This is Viewpoints for Thursday, August 3, 2017

No pain

Our congressmen are foundering around trying to deal with Obamacare because they don’t want to repeal it. They don’t feel the pain. According to Wall Street Journal reports this week, “In late 2012, staffers and members figured out what was about to happen and begged the Obama administration for relief. Just as Congress was going into its August recess in 2013, the Office of Personnel Management ratified the fiction that the House and Senate each have fewer than 50 employees, and thus qualify as ‘small businesses’. That enabled OPM to establish a system of special subsidies and exemptions, sparing Congress the embarrassment of a self-serving vote.

Many staffers are exempted and allowed to remain on their old insurance plans. Members of Congress and their designated “official office” staff are insured through the District of Columbia’s small business exchange — but receive a one-of-a-kind subsidy from their employer (taxpayers) of up to $12,000, or about 70 percent of their premiums.” If you pulled a stunt like that you’d be in jail (unless, of course, you intend on pursuing the Democratic nomination for president).

A vindictive ex-priest

In his July 23 column (Beliefs and values) Bill Cummings said if he were still a priest he would be preaching vapid sermons and refusing to give the sacrament to those he felt unworthy. Only God can judge spiritual worthiness. Cummings was ordained a priest not God. No wonder his collar was removed.

He continues: “I do not fault those who believe in angels and devils, in heaven and hell, and in all the mystical dogmas surrounding Jesus.” I lost my belief but kept my values. For me it’s not what I believe but what I do. Yep right.

By suggesting the Eucharist and the Holy Trinity are yarns and saying the creed was invented and not inspired by the Holy Spirit are feeble attempts at emasculating the Catholic Church.

The human body Jesus occupied was a physical Eucharist manifested and presented to the world by the Virgin Mary. Having commanded and empower his disciples at the last supper; Jesus demonstrated how they were to manifest his spiritual essence into bread and wine. He had physically walked amongst them; now he wanted to spiritual be with them (and their converts) in God’s most Holy of Temples (the human body). The transubstantiation miracle only occurs at the hands of the descendants of Jesus’s disciples and it’s the real deal.

A human is made up of a mind, a body and a soul, and yet they are still one person. A fire has a flame, heat and light but it is still one fire. When you hear a person’s speech, you are hearing three things — their words, their thoughts and their voice. When you strum one chord on a guitar, it is made up of three separate notes, all equal to each other. A shamrock has three separate leaves, yet it is one. The width, the height and the depth of space, do not contradict its integrity and oneness. These undeniable truths are easily understood where God the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being separate but one God, baffles Cummings.

March 21, 2016, Cummings wrote, “I don’t take all this as seriously as others, and so you will find me laughing in the middle of my columns.” A vindictive bitter ex- priest intentionally undermining people’s faith is not funny.

Credit breach

If you have ever had your credit cards used by others, you no how simple it is for your Social Security number to be sold for cash. Stop now and think of the number of folks who have access to it. If you get medical care at several places, your Social Security number is readily available. I know of 13 places my Social Security number is on file. Most folks are honest, but at least 30 percent of those who have access to those Social Security numbers are living on the brink of financial ruin.

I have heard a Social Security number will bring a $1,000. Mine ended in Miami and they ran up thousands of dollars in days. Now 12 years later that Miami address shows up occasionally. Last week Experian contacted me to question me about seeking a freeze on my credit in March. This is late July. They told me that I went to the sheriff’s office to request the freeze by phone. That never happened. I called the sheriff’s office and ran into a brick wall. They refused to check for a record.

The physical card must be made available through criminal contacts. If the credit agencies do not verify those who might contact them, who are we to trust? I was at Bank of America with my grandson to open an account in our names when I learned of the breach. I was refused a new account.

A simple life?

Many people are being deluded into believing economic growth can continue it’s upward climb without also increasing our fossil energy use. Charts provided by British Petroleum and others prove otherwise.

The lies or ignorance of world and local political leaders contradict reality. The Earth’s climate is deteriorating rapidly and renewable energy like wind or solar will only add fuel to the fire. Improved technology has meant more efficient devices, but more of them. Just walk into any classroom, mall, or bar.

In the 1950s Americans felt happy to have a black and white television, a simple washer and no dryer, but today electronics surround and control or watch our every move. And wind and solar still require fossil fuels in construction and displace other and often better uses for the land like trees and agriculture.

It is time to make a choice between our devices or a future for all life. But to do that means returning to more simple times. Americans have become spoiled children and most everyone else wants to follow. Do we follow the corporate model pushed by our politicians and shop until we drop or back up and regain our morals for a living environment for our children and look for a more sustainable life without all the gadgets?

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, August 3, 2017."