Thinkorium

Hate speech

I was on my way to lunch and had forgotten to bring anything to read. I stopped into the Book & Game Company downtown to pick up a book or a magazine. I was stunned to see books on the shelf titled "The I Hate Republicans Reader" and the "I Hate George W. Bush Reader." How much farther down are we going to go as a nation?

Full disclosure before I go any further: I'm a registered Republican and I voted for Bush twice. That doesn't mean that I agree with everything that the Republican Party or President Bush have ever done or stood for. I am my own person, and these are my choices. No one needs to agree with them, but don't I still have the right to choose? Don't you?

I find it sadly ironic that Rosa Parks lies in state in our Capitol building this morning, while all around her casket roils pure hatred and cynical, partisan politics. What abominable hypocrites we've all become.

No self-respecting publisher in America would publish "The I Hate Blacks Reader," "The I Hate Women Reader," or the "I Hate Muslims Reader." These books, if they were published, would be immediately and rightfully denounced as hate speech. Why aren't the books I saw this weekend? Please don't cart out your free-speech speech to defend either side of the liberal-conservative grudge match. With rights come responsibility. It is time to call this flood of vitriol what it is: hate speech. And just to be clear: I'd say the same about a book titled "The I Hate Democrats Reader."

Someone once said, "Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a habit; and you reap a character; Sow a character; and you reap a destiny."

The thought is hatred; the act is hatred; the habit is hatred; the character is hatred. I fear for the destiny we are about to reap if we do not think about what we're doing to ourselves and our culture.

What do you think?

Serendipity

It's been a while since I just surfed around on the web aimlessly. I'm glad I did today, because I stumbled across a musician whose work I really like--enough to plunk down $10 for his CD. Shane Horner lives down I-84 in Twin Falls. Check out his web site for a taste of his music: http://www.shanehornermusic.com/.

Long-distance love affair

Di and I are waiting to hear whether her employer will move her back to Boise next spring. We've lived apart now for all four months of our marriage and for nearly a year before the wedding. It's been the right thing to do, the necessary thing; but correctness and necessity don't make the distance any easier to deal with. We have to settle for occasional visits, talks on the phone (not my favorite activity anyway), and e-mail. Trust me: it's just not the same as being together. We'll get through it, but we're both ready to be through it.

I'm sure this isn't an original thought (if there are such things anymore), but it struck me that God must view our present separation with similar discomfort and impatience. Scripture calls the church the Bride of Christ. I can't imagine that Jesus is any happier about living apart from His bride than I am to live apart from mine.

But how eager am I for reunion with Christ? Di is soooo excited by just the possibility that we'll be together in another few months. She's already setting things in order to leave Coeur d'Alene, like helping her brother and sister-in-law take over her cattery. I confess that I haven't been living in the same kind of exultant expectation about my future with Christ. Eternal life is a truth I've been taking for granted. I've been too comfortable in and consumed by this present life. It's a very good life, mind you, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying it to the fullest. But my Love isn't here. Yet.

What do you think?