The Boeskool

You Can Think We Need Guns To Protect Us From The Government, Or You Can Have Respect For The Troops, But You Can’t Have Both

Posted on July 13, 2016 by theboeskool

This is the sort of tyranny the “founding fathers” were protecting against.

If you talk with people about changing gun laws, it won’t be very long before someone shows up and explains that one of the main reasons we have the second amendment is to “protect us against the tyranny of our own government.” Believe me–I have had enough of these conversations to know… If you ask why people feel like they need to have weapons of war, they will invariably attempt to explain to you that the Second Amendment (which reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”) was written so that we could be armed to fight against our own government… When Obama comes to enslave the American people, I assume… Per the diabolical plans that he is obliged to carry out as a secret Muslim.

It couldn’t… Could it?

Now… Forget, for a moment, that the words of the 2nd Amendment are a jumbled mess of a sentence that could be interpreted any number of ways… Seriously. A jumbled. Mess. Try to diagram that sentence–I dare you. If I wrote a sentence like that in middle school, there would have been red lines all over it. And forget, for a moment, that when someone tries to get gun regulations passed in Congress, people point to the 2nd Amendment as a sort of proof that regulations are unconstitutional… Even though the words “well regulated” are right there in the text. Regulations. As in, “well regulated.” And forget, for a moment, that if refers to a “militia.” Which is something completely different than every jackass with a $1000 in a PayPal account being able to buy an assault rifle online, without a background check, and carry around that assault rifle on the street. Or in a bar. Or in a school. Or in a church.

And–if you can–even forget that the military (if it wanted to) could TOTALLY destroy any sort of civilian-led rebellion. Your red neck uncle and his AR-15 would never stand a snowball’s chance in hell (if hell were a real place) against our trained, well-equipped military machine. They have artillery, they have mortars, they have machine guns, they have .50 caliber turrets, they have RPGs, they have armored transports, they have tanks, they have smart bombs, they have stinger missiles, they have hellfire missiles, they have bunker-busting missiles. They have DRONES… Remotely controlled, flying robots that rain down death from the sky! They have a freaking Air Force, with Blackhawk helicopters and F14s and all kinds of other ways to kill a whole lot of people at once. They have microwave cannons and sound cannons and lasers and God only know what else. And they have nukes, you guys… NUKES! If you think the crappy gun you bought from Dick’s Sporting Goods is keeping the government at bay, you are living in a dream world. Wake up.

Turns out police departments also have “bomb robots” that can kill you remotely… So that’s a little disconcerting.

But even forgetting all that–How low of a view of our troops do you have to have to think that they are going to turn on the American people? Have you people ever even MET an American soldier? Do you think that they are such conscience-free, mindless machines that they would train their sights on American civilians, just because some bureaucrat points his finger? Most of these people who are hell-bent on keeping military-style weapons in the hands of everyday citizens (and kids as well) are probably people who profess to “respect the troops.” They cheer at airports, they tear up when people post those videos of soldiers coming home and surprising their kids, they stick their yellow ribbon magnets on their cars… But when it comes down to it, they really don’t trust those men and women to do the right thing. They think we need as many high-powered, semi-automatic assault rifles as possible–Just in case those same men and women they pretend to honor decide to… what… Put them in chains? Take away their freedom? Tax their tea too high?

Be careful… When she gets done hugging her kid, she’s coming for your guns.

So here’s the thing: If you are demanding that there is a need for people to have weapons that can kill a whole lot of people in a very short time (sometimes known as a “weapon of mass destruction) because of some perceived threat from our tyrannical government, please stop acting like you “respect the troops.” You don’t. You think that soldier in the airport is in on the conspiracy. You think that parent coming home from war is willing to enslave the American people. You think those troops represented by that yellow ribbon are not defending us… You think they need to be ended AGAINST. And that is a lot of things–paranoia, fear, ignorance–but it’s certainly not respect.

Thanks for reading. I seriously love you guys. Thanks to my newest patron, Sarah. All it took was me saying I’d hold my nose and vote for Hillary… 🙂 If you’d like to be a patron and help support this blog, you can do that RIGHT HERE. That or PayPal. Or you can just share this and let someone else read it. Either way, I love writing for you, and I’m going to keep on doing it.

Posted in 2) Politics | Tagged 2nd Amendment, Gun Control, Right to Bear Arms, Support our troops | 18 Comments

For Those Convinced Of Clinton’s Corruption

Posted on July 6, 2016 by theboeskool

Think about this for a moment: Is there any result of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email misuse that wouldn’t have made you even more certain that she was completely corrupt? While she was secretary of state, she used a private email server. She has admitted over and over that this was a mistake. The FBI investigated her, and after their investigation, they concluded that although her private email server was “extremely reckless,” there was no indication whatsoever of any sort of criminal intent. So, if the FBI investigation would have come back and recommended an indictment, you all would have said, “See? I told you so!” But now, when the FBI investigation concludes that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” you are all still using this decision as proof of Hillary Clinton’s perceived corruption, and you’re still standing there, like, “See? I told you so!”

“Is there any answer I could give that would satisfy you?”

You see, this is what happens when you attack a person and accuse her being part of some corrupt cabal that is “above the law.” When you bring charges against her and they don’t stick, you can look at the cameras and say, “See?” It’s actually a brilliant attack… It’s kind of like accusing someone of being an alcoholic, and then when she tells you she’s not, you say, “See? There it is… Denial.” The same thing happened with the Benghazi investigations. After eight different Benghazi hearings (at a cost of millions of dollars) conclusively found that Secretary Clinton did nothing wrong, the damage is still done, because it reinforces the perceived narrative that Hillary Clinton is so corrupt that she is “above the law.” But maybe she is not above the law… Maybe she just didn’t do the things they are accusing her of doing.

And the hell of it is, this line of attacks is successful. So successful, in fact, that there are a lot of people who look at the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency, and actually don’t know who would be worse–Her, or the dumpster fire known as Donald Trump. Some are even considering her as the lesser of two evils. It has affected me as well. I get it. It works. I don’t really trust her either… And I’m not even sure why. Which of all the accusations against her have actually stuck? When you press people to name something, they can’t. After some amorphous talk about emails, Benghazi, being “crooked,” enabling Bill’s infidelity, and maybe even tossing in some conspiracy theory email forward about a list of people close to the Clintons who died, usually people end up with a very unspecific, “I don’t know… I just don’t TRUST her.” And they’ll question her integrity. They’ll call her a liar… And then, it’s the same game: “She’s a liar! Want proof? ‘Hillary, are you a liar?’ [No.] <–SEE?!? There she goes again…” Even though the non-paritsan, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site PolitiFact has shown Hillary’s statements to be the most consistently truthful of any of the candidates (51% true or mostly true… even more than the Bernie I love so much), while showing that only 9% of the things Donald Trump says are rated “true” or “mostly true.” That’s NINE percent… Then, when actual journalism doesn’t line up with your accepted narrative, what do you do? That’s right… You call the journalist liars as well. That, or you spend billions of dollars setting up an overtly biased “news” organization that damages the whole concept of news. COUGHFoxCOUGH…

For some reason, they don’t seem to focus near as much on the outfits the men wear…

And if you don’t think that part of this has to do with Hillary being a woman, you are fooling yourself. Even as a young man in college, I can remember having a deep sense of “Who does she think she is?” while Hillary Clinton tried to get her healthcare bill passed. It wasn’t an overt “She needs to know her place,” but it was something close. But if a man had the tenacity and adept political maneuvering that Hillary Clinton has displayed, those things would be viewed as assets. But with her, it just comes off as her being conniving. Or “bitchy.” But as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler said while Hillary was campaigning against Barack Obama, “Bitch is the new black.” Anyway, who were you expecting? If a woman was ever going to rise to being a stone’s throw from the most powerful position in a country that has been so very patriarchal for it’s entire history, did you think she was going to be a wilting violet? She has had to navigate a harsh political landscape for decades… Of course she’s a bitch. Bitches get shit done. Again–I get it. It’s distasteful when people compromise their principles… But governing is about compromise. Compromise is a necessity. When a nation is as divided as ours is, uncompromising principles is a recipe for getting nothing done. AND WE HAVE SOME THINGS THAT NEED TO GET DONE!

