Category Archives: Philosophy

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2009, The Real After Party

A lot of us have gotten our party on to celebrate the new year.  Certainly 2008 has been a year to remember for many reasons good and bad.  I find the rough seas of the economy and life in general to be a challenge to me taking a more active role in living my best life possible.   One of the sorriest lives one can live, is one of mediocrity, passiveness, apathy, or defeat.  I think of my life and must admit there have been times I have subjected myself to all of these.  I think of the time I have wasted or the opportunities lost.  I think of the years I have settled or didn’t believe in my own abilities. 

There are so many areas of directions to subscribe to in life.   So many things that could be focused on.  I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions, but I do believe that the new year is an opportunity for reflection, and an opportunity for new goal setting for life’s course.  For me, the most important things at this point are,

1. Taking control of my thoughts – I can’t control what other people do or say.  I can’t determine whether people will treat me with goodness or evil.  Who knows where my next dollar is coming from.  My mind and spirit have to be “mission control” as I only have true authority over self attitude and focus.  I need to think with a sense of optimism and hope in my life, and in the lives of the people I touch.  I have to believe in my future even as I embrace the present. 

2. Understand the adventure that life is – I think the most exciting life is one lived with a sense of fierceness not knowing what the next day will bring.  Packing light if you will.  My need for personal and emotional safety has cheated me out of that most of my days.  I hope to step out and dare myself to embrace more of the unknown.

3. TCB Academically – There are a few projects that I have been working on that need completion.  That will give documentation for my deeds.  Revolution is started with a spoken word, but it’s carried on the printed page.  My pages should be read long after I am gone.

4. Not just about what I do, but who I am– It is important to accomplish my goals and leave my mark on this world.  To help make it a better place than when I entered it.  But I truly want to be remembered for the love I gave, the wisdom and knowledge I shared, the joy I spread, and the hope I inspired.  If in my works I do not make someone’s life better, I have failed.

5. Love freely and unconditionally, understanding that I am responsible for my own happiness.  – People are wonderful creations.  And we all have our flaws.  We need to give and receive love.  But we need to learn to love ourselves independently.  It has to be so strong that it sustains us when we can’t sense the love from another.  Giving and receiving love is reciprocal to say the least.  They feed one another and it’s a beautiful thing.  But if we in wanting to receive that love and acceptance give people too much power over our personal sense of value and worth, we are destined to live and die with a broken heart.

I have not attained all of these.  They are key areas that I see within myself that I vow to focus on. 

I hope each of you have your own set of goals… and God grant you the grace to see them through.

 

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Things I Hope Black Youth Learn from the Obama Presidency

Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning so he can visit his ailing grandmother.

Things I hope will inspire black youth regarding an Obama’s presidency: 

 

1. It’ts cool to be smart.  (I don’t want to ever again hear that to be smart is to “act white.” We come from a history of brilliant people!)

 

2. You can be both smart and cool at the same time.  (Look at the picture above!  Tell me who looks cooler than this cat?)  Plus he balls too like many of us.  The point is he balances his ball and his business!)

3. You can keep a calm demeanor when your haters come at you.  (Notice he didn’t say anything about Hillary, Palin, or McCain “disrespecting” him in the campaign. Even as some of his opponent’s supporters were calling for his life, < remember when Hillary went with the assisination comment earlier this year> he still kept his cool. )

4. Who you choose as a life partner is a vital decision, and he is all about home.  (For a man, women can either be king makers or dream killers.  Michelle is a real winner and she’s obviously his backbone.  Speaking of home, want to know what the Pres. Elect did the morning after the election?  He took his girls to school.  He understands his role as a father!  He even read books to his younger daughter consistently, even if he meant doing it from the campaign trail over the phone.)

5. You may or may not ever be president, but you can make something of yourself if you set goals and work towards them without quitting!  (There is a difference between reasons and excuses. Reasons may be stumbling blocks or circumstancs that cause delays.  But they can be oversome with the right game plan, hard work and perseverance. Excuses are just that.  They are the beginning of a lifetime of failure and demise.)

 

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10 Presidential Traits Every Man Should Have – From Schoolboi’s Playground

I am working on a post expressing what I hope black youth will gain from the presidency of Barack Obama.   In the meantime I wanted to share this one I got from Schoolboi’s Playground’s Blog.   I thought this was excellent and well worth remembering for all of us. 

