This article is reposted directly from the Sept. 17th edition of Time Magazine. Time Magazine has no political affiliations and, in fact, named George W. Bush as their “Person of the Year” in 2004. Regardless of your political affiliations, biases or preconceived notions please take a couple minutes to read this and consider what character qualities we should be voting for in our next President.

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Politics has always been lousy with blather and chicanery. But there are rules and traditions too. In the early weeks of the general-election campaign, a consensus has grown in the political community — a consensus that ranges from practitioners like Karl Rove to commentators like, well, me — that John McCain has allowed his campaign to slip the normal bounds of political propriety. The situation has gotten so intense that we in the media have slipped our normal rules as well. Usually when a candidate tells something less than the truth, we mince words. We use euphemisms like mendacity and inaccuracy … or, as the Associated Press put it, “McCain’s claims skirt facts.” But increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar. You might well ask, What has McCain done to deserve this? What unwritten rules did he break? Are his transgressions of degree or of kind?

Almost every politician stretches the truth. We journalists try to point out the exaggerations and criticize them, then let the voters decide. When McCain says, for example, that Barack Obama favors a government-run health-care system, he’s not telling the truth — Obama wants a market-based system subsidized by the government — but McCain’s untruth illuminates a general policy direction, which is sketchy but sort of within the bounds. (Obama’s plan would increase government regulation of the drug and insurance industries.) Obama has done this sort of thing too. In July, he accused McCain of supporting the foreign buyout of an American company that could lead to the loss of about 8,000 jobs in Wilmington, Ohio. McCain did support the deal, but the job loss comes many years later and was not anticipated at the time. That, however, is where the moral equivalency between these two campaigns ends.

McCain’s lies have ranged from the annoying to the sleazy, and the problem is in both degree and kind. His campaign has been a ceaseless assault on his opponent’s character and policies, featuring a consistent—and witting—disdain for the truth. Even after 38 million Americans heard Obama say in his speech at the Democratic National Convention that he was open to offshore oil-drilling and building new nuclear-power plants, McCain flatly said in his acceptance speech that Obama opposed both. Normal political practice would be for McCain to say, “Obama says he’s ‘open to’ offshore drilling, but he’s always opposed it. How can we believe him?” This persistence in repeating demonstrably false charges is something new in presidential politics.

Worse than the lies have been the smears. McCain ran a television ad claiming that Obama favored “comprehensive” sex education for kindergartners. (Obama favored a bill that would have warned kindergartners about sexual predators and improper touching.) The accusation that Obama was referring to Sarah Palin when he said McCain’s effort to remarket his economic policies was putting “lipstick on a pig” was another clearly misleading attack — an obnoxious attempt to divert attention from Palin’s lack of fitness for the job and the recklessness with which McCain chose her. McCain’s assault on the “élite media” for spreading rumors about Palin’s personal life — actually, the culprits were a few bloggers and the tabloid press — was more of the same. And that gets us close to the real problem here. The McCain camp has decided that its candidate can’t win honorably, on the issues, so it has resorted to transparent and phony diversions.

This new strategy emerged during the first week of Obama’s overseas trip in late July. McCain had been intending to contrast his alleged foreign policy expertise and toughness with Obama’s inexperience and alleged weakness. McCain wanted to “win” the Iraq war and face down the Iranians. But those issues became moot when the Iraqis said they favored Obama’s withdrawal plan and the Bush Administration started talking to the Iranians. At that point, McCain committed his original sin — out of pique, I believe — questioning Obama’s patriotism, saying the Democrat would rather lose a war than lose an election. Ever since, McCain’s campaign has been a series of snide and demeaning ads accompanied by the daily gush of untruths that have now been widely documented and exposed. The strategy is an obvious attempt to camouflage the current unpopularity of his Republican brand, the insubstantiality of his vice-presidential choice, and his agreement on most issues — especially economic matters — with an exceedingly unpopular President.

The good news is that the vile times may be ending. The coming debates will decide this race, and it isn’t easy to tell lies when your opponent is standing right next to you. The Wall Street collapse demands a more sober campaign as well. But these dreadful weeks should not be forgotten. John McCain has raised serious questions about whether he has the character to lead the nation. He has defaced his beloved military code of honor. He has run a dirty campaign.

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I’m sure that we don’t all share the same political beliefs or values, but some things are simply wrong. A presidential campaign run on lies and smears is one of those wrong things. Period.

