RAGpages

It’s ok

February 05, 2019

It’s ok, really. Even the stuff that isn’t ok, is ok. Why? Because, I looked outside and the sun was up again today and my cat meowed. Dirt was still there on the ground. There was a light chill in the air and I saw a few birds. Sort of like this time last year and the year before and the year before that. Look around and you will see that the stuff that is real doesn’t really change much. The chaos and cataclysm that I hear about on TV, social media and echoed from the mouths of some folks I meet ALL comes from artificial constructs. I have been saying it for a long time. Reality is a pesky constant. Cultural and social constructs are whatever we make them which also means they are changeable. They could be good and pleasant, but we are making them bad. Let’s stop. Things are ok if we allow and make them.

Welcome to a new day! A new set of everything! As I venture into 2019, I, like a few others, want to continue to better myself through introspection and calculated life changes. One of those changes I am working on is to try to ratchet down rhetoric and catastrophizing in my world. I won’t be the first to say this, but I absolutely want to co-sign the sentiment that we are getting out of hand with our statements, accusations and embellishments in this Country. A cursory look on various pages, boards and other media will quickly yield salacious, accusatory, divisive blah blah.

Relax, America is in existence and will be for the foreseeable future. Our economy is mostly good and stable. Our culture is mostly good and stable. Our educational system is mostly good and stable. We have what I think is the best healthcare and access to healthcare on the planet. We are engaged in science that touches everything from fuels, to soil, to food, to healthcare to space. Our police are mostly good. Our politicians are… ok, they are mostly sort-of good. We are ok. It’s ok, really it is. Can we do better? Heck yes, and I pray that we won’t ever stop trying. But, just because we aren’t perfect, we shouldn’t think for a moment that we are terrible and look for perpetrators. I challenge you to look for responsibility and accountability where it matters, in the mirror. 

For the record, I am pretty sure I have been guilty of some strong rhetoric in the past. I realize that I have a responsibility with my words. Growing means that you are better, stronger, faster, wiser, smarter etc. than before. The definition has a built-in premise that at some point you were less than, not as wise, not as informed and you made changes to be more than, wiser and more informed, etc. Cultural concept change – Let’s shift the focus & celebrate the progress and outcomes. Please, let’s not operate in what isn’t anymore. For example, Johnny used to be a punk. He got his butt handed to him a few times and he has decided that punkdom isn’t the way to go. Let’s work with the new Johnny. Let’s not define him eternally as the punk that he once was.

Personal growth statement of principle — If I believe I am to have influence, then I must be responsible for managing that influence. I am open to new information and I am open to thinking and acting in new ways. Echo chamber thinking doesn’t allow for new information. Not all information is good for me, but I can’t reasonably believe that I know everything there is to know. I desire to and am capable of learning and growing. With that, I will make mistakes and do things that are to be corrected. I try not to cast too many stones, because I am constantly guilty of something and I need to manage my own faults first. I am allowed to help others with their mistakes and faults and learning, provided it is done in a way that increases health, promotes well-being and advances the culture.

So, as we go forward into this new year, I want to encourage folks to join me in ratcheting down the catastrophe talk. Let’s view difference as a potential opportunity. Let’s be less scared. Let’s be more confident. Those two things don’t come with price tags that we must collect from others. Our society, our country and our mutual existence & relationships are not zero sum gain events. I can go forward without having to take from someone else to get there. I can be better and grow without tearing someone or something else down.

In recent years I have had to help people ease into a new way of thinking with baby steps and stating the obvious. Sometimes I will use disclaimers. The disclaimers for the lawyers and wannabe lawyers out there — I am not saying overtly or covertly that everyone is good or wants to be. I am not saying that we live in a perfect world. I am not saying that all cops are great people. I am not saying that our current President is wonderful or even good. I am not saying that people don’t do things that they need to be punished for.

What is the standard to which we are held accountable? Everyone can’t be right at the same time. Can we exist in a confined space (let’s say 3.9 million square miles) together without feeding on each other in order to exist?

Thinking through a plan here.

It’s ok to add to your world if it doesn’t take away from someone else’s world. It’s ok to have things. It’s ok to want. It’s ok to have dreams. It’s ok to pursue happiness. I don’t have permission to take from anyone, whether it’s things or power.

