According to Associated Press reporter Jay Reeves on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, and which appeared in The Birmingham News, newly elected Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s remark on Monday, January 17, 2011, while speaking to the crowd at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church after the official inaugural ceremony, said that if someone is not a believer in the LORD Jesus Christ, then the person is not his brother or his sister. He further stated that anyone who is a believer, regardless of race, color, etc. can be his brother and sister but if someone is not a Christian, he or she cannot have the same kind of relationship with him. One could ask the question, “What was he thinking,” because the statement caused an immediate response from the Anti-Defamation League which called the Governor’s remark “shocking.” Ashfaq Taufique, president of the Birmingham Islamic Society, told The Birmingham News that he wasn’t sure how Bentley’s comment was intended.
Taufique pondered whether Bentley wants people [such as Muslims like himself] to convert to the Christian ‘faith’ and mentioned that “We don't want evangelical politicians, and they can do whatever they want in their private lives.” The thing is, though, it is not so simple to separate personal belief in God or a theistic religion from influencing legislative action. More often than not in America, because there is a First Amendment clause to The Constitution which guarantees religious freedom and protects against a national religion, but yet most Americans believe that we are a “Christian” nation. To wit, when an elected official is a devout Bible-believing Christian it would be rather naive not to think that they could be torn between their civic responsibility to uphold the U.S. Constitution or the State Constitution and at the same time be faithful to the Word of God, and that their belief doesn’t influence their decisions. The question is, rather, whether Bentley is a Christian Governor or a Governor who happens to be a Christian, and only time will tell if his policies are adopted which benefit all the people of Alabama, or if he has an agenda that is largely enacted and influenced by the support of a particular religious constituency.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 19, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Seattle Seahawks improbable season ends in Chicago
To the many diehard Seahawk fans who had a “Dream” of their football team beating Chicago and advancing on to the Division Championship against Green Bay to possibly representing the NFC Conference in Super Bowl XLV, it seems such a fantasy came to once again, a predictable post-season outcome; another loss. All the hype about Marshawn Lynch and “Beast Mode” was nullified on the frozen turf of Soldier Field amid an embarrassing and anemic running game. The Chicago Bears are rated as the best in the NFL against the run and the way they throttled the Incredible “Hulk” [Lynch] made him look more like Bruce Banner in a football uniform. In fact, the Bears Quarterback Jake Cutler had almost as many yards running as the entire Seattle rushing offense did.
It is interesting how the local sports commentators on Q-13 Fox (Seattle) have put such a positive spin on another season of low expectations as the team entered the wildcard playoffs with a sub-par record of seven wins and nine losses. For Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, it is back to the drawing board during the off season and for 36 year-old Quarterback Matt Hasselback, some serious reflection as to whether or not he wants to wear Seahawks blue next season, or if he wants to be traded to another team where he might have a chance to win the Super Bowl before his career ends in the next remaining years. As for the Seattle Seahawks, this defeat is the exclamation point on a team that in order to be among the NFL elite in the post-season, they have to find a way to win on the road in the wintry weather conditions and not be so dependent upon the “Twelfth Man” and Quest Field, because until they do they will be just be wasting more and more of billionaire Paul Allen’s money.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 16, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
It is interesting how the local sports commentators on Q-13 Fox (Seattle) have put such a positive spin on another season of low expectations as the team entered the wildcard playoffs with a sub-par record of seven wins and nine losses. For Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, it is back to the drawing board during the off season and for 36 year-old Quarterback Matt Hasselback, some serious reflection as to whether or not he wants to wear Seahawks blue next season, or if he wants to be traded to another team where he might have a chance to win the Super Bowl before his career ends in the next remaining years. As for the Seattle Seahawks, this defeat is the exclamation point on a team that in order to be among the NFL elite in the post-season, they have to find a way to win on the road in the wintry weather conditions and not be so dependent upon the “Twelfth Man” and Quest Field, because until they do they will be just be wasting more and more of billionaire Paul Allen’s money.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 16, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
Monday, January 10, 2011
Does the Tucson shooting implicate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party?
The shooting of twenty people on Saturday, January 22, 2011 in a Tucson, AZ shopping mall, seriously wounding Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has shocked the nation. This heinous act of violence which has claimed the lives of six persons, including nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was not perpetrated from a sleeper cell terrorist of al-Qaida or a Muslim extremist but by a twenty-two year old White male named Jared Lee Loughner. This attempted assignation of an elected official has fueled a growing debate about civility and hate speech in our political and civil discourse. Not only that, but this incident involving Congresswoman Giffords in particular has centered on Sarah Palin and her Tea Partyers because Ms. Giffords was one of the Democrats targeted by Sarah Palin after posting a map on her Facebook page that had circles and crosshairs over 20 Democratic districts. She also sent a tweet saying, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" around March 24, 2010. An aide for the Sarah PAC defended the depiction of the crosshairs as being a surveyors symbol and not the sights of a scope mounted atop a rifle, if you can believe that; but then, why is there a picture of Sarah Palin brandishing such a weapon when the Tea Party took aim at Senator Harry Reid of Nevada on March 27, 2010 in his support of ObamaCare.
