About Dave

Well it’s important to know where an author is coming from when he is giving his opinion on a topic.  So here it goes. I was raised in a Judeo-Christian, lower middle class home.  We weren’t poor, we definitely weren’t financially wealthy.  My dad was unable to work due to his physical condition. That left my mom the burden of not only providing for the family, but also taking care of my dad with what help I could provide.  Not the ideal situation in any day and age, but it definitely helped to shape my view of society and government.

Religiously, my parents were, I guess, what most people would consider conservative.  Given the church (a conservative, independent northern Baptist church) we went to for the majority of my youth, I would call them liberal within the narrow focus of that church and comparing how other people raised their children within the church’s confines and definitions of right, wrong, and proper behavior.  My parents were not exactly hands-off in my raising (both figuratively and literally), but they allowed me to make my choices, my mistakes, and helped me to learn to deal with the consequences of said choices and mistakes.  Given the church (and subsequently, its private school), I made more than my fair share of mistakes, and privately rebelled against these two major edifices of my teenage youth. Socially, I was raised to take people as they were:  their differences (physical, racial, religiousl, sexual orientation), their shortcomings, et al.  My parents were of the philosophy “Hate the sin, love and accept the sinner.”  While I honestly believe (even to this day) that this is what Jesus taught while He was on Earth, this was in conflict with the practiced teaching of the church we attended (the church vocally espoused this teaching of my parents, but in practical day to day living the church (and I’m talking the majority of the attendees not the building obviously) fell far short of this concept).  Therefore I believe my parents deserve the label (with the scope of that church) of liberal-conservative.

My political upbringing had no direction from my parents.  What they taught me from their lives said volumes however.  They taught me not to rely on my government for anything.  I was taught self-reliance, and that the less I let the government dictate anything about my life, the better off I would be. So after I graduated high school (remember this was a conservative church school), I promptly went on to college.  In retrospect this was probably the worst and best decision (at the same time) I made at that time.  It was the worst decision because I went to a college that was small and conservative, and the administration felt the need to dominate most aspects of my life.  Rather than come out of my teenage rebellion within the confines of college, I rebelled more.  It was the best decision because it helped me to further define my own beliefs about my relationship with God (my Christianity), my religious beliefs (how I choose to worship within the Judeo-Christian movement with other Christians of similar beliefs), and my social and political beliefs.  When I finally realized what I believe conflicted with what the college was trying to make me swallow under the guise of teaching, I dropped out.

So while my beliefs are consistently going under refinement, here is what I basically believe:

  • Christianity:  I believe in the Trinity.  I believe that Jesus Christ ensures my salvation through His blood and through this I have my personal relationship with God. That’s it.  Period end of story.  The rest of it while not exactly fodder, follows under religious preference.
  • Religiously:  I believe that most Judeo-Christian religions have done more to harm the cause of Christ, than any outside forces could ever do.  They have caused separation and division among the Church (as Christ defined it), and by doing so has weakened the Church and its’ impact on the world for good.  I believe that as long as a Judeo-Christian religion have the same basic tenets of faith (the Trinity, the virgin birth, death/burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and practice on these tenets, they have a moral and social obligation to interact with other like minded religions to impact the world in a positive way.  When you have in-fighting among similar believing religions because of smaller differences of opinion on religious subjects not Christianity, you diminish the Church as a whole.
  • Socially, I accept people for who they are.  I embrace the differences, because those differences add richness to my life, and allow me to expand my view about the world around me.  What I do not accept are people who complain about the society around them and do nothing to change it.  I believe that people have the obligation to take part in their society, not as a taker, but as an active participant to change society for the better.  Social evolution/de-evolution is a fact, and right now I believe that we are going through a cycle of de-evolution.  I believe this de-evolution to be caused by political correctness, and the fact that to be politically correct causes people to hide their true opinions rather than a healthy discussion of our differences.  So prejudice, bigotry, and hatred flourish under political correctness rather than true acceptances of our differences.
  • Politically, I don’t know what single word would frame what I believe. But here are the basics.
  • I believe that people should be active in their government.  I believe in the right and obligation of every citizen to vote, and that if you don’t vote, shut up.
  • I believe in term limits not only for the President of these United States, but also for any elected official.
  • I believe our fore-fathers never intended for political office to become a way of life, but rather as a place of servitude to help our fellow man for a short period of time, and then go back into the private sector to continue what they started.
  • I believe that Congressional pay and subsequent raises ought to be tied to voter’s review of their representatives and their performance.
  • I am conservative when it comes to political economics.  I am a believer in Reaganomics and the trickle-down theory.
  • I believe that any President’s impact isn’t felt till after he leaves office (for the most part) and that the current turmoil we are in is a direct result of the Clinton years (due to a true lack of leadership and values).
  • I believe that the smaller government we have, the better off we are as a nation. I believe in a major overhaul of the welfare system, and the basic concepts of semi-privatization leading to the abolishment of Social Security through a step down process of participation in the program (self-reliance, people).
  • I believe in the overhaul of the Electoral College, if not the outright abolishment of the same (a true democracy).
  • I believe that proof of identity and citizenship should be required to vote.
  • I believe that the method of adding names to the national ballots needs to be changed so that parties other than the Democratic and Republican parties have fair and equal access.  Right now these other political parties have to go through the political equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest naked and without modern equipment to get names added to the ballot.

Now you know where I am coming from when I post my opinions.

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