An International Melting Pot in Rural Southwest Missouri

February 20, 2024 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

(This post is based on an oral history study funded by a 2022 Center for Missouri Studies Fellowship, a program of the State Historical Society of Missouri. It is also adapted from a paper I presented at the 2023 Ozarks Studies Symposium in West Plains, Missouri.)

Carlos Sosa was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1981. He moved to the United States when he was seventeen to live with his mother who had migrated from Mexico and was working at a poultry processing plant in Noel, Missouri, located in McDonald County. Neither Carlos nor his mother spoke much English. Carlos worked in the plant too. The income and benefits were good, but for Carlos the chicken business was just a job. He wanted something more.

Carlos made friends in Noel, and they helped him learn to speak English. One of his friends suggested he apply for the maintenance supervisor job at the local Housing Authority. The director offered Carlos the position in 2013 and gave him a year to pass his high school equivalency exam, which he did. He went on to become a U.S. citizen too. In 2021, he was recognized for his hard work with a “Maintenance Man of the Year” award from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. It was a long journey, but Carlos carved out a new life in the Ozarks for himself and his family. To appreciate his story, it’s essential to understand the monumental changes that occurred at the turn of the twenty-first century in the place Carlos calls home.

McDonald County is at the southwest corner of Missouri. With over a dozen small townships and villages scattered throughout its border, the county in 2020 had a population of just over 23,000. Pineville, one of the smaller towns, is the county seat and is located just east of Interstate 49 that winds its way north to south through the county. Entrepreneurs began to take advantage of the area’s natural beauty in the early twentieth century by opening tourist resorts, an economic driver that was further facilitated by the construction of US Highway 71 in 1926, which brought visitors right to the banks of the Elk River that flows through the county. Local recognition of tourism as a lifeline was clearly and humorously demonstrated in 1961 when a group of citizens announced to the State of Missouri that McDonald County was “seceding” to form an independent territory in response to the state highway department’s decision to omit key tourist spots in the county from a Missouri vacation map.

By the mid-1900s, industry began to emerge in McDonald County, especially large-scale poultry production. Generations of small farmers in the Ozarks had been raising chickens for sustenance, but broader investment for income was a risky proposition because of market uncertainty and production expenses. The nationwide frugality brought on by World War II increased demand for cheaper sources of protein, and chicken quickly became the nation’s top source of meat.

Several industry leaders began to rise in northwest Arkansas in the 1960s and 70s and eventually expanded their operations into Missouri, including Simmons Foods, Lane Processing, Hudson Foods, and Tyson Foods. By the 1990s, Tyson Foods was the top poultry producer in the country after acquiring several of its competitors, including Lane Processing and Hudson Foods. One of the Hudson facilities Tyson took over in 1997 was in Noel. Also, Simmons Foods had been operating a processing plant since the 1980s in Southwest City, a township aptly named for its location at the southwest corner of the county and the state.

Poultry Capital, McDonald County, Missouri

As the poultry industry evolved from farm-based to manufacturing operations, the need to secure labor became paramount. Local workers became increasingly dissatisfied with the grueling demands of high-capacity chicken processing, especially at the prevailing wages. Manufacturers began to look elsewhere for labor, preferably the nonunion variety. High school diplomas, advanced technical skills, and the ability to speak English were not necessary for many of these jobs, attracting immigrants with little formal education. Chicken plants located eight hundred miles from the nearest U.S. border often flew under the radar of immigration officers and were motivated to hire undocumented immigrants who would resist joining labor organizations, endure brutal working conditions, and file few workers’ compensation claims.

By the mid-1990s, the huge influx of Latin American immigrants into the U.S. began to reshape the workforce at Tyson Foods. The company aggressively recruited undocumented workers whose questionable legal status made them much more compliant than native-born laborers. Tyson’s hiring practices came under scrutiny in 2001 when the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service charged the company with conspiracy to import and transport illegal workers from the southwest border to fifteen of its processing facilities across the country, including the plant in Noel. Two years later, a jury acquitted Tyson and spared the company penalties that by some estimates would have exceeded $100 million.

In the third volume of his comprehensive study, A History of the Ozarks, Brooks Blevins draws attention to the changing face of the region’s population at the turn of the twenty-first century. He specifically points to the dynamic impact of immigrants that moved into northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri seeking jobs in the poultry industry. Blevins includes McDonald County as one of four counties at the center of the poultry processing district where the nonwhite and Hispanic population has dramatically increased over the last thirty years. The results of this trend in McDonald County were most acutely exhibited in the two towns where processing plants were located: Tyson in Noel and Simmons in Southwest City.

Between 1990 and 2000, McDonald County had the second-highest growth in Hispanic population in Missouri, an increase from 121 to 2,030. The population distribution for Noel and Southwest City reflected an even starker contrast, which is directly related to in-migration of workers to the chicken plants. With Tyson’s acquisition of Hudson Foods, the operation at the Noel plant continued to expand into the twenty-first century. By 2001, the facility employed about 87 percent of the town’s total population. Over one-third of the town was Hispanic, although many long-time Noel residents were convinced that immigrants accounted for almost half the town’s population.

Noel’s ethnic diversity expanded further in 2008 when the closure of a Tyson beef-processing plant in Kansas prompted a group of Somali refugees working there to find new jobs in the southwest Missouri town. Within four years, Somalis accounted for 20 percent of Noel’s population. Soon they were joined by workers born in other parts of the world also seeking employment at the Noel plant, including Kenya, Sudan, the Pacific Islands, Laos, and Myanmar. Refugees from overseas were a safe bet for Tyson because their legal status was typically already established.

As was the case with Tyson in Noel, Simmons offered year-round jobs with acceptable wages for an area with a low cost of living, which attracted immigrants. Most of the foreign-born people who migrated into Southwest City in the early 21^st century were Hispanic or Latin American and worked at the Simmons plant. Although white native-born people became a minority in both Southwest City and Noel, there was much more ethnic diversity among the foreign-born residents in Noel. By hiring liaisons and interpreters, Tyson made it possible for international refugees who didn’t speak or read English to function in their Noel plant.

While a certain amount of resistance to change was clearly present, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s, some business owners saw opportunities to profit from their new neighbors. Established stores were changing inventory to include products that would better appeal to Hispanic shoppers while new businesses were popping up that catered specifically to Spanish speaking customers. Even jukeboxes in the local bar began offering selections from south of the border.

In Noel, sales tax revenue is critically important because it is a primary source of funding for the town’s administration, especially the police department. Therefore, any increase in retail activity contributes to the town’s success. Immigrants and refugees used their wages to pay for goods and services, and many of them shopped locally. Some businesses were owned and operated by people who migrated to the county beginning in the mid-1990s.

Carlos Sosa, introduced at the beginning of this post, continued working for the Noel Housing Authority, but he also became a real estate developer and manager with both commercial and residential properties in McDonald County. His wife, Marlene, opened Sosa’s Hairdressing in Noel, where she built an impressive customer base of multiple races, including white people. The couple purchased several storefronts on Main Street in Noel occupied by successful retailers and were very engaged in the community.

