1945 BIRTHER- ME?
Before we end the week I want to
simply quote a few verses from Isaiah 26.
‘Thou will keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee’
‘Trust ye in the Lord forever-
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength’
‘When thy judgments are in the
earth- the inhabitants of the world will learn justice’.
I stumbled upon this chapter the
other day- I did not realize how many verses I have memorized over the years-
ones that I would quote and stuff- not realizing they were lumped together in
this chapter.
Over the years I have had times
[years] where I would read thru the bible every year.
Or maybe read the New Testament
thru many times- and the Old Testament a little slower.
These past few years I have
slowed down a bit- still reading every week- but less ‘volume’ and more
meditation.
I’ll read a chapter- then stay on
it for a few days- and then see more stuff each time.
I try and listen for ‘daily
bread’ type of a thing.
In the Lord’s prayer [Our father]
he said we should pray for ‘our daily bread’ and in a way that speaks about
what God wants to tell us each day.
Sort of like the story of Manna
in the time of Moses.
The people of God were in the wilderness
for 40 years- and God fed them bread every morning.
It was called ‘angels food’ it
was this little wafer type thing that was on the ground each day.
God told them only take enough
for you and your family- if you take too much- and store it up overnight- it
will spoil.
But on the 6th day
they could take enough for 2 days- because they were not supposed to gather it
on the Sabbath.
So God in a way has daily manna
for us- if we try and overload the system- by eating too much- then it will
spoil.
Its funny- over the years I have
seen/gone thru stages where you get involved with movements- good people- who
for whatever reason get into some type of teaching.
Maybe they will emphasize some
new thing- and for years they will go down that road.
Maybe it’s not a bad road per
se’- but these things were not supposed to be ‘roads’ at all.
That is- as believers we should
establish our hearts in grace and the reality of God.
The reality of the Cross and
death of Christ for us.
And then as we learn and grow-
sure- we will learn lots of stuff- but when you get into fads- well it’s like
the verse in the book of Hebrews.
‘It is a good thing that you are established
in grace- not with meats [ side doctrines] for it is not profitable for those
who are occupied therein’ [my paraphrase].
Okay- a few things.
The other day at the mission I
had to intervene- sort of like a Ref.
2 of the guys were getting into
it- over all things- politics and religion!
Now- these guys happened to be
sober- but you have a few guys who start drinking early- and by the time I get
there- well let’s say they are feeling pretty good.
So- I could think of no better environment
to discuss politics and religion- can you?
Somehow one of my buddies- who is
very smart- got a hold of ‘birthirism’ somewhere along the line.
I first heard him talk about it a
few months back- and was kinda surprised.
He is not a ‘right winger’ at
all- he attends a classically more liberal church [Methodist] and we often
discuss the Sunday school teaching from the previous week.
He has the notes from church- and
they are always taking a more liberal side- and I have told him that the
Methodists are a great church- and they do an excellent job at social justice
[like the Catholics].
So- it was a surprise for my friend
to have launched into birthirism [the belief that Obama is not a U.S. citizen].
By the way- those who believe
this are not total nuts- if I have time I’ll share a few facts- things that
have caused people to question- yet I have never swallowed the Trump view.
So- my buddy starts into his
talk.
‘Obama was sworn in on the Koran-
even if he was born in Hawaii- that’s not part of the continental U.S.- so he
still is not legitimate’.
A few more things like this- that
coming from this particular friend- surprised me.
Now- this day we were sitting
with my other friend Don.
Don is the gardener at the
mission- the pics I posted on Facebook- with the garden- that’s Don.
Don is quite the intellectual-
for real.
It never ceases to amaze me when
I run into the smartest guys that are homeless.
Don has a well rounded education-
knows all types of subjects- sort of a renaissance man if you will.
So- for Don to have heard my
other friend launch into his thing- well- he could not believe that my friend
was saying this.
Don- rightfully- corrected my
buddy in no uncertain terms.
My buddy went on about Obama being
a non citizen.
Then they appealed to me- to be
honest I did not want to get into it.
But I did.
I had to side with Don- and
correct my other friend because he was so misinformed.
