Evolution? Heil No!

I got a funny look followed by the comment, "You really don't believe in 
evolution?" I think the look accompanied the fall of my perceived intellect to the 
level of religious nutcase. To be precise, I do not believe materialistic 
naturalism, the underlying assumption of darwinistic evolution.
While working on my MA in film studies, I watched a classic film noted for 
it's powerful cinematography. Leni Reifenstahl's "Triumph of the Will", was then 
and is today breathtaking on many levels. It was the crown jewel of 
propaganda for Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party. 
Considering the Holocaust and World War II, "Triumph of the Will" is 
jaw-dropping. Those people literally worshipped Hitler with all of their heart, soul, 
mind and strength. Other film students remarked about the mise en scénes, 
camera angles, and so on, but I was bothered by the power of film as tool for 
propaganda, and pondered the meaning of the title, "Triumph of the Will". I 
vaguely remembered something about a German philosopher linked with the word "will". 
Whenever I visited a large library, I searched for information on the impact 
motion pictures had on the rise of the Nazi's in the German culture. Films 
like "Triumph of the Will" helped convince the German public they were taking 
part in the most momentous occasion in the history of mankind—the glorious 
inevitable progress of the favored race.
I was also interested in the role of the German church. What happened to the 
state run churches in Germany was easier to track. Enlightenment dizzy 
liberals gutted them. Many evolution-believing theologians jumped in bed with the 
Nazis like drunk prom dates and were rewarded by being put in charge of the 
churches and seminaries. Most clergy kept quiet, preaching feel good sermons to 
confused and dwindling flocks. The few who stood against the culture's insane 
momentum were ridiculed, ignored and martyred.
The enlightenment had set up the dominoes for Darwin's Theory of Evolution to 
start an avalanche that swept through the halls of academia, and nowhere was 
the victory swifter or more complete than in Germany. Prior to W.W.II, Germany 
was peerless in higher education. Any serious student of anything studied 
there. The confident boast of scientifically fixing mankind's problems and curing 
all social ills was made in almost every discipline, including economics, 
education and politics. 
Some nagging philosophical problems remained. If God was dead, what about 
ethics, morality, beauty, love, meaning and purpose. The "higher criticism" 
liberal theologians competed to invent the next "evolution" of religion, keeping 
whatever they wanted from Christianity, minus the miracles or those annoying 
absolutes. Formerly unthinkable ideologies like eugenics and pederasty 
flourished. Germany degenerated into an arrogant, godless, science-driven and 
increasingly pagan society. 
Those who claim Hitler was a Christian fail to understand (or ignore) that 
Hitler, like the liberal theologians of his day, used Christian terms common to 
Western culture. In fact, while most German theologians considered 
Christianity the highest evolved religion because of it's obvious role in building 
Western Civilization, Hitler preferred Nordic Mythology because it did a better job 
of justifying his desire to purify the Aryan race. 
About that film's title, "Triumph of the Will", I discovered it was indeed 
linked to the teaching of Friedrich Neitzche, an atheist German philosopher. It 
was Neitzche who wrote the famous lines, "God is dead. God remains dead. And 
we have killed him."
Educated Germans all knew another quote from Neitzche very well; "Every 
healthy aristocracy. . .will have to be the incarnated Will to Power.  It will 
endeavor to grow, to gain ground, and acquire ascendancy —not owing to any 
morality or immorality, but because it lives, and because life is precisely Will to 
Power."
The path from Darwin to Nietzche to Hitler and the rise of the Nazi party is a
lmost impossible to miss, yet I've met no one who was ever taught about the 
connections between Darwin and Hitler. I have run into many who parrot the 
silly notion that Hitler was a right wing Christian. Fancy that. 
World War II was primarily about Germany's attempt to ascend the evolutionary 
ladder because they were convinced evolution was settled science and they 
were leading the inevitable march of progress. The Nazis sacrificed the Jews, the 
youth of Germany and many other nations to prove the widely held but 
absolutely wrong idea of evolved racial superiority.
No, I really don't believe in Darwinian evolution. I know God exists, so a 
theory which defines reality so as to deny His existence is wasted on me, Time, 
Newsweek, and National Geographic's continuing public relations campaign 
notwithstanding. I get that defining life as the "will to power" is diametrically 
opposite the first commandment, no matter how cleverly adorned in academia, 
enshrined by the media or mindlessly assumed by pop culture. I also get that the 
claims of Jesus and materialistic naturalism are mutually inexclusive. I'm 
going with Jesus.

