Religion, Politics, and Culture: Explained and Defined
Saw this display at the local pet store recently. It says they support gay pride and this corporation supports people being whatever gender they desire. Now they want pets to show your pride.
I took the photo and then it occurred to me what hypocrites they are, the pet store only recognizes two genders, spayed and neutered.
This is a real quote from the Satanist that designed the transgender children’s apparel currently on sale at a Target store near you.
Yep, it’s my turn to opine on this issue. Let me preface what follows with this comment, the very fact that transgenderism is even an issue in our society is an indictment on how far gone we are as a people. If reading what follows makes you angry, don’t get mad at me, I’m just the messenger. Get mad at the people preying on others by deceiving them into participating in maiming and mutilating the weaker among us.
My first observation is that transgenderism is not a valid issue among Atheists. Atheists have no room in a worldview built on “survival of the fittest” for those that do not reproduce and thus improve the gene pool. For the atheist, homosexuality and transgenderism are a burden on continuing the species and diverting resources in unproductive ways to unproductive members. Given this, it is logical and necessary for China, North Korea, and Cuba to imprison or execute such people.
Furthermore, a consistent atheist does not acknowledge the value of the life of a homosexual or transgender person. The life of an individual does not have value except as measured by what they do to benefit the group. Any person claiming that an individual life has significance or value is stealing that value from a biblical worldview—usually without attribution.
This brings up my second point. While there have always been a few people in society that have been homosexual, this has always been a tiny fraction of the population; however, the modern push to convert people to homosexual or transgender lifestyles is part of a conscience effort on the part of Marxist/humanist people to eradicate Christianity from the public square. Eradicating Western Culture and White Privilege are phrases for the same thing, tearing down Christ and the influence of His followers.
As noted previously, atheists and Christians both have a disdain for the current transgender movement. Atheists may hope that abolishing Christianity will promote a society based on science and knowledge, but the opposite is happening; the abolition of Christianity has resulted in a proliferation of various forms of neo-paganism, witchcraft, Satanism, and other false religions as well as a populace that will fall for just about anything they are told, Covid-19 being the easiest illustration. Without belief in ultimate Truth, our culture now thinks the notion that “everyone has their own truth” is a valid idea instead of a bald-faced lie and a really weak logical fallacy.
We spent a few years on Covid, then about nine months on Ukraine, and now the fad is transgenderism. Tens of thousands of people are destroyed by each fleeting idea that fascinates pop culture but sooner or later, it will lose its shock-value and then the slayers of all that is good will move on to something else. Meanwhile those harmed are ignored and discarded; left to fend for themselves.
Another way of stating this is that the sheep need to be continually agitated and scattered. With the coordination of the mainstream media and big tech the attack of the wolves has gotten much faster and more coordinated.
The Bible is clear that God made mankind male and female; as I quoted above, Satan is responsible the false notion of other genders. The Bible also says that sexual roles are to happen within a marriage relationship. One of the purposes of marriage is procreation. The Bible takes a dim view on sexual relationships that occur outside of marriage. Scripture repeatedly condemns homosexual relationships. Enough other people have written on this that I won’t waste space repeating what has already been made clear.
God made male and female. He made you the gender that you are when you were born. The notion that gender is a choice is false; with only one exception, gender selection abortion. In this case, the parents make the choice, usually to terminate female babies in utero. As stated in other posts, abortion is in fact mentioned in the Bible and condemned in the strongest terms.
The idea that you can select or change your gender is false. The best you can hope for is to mutilate your body to the point that folks can’t tell by looking at you. Sorry, but this level of deception is still deception. The irony being that you are trying to deceive yourself.
Transgender folks are saying by their actions that God is wrong, stupid, and incapable of knowing what He is doing; in essence you are calling God a fool and a liar by saying that he made you incorrectly, and it’s up to you to fix His mess. This hubris is setting yourself up as god—knowing good from evil. Aren’t those words first spoken by a reptile in The Garden?
This brings us back to the quote that I started with, “Satan Respects Pronouns.” This is just another lie from the father of lies. The ease with which the idea of transgenderism has gained traction in our society is horrifying.
Had a client of mine come in this week; specifically, to chat about his 22-year-old son. This son has had 5 moving violation/accidents in 3 years of driving. The average is about 1 incident per decade by the way. So as you can imagine his insurance is very expensive and the parents have been paying it. Usually when you encounter this, it’s the parents saying “get Jr. off my policy, he is too expensive” or they grin and bear it while paying. In this case they wanted to keep the cost the same, make excuses for Jr. and try to get us to find a solution.
It was insane. The father (the one who came into my office) complained how his son has not worked for over 4 years. He then circled back with “He has a job with Vector but I do not know what he does.” He says the company is so secretive his son never talks about it, but he works from home. Obviously, my BS sensors went off quickly, so I Googled them. Vector marketing…LOL its CUTCO knives. AKA an MLM Pyramid scheme. So much so a link provided on their website explains how Vector is not a scam.
