Tag Archives: current events

Tony's Posts

Dreamers In America #DACA

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Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream for a better America. Today those who are Dreamers are now fearing about an uncertain future. There are a lot of reasons to be saddened today because these people have lived here most of their lives and have invested in America. DACA (Defered Action for Childhood Arrivals) paved a way for young people who came to America with their parents to remain in this country. These people have made a life and they have made a contribution in so many ways.

Immigration reform has been a challenge for years but its a problem that must have an answer. Unfortunately its an issue that has been punted from one administration to another. Because of inaction 800,000 people have to put their plans on hold until something is done. No one should face this sort of fear no matter what, America is better than this.

Tony's Posts

My Faith Community Responds To Charlottesville

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Fr. Quinn Parman, who is my priest at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee addressed the Charlottesville unrest we have seen over the last couple of days. Some Sundays you have to speak on current events so that we know how best to respond. It was also a reminder that Christ’s people upon their baptism should reject evil like we have seen and to love one another.

This is a link to the sermon he preached this morning. Sermon From Fr. Quinn Parman on Charlottesville

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A Commentary On Charlottesville And Beyond

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What I saw in Charlottesville on the campus of the University of Virginia last night was sickening and immoral. There is nothing right about hate. America should be better than that.

No one has a birthright to all the wealth and all the privilege in life. Just because you are from one race doesn’t give you a birthright to the great bounty given by the Creator.

There is more than enough to go around. This country has welcomed people from around the world to its shores and we are a colorful tapestry of individuals who all want to have a part of the promise that has been afforded to many for generations.

I would even go as far to say that America is only one of many places where people are free to dream, to achieve, to live, to believe and to love as they wish. The globe is full of opportunities and that is where we are in this time of history.

Tony's Posts

What A Wednesday In The News

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newsIt was not a slow news day in the world, at least in the USA and UK. Shootings in Washington DC involving congressmen and at a delivery company location in California. A tragic apartment fire at a high-rise complex killed 12. Not to mention all the stuff we have been hearing about for weeks in politics. Now there are stories that happened everywhere in the world but didn’t get reported for hours today. Our planet is a big place where breaking news happens locally and globally.

Many people have stopped watching the news but I say you have to keep informed these days. I am an idealist and optimist so bad stuff doesn’t get me down much but I am starting to understand the desperation people are feeling these days. When most news is bad news it really plays on ones emotions and psyche. My friends I say fear not which is something that is said in religious texts but even I fear a little because I am human. With political unrest and infighting it makes things even worse. Yes Wednesday, June 14th, 2017 was a horrible day but tomorrow is coming and there is a promise of hope there.

Tony's Posts

The Children of Manchester

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The children of Manchester are wondering why, like all of us. A rising pop princess puts on a concert designed to bring people together and to sing for her generation suddenly is thrown into the chaos brought about by hate and terror.

All of a sudden the children of Manchester are a little less safe than they once where and the same could be said for the Children of Chattanooga. Now is a time to keep calm and to blame those who did this and not those who by ethnic and genetics are connected to them. We must seek justice for those kids and the others who died on May 22, 2017 but not at the price of the souls of England or elsewhere where terror has wreaked its ugly head. Perhaps we should look inward too as to what we can do to calm our own communities so things like this won’t happen again.

From Sandy Hook to Columbine there is too much violence that is rearing its vile and evil soul. Too many kids are caught in the crossfire of adult hate and have become victims of a hate-filled game.

Ariana Grande should know that she is not to blame for this, she was doing her job entertaining people and helping them forget about their cares for a while. We all need to have that freedom to remove ourselves from what danger the world is in for a bit. In this time we remember those children in Manchester and everywhere that violence and fear have made people scared.

Tony's Posts

A Middle Aged Man Complaining On The Internet

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Yeah, I am a bit of a cliche…a forty-something man complaining on the Internet. Yet I don’t complain about what I don’t have or about my woes (although we all have them) I complain about what others don’t have and what is being taken from them. Our world is so diverse which the norm and not the exception in the 21st century. As an old white guy” I am not threatened by people getting things they need to make their lives better, I am happy for them its a win-win thing for all. Jealousy and fear are two things that are rearing their ugly heads all over today, two dangerous emotions when magnified in social circles. I am concerned that many are suffering because of it.

We live in a world that is ever-changing and there are many that feel left behind…well I would say its time you caught up. What are you doing to make yourselves smarter, kinder, loving? Perhaps you shouldn’t blame others but look at yourself in the mirror and see what is looking back. The world is speeding by and it’s not going to slow down. This goes for me too.