10 Presidential Traits Every Man Should Have

1. Respect – Even the biggest asshole deserves some type of respect. You have to give some to get some.

2. Patience – We’ve all heard that patience is a virtue but not many of us have mastered it. Learn to not to panic and see how the cloud of confusion can drift away.

3. Open-mindedness – Want good advice? Go to someone you usually disagree with. He may just surprise you.

4. Enthusiasm – The best ideas draw the most criticism. Maintain your passion and your smile, and others will want to join your cause.

5. Accountability – The bigger the blunder, the greater the apology.

6. Humility – Knowing your weaknesses is just as important as touting your strengths.

7. Empathy – Judge others in the context of their worlds, not yours.

8. Responsibility – It doesn’t matter if you’re commander-in-chief or branch manager: If you don’t know what your troops are doing, you’re probably too far removed from the battlefield.

9. Initiative – Always talk more about what you want to do than what you’ve already done. The only person who cares about your résumé is the guy copying it at Staples.

10. Diplomacy – A conflict-free resolution is the only sure way to avoid lasting collateral damage.

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Playing The Game The Way It Should Be Played

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It’s being reported that global talk show icon an avid Barack Obama supporter Oprah Winfrey  accepted money from one of Obama’s chief political enemies.  Dallas Billionaire Harold Simmons an avid John McCain supporter not only paid almost 3 million to pay for ads linking Obama to Bill Ayers, once gave Winfrey 1 million (5 million pledged) for her girls school in South Africa.  Mind you this is the same cat that funded that scam “swift boat” ads that buried John Kerry and his heroic Vietnam tour. 

I applaud Winfrey for understanding how to play the game righteously.  She gets it!  Get what you ask?  Gets the fact that just because you take money or donations for one cause, it does not mean you have to compromise your morals, beliefs, or integrity for another.  Historically in most cases, folk get it all twisted and just hide behind some public relations firm.  Not Oprah!  She’s was not bought out like some soft feeble minded folks.

Now some people will just say that Oprah is paid so therefore she can afford to do what she does.  Not altogether true.  If it were like that she could have merely funded the project herself.  She has enough loot to do that for sure!  Not to mention I have a friend who spoke privately to baseball Hall of Fame member Ozzie Smith.  The subject of money came up and being rich after a lucrative career.  Ozzie said it this way, “I don’t care how much money you’ve made.  When you are used to making millions of dollars and used to seeing those checks coming in twice a month, you miss it. ”  

The point is that a 5 million dollars is 5 million dollars.  People who make that kinda money desire ways to make more of it.  So I don’t see Winfrey as being less ambitious.  It’s simply understanding that you can take the money but the money doesn’t have to take you.  To the contrary: Accept the money.  Use it for your purposes, and still keep your integrity. 

Too bad many other celebs and politicians don’t get that.

You go Oprah!

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Most Notorious Thief! ~ Step Your Game Up!

Reading this recently reminds me to keep my game tight and not allow procrastination the great thief of my time to come between me and my destiny.  Working towards goals with patience is different than just putting things off.  I have to be wise enough to know the difference.

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From Allister Begg –
Truth For Life Ministries

A LITTLE SLEEP, A LITTLE SLUMBER, A LITTLE FOLDING OF THE HANDS TO REST, AND POVERTY WILL COME UPON YOU LIKE A ROBBER, AND WANT LIKE AN ARMED MAN.

Proverbs 24:33-34

The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be indignant if they were accused of complete laziness.  A little folding of the hands to rest is all they desire, and they have a host of reasons to show that this indulgence is entirely legitimate.  Yet by these “littles” the day runs out, and the time for work is all gone, and the field is overgrown with thorns.

It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls.  They do not intend to delay for years-a few months, they say, will bring the more convenient season-tomorrow they will attend to serious things; but the present hour is so occupied and so unsuitable that they beg to be excused.

Like sands from an hourglass, time passes; life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh, to be wise, to catch the fleeting hour, to use the passing moments!  May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, because otherwise a poverty of the worst kind awaits us-eternal poverty that will want even a drop of water and beg for it in vain.

