Cowards, Prayers Led, and Scriptures Read

The world witnessed a small piece of history on January 20th, 2017: the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. There were many people that attended the inauguration including some famous celebrities. However, there were a few celebrities who denied the invitation to attend the inauguration of president Donald Trump. What I do not completely understand is why they would say that they would not be attending. Is it because they think it will ruin their "reputation"? Or maybe they think it will destroy their "career"? As a matter of fact, both options are quite likely, but I still think it is a stupid reason to not go to an event that supports President Trump. The same reason why some of the celebrities refused to go to the inauguration is probably one of the reasons why America has lost a lot of the morals that it was founded upon and also one of the reasons why the world is in this current state of, for lack of a better word, disgusting-ness. Little to no people will stand up for what they believe in anymore. People will lie about their opinion simply for the sake of their own They are afraid that it will make people change their opinion about them or they think it will make people not like them. It is true that either of those things may happen, but isn't it better to have your thoughts out in the open instead of keeping them bottled up inside of your mind forever? 

Another part of president trump's inauguration that came as a shock to me was that prayers were said and scriptures were read. Even the mere presence of an openly religious person at an event such as the inauguration shocks me a little bit. This country was first following Christian morals and principles. As of late, promoting Christianity

or even the mere mention of the name "Jesus" will inevitably be followed by persecution. You could just go up to someone and say, "Hey, I believe in God" and they would probably respond with, "Oh, I can't be seen with you" or "No, you can't talk to me". Not just in America, but Christians all across the globe are afraid of talking about Jesus. It's not even allowed in public schools. The fact that there were preachers that attended the inauguration that read scriptures from the Bible and led the people in prayer gives me the smallest bit of hope. I'm sure that at least some of the past presidential candidates would never allow prayer or scripture readings at their inauguration. Since President Trump allowed such things at his inauguration, it makes me hate him just a little bit less.

President Trump, to me, seems like a bit of a people pleaser. In Trump's speech at the inauguration, he said, "I will never, ever let you down". I feel as if he is saying that just to please Americans and I don't think that statement will remain true for very long. Who knows what's going to happen while Donald Trump is president. There might be a terrorist attack and he might not be able to stop it or we might get even further into debt. He shouldn't have said, "I will never, ever let you down". He should've said, "I will try to never, ever let you down".

Can't Reach It, Don't Need It

Do you remember when people were not able to go to high school? Do you remember when attending high school was a privilege and not a right? Yeah, I don't remember either. That is because attending high school for free has been a right for everyone for a long time. Everyone is able to attend a public K-12 school for no charge. Now many people today are asking why a public college education is not offered free of charge. When I ask myself that question, it does make me think. Why not offer a free public college education? If the college enrollment went up, then jobs would increase as well. More teachers would be needed due to the increase in the size of the student body. I am sure that many people would benefit from a higher education, especially if it does not challenge them financially.


Now, all that being said, I still think that a free college education would raise problems. I'm not saying that it wouldn't provide any benefits because I know that a majority of the world's population would benefit from another four or more years of debt-free education. I know I would. However, it would cause some issues. If college was free, there's going to be at least one person who will take advantage of it. They will think, "Well, I'm not wasting my money if I don't attend this one class, so what's the point in going? One simple class I'll not matter". Now, one skipped class may not matter at the time, but what will happen when it turns into three skipped classes? Five skipped classes? College would just end up being like the free app on your phone that just sits there because you never use it.

It's true that a college education today is a privilege. People either have rich parents or family members that pay for their tuition, work hard to earn their own education, or they simply do not attend at all. As of April in 2015, about 70% of Americans did not have a college degree. Among that 70%, there was probably a good mix of people who dropped out of college and those who did not even enroll in a two year or four year college. According to howtoedu.org, pursuing a degree makes it easier for someone to get a job. It's easier to pursue a job when you have something else driving you. To put it simply, I do not think that offering a free college education would be a smart move. There would be too many people that would take advantage of it. The longer people don't have to work for their education, the harder it will be for people to even try looking for a part time job let alone getting a full time career. I am not saying that this would happen to everyone, but I think it could and probably would happen to a lot of people if free college were to be offered.