Seriously… Just who were you expecting?

Instead, we have found ourselves living in a situation where many are SO ENTRENCHED in the “She’s crooked” narrative, that news can come out showing that Hillary Clinton did NOT do anything illegal, and her enemies are still sharing the story as if it is some sort of proof of her corruption. It’s craziness. And this is not to say that Hillary Clinton is above criticism. She’s not. Not even close. There are plenty of things for which she is responsible that she needs to answer for. The crime bill she and her husband championed is responsible for our prison population more than tripling since Bill Clinton’s presidency. It has negatively and disproportionately affected minorities, and it has basically set up a new system of enslavement and disenfranchisement for people of color. This is well worth criticizing… The trouble is, most of the people rooting for Trump APPRECIATE a policy that results in more brown people in prison… So the GOP can’t focus on that.

Like a lot of you, I’m not super wild about it, but I guess “I’m With Her.”

But let’s just say–for the sake of argument–that all of her critics’ charges against her are true. Let’s say that she intended for those four people to die in the consulate attacks in Benghazi. Let’s say she fully intended to illegally and maliciously set up a less-than-secure email server for her job as Secretary of State. Lets say that she is guilty of everything from Whitewater to Benghazi and everything in-between… Even if it were all true, she still managed to keep herself out of trouble while just about every republican in a position of power has tried to prove it. That would be AMAZING! How impressive… Listen–Donald Trump can’t even dodge the charges from one little fraudulent “University.” One of two things is true: Either Hillary Clinton’s enemies cannot get any of these charges to stick to her because she is too politically astute, or they’re not sticking because she actually didn’t do them. Either way, she is infinitely more qualified to lead our nation than the angry, racist, inept, misogynistic, unknowledgeable, unstable buffoon that is the alternative… A man so colossally unqualified, that if you said the words “angry, racist, inept, misogynistic, unknowledgeable, unstable buffoon” on a gameshow, people would be able to guess who you’re talking about. Think about that. Make the right choice, America.

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Posted in 2) Politics | Tagged Benghazi, Donald Trump, eMail Scandal, Hillary Clinton, I'm with her, Lesser of two evils, Politifact | 293 Comments

That’s Not A Terrorist… That’s A VICTIM Of Terrorism

Posted on July 4, 2016 by theboeskool

kkk-jesus-saves

This is an actual picture. And that’s an actual church. That’s a sign above them that reads “Jesus Saves.” And that thing behind those three hooded men on the right is a piano, and they used that piano to sing songs about how much they loved Jesus. And as much as we might like to believe that this sort of stuff is a thing of the past, it’s not. We’ve still got churches who use the Bible to make a case for how we should be killing Muslims… We’ve got churches who preach about celebrating the deaths of the gay people who died in Orlando… We’ve got “church leaders” vouching for how a morally bankrupt dumpster fire like Donald Trump is a “born again.” And yet, here I am–A person who calls myself a follower of Jesus… Just imagine if people looked at me and judged me (and my religion) by the hate-filled, murderous, torturing, racist, deceived douche bags in this picture. That wouldn’t make ANY sense. We know better than that, right? Right???

And yet yesterday morning, terrorists detonated a car bomb that ripped through a crowded marketplace in Baghdad. The blast killed over 200 people–many of them children–and wounded hundreds more. Though–just like when 45 people died in the terrorist attack at an Istanbul airport–I doubt there will be very many people around these parts changing their profile pictures to the Iraqi flag to show their support. In fact, I’d be willing to bet a whole lot of you never even heard about it. Why do you think this is? Why would so many in this country come together in solidarity when terrorists attack Paris? Or Brussels? But we don’t come together in the same way when there are attacks in Istanbul? Or Baghdad?

The horns never seem to be on us…

I think this phenomenon has to do with keeping a clear “other.” It’s about maintaining an obvious “THEM” as a counterpoint to the “US” we are continually rooting for. And for so many people, the “US” in that last sentence looks a lot like white people. The “US” looks like the men under those hoods in the picture at the top of this page. And people in France and Belgium look a hell of a lot more like “US” than the people in Turkey or Iraq. Add to that the perception that people in France and Belgium worship “OUR” God and people in Turkey and Iraq worship “THEIR” God, and you’ve got yourself a fine recipe for tribalism. When the self-esteem of the tribe is getting a little low, nothing gives it a shot in the arm like a reminder the we are better than them. That’s “THEIR” tribe… Not “OUR” tribe. It’s us versus them… And the easier it is to tell “US” from “THEM,” the better. Language, skin color, the name they call God, the way they dress… THEM.

Worst, idiots the world over give ISIS a huge boost by aiding its narrative that it's representative of Islam and/or Islamic tradition.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) June 29, 2016

We don’t like complex story lines. We like clear lines between the good guys and the bad guys. We like simplistic narratives that tell us “They hate us because they hate freedom!” If there is an attack of some sort, it’s much easier to trigger our empathy if the people who were attacked look like we do, if they call God by the same name, if they’re one of “US.” We like story lines that provide simple solutions… Like calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” But things get a little more complex when you consider that many of the Muslims leaving their countries and looking for a safe place to live are running from THEM.

When you consider how many died in Baghdad as a result of bombs dropped by OUR COUNTRY, things get even more complex…

Muslims are far and away the biggest victims of terrorism. If Christians are killed somewhere, it’ll get shared a lot in the U.S. because it feels like it happened to one of US, but seven times more Muslims have been killed by Al Qaeda than non-Muslims. It’s difficult to determine the religious beliefs of the people who are killed in terrorist attacks worldwide, but most experts say that Muslims account for somewhere between 82% and 97% of the people who are killed by terrorists. So when bombs go off in a country like Turkey whose people (even though they have a secular government) are 96-99% Muslim, or in Iraq where about 95% of the people are Muslim, that story is a little bit more complex.

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This is what a victim of terrorism looks like. This is also what a fantastic beard looks like.

Here’s the thing: ISIS are a bunch of deceived, murderous ass holes. One of their goals is to get the world to think of THEM when it thinks of Islam. But no one hates ISIS more than Muslims. ISIS is not about Islam… It is about a demented ideology that kills people who don’t think like you do. This is what terrorists do. This is what ISIS does. They kill random people in an attempt to split the world even more starkly into “US versus THEM.” And most of the people they kill are Muslims. So this means that every time you accept the narrative that ISIS is somehow representative of Islam, you are helping ISIS be successful. When you equate terrorists with Islam (instead of a demented ideology that calls for killing people who disagree with you), you are actively working to HELP ISIS accomplish one of their main goals.

So last night I laid in bed and listened to people set off small explosions and fireworks in celebration of a country that was founded partially on the hopes of religious freedom. I truly believe one of the most patriotic things you can do this Fourth of July is standing in solidarity with Muslims. And if you call yourself a follower of Jesus, certainly one of the most “Christian” things you can do is to stand with your Muslim brothers and sisters against the forces of hatred in the world that would have us fearfully retreat into our little tribes. We can reject the dishonestly simplistic view of the world that attempts to divide us. We can reject the depraved PR campaign of ISIS that would have you look at your Muslim neighbor as one of “THEM” instead of one of “US.”

If you’re looking at a person waving around a flag that looks like this, you’re looking at a murderous, evil asshole who no more represents Islam than Timothy McVeigh represented Christianity, or those robed men in the KKK represented Jesus.

But if you are looking at a Muslim, you are not looking at a “possible terrorist.” You are looking at a VICTIM of terrorism. When you see someone walking around wearing traditional Muslim clothes, you are looking at a person who looks like a VICTIM of terrorism. If you’re looking at a woman wearing a hijab, you’re looking at what a VITCIM of terrorism looks like. If you’re looking at a Middle Eastern man wearing an Islamic skullcap, you’re looking at what a VICTIM of terrorism looks like (Also–just to be clear–If you’re looking at a man wearing a turban, you’re probably looking at a Sikh. Not a Muslim. A Sikh–A member of another really cool religion that is yet another VICTIM of prejudice and bigotry and violence in this country). If you’re looking at some Muslim kids walking through a grocery store, there’s probably a good chance those kids look pretty similar to the one of the dozens of kids who were VICTIMS of yesterday’s terrorist attack. We are all victims of the hatred and murder that seeks to divide us. When you look at a Muslim person, you’re not looking at one of “THEM.” You’re looking at one of “US.”

