Paineful Truth

In America, the concept of “equal justice under the law” is foundational to our system. In the vast majority of cultures and countries from the beginning of time, different standards of right and wrong applied to different classes. And while America’s system is far from perfect, it is lightyears better than most any other culture or country in the world today. That being said, news broke today that has brought tears to the eyes of Lady Justice. From Fox News , “Two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos of themselves trying to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood were charged with 15 felonies, California prosecutors announced Tuesday.” You may remember when these videos were first published . America was shocked to see the severed limbs and lifeless organs of innocent unborn children being casually examined as if they were nothing more than products at a farmer’s market. There was a spark of outrage. But alas, it was only a spark, and it quickly fizzled out and w

Something strange happens when you base decisions off of principle. It’s called consistency. I say it’s strange, not because it’s weird, but because it’s rare. It’s rare because few people actually take the hard road of standing on principle no matter what. Instead, they take the easy road, basing decisions off of emotions or what is convenient at the time. That easy road is a winding road, because emotions and what is convenient change often. This results in a person sometimes doing things that are completely opposite of what they may have done a short time ago. No consistency . However, principles are like a compass , a guiding star. No matter what is going on, no matter the circumstances or the emotions involved, you will always know what to do because principles tell you what to do. You will always know what to do because true principles do not change. Today the House was debating the American Healthcare Act , aka RyanCare, aka TrumpCare. Representatives alternately spoke fo

Leadership is a dangerous thing. The Bible warns that leaders bear an added responsibility, they are in part responsible for where they lead others. Anyone who takes up the mantel of leadership should do so with great caution, understanding that their actions will have ripple effects that they cannot possibly anticipate. These ripple effects can be good, creating a better world and more freedom. Or, these ripple effects can be bad, and cause great harm for years to come. It should be noted that although leaders bear a large portion of responsibility, followers too bear responsibility. As individuals we all have the responsibility to seek out the Truth. We have the responsibility to never follow a leader simply because they are a leader. We have the responsibility to cling to unchanging Truth and eternal principles and only follow leaders who will take us in the direction of that truth and those principles. Our world seems to be obsessed with labels. People label themselves with

And the media wonders why no one takes them seriously anymore. Rachel Maddow’s over-hyped attempt to finally expose the evil-ness of Trump fell flat on its face. It left many people wondering, “Why do I even watch this anymore?” The main reason for watching now seems to be kicks and giggles. Ever since Trump announced his candidacy, the mainstream, liberal media has demonstrated over and over its utter inability to handle the essence that is Trump. Their normal formulas for demolishing “Republican” politicians didn’t work and they were left scrambling to sound relevant. And they are still scrambling.   The question that the media needs to ask itself is - what do the American people care about? With a population of over 300 million, it’s impossible to say definitively what all of America cares about. However, the election of Donald Trump gives us a good indication of what a large portion of America does, and does not care about. At this time, right or wrong, the majority of Am

Bill O’Reilly is generally seen as a leader in the conservative movement. Whether this title is actually deserved is a matter of opinion. His adamant support for a candidate like Trump (especially when there were other, far better options ) definitely calls it into question. However, after an article on FoxNews.com this week, I think that it is safe to say O’Reilly is not the conservative that many believe him to be. O’Reilly states, “Essentially, there are three major expectations that the government should meet under the constitutional banner of pursuit of happiness….Number one, security.” Number two on the list: “Americans are entitled to an affordable medical system that can alleviate their suffering.” And number three on his list: “...fair access to the free marketplace.” (First of all, a word on the pursuit of happiness . This phrase is often misunderstood, but the Declaration was written, it was often used interchangeably with the word ‘property’. The Founders saw this

I find it fascinating the vast difference that often grows between a word’s connotation and denotation . Denotation is what the word actually, literally means. A word’s connotation is the idea or emotion that a word provokes in addition to its literal meaning. Now that we have our grammar lesson out of the way, let’s talk about feminism. Feminism is defined as “advocating for social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men,” or “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” Based on this literal definition, I would venture to say that the vast majority of Americans are “feminist” in that they believe that there should be equality among men and women.* However, the denotation of feminism has turned this basic concept of equality into a travesty.** What comes to mind when you hear the word feminism? Equal pay for equal work , abortion on demand (aka “reproductive rights”), government mandated childcare/materni

    The other day, someone was telling me how happy they were with Trump’s first month in office. When asked what they liked, they said he was getting a lot done, making some real changes. When asked what change they liked best and how it was affecting their daily life, they couldn’t name anything specific.      When this same person was asked what they thought of a recent bill being sponsored by their state representative, they were completely unaware that the event had even taken place. They didn’t even recognize their own representative’s name.      The point here is that if we watch the news or nearly any kind of media for that matter, we tend to develop a Washington D.C.-centric way of thinking. Every day the media narrative of what’s going on inside the White House or on Capitol Hill affects our attitude, our way of thinking, and even our relationships. The media is constantly directing our attention to the national news while the local happenings go largely unno