Saturday, October 9, 2010

Where Is The Tolerance?

I wrote the following as a response to an article that appeared in the Deseret News on Thursday, 07 Oct. 2010. The article stated that National Leaders for the LGBT community would be going to Salt Lake City to present the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints church President, Thomas S. Monson, with 100,000 letters of protest to remarks made by church Elder Boyd K. Packer at the church's just concluded 180th semi-annual General Conference.

In his remarks, President Packer was speaking on pornography and overcoming its addiction, as well as addictions to other sexual sins. Nowhere in his talk did Pres. Packer reference gays, homosexuals or any other particular group; yet certain media have made his remarks to sound as if he was speaking about these groups directly.

Apparently, the misquoted remarks have stirred a hornets nest amongst the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. These leaders, still lashing out at anyone they believe is a target in their ongoing struggle for equality, actually think that their delivery of these letters will sway church leadership to change the doctrine of the church to accommodate the wishes of these individuals.

The message boards were sharply divided. I wrote my response to a particular respondent who attacked a number of other respondents for standing up for the church, and President Packer. His arguments were inflammatory (to say the least), wholly argumentative, and without a single shred of support for any of his outlandish claims. I just HAD to respond!


"Respondent______

Your post was laughable; and completely unsupported. As per the recent pattern displayed by the LGBT community, you attack relentlessly spouting skewed or completely false rhetoric, yet demand respect and equality.

If you're going to make any argument, please omit personal opinion and heresay. Provide factual information that can be easily referenced. Otherwise your arguments are hollow and utterly irrelevant.

Tell me--The LGBT community espouses compassion and tolerance...correct? When the citizens of California voted against the legalization of gay marriage, where was the tolerance and compassion when businesses were ransacked, when homes and places of worship defaced, elderly women harassed, and people in general called profane names, or were verbally abused because they had the temerity to have a differing opinion than those on the losing side?

Please remember that we live in the United States of America; in which The Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of its citizens to believe, worship and opine as they wish. If someone disagrees with you, then have a thoughtful, intelligent discussion with them. If you can't do that then don't hypocritize yourself by calling others hateful and [by] showing them complete disrespect."


*My comment, while obviously not addressing the right or wrong of the issue, was meant to illustrate the hypocritic "Do as I say, Not as I do" mentality that seems to be a huge part of the LGBT's agenda as they look for equality in the eyes of the law.

My big issue is not their equality; rather, it is the methods these groups are employing of literally attempting to strong arm everyone who disagrees with their choice of lifestyles; be it individuals, communities, cities, and governments on all levels. It would seem that anyone disagreeing with them becomes a target for protests, demands, harassments and [sometimes] violence.

Where is the freedom of choice? Or the love and tolerance these individuals and groups claim to abide by? So long as you agree with them, you are safe. But if you have the balls to stand up and disagree, then you become fair game...at least, that's how I see it.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Big Oil Is After ANWR Again!

Today, a story emerged that stated the people behind our ever-present energy dependence--aka Big Oil--are once again trying to persuade Congress to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling once again. All throughout the Gee Dubya Bushie presidency they tried unsuccessfully to open ANWR. To this point, neither Congress, nor the Courts, have been willing to allow this.

I wrote the following commentary to the story, and to the many respondents who are either completely for drilling, or immovably against it.

"I'm against drilling in ANWR. The oil companies would have you believe that the area they want to drill in is of no consequence; when in fact, the area is one of the largest breeding and calving grounds for caribou and polar and grizzly bears. How can drilling NOT impact the area?

Also, Big Oil themselves state that they wouldn't even begin pumping oil for at least 10-15 years! Plus, they have no concrete data on the size of any oil reserves. They estimate, guess and then line the pockets of lobbyists and Congressmen, and spout "oil independence" to a gullible American public.

The last time I read (2005 I think), the US government was giving Big Oil over $5 BILLION dollars in tax breaks per year; but was only giving $7 million dollars towards energy research. Yeah...you read that correctly!

How about the idea that Congress puts $5B towards energy research, and give all of Big Oil just $7M in in tax breaks? After all, with the record profits regularly reported by Big Oil, do we, the people, the source of those record profits, really need to be giving these businesses tax breaks? C'mon! Think about it!

How much research; how much further could we get, if $5B per year were put into energy research? How many new industries [and jobs] would be created because of that investment? How much more secure would the United States be if oil were out of the political and economic landscape for good?

Throughout the history of the United States, anytime we were faced with having to improve, the people rose to the challenge. Just think of industrialization, the increased manufacturing capabilities during WWII, and the drive to reach the moon. Creating alternative, renewable energy resources could very well be the next wave of invention, world leadership and increased pride in being American!

ANWR drilling is NOT the answer! It's time that Congress stands up to Big Oil, and deflate their rather sizable...ahem...economic ego."