Let us Pray for Tollerance

     In a blog written by Fred Witzell, in " The TexasFred Blog", called, Group wants prayer cancelled at city council meetings, Texas Fred attacks a group, known as the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), for supporting a citizen who wants the opening prayer conducted at city council meetings to be stopped. This article is obviously directed toward the conservative members of the community. He is extremely biased and seems to be a bit immature when he makes statements like, " She just needs to shut up." His motive seems to be to paint the woman as a god-hating citizen who is trying to corrupt the community. He specifically cites the constitutions statement about the government should not interfere with the free practice of religion, but doesn't religion then owe the government the respect of not interfering with government proceedings. He himself also states," No restrictions are placed on religions except perhaps that a religious denomination cannot become the state religion." doesn't it seem that that would apply to a city as well. It is apparent to me that conservatives are behind freedom of religion as long as only their religion is free. If the city council led an Islam based prayer to begin each meeting would he not have a complaint? Would the (FFRF) then become his friend or would he simply, " Just shut up!"? Let's keep in mind that a lot of these people screaming for freedom of religion are also condoning the burning of the Koran. It seems to me that throughout history religion mixed with government has been the driving factor behind almost every war. I am a firm believer in God, but I belong to no denomination. I don't believe God cares how you pray only that you mean it when you do. So let us stand, kneel, bow or heads, or whatever you prefer; but don't deprive your city of the possible good  ideas of a citizen by forcing them to do the one that suits you best.

A War We Can't Win

     I have always believed that the "War on Drugs", was and still is a war that cannot be won. I find it very frustrating because I can't understand why a government would label a substance, illegal, and then spend billions of dollars seeking out those who sale, transport, or use the substance. That only leads to the additional costs of punishing, housing and feeding these so called criminals. It seems so illogical for a country or state in such financial turmoil to spend so much money trying to stop something that they simply can not stop. I do, however, understand that all reasonable people, including myself, do not want there children exposed to drugs.I don't want my children exposed to alcohol either, but I can't watch a football game without seeing a dozen commercials glamorizing alcohol use. As, what some would call, a liberal Democrat I have always taken the same stance on drug use. Legalize it and teach responsible use (or non-use) at the family and community level. I would be very worried if one of my children were using drugs, but the fact that law has dictated that getting some pot involves interaction with a pistol packing fugitive worries me much more. As frustrated as I have been with this "War", I have been encouraged by the recent changes in marijuana laws that are taking place around the country, even here in Travis County. It seems that conservatives have been the major opponents to drug legalization. I have always contributed that to there supposed moral and religious beliefs, but it seems to contradict so many of the other things they stand for. An article in the Austin American Statesman, Drugs and Conservatives, does an amazing job of pointing out those contradictions. The article is directed toward conservatives. It attempts to explain why the war on drugs is detrimental to the success of other things they are trying to accomplish. The author makes several good points about how the war on drugs weakens our defense against terrorists and strengthens terrorist factions. One of the major sources of Taliban income is the protection of opium fields. Immigration is another issue that could be eased by legalization of drugs. Many immigrants come to America fleeing the violence created by drug prohibition in their own countries.( Most of these immigrants are coming to Texas). Gun control advocates would have less of a reason to press for gun control if drug related shootings were to go down. There are so many reasons to end foolish effort. Lets take the estimated 88 billion dollars this is costing our country and and our state annually and spend it on other foolish things like education, homelessness, or medical research. Great article! Conservatives, I beg you to read it with an open mind.