Good afternoon every one. I hope your weekend treated you well, I know mine sure did.  Had the opportunity to hear an Pastor/Author by the name of Caleb Kaltenbach speak.  Caleb’s book Messy Grace chronicles the journey of his life growing up with two sets of divorced openly gay parents, to now being the lead pastor of a church in the suburbs of L.A.  His is not the story the world would want him to tell, but it is also not the stereotypical “old school” Christian response to homosexuality that we have come to expect.  Caleb related a story of being a small boy in Kansas City and marching with his Moms in the gay pride parade.  He told of at six years old seeing people holding signs saying his family was going to hell and that that God had no room for them.  He even recalls protesters spraying his family with water and urine as they marched.  When he asked his parents why these people would do that the answer he received was “well Caleb they are Christians, that is what Christians do… they hate.”  Now I am not here to lecture you on theology, you make your own decisions as to who should sleep with who, and who can marry who but the point of relaying this story is that to many people just like Caleb the only introduction they had to Christianity was through hate.  Therefore without even knowing anything about the faith they write it off, they assume all Christians are monsters and then actively go about their lives trying to be as un-Christian as they possibly can be.  Now lets relate this to conservatism.  What do we portray to the next generation?  What is the “selling” point on our way of thought?  Many good people can explain why they are not a liberal, but can they convey to an undecided mind why they are conservative?  What I took away from Mr. Kaltenbach’s talk was that we need to do more to stand for what we do believe in and not spend so much time making sure everyone knows what we are not.  We need to win the minds of the next generation of voters with ideas not hate.  With hope for a stronger tomorrow not fear of what tomorrow could bring.  If we are the ones carrying the good news we really should stop being such downers.  So I am going to try to fill the rest of this water cooler with some positivism… please remember this is my first attempt and looking at the world as “half full”.

Human life is sacred and our president wants to make sure we know that… no seriously he does.  I am sure you all saw him cry the other day as he lamented his inability to bring about any significant change in regards to America’s gun laws.  His next “stunt” is that he is going to leave an empty seat at his next State of the Union address in remembrance to all those lost to gun violence.  No my initial reaction to this story was an visceral, audible YUCK.  But then I reminded myself, show the world what your for not what you are against.  So Mr. Obama thank you for taking the time to recognize that life is our most inalienable right.  I think we should point out that you may need to leave some more empty seats though sir.  Lets really make the point, not a political point lets make a human point.  Lets leave an empty seat for the over 3,000 babies aborted every day.  Lets leave an empty seat for the 10,000 lives lost to DUI incidents each year in America.  Lets leave a seat for the over 30,000 people killed by Islamic terrorists world wide.  Maybe a chair for the over 40,000 who lose the battle with narcotics and overdose each year.  Lets leave a seat for the men and women of our armed services who have never come home.  Here is my point,  Mr. Obama wants to make a point for what he is against.  In this case guns and your second amendment rights.  As conservatives we should show the people of our nation we value life in all forms and we will be the party who does more than shed a tear and  will make empty gestures to appease the media.

The story that wont go away.  Americas local police units and federal agencies are becoming more and more militaristic in the equipment they require to do their jobs. Townhall.com has a nice article highlighting some of the more obvious head scratches.

• Nearly $2 million spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs on riot helmets, defender shields, body armor, a “milo return fire cannon system,” armored mobile shields, Kevlar blankets, tactical gear and equipment for crowd control.

• Over $300,000 spent by the Food and Drug Administration on “ballistic vests and carriers” in fiscal 2014.

• Over $200,000 on body armor spent by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration years, versus just $30,000 in the three previous fiscal years.

• More than $28,000 by the Smithsonian Institution on body armor for its “zoo police and security officers” in fiscal 2012.

Now let me be clear, I want the men and woman who are paid to protect my family to have the means necessary to do so, but wow.  Now my normal reaction would lead an uniformed, undecided voter to think I must be some militia member who is getting ready to storm and occupy a government building.  But in trying to embrace this new attitude of mine I just want everyone to look back into history and see how it could impact your future.  Liberals do not think we can or should protect our selves.  They see their elite ruling party as a humanitarian effort to keep us dumb little folks from killing each other.  Conservatives stand for self determination.  That we all have the capability to make it on our own with out a hand from your local body armor clad, tank driving, federal agent.  Lets motivate people to see that an active, informed public is a wonderful defense asset.  Lets ask them to remember why you do not want the government to control all of the might.  Lets ask them to remember why we are no longer a British colony.

Fight the new drug. Now I am going to be careful here not to suggest that you do not have the right to produce, buy, and sell pornography.  The first amendment gives us the right of free speech.  And just as I could say that I have the right to go on line and post things some may view as “hateful” others have the right to make porn.  We are a nation who allows controlled gambling, drinking, and recreational drug use.  For some reason though we have not wanted to address the real world ramifications of living in the twenty four hour a day on demand world of porn.  Look at what this independent study found.  The truth is being immersed in fantasy sex for hours a week has actual effects on the human brain.  For both men and women.

“This research found that internationally the consumption of pornography was associated significantly with both verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike,”

“growing evidence that porn harms” and that smut must be contended with if experts want to help prevent sexual violence, adding that there is increasing knowledge about the psychological impact of porn.

“It’s a new kind of addiction.”

Even without studies like this folks are starting to push back against the main stream acceptance of porn as normal.  Groups like Fight the New Drug are popping up and fighting back against the myth that porn is harmless.  Their Instagram page boasts over 65,000 followers, mostly young people.  The societal effects that pornography has on relationships and families is no joke, it is time we stopped treating it like one.

As always Redstaters thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.  This is as always an open thread so please discuss whatever is on your mind.  Take some time this week and try to focus more on telling the world what you are for not what you are against… and as always keep it classy Red State.