Obviously Hawaii is part of the
U.S. - even though Alaska and Hawaii are not part of the land mass that makes
up the lower 48.
Yet they are states- and they
count as being born in the U.S.
But I had to throw out some cover
for my misinformed friend.
He looks up to me as sort of a
teacher- and when someone sees you that way- it’s hard for them to be corrected
by someone they look up to.
So- I did tell Don that I have
read/watched so many news things over the past 4 years- that there were things
that gave some people real reason to doubt the president’s place of birth.
Now- be careful here- I want you
to hear carefully.
Because what I think has happened-
is the president did things in the past- like we all have done [skewing the
facts to gain a benefit].
He possibly presented himself- at
various times- as being from Kenya- or as sharing the Muslim faith.
What- are you nuts?
Not 100% [maybe half?]
Okay- here’s the cover for my
buddy.
As people started looking into
the birth certificate thing- there were some indications that the president
might have said he was from Kenya- maybe to sort of play into the role of ‘this
new and up and coming author- with such an interesting background’.
Or maybe at times- in applying
for school- you might say you’re a foreign
born person- because you get an edge if the school has a quota type thing [thus
the Trump challenge to show his college records].
Why do I think this might have
happened?
When you wade thru all the
accusations- there were a few things that did come up that quite frankly looked
strange.
One of the more questionable
things was the actual promotion of one of Obama’s books- the book publisher
actually introduced Obama- the author- as a ‘Kenyan born’ person.
Now- when this came out- the
president- and the publisher- both admitted that this was not a fake.
They simply said it was a typo.
Huh?
They both admitted that the intro
for the book said Obama was Kenyan- but it was a typo.
Look- a typo is hitting a wrong
key on the keyboard [unless this type writer had Kenya as one of the keys?]
And what are the chances that
this typo just happened to name Kenya as his birthplace?
I mean that’s a bit much to swallow to be honest.
So John- he’s a Kenyan!
/
Now- here's where I give the pres
the benefit of the doubt- but why I say he too has given the birthers a reason
to question him.
There are a few people that
said/think that Obama used this ‘I was born in Kenya’ thing to simply help
promote himself.
He has spoken about his own identity
struggle in the past.
Growing up he had the name of his
step dad [Sotero].
As he got older- being raised by
a single mom- he eventually learned more about his real dad- from Kenya- and he
did try to identify more with his father’s heritage.
So- maybe did he start saying
‘I’m Kenyan’
Sure.
Was this so bad?
No.
But is this possible?
Yes.
The more believable explanation
for a book publisher to say you’re from Kenya- would be that Obama might have
presented himself as such.
Others have said that he did say
this to them as well.
And some think he might have used
this on his college application.
This is very possible- and to be
honest- for a book publisher to accidently pick Kenya- as a typo- that’s a bit
much.
So- I gave cover to my birther friend-
by leaving him room- that is to say there are people who question it- Obama’s place
of birth- and they are not all nuts.
But- I also sided with Don- that
at the end of the day- I think this issue is settled.
It’s hard to have friends on both
sides of these things.
Because when you take one side-
the other feels alienated.
I think it’s also wrong to assume
that those who did not support Obama are all birthers.
I supported Romney simply on the
basis of experience.
Those who want a real honest
critique of the president should read Bob Woodward’s latest book.
He tells the story- the true
story- of how many of the president’s closest inside fiends felt he was so far
out of his league- after he got in- that others had to actually run the show-
for quite some time.
Yes- these are actual reports from
friends of Obama.
I remember hearing his main
financial guy [I forget the name right now- Lawrence Lindsey?]
He said at one point ‘if we were not
running this show- no one would be in charge’.
Yes- there are some real- honest critiques
that have come out- and they did indeed feel like the president was way out of
his league for this job.
And these were not birthers.
So- at the end of the day- some
supported one side because they had real questions.
Others supported Obama because
they too had honest positions.
But we also need to correct those
in our midst who have wrong views- things that they picked up along the way.
If we want good discourse- it must
be informed.
And yes- at times both sides have
missed this mark.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
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