Best Place on Earth Part II

In a previous column I offered that the primary solution for making Kansas 
the best place on earth to raise a child would be to encourage stay at home 
mothers. During a conversation about that column I was asked to address the 
problem of absentee fathers and told that I was not living in the real world. Fair 
enough, the following ideas are for men, and they don't require legislation or 
tax increases.
There is a word that describes you men who have sired children just to leave 
them fatherless and unprotected. No matter how much free time you have, how 
less complicated your life is as you forge ahead without your kids, the word for 
you is. . . loser. I don't mean the term as a pejorative, I mean it 
literally. Contrary to the beer ads, life is not about sex, money and motor vehicles. 
Deprived of a relationship with their dad, your children will be scarred for 
life. Statistically you have left them at a higher risk for teen pregnancy, drug 
use, prison and suicide. 
Let me put this in language you should understand.
We salute you, Mr. Left-your-kids-to-live-your-own-life, for missing out on 
the true meaning of life. We salute you, Mr. Left-your-kids-with-a-single-mom, 
for dumping your share of the load like a spineless coward. We salute you, Mr. 
Left-your-kids-with-their-grandparents, for avoiding one of God's primary 
means for teaching you about Himself, and about yourself. We salute you, Mr. 
Left-your-kids-but-they'll-get-over-it, for squandering away the unconditional 
love of your own children, blowing off the future benefits of responsibility, and 
forfeiting the rewards of strong family relationships. Whatever the evil one 
whispered to you when you decided to take off and leave your family, you lost, 
big time, and are still losing. 
As for you men who haven't left physically, but have checked out of your 
children's lives, wake up guys, you won't get this time back. Turn off, or better 
yet, throw out your television. If your kids must see a movie, watch it with 
them. Make sure they understand the many levels of information they are being 
bombarded with so they aren't sucked in by cleverly hidden messages or seduced 
by the inane and false images of pop culture. Play catch, ride bikes, go 
fishing, or read a classic. Visit a park, you'll have the place to yourselves. Kids 
do not require much. They just want to be with you. Here's a little secret 
guys. You need to be with them.
Don't even think about divorce. In grade school not one of my classmates had 
divorced parents. In high school I physically prevented a friend from climbing 
a water tower and jumping the day his parents announced they were getting a 
divorce. Divorce is now so common it's hard to imagine it was once rare, but 
the wounds to children are no less severe. At the very least we should stop 
screwing around with marriage and take it seriously as a vow to God between one 
man and one woman with a purpose higher than meeting our own needs. This also 
means to stop screwing around, period. 
Fathers, take responsibility for your children's education and values. Do not 
leave it to the school system. Do you know your child's teachers? Do you know 
if they are cheating on their spouse, belong to a cult, or think getting kids 
to reject their parents values is an important part of their job? Where you 
live such things might be rare. I have lived where they were not, yet most 
fathers know almost nothing about the people they entrust their children to the 
better part of each day. This is insane. You would not treat your car this way. 
Good teachers appreciate involved parents, bad teachers don't. News flash: 
There are bad teachers. The school district isn't going to tell you who they are, 
and your kids probably won't either. Remember Jr. High and High School when 
we thought teachers who told dirty jokes were cool and those who made us work 
were bad? Your children's education is your responsibility dad. You will live 
with the results.
Raising kids requires. . . love. The word love gets a lot of air time, but 
our culture teaches us to pretend love comes and goes against our will. That is 
so not true. According to Scripture love is a choice, and a commandment. We 
may have to live in the real world, but with God's help we can choose to live 
according to the rules of heaven, and that, my brother, is the best way on earth 
to raise a child, in any state.

Let's not follow the GLBT parade

It was Halloween. I'd finished working on a commercial in a studio in the 
Village area of New York City. As I was walking home, I ran into a Gay, Lesbian, 
Bi-sexual and Transgendered (GLBT) community parade. Men wearing only what 
appeared to be diapers were marching chained together by their nipple rings. Men 
in drag marched next to crew-cut women dressed as masculine as possible. A 
float was pulled by men with dog collars and leashes held by a leather-clad 
woman(?) with a whip. There were topless women(?) and others too obscene to 
describe. People were drinking, kissing, and having a raucous party as they marched 
by.
In West Hollywood, a self-described GLBT community, the annual Halloween 
Parade is even bigger than New York City's. Year round the West Hollywood store 
front windows pretty much mirror these parades. The prevalent theme is group 
sex, and terms like lusty, sinful, kinky, and taboo are incorporated into the 
names of the stores. I understand this is true of other GLBT districts in most 
large cities.
Those in the news media help create the zeitgeist and know instinctively they 
gain peer approval by carrying water for GLBT activists. Many are GLBT 
activists. Editorials applaud our governor's executive order to add GLBT to the 
state's anti-discrimination policy. Dear Abby calmly teaches us that a 
transgendered person is someone who has been born in a body of the wrong sex. Recent 
Columns by a gay Iranian and the ex-governor of New Jersey poignantly portray 
suffering under the shame of being closeted, but both admit to the practice of 
meeting with men for sex, starting in high school. A recent AP story about 
"Freaky Parades" was essentially a free advertisement for GLBT Halloween 
celebrations like the one I witnessed in New York City. It even suggested that readers 
check out the "Drag Race & Pageant, which does not refer to race cars." I guess 
that would include the many school children who read the newspaper.
Gay people do not all live in a constant state of bacchanal partying, but to 
ignore the reality of normative and accepted behavior in predominantly gay 
communities and the publicly stated goals of GLBT activists is to be a naive 
victim of an ongoing propaganda campaign.
Ideas have consequences. Freedom of sexual expression, rejecting traditional 
morality and changing societal norms and are the ideas being promoted. While 
the issue of same sex marriage dominates the discussion, the activism does not 
stop there. Efforts to influence laws, elections, public schools, libraries, 
and universities are all easily confirmed, but the postmodern media heartily 
approves of all such efforts.
Politicians, news reporters and educators who aren't actively promoting 
tolerance are often "homophobic" in a different way. That is, they are afraid to 
show the slightest disapproval of the GLBT community, and for good reason. Many 
GLBT activists do not play by any established rules. The "greater good" of 
moving society toward "progress" justifies anything. The only postmodern absolute 
wrong is intolerance.
If greed alone ruled Hollywood, all the movies would be G-rated. In the 
entertainment industry GLBT activists dominate the culture, and have for quite some 
time. The sex, violence, and inane garbage being marketed incessantly to our 
children indicates such open-mindedness has not produced responsible conduct. 
The acceptance of alternate lifestyles and the increase in sexually explicit 
and formerly unthinkable content in entertainment fuel each other. Where does 
this end?
As a recipient of God's amazing grace, I do not hate those I must strongly 
disagree with, including "straight" people who are obsessed with sex. I would 
argue there are thoughts, fantasies and activities we are all clearly not 
supposed to nurture and follow, whatever our genetic and/or environmental issues 
are. Some paths are much harder to turn back from than others, for individuals 
and societies. Saint Paul warns us to flee from sexual immorality, but our 
society marches on defiantly, away from God and toward debauchery.
Christianity teaches that God forgives, but God's demand of complete 
surrender is for our own good. We have the freedom to say yes to God's call, but we 
are in no position to negotiate or place conditions upon our Creator. Our 
conditions only protect that which we need set free from.
Christianity is about the chance to start life over and walk through the 
struggles and temptations of life following Jesus, on His terms, with His help. 
Following Jesus is certainly no parade, but it leads to better things for us and 
our children.

