Saturday, February 27, 2016

SHUT UP----BUT----- (SOME SAY) KEEP ON TALKING

SHUT UP--- BUT--- KEEP TALKING

   I often wonder why I cannot remove the battery from my thinking cap and not say a word while my country goes to hell in a hand basket. I question why I can’t stop the grinder’s stone that grinds at my heart and wakes me in the middle of the night to say “you can’t keep silent about this.” I speculate why I did not acquire the talent of one who speaks with such an eloquent tongue that makes opposition nearly impossible. I don’t know how to answer many of these questions, but there are some things I----- do know.
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    But ---- as to the past ---- I have read over a thousand documented testimonials concerning the benefits of medical marijuana, ---- but I have not found one positive testimonial concerning the benefits of tobacco.
   I taught in a high school where there was a designated area for male students to smoke cigarettes. I sat in the teacher’s lounge and heard teachers condemn long-haired hippies for smoking weed while they had a thick fog of tobacco smoke circling above their heads.   I said then---- as---- I say now---- there was something wrong with that picture.
   I know there are health problems related to smoking tobacco, and I have no difficulty believing sincere parents who have witnessed the benefits of medical marijuana for a child with epilepsy.
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   ----But--- as to the present ----- I have heard Americans call President Obama all kinds of unscrupulous names. I have watched individuals look facts directly in the face and deny them ----- such as ---- the number of unemployed Americans has decreased ----- the American dollar is strong on the world’s market ----- the value of the American home has increased ---- the price of a gallon of gasoline has decreased. ---- But---- I am unable to identify the problem because I know that Americans are better off today than they were eight years ago.
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   I do not understand why some individuals believe that enforcement of Christian principals is not the same as forced Islamic doctrines. But, deep down, I know the policy is the same.
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   I am horrified when an esteemed member of the community declares that all individuals of a different sexual orientation should be placed on an island and shot. ---- But ---- he is welcomed in the “amen” corner of the local church. ----- I know----- that both the church and the individuals are wrong in this assumption.  
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   I find it impossible to remain silent when the Chicago Police Union, other adult men and women, and one major news outlet attempts to justify a policeman shooting a teenager sixteen times or when a policeman shoots and kills a twelve-year-old kid playing with a toy gun. There can be no justification for a cold-blooded murder. ----I know---- there are many ways to handle civil disobedience without the use of deadly force.
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   But I’m certain of one thing ---- there should never be a power in heaven or on earth strong enough to silence a tongue from speaking the truth.   

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