Cultural Relativism

More than 100 million people in this world dream of a chance for life in the United States. Yet  in America today the Progressive Left denounce Western Culture as no better than any other culture or society.  Why, is it that so many wish to come here and often risk everything for a shot at the American Dream? In these unsettling times, it seems to be popular to demean and discredit our Western way of life. One of the most disturbing ideals catching hold with a large number of Americans is the notion that the Western-style society/culture is no better than any other society/cultures. Some even go so far as to say Western culture is worse.  Leftists argue that no one can determine which cultures demonstrate exemplary traits because no one can assess any standards objectively-- what is good-- or ethical; that no one can identify the shortcomings and failures of different cultures.

I completely disagree. And if you live in America, you should too.

When you study Western civilization compared to others you see clearly, man at his best. Western society illustrates the ideals of individualism, freedom, and God-given/natural born rights. It represents reason, personal responsibility, self-sufficiency and the beauty of entrepreneurship through capitalism.

Western culture recognizes the necessity for limited government in a republic that is representative of its citizens and the rule of law.

Things like technology, art and literature, science; ideas of connectedness to the earth and universe; rules of reason and sensibility. All these are logical in a world governed by natural laws. That describes Western society. These principles are values for all, regardless of geography, gender, and ethnicity.

We can be unbiased in defining the preeminence of Western culture when
 the superiority of Western culture can be objectively demonstrated and when cultures evaluate them based on the one single important standard ---to what extent does the culture or society value life and do it’s core values support all human life? Or does the society value certain lives over others?

In a prolife culture (Western culture), reason, productivity, science and technology are encouraged and supported honored and recognized. Individuals are viewed as reasonable beings that are able to distinguish right from wrong, and honors man’s ability to survive and flourish.

Western Society has evolved into a superb example of high levels of freedom, opportunity, productivity, innovation, health, opportunity, happiness and comfort. Why else do people from other cultures risk everything for a chance to live where Western ideas and lifestyles are the dominant custom?

Man must recognize that there is a standard. And that standard is Western style culture. If we say that no society can be judged because each has a right to it’s own beliefs, than how can we object to any society’s intolerance that reflects their own worldview? If we simply say everyone is entitled to their own belief systems, then we say it we cannot object to things like genocide, slavery, Hitler, genital mutilation of young girls, child marriages, and Nazism. The idea of what is known as Cultural Relativism is faulty thinking. It takes the idea that any practice is acceptable if is in line with a specific cultures because there is no objective moral truth that pertains to all people for all time.  Not only would this thinking forbid us from speaking out against another society, but also it would not allow us to even criticize our own culture as in the instance of slavery. Cultural Relativism leaves no room for disagreement, protest, debate, and especially no room for social progress and justice, because, after all, towards what objective goal would we be progressing?

Does this sound familiar? Today we as a country are finding more and more that disagreement and debate are taboo. Cultural Relativists view themselves as tolerant; they see other cultures not as "wrong" but as "different".   Hiding under the deceptive cloak of fairness Cultural Relativism is rearing its ugly head to millions of unsuspecting citizens of the United States and Europe.  In short, cultural relativism is only attractive because is seems democratic and empowering by giving an individual's perception priority, but all it really does is refute itself.

We are seeing the devastating effects this philosophy is having on European countries now. The question is, will we as Americans be courageous enough to stay strong in our understanding of what is fair and equitable without sacrificing the very thing that keeps us free and  a shining light of hope to the millions who live in a oppressed society?

The Virtue of Respect: Conditional?

Photo source: 100 Black Men of Omaha

Can I say I like this photo without making someone mad or getting a barrage of disrespectful comments? This photo makes me smile, reminds me that we are all human; all in this life together. I hold high regard for the office of The President of the United States, and although I have disagreed and have serious concerns over many of President Obama's policies and actions, it has never stopped me from praying for him every single day. Do you pray for our president as much as you criticize him? Doesn't seem very Christlike if we don't. I admit I have on occasion said things about his man that I later regretted; sometimes it is hard to understand his actions and I get frustrated. I ask forgiveness for my shortcomings. Trouble with today's society is too many of us have lost our ability to speak out against things we are concerned with in a respectful manner; we have lost our ability to disagree. People name call and belittle those in office on BOTH sides of the political spectrum in ways that sometimes make my heart hurt.
One of the greatest men to ever live, the Apostle Paul, said we are to honor those in power: “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1)
If we believe what Paul said to be true, then we must accept God brings leaders into power for a reason. Therefore God calls us to honor President Obama. This does not mean we have like him or agree with anything he does or believe he is a good president. But we must regard him in our hearts and with our speech as the leader of our nation, and of the free world. His time as our leader is almost through, and only time will tell of his success or failure. Until then, can we just pray for our country? Pray for our leaders; those who are and those who will be? With the Easter season upon us we need to reflect on what our Master taught us. In His final days on earth, this was Jesus’ prayer for us: that we would be one as He and the Father are One. Because, He prayed, that through unity in the Church, the world would believe that He was sent by God and that ALL are loved by Him. If nothing else, respect for our beloved Jesus demands respect for all his children, including those with whom we disagree.