In response to the criticism and finger-pointing to the online post last year in lieu of this horendous shooting spree where Gabrielle Giffords was struck in the left side of her head at point-blank range, Sarah Palin said Saturday she wasn't [intending to] incite violence, [but] just trying to inspire people to get involved. Are incindierary rhetoric like: Death Panels for senior citizens, Liberals are destroying America and Our way of Life, Obama hates White people, Obama is a Facist- Socialist-Marxist who wants to negotiate with terrorists, Obama is a Muslim and Muslims attacked Us on 9-1-1, and other such comments as just a way of inviting people to get involved in the political process, or is it code phrases for something else more subtle and sinister that threatens to undermine this Democratic Republic? Syndicated political cartoonist Lee Horsley said on a segment of FOX Q13 News (Seattle, WA) on Monday, January 10, 2011, that he is surprised that there haven’t been more violent acts, considering the way that such partisan anger and misinformation passing for truth has made its way into political discourse.
It is certain that all sided of the political spectrum, radio commentators as well as pundits and news correspondents will weigh in on this issue with unending analysis ad nausem without reaching any mutual consensus or agreement; as one would expect nowadays in a steadily growing partisan, fragmented and polarizing society. Of course, there are serious matters that this tragedy has brought into the forum of ideas, namely: What should be done when an elected official receives threatening emails, and should the sender be prosecuted criminally; What about the First Amendment and Free Speech? Perhaps this another Second Amendment issue pertaining to acessibility to handguns; And what should be done with an individual who exhibits tendencies that are deemed as anti-social, aberrant or a “mental illness or impairment” and consequently, should such a person be mandated to receive involuntary treatment or commitment to a treatment facility with or without his/her consent? The reason for this last point, among which several more could be made, is that a classmate of of Jared Loughner or perhaps it is an acquaintance, made an online post around June 14, 2010, mentioning: Jared was a disturbed individual, a paranoid isolationist, but was friendly when you talked with him, but that there was a real concern that he would end up in the news for shooting a lot of people. Well, it seems that this unnamed person’s fears were finally realized with deadly certainty.
The thing is, if and since this person felt so certain or stronglythat Loughner’s behavior might lead to a potentially fatal outcome as what did eventually occur, then why wasn’t the police or someone in authority who perhaps could have intervened and maybe preempted this attack, saving the lives and suffering of so many people? I wonder how the person feels now after hearing about this massacre that for all intents and purposes was premeditated? People can debate or argue the seemingly inviolable Right of Free Speech in a Democracy, but what cannot be ignored is the ‘effect’ that language, and words in particuliar, can have on someone and as a result, a person has to as the old adage says, “Think before you Speak.” However, no one is seriously advocating censoring “Speech” but words shouldn’t just be spoken recklessly or irresponsibly because once they leave your mouth you cannot take them back and the reaction and response to a particular discourse might just have unintended consequences that the speaker did not anticipate and of which cannot be reversed. As the Wisdom of Solomon says on Proverbs 18: 21a: “The power of Life and Death is in the tongue.”
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 10, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
In response to the criticism and finger-pointing to the online post last year in lieu of this horendous shooting spree where Gabrielle Giffords was struck in the left side of her head at point-blank range, Sarah Palin said Saturday she wasn't [intending to] incite violence, [but] just trying to inspire people to get involved. Are incindierary rhetoric like: Death Panels for senior citizens, Liberals are destroying America and Our way of Life, Obama hates White people, Obama is a Facist- Socialist-Marxist who wants to negotiate with terrorists, Obama is a Muslim and Muslims attacked Us on 9-1-1, and other such comments as just a way of inviting people to get involved in the political process, or is it code phrases for something else more subtle and sinister that threatens to undermine this Democratic Republic? Syndicated political cartoonist Lee Horsley said on a segment of FOX Q13 News (Seattle, WA) on Monday, January 10, 2011, that he is surprised that there haven’t been more violent acts, considering the way that such partisan anger and misinformation passing for truth has made its way into political discourse.
It is certain that all sided of the political spectrum, radio commentators as well as pundits and news correspondents will weigh in on this issue with unending analysis ad nausem without reaching any mutual consensus or agreement; as one would expect nowadays in a steadily growing partisan, fragmented and polarizing society. Of course, there are serious matters that this tragedy has brought into the forum of ideas, namely: What should be done when an elected official receives threatening emails, and should the sender be prosecuted criminally; What about the First Amendment and Free Speech? Perhaps this another Second Amendment issue pertaining to acessibility to handguns; And what should be done with an individual who exhibits tendencies that are deemed as anti-social, aberrant or a “mental illness or impairment” and consequently, should such a person be mandated to receive involuntary treatment or commitment to a treatment facility with or without his/her consent? The reason for this last point, among which several more could be made, is that a classmate of of Jared Loughner or perhaps it is an acquaintance, made an online post around June 14, 2010, mentioning: Jared was a disturbed individual, a paranoid isolationist, but was friendly when you talked with him, but that there was a real concern that he would end up in the news for shooting a lot of people. Well, it seems that this unnamed person’s fears were finally realized with deadly certainty.
The thing is, if and since this person felt so certain or stronglythat Loughner’s behavior might lead to a potentially fatal outcome as what did eventually occur, then why wasn’t the police or someone in authority who perhaps could have intervened and maybe preempted this attack, saving the lives and suffering of so many people? I wonder how the person feels now after hearing about this massacre that for all intents and purposes was premeditated? People can debate or argue the seemingly inviolable Right of Free Speech in a Democracy, but what cannot be ignored is the ‘effect’ that language, and words in particuliar, can have on someone and as a result, a person has to as the old adage says, “Think before you Speak.” However, no one is seriously advocating censoring “Speech” but words shouldn’t just be spoken recklessly or irresponsibly because once they leave your mouth you cannot take them back and the reaction and response to a particular discourse might just have unintended consequences that the speaker did not anticipate and of which cannot be reversed. As the Wisdom of Solomon says on Proverbs 18: 21a: “The power of Life and Death is in the tongue.”
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 10, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
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