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| The Real Reason Why I Was Poor |
| 04.29.04 (10:37 am) [edit] |
For the longest time I didn’t know I grew up poor. It wasn’t until I was accepted to the Groups Program at Indiana University, a program for first-generation, low-income students, that I realized I was poor. When you are young you don’t understand money or material things. You also really don’t have anyone else to compare your wealth to. If you have a ball to play with as a youngster, regardless if you have acres full of lush grass to play in or just an alley way, you are satisfied.
It wasn’t until elementary school where I began to experience other friend’s households and life experiences. I went to the poor elementary school in my community where I met all my close friends. They too were also poor like me, even though we really didn’t know it at the time. Some friends had a married mother and father at home, but most either did not have a father or their parents were divorced. Honestly, growing up without a father was normal to me since I rarely seen a father in any of my other friend’s lives. Fatherlessness was the main determining factor in our economic statuses.
My mother was born in Columbus, Indiana but grew up in California as my grandfather was stationed there in the navy. She spent half her childhood in San Francisco and the other half in San Diego. Wanting a change of lifestyle and to be closer to her other family, my mother moved back to Columbus. She worked odd-end jobs for a long time. Mostly she would work second and third shift duties as a janitor in a factory or as a clerk at a gas station. At the time of her pregnancy with us, she was a maid for the county hospital. She was responsible for cleaning the hospital rooms, changing bed sheets, and doing other diligent house duties.
It wasn’t until a few months into her pregnancy when God blessed her with a promotion. A position as a clerical assistant (secretary) in the X-Ray department opened up. Usually these available positions remain on the hush, especially from house maids. But a woman in the department asked my mother’s manager if she knew anybody who would be good for the position. The lady gave her my mother’s name and she eventually received the job. This was truly the Lord’s work. Not only had it given her an increase in pay but also allowed her to work sitting down, crucial for a woman six months pregnant.
My mother gave birth to my twin brother and me and has been the secretary for the X-Ray department since 1981. At thirty-two years old my mother was now about to embark on a journey of raising two sons on her own. Not financially savvy and not having any other financial support, she soon ran up a huge credit card debt. Credit cards soon became the mode of currency for my mother. She began to buy multitudes of things that she does now not have or does not remember. Of course, my brother and I have a great deal to do with her debt, but she confessed that credit cards allowed her to be very liberal in her purchases. She would only pay the minimums for her credit cards and spend the rest for her hobbies. This allowed her debt to sky rocket and entrap her for life.
I remember for a pastime, my mother would drag my brother and me to the department store and walk around all night. We would go “shopping” quite often since we lived right behind Hills department store. Although my mother did not have any specific needs, she would look at everything available and end up buying at least an item or two for her troubles. We went shopping so often, that looking back on it, it seemed like an addiction.
But my mother did have some other real addictions. Up until the time we were about eight or so, my mother used to smoke. She was a heavy smoker, and would often times spend her last dimes on a pack of cigarettes. My brother and I would steal her cigarettes and either hide them or break them. She would notice her cigarettes missing and would spank us when we told her we threw them away. She was so mad when she spent her last money on a fresh pack of cigarettes and we would immediately confiscate them and destroy them. Although we were often times yelled at or beat, it was worth the risk. We knew that smoking hurt her more than being spanked hurt us. It wasn’t until my grandfather was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and emphysema due to his smoking habit that really challenged my mother to quit.
Another addiction that plagued my family is gambling. My family, mother included, are all gamble-holics. My grandmother never missed a day of bingo in her life, minus the few exceptions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas where there would be none offered. The first time I saw my grandmother miss a night of bingo on a regular night was the day my grandfather died. She didn’t attend that night, but made sure she didn’t miss the next evening. My grandmother spends at least seventy-five dollars a day on bingo. Seventy-five dollars! Sometimes, she attends two or three bingos in a day. Other times, as soon as bingo is out, her and some other family members would head to the river casino boat and spend another load of money.
My mother was no different. She didn’t attend bingo every night, but she did as much as she could. She would go to the gambling boats with her mother and buy lottery tickets weekly. She spent so much money that will never be seen again on gambling. She contends that it is for enjoyment, something to do to have fun. Well, if something you do to have fun, includes losing hundreds of dollars you don’t have and will never see again day after day, then you need to find another hobby. My mother was foolish with her money. She did not spend it wisely, did not save it properly, and did not even attempt to invest any of it. Even if she did win big at the bingo (a thousand dollars or more), it would be gone by the weekend and she would be wondering the rest of the month where all of it had gone.
Although we are considered by federal government standards as low-income, we were by no means poor. We just experienced less and had less due to the way my mother spent her money. Honestly, if she was conservative in her spending, saving and investing, we would have our own house, our own car, and our own privacy by now. But my mother was not willing to sacrifice financially for her family or for our future.
I’m not blaming my mother nor do I hold a grudge with her. I love my mother dearly and thank her with the bottom of my heart for her sacrifice in raising us. I simply have made the observation that it is due to her liberal financial spending that has kept our family poor and without ownership. This unfortunately holds true for so many other families in our nation. It is not because they make too little, but because they spend too much on unnecessary worldly items that does not prosper their future. Many poor Americans spend their money on cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, clothes, gas, cars, rent, and other things that depreciate instead of things that will appreciate their wealth such as homes, stocks and bonds.
Poor people often stay poor due to their poor decision making, both social and economic. Sadly, many homeless people cannot afford any food but can stand outside begging for change while smoking a cigarette. Poor people do not need government assistance. They do not need financial relief. But rather they need to change their spending habits and become more financially conservative.
The only way people can change and break their life threatening addictions is through the Lord Jesus Christ. We must accept the Lord as our Savior into our hearts and allow Him to change us. He will set us free from our vices and fill us with the Holy Spirit. This Spirit of Truth will fill us with the wisdom to spend wisely and consume wisely.
We must realize that the Lord despises laziness and He wants us to work. The money we are afforded through our efforts is the Lord’s blessings. And when we take what the Lord has blessed us with to buy worldly things that cause us to sin and discomfort our families, we are slapping the Lord in the face.
Let Jesus be our financial advisor, not just our provider.
God Bless
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| Liberalism: The Leading Cause of Suicide |
| 04.28.04 (1:23 am) [edit] |
Parked on the corner, I was sitting in my car waiting for my brother to get out of the store. I was sitting in the passenger seat listening to the radio and watching people walk by on this bright and sunny day. As my brother walked through the store doors an announcement on the radio sounded: “This just in. A student has jumped out of the eighth floor of Ballantine Hall. He is in intensive care.” My brother opened up the door to get in. Being loud and joyful as he usually is I immediately had to tell him to be quiet. Then the radio announcer repeated the statement again.
We were shocked. It was such a beautiful day. We had been driving around town enjoying this beautiful day and had in fact just come from Ballantine Hall where I had to drop off a paper for my professor. We thought about going back and praying for the student, but realized that he was already at the hospital. So we went home and carried on with our day. The next day we saw a picture in the paper of students crowded around the building as some were in the background praying. The Lord heard their prayers and had a hand on the student’s life because he survived and is currently in the hospital recovering.
As tragic as this was, I did not think too much about it. I thought it was just an isolated incident, a rare occurrence of a student who was either overwhelmed with stress from the academic rigors of college or the stress from a demanding life. And besides, he survived, so it was not that big of a concern to our community. Wrong! A few days later, my line of thought was shattered.
While eating lunch a friend of mine asked if I had heard about the student jumping out of Briscoe dormitory. I then said to him, “Don’t you mean Ballantine Hall?” And he said, “No, I mean Briscoe. A student jumped out of his ninth floor room last night and killed himself.” This was no isolated incident. This was no tragic mishap or accident. This was a cause of something greater, something stronger than just depression, bad luck or unhappiness.
I then realized that this was not my first time experiencing suicide since I came to Indiana University in the year 2000. My freshman year a senior who lived in my dorm also jumped off of Ballantine Hall, the tallest building on campus, and plunged to his death. He left a letter in his room for officials to find after his death. The student was unable to find a way home to New York and his family for Thanksgiving and took his life dwelling in loneliness.
My sophomore year, a freshman woman went home for break. She was riding in her boyfriend’s truck and after engaging in an argument suddenly jumped from the truck that was going at least fifty-five miles per hour. She died on impact. Her boyfriend stated that he knew she was upset but didn’t know that she was going to jump out of the vehicle.
Another suicide that I experienced here at Indiana University was one that was more personal and heart-wrenching.
I was blessed enough to study abroad my junior year in Madrid, Spain. There were around fifty of us on our program. We were with students from Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin. Most of these students were my age and like me, it was their first time being outside of the United States. But none of us were prepared for what we were about to experience.