Trojan Donkey

   One crisp November morning Common Sense and his pal Notso Dumb headed out 
to go fishing. At the edge of town was a massive wooden statue of a donkey on 
wheels.
   "Whoa C.S., What is that?" asked Notso.
   "I don't know N.D., lets look at the inscription. It says this is a 
Trojan Donkey, a gift from the Kansas Democratic State Committee. It says this big 
donkey will bring more funding for education AND hold the line on taxes. It 
will even bring down the cost of health care.
   "That sounds great, let's get some help and haul this big donkey into 
town!" yelled N.D.
   "More funding AND less taxes? I don't think so N.D.," Common Sense 
pointed out. "Look underneath the belly of the donkey, there's a catch. Let's see 
what's inside this thing."
   They climbed up and knocked. A hatch opened and a voice whispered, "You 
guys are late, get in here."
   C.S. motioned for N.D. to keep quiet and they climbed inside.
   "Welcome aboard, I'm Ed Funding, here's my partner N.E.A. Meet my pals 
A.C.L.U. and W. Hater. On the right are, oh, there's no one there. Well, on the 
left over there is Protect Abortion, there are Mr. Gay, Ms. Lesbian, and, uh, 
I'm not sure if Transgender is a Mr., Mrs. or Ms. today.
   The three jumped to their feet.
   "I meant no offense! I have friends that are gay and it's okay!" Ed 
quickly added. He whispered to C.S. and N.D., "They take offense easy, but they are 
tireless workers for our side."
   "What do they want?" asked N.D.  
   "Tolerance training in schools. The marriage thing."
   "Tolerance of what?" C.S. asked
   Ed clasped a hand on C.S.'s mouth. "You do not want these guys mad at 
you, they have enormous influence over the press and practically own the 
entertainment industry. Let's keep em mad at the Christians."
   "You mean those few Christians who insist God prohibits sex outside of 
marriage?"
   "Exactly!" Ed chuckled, "Self-righteous fanatics!  Who are they to say 
what is right and wrong.  Just ask A.C.L.U. over there. It's all relative. We 
all have our own path to truth."
   "So everyone is right, EXCEPT those Christians who believe there is such 
a thing as absolute right and wrong?" asked Common Sense.
   "Hey," Ed insisted, "I was raised, you know, a Christian and all that, 
but I'm no conservative. We need to keep conservative Christians out of the 
government!"
   "Let me get this straight, said Common Sense, "You say you're a 
Christian, but you're in this big donkey working hand in hand with the A.C.L.U who 
threatens schools if they let children whisper a prayer. You hang with the N.E.A. 
whose newsletters to teachers are filled with shameless propaganda, and even 
Abortion Providers who kill babies that would survive a C-section. You don't 
object to the Gay/Lesbian/Transgendered groups blatant efforts to influence 
early education . . ."
   "Hey!" Interrupted Atheist Science Standards, "Imagine what would happen 
if the government were run by committed Christians?
   "It's not hard to imagine," C.S. replied, "It happened once and the 
result was The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of 
Rights. . . you know, pretty much the United States of America."
   "Women couldn't vote!" screamed Militant Feminist.
   "They were evil slave owners!" shouted NAACP.
   Everyone began shouting, "They were fur trappers and whale killers! "They 
believed men were created equal! Thanks to Darwin we now know better! 
Creation is mythology! The Founding Fathers believed men were depraved and needed a 
self-limiting form of government with constitutional checks and balances! We 
know humans are essentially good if you can get to them early enough!  They 
thought men's rights were inalienable and endowed by their Creator, we know rights 
come from the State! We will educate our way to world peace and harmony once 
we liberals have control! More power to the State! We need human cloning! 
Science will design the next leap in our collective evolution! So what if we use 
deception and propaganda, the ends will justify our means!"
   C. S. looked hard at Ed Funding. "Hey, I just want more money." Ed said 
sheepishly.
   "Come on N.D. Let's get out of here."
   Common Sense and N.D. climbed down.
   "We must warn the townspeople about what's inside this Trojan Donkey!" 
Common Sense insisted.
   Nah," N.D replied, "I don't want those guys upset with me. I'm going 
fishing.  I told Who Cares and Too busy I'd meet em at Lake Headinsand today. 

Darwin's Ten Suggestions

The "moderate" State School Board has saved Kansas from ridicule! With 
Darwinistic Evolution reinstated as the only way to do science in Kansas public 
schools, I offer this replacement of the Ten Commandments to commemorate the 
occasion:

The Ten Suggestions of Naturalistic Evolution:

Thou shall have no other theory.  Evolution answers every question. Evolution 
cannot be questioned.

Thou shall bow down to. . . whatever. Money is popular. Be thine own god, but 
be thou not surprised if thy will is dominated by the State.

Thou shall misuse the name of you-know-who. It's meaningless. Wear it on your 
shirt, stick it on your car, what you say shows who you are.

Sabbath day of rest? Forgetest thou about it! Work, work, work for commoners! 
No need of rest for aristocrats.

Forgeteth parents, honor thy teachers. Parenting will fully phase out when 
all are selectively bred in labs. The State will employ trained, certified 
specialists to educate/test/classify the potential humans. "Love" is an illusion, a 
chemical reaction. No time for parenting—get to work!

Kill. It's a survival instinct. Survivors get to breed. This is what "natural 
selection" means. Abortion, infanticide, euthanasia; all natural selection.

Commit adultery. It's a survival instinct. Have sex with men, women, animals, 
whatever. Taboos are remnants of religious mythology.

Steal. It's a survival instinct. Resources are limited, life is short. Get 
OPM. Natural selection means if they can't hang onto it, they don't deserve it. 

Lie. It's a survival instinct. Put your hand on the Bible and say whatever 
gets you out of trouble, or keeps you in office.

