How you know you are winning an argument with a liberal

You ever have an argument with a liberal about some ridiculously wasteful piece of government spending?

The conversations all go the same way. You point out that the country is broke and we simply can't afford to spend money like a drunken sailor even if the program/spending seems like a worthy cause. If something is not part of a core function of government then we need to have a very suspect eye towards that spending. Maybe you throw in some cautionary words about how it's against our national security to keep borrowing from China in order to pay for things we don't need, and "X" is something we clearly don't need so it's got to go. All pretty straight forward stuff.

And how do your liberal friends respond?

1) that's just a drop in the bucket and not enough to make a difference.
2) Well look at all the money Republicans waste on (Insert something liberals are against like the war or corporate welfare)

Consider those arguments for a moment. Are our liberal friends really saying that they approve of wasteful government spending in small doses? A few million here and a few million there will add up to real money pretty quick if we get serious about trimming waste. When you point this out to liberals they usually come back with, "Well we should focus on the big things first." That's almost as ridiculous. How are we going to get to a bipartisan consensus on cutting big things like entitlements and Social Security if we can't come to a simple agreement on something that is obviously small and wasteful? It defies common sense. In cutting spending, as in everything else, you walk before you run.

The second response is even more ridiculous. I hesitate to even call it an argument because it basically cedes that the current item is indefensible on its own merit and just seeks to change the subject. Do wasteful practices by someone else or under someone else's watch really justify continued poor stewardship of taxpayer resources? I've found that liberals really don't like answering that question. I generally tell them that I'm glad they agree with me and that I'm even more glad that they have ideas about other places we can impose some fiscal discipline.

Bottom line is that if a liberal ever tells you either of these two things in an argument about government spending, you've won. Liberals don't have any substantive arguments to make on reducing government spending because for most of them there is nothing outside of the defense department that they want to cut.

The truth about liberals is that they would rather raise taxes and continue to allow government to grow at the expense of the private sector. Of course, this would be a lot easier to swallow if they didn't raise these ridiculous objections to defend every wasteful, pork barrel project on the books.

Another Misguided Lawsuit

I read earlier this week where parents of a high school basketball player in Indiana had sued the local school district because the coach has a policy against his players having long hair.

The school district to its great credit has refused to cave to the demand. They rightly point out that playing high school sports is not a right and as long as the policy is uniformly enforced, the kid doesn't have a cause of action.

But what bothers me more than the frivolous nature of the lawsuit and the resources it will undoubtedly waste is the message that these parents are sending to their kid. They are basically saying to the kid go ahead and disregard authority. You don't have to play by the rules that every other player on the team has to accept.

I'm sure these parents think they are doing right by their son, but they aren't. Life is full of arbitrary rules that many times we won't agree with. You can't go around challenging all of them with a lawsuit, especially if you want to get and keep a job. A better message to send their kid would have been to say, "Well son, it might be a silly rule, but it's the Coach's rule and it applies to all the players. You'll just have to decide which is more important to you, long hair or playing basketball."

I believe that the real key to success in life is learning to make good decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources. There's only so much time, money, and talent to go around. You've got to learn to make disciplined decisions on how you are going to apply them.

The story reminds me of a story I heard about Coach John Wooden of UCLA. Coach Wooden won more NCAA championships than any other coach in history. Back in the 70's he had an All-America center named Bill Walton who fashioned himself a hippie. As the time neared for the beginning of practice for his senior season Walton informed Coach Wooden that he was the returning MVP and National Player of the Year and that a coach didn't have the right to make him cut his hair and shave. (Coach Wooden had a similar policy to the one these parents are suing about.) Wooden didn't hesitate. He told Walton that he was right. He didn't have the right to make him do anything, but that he did have the right to determine who was going to play basketball at UCLA and that if he wasn't back in 15 minutes with his hair taken care of that he would not be one of those playing that season.

Walton cut his hair. UCLA went on to win yet another championship.

Consider what the rebellious star Walton had to say about Wooden last year upon the Coach's passing:

John Wooden represents the conquest of substance over hype, the triumph of achievement over erratic flailing, the conquest of discipline over gambling, and the triumph of executing an organized plan over hoping that you’ll be lucky, hot or in the zone.

John Wooden also represents the conquest of sacrifice, hard work and commitment to achievement over the pipe dream that someone will just give you something, or that you can take a pill or turn a key to get what you want.

I guess these parents don't believe their son would have benefited from playing under a coach like John Wooden. What a shame.

Answer I gave a friend about church

Been a while since I've posted, but it's a new year and I've got a lot to say...so here goes

A friend asked me on Facebook yesterday if one had to go to church to be a "true" believer in Christ. Here is the response I gave him.