An Opportunity Lost

Before Ben Carson fades away from the general public, I have one last thought. Carson was born into poverty, raised by a single mom, experienced racism and was a troubled youth for a time. Sadly, not unusual for many black youth struggling to grow and thrive in today's society. But what is extraordinary about Carson is never once, NEVER ONCE,……. did I hear him use his past as an excuse for ANYTHING in his life. Instead, he spoke of the value of things like unity, integrity, perseverance, education and love for your fellow man. He was devoted to God and a lover of his country; a true American.
 Ben Carson is a good man; in fact he's one of the best. Probably too good for politics. I honestly feel history will look back with the poignant realization that a world changing opportunity was  missed in not better supporting this man. I do hope we hear form this great American again.

In With the New, But Keeping the Old

Greetings Friends! It seems my blog is taking on a new direction thanks to some like-minded friends. So this post reflects those impending changes which I must say, I am extremely excited to see coming. 

Starting again at the beginning, would you be so kind as to allow me  again to share with you a little about myself and my philosophies. 

My name is Julie: educator, counselor, social servant, and author of Caddy’s Chronicles, a blog where I write about God, growing up in rural America, politics and the forces that threaten our American way of life. Kind of a unlikely combination, but it works well for me!

 I am the oldest of five children, born to hardworking, God-fearing salt-of-the-earth parents. Raised with the strong Midwestern values of hard work, honesty, personal responsibility and concern for your fellow man I strive to relay those values to others, especially our youth. Growing up, the doors of our old farmhouse were never locked at night or when we left on visiting or shopping expeditions. Everyone trusted everybody; and when hard times came to even one in the community, all pitched in to lend a helping hand. That’s just the way it was.

I use my writings to reflect the values and freedoms taught to me in my youth: values I see slowly eroding away in our country.  Important values like family and friends, simplicity and solitude, faith and freedom.

I’m a proud patriot who embraces the diversity that has made our country great.  As a descendant of immigrants myself, I understand the motivations that lead people from all over the world to this great land we call home.  However, I equally realize the importance of “Patriotic Assimilation”, which is the link that allows Americans to be a proud nation of immigrants.   My years of work as an educator and counselor have helped me build important connections and experiences with people from a wide array of cultures, backgrounds and faiths; Indigenous peoples and immigrants; rich and poor; the happy and the hopeless.

But while I respect and appreciate diversity, I also am troubled by the declining sense of community we as Americans once held so dear. Patriotism has, in a sense become out of vogue and a dirty word in some circles and this is troubling to me.  Patriotism is being replaced with the single-minded pursuit of one’s own interests and our sense of community to cooperate in resolving problems is being lost.  Loyalty to the principles of liberty are being forgotten, and redefined. Individuals teaching in our colleges, working in our government, and living in our communities are replacing extreme forms of family, racial and religious loyalty with traditional values, which makes it harder to collaborate on critical issues we as Americans face. Political correctness has made debate and open-mindedness a lost art.  We as Americans have become lazy, ambiguous and unappreciative of the freedoms we enjoy; our hearts are hard, our minds are muddled.

I wish to reestablish what it means to be a true patriot by educating and raising awareness to the preciousness of our freedom, and how love of country and our Constitution are what makes us free. I specifically strive to target our youth and minorities. Technology and social media, as wonderful as they are, often obstruct individuals in their thinking, especially the poor and minorities who have little access to other sources of information.  As a result they have developed thought processes and viewpoints that are ill informed and unknowingly biased.

I am concerned at the lack of understanding of the basic principles of freedom many young people today exhibit.  They seem unable to comprehend why this country is so precious. Many do not recognize or are unwilling to acknowledge the importance of patriotism and love of  God and country, and it’s importance in remaining free. Corruptions in government and lies crafted buy media have polluted young minds. I strive to remedy that, in my own small way, one person at a time through my writing, and through my work as a citizen of this great land. 