I’ve been away for a little bit… Taking a short vacation with my family. This weekend, I’m attending the Wild Goose Festival with a bunch of other freaky people like me. Your support has partially made that possible, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that. If you want to help support this blog by becoming a Patron, you can do that. Otherwise, you can join the fun on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for reading.

Posted in 1) Jesus, 2) Politics | Tagged Baghdad Bombing, Following Jesus, ISIS, Muslims, Muslims are the biggest victims of terrorism, Terrorism, Tribalism, US vs THEM, What a terrorist looks like, Wild Goose Festival | 8 Comments

Alligators, Assault Rifles, and Asking God For Help

Posted on June 16, 2016 by theboeskool

“I think the biggest thing is pray… Pray for the victims, pray for the families, pray that this never happens again.” ~ Florida Governor Rick Scott, when asked what Americans can do to help.

This is a picture of Governor Rick Scott. He is *NOT* a crazy person.

That quote made me think of a story… For just under a decade, one of the things I did for my job was teach kids about child abuse. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I’ve spoken to probably over 100,000 third graders about what child abuse is, the different kinds of abuse, how to prevent it, and what to do if child abuse has happened or is happening to them. It wasn’t uncommon at all for me to tear up while discussing this topic that is so, SO important to talk about with kids. After a puppet presentation where the kids had an opportunity to ask the puppets questions, we would do a closing where we went back over some of the most important points of the program. One of the things we would always do was ask the kids to name a grown up they trust who they could tell if any kind of child abuse ever happened, or was happening to them. The hands went up, and out came the names: “My mom, my dad, my teacher, my principal, my neighbor, my friend’s parent…” Lots of names of grown ups they could trust. Sometimes they would name friends or a brother or sister, and we would say, “Kids are easy to talk to, but maybe that kid could go WITH you to tell a grown up… Because it’s the grown ups who are going to get you the help that you need.”

Yes, I’d like to report a disclosure of child abuse…

But every once in a while, a kid would throw in a monkey wrench. We’d ask, “Who’s a grown up YOU trust who you could tell?” And the kids would look at us with completely earnest eyes and say, “Jesus.” Or sometimes, “God?” If kids gave wrong answers, we always tried to spin it, so it didn’t sound like we were saying, “Wrong, you dip shit!” But it was important–especially with the Child Abuse Program–to make sure they had the correct information. And it always felt a little awkward trying to say that *maybe* Jesus wasn’t the best person to tell… We didn’t want to be like, “Maybe it would be better to tell someone REAL.” But we always were intentional about letting them know how important it was to tell a physical person. “How about telling someone who you can touch… Someone who can pick up a telephone and call DCS… Someone who can actually DO SOMETHING to get you the help that you need so this awful stuff that has been happening never happens again.”

Orlando has had its share of tragedies these last few days… First, singer Christina Grimmie (from the show “The Voice”) was shot and killed by a deranged man while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando. The next night a homophobic murderer walked into a gay nightclub called Pulse, shot and killed 49 people, and wounded 53 more. Then, two days later, a two-year-old boy was snatched by an alligator while he splashed in a man-made lagoon on a Disney resort. They found his body 16 hours later. Now–these three events are all horrible and tragic and heartbreaking… But there’s only ONE of these tragedies that anyone is going to do anything substantial about in order to try to prevent it from happening again in the future. I’ll give you a hint: It ain’t either of the ones involving guns.

We’ve got an alligator problem here… How do we solve it? MORE ALLIGATORS!

Listen–They are going to move Heaven and Earth to make sure something like this alligator attack never happens again. After the child went missing, they removed five alligators from the lagoon and euthanized them. They will put up so many signs around that man-made lagoon, they will put up fences, they will pass laws… They will do whatever it takes. I’d be willing to bet they will probably pass a law making it illegal to step foot in an artificial lake. It wouldn’t shock me at all if they let people legally shoot any alligators they see until there are no more alligators found in the wild in central Florida. This one random act has exposed a public health concern–however rare–that the people are insisting NEEDS to be addressed… But you know what they WON’T do??? They won’t fill that 200 acre lagoon with as many alligators as they can find. And do you know WHY? Because when you have something that is dangerous and deadly, you don’t make things safer by bringing in more of the thing that is dangerous and deadly!!!

But that is exactly the sort of plan many people are suggesting as a result of these shootings in Orlando. Whatever the problem, the NRA’s solution is “More Guns!” I’m legitimately surprised the NRA and the “The-More-Guns-The-Better” crowd is not calling for more people to arm themselves as a response to the “Deadly Alligator Crisis” that everyone needs to be very afraid of… All while NRA representatives give interviews on Fox”News” about how this could have been prevented if that toddler would have been carrying a gun…

In 2001, a terrorist failed in an attempt to detonate explosives packed into his shoes… And fifteen years later, every person who wants to get on a plane still has to take their shoes off and put them through an x-ray scanner. And honestly? I don’t mind. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but if it help keep people safe–totally fine. And after terrorists used box cutters to take flights hostage, for a time you couldn’t even take nail clippers on a plane. But we do NOTHING as a nation to attempt to curb all this gun violence.

That’s a good question.

And any suggestions for changes in policy (other than filling the lagoon with more alligators) are met with accusations of trying to “take our guns” or “going against the 2nd Amendment.” But the people with this unlimited access to high-powered guns–and the people committing these atrocities–are not even CLOSE to being part of a “Well-Regulated Militia.” And guess what… Even though the Constitution tells us we have the right to “keep and bear arms,” that right is not universal. Civilians still can’t take guns on a plane–Not even the “good guys with a gun.” You can’t take a gun into a courtroom. At the State Capitol here in Nashville, you can’t carry your guns into Legislative Plaza… And do you know WHY? Because the lawmakers there don’t want to get shot and killed. That’s why. And now we’ve got the orange-faced, golden-coiffed Richy McPoutyBigot (the republican nominee for president) calling for allowing guns in bars… Where people are drinking and getting inebriated… What would go wrong?

At a press conference after the Orlando mass shooting, a journalist asked Gov. Scott, “Is there anything you can do on a policy level to stop something like this in the future?” His answer: “There… Look, we’re dealing with a tragedy right now. Our prayers go out to everybody impacted. Law enforcement is doing their job… There will be plenty of time to think about, how do we make… Or, you know, continue to improve our society.” Well, that time is RIGHT FREAKING NOW, Rick Scott. We don’t need prayers–We need action! We need leaders who believe that there are things we can DO to make these murders less frequent. The strategy of the NRA-owned republicans is transparent: 1) Accuse people of “politicizing a tragedy” if they speak of need for reform “too soon.” 2) Wait… Wait for people’s outrage to subside… Wait for people to get distracted by the next story… Wait for people to lose hope that our government could ever do something to help, after your dirty money has filled Congress with people who are committed to obstructing anything that could be called “progress.” Wait as long as it takes for people to either forget or give up. And then 3) Continue with business as usual. No more! Something CAN be done. Your ideology of hopelessness is not only ineffective… It is actually costing people their lives.

2015-11-21t045416z_348020388_gf20000068268_rtrmadp_3_usa-election-republicans.jpg

If you believe this is all you can do, maybe you should get out of government, and start a church…

I’ll leave you with a quote from THIS AMAZING ARTICLE written by the Dalai Lama titled “Why I’m hopeful about the world’s future.” He wrote it after the Orlando massacre, and if the events of the past week (or month, or year, or decade) have left you feeling hopeless, I highly suggest you read it. In the article, he writes: “It is not enough simply to pray. There are solutions to many of the problems we face; new mechanisms for dialogue need to be created, along with systems of education to inculcate moral values. These must be grounded in the perspective that we all belong to one human family and that together we can take action to address global challenges.” He goes on to say, “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the 21st century does not repeat the pain and bloodshed of the past. Because human nature is basically compassionate, I believe it is possible that decades from now we will see an era of peace — but we must work together as global citizens of a shared planet.“

It’s weird asking for support. I usually put something at the end of my posts where I thank a Patron and let you know how you can support this blog. I work at a restaurant, and people give me $10 or $20 all the time for simply spending an hour bringing them some food and drink. But it takes me a lot longer than an hour to write one of these posts. If you value this blog, and you’d like to BECOME A PATRON, or if you’d like to leave a tip on PayPal, feel free. When you do this, I get to tell my wife that my time spent writing these posts is paying off in small ways. And that’s really, really fun for me… Love you guys. And thank you.

