Interlock PrayerNet

HYSTERICAL HISTORIANS by Larry Stout, 4/27/08
I recently spent $55.00 filling my gas tank, and it occurred to me that my first car did not cost that much. Everyone I know is worried these days. My sister-in-law is about to have her job outsourced to Mexico. A precious woman in our church could not afford to go the hospital, and when she finally was convinced, it turned out she has advanced uterine cancer. Is it any wonder that when a pollster comes along and asks, “Do you think the country is heading in the right direction?” that eighty percent of the American population answered “No.” No surprise there.

FORTY YEARS AND BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED by Larry Stout
I am writing this on the forty-year anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr in Memphis. Those who have followed my writings here or in my books will note that I have long considered Martin Luther King, Jr. one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. I do not say one of the greatest black Americans, either. I believe that to designate Dr. King in such a way derogates everything he stood for.
The famous “I have a dream” speech in Washington DC on August 28, 1963, is in my opinion, the most well-crafted and eloquent speeches in American history. Dr. King’s ‘dream’ was a nation that was color-blind. He said so beautifully; “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” He believed that this was America’s dream, which is why he tied his message to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivering his message on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s great speech). I have a poster in my office of Dr. King with the text of the Dream Speech under his picture. It is my dream too.

THE DAY SANTA GOT FIRED  by Larry Stout  12/23/07
The five members of the Committee sat solemnly behind a long table awaiting the arrival of Mr. C for his annual review. Each year it had become more difficult, and the committee president, Mrs. Haggerty, believed that this year would be the hardest of all. The file in front of her was six inches deep, and she knew that these were just the summary reports. This guy was in deep trouble, and unless he got that stupid smile off his face and always acting so jolly and began to toe the line…
At that moment, the door opened, and a robust but hefty elderly gentleman dressed with a furry red cone hat, a flaming red coat and matching color pants, stumbled into the room.  He chuckled as he pulled behind him a large canvas bag apparently filled with various sized objects.  Quickly realizing that the solitary chair in the center of the room was for him, he again let out a little laughter as he had difficulty maneuvering into the seat that did not quite fit a man of his girth.  At the same time, he did not want to let go of his bag, which made the whole process much more difficult than it should have been.  As he kept wiggling to get situated, he was quickly brought to a start by the piercing voice of Mrs. Haggerty, “Mr. Claus, if you please!”  

DON’T TREAD ON ME  by Larry Stout 11/11/07
When the Second Continental Congress instituted the formation of a navy in 1775, they also authorized the enlistment of five companies of marines to support this new navy.  Those first Marines that enlisted came from Philadelphia and selected as their motto, “Don’t Tread on Me.”  That motto was incorporated into one of America’s first flags, a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, which became known as the Gadsden Flag.
The United States Marines are proud of the fact that they actually predate the United States!  A good case could be made that there may not have been a United States had not there been a US Marine Corps to defend it.  

WHO DO YOU LIKE FOR PRESIDENT? by Larry Stout 12/2/07
One of the disadvantages of writing about leadership is that everyone expects a profound answer to the question, “So what do you think about so and so for president?” I have several problems in answering the question, profoundly or otherwise. First, as much as I read about those currently running for President of the United States, it is hard to come up with anything substantial. The person I am most familiar with, along with many others, is Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, what I actually know about Senator Clinton is so highly slanted from her detractors (which are legion), or sanitized by her supporters (represented by much of the major media outlets). What kind of Chief Executive would she make? It is extremely hard to say, because she has never been in any executive position. I seriously doubt she herself knows how she would lead when the chips are on the table for real.

Welcome to “Estados Unidos del Oaxaca Norte” – the former “United States of America” Part 4 (and last) – What Must Be Done by Larry Stout
This series has focused on the problems of illegal immigration and it should be obvious by now that this issue is much more complex than it has been portrayed in the media. Under the danger of similar presumption, I would like to offer five suggestions that I believe would make great strides for resolving the immigration issue and how evangelical Christians can help make it happen:
#1 – Abide by Rule of Law. Though this might seem obvious, but it must be the place where we begin. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr. who said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere, when immigration laws are openly broken, it is difficult to make a case for rule of law in other cases. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution states that Congress has the constitutional responsibility “to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” that sets the conditions of immigration and citizenship. Congress should do its job and write fair, just, and wise legislation that would ensure integrity of the legal process by which immigrants enter the country legally and, if they so desire, become American citizens. As was mentioned in the first article in this series, the Kyl-Kennedy bill actually had much to admire in this regard. But also, it is necessary for the executive branch of government to do its job and enforce these laws justly as they are required to do. The respective government agencies should be given good guidelines to follow, and then abide by them. As Christians, we should pressure our elected representatives to not write laws designed to get them votes, but designed to get justice done.

Welcome to “Estados Unidos del Oaxaca Norte” – the former “United States of America” Part 3 – Down Mexico Way by Larry Stout
The source of the immigration problem is very easy to discover. There is no discussion about building a fence between the United States and Canada for a very simple reason – Canadians are happy living in Canada. The same is not true for that rather large country south of the Rio Grande River. If Mexicans were not so disgruntled with their country, there would not even be an immigration discussion in the United States.
To the surprise of many Americans, Mexico is actually a very rich country. According to Professor George Grayson of the College of William and Mary, Mexico “abounds in oil, natural gas, gold, silver, beaches, seafood, water, historic treasures, museums, industrial centers and wonderful people.” It has been given large investment capital from the United States and other countries to develop. It has the benefits of the removal of trade barriers so it can freely export its goods to the USA and Canada. There are probably at least 100 countries in the world that would be willing to trade places with Mexico for these advantages.

Welcome to “Estados Unidos del Oaxaca Norte” – the former “United States of America” Part 2 – How Not to Fix the Problem by Larry Stout
Politicians love low-hanging fruit. If there is an issue that seventy plus percent of the voting population favor, you can be sure the powers-that-be would fall over each other to sponsor legislation to support it. Before voting, they would declare how important this issue is and how firm their commitment is to it. It would take true political incompetence to screw up something that almost everyone wants done. This, of course, is exactly what happened in the recent immigration bill fiasco in the United States Senate.

Welcome to “Estados Unidos del Oaxaca Norte” – the former “United States of America” by Larry Stout (the first of a four-part series on the immigration issue in America)
The last time I agreed with Senator Ted Kennedy on anything was in 1968 when he delivered a beautiful eulogy for his brother Robert. However, he was right on the mark when he commented on Thursday about the failure of the Kyl-Kennedy Immigration Bill in the US Senate by saying, “this issue will not go away.” He is exactly right about that one – this issue will not go away. It has been with us for a long, long time.

THE LACK OF LUSTER ON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE by Larry Stout

In 1980, I was assigned by the US Air Force to recruiting duty in Norristown, Pennsylvania.  Since we did not know a soul, and partially out of curiosity and desire to meet new friends, I answered an ad that appeared in National Review to attend a conservative discussion group in the Philadelphia area.  About twenty people attended that first meeting from every walk of life; university professors, businessmen, teachers, and in my case, the military.  We all took turns sharing our ‘testimony’ on how we became politically conservative, and the remarkable similarity we discovered was that virtually all of us had changed our political persuasion under the administration of Jimmy Carter.  I reflected in later years that the conservative movement probably owes as much to Jimmy Carter as it does to Ronald Reagan.