El Oh El!
So, Jr. got a sales job with a pyramid scheme company. His son, according to his dad when he confronted him, could not produce a pay stub (what are those?) so he doesn’t believe him. Well Vector makes all of its money off new recruits, not so much actual sales. The new recruits like his son pay a fee, and then get told, “Here’s your knives. Go get it.” MLM pyramid schemes are famous for marketing to young people and single mothers.
Enough about scams.
He went on that his son is a good kid, but smokes weed with his buddies every night after he and his wife go to sleep. They sneak off to a local park and basically eat all the snack food, and smoke weed. This seems to be normal behavior for these types. He spends a late night out and sleeps till around noon. The parents can’t figure out what gives, and he is unmotivated. They speak of how he plays video games all hours of the day, but again he is a hard worker and a good kid.
They kept saying how can we help motivate him.
My thoughts were simple, lay out all of his “costs” i.e., insurance, car payment, phone plan, gym, etc. and make it known if you want this lifestyle, he needs to contribute. He shot that down saying he tells his kid he we’ll pay till age 26. So, I guess Jr. has 4 more years of freeloading?
Fatal Error
My business partner said he has a son just like this other fellow’s son, problem is the correct word would be “had” not “has.” Make no mistake the son is still alive but he has been making a great living for the last 23 years, he was also 22 when he experienced this growth. The error is now the client felt he was “on a journey” with my business partner.
The client continued to filibuster, and as far as I am concerned, hope is lost. He wants to be a “cool parent” not a father. He just doesn’t want to admit it. Allowing your adult child to sneak out of the house, engage in drug type behavior (I don’t care that CA legalized it) while living in your house is dumb. It’s your house not theirs. As far as work goes; if they don’t want to work, they pay rent or move out. Sorry, this is not a vacation resort, restaurant, nor a hotel. At a certain point, you must be a parent again, even if the kid is 22. He lacks motivation and is gaming you. Sorry, not to be mean, but every move you make, he is 3 steps ahead.
Get a job……Got one at a MLM deal that doesn’t pay
Get your own bills paid for yourself…..sorry I’m good till 26, your words pops.
If you don’t put your foot down, the kids don’t grow.
I can guarantee this kid aint doin nuthin until 26, and calls his father’s bluff, his father won’t budge. Book it!
Johnnie Does
Yep, before the wounds were cleaned from Paul Pelosi getting hammered, the Democrat spin machine was ramping up to frame Republicans.
Below is an early report from Associated Press and CBS News.
San Francisco – The suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appears to have been an active online participant in multiple conspiracy theories railing against perceived censorship and government control, and engaging in hate speech and antisemitism.
Pelosi attack suspect David DePape embraced hate speech, multiple conspiracy theories
DePape was known for embracing multiple conspiracy theories on subjects such as voter fraud, climate change, and the COVID pandemic on at least two different online forums. He also has posted antisemitic screeds and entries defending former President Donald Trump and Ye, the rapper formally known as Kayne West who recently made antisemitic comments.
In other posts, the writer said Jews helped finance Hitler’s political rise in Germany and suggested an antisemitic plot was involved in Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine.
In a Sept. 27 post, the writer said any journalists who denied Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election “should be dragged straight out into the street and shot.”
An Aug. 24 entry titled “Q,” displayed a scatological collection of memes that included photos of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and made reference to QAnon, the baseless pro-Trump conspiracy theory that espouses the belief that the country is run by a deep-state cabal of child sex traffickers, satanic pedophiles and baby-eating cannibals.
“Big Brother has deemed doing your own research as a thought crime,” read a post that appeared to blend references to QAnon with George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”
In an Aug. 25 entry titled “Gun Rights,” the poster wrote: “You no longer have rights. Your basic human rights hinder Big Brothers ability to enslave and control you in a complete and totalizing way.”
DePape’s posts frequently fixated on the subject of government or tech company “censorship.” One blog has subject tabs with such labels as “Pedophile normalization,” Creationism,” and “Facts are Racist.”
Another website has categories such as “Climate Hysteria,” “Da Jewbs,” and “Groomer Schools.” The web hosting service WordPress removed one of the sites Friday afternoon for violating its terms of service.
DePape also posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about COVID vaccines, the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Two of DePape’s relatives told CNN that he was ‘out of touch with reality,” estranged from his family, and confirmed that the Facebook account – which was taken down by the social media company on Friday – belonged to him.
All weekend the media was regurgitating this story or ones in a similar vein.
Folks, as a Trump supporter, this article looks very embarrassing and maybe even damaging to the cause; however, virtually every assertion in the above quotations is a bald-faced lie. David DePage had no websites or Facebook pages. Yep. It was a psyop.
The mainstream media attributed two websites to the man arrested with Paul Pelosi on early Friday morning, David DePape. However, this all appears to be another far-left farce.
