HOLD MY TONGUE

HOLD MY TONGUE

When I wake up each morning I have to ask God to hold my tongue to keep me from saying things to Donald Trump supporters that, even though are true, would not be helpful in solving the political chaos that is facing America.  I refuse to put in print what I really think of those who will not accept the truth about a political leader. I need the grace of God to control my anger when I realize the damage these people are doing to America’s democratic process.   

However, I believe that there will come a time when they will read and hear an actual description of what this lost generation has done, and it will come from the children of tomorrow. It will be the future generation who will write the real pages of American history. They will tell the story of a narrow-minded generation of Confederate led Christians who supported an evil regime that nearly destroyed America’s democracy.

It is still doubtful that the United States will survive this horror story that has invaded America’s political scene. American democracy is on life support and is fighting for survival. Nevertheless, with reprisals from my own family, I still say it is a disgrace what the last administration has done to America. I find it difficult to say mildly what I know to be true. I find no other way to say to adults than, you will follow the devil into the pits of hell, because you are too stupid to discern for yourself what is right and what is wrong.  You fail to realize that every move Donald Trump and his administration have made is to undermine America’s democracy.

If US democracy survives it be will be because of the mid-term election of 2018 and the hopes for the election of 2020. The only path forward for democracy is the election of 2020.  America’s democracy is in danger and hangs in the balance between honesty and dishonesty. Never in the history of mankind have there been more dishonest elected officials than in America’s political system today. If democracy fails; today’s generation will be cursed by future generations and rightfully so. 

One hundred years from now historians will still be trying to explain how those who called themselves Christians supported the most corrupt administration in America’s history. The biggest mistake in all of world history will be from a nation of people who inherited the best form of government known to mankind, but gave it up for a wannabe authoritarian fool.

No longer can this tongue stay silent. I have a dog in this fight and it is to do everything in my power to see that every boy and girl, regardless of financial status, regardless of skin color, or sexual orientation, has the same opportunity for success that I had.  I believe with all my heart that America’s best leaders are yet to be born, and I am determined to see that they will be born in a free America.

It makes no difference what you have to say about me, for I too, have   come from the valley to the mountain top. I am a living witness to what free people can accomplish. I know what my forefathers meant when they endorsed the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… I will lift my lamp inside the golden door.” (American poet—Emma Lazarus)

 There is absolutely no substitute for freedom!

CREATING A FAKE REALITY

CREATING A FAKE REALITY

When I was a kid I used imagination as a form of entertainment. My favorite pastime was to lie in the grass on a mound of dirt behind what we called the “Potato House” and look up into the sky and stare at the floating clouds which I called “the cloud sheep.” The soft, clean, green, grass made a comfortable carpet for a boy’s imagination to run wild. But this green carpet was a different carpet; this carpet was alive and a child could feel the green grass breathe beneath his shirtless body. This child did not have a care in the world because the only world he knew existed within the boundaries of a Louisiana farm.  

It was easy for his mind to drift from reality into a natural high. His   imagination had no limits and the clouds would turn into faces, and the wind would whirl the faces into ships, and ships into skylines of big cities.  Even though it was a pastime, it created a desire within this child   to learn more of the wonders of the world.

Far from a world of imagination things changed for that kid, and the world of imagination became a reality. To a kid time becomes a waiting game, and a lifetime passes between the ages of one and twenty one. One day a big, yellow, bus came along picked up the kid and dropped him in the middle of a world of education. There he found hundreds of new faces and with those new faces were new challenges.

Soon this teenage boy came to the realization that he was living in a man’s world. He was expected to have the characteristics of a red-blooded American man, who holds a high position in the world of masculinity. In this man’s world there is no room for emotions, no room for fears, and no room for tears. He had to be the hardest hitter on the football team, the fastest man on the basketball court, and the homerun hitter for the baseball squad. Success was his only objective but to achieve and maintain success, it was much harder than he expected.

The world of competition separates boys from men. As a result, the word “dropout” becomes the center of conversation.  Many individuals’ dropout of college, dropout of organized shorts, and dropout of advanced studies, and some choose to dropout of life. There is a world of difference in a child who uses imagination and the adult who is unable to cope with the responsibilities of adulthood.  It becomes easier to revert back to the world of imagination than to compete in the real world.  Responsibility is too much for some, and thus they create a world of imagination that is supported by mind altering drugs.

But still others find the world of reality too difficult, so they create a “fake reality.”  They produce fake reports of high marks in high school and college. They produce PHONY degrees from colleges and universities. But to their horror, they discover that living in a fake reality turns into a series of lies, and living with lies is more difficult than expected. They forget such idioms as, “MAKE SURE YOUR LIES WILL FIND YOU OUT,” and one day when it is least expected a “slip of the tongue” exposes the real person.  All hell breaks loose and the person stands before the world as a NAKED PHONY surrounded with friends as phony as he ever dared to be.