This article is reposted verbatim from the Sojourners’ website. I hope that more Jesus-followers begin to engage the complex and holistic truth found in our call to be peacemakers.

Just war theory is a mode of analysis that lists criteria by which war may be considered righteous before, during, and after its execution. The criteria to consider before a war are: declared by legitimate authority, just cause, right intent, reasonable hope of success, last resort, and announcement. The criteria to consider during war are: noncombatant immunity, proportionality of damage to good that will result, and limitations on weapons and tactics. Young scholars in Christian ethics are developing criteria to consider after war, such as reparations, truth and reconciliation, and refugees.

Just war theory has a long history inside of Christianity. It is a middle way between holy war and pacifism. However, just peace theory occupies the ground between just war theory and pacifism. From the perspective of just peace theory, just war theory is only war. It presupposes war. It comes into the discourse at the moment when a conflict reaches a crisis point and the possibility of war. The conversation becomes about making the case for war using just war principles. In contrast, just peace theory presupposes peace. The discourse becomes about what the nation is doing to preserve the peace. Further, just peace theory moves beyond just war theory because just war theory is unrealistic in the face of the nature of war itself.

For example, before a war we consider just cause. In reality, the causes of war are always multiple, complex, and entangled. So underneath arguments about defense and humanitarian intervention, there often lies an economic intent. Further, once war begins, no one can ever know how successful a nation will be in executing the war. Just war during war calls for the immunity of innocents and the protection of noncombatants from being targets of violence. Realistically, innocents always die in war. Some will object that this is an argument of moral equivalency. It is. The blood and tears are equivalent; people are equivalently killed and physically and psychologically injured. An innocent ecology is equivalently wounded.

Moreover, the nature of warfare is to defeat an enemy by any means necessary, and this includes using weapons and tactics that will demoralize the enemy even if that means killing innocents. Just war theory cannot come to terms with this reality.

Just peace theory understands that peacemaking happens every day, that the only just war is the war that we prevent because there is no such thing as victory in war. War itself is a defeat of human reason, communication, truth, and respect. At the same time, just peace theory recognizes there may be times when a military force ought to deploy to protect vulnerable populations or to enforce a peace agreement.

Today, 45 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered what would become one of the most famous speeches in all of American history.

Today, another part of that that dream will be realized. Today, an dark-skinned American-born man of African descent will accept the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party. And, what’s more, he actually has a shot to win the whole thing.

Regardless of your politics, this is a moment for celebrate; and this is a moment to grieve the blood on our hands.

In recognition of these two historic moments, I am posting the complete text and video of Dr. King’s speech from August 28, 1963. Please watch this and let the text soak into you today.. We must not continue deferring the promises of this dream.

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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Good day, my ever-decreasing circle of readers.

It seems as though I have been neglecting my blog lately, eh? Well, I’m feeling a bit inspired, so why don’t we try and give this a go today.. This will be a wide-ranging and segue-free update, so fasten your seatbelts and mind the gap.

Engaged/Moving/Job.

As you may or may not already know, I am now engaged to Hannah Ruth Hermiz. I am exceedingly happy and excited about this development and we are moving toward marriage in early June 2009.

Currently, I am living in Winona Lake Indiana working as a social worker for a company called Lifeline. It is a challenging job, but also very rewarding thus far. There has been a significant amount of upheaval in my life the past few months and while I am certainly filled with joy about where it has left me, I am also ready to settle down into some kind of normal rhythm.

Hannah and I will be traveling back to Columbus about once a month to see family, friends and work on wedding plans. Hopefully, we will be able to find time to spend with all our friends from Columbus over the next few months!

Politics.

Many who know me personally or have read my blog are aware that I have a left-leaning stance on many political issues. That’s a bit awkward now that I’m living in a state well known for its racism and Bible-belt-fundamentalism. I’ll just put it this way: You don’t see a lot of ‘Obama 2008’ signs out this way.

This having been said, I have been earnestly following the campaign these past months even if it has not shown up on my blog. There are a few points I would like to make about things that have happened over this time period:

1) Obama has sprinted, not walked, to the middle. From the moment he was nominated, he began courting undecided centrists with a full-scale moderation of his policy views. This has depressing to observe. How can Obama speak about “Change We Can Believe In” while resorting to the same tactical errors that plagued Kerry in ’04 and Gore in ’00? These campaigns were embarrassed by the word ‘liberal’ and ran away from themselves to such a degree that even the public didn’t know who they were anymore.

