I gotta admit partiality to the monkir Obama-Wan Kenobi, but the look of extreme concentration on his face in these is pretty much awesome. Overall, seeing The President on the White House lawn with a lightsaber, brings a smile of glee to this geek’s face.

So… the President of the United States should apparently NOT talk to schoolchildren about the importance of education. ‘Cause that would be bad.

WTH? I’ve heard several people saying things like we shouldn’t discuss social issues in the classroom because the government should stay out of education. Um… the government runs education, unless you didn’t notice that public school is paid for by taxes and not directly from your pocket like private school or homeschool. At which point you can pay to send your kids to whatever weapons stock-piling, Kool-Aid drinking commune you want. Not that most private/home schools are like that. A lot of them are really cool, but, you know, if you don’t like the society you are a part of, you can find private education that caters to your particular breed of madness.

So, if you are still seriously concerned about the dangerous and subversive messages that the President is secretly sending to the youth of America with his socialist rally on Tuesday, I have discovered the ultra-secret hiding place of all the materials – including the speech and lesson plans, I mean lesson propaganda – that Obama is imprinting your children with through that hotbed of liberal thought known as public schools. It’s on WhiteHouse.gov. It takes 1 or 2 clicks to get to from the front page, depending on how you get there. Practically classified.

I’m sorry, do I sound bitter? I usually try to reign in my more caustic comments, but this just, well, it really pissed me off. The labels we carry – our political party, our self-identified race, our nationality, our religion, our jobs – these things are pieces of who we are, but the pervasive idea that you can disseminate all that a human is from a couple labels and then mark everything they do as evil or good because of it is destructive to the human race. All politicians aren’t evil. All liberals aren’t conniving. All Christians aren’t condemning you to Hell. All Muslims aren’t violent. All Americans aren’t money-grubbing, over-sexed, culturally insensitive morons. Some? Sure. All? Heck no. Our upbringing colors our opinions of everything, but people – and therefore groups – change. What was ten years ago, is probably not true today. For the love of God and Humanity, give people a chance before you condemn them. Don’t look for the worst, because you will find it even if it isn’t there.

And then where will we be?

Time Magazine ran a poll: Now that Walter Cronkite has passed on, who is America’s most trusted newscaster? And I gotta admit, I completely agree with the majority here and have said so for a long time. I didn’t realize I was in such popular company.

Apparently our nation likes casual, funny, honest, passionate, and biting more than ponderous fear-mongering and ad-naseum redundancy. That’s not the part I consider a bad sign. The part that’s bad is that, well, the person we most like to get our news from… claims he’s not a newscaster.

I would actually disagree with him, but it seems to me a sign of the times that America’s favorite newscaster doesn’t come from the traditional news establishment. We need to take a serious look at what we as a nation are holding on to “’cause that’s the way it’s always been done!” and what actually works. And we certainly don’t need to start a “new establishment” of copy-cats trying to imitate what’s popular. Our favorite newscaster works because he is a smart man doing what he loves and saying what he believes, not because he followed a trend.

I guess what I’m saying is that the world will become a better place as more people feel empowered to follow their hearts, instead of following the crowd. I hope that every day you find time to pursue being the person you want to be!

“Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.”

Wow.

I was just thinking about this yesterday (before I saw the quote today), how every group is represented not by the best people, but by the loudest people. An example. I remember having a conversation once regarding homosexuality. The other person said something to the effect of, “Well, there must be something abberant about it; look at all those people marching in parades with leather thongs on.” And she gave a couple more examples of more extreme behavior. And while I don’t see anything weird about being gay, I have to admit, I think it’s weird to wear a leather thong in public. (Not that “weird” is an evil thing; if you have a desire to do something that I or anybody else considers “weird” and it’s not hurting anybody, get on with your bad self. Just, also, don’t be mad if I continue to think it’s weird. You can think things I do are weird. I promise not to get offended.)

So, anyway, her logic ran “I’ve seen lots of weird behavior by gay people. Being gay must therefore be weird.” Not terrible logic, but the flaw is exactly what I told her next. “You’re talking about a marginalized group. The people that don’t want to be perceived as “weird” are not marching. Or they’re in the center of the pack wearing sunglasses and a hat so that their number is represented, but their boss / family / pastor / whoever doesn’t see them. The people you see are the ones who don’t care what you or anybody else thinks. Those people are also more likely to wear a leather thong in public.”

Not everybody’s going to be as “you go with your weird self” as I am, and so the 10,000 are judged by the “socially unacceptable” actions of the 10.

I think Christianity lately has gotten a really bad rap for this same thing. (This is why I was thinking about it yesterday; my dad and I talked about faith for a little while while he was helping me tile my shower, and it was a cool conversation; my dad’s a pretty amazing guy. Anyway, back on topic.) Here we have a faith with millions of people doing Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels and going to church and living good, quiet lives. And then we have Jerry Falwell, the loud one, with his infamous quotes such as:

“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped [9/11] happen.’”

I’m on that list like three times. All but the most extreme conservatives knows and likes somebody on that list. And then your average American, reeling from this attack promoted by blind, prejudicial, religious hatred (and I’m talking about 9/11 there… ) is gonna draw an easy comparison between “My version of Islam or die” and Mr. Falwell.

And then then 10,o00 look like zealots because of the accusations of the 10.

This is my rationale for going against most members of my faith regarding issues like prayer in school. I think we should encourage expression in all it’s forms, and instead of shutting it down, we should simply make sure that more forms get a voice. Pray at graduation. Just make sure there’s 3 or 4 short prayers, maybe a Christian, an Islamic, a Buddhist, and a humanist (I guess that wouldn’t be a prayer, but a “good vibe address”). Let people see a sample of the beautiful diversity of the school’s student body. Pray before a game, but each week let a different faith group lead it (and Baptist this week, Fundamental Baptist next week doesn’t count as different – and I realize that’s where the problem with my ideal is gonna come in). But the world needs to see this. The 10,000 must speak.

I’ve challenged myself to not be “in your face” about it, but to be more open about who I am and what I believe, not because I want to “convert” anybody to my way of thinking, but because the more we can be honest with each other about the fact that we’re all different, the more understanding and united this world can be. Remember the rule of 10. Don’t let the wrong people be the only ones heard.

So in that line of thought, now you know that I:

1. play paper and dice games. Yes, I’m a gamer. Though it’s not my favorite system, I have played Dungeons and Dragons many times, and playing a rogue/sorcerer is my specialty. Check out Eden’s Unisystem if you want to see something really cool.
2. am 32 and still afraid of rollercoasters
3. have never smoked pot, but would vote for its legalization
4. think babies are ugly (except Avery; she’s perfect in every way. Even Seas, my devil cat, likes her)
5. love Britney Spears and am developing a serious fascination with Lady Gaga (who also wears completely inappropriate clothes in public)
6. was a virgin when I got married
7. write romance novels!!
8. listened to Rush Limbaugh religiously when I was in high school (yes, you can do that and still grow up normal)
9. practice Eclectic Wicca
10. worked on George W. Bush’s original gubernatorial campaign and voted for him the first time he ran for president. It was the last time I voted Republican in a major election. (To clarify, YES, I voted for Obama. Don’t hate who I was, love who I am. I’m promoting honesty and diversity here. *sheepish grin**)

What’s your list?

… Obama’s speech last week in Cairo was pretty damn amazing. I know that we have to do more than pretty talk to make a difference in what the world thinks of us, but that’s where actions begin – in our words. The words we choose, the way we present them, this is the start of who we are. And I have really appreciated the start this man has made. Now let’s back it up with action.