I do not believe that one must go to church to receive salvation. Salvation comes from believing in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and repenting of your sin. Nothing more is needed. Baptism, church attendance, giving tithes...none of these are required to go to heaven.

That said, I think it is entirely fair to think about what our response to God's undeserved and overwhelming grace through Christ should be. The Bible speaks to this as well. Christ said that those who love Him would keep His commandments. Similarly James wrote that faith without works is dead. In other words, if our faith is real and sincere, we will be motivated to obedience. If we believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that Christ did the things the Bible says He did, I can't imagine responding any other way.

Now, does the Bible speak to church attendance? Absolutely. See Hebrews 10:25 where Christians are told to meet together and encourage one another. I would also call attention to what Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 12 analogizing the church to the body of Christ and explaining each part's dependence on the other. This makes sense as it is plain to see that a hand that is cut off from the rest of the body is of little use. The Bible also points out that Christ loves the church and analogizes the church to being Chirst's bride. Finally, and most persuasively to me, the Bible teaches that Christ Himself was a regular attender of church and if being a Christian is about being more like Christ, then there can be no greater example. See Luke 4:16 describing Christ's regular practice of attending church on the Sabbath.

So if you believe what the New Testament says about the way Christians should function together and you want to be like Jesus, then it is really hard to justify a careless attitude about attending church.

Some items of Praise

Just wanted to take a few moments to publicly thank God for some stuff going on in my life...

First, the house is returning to normalcy. The new dry wall and painting are done. The new colors my wife picked look great. And most importantly we have a few days of peace and quiet before we head to the beach Sunday for the next week so the floors can be refinished. Given the hassle this whole water damage thing has been it is great to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Second, I hit 1000 friends on Facebook this week and it put me in mind of how amazing it is to be blessed to have so many talented, dedicated, and truly amazing people in my life. None of them are there by accident and I praise God for it.

Third, we had a great NASCAR weekend at Atlanta. We had some old friends over and made some new ones as well. Two highlights were seeing my old friend Brian Carty for the first time in 15 years and hosting the Motor Racing Outreach ministry staff for dinner at our place on Saturday night. I was really touched by Nationwide Series Chaplain Lonnie Clouse telling me about his plan to move his family to Mexico to work with orphans. Hearing Lonnie share his heart for children was a blessing.

Finally, I'm going fishing tomorrow. It's my first trip of 2010. Folks who know me know how much I enjoy hunting and fishing. Due to my achilles injury I didn't get to make a single trip deer hunting this past fall. (probably for the first time in 30 years) This injury showed me how much I take for granted the physical freedom God has blessed me with to do things that I enjoy. I will savor the time out tomorrow even if I don't get a bite.

So the words from the old doxology are definitely ringing true in my life...Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!!!

The truth about NOW and Tim Tebow

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is showing its true colors with its criticisms of a Super Bowl ad featuring Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother Pam.

First, a little background on the ad. When Pam Tebow was pregnant with Tim while on a Christian missionary assignment in the Philippines she was diagnosed with a health problem that led doctors to recommend she have an abortion for her own protection. She carried the baby to term against the advice of those doctors eventually giving birth to Tim, quite possibly the most decorated college football player since Jim Thorpe. The commercial, which is being financed by Focus on the Family, shares this story and encourages people to “celebrate family and celebrate life.”

The commercial has led to protests and upheaval from the usual cast of left of center groups claiming to be advocates for women. Predictably, the leader of this pack is NOW and its president Terri O’Neill.

In calling on CBS to ditch the ad, O’Neill begins by saying she respects the private choices made by women like Pam Tebow, but continues to say that she finds the commercial to be “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”

Who exactly is offended or demeaned by this story is unclear. Perhaps Miss O’Neill is offended that Pam Tebow didn’t defer to her doctors. Or maybe she just hates the Florida Gators. O'Neill didn't exactly say.

But her next comments reveal the lie that is really at the heart of her philosophy. “That’s not being respectful of other people’s lives,” says O’Neill. “It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else’s.”

Listen to Miss O’Neill’s words carefully. What she has really said is that there is no such thing as truth. She would sacrifice the very existence of right and wrong to promote her agenda that says anyone (or at least women) should be able to do whatever they please without facing the stigma of having made a moral judgment. The very idea that one choice could be than another choice is offensive.

Consider where her logic takes us. Can we not say that hard work is superior to stealing? If I criticize those who choose to molest children am I being offensive? Are those who rape just making a different but equal choice from those who don’t?

These statements prove conclusively that the leadership of the National Organization for Women is morally bankrupt.