Ann Harmon is a woman with deep family roots in the southwest Missouri Ozarks going back to the nineteenth century. She has owned and managed several businesses and continues to own multiple buildings in Noel. One day a Somali man named Muhammad Abdi approached Harmon and told her he wanted to rent one of her vacant buildings on Main Street. In 2010, Abdi and his wife, Luul Ahkmed, opened the African Grocery Store in Harmon’s building. In addition to specialty foods and household goods, the store also carried traditional attire for its Muslim customers. The owners even served meals in the back of the building. Muhammad and Luul later established the town’s first mosque in another of Harmon’s buildings next door to the store. Unfortunately, tragedy struck on December 28, 2021, when a fire destroyed both the African Grocery Store and the mosque, leaving behind only the stone walls of the structures.

Noel, Missouri - Main Street — Noel, Missouri – Main Street

Non-native residents have opened several businesses in the county over the last thirty years. A smaller African store opened on Main Street in Noel after the fire, which was also a location for money transfer services for Somali immigrants. Rosa’s Mexican Supermarket located across the road from the Tyson plant in Noel stocked an array of fruits, vegetables, specialty items, baked goods, and prepared foods that most grocery stores in the area didn’t have. Online reviews of Rosa’s were overwhelmingly positive. Another Mexican grocery store located a block off Main Street had one of the most attractive storefronts in town and a beautiful mural painted on the north side of the building. An Hispanic couple owned and operated a convenient store right next to the Tyson plant in Noel.

Although outdoor tourism was an economic pillar for Noel, it took a serious hit in August 1960, when U.S. Highway 71 was rerouted away from town and the recreational spots along the river there. Ann Harmon recalls how important the highway was to Noel. “We had tremendous flow of traffic,” she says. “We had a lot of motels and restaurants. And then the road changed. The motels went out of business; the restaurants diminished. We lost almost all the bars. We used to have more bars than churches.”She said the place went to hell when that ratio reversed.

When immigrants and refugees began to move into Noel, many people were worried that tourism would suffer. However, some longtime residents believed the solution to boosting tourism, perhaps on a year-round basis, could actually be found in the town’s ethnic diversity. Terry Lance, the mayor of Noel, admitted that having a chicken plant next to a major campground on the Elk River isn’t exactly a tourist attraction, but he was convinced the local immigrant population could be an asset. Getting different people from different backgrounds in business would be the best thing that ever happened in the town, in his opinion.

When new workers first began moving into the county, one of the most immediate needs was securing affordable housing, which created both a crisis and an opportunity. Rental houses quickly filled beyond capacity in the late 1990s. Old motels and apartment complexes in poor repair that had struggled to stay open were suddenly packed with fulltime residents. Empty tourist cabins dotted around the area became homes too. Eventually developers would build more apartments, which created work for builders, contractors, and property managers.

The rapid introduction of multiple ethnic groups and languages into McDonald County ushered in issues with law enforcement. Acquiring a driver’s license is one of the hardest things for immigrants to do. Some of them resorted to using fraudulent documents to get a license. Even after getting one, they often had trouble adjusting to traffic laws and were more likely to be stopped than native drivers. Be that as it may, officials reported that non-native residents were no more likely to commit violent crimes than natives, and most of the incidents that did occur were domestic in nature, which sadly included suicide attempts.

Perhaps the biggest barrier that everyone faced as immigrants poured into the county was language, and the situation was most acute in the schools. The problems were compounded by the rapid growth in population, especially in Noel. Construction on a new elementary school began in 1994 with the expectation that the building would be at 65 percent capacity and would accommodate growth over the next decade. When it opened a year later, Noel Elementary was already completely full, and most of the new students were children of Hispanic workers, who spoke limited English. Some teachers left their jobs, too overwhelmed to continue under the new conditions.

Spanish is difficult, but it’s not insurmountable. However, the introduction of language groups from African countries, the Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia brought even greater challenges. By some accounts, there were close to a dozen different languages, along with multiple dialects, spoken by various ethnic groups and nationalities in McDonald County at one time. Learning a second language, if not several more, became a priority for some people in the county. The schools received assistance from translators hired by Tyson to help students take exams, but there are no words in some of these languages and dialects that identify the concepts covered in standardized tests. Even the context presented serious issues for children coming from cultural backgrounds so different from those in the U.S. Their fathers had been murdered. They survived refugee camps overseas.

Before the mid-1990s, McDonald County folks had little experience with cultural, ethnic, or racial diversity in their community. Longtime residents were exposed to customs and practices they considered strange, even shocking at times. Joyce Short is a local woman with residential property she has rented to immigrants. She recalls receiving a frantic late-night call from a neighbor of one of her renters who told her something terrible was happening. She arrived to find that her renters were preparing to have a barbecue. She asked them what was going on. The men gathered in the yard told her they were cooking a goat. She let them know that cooking a goat in the yard was one thing; slaughtering it on site was quite another. She said, “It’s interesting what a mature woman in pajamas can do at a barbeque or beer party that’s gotten a little too loud in the middle of the night.”

The county’s social services network was not prepared for the myriad needs of these new arrivals. A nonprofit organization called RAISE, an acronym for Refugee and Immigration Services & Education, incorporated in 2017 with offices in a structure on the Noel Housing Authority property. RAISE received financial support through donations and solicited major gifts, including assistance from the Walmart Foundation. The highest priority for RAISE was education in the areas of English literacy, parenting, health and wellness, computer proficiency, finances, and employment.

How well did immigrants integrate into the community? Some immigrants chose the path toward citizenship, and Hispanic residents began running for office in Noel and Southwest City as early as 2002. In 2022, a man named Feliberto Barrientos was the unchallenged candidate elected to represent the North Ward in Noel. He and his wife operated a food truck and had lived in the area for a decade or more. Mayor Lance encouraged him to run for office, thinking he would be an asset to city governance. The mayor said, “He has a perspective that I don’t have, and I’m sure don’t completely understand. And I think that’s important.”

The role religion played in the cultural transformation of McDonald County cannot be overstated. Before the 1990s, the predominant religious identity in the county was Protestantism. By 2001, attendance at the local Catholic church in Noel went from a handful of white people to an overflowing crowd of mostly Hispanic worshippers participating in a Spanish Mass. As people from Latin America began to make their way into the area, the Catholic population continued to expand. St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Noel also offered Spanish services. With the arrival of refugees originating in Muslim countries of Africa, Islam was introduced into the religious mix. The primary faith tradition of the Pacific Islanders is Christianity, some of whom participated in local Protestant worship services. But it is important to note that religious diversity was not nearly as great as ethnic and linguistic differences in Noel.

After more than a decade of living in Noel, Muslim residents may not have necessarily felt embraced with open arms by everyone, but the circumstances definitely improved. After the fire that destroyed the mosque on Main Street, local and outside fundraising efforts made it possible in 2022 to open a new mosque in a building behind the original one. The ceremony to open the new facility was a public event, and dignitaries invited to speak included Muslim elders and leaders along with the mayor, the city marshal, the fire chief, and a management representative from the local Tyson plant. Other community members worked diligently to dispel myths and clear up misunderstandings about the Muslim people in Noel, especially educators, landlords, and retailers who interacted with these residents.

No other church in the county was more inclusive and welcoming to immigrants than Community Baptist Church in Noel. Joshua Manning became the pastor there in September, 2017, serving a multilingual congregation including Hispanics, Native Americans, and members of the minority Karen population from Myanmar. Eventually the church began offering worship services in at least four different languages. They also established a clothing bank and hosted English classes for nearby Crowder College. During the COVID pandemic, the church began a food pantry ministry. Tyson donated $7,000 in 2022 for the purchase of a walk-in freezer for the pantry, which was regularly serving an average of 150-175 families.