I See You Sinning

The media likes to portray the stereotypical Christian as someone who takes all of the crap that's thrown at them and just says, "Lord bless your soul". Christians are thought of as people who do not, or
at least aren't supposed to, retaliate. I'm not saying that Christians aren't and shouldn't act this way. A lot of Christians do, and should. In addition to the media's projection of the Christian community, there are many movies and TV shows that attack Christians as a whole. Various jokes are made towards Christian beliefs and practices. It's not even just the Christian religion, although that is the main focus of the jokes. The Jewish religion is also being constantly made fun of. Even gays, bisexuals, lesbians, and transgenders are taking a lot of heat from the media. However, you are always hearing about how people are having riots in the streets because they don't agree with who even knows what. The LGBT community is always protesting because some insignificant person openly told them that what they're doing is wrong. Let's be honest, how many times has there been a story on the news titled "CHRISTIANS PROTESTING IN THE STREETS"? Probably not very many times, right? That in no way gives someone the right to make fun of the Christians in the world. Luke 6:31 says, "Do to others as you would have them do to you".

A lot of the heat that Christians take comes from TV shows. One of

those TV shows is the very popular "Family Guy", created by Seth Macfarlane. Macfarlane is very sacrilegious and he is proud of it. He does a very good job showing it with the jokes that he lets into the script of his show. He loves to attack the Christian faith,

particularly in a Christmas episode of the show where a character kicked the baby Jesus out of the manger. Some might see Macfarlane as fearless since he holds nothing back when it comes to making crude jokes. Being a Christian myself, I see Macfarlane as a straight up coward. He knows that Christians will not retaliate when they see their religion being made fun of. Sure they may wag their finger at the screen and say, "Jesus can see you sinning", but they will not go out and protest. That is probably why Seth Macfarlane thinks that he can make joke about the Christian faith and not be worried about being attacked by the majority of society. What many people don't realize is that he is truly being a coward. He doesn't want groups such as the LGBT community and black community to come after him, so he goes after the safest options, Christians. I believe he his afraid, and I know that other fellow Christians would agree with me. I believe that if a Christian were to hear an off-color joke

directed towards their faith, it would be perfectly understandable to get offended. Personally, however, it doesn't bother me and I just let it roll off. The way I see it is that the person who makes the crude joke aimed towards Christians clearly has a butt on their face instead of a mouth because all that comes out is crap. They need Jesus.

Raise The Roof, Not Housing Costs

Number of minimum wage jobs required
to pay rent in areas of San Francisco.

The price of housing costs is rising and falling everyday, with some areas being cheaper than others. The drastic change in housing costs is most commonly occurring in San Francisco and New York. As of 2015, 870,000 of the 78.2 million people who were 16 years old and older that had a job received $7.25 per hour, making up 3.3% of the workers who receive hourly wages. That means that 3.3% is earning at or below minimum wage. But what about the workers who don't receive hourly rates? Yes, 3.3% may not seem like a large amount and it might not seem like a problem, but I believe that it's more of an issue than we realize. Say that one of these workers who earned minimum wage lived in San Francisco by themselves, meaning that they would have to pay for the rent themselves. The cost of living in San Francisco is growing rapidly. If someone simply wanted to rent a place instead of buy a place in San Francisco, they would have to take on more than one, possibly even more, full-time minimum wage jobs. In certain areas of San Francisco, some are required to have at least six or seven minimum wage paying jobs just to be able to pay their rent. That's not even including things such as groceries, clothes, or gas for their car. Yet some people think that this isn't an issue?