Spain is a nation whose culture is centered around drugs, alcohol, sex and partying. Older generations of Spaniards are very conservative and are very family and faith oriented. But their younger generations, much like ours here in our nation, have strayed from their conservative roots. Over ninety percent of Spaniards smoke cigarettes, alcohol is a customary drink for all occasions, hash (marijuana) is smoked in public areas despite its illegality, and sex is the central theme in their everyday life.
Couples grope each other in public. I remember once seeing a couple walking in front of us on the street in broad day light. The boy had his hand so far down the back of his girlfriend’s pants that you could no longer see his elbow. The girl looked back at us, saw us watching and just smiled at us. Movies on television portrayed young boys, as young as thirteen, having sex with older married women. Hard core pornography was shown late at night on public access cable.
Sex was by far the central theme in the every day life of Spaniards. Homosexuality was socially accepted and thrived in the city of Madrid. Clubs and nightlife were the norm for Spaniards. Almost more so than working a full time job. Spain actually incorporates a siesta, a two hour period during the middle of the day where most businesses and life shuts down so people can rest from their long night of partying. It was by far the most degrading and destructive culture I have ever encountered. But yet everyone was saying, “Be open, don’t be close-minded” and “Their culture isn’t worse, it is just different.”
This culture immediately took its toll on the students of our program. The first week one student had a nervous breakdown and had to spend the weekend in the emergency room. He began to smoke and became the biggest chain smoker on our program. Two women students in our program had sex with a Spaniard and contracted an STD the first month of the program. Many students who never smoked in their lives became chain smokers and those who never drank alcohol now did so regularly.
Many of the men on our program became open about their homosexuality and began to engage in life threatening activity. One man in particular began to have random sexual encounters with as many men as he could and began to do hard core drugs such as cocaine and heroine. A friend of mine had a nervous breakdown in the middle of the semester. She was, like me, a good student who did not engage in any harmful social activities. But the advice she got from our program director was, “You should go out and enjoy yourself more.” What sad advice, but more sad was that she accepted it and followed it.
I could see the deterioration of our group and how the culture had caused many to engage in self-destructive activities and develop life threatening habits. Many people saw this as experiencing and assimilating to the Spanish culture but I saw it as the devil’s way of straying His children farther from Him. One young woman, who went on the program as a mission trip to spread the gospel, also became enwrapped in the sinfully permissive culture. Nobody was safe, not even me. I was so blessed to leave the country and escape the harmful culture without falling into its trap. But the devil has more than one way to steal our heart.
Even though I did not engage in the socially acceptable sinful ways of the Spanish culture that was being advocated by the devil, I was far from safe of the devil’s influence. As soon as I returned home I became overwhelmed with depression. I was so upset with myself because I did not accomplish the goals that I set out to before I left for Spain. I was expecting to study the entire year in Spain, learn and master the language, embrace the culture, graduate with my Spanish degree and serve Hispanic communities in my nation. But instead, I returned home after the first semester, both my Spanish and English got worse, I rejected the culture, I got a 1.9 grade point average, two of my classes did not count towards my major, I dropped my major, and I no longer wanted to study, learn or speak Spanish let alone serve Hispanic communities. I was a complete and utter failure, or at least that’s what the devil wanted me to believe.
I no longer wanted to face the world. I no longer wanted to wake up in the morning. I would go to sleep as early as I could in the evening and sleep as late as I could in the afternoon. For my daily routine I would wake up around two in the afternoon, eat lunch, go to the gym, come home and take a shower, then try my hardest to fall asleep. I did not care about classes, I did not care about my friends, and I did not care about my future. I was at the lowest point ever in my life.
I was upset and depressed because I did not accomplish my goals. But even more so, I was depressed because of the horrible things I experienced in Spain and the loathing I had towards the people and the culture. But I quickly learned that when you are at the bottom of your rock, that’s when the Lord is really wanting to do something great in your life. I soon recovered, regained my energy, confidence and drive and was on my way to finishing my undergraduate degree.
It was around the beginning of my first semester senior year when I was in line at McDonald’s on campus. I saw a student standing in front of me with our school’s daily newspaper. The front cover said (I don’t remember for sure but something to this nature), “Student Remembered after Tragic Death.” The student gave me his newspaper and I quickly read the front article. A senior male, age 21, died last night after hanging himself in his room.
Unfortunately, I knew the guy in the article. This guy was a student on my study abroad program who I remember specifically having conversations with. He was not my closest friend on the program but we ate dinner together on several occasions and he stayed in our hotel room during one program trip. The last time I remember seeing him or talking to him was when I took his picture in Toledo, Spain overlooking the entire city. He smiled a forced smile that quickly disappeared after I snapped the photo. I found out in the article that he was battling manic depression and was often overcome with evil spirits. His parents, in the article, described times where their son would tell them about how evil spirits would fill his mind and his heart. He finally gave up the battle and took his own life a few months after his return from Spain and only a few months away from graduation.
This was very sad and shocking news to all who were on our program and all who knew him. I could not then, but I can now see how something so tragic can happen so unexpectedly. The same evil spirits that attacked my friend are the same evil spirits that attack us daily. These evil spirits are usually provoked by our liberal/sinful ways.
Not only in his death but in all deaths from suicide, especially on college campuses, there is usually an environment that promotes and fosters self-destructive activities and life threatening habits. Most college campuses such as Indiana University are liberal hotbeds that perpetuate and embrace sinful activities such as alcohol and drug use, premarital sex, homosexuality, racism, feminism and other social irresponsibilities. American cities like San Francisco and European cities like Madrid are also liberal breeding grounds for such self-destructive activity. The intense liberalism in these areas, as well as the effects of liberalism throughout our world, is the main cause for youth suicide.
According to the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatrics, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students and the third-leading cause of death among youth overall (15-24). Also teen/youth suicide rates have tripled since 1970. Ironically, this is also the same time period that intense liberalism sprung up throughout our nation through liberal social movements.
Some of the suicide signals identified by the American Psychiatric Association include substance abuse, frequent episodes of running away or being incarcerated, family loss or instability; significant problems with family, difficulties in dealing with sexual orientation, and unplanned pregnancy. Other signs of youth suicide identified by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry include change in eating and sleeping habits, rebellious behavior, unusual neglect of personal appearance, marked personality change, and persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating, or a decline in the quality of homework. Also ironic is that these signs of suicide are all entities promoted by liberalism and our liberal society.
Liberalism promotes drug and alcohol use, sexual permissiveness and immorality, family instability, rebellious behavior, neglect of personal appearance (easily seen in the embodiment of liberalism: hippies) and laziness. All these suicide signals spawned by liberalism cannot be ignored as they are identified by our nation’s most recognizable and trusting associations.
The AAP also gives a few explanations on why suicide rates have increased over the years. These explanations include easy access to suicide tools such as guns and pills, the pressures of modern life are greater, competition for good grades and college admission is stiff, and more violence being shown on television and in the newspapers. All these explanations have undoubtedly spawned from liberalism in our nation.
Gun control has been a big push by staunch conservatives over the past few decades, most notably Ronald Reagan signing the Mulford Act of 1967. Liberals have weakened our federal justice system by sentencing criminals using guns to less harsh sentences. Our liberal society has now begun to push for the social acceptability of pills, drugs and other harmful over-the-counter medicines that many youth use to commit suicide. The only pressures felt by youth in our so-called modern life are negative peer pressures that promote harmful habits such as drug use and sexual promiscuity.
The explanation about stiff competition in school is most definitely spawned by liberalism and liberals who stress that education is the key to success. Conservatives know that faith in God and hard work is the real key to success. And lastly, the fact that more violence is shown on television and in newspapers is definitely the evil works of our elite liberal media.
Not only are the factors of suicide direct influences of liberalism in our world, but the so-called preventions are both liberal and ineffective. Preventions include seeking professional help such as psychiatrics, pediatricians, psychologists, physicians and other social agencies. Let me be the first one to tell you that these preventions will not get the job done. Our children do not need physicians, they need spiritual salvation.
Our children’s hearts have been stolen by the devil who thrives in liberal environments. The more liberal or socialistic a community gets, the more its moral fabric is gutted. Our children now live in a society that promotes immorality and in turn feel a sense of meaninglessness in their lives. This meaninglessness drives these children to take part in sexual impurity, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and other harmful self-destructive activities. Meaninglessness cannot be filled by a physician or by a psychologist. Our empty and destroyed hearts can only be filled and made whole by the grace, mercy and power of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is what has been missing in the lives of our children. Not their missing fathers, in-tact families, popularity, school success, or their social acceptability. It is a personal relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ that has been missing in the hearts of our young ones. They have been yearning for his unconditional love and forgiveness. He wants more than anything to have a close personal relationship with us. Let us begin to bring our youth to Christ more often than we do to these worldly physicians. We must realize that Jesus Christ can save us, make us whole and let us be reborn.