McDonald County underwent drastic changes between the early 1990s and 2023. To the outside observer, the county may have looked quite segregated, with ethnic and language groups largely keeping to themselves outside of work and school. But there were a few places where cultural blending was encouraged, such as a few community-wide celebrations and festivals, and some retail establishments. In 2021, Tony and Emily Savage opened The Common Cup, a coffee shop in Noel on Main Street in a building owned by Carlos and Marlene Sosa. Tony and Emily wanted to create an atmosphere where people from vastly different traditions could gather and become acquainted while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea. They served beverages inspired by some of the nationalities represented in Noel, and they built a racially diverse staff for the shop. A sign on the wall in The Common Cup was a visual reminder of the Savages’ business model: “We Filter Coffee, Not People.”

There were still people in the county who were dissatisfied with the level of diversity where they lived, and some would have been perfectly happy if the chicken plants closed immediately and took their workers with them. Others had a more positive view. Angie Brewer, the principal of McDonald County High School, embraced a theological perspective. “It’s a mission field,” she said. “I always did think when I was a kid, I might be a missionary. But I didn’t have to go to Africa. It came to me. I didn’t have to go to Burma. It came to me.”

What would indeed happen to Noel and Southwest City if the chicken plants closed? As it turns out, this is not a hypothetical question. Tyson shuttered its Noel plant in October, 2023, along with several other locations in the region. Over 70 percent of Noel’s population would have to find work elsewhere. By the end of 2023, many of the immigrants and refugees had left Noel, much in the same way they left other places to come to McDonald County looking for jobs. The impact on the community had a ripple effect. The owners of the Common Cup sold out to new owners who renamed the coffee shop, moved it to a new location, and eliminated the ethnic-inspired beverages from the menu. Community Baptist Church closed in late November as Pastor Manning saw a sizeable portion of his congregation move away from McDonald County.

For people like Carlos Sosa, who left the chicken business behind for what he considers better opportunities, McDonald County is not a placeholder until something else comes along. It is a home for him and his family. Like a few other foreign-born residents, Carlos reshaped the place where he lives in southwest Missouri, from teaching children in his church to being a community activist and building businesses. However, this latest development could have an adverse effect on his family’s financial future in Noel. For the individuals whose sole source of income was the Tyson plant, there were very few options other than to leave the town to find work elsewhere. Local officials are exploring various options for the vacant plant with Tyson and potential buyers in hopes of finding a new employer that can bring back some of the jobs. Even so, the situation in Noel looks mighty bleak in early 2024.

Sources

Interviews

Angie Brewer (Principal, McDonald County High School), in discussion with the author at McDonald County High School in Anderson, Missouri, April 8, 2022

Carey Ellison (Noel branch public library manager), in discussion with the author at the Noel branch public library in Noel, Missouri, April 8, 2022

Kara Gebre (Program Director for RAISE) and Mike Newman (Executive Director for RAISE), in discussion with the author at RAISE office in Joplin, Missouri, November 21, 2022

Ann Harmon (former business owner and property lessor), in discussion with the author at Noel Housing Authority in Noel, Missouri, August 29, 2022

Rosie Hartley (Director, Noel Housing Authority), in discussion with the author at Noel Housing Authority in Noel, Missouri, July 12, 2022

Terry Lance (Mayor, City of Noel), in discussion with the author at Noel City Hall in Noel, Missouri, May 25, 2022

Joshua Manning (Pastor, Community Baptist Church in Noel, Missouri), Facebook direct message to author, February 25, 2022

Mike Newman (Executive Director for RAISE), email messages to author, December 11-12, 2022

Sheila Owens (Media Specialist, Noel Elementary School), in discussion with the author at Noel Elementary School in Noel, Missouri, May 25, 2022

Lisa Reece (Manager, Dollar General), in discussion with the author at Dollar General in Noel, Missouri, July 12, 2022

Hazel Sheets (Director, McDonald County Public Library), in discussion with the author at McDonald County Public Library main branch in Pineville, Missouri, August 29, 2022

Joyce Short (Noel Housing Authority Board), in discussion with the author at Noel Housing Authority in Noel, Missouri, August 10, 2022

Carlos Sosa (maintenance supervisor at Noel Housing Authority), in discussion with author at Noel Housing Authority in Noel, Missouri, July 12, 2022

Randy Wilson (Noel City Marshal) in discussion with the author at Noel City Marshal office in Noel, Missouri, July 12, 2022

Other Sources

Oscar Avila, “Cultures Blend When Ozarks Town has Influx of Hispanic Factory Workers.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, October 27, 1997, Gale Business

Brooks Blevins, A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2021) 242

Donald Bradley, “In small-town Missouri, a collision of cultures,” The Kansas City Star, June 10, 2012, A1, A18-A19, Newspapers.com

Gregory Cancelada, “Not everyone is shocked by charges at Tyson Foods,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 23, 2001, 52, Newspapers.com

“Compacts of Free Association: Populations in U.S. Areas Have Grown, with Varying Reported Effects,” United States Government Accountability Office, June 15, 2020 (web page)

“Explore Census Data,” United States Census Bureau (website)

Thomas Gounley, “Somalis Find Safe Refuge,” The Springfield News-Leader, February 6, 2017, A1, A6, Newspapers.com

David Griffith, “Consequences of Immigration Reform for Low-Wage Workers in the Southern U.S.: The Case of the Poultry Industry,” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, 19, No. ½, Immigrants in U.S. Cities (Spring-Summer 1990): 161

Frank Griffiths, “Hispanics entering politics in McDonald Co.,” The Springfield News-Leader, March 31, 2002,1,8, Newspapers.com

Perla M. Guerrero, Nuevo South: Latinas/os, Asians, and the Remaking of Place (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2017), 114

Kimberly Harper, “McDonald County,” Missouri Encyclopedia, The State Historical Society of Missouri (web page)

Kimberly Harper, White Man’s Heaven: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909, (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2010), xxii, 253

Kaylea M. Hutson-Miller, “Noel Church Reaches Out to Immigrants from Around the World,” Joplin Globe, September 1, 2019, joplinglobe.com

Kaitlyn McConnell, “Noel coffee shop starts to bring cultures together,” Ozarks Alive (website), May 23, 2021

Kaitlyn McConnell, “Ozarks Notebook: Tyson, the Grinch Who Upended Christmas City,” The Daily Yonder (website), December 22, 2023

William McQuillen, “Tyson Acquitted of Plotting to Hire Illegal Workers,” Bloomberg, (March 26, 2003), Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (web page)

“Noel Approves New Insurance Agency, Passes Ordinance,” McDonald County Press, August 13, 2020, nwaonline.com

“Noel Fire Cause ‘Undetermined,’” McDonald County Press, March 4, 2021, nwaonline.com

Phillip O’Connor, “Hispanics Transform Rural Missouri Town,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 18, 2001, 1, 9, Newspapers.com

Susan Pozo, ed., The Human and Economic Implications of Twenty-first Century Immigration Policy (Kalamazoo, Michigan: W. E. Upjohn Institute, 2018), 110-111, EBSCOhost

“Reporting Terminology and Definitions,” United States Department of Homeland Security (web page)