Posted in 1) Jesus, 2) Politics | Tagged Alligator Attack, Asking God for help, Assault Rifles, Christina Grimmie, NRA, Orlando, Prayer, Rick Scott, Shootings, Thoughts and Prayers | 5 Comments

Before We Forget About Orlando, Here Are 4 Ways Christians Need To Change

Posted on June 14, 2016 by theboeskool

Outrage is like catnip to some people…myself included. We find an issue to be mad about, we make a couple of Tweets, and we post some articles on Facebook… And that’s about it. But the kind of anger we experience is meant to spur us into ACTION. Instead, we get the relief of being angry about things, and even experiencing some corporate outrage in the echo chambers of social media… Then we feel a little bit better, and move onto the next issue–But nothing really CHANGES. It’s a counterfeit. And then–a few months later–when the same exact sort of injustice happens again, we’re left wondering, “Why hasn’t anyone DONE something about this!?!” Well, before we all move on to the next issue, I’d like to suggest a few things that actually need to change… Particularly within my tribe: Christianity.

1. Change The Way You Read The Bible

Stop reading the Bible the way that ISIS reads the Qur’an. The people who commit horrible acts like what happened in Orlando are the sort of people who are CERTAIN that their way of understanding scripture is the one right way. If you are the kind of person who tries to quote a verse in Leviticus to “prove” that God hates homosexuality, you are part of the problem. And if you are the sort of person who thinks one verse that has Jesus telling his disciples to “buy a sword” negates the overwhelming call for nonviolence on Jesus’ followers, again, you are part of the problem. The shooter’s father said (in a video comment), “The issue of homosexuality and its punishment–all that they do–God himself will give punishment to homosexuality. It is not for people to decide.” This way of seeing things isn’t about Christianity or about Islam.. It’s about fundamentalism. It’s about a dangerous certainty that informs the way people read scripture, and interprets what is read as having God be for *them* and against everyone else.

If you feel threatened when you see a flag like this, you are probably reading the Bible the wrong way…

I don’t care what religion you call yourself–You cannot separate the belief in the violent God (who is planning on sending all the gays to be tortured forever in Hell) from the acts of violence committed in his name. Reading the Bible in a way that ends up with a god who you have to keep reminding people was “vengeful and full of wrath” has real-world consequences. And right now we are seeing the fruits of those beliefs in a hate-filled God… We are seeing the fruits of the garbage that is “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” This. Needs. To change. There are other ways to read and understand the Bible (THIS IS THE BEST EXPLANATION OF THAT I HAVE EVER READ).

2. Change The Way You Pray

Telling people you are “praying for them,” while believing that the god you are praying to hates them enough to send them to Hell is one of the most F’ed Up things that I can imagine. Most of those same people probably believe that I’m going to Hell also. And I totally get why you’d think I’m going to Hell… We believe in completely different Gods! You believe in the god who hates his enemies, and I believe in the God who LOVES his enemies. Either way, if our prayers are to have any significance at all, our prayers need to become loving actions. Otherwise, what are they worth? In the Bible, James writes about this…

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or a sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”–but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

There was a neat story about Chick-Fil-A workers going into work on a Sunday (when Chick-Fil-A is usually closed) and making sandwiches to give to the people who were waiting in-line to give blood. And as awesome as this is, if it’s done out of some desire to save people from hellfire, it is “dead and meaningless.” We’re not trying to feed people as a means to an end… Hoping to get them to say some meaningless, magical prayer that will save them FROM a monstrous God who is sending everyone but a very select few to be tortured forever. We feed people because they are hungry. We feed people because they are people. We love people because they are worthy of being loved. And we remind them that they have infinite worth, and that there is a Force in the universe that loves them wildly… Regardless of where they are from. Regardless of what name they have for God. Regardless of what they have or what they look like… And yes–Regardless of who they love.

If you don’t feel comfortable sitting next to people in church, you probably don’t have any business telling them they are in your #ThoughtsAndPrayers. This photo was taken by the amazing Tabitha Hawk… A member of our Church.

All over the place, we saw people summoning “Thoughts and Prayers” for the victims in Orlando, and for their families… But many of the people making those pleas were the very same folks who have been actively working to pass laws that make it legal for people to discriminate against the sorts of people who might go to a club like Pulse on a Saturday night. And those same folks call for a”moment of silence” in honor of the ones who died? I agree with Rep. Jim Hines, who said that these, “smug, self-empowering moments of silence in the House… do absolutely nothing for anybody.” If there is any sort of abomination involved here, it is the process of going through the motions of “honoring” a group of people you believe are worthless–Or at least worth less. Keep your moments of silence. Silence is what the LGBT community has been getting for a very long time from many of our elected leaders… I doubt they need any more. Which leads me to my next change…

3. Change The Way You Vote

Somewhere around 90% of Americans favor stricter gun control laws. Do you have any idea how hard it is right now to get 90% of Americans to agree on ANYTHING?!? It is next to impossible. There is absolutely no rational reason for people to be able to buy military weapons that are designed to kill many people in a very short amount of time. And even though the republican allegiance to the NRA is easier to see, this is far from an issue that is split down party lines… There are plenty of democrats who are bought and sold by the NRA as well. These are people who profit off of our fear, and they need to be voted out. This is a public health crisis. As Nicholas Kristof wrote (and was proven true), “More Americans have died from guns in the United States since 1968 than on battlefields of all the wars in American history.” Yet we have a legislature that is so owned by the NRA that it doesn’t allow our government to keep statistics on gun deaths anymore, or even STUDY gun violence. President Obama explains this better than I could ever hope to in this video:

This video is so very important for all of us to watch. This situation is not hopeless. There are things we can do to make our world safer. And save lives. If you want to call yourself “Pro-Life,” then BE pro life. We have an election right around the corner. Please–If you care about this, vote in a way that reflects that concern. Twenty of the lives that were lost in Newtown were kids. These 49 young lives taken in Orlando were people’s children. If all of the people who claimed to be Christians voted in a way that reflected actually being “Pro-life” for more than just Life Before Birth, we could actually DO SOMETHING to make these sorts of tragedies less likely. And I realize people will say things like “People who want to murder can do it with a knife or a hammer” or “Cars kill people–should we ban those too?” or some other BS… But here’s the thing: Cars have uses other than killing people. And if this jack hole in Orlando had walked into that night club with a knife or a hammer, there would be a whole lot fewer calls that had to be made to parents, explaining that the child they love has been killed by a madman–A maniac who we have guaranteed the right to freely purchase a weapon of mass destruction. I get it–Murderers are still going to murder… But we don’t have to make it so easy for them.

4. Change Where You Go To Church

If you go to a church that doesn’t welcome queer folks every bit as fully as you would welcome straight people, you can keep your #ThoughtsAndPrayers. The Church was never meant to be a place of exclusion. The way Christians have treated the LGBT community will soon be looked back on in the same shameful way we look back on the way the Church justified discrimination and hatred and exclusion of People of Color and women. If you feel your heart breaking and changing and evolving on the issue of inclusion within Christianity, you don’t have to stay in a place that preaches exclusion. There are other options… Churches like the one my family and I attend. Last year a whole bunch of people from our church went to Nashville’s Pride event, and we walked in the rain along side our LGBT brothers and sisters, as people calling themselves “Christians” shouted hateful garbage through their megaphones. It was lovely… the day was filled with the kindest folks you’ll ever meet. I took my kids. They loved it. Here’s a picture from last year’s Pride:

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That’s me over on the right, along with a couple of my kiddos. We can’t wait to go back this month… And no act of violence by some deranged fundamentalist could keep us from returning to stand with our friends.