The one scripture that speaks the truth of this whole matter is John 10:10. It claims, “The thief [devil] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The devil and liberalism has come to steal, kill and destroy the hearts, minds, souls and lives of our youth. But we have a warrior, Jesus Christ, to battle for us and give us life. Let us call upon His name and let His glory overcome the devil’s deceitfulness.
God Bless
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| Why Don't I Have A Father? |
| 04.26.04 (11:12 pm) [edit] |
My mother was once engaged to a man in the military. At the time of the engagement he was stationed in Kentucky while my mother lived in Indiana, just a few hours away. It was Valentines Day weekend and they had made big plans to spend the weekend together in my hometown of Columbus. But due to military duties he had to cancel. My mother became quite upset but soon felt something come over her, telling her to just go down to Kentucky and visit him. So she did. And when she got there she found her fiancé was living with another woman who had already had children of her own. My mother was shocked and left Kentucky to never talk, see or hear from the man again.
My mother, being distraught, hopeless and thirty-two, gave up on all hopes of getting married. Her state of depression led her to the bars where she began to drink alcohol and eventually date my dad. Their relationship began and was based solely on sex. I believe after only a few weeks, my mother gave up on my dad because he constantly talked about his ex-girlfriend. After a month or so, my mother found out she was pregnant with twins (my brother Travis and I). Knowing that my father had already had several children of his own and that he was not the most stable of men, she decided not to pursue any support from or relationship with my dad. She did send him a letter about her pregnancy saying he could have a role in her children’s lives if he wanted to. But he never wrote back.
So my mother, who had been living in her parent’s house, decided to have her children and raise them on her own. We grew up in our grandparent’s house along with my mother. My grandparents had just gotten rid of their one daughter and her son who had been living with them. But now they had to live and put up with two more children. This brought great resentment from my grandparents. Because my mother had to constantly work to support us, we were often times left in the supervision of our grandparents. Not wanting us in the house, they would send us outside and tell us not to come back until dinner time. My grandparents thought the worst of us. I remember my grandmother would often times call us the devil. My grandfather once got so mad at me he picked me up by my legs, swung me around the room and knocked my head upside a coffee table. Not only did I catch wrath from my grandparents, but I also caught it from my mother when she got home.
My mother felt enslaved and entrapped living in her parents’ house. My grandfather was a navy man who fought in three wars. Because of this he was almost fully deft. All day long he would turn the television as loud as it could go. If he ever talked, he would scream. My mother could never get any peace and quiet at home. The one place where she supposedly could escape to or find refuge in was the one place that brought the most stress into her life. So if we ever made my grandfather yell, she would discipline us. And by that I mean spank us.
I remember one time my brother and I was in the bathtub together taking a bath. We were laughing real loud and making a mess in the bathroom. Just being little kids. My grandfather got to yelling so loud from downstairs that my mother ran in the bathroom with her belt and began beating us. She couldn’t see what she was hitting. Our legs were high in the air trying to protect our bodies. Our arms were stretched out trying to catch and grab the belt. My brother and I were real close back then too because I remember us trying to cover one another with our bodies to protect us from being hurt.
My mother only heard us crying when she was done. I believe she was doing some crying of her own. My brother and I used to always cry really loud and hard after we were spanked to make her feel as if we were really hurt and really sorry (although we usually were neither). She didn’t know it until I got out of the bathtub but I showed her the redness of my private parts where she ended up hitting me several times. I remember her breaking down and crying even harder. She told me how much she loved me and how much she was sorry. Although I was really hurt, I remember that I immediately forgave her. Even though there were no scars left on my body from those blows, there were scars left on my heart from experiencing such an environment filled with pain, suffering, hatred and despair.
My brother was my best friend and we were always together. We would throw the baseball back and forth both inside and outside the house, ride our skateboards up and down the block, take a blanket and turn it into a karate mat, and basically do anything just to have fun. It wasn’t until first grade when we began to have other friends. The first week of elementary school we met other boys who lived in our neighborhood. We began to go over to their houses to play in their yards and driveways. We began to expand our territory in the neighborhood and venture into parts that we had never been to or were allowed to go before. Not only were we seeing new parts of the neighborhood, but we were seeing new things that we had never known existed.
One day we were sitting in the living room of my friend’s house after school. We were watching television or playing a game or doing something at the time. Then, out of nowhere, I witnessed something I had never seen before in my life. My friend’s father opened up the front door and walked into the house. My friend and his sister immediately ran to the door to greet their father. Then my friend’s mother came to hug and kiss him. The sight was so amazing and so extraordinary that I thought I was in a movie. In fact I swore to my friend that his father was a movie star, someone I had seen before on a movie or maybe in my dreams. I could not comprehend what his father was, what his role was or what he actually did. I had never actually come into contact with a real father before. I remember he went into his room, changed clothes and began to play basketball with us. He was so good, so graceful, so kind, and so gentle. Man, why did I not have someone like this in my life? Is this what I have been missing?
Later that day I remember going to my mother’s room late in the evening. I would always venture into her room late at night when I couldn’t sleep or just wanted to stay up a little while longer. I would often times sit on her lap or in front of her and she would gently brush her fingers up and down my back, tickling me until she felt nothing but goosebumps. I always loved it when she tickled me. It would sooth my soul and ease all my tension.
But this night was different. I didn’t need my soul soothed. I didn’t need my tension eased. I needed a father. I remember sitting on my mother’s lap and just crying my heart out asking “Why don’t I have a father?” She then said, “I didn’t know you wanted a father.” And I then said, “I never knew what a father was.” We cried for hours. My mother would often times start laughing to get me to cheer up. I believe she did this to stop herself from crying as well. But once I stopped crying, I felt no more pain. I felt no more sorrow. I felt no more longing or yearning. I had cried my heart to the heavens, and my Father heard me.
Growing up without knowing my dad fulfilled a great purpose. It made me the person that I am today. Even though I faced grave struggles and obstacles of growing up poor without paternal guidance, it actually made me stronger. We must realize that God knows us before we are created. He knows our parents, community, situation, environment, and all things that He creates us in and that we will go through in our childhood. He gives birth to us in that specific situation and in that particular environment so that He can mold our hearts to love Him.
Although I have never met my dad, I can now say that I know my Father. He saved my life and brought me out of a world of sin. He resurrected me and made me reborn of the spirit. I am now a part of God’s family.
This story is living proof that God can use all bad things for good. His will is greater than our own. It is proof that we all have a great purpose in this world and that we are no mistake. I know it is true because my mother’s fiancée was sterile and could not have children. That something that told her to go visit him was my Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Bless
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| My Hero is a Conservative |
| 04.25.04 (8:44 pm) [edit] |
We never know what God has in store for us. But if we keep the faith and know that God has a purpose for all our experiences then we shall understand His blessings. That was the case this weekend when I attended the Chi Alpha Epsilon National Honor Society national conference. I did not know what God had in store for me but I knew He was going to put someone in my life who would bless me. That someone was Julia Burney. She is now my hero.
I am not sure if she knows it or not but she is the embodiment of conservatism. As a young child she was subject to a very oppressive situation. Born to a mother who was 13 and a father who was 17, she became the oldest of twelve children living in a poverty-stricken household and community. Both her parents were hard workers who were well respected in her community. Full of generosity and common sense, her parents raised and kept their family together with the most modest of means.
But with all this responsibility came stress for her parents. They turned to abusing alcohol as an outlet and soon brought their troubles home. When the fighting and screaming would begin, Julia was forced to take charge of protecting her siblings by calling the police. When the police would arrive, everything would change. Her mother and father would go back to being the gentle people they were and her siblings would feel safe once more. That sparked Julia Burney’s dream: to become a police officer and do for other children what the police had done for her.
School soon became a welcoming refuge for Julia. She loved school and even more she loved reading. She saw reading as a way to escape her situation and conditions of poverty and violence. She said no to peer pressure and has never once in her life smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol or smoked marijuana. But she did have one weakness. Her parents never showed her any affection and she had never been told “I love you.” When Julia was 17, a boy came along and told her he loved her. She soon found herself pregnant and eventually raising four children on her own.
Julia began working to support her children, sometimes two jobs at once. She finally landed a job as a secretary for the local police station. Five years later, and three times of taking the police test, she realized her childhood dream by becoming an officer of the law. Through hard work and dedication to her community, she became the number one ranking officer in the entire world. Although she was an amazing police officer and servant of her community, God had another plan for her life.
She quickly noticed that many of the houses in her community that she responded to did not have any books for their children. She became enlightened with a plan to give books to children as a way to instill hope and give them tools to overcome their life obstacles. Although she had a plan, she did not have any money. But God always blesses those who are faithful servants to Him. One night, Julia responded to a false alarm at a warehouse. Inside the warehouse were thousands of children’s books with slight imperfections. The owner who was planning to throw them away agreed to let her have them. This began Julia’s vision of Cops ‘N Kids.
