{"id":1540,"date":"2013-02-28T06:10:10","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T11:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2013-02-28T06:23:21","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T11:23:21","slug":"fire-brimstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1540","title":{"rendered":"fire & brimstone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years ago when I was still trying to figure this faith thing out, I remember observing a plethora of preachers and teachers.\u00a0 Never will I forget the man effusing fire and brimstone.\u00a0 You know the kind.\u00a0 Such are the ones who seemingly attempt to motivate you to follow God because if not, you will rot to death.\u00a0 You will burn in the blazing fires of hell; and thus, you will be eternally doomed.\u00a0 \u201cDoomed, I say!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The stereotypical fire\/brimstone address is therefore oft accompanied by unparalleled levels of enthusiasm… albeit also accompanied by rampant rage and rather angry, scary facial expressions (… did I happen to mention the doom?).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now it would be both fascinating and enlightening to have a conversation about the purported realities of hell.\u00a0 But the primary motivation for following God \u2014 investing in an actual personal relationship with him \u2014 is a love response for all he has done and continues to do.\u00a0 The heart of the Christian, in other words, is not one motivated by fear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So why do they do it?\u00a0 Why do some persons still employ the ugly, angry tactics?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because sometimes it works.\u00a0 It makes people move.\u00a0 Granted, it\u2019s an emotional response; but it\u2019s a response, nonetheless.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I observe current events, I can\u2019t help but wonder if some \u2018preachers and teachers\u2019 are also employing the tactic in non-religious sanctuaries.\u00a0 Watch what\u2019s happening with the so-called sequestration, scheduled to go into effect on Friday.\u00a0 Let us first objectively identify what the sequestration actually is.\u00a0 It is not actual cuts.\u00a0 The amount the federal government spends will still increase with sequestration in place; the sequester process only decreases the amount of the planned increase.\u00a0 Hence, there is little validity to too much disappearing.\u00a0 Yet note the many before the mics…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Sunday\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d Education Sec. Arne Duncan said \u201cas many as 40,000 teachers could lose their jobs.\u201d\u00a0 Such assumes the entire $2.8 billion in impending department cuts would come from teacher salaries, even though Duncan previously testified there would be cuts elsewhere.\u00a0 Also, according to FactCheck.org, \u201cthe bulk of teacher layoffs, if they occur,<\/strong> will be decided by the school districts (not the federal government) and happen in the 2013-14 school year (not the current one).\u201d <\/em>\u00a0[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last week Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood warned that we \u201cshould expect delays of up to 90 minutes at peak airports during sequester.”\u00a0 When then asked Friday why the airline lobby predicted no major impact on air travel from the sequester, he suggested the industry didn\u2019t have up-to-date information.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And yesterday, Stephanie Cutter, the spokesman for Pres. Obama\u2019s new political action committee, sent me the following:\u00a0 \u201cPrepare yourself for job layoffs, reduced access to early education, slower emergency response, slashed health care, and more people living on the street…\u00a0 If Congress fails to act, we’d see budget cuts pretty much across the board to critical services that teachers, first responders, seniors, children, and our men and women in uniform rely on every day.\u00a0 It sounds bad because it is.\u00a0 And with all these cuts on the line, why are congressional Republicans refusing to budge?\u00a0 Because to do so, they’d have to close tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires, oil companies, vacation homes, and private jet owners. I’m not kidding.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While the objectivity within that statement is certainly questionable, Ms. Cutter has a job to do; she is attempting to elicit a response.\u00a0 Granted, it may be an emotional response; but it\u2019s a response, nonetheless.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note that by most accounts of objective observers \u2014 meaning those who stand to gain nothing<\/em><\/strong> from the enactment or withholding of the \u201ccuts\u201d \u2014 the specifics and severity of the results are at best ambiguous.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know what will happen.\u00a0 They don\u2019t know what will happen.\u00a0 No one knows exactly what will happen.\u00a0 Pres. Obama does possess some leeway in how the \u201ccuts\u201d are actually administered.\u00a0 But since the \u201ccuts\u201d are only gradual decreases to planned increases \u2014 as opposed to the actual cutting of spending \u2014 the predictions of eternal doom seem misleading.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So why do some persons still employ these tactics?\u00a0 On all sides of the aisle?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because sometimes it works.\u00a0 Wise or not, it makes people move.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years ago when I was still trying to figure this faith thing out, I remember observing a plethora of preachers and teachers.\u00a0 Never will I forget the man effusing fire and brimstone.\u00a0 You know the kind.\u00a0 Such are the ones who seemingly attempt to motivate you to follow God because if not, you will rot … <\/p>\n

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