Pistol Packing Mamas, Papas & Kiddies

H. L. Mencken said one time that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. I think of this every time some new twist pops up that will allow more of us to "pack heat" anytime, anywhere: bars, churches, schools. What on earth are we thinking?

No, don't tell me that the writers had this in mind when they penned the Second Amendment. If we back off a bit, take a deep breath, turn Rush off as well as the NRA propaganda machine, it seems obvious what the founders had in mind. There was no NYPD or its equivalents back then, let alone professional military. They were writing for a professionally unarmed public, saying that in this newly established free land, you have a right -- maybe even a duty -- to own a musket so that if we ever need to call up a militia the means will be there for us to do that. To interpret the second amendment, as the Bush vs. Gore Supreme Court has done, as some sort of carte blanche for every man woman and child in America to walk around armed to the teeth, just, it seems to me, strains credulity to its limits.

What really bothers me is that this "shoot 'em up" wild west society we have morphed into, plus our determination to keep juicing up the criminals that our less than perfect justice system deems worthy of death, crosses us out of the list of civilized societies and puts us on that other list where you find the likes of North Korea and Syria.

But I do not despair. I have not given up on my dreams. My hope rests on those who are coming along -- the aging Boomers and their children, the Millennials. I have hope for this country that I love, and deep in my heart I really do believe that we shall overcome some day.

Last One Standing

My high school graduating class was small; there were 44 of us. I joined the group halfway through the second grade, moving to southern Delaware from up state. Most of those in the class that I joined had started in the first grade and we all moved along together. There was just one building -- large, we thought then -- with elementary classes in one wing and junior and senior high in the other.

About half of us went off to college, but a fair number returned every five years for a class reunion. Then the school organized an alumni association and many of us came back for that annual banquet.

I "came home" to Sussex County twelve years ago and have enjoyed hanging around with those who call me "Tommy." My class gets together twice a year -- spring and fall -- at a local restaurant. There are only eighteen or twenty who show up for these mini-reunions, and that number is swelled by the spouses we bring along.

Having lived to be eighty-two means we have said good-bye to many of those with whom we walked the halls of Laurel School. We said good-bye to another this past week.

To us she was still Joanne Yerkes. She had a last name tagged on, Nagel, I think. To us, though, it's Joanne Yerkes that sticks in our heads. She was smart, friendly, a bit shy; she graduated from the University of Delaware, and taught school, receiving, along the way, an award for teacher of the year.

She also gave me a valetine in Miss Clune's sixth grade class, and, for some reason, Miss Clune chose to read it to the class -- all of it -- including the line that said "you are all the world to me." As I remember it, it did not seem a cruel thing for the teacher to have done. As I recall, it was all received in good humor.

I sat next to Dorothy Waller (Banks) at Joanne's service. Dorothy is coping rather heroically with COPD. She told me that when she went across the street to Layton Timmons' house -- another class mate -- to tell him of Joanne's death, he said that when he saw her coming he wondered who would be next.

Strange thing -- this eventide of my life -- is not a depressing time for me. My life has been rich and full. I have family who love me, and interests enough to keep me wanting to get up each day. And I am so glad I am here, able to say good bye to those with whom I spent so much time so many years ago.

I'm Back

It's been a few years since I have posted anything. But my preaching daughter, feeling, I think, that my Facebook posts were getting to be a bit long, suggested that I get back to blogging. So here I am. I miss preaching each week. Listen to the news, read the papers, and "stuff" goes on in my life, and I have no one to dump on, on anything like a regular basis. The preaching bug did get the best of me back in the early summer of 2011 and I took a town/country church over in the Millsboro area. Hickory Hill Church is a collection of good old Sussex County folks -- the likes of which I grew up with. They let me skirt over there in that progressive territory where I love to roam -- let me say some good things about the president's attempt to secure healthcare for those who don't have it; let me suggest that just maybe the Bible is not as explicit on sexual to-do's and not to-do's as some might think -- and, as far as I know, no one got bent out of shape with some of my liberal tendencies. But my daughter, Vicky, came to be the pastor here in Rehoboth Beach, and I had to be there, sitting in the pew, out in front of her each Sunday, and marvel at God's grace and goodness, and, yes, Wave (my wife) and my having done a few things right with raising our first born, and scarring her just enough so that she can preach with a sincerity and depth that seems to come only from having walked through some vallies along the way. So I said good bye to Hickory Hill the first of the year, and need someone to spout off to. So, here I am.