My life is so much richer for having people in it who are different than me. And belonging to a faith community that reflects that reality has been so life-giving. I feel so sorry for those people who go to a church where they feel like they may be the only person in the building who cried their eyes out watching “Rent.” There is no reason why anyone should feel trapped in a church that is focused on exclusion. If the people you are surrounded with respond to tragedies like the Orlando massacre with demonization of Muslims, blaming of immigrants, calls for even more weapons of war, and silence on the hypocrisy of prayers to a God who supposedly looks on these victim’s orientation as being one that is worthy of death, THERE ARE OTHER PLACES FOR YOU TO GO TO CHURCH. Vote with your feet. Christianity has never been about exclusion. If your church community is more about who it keeps out than who it welcomes in, you are in the wrong kind of church. If Christianity is to be worth anything at all, then we must be allies and advocates and friends to the vulnerable people around us. We must be examples of rational minds and radical love… And not the other way around.

If you value this blog and want to support it with a couple bucks a month, it is really easy to do. You can become a Patron on my Patreon Page. Nathan McKinney is one of my newest patrons… I’m totally honored. And he’s totally going to win himself a T-shirt. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter. Let us keep looking for ways to respond to hatred with love. Let us continue to strive to Be The Change…

Posted in 1) Jesus, 2) Politics | Tagged #ThoughtsAndPrayers, Christianity and Homosexulaity, Jesus and voting, LGBT inclusion in the Church, Nicholas Kristof, Orlando Shooting, Prayer, Pride Week, Rep. Jim Hines, Ways Christians need to change | 37 Comments

14 Things That Feel True To My Broken Heart After Orlando

Posted on June 13, 2016 by theboeskool

I don’t think I can write about his right now. I can’t be positive… And I don’t want to be negative. What I want to do is remind people that love is stronger than hate, but it’s hard to do that with tears in your eyes. I want to expose all of the hypocrisy of people who talk about “praying for” people who wouldn’t even be welcome in their church… But what’s more anger going to do right now? I want to shine a light on hatred and bigotry, and expose it for what it is… But then I realize that hatred and bigotry has got way too much of the spotlight right now. I want to write about how this one man doesn’t represent Islam any more than he represents me because we’re both men. I want to do something to remind people that there is hope… Even when hopeless people kill and destroy. I want to choose love… In such a real and honest way that it inspires people to do the same. But if I’m being honest, I’m pretty numb. I’m scrolling through my Facebook and Twitter like a zombie… And there’s no way I’m going to have anything worthwhile to write for a little bit… So here’s some things that struck me as true that I wanted to share with you:

If you can't wrap your head around a bar or club as a sanctuary, you've probably never been afraid to hold someone's hand in public.

— Jeramey Kraatz (@jerameykraatz) June 12, 2016

Don't send #ThoughtsAndPrayers today but support hateful legislation tomorrow.

— Yolanda Pierce, PhD (@YNPierce) June 12, 2016

Don't send #ThoughtsAndPrayers today but condemn to a lake of burning fire tomorrow.

— Yolanda Pierce, PhD (@YNPierce) June 12, 2016

Don't send #ThoughtsAndPrayers today but use your pulpit to bully and shame tomorrow.

— Yolanda Pierce, PhD (@YNPierce) June 12, 2016

You're not safe in an elementary school, high school, college,
movie theater, club, or church.

The only thing safe is the Second Amendment.

— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) June 12, 2016

I literally never want to hear again that LGBT people in the bathroom are a threat to public safety.

— Senator Jeremy Moss (@JeremyAllenMoss) June 12, 2016

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Here’s a picture of the line of people waiting to give blood in Orlando.

May we take these acts of hatred, and let them teach us how to love each other better than we do. May we take these acts of continued insanity, and let them teach us how to be rationale and sane. May we take these acts of violence, and let them teach us the fruits of violence. May we take these acts of terror, and–instead of allowing them to make us more afraid–let them teach us to be brave… And to love bravely… And to live bravely. May we look for the helpers… May we take these acts acts of war that feel like defeat, and let them strengthen our resolve that LOVE WINS. And may we take these acts of terror and fear, and let them teach us to bravely love the people in our paths… Especially the ones who are feeling unloved and vulnerable. And most of all, may we be good to each other. I love you.

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Posted in 1) Jesus, 2) Politics, 5) Not Quite Sure | Tagged Andy Carvin, Anna Register, Choosing To Love, Dan Slott, Jeramey Kraatz, Jeremy Moss, Lin Manuel Miranda, Orlando Shooting, Scott Lybrand, Sean Astin, Truth, Yolanda Pierce | Leave a comment

God Had Nothing To Do With This

Posted on June 7, 2016 by theboeskool

Imagine with me, for a minute, that a tornado was coming down your street. The path of the tornado destroyed the three houses next to yours, but then–for some unknown reason–the tornado’s path crossed the road and destroyed the houses across the street. There was a little bit of damage, but for the most part, your house went pretty unscathed. Now. There are two sorts of folks out there… 1) There are the folks who chalk this whole event up to chance, and 2) There are the folks who look at this occurrence as proof of the Almighty’s miraculous and sovereign hand in the world. And inevitably, when something like this DOES happens, in come the declarations of how God was somehow behind these events. The family in the “spared” house proclaims how grateful they are to God for protecting their house… Their friends and family get on Facebook and make comments like “Thank God you’re all safe!” It’s everywhere. Even the insurance companies refer to situations like this as “an Act of ____?” That’s right: God.

Behold… The will of the Lord.

This way of thinking about God has been around for a very long time, but it is alive and well today… From Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson‘s belief that 9/11 was God’s punishment for abortion, the ACLU, the feminists, and the LGBT community… All the way to a pastor who got shot in the head by a stray bullet a few days ago while she was in a beauty parlor, who credited God with “sparing her life” (though she seems to have no problem with a God who shoots her in the head just to show how he can save her life). It’s a very simplistic formula. It goes like this: It Happened + God Is In Control = God Must Have Allowed/Ordained It. In the Old Testament, if the Israelites were fighting against some other group, they believed their victory or defeat was up to God. If they lost, they would explain it as being their fault for not being holy enough… And in victory, they would say, “God was with us, and that’s why we won the battle.” When it didn’t rain, this same God was sending the drought because of their sinfulness. It is a very archaic, very pagan picture of God… The sort of God that throws lightning bolts from the heavens when he’s angry. It is the God of 20/20 hindsight… The kind of creator where we can find out if God was with “OUR SIDE” by asking whether or not we won–Yes? With us. No? Obviously NOT with us.

I blame this on Carrie Underwood. And Jesus… But mostly Carrie Underwood.

But there are a few of problems with this way of thinking about God. One problem comes when you are part of the group that was destroyed by the troops. The Israelites dealt with his problem quite a bit: “Wait, if we’re God’s ‘chosen’ people, why in the world are we enslaved?” And, like a lot of folks still do today, they decided God must be punishing them. Or removing them from his protection (six of one, half dozen of another). Another problem comes when people you love dearly are living in one of those houses across the street. When the tornado misses your house and destroys your neighbor’s house, how much you care depends on how much you love your neighbor. But the biggest problem to this way of thinking about God comes when you start believing that God loves the people across the street every bit as much as God loves you. The people across the street… The people across the border… The people across the oceans… All the people.

Just in case you can’t read it, this has Jesus saying, “Don’t let them merge.” Also, it’s God’s will that this makes you laugh more than it offends you…

A family I know lives in Houston, and a last week a deranged man took a pistol and an assault rifle, and–for whatever reason–decided to start shooting people. His rampage happened in the neighborhood where they were attending church over Memorial Day weekend. They didn’t even figure out that they had been on lockdown until later in the day, but when they found out, my friend posted something about it on Facebook. And–as often happens in situations like these–in came a flood of comments proclaiming thankfulness to God for this family’s safety. Comments like “Praise the Lord y’all are safe!” and “Thank you Jesus for your protection.” Even in the local news, a city official said (speaking about the police officers who responded), “By the grace of God, none of them were injured seriously…” And that’s great if you’re on “Team Police.” And it’s great news if you’re on “Team Family I Know.” But one of the people who was shot that day DID die. His name was Eugene Linscomb, but his friends called him “Gene.” He was 56 years old, and he has friends and a family who love him. He was a veteran of the Navy. He has a wife. He has a daughter (You can read his obituary and see pictures of him and his family HERE). So I imagine if someone from “Team Gene” heard you thanking God for this situation, they might be thinking, “Wait… God’s behind all this?”

