Family Values

 FAMILY VALUES

As has been pointed out, Jesus wasn't a family man.  In fact it would appear that he and his disciples wandered around the countryside living on alms.  There is no indication any of them were gainfully employed and although it appears that Jesus could feed the multitude, there is no indication that he used godlike powers to feed himself and his twelve disciples.  

Which brings us to the last supper.  One has to wonder where those victuals came from.  Since, once again, there is no indication that any of them were gainfully employed, some or all of the thirteen must have had independent sources of income; or else, how could they sustain themselves?  We have no information on this issue and it would seem to me to be relevant.  

As with all presentations, much must be left out simply for reason of brevity and irrelevance.  However, there is much to think about when it comes to means of support.  If Jesus or any of his followers had wives and children, they certainly were ignored and left to fend for themselves - - it would seem.  One can not assume otherwise; for if one does assume differently, one is simply making things up with conjectures and opinions without facts.

Consequently, one must accept the fact  that family life didn't have much attraction for Jesus and the others which brings us to the issue of "family values" being one of the foundations of our religious faith.  The family is important, the family is relevant, the family is sacrosanct - - these appear to be ideas firmly entrenched in our Christian mythology; and one can only wonder where the idea of "family values" ever came from.

It certainly didn't come from the Bible.  Family often didn't work out well.  Look at Cain and Abel, or, how about Jacob being sold by his brothers?  And then you have Noah and his daughters, but that is another story altogether.  Abraham was ready and willing to kill his kid. It just doesn't seem that the family was of much concern to those portrayed.  How would you like to have been in Soloman's family if you could have even called it a family?  Now that would have been interesting.  Does a harem constitute a family?  I think we need biblical exegesis on all these issues before we can even begin to think that the idea of family had much value  in biblical times.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

It's Not a Search

 IT'S NOT A SEARCH

It's a dog lover's paradise.  A highly trained dog is an inspiration to all.  If you don't like dogs, I don't know what to tell you.  Many police departments, sheriffs, and other law enforcement agencies in Iowa and elsewhere now have dogs they drive around with so they can sniff out illegal substances.  Of course, this doesn't apply to marijuana for the reason that every cop in America has a nose acute enough to smell marijuana, burnt or unburnt, and in whatever form it may take without the use of a canine.

I am assuming it is part of the training of becoming a law enforcement person, learning the smell of marijuana.  They must have a special room at the training facility for that with the ability to fill it with various aromas of marijuana and marijuana products.  Isn't it amazing how much money is spent to stop you from using a little THC?  Just think, they get a whiff of marijuana and they can force you from your car and tear it apart looking for illegal substances.  Woe to you if you just drove in from Illinois and they find a "stem" while tearing your car apart and hence charge you with marijuana and haul you off to jail, impounding your vehicle, and otherwise making your day more difficult than it already was.  Welcome to Iowa.

What's particularly amusing is that a dog being pulled around your car to sniff out illegal substances is not a search.  And why is that? Because the courts say so.  They have simply decided that stopping your vehicle, either pulling you out of the car or not, and having their trained mutt prance around your car a couple of times to smell for illegal substances is not a search.  It is a wonderful thing when you can simply define something out of existence; when a search is not a search because they say it's not a search.  I wish I could do that.  It would make life a lot easier.

But the war on drugs continues here in Iowa and elsewhere.  I suggest you invite a member of the drug task force to give a talk to your school sometime.  Rather than asking him or her about the evil  of drugs, ask things like how they are funded and who funds them, how much money is involved in a search of a home where they find some marijuana.  Or better yet, how much time they spend going through people's garbage looking for evidence of illegal substances?  Do they have a particular affinity for garbage? Pertinent questions like that.

If it weren't for the fact that our governments have made it their business to make our lives as miserable as possible, the whole drug thing would be amusing.  But it is not amusing, when minding your own business, harming no one, having a decent day, you are hauled off to jail in handcuffs, hands behind your back, in the rear cage of a squad car,  and your car not only being impounded but ransacked so that you are not only required to pay to get out of jail but to pay to get your car out of hock. Quite an inconvenience actually, but fun for some.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo