Rodeo Experience

Posted on August 24, 2007 by rbirkey

My family and I went to a real rodeo while we were in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in mid-August. We watched bucking broncos, bull riding, barrel racing, rodeo clowns and a number of other events in a family-friendly atmosphere. It was delayed a bit due to a rain shower passing through!

One the most memorable things about this event was how they started it. Think about how often at events like football and baseball games, you will hear the announcer telling the crown to stand, remove hats to show honor and respect for the American flag.

This was completely unnecessary here! A young woman on horseback started to ride into the arena with an American flag. Everyone stood immediately. Men removed hats, hands went to hearts, conversations stopped, children quieted down. Silence reigned as the flag was slowly circled in the arena, and came to a stop in from of the grandstand. The announcer commented on how he had not needed to tell us what to do! He made some heart felt comments about our nation, and the men and women serving in the armed forces. We sang the national anthem together. The young woman on horseback then took that flag around the arena at a very fast pace – it was a very inspiring and heart warming sight! We cheered and made a lot of noise!

I will never forget that moment and the feeling of pride I had, to be an American. I was also so thankful that this spontaneous display of national unity and pride is still reflective of most of America, outside of the Peoples Republic of Oak Park, Illinois!

Freedom at Stake

Posted on June 15, 2007 by rbirkey

I became aware of this article written by Vaclav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic recently, and found it to express my feelings on the “Global Warming” issue quite well. I encourage you to read it also. The article is called, “Freedom, not climate, is at risk.”

My previous post “Is Al Gore Right? – Who is Causing Global Warming? – Sunday, March 18, 2007″ that includes a link to the video entitled “The Global Warming Swindle” makes a similar case.

I also notice that Vaclav quotes Michael Crichton. I highly recommend a book that Michael wrote called “State of Fear.” You can read about it here. It is also mentioned and linked in my previous post.

Evangelistic Atheists

Posted on June 11, 2007 by rbirkey

Recently, George Barna has conducted a survey and published results that reveals an emerging movement of atheists and agnostics who are intentionally and aggressively making a united effort to belittle people of faith, and discredit their personal beliefs in God. For the study, atheists were defined as people who have determined there is no God and agnostics are those who doubt his existence.

This new survey shows some alarming gaps between Christians and other people of “active-faith” (defined as simply having gone to church, read the Bible and prayed during the week preceding the survey.) and those Americans who are in the “no-faith” camp. According to the study, “most atheists and agnostics (56%) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam.” Wow! This view is so misguided it is frightening!

The study also reveals that, “two-thirds of Christians (63%) who have an active faith perceive that the nation is becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity. ” No kidding! I wonder where they get that idea?

As a Christian who believes in God, I have a difficult time with the misguided belief that my faith is “just as threatening in America as is radical Islam.” Where do these people get this idea? How many Christians have committed acts of terror? How many people have had their heads cut off in the name of Jesus? How many people really believe that people are being tortured, mutilated, humiliated and murdered by fanatic, fundamentalist Christians? Where do the atheists and agnostics in this survey get these warped ideas?

I fear that it is partially due to our “news media,” which loves to paint a negative biased picture of people of faith on a regular basis in print, on the radio and in mass media. The “entertainment” industry also does this on a regular basis in movies, TV shows and in music.

Then there is the realm of politics, where public servants who profess a belief in God are maligned, slandered and denigrated by those of a more “liberal” and “progressive” party or label. Their views and even their very right to serve the citizens they represent, is questioned.

So, we know the caricatures that are widely promoted in the public arena. But the facts bear out a different picture when the lifestyles of “no-faith” people are compared with people of “active faith.”

People of “no-faith” are:
• Less likely than active-faith Americans to be registered to vote (78% versus 89%)
• Less likely to volunteer to help a non-church-related non-profit (20% versus 30%)
• Less likely to describe themselves as “active in the community” (41% versus 68%)
• Less likely to personally help or serve a homeless or poor person (41% versus 61%)
• More likely to be registered to vote as an independent or with a non-mainstream political party

Another glaring difference between the groups is the paltry amount of money that “no-faith” people donate to charitable causes. In 2006, the average “no-faith” American donated just $200, and “active-faith” Americans averaged $1,500. If you subtract church based giving from these figures, “active-faith” adults still donated twice as much as atheists and agnostics. Looking at it a bit differently, just 7% of active-faith adults failed to contribute any personal funds in 2006, compared with 22% among the no-faith adults.

So, I ask… which group generally does more good for our society, especially toward those who need help… the poor and needy? Which group exhibits good citizenship, care for others and involvement in our society? Which group actually more often practices what it preaches? Which group contributes less toward the common good?

Leadership

Posted on May 2, 2007 by rbirkey

I have a friend who inserts quotes at the bottom of his emails. This quote was on an email I received from him this morning. I have read it before, but it was striking to me in a new way today.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

Theodore Roosevelt

I believe this is the kind of leadership we need in this country at this time. We have become a nation of politically correct wimps when it comes to facing our enemies. We need men who will stand up, call Evil what it is, and set their face against it. This is what the “Great Generation” did when Nazism and Fascism threatened the world. We must do this again against Islamo-fascism.

Harry Reid is an Idiot

Posted on April 27, 2007 by rbirkey

The term “Idiot” was originally created by the Greeks to refer to people who were overly concerned with their own self-interest and ignored the needs of the community.

Harry Reid stated on April 19th that “The war is lost…” Oh really? View Video

I don’t know about Harry, but I am personally very thankful that there are brave young Americans willing to take the fight to the enemy, rather than to sit back and wait for them to bring their evil, murderous, butchery here. It’s clear to me that our enemy wants to destroy us! Remember 911?

Harry and his band of Democrats want to cut off all support for our troops and force them home by October. Nothing like broadcasting to the enemy… “Just hang on until October, then you’ll be able to take over Iraq and follow the retreating Americans home!”

What could possibly be motivating such self-interested views? Could it be plain old partisan politics? Could Harry and his ilk be playing politics with the lives the Americans who are dying each day to defend our safety and way of life?

I can only draw one conclusion. Harry Reid is by definition, an idiot.

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good, innocent people?

Posted on April 18, 2007 by rbirkey

This basic question was posed by the “Fox & Friends” hosts, to Fr. Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic priest in the Vatican this morning as I was working out. Fr. Morris basically said that a more constructive question is, “Why is it that some people choose to use the gift of free will to do bad things (like the VT student) and others choose to use their free will to save others (like the professor)?

This is also a very good question. But, his response still doesn’t fully answer the first question about God’s role. I think some people would feel that he didn’t answer the question.

C. S. Lewis wrote an entire book about this topic entitled, “The Problem of Pain.” He wrote out of his own experience and firsthand relationships with people who struggle with this topic. Later in his life he wrote out of his own pain “A Grief Observed,” based upon his own deep struggle to align his faith with the loss of his wife Joy Davidman, to cancer. I recommend both books.

Peter Kreeft has helped us to see the question this way: “Imagine, he said, a bear in a trap and a hunter who wants to liberate him. The hunter cannot win the bear’s confidence, so he has no choice but to shoot the bear full of tranquilizers. The terrified bear thinks the hunter is trying to kill him. He does not understand that the hunter is acting out of compassion.”

“I believe,” Kreeft says, “God does the same thing to us sometimes, and we can’t comprehend why He does it any more than the bear can understand the motivations of the hunter. We simply have to trust God.”

It really boils down to “who” you put your trust in, and if that “who” is trustworthy. If you trust only yourself, you will eventually be faced with your own limitations. If you trust other men, or governments policies or political systems, you will also eventually be disappointed. If you trust God, you may not always understand the “why” questions, but you can find out if he is trustworthy or not through personal experience.

Suffering and tragedy is a reality. I have seen it up close and personal. Does this mean God does not exist? Does it mean he doesn’t care? I think not. It means He has a bigger purpose and plan in mind that I can’t fully understand at the moment. I CHOOSE to trust Him anyway, because in every other area of life, I have found Him to be trustworthy.

Cho Seung-Hui had a choice and made his choice with the free will God gave him. Others made their choices. I have to make mine. In the end, we will all be held accountable for those choices. No one will get away with anything.

Dennis Miller Comes to Conservative Talk Radio

Posted on March 20, 2007 by rbirkey

I heard on WIND Radio 560 AM this morning, that Dennis Miller (yes, that Dennis Miller!) is coming to NewsTalk Radio 560 AM at 12 noon to 2 PM on Monday, March 26th. Dennis calls himself a “911 Conservative,” which is a common experience to many people.

I heard about this on the John and Cisco show this morning. It sounds very cool. I’m very interested to hear it.

See www.dennismillerradio.com

Is Al Gore Right? – Who is Causing Global Warming?

Posted on March 18, 2007 by rbirkey

Many of you who know me, also know that I have been very suspicious of the “global warming” fad, since it began. The assertions I hear in the popular media from the sky is falling, global warming proponents are:
- The earth is in a warming trend
- This trend is unusual and will keep going indefinitely unless we do something radical to reverse it
- This trend is caused by human beings and their activities, so it is therefore changeable by human beings altering their activities

First, no one denies that temperatures are about a degree warmer than they were a hundred years ago. The question is what is causing this to occur? The reasons for my objections for the human causes of global warming are many, but to simplify them, they are:
- My suspicion of the “science” used to support the human causes of global warming claims. It looks like bad science to me.
- The astonishing intolerance and hatred from global warming proponents, against any who dare to question their beliefs or underlying presuppositions, or biases. This reaction is very unscientific, if I understand “the scientific method” at all.
- The “political” and “power” nature of the human cause of global warming movement. I suspect there are other motives and agendas at work here.
- Hollywood fawning all over Al Gore and his “documentary” called “An Inconvenient Truth.” That Oscar was a sham and not deserved.
- The hypocricy of the global warming proponents who are mostly centered in rich, developed countries, who don’t want to allow poor, third world developing nations reap the same benefits enjoyed in developed countries. They don’t seem to understand the catastrophic effect that holding back the third-world will have on the lives of millions of people, mostly children.

I recently watched a very good documentary film produced by BBC Channel 4, that captures most of my objections in one, interesting, fact-filled, intelligent, one might even say “scientific,” thought-provoking piece. “The Global Warming Swindle” has not been aired in the US (I can’t imagine why!) but is fortunately available for online viewing here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458831. I encourage any person seeking after the “truth” to make this a part of your search. One must deal with other points of view on the “theories” of the human causes of global warming. To ignore evidence or deny other points of view, is simply foolish and is unscientific by definition.

The other great resource is a novel by Michael Crichton entitled, “State of Fear.” This is an entertaining thriller, in the style of so many Crichton books, only this one actually has footnotes in it supporting the author’s views on “global warming” as expressed through the characters and in the plot of the story.

I highly recommend both of these resources for anyone serious about learning more on this important topic. I believe the global warming frenzy is one of the biggest deceptions being perpetrated today. The fact that millions of people believe it, is a sign that our world and our society is losing it’s ability to think critically, and it doesn’t question things seen, heard and experienced though media and entertainment. The fact that this media is an industry, with individual people behind it, wielding the power to sway the minds of millions, is of great concern to me.

The loss of critical thinking skills is one of the trends that is contributing to the decline and extinction of western civilization itself!

Thoughts on Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef

Posted on December 10, 2006 by rbirkey

A 22-year old Rockford Illinois man, a convert to Islam, named Derrick (Talib Abu Salam Ibn) Shareef, was arrested last Friday, December 8, 2006, when he took actions to carry out plans to explode hand grenades in the Cherry Vale shopping center at the height of the holiday shopping season. According to surveillance affidavit reports, Shareef was also looking to murder Jews in the Rockford – DeKalb area, using MapQuest to find potential synagogues and targets to “shank.” This was all in retaliation for “that war with Hezbollah” and to let Jews know that “they not as safe as they thought.”

Why is it that we hear so little about this plot in the news media? Why do you have to scour the Internet for his name, photo and details of what the FBI had on this guy? If I made similar plans to carry out a crime against a specific ethnic group and I was caught, I would be charged with planning a “hate crime” and castigated in the liberal media as a racist, and a conservative right wing nut. They would probably call into question my conservative Christian beliefs as the cause of my hatred and I am sure the word “fundamentalist” would get tossed in there as well.

Today in the Sunday Trib, I see articles about the disgruntled truck driver shooting at the law firm in Chicago… but little mention of the Islamic TERRORIST in Rockford! Are we asleep? Where is the Jewish outrage? This was a “hate crime” being plotted by a terrorist toward Americans and Jews in particular! Remember Germany and a guy named Hitler? That nation allowed him to grow until it was too late and a full-scale genocide was well underway! What about the holocaust mantra of “we must never forget?” The silence on this Shareef thing is unbelievable to me!

Reflecting on this, I fear that it is an indication of a far deeper and disturbing problem in America. We have bought into the current liberal “tossed salad” thinking and moved away from the conservative “melting pot” idea of America.

David Dykstra (author of Yearning to Breathe Free? Thoughts on Immigration, Islam & Freedom – Solid Ground, 2006) responds on this topic in a World magazine interview: “The jettisoning of our historic melting pot concept (E Pluribus Unum – “out of many, one”), has taken place because of our uncritical acceptance of multiculturalism. George Will recently wrote of the ‘sacremental nature of multiculturalism.’ The belief that no culture is superior to another is an asserion that needs to be challenged and not merely accepted. The roots of multiculturalism are Marxist, and the degree to which it has been accepted is frightening. The current “tossed salad” alternative to the “melting pot” will only lead to more and more fragmentation of society.”

To put it another way, read Ifezwe Okoli’s book, Tribalizing America. The same idea put forth from an African cultural perspective.

I agree with these assessments. Mr. Shareef is just the beginning of our troubles if we do not rethink our immigration and homeland security policies. The open and frank agenda that Islamists communicate is: infiltrate, procreate and dominate. Don’t believe me? Look at what is happening in Europe.

Our policies should require reasonable assimilation into our common culture and oppose dangerous policies that allow immigrants to live in separated and isolated communities within our culture. We need to start challenging the assumptions of multiculteralism, and distinguish between the alien who poses a threat and the one who doesn’t. We need to practice reasonable ideological exclusion as we have in our past (anarchists, communists, fascists, etc.)

As a Christian, I am called and prepared to love my neighbor as myself, and welcome the foreigner who resides in my land. We should understand the plight of those coming to the US legally, and treat them with compassion and understanding. But, this does not mean that we should welcome anyone and everyone, or that there should be no rules, restrictions or safety measures to protect our land from evil doers and those who would destroy us. We should reward those who assimilate and restict those who do not. We put our future in peril when we refuse to make these distinctions.

The underlying fear I have is that America has lost its historical foundation and the roots upon which to make these just and reasonable discriminations. Because we have believed the lie that there is no Truth, and that all truth is relative, and depends upon the individual perspective, we have no framework upon which to say, “you are wrong” or “you may not do that!” A nation cannot last long without that foundation. If we do not recover it soon, I fear that we will go the route of every other great civilized nation – to ultimate destruction – from our moral decay within.

NOTE: Our immorality is precisely what the Islamists hate about us, and our decay and destruction from within pleases them greatly! The more we waffle on moral issues, the more they believe they are superior and will ultimately destroy us!

Are Hospitals Safe?

Posted on November 15, 2006 by rbirkey

According to reports in news media outlets, you are more likely to die from an infection picked up in a hospital than you are from dying from AIDS, a car accident, and breast cancer – COMBINED! The CDC reports that 100,000 Americans die from infections picked up in hospitals every year! That’s 250 a day! This is a serious health problem reaching epidemic proportions.

Causes? One big reason is hospital workers and doctors failing to wash their hands and equipment properly. When was the last time someone put a sterile protector on your arm before attaching that blood pressure cuff? How about that tape they stick on over cuts and stitches and gauze? Does the doctor or nurse wash their hands in your presence before treating you? These are a few examples of actual ways bacteria is transmitted from one sick patient to another. The list is much longer.

Pennsylvania has just passed legislation that will require hospitals to publish their “infection rates.” I think we need more of this truth made available online, for hospitals and doctors!

Bottom line – don’t go to a hospital unless it is absolutely necessary! If you must go, or you are responsible for someone else in a hospital, insist on seeing hospital workers washing hands and equipment! It could be your own life or a loved one you are saving!