Like a robber steadily pursuing his victim, poverty overtakes the lazy, and ruin overthrows the undecided: Each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he doesn’t pause on the way, for he is on his master’s business and must not delay. As an armed man enters with authority and power, in similar fashion want will come to the idle, and death to the impenitent, and there will be no escape.

O that men would become wise and would diligently seek the Lord Jesus, before the solemn day will dawn when it will be too late to plow and to sow, too late to repent and believe.  In harvest, it is useless to lament that the seedtime was neglected. As of now, there is still time for faith and holy decision.  May we obtain them tonight.

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Televangelism At It’s Worst ~ Is that Al B. Sure?

I have a question for you.  What is worse than day time television with it’s numerous judge shows, them cackling female gossipers known as, “The View” and the assorted, “You are NOT the father” nonsense garbage programs?  Perhaps you’d say late night television with its infomercials about getting rich from sending in all your loose gold – or how that guy with the wacky jacket and glasses can get the government to fund all of your ideas.  What about the latest Chuck Norris workout – or perfect ball that will make your abs look like Michael Phelps for two installments of $19.99?   

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If you get too bored day or night you can always turn on one of the Law And Order/ SVU/ Missing Persons, CSI, DNA, CBS, NBC, ABC, ESPN and FOX detective shows.  I mean are they ever NOT on?  Don’t even get me started on Lifetime.  They won’t even use the script unless the righteous woman is trying to avoid some obsessive jerk who wants to steal her money and kill her family. “If I can’t have you Barbara, nobody can!”

All of these pale in comparison however, to my favorite ridiculous TV program of all time; The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) fundraising programs.  Now this is entertainment at its finest.  First let me give you a little history.  TBN, what I now call the “Takin Bank Network” was founded by Paul and Jan Crouch, as well as Jim and Tammy Bakker back in 73.   

According to Wikipedia: TBN generates nearly $200 million in revenue annually.[3] The network does not make its finances available and Crouch family members control the boards of all TBN entities, which makes Trinity “ineligible to join” the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an evangelical self-regulating group.[4] It does not air commercials (excluding TBN Italy); rather, two-thirds of its revenue comes from viewer contributions and one-third from other televangelists’ payments for running their programming. Its $120 million donation revenue is larger than any other television ministry. It has posted average annual surpluses since 1997 of about $60 million. It holds two week-long fundraising telethons (known as ‘Praise-a-Thons’) per year, as well as numerous other solicitation drives. It maintains a direct mail database of 1.2 million names.

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As of 2002, TBN boasted $583 million in assets, including $238 million in government-backed securities and $31 million in cash. Also among its assets are a $7.2 million Canadair Turbojet and thirty houses in California, Texas and Ohio with values ranging up to $8 million.[5] The elder Crouches and their son Paul Jr. earn an estimated combined annual income of $900,000.[6] In September 2004, the Los Angeles Times characterized their personal lifestyle as a “life of luxury.”[7] According to Charity Navigator, TBN earned $188,152,079 in 2007 and has a 2 out of 4 star rating (47%).[8]

In June 2007, TBN purchased the bible-themed adventure park Holy Land Experience for $37 million.[9] The Orlando, FL based theme-park was in a slump with falling ticket sales and a reported $8 million debt when TBN purchased it.  In October nearly 100 employees were cut from the payroll.[10]

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With that as a backdrop – I was flipping the channels when I saw one of the Marketing Preacher Reps (MPRs) Bishop Clarence E. McClendon (aka. Al B. Sure) making his pitch for people to call their toll free number to pledge them dollars.  He talked about how the economy was going down but that God’s economy was still strong and that The Almighty would give the TV audience money if they gave these multi-millionaires their hard earned loot.  Bishop B. Sure was “night and day” quoting scripture after scripture, using his most traditional Southern Baptist theatric tone as he jerked and soared as if the spirit was taking over his body riling up the audience.  Then came the highlight of the rant!  He said, “You just don’t know what happens in hell when you call the number and pledge your financial support.  God magnifies the ring!”  Huh?  You mean to tell me that God is broadcasting the sounds of the phones ringing at the TBN offices in hell so as to gloat to Satan and his little demons?  Yep!  That’s what he said. 