Brent Riffel, “The Feathered Kingdom: Tyson Foods and the Transformation of American Land, Labor, and Law, 1930-2005” (PhD diss., University of Arkansas, 2008), 259, ProQuest LLC

Steve Striffler, Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food, Yale Agrarian Studies Series (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005), 42-45

Karen Testa, “Mexican-American Makes Inroads In Missouri Town,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 5, 1997, 20, Newspapers.com

“Train Explosion Wrecks Noel; One Dies, 40 Hurt,” Moberly Monitor-Index, August 4, 1969, 1, Newspapers.com

Tyson Foods, “Tyson Foods Commits More Than $1 Million to Expand Legal and Citizenship Support for Team Members,” news release, April 12, 2022

Alexus Underwood, “Tyson Donates $7,000 to Community Baptist Church in Noel,” McDonald County Press, July 14, 2022, nwaonline.com

United States Census Bureau (website)

Sylvia R. Lazos Vargas, “Missouri, the War on Terrorism, and Immigrants: Legal Challenges Post 9/11,” Missouri Law Review, 67, no. 4 (Fall 2002): 808

The Cancel Culture Conundrum

January 20, 2024 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

The threats to free speech in the U.S. have been troubling to me for a long time, and the problem seems to be most acute in the very place where free speech should be deeply appreciated and protected – academia. I have spent a good portion of my career in or associated with the academic world and have watched in dismay as both the sanctimonious morality police AND the uber-sensitive progressive warriors have slowly chipped away at one of the fundamental rights we have in this republic. Of course, attacks on free speech extend far beyond the ivory towers to all branches of government, journalism, entertainment, the medical community, and so many other sectors of our society.

One of the worst examples of free speech restriction is the phenomenon of cancel culture, which has spread rapidly and broadly, sometimes inflicting serious damage to individuals and institutions across the political, economic, and social spectrum. Some progressives would argue that cancel culture is a myth, that what we are witnessing is a type of moral correction on a societal level. I must disagree. Of course, I recognize there are attitudes and actions that a society should not tolerate, such as child abuse, sexual harassment, and various forms of discrimination – race, gender, age, etc. However, the concept of “hate speech” as it has evolved in the western world turns the cliché of the slippery slope into a perfect metaphor. The empowerment of the masses through the Internet, particularly social media, has facilitated this toxic environment. To my way of thinking, cancel culture is the result of old-fashioned mob psychology intensified and magnified by more efficient means of communication. It is frightening.

Some of the strongest criticism of cancel culture in recent years has come from unexpected torch bearers, like John McWhorter, an African American academic and linguist who is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. His controversial 2021 book titled Woke Racism calls out what he sees as a pendulum that has swung way too far left, and for many, is stuck there with little chance of tearing itself loose. He argues that a segment of the country’s population has become hypersensitive about race, resulting in a punitive environment where the slightest slip or even perceived slip calls for immediate and total cancellation of the offender. When he identifies this movement as a religion, he isn’t employing a metaphor — he truly believes it IS a religion. Because he is not a religious person himself, he sees no problem comparing woke racism with Christianity or other faiths he perhaps deems oppressive.

I take strong objection to many of McWhorter’s arguments and how he posits that woke racism is an insult to black people’s intelligence because it pressures them into being offended, as if they can’t recognize “real” racism when they see it. His whole book seems to be designed to warn black people about a religious cult that apparently, he believes, they just aren’t smart enough to reject on their own. At the same time, I am deeply concerned how quickly some people have been “cancelled” and had their careers completely sabotaged for virtually no good reason at all because of a generation that seems to be too awake, wielding a moral sledgehammer rather than a compass.

It is going to take a considerable amount of time for the wide-swinging pendulum to settle down and adopt a more reasonable range of motion. We need less judgment and a lot more grace. There is far too much focus on punishment, refusing to admit that at times we all say or write things we regret. All sides must realize that canceling is a zero-sum game, and if history teaches us anything, it is that Americans are slow learners when it comes to social change.

A Republic in Peril

December 26, 2023 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ 1 Comment

U.S. Capitol attack - January 6, 2021 (Wikipedia) — U.S. Capitol attack – January 6, 2021 (Wikipedia)

As I write this last blog post of 2023, a new year is only days away. Another Christmas has passed, along with the hopes and wishes every Christmas inspires. I am still hoping for something this year that I thought would never be on my wish list. I hope the American experiment doesn’t fail. I hope the Republic that was the vision of a group of enlightened thinkers almost 250 years ago doesn’t crumble. I hope the U.S. Constitution isn’t replaced with a less representative form of government. I hope the democratic principles that have guided this nation’s trajectory for so many generations aren’t cast aside, even if we have never honestly embraced or implemented them holistically. I hope we don’t give up on the dream of liberty and justice for all.

What concerns me most as we head into 2024, the year of our next presidential election, is the fact that a sizeable minority of our population no longer supports the concept of a limited, restrained government. Oh, they certainly say they do. In fact, they scream it. Some of them think the only function of government should be defense of the borders, so they have no respect for the legislative or judicial branches of government. They constantly espouse the virtue of state’s rights, but that’s only because they don’t believe the federal government has a role in governing the affairs of the population. When it comes down to it, many of them would be perfectly happy if they never heard from their state capitals again, especially in the form of a tax bill every year. Not only is all politics local for them, but just about everything else is too, and that’s the way they prefer it.

However, there is one branch of government that they have decided should be virtually untouchable: the executive branch. They want this branch to be untethered by legislators, judges, law enforcement, or even laws for that matter. They believe this branch should essentially be above the law. They think this branch should have the power and authority to do whatever it deems necessary for the nation to achieve greatness and superiority over all other nations. Most importantly, they want this type of omnipotence concentrated in the hands of one individual, the person they wish to see occupying the White House, and no one else. They are convinced that only one person is qualified for this totalitarian position. They earnestly believe this person has the skills, experience, knowledge, and determination to transform the country into what they want it to be. They just don’t quite understand that authoritarianism is not an example of small government. History has taught us that it is quite the opposite.

This minority of the population has been building, organizing, communicating, and planning for many years. The exact origin of the movement is debatable. It has mostly existed underground and on the fringes of society, and in modern times, it has taken advantage of the Internet, empowered especially through social media. Perhaps it has waxed and waned over most of U.S. history, sweeping across both sides of the political spectrum; however, in the 21^st century it surfaced and became extremely vocal among the ultra-conservative right. The movement’s members were like a volatile collection of chemicals, just waiting for the right catalyst to come along and fully activate them.

By definition, a catalyst causes or magnifies a reaction without ever undergoing any permanent change itself. The catalyst in this case had been a larger-than-life personality in American society for decades. Born into wealth, he was groomed to be an entrepreneur, rising to celebrity status while building a commercial empire with the assistance of domestic and foreign credit and always grabbing the attention of mass media. He built relationships with some of the wealthiest and most powerful members of society in the U.S. and around the world. His business ethics and methods were often the target of scrutiny, if not serious accusation of wrongdoing, but his reptilian instinct served him well as he maneuvered through the legal system emerging mostly unscathed. His devoted fans have often admitted that he may not be eloquent, but he always speaks his mind and means what he says, which they really admire. Of course, when he said something that sounded dangerous or immoral, they were quick to backtrack and say that you can’t pay attention to what he says, just focus on what he does. Makes perfect sense.