Specifically, I’m upset that Senator Obama, who has been against the death penalty his entire life, would speak out in favor of allowing the state of Louisiana to execute a child rapist. Furthermore, I’m horrified that the Senator not only voted in favor of the FISA bill that extended immunity to the telecommunication companies who helped the Bush Administration illegally spy on American citizens, but I am doubly disgusted by his vote in favor of cloture on the bill. I thought that David Axelrod and David Plouffe would be willing to run a different campaign in the general election than the ones we have seen the past several elections. However, it has been more of the same thus far.

I have yet to hear Senator Obama speak out about education reform, our country’s massive race problems or the debilitating condition of our poorest and those left behind. I firmly believe that if he did, his opinions would be similar to mine, however, his campaign has followed in the steps of the Democrats before him: Don’t be too much like yourself or you’ll be branded a liberal commie and then the war will be lost. Have you ever seen a political party so willing to run scared from their true identity as progressive champions for the poor and least in society? Republican henchmen have been mind-bogglingly successful at smearing progressive causes to such a degree that even progressives themselves treat their own principles like hot potatoes. This having been said, there’s no way in deepest, darkest hell that I would ever vote for John McCain.

2) I really enjoyed Senator Obama’s swing through Europe. However, it really brought out some issues in conservative circles that truly stymie me. How can it possibly be a BAD sign that the world likes one of our presidential candidates? Shouldn’t we be looking to get along with the rest of the world rather than simply exist in our isolated jingoism? Have we really reached the point where the rest of the world LIKING US is a sign that we are going the wrong direction? Truly, unfathomably mind-boggling.

After 8 years of the most belligerent, hostile and hegemonic foreign policy we have ever seen in this country, I am terrified to think that we haven’t yet had enough. Unfortunately, conservatism has embraced the rhetoric of exceptionalistic nationalism and led the Republican Party toward the worst kinds of fascism like some sort of cultural “Manifest Destiny.” It makes me nauseous.

3) I’m sick of reading about Senator Obama’s alleged “poor performance” at Rich Warren’s forum in California. I thought Obama’s answers were nuanced, thoughtful and appropriately complex, considering the issues at stake. Of course, for the vast majority of the complex-averse public, these answers just made him seem like he didn’t know what he thought about things. Everyone wants the perfectly framed sound-bite and no one wants to actually engage the complexities. Shameful where we’ve come to as a society. In contrast, I was really turned off by McCain’s glib, clichéd answers that did not in any way line up with his previous policy stances. He stated that life starts at conception but I defy you to find ONE TIME when he has said that before this campaign (I’ll save you the trouble: It doesn’t exist).

McCain has pandered to the far religious right in order to shore up the easily influenced “values voters” who apparently don’t consider poverty, education, racism, the death penalty, torture, human rights, international goodwill, health care, genocide or illegal war to have any sort of inherent moral foundation. If only these alleged “values voters” had a shred of nuance, they could understand this: Study after study after study has shown that abortions happen when poor, uneducated people don’t have access to birth control options. Guess who is actually trying to address all of these issues: The Democrats. Will this end abortion? No, but abortions will certainly lessen. You know whose stance (overturn Roe v. Wade) will neither end nor lessen abortions? The Republicans. Ironic, isn’t it?

4) I love Joe Biden. Whenever I take one of those political tests, he is almost always my top match. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about this later, but I really respect this VP pick and I think it shows Obama moving back toward the left.

Vacation.

Starting on Sept. 5th, I’ll be vacationing with the Hermiz family in Maine for about 10 days. It will be so good to get away from the rat race for a bit and equally great to get some quality time with my future in-laws. Obviously, much of my time will be spent with Hannah as well – needless to say, we’re really excited to get some quality time without the normal pressures of life bearing down on us.

Dad.

My dad is in the middle of a double-knee replacement right now. He had his right one done on August 20th and his left one will be done tomorrow. He is recovering well and improving day-by-day from the first surgery, but I know that things will be hard on both him and my mom starting tomorrow. Pray for them.

The Toby Zieglers.

My friend Mike Baker and I have started a band under this pseudonym. Mike is engaged to Hannah’s roommate and best friend, Jodi Schirtzinger. We’ve played out once at a local joint named Mad Anthony’s and we’re hoping to get a few more gigs. Mike plays a mean acoustic bass and we’re having a lot of fun together.

Music I have been enjoying.

