Smoke Signals Blog

For some time, closing in on a decade or more by now, we have heard countless people preaching “tolerance” of “alternate lifestyles” and such. As a Christian, I am FLAT OUT TOLD that if I don’t “tolerate” homosexuality and abortion, I’m committing a “hate crime”, yet when homosexuals and abortion rights activists picket churches, call Christians bigots and REFUSE TO EVEN LISTEN, let alone “tolerate” my way of life, they are simply “expressing themselves”.

To illustrate my point, I have three words which are very important to this post, and I have posted, verbatim from dictionary.com, the definitions for you.

TOLERANCE (definition five removed, refers to medical definition of tolerance, basically a biological/medical term, not relevant here).

1 a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.
2 a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one’s own.
3 interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one’s own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.
4 the act or capacity of enduring; endurance: My tolerance of noise is limited.
7 Also called allowance. Coining. a permissible deviation in the fineness and weight of coin, owing to the difficulty of securing exact conformity to the standard prescribed by law.

ACCEPTANCE (definitions 5 and 6 not relevant)

1 the act of taking or receiving something offered.
2 favorable reception; approval; favor.
3 the act of assenting or believing: acceptance of a theory.
4 the fact or state of being accepted or acceptable.

PRAISE

1 the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation.
2 the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God.
3 the state of being approved or admired: The king lived in praise for many years.
4 Archaic. a ground for praise, or a meri

Now, how do these words relate to this post? I’ll explain using examples mostly, but as a Christian, and even non-Christian “conservatives” are TOLD they must be “tolerant”, yet this is not what is desired. Homosexuals, for example, are now DEMANDING “equal rights” to heterosexuals as far as marriage is concerned. Many arguments are that heterosexual married couples enjoy benefits such as with taxes or insurance, or inheritance, that gay couples cannot. Yet, you can claim ANYONE as a dependent on your taxes, just as most insurance companies, while not calling a same sex couple “married” will allow benefits for a “life partner” just as they do a spouse, and finally, you can write a will and leave whatever you want to anyone. For crying out loud, people leave money to PETS (not pet sanctuaries, THEIR PERSONAL PETS BECOME WEALTHY OVER THEIR OWN KIDS). So, those arguments are out. In my mind, they are actually fighting to WEAKEN the RELIGIOUS institution of marriage, as religion is the last holdout group that will not “tolerate” them, according to them, though I maintain that “the church” won’t ACCEPT them, or PRAISE them for being “brave in their homosexuality”, and therefore, are “hateful”.

Next, virtually everyone over the age of about 15 has been in a grocery store and seen a child having a fit/tantrum. Heck, many have BEEN that child. I can tell you that I was, and I was spanked (NOT abused, SPANKED) for it, and didn’t do it again. Moving on, while it’s been a few years, it wasn’t that long ago that I witnessed a child of about 6 or 7 years of age throwing a fit, during which this child began DESTROYING displays and shelving. More than one employee and manager ASKED the adult (presumably the child’s mother) to stop the child or leave. Yet, when ASKED, she began yelling and berating the store employees and management for “daring to stifle her child’s expression”, and refused to do anything. When a manager (two actually) tried to GENTLY escort the two out, she ATTACKED HIM! Police were called and she attempted to strike the officer, and was arrested. I heard a rumor later that she sued the store/chain for “discrimination”, but lost. Apparently, despite being “whiter than me” in appearance (and trust me, I’m DEFINITELY white), she was hispanic. The video footage, though, and police reports and witness statements, showed something else and she either lost, or as I hope, was LAUGHED OUT OF THE COURT ROOM!

This is the problem. I “tolerate” the crying/screaming child in the store, but when it’s my own time, I must “accept” that behavior and act on it, or refuse to. However, the activist groups and so on, who demand “tolerance”, don’t want that at all. They want ACCEPTANCE and PRAISE for their “alternate lifestyle”, yet when the lifestyle they are “an alternative too” seeks only TRUE tolerance, we are supposedly committing “hate crimes” because we refuse to “tolerate” (ACCEPT OR PRAISE) them.

This is only one issue for the country/world today. Children are being raised to believe that throwing fits, acting out, and so on, are merely “methods of expression”. Teachers, in some districts, are not allowed to use red ink because it “hurts the students’ feelings” if they fail (never mind that THEY FAILED, no, it’s the teacher’s fault the kid didn’t study, slept in class, or maybe didn’t even show up). What this is going to lead to is a generation of people who are unwilling and unable to work for a living, yet still believe they have the “right” to a good job, have the “right” to their “alternate lifestyle”, and when those “rights” are denied, they won’t know what to do.