Democrats Come to Life

I must admit I had gone over to the side of those who were saying that the Dems should scale back on health care and just get something passed however minimal. I was mad at the president for having squandered his public mandate for change; fiddling around trying to woo the Grassley's and the Snowe's; eschewing the public option; forgetting that his party was the majority party so go full bore and dare the Republicans to filibuster.

But I guess he knew what he was doing. Just like he did in the campaign when a lot of us had given him up for dead. The guy knows how to close a deal.

What an achievement. Thousands more folks will have health care. Limits have been placed on how much gouging the insurance companies will be allowed to engage in. And I predict that the public will come to like what Congress has done, and three major social programs -- Social Security, Medicare, Health Reform -- will have been passed over strenuous Republican opposition.

Same-Sex Marriage

When we Methodist preachers retire, we are required to establish an official relationship with a local United Methodist church within the bounds of the conference where we preachers have our membership.

Although I live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, I am a member of the Baltimore/Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, and my official relationship is with Dumbarton United Methodist Church located in the Georgetown section of the District of Columbia.

The choice of that church was deliberate. It is where my gay son and his family attend. It is also a Reconciling Congregation -- one that practices what Methodism preaches: Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors, and reaches out, specifically, to the gay/lesbian community.

The District of Columbia has now legalized same-sex unions, which means that Dumbarton Church was faced with a decision; should it obey its denomination's law barring same gender couplings or should it follow its church's teachings, not to mention Jesus', that every soul is a person of worth in God's sight, and should be the recipient of all the ministries the church has to offer.

It was a no-brainer for Dumbarton. It had come too far to turn back. An anti-war church, a sanctuary church, it would choose to follow its Lord.

The congregation adopted a policy of opening its altar to anyone -- regardless; and 13 of us retired clergy who claim that church as our official resting place, signed on the dotted line that we would be willing open to perform same gender marriages if called upon to do so.

I could do no other than sign up. When the Methodist Church was debating the practice of "blessing" same sex relationships -- back before any states had made them legal -- I told my bishop at the time, "I have married my daughter and one son, so if my other son comes and says he wan ts me to bless his same sex relationship I will do so."

So, we'll see what happens. My best guess is that this train is leaving the station, and the Methodists will get on board -- eventually -- and tag along, letting the Unitarian/Universalists and the Unikted Church of Christ lead the way.

The Socialized Medicine That We Do Like

For the life of me I can't figure out the outrage from those who claim that they don't want anything to do with a "government run" health care operation. What makes me see blue is that these, some of these my friends, depend on Medicare to help fund their health care. Who do these folks think are writing those checks to all their health providers?

Fear and uncertainty is at the root of some of it. Economic times are tough. Some are living on the edge, financially, and they don't want any new program to come along that might mess it all up. So, any suggestion of increased costs and a government takeover won't push the panic button in some folks, but it will come close.

It is also true that political divisions run deep. We are a country split down the middle, and politicians, intent on staying in office, know how to pluck our strings. I am sure that the proposed plan is not perfect (neither was Social Security when it was passed back in the 1930's). I am equally as sure that more than just a few of the Republicans have lined up behind Senator Demint of Soluth Carolina who pledged to make the attempt to pass health reform Obama's Waterloo.

Racism, Plain and Simple

I am an old white guy who has been knocking heads (figuratively speaking) over racism and other justice issues for years. So I think I know one when I see one.

People can yell about "socialism", "don't want a president filling my kids' heads with Orwellian (some pinhead actually used the word, and I doubt seriously if he has ever read Orwell) thought," all they want, but I am convinced that at the root of most of this is Obama's differentness, i.e. color. It's not all race, I know that. But an awful lot of it is.

What else could it be? He's not as left as some other democrats. He knows how to wage a war -- has shown that he is willing to defend the country and seems to know how to go about it. He can speak in paragraphs, and, up to now, has halted Bush's economic downturn, and will have to go some to match Bush's drunken sailor spending habits, albeit aided and abetted by a rubber stamp Congress.

So, for now at least, I think that the fear being pedalled about President Obama has a tad more than a whiff of racism about it.