GUNS IN AMERICA

The reason for our safety or a threat to it?

               Emotions are transitory, unstable, volatile and subject to being skewed by false perspective. Therefore, when we debate the creation or changing of U.S. laws that will affect millions of American citizens, we owe it to the country and ourselves to practice logic and not emotion.  Logic is a stable, valuable yet unforgiving thing.  If a statement or idea is true, it is always true.  The logic also works in the inverse.  As an example of this, let us take the statement that: “All the people in the classroom are women.”  For that to be true, it would also have to be equally true that: “None of the people in the classroom are men.” Using this simple rule of logic, let’s ask ourselves a few questions.

When we remember the legendary career of Baseball great Babe Ruth, did they applaud his baseball bat when a home run was made?  Would any baseball fan give credit to Babe Ruth’s bat for scoring 714 career homeruns?  Similarly, would any fan of classical music give credit to Mozart’s piano for creating so many wonderful pieces of music?  No.  To do so would be absurd. In another example, I have been in restaurants where, after a particularly good meal was served, the patrons ask to see the chef and thank him personally. I have never heard of anyone asking to thank the pots, pans or utensils.  Not only would we consider such a request to be bizarre, but I would think that the chef would even see it as a personal insult.

We understand that Ruth’s bat, Mozart’s piano and the kitchen utensils are simply inanimate objects that reflect the skill of the person using it.  In the hands of a master, these objects bring wonderful enhancements to the world.  In the hands of a lesser skilled person, those same tools would reflect the lack of talent of that person.  When a police officer stops a drunk driver, does he or she arrest the car? No. The car is simply a tool that had been misused by an irresponsible person. Understanding this, I believe that it puts the entire gun control debate in the proper, logical context.  If we do not give credit to inanimate objects for the good things in society, why then would we blame inanimate objects for the evil events in society?

The cries for gun bans from the liberal media and politicians following reports of mass shootings here in the United States are pervasive and compelling.  The counter arguments for gun freedom from legal gun owners is equally compelling yet, gets little to no support in the mainstream media and is therefore less heard. The Second Amendment of The U.S. Constitution is so important and the crimes that have recently occurred here in the United States are so horrific, that we must set aside emotion and the sensationalism in the media, and get to the root of the issue.

               One of the main arguments for gun control by the liberal side is: “Yes, The Constitution gives you the right to carry a gun, but why do you need an assault weapon for hunting?”  This question touches three points.  First, if the Constitution guarantees the right to carry a gun, THERE IS NO BUT.  Secondly, the opponents of gun rights and the media that support their views, have high jacked the term “assault weapon” and use it’s negative emotional connotation to influence their case in the minds of the mass public.  I contend that a rifle is, just that.  It is a rifle.  It can either be a defensive or an assault rifle.  It is not an “assault” rifle until it is used for assault.  In the same way, I could ask you: “Do you have cooking knives in your kitchen, or do you own assault knives in your kitchen?” The answer is…neither (or both). It totally depends on how you choose to use them.

               The third skewed point in the question is: “Yes, The Constitution gives you the right to carry a gun, but why do you need an assault weapon for hunting?” Hunting is just one of the possible uses that that a law abiding citizen might use a gun for. The Second Amendment of The Constitution does not limit gun ownership in America only to hunting.  Having just won a hard fought war for independence from Great Britain, our founding fathers knew and intended this Amendment to insure that the citizens were allowed to keep and bear arms not only for hunting, but to also protect themselves from criminals as well as from our own government, should the government turn and threaten their life, liberty or their pursuit of happiness. 

               The Commanding General of America’s fight for independence and our first President, George Washington knew this to be true when he said:

“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them; Which would include their own government.” (emphasis mine – jat)

               That means that the citizens of America should have access to the same weaponry as it’s military.

Samuel Adams, our second president also understood this when he said:

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men should possess the highest seats in Government, America shall stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”

               This sentiment was alive and well even until America was in the grips of a civil war.  Our 16^th President, Abraham Lincoln echoed the voices of the founding fathers when he said:

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts. Not to overthrow The Constitution but to overthrow the men who would pervert the Constitution.”

               In order to maintain a “well-regulated militia” in potential defense from corrupted federal troops, it is essential that each American citizen be allowed to bear arms equal to those born by the military.  How can we limit a citizen’s weapons and ammunition to non-“assault” weapons and ammunition magazines that carry less than 10 rounds each, when the federal military carries much more than that.