Covet. It's a survival instinct. Why should you have less than your neighbor? 
Coveting makes you work more hours so you can buy more stuff and pay more 
taxes. Coveting is good for the economy.

The Biblical Ten Commandments were considered the very foundation of justice, 
law and order in Western Civilization. Do you think they should be kept and 
taught to our children? Are you serious? Does anyone know the Ten Commandments? 
Do you? 
By defining science according to a theory which pre-supposes no possibility 
of supernatural intervention, the "scientific community" rules out the 
possibility of rational belief in the claims of Jesus. Not by reason, but by 
definition. All who question this are portrayed by the media as close-minded. The 
general public isn't told that most of the revered members of the "scientific 
community" hold extreme moral and political positions that are completely at odds 
with the principles of our own Constitution. If we aren't created, we can't be 
created equal. If right and wrong are not established by the transcendent God 
who judges all men as our forefathers believed, who makes the rules? As the 
State becomes the ultimate authority, kiss "consent of the governed" good-bye.
Ridicule may sway, but it isn't an argument, it's evasion.

Russell Steen

Three Questions

I was at the Kiowa County Courthouse in Greensburg and noted the huge blocks used for the foundation. They certainly don't make buildings like this anymore. The roof was damaged and the windows were broken, but the day will soon come when tourists contemplating the World's Largest Hand-dug Well will also have the opportunity to see a strong old building that withstood an EF5 Tornado. Evidently the fathers of Greensburg understood a solid foundation is pretty important if you want to build something to withstand storms.

Last year I was on my way to one of those candidate forums, and I was thinking about foundations of a different sort. I came up with three questions to ask the potential lawmakers. I tried my questions out on some of those attending while we waited for the coffee to brew. When no one could answer them, an alarm went off in my head.

How about you, are you ready for a little test?

First question: What is an unalienable right? Second question: What is self-evident truth? Third question: Where does equality come from?

If you know the answer to these three questions, you are a very rare Kansan. If you can't answer these three questions, you, like most people I've talked to, got left behind, because we all should know the answers to these questions.

Later that day I was paying for my gas at a convenience store and tried the three questions on the clerk. She laughed and swore she'd never heard those words in her life. I asked the people lined up to buy their lottery tickets. O for four. The third question—the one about equality—started a spirited conversation in which all agreed there is no such thing as equality. Ouch.

From then on, I was on a mission. I tried my little quiz in courthouses, city offices, restaurants, and the check out line at Wal-Mart. When a young woman (a veterinarian) knew the answers, I was shocked. To this day, she is the only one who remembered these questions are answered in the text of the Declaration of Independence.

If you think I'm making this up, I invite you to ask everyone you meet today the three questions. Ask Lawyers, Doctors, College Professors. Ask your spouse. Ask your kids. Perhaps you'll get better results.

That almost nobody is able to answer or even understand these three questions explains a lot about why our government is in such a messed up state. This is not historical trivia.

What is an unalienable right? If you answered Life, Liberty or the Pursuit of Happiness, you misunderstood the question, but you get some credit. The signers of the Declaration of Independence understood rights exist which no government has the authority to give, and no government has the authority to take away. They are God-given rights.

What is self-evident truth? If you think about it, you'll get it. Our founding fathers were universally agreed that certain truths were so fundamental there was no valid rational argument that could assail them. Here is an example of a self evident truth; two and two make four. Here is another example, and it is also the answer to the third question; all men are created equal.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,  that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Created? Creator?

Our State School Board prohibits teaching kids they were created, but I wonder, where do Darwinian evolutionists in the "scientific community" claim equality comes from? The answer should make you shudder. There is no place for equality in natural selection, except among those for whom logic has little meaning. Perhaps this explains why almost nobody can answer the three questions.

Only if we are created by God in His image does the inherent value of each human life inform the government how people are to be regarded and treated. To the logically consistent Darwinian Evolutionist, the state assigns people value based on the principle of collective survival.

As a foundational principle, this is wet sand.

I've talked to lots of Greensburg residents and learned that around 9:45 that Friday night the entire town was doing the one thing you and I would have been doing. . . praying. Not to the State. Not to the scientific community. Praying to God, our Creator.

 

Suckling PIGs

The air is filled with the smell of fish, roasted duck, and frying pork. A family from Kansas, proudly sporting state college logos on their hats and shirts, meanders wide-eyed through Chinatown in lower New York City. For this family on vacation from the Sunflower State, Chinatown is like another planet. Sidewalk venders hawk bags, clothing with bogus designer labels, fake Rolex watches, and other bootlegged merchandise. The kids raise their eyebrows, then point and laugh at the strange things being sold in the bustling food market. Fish of all shapes and colors. Squid, turtles, crabs, ducks, suckling pigs, and several other things few Kansans ever see or imagine as food are hanging everywhere in the hot sun. Small Chinese people bicker sharply with Chinese vendors before buying. Carefully groomed and utterly pretentious New Yorkers from "The Village" buy fish, fruits, vegetables and spices. Honking cabs jerk and stop through a sea of pedestrians crossing back and forth across the crowded street.

The family huddles on the sidewalk. They're having fun, but the crowd, the noise and fast pace make it almost too intense to enjoy. They hear laughter and look to see what's going on. In a lot between two buildings a skinny black kid quickly slides three crumpled playing cards on top of a cardboard box. A tall, blond Swede and his wife are laughing along with the black kid. A few other onlookers are laughing too. The Swedes are dressed in Bermuda shorts, white socks and Birkenstock sandals. They have cameras around their necks, sunglasses in their hair, and the wife holds a fold-out map. They are unmistakably tourists.

The family from Kansas moves closer to watch. The Swede bets a twenty. The kid scrambles the cards, the Swede points, the kid flips it and. . . wrong card. "Arrrgh!" laughs the Swede shaking his head, "How able are you to do that?" He's certainly enjoying the game. They go again and the Swede picks the right card. Everyone cheers. An excited onlooker joins in and both he and the Swede miss on the next attempt.