But another person died in the Houston shooting. He was a veteran as well–a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan… A person with friends and a family who loved him. His name was Dionisio Garza III, and he was the shooter. His life was ended by a SWAT sniper’s bullet. His mom, Cathy, said, “I think he was haunted by everything that he saw there and he experienced there. I think it changes you. I don’t know how you can go through what he went through and see what he saw and not have it change you or have it affect you.” His father, Dionisio Garza Jr., told the news, “Just in the last two weeks it progressively got worse… It was not the same boy that we raised. Not the loving uncle, the loving brother. Something snapped. It wasn’t him anymore. I’m not making excuses. No excuses. I know he did this, but it wasn’t him anymore. My son was broken.“ We want a clear-cut, good and evil in situations like this, but as we mature, we find that things are rarely as simple as we want them to be…

“This was divine intervention!” ~ Jules Winnfield

Listen–If someone shoots a bullet at you and misses, it’s easy to “thank God” for that bullet missing the mark. If it zings past you and finds someone else’s chest, how much God was involved depends on how much you care about that person. If it lands in your enemy’s chest, God “surely” had a hand in things. A stranger’s chest? Tragic, but at least you’re still here. But if it flies past you and finds the chest of your chid, it’s not so easy to credit God with guiding the bullet’s path. People always look for a simple solution to a complex and tragic situation. It is not easy to live in that uncertain place, where there are no clear answers… So people find comfort in the God who “needed another angel in Heaven.” They look for the “reason” people get cancer. They look for “God’s will” in all this, and sometimes I just want to grab them by the shirt and say, “GOD HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!”

The more we care about the people in the other tribes, the harder it is to hold onto this idea of a God who is for US and against THEM. And believing in the God who loves the person in your sights every bit as much as God loves you makes it way harder to pull the trigger… especially when you’re trying to follow the one who died LOVING his enemies. And said, “When you’ve seen me, you’ve seen God.” But for many people, the picture of a God who is good enough to love everyone–even our enemies–is as hard to swallow now as it was for people to swallow a few thousand years ago. People who believe that God is in control of every little thing are often the same people who are terrified of God. And why wouldn’t you be terrified of that God?

It turns out that the internet has a bunch of funny results when you search “Jesus take the wheel.”

For a lot of people, the only God they’ve ever known is the God of “Us versus Them.” They can’t even IMAGINE a God who is on everyone’s side, because–without even being able to put words to it–that would mean a God who isn’t in control of everything. They would rather have an all-powerful God who “wills” the evil and pain in the world, than have the complexity and mystery of a God who enters into the pain WITH US. Letting go of the God who controls everything feels like giving up on God altogether… But the God who is in control of every little thing quickly becomes a monster. And this is the reason so many people give up on the idea of God altogether: Because that archaic, pagan, all-powerful God becomes easy to fear, but impossible to love. And I get why a lot of people are atheists… If that old God was the only picture of God I had available to me, I’d be an atheist too. Ironically, the simplicity that much of the Church clings to is what is driving so many people away from Church. But God is complex. And mysterious. And loving. That simplistic, black & white, “We’re good, they’re evil” tribal deity was what the people in the Old Testament THOUGHT God was like… But this was the messed up idea of God Jesus came to correct. And thank God for that.

I am so honored to have people who have decided to help support this blog by becoming Patrons. One person who just became a Patron is named Lynda Chidester. She values my writing, and it makes me feel energized. And meaningful. And loved. Thank you SO MUCH, Lynda. If you value this blog, and you’d like to help support my writing, you can BECOME A PATRON as well. Or, just join the fun on Facebook and Twitter. Or even Instagram?

Posted in 1) Jesus | Tagged An act of God, Compexity, Dionisio Garza, Eugene Linscomb, God had nothing to do with this, God's will, Houston Shooting, Jerry Falwell, Jesus Take The Wheel, Pat Robertson, Sovereignty | 18 Comments

“It Costs $7,286.55 To Have A Miscarriage.”

Posted on May 26, 2016 by theboeskool

Those were the words of a friend’s Facebook status… Well, her actual words were, “It costs $7,286.55 to have a miscarriage at [a specific hospital chain’s name],” but she asked that I not include the name of the hospital. I don’t know much about this chain of hospitals, but I can tell you that I made an audible gasp when I read those words. My friend miscarried about a month ago, and she has been going through the grieving process that goes along with this sort of tragedy. Then yesterday, she got a bill in the mail: $7,286.55. But don’t worry… Insurance took care of $249 of that bill. Please take a moment to imagine trying to deal with the emotions of losing a pregnancy, missing a week’s worth of work (and the money that job provides), and then getting a letter from a hospital that says, “That’ll be seven thousand dollars.”

I once went to the ER and received a tetanus shot and a band aid… I was charged $1200.

There are so many issues that are tied up in the words “It costs $7,286.55 to have a miscarriage.” There is the issue of a woman noticing symptoms, and begging to be seen by her OB/GYN, but being refused because of cost-cutting timelines and restrictions set up by profit-driven companies. There is the issue of the resulting expensive trip to an “Urgent Care” clinic, and then the resulting expensive trip to the ER (along with the costs of imaging there). There is the issue of the many extra costs associated with being a woman and needing medical attention that people rarely talk about. There are a lot of issues here… But for this post, I want to focus on two: 1) How messed up it is that we have a system where taking care of sick people is a multi-billion dollar, for-profit industry, and 2) How messed up it is that so many people “fight for the rights of the unborn,” but those same people seem to care vary little for the rights of pregnant mothers who need medical help and might not be able to afford a bill for seven grand.

Need reproductive help? You should have thought of that before you decided to not be able to afford college. And before you decided to be female. And before you decided to live during the Great Depression…

Taking care of sick people should not be a for-profit business. Where I live (Middle Tennessee) is a Health Care Mecca… There is SO MUCH MONEY tied up in the business of taking care of people who are sick. For example, Wayne T. Smith (CEO of Community Heath Systems right here in Brentwood Tennessee) made $26.4 million in 2014. The median salary for Healthcare CEOs in 2014 was $13.6 million. This is lunacy. And please don’t get me wrong–I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be getting paid for taking care of the sick… I’m just saying that people shouldn’t be making millions of dollars a year by syphoning money from sick people. And by any standard, charging women to lose a child seems to me like an affront to human decency. Pay for the people at the tops of these companies keeps going up, while staffs are reduced, workloads increase, benefits are slashed, and quality of care for the rest of us continues to get lowered… All while our costs go up! Wendell Potter, who used to be a PR executive with Cigna, said that “There’s no doubt that one of the reasons why Americans pay more for health insurance and for healthcare than people in any other country in the world is because of this high executive compensation.” But there’s more to it than just CEO pay.

Here is a graph of the growth (over the past 40 years) of Physicians versus the growth of Administrators:

Over this same time period, there has been over a 2300% increase in U.S healthcare spending per capita… That means “per person.”

This. Is. Obscene. But there is so much money involved in this process, that these companies can afford to contribute to (pay off) politicians to keep the system functioning just as it has been… With the vast majority of us having a larger potion of our dwindling income being extorted for fear of losing our house from giant medical bills. And then, if a candidate comes along talking about the need to change this completely effed-up system, that candidate is painted as being idealistic and “crazy.”

It’s a good question…

One more messed up part to this issue: My friend felt the need to explain too me that she wasn’t a system moocher–that she and her husband both work and have private insurance through her husband’s job, and that she didn’t do anything to “cause” a miscarriage (like trauma or drugs or an accident). And as much as I understand her perception that she would need to clarify this in order to fend off judgmentalism, I think it’s SO messed up that we would think that someone who doesn’t have the sort of job which provides health insurance doesn’t deserve protection against the insane costs associated with getting help when you get sick. Or getting medicine. But we are conditioned to believe that we don’t “deserve” healthcare unless we satisfy certain requirements. It is not our humanity which makes us worthy of getting help when we are sick… It is our social status and the kind of employment we have. Which brings me to the next issue…

“You cannot advocate for a fetus if you refuse to advocate for the pregnant mother.” Those were the exact words from a conversation with my friend who received the bill for $7,286.55 after she lost her unborn child. The very same people who profess to be fighting for the rights of unborn children are fighting against the rights of pregnant mothers to receive affordable healthcare. So when people fight to close down low-cost pregnancy service providers like Planned Parenthood (who, we should all know, do much more to serve women than simply provide abortions), they are fighting to take away one more option–sometimes the ONLY option–for low-income mothers or uninsured women who are looking for help.

This is not the image people should have of CEOs of companies whose mission is taking care of sick people.

And speaking of uninsured women, here is something you should probably know. Hospital chains are marking up prices for uninsured patients… Sometimes more than TEN TIMES the actual cost of care. Yes, you heard that right. This article from the Washington Post details 50 different hospitals that are marking up their prices specifically for the uninsured (AKA “poor people”). And it is also interesting to point out that on that list they compiled of the 50 most egregious hospital price-gougers in the nation, 25 of the hospitals are run by Community Health Systems (CHS), and 14 are run by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA)… Both companies located right here in Middle Tennessee, the buckle of the Bible Belt (It should be noted that I know and love people who work for both of these companies… I am not AT ALL saying that CHS or HCA are the devil. But regardless of that fact, this garbage needs to change). But even for people WITH insurance, the hospitals, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies conspire to make sure they continue to rake in huge profits. This is done by pricing their product so far above it’s actual cost that the insured consumer/patient is still paying for most, if not all, of the cost. So if a patient is paying a 20% copay, all they have to do is price their service at five times more than actual cost, and voilà! The insured patient just paid full price. It’s so very messed up…

Now, you might be asking yourself, “HOW IN THE WORLD IS IT LEGAL FOR THEM TO DO THIS!?!” Well, the answer is–No one is telling them that they can’t. And the reason for that is because many of the systems and regulations that were attempted to be put in place by the Affordable Care Act were so incredibly GUTTED BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION by the deep pockets that funded its the ACA opposition. And now it’s legal to charge poor people $1000 for $100 worth of care… Which is why it’s SO IMPORTANT for you to vote! The decisions that made it legal for big business to give unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns came from Supreme Court justices appointed by people on the political right… And the next president’s SCOTUS choices will have effects for years to come. “Policy” is not sexy, but it has real effects on real people.

So… If you want to “fight for the rights” of unborn babies, you need to be an advocate for the rights of pregnant mothers. The right of pregnant mothers to have access to free and affordable healthcare is inseparable from any rights you might try to provide to a fetus. And you know what else? If you are interested in fighting for the rights of pregnant mothers, you have to be an advocate for the rights of the poor. It should never cost a mother $7,286.55 to lose a child. Getting care when we become sick is not something that is reserved only for the wealthy… Healthcare is a human right.

If you value this blog, you can help support it by becoming a Patron. Lindsey Hammer did, making her the SECOND Hammer to contribute to my Patreon campaign. It’s a generous and kind name… If not tool. THANK YOU! Otherwise, there’s always PayPal. But more importantly than that, it would be really cool if some of you out there would be brave enough to share some of the experiences you have had surrounding this issue. Please share your stories in the comments section. Love you guys!

Posted in 2) Politics, 5) Not Quite Sure | Tagged CEO pay, Healthcare, Jon Stewart, Losing a child, Miscarriage stories, The cost of having a miscarriage, Women and healthcare costs | 9 Comments

Watch Florence & The Machine Sing To A Kid In Hospice

Posted on May 23, 2016 by theboeskool

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I could use some good news. Honestly, it seems like the whole world could use a little reminder that people are still capable of radical love and goodness… Because sometimes it’s easy to forget. But here is a video of Florence Welch and Robert Ackroyd of the band “Florence & The Machine,” who showed up to sing for a teenage girl. Her name is Karinya, and she is fighting cancer. She was supposed to go see Florence & The Machine in concert, but her health wouldn’t allow it. So her Hospice staff reached out to Karinya’s favorite group, and members of the band came to Hospice Austin’s Christopher House and gave her a private 45 minute concert… Grab a tissue before you watch this short clip.

Here are the words that she sang:

“The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you may now run

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can’t carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
‘Cause here they come…”

And as cancer wages its ugly war on her, every bit of her barely-there body glows with the joy that comes from witnessing a simple act of goodness from one human being to another… Whether that act is giving a hungry person something to eat, or giving a kind word to a person who needs it, or even a hero giving a concert on the edge of a sick kid’s bed… A kid who is still very, very alive.

Here’s one more video… One more act of goodness.

And again, here are the words that found new life and light and meaning in that room:

“Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It’s always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I’m gonna cut it out and then restart
‘Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It’s always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It’s a fine romance but it’s left me so undone
It’s always darkest before the dawn…”

So… A little while ago, I wrote about THIS EVENT at a Paramore concert that I still can’t watch without the voice of God saying to me, “This is how I love you.” And I still can’t watch it without tearing up at the picture of God’s goodness. If you haven’t already read/watched it, you probably should. But now here I am, once again undone by an act of kindness–far away from any church or any denomination or any religion that might seek to let everyone know who’s NOT included in their group. I had no idea about the religious beliefs of any of the band members of Florence & The Machine, and really I don’t care (though, I should admit that I’ve looked up a bit about them while writing this, and I wouldn’t describe their views as anything close to “Orthodoxy”). I have seen what I need to see. And now (as I so often am) I am reminded of the Parable of The Good Samaritan.

If we can learn anything from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, it is this: God cares more about what we do than what we believe. When there was a man who was beaten and needed help laying on the side of the road, the Priest and the Levite–both of the people with the “right” theology–moved to the opposite side of the road. But the one who believed all the wrong things–The Samaritan–HE is the one who actually acted in a way that LOVED his neighbor. And HE is the one about which Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” The whole story came from a question asked by a man who was “an expert in the law,” who was asking how he can inherit eternal life. And Jesus looks at that “expert in the law,” who believes all the “right” things, and he says, “You want eternal life? Here’s how you get it: It’s not about believing the right things. It’s not about believing at all… It’s about doing. It’s about touching the ones everyone is calling ‘unclean.’ It’s about easing people’s suffering. It’s about helping people who need it. It’s about loving the unlovable.”

Show me an atheist who’s doing these things, and I’ll show you the kind of person Jesus points to and says, “Go, and do likewise.” So when I see this video of a band showing up at a Hospice house, sitting on a bed with a hurting kid who happens to be a fan, singing songs as friends and family cry a sacred mixture of sad and happy tears–I see people following Jesus. It’s just what I see. I see people living out their own “made-in-the-image-of-God-ness,” whether they know it or not… And regardless of religion or belief or orthodoxy. So if you want to follow Jesus, here’s what you can do: Instead of looking for places to point fingers at groups of people and calling them “unclean” (and being an “expert in the law” about Muslims, immigrants, or transgender people looking for a safe place to pee), maybe try something else: Look for a place where someone is suffering, and then do something to ease their suffering. Look for a place where someone needs help, and then do something to help. Look for a place where someone needs to be loved, and then love them with everything you have.

And if you’re anything like me, and recent events have got you feeling less and less hopeful, maybe be more intentional about looking for stuff like these videos… Stuff that reminds you of The Image of God inside of us all. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Maybe that’s what he meant by “polluted by the world.” People have religion’d that phrase to mean “dirtied by non-believers,” but I think the pollution James was talking about might be cynicism. There are all kinds of reasons to be hopeful… We just have to look for them. And then, when we find them, we have to share them like crazy… Just because sometimes it’s easy for people to forget.