Soon Julia and other police officers began giving away books to children of the community from the trunks of their police cars. Children began to love the police officers and found themselves chasing the cars down the middle of the street. People would even go to the police station to get books. Julia then had an even bigger vision: to create a place where kids could go to read, relax and enjoy their books. This began the next miracle of God in the life of Julia Burney.
With strong faith in God, Julia knew her vision of a reading center would materialize. She was granted a building by the mayor, and soon many community members were volunteering to fix up the old abandoned building. She then won a $100,000 award to complete her project, and had furniture, computers, decorations and other finishing touches donated by generous corporations. Her vision and mission was complete. She is now the founder of Cops ‘N Kids Reading Center, Inc.
Julia is now married to a man of God and has raised her four children. They are all successful and educated children: one a dentist, one a police officer, one a businesswoman, and one a soldier. She has since retired her position as a police officer and focuses all her time and energy into the reading center and her community.
So how does Julia Burney’s life story make her a conservative? First and foremost, Ms. Burney is a woman of God. She is a strong Christian who has an uncompromising faith and gives praise to Him in all that she does. This Christian faith is the most important aspect of conservatism.
Secondly, she never gave up. Instead of giving up and letting her environment steal her heart and her future, she took her destiny in her own hands by giving her life to God and working hard to achieve her dreams. Instead of turning to drugs and alcohol, she turned to school and reading. Instead of becoming like her parents, she raised her children with love and away from all the negative influences.
Next, she started from the bottom and worked her way up. She was blessed to get a position as the secretary in the police station. By keeping her faith and her dedication, she soon became the number one ranking police officer in the entire world. So many people today want to start at the top, or believe they need a college degree to achieve their dreams. Julia Burney is living proof that you do not need either. Many Black people and Black leaders want to say that the American Dream is not available to Black people. Well, Julia Burney also proved that to be wrong. She is proof that you just need faith in God and a hard work ethic.
Another reason she is a conservative because she realizes and understands the importance and strength of the family. Although she had children out of wedlock, she took absolute responsibility and raised them the best she could. Now her children are success stories. She is now married to a man of God and understands how important it is to be a positive role model to others in her community as a family woman.
And lastly she is a conservative because she has served her community. That is another essential basic of being a conservative: living in, taking leadership in, owning property in, and serving your community. Because of affirmative action and integration, many Black Americans who come from Black communities and are able to leave, never come back. That alone has devastated the quality and environment of Black communities nation wide.
Instead of living and having ownership in our own communities, many Black Americans have opted to work for White corporations in their White communities. Julia refused to leave her neighborhood and criticized those who did. In fact she lives right across the street from the police station and she would tell everyone she arrested to stop by her house once they got out. She taught people in her community that police officers are there to serve and help them, not to hate and harass them.
But what makes Julia Burney a true conservative and my hero is the fact that she remains a humble servant of God. She claims that “I am not famous” although she has appeared on television and magazines. She is just an ordinary person with an extraordinary purpose from God. She has been a light in a community plagued with poverty and violence. She has been a savior to so many youth in her community just by allowing God to work in her life. She is my hero and I’m sure if you met her, she would become yours too.
You can check out and support Cops ‘N Kids at [u]www.cops-n-kids.org[/u]
God Bless
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| How Homosexuality Has Destroyed Black Communities |
| 04.22.04 (7:22 pm) [edit] |
I was talking to a friend of mine one night at my job. I am a resident assistant in a dormitory at Indiana University. My colleague and I were discussing church and the bible. We were discussing various things when the topic of homosexuality came up. Another colleague of ours was also in the office at the time making photo copies for a program she was going to put on. This colleague was the dormitory’s community educator, a student who is responsible for putting on programs and spreading information about “diversity” issues in our college community.
The biggest requirement and assignment for this position is to embrace the gay community and promote homosexuality among our residents. Bloomington, Indiana and Indiana University is the fourth largest gay community in the nation in terms of population percentage behind the likes of others such as San Francisco. In fact, Bloomington has now become a gay tourist attraction in our state. There are several signs throughout our city that say “Breakaway to Bloomington” in rainbow color letters. It is also safe to say that Bloomington is a liberal outcast in the middle of the strongest conservative state of our nation.
This community educator, a Black woman, heard our discussion and quickly jumped in. Although she had no biblical reference, she defended homosexuality and was quick to accuse us of discriminating against gay people. After a few minutes of heated discussion, she exploded with a question that almost brought her to tears, “What about our Black men and those in the Black community who are dying of AIDS?”
Well, if you don’t know, Black homosexuality exists and in fact it is starting to run rampant in our communities. What was once considered taboo, especially among Black Americans, is now starting to become more and more socially acceptable. There are several openly gay Black males on our campus and in fact last week we had a “week of silence” where the keynote speaker was an openly Black gay male who graduated from Harvard University and was an advisor for the Clinton Administration. Yes, Harvard University is one of the most liberal campuses in our nation and of course President Clinton’s administration and Democrat Party has been the most liberal of all time.
But how has Black male homosexuality destroyed our communities and our culture? Some scholars talk about and blame Black male homosexuality on White racism, economic factors, and other social forces that have oppressed Black males and the Black community overall. I believe homosexuality was introduced in our community by the devil himself who infiltrated our hearts when the liberal social movements of the sixties destroyed our families and our communities.
The sixties are known by the Black community as the Civil Rights era. But there was another lesser known movement of the sixties that has had an even more harmful effect on the Black community. That movement was known as the Women’s movement or the Sexual Revolution. Social liberals fought for women’s reproductive rights such as abortion, lenient divorce options, and other governmental programs such as increased welfare for unwed mothers and childcare. Feminism grew out of this revolution and is still influencing our society today. You may not know this, because they do not want you to know it, but feminism’s main goal is to create a society where women can have indefinite sexual relationships without any consequences or responsibility. They want to be able to abort all pregnancies and if they do give birth they want the government to raise them through childcare and daycare programs. Honestly, feminists have done more to destroy the Black community than any KKK organization, racist police force, institutionalized racism, or deindustrialization [b]combined, ever[/b]. They took part in creating our destructive culture that promotes sexual impurity, sexual immorality, childrearing irresponsibility, freedom from family responsibility, abstinence from marriage and governmental dependence.
Because of this destructive culture that created irresponsibility, many Black youth began to focus less on God, their family and their community and became more focused on themselves. Sex became something for self-gratification and not for familial or spiritual purposes. With this increase in sexual “freedom” came other increases in things such as drug use, violence, murder, theft, hatred, and other sinful and illegal activity. Black males caught the brunt of the blow.
Whereas females were left “trapped” with babies, poverty, broken families and despair, Black males were being trapped behind bars. Black males went to prison in droves during the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Because of our liberal federal justice system, Black males often times faced longer prison sentences than White males. Prisons soon became a storage place for destructive Black males and the pinnacle of the Black male culture. Going to prison became more acceptable among Black males than going to school. Black males would go in with a five year sentence and not get out until he served twenty years. This was due to Black males having to constantly fight and prove their manhood as a way to avoid any problems from other inmates.
Black males soon began to participate in homosexual activity behind bars. What started out as a way to release aggression among those who had to serve lifelong sentences, turned into a way to prove their manliness among all prisoners. Inmates would try to “break” other inmates by having sex with them. Those who did the penetration were seen as masculine and those who were penetrated were seen as feminine. Although homosexual activity does exist behind bars as a way to show manliness, it has now become socially acceptable in any form during prison.
Black males, once released, went out into their communities and returned to having sexual relationships with women. These women, unaware of their previous experiences in jail, began to sleep with these men along with other men in the community. AIDS became contracted through homosexual activity in the prison and is now spread to women and other men in our community. These men, who also continue to have homosexual relationships outside of prison, do not see themselves as or consider themselves to be gay. They participate in homosexual activity as a way to show their manliness and prove their masculinity, behind closed doors obviously.
I saw a story about this exact subject on WGN news Chicago. This Black man was married to a woman and had children. He also had homosexual intercourse with several other married gay men behind their back. He said that this practice is quite common in Black communities and especially among Black homosexual men. A friend of mine also saw the exact same subject being discussed on the Oprah Winfrey show by a man who wrote his personal story and published it as a book. What was once started as a fad among Black men in prison has spread to Black men in our community who have never been to prison. These men now go to college, get degrees and marry heterosexual Black women. These men are selfish, self-centered and do not have any morals or Christian principles. The man on the Oprah show said he often times would go to church to pick up and sleep with men.