The family from Kansas is now rooting for the Swede. So far the "Big Apple" has seemed cold and distant, but here are fellow travelers, obviously on vacation and having a good time. Besides this, Dad's been carefully watching the cards and realizes he would have won every bet. He calculates he would have made over a hundred bucks in just a few minutes. He edges closer. The Swede and his wife move aside to make room for Dad with a laugh. "Fast he is too much for me. You pick this one!".

Dad decides to give it a shot. It's only twenty bucks. Mom and the kids urge him on. Win or lose it will make a good story back home. He reaches for his money belt. . .

"Hey!" a voice yells from across the street. "Hey!" A stranger dodges cabs as he crosses over. "It's a scam!" You're being set up!"

The stranger walks up to the family. "These guys," he points to the Swede and his wife, ". . . they're in on it, and these two, and over there is a lookout and another one over there. They're all in on it—ALL of them! You might win a few times, but they want to see how much money you have, and where you're keeping it. You were about to lose everything."

The black kid disappears. The Swede, his wife and the "onlookers" stare daggers at the stranger, then quickly walk off into the crowd.

The family from Kansas is embarrassed. It's all too fast. They move away, angry and upset.

"You're welcome," the stranger says to himself. A wiry little man comes up behind him, tells him he'll get knifed in the back if he does that again, then disappears like a cockroach.

The stranger frowns. That was too close. He thought he'd spotted all the players, but he obviously missed one.

Why did he stop something he knew went on all day, all over the city? He was born and raised in Kansas.

Many Kansans would rather be lied to and ripped off than embarrassed. It's a peculiar combination of pride and ignorance that makes for easy targets. Add greed and it's way too easy.

Proud, Ignorant and Greedy— PIGs. Scam artists devour PIGs.

Why did we stop telling our children they were created in the image of a loving God? Pride—we mustn't be embarrassed. Why do judges decide what the state will spend instead of elected representatives? Ignorance—we're clueless about our constitution and the media forgot to mention the ACLU plays the bogus "disequity" scam all over the country! How is Kansas the only state to own casinos? Greed.

HEY!!!

Casino in Greensburg, Kansas

State owned casinos are government expansion on steroids! If Governor Sebelius is sincere in her stated reasons for state owned casinos, logic would dictate she and her wealthy campaign contributors should build a Casino in Greensburg. If the state can modify the route of Highway 54, why not modify their plans for state-owned casinos? A casino in Greensburg would cause Dillons/Kroger to instantly commit to a mega-grocery store with a bakery/deli, coffee bar, video rentals, plus an in-store bank with 24 hour ATMs. Restaurant chains, sports bars, topless dancer clubs, payday loan outlets, bail bond agents, private investigators, addiction counseling centers and many other businesses would come running. Property values would skyrocket. Greensburg would grow, the state would get its take, and the inevitable drain of cash leaving Kiowa, Rush, Pratt, Clark, Commanche and other rural counties to be gambled away in Wichita or Dodge City would be prevented. Let's go for it!

Of course using a state owned casino to rebuild Greensburg would result in a city that would no longer be Greensburg, Kansas.

The people of Greensburg are looking to the future, but they also hope to recreate that quality of life which brought them there in the first place. A quality of life you can't get in Las Vegas. A quality of life the state can't create and money can't buy. Unlocked doors, neighbors who cherish and watch out for each other, knowing everybody and their dog—literally. Rural towns like Greensburg aren't perfect, but they're loaded with loyal, honest, hard working people. Greensburg is a community with a foundation built on traditional family values and a strong faith in God.

State-owned casinos are the worst legislation to hit Kansas in a long time. This legislation was carefully crafted behind closed doors, then blown by without one public hearing. The media (self-interested proponents of expanded gambling) did a fine job downplaying the issue so Kansans would not have time to do anything until it was too late. It is still downplayed while the constitutional questions are being dealt with in the most bizarre example of conflict of interest imaginable. Railroading bogus legislation, then suing themselves to get a supreme court rubber stamp to prevent legitimate court challenges. One almost senses they expected more resistance, but those who should be screaming about this are being very careful. Hey, if you were a legislator would you want these guys funding your next opponent? Exactly.

Those who bankrolled pro-gaming candidates will reap millions. Our Governor and elected officials have lost all perspective of what the proper role of government is supposed to be. Following the carefully plotted midnight filibuster victory, Governor Sebelius rode around the state like a Roman General. The only thing missing were anti-gambling opponents dragged in chains to be pelted by cheering crowds of contributors who benefit from this unprecedented greed-driven government expansion. The media who would never let these tactics slide if it threatened their bottom line. Think the news media serves as a watchdog? They're licking their chops over the big casino advertising campaigns. Rigging the legislative process to take from the poor and reward the politically connected is all this is. Public ignorance and apathy made it easy. If you are among those who wanted casinos, you've been distracted from seeing what we're gambling away. The state owning anything competing with private enterprise should be unconstitutional. This is Kansas, not Russia. They knew better than to attempt to amend our constitution to allow casinos, but who cares about the constitution when you have the governor, her hand-picked supreme court, and most of the legislature in your pocket?

If state owned casinos are a good thing, let's have one in Greensburg! How about a new city motto; "What goes in Greensburg—stays in Greensburg—especially your paycheck!" or, "Greensburg—the next Sin City!" It seems perverse to even joke like this.

I pray Greensburg will continue to be a community that makes all Kansans proud, but if it's not a good idea to put a casino in Greensburg, then why build them anywhere, and for heaven's sake why as state-owned businesses?

I chuckled when governor Sebelius spoke of rebuilding Greensburg to be "green". Excuse me? Ever seen a "green" casino? The state-owned casinos will use more electricity than the city of Greensburg, or all of Kiowa County, to produce what? Entertainment? Yeah, there's a real shortage of that these days.

Kansas, I'm pleading here! What are we letting go under our watch? Do we want our state to be the best place on earth to own a home and raise a family, or has our future been sold out to greed-driven gambling interests and the politicians they've bought?