The qualities and characteristics that made him most appealing to the movement were his apparent great wealth, his arrogance, his boastful nature, his dissatisfaction with the federal government, and his insistence that the nation was on the wrong path primarily because it could not protect its borders and because it repeatedly made bad deals with foreign powers that never put America first. Nevertheless, he promised that he, and he alone, could rescue the country. He would rid the nation’s capital of the corrupt bureaucrats and lobbyists, or “drain the swamp,” a phrase often used by Benito Mussolini as he rose to power in Italy in the 1920s. The catalyst would secure the southern border with Mexico by building a massive wall, promising to make the Mexican government pay for it. He would remove all government regulations and restrictions that hindered business pursuits and the accumulation of wealth. He wanted patriots to join him in the noble cause to Make America Great Again. The catalyst’s name was Donald J. Trump, who ran for President of the United States and was elected in 2016 with the help of this growing political and social movement.

History will judge how successful Trump’s administration was in fulfilling his promises to his base and to the population at large, but there is no real debate about what happened when he was defeated in his attempt to win a second term in office. He didn’t just claim that the election was stolen, which other candidates before him had done (including Hillary Clinton when she lost to Trump). He went much further. He used those claims to support his attempts to stay in office, even to the point of trying to overturn the election results. When Vice-President Mike Pence proceeded to certify the election on January 6, 2021, despite Trump’s demand that the process be halted, a subset of this movement’s members stormed the U.S. Capitol, a mob that had been encouraged by Trump. He publicly praised their efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power from his administration to that of the newly elected President, Joe Biden.

Over 1,100 rioters who invaded and vandalized the Capitol (resulting in several deaths) from all fifty states were charged with a variety of crimes associated with the incident, and close to 400 people were sentenced to prison for their actions. Other indictments and lawsuits have been filed for alleged crimes involving attempts to overthrow the election, some committed by close associates of President Trump. His most loyal supporters still deny that Trump lost the election, including elected and appointed state officials, Republicans in Congress, lawyers, some of Trump’s former cabinet members, journalists, radio talk show personalities, and Fox News program hosts. Thus far, no evidence brought before any state or federal court that I’m aware of has offered conclusive proof of interference, tampering, or fraud sufficient to overthrow or reconsider the election results. And yet, millions of people across the country still believe that Trump actually won his bid for reelection.

Over the last twelve months as individuals began to solidify support for their candidacy for the Republican primary leading up to the next presidential election, it became abundantly clear that Donald Trump was going to be the frontrunner. Now at the end of the year, his numbers across a wide spectrum of polling organizations far exceed any other Republican hopeful. He has been noticeably absent at all Republican debates. He doesn’t need to be there. He is winning by a long shot. And just as he did leading up to the last election, he is pounding a clear message home to his base: if he doesn’t win this election in 2024, then the election will be fraudulent. To his loyal base, there will be only one conclusion if he doesn’t win. The election was stolen. They will accept no alternative outcome other than a victory for Donald Trump, a man who now faces numerous federal and state indictments for alleged crimes associated with the last election and attempts to overthrow it.

Here’s where it gets frightening. Trump’s base, the movement for which he served as a catalyst, has illustrated it is willing to resort to violence to achieve the agenda of overthrowing the government to give Donald Trump total control. They are also likely among the most heavily armed civilians in the country. Over the years, especially during his presidency, Trump demonstrated his admiration and respect for totalitarian leaders around the world, including Vladimir Putin in Russia, Kim Jong Un in North Korea, and Xi Jinping of China. He even committed the embarrassing diplomatic faux pas of saluting Kim Jong Un during an official meeting with the supreme leader. In a recent town hall session hosted by Sean Hannity of Fox News, Trump stated that he would be a dictator for one day once he was reelected. This type of authoritarian rhetoric has become more common for Trump, and his base seems perfectly happy with it. To my way of thinking, these folks are ravenous for a dictator, as long as his name is Donald J. Trump.

So, I am concerned about our Republic’s future. I dread the turbulent political landscape that lies ahead leading up to the 2024 election in November. I am troubled over the lack of conviction among Republican lawmakers who continue to feed into the conspiracies and lies about the last election. I am saddened that the handful of men and women in Congress who had the spine to stand up to Trump and the election deniers were publicly castigated by the former President and their own colleagues, then promptly voted out of office. Most of all, I am worried that no matter the outcome of the election, the system of law and order that distinguishes us as a nation may be threatened.

More Babies, That’s Exactly What We Need

August 7, 2022August 8, 2022 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ 4 Comments

The reversal of a Supreme Court decision from at least one full generation in the past demonstrates that the United States is determined to claw its way back to the Middle Ages. We can now expect to see an increase in birthrates in America, along with an increase in dead pregnant women – a small price to pay for lots more babies though. It’s similar to having very few restrictions on firearms, which results in the mass slaughter of children in classrooms, but then again, we are going to have more babies, so we’ll have children to spare.

We should be thrilled about this new wave of infants on the horizon. Who doesn’t love a baby, right? I mean, deadbeat dads really love their kids, but just not enough to help feed, clothe, shelter, and educate them. And then there are all those devoted meth-head parents whose brains are so completely fried that they leave their little crawlers alone in the kitchen to pick up a bottle of Drain-O for a quick swig – not on purpose of course, so that doesn’t count. I guess it’s also unfair to lump all rapists in the category of men who don’t love the bambinos they end up siring. But none of the women in these situations would have considered getting an abortion anyway, so it’s all irrelevant. Besides, the good congressman from Missouri helped us all understand that if a woman is raped, she has the miraculous ability to “shut that whole thing down.”

Certainly all 11-year-old girls have matured enough to understand parental love. They’re ready; it’s built into their DNA, for heaven’s sake. And they can help the 12-year-old fathers along if they need some pointers, because those boys will no doubt be eager to learn and happy to give up little league and video games. Even better if the man who got her pregnant is actually her father. He clearly already knows how to love and take care of children. Everybody wins!

Thank goodness the only females who indeed get pregnant and have babies are the ones who come from fine, upstanding families who can provide the support and guidance young mothers need. Think how awful it would be if all those people on government assistance were the ones giving birth instead of the sweet white girls who live in gated communities and are married to young urban professionals quickly climbing the corporate ladder to success. Poor people have plenty of access to free birth control, so no worries about an unwanted pregnancy or welfare babies bleeding the taxpayers.

Now, I suppose it would be irresponsible to close this discussion without addressing a potentially troublesome and even tragic dilemma that can arise during pregnancy. Occasionally, for reasons beyond our limited understanding, the amazing transformation of a fertilized egg to a precious baby somehow gets interrupted, sometimes resulting in catastrophic failure. In these situations, the fetus can die in the womb or shortly after birth. In rare cases, the mother’s own life may be at risk while she carries the poor little one to term. But here in the greatest country on Earth, we put our trust in God first and medicine second. We know that God’s plan is the best plan, even if the mother’s life is sacrificed in an effort for us all to enjoy more babies, because that’s exactly what we need. Amen?