David DePape was found with Paul Pelosi early Friday morning in his underwear at the Pelosi home by police in San Francisco. The mainstream media immediately tried to cover for the Pelosi family. They then attempted to align the man in his underwear found with Paul Pelosi as a conservative. But it was all a lie.
EXCLUSIVE: Two Far-Right Websites Attributed to David DePape to Smear Conservatives Were Scraped Friday and Deleted Saturday
In addition, the media tried to frame DePape as a conservative based on websites that were reportedly his. DePape was homeless and a drug addict but the media insisted he was running a conservative website? Makes perfect sense.
Fox News reported:
Facebook disabled DePape’s profile early Friday and declined to answer questions. At least two online blogs under DePape’s name are stocked with posts from the years of 2007 and 2022 speaking of “censorship,” “Big Brother,” and pedophiles. One contained calls for violence and antisemitic content. It was not immediately clear that he was responsible for the posts, and San Francisco police did not immediately respond to questions about DePape’s online presence.
The L.A Times:
In the months before police accused him of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Friday morning, David DePape had been drifting further into the world of far-right conspiracies, antisemitism and hate, according to a Times review of his online accounts.
In a personal blog that DePape maintained, posts include such topics as “Manipulation of History,” “Holohoax” and “It’s OK to be white.” He mentioned 4chan, a favorite message board of the far right. He posted videos about conspiracies involving COVID-19 vaccines and the war in Ukraine being a ploy for Jewish people to buy land.
DePape’s screeds included posts about QAnon, an unfounded theory that former President Trump is at war with a cabal of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring and control the world. In an Aug. 23 entry titled “Q,” DePape wrote: “Either Q is Trump himself or Q is the deepstate moles within Trumps inner circle.”
The problem is the websites cited by the mainstream media that were supposedly aligned with DePape were created on Friday and they are no longer active today, Saturday.
The site Godisloving.wordpress.com was opened on Friday and shutdown on Saturday.
If you try to link to it now, you will find it has been shut down
The other site listed, www.frenlyfrens.com/blog is no longer active as well. It too was created on Friday and shut down on Saturday. The only activity on this site as well was in the last two days.
If you read the article quoted above, the author is correct in stating the sites were created Friday October 28 and taken down Saturday the 29th. I verified it. Since he wrote the article, archive.org has attempted further backups. Following the URL will take you to a jump page stating the site is down.
The moral of the story is that facts are irrelevant because Democrats just make-up their own. This is the intersection of “he who frames the issue, wins the debate” and “never let a good crisis go to waste”.
With just a week until election day, would you really expect anything else?
The good news is that we finally got insurance for our future retirement house. They offered us a discount to add our car on the policy, so we agreed.
That was last week. Today I was greeted with the following package in my mailbox.
In it was the “Drive Safe & Save” gizmo. It is a Bluetooth device that they want you to pair with your phone and keep in your vehicle. Yep, they want you to voluntarily let them track your every movement in exchange for an auto insurance discount.
Sorry fellas but I’m not playing. It’s bad enough that Big Tech is tracking me, and I didn’t volunteer or agree to that, but they make me do it to get a cell phone. Oh, as a bonus, China gets to track me too and gets copies of my text messages and address book on a regular basis, oh, notice that Tim Cook, et al., don’t block the Communists from having the same data on me that they have. Our government is next in line and getting us to agree to this Bluetooth device is just an incremental step in imposing a mileage tax on us because who wants their odometer read?
Oh, on the subject of privacy, why is it that it takes a daily newspaper in Texas to inform us that UC Davis is monitoring all their student’s social media activity?
DAVIS — An investigation by The Dallas Morning News revealed UC Davis is among several schools across the country using social media-monitoring software to keep track of students’ online posts.
UC Davis police using software to track students’ social media posts
The Dallas Morning News reports that “Detect” can also allow campus police to surveil student protests. The surveillance strikes a chord with UC Davis students as they remember the impact of an incident over a decade ago. In 2011, student protesters with the Occupy movement were pepper-sprayed by campus police.
The software can track student email, movement, friends and associates, posts, and more. The software vendor claims to have thousands of schools in 36 different states as customers.
The article appears in many places such as these:
Tracked: How colleges use AI to monitor student protests
Tracked: How Colleges Use AI To Monitor Student Protests
An older but similar story
Texas schools are surveilling students online, often without their knowledge or consent
I promise this information will be abused but anyone with a brain will not admit how they use it. Perhaps we are seeing a glimpse into what gets you into the college when they don’t use SAT or other academic criteria.
Oh, even without all the above, here’s what I call “an admission against interest” from a hiring manager that was reposted on GAB a few days ago.
Fentanyl is affecting hundreds of thousands a year, in all our communities. How and why is this happening?
Well really its simple, we are a country of addicts.
We do not want to believe or hear this but allow me to lay out my reasoning. In this country we are a nation of addicts, be it; alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs, phones, TV, porn, you name it, chances are you know someone who is one. Once you get hooked, you eventually need a bigger euphoria. So, you get into something more hardcore or take a larger dose.
