Monday, July 23, 2012

Chicken, Lions and Jokers


Chicken, Lions, and Jokers …

Or…..Stuck somewhere in the middle…

What a week. We don’t turn on the news to necessarily be “cheered up”. But some weeks are just worse than others. This past week has been unusually bad. Innocent lives lost in a horrible and senseless tragedy when all they did was go to see a movie. Children, mothers, brothers, sisters, soldiers… all gone in one act of madness and evil that left us all a little numb. I think we all agreed it was horrible. But the news barely broke before the fighting began. The “Don’t Touch My Freakin’ Guns” vs. “All Guns Are Bad” debate was fast and furious. Before the bodies were removed from the theater, the Facebook pics and status updates were being posted like an old fashion night at a drag strip.  Everything from “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” to “I wish access to mental health was as easy as access to guns”.   Although, I think most of us fell somewhere in the middle.

Most of us believe there should be some regulations on who can buy guns and what kind of guns they can buy. Almost all my responsible gun loving friends say they have no problem with a ban on assault weapons, they say they have no need of anything capable of shooting 100 rounds at one time or 6000 rounds of ammo and admit if the crazed gunmen had needed to reload, there might have been a chance of someone to take him down before he did so much damage. And my anti-gun friends say they don’t think a ban on all guns would work anyway. The voice of common sense is drowned by a few who think it must be one way or the other. And maybe we shouldn’t have a speed limit, because it will take away our freedom to feel the “need for speed”. Too much freedom may not be all it is cut out to be.

Then Chick-fil-A said it didn’t like gay people. Well, they said something like that. Apparently, they felt the need as a restaurant to share their religious beliefs with the whole world. Not sure what that has to do with a chicken sandwich, but they certainly have a right to do that. This is America and there is absolutely nothing that says a private business cannot state their religious beliefs. But the reactions have been confusing. It is okay to agree with them, or disagree with them, but do we really need to have a “Chick Fil A Appreciation Day” to support them or a “Same Sex Kiss Day” to protest them?  God knows how you feel if you agree with them, he doesn’t need you to eat a chicken sandwich to prove that and if you support your gay friends they don’t need you kissin’ on each other either. No matter what your belief, maybe both sides should agree that we should just love everybody. It is like we are in some sort of competition to see who can make who the maddest. While that might be human, it certainly isn’t Christian. And aren’t we supposed to be setting the standard of brotherly love? However, I would like to see a few other restaurants make a statement that they don't like gossip, adultery, lying, greed and gluttony. I might have to actually at least throw a Ninja Squirrel party there.

And last but not least, the statue of Joe Paterno finally came down. I have to be very careful here, because I am going to be completely honest. When it comes to what happened at the Home of the Litany Lions, I lose my religion a little. Actually, I lose my religion a lot. I found myself cheering and I don’t mean just saying “hurrah” I mean like getting out my old pom poms, jumping up and down trying to do a Chinese split again (Dr.’s appointment tomorrow). Thinking about those who would put a sport ahead of the lives of innocent children jacks my jaw and burns my cheeks (as the Gator would say).  I think it is one of the most disgusting things to happen in the history of our country. Yes, even worse than the mad gunman. He is obviously a sick human being. We may never understand what goes on in one psychopath’s brain, but this was a group of educated men. 

These were men who parents entrusted the well-being of their most precious possession. And they conspired and they ignored and they put selfishness, power, pride and a football record ahead of all decency. It is hard to feel charity and forgiveness for that sort of offense. I have to remember that God said he loved the “whole” world, even those who seem despicable to me. The bible says we are all like “filthy rags” but I can’t help it, some of the rags just look a lot dirtier to me than others. So I am guilty, guilty of thinking I can know what is and what is not justice. God’s justice is not mine and that is probably very lucky for me. My prayer is that we all find a way to stop being “all or nothing”.  When we are debating--and I think we should—let’s listen as much as we talk. Maybe being stuck in the middle on some things is not the worst place to be.

IMHO ~ Squirrely Girl

5 comments:

  1. Squirrely Girl, I could not have said it better myself.
    I was coming home from a mission trip when I heard the tragic news of what happened in that theater. My heart stopped when I saw the images of the beast who claimed those lives. I do not know what was going through that man’s heart but I do know the darkness that plagued his soul, Satan. It disgusts me that people rushed to political upheavals in such a time that called for desperate both prayers and thanksgiving.

    But to add my two cents into the mix, I am extremely against assault weapons. Like the squirrel said, there is no reason for having “anything capable of shooting 100 rounds at one time or 6000 rounds of ammo” unless you have somehow stumbled upon some alternate reality where you fight off velociraptors or flesh eating zombies. If you are against the killing of an unborn child but endorse weapons crafted for the intent of KILLING another human being, then I suggest you read this run-on sentence a few times and question your morals and logic.
    Chick-fil-A tastes like crap. That is why I don’t eat there. I haven’t heard anything about whether or not they support homosexuals or not. It really doesn’t concern me because the chicken will still taste like crap whether they support them or not . . . and when it comes to fast food, taste is key to me. I think it’s great that we live in a country where companies have the right to say what they want to say. I am still waiting for Ellen’s lesbian centerfold in next week’s JC Penny Catalog.
    I could not have said it better myself in regards to the hideous monsters who put football over the lives of children. I think what they did was inhumane on so many levels that I cannot even find the words to say how I feel about it. It vote we enter them all in an epic Hunger Games or lock them up in a cell where they can get a glimpse of what it was those kids had to go through . . . (scratch the prison part, some of them would probably like it)
    It has been an eventful week. I was so blessed to spend it with some awesome people. I guess all we can do is sit and pray while we are stuck in this “middle” between Heaven and Hell . . .

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    1. Wow..what great insights K. Thank you for replying. Somehow we have to learn how to get along in this world and it is going to take us all giving just a little on how right we think we are all the time!

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  3. Amen, Sister, Amen! Couldn't have said it better myself. I am all for legal weapons for hunting and even for protection... but Automatic Weapons? Give me a break (I need time to reload... Snort!)... our professionals in the Military need them... but Joe Bag O' Donuts don't! Take them off the streets... go after the manufacturer who sells them to the black market folks... and get serious about gun control... it ain't a violation of Joe's Civil Rights to take away an assault weapon from him... he wants to learn how to use one? Join the friggin' military!

    As for Joe Blow and the Lions... while my heart first and foremost breaks for the innocents who were violated by Jerry "Drop The Shower Soap" Sanduski, it pisses the ever loving crap out of me that the numb-nuts at Penn State were more concerned about image and records than they were about kids... And... ultimately, it is the kids who went to Penn State to get an education and play sports who are also getting screwed thanks to the morons who decided to sweep it all under the rug (didn't work very well for the Catholic Church now, did it!)

    Ima with you on the party place! Even if the squirrels are hosting it ;-)

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