The Black Church has not only been infiltrated by the devil but has now become a meeting place for those wishing to participate in sinful activity. As this, along with other sinful activities, are going on under the nose of Black ministers, the Black church remains adamant about speaking out against homosexuality, as they should. But now they have come under attack by the liberal media and other Black community members for not reaching out to Black homosexuals or those with AIDS. This scorning of the Black church is not only inappropriate but truly ridiculous. The church has done more to prevent and stop the AIDS epidemic than all the hundreds of millions of dollars and social programs combined.
AIDS is now running wild in the Black community. It is now the number one cause of death for Black Americans ages 25 to 44. The U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 60 percent of all new HIV infections are occurring among Blacks. Almost 40 percent of the cumulative AIDS cases among Black men were transmitted through same-sex sexual activity (Kai Wright, “AIDS and Black New Yorkers”). Not only has same sex and bi-sexual activity contributed to the spread of AIDS, but it has also induced drug use, including those that require injection through needles. This drug use has also contributed to the spread of AIDS in Black communities.
Liberals blame the epidemic spread of this disastrous disease among Black Americans on lack of healthcare, lack of sex education, homophobia, White racism, the everyday stresses of being poor and Black in America, and several other irresponsible claims. Liberals are fighting to get millions of dollars to come into the Black community to fight AIDS and educate youth about the disease. They want to educate our youth about using contraceptives and other “safe” sexual practices. If we did get millions of dollars to come into the Black community it should go into the churches to create faith-based programs to promote family values and the gospel of our Christ and Savior.
We do not need more sex “education.” We need spiritual guidance from our churches, our parents, and any other community member who is willing to stand up and fight Satan head on. We need to preach abstinence based on Christian scripture, morality and principality. Not because, “Oh, you might get pregnant,” “Oh, you might get HIV,” “Oh, you might get an STD.” That does not work. Every kid on the street feels they are invincible and believes it won’t happen to them. Liberals want to blame everybody and everything except our culture, our sinful nature, the social acceptability of immorality and our individual choices that we make.
A liberal commentator wrote, “If you have to worry about whether you're going to be able to pay your rent or how you're going to feed your kids, you're not thinking about getting tested for HIV" (Sharon Lerner, “AIDS and Black New Yorkers”). Is it just me or does anyone else think that anyone with financial struggles and children should not be thinking about having sex either. Also, in the same article, another woman said “Become empowered, ladies, and get tested." We must understand that only Jesus Christ can empower us. Only Jesus Christ. But maybe we would realize this if we were paying attention during the sermon instead of looking around for another sexual partner.
Stopping AIDS and homosexuality in our communities starts with us. Repent in all your evil ways. Confess your sins. Accept Jesus Christ into your heart. Surrender your life and heart to Him and allow Him to change you. Attend and become a visible member of your church. Become a visible member in your community. Refrain from committing adultery (sex outside of marriage). This means both before and during marriage. Preach the wonderful gospel to the youth of our community and other community members. Pray wholeheartedly and put Jesus first as our solution and as our liberator. Preach against drug use, alcohol use and other sinful activity that may lead to sex or needle injection drug use. Stand up against liberalism and liberals who want to promote sex “education” in our schools and communities. Stand up against liberals who want to spend millions of our nation’s dollars to create abortion clinics, drug rehabs, and HIV clinics while trying to silence the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Feminism and liberalism are the causes for our current crisis in Black America. We must stop listening to these voices and listen to the one true voice, the one of God. He claims, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Just because something is socially acceptable or even legal (such as sodomy and adultery is now) doesn’t mean it is righteous, moral or the Truth. We need to stop living by man’s and society’s law and live by God’s law. Sin is destructive and has done its best to destroy our youth, our culture, and our communities. Let’s do our best to see to it that sin stops with us.
God Bless
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| Conservatism's Black Roots |
| 04.21.04 (3:16 pm) [edit] |
Unfortunately, when Black Americans hear the word “conservative” or “conservatism” a red flag goes up. This word has been tainted by liberals in our society and filled with false sentiments of racism and times of segregation and slavery. Black Americans, particularly Black youth, do not only misunderstand the meaning of such modern American conservatism but they are unwilling to even listen to it and give it a chance.
Liberals have long described conservatives as racist and as those who want to maintain the segregationist structure of life. Liberals portray “the conservative” as a White Christian male slave owner who denies Blacks and any other minorities (including women) their inalienable rights as a human being. A conservative, according to the liberals, is one who misinterprets and misuses religion (Christianity) to oppress and subjugate those who are less powerful. They are the “Good Ol’ Boy Network” that is only out to maintain the status quo while keeping those in power rich and those without power impoverished. Conservatives are also labeled as non-intellectuals, insensitive, and uncompassionate.
Nothing could be farther from the Truth!
Conservatives and conservatism did not get in roots from White “Christian” slave owners of the South. But rather conservatism got it roots from White protestant Christians who were abolitionists of the North during the time of slavery. These true Christians knew the immorality of slavery and sacrificed their lives to eliminate it. They began an abolitionist movement and in 1854 established the Republican Party for one sole purpose: to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln became their president, the first Republican president. Although he did not sway one way or the other on the issue of slavery, he felt that Blacks were inferior to Whites. Lincoln was actually nominated and elected for president because of his middle position on the issue of slavery. But it was the White protestant Christian abolitionists who put immense pressure on Lincoln to act on the issue of slavery. It was not until the Democratic South decided they wanted to separate from the union that Lincoln responded. These abolitionists were labeled as liberals during their time but are now considered the roots of what we call today “conservatism.”
People today do not know much about our history nor about slavery. Some believe that it was the government who established slavery. But it was not the government who established slavery, but rather individuals who were looking for a way to cultivate their land and prosper from cheap labor. Although slavery existed in northern colonies and states, slavery flourished throughout the South in the long and deep fields of cotton. Slavery became a highly profitable and successful institution and was quickly supported and upheld by the Democrat Party of the South. The Democrat Party established slave codes and other legislation that legitimized slavery. The first traces of socialism in America were then indoctrinated into the new constitution of the Democrat Party of the South. This new socialist society now wanted to separate from the union to live in peace and harmony with slavery as their institution of choice.
Luckily God interceded, the North won and the slaves were set free. Abolitionists (Conservatives) gave their lives to abolish slavery while the Democrats (Liberals) gave their lives to expand it.
Freedom was achieved and slaves were now able to embark upon and embrace the American Dream. But the Democrat Party had different plans for the newly freed slaves. Segregation and Jim Crow laws were established. Black Americans could not participate in any social, political or economic arena that was dominated by Whites. Black males were lynched at disastrous rates all throughout the South and even some parts of the north. The Ku Klux Klan was established as the terrorist arm of the Democrat Party. Elected government officials such as governors, senators, mayors and sheriffs all maintained their loyalty to the KKK and the Democrat Party. These White males and their families who were direct beneficiaries of slavery established the “Good Ol’ Boy Network” that was formed to discriminate against minorities while keeping themselves and their views in power.
It was the conservatives and the Republican Party who understood the importance of giving freedom to Black Americans. They incorporated the “40 acres and a mule” legislation along with other Reconstruction legislation of the South. But the Democrat party broke that up real quick and denied Southern Blacks the rights to any of these legislative acts of justice. Blacks were then left with nothing but the skills they learned from their labors of slavery, their hopes and their faith.
But the South didn’t offer Black Americans the best environment to begin their new life, it was the North. During the Great Migration, droves of Black Americans migrated up through the South to cities such as New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and several others. Black Americans embraced conservative ideas both socially and economically. In these new Black communities began to form something our nation had never seen before: the Black middle class. In the conservative North, Blacks owned businesses, stores, restaurants. They operated schools, churches and other local entities. Opportunities were blissful, communities were strong and the culture was thriving.
But all this changed as the civil rights movement began to force our government into passing liberal legislation that was both unnecessary and harmful to Black Americans and our communities. What began as a moral issue turned into one of legislation. Dr. King did not feel our nation needed new amendments or laws, but rather merely needed to live up to the Christian principles that our nation was founded upon. It was the Democrat Party who withheld these rights and liberties from Black Americans of the South. The Democrat Party, without ever apologizing for their past injustices and in desperate need of the Black vote, got behind Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement. Conservatives on the other hand gave up courting the Black vote and let us switch to the party that had long been and still was our worst enemy.
The Democrat Party changed from making legislation based on the inferiority of Black Americans to keep them oppressed, to making legislation based on the inferiority of Black Americans to “help” them. How foolish we were to quickly embrace their liberal ideas and agendas that directly conflicted with and opposed Black American’s socially and economically conservative philosophies.
Liberalism soon began to promote sexual immorality such as the acceptance of abortion and babies born out-of-wedlock. Liberals began to promote dependence on government assistance such as welfare and food stamps. The Federal Government quickly expanded and took control of our Black communities. Black businesses suffered and could no longer compete with the government. Schools were taken over by outside elected officials and school teachers soon became individuals who were not a part of the community, race or culture. Successful Blacks from these self-segregated communities moved out due to the high levels of crime, immorality and sinfulness that spawned from a culture developed from the streets and the government.