I spoke to a friend in law enforcement and his comments were similar to mine. He took the stance of his industry that legalizing weed was a horrific idea, due to its status as a gateway drug. You start with weed, then your body needs more, so you smoke it more times a day. Then you have a larger desire, so you move on to cocaine, heroin you name the next drug in line. Furthermore, that doesn’t become a big enough hit, so you move on again. Eventually all roads lead to the fentanyl dealer. You take him up on it, if it doesn’t kill you, you come back for more. Or it kills you and you leave a family/loved ones behind.
The overwhelming belief from my friend in L.E. and his colleagues, where the bud is so much stronger than it used to be back in the hippie days, people are getting hooked quicker. We made a colossal mistake, but we do not wish to admit it.
Don’t believe me? You do not have to. All I ask is for you to picture yourself at your office or around your friends. How many of them drink energy drinks/Starbucks/Dunkin? How many drink numerous servings of them a day? How many vape? Smoke? Do edibles etc.? We are a large nation of addicts, many of the caffeine crowd make numerous trips to the “legal crack den” coffee shop as I call it. They are addicted and will need a bigger buzz at some point. So, you switch, move up etc. and eventually you end up dead.
A second hypothesis of mine is depression/mental health issues
We locked down for 18 months, maybe longer depending on your state of residence. We told folks at some of the lowest parts of the socio-economic ladder they were not essential. As a result, they stayed at home since well they weren’t needed. (2 weeks to slow the spread anyone?) This did horrific things to people’s mental health. When people are down, they search out a fix. The pandemic did wonders for your local dealer, and I’m not talking about the one working on a car lot. When you feel alone, depressed, and told you are not essential…. well, is anyone surprised we have a drug problem?
Isn’t it the cartels/border where the problem is?
Yes. But we have shown zero to attempt to do anything about the problem in the country under President Depends. An open border policy leads to drugs flowing in. Americans have lots of $$$ and we are willing to pay for vices to get a fix. We won’t close the border, soft on crime policies will have the offender out of jail before dinner time, and they will be back out dealing again.
Should we better educate our youth?
Doubtful it would work. Just like the cable watching older folks, the younger ones get their info and life advice from Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Oh, I almost forgot TikTok–brought to you directly by the Chinese Communist Party who is likely responsible for these shipments of fentanyl going to Mexico to be sent to USA.
Be aware. These are killing folks in big numbers. It used to just be in Appalachia, then it moved to lower socio-economic areas, and now it’s in every big city. It’s bad enough now a local High School in my area had a booth set up to give out Narcan (lifesaving medical) to students to carry on their person in case of overdose. This will not get better America, but hey, grab that joint and light it up, trust me it’s just a little pot, nothing to worry about.
Chief
Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 1:12–13
Even if you don’t recognize all the names in the above passage, you get the idea that when people divide into factions that they exclude others and treat the one they like with more deference, respect, or courtesy. Conversely, those that disagree with them are vilified, dehumanized, and shunned.
A storm has been brewing for several years in the church that I have been attending. Actually, three storms or waves of controversy. Things finally hit the boiling point during the last two weeks. People have been taking “sides” and going after each other on social media and other platforms.
Instead of coming clean about what transpired, the church has told its members that its none of their business. They are maintaining that “it’s a personnel matter” and thus they have no intention to tell anyone what happened or apologizing to those that quit their jobs because of the crappy way they ignored the “personnel matters”. Yep, plural issues; more about them in a minute.
Folks, personnel matters are not in the Bible. We are given a command on how to deal with dissention in churches by Jesus himself.
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Matthew 18: 15 – 17
These folks think they are a “Bible Church?” That’s laughable. I guess the Good Book doesn’t apply to them, it’s just a tool to whack everyone else.
On the other hand, this group was supportive of the leadership’s willingness to fold like a cheap suit when the governor said they were non-essential, I guess they’d rather please Caesar than their Savior. On this point they’re a consistent lot anyway.
Lastly people forced to experience these situations don’t act based on reason but are governed by emotion.
Now that I’ve given you an idea of what’s happening, let’s get to the why. From this point on, hip waders are recommended because the crap is going to hit the fan.
Folks this is literally a three-ring circus.
In ring number one is the school administrator that didn’t pay the teacher’s money which was withheld from their pay checks to the appropriate government agency. If memory serves, this agency is the guys that are currently hiring 87,000 agents willing to use deadly force against taxpayers. Her attitude was no worries. When the school was notified of the oversight, this genius just threw the notices (plural) in the trash so nobody would see them. This went on for the better part of two years before she was busted for being stupid. Oh, she was not the treasurer, so I don’t see why she saw fit to interfere. After tens of thousands in penalties, interest, and principle were paid, she was fired. (Makes you wonder what else wasn’t reported about her conduct.)