 

When did we begin allowing the media to become a fourth branch of our government and enact laws in this country?  By this I mean that we have allowed the media (in all its forms) to set the tone, language and parameters of debate in the halls of Congress.

               These opinions and questions concerning the state of our Union no longer fall within the “tin-foil hat/conspiracy theorist” crowd.  These questions are now real-life and front page news all across America and online.  Welcome to the “tin-foil hat” club America.  There have been recent revelations that the I.R.S. has been targeting free American citizens based on their anti-liberal/anti-Obama political views. News journalists from the Associated Press and other media outlets who dare to investigate and question the Obama administration have been arrested as “spies”.  And finally, the tracking of every free American citizen’s phone calls, e-mails and internet search activity.

               Is this the America that we all grew up in?  Is this the America that you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in?  The Obama administration and the liberal news organizations that worship him defend these actions saying that the Supreme Court ruled them Constitutional.  So what?  The Supreme Court does not decide WHAT laws to enact; the Court only decides IF the laws of Congress are Constitutional or not.   The President has no power to enact laws either.  We, The American People decide what laws we will live under through electing those Senators and Congress persons who pass laws.   If the American People decide by calling their elected officials in Washington and demanding that such un-American, Communist/Dictator-like tactics be forever outlawed, we may yet regain our Creator-given rights.  It is time for us to FIRE every damn one of those fools in Congress who voted for such treasonous laws in the first place and NEVER VOTE ANOTHER LIBERAL/PROGRESSIVE/DEMOCRAT POLITICIAN INTO OFFICE EVER AGAIN.

               How much more proof do we need that the LIBERAL/PROGRESSIVE/DEMOCRAT agenda will ultimately lead to America’s undoing and ruin? We must send a clear message to Congress about their employment situation.  If not, the options are getting fewer but clearer.

               Call your Members of Congress today and take back your power and freedom before your ability to protect your family FROM this increasingly oppressive government is taken away as well.

God bless you and God bless The United States of America.

HOW TO WRITE A READABLE BOOK Part. 1

How is writing a book like childbirth?

It was once said by that oft-quoted philosopher, 'Anonymous', that "Everyone has at least one novel in them." While I agree with the premise of the statement, I have to disagree with the practicality of it. Everyone of us has at one time or another fantasized about becoming the next social commentator like Mark Twain or novelist like J.K. Rowling or to simply tell his or her own life story. Each of these three types of writing has it's rewards as well as it's setbacks that we will explore later.

Today I would like to explore something much more basic, yet essential; and that is: "Why do I want to write in the first place?" Following closely behind that question is the one asked by your potential audience: "Why should we read your work?". While I believe that everyone has at least one great novel in them, I also believe that NOT everyone can......or even should. It is a cruel dose of reality, but here goes..........

Writing a literary work is like giving birth. First, you conceive. This is that first spark of creativity that seems to be divine and takes place in the most secret inner places of your mind. Like children, some works of literature are conceived out of love. Some are conceived because of a primal need to (pro)create. Some are conceived out of a sense of duty or even by "accident" in some situations. Whatever the case may be, all have that initial conception in the "womb" of the writer's soul.

I'm sure that you have heard the old adage "No child is an accident". This is usually said to new parents-to-be who find themselves staring with shock at a home pregnancy test for the fifth time and wondering "what happened?". We console the bewildered parents-to-be that no child is truly an accident because "You may not have planned this child, but God did". This is true in writing a new novel as well. No work of literature is an accident.

Let us set the "accidental" conception aside for a second and let's say that you are willingly and knowingly trying to write the next Great American Novel, Biography or Non-Fiction work. Before continuing with the process, you must ask yourself: "Why do I want to write?"

If you are yet to have children yourself or if you are a parent, remember back, to that time before you had children. If you have spent any amount of time in a grocery store or restaurant, you are sure to have witnessed a young parent struggling with an unruly, loud and troublesome child and have naïvely asked them under your breath, "Why can't you control your brat" or "Some people should never be allowed to have kids" or "Just because you can have a baby, doesn't mean that you should". Come on.... Be honest for a second, you've thought that at least once.

To be completely honest and forward about it, the statement that "Everyone has at least one great novel in them" is true, yet it is also true that "Just because you can write a book, doesn't mean that you should". Ouch! Sorry, but It is a cruel truth that some people do not have the skills, discipline, resources or endurance that it takes to bring that book into the world.