Who among us would be so foolish as to create a fake reality, not only for themselves, but for their children? Being a fake is like a house built on sand, when the rains come and the winds blow, it is swept away like the grains of sand on the beach. But to the man who used imagination as a prelude to the real world, he found a peaceful existence. There were hardships and struggles, but he was prepared to smile through them all. His reality was built on a firm foundation and when the rains came and the winds blew he stood tall among many.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PREACH

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PREACH     

It has become necessary for me to speak to evangelicals. You used religion to plant a seed in the mind of a child that took from that child one of the most important things in his pursuit of happiness.  You brainwashed a child with a fear mongering doctrine of burning in hell by participating in any same-sex relationship. You mortified a child who had a different sexual orientation, and made him believe that it was a sin to love a same-sex partner. You cheated this child from love, and that was the biggest cheat of all! Shame on you!

I have regrets that I missed out on a gentle, loving, touch, when I needed it the most. I am sad that I missed participating in a same-sex relationship, but the evangelical belief of burning in hell was realistic to this child. It is a humane disgrace for any individual to face discrimination for an orientation that originated at conception. I curse the day that you brainwashed me, but I was just a child and did not know better then.

Unlike many others, I have been given the opportunity to live in a country where the judgment of character is not based on sexual orientation.  I have seen straight people accept gay people without conflict, and I have witnessed the end result of happiness. But with age, I am not given the opportunity to relive the past, and I can only dream of what true love must have been. You may have cheated me, but I will not remain silent while you cheat others.

I have no guilt in speaking condemnation to the members of the evangelical religious organization. I have witnessed American Christianity become a ticket to hate and a ticket to discriminate. I have seen American Christians support vile acts of evil, and go so far as to attempt to redefine evil as acts of righteousness. I have seen Christians support a regime that has participated in every form of evil known to mankind. I have seen prejudice turned into an acceptable Christian characteristic, and bigotry displayed by Christians in the public arena.  I have heard preachers declare death to all LGBTQ individuals and heard the voices of consent come from the Amen Corner. My heart continues to say; all this is wrong!

I am mortified by the lack of compassion I see portrayed in the lives of many Christians in regards to Latino mothers, who are desperate to secure a better life for their children.  I am appalled by the traits of White Supremacists and members of the KKK that have been adopted into the Christian Church. I am stunned by the path taken by evangelicals to cherry pick the BIBLE to satisfy their own physical lusts.     

I fear that many who call themselves Christians have been misguided by false prophets.  Far from same-sex relationships, the flames of hell are being rekindled by the hypocrisy that has invaded the Christian Church. I am tired of hearing Christians lie to protect other liars. I am tired of seeing cold-hearted acts performed by political leaders that bring harm to others, and then seek Christian endorsement.  I am not Jesus on the cross, and I find it difficult to ask God to forgive those who do not know what they are doing!

Nevertheless, I feel great sorrow for the men and women who have wasted a lifetime hating and passed it on to their children and grandchildren. You are the shame of this great nation! I pray that the film of evil that has shaded your perception will be lifted from your eyes, and you will one day, walk from the alley of darkness into the light of day.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a problem with who I am, then your quarrel is not with me, but with my creator,” famous words spoken by Mayor Pete Buttigieg ----(candidate for President of the USA)

LOVE IS GENTLE LOVE; LOVE IS SWEET; LOVE MAKES ANY LIFE COMPLETE!

  

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’

I was born near the end of the Great Depression into a family of nine, and to this Louisiana family it surely was an economic depression. Even at the end of the depression it was difficult for an uneducated man, such as my father, to find a good paying job.  So we suffered the consequences of depression many years after the Great Depression ended.  We had no electricity, no telephone, and we drew water from a well.  I can remember the times when food was scarce! I wore hand-me-down clothes most of my school days, but they were clean and neatly pressed. We were one of many Southern families who lived in poverty long after the depression ended, but time changed all of that!

I experienced the life of a gay child living in a state, dominated by the Christian religion.  The Southern Bible Belt was not the ideal place for a gay teenager, who was reminded often concerning the end results for all homosexuals.  As a result, I developed a life that was conducive to gay living, known as the closet.  There were many social disadvantages for a teenager attempting to conceal homosexual tendencies living in an anti-gay Christian Bible Belt, but as the ticking of the clock changed so did the times!

It is true that LGBTQ individuals have to fight for civil rights in a straight world. It is also true that fighting for rights builds character.  Fighting for those rights became the foundation for my understanding of the real world, and changed a narrow mind into a broad concept with a global perspective.  As a result, the closet became too small, and the flag of freedom continued to wave in the mind of a growing teenage boy. Time changed that boy into a man!