A certain segment of the congregation thinks she was shafted and treated unfairly. They maintain she was innocent. This is based upon the idea that she is a nice lady so she couldn’t have done it. Another group thinks she is lucky not to be serving time in government custody.
In ring number two are both the ordained ministers on the payroll. They needed to hire an outside mediator to help them reconcile “issues.” Being this happened during Covid, makes me wonder. You’d think the degree of ankle grabbing done by the church staff might not have been as unified and harmonious as it appeared. The only thing worse than the wholesale surrender of worship and church authority to Gavin Newsom was the Scripture twisting done from the pulpit to try to rationalize obeying the government when they ordered the church shut down.
Heresy is not too strong a term for the sermon allegedly based on Romans 13 that was put forth to justify capitulation to the whims of the State. It was as masterful as any scary cult stuff you get warned to avoid. The Scripture twisting from the pulpit was remarkable in its boldness and deceit. Rarely have I seen Holy Writ so grossly manipulated from the misapplication of “The Word.” The pastor verbally contorted the Bible in the same fashion as a clown stretches balloons into grotesque animals or a corner vendor shapes his dough into pretzels. Before long, the epistle written by the Apostle to the Gentiles is placed firmly upside down and its contents are proclaimed to mean the exact opposite of the plain context and historical background of the text.
In ring number three is the main event, the hostile workplace issue that dragged on for almost three years. Word is that employees of the church filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing because the church board failed to act after repeated complaints. I was told, gosh shucks, the board is volunteers so we shouldn’t expect them to act on such complaints. Such matters are way out of their league.
Finally, enough pressure was applied that the church had to hire a labor attorney to investigate the issues. In the course of conducting the investigation, much of the church board had to recuse themselves for conflicts of interest because they were either related to participants in the controversy or material witnesses to said violations.
The findings of said investigation are embargoed but the recommendations that the attorney made were reportedly adopted unanimously by the same governing body that had failed to act for so many years. What those recommendations are has not been disclosed either. They are embargoed too. In fact, everything having to do with it is embargoed. Curiously, following this vote, the Senior Pastor announced his resignation with two weeks’ notice.
What’s that saying about where there’s smoke …
Oh, due to the resignation of the Senior Pastor, the mediation mentioned in #2—which went on for about seven months—is null.
Some board members claim no causality between the findings of the investigation in number 3 and the pastor’s resignation. Considering that the Senior Pastor is the one that was accused by a multitude of people as the one fostering the hostile workplace stuff, that is laughable. The number of people to jump ship under his leadership is remarkable. The only way to know what the relationship between his resignation and the investigation is if the investigation findings are released.
Following their unanimous vote, the board thought it best to send their minions to various church events to calm the sheep that might be considering jumping ship. Their approach reminds me of my Navy days when we were on the Alaska Cruise. The captain came on the ship’s intercom one afternoon and said, “I can’t tell you what we’re doing out here but you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work”.
Hint to my blog readers and members of the board, don’t send a known weasel out to try to calm the sensibilities of the masses. Having a person of such dubious character saying “anything you might wish to know is none of your business” can hardly be regarded as a competent strategy. The board’s position is trust us; we know what’s good for you. Wasn’t that Gavin’s line on closing churches during Covid?
When asked about the Matthew quote above, we are told the Bible doesn’t apply in the internal working of the church. Only state law matters. (If you think this sounds like the same rabbit hole that we just went down with Covid, I would wholeheartedly agree.)
Oh, we were also told that to make anything public would be to expose the church to litigation. Better to cover up the offenses. Again, opposite of biblical teaching. Oh, ditto for any type of apology to those that suffered under an unrepentant task master that created the alleged hostile work environment.
Folks, I’m not even on Facebook and the stuff that I know that was posted there is highly corrosive.
I could get into the tall weeds on this topic but why? I think you get the picture. It’s beyond ugly, it’s downright toxic. Irrecoverably so.
In the midst of all this, it did get even weirder. The spokesmen of the board are scared to death about the membership suffering or the weekly offering declining more. People have left the church over this—more on that in a minute. The sermon hymn last Sunday was “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”.
Seriously?
The message from the church board is you have no right to know what happened. Its none of your business. But trust us. Stay here and we can go forward together just don’t expect us to do that healing stuff. Oh, and keep tossing money in the collection.
Lost in all this is that Biblical stuff about restitution and reconciliation.
This is a labor law, personnel matter, and you have no right to know even though you are the ones paying their salaries.
Based on my experience, this is how this will playout. A group of people will definitely leave over this mess. People act emotionally not intellectually to such things. Then in about six months, another group will exit. These are the ones that stayed to see if things will get better and they didn’t meet expectations.
Oh, we were told amidst a tidal wave of weasel words that the pastor didn’t have to resign. Folks, this ain’t his first rodeo. He left to save face. Better to retreat and live to fight another day.