Maybe that can be a standard to operate in for a while. I am not in charge though, we are. One person doesn’t rule another nor should they. I don’t gain by taking and you aren’t permitted to do that to me either. The sky isn’t falling. But it will if we make it. We all have a say in that. We determine a lot. We have been yelling fire and foul for far too long. The most control you have and the most power that you have is within you. Control your thoughts, words and actions. Be responsible for you. Be accountable for you. Today, take a deep breath. Tell yourself that it’s ok. Really, it is. We have places to go, things to build and lives to enrich. Hurt, hate and selfish will get in the way of those things. I am willing to only HELP you. Are you willing to only HELP me? I am willing to do my part. Are you?

— R. A. Grier

When did we give up?

January 30, 2019

IF you listen to and pay attention to the “media”, you could safely infer that we are in a spiraling stalemate of denigration and despair.. AND the foregone conclusion is that we are POWERLESS and HELPLESS to do anything about it. Just strapped in on the pain train going to Hopelesstown.

I would encourage anyone feeling this way to turn off the noise and start making your own world. I bet things will get better for you.

Chances are that you are not hungry. I don’t mean peckish because the pastry and macchiato was two hours ago. I mean hungry — as in, “I haven’t eaten in a few days.”

Chances are that you are not without shelter. I don’t mean, I haven’t gotten that penthouse on the upper East Side yet. I mean, “I don’t have a roof over my head and I have no prospect of getting one.”

In more rapid succession, I bet you are well educated, I bet you have access to fantastic healthcare, I bet you have the option to have some say-so about who governs your local/state and federal offices. I bet you haven’t experienced gang warfare. I bet you haven’t experienced police brutality. I will go out on a limb and bet that the most horrible thing you experience is annoyance that you aren’t getting your way.

This is not a chastising article. Nope, this is a reframing article. I will give disclaimers and due notation to those who have and are experiences some of those difficulties. I won’t pretend that those very bad things don’t happen. I am saying that not EVERYONE is EXPERIENCING those things ALL THE TIME.

We have it pretty good in America. Truly, we are blessed. Truly, we have issues of overage and not deficits, especially when it comes to the basic necessities of life.

A concept for today that I would ask that you consider implementing.

We tend to find what we are looking for.

I will ask you, what are you finding? Are you finding the good? Are you finding hope? Are you finding ample bounty? Again, not ample amazing, super wonderful, I am the new Crown Prince of the world with 200 billion in my sock drawer…

I bet you are not hungry. I bet you have a job. I bet you have a comfortable home. I bet you have a $500+ mobile device. I bet you have a vehicle. I bet you have multiple TVs. I bet you have… I bet you have more than 95% of the world. If you think you don’t then I bet you are delusional. Turn down the noise (that others are profiting greatly from your misery). Turn off the news 50% of the time spent currently. Turn off social media 50%. Stop commiserating and sharing despair and woe.

Start looking at how good things are for you. Celebrate the sandwich that you are going to have for lunch. Look for the good that is all around you and I bet things will get better for you.

— R.A. Grier

It’s really simple. We make it hard. OR as Derek would say, “First World Problems.”

January 8, 2018

Happy New Year! And I am hoping that is the case for anyone reading. As usual, I get a group of similar interactions in my life and I ponder on them. Recently, my Ponderator got latched on to the notion of “life is hard.” For a very long time, I have made this statement and I have heard it countless times from others. But is it? Or do we make it hard?

I want you to think about a phrase, “I have everything I need and a lot of what I want.” A few years ago, I switched to this phrase and it helped me lower expectations and increase my happy. I have had a few people push back when they hear me say it. “I don’t have everything I need!” That seems to be a common sentiment. So, let’s look at that. When asked about what they are missing that they need, I get all sorts of responses, money, houses, cars, jobs, etc. ad nauseam, ad infinitum and so on.

Let’s think about what you NEED.

You need to eat food that provides nutrition enough to sustain life.

You need to drink enough water to fulfill the same mission as the food above.

You need to breathe, in order to sustain life.

You need to sleep.

You need adequate protection from the elements in order to sustain life.