Regardless of how offensive it might be to Miss O’Neill, there is such a thing as right and wrong. Good and evil exist. We cannot divorce ourselves of the moral dimensions of the choices we make no matter how much we may wish those dimensions didn’t exist.

If O’Neill is so offended at the Tebow’s message, then here is what I suggest she do. Let NOW raise the 2.8 million dollars necessary to pay for a Super Bowl ad and put women on television who will tell the story of their decision to have an abortion. If choice is the most sacred of values, let’s give the public a choice between the grief, guilt and heart wrenching agony felt by untold scores of women who have experienced the trauma of abortion and compare that to the heart warming story of Pam Tebow’s unconditional love for her unborn baby who was special to her before he became a football hero.

Perhaps then the world would see the moral bankruptcy of Miss O’Neill’s philosophy and they would choose accordingly.

A quick follow up word on college football officiating

If you follow ACC football at all you know that when you look up "terrible officiating" in the encyclopedia you see Ron Cherry's picture front and center. It doesn't matter who your favorite team is, everybody agrees that this guy and his entire crew are unmatched for incompetence.

The Ron Cherry circus took it to a new level on Saturday in Clemson. After scoring Clemson's first touchdown, tight end Dwayne Allen stood at attention and saluted towards the America flag. He then turned and jogged off the field. Allen was promptly cited for a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Did I mention that it was military appreciation day at the stadium?

Saluting the flag on military appreciation day is "unsportsmanlike"? The ACC should apologize to Dwayne Allen, Clemson University, and most importantly to anyone who has ever served in the United States military for their ridiculous definition of sportsmanship.

My first experience with government run health care

Rather than rehash a synopsis of the myriad of policy and ideological arguments that can be made for and against the current health care reform movement, I’d like to share with you my own ongoing experience with government run health care in South Carolina.

I have two daughters. Claire turned one in October and Lauren will be three in April. My wife, like so many mothers of young children, has been very concerned with the H1N1 virus (swine flu). She has been awaiting the availability of the vaccine in our area.

Trouble is that it’s not here yet in mass supply. After copious amounts of time spent on the phone and internet, my wife discovered the vaccine was being offered at the North Charleston Health Department. She phoned and asked if it was available locally. It was not. All of the vaccine that the state had was in North Charleston. Vaccinations were free, but by appointment only. The earliest available appointment was in about two weeks. The folks at the Health Department weren’t able to say when or where the vaccine would be available next, so my wife took the earliest available appointment and continued to monitor the situation.

The next week, my wife discovered that the vaccinations were being offered at the Health Department in Sumter County. Once again they were taking appointments. Because Sumter is much closer to us than Charleston, my wife made an appointment there for the upcoming Friday and cancelled the appointments in North Charleston. Once again there was no information available on if or when the vaccine may be available in Columbia.

After making the appointment in Sumter County, my wife found out late last week that the vaccine was going to be available at the Health Department in Aiken County. Unlike Charleston and Sumter, there would be no appointments accepted. Instead, shots would be made available free of charge on a first come first served basis beginning at 3pm on Monday, November 2nd.

So yesterday we loaded up the girls and drove to my inlaws in North Augusta (Aiken County). My wife and Grandma took the girls over to the Health Department in North Augusta. They arrived at 3pm and there was already a lengthy line.

Health Department personnel then informed everyone in line that was over 65 years old that they were ineligible to receive the vaccination and sent them home. Then they told the adults 25 to 64 that they could only get the vaccine if they had some sort of underlying medical condition such as asthma. Yet another group went home.

Finally, after standing in line for over 2 hours (much of which was spent outside the building on the sidewalk), my children received the vaccination. They were the 114th and 115th people to receive the vaccination that afternoon.

After getting the shots, my wife was given instructions to call the Health Department the next day to make arrangements to get the second administration of the vaccinations. (The vaccine requires two administrations to be effective in children their age).

So my wife calls to make the follow up appointment this morning and what do you suppose they tell her? First, they only give follow up vaccinations on Tuesdays. Second, due to the helter skelter availability of the vaccine, they do not make appointments for follow ups longer than 24 hours in advance because they could not be certain they would even have it.

So to sum up... After standing in line for hours, my kids got the first half of a vaccine with zero guarantee that they would be able to get the second half of the vaccine required to make it effective. But at least they fared better than old folks. They were summarily told to take a hike before the first shot was given. Information was scarce and the people giving the information and administering the vaccinations weren’t exactly “fired up” about providing good customer service.

Limited availability. Long lines. Rationing. Poor customer service. And no guarantee that any of it will do my children a lick of good.

But at least the shot was “free”.

I can’t wait for the government to bring this efficiency and quality to the rest of my health care. How about you?