Liberalism tells our youth that they are victims of our racist capitalistic society. They tell them that they are doomed for failure and cannot compete in the world’s strongest market. They let them know that they will not be held responsible for their actions and that the government will always be there to take care of them. This has developed into a culture of helplessness, hopelessness, laziness, and sinfulness.
It is this culture spawned from liberalism that has destroyed our communities and our culture. Not racist White conservatives. Liberals are the ones who have been racist and have passed legislation that has had horrific impacts on our communities, our culture, our youth and our future. We must realize that our heritage and culture has been a very conservative one that believes in God, hard work, faith, and dedication to our church, family and community. We can learn something from conservatives and conservatism. I just hope we are willing to listen.
God Bless
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| The Destructiveness of Hip Hop Culture |
| 04.20.04 (11:35 pm) [edit] |
Growing up I soon became entranced by rap music and the hip hop culture. I can remember my love affair began as a young boy watching music videos of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Billie Jean.” My mother once brought home the movie “Breakin” and I began to emulate the break dancers’ moves on the living room floor all night long. The first rap tape I had was Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” album. I remember performing one of the songs at our school’s talent show. I would bring the tape to school and listen to it during recess and show all my friends how cool I was that I could memorize the lyrics and dance to their beats. One song in particular on that album was titled “Dope.” As soon as my teacher heard me sing the song aloud in class, he took me outside and lectured me on why the song and the music were inappropriate and, in a sense, wrong. I quickly defended my point of view claiming that the song did not talk about or promote drug use but rather the word “dope” was used to reference the attractiveness of a woman. Needless to say, I still had to face severe consequences of bringing such music into the classroom. That was not the last time that hip hop got me into trouble.
Rap music quickly evolved and became a music that glorified Black poverty, gang violence and an overall mistrust for and hatred toward authority. Gangsta rappers such as Ice-T, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Eazy E, and Dr. Dre began to glamorize gangster mentalities and thug life. Both the media and the radio picked up on it and it immediately spread like wild fire, reaching every youth’s home and unfortunately every young male’s heart. I grew up in Columbus, a small town in Indiana that was predominantly White and predominantly wealthy. But yet I was still influenced by a culture that was born out of ghettos my mother made sure we did not grow up in.
Rap music and hip hop consumed me and my friends’ lives. We spent all our money on buying cd’s, listening to and watching the videos, and memorizing the lyrics of all the songs. But our infatuation with and curiosity for this hip hop culture did not stop here.
We began to actually take on the role of the thug and live our life as if we were the rap artist that we saw in the videos. We began to emulate all the gangsta mannerisms such as walking with a limp, dressing in thug attire, and using street slang in all our conversations. We even began our own “gang” calling ourselves “The Crew.” Our favorite pastime, besides playing basketball, would be to go “roaming” late at night. We would bust jokes, b-bop and rap while doing illegal activities such as throwing rocks at houses, stealing bikes, or anything else that would boost our reputation and street credit. I remember one night a member of our crew was so bold, he ran up to a police car and started jumping up and down screaming, “Po Po hook it up! Po Po hook it up!” This mentality didn’t end in our homes and in our personal lives, as we took our new personas and attitudes with us to school.
Through this hip hop culture that we took on as our own, we began to disobey all authority figures in our lives, mainly our parents and our teachers. Hip hop led us to have destructive mentalities and participate in self-destructive activities. One close friend was arrested in sixth grade for bringing a handgun to school. Another got his girlfriend pregnant and became a father in the seventh grade. One friend began doing and selling drugs in middle school. By his freshman year he was on house arrest. He along with another close friend dropped out of high school as soon as they turned sixteen. None of my close friends that I grew up with graduated from high school besides my twin brother and me.
Gangsta rap that glamorized gang violence and self-destruction evolved into and was followed by hip hop music that glorifies sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility. Today we have top 40 hip hop hits that discuss sexual activity, degrade women (Black women in particular) and promote sexual irresponsibility. It is most evident in the videos that are being shown on MTV and BET. Most adults, just by listening to the music, do not understand the immediate threat of the music because they are not up to date on the slang terminology used in the songs that glorifies sexual activity. Unfortunately, most adults do not speak out against the vivid portrayal of sexual activity and degradation of women because they have grown accustomed to seeing it on other shows shown by our liberal media. But our youth, including myself and my friends, received strong messages and influences from this music and this culture. We all became sexually active, began to disrespect women by calling them names, grabbing body parts without permission and using them for self-gratification. The more we did this, the more it seemed that the women would conform to our behavior and actually desire, provoke and expect it.
Sadly today, our young women are subjecting to, accepting and embracing the sinful nature stemming from this hip hop culture. They wear clothes that promote sexual attraction and promiscuity. They get tattoos on their lower backs and other areas of the body, pierce their belly buttons and tongues, and even receive plastic surgery to enhance their sexual attractiveness. I remember one time I was stuck in traffic in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. I looked down the street and I saw two young Black women standing on the corner waiting for the bus. One girl in particular was dancing and shaking her bottom and flaunting her body to the crowd of people walking along the streets. When I got up closer to them I saw how young they really were. I asked them their age, and the one said “15.” Fifteen! Fifteen! This little girl was fully developed and highly sexualized at such a young age. Not only that but she was flaunting herself on the street corner. I soon realized why R Kelly was in trouble and honestly, why our generation of youth is in big trouble.
Women have been victims of this hip hop culture just as much as males. Males, by embracing this hip hop culture, have become underachievers in school, gang members, thugs, “Baby’s daddies”, drug dealers, and have found themselves incarcerated and even murdered at higher rates than ever before. Women have become highly sexualized, sexually active, having babies out-of-wedlock, destroying their bodies, poor mothers and poor wives (if they ever get married). We have embraced hip hop and have let it engulf our way of living destroying our bodies, our minds, our attitudes, our dreams, our goals, our communities, our culture, our heritage and our future.
Jesus claims that you can tell his disciples by the fruit that they produce. Hip hop has not produced any good fruit but in fact has stolen the hearts and lives of my friends and many of our children. It has destroyed our communities and our culture. John 10:10 claims, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Hip hop has done just that and it is becoming more and more accessible and acceptable everyday. We must make a stand and fight the destructiveness of hip hop and the hip hop culture. We must protect our children and not allow them to listen to or watch hip hop music. I don’t care how much you love hip hop or how much you think it is a socio-political instrument for Black Americans who are oppressed in our racist society. We have the common sense to know that children of all ages should not be exposed to such thoughts, attitudes and actions.
Let us realize that the power does not lie in the words, but rather in the message. And the message is more than the words, but rather the actions and behaviors that are depicted and spawned from such words. Hip hop music has turned into a destructive culture, one specifically embraced by the Black community and Black youth. This culture is destructive and must be stopped. The only power strong enough to stop the works of the devil is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And He will work through his children who are willing to surrender their lives to Him and allow Him to work in their lives for His glory. He wants bold warriors who are willing to stand up and fight for Him and for His children, our children. John 14:6 claims, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Let the Truth outshine the falsehood of hip hop and restore Life back into our youth and our communities.
God Bless
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| Why Education is NOT Black America's #1 Concern |
| 04.19.04 (2:00 pm) [edit] |
Many people of our nation today believe that education is the key to success. They have been led to believe that if you do well in school, go to college and earn advanced degrees you will be highly successful. Success in our nation is now measured by educational attainment and job status. But Black Americans must not buy totally into this narrow and false notion. Don’t be confused. It is not that I don’t promote the importance of being educated, but rather argue that education is not the key for our greatness nor is it the most threatening issue facing our communities.
I was once a big advocate of education before I learned about conservatism. I did all I could in college to learn new ideas and take advantage of educational opportunities. I stressed education and academic excellence to many disadvantaged students I encountered. I stressed to them the importance of getting good grades, getting involved in student organizations, participating in study abroad opportunities and internships and taking advantage of all scholarly opportunities that were afforded to them. But it was a friend of mine who turned me to conservatism when he challenged me to the question, “Are you more likely to tell a young Black male about financial aid and college or about Jesus Christ." Sadly, I knew my answer was the wrong answer.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew that education did not save my life, but rather Jesus Christ did. Education did not empower me but Jesus did. Education did not liberate me, but Jesus did.
I had been a straight “A” student since third grade, but it wasn't until I was saved by Jesus Christ my senior year in high school that I was brought out of the darkness and actually empowered through Christ, not through an education. Although I had taken several classes and got several good grades, I did not actually know anything. I had never read a book until I was saved and the first book I picked up was a book on the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When I was saved, Jesus filled me with the Spirit of Truth and allowed me to see and understand the world in a whole new light. Jesus became my teacher.