As a writer, you must ask yourself one very important question:

Why do I want to write?

If your motive to write is purely egotistical and is a way to get your story "off your chest", then unless you are a Hollywood celebrity or a sports star, I suggest confining your writing to the journal on your bed-side table or talk to a priest, your hair stylist or the bartender at the pub. Very few readers want to read an ultra personal tell-all that is meant for your eyes only.

If your motive for writing is to make millions of dollars and become the next Steven King or Heather Graham, I suggest that you buy a Lotto ticket instead; your chances are better. Very few people actually make even a decent living writing; much less actually becoming wealthy doing it.

If you write because you have to write, must write, need to write.......now we're getting somewhere. Someone once said that writing is a sickness. Those who suffer from this sickness write because they have to. When they are not writing, they are thinking about what to write. To the writer, the hours spent in front of the computer or at the library, doing tedious research in order to make your novel seem real and believable is not a chore; it is actually fun. They hate NOT writing. Even while standing in the line at the bank, they are watching that old man in front of them with his pants pulled up to his belly button, veteran's cap, orthopedic shoes who smells of "Brute" after shave, and the whole time, they are wondering how that character would fit into the story they are currently working on or "filing" the character away in their mind for a future story.

If you feel that you suffer from this creative condition called "writing", let me be the first to say: congratulations! You are "expecting". Now it is time to prepare for the bundle of joy that will be delivered not by a stork, but by the UPS driver in the form of a paperback book with your name in big letters. And just like the new parent looking at their child's face for the first time, you will be beaming with well deserved pride when you sign that first copy at your local bookstore for an eager fan.

Parenting your book will not be easy....but it will be worth it. In the next series of posts, we will discuss how to go from "conception" to "gestation" "labor" "birth" and "parenting" of your book baby.

BACK FROM THE GREAT BEYOND

I have returned.  In my defence, I have been busy lately.  Between writing and promotions, I have had very little time to just blog.  Well... here is my first blog in too long of a time.

My newest project is up and running and has eaten up all of my extra time.  It still amazes me how much time writing actually requires.  Then, after you've finished the "artistic" writing side of it, the "business" side of it starts and takes up all the remaining moments.  That being said, I've been back at actually writing.  I'm excited about it and I hope that you are too.

I am also very interested about your projects.  Please feel free to share it with the world on my blog for review by it's readers.

Good luck --- JAT

MY BOOKS:

Saving Daylight

SAVING DAYLIGHT

By J. Andrew Taylor

The room was empty.  My first book signing and not one single person showed up.  How humiliating. I knew that scheduling the signing for eight A.M. was daring, but it was a Sunday. Didn’t most people do leisurely things like visit bookstores on Sundays? I felt the heat of someone’s eyes on me and turned around.  Mr. Paige, the owner of the bookstore, shot a disappointed glare at me over his bifocals.  I shrugged an apologetic reply.  He shook his head and returned to his newspaper.  I had promised him that, should he allow me to host a signing, the event would surely bring in potential customers; epic fail.

Back when I was a new father, I had suffered my first and (up till now) only panic attack.  At the time, I thought that I was having a coronary and was glad that it was at least happening in a hospital.  This time, standing there in “Page by Paige Books and Periodicals”, my heart raged and pounded like some hideous monster trying to escape from my inner child’s bedroom closet.  The curious thing about panic attacks is that they are full of opposite extremes.  I felt cold and clammy, yet I was sweating copiously.  I felt like lying down, yet my heart was hammering a hole through my chest as if I had just run a mile.  My mind was muddled, yet I was completely aware of every detail of my anxiety.  Suddenly, I felt my soul melt from the heat of my shame and I gave up.

Crestfallen, I walked out the door and into the clear spring day.  Almost instinctively, I went across the street to the coffee shop.  I ordered my usual Chi Tea latte and found that overstuffed blue chair that, even though hundreds of people “borrowed” it when I wasn’t there, I still considered mine.  I finished my latte and gazed at the dregs at the bottom of the cup; trying to mimic a hippie tea reader named Ocean I had known in college.  As I stared at the random and haphazard shapes at the bottom of my cup, it was as if the universe was telling me just that: “Your life is a random and haphazard clump of debris at the bottom of the overpriced teacup of life.”  I ordered another.

As I sat there busily NOT reading the daily newspaper, I looked over at the next table at a young woman.  She was furiously typing on a laptop.  Her fingers were not only speedily zipping across the keyboard, but they were also hammering down on them as if punishing them for not moving fast enough.

