i'm back!
Vacation is over, and it's time to resume blogging. We spent last week in Truckee, California, which is just north of Lake Tahoe, and had a great time. We went boating on Lake Tahoe, we went rafting on the Truckee River, and we rode the cable car up to Squaw Valley's High Camp (the view of the mountains and Lake Tahoe itself is breathtaking!). The kids went horseback riding and we all spent time swimming and boating at the beach on Donner Lake. It was a wonderful week of creating memories for the kids that I hope will last for a lifetime.
One of the strange things about vacation was the way in which we cut ourselves off from the outside world. Except for the first night, we didn't watch any TV (I needed a half-hour fix of ESPN Sportscenter before I could sleep). I didn't even look at a newspaper for the first 6 days of vacation. No political news, no sports news, no breathless updates on Paris Hilton or Nicole Ritchie--IT WAS GREAT! Pres. Bush could have named Cindy Sheehan to be his new National Security Advisor and we would never have known. It was nice, but also a little strange for someone who normally tends to overdose on the news of the day.
Anyway, I'm back, so please allow me to share some random thoughts that popped into my brain during the last couple of weeks.
As part of our vacation, we flew in and out of SFO and then drove back and forth to Truckee. That's a terrible airport! It's confusing and it is a mammoth facility to try to navigate. You would think that a great international city like San Francisco could do better.
And speaking of San Francisco, I truly don't understand what the big deal is. I have been to San Francisco 5 or 6 different times, and have never been impressed. The weather is terrible, the traffic is awful, and it's one of the most intolerant cities in the country. Off the top of my head, I could name 20 different cities and towns that are better than San Francisco. Good grief--I would rather spend one day in Jasper, Indiana than a week in San Francisco!
Here's the thing, though. San Francisco is some kind of liberal "mecca," so it gets hyped by the liberal intelligentsia. You never hear about the crummy weather (cold, damp fog ain't my idea of "vacation heaven") and you never hear about the intolerance. Well, you'll hear about it here:
---In San Francisco, it is permissable for employers to completely censor the terms natural family, marriage and family values as hate speech.
The court concluded that municipalities have a right to literally dictate what form an employee's speech may take, even if it is in regard to controversial public issues. Shockingly, the court concluded that the interest of Christian employees in speaking out on the issue of marriage is "vanishingly small" and that the "administrative" interests of a city are more important than speech rights. (see www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030805.html and the aanlysis of Good News Employees Association v. Hicks).
---In March of 2006, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning a rally hosted at AT&T Park by an evangelical teen outreach group. The rally was called "Battle Cry For a Generation," and its purpose was "To provoke a young generation to passionately pursue Jesus Christ and to take His life-giving message to the ends of the earth." (see www.battlecry.com/pages/about.php) The rally was attended by over 25,000 people. The resolution said, in part, that "It is an act of provocation when a right-wing Christian fundamentalist group brings their anti-gay and anti-choice agenda to the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall," and, "It is unfortunate and alarming that those who are against reproductive and homosexual rights, and who are anti-gay and anti-choice, aim to negatively influence the politics of America’s most tolerant and progressive city." (See www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/resolutions06/r0180-06.pdf)
Three things stand out to me about the resolution. First, in the liberal la-la land of Frisco, it is wrong for Christians to express their opinions. Second, this attitude displayed by the San Fran power structure is supposed to be a sign of "tolerance." Third, the resolution proves that liberals don't really believe in "separation of church and state," which is a mythical concept anyway. The Supreme Court case Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) states that “The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion." The Board of Dupes--I mean, Supes--don't seem very neutral to me!
---With all of the hype over Barry Bonds (SF Giants slugger) cruising towards the home run record held by Hank Aaron, the attitudes of Liberals By The Bay, and liberals in general, are on full display for a glorious teachable moment. Every story about Bonds discusses at great length the horrible racism faced by Hank Aaron in the 60's and 70's in the southern town of Atlanta as he zeroed in on the record held, at that time, by Babe Ruth. We are constantly beat over the head with stories of Southern racism and ignorance, and then we see the obligatory interviews with John Lewis and Andrew Young to show how bad the South was/is. Why don't we ever hear about San Francisco racism?
Willie Mays, a contemporary of Aaron, had bricks thrown through his windows at home because "tolerant" and "progressive" San Franciscans didn't want a black man leading their team. He was hated by many Bay-area fans until the end of his career. Liberal hypocrisy has never been clearer.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
One of the strange things about vacation was the way in which we cut ourselves off from the outside world. Except for the first night, we didn't watch any TV (I needed a half-hour fix of ESPN Sportscenter before I could sleep). I didn't even look at a newspaper for the first 6 days of vacation. No political news, no sports news, no breathless updates on Paris Hilton or Nicole Ritchie--IT WAS GREAT! Pres. Bush could have named Cindy Sheehan to be his new National Security Advisor and we would never have known. It was nice, but also a little strange for someone who normally tends to overdose on the news of the day.
Anyway, I'm back, so please allow me to share some random thoughts that popped into my brain during the last couple of weeks.
As part of our vacation, we flew in and out of SFO and then drove back and forth to Truckee. That's a terrible airport! It's confusing and it is a mammoth facility to try to navigate. You would think that a great international city like San Francisco could do better.
And speaking of San Francisco, I truly don't understand what the big deal is. I have been to San Francisco 5 or 6 different times, and have never been impressed. The weather is terrible, the traffic is awful, and it's one of the most intolerant cities in the country. Off the top of my head, I could name 20 different cities and towns that are better than San Francisco. Good grief--I would rather spend one day in Jasper, Indiana than a week in San Francisco!
Here's the thing, though. San Francisco is some kind of liberal "mecca," so it gets hyped by the liberal intelligentsia. You never hear about the crummy weather (cold, damp fog ain't my idea of "vacation heaven") and you never hear about the intolerance. Well, you'll hear about it here:
---In San Francisco, it is permissable for employers to completely censor the terms natural family, marriage and family values as hate speech.
The court concluded that municipalities have a right to literally dictate what form an employee's speech may take, even if it is in regard to controversial public issues. Shockingly, the court concluded that the interest of Christian employees in speaking out on the issue of marriage is "vanishingly small" and that the "administrative" interests of a city are more important than speech rights. (see www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030805.html and the aanlysis of Good News Employees Association v. Hicks).
---In March of 2006, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning a rally hosted at AT&T Park by an evangelical teen outreach group. The rally was called "Battle Cry For a Generation," and its purpose was "To provoke a young generation to passionately pursue Jesus Christ and to take His life-giving message to the ends of the earth." (see www.battlecry.com/pages/about.php) The rally was attended by over 25,000 people. The resolution said, in part, that "It is an act of provocation when a right-wing Christian fundamentalist group brings their anti-gay and anti-choice agenda to the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall," and, "It is unfortunate and alarming that those who are against reproductive and homosexual rights, and who are anti-gay and anti-choice, aim to negatively influence the politics of America’s most tolerant and progressive city." (See www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/resolutions06/r0180-06.pdf)
Three things stand out to me about the resolution. First, in the liberal la-la land of Frisco, it is wrong for Christians to express their opinions. Second, this attitude displayed by the San Fran power structure is supposed to be a sign of "tolerance." Third, the resolution proves that liberals don't really believe in "separation of church and state," which is a mythical concept anyway. The Supreme Court case Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) states that “The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion." The Board of Dupes--I mean, Supes--don't seem very neutral to me!
---With all of the hype over Barry Bonds (SF Giants slugger) cruising towards the home run record held by Hank Aaron, the attitudes of Liberals By The Bay, and liberals in general, are on full display for a glorious teachable moment. Every story about Bonds discusses at great length the horrible racism faced by Hank Aaron in the 60's and 70's in the southern town of Atlanta as he zeroed in on the record held, at that time, by Babe Ruth. We are constantly beat over the head with stories of Southern racism and ignorance, and then we see the obligatory interviews with John Lewis and Andrew Young to show how bad the South was/is. Why don't we ever hear about San Francisco racism?
Willie Mays, a contemporary of Aaron, had bricks thrown through his windows at home because "tolerant" and "progressive" San Franciscans didn't want a black man leading their team. He was hated by many Bay-area fans until the end of his career. Liberal hypocrisy has never been clearer.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
posted by hondo at 8:42 PM
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