 The American in me wants to say that we should raise the minimum wage from about $8.00 per hour to somewhere around $10.00 per hour; however, the more logical side of me is saying that while that may help some people pay for expenses easier, it will just cause problems for other people who make more than minimum wage. The more a person makes, the more taxes they have to pay. The people who make the most money have to pay the most taxes and some of their money goes to the lazy people who just want to lay on the couch all day and have their money basically spoon-fed to them without work. I find myself sometimes guilty of being one of the lazy people who never wants to work, but at least I know when I can be lazy and when I can't be. I don't want to be stuck on welfare my whole life and I don't want a dead end job at McDonald's forever. I want a career so that I'll be able to take care of myself and not be a useless slob who doesn't work and lives in their parent's basement. Also, if the minimum wage is increased by a lot, then I feel like it will cause people to have less of an ambition of getting a real career. They might think, "Oh I can survive on this small minimum wage job, so forget pursuing a career". It's true that there are places where multiple minimum wage paying jobs are required just to survive. But if people are complaining that it's too much for them, then they need to move to a different area. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/terri-ludwig/if-were-serious-about-tac_b_9618036.html

Don't Cry Over Different Opinions

There has been a lot of disagreement, even violence, due to the results of this year's presidential election. Those that wanted Hillary Clinton to win are distraught that Donald Trump stole the position of President from Clinton. There are riots in the streets because some think that Trump will not be a good president and they are also terrified for their lives because their skin color isn't white. I agree that the way Trump talks makes him sounds a bit racist. But that doesn't mean that he will act on those thoughts when he becomes president. These people that are rioting in the streets and shout at people on street corners aren't even willing to give Trump a chance at being president. However, I will admit that I myself have said that neither Trump nor Hillary would be a good fit to run the country. I don't agree with Hillary's policies and Trump will most likely run his mouth and get us into a global war. I'm not wrong, am I? But, in my mind, I believe that I am a republican and I am willing to let Trump have a shot at running America before I decide whether he is truly a bad president or not. 



Families are being split apart because of opposing political views. Friends are turning into enemies simply because of difference in opinions. People across the nation are requiring a "safe space" for themselves because they are "triggered" due to the fact that someone has a different opinion. But like what the actual hell? Isn't that what makes humanity so creative and diverse? A difference in opinions? Romans 12:6 says, "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well". If God gave us all different gifts and different opinions, then why should we have the right to get angry at someone who thinks differently than we do? We were all made in God's image, but we are all wired differently; therefore, we all think differently.

Hillary Clinton called herself a Christian. However, she believes that gay marriage and abortion is okay. In my mind and in my heart, I don't believe that you can think those things are okay and call yourself a Christian. Exodus 20:13 says, "You shall not murder". Leviticus 18:22 says, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination". Abortion, to me, is murder. A baby is a baby from the moment the baby is conceived. Ending the baby's life simply before it is born doesn't mean that it's not murder. Gay marriage is just wrong. There's no other way to put it. God didn't intend for it to happen, so how can it not be a sin? I don't understand how you can be okay with abortion and gay marriage and call yourself a Christian. But I do have friends who are gay. I don't agree with the way that they live, but I love them apart from the way they live. If a self-proclaiming-Christian Hillary supporter, who agreed with her policies, got angry at a Trump supporter for disagreeing with Hillary, that just wouldn't make sense in my eyes. A Christian agreeing with non-Christian policies becoming angry with another Christian for disagreeing with said policies? Does that make sense to you? Because it doesn't make sense to me.

Homosexuality

One of the most controversial topics in our world today is gay marriage. Something that was once frowned upon and illegal is now legal and encouraged. In many places in the world, there are gay pride festivals being held. What many people may not realize is that they are just celebrating sin. In Leviticus 18:22, it says "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable".

A majority of the world has long since abandoned it's morals. Let's be honest, how many people do you think ask themselves "What would Jesus do?" or "What would Jesus think if He saw me doing this?"? Probably not many people. Nevertheless, God loves everyone unconditionally. I read an article that stated, "But prominent evangelical Christians continue to become publicly affirming of LGBT persons". Yes the Bible says that gay marriage is wrong, so it would make sense that these evangelical Christians would be against the homosexual lifestyle; however, they don't need to publicly ridicule the LGBT people. Jesus loves everyone, but that doesn't mean that he loves everyone's lifestyle choices. You can love someone without loving the choices that they make. The same article said, "...it is high time Christians opened wide their arms, wide their churches, wide their tables, wide their homes to the LGBT community".

There are even many influential people who are involved in the media that are gay, such as Tyler Oakley, Connor Franta, Trevor Moran, and Sam Smith. Now that there are people like this involved in things like the media and there are more and more people getting addicted to the internet, more and more people are letting their guard down. There are more people accepting gay and lesbian marriage everyday. People think, "Oh the world will not affect me. I will stand my ground and keep my morals". What people do not realize is that that is a whole lot easier said than done. I will admit that I am guilty of this accusation. I myself have many friends that are gay, lesbian, transgender, and bi. And I accept them for who they are. But does that mean that I approve of all of the choices that they make for themselves? Absolutely not. As I said before, you definitely do not need to love someone's lifestyle to love the person as well. If we, including Jesus, did have to love someone's lifestyle to be able to like the person, would Jesus love any of us? The answer is no. He would not. 

Jesus does say that we should not associate ourselves with people like that, but that does not mean that we have to completely shut them out. We just should not actively seek out their company. The issue of someone having a gay family member also comes up quite often. Like Jesus, we are supposed to love everyone, regardless of lifestyle. Say you yourself had a gay or lesbian family member and they invited you to their wedding. If it were me, I would not be morally able to attend the wedding. So, what I'm saying is, if I were in that situation, I would still love that person. But I would not be able to attend a wedding like that. 

That's What Xi Said

I read a few articles about a man named Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping is the current leader of China. Some even refer to him as the "core leader". One of the articles claimed that, by making Xi Jingping the "core leader" of China, it "elevates Mr. Xi to a level of individual power last bestowed on Jiang Zemin...". The thought of making Xi the "core leader" is said to have been influenced by Mr. Xi himself and a few of his allies. In fact, one of the articles said that, unlike his predecessor Deng Xioaping, Xi Jinping called himself the "core leader", and the people of China just went along with it.  Is Xi Jinping a strong-willed person, or are some of the minds of the people just weak-willed? Perhaps a bit of both?

Giving Mr. Xi the title of "core leader" seems like a huge ego boost. It basically is telling the people that whatever Xi Jinping says goes; although he's not nearly as powerful as Mao Zedong or Deng Xiaoping.  Now that he holds this title,  most the people of China have pretty much surrendered to him. Whether they were forced to or  it was by their own choice I do not know. There are some that believe that Xi Jinping, by holding this title, now believes that he can control too much of China's decisions, which may be true. I'm sure that if I was in charge of a country and I was called the "core leader", I would feel like I could control the world and get anyone to do what I say. If Xi Jining thinks that he can get most of the people of China to do what he wants, wouldn't that lead to some screwed up future policies? I'm going to answer that right now. Yes, yes it would.  

As an American, I do not know if Xi Jinping is doing a good job or a bad job ruling China. Whatever he's doing doing, he probably wants to do as much of it as he can before his reign is over. It's like how Obama wants to do as much damage to America as he can before a new presidents is elected (yes, I definitely did have to say that). One of the articles said that Xi "may delay choosing a successor, so that he has more time and more choices, and preserves his influence". I think that he want to stay in a position of power because he has been so elevated for so long. He's probably used to people agreeing with what he says, even if out of fear, and he does not want it to end. Xi Jinping is described as a "formidable leader". The definition of formidable is: "inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable". It is possible that Xi Jinping gave himself this title simply to engrave into the people minds that he is going to be their leader and he is going to give the orders. Just like what Obama is doing to America, it seems as though Xi Jinping trying to bring China down.