Thoughts on the Republican Debate, December 15, 2015

 

There aren't a lot of folks who really care about my political views, but I have been asked  my opinions on the candidates, so I thought I might use up some of my blog space to share my thoughts. Besides, won't this post will be fun to go back to after the general elections just to see how wrong I really was!??
At this point in the game, You'd be hard pressed to learn anything new about any candidate. That is unless one of  them decides to have a complete and total meltdown in public somewhere, and consequently needs to be taken away in a straight jacket in the near future all that is really left to do is fine tune your study and knowledge of candidate's policies. Here's my opinion on a few of the candidates that may have a chance of winning the nomination. I didn't mention Christie, or Fiorina,  as their attention has dropped so low, there is little chance of them getting the nomination right now.

--Cruz: is still the best debater in my opinion and gets his points across clearly and consistently. He is competent, in control; his knowledge and policy plans are unsurpassed on every single issue facing this nation  Cruz is a strong defender of civil liberties (something a few have seemed to forget) and shows common sense and strength in dealing with terrorism. I think he could win over more moderate liberals who are doubtful of Clinton's ability to lead in a trustworthy manner. Some people think he is too conservative to win moderate democrats vote in a general election, but I am not so sure about that....

--Rubio is not only charismatic, but he's smart, passionate and extremely knowledgeable on the issues. I once heard the Clintons are more worried about Rubio winning than anyone else; after last night, you can understand why that may be true. He is young, which is also a plus in winning over more youth in the country I agree with many of his policies, and I think he could bring a large number of immigrants to vote for him.

--Rand Paul: He was a strong runner early on, and then seemed to lose momentum, but I am going to take a second look at his stance on the issues as he seems to be coming up fast again...He's definitely fiscally conservative, stands on honorable and strong principals, his foreign policy is one that I think could bring both Democrats and Conservatives together. still thinking...

Carson: I love him; what a wonderful human being. compassionate ....intelligent.....grounded in Christian principles, giving, nurturing... a great American and one of the most decent human beings for sure. If the world were a kinder place, I would vote for him hands down...But I fear his lack of political toughness in his stances might seal his doom as a viable candidate. I fear the tougher the questions get, the more his lack of depth on issues comes to light.

--Trump: He made very few mistakes,  still tough, still no nonsense, still unafraid and seemingly unaffected by all the media lies and twisting of his words....he's not a racist, (if you examine the truth about what he says within it's context and stop following the media rhetoric, and listing to half-wit college professors opinions, you get this)  he has an extremely large following in the black community because of his policies and if you look at the numbers, a large number of Hispanic Americans agree with his border policies. My favorite quote from last night came when he was booed by hecklers, he said on monitoring suspected terrorists : "I just can’t imagine somebody booing. These are people that want to kill us, folks, and you’re objecting to us infiltrating their conversations? I don’t think so.”  The biggest problem with Trump is his temperament and in my opinion his mouth.  I like a little more kindness shining through in a leader but his stance on the issues is shaping up to be very solid.  I like the fact he says exactly what he means and what is really on other people's minds and is brave enough (or foolish enough) to say them out loud. People are tired of current administration dancing around issues and scolding and flogging Americans publicly. There are many who would like to see the opposition scolded and treated the same way by Trump. But is that a good way to continue to run a country where all citizens matter? I am still not completely sold on Trump, but  I have come to respect his policies more as I listen to him and study. Still, he is just a little over the top for my liking, and I fear he would be much like President Obama and continue to divide Americans and congress more than he would unite. Nevertheless, if the election were held today, and he was the Republican nominee, I have to say I would vote for him over any other party candidate. (although I did read the other day where projections say Hillary would ultimately defeat him)

Jeb Bush: Good man, great politician who has a list of impressive accomplishments as governor, appeals to the Latino population, but again, when you think about a candidate who can reach across party lines and unite, or who can win the moderate democrats over, he might not fit the bill. I would bet a lot of people would not vote for him simply because of his last name. That is a sad reason, and shows how uninformed many voters are....but it is a fact nonetheless and needs to be realized.

The Problem With The Police (and other civil servants for that matter)

When did Americans start deciding that the answer to every social ill lay in the power of the criminal justice system and officers who try to maintain peace? People expect too much from police officers. You’ve seen the videos or read about those incidents that get lots of media coverage on police whose actions are brought in to question. Often, in the end, the officers are found to have acted appropriately once the truth comes out, and other times they are prosecuted if they were wrong. That’s the way our justice system works and it works very well. Responsibility for social issues like homelessness, drug use, mental illness, and kids who are extremely troubled have now been handed over to men and women in blue who are trained to enforce compliance, not offer therapy!!!! Same thing goes for schools. Teachers are trained to educate and inspire learning; and even though many teachers take it upon themselves to go above and beyond their calling, they are not trained to analyze and administer treatment for troubled teens. (If they tried, they would most certainly be setting themselves up for a lawsuit) Schools do a great job of working to solve social problems, now it is time to help the police do the same.
Rather than lay the blame on those who try to maintain some sort of normalcy in society, why not look at ourselves? Why have we dumped the problems we are seeing onto the laps of officers and teachers? I read an article where an officer killed a robbery suspect with a history of mental illness. He was heavily criticized. I have sympathy for the man killed but why is it we think officers can solve social problems? Too many of us are of the victim mindset: we point fingers to blame, stay locked in the past, and expend an awful lot of energy on the bad news rather than the good.
The use of force is sometimes necessary, and an officers level of force needs to be at a higher lever than the person who is fighting them. How is that so hard to understand? Police put their lives on the line every single day, are exposed to more vulgar and darkness from society than we could ever imagine, and their jobs are getting more dangerous every day thanks to us.
We need to stop such a narrow-minded view and look at the bigger picture here people! Living in our communities we can do little about what we see in the news…but we can do something in our own little part of the world. We can support our officers, and teachers, become involved in helping at schools, and in watching our own neighborhoods. And we can be careful what we post on social media. If we post incidents like what happened with the young girl who disrupted an entire classroom and blame the cop…what kind of message do we send our young people? What can we do about that particular incident? Nothing…nothing at all. But we can use those stories to find a way to make our own neighborhoods better. We need to look at countries like Great Britain, where the best way to fight racism, help the troubled and mentally ill is to become more community oriented as a society. Reforms are needed for sure,we cannot expect them to be the only but only "thin blue line" between us and a problem. Rethink your mindset....then and only then, can real changes take place.

Cornfields and Sand Roads

Photo courtesy of Steve Wageman

Who can relate to this?
I grew up on a small 40 acre farm just about a half mile from Thurston, Nebraska.: Population about 130; a tiny town but big on heart and soul. Everyone knew everybody and we all watched out for each other.
I have lots of great memories growing up in the rural heartland. Thinking back, my “hood” only covered about one square mile, but when you are little, one square mile seemed like a thousand miles of adventures. We walked about everyplace we wanted to go…to softball practice, the little grocery store, even to school. We had a little creek that ran through our pasture, and I would spend countless hours winter, spring, summer and fall combing that little creek for treasures, sitting with the cattle as they grazed nearby (yes, that was fun for me!) Wading the creek in warm weather and sliding on the ice in winter. A big grove of trees for climbing, an old corn crib and some shabby barns…lots of places to play and pretend brings back sweet memories. But I think two of my favorite places to spend my time were the old sand road and my dad’s cornfield.
The Sand Road: I loved waking across our land to the old sand road just outside of Thurston. The sand on the road was deep, not good for riding your bike over, but there was very little traffic and the sand was so much fun to play in the deep, fine, sand. It was like a tiny bit of the Panhandle Sandhills of Nebraska right in our own back yard; so peaceful and serene. I had forgotten how beautiful that area was until I saw this photo taken by a friend on that same road recently. (Posted here)
The Cornfield: Unless you grew up on a farm, it’s hard to imagine how fantastic it is to play in a cornfield. When you’re for or five rows into a field of corn in late July or early August, it’s like a jungle…and fun to try to get lost in the vast green ocean that seems endless as a child. Sometimes I would just sit in among the rows in the stillness. I can still remember the smell, and the silent rustling of the leaves blowing in the breeze. It felt like I was invisible, and imagine I was the only person in the whole world.
A farm is a giant playground and I learned many valuable lessons growing up there. I learned to respect the land and in caring for our farm animals, I learned about life and death. I learned how to drive a stick shift, how to be tough, work hard and be independent. I learned how to be creative and imagine endless possibilities. I learned to be generous, even when you don’t have much, and most of all I learned to be content with the simple things in life, like an old sand road in the middle of everywhere!

Steve Wageman Photo courtesy