Jeff Buckley: Grace, Juno (Soundtrack), Derek Webb: Mockingbird, Elliott Smith, Julie Miller, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, Damien Jurado, Over the Rhine and more.

I’m sure there’s more to say, but I think that’s good for now. Much love to my friends and family in Columbus – You are missed!!

So, I’m engaged…!!!!  Below is the engagement story, written by my lovely fiancee, Hannah Ruth Hermiz.  My additional comments are highlighted in red.  Enjoy!

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It was a Sunday morning, and we were headed into the day as we normally would. I was in the bathroom getting ready, and feeling stressed about my appearance; Brian was catching up on the latest news via the internet. (She looked as beautiful as she always does..)

I had a hunch earlier in the week that on this particular Sunday, August 24^th, exactly three months after our reunion, we might be getting engaged. Brian knew I was suspecting … (And to be honest.. I was pretty pissed that she suspected something. I thought that I had kept it pretty close to the vest.)

We went to church at Central Vineyard, went for a drive down High St. so that Brian could reminisce a bit … (O-H!!) and then we went to his parent’s house, where Brian told me we would be having lunch. When we arrived, he took me downstairs, where I discovered a surprise candlelight lunch, complete with a rose, a card, nice china, sparkling grape juice, cheese fondu, and strawberries and cream for desert. (All the credit for putting this together goes to my Mom.. she really came through on this!!) It looked lovely, and I thought for sure I was about to get engaged.

As we sit down, Brian looks at me sadly and says, “OK, to be honest, I really wanted to give you a ring this weekend, but I don’t have it with me right now.” (And it was TECHNICALLY true.. I DID want to get engaged that weekend.. and I DID NOT have the ring with me AT THAT MOMENT..)

WOAH.

I felt slightly disappointed in the moment, but the look on his face made me realize that he was deeply sad (Apparently, I’m a good actor) that he couldn’t give the ring to me, so I reassured him that it was ok, and that I was delighted by the surprise lunch, which was simply to celebrate three months. I began to tell him that indeed, I had suspected we would be getting engaged this weekend, but I didn’t press further, and neither did he. We just enjoyed our lunch, and went on with the day like it was a normal day …

Watched an episode of West Wing. Made out a little. Napped a little. Went to the library. He had asked me earlier in the week if we could go to Dunkin Donuts & Beechcroft High School on this day, so we set out to do those things just for fun. (I had been doing some prep-work to make sure it wasn’t suspicious when we actually went to those places)

(Backstory: We went to Dunkin Donuts all the time in high school, and we also spent quite a bit of a time in that high school parking lot close to our house, where we would, ahem …park.) (It was more than just a make out spot… We had some great talks and prayer times in that parking lot as well)

So we’re sitting at Dunkin Donuts, playing cards, and enjoying the day, when I say to him, “maybe we can skip the parking lot thing. It’s just really hot out today.” He sort of whines a bit, saying he really wanted to, and maybe we should read some Psalms while we’re there.

Ok, fine.

When we walked out of Dunkin Donuts, it was significantly cooler, so we drove over to the high school. He set out the blanket and I played my Over the Rhine mix. We slow danced, as usual. He read Psalm 23. And then he said, “Maybe you can read something too. How about Hebrews? Like maybe chapter 10 since its our favorite?” (hint, hint)

I slowly skimmed through the Bible, and when I finally got to Hebrews 10, there it was! A beautiful engagement ring tied to the ribbon bookmark inside! Hebrews 10:24 was underlined, which says, “And let us consider how to spur one another on toward love and good works.” On the side margin Brian had written, “for the rest of our lives.”

Brian got on one knee, and right then it began to rain. I exploded in an outburst of emotion that I have never experienced – half laughing hysterically, half weeping. He said some sweet things, and asked me to marry him. I muffled “yes” underneath my emotional cries (which he later told me I said “I guess”). (Actually, I knew that she had said “yes,” but it sounded like “I guess,” which is just funny)

We stood there holding each other in the pouring rain for a while, and then decided to depart, where he said we needed to stop by his parent’s house (obviously!) (I had one last surprise for her in the day!.. and it hinged on just stopping by my parents’ house to show them the ring..)

When we arrived, I received my third and final surprise for the day! My parents and oldest brother Matt were there, along with all of Brian’s family. We had a wonderful meal together, and both Brian’s dad and my dad prayed for us, as we stood in a circle holding hands.

Then we were off to Indiana. J

P.S. The ring is BEAUTIFUL and I will post pictures of it as soon as I can!