To be able to stand today as a free man and look the world in the face and say, this is one, proud, gay man, you cannot shame!  I have been given an inspiration, and that inspiration is so strong that it cannot be   curbed. As long as I have breath to breath, I will speak out against the injustices that are occurring all over the world. My hope is, by speaking out, things will change! 

I will not remain silent while innocent immigrant children are separated from parents and placed in cages. A Latino mother, who walked a thousand miles in the hope of finding a better life for her child is one of the greatest examples of love that has ever been exemplified on this planet.  I will defy American mothers who think they hold a monopoly on mothers who love their children. But I will never forget that time can change cold hearts!

America has not been perfect for everyone especially minorities, but it has not reached the point of no return.  I have great faith in Americans, and the world needs a place where anyone with hard work and determination can achieve success. Nevertheless, there are definite changes that need to be made, and America’s form of government allows change. But these changes can only occur with the vote of the majority of the people. In a democracy it is never too late to change!

This is the United States, and it is the greatest nation on the planet.  I will not remain silent while a small group of money worshipers attempt to destroy the principles that made America great. Americans have shown the world what free people can accomplish, and without a shadow of a doubt, the world needs the United States. The United States is bigger than just one nation, and it is the NATION of the world. As America goes, so goes the world, and right now America’s leadership is failing. But THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING!

The one thing Donald Trump has done is awaken the SILENT MAJORITY of American citizens. More people voted in the mid-term elections of 2018 than anytime in US history. At the present, there are more women, LGBTQ individuals, and other minorities, elected to public office than anytime in US history. I firmly believe that these groups will restore the much needed honesty to America’s government. I am happy to say, we are on the move!  So fasten your seat belts straight people ‘cause this ride ain’t over yet!  THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’! 

WHERE IS ANYWHERE?

WHERE IS ANYWHERE?

I was not a student in a writing class, and I did not have a job writing for a newspaper. I only had a desire to describe a sunset, which perhaps was a fairly easy task! I found a spot on some concrete steps that led down to the water’s edge. The ocean waves were in rhythm beating against the shore, and I had a position looking towards the West at the setting sun. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.  Above me there was not a cloud in the sky, but a few clouds had gathered around the sun. The sun had changed from a bright, shiny, yellow, to a more subdued, bigger, orange circle. I was attempting to describe the rays of the sun that danced colored imagines above the white caps of the water.

But all of a sudden, I stopped describing the sunset and for some strange reason I started writing my emotions. I was a stranger in a strange land, a million miles from home. There were people all around speaking in tongues I did not understand, and I did not know a soul. I remember writing the words, I wonder why I’m not afraid, I’m not lonely, and I’m not homesick? And suddenly a thought appeared; maybe, just maybe, I have found a home.

Little did I know, at the time, that in the very near future I would have a job writing for an English language newspaper? It was not a very important job and there was little pay, but it was a job!  Little did I expect that the words I had written that day by the water’s edge would be used in the first article? That article was published over a decade ago in the PATTAYA TIMES, and it was simply entitled, WHY PATTAYA?

After several years little has changed for me. I have moved into a more upscale condo in a high rise building in the heart of the city. I know my way around the city which has grown too fast, much too fast for a country boy, but I’ve managed! The city has just been placed in the top 20 most visited cities of the world in the year 2018. My, what a marvelous choice I made, hanging my hat in this city!  

In reality, Pattaya is two cities in one. There is the daytime Pattaya, where there is affordable shopping in some of the finest shopping malls on the planet. And then there is the nighttime Pattaya. And if entertainment happens to be your thing, in Pattaya you have struck gold!  For those who love to dine out Pattaya is a wonderland. There are unlimited fine restaurants specializing in all sorts of international cuisines, with reasonable prices.

Pattaya is a city that never sleeps.  Night-time Pattaya is the greatest of all because of the assortment of entertainment.  The most colorful is the Pattaya that comes alive between mid-night and sunrise. Pattaya is world renown for exotic nightclub entertainment.  Both male and female Go-Go bars light up the city.  Something for everyone they say! Well, how true that is in Pattaya!

But most of all, Pattaya People make it the greatest.  Thailand has earned the title of, “THE LAND OF THE SMILING PEOPLE.” And Pattaya has surely earned the title of, “THE PARADISE CITY BY THE SEA.” This is the city where the wildest dreams for a retiree can come true. I guess, being one of those, I should know!

There is a cable news channel in the USA that says, “You could have been anywhere in the world, but you chose to be with us, and we thank you.”

So I say, “You could have chosen to read anything on the Internet, and you chose to read this, and I thank you!”