Rant over, your thoughts?

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One thing I forgot to put in this post as an example.

Some of you know that I enjoy reading (no jokes, please), and roughly half of my reading list is fiction. Shortly after reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, I began to also read Fan-Fiction, as many of the fans of various authors are also talented and write wonderful stuff. This, consequently, led to my not only writing some fan fiction of my own, but also joining some online groups dedicated to fan fiction, where a topic came up that illustrates this point quite well.

You see, there are various designations given to these stories. “Slash” describes a story where the main romantic pairing is two men, whereas “femmeslash” is of course two women. PWP, as I’ve come to find out is “Porn with/without Plot”, and these are above and beyond “ratings” (designations for “age appropriateness”). Well, it seems that some authors “highjack” their readers, by not designating the pairing or the “type” of story, and after several chapters of a perceived good plot and story, there is a GRAPHIC sex scene. While I will admit, as a heterosexual male, a heterosexual sex scene won’t make me quit reading (some of the time), this annoys me as the story is not “tagged”. If ambushed by a HOMO-sexual scene of this nature, I will almost always (99.99% of the time) quit reading and in many cases report the author to the site admins for not flagging the story, and thereby leaving it open for CHILDREN to find this story.

Now, sadly, I have encountered some of these authors and fans of such genres of fiction. I’ve been berated for daring to not read “slash” stories, called a bigot, racist, homophobe (and I’ll forego the “I’m not afraid of me house” joke), and worse.

My question for this situation is this. Why is it OK for these people to write “ambush stories”, yet when I put political/religious/philosophical messages in my story, and MARK THE STORY IN THE SUMMARY AS SUCH, I’m lambasted for “daring to insert politics” or the like? Yet again, I am “intolerant” for not PRAISING their work, and they are “tolerant” for RANTING, SCREAMING, AND INSULTING ME for my own, when I put a summary telling of the themes, and they “ambush” their readers.

Rant, once again, over, your thoughts?

For those who read my blog before I moved from Blogspot, then from my URL, then from WP to here, I am planning to re-post (meaning RE-WRITE) “Tolerance versus Acceptance”, my forays into the world of fan-fiction, both reading and writing, have shed a new light on this topic which will be a part of this post.

Now, for the great quote, which comes from one of the fan-fiction based groups I am part of.

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“I know now why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell stories or to look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep on one another’s knee. Comrades gather because they long to be with men who once acted their best.”

Michael Norman’s ‘These Good Men’.

I can attest to the fact that it was not “simply nostalgia” or anything similar, as I was able to sit and listen to my great-uncle, a tank commander who was at the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was truly remembering those he served, fought, and bled with. Men who knew they were serving something larger than themselves. Truly, the “greatest generation”.

While we sit here, comfortable and safe, wondering if the gifts we’ve purchased for our friends, family and others will be appreciated, many Men and Women guard our way of life far from home. They work day in and day out, constantly in danger of losing their lives, away from their own friends and family, and we sit here worrying about if we got the right gift card or toy.

To those serving today, be they here at home or abroad, I say THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU!

A Soldier’s Silent Night History

Some of my readers know my age, and I’m about to basically say it as well. I graduated high school in 1995 and because my folks wanted me to, I registered for school, bought the books and all of that ON THEIR DIME! Well, after 12 years (not counting Kindergarten where I got to color and play for half a day away from home), I HATED school, and decided to not attend classes after the first few days. Well, low and behold, I FAILED ALL OF MY CLASSES! I know, it’s a shock, finding out you must (1) attend classes, (2) put forth an effort while in class, (3) do the homework, and (4) study for, take, and ACTUALLY TRY on the exams. Well, aside from trying in 2001 but my job and debts preventing it, I returned to school in 2005, actually wanting to be there, and have held a 2.8 or higher since.

Why am I writing this? Well, first off, for anyone who did what I did in 1995, some states have “academic fresh start”, wherein, if you attended school last at least or more than 10 years ago, you can “wipe the slate clean”, and I missed out on that. Second, if you don’t like school and don’t want to be there, DON’T DO IT! The degree is important, as all education is, but drive, motivation, and most of all, the maturity needed for such pursuits, is also important. I actually heard a suggestion that colleges (not community and junior colleges) should not accept anyone not on scholarship, with a “degree” from a community or Jr. college, or AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD. I kind of like this. Those groups either have the drive at their young age, or have had time to experience the “real world” and realize that they need the education.