Recommended Reading List: African American History and Race Relations

March 19, 2021March 20, 2021 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

From the silent protests of athletes like Colin Kaepernick to the massive ground swelling of the Black Lives Matter movement, examples of discontent and outrage are growing in reaction to systemic racial injustice in the United States. Understanding and facing these challenges requires historical context – how we got to this dark place – and analysis from scholars and journalists who follow the issues closely and are gifted with the ability to explain the problems and offer possible solutions. The following annotated bibliography is in no way intended to be exhaustive. It doesn’t even scratch the surface of the books that have been published in recent years on African American history and race relations. It is simply a list of books I can honestly recommend because I have read them and think they are representative of the topic.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Although she is not the first person to write about America’s caste system, Wilkerson probably has better examples and research to support her conclusions than did previous writers on the subject, especially after the presidency of Donald Trump. She makes a compelling argument for why we need to dig much deeper than race and class to understand the complexities of white privilege, discrimination, injustice, prejudice, poverty, and a whole host of other societal ills in America.

She draws comparisons to the ancient caste system in India to explain how arbitrary lines are drawn between groups of people that are irrational, indefensible, and immoral. She illustrates the paradox of a country that was founded on liberty and justice for all that at the same time enslaved people for 250 years of its history and continued to enforce a segregated society, often with horrible acts of violence, long after slavery was abolished. The chapter describing how the Nazis in Germany used the rhetoric and Jim Crow policies of the United States to construct their own pogroms is chilling and painful.

One of the major strengths of this book is Wilkerson’s use of metaphors to describe how the caste system in America originated and continues to be perpetuated by the dominant caste: the power base mostly of European descent. She uses a neglected house as a symbol of how the caste system has slowly but effectively compromised the structure of American society, eating away at its foundation and crumbling its walls. The inevitable result will eventually be a pile of rubble if we continue to avoid the problem.

Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

What a fine book. Not only does Gates bring a mountain of research to the table, but he also offers insight and thoughtful commentary based on decades of reading, thinking, teaching, and writing about Reconstruction and the Redemption period in American history that encompasses almost 100 years following the formal end of slavery. This topic has been covered to some degree by several scholars in recent years, with Doug Blackmon being the first to come to mind. I think what sets this book apart is the examination and analysis of the concept of the New Negro as it was proposed and argued by the major figures of African American society in the late 19th century and moving through the period now referred to as the Harlem Renaissance: W. E. B. DuBois, Frederick Douglas, and Booker T. Washington.

Gates recently published a book titled The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song, which is a wonderful history of African American religious communities and a study of how churches served much more than just places of worship. I am currently reading the book and cannot review it properly yet, but I do highly recommend it.

White Man’s Heaven: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909 by Kimberly Harper

Harper presents a thoroughly researched and well documented scholarly study that helps explain why the southwestern Ozarks is such a white region of the country. Lynching occurred in many places across the South, and obviously, into the Midwest. Many white people who had lived during the time of slavery, whether they actually owned slaves or not, resented the new autonomy of black people in their communities during Restoration. Over the decades, resentment evolved into a fear. Obviously, much of the paranoia centered on the perceived sexual predation of black men. “It was believed that women were not safe in the country or the city, so long as African American men roamed free.”

However, Harper goes beyond the acts of horrible white mob violence to explore why African Americans were driven out of communities, often at the same time lynching took place. Similar action was taken in other parts of the country — Forsyth County in north central Georgia comes to mind. Other areas of north Georgia, especially in the Appalachian foothills, still have small black populations to this day. This book is a fine addition to American history and African American studies.

White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones

Well, this was painful . . . and so relevant. Jones is armed with a searing spotlight that reveals how Christianity in America was nurtured and sustained by white supremacy throughout its history and is still embracing it today. With compelling data, careful research, and thoughtful commentary, Jones forces readers to confront how racial discrimination and social injustice are far more prevalent in all denominations of Christianity than most people are willing to admit, including clergy and elected officials.

One of the lightbulb moments for me in this book was the realization that people who do horrible things while also identifying as Christians, are indeed Christians by the way our society defines it. He uses the horrific case of Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who shot and killed nine African Americans during a Bible study session at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015. This young man was an active member of his Lutheran church and frequently posted Bible verses and Christian doctrinal messages through social media and his personal documents. He justified his actions with his Christian beliefs. As Jones astutely observes, if Roof had killed white Christians and had been attending a mosque and posting verses from the Koran, how many white Americans would have denied that he was a Muslim? Roof is a Christian terrorist, and the justification for his violence is directly linked to white supremacy. And, he is not alone in that twisted mindset.

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne

I had a pre-conceived image of someone who was much more violent than Malcolm X actually was based on this book. I was intrigued with how the man born Malcolm Little evolved from being a petty criminal, often robbing even members of his own family, to become an intellectual force to be reckoned with by the U.S. government and even foreign powers. It may not be fair to say that a few years in prison turned his life around. It would even be a weak cliché; however, there is no doubt that some of the relationships he developed with older mentors he met while in prison had a tremendous impact on his self-awareness, his belief system, his intelligence, his understanding of racial inequality, and his vision for the future of African Americans.

It was also interesting to watch how he eventually abandoned his complete devotion to Elijah Muhammad as the head of the political organization, Nation of Islam, to pursue his own leadership role within the framework of Islam as a world religion. Leaving the NOI and speaking out against it precipitated his violent death. Before he died, Malcolm moved to the forefront in the fight for civil rights and was unapologetic about the means employed to overcome racial injustice. Malcolm X had no patience for pacifists who advocated a moderate approach. He wasn’t asking for justice — he demanded it.

Malcolm’s parents were heavily influenced by the separatist and sovereign ideas for people of color espoused by Marcus Garvey, which probably led Malcolm to make distinctions between segregation and separation. The former was imposed, but the latter was voluntary and desirable — a fascinating perspective. He wanted to see black people become completely independent of white influence, dominance, and charity. His disdain for white people (white devils, as he called them) waned toward the end of his life, but he never felt compelled to be conciliatory or to make excuses for racial discrimination and the privileged white society that perpetuated it. Nobody could ever mistake Malcolm X for a “team player,” and his vision for black people presented a stark contrast to that of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Revised Edition) by Michelle Alexander

Alexander presents us with a comprehensive and disturbing study of how mass incarceration resulting from the “war on drugs” in America has disproportionately imprisoned people of color in comparison to whites. As a well-trained attorney, she presents a mountain of evidence to argue her case, using quotes and testimonies from a wide array of historical and contemporary figures along with hard data and heartbreaking stories. No segment of American society escapes her stinging indictment: blacks and whites; conservatives and liberals; rich, poor, and middle class; champions of the Civil Rights Movement; and modern political figures, all the way up to Barack Obama (the book was published in 2010). This is an important book that deserves serious consideration by decision makers at almost every level of government, and especially those who are in any way connected to the criminal justice system.

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman, Jr.

To some degree, Forman’s book takes up where The New Jim Crow leaves off. Understanding mass incarceration of black people at the hands of a legal system that is dominated by white people is not too difficult, but the situation gets cloudy when it happens in cities across the country that are largely governed by black people. In Forman’s experience as a public defender, Washington D.C. is a model city for the disturbing phenomenon. Using personal accounts from his own case files and extensive research into the historical developments that bred the “war on drugs” and “war on crime,” Forman carefully examines why the arc of the moral universe is longer than Martin Luther King, Jr. may have imagined, and it doesn’t seem to be bending very much toward justice for people of color.