Lastly after getting run out on a rail, the disgraced pastor got a going away party sponsored by the church and held on church property. My wife and I went out of curiosity. The number of people that didn’t show up was illustrative as well.
My attitude is that we’re leaving shortly for Idaho so in many ways we don’t have a dog in this hunt. I’m not emotional about the office mismanagement as much as the failure of the pastors to lead during Covid. The pastor needed to go because he lacked a spine to do the right thing. The fact that it’s not his reflex to trust Scripture speaks volumes to me.
Lastly, on the spineless comment, this pastor would occasionally say something right from the pulpit and the very next Sunday he would begin the service with an apology because a few people got offended by his comment the previous week. He would then retract what he said, ask for forgiveness, and promise not to do it again.
Again, where’s the Bible? Jesus said his words would be an offense. Many quit following Jesus because people disagreed with him or didn’t understand his words. At one point he even asked his disciples if they would leave too.
A church that can’t follow the Bible when it might have a cost is not worth defending. It needs to be vomited out. I’m thinking really hard if my money will continue to go there or elsewhere during my remaining time in Elk Grove.
This church has problems because the pastoral sermons stay in the shallow end of the theological pool and don’t give the meat of the Word to their members. So, when times get tough, we get to watch everyone play the baby game because they’ve never matured from the church’s teaching; or lack thereof. “Safe” sermons are worthless ones and sadly way to frequently given.
Just as I was preparing to post this blog, I get an email from the board. Guess the board meeting a couple days ago was not poorly attended like days gone by. Anyway, they sent out a communique tonight. I will redact a few names but let you have a feel for what was sent.
In October of 2021, the Church Council received complaints of hostile work environment from Church staff against a Pastor … In April of 2022, the Church Council retained an attorney … to conduct an internal investigation into those complaints as well as allegations of inappropriate behavior.
… the attorney, worked with a sub-committee appointed by Church Council to establish the parameters of the investigation. The purpose of the investigation was to dismiss or substantiate the hostile work environment allegations. The scope of the investigation involved gathering information from the complainants, the pastoral staff and members of the Church Council. (attorney’s) scope was limited to conducting unbiased interviews, gathering information/fact finding, creating a report and recommendations, and presenting this information to the Church Council appointed sub-committee.
Following an extensive investigation, it was determined this Pastor’s conduct did not rise to the level of unlawful hostile work environment under California or federal law. The investigator did conclude, however, that there was inappropriate conduct.
The sub-committee and Mr. (attorney) recommended a corrective action plan to address the inappropriate conduct and prevent it in the future. Some of the recommendations, by law, are prohibited from being disclosed.
I’ll keep following this situation in case it warrants another post.
Readers, I am going to share my thoughts and opinions about one man’s mental health crisis. This is by no means a “painting with a broad brush” blog. I am merely pointing out how this crisis was caused by himself.
There is a friend of mine who is struggling to the point that he admitted to a doctor he had “picked out the knife” he was going to use to kill himself. As a result, he is on meds, seeing a counselor, and a psychiatrist. He is confused as to why. He also thinks this will be a short stay on the meds and appointments with others. What he fails to understand is in CA, you can sue anyone for anything, so especially when it comes to medical issues, everyone goes into CYA (cover your butt) mode. There is no easy way out and due to our lack of mental health facilities, all our society does is prescribe pills.
Enough about his issues, let us get to the root cause of this problem. It dates back about 2.5 years; you guessed it the start of Covid. He bought into the big lie being peddled by all news networks. The lie was we were all going to die, expect for a master race that would be avoiding Covid altogether. He hid inside his house and continued to consume more of this lying, even though it was being proven that folks were not dying en masse. It didn’t matter what was really happening, the folks on TV were saying otherwise. He tripped over people to get the vaccine, ditto for boosters and the like. This is even after seeing that the masses were not perishing in high numbers. He continued to watch the entire daytime and prime timeline up, concluding the lock downs must continue even though the numbers were likely being made up.
Recently he has changed his tune just like a certain cable network did toward Covid. It’s over and we better move on. He will even tell people he was never scared of Covid. Yet he still refused to flush the toilet at work, touch the doorknob, or let anyone stand near his desk. He doesn’t want me taking vacation anywhere because I may catch Covid, yet he attends casinos?
Long story short, he fell for the big lie. He cannot handle it. As a result, he pulls the mental health card, one he used to say was only pulled by the weak.
He cannot bear to watch his teams lose, he actually calls them his teams, yet he has no ownership stake or betting stake in them. Seriously, when they lose, he says he doesn’t want to talk about it, and he is depressed. Keep in mind this person is twice my age. When the 49ers lost the Super Bowl, he took a week off. The Giants are fading from the playoffs, yet he watches every pitch, every game, every day.
He has a reality issue. He thinks life is like a Disney Movie; the princess always gets the prince at the end no matter what. He can no longer separate real from fake. A game?!?!? Seriously?