All of this said, I graduate from college in just about one year, and will (hopefully) begin a career as a high school history teacher. To those (young) readers looking at college, remember that you must put forth a good effort. To those who dropped out and “got real jobs”, only to gather debt and the like, it can be done. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.

Finally, I’m not going to be posting anything (other than my “old” post of “Tolerance Vs. Acceptance” once I find it), until well after the new year. That said, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and may the Lord bless you all.

With the race for the Governor’s office heating up slightly, I have sent a request to Kinky Friedman (and will be sending requests to Gov. Perry and Sen. Hutchison when I know where exactly to send them) asking for answers to some questions that voters will want to know their answers to.

This being said, I have a request for questions that Texans want answered, and a request for opinions on my questions.

1 - I have received a question about “open carry” versus the current state law about “concealed carry”. My question, however, is about carrying in locations currently prohibited by state law. The big example is college campuses. With Virginia Tech still a close memory, the question of whether or not someone like the terrorist who committed those acts would have still done so had people been armed is a valid one. Will the candidates support a law allowing LICENSED people to carry their weapons on campus?

2 - What questions would you, the TEXAS voters like answered?

Keep in mind that I do not want to appear adversarial or argumentative, and will phrase the questions as such, but will do all I can to get the information and answers that you, the voters of the GREAT STATE OF TEXAS want.

So, all of that said, either leave your questions in the comments or e-mail them to me (if you have my e-mail address, and I’m not giving it out due to the Akismet catching all spam since it’s activation, and therefore, wanting to avoid spam e-mail). I’ll word them “politically” and come up with a form to send to any and all candidates for the “highest office in the land” before sending them to the candidates and eventually, posting them on this blog, complete with answers.

I promise, with regards to the questions and answers, if and when received, to post the full text of both the questions asked and the answers provided verbatim. I will NOT edit what the candidates send back! But! I am a blogger, not a “reporter”. I am a private citizen concerned with how my state and nation is being run, and therefore, will provide my OPINION, and it is just that, AN OPINION!

All of this said, I would never suggest that my opinion should sway a voter one way or another. I have voted for Dem, Rep, and Independent candidates, and will do so again. I give my opinion only for one purpose, to inspire thought. If I can make you ask questions that further thought and debate, I’ve done my “job”. I don’t want to “tell you how to vote”, rather, I want to inspire thought on the issues and by doing so, give you the information needed to make an informed choice.

In short, ask questions, listen to the answers, and MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND!

OK, first off, watch the video below and I’ve also included the link to the YouTube site for it.

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You Tube Link

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OK, here’s the one thing I want to know about people. This is OBVIOUSLY a parody of a song, and whether or not Tim Hawkins (who is HILARIOUS by the way) likes Chic-Fil-A or not, the song is funny. Yet, in the comments for the video, some IDIOT makes a comment about how many chickens are “killed each day” but “not on Sunday, go Chic-Fil-A”.

First, THIS IS A PARODY! A JOKE! TAKE IT AS IT IS MEANT OR GO AWAY!

Second, and I know the line is over used and, now, cliche, but “If humans were meant to eat the same diet as CATTLE why do we have the same TEETH AS DOGS!?” They’re called CANINE TEETH for a reason, for the RIPPING AND TEARING OF MEAT!

Do I support housing animals raised to be food in “inhumane” situations? Abusing them? NOT AT ALL! But, animals are just that, ANIMALS! I don’t go around torturing animals, killing “just to kill”, but I also know that a purely vegetarian diet does NOT meet a person’s dietary needs without CHEMICAL help (vitamins). I eat veggies, meat, dairy (non-meat dairy), fruits and breads, and you know what? I’ve not taken a vitamin supplement since I was about TEN YEARS OLD AND I AM HEALTHY!

So, all of this said, why is it that when a HUMOR VIDEO is posted, some ASSHAT decides that their venue to “make their point about how bad people are”? I don’t give a rat’s butt about the spotted double breasted hooting barn owl unless people are hunting it simply because it’s there. I hunt deer to eat venison and use EVERY PART OF THE ANIMAL, not just the meat. Should humans forego progress because some bird, which can be RELOCATED is living in a tree where houses can be built? NOT AT ALL! Don’t just kill them, but don’t stop progress for them.

OK, rant over and done, your thoughts?