Just Gentrifying

Do I have it right? Did the City of San Francisco allow one of its' public parks in the Mission District to be rented, without letting anyone know about it? It is all about the use of a soccer field in the middle of the Mission District. The field was reserved by some young, upper middle class residents of some new condos that were built to gentrify that part of the city. The field renters did it via app and they caused a disagreement between them and the locals who wanted to share the soccer field. Renting things via app is not unheard of. But renting the soccer field in the middle of the Mission District via app is apparently new and not a common practice. Some consider it to be something weird, and insensitive due to the possibility of the so-called "techies" hogging the field and keeping those of less means out. I will not take sides on this issue because I need more details. The way I view the whole scenario is this way: Courtesy goes a long way. But let me take it to the next level of greatness. Humility goes a long way. More on that on my next blog.

A response to Thuggery

I wrote the following letter to a New York newspaper after reading about a Jewish merchant who had his store vandalized and robbed during business hours. Gun enthusiasts claimed that the store owner should have been able to protect himself and his property with a gun, and that he "should have shot as many as possible." I am not pleased with what the invaders did. However, I am not in agreement with the merchant killing anyone. Here is the letter: "Does New York state not allow store owners to have a gun handy to protect themselves and their property? It does not appear that one gun would have done the job. There were too many invaders. Also, some merchants are not interested in killing people on their property. Corpses, blood and a bullet riddled store do not appear to be an option for them. There is no excuse for this kind of mistreatment of a merchant. It is definitely an example of ignorance in action. Is racism demonstrated by the perpetrators? Maybe. How about hatred, anger and jealousy? As the saying goes: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Many problems can be prevented, and every problem has a solution. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Prov.22:6) So….who is doing the training?"

A Juan Williams Quote

I suppose the idea is to attack and verbally abuse anyone who does not agree with you. This is the mantra of many liberals. I say hatred is not reason. Freedom is good. Hatred is not. Hatred leads to actions that defy freedom. RD. Here is a Juan Williams quote..........."I am not a conservative but I have spoken out for years against the staggering amount of blind hatred directed at black conservatives by liberals. Liberals are shockingly quick to demean and dismiss brilliant black people like Rice, Carson, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Professor Walter E. Williams and economist Thomas Sowell because they don’t fit into the role they have carved out for a black person in America. Black Americans must be obedient liberals on all things or risk being called a race traitor or an Uncle Tom." Juan Williams..... (1954-) Panamanian-born American journalist, political analyst, author Source: Rutgers rage against Rice.....why do liberals have so much hate for black conservatives?, March 6, 2014

William Tyndale.....A True Hero

The following information about the life of William Tyndale was excerpted from James E Kiefer's writings in "Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the Past." In my view......nothing can stop the Word of God. Not even religious organizations whose goals were to keep the believers ignorant in order to maintain power over them.........RD. "William Tyndale was born about 1495 at Slymbridge near the Welsh border. He received his degrees from Magdalene College, Oxford, and also studied at Cambridge. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1521, and soon began to speak of his desire, which eventually became his life's obsession, to translate the Scriptures into English. It is reported that, in the course of a dispute with a prominent clergyman who disparaged this proposal, he said, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost." The remainder of his life was devoted to keeping that vow, or boast. Finding that the King, Henry VIII, was firmly set against any English version of the Scriptures, he fled to Germany (visiting Martin Luther in 1525), and there traveled from city to city, in exile, poverty, persecution, and constant danger. Tyndale understood the commonly received doctrine -- the popular theology -- of his time to imply that men earn their salvation by good behavior and by penance. He wrote eloquently in favor of the view that salvation is a gift of God, freely bestowed, and not a response to any good act on the part of the receiver. His views are expressed in numerous pamphlets, and in the introductions to and commentaries on various books of the Bible that accompanied his translations. He completed his translation of the New Testament in 1525, and it was printed at Worms and smuggled into England. Of 18,000 copies, only two survive. In 1534, he produced a revised version, and began work on the Old Testament. In the next two years he completed and published the Pentateuch and Jonah, and translated the books from Joshua through Second Chronicles, but then he was captured (betrayed by one he had befriended), tried for heresy, and put to death. He was burned at the stake, but, as was often done, the officer strangled him before lighting the fire. His last words were, 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.' "

A School Kicks Chic-Fil-A Out

Last month, Val Wyatt, a Ventura County high school principal barred a football booster club from selling Chic-fil-A sandwiches because of the chain's position on gay marriage. Trudy Tuttle Arriaga, the Ventura Unified School District Superintendent backed Wyatt up. From my point of view, both Wyatt and Arriaga are wrong. They DO NOT practice diversity. They are unfair, inconsiderate, and intolerant. Chik-fil-A’s is a legitimate commercial food establishment. They are not “pushing” any political stance. They want to be helpful to students. They want to see students succeed. Yes, the management claims to be of the Christian faith. So what? Are we still a free country or not? Their places of business are clean. The food is good. The staff pleasant. I will go out of my way to be their customer. They are successful. I hope they continue to be. They are a blessing to our society.

"Rights To Essential Happiness"

"Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness... We claim them from a higher source -- from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth. They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature. They are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives." John Dickinson (1732-1808) signer of the Constitution and a member of the Continental Congress in 1766

After-Birth Abortion?

Planned Parenthood coined a phrase. It is called "After-birth abortion." Would someone please explain to me how an abortion can be had when the baby has already been born? The correct term is "infanticide." It is the slaughter of infants. Is not this the specialty of Planned Parenthood?

Ingersoll Missed The Point

Robert G. Ingersoll was an educated man. He was an orator and American political leader who was born in 1833 and died in 1899. He was also an atheist. He seemed to have something against Christians and Christianity. He was relentless in his attacks against them. His disagreements were passionate. He was a wordsmith. The irony about his point of view is that because of Christianity, he made a great deal of money. He would fill auditoriums with paying customers who were there to hear his rants against the existence of God. I think he missed the point about the truth. Passion does not create the truth, but it (truth) can sure cause it. The following is a quote from one of his speeches............ "All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule, establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth."