The Target Boycott

I am up in what I call the "wee hours" -- I suppose that would be after midnight to morning, maybe 5 or 6 am.  Right now it is 4:15am, but I first got up about 1am.  When I can't sleep, I try to get up and get something done so the time isn't totally wasted.  I was about the go back to bed when I read my JULY 2016 letter from the AFA (American Family Association) about the Target Boycott they are promoting.

I have been thinking about these issues for many years, but the bathroom challenge is the worst event so far.  How to preserve the rights of ordinary people seems to be forgotten in the media extortions of the gay community.  Worse, it can be difficult to recognize the most dedicated transgendered or gender-changing people involved in this political battlefield.  It seems acceptable to violate the rights of most of America for the relatively few involved in this "need" for restroom access.  It is an extension of the marriage issue... where men become women and women become men (physically, but not genetically)... so a "man and a woman" can still fulfill the law while violating the principal of it.  We are truly in a pivotal moment in the history of the world.

I tend to see things from a biblical view because my focus is the End Times, where prophecy tells us that things will get difficult.  Many of the parts of our daily life that are healthy for Mankind will get lost, changing our societies.  Many of the battles for our souls will be won by the Enemy.  The rise of the gay community in social and political realms is really evidence that prophecy is true... and that the time for Christians on Earth is nearly over.

What does a boycott against Target achieve?  My letter from the AFA tells me ::

The company's stock has fallen 20% since AFA called for the boycott.  That computes to a loss of roughly $10 billion from the overall shareholder value of the company.  In comparison to other major retailers, Target's stock has dropped 3 to 4 times more than the stock of its competitors.

On both Facebook and Twitter, Target has remained silent on the boycott.  The importance of social media in business and marketing makes Target's silence significant.

Target isn't the only store trying to find its way through this commerce dilemma.  It happened to be the one that got "caught."  I suppose their bull's-eye logo and corporate size helped a little in the choice of who to make the victim of this social and moral and political issue. 

A boycott, by any side of any issue, brings unity to the opposition.  Christians are trying to have their voice heard, and a boycott helps to do that.  The money belt is always the most painful target for any group.  It is why boycotts are waged.

In reading my letter from the AFA, I am reminded again that issues bring in donations.  The gay community does the same thing :: seizing opportunities in the general news media to solicit funds for their cause.  So does Planned Parenthood and National Right to Life.  So does any group. To stay alive an organization has to generate donations/funds somehow.  Issues are the tool that helps them stay alive.  This funding connection always makes me wonder how much of a media event is truth and how much is hype to bring in the dollars. 

My AFA letter has some other very important details in it ::

[Christians are] angry that our own government is using its power to impose a lifestyle and belief system that relegates Christianity to the margins of our society when it should be front and center.

This radical idea that men who 'self-identify' as women should be able to use the restroom, locker room, or fitting room of their choice is ludicrous and defies common sense.  And yet if you dare to speak out you're called a bigot and at risk of being fired from your job. (My note: or sent to "sensitivity training" - but only if you have the Christian viewpoint.)

Moreover, by having a policy that allows this, Target has opened the door for the predators among us to look for the most vulnerable as victims.

The other side of this conversation would make an argument opposite of this, stating their rights are more supreme than the rest of the country.  Both claim to have the truth... and they probably do both have parts of the TRUTH... but the real truth is hidden in the middle of all of this rhetoric.

There are many different kinds of predators looking to take advantage of this "movement" to violate restroom gender in commercial businesses.  The list includes pedophiles and voyeurs, possibly rapists and those involved in child sex trafficking.  There are also earnest men who dress as women and women who dress as men - both of which may need to use a restroom when they go shopping and may not know which one to use.  Ordinary people who want to go shopping and not be afraid to go to the restroom also have rights in this issue.  How do we solve this dilemma?  Who's rights prevail?

This process of lobbying for change is the same for every cause.  Handicapped individuals had problems in our restroom world because few thought about their needs.  As a previously homeless person, I can testify to the problems of homeless populations who need to access a restroom.  What we are dealing with now is more than just access to a restroom, it involves the issue of gender, the need for separation of the genders in personal care activities, the right to privacy, the need for safety when you are vulnerable.  Handicapped persons and homeless persons still used the gender-appropriate group restroom.

Stores are required, I believe, to have a certain number of restroom stalls for the size of their building.  Like the number of parking spots required by the regulating government power, toilets cost money and take up space.  The only possible solution I see to the restroom gender problem is to create individual private restrooms.  And maybe they can (finally) be spread out around the different departments of a large store!

If we must make the change to individual, handicap-accessible restrooms, maybe some kind of tax relief is an option... and the sooner, the better !!

That is my view of the problem.  Christians cannot stop what prophecy has already told us is coming.  What we need to do is to find a way through these coming problems.  I am not advocating total submission... I think the enemy of our souls needs to be battled against, and those who oppose us on moral grounds need to accept our rights as equal to their own.  Solution respect both sides... I think individual handicap-accessible restrooms are our only option at this point.

I hope the remodeling starts today!

America, Then and Now

I just finished reading the Imprimis issue I received today (May/June 2016), which contains the Commencement Address of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the 2016 graduates of Hillsdale College. The title was :: Freedom and Obligation.  I was so impressed with several great sections of the text that I decided to share them here.  I hope you will find them as moving as I did.

Justice Thomas was comparing the America of his youth to the America of today.  The first statement that I noticed is below.  I think it explains the premise of his youth.

"If there was to be independence, self-sufficiency, or freedom, then we first had to understand, accept, and discharge our responsibilities."

Life was very different in those years.  He lived in the South, so his life was even more different than what is considered normal today.  Justice Thomas tries to explain what life was like for his family in those years, despite the hardships of prejudice and discrimination.  Their faith is foundational in that response, in the attitudes that were shared from one generation to another.  This description from another part of the speech might not be the same without the faith that guided their lives.

"They were law-abiding, hardworking, and disciplined.  They discharged their responsibilities to their families and neighbors as best they could.  They taught us that despite unfair treatment, we were to be good citizens and good people."

Another great statement that goes along with the quote above is this one :: 

"Being wronged by others did not justify reciprocal conduct."

More than these thoughts, I found two passages that I felt were exceptional.  I will share them here.  the first is about the purpose behind establishing America ::

"To establish a government based on the consent of the governed, as the Declaration of Independence makes clear, they gave up only that portion of their rights necessary to create a limited government of the kind needed to secure all of their rights."

Justice Thomas goes on to share examples of his life to make his views more understandable, and he challenges the graduates about their future choices and how they will affect others.  We don't know what will happen to us in our lifetime, and we don't always know how deeply our lives affect others.  I liked the way he talked about these "lessons" in life, calling them an "unplanned syllabus," and binding them to the survival of our country...

"These small lessons become the unplanned syllabus for learning citizenship, and your efforts to live them will help to form the fabric of a civil society and a free and prosperous nation where inherent equality and liberty are inviolable."

Your can find the whole speech online at https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/freedom-obligation-2016-commencement-address/

I have heard it said many times in Christian circles that each generation MUST preserve the faith for it to continue... that we are one generation away from its demise.  This is true of everything important, including our freedoms and our country.

I will end with this quote, about the danger we face in this generation.  I hope you will read the entire speech to discover more.

"Today there is much more focus on our rights and on what we are owed, and much less on our obligations and duties..."

Friday, 6 MAY 2016 :: Checking in and catching up with everything

In this election cycle, how can I not check in to my political topics blog !!  We are in the middle of an election that has never been equaled in history... to my knowledge anyway.  It has everyone wondering what will happen in November... or on the road to November !!

I'm not sure the two party system is the best option for America anymore.  Elections are very costly.  I just heard this year that the primary systems are the product of the parties... and that made me wonder who pays for them !!  We don't really need a primary, we just need a run-off if there is no clear winner... then everyone can keep trying all the way up to election day !!   (Sounds good to me !!)   If taxes are paying for all these elections, we need to reduce their frequency and costs... since we have to vote on Senators every two years, maybe that is enough... everything can be put on hold until the next election.

The debt is the most devastating element of our country's life... and it is affecting every other aspect of our daily operations... we have to reduce the weight of the debt until it is GONE !!

I have been on social service programs most of my adult life, and am no a recipient of early retirement funds... I know how quickly everyone likes to blame the poor, and the poor can never fight back.  There are better ways to reduce the costs of government, including getting rid of subsidies for not growing crops, finding ownership pathways for housing (which turns it into an income source and an investment), use a revolving loan fund for the SBA instead of loan guarantees (which might be a good idea for education, too), invest in more small farms and businesses instead of the large ones... small businesses hire most of the workers we have (from what I have read), and reform the prison systems to create work and repayment programs instead of jail time for theft/robbery-related crimes.

We really need to start thinking differently... looking for things that cost less and work better.

The Bible teaches restitution for theft, which is why it seems more beneficial to create a supervised work program during the payment process and to increase the restitution as additional crimes are committed... the first time would be court costs and actual costs... the second time would be court costs and twice the actual costs, and so on.  If the program is done right, there shouldn't be a repeat because skills will be learned in the process and drug issues that may have caused the thefts can be dealt with as well.  Our prisons produce worse people than what went into them... so jail time is not the best answer.

In the (recent?) recession, I noticed that all the small banks died to "save" the big ones... that wasn't good.  Small banks are more closely tied to their communities.  They are needed to help finance things that big banks won't touch.

I have noticed in the past that big business seems to thrive on government funding of various sorts.  I have always thought that government help needs to be reserved for the truly needy, including the smallest businesses, the smallest farms, and the poorest people.  Big businesses have other options, small businesses and poor people have no one.

My tax proposal is based on sharing the 10% MAXIMUM sales tax among international commitments like the UN (membership fees) and growing global government needs -- 1%, and nationally among federal -- 3%, state -- 3%, and county -- 3% governments.  I also realized that individual products can provide for individual programs, like gas purchases for transportation needs, medical purchases for healthcare needs, etc.  By limiting the taxation to a sales tax, government authorities are forced to budget and their decisions are directly linked with the health of the economy.  I think it would eliminate a lot of the surplus spending and graft that goes on.

I have shared some of these things in other posts, but it seemed like a good time to bring them up again.  If the debt burden causes our economy to tank, in one way or another, there will need to be some budget changes.  It is easy to blame the poor, and take advantage of the seniors and disabled persons, to promote abortion as a remedy, and limit access to healthcare, but I hope that other choices will be made.

Let me know what you think...
In Christ,
Deborah Martin

http://work2gather.us