Who Goes to Heaven?

Now, those who know me personally know that I'm a bit of a wise ass, a serious punster, and someone with an unknown amount of faith in the Lord.  I'm not a steady church-goer, but when I do attend, I'm a debtor, so there is always an awkward pause if I'm in a congregation of trespassers.  The relationship between me and God is strictly between the two of us, and as Matthew tells us all to do, I talk to the Lord in secret so that He and I are the only ones privy to our conversation.  I was taught many years ago that the Lord listens to all our prayers, which makes him pretty busy, so I feel we should limit our supplications to those times when divine intervention is truly needed.

I receive memos almost on a daily basis asking for my prayers for one person or another.   Some of these requests I deem necessary and I quietly ask my Lord to help out in the way He finds appropriate.  Others, I ignore, deciding on my own not to take up God's valuable time with trivial matters such as the granddaughter starting at a new school, the family moving to a new city, so-and-so taking a new job, a couple trying to have a child, or a football team meeting their cross-state rival.

I read the obituaries aloud each evening so my non-newspaper-reading spouse will know if someone she knows is no longer with us.  Most folks simply die, but there are those who go on a trip to meet their Heavenly Father, others who pass into the next life, and yet more who seem to have just fallen into everlasting sleep.  The cynic in me wants to say that those who simply died were known to have lead Godly lives so there is little doubt where they went, but those who are said to have taken that trip or passed in the next life, well, perhaps the family wasn't so confidant that their dearly beloved actually made it to those pearly gates, but by saying so, the rest of us will be convinced that the dearly beloved did indeed make it to Heaven.  

After all, as our daughter's pastor once preached, if you don't follow the rules of the Bible, when you die, you'll go to Hell.

Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol

I read recently that Congressman John Lewis (Dem GA) wants the statue of  Alexander Stephens removed from Statuary Hall in the nation's Capitol.    For those who don't know, Stephens was a US Congressman from Georgia, serving from 1843 to 1859 before the Civil War and from 1873 to 1882 during Reconstruction.  He was the Governor of Georgia from 1882 to 1883, and, probably the reasons Congressman Lewis wants his statue removed, the Vice President of the Confederate States of America from 1862 to 1865, and a slaveholder.

I understand Congressman Lewis' wish to rewrite history.  It was a terrible time for our country, but I feel his request might be a bit disingenuous as it came just days after the Atlanta city government asked to have the carving on Stone Mountain sandblasted away.  The Taliban and ISIS have been demolishing historic monuments, sculptures and even ancient cities in Afghanistan and Syria.  Congressman Lewis and Mayor Reed need to re-evaluate their requests before they begin to be compared to those groups.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," and without reminders like the statue of Alexander Stephens, repeating past mistakes is certainly a possibility.


Being somewhat of a cynic, I took Congressman Lewis' lead, and looked up to see who else was deified in Statuary Hall with a background we might now question.

• William Allen - a pro-slavery Senator from Ohio (Scheduled to be replaced this year by a statue of Thomas Edison, an inventor, unsuccessful businessman, and quite possibly, an atheist)
• Stephen F. Austin - Texas Secretary of State who helped populate the Republic of Texas by, among other incentives, offering 80 acres of land to immigrants for every slave they brought with them.
• Charles Brantley Aycock - a white supremacist "noted as having advocated that black students be properly educated through curriculum and care tightly controlled by North Carolina whites, to "benefit the black race to fit them into a subordinate role.""
• Bob Bartlett - US Representative from Alaska known for the 'Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act' which no doubt led to Sarah Palin's rise to power.
• William Henry Harrison Beadle - Surveyor-General of the Dakota Territories named for the slave-holding President of the United States.
• Thomas Hart Benton - a one-time slave holder
• Francis Preston Blair, Jr - a United States Senator who opposed Reconstruction
• William Borah - A United States Senator who thought well enough of Adolf Hitler to tell the press that, "the combination of President von Hindenburg and the Nazi leader should be able to administer the affairs of the German people"
• William Jennings Bryan - a Secretary of State who charged upwards of $500 per speech (shades of Hillary Clinton) while still in office, an orator, a prohibitionist, and anti-evolutionist known for his participation in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
• John C. Calhoun - a strong proponent for slavery which he called a 'positive good.'
• Charles Carroll - a Maryland slaveholder
• Lewis Cass - Secretary of War under President Jackson who 'was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian Removal Policy' of that administration.'  He was also in favor of letting the people in the territories decide whether or not to become slave states.
• Henry Clay - US Senator and Congressman who, at one time, owned as many as 60 slaves, even bringing several with him to Washington.
• Jefferson Davis - need I say more?
• James Zachariah George - Confederate Brigadier General during civil war, owner of 40 slaves in 1860, including children as young as 1 year. 
• Wade Hampton - Confederate Brigadier General, slaveholder with 153 slaves in 1860
• Andrew Jackson - former President of the United States and a slaveholder
• Robert E. Lee - Confederate General, slaveholder who, despite stories to the contrary, did not free the slaves in accordance with his late father's-in-law wishes.
• Caesar Rodney - Delaware slaveholder
• John Sevier - Governor of Tennessee, slaveholder, US Representative from North Carolina
• Edmund Kirby Smith - West Point Grad, US Army officer, slaveholder, Major General in Confederate Army
• Alexander H. Stephens - see above, also, owned as many as 29 slaves in 1860
• Zebulon Baird Vance - North Carolina US Representative 1858-1861, Governor of NC 1861-1865 and 1877-1879, NC US Senator 1879-1894, slaveholder
• George Washington - President of the United States, General in US Army, owned hundreds of slaves

That's all, folks.  I'll not be philosophizing on this.

The Smell Test

I saw this recently in reference to a government conference to which members of the press were not invited.  The writer said it didn't pass the Smell Test.

That set off some brain rumbling - there have been a number of things in the news lately that do not pass my Smell Test.

Special privileges for members of Congress:

• Government paid automobile
• Free parking at Washington National Airport
• Free flights

Government office holders who are running for office while they are still in another office.  They are being paid to run the government, but they spend up to six months or more trying to succeed themselves or, as in those listed below, get a new position with more power, more pay, and more prestige.

• Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
• Ted Cruz, US Senator from Texas
• Lindsey Graham, US Senator from South Carolina
• Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
• Rand Paul, US Senator from Kentucky
• Marco Rubio, US Senator from Florida
• Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont

Of course, that leaves us with a bunch of unemployed who are seeking the Presidency, and, of course, Donald Trump, whose idea of border diplomacy is to insult those on the other side of the border.

But does it really?  How about Morrison Bonpasse, Jeff Boss, Harry Braun, Andy Caffee, Willie Carter, Lincoln Chaffee, Lloyd Kelso, Martin O'Malley, Doug Shreffler, Michael Steinberg, Jim Webb, Robbie Wells, Willie Wilson, and Brad Winslow all are Democrats who have publicly declared they are running for President.  Why isn't the press astounded at that number, or are they just too taken with Hillary and Bernie and the Republican Sixteen?  Does this pass the Smell Test?

 
Why the conservatives were so alarmed that Obama might not have been born in the United States (he was, you know.  Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959, Barry was born in 1961), but didn't think it necessary back in the day to question why Barry Goldwater wasn't born in the US.  Now, one of their hot tickets is Ted Cruz who, besides being a Senator who spends his time seeking the Presidency, was born in Canada to a Cuban national who didn't become a naturalized citizen until Ted was 37 years old.  Does this pass the Smell Test?