I suddenly realized that it was in this same coffee shop that I had spent nearly a year, furiously typing out the very book that I was supposed to be signing across the street. I swallowed hard as a molten lump of irony lodged itself in my throat.  There was a part of me that wanted to go over to her and say, “Do yourself a favor, give it up and just get addicted to Farmville on Facebook or something.”  I didn’t say it of course, but I wanted to. I’m serious.

            The girl caught me looking at her and forced me to break the ice. “Business or pleasure?” (Damn! What a dweeb I am!)

            She stared at me in that “deer in the headlights” kind of way.  “Excuse me?”

            “Your keyboard is smoking.  I was just wondering if you were writing because you had to or because you wanted to.”

            She looked up to a space somewhere between her and the ceiling and considered her thoughts for a moment.  “I guess you could say that I have to because I want to.  Or that I want to because I have to.”

            “Now I’m confused.”

            “You know….Sometimes, as a writer, I wonder if I WANT to write because I MUST or that I MUST write because I want to.  It’s a “chicken or the egg thing” Ya know?”

            I knew exactly what she meant.  “Only a real writer would understand that.”

            “A real writer?  I wish.  Sometimes I feel like a preschooler doing the equivalent of finger painting with a keyboard.  You know; something that your mom might hang on the fridge, but not something anyone would want to spend money on.”

            (OUCH!)

            “Finger painting with a keyboard?  Nice visual. Maybe you do have the knack. Maybe you are a real writer.”

            She stared at me with an expression as blank as that first page of a new writing project.  “Oh.  I don’t know.  Maybe someday.”

            “Maybe someday what?” I urged.

            “Maybe someday I’ll write the “Great American Novel”, get published and have a book signing and make lots of cash.” She laughed.

            “A book signing, Huh?” I asked hoping she didn’t notice my voice cracking.

            “Why not?  That’s what writers do isn’t it?  I mean…That’s what I’m doing here.”

            My brain locked up. “You’re here to sign books?”

            “No, silly.  I’m waiting for a book signing by one of my favorite authors to start at the bookstore across the street.”

She made a gesture with her head toward the window.  My eyes instinctively followed.  To my amazement, I saw a queue of people lined up in front of the bookstore.  Could it be?  The young woman was packing up her things and preparing to leave.  Drunk with hope, I followed her out the door and over to the bookstore.  As we approached the front door, a round of applause arose from the line of people.  All of them were looking in my direction.  I waved at them timidly.

As I entered, I saw Mr. Paige.  He was beaming a huge smile as he led me to the table we’d set up earlier.  “I didn’t think that you were coming back.”

“I almost didn’t.” I replied as I took my seat. “I don’t understand, Mr. Paige.  Where did all these people come from?”

He pointed at the clock on the far wall.  “Daylight Savings time.”

I shrugged.

Mr. Paige laughed.  “Everyone was an hour late.”

We both laughed this time as I set to work greeting and signing MY book.  After about half an hour, my hand started to cramp; but I didn’t care.  The pain was exquisite.  I set my pen down a moment and looked up at the next customer.  It was the girl from the coffee shop.

“That was a mean trick.” She cheerfully scolded.

“It wasn’t a trick.” I replied.  “I just wanted some tea.”

“Sure you did.  Man, if I had only known that it was you.”

I remembered the conversation we’d had across the street and her enthusiasm. “Ok. I admit it.”

She looked shocked. “That you were just messing with me earlier.”

“No.” I said, signing my name to her copy.  “I was there checking out my future competition.”

She smiled. “Do you really think so?”

“Just keep typing as fast and furious as you were before and you’ll be signing a book for me soon enough.”

“Thank you.” She giggled and hopped away.

“And remember!” I shouted after her. “Just don’t schedule your book signing on Daylight Savings Sunday!”

I-Doll

By J. Andrew Taylor

          There are few universal fears (not including the phobias) that everyone can relate to regardless of culture, personal experience or psychosis.  To name a few, there is the fear of the dark, reptiles, clowns and dolls.  It is a general rule that the majority of humans are afraid of the same things.  Yes, some people keep snakes, and dolls, but I believe that they do this as a way of controlling their inherent fear and that fear becomes a tolerance at best and an obsession at worst.  Let’s focus on the fear of dolls.  Why do most people put the fear of dolls so high on their list of personal fears?  The answer is just a little disturbing, but here we go nonetheless.