Cars? nope. Houses? well, not really. Jobs? nope…

“But Robert, what about making money for blah blah blah…(think a really whining tone like the way I hear it in my head.)

The expectations for types of the things above create ALL SORTS of consternation for folks. I freely admit, I have been at the bottom of the particular hole may times, whining and complaining. Types of cars, sizes of home. Type of job. etc. My friends aren’t good enough, because they rarely buy me free food/drinks. The government sucks because [insert a trillion types of reasons here.]

I think it was Dr. Albert Ellis that coined the phrase Shoulding on Yourself. We can get into real trouble when our expectations exceed our effort or capacity to achieve those expectations. Might want to re-read that.

This hits right at Expectations of outcomes that WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER. So and so didn’t speak to me this morning. I have been nice to my boss all day and I haven’t gotten a raise yet. That red light turned red when it saw me coming!

In my High School generation, it seemed like stuff was the answer. Now,it seems like being accepted and liked is the answer.

REGARDLESS OF HOW GOD-AWFUL the present culture of me-me and microwave promotions and getting a trophy for showing up and socialism is the answer and puny flower feeling, micro aggressed, safe space living, I demand to be idolized and receive the histrionic of the millennia award as an ethereal morphing pan-trans, everything is ok when it’s my way, SPOILED BRATISM.

Really bad sentence structure, but I think I expressed and emoted ok.

And while people are palpitating about the labels I flung, let me be clear. I love everybody. I don’t have to like or agree with everybody, I don’t have to support everybody in their delusions. At the same time, I don’t wish harm to come to these folks. Not even a little bit. And I don’t give a damn about whether they agree to disagree. I freely make my own choices, without fear or social reprisal or permission from anyone. Yup, I think that is rational.

Bricks are bricks. We can think they are chocolate chip cookies all we want, but they are bricks when we bite em. Trophies, social status and money can put a façade on may things for a long time, but in the end, reality of life creeps back in like and abandoned property being overrun by the forest.

We spend an astonishing amount of time and energy pursuing social acceptance and stuff. I wish I could of thought of it and I don’t know who did (in order to properly cite), but we work jobs we don’t like to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like. I have never seen a hungry person complain about getting a sandwich rather than soup. Nor can I imagine a desert-thirsty person whine about and turn down the water in the plastic bottle because it isn’t in an eco responsible glass bottle. Americans have First World problems. Let’s stop pursuing things and social acceptance for the sake of filling and empty “I am ok with me” tank. Let’s stop seeking attention with being “different” or “salacious” or whatever to fill the same empty tank. Be different if you want, that’s ok, but don’t demand others like or accept your choices. I would respect you more if you truly didn’t care what I think, like or don’t like. Fill your own tank and no one can empty it unless you let them.

Or, keep on being sick and blaming and miserable. Thankfully, I figured out a long time ago that I don’t have to feel bad due to your choices. 🙂

— R. A. Grier

My reply to another “Prove God exists” person.

July 7, 2018

 

The headline is about the Philippines’ President, Duterte demanding “proof” of God.

Well, René Descartes already did that proving about 375 years ago. Meditation III and V, I believe. That is from the ontological approach. Now, perhaps more simply and modern using reason: (AND seriously NOT trying to be funny or quippy), but regarding the argument requiring “proof” of God existing or not. May I ask “who” is either existing or not? Almost ubiquitously, the argument is whether or not “God” exists. The question contains the, and the argument for, the answer.

I get it though. Believing in God, faith and the convoluted, misguided, misunderstood, selfish, rigid (etc., so forth ad nauseum) people attempting to follow a faith are all inherently flawed and always will be. God is perfect and people are fallen. No interpretation of or attempt to explain or mimic can be successful. That result will be flawed at best and perceived as hypocritical by those considering whether to follow or believe.

As an observer of human behavior, it always fascinates me when this topic comes up. It truly baffles me why someone tries to disprove God. What would be your motivation? Don’t wish to believe or follow, then don’t. Then, I get the “Then, leave us alone with your evangelism!” I could not agree with that sentiment more. It is not my job to force, coerce, trick, guilt, shame or other attempt to convince anyone of God. That is not my job. That is His job. My role is to simply worship Him, Love People, witness and serve.