***

**UPDATE**

I visited Allan in the hospital and he is doing okay. And by “okay”, I mean that he has broken nearly every bone in his face and lost several teeth. Thankfully, he did not sustain a concussion nor does he have any kind of brain damage or bleeding.. Truly, this is a miracle. Normally when one face plants full speed into the windshield of a moving car there is more substantial damage than what Allan has right now.. So, praise God for that fact. The rest of his body is perfectly fine,.. it is literally just his face. I would term it this way: He totaled his face. Please pray for his upcoming surgery (surgeries?!) and the doctors involved. Also, that the whole health insurance thing would work out correctly.

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My friend Allan Van Cleave was struck by a car yesterday while riding his bike on campus. He is in Intensive Care on the trauma floor of Riverside Hospital.

Allan is a brilliant song-writer, a hilarious person and one of the best all-around people I know.

Beating poverty in America nowadays is largely a matter of personal behavior. Get a high school diploma, don’t have kids until you’re married, don’t get married until you’re 21, and you probably won’t be poor. It also helps if you work hard, show up on time, act courteously, and avoid anything felonious.

But where are these kids going to learn such things? It’s the stuff you just sort of absorb in a healthy, traditional, two-parent home, and that’s exactly what they’re missing. If they learn what they’ve lived, they’re done for–the girls too likely to “come out pregnant” like their mothers, the boys to be underemployed and maybe even do time.

You can’t legislate responsibility, either. Personal behavior in a free society has to be a matter of choice–choice without which there is no virtue–virtue without which a society can’t be free.

It seems to me that leaves these kids only one recourse: the culture. Where the institution of family is broken, only the surrounding culture can teach people the inner structures required for a life of liberty.

Many conservatives often seem to have given up on culture or not to care. There’s a strong strain of philistinism on the right. When we talk about “culture wars,” we usually mean preventing the courts from redefining marriage or promoting abstinence instead of birth control: culture, in other words, as the behavioral branch of politics.

Culture, in the true sense, is more than that. It’s the whole engulfing narrative of our values. It’s the stories we tell. Leftists know this. These kids get an earful from the Left every day. Their schools serve up black history in a way guaranteed to alienate them from the American enterprise. Their sanctioned reading list denies boys the natural fantasies of battling villains and protecting women from harm. Any instinct the girls might have that their bodies and their self-respect are interrelated is negated by the ubiquitous parable of celebrity lives. And I hardly need mention the movies and TV shows that endlessly undermine notions of manly self-discipline, feminine modesty, patriotism, and all the rest.

Conservatives respond to this mostly with finger-wagging. But creativity has to be answered with creativity. We need stories, histories, movies of our own. That requires a structure of support–publishing houses, movie studios, review space, awards, almost all of which we’ve ceded to the Left.

Like, for example, racism.

Bill Johnson is currently running a campaign to become a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge.. and he has quite a history of lies, pseudonyms and white supremacist writings.

Perhaps you’ve read the 14th and 15th Amendments to our Constitution.. they quite beautifully protect the citizenship rights of all people in the U.S. .. and specifically exist to counter racism conditional citizenship:

(14)
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

(15)
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

In 1985, under the name James O. Pace, Mr. Johnson penned a book called ‘Amendment to the Constitution’, which wanted to add this language to the 15th Amendment:

“No person shall be a citizen of the United States unless he is a non-Hispanic white of the European race, in whom there is no ascertainable trace of Negro blood, nor more than one-eighth Mongolian, Asian, Asia Minor, Middle Eastern, Semitic, Near Eastern, American Indian, Malay or other non-European or non-white blood, provided that Hispanic whites, defined as anyone with an Hispanic ancestor, may be citizens if, in addition to meeting the aforesaid ascertainable trace and percentage tests, they are in appearance indistinguishable from Americans whose ancestral home is in the British Isles or Northwestern Europe. Only citizens shall have the right and privilege to reside permanently in the United States.”

A later summary of his plan fleshed out the particulars of the so-called ‘Pace Amendment’:

Only bonafide, certified citizens will be permitted permanent residency in the United States. All others shall be compulsorily deported “in a manner economically beneficial to them” to their native lands. Although this will involve tens of millions of American residents, and is to be accomplished in a single year, Pace assures us that deportation will be “fair” and “minimally painless.” Money now “waste” on federal welfare and public education programs can be budgeted for moving allowances and the leasing of mass transportation facilities.