Critics will argue that, first and foremost, breaking the law is not justified simply because we don’t like the laws and that black people cannot expect a pass just because they find themselves in difficult circumstances that often leave them with few options other than criminal activity. They will likely argue that Forman is proving the point that race is not a factor at all, especially since black people are arrested and convicted by black officers and judges. However, Forman digs deeper than the surface appearances to uncover complicated and nuanced systemic issues that lead to discrimination and inequality on our streets, in our courts, and in our prisons.

I had the opportunity to sit next to Professor Forman at a luncheon when he was honored with a Lillian E. Smith Book Award in 2018 for his work. His own life story is fascinating; his methods of teaching law are innovative and inspiring; and his passion for justice is akin to a minister’s drive to lead his congregation. He even sounds slightly like a preacher when he talks about the topic of this book. Readers will have to judge if he presents a convincing argument, but I don’t believe anyone can doubt his conviction.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

This is such a compelling story from the man who leads up the organization that most recently brought us the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (the lynching memorial, as many are calling it) in Montgomery, Alabama. I was particularly drawn to Stevenson’s reflections near the end of the book in the chapter titled “Broken.” He observes how our society has legalized vengeful and cruel punishments, how we surrender to the harsh instinct to crush those among us who are most visibly injured by circumstances that are in many cases beyond their control. Stevenson explains that we are all broken, but we are not defined solely by the mistakes we have made.

“I am more than broken. In fact, there is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can’t otherwise see; you hear things you can’t otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.”

Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause by Ty Seidule

Ty Seidule has written a book that immediately and unequivocally transformed him into a heretic in the eyes of many Americans, especially those in the South. It takes amazing courage for a southerner who is also a decorated officer of the U.S. Army and a retired history professor at West Point to openly and very publicly admit that Robert E. Lee committed treason and should be viewed as a traitor to his country. And that’s exactly what Ty Seidule has done. I applaud his bravery and the extensive research he has completed to make that claim. This is a damn fine book, not because it covers new ground or reveals any real hidden truths, but because it says what has needed to be heard and understood for a very long time by someone in a position of authority who deserves respect and serious consideration.

Seidule has heard every excuse in the book for why the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, for why the Confederacy didn’t really lose the war, and for why Robert E. Lee was such an honorable man. For the first 20+ years of his life, he believed the excuses too. He probably doesn’t give quite enough credit to his wife for finally helping him escape the vortex of Confederate mythology. She forced him to question what it means to be a “Christian Southern Gentleman,” something he had aspired to from childhood through his graduation from Washington and Lee University, an institution that has been responsible more than any other place for perpetuating the cult of Robert E. Lee. His definitions of Christianity and gentleman have drastically changed through the years, and his perception of the South is much clearer than it was when he was a young man.

This book should be required reading in just about every college and university in the South, and even in many other parts of the country where the Civil War is still romanticized beyond recognition for what it truly was: a rebellious uprising against the United States of America. Seidule spends a lot of time talking about the impact of the novel and movie “Gone With the Wind,” which is appropriate; however, I wish he had given some attention to the earlier movie, “Birth of a Nation,” especially in his discussions of the Ku Klux Klan. One of the most striking arguments he makes concerns the inaccurate terminology that has been used for generations to describe the Civil War, including the ridiculous names for the conflict itself, from “the recent unpleasantness” to “the war of northern aggression.”

He also makes a convincing point about how using the term “Union” is an inappropriate way to describe the U.S. Armed Forces while they fought against the Confederacy, as if the Union were some entity separate from the United States. That distinction brings us back to the problem with Robert E. Lee, who abandoned his commission as an officer of the U.S. Army and chose to side with a rebellious confederacy of states – a domestic enemy against whom Lee had sworn to protect his country. In the end, Lee was more loyal to the State of Virginia and the other southern states than he was to the United States, and that makes him a traitor. And it’s about time southerners and the rest of the nation came to terms with that stinging but absolutely honest indictment.

The Right to Keep and Bear What Arms?

March 28, 2018 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. This phenomenon is often referred to as “the tipping point.” It’s probably too early to know for certain, but the wide-spread reactions we are witnessing to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Parkland, Florida, may indeed by a sign of a national opinion shift about the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and its unofficial but most vehement advocate, the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Of course, the Parkland tragedy was only one in a long list of mass shootings in this country, and gun advocates typically point to almost any other solution than more restrictions on private ownership of firearms. “We should enforce the laws that are already on the books,” they say. However, there are cases where a shooter didn’t break the law until he decided to kill multiple people. I don’t think anyone believes that any action taken now will completely stop mass shootings in America, but can they be decreased? Can the number of casualties be reduced? Is it worth trying to include a discussion about restrictions on types of guns and their capacity? I think so.

We can’t exactly shut down all public events in the country, along with movie theaters, malls, parks, nightclubs, and all other places where people gather. We can hope that there are always good guys with guns around who are better trained than the average law enforcement officer, but how effective will that be against a suicidal maniac who wants to take out as many lives as possible before being taken down or blowing his head off? Let’s make it more difficult for them. Let’s make them choose other weapons that aren’t as efficient in closed spaces, at least. Or, we can just throw up our hands and say that no gun laws will ever slow down the murders. But then we are going to have to explain how stronger gun laws in other countries do impact murder rates.

We can no longer interpret our founding documents, such as the Bill of Rights, as if we were still living in the 18th century. In truth, we have been re-interpreting these documents for over 200 years, and adding to them because they cannot completely address a society that continues to change with every generation with regard to values, beliefs, and technological advancements. I think we can all agree that the weapons available even to the wealthiest nations in the 18th century cannot compare to what the average American can now have in his closet.

Contrary to what the NRA would have us believe, the 2nd Amendment is not the only one under scrutiny. There are plenty of restrictions on free speech, protected by the 1st Amendment, that we all accept as a society because doing so makes us safer. Those have developed over time and are still in force. Even now there is serious discussion about how electronic communication creates issues that we have never had to address before but probably will, just as we had to do with broadcasting. The result will most likely be more and newer restrictions to free speech. We impose restraints on religious practice too, and for good reason.

Even gun enthusiasts generally agree that fully-automatic weapons don’t belong in the hands of private citizens, and they certainly don’t support individual ownership of advanced weapon systems used by forces around the world. We have a handful of people in this country who are wealthy enough to buy tanks, grenade launchers, and surface-to-air missiles, but no one argues about their right to keep and bear those arms! Some of our guaranteed rights were never intended to be, nor can they be, absolute rights.

Both 1st and 2nd Amendments are restricted rights. The current debate really comes down to a question of what limitations our society will accept. I have never advocated for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment nor do I, as a gun owner, support taking away all guns from law-abiding, responsible citizens. I hope the country is moving toward finding ways to reduce violence, which may or may not involve more restrictions on firearms. I do maintain that any discussion of reducing violence by people using guns should take into account the type of guns that are made so widely available to individuals.

The Centre Cannot Hold

January 15, 2016 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, “Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines – and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive – than at any point in the last two decades.” The chasm is exhibited in more than just politics, although the divisions are greatest among those who are the most engaged and active in the political process. In a report issued on June 12, 2014, the Center made the following observation.

Partisan animosity has increased substantially over the same period. In each party, the share with a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994. Most of these intense partisans believe the opposing party’s policies “are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being.”