American, Christian, Southern Baptist, hetero, Cis-Male, married, father, etal

 

— R. A. Grier

 

June 29, 2018

Paying and Attention to the Destructive Discord of Discourse

 

Wow. If the shootings aren’t bad enough. Another terrible or terribly sick person (don’t know yet) shoots up a newspaper, killing five and damaging countless thousands. Within minutes, talking heads are blaming, castigating and repeating talking points. And then we shift into venomous divisiveness. But, that was yesterday and it was only a few people shot. What you got to top that???

There is a point at which salacious just isn’t anymore because we have seen and heard it before.

There is a point you get to when you disassociate from reality in order to protect yourself from pain, real or imagined or anticipated.

There is a point where rational thought and boundaries will be useless against a damaged populous and society that is sick from psychological trauma. The societal, collective brain can’t cope. The societal collective brain has been fed delusions for generations. The collective has a virus and has no ability to heal itself.

The social tectonics we feel are very real. Ever differing cultures, ideas, values, rules, laws and a thousand other forces pull and push like the plates of the earth’s crust. They erupt and shake and cause havoc and rain down molten rock and ash, destroying everything in its path.

Maybe if you aren’t in a cultural fault zone or active cultural volcano areas like California, the border, Chicago or NYC or a lot of urban decayed cities — If you aren’t in the hotspots, you may just feel the social twitching and wobble like stumbling and hopping on an atrophied broken leg just after they dropped the crutches. We are shedding boundaries at an alarming rate. We have run away from norms, values, and institutions that promotes goodness. Indoctrination has almost completely replaced education. Socially and culturally, we are not prepared for that sort of weight of our unintended consequences of absolute freedom of choice and action. We wobble under the strain and in some areas we fall. In some areas, we exploding in a paranoid psychotic rage.

We may not come through it unscathed or more refined, but we will adapt, just as we have for a very long time. I think it is time to move in a different direction. To those who still can let’s go.

 

I would like for those of reason to think about a few things while we go through it. Some thoughts and rules to put in place:

People are going to do what people want to do.

There are very bad people out there. If I want to smell garbage, I go to the dump.

There are some really good people out there. If I want to smell roses, I go to a rose garden.

Hang out with people that consistently demonstrate good and reasonable judgment. Hang out with people who bring smiles, laughter, love, and growth. Hang out with people who pour life into other people. AND, be one of those people.

Let the others go. You aren’t in charge of them. You aren’t responsible for them. You won’t change their minds. You won’t fix them. There are still enough professionals who get paid to deal with them. Let the professionals handle them.

 

AND while I am meddling…

You don’t need social media.

You don’t need cable news.

 

Separation from people and things creating some trepidation?? Is there some uneasiness just thinking about it? I bet you feel like you need to see, need to be in the know, need to be connected to some device. That sounds like an addiction. Feel like you need to save the world? That sounds like co-dependency. Scared of the future? Can’t sleep? avoidance places and situations for fear of being hurt? Reliving those sorts of situations??? That sounds like PTSD. Stop feeding it and get help if you need it. If you are in the early stage of any of these, STOP IT. Our society is, was, and will continue to be unhealthy, sick and traumatized, if we let it happen. REGARDLESS of what smart, good and healthy people do, THERE WILL STILL BE damaged, evil, unhealthy, rude, mean, selfish and just plain BAD people in the world.

Please, for the sake of everything happy, good and wonderful — STOP giving attention to idiots and the fringes of society. STOP supporting the media outlets that are destroying everything you know is good. STOP giving money to organizations that DON’T GIVE A RIP about you. STOP STOP STOP!!!

 

Want more happy and healthy?

START

hanging out with loving, caring, life-uplifitng folks

Yup, reduce the intake of substances and start the healthy intake and output (exercise, I know… not fun)

start doing the things that add to life like creating, writing, painting, singing, take a class just to learn. Volunteer, give back and be the example that you are looking to find.

Love God, Love People and serve.

Relax, you aren’t the savior of the world.

 

Wanna fight back? Let’s have fun and find an attorney.

