The Independent Kixmiller Pigeon MrkII

Yeah, I try to make the article title as mundane and dry as possible. Clickbait is for those with too much time on their hands! However, one little tidbit about me is that at my church, I teach Sunday School to the adults. While I generally enjoy the job and I throw myself wholeheartedly into the role, sometimes, annoyances so arise. With this blog, I feel I have a lot more space to be more candid about topics that I normally would shy away from during a Sunday School lesson.  I have an unwritten rule: I try hard to avoid the topic of social commentary during my lesson. Sometimes it can't be helped depending on whatever is taught, but by and large, I'm successful in this regard. The reason for this is that people oftentimes get blinded by their own opinion and there is the strong risk of someone passing off their take as quote "Biblical Teaching". However, one topic that always been grinding away at me is when the topics of the current events in the Middle East are br...

The phrase "cancel culture" has been thrown around to the point of it being interpreted as meaningless political slang, and we all know how we feel about political slang on this blog. However, cancel culture is a real thing. No one wants to be held in the hostile court of public opinion. However, it's also a topic that I'm not really invested in (other than this article) for two reasons: 1. Cancel Culture, even though it's been greatly amplified by social media, is as old as well, culture itself. 2. Everybody (including yours truly) has engaged in cancel culture at least to some extent. We are all our own worst enemy in that regard. We can often be hypocrites in that regard. Now, whenever you have culture, you're going to have those who will try to cancel it. The ancient cultures of antiquity usually taken the phrase "cancel culture" quite literally often. Usually, by destroying cities, as like what Babylon did to Nineveh in 612BC.  Throughout histor...

  Media Conspiracy At The Hands Of Justified Anger People's anger at traditional media is justified. The media outlets in this country have spent decades selling filtered, watered-down news to be consumed as if it was just another piece of candy or beef jerky. The idea of news as a public service has long been abandoned to the idea of it as a "product" that is "sold" rather than reported. However, when the masses started to abandon traditional media, they went to a source that was far more destructive than anything that they would have ever received from TV. There is no validity of information on social media. The sources on social media are far more biased than anything that was ever on cable TV in the first place. Instead of finding objective sources, the masses within the realm of social media just went to mouthpieces that echoed their preconceived biases. The fact is that objective sources of information exist. It's called NPR, AP, PolitiFact and Snopes....

These topics are very important real world issues that affect us all in the universal setting. Regardless of one's ethnicity, gender, national identity, political or religious affiliation, the effects of these topics are universal in scope. These are topics that demand a united, interfaith response as again, it's a universal issue that is of vital addressing. Those affected by it, along with those in the community, regardless of its location, are affected by it, regardless of background. There is a massive responsibility when addressing these topics. In Regard To Forced Labor Forced labor is a massive component of the issue too. Regardless of which part of the globe you're on, people have been exploited for either sexual or labor reasons. According to the U.S. Department of State, there have been an estimated 27 million people worldwide who are exploited at any given time (and that number could even be higher too). This is a universal issue that is global in nature. M...

The reason why many have left church is because those who came to church to hear about God have instead been slammed with either politics or social commentary nonstop. Many have left because they became quick and tired of being crapped on because they didn't identify or conform to the political commentary espoused by those on the pulpit. For many preachers the world over, the pulpit became a tool to present their personal views on social and political commentary as quote "Biblical Teaching". Our spirituality is determined by our relationship with Jesus. One's stance on issues like Global Warming or Evolution is not going to determine your spirituality at all. Yet when such issues are referenced, even in passing, then they become arbitrary attributes to determine one's spirituality. Even on a topic like abortion, if one feels that it's wrong, but is also a private personal matter, they are all-of-a-sudden going to Hell. While I feel that abortion should be ...

Well, I voted earlier this week. I'm largely not satisfied with my choices though. When one looks at my ballot over the past decade, it's a mashup of dots all over the place as many are picked based on the merit of whether one can do their job, regardless of party. I don't owe anything to any party! The sad thing is when you're an Independent, their is no party that represents me.  As such, I try to free myself from that drug called partisan politics.   Yet, that won't stop many as presenting political  parties as deep, personal friends who genuinely  care about me. I didn't know that the political  parties were just like Jesus! This intoxicating drug induces people into thinking that their preferred side can do no wrong. Thus, they become blinded by ignorance and arrogance.   However, as an Independent, one is presented with few choices. As an Independent, I don't like voting for people that I don't like or support. While many Republicans complain ...