America seems to be the land of extremes. The labels employed so frequently in public discourse are usually an indictment and a stamp of extreme disapproval: right wing, left wing, socialist, capitalist, communist, opponent, liar, criminal, idiot, moron, etc. We are either desperately searching for the next word or deed that will offend us or someone else, or we are so self-absorbed that we care nothing about those outside our circle of friends and supporters. The polarization is crippling. There is no room for compromise but only intense fear that any concession will result in a quick trip down the proverbial slippery slope. Common ground is gone; there are only camps. An opinion or policy is either right or wrong, not worthy of thoughtful consideration or discussion. There are no intentions of improving on an idea or a plan; either reject any suggestions or scrap it altogether. Considering a different path along the same trajectory is out of the question; only the opposite direction is acceptable.

As much as I dislike doom and gloom forecasts based on the current political climate, I am nevertheless disheartened by what appears to be the disappearance of an ideological center in America. So many issues now divide us as a population: abortion, immigration, terrorism, gun violence, the economy, same-sex marriage, etc. Interestingly enough, the research indicates that Democrats are becoming more liberal at a faster rate than Republicans are becoming more conservative (many of my friends would disagree with this finding). A third political party that poses a platform blending hot-button items into some semblance of a synthesis has very little chance of succeeding. The viability of a third party of any kind is almost inconceivable, including the Libertarian Party.

America has a colorful history of political antagonism, even to the point of violence. The Civil War makes the current political waters seem relatively calm by comparison. Yet looking back at the first half of the 20th century when America went through two world wars, it seems that members of those generations had the ability to put their differences aside to concentrate on greater problems. Even during the Reagan administration, when I started paying attention to politics, the divisions didn’t seem as deep as they are now. Sadly, the spirit of cohesion and reconciliation that followed an event as horrific as the terrorist attacks of 9/11 was short lived. Hostility almost seems to be equally directed internally and externally.

I know that round-the-clock news coverage from so many sources has certainly heightened awareness of the national debates, and social media sites are breeding grounds for vitriolic memes and declarations that serve to further divide people on a wide variety of issues, from 2nd Amendment rights to welfare reform. The spectacular, if not outrageous, Presidential campaign underway now obviously is bringing a tremendous amount of tension to the surface, forcing so many of us to dive deeper into our tribal nature and choose sides. I am reminded of the familiar lines from the poem by William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming.”

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world . . .

Perhaps our enemies don’t really need to attack us at all; they just need to be patient, and wait.

The Sky Is Falling

December 1, 2015 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

World leaders are meeting for the next week or so in Paris to discuss ways in which the major countries around the globe can reduce carbon emissions in hopes of warding off catastrophic effects from global warming. How serious this problem is has become a topic of “heated” debate in this country, just like almost everything else, from Starbucks holiday coffee cups to Syrian refugees coming to America. A handful of scientists (about 3% worldwide) are not convinced that the current climate changes we are experiencing are caused by human activity, which is all the evidence needed to call the whole idea a scam by a growing minority of people in this country who completely distrust any message coming from the federal government or the research of individuals, institutions, agencies, and organizations funded by federal tax dollars. They are convinced that restrictions imposed by governments due to climate change will result in onerous taxes, economic ruin, burdensome regulations, dictatorial bureaucrats, and higher energy costs.

It would appear that the denial of climate change issues has moved into the realm of conspiracy theory. Some of my friends argue that scientists are lying and falsifying data to appeal to liberal policy makers who pay them and who seek even further control over our lives and property. They point to the changes in terminology — moving away from phrases like global warming and toward phrases like climate change — as an indication that the science is not solid and that climatologists are not to be trusted. Here’s a flash. What we are seeing around the planet IS global warming, but we have folks who can’t understand that global warming is NOT a term to describe weather. There is a difference between climate and weather, so the vocabulary was modified in an attempt to increase understanding about the problem, which obviously failed.

Frankly, I don’t feel qualified to speak too much about climate change from a scientific standpoint, so I have to trust the consensus of opinion of the majority of climatologists around the world, just like I feel compelled to trust the vast majority of doctors who believe immunization is more helpful than harmful. I could list many other examples. I can remember a time when conservatives thought that recycling was a trick on dumb liberals, that is, until they discovered there is plenty of money to be made in the recycling business. Then it became desirable. I suspect we will eventually see this same pattern evolve with the reduction of carbon emissions, sustainable energy sources, and other similar initiatives. I believe in being skeptical, but skepticism on the level of global scientific opinion of such a large majority seems unreasonable.

Christianity Is Alive and Kicking in the U.S.

September 8, 2015 ~ If You Want My Opinion ~ Leave a comment

The latest crusade to save Christians from persecution in the United States is now focused on Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples according to the law as defined by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. She was eventually found in contempt because of her continued refusal to obey the law and carry out her responsibilities as an officer of the court based on her religious beliefs, nor would she allow her employees to issue licenses with her signature, which is required. Rather than comply or step down from her position, she stood her ground and was arrested and jailed on contempt charges.

First of all, I can’t imagine how unfulfilled Ms. Davis’s life must be to go through with this defiant stance against the State of Kentucky and ultimately the Supreme Court. Her actions seem to be that of a self-imposed martyr. Given her past personal relationships that have been broadcast for all to read about over the last week or so, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. In some ways, she is a bit pathetic. Apparently, she is convinced that this is indeed what Jesus would do, because Jesus didn’t like same-sex marriage. Of course, there is no hint that Jesus ever said anything negative about homosexuality, but there are plenty of passages condemning it in the Old Testament and several in the New. That’s all Kim Davis and millions of other Christians need to know. If attention is what she needed, she certainly succeeded in getting it. And she is returning the favor to someone who needs it even worse and is very vocally supportive of her actions: Mike Huckabee, a minister and also a Republican candidate for President, who can’t get the media’s attention because EVERYBODY is waiting to hear the next outrageous phrase coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth, who is the current top contender for the White House for the Republicans. Yes, we are all in shock. I don’t know a fiction writer today with enough imagination to come up with something this rich.

Evangelicals across the nation are crying out again that there is a war on Christianity. Religious liberties are at stake. The liberals are forcing the silent majority to conform to the sinful culture of a nation that is turning its back on God. They claim that Kim Davis has been thrown in jail simply because of her faith, and before long, it will happen to all Christians. Really? Does Ms. Davis’s refusal to carry out her duties as a government official not warrant repercussions, such as arrest (she is an elected official, and therefore cannot simply be terminated — she must resign or be impeached)? Southern Baptists who were completely against drinking alcohol routinely issued liquor licenses to businesses in their counties and municipalities in their capacity as public officials. And speaking from experience, I can testify that it is difficult to find a more conservative religious person with deeper convictions than a Southern Baptist. Apparently, serving or drinking booze does not offend God as much as two men who are in love and want to get married.

So how oppressed are Christians in America? Are they indeed in danger for expressing their beliefs? Is the government trying to stamp out Christianity and move toward a totalitarian secular society? If the entertainment industry is representative of the cultural landscape, and I think it is, then Christians can relax. The faith-based movie, “The War Room,” is the top box office hit this week, and it isn’t being banned or boycotted anywhere that I have seen. It follows the success of another Christian movie last year, “Heaven Is Real.” Both movies were released by mainstream Hollywood studios. The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled them unconstitutional. The President hasn’t issued an executive order shutting down theaters showing them. No one is going to jail for showing them or watching them. In fact, this latest one is taking the nation by storm. So for those who constantly preach about the war on Christianity in this country, please rest assured that your faith is alive and well and still one of the most influential forces in our society, for better or worse.