The “news” (whatever the heck that is anymore) inundates us every possible second of the day with the most salacious, the most disgusting, the most vile, the most horrific, the MOSTEST, WHATEVEREST that gets EYEBALLS and EARLOBES aimed at their very lucrative content. The messages and content have no value, but the wallet two feet below your eyeballs certainly does have value… to the media folks and their advertisers.

I would like to say it early. They (fill in the blank with most anybody who has anything to do with MEDIA) — THEY are profiting on trauma, traumatizing and re-traumatizing people. That is a crime or at least should be. At the very least is is wrong & I believe it is a class action suit. Any lawyers out there who want to become rich and famous??

While we all wait on the settlement checks — Let’s take a trauma notification vacation. Turn it off. Turn it down. Put it away. I am busy being happy anyway.

 

Love y’all,

RAG

 

 

Doing the impossible is really hard.

August 26, 2017

Absolutes are rare. Maybe we find more of these examples in sciences like physics. People??? Not so much. It only takes about a second to think of an example of this. Killing ok? Divorce? Love? Our society is experiencing social tectonics. Every day in many places, the ground literally shakes. However, most of the time, it is so slight that nobody notices. When the guy on the TV starts talking Richter scale, then we pay attention, why? Because it destroyed and made loud noises and scared people. Good or bad? Don’t know. Sometimes the difference between thrill and fatal is a bolt or two on a roller coaster. We are losing bolts at a rapid rate.

I believe I made this example in another writing, but it is worth a re-visit for this piece. A professor asked my class many years ago, “What makes a criminal?” He was fishing for some genetic or financial precursor that guaranteed a criminal. I ain’t smart, but I knew that sort of softball setup meant embarrassment with just about any answer we gave him. We know that criminals come in all shapes sizes and demographics, so my answer was, “Laws.” Laws make people criminal, not birth, head size or lack of money, etc. Want to solve the crime problem in America?? Get rid of laws!! Well… Let’s maybe table that action for a while. (Although, I think we are headed that way.) You cannot operate a society without rules. Documented, understood, spoken or codified or whatever. When there are two people, one will establish boundaries to/with/for the other. The founders chose to use the word “Unalienable” in our originating documents and that word has another expectation to be absolute that cannot simply be. It can’t be without a lot of WORK and efforts, anyway. Gravity here on earth is fairly constant and you don’t have to do anything to experience it consistently. “Rights” are not the same as gravity.

The next sentence may hurt some feelings. The constitution is just a piece of paper with some lofty expectations. Some don’t care about rules. They want what they want, when they want it and don’t give a rip about anything other than getting it. Others think perhaps the Constitution is some magical shield and sword combination that will last forever and vanquish every foe. And, there are many along a thousand million points of variance in between. A friend made the point and I think he is right. Soon, there will be no Constitution in this Country. Why? Because the schematics used to build the machine rely on a part that has a fatal design flaw.

America isn’t the first Country to go through this process. It may or may not be the last. Eons of civilizations have risen, prospered and fallen into history or dust. Standing way back, I akin this process to watching an artist toil and sacrifice in order to gather paint, brushes and canvas. The artist then sets about to create a beautiful masterpiece. Once finished, the artists lights it on fire and burns it to complete ash. The artist then starts gathering paint, brushes and a canvas… We are getting really close to striking that match in this Country.

The problem with progress and change is that it is a destructive constant when coupled with the other fatal design flaw part, people. People do not have the ability to do the impossible. We cannot be God. God made perfect. We cannot. God maintains infinite existence and knowledge in infinite space. We cannot. We get into trouble when we try. And when we try, it gets really tough. Doing the impossible is really difficult. What’s the difference between hard work and doing the impossible? Scroll up a few lines and look for roller coaster bolts. I haven’t met too many people just standing around screaming their head off that weren’t in great need of medication. Getting on that coaster carries some risk and there is usually greater reward when there is greater risk. A pitch can’t be both a strike and a home run. If every basketball game ended in a tie, people would not watch. If every paycheck was the same, there would be far fewer schools and I doubt many would work for others. Outside of faith in Christ, everything else worth having has a risk. Want a good thrill ride? Pay for your ticket, and strap in. Just know there’s that slight chance that your coaster car will bump out the last necessary bolt. A perfectly fulfilled life will brush past that last bolt many times.

