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Alex Jefferson, creator and operator of Just Another AIO Blog

Monday, November 5, 2012

AIO Article: The Land of the Free 11/5/12

    Sorry this took so long, (I should've had it up 6 days ago) but here's PF's latest edition:

File:US Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Monument) near Washington DC.jpgMatthewparker.pngLizhorton-site.png


Hi, all! This is Pound Foolish. I realize I’ve been long away, but as you are reading this, I assume you all
survived with your lives.
Therefore, I shall skip the formalities of corny jokes and apologies about my horrendous lack of
glorious words
enliven your lives, and get to the article.
Mr. Thinker hinted I’d be doing an article breaking the “Pound Foolish Wisdom” routine. Indeed, my
article is on a rather touchy subject...

Politics in AIO
The Presidential Debates left me excited, fascinated, worried, and hopeful.
Mitt Romney, winning the debate according to most, kept on the offensive and enthusiastically
communicated his vision, while Barack Obama spent much time defending “Obamacare”,
that dangerous act which threatens to destroy all private insurance companies.
And yet, the Oddysians seem to ignore all this.
Is everyone in Odyssey a completely irresponsible American, uninterested in voting
the future of their country?
Such a pity, and Whit seems so great.
Somehow, Odyssey remains a place whose only politics, election –wise, are its next mayor.
A place of wonder, excitement, and discovery, and of absolutely no talk about any guys
named Obama or Romney.
We know this to be because Odyssey must remain as timeless as possible. (Insert joke
about Connie’s aging here.)  
In this way, Odyssey seems as if everything could have happened recently.
And the characters seem to live in their own world,
free of many of our own changing concerns, occupied instead with timeless ones such
as heartache, death, and being attacked by doves.
Yet, occasionally, Odyssey has stepped beyond that boundary of political neutrality.
And, sometimes, when it does, storm clouds brew.
By Any Other Name
Attacks the sadly growing corruption and misuse of our legal system.
You Go to School Where?
This tale wasn’t meant to send a political message so much, perhaps, as to satisfy listeners
who wondered why there were no homeschoolers on AIO, it sounds like, to hear
Dave Arnold introduce it on the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast.
However, many frowned upon it politically. And it did indeed have many political assumptions,
such as that homeschooling is a good option in the first place. With it becoming more and
more popular to assume public school is best, one can’t help being fascinated by this
forgotten AIO homeschooling tale that’s sunk beneath the surface.
Another episode about schooling is Subject Yourself.
This delightful little comedy about Laurence Hodges camouflages a very serious sub-plot
with the his mother struggling with the school system. She is tentatively butting heads
with them because the textbooks overlook religion “except in the most negative way.”
The situation the in the subplot with the textbooks only grows worse. Today, not only
are there no positive references of any kind to Christianity in textbooks, but children
are punished if they so much as wear a T-shirt with Christ’s name on it.
http://www.clubhousemagazine.com/truth-pursuer/god-in-school
Not only that, even worse problems overrun it. The teachers union donates millions that
could be advancing education and schools to Planned Parenthood. Thus… Taking money
from children and using it to kill children.
The Forgotten Deed
Ah yes, this beautiful work. Many of their absolute best characters come together in this special
episode. Tom, Connie and Eugene, Whit, Jack, Bernard, and the fantastically annoying Cryin
Bryan Dern in a role that’s unforgettably hilarious even for him. There’s also a couple of
enjoyable smaller side characters who appear in enjoyable roles: Mrs. McCallister and Mayor
Faye. It examines the gripping subject of the separation of church and state. And even though
it only lasts a few seconds, it’s sheer Odyssey candy to see Bernard with Dern.
The episode’s plot: Whit’s End may be shut down because it is openly religious, but is built on
Government land. The show provokes such questions as “Just what does separation of church
and state mean?”  “If this clause really does carry such weight as politicians pin on it, why can
government continually make laws forcing religion to do things and restricting them from doing
things?” “Why from that phrase do so many draw the idea that our religion shouldn’t influence
our political opinions?”
Historically, Thomas Jefferson began the phrase “separation of church and state”, because he was
concerned with preventing the creation of a governmentally appointed official church. He wanted
all religions to be equally respected by the government and the people.
That’s it.
There’s room for doubt that he never woke up one morning and decided to make it so religion and
government could never have anything to do with each other. Especially considering he was
religious.
Yet, today, this idea is so prevalent; many religious accept it without a blink. And, let’s make
no mistake; Christianity is by far getting the worst of this. Obamacare, anyone? How can we
have a free country if we’re going to force Christian doctors to perform abortions?
And further… How can we have a free country if children are punished for praying school? How
can we have a free country when peaceful protestors outside of abortion clinics are terribly
physically harmed by police and dragged to jail?
Well?
Pamela has a problem
My sister first heard this when she was ten. We were on my bed, and Pamela and Connie
were upset over Pamela’s teen pregnancy. My sister asked a very good question. “What’s
wrong with being pregnant?” I paused, and blandly remarked, “You’re too young to
understand.” Sad. I promised myself so many times I’d never say that to a child. Because,
“You’re too young to understand” is a lie. The main reason we really say that time-honored
phrase is, though the older person always has a myriad of reasons why they think they are
really saying it, that when we speak to children, we are talking on a level higher than our own.
To put words in terms simple enough for a child’s pure, uncomplicated understanding, we
must simplify our thoughts, understand them well enough  put them in plain terms.
To talk to a child, we elevate our speech. We must understand the painting well enough to
communicate its meaning in a few mere brushstrokes.
A child understands this. We have lost the wisdom.
And so it was with my sister’s question, brilliant in its seeming naiveté. “What’s wrong with
being pregnant?”
I shall try to put the answer in as simple terms as her simple question. To become pregnant
when married is because you fell in love. True love. And stayed there. To become pregnant
when you’re not married is the result of losing love. Of both giving, but neither receiving.
But here’s where so many go wrong. So many believe that a child that comes out of such
a relationship is a mistake. A problem. It’s “…like having an ingrown toenail removed,” a
woman in the clinic tells Pamela. Is it?
How can that be when you’re “removing” a baby? The media and Planned Parenthood argue
it’s not a baby. It’s rather sad our country buys this. It seems we haven’t been paying
attention in biology class.
We should be America the beautiful. Not America the Land of Dead Babies.


