Misrepresenting Deuteronomy 30:19

This is the face of God; as depicted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. If he looks angry he has good reason. People are misrepresenting his words again. Bear in mind, this is not a post about abortion. Rather it is about the misrepresentation of the Holy Bible for political purposes. It is an issue I feel very strongly about and I hope that you will understand the point I am trying to make. That is; no matter what your views on the topic of abortion may be; it is never okay to misrepresent the Bible. It means too much to too many for it to be politicized by any group, for any reason. 

Sometimes politicians and political groups do us a favor when they send out their propaganda. Last week was one of those times. I got a big, over sized postcard type of advertisement about voting for Pro-Life candidates in the recent election. There’s nothing wrong with that; this is America. We encourage that sort of thing. It’s healthy.

The only thing I find objectionable about it is that they quote 2 words; completely out of context; from Deuteronomy 30:19. They have adopted these 2 words as their clarion call although they have nothing to do with abortion.

I call your attention to the use of these 2 words; “Choose Life”; as a false way to make a case concerning abortion; either for or against; with anyone who is familiar with Deuteronomy. Not only is it disrespecting of the Bible; but it also assumes a certain ignorance on the part of the reader. And, in this case, that reader is me.

So, I asked several different people with whom I interact in the course of the day where the quote “Choose Life” came from. I made sure to ask people that I know well enough to preface the question with “Do you go to church?” I also asked if they were Pro-Life. I asked people with these beliefs because it is their groups which have been using the quote. It would have been pointless to ask this question of people who do not believe in God, or are Pro-Choice.

It broke down to only 2 people; out of a total of 5; even knowing where the phrase “Choose Life” came from; other than a vague reference to “it’s in the Bible.” And of the entire group not one could tell me how it related to abortion at all beyond the obvious quotation. And there’s a good reason for that. It doesn't.

Deuteronomy 30:19 taken out of context is a nice slogan; period. It has no reference to abortion; either for or against. It is troubling to me on several levels that so many people have been using this slogan for so long without even questioning its context.

It’s kind of like when Obama was going to that church in Chicago with Jeremiah Wright and claimed not to have understood what Reverend Wright was saying when he dammed America. For years the President claims to have sat there without knowing; or apparently even listening. No one believed him, including me. But if this Deuteronomy thing is any indication of how people do not listen; but blindly follow religious leaders; then perhaps I was being too harsh on the President.

Deuteronomy 30:19 follows 30:17 and 30:18 in a very coherent manner. It talks about “choosing life” in 30:19 rather than accepting the alternative of death which is promised in 30:17 when it says; “...if your heart turns away and you worship other Gods and serve them. 30:18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. #30:19 I call heaven and earth as witness against you- that I have set before you life and death. Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants might live.”

Deuteronomy 30:19 is the conclusion of the thoughts begun earlier in the chapter; particularly sections 30:17 and 30:18. Please grab your nearest Bible and read for yourselves. I have used a 1985 King James Version placed by the Gideon's; commonly called a Gideon's Bible. Technically this is a New King James Version Bible and the translation most commonly used by Christians worldwide.

I don’t mind differing political points of view. As I have said, I find that to be healthy. What does make me mad are the organizations who play upon the religious emotions of uninformed people like a harp. And it’s especially annoying to me when people misquote the Old Testament out of context to make their political point. Not only that; it actually serves to undermine the credibility of their point of view.

Rep. Michael Grimm - Thug at Large

Saturday is usually reserved for cartoons, but sometimes real life characters can be more entertaining. So, today I am cancelling the cartoon in favor of the buffoon. 

Now, if you are dead you probably haven’t heard that Representative Michael Grimm of New York threatened to break news reporter Mike Scotto “in half” on Tuesday night after the President’s State of the Union Address. Mr. Scotto committed the crime of asking a legitimate question concerning the Congressman’s troubled finances. Here is that exchange;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/michael-grimm-threat_n_4684695.html

You have to wonder as you watch this and Rep. Grimm returns to deliver his threat, does he actually thinks that we cannot see and hear him? The Capitol Rotunda is well known for its superb acoustics. But the Congressman doesn't really care about that at all. You see he belongs to a very privileged set of Americans, to whom the ordinary laws do not apply. After all, they are the lawmakers.

Personally I am sick and tired of Congressman yelling and threatening reporters who are doing their jobs by monitoring the activities of our elected officials. They seem to think that they are beyond the laws that they write. I have a suggestion for Mike Scotto; have the Congressman charged with battery. It’s a misdemeanor and by itself will probably not affect the Congressman’s career.

But, it would be like placing a shot across his bow; I’m an old Navy guy; and might just serve as a warning to the rest of our elite, elected officials that there has been a “sea change” in America. We, the People, will not tolerate being bullied by our employees any longer. We will, instead, hold them “responsible” for their behavior.

Here are the Congressman’s contact addresses and phone numbers at the 3 offices you pay for. Make your feelings known to this miscreant bully who would use the halls of Democracy to cow both Freedom of the Press and open, accountable government. If you don’t speak up now there will come a time when you are no longer able to.

Note: I began this post on Wednesday and contacted all of the offices listed below in an attempt to get some sort of statement out of either the Congressman or his staff. I gave my name and contact info to the Brooklyn office, which was the only one that was answering phone. The others all had answering machines stating that their mailboxes were full. I am still awaiting a response to my inquiry.

Washington, DC

512 Cannon HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-3371

Fax: (202) 226-1272

Brooklyn

7308 13th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11228

Phone: 718-630-5277

Fax: 718-630-5388

Staten Island

265 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Floor

Staten Island, NY 10306

Phone: (718) 351-1062

Fax: (718) 980-0768

Tell them Robert at Rooftop sent you!

NAFTA - Who Started It?

I am so sick of hearing that Bill Clinton started NAFTA. I distinctly remember Ronald Reagan campaigning for what he termed the North American Accord in 1979. Though the details were yet to be hammered out, it was during Reagan’s 2 terms in office that the agreement was first proposed and drafted. The torch was then passed to President Bush, Sr.

The finished product arrived on Clinton’s desk in 1993. He did approve it, sending it on to Congress, where the bill was passed by a Republican dominated chamber in 1994 and then signed by the President, who would have lost a Veto fight even if he were against it; which he was not.

The point here is that the divisive politics of our current era tend to distort and mislead us all. And the real kicker is that neither side will listen to the cold, hard facts of the matter.

NAFTA was a huge benefit to politicians of both parties due to the large amounts of cash funneled to both sides by various lobbyists’ intent on getting the bill passed in order to benefit large corporations with cheap labor. Thus, both sides are filthy with guilt. To not understand this is to be blinded by ignorance.

Zucotti Park - A Truth Lain Bare

Zucotti Park in New York City, formerly known as "Liberty" Plaza; that’s true, you can look it up; is the site of recent protests against what many Americans view as corporate greed. It's officially called "Occupy Wall Street." That greed was underscored, and a truth defined, this past week when the owners of Zucotti Park first demanded that the protestors be removed by New York Ciy’s Finest. These owners have received over $700,000 dollars of your tax money since 2001 for what is, essentially, a private park. This attempt to evict the people from the park for which they have been forced to pay, only serves to underscore the very point the protests are all about; corporate greed and the re-distrubution of wealth, through tax grants and loopholes, to those who need it least.

Think about the gall it takes to accept tax revenue, generated mainly by the people who can least afford it, to build a private plaza, change the name from “Liberty" Plaza, name it after yourself (John Zucotti - Chairman of Brookfield Properties in Canada) and then attempt to bar from its premises, the very class of people who provided the funding for the park in the first place. It’s patently absurd.

It's like the photograph above of three policemen clubbing a young man for "stepping off the sidewalk"; I remember the protests against the war in Viet Nam; same place, only 40 years earlier. That time, you couldn't find a cop, who didn't have his back turned, as the riveters threw down hot iron on the protestors. I was there. I remember.

So, let’s not forget, for one second, as we watch these events unfold, that the loudest protests against the protestors come from the bankers and the neo-cons, who are usually the first to decry the “redistribution” of wealth, but only when it comes to a program designed to help the neediest among us. And therein lies the truth – they just don’t care.

An Open Letter to Harry Reid

Honorable Senator Reid,

I called your office today as a Veteran and a fellow American to ask about the future/ if any plans concerning Unemployment Extensions. I understand that the bill was voted down last night due to a Republican road block. To that end I have been calling Richard Burr of my home state, who is one of the obstructionist Republicans of whom I am speaking.

Your office staff has treated me so rudely and with such dismissal that I am now leaving the Democratic Party. To be treated this way, at such a volatile time amidst our present troubles, is quite beyond the pale. This is not the first time that this has happened when I call your office.

The people answering your phones are rude, ill informed and unaware of the fact that they work for the people, just as you do.

I would ask that you rebuke these employees and aides under your command for their lack of manners and empathy, even as they themselves, like you, feed at the Public Trough. 900,000 people will lose their Unemployment Benefits in the next few weeks while you continue to enjoy all the luxuries and perks of your position at the expense of the taxpayers.

A copy of this letter will be posted at Rooftop Reviews http://robertwilliamsofbrooklyn.blogspot.com/
as well as passed on to the Charlotte Observer.

Your failure as Majority Leader in the Senate will not pass unnoticed. The people will speak this fall, and Republican Obstructionism not withstanding, the Democratic Party will bear the full responsibility for it's own ineptness and lack of leadership.

Robert Williams