After I dedicated my life to the Lord Jesus Christ, He then opened so many doors for me in education. Being poor and not knowing how to attend college, I was blessed to be accepted into the Groups Student Support Services Program, a federal trio program for first generation, low-income students. I then became a triple major (African American Studies, Spanish, and Sociology), a Ronald E. McNair scholar along with several other accomplishments and accolades. I thought I was doing all this to serve our people and change lives, but I soon realized that I had not been fulfilling my real purpose. A true friend checked me when he said "You can be too caught up in doing God's work that you forget all about God." I had not fulfilled my purpose of seeking Jesus, maintaining a close relationship with Him, spreading His gospel, and expanding His Kingdom. Jesus is the answer, not an education. Education is merely supplementary.
Not only is education supplementary, but we must not put our faith in our public education system. Look at me! I received straight “A’s” all through school without ever having read a book. Nowadays, kids spend more time on cheating in school than they do on studying. Many students are being promoted despite their lack of ability to perform at their grade level. Not to mention that our public education system is giving our children a secular education that promotes ideologies and values that are inconsistent with and in direct conflict with strong family and church values.
Far too often, teachers in our Black communities do not live in or invest in our communities. Many of them are White females who do not understand Black heritage or culture, let alone promote them. Black youth with broken families and poor parental guidance are left to being “raised” by our public education system. Many Black youth fail in school because they see academic success as “acting White.” They are not taught about their history, heritage or culture. They do not learn to love themselves or each other. They do not learn how to say no to drugs, gangs, violence, sex and other negative social influences. Black males are not taught to be strong positive role models for their communities, but rather socialized to be victims and villains of their communities.
Education is crucial if it is conservative, meaning one that teaches youth the importance of reading, writing and critical thinking. Also it must influence and inspire youth to love themselves, their culture and their heritage. An education must be committed to the community and reinforce church and family values rather than oppose them. A conservative education teaches our youth the importance of family, working hard and saving and investing their money wisely. Many public educational systems in poor Black communities are controlled by the federal government and taught by so called "educators" who don't even live in or invest in their communities. They teach in these schools but send their kids to private or suburban schools. An education from these institutions can not be the solution, because they are ran by people who already believe that these kids are worthless and a failure. That’s why the voucher system is necessary.
Education is supposed to reinforce family and church values, prepare our youth to be informed and positive citizens and challenge them to achieve greatness for their communities and our nation. This is most definitely not the case. Without a strong moral foundation, it doesn’t matter how many opportunities present themselves. One without moral convictions or strong moral roots will wallow in the wind. I have seen it a thousand times during college. Students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are blessed with an opportunity of a lifetime to attend college and achieve greatness. But they throw it away for a few months of sinful activity such as partying, drugs, alcohol, sex and even violence. Our youth today are not equipped with the moral foundation to succeed in education or life.
Many Black youth, regardless of the reason, give up on being successful in this world at an early age. They are lead to believe that because they don’t have the education, don’t have a degree, or didn’t finish high school that they are doomed for failure in our society. I must reassure them that this is totally false. For all things are possible through God. In these cases, education becomes a psychological barrier that disallows these youth to strive for achievement. Although it may be true that certain positions require a certain level of education, we must remember that people cannot deny success regardless of your title or your educational background. Jesus has performed greater miracles with lesser beings. What makes you think He cannot perform a simple miracle for you? We must not believe that an education, whether we have a lot or a very little, determines our success. Jesus Christ determines our success.
Education is neither the number one issue nor the number one solution for Black Americans. We must rebuild the strength of our families and our churches in order to instill in our youth the moral and spiritual foundations necessary to compete and succeed in our secular and sinful world. This is our number one issue and the Lord Jesus Christ is our number one solution.
God Bless
Aaron Hankins
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| A Wake-Up Call for So-Called Black Liberals |
| 04.18.04 (10:43 pm) [edit] |
Unfortunately, many Black Americans of our nation have been lied to and fooled by our so-called leaders about political agendas and parties. Although many have never educated themselves about issues relating to the political structure of our nation (except left-leaning liberals who have been miseducated at major universities), they have been willing to go to the grave believing in those political leaders who reflect their skin color more so than their personal beliefs. Sadly, we have trusted that the words, thoughts, beliefs, and agendas of our Black leaders have been in the best interest of our families and communities. We have been misguided and misled. After reading this article, I hope we realize that Black Americans, regardless of what you have read in the newspaper, saw on television or heard on the street, are in fact a conservative people with strong conservative convictions. It has been our younger generations, through the hip hop movement, the liberal media and our liberal public education system, who have been strayed away from our people’s conservative roots.
Even though you may consider yourself a liberal, there are other liberals (many Black, but mostly White) who are pushing their secular agenda in many arenas: classes, television, music and politics. This agenda is one where they hope to abolish all religious faiths, organizations and institutions. Most specifically, Christianity and the Christian church. These liberals despise the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ and any morals or commandments which come from the Holy Scriptures.
Many Black people hear the word conservative and think of White people and White Christians. Well, I hope we understand that they read and live by the same Bible, Father and Savior that we do. Liberals and the liberal media want us to believe that White Christian conservatives are racist. But we know that true Christians, regardless of color, are filled with a Spirit of Truth that allows them to love all their brethren. Liberals believe that Christianity is oppressive, but those true believers know that the Lord Jesus Christ is a liberator, one that forgives us and sets us free from our sins. True Christians do not oppress their brethren, both believers and non-believers, but rather sacrifice their lives to uplift and serve all children of God.
These liberals want a society where people have no moral restraints and live life in the flesh. They promote sexual freedom, drug use, immoral behavior, abortions, dependency on the government, weak work ethics, society raising our children and not their parents, welfare, homosexuality, no ownership, no responsibilities and integration: all things that have destroyed Black communities, Black culture and Black heritage. Immorality, which is their major promotion, affects and destroys poor people the worst. But it is slowly destroying all of our society, not just the poor.
I believe the 3 major problems/issues (although there are several more) that affect Black people in our nation today is:
1. Immorality
2. The destruction of the Black family
3. Lack of ownership in our communities
Before the civil rights movement, only 23 percent of Black children were born out-of-wedlock. Today it has reached over 70 percent. Now, 43 percent of Black pregnancies end in abortion (all statistics from the Heritage Foundation). There is a major moral and family crisis in Black America today. Because of this, Black communities have been plagued by other social problems that have spawned from these NOW socially accepted behaviors.
Also, before the civil rights movement there was ownership in Black communities. Stores, restaurants, businesses, schools, etc. were owned and operated by Black people of the community. They employed Black community members and supported the Black community. Now you can drive through many Black communities and see nothing but boarded up windows, spray painted buildings and overall destruction and deterioration of our communities. The remaining businesses often times only include liquor stores, fast food restaurants, and bail bondsman (all owned by those who live outside of the community). Black people no longer own their communities nor run them. Many are held captive by government housing, welfare and just the sinful and dangerous environment of their community. In my personal experience, I have found that those most likely to make it out of these environments, especially Black males, are those who believe in Jesus Christ and have a strong moral foundation.
Black conservatism wants to restore Black communities and Black culture. We don't want Black culture to be one of poverty, sin, hatred, and other negative things that are now presently a part of today's so called Black culture. Today’s Black culture movement has been in the hip hop culture which has destroyed our youth's lives. Hip hop is not a holy culture; it is one from sin and the devil. But Black youth, unfortunately yet wholeheartedly, claim it as their own. And it has claimed their lives and stolen their hearts. Black conservatism wants to put God first in our communities, schools, lives, culture, and heritage. We want Black families to once again be as strong as they were before the civil rights movement. We want Black people to put their trust in God and have ownership in their communities and not just let their lives be run by the government. In the current state of Black communities ran by the federal government, Black Americans are merely “governmental slaves” (see Star Parker’s[u] Uncle Sam’s Plantation[/u]).
Think about it: What color of people do you think of when you hear the word federal government? I don't know about you but I think of White. If you believe that the federal government should be responsible for solving the problems of the Black community, you therefore are saying you want White people to solve the issues of Black communities. That is just the ultimate slap in the face of Black people, saying they cannot solve their own problems. That is saying you do not trust in Black people or God but rather put your trust in a White government. Sounds ridiculous to me.
But that is what has happened. And that is why our Black communities have been destroyed, because they are run by the Government (White people) and not by Black people. If our ancestors knew that we would put our faith in a White government more so than God and Black people, they would roll over in their graves.
Harriet Tubman did not risk her life to run back into slavery and save slaves for us to go back to being enslaved. Frederick Douglass did not risk his life after escaping slavery to promote abolition, to hear us now longing for governmental dependence and government slavery. Booker T. Washington did not leave his family and everything he knew to follow the journey that God had laid before him, to see us now give up on God and on Black people. I know the only solution to any social and economic problem is God and Jesus Christ. He is the only solution. We must not think the solution lies in a government which is secular, more so than a God who is Almighty and Holy.