He has pulled away from everyone and self-isolated. This has been a long time coming. His favorite pastimes are throwing folks under the bus and blaming folks who are not in the room to defend themselves. You should hear what he says about his golf crew behind their backs, you would think its mayhem on that course.
He has become the most price sensitive complainer I know. He gripes about everything, airfare, hotel rates, food, gas, … well except the gambling. All in all, he is bitter to be around, a wet blanket if you will.
To put a bow on this blog, I want to point out, I do think mental illness is real. It is a crisis; one we do not know how to deal with in a country that has become hyper-focused on name calling. The difference is he did this to himself. The number one cause of depression is isolation, a lie he bought into. He trusted Hannity, Tucker and Fauci. The lockdowns were needed, it was to weed out the weak. Sounds like he is having second thoughts on the upcoming booster? How come? You already hit your body with 4 jabs, what is one more? Prices going up? Well, that is a result of shutting things down, and now you have to pay a premium to hire folks to do those jobs. Another fact lost on him. Businesses were shut indefinitely, and it shows no signs of getting better. He never had the ability to understand you cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube. I think he feels he was lied to and conned by people he trusted; his “TV friends.”
Watching the TV for hours on end just makes things worse. 90% of that is negative, and its constantly negative. Worse, it’s on a continuous loop, so when one show ends another one starts and rehashes all the news. Watching more than 5 minutes could kill a man. This guy watches 10 plus hours a day. The TV viewing time is often extended longer by a steady diet of 3 plus hour baseball or football games. This is not the real world, it’s a fake fantasy.
He does not want to volunteer his time anywhere, nor does he want to get out of his house. Seeing another human is a wonderful thing, locking yourself in an echo chamber is not. Read a book, go outside, touch the grass, volunteer your time, get to a church.
Long and short, I hope he gets better but he refuses to change his ways. I see this self-destruction spiraling as he circles the drain lost in his delusions.
The Chief
Thursday night on KCRA News, the outfit that brought you innocent black child gets “Rodney King’d” by white cops, had this doozy of a report about the deceased Stephon Clark. The City of Sacramento settled with Clark’s parents for the tidy sum of 1.7 million, this is in addition to the 2.4 million paid to his 2 children. Being shot by the police while being under the influence of every drug known to man, plus alcohol, plus domestic violence, threatening texts, and robbery pays well in this area. Trust me that 4.1 million is likely to be more than pretty much any middle-class family’s lifetime earnings.
Here are some highlights from the “report.”
On Friday evening, Clark’s brother — Stevante Clark — held a news conference to respond to the announcement of the settlement. Stevante Clark said that, despite the settlement, he will continue to call for the officers involved to be fired, charged and prosecuted.
Stevante is the piece of trash who during a city council meeting jumped on the dais and told the Mayor to “F*** Off” and other choice vocabulary. He has about as much credibility as Geoffrey the Giraffe of Toys’ R Us fame.
“He was a loving, loving, loving father,” Stevante Clark said of his brother. “He was a proud father. He was love and light.”
Well in that case maybe the settlement was low, seemed like a great dad, coked out of his mind on drugs to the point his grandparents wouldn’t let him in the house. Judging by the texts and his criminal rap sheet, Clark was the opposite.
Clark said he and others planned to protest Saturday afternoon at p.m. at Stockton and Fruitridge Roads to continue to call for the officers’ resignation. Stevante Clark also said, in honor of Stephon Clark’s birthday Wednesday, events would be held throughout the weekend in his memory.
“There’s no reason I should be out here talking about my brother’s legacy, defending my brother’s legacy, when the officers who murdered him should be proving their innocence in court,” Stevante Clark said during the news conference. “We always have to relive the death of Stephon.”
Ah, yes, a protest during these Covid times, monkey pox is prevalent, but its ok. Let us all gather to protest the death of a clown who got what he deserved. Um…, your brother’s “legacy,” what exactly do you mean by that? By the way, you are innocent until proven guilty you dumb hood rat. You would know that if you took any history class or been called to jury duty, but that assumes you receive anything from the government other than a benefit card paid with this blog’s workers taxes! As far as reliving the death of your brother…. take the 4.1 million, buy a place in Granite Bay. You will never have to relive it again, and you can celebrate his legacy as he dun got you out da hood. I mean your friends will call you an “Oreo” or say you’re “not really black” but live it up.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the California Attorney General’s Office said in March 2019 that the officers would not face criminal charges.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city and the two police officers claims the officers racially profiled Clark and used excessive force when they shot and killed him in March 2018.
The city’s attorney Susana Alcala Wood said in a statement on Friday that the most recent settlement is “the best path forward for all involved parties including our community.”
The Clark family has agreed that the settlement brings an end to the legal action.
“Stephon Clark’s death was a tragedy that brought pain and sorrow to his family and to our entire city,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “Everyone wishes this heartbreaking event had not occurred. A family lost a son, a grandson, a brother, and a father.”