 

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Bishop B.Sure isn’t the only one – when he’s not on there shuffling and jiving, there are others like Juanita Bynum, Rod Parsley, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, and other heavy hitter big name MPRs.  They go on the program and appear before the television audience to get all deep, mystical, and spiritual as they give you reason after reason why you need to invest your dollars into their coffers – even if you are broke!  It’s not as if they are not already a billion dollar industry.  Still in all, while hundreds of thousands of jobs are being lost every month, they want to make sure they get their grubby hands on what little you have left. 

I am a firm believer in supporting local ministries especially when they are available to giving back.  Try asking “Takin Bank Network” for help the next time your gas is about to get shut off or if there is no food on the plate.  The most you’ll get is a prayer and some more junk mail asking for donations. 

I couldn’t stomach Bishop B. Sure any longer.  I had to finish with some serious informative and educational programming. I watched the last few minutes of the Arizona Cardinals beating the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.  I hear the Devil was watching the football game too.  Though there was no word on whether he could hear the sound with all that ringing noise going on.

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My Oh My, America’s Pastor Retires (Just in the Nick of Time)

  The Rev. Billy Graham speaks at a crusade in Kansas City, Missouri, in October 2004.

After decades of dedicated service to not only the world, but to sitting presidents since Truman and Eisenhower, The Rev. Billy Graham decided that he does not want to serve in this role any longer.  How ironic is this?

Generally speaking I would give Graham the benefit of the doubt.  After all he has done great work around the world and has preached to more people than anyone in the history of the world from what I know.  His crusades have circled the globe many times over and his gentleman’s approach to evangelizing the gospel is digestible to even babies.  He just turned 90 and his health can’t be as good as it once was.

What I question however in terms of his work with presidents, is that while he has been there to pray and counsel these world leaders he has not always stood on the side of righteousness.  With President Nixon he, not only supported a man who promoted the Southern Stategy of disenfranchising African-American voters, he himself spewed his own anti-semitic views while speaking with Nixon.  These comments were a part of the Nixon Tapes released some years later. 

In addition, if one is to follow the bible in terms of being a prophet who has access to kings and world changers, the calling is not merely to pray but to speak righteously as the mouth of God in terms of a moral compass.  With Nixon we know for sure that he spoke the opposite by disparaging a people.  In addition when we think of the W terms, with the lies of the War in Iraq with it’s killings of innocent Iraqi citizens, the failure to equip soldiers and care for them at places like Walter Reed,  the debacle of Hurricane Katrina which killed many and displaced thousands of families, to the white collar criminals like Scooter Libby and Bush’s pardons of such criminals, Graham did not find it in his heart to take these things to task.  In biblical history, when God used a man to speak to leaders, he was sent to proclaim the truth not to merely be the president’s friend.  Take Moses for instance.  He wasn’t cozening up to Pharaoh.  Instead he told the wicked leader time and time again that God said to, “Let my people go,” less God’s judgment fall upon Pharaoh’s land.  (Book of Exodus)  Nathan the prophet didn’t pat King David on the back when he has Uriah killed because he was trying to cover up the fact that he impregnated Uriah’s wife. (2 Samuel 12)  Nathan told David straight up he was tripping!  Graham’s silence or acquiesce over the years from Vietnam to Iraq has no such implications.  He like many preachers are more flattered to be in the presense of presidents than they are about the calling and purpose for which God wanted them access in the first place.

And yet as Graham’s son Franklin (the most vocal right winged conservative of the family) noted he is perfectly fine with publically taking Obama to task for his views on abortion and gay marriage. So of all the injustices done by men in the White House over the years, Graham decides within two days of President Obama being elected – the first black president – that his work with presidents is over.

But according to Franklin, the elder Graham wants to “meet and pray with Obama.”  What is that some kind of token concession?  Pray about what?  That Obama changes his views on gay marriage and abortion? Graham did say by the way that he hopes God moves on Obama’s heart to change his views.  Funny he didn’t want God to change W’s heart on anything of the last 8 years.  Oh please spare me!

That’s OK Bill and Franklin.. F’ it!  I am pretty sure Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s phone number hasn’t changed.

For real though… as far as prayer goes,  I think we’ve got it covered.

(* AME pastors pray for Obama after he spoke at their National Convention in St. Louis this past summer. Pic courtesy of The St. Louis American)

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The Blueprint ~ Finishing the Year Righteous!

I live that thug life baby I’m hopeless – smoking off indo tryin to keep my focus!  – Tupac

Familia~

First I have to say Thank God for that xtra hour – cause it was on point today!