Black Americans, from the beginning of our time here in this nation, have relied upon God, our families and our communities for strength to overcome the barriers and obstacles laid before us. We must understand that liberalism is just another barrier we must overcome together as a people committed to God and His glory. Black American heritage and culture is one that is deeply rooted in the real and living Christian God, conservative values such as family, church, and hard work, and the strength that comes from our inner yearning for freedom and liberty. Conservatives, which I hope you have now found yourself to be, must maintain our cultural and ancestral heritage by fighting liberal leaders who have destroyed our communities, our culture and our way of life.
Let the Lord be our shepherd, our light and our truth.
God Bless
Aaron Hankins
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| My Friend Eddie |
| 04.17.04 (1:39 pm) [edit] |
I was blessed this weekend to spend a day with my friend Eddie in Indianapolis, IN. We were both there for the National Conference for Undergraduate Research. I met him this past summer as we were both conducting research with the McNair Scholars program at my home institution of Indiana University. He attends Texas A&M-Kingsville, where he studies psychology. I just want to write a few words on why I love this guy.
Eddie is not the traditional college student. He served in the navy for eleven years and then decided to return to college to obtain his bachelor's degree. Through hard work and dedication he became a Ronald E. McNair scholar and has presented his scholarly research at several national forums. But more so than his intellectual capabilities, I love Eddie for his wholesome heart and his mature wisdom.
I'm not sure how much Eddie knows about my childhood, my background or any of my personal struggles in life, but I know for sure the one thing he understands is the importance of living life to the fullest and spreading joy amongst those he comes in contact with. Eddie, although we are friends and scholarly colleagues, has been more of a "father figure" to me. He has shared quite extensively his life experiences and the wisdom he has acquired through living life. I'm not sure if he realizes it, but he always finds a way to make me think less about life and more about the meaning of it.
Although he is not the most wealthiest person financially, he is quite wealthy in terms of fellowship and love of life. He values friendships, shared experiences and living life to the fullest at all times. Where I am more likely to save my money for the hope that one day its worth and value may produce tremendous fruits, Eddie is more willing to spend his money for knowing the fruit that it will produce at that specific moment.
I remember the last time I saw him at another national conference in Wisconsin. He was so willing to buy us dinner, give us money, or buy us whatever. As he was leaving to go to the airport, he got out forty dollars from the ATM and gave it to both my twin brother and I. He said, "This right here is an investment. I know I will see it someday. Its an investment for my children." Those words were awe-inspiring. But little did he know, his investment was not the money he gave me, but rather the life and wisdom he bestowed upon me through our friendship. Eddie, I love you and I pray I won't let you down.
I said good-bye to Eddie last night, knowing I would probably never see him again. I hope our paths cross again another day so we can laugh, have fun and enjoy life for a little while together. But until then, I shall continue to live life to the fullest with a heart of gold. I also shall continue to put in work to allow your sowing seeds to reach their full life and potential.
Thanks Eddie and God Bless.
Aaron Hankins
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| Lets Stay Together |
| 04.15.04 (11:13 pm) [edit] |
In a heated discussion last night with my friend, I truly found out the thoughts and feelings of someone who has not only had her heart attacked by the devil but also has been a victim of our liberal societal breakdown. We were discussing matters of life, when I broke it down to her my thoughts on the most important things in life.
1. To establish and maintain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
2. To follow God and give Him praise in all that we do
3. To enter into the sacred bond of marriage and raise children
This last item of marriage was the one that was most attacked. She told me she could never see herself getting married, never having kids and never relying upon another person. She didn't tell me, but I could sense that her heart had been stolen and trampled upon. And now she is scared to death to give her heart away again.
I'm sure we have all felt this way a time or two in our lives. One thing that keeps my faith strong is knowing that the Lord is going to bless those who are obedient and patient in His timing. And secondly, I always remember a quote I once read that states, "Love as if you've never been hurt!" I keep my heart open and alive and allow it to love fully regardless of how many times I've been hurt before.
But I thought of a few things in our discussion about marriage. I asked her if her grandparents had been married. She said, "Yes, both sets had been married." Then I asked, "When did they divorce?" And she said, "They never did, they died being married." Then I said, "Exactly!"
I only had one set of grandparents because I never met or knew my dad. But I knew my one set of grandparents quite well because I lived with them growing up. When they married, my grandfather was 19 and my grandmother was 17. My grandfather had a G.E.D. and my grandmother didn't finish middle school. My grandfather, I'm sure, was not the best of husbands or fathers. He was in the navy so he was gone a lot. He was also an alcoholic that had been arrested several times in his life and had even been hospitalized several times for car accidents, falling out of hotel windows, and other tragedies due to alcohol abuse. It was sad seeing an old man with tatoos all over his body, including several naked women. These tatoos of naked women were on his chest and his forearms. He did have a tatoo of my grandmother's name, but he always covered it up with his watch. But this makes my thesis even stronger. No matter how bad of a husband or father he was, they remained married.
My grandmother has never smoked a cigarette, drank alcohol or done drugs in her life. I also believe the only man she may have had an intimate relationship with was my grandfather. Some may say she didn't deserve to be with such an awful man. She may have thought so too at some point in time. But regardless of all that went on, they remained married until the death of my grandfather. That was the code of the streets then. Our grandparents and older generations were the true warriors who were strong enough to keep any family together and in tact.
Nowadays, people think that marriage will keep them from fulfilling their life goals and other goals they want to achieve. But our grandparents were married before they even really knew about goals or dreams. They did not worry about dreams or about goals, but rather about creating and sustaining a strong family. That was the goal of their time. Now our goals have changed to self -fulfilling individual goals that have no time for husbandry, motherhood or any other family responsibility. We are now selfish and self-centered.
One story I had to tell my friend to get her to understand the importance of marriage and family was about slavery. I asked her, "Why do you think the institution of slavery was so effective?" She didn't know. It was because slave owners, masters and traders knew the strength of family. As soon as slaves were brought to and bought in our colonies, they were immediately separated from their families. Brothers and sisters were split apart, mothers and fathers were split apart, parents and children were split apart. Also, the distinct tribes were split apart to make sure that the slaves could not communicate with one another. Slave owners knew the strength of the family and knew that to keep the institution alive they must separate and destroy the family. Much like what is being done today in our liberal society. But wait, there is more to this story.
I then asked her, "What was the first thing that slaves did when they were freed?" She also didn't know this answer. The first thing many slaves did was walk all over the South looking for their family. They were looking for their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children. They would search for years, sometimes decades until they found their family. Think about it. You have nothing. No clothes, no food, no map, no shelter, no money, no information, nothing. But yet they sacrificed their lives to find their family and get back together. They had nothing, but they gave everything.
Nowadays, we can't even stay together for a few years. We're quick to give up and move on. We are willing to give up our children or even worse kill them through abortion. We are willing to not even marry and purposely have children out of wedlock. Divorce rates are out of control, abortion rates are out of control, and children being born out of wedlock are out of control. We can learn so much from our history or atleast from our grandparents. But we have been miseducated and misguided by our liberal educational system. We don't listen to our grandparents or want to emulate them. We would rather listen to rappers on tv and emulate celebrities in magazines. Our grandparents left us the legacy of marriage, of trust, of love, of dedication, of survival, of strength in family. We are now doing our best to destroy that legacy for a legacy of self-gratification, lust, immorality, and other evils and social ills.
I hope this article speaks to your heart. I once felt the same way as my friend. I grew up in a very liberal/secular environment and did not see the importance of marriage, family or having children. Much of that has to do with our environment, our childhood, and what society now deems as acceptable. But through the Grace of God I have now seen the light and understand the sacredness of marriage and family. I hope you do too.
For only will it be through the strength of our families, that our communities shall thrive.
Much love and God Bless
Aaron Hankins
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| Welcolm to Aaron's message! A Christian Conservative at work |
| 04.15.04 (1:43 pm) [edit] |
Wow, this marks, I guess, the beginning of my work as a Christian conservative writer. I want to say thanks first and formost to the Lord Jesus Christ who saved me and brought me out of the darkness. Secondly, thanks to my close friend Chris who taught me about conservatism and gave me the book [u]Unfounded Loyalty[/u] by Reverend Wayne Perryman. It changed my political perspective. Also I want to say thanks to all the conservative writers out there who are also doing the work of the Lord, spreading His message and His will for our lives. This blog will be focused on spreading the message of Jesus Christ by discussing issues related to the current conditions of our nation. This blog will also focus on issues affecting Black Americans, Black communities, and Black youth. This blog will tackle issues of liberalism from the viewpoint of a young Christian Conservative who is dedicated to serving the Lord and all His children. Thank you, hope you enjoy and God Bless
Aaron Hankins
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