 

Greensburg, Kansas

            I was awakened in the middle of the night by a call from my Pastor, Doug Enick. Emergency personnel asked if we would use our church bus to help move people from Greensburg because of a tornado. Obe Brant had the bus started, so I followed in my van. We left Pratt and arrived in Greensburg around 2:00 a.m. Saturday. By this time the streets were cleared so emergency vehicles could get anywhere. Whoever called the shots deserves much credit.

            Pulling into the command center on the west side of town, we watched the Barclay College tour bus pull out with people holding children and pets in their laps. The look on their faces caused tears to flow—you couldn't help it. Directed to the Dillons parking lot where emergancy lighting had been set up, we waited while people filtered in from the dark. It was warm, and the sky was clear. Some had gone looking for personal belongings and couldn't find their own homes. Many wanted to wait for daylight and the chance to retrieve whatever might be left. I took a woman who found a puppy to the command center and to my surprise a pet retrieval station had already been set up.

            Part of my job for the last two years meant driving from Pratt to Greensburg every Tuesday. I've taken my kids down the Big Well (it seemed to get deeper each time), bought pie filling at WB's, had a custom frame made at Starla's, studied the brick sculpture at GTI/BTI (my kids love the hidden duck), and enjoyed a soda at Hunter Drug Store. I often walked into the Main Street Cafe alone only to be joined for lunch or invited to a table. I'd snag a coffee at the courthouse and stop by the city office where laughter was the bigger part of any conversation.

            At Main and Kansas, I could not recognize one landmark. Walking down the street was like a surreal dream. Virtually everything was destroyed. On either side of the street were strewn cars and pickups without windows. Several had lights still flickering and seemed like wounded or dying things. The High School was blown to bits. The bus barn gone. To the West we could see. . . the horizon? It couldn't be!  Blocks of houses, hundreds of trees should be there, yet none of it appeared to exist anymore!

            Greensburg had trees. Huge, majestic trees. Google Earth Greensburg and you'll see nothing but trees. The bark-stripped, shredded ruins of trees were an eerie symbol of the malice of the storm. Their shredded tops made them look like they'd been mowed with a dull blade. Trees no tractor could have budged were uprooted and strewn about like a toddler's snacks under a high chair. There was a fire hydrant lying on the ground like an extracted tooth. What kind of wind pulls out fire hydrants?

            We talked to a search crew. They said unless someone could yell or make noise, they had no way to know where to dig. You couldn't tell if a pile of rubble was over what was left of a house or just a chunk of a house that landed in a yard. Search dogs were being used, more were on the way.

            We decided to let these guys do their jobs without distraction. By then some were ready to go to a shelter, so we took them to Haviland. At Haviland we picked up a family that wanted to go to Pratt.

            I got home as dawn was bringing the light of a new day. I paused in my driveway. I have a house with a kitchen, bathrooms, warm beds, and closets full of clothes and toys. I have a stuffed garage and two vehicles. I have a lawn with beautiful trees. I have a job.

            I asked the Lord if I held things loosely and Him firmly. I wondered how I would handle such a trial. I whispered thanks for my family, then asked Him how to serve to the wonderful people of Greensburg.

 

Russell Steen - Pratt KS

 

Not Ashamed

My wife and I used to live in New York City where I shot commercials and music videos. We moved to Los Angeles where I worked as a cinematographer and lighting technician. Ironically, "Christian" morals worked in my favor—to a point. I was dependable, didn't sleep around, use drugs or get drunk. Heck, I didn't even cuss. I saw the compromises others made to get ahead, but not my own. Moving ahead and doing right proved impossible. It finally sunk in success is not defined by one's peers, so I walked away.

Today I'll spend hours cleaning the screens used to screenprint T-shirts. Screenprinting is part of my job description. When I quit the entertainment industry and moved back to Pratt my first job was trimming trees, mostly in Greensburg. I then went to Pratt Well Service. One of our jobs was pulling the old pipe from the salt water extrusion wells in Hutchinson, then plugging them. Al Gore would never complain of global warming had he spent that winter freezing with us, numb-fingered, baptized in salt water and driving on black ice.

I then ran for the state senate. Some friends asked me to, and after praying about it I believe God wanted me to. If that causes you to grimace, I don't blame you. When anyone tells me something like that I wonder if their elevator makes it to the penthouse, but it's the truth. At first I didn't take running for office seriously. I thought the purpose was to have a forum to, well, talk about God and give myself and my kids a comprehensive civics lesson. I quickly realized I should honor the election process and those who supported me, so I took a job that allowed time to campaign and gave it my best shot. I lost.

So here I am, screen printing T-shirts and delivering business forms forty hours a week, with a stay at home wife and five children.

It's a long way from sitting on a camera dolly instructing the film crew how to tweak the scene to create a cinematic masterpiece. The film industry isn't easy to break into, but when you're in, it's a heady existence. Tell the next person who asks what you do you're a cinematographer and watch their reaction. In today's entertainment obsessed culture it trumps being a brain surgeon.

After washing screens today I'll go home, pick up my sons and head to baseball practice. I'm the coach. In one game Josiah got on every at bat and Caleb hit two home runs. Okay, they were in the park with throwing errors, but he crossed the plate. In New York and Los Angeles I never met one dad who coached his son's baseball team. Few in "the biz" are married and almost no one to their first spouse. Even on a Nickelodeon show I was the only one with kids. To succeed in "the biz", you have to set goals. Family isn't considered a goal.

Recently I took four of my children "tubing" on the Ninnescah just north of Cunningham. They "floated" and I, well let's just say if I want to float the Ninnescah I'm going to need a John Deere inner tube filled with helium. We saw newborn fawns, caught tadpoles, collected clam shells and each of the kids claimed an island. The late afternoon sky was beyond glorious. Shafts of light streamed through the clouds, highlighting the lush countryside. Caleb noted, "Nobody can paint like God, huh dad."