Anyway with a little less than two months remaining in 2008, (man does the time fly) it’s time for me to step my game up in a few areas.  I decided to put it on out there on record so my friends can hold me accountable to my goals.  My first set are for the last couple months or by the New Year.  After that I will drop the 09 personal and professional goals.  With that said feel free to comment and ask me anytime how I am doing in said areas – and I will answer honestly of course.  So here goes!

Vote Barack Obama in for president! – Hey, this is at the top of my food chain of things to do.  Not sure whether I will make it early or after work to the polls – but I will be casting my vote for this life changing moment in time!

Discipline My Temple: Ok, so I am not a fat slob or anything, but still I need lose 20-25 lbs.  Currently I am hovering slightly above 200lbs.  Idealistically I need to be between 175-180 lbs.  Realistically I can rock it at 180-185 and be relatively comfortable.   That means feeling energetic and fitting in all of my pants!  I am a health concious person – and am disciplined enough to fast and drop 15 lbs with the quickness – but my challenge is eating healthy on an ongoing basis.  I love to eat – flat out.  And I love a cold beer after a long day to help take the edge off.  So balance and temperance are in order for me to make good choices.  By Jan 1st, I will not weigh over 185 – PERIOD!

Embrace The Day: This morning I woke up in a wonderful place.  I felt in tuned with my spirit and was ready to take on day.  I put myself in the mind to make a positive contribution and to remain calm – ready to accept the challenges and give grace where needed, wisdom where asked, and peace to all whom I come into contact with.  I don’t know how many days I have left in this life – but to look at each day as a gift and an opportunity rather than “just like any other day” is my goal.  I don’t want to carry yesterday’s junk into tomorrow.  I want to fully live in the present moment with gusto – while being able to learn from the past and project goals for the future.  So for this I need to continue to feed my spirit the things it needs to thrive and connect with the power of the universe.  I want to flow with what is already in place and manifest my destiny.

Step up My Daddy Game: Most of the time I have adjusted well to the changing needs of my children.  But for my baby, I seemed to have missed the mark.  In her desire to please me I never know the difference as she “acts” happy and joyful when we are together.  However, she is probably growing and maturing at a faster pace than I have noticed.  Plus I think I will always look at her as my little girl.  So I need to regroup and bring her closer to me so that by the time she’s a teen she is not missing what she needs from me.  I am very concerned about this – so I just plan to shower her with love and pray I get the answers I need to provide the spiritual and emotional security she needs from dad. 

Finish Small Book: I am working on a book I believe will really benifit the youth (mainly young men from 16-25).  It’s at least half done but I need to finish it so that I can make the connections I need to have it edited, published, marketed, and into the hands of those who will benefit from the things that are shared in it.  Again this is part of my destiny and purpose for being here.  So I can’t devote all of my time to corporate America and the day to day “busy work” of errands, fun etc.  In the words of Dr. James Farmer (Forest Whitaker in “The Great Debators.”) “We do what we have to do, so we can do what we want to do.”

I guess thats a big enough list for two months right?  I do have plans for 09 that I will document at the beginning of the year.  If I can just regulate these areas of my life, these disciplines should put me on a more direct track to living my dreams.  I have lived most of my life for others in most cases.  And by the time the middle of 09 comes around, I want it to start being about me a little more ya dig?  I just need to be more disciplined and focused. 

Thanks for your help and encouragement!  And by all means check on me!

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Pro Life! (Across the Board)

As the election draws near I am hearing more and more from my conservative friends regarding the pro-life vs. pro choice argument.  The Catholics and Evangelical Christians are especially vigilant on this issue.  They feel as they did the last 8 years that to vote for someone who is pro-choice is a vote for a pro abortionist or a baby killer.  Some are even saying now that to vote for Senator Obama is to bring eternal damnation upon ones self. 

© Roger Derin - NYI Student

Someone asked my opinion of the abortion issue recently.  And I have debated with my right leaning Christian friends for years.  What gets me most in this debate is the fact that rarely is there any balance in the discussion… especially from my Christian and Catholic friends.

I can say for sure I am totally pro-life.  I don’t believe that abortion is a good thing for anyone – certainly not as a form of birth control as some have practiced.   I believe these people are rare however.  The abortion rate outside of reasons for the health of a mother, or in cases of rape and incest is horrible.  I honestly feel that most people who are pro-choice would agree with me on that.  Most Americans are not pro-abortion.