Even when faced with something as horrible and senseless as cancer, this smile reminds me that the darkness doesn’t stand a chance…

If you are one of the people who values this blog, you can help support it. The easiest way for you to do that is by BECOMING A PATRON. Alana Turner just did, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me that there are people like her who believe in my writing enough to give. It is one of that keeps me filled with hope. Thank you, Alana! People can also give on PayPal, and if you do this, you can designate a post you would like for me to use your money to “boost” on Facebook, so that more people can read the one you think is important enough to share. Also, have you guys heard of this “Twitter” thing?

Posted in 1) Jesus, 5) Not Quite Sure | Tagged Finding God, Florence & The Machine, Florence Welch, Go and do likewise, Hospice, Jesus, Paramore, Private concert for kid in hospice, The Image of God | 8 Comments

Bathrooms: Yet Another Thing To Be Afraid Of

Posted on May 18, 2016 by theboeskool

I always do…

Some people have the kind of digestive system that allows them to be selective with the places they use the bathroom… I am not one of these people. Folks who say snooty things about how they “never use public bathrooms” or “only go number two at home” are foreign animals to me. But statements like these reveal less about how discerning and picky people are with where they poo than they do about a person’s natural ability to prolong pilgrimages to the potty. Some of us are cursed with gastrointestinal systems with a mind of their own… A G.I. that plays to the beat of its own drum. Some people are poo camels… If conditions are not perfect, they can simply postpone it to a later date. I am one of those poor fools whose body can, and will–at a moment’s notice, and regardless of where I happen to be–let me know that 1) I will be pooping shorty, and 2) Time is of the essence. My body is never like, “Hmm… Me thinks I’ll be requiring a bathroom visit sometime later this evening.” It always seems to be conveying a message that says, “ATTENTION: This is going down with or without your approval. Find a bathroom, STAT. Or don’t… Whichever. But either way, this is happening.”

It’s easier to avoid public bathrooms when this situation only comes up every day or two… But for me, this is an issue that demands to be handled multiple times a day. And before you feel embarrassed for me, you should know that I’m not alone. There are many people out there who are on this same schedule. This is just the way my body has always been, and I’m not the least bit ashamed of it. Also, it should be noted that the sort of people who wreck a whole wing of a house with their stench are the sort who only go every couple days. So my condition affords me more than your average fodder for stories involving the third part of this blog’s tagline: Bathroom Humor.

Behold: The REAL bathroom danger.

There has been a lot of talk about bathrooms lately, and almost none of it has had anything to do with humor. Most of the bathroom talk has been centered around fear. And when people want us to be REALLY afraid, they focus on our children. Which sucks, because then–either overtly or subconsciously–we convey that fear to our kids. Last week I was coming out of one of my less-than-infrequent trips to “Ye Olde El Baño” (as my many medieval Spanish-speaking friends call it), and as I was walking out, a mother and her (roughly 10 year old) son were walking in. They had already parted–with him walking toward the men’s room and her walking toward the women’s room. He was walking in as I was walking out, but when he saw me, he stopped. He nervously turned around to look back at his mom, and she said, “It’s okay, sweetie. You can come in here with me.” Which he did. And which–somewhat ironically–made ME feel a little bit uncomfortable, because my 11 year old daughter was in there using the bathroom.

This is how I will go if I ever find a spider in the toilet.

Now, maybe this story has nothing whatsoever to do with all of the “bathroom danger” hypothetical stories that have been slung at the LGBT community lately… But something tells me they are very related. Bathroom danger is this year’s ebola. And I hate it. I hate how all these horror stories are infecting my brain with worst-case-scenarios. And now news stories about bathroom abductions from four years ago are getting shared like they just happened. Never mind that those stories could have never been prevented by putting any sort of “gender-at-birth” requirements into law. And never mind that NO CASE EVER has involved and actual transgender person harming a kid in a bathroom. And never mind that (as I said before) you are probably 1000 times more likely to have one of your kids sexually abused by a family member or a church youth group leader than a stranger in a bathroom (by the way, please read this amazing article). What I hate is the fear. I hate this narrative that keeps getting written, and passed along as if it were true, that YOU ARE NEVER SAFE.

The opposite of “safe.”

I suppose it’s partially true… I guess it depends on your definition of being “safe.” There are two kinds of “You are never safe” out there: There’s the kind of “You are never safe” that results in BE AFRAID, and then there’s the kind of “You are never safe” that results in a healthy understanding of reality, a lack of worrying, and an acknowledgment that we can’t control every situation. Growing up with the first kind of “You Are Never Safe” as a core belief has real consequences. The first kind of “You are never safe” is the stuff of phobias. It is the stuff of Marlin (Nemo’s dad) saying, “I promise to never let anything happen to you, Nemo.” I mean, you can insure that you never, ever get attacked by a shark by staying out of the ocean… But then you are a person who doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the ocean, you know? It reminds me of this kid I watched climbing a rock wall a couple months ago. He got near the top, but then he refused to sit back in his harness to be belayed down. He wasn’t able to climb down, and he was too afraid to trust the rope, so he just stayed there. After a few minutes, his fingers became sore and exhausted, and he started crying… But he refused to let go. Because–in his head–letting go meant falling. And trusting. But the only thing he trusted were those holds he had in his hands… Those things he could touch.

And it feels to me as if the number of people who are landing on “BE AFRAID” is growing. I guess it makes sense–We are people who are fed a steady diet of “BE AFRAID,” because “BE AFRAID” is a big seller. And like mother birds, we regurgitate that diet to our chicks. For many, this idea of “safety” means being able to control everything… So we feed our kids “Not safe at school” (and teach them at home). We feed them “Not safe at parks.” We feed them “Not safe in bathrooms.” We feed them “Stranger Danger,” and “Don’t trust anybody,” and “Not even safe at home” (unless you have a gun). It’s not enough to have a gun in your house… Some people even need to have a gun trap-doored in your headboard. “It’s time for bed, kids… Put on your kevlar vests.” What could go wrong?

And before long, we have pre teens who see a person they don’t know, assume they are in danger, and turn around and walk into the lady’s room with their mothers.

No cannonballs when jumping into the giant toilet.

But I believe deeply in the God of “DON’T be afraid.” The God who declared those words in every Bible story where God showed up… And this is precisely the reason why it is so heartbreaking to me that such a large portion of people who identify as Christians are so filled with “BE AFRAID.” It’s completely incongruent with the God I have come to know. And the God I am able to love. These “BE AFRAID” people are unrecognizable to me when stood next to Jesus… People who talk of building walls… People terrified of Muslims… People fearful of an imaginary Gay Agenda… People who cling to their guns as tightly as that kid on that rock wall clung to those holds (It is, by the way, so ironic that the people who supposedly have the most security in life after death are the ones who are most committed to keeping themselves alive at any cost). But once again, just like in so many Bible stories, we have God’s people choosing a golden (haired) calf–something they can touch–instead of trusting the God who keeps telling them over and over… “DON’T BE AFRAID.”

There’s nothing to be afraid of here…

My oldest daughter went for a plane ride in a little four-seater this week, and she got a chance to fly the plane for a bit. She’s eleven. To be honest, we were were a little scared. But then we remembered that she is way more likely to die in the car ON THE WAY to the airport than she is to die in a plane crash. I know there is a difference between lack of fear and carelessness (fear is based on emotion, and carelessness is based on ignoring actual facts, science, and statistics). And sure–we could try to insure that she never dies in a plane crash by never letting her go up in a plane… But then she wouldn’t have had the chance to take a picture like this:

Hear the voice of God, still proclaiming, “DON’T BE AFRAID! Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid…”

There are now 50 different people (!!!) who believe in what I’m doing on this blog so much that they are helping support it. Someone calling themselves “Nerd Parents” has just become my most recent patron. I’m so thankful. I work as a server, and people will give me a couple bucks to give them a drink and think nothing of it… But writing something like this post takes much longer than bringing someone a drink. If you value what I’m doing here, and you’re able, you can help support it on Patreon by giving a couple bucks a month (It’s super easy), or you can leave a tip on PayPal. You can also check out some of the Patron Poems I wrote for people, you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook for even more fun. Thanks so much!