We love fishing. My kids have caught hundreds of fish, and each has their own fish stories. Even Micaiah at 20 months will hold up his fingers to show how big his last fish was. In "the biz" I never met one dad who taught his kids how to fish.

Almost every Sunday you can see me walking with my kids to church. On the way Caleb recites his memory verse, Hannah looks for wild flowers, Josiah asks some unanswerable question while Stephanie skips and sings. My wife doesn't get ready until the kids are dressed and out the door so she starts a roast or ham and brings Micaiah later. Sunday's rock.

In this column I'm going to make the case that greed, pride, and ambition  are killing us all. Not just in Hollywood, but right here in Kansas we've forgotten God and are losing our families. I intend to shed light on those who work in darkness using deception to achieve their ends. I pray the information proves useful in your families decision making.

I'm a sinner, but I've earned the right to speak to these issues, I've been given this platform, and so help me God I will attempt to speak the truth without regard to men's approval.

I am a Christian, and I am not ashamed.

 

Russell Steen 

Moms at home would make Kansas a better place

You probably have heard the ad campaign for the Kansas Health Foundation with this tag line; "What if Kansas was to become the best place on earth to raise a child?"

Alligator tag at the swimming pool. Crawdads, turtles and tadpoles in the creek. Hammering tree houses together. Digging secret forts. Pedaling to a friend's house to ask if they can come out and play. Devouring cream puffs on the doorstep of the town bakery. How I cherish the memories of my childhood in LaCrosse.

Over the years I've given a lot of thought to the relative nature of joy, and why our childhood memories of simple pleasures and thrilling moments trump our adult experiences. No bills due, no career ladder, no worries about how things will turn out. No plots or plans or politics.

Children have that simple faith their needs will be met, even if they aren't perfect.

In a stable home with love, food and attention, children will automatically discover joy, wonder and laughter. I've seen it in the poorest slums of Mexico and the bamboo huts of rural Thailand. In homes where adults are too self-centered to be parents, the children's faith is shattered and worry consumes their thoughts. We in affluent America are living among the sad, self-replicating results of dysfunctional parenting, but it's so prevalent we can't even see it.

How can we make Kansas the best place on earth to raise a child?

This isn't a magic bullet, but no solution concocted by the state, foundations or any other organization will have more impact on the quality of life for children than a mom at home - period. Whenever a study is published revealing the shortcomings of day care, working mother reporters, columnists and talk show hosts rush to remind us there are horrible stay-at-home mothers and wonderful daycare providers. Working mothers have made the best choice.

The best choice for whom? If you drop off your kids in order to go make money, leaving them with someone who would not take care of them except for the money, don't be surprised if they come to value money over relationships.

I am fully aware that normal in our culture assumes that both parents must work. Most of our closest friends are double-income parents. In many families, the wife has the better job, or the job with health insurance. But the truth remains that a mom at home is the optimum variable in the best-way-to-raise-a-child continuum. There it is, and wishing otherwise won't change it.

As obvious as it might be, the idea is seldom discussed. What idiot would dare blame social ills on moms? Besides, we're all working with mothers every day, and who wants half the people they see angry at them, especially if they are your client, supervisor or boss?

The Kansas Health Foundation isn't going to offer grants to stay-at-home mothers. Nor will the state encourage moms to leave the workforce - they've already spent the money. In fact, legislative efforts are being made to help mothers work as much as possible. Maybe we should set our sights on being a pretty good place to raise a child.

The choice to stay at home with your children is hard. For some it is practically impossible, but working mothers, like everyone else, need to hear there is more to life than making a buck. Not one dying patient wept because they didn't work more hours, finish the big project or make that big sale. All the money on earth won't buy one second back.

I have no wish to oppress or enslave women. Most working moms I know desperately wish they could stay home with their children. Isn't a society that practically forces women to leave their own kids so they can produce wealth a cause of oppression and slavery? Imagine if all moms who wished they could comfortably stay home until their kids were raised because fathers made enough to pay the bills without working overtime. Imagine children cherished, nurtured and trained by the one who knew them intimately before they took their first breath.

Perhaps there would be less taxable income, but we'd need less law enforcement, prisons and, well, less government. Warm fuzzy ads aren't going to make Kansas a better place to raise children.

Somewhere, in a Kansas classroom

Scene: Public school science class somewhere in Kansas

Teacher: By the process of evolution, amazing and complex life forms have come into existence - so complex people in the past thought the events that produced life were the handiwork of gods. Today the scientific community does not believe in superstition, but strives to understand everything according to observable, testable, scientific methods. Yes Johnny?

Johnny: Do you believe in God?

Teacher: Well, uh, I can't talk about that.

Johnny: Oh. Then may I explain why intelligent design makes more sense of the observable data than materialistic evolution?

Teacher: No Johnny, to discuss any religious ideas in science class would be breaking the wall of separation between church and state.

Johnny: "Wall of separation" is not in the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. It was a line from a personal letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists.

Teacher: Oh, well, there is the anti-establishment clause. . .

Johnny: The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

I'm not a member of Congress, and I'm not making a law. You mean if I tell the class why I believe there is scientific evidence which suggests that God created the universe, I would be establishing a state religion, but it's perfectly okay for you, an employee of the state, to teach that science has concluded there is no God?

Teacher: Johnny, this is science, not a religion class. In this class we discuss the observable, testable facts of science, not faith or religious myths.

Now, as I was saying, 15 billion years ago all matter in the universe was compressed into an infinitesimally small point. Then the Big Bang happened and formed everything in the expanding universe. Later, the Earth was accidentally formed among the debris and happened to rotate around the sun in a precise stable orbit which provided just the right conditions for non-living stuff to come to life. The living stuff eventually became more complex until genetic material organized itself, then living beings improved their chances of survival by genetically mutating into the different species in a process called natural selection. What's bugging you now Johnny?

Johnny: Doesn't life springing from non-living matter contradict the second law of thermodynamics? Why isn't non-living stuff becoming living stuff today?