Where my right wing friends miss it however, is the narrow scope in which they focus on the unborn exclusively.  If one is to be truly pro-life, he has to be pro-life across the board.  In the scriptures Jesus himself said that He came to give life… and to give it more abundantly.  This is to say that the act of living is not the end all.  Quality of life is also important.  So to protect the unborn is great, to help promote and preserve the lives of the living once they make it past the womb is even better.

And yet how ironic is it that most so called pro-lifers are for government stepping in to control the womb, but are against government helping to promote and preserve healthy living standards for poor or lower enconomically developed families.  How ironic is it that when it comes to public education, most of the Christian right do not fight for better schools and better teachers.  How ironic is it that these same Christians and Catholics are against goverment providing or helping with the cost of health-care?  Basically what they are saying is:

“This unborn child is a gift from God and should be allowed to live by any means!  But once the child leaves the womb, the mother and child are on their own and it is not our responsibility to make sure that child has every opportunity to make it.” 

Now pardon me – but that is some dumb backwards ass shit!  

 How to Take Great Baby Pictures.

We need a holistic approach to the situation.  Let’s not look at this thing from the view of the womb alone.  That is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. 

Let’s start with sex education.  Palin and McCain are against sex education in schools.  Palin in particular is in foolish denial for being against sex education, as if that would encourage kids to have sex.  Funny thing is, her daughter certainly found a way to knock boots regularly and came up pregnant.  Sex is a natural desire as well as a natural act.  No sense in denying the obvious as if it’s going to go away.   And yes it should be taught at home first, but too many parents don’t.  So again if the child in the womb should be a governmental concern, so should the educating of the youth so that they can at least help prevent unwanted or premature pregnancies in the first place –  Let alone helping to prevent the spread of STDs or HIV.

How about healthcare?  Millions of children are uninsured and use the emergency room as a heathcare provider.  When they can’t pay, we as citizens and tax payers pay anyway.  So why not have a system where proper healthcare can be obtained.  That five thousand dollar credit McCain is offering, that is he going to turn around and tax anyway, is not nearly as good as Obama’s healthcare plan.  Again this is especially important for the less fortunate children that we wanted to protect in the womb in making sure they were allowed to live in the first place.

Adoption: A good friend of mine adopted two girls a few years ago.  I attended her ceremony when she became certified by the state to adopt.  When I looked in the book that had the list of kids who were on the state rolls for pending foster care in need of adoption, I started crying from the thousands and thousands of young faces I saw.  They each had pictures and portfolios about their virtues.  This one likes bowling, the other loves math.  It was as if they were “selling” themselves to some perspective parents who would “pick” them as if they were picking a puppy dog.  What was most disturbing was the older faces I saw of kids who were 5-17 years of age.  Basically from what I was told at the agency, most of the teen-aged kids can forget it.  Couples tend to want the young cuddly types.  Babies are cool, but teens are a pain with baggage. 

Then you got couples who take their asses clean out of the county to Honduras or some place like that to adopt little foreign kids… like that shit is hot or exotic or something – leaving the American born kids here to rot.  Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t hatin!  I know a couple who adopted a kid from South America.  They are good people and at the time they didn’t think they could have kids naturally.  Later they were successful in having one of their own.

We had lunch before the 2000 election.  They had not adopted yet and were considering their options.  As far as the presidency was concerned, abortion was the key reason they were voting for Bush.  I said to them however, “You care so much about abortion, and rightfully so.  But I guarantee you there are some kids you can adopt right here who need a home.  Or there are some kids in church or in your neighborhood who need a good man and woman in their lives to be a mentor for.”  I told my friend’s wife, “Take some teenager under your wing who doesn’t have a mother and teach her how to be a woman.  Show her how to take care of her body and eat right.  Help her with her education.  Don’t just look out for those kids in the womb, do God’s work as well by tending to the sheep He has here on the earth who are less fortunate or have special needs.”  They both looked at me with blank stares.  Needless to say they didn’t do either.  They adopted abroad, had their own and kept to themselves.  That is a typical picture of the Christian and Catholic communities when it comes to this subject.  

