in a body that can be broken. Get over it. You will eventually die from something or another. Learn to live with it.

I know what you are saying, I am complete (for the most part), I’m not suffering from that type problem so how can I know what they are going through? You are right. I have no idea what they are suffering. If it were me, would I feel the same as I do now? I would hope so.

See, I realize that my Father loves me. He loves me so much, that He would do anything within His power for me. He sent His first son to die for me. The gift I received on the cross is more than I could ever have imagined. If I must spend a portion of this life in physical despair or mental despair, I know that as long as I have faith in Him, I will be whole again.

I can hear the skeptics that don’t believe in a God. For those of you, my deepest regrets. You will never know how wonderful everything is until you learn to accept the love of the Father. Once you find that none of this is possible without an Author, you will see that there are things bigger and better than you, there are beings bigger and better than you. For those of you still in denial, well, not everyone will return home as we have been told and you will be missed.

For those of you that do believe, put your trust in Him. You will find that stem-cell research will not make you whole again. Your healing will be the blood of another and we already have the blood of the only perfect being on our hands. It was shed for us, for what? So we can relish in our temporary, imperfect bodies?

To make a long story short, each of us must realize that this is temporary and the old agage remains, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When you suffer, use it to your advantage. Learn to live with whatever it is that ails you. Learn to teach others. But above all, keep your faith in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Ghost, and you will never go wrong.

(For those of you that read previous posts and may be confused by this, I have NOT given up my belief in Christ, only in the Book of Mormon and the story of its being brought into existance. I still will follow the Christ and hope to learn more by what that is to mean.)

Declaration of Independence

This is a very difficult post to write for several reasons. First, it could cause a lot of arguements because of the context. To that, I say, this is how I feel and know this to be a truth for me. Any arguements against this declaration or its contents are your opinion or the truth as you see it.

Second, it may cause some consternation within the family because of a difference of opinion. To this, I say that we will always be family and we can agree to disagree.

For those of you that know me, I have submersed myself in the LDS religion. I’ve been a member since I was 13 years old when I was baptized and I went inactive for many years. Approximately 2-1/2 years ago, I re-activated where I have been up until about 9 months ago.

At that time, I went somewhat inactive due to my work responsibilities so that I could support my family. During that inactive time, I had a lot of 2nd thoughts about what I was doing and what I believed in. Questions crept up as they usually do and I couldn’t ignore them. Some of the questions had crept up previously but I ignored them because I was told that I was doing the right thing and everyone seemed really happy about it.

I wanted so much to believe fully and I tried to immerse myself deeply enough. I prayed, fasted, and studied. I read the Book of Mormon with full intent to understand and believe. Even with all of that, I had doubts and continued to have doubts. I ignored them as long as I could until finally, they were too overwhelming.

I allowed myself to go inactive with the promise that after a break I would revisit what I believed and what I didn’t. I would research my questions and doubts to find what I believed was the truth. During my sabatical from my religious duties, many pressed for me to get back to church, get back to what I was doing that was so good before. I couldn’t, with clear conscience, continue until I had resolved the conflicts that I had within me.

I finally had enough of the poking and prodding to complete my research so I could get back to where everyone wanted me to be. So, I have completed enough of my research to make some official statements with regards to my beliefs. They are as follows:

1 – I officially declare that I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of man. He is the only begotten Son of God that died on the cross for the sins of the world so that we may all return to the glory of the Father upon our death.

2 – I officially declare that I believe the Book of Mormon to be fictional and all peoples, events and activities portrayed within its pages to be fictional.

3 – I officially declare that the LDS faith does support the same Christ of the Bible but the accounts of his journey in the Americas, as portrayed in the Book of Mormon, to be fictional.

It is because of these declarations that I hereby renounce my membership within the LDS religion. While I will remain a Christian, I will not support the Book of Mormon as a true historical document.

Through out all my research, I have tried to look for reasons to believe instead of disbelieve as some think. While a lot of the stories in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible must be accepted on faith, there are definately portions that do not require faith and, as such, can require some proof. Stories of a lot of the events do require faith but the locations of these events do not necessarily require faith, but can require some proof. For example, the conversion of Alma the Younger, as depicted in the Book of Mormon, requires that you believe the story through faith. The existance of Zarahemla as described in the Book of Mormon however can demand proof of its existance. Zarahemla cannot be willed away as a small building that could have, over the past 1400 years decayed or built over. We are talking a very large civilization with a lot of fairly advanced people. There is not any evidence to support such a large, advanced civilization as described in the Book of Mormon in the areas that are depicted.

I do not explain this to try to persuade others, but I do this to support my declaration. I have consulted with both pro- and con- LDS information because I’m not an archaeologist and do not understand what flora, fauna, and other civilization evidence has been found in different areas. While the pro arguments are all circumstantial and do not point to the existance of a specific civilization, it points to a civilization with similar characteristics. With that said, it also could be characteristics of our civilization and a lot of civilizations with no characteristic being specific to the Nephite, Lamanite, or Jaredite people.

Other arguements for the pro side are all flawed in their arguements and conclusions and I have yet to find any pro side that can refute the information presented by the con side.

As I have stated earlier, I’m not looking for a fight. If there is evidence strong enough to refute the claims made, I can reconcider the arguement regarding the Book of Mormon. This would include the finding of Zarahemla, or any other city depicted in the Book of Mormon, or the finding of evidence that supports the fact that the Nephites, Lamanites, and Jaredites that dates back before the finding by Joseph Smith but must be something that can actually be put in a museum and doesn’t rely on an affidavit that it exists. (I set up these stipulations because some would declare the gold plates to be proof of the existance but, as the story goes, Joseph Smith returned the plates. As no photographs or rubbings of the plates exist, they are not available for use as evidence.)

Anyway, that is my official declaration. I am still in the process of my research but now have directed the efforts to better understand the Bible. To do this, I will, once bugetary constraints allow, purchase a study Bible that is basically 4 versions in one so that various translations may be reviewed to get a better understanding. Also in my process is to find a new church. Denominations are not of a concern at the moment as it will take time to review.

Cheap Labor

As most of you know, I’m pretty big on the immigration issue. So, when I received the following information in my e-mail inbox, I was more than ready to share with everyone.

One of the key issues presented by the “affirmative” side of the immigration issue is that of cheap labor. Who wants to pay $10 a pound for oranges because we can’t find people to pick them or they actually want to be paid wages, worker’s comp, and the like. So, here is the arguement against it… Is it really cheap labor?

Cheap Labor?
Isn’t that what the whole immigration issue is about?
Business doesn’t want to pay a decent wage, consumers don’t want expensive produce, Government will tell you that Americans don’t want the jobs but the bottom line is cheap labor. “The phrase “cheap labor” is a myth, a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as “cheap labor.”
Take, for example, an illegal Mexican who sneaks in here with his wife and five children. He takes a job for five or six dollars an hour. At that wage with six dependents he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year if he files income tax he gets an “earned income credit” of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for medicare. All of this is at that taxpayers expense.
He doesn’t have to worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He cannot be fired, harassed, or sued. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20 to $30 an hour in benefits. Working Americans are lucky to have $5 or $6 an hour left after paying their bills and his. They also pay for increased crime, graffiti, and trash cleanup. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT!”