Aren't some biological mechanisms interdependent and too complex to have possibly evolved by genetic mutation? Shouldn't the fossil record have countless irrefutable examples of intermediate species? How did the conditions for life on Earth stay so uniform for so long? How big was the sun, say, 550,000,000 years ago? How can material processes ever produce a rational mind?

Teacher: Listen to that kids. Johnny's obviously been indoctrinated to discount anything that doesn't fit his mom and dad's nutty religion. We have here one of those embarrassing born-agains who thinks the Bible should be taken literally.

Johnny: I believe in God, I trust Jesus, and I understand the implications. What do you believe?

Teacher: Look Johnny, I don't believe in heaven or hell. I believe the government should fully fund public education, solve poverty, provide health care, fund the arts, NPR and PBS. I believe we should punish hate speech and I agree with Richard Dawkins that we should probably just take kids away from religious parents.

I believe same-sex couples should be able to marry and adopt. The school nurse should be able to distribute condoms and birth control to any student, no questions asked. I support abortion on demand for all nine months.

I believe science and technology, applied through public education, will ultimately bring about a unified social utopia of like-minded, peace-loving, tolerant, progressives - if we could just rid the Earth of religious fanatics like you and your parents and the politicians they vote for.

Suzie: Wow. You're a liberal Democrat like George Clooney!

Teacher: No Suzie, this is Kansas. I'm a moderate Republican. Now Johnny, I'm sorry, but you shouldn't have such a narrow mind. I learned in college the most important part of education is being exposed to new ideas and values which are different from your own.

Johnny: Oh. Then may I explain why intelligent design makes more sense of the observable data than materialistic evolution?

Michael Vick can always get work in Kansas

Michael, Michael, Michael. I bet you never got hit playing football like you've been sacked by the media. The anger, outrage, humiliation and piling on has lasted for weeks.

I'm sure it stung when Sen. Robert Byrd shouted repeatedly how barbaric and sadistic you were from the Senate floor. Then CNN's Nancy Grace labeled you a murderer - ouch. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called your conduct "cruel and reprehensible." I can't even repeat what many animal rights activists have said, but I'm sure you got the message. We love our puppies.

So you lost a 10-year, $130-million contract, and got dropped by Nike, Rawlings, Reebok, Upper Deck and everyone else. Time to look for the silver lining. Going over your resume, I discovered certain qualifications that could make you a prime candidate to relocate to Kansas and modify your career path.

Mr. Vick, your renowned abilities and skills in callousness, cruelty, barbarism and sadistic behavior are just what our own late-term abortion facilities need. Sure, medical advancements have made it possible for pre-term babies smaller than nine ounces to be kept alive and thriving, but abortionists here in Kansas make a killing with the barbaric act of partial-birth abortion of almost full-term babies.

The job description includes assisting in directing the millions of dollars from other states that pour into Kansas during our elections to keep our abortion-on-demand politicians in office.

According to NFL commissioner Goodell, your "association with illegal gambling both violates the terms of your contract and exposes you to corrupting influences in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player." Good news Michael. NFL players might be expected to avoid corrupting influences and adhere to fundamental responsibilities, but in Kansas, our governor, attorney general and most of our elected officials don't buy the idea that gambling exposes us to corrupting influences.

In Kansas, gambling is good. We prefer the term "gaming" and think of it as a progressive step toward economic growth and campaign contributions. Betting on dogfights is still illegal here, but so many things that were completely unimaginable 10 years ago are now being codified into law every day by our liberal-minded governor and legislators. Perhaps you could work on getting an executive order. Come up with a plan to fund education with dog fighting and see what happens.

As to your claim that you are glad this all happened because it caused you to seek Jesus, that could be a problem.

On one hand, if this is a sly attempt to fool the public and gain sympathy, then you will do well here in Kansas, especially around election time. You'd better skip the unambiguous references to Jesus and speak about how important your "faith" is to you, how your "faith" has helped and strengthened you in these troubled times, and then throw in how your own "faith" has given you the ability to appreciate and tolerate all faiths.

On the other hand, if through this experience you have indeed seen the mounting insanity of this sex-crazed, money-driven, self-worshipping, idolatrous culture - if you get that the core message of the gospel is an incredible offer of getting out, being set free, being forgiven, healed and restored to your creator - if you really believe the story of a love that extends the grace and mercy of God to all who repent and believe - then God bless you on your journey my Christian brother.

I'm certain the public doesn't know the worst things you've done. Not one of us would want our own evil deeds discussed by David Letterman or shown on CNN. We are all selfish and deserve a cross, and like everyone else drawing a God-given breath today, you haven't done anything beyond God's power to forgive. I know full well if Jesus' love found me, it can find anyone.

Slowly getting there

I will be posting the columns I have written for the Hutchinson News on my blog, along with some additional commentary. Paring what I have to say down to 800 words is painful. I know those of you who e-mail and text message all the time are used to saying it quick and concise, but the real possibilities of being completely misunderstood are greatest when you aren't careful about what you write. Without the context of a personal relationship or the ability to watch the reader for visual clues as to whether they are following you or not, one must at least try to be clear as possible. I know many will disagree with my opinions, but I want them to have an accurate understanding of what those opinions are so the argument is on point.

With a large family and work, I will be limited to how often I check this blog and respond to any posts. Currently my home computer isn't capable of logging on the web so I'm using a computer at work after hours. Hopefully this can be remedied, but the microwave just went out and my car is leaking antifreeze and I just had to replace two windows. . .

Welcome

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am too old to do this so I've enlisted the help of my friend and co-worker Kenny Woodruff to help me get started. Unlike many bloggers, I have precious little time to spend at the keyboard, but I promise the subjects we discuss will cause you to think, and I am passionate about thinking through every area of life from a Christian perspective, also called a biblical worldview. I am currently a guest columnist for the Hutchinson News. My column is published every other Monday and can be read by going to Hutchnews.com.