This is part of the reason I’m proud that I’m still partly a kid. We stand up.
We were thrown in jail and attacked during the protests of segregation. We are forced to
completely abandon our Christian identity in school, but we continue to defy this.
And yet…
We are adopted by gays, and live in bizarre, sexually twisted atmospheres. We are watching
our future be sold away to abortion. Sold to shameless spending skyrocketing the deficit,
plunging our country deeper and deeper in debt, that our children, our children’s children,
and our children’s children’s children, um, and so forth, couldn’t hope to pay. Sold to
“separation of church and state”, which is being used to crack down on religion everywhere
it shows its face like religion is the plague.
But Odyssey reminds us some still dare to show the truth. Some still dare not to lie.
So here’s what I’d like to say, from a kid, to all adults who believe in the smothering of religion,
in gay marriage, in baby killing: You can’t get rid of us. True adults, who believe what’s correct,
not what’s popular, still have the audacity to speak common sense. Things like Odyssey are
still here to remind us what sanity is. What God is. What’s right.
And, just FYI, abortion supporters….
A kid already defeated you two thousand years ago.Madonna and Child and Two Angels


    Thanks for reading!

11 comments:

  1. Ah, yes! I was wondering when you would show up again!
    Lol
    I fairly enjoy these, I can't wait to read it!
    Do not have all the time in the world right this minute, However. Check back in later! ;)
    Sam ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex? The link doesn't work quite like it should.
    It sends me to the Google docs page to LOG IN??
    I cannot log in because I dont have an account.
    So do many of your readers I suspect.
    So, What Now?
    Sam ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, If running an active and successful AIO site that stays updated almost EVERY week is being lazy, May I join you? jk

      I guess I didn't realize what you meant by permission denied. It just sent me to a log in page. It didn't NOT give me access, It just told me to do something first...
      I guess that's just me being a blond. ;) (Which is funny, Because I have brown hair ;)

      You're Homeschooled? That's awesome! I am too. Which, All things considering, Is the only way I'd have enough time to hopefully run a great AIO site.
      Homeschool co-op's are really great too. I'll be starting back in one next year.

      But, Like I'm trying to say, There's no need to apologize. I completely understand. If you had even a glimpse of my life in the past six months, Believe me, you would know. ;)

      I listened to your first podcast by the way. It was good.
      Apart from a bit of mic trouble...(Or was that intentional?) I thought the skit you did was hilarious. ;)

      Sorry to space each part of the comment out, I just thought it would read easier if I grouped each idea. ;)
      Anyways, I'm gonna go. Oh, And, When is your review for
      The Bible Network suppose to come out?
      Sam ;)

      P.s. Chess club? Hmm, More of a checkers person myself.
      Or maybe that's because I'm still waiting for someone to tell me the concept of "Mister Pointy Head" ;) jk

      Delete
  3. As I said, I'm aware of that, and I mentioned it in the post. I think I know how to fix it, but I have chess club in about 5 minutes and then a homeschool co-op after that, so I won't be able to fix it until later this evening. I'm sorry, this is just kind of a bad time, I guess. I really should have had it up a week ago, and I apologize to you, PF, and all my readers for that. I guess I'm just lazy. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm...
      Still getting a log in page.
      Have any suggestions?
      Sam ;)
      p.s. Did you see, I replied to your comment earlier. ;)

      Delete
    2. To see a Google doc, you have to have a Google account. Now's just as good a time as any!

      Delete
  4. Hey, great article, PF! Although I am not a Democrat or appreciate all of Obamacare, I can say that it doesn't force Christian doctors to perform abortions, nor force Christian organizations to hand out condoms. Very good points on separation of church and state, as well as on abortion. Listen to It Takes Integrity and Mayor for a Day; those are also good political episodes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. God does answer prayer!
    I don't know if you heard, But, A bus from my friend's school had an accident that wiped the ENTIRE front end off of it.
    I couldn't get ahold of her or her family, And, I was worried sick!
    Mary made it a prayer request on the SS for me.
    Then, Yesterday, I finally made contact to her!
    She wasn't even ON the bus that crashed! She was fine!
    I didn't know whether or not you had seen it, But, Just in case you did I wanted to let you know. ;)
    Bye! ;)
    Sam ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Frankly, I'm not getting a sign-in page, even when I'm logged out. So if there are still problems, I don't know how to fix them.

    But that's amazing, Sam! I did not see that on the SS, but I'm thankful your friend is alright. I truthfully can't imagine such a thing happening to anyone I know...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean! I wa scared to death!
      I mean, A.For her...She has been having alot of, um...
      "Biblical issues" lately...
      B.Her family and other friends...
      And, C.(A rather selfih reason, I'm afraid)
      Other than my "friends" on the many AIO sites....
      I don't have any real friends...Other than her.
      So, I'd be completely lost. :/
      Anyways, I got the thing to work, Btw. Just now! Haha.
      I think Mary put it in the mini chat that day, Also.
      I've been sketching on my sites ideas and what not for a while now. I've got about three people helping me out now. You, Mary, And Wooton. I hope it turns out well. ;)
      Sam ;)

      Delete
    2. Hey Alex! It's me, Sam.
      You have a CC account right?
      Can you ask Bren what's up with the SS?
      It's been down for hours! :S
      Thanks! ;)
      Sam ;)

      Delete