I know I have said it before, but “America” isn’t a word you will find in the Bible. I believe that means there is a reasonable expectation that it will end. I don’t think Canada is in there either, so the Hollywood elite may want to check their airline ticket change policy before they purchase a one-way to YYZ. No, I suggest we all (yup, me too) start operating in absolutes and quit relying on the impossible. We are seeing so many try now. Another way of looking at this is using a cake baking analogy. We should not try to do the impossible, it doesn’t work out. Is trying a little ok? Nope, not really. If I were baking a cake and used only a “little” feces in the batter, would that be ok? Doubtful, so let’s quit expecting the impossible in our walk on this earth.

What does that look like? Live a life of purposeful witness by loving God, loving people and serving. It is free and easy. When it gets difficult, maybe you aren’t ready for what you are trying. Or maybe you are trying to do the impossible. Either way, you can always go back and do just the easy parts and be just fine for eternity. The easy parts are necessary and absolute, like breathing.  Maintaining a perfect Country in perpetuity is impossible. Getting everybody to like and agree is impossible. Eliminating stupid and selfish is impossible. The very difficult is keeping Rights by way of a Constitution. It requires some continuous action in order to make it happen. America just stopped working at making their rights happen. America also stopped doing the necessary. Sort of like giving up breathing so we can focus on the color of our hat. The result is pain, followed by brief panic and eventual death. Stop loving God or people and the same thing happens. You don’t get harmony and heaven without some continuous effort and doing the necessary things. It’s easy, but necessary. But like breathing, most of us don’t really have to work at it. We tend to only work at the difficult and impossible. But if you stop doing the easy, that will be fatal. Stopping the impossible can be refreshing.

–– R. A. Grier

March 23, 2016

 

Just a Story about a Rational Person

 

How would you feel if the police came and arrested you for a crime that you truly did not commit? Then you were convicted of that crime and sentenced. They take away some of your freedoms and rights. They make you pay fines. Then people think you are a bad person. Then, it’s tougher to get jobs. Then, people tell your kids that you are a bad person. What if all of that happened to you and you truly did not commit the crime?

 

Let’s walk step by step –

 

Certainly, a rational person would be calm (albeit miffed and indignant) and understand that the police are just doing their jobs when they stop and question you. It will work out as soon as they realize you are ok and they have the wrong person.

 

Certainly there would be some cause for concern when you realize not only are you being arrested and charged, but will stand trial. I would guess a rational person would get a little panicky, start looking for help and get a little more vocal. Still though, a rational person would remain civil.

 

Then the rational person is convicted. A judge, a jury of peers and the law pronounce you guilty. Certainly, a rational person would feel fear and panic and desperation. Certainly shock and disbelief would cover and begin to smother them.

 

You do your time. Certainly a rational person would become somewhat jaded and bitter toward the system, circumstances, the process and some of the people who did not listen or help. Then they take some of your rights, freedoms and begin to fine you. Certainly the rational person would become wary, guarded and defensive to ensure they weren’t sucker punched again.

 

When you get out, you are viewed as a loser. You are fined. You have to report to the parole officer who incessantly threatens you to not re-offend. They hold your remaining freedoms in their hands and lord it over you like some evil puppeteer. “Dance!”, they say… and you dance. You don’t want to, of course, but you are complying and trying to hold on to the freedom to what you have left. Certainly a rational person would begin to form two faces. One for the “man” and one that knows all of the person in their mirror. Certainly, a rational person could begin to lose faith and respect for the system. Certainly a rational person could begin to consider embracing the label and just become the evil that they have been falsely convicted of.

 

The cultural police, judges and courts have stopped, tried and convicted me.

 

In the course of just a few days, people have told me that I:

• Am racist and privileged because I am white.
• Hate homosexuals because I am Christian.
• Am dangerous and a nut because I carry a weapon.
• Am uncaring and oppressive because I own a business.
• Am hateful and stupid because I am a conservative.

 

I have been waiting on some logic and reason to enter the culture of America for a long while. I guess the story above is an answer to the question that I could not give a few days ago to someone. They were talking about the news reports covering a few of the recent Donald Trump events. At those events the supporters were pushing shoving, cursing and some were fighting. They said, “The Trump folks were getting angry!” Then, they asked me directly about the Trump supporters’ behaviors. “How could any rational or civil person think and act like that?”

 

— R. A. Grier

 

Future Enemy of the State and Father of Three

February 26, 2015

Years ago, I thought I was going to be a lawyer, FBI agent or something in law or law enforcement. So, naturally, I took a few law-type classes in order to fulfill my ambitions. During one of these classes, a professor asked the class, “What makes a person a criminal?” The question was intended for us to guess at the reasons a person would have for breaking the law. However, my quick answer to the professor didn’t fit his line of questioning, but certainly seems to be coming eerily and ironically true in my own life. I told him that laws make people criminals. Not so many years ago, when the fledgling Obama administration began flexing its left-wing, liberal fascist/communist ideology; I started to see that I might prophetically become a victim of my own answer.

I have written more than a few times that laws do not make right and wrong. Laws (should be) are put in place to provide for a civil, stable and somewhat universal expectation for sensible behavior in a given society. I don’t bother a soul and I rarely interact with law enforcement outside of my friends who serve in that capacity. Further, I understand that laws change. For example, a lower speed limit may be put in place on a road as it transitions from being sparse to more densely populated. That makes sense. So, last week I could drive 55 on that road right by a police officer and just get a wave. Then, the day they put up the 35MPH sign, I can be fined by that same officer I waved at for driving the same 55MPH. I get it. But, I am not talking about that or those types of law transitions. What I am talking about is the creation and imposition of laws and regulations for the purpose of creating and/or diminishing power among selected groups. So in other words, I can use the power that citizens gave me to create rules and punishments to eliminate my enemies.

So, today, I read a story in the news about the ATF (US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) attempting to ban a certain ammunition round as well as the overall caliber of rifle. For some of these, the FEDGOV required me to purchase two tax stamps in order for me to possess them. Now, they want to make them and ME illegal. I wondered, “What changed?” Then I wondered, “Who are they going to send to get me?” Then I thought about the message that would be put out about me that led to my attempted arrest and unfortunate death during the standoff.

So, ahead of time, I will tell you about the guy they had to kill/destroy in order to uphold the law and protect the public.

Hmmm, this is sort of like trying to talk about yourself on a first date! I am a Pisces, I like walks on the beach… 🙂 Seriously, I am married. I have three children and we live on a small farm in Southeast Alabama. I am a Deacon of my Church, I am the Counselor for my Church and I serve in the youth ministry as a volunteer. I pay whatever taxes that my CPA tells me to according to the IRS rules. I volunteer at my children’s school. I volunteer my professional time in my community to help those who may not otherwise get mental health counseling. I do not violate any serious laws that I know of. I do not use any illicit substances. I drive the speed limit. I pay property taxes and just recently have opened a small business that will employ maybe eight people with good paying jobs that will be beneficial to our community. That is about it.

I guess I should also admit some other things that I am. Well, currently, I am just an annoyance. I write about and question authority. I “incite” others to question their leadership as well. I openly promote rebellion against my ever-increasingly oppressive government. I freely admit that I want people to ignore and rail against oppression that is disguised as laws to protect the public. Currently, yes, I am just an annoyance. But soon, I believe, I will graduate to being a threat.

If/when the day comes that the FEDGOV sends agents or military or whatever to take care of me, I doubt seriously they will give me a whole lot of time to plead my case. I also doubt very seriously that I will be painted in a good light. Further, I predict that I will not make it to a trial. No, I will be labeled as some dangerous lunatic threat to society that was resisting arrest. Unfortunately, deadly forced was used in order to protect the agents/officer/soldiers… Or maybe I will just have some fancy and salacious charges brought against me. I will end up disappearing into prison. The rumors will be spread, “I didn’t know he was an arms dealer/arsonist/assassin/terrorist/drug dealer!” (I am not any of those things) I am writing this now in hopes that when it all goes down, someone will remember this post. If you do, will you please share the part above about who I really am? Maybe I will get lucky and you will share it with the men and women sent to get me… before they get me. 🙂 Because today, I am those things a few paragraphs up. Tomorrow, I am really afraid that I will be an enemy of the state that must be removed in order to serve the greater good of society.

— R. A. Grier