Those who so wish may keep title to their property in absentia, at least temporarily. But failure to comply with repatriation will automatically result in its confiscation. Further enforcement procedures are not specified. On the whole, the author is optimistic that if the carrot of allowances is beguiling enough, bloodshed should be minimal. To this end, precautions will be undertaken to ensure that “the enforcers do not become over-zealous in their duties.”

American Indians, Aleuts, and Hawaiians, although not real citizens, will not face relocation, but will be maintained in “tribal reservations” analogous to the arrangement in South Africa. Those whose age precludes easy relocation and others who can demonstrate extraordinary hardship may apply for provisional privileges to maintain their present domicile. But since such conditions are always subject to abuse, these should be observed only in the “most extreme” cases.

In addition to his writing career, Mr. Johnson has used several different aliases,.. including Daniel Johnson, William Johnson and James O. Pace.. each with separate stories and identities.

In 1989, under the name Daniel, Mr. Johnson ran for an open congressional seat in Wyoming. The Mississippi Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group, wrote this in support of his candidacy:

The strongest pro-majority campaign in the nation is mounting here with far-reaching implications. Congressional candidate Daniel Johnson is being blasted as a ‘white supremacist’ because he favors repatriating non-whites to Africa and scrapping affirmative action programs.

Johnson, 34, seeking the post vacated by now-Secretary of Defense Richard Chaney [sic], is a smart Harvard-law grad who persuasively articulates the pro-gun, pro-family, pro-American position. He is a dedicated anti-communist with many youthful supporters.

Oh, and Johnson’s campaign manager in this election was an 18 year old named John Abarr who was moonlighting as a Klu Klux Klan organizer and also was part of the “League of Pace Amendment Advocates.” Apparently, though, Mr. Abarr was too moderate for Mr. Johnson’s tastes, because he was replaced by Jessie Johnson, a former Grand Dragon in the KKK.

Unfortunately, there is more to this story. Since losing in the Wyoming election, he has run for a congressional seat in Arizona and multiple posts in California, including his current candidacy.

If you have any friends in Los Angeles, please urge them to get to the polls and send this snake packing.

James 1:22-25

(NIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

(The Message)
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

(New Living)
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

(NASB)
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

(TNIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like. But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continue in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

***

God has been doing some special things in my life, as of late. Consult HERE for more information.. .. He is just so good to His kids.

The past month I have been reconnecting with my first love, my high school sweetheart.. Hannah. I love her more than words. God has brought us back into a relationship in such a way that we are unable to deny His work in our hearts and with each other,.. because it has produced change in us, and stirred us toward the bigger, greater things of the Kingdom. It has been like waking up from a long sleep, walking out of Plato’s cave or suddenly putting on one’s own skin for the very first time.

For so long now I have struggled with self-protection, lack of vulnerability, control and lack of empathy within my relationships,.. whether romantic, familial, spiritual or friendship. The past month has brought a seismic shift in these areas. God has simply changed me. I have rediscovered the liberation of commitment and the freedom of vulnerability.. I have learned to trust God more deeply than ever before, and this has allowed me to trust my new (old) love and give of myself in a way that I never have before. I have been given deep wells of empathy and compassion that have allowed me to look at others as God looks at them.. and to love them beyond their flaws, weaknesses and my superficial criticisms. And God has done many of these things through the love of this dear, sweet woman in my life.

So, I find myself joyfully and humbly committed to an incredible woman whose exterior attractiveness is trumped only by the surpassing beauty of her heart, passions and calling. To say that I have simply been blessed this past month does a disservice to the work God is accomplishing.

But, this is not the end of the story. Even though I have re-found my true love, there is so much work to be done. This passage in James has hit me on such a deep level.. Not only must we do what the word says, but we must CONTINUALLY COME BACK to the places where we can look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, lest we forget when we turn away.

Hannah and I are embarking on an exciting new journey together,.. and we have begun with prayers, tears, laughter, joy, humble hearts and a deeply knitted love for eachother. Now we must walk the path. Now we must do what the word says.

My prayer is, has been and will continue to be that I would CONTINUALLY RETURN to that place.. that I would not only do what the Word says and continually be seismically shifted by Jesus, but that I would also be consistent in the normal, banal moments of life.. that I would continually be drawn back to the place where God can again impart his perfect freedom-giving law into my heart.. I pray this for myself, for Hannah and for us as a couple.

Come, Lord Jesus.. Bring more of yourself. We want to walk like You.
Oh,.. and thank you for Your redemptive goodness..