          Every culture no matter how remote and every civilization has in one way or another created images and endowed that image with “life” in some way.  As long as mankind has been on Earth, civilizations have made statues or images of either animals or human to depict their gods or human kings and queens that where considered “divine”.  The Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Aztec, Incan and Mayan are just a few of the major cultures that have done this profusely.

          Every religion throughout history has created images of gods and treated them, in one way or another, as if the idols somehow exhibited either the best or worst of every human emotion, thought or spirit.  As “modern” people, we run the danger of distancing ourselves from those ancient peoples and attributing their idol worship as “naiveté” or “primitive” religious beliefs.  I say, YES.  This practice is both naïve and primitive; and by that I mean that it is a basic, in-born and primitive human inclination.  As proof of this, I submit that you yourself have either witnessed, or practiced it.

          When an angry mob wants to protest and symbolically “kill” a political leader, they first create an effigy of that leader and usually mutilate or burn that image.  The practice is also seen in the Voodoo religions in the form of dolls that are mutilated and tortured in place of a real person.  Another familiar case in which we recognize “life” in a doll is the ventriloquist’s dummy.  Sure, we laugh at and like this doll, but the fact still remains that we see human characteristics in it that is separate from the performer.  The list goes on.  The fact is that there is REAL POWER in these practices.  There is a spiritual truth here.  You may yet feel a distance from those practices and judge them archaic or antiquated.  Remember, if you will either yourself or your own children playing with dolls and stuffed animals; and to them, they are “real”.

          If you have ever watched a little boy playing with action figures or a little girl playing tea party with her dolls and having conversations with them you will understand what I mean.  To the little girl for example, every single one of her dolls has a distinct personality and “voice” and she communicates with them as if they were ‘real’.  Now, the question here is a little “spooky”.  Did the little girl simply “imagine” the doll having a voice, or is there an entity that somehow “claimed” that doll as its own image and infused its spirit into the doll and therefore gave “life” to the doll.  My answer is simple.  There is a reason that the word “image” is in the word “imagine”.  The two go hand in hand.  This habit of attributing “life” to dolls is pervasive in popular culture.  The “Toy Story” movies come immediately to mind.

          Further still, here is a quote from the much loved novel; “A little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett:

          “What fascinated Ermengarde the most was [Sara's] fancy about the dolls who walked   and talked, and who could do anything they chose when the human beings were out of          the room, but who must keep their powers a secret and so flew back to their places ‘like   lightening’ when people returned to the room.”

          And because of this, there is a real reason most humans would list “fear of dolls” very high on their lists of spooky things.

          Mankind has always had an inborn fixation with created images and endowing them with human characteristics i.e. emotions, thoughts, spirit etc.?  The answer is that we ourselves, are created images that have emotions, thoughts and spirit.  God created us in HIS image and endowed us with such things that make us HUMAN. We are “spirits inhabiting a physical form”. Demonic spirits are jealous of our relationship with God and, having no physical form themselves, crave status as “spirits in a physical form” and jump at the chance and have for ages past, encouraged fallen man to provide them with those forms; i.e. graven images, idols, ‘divine’ statues and dolls.  The ultimate prize to any demon is to actually possess not just a created image, but to possess a human being instead.

            Did you ever see a doll’s innocent face and imagined that you could ‘feel’ a spirit behind those staring eyes looking back at you?  Somehow our spirits ‘feel’ a living thing inside the graven image.  How many ‘scary’ movies have been made where a dolls face gave you the creeps just by looking at it?  There may be a reason for that feeling. This is the same thing that the ancients ‘felt’ when they worshipped those statues and idols as gods.  Their spirits could ‘feel’ the living thing in the image.   Let me end by saying that NOT ALL man-made images ARE inherently possessed, but that all have the POTENTIAL for it depending on the spiritual significance we assign to them.  I believe that God knew this when he commanded us:

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

We have been warned.

Sleep tight

Camping with family

I spent the weekend camping with my family.  Throughout, I came to the realization that mankind has spent the last few thousand years trying to improve their living conditions precisely so that we would not have to sleep out in the elements, cook food over an open fire and have sanitary personal conditions. And so, why would we subject ourselves to reverting back to living in that environment?  Needless to say, I do not enjoy camping that much.  Other than spending time with the family and telling scary campfire stories to my nieces and nephews, I would have preferred to stay and enjoy the comforts of home.