So I say to all you pro-lifers who are passionate about protecting the unborn… Hooray!  But step your game up and stop being a half-assed pro-lifer.  There are many more ways to help prevent abortion.  To work from that angle alone, or to back a canidate in an attempt to reverse Roe V Wade is shortsighted at best.  Believe me, there are many many other issues that concern life.  Each of the important things on the table, education, healthcare, jobs, oppertunities to gain wealth or live in a safe neighborhood are all issues of life.  And hell I didn’t even touch the wickedness and injustices of the death penalty. 

No way you can tell me it’s godly or Christian to put so much energy in protecting unborn children, only to turn a cold heart to those same kids who may not have the resources to live a healthy life.  Don’t forsake the one goal without neglecting the other.  All of the children of this nation of ours are important and we each have a stake in taking some responsibility for their welfare and success.

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Commentary from Nafees A. Sayed – by way of CNN.com

Harvard University student Nafees Syed says both candidates should reach out to Muslims in the U.S.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) — During this election, we have seen the spectacle of two presidential candidates fighting over one voter while snubbing an entire segment of the American population worthy of their attention.

We in the Muslim-American community look wistfully at people like Joe the Plumber, wishing that we too could be courted for our vote by the presidential candidates.

At the same time, we look gratefully at figures like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who reassure us that there is hope for greater acceptance of Muslim-Americans.

Over time, we grew to expect standoffish treatment from the Republican Party. Almost a decade ago, many Muslims, my parents included, supported President Bush for his humble foreign policy stances, strong family values and reaching out to the Muslim-American community.

Things have obviously changed since September 11, 2001, and we have grown used to anti-Muslim rhetoric from Republican candidates. We have run like refugees to the Democratic Party, only to find reluctant tolerance and hope that we will go somewhere else.

American civil rights activist and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, “[The American Negro] simply wishes it possible to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly on his face.”

Over a century later, I and many other Muslim-Americans feel the same, hoping that we can be accepted in America as both Muslims and Americans.

As a college student voting in my first presidential election, I have been inspired by Barack Obama’s call for change. My campus is full of Obama posters, and several of my classmates have taken time off to work for his campaign.

There is no doubt Obama has the Harvard vote, but my vote will not be cast as enthusiastically as others.

This campaign means to me what it means for my classmates. In the next few years, the economy and American foreign policy will affect my generation unlike any other, and those concerns are the primary influences on my vote.

However, as a Muslim-American, I see some issues as more personal. I don’t blame Obama for clarifying that he isn’t a Muslim; if someone misidentified my religion, I would likewise point out the facts, especially if it was part of a larger smear campaign. However, as the first Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison stated, “A lot of us are waiting for him to say that there’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim, by the way.”

Indeed, Obama’s responses to accusations that he is Muslim should be more than just denial; they should be a condemnation of the prejudices that lace such accusations.

When I discuss this issue with fellow Muslim-Americans, especially ones who have dedicated significant time to his campaign, I immediately hear that he’s just doing what he needs to do to win.

I respond skeptically to these arguments. Is it really politically necessary for Obama to avoid visiting mosques — something that President Bush has dared to do — while rallying support from churches and synagogues? Doesn’t his careful distance from the Muslim-American community contradict his message of unity?

Still, others, my parents included, advise that it is best that we as Muslim-Americans avoid marring his campaign with our visible support at a time when any connection with Muslims would jeopardize his chances of winning. They reason that we have to politically isolate ourselves for the better candidate to win, a sacrifice we should make for our country.

I am unwilling to feign political apathy. All I want is for one of the candidates to assure me and the American public that “Muslim” and “American” are not mutually exclusive terms.

Colin Powell’s recent interview with Tom Brokaw has left me with some hope. He highlights the flaw in the question of Obama’s religion with the answer, “he is not a Muslim; he’s a Christian. … But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America.”

To prove his point, Gen. Powell recounted the story of Purple Heart- and Bronze Star-winning Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, an American soldier in Iraq who sacrificed his life for his country. He represents a Muslim-American community that is dedicated to its country and worthy of the presidential candidates’ attention and respect.

It is a tribute to Gen. Powell’s own dedication to his country that he would take note of the treatment of Muslim-Americans during the elections.

Thanks, Gen. Powell. You said the words that Muslim-Americans around the country were waiting to hear.