The Sacramento DA was an Independent and the Attorney General was police hating Xavier Becerra. They found no reason to charge the cops. The police profiled Clark? Really? It was several 911 calls, him evading arrest, and running through other folk’s yards, and trying to break into a neighbor’s house. Yes, Sacramento’s mayor is correct the death of Clark brought pain to the families of 2 police officers. They are basically persona non-grata in this area, I hope both were able to transfer and move on. The city is going to feel pain too, this settlement will be paid for by increased tax money… but nothing another ½ cent sales tax can’t fix!
Blame the police, tax the people, remember Stephon Clark.
Saint Stephon Clark the Martyr……Pray for Us!
The Chief
Check out this whopper of a story transmitted by KCRA 3, the local news channel in our town. “Elk Grove family claims 11-year-old was tackled at State Fair, asks for termination of officers involved”
An Elk Grove family claims that 11-year-old Elijah Hunter was tackled by police at the California State Fair last week on Kids Day.
Hunter’s family, their attorney, Black Lives Matter Sacramento and the Greater Sacramento National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) gathered on Monday saying that his civil rights were violated and they’re now asking for policy changes regarding security at Cal Expo.
Cynthia Martin, Elijah’s mother, said in a news conference that his shirt was covered in blood.
“They [Cal Expo police] knew that they injured him because they provided the first-aid before we even made it to Kaiser hospital, where he received further treatment,” Martin said.
Just think about that for a minute, no actual reporting just releasing statements from BLM, NAACP and the victim’s family and attorney. Notice they make it clear they want people terminated. Notice the bolded words of “covered in blood” more on that later in the article. By the way, if officers injure someone, even shooting a criminal they have a duty to attempt lifesaving measures until fire/ambulance/etc. personnel show up.
Looking at this article it would appear this is Rodney king part 2 electric boogaloo right? Wrong.
But, in a statement to KCRA 3, Darla Givens, a spokesperson at Cal Expo, said the youth only suffered a small cut. Givens also added that police were called about a child attempting to steal items from fair vendors, climbing over a safety fence and almost being hit by a roller coaster ride.
Ahh, now we get clarity our little saint was trying to steal items from vendors, jumped over a safety fence, (those are usually about 6 feet high mind you) and almost was hit by a roller coaster. This coming from Cal Expo officials not the police mind you.
Of course, it didn’t stop local NAACP President Betty Williams from continuing a false narrative…
However, advocates like Betty Williams, who is the president of Greater Sacramento NAACP said that nothing excuses the behavior of Cal Expo officers toward the minor.
“What makes him different from any other 11-year-old? I’ll tell you what it is. He’s Black. He’s a Black man, a Black male. It doesn’t matter your age when it comes to this society and law enforcement. You are treated differently,” Williams said.
Sorry, officers taking down a person has nothing to do with whether they are black, brown, Asian, white, or any other color. Your son was acting a fool and so out of control officers were forced to take him to the ground. Sounds like his safety was at risk, I’ve never gotten so close to a roller coaster it almost hit me. He was trying to steal items…. he was being a punk and a thug.
Oh, check this out little thug’s parents were even there that day…
The family and attorney are also concerned about a document that they say Elijah was forced to sign without any family members present.
Cal Expo officials said that when their policies are violated, fairgoers are asked to not return and sign a document agreeing to such.
Sure, I guess the little thug wasn’t 18 yet, but regardless he will be perma banned from Cal Expo since he cannot follow basic rules, like don’t act like a criminal.
But what upsets me most here is this is the last paragraph of the article, buried at the end mind you…
KCRA 3 asked the family for photos of the injuries, but they refused to provide those. However, in photos that they sent to KCRA 3 last week, he had a bandage on one of his elbows and a visible blood stain on his shirt about the size of a nickel.
Hmm, the family won’t provide photos? That’s odd. His shirt was covered in blood I thought? I figured he was a disjointed mess? Beat up so bad his body would require multiple surgeries? Well, I guess this wasn’t Rodney King part 2 after all. Once again, it’s a sad story of a young thug causing trouble, not following orders who got the business from a police officer or two. I’m sorry but if you run, and it sounds like this thug did, they will be tackling/tasing/taking down you. The sad part is he seems to be a young man with no family in his life, who lets their 11-year-old go to the fair unsupervised? Sounds like zero family was around as they objected to him signing a form banning himself from the fairgrounds permanently. Maybe if parents were there this would have all been avoided?
Bottom line this is irresponsible journalism at its finest, notice how they make the incident sound like he was beaten within an inch or two of his life? Only to at the very bottom in essence refute that? Why do they get statements from the parents, NAACP, and others but ignore the police organization? This is because they can create a false narrative of “white police, black victim” when in reality it was a thug acting out, running away, and then being finally subdued. This is how false narratives of “hands up…. don’t shoot” get started.
The good news here for the family is they will likely get a 6-figure settlement, it’s what we do here in Sacramento, crime pays. Then the incident will go away.
Sad!
The Chief
