Gravity - it's time to get down!

Surely you'd have compassion for someone suffering from the dreaded cone-leg syndrome.

Thanks for the library suggestions! Come to find out, Sun City has a library that is part of the Maricopa County system. So this afternoon I went down to the rec center where it's located, got me one of them fancy libary cards AND checked out two of the audio books on my list. 

Note: We live in Sun City, AZ. We chose this house because at the time it was far and away the best value for our limited housing dollars. But living, driving and, yes, going to the library in a place where the average age is 73 requires incredible amounts of patience. 

Think about the stereotypical library employee and then make them 80 years old.

AAARGH!

This guy won't win any awards for humility, but by the end of the clip you'll understand why.

The Fastest Gun in the World.

I can go for a bike ride in the morning or I can work out in the garage on the car but I can't do both. Today I chose a bike ride, left at 6:30 and by the time I got back at 8:00 it was into the mid-90's. A week from today I'll start my drive northward, and 10 days from now we'll be on the Oregon coast. Yes!

Did you read the article about the two couples who beat a guy almost to death with a baseball bat and by brutally kicking him because one of the gals said he'd made a pass at her? They also tattooed the word "Rapest" on his forehead. Yes, that's how they spelled it. 

de jure = according to the law

de facto = according to fact or reality

Those two terms are not synonymous. For example, racial discrimination may be prohibited by law but still widely practiced throughout society, as was the case when I was in my teens. 

America is NOT a Christian country (de jure) and never has been. The "no establishment" clause in the First Amendment defines us as a secular state. That is, the govt. may not make any laws respecting the establishment of religion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion. Separation of church and state.

American HAS BEEN a Christian country (de facto). For 200 years "Christianity," in its Protestant and Roman Catholic forms, was the most practiced religion in the country. Judaism probably ranked as a distant second but the two faiths share more in common than they have differences. As a kid in elementary school the question was not if my classmates went to church but where they went. Many of them only went on special days but their families identified with a particular church. 

I think a convincing case can be made that if America is still a de facto Christian country, that's changing very quickly, and within my lifetime de facto will match de jure. We will look like Europe in that regard. I'll argue till the cows come home that this change is for the worse. Biblical morals and ethics serve a society well in every area of life. But I'll be tilting at windmills; the slide (for it is a slide) into secularism is inevitable and picking up speed. 

A more interesting question is how a Christian candidate should frame their candidacy. If they put their faith front and center, if they suggest in any way that we should vote for them because of their relationship with the God of the Bible I seriously wonder if they understand the intent of our constitution. They can outline their views on moral and social issues, and I'd really like it if those views aligned with biblical teaching. But I receive an explicit or implicit "Vote for me, I'm a born again Christian" with the same deep reservations with which I would receive, "Vote for me, I'm a Muslim" or "...Hindu" or .... 

A subtle, "I'm a good church-going Christian and therefore am your best choice" plays well to the cheap seats but the First Amendment is essential to who we are a a country. If it didn't play a big role in our first 200 years because of the de facto situation it will more than make up for it in a country increasingly diverse in every way. 

Tell me your views, what you would do and why. Tell me how you see key social issues like abortion, prisons and poverty. But make a case for your views on pragmatic grounds, on the basis of their impact on social order. If you're elected you will be President of the whole country, a growing segment of which has no connection to biblical Christianity. They need to trust you, too.

IMHO. (Nobody makes you read this stuff.)