Keep Your Tongue from Evil

There has been quite a bit of uproar lately, in political circles, news outlets, and in general conversations. It basically has to do with the recent announcement of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The winner this year was Barack Obama, President of the United States.
According to the organization awarding the prize, President Obama was selected for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.”
Do I think he deserved the award? Yes.
Was it perhaps a bit premature? Maybe.
A lot of individuals in the country are misinformed about the award when they respond that he was nominated just weeks into his presidency. Or, that he had not been in office ‘long enough’ to accomplish anything.
The Nobel Peace Prize is not necessarily awarded for accomplishments and certainly not for longevity in an elected position. A number of the Nobel Prize recipients were not elected office holders at all.
The prestigious honor is awarded for possessing intangibles such as vision, ideas, aspirations, articulation of beliefs and values, creating a new climate of cooperation and interdependence based on hope, fairness and goals for the advancement of humanity.
America has had twenty recipients of the award since President Theodore Roosevelt first received the honor in 1906. Other honorees have included other sitting and past presidents, vice-presidents, Secretaries of State, university professors, religious groups, military leaders, civil rights activists, physician organizations, authors, environmentalists and average citizens.
Some of the ideals promoted were peace treaties, formation of the League of Nations, foundation of the United Nations, Christian organization leaders, nuclear war opponents, international food cooperative founders, land-mine opponents and international economic policy proponents, to name a few.
Were they all successful? No.
But, they believed to their very core in what they were doing and they believed they were doing it for the betterment of humankind. President Obama was honored, not so much for what he accomplished, as for what he was trying to accomplish; the problems that he felt needed to be rectified.
It is true that a lot of the policies he advocated were during his presidential campaign. But, this was the vehicle from which he could make his ideas known to the public at large.
He had a vision of more involvement of the world community, especially, in areas of multi-national cooperation involving military operations. He articulated his concern for international initiatives in areas of climate control, pollution, medical aid, food distribution and other humanitarian issues.
Much to my disappointment and dismay, important issues in this country are diminished to petty partisan politics that depreciate the value and importance of the issues being addressed.
It was not a Republican, or ‘Bull Moose’ Teddy Roosevelt, who drew up the 1905 peace treaty between Russia and Japan. It was not the Democrat President Woodrow Wilson who worked tirelessly to help found the League of Nations.
It was not Democratic former Secretary of State Cordell Hull who diligently worked to establish the United Nations. It was not Republican Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that negotiated the Vietnam Peace Accord.
These were ‘Americans’ that saw a particular problem in the world and forged ahead to try to solve it. And we Americans applauded their efforts, for the good we do for one citizen of this world, we do for all.
We Americans need to stop polarizing every issue in the national and international scene based on our particular Republican or Democratic ideology.
I think it is great, in fact, wonderful, to discuss and debate ideas and issues that face us as a nation. But, it is a national shame when we allow our biases to denigrate the discussion to name calling, personal attacks, and gross overgeneralizations.
From the third chapter of 1 Peter, we read:
“For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him seek peace and pursue it.”
We call ourselves a Christian nation, or at least, a nation based on Christian principles. Whichever view we subscribe to, we need to step up to the plate, and act with civility, compassion, and restraint.
Tony White

‘A True Texan’

To quote William Shakespeare, I am probably making “much ado about nothing” but every now and then something gets stuck in my craw and I just have to say something about it.
I recently took one of those ‘mind-numbing’ quizzes that appear on “Facebook.” It was entitled “How Texan are you?” Being somewhat of a history buff as well as having lived in Texas on a couple of occasions, I felt I might do OK on the quiz.
As it turned out, I did. I received the recognition of being a “True Texan.”
The results said:
“You are not only native, but you know your history too, and what’s more, you live it, abiding in Texan virtue. At the end of the day, you’ll probably just do, whatever you damn well wanna do, because you don’t need social affirmation or big government to tell you who you ought to be. To be sure, you’re probably on some government’s watchlist, right next to Willie Nelson. But, you’re just as nice as summer rain, even to a stranger.”
The result also included a photo of country music star Willie Nelson, apparently giving the photographer, ‘the finger.’
Now, for those people who truly know me, you know that I am ‘anything’ but a prude. Certainly ‘not’ a stick in the mud.
But, being from Kentucky, and regularly being subjected to negative stereotyping, I was offended and disappointed by the low brow class representation of the “True Texan.”
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and other so-called ‘outlaw’ singers and musicians, who peaked in the late 70s and early 80s, do not typify the ‘True Texans’ that I know and respect.
Their ‘Hill Country’ band scene did have a tremendous influence on the musical culture of the dance halls between San Antonio and Austin and even the whole of country music, but was never typical of most ‘True Texans.’
It is true, Texas does have some of the biggest country music dance halls in the world with ‘Billy Bob’s’ in Fort Worth and ‘The Bluebonnet’ in San Antonio. But, Texas is home to a number of nationally and internationally recognized symphonies and operas.
History and art museums are scattered throughout the state. Law schools, medical school, and theological seminaries are on par with the best this nation offers. Hospitals and medical centers are among the best in the country.
The Houston Space Center is unmatched. Texas is home to a number of Army, Air Force, and Navy instillations where the service members work tirelessly to aid in the defense of this country.
The fine people of Texas are fortunate to have so many different types of geography available to them and these different locales do influence lifestyles to a certain degree. There is the desert of the western Big Bend region, the fertile fields of South Texas, the amazing Gulf coast, the swamps of the southeast, the forests of the Great Piney Woods in the northeast, the rolling hills of central Texas, and the plains of the panhandle.
The people of Texas are as diverse as the geography. Nearly every ethnicity of America is represented in the state with large populations of Spanish/Mexican, Asian, German, Cajun, Creole, African and Native Americans. The cuisine of the ethnic influences is noteworthy.
But, what makes me most proud of Texas is the fact that there is a big emphasis on maintaining the historical roots of people while assimilating them into the greater Texan culture.
All people who live in Texas, from the tiniest crossroad communities of the farm to market roads, to the huge metropolitan areas of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio are Texans.
They are rich and poor, educated and uneducated, English speaking and non-English speaking, native born and immigrants. They are all ‘True Texans,’ and not some over-the-hill singer, from years gone by, making an obscene gesture.
If we are talking about these ‘True Texans,” count me as one of them.