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| I am in Colorado Springs taking a class for work until Jan. 12th. I hear there is a lot of ice in KC. I am learning a lot. I am always really hard on myself and this affects the confidence I display. THis year I will speak positive things and try to look at all the good that is happening. I'm ready for some excitement and living life to the fullest! Cory | | |
| Whelp-
Below, I have posted an email I just recieved from my friend about the presidential election. I find it very insightful.
Cory
NOTE: We’re sorry this is long , but we feel it’s worth your time to read. (It should take about 15-20 minutes). We’ve done our best to only mention the most critical of the issues, and feel that each of them is important. However, feel free to only read the sections you feel are most crucial if you’re pressed for time. (We’ve included an attached Word file if that’s helpful).
The upcoming presidential election is likely the most important election of our lifetime. Many of you are a part of a generation that typically does not vote and is disinterested in the political process overall. Tens of thousands of people die every year fighting for the right to take part in the political process by voting. This email is meant to both encourage you to consider the issues and to act on your convictions by voting. The two candidates have vastly different views of the world and we (Mike and Josh) both feel strongly that one of these views is the correct one. We do not claim to be experts in every one of the issues we will be bringing up, but we have both spent many hours researching the many issues involved in this election and feel confident that the information we will be presenting to you is both accurate and relevant. Our intention is not for anyone to be offended and we are not trying to push our opinions on anyone – we simply want the opportunity to make our case and let you decide. We would also love to hear your feedback- what you’re thinking about the issues presented here, the election in general, and any questions you might have. Feel free to forward this email to anyone you feel would be interested.
The War in Iraq
We begin here because it is the most hotly debated topic in the political world. Our very good friend Peter Day was just sent to Iraq a few days ago, so this issue is important to both of us personally, as it is to the entire nation. Let us point out there are a few things we WON’T be talking about here: John Kerry’s service in Vietnam and George W. Bush’s in the Texas National Guard. Contrary to what the media might have you believe, what someone did or did not do 30 years ago does not make them who they are today. Like most of you, we count this true of ourselves, and afford the same grace to Senator Kerry and George Bush. The fact that George Bush might have gone AWOL or that he was a C student; or that John Kerry might have used Vietnam unfairly for political gain is completely secondary to their current stances, if relevant at all. Because of space, we can’t do justice to defending why this war was justified – so we will just try to point out the candidates’ positions. We’ll just mention that we feel it was justified simply by the fact (among others) that Saddam was a genocidal maniac who had ritualistically slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people. The UN had passed resolution after resolution that Saddam threw back in their face. As the world’s most powerful nation, the US had to rid that country of an oppressive regime that didn’t offer its citizens the most basic human rights.
That being said, there are a few things we must point out. First, George W. Bush did not “lie” to Congress or the UN to get the U.S. into war. Every major intelligence agency in the world, including the French and Russian, we should add, thought there were Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq. There is little debate about this. In fact, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, AND John Kerry are all on record at some point from Sept. 11, 2001 until around the time this campaign started as stating that Saddam had WMD’s and had to be stopped. They were all looking at the same information that the President was. No one lied – John Kerry included. They apparently were all wrong – and that scares us both as far as our intelligence agencies are concerned. Thankfully, our country is in the process of reforming these problems, but using the word “lie” when referring to this situation implies that all of the people mentioned are liars. Bush’s position is now clear. In spite of knowing what we now know, it was still the right thing to do. He remains firm in reminding us that war is never easy, and there is no question that the over 1000 lives lost is a heavy price to pay. However, a free and stable Iraq will literally change the world - which isn’t just Republican lingo. Think about it. If we had let Hitler overrun Europe during WWII, can you imagine how different of a world we would live in? What if Germany, France, and Britain were all now run by dictators? The Middle East is one of the most politically unstable parts of the world, and helping to secure Iraq will go a long way in stabilizing it. It is for this reason that Bush maintains that we must “stay the course.”
John Kerry stated in his campaign against Howard Dean that "Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein, and those who believe today that we are not safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president." He also said, “It was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein. And when the president made the decision, I supported him." A month ago, he also stated that even if he had known then what he knows now, he would have voted to go to war. So it would appear that he and the president would agree. But recently when asked "Do you think there are any circumstances we should have gone to war in Iraq, any?" Kerry responded: "Not under the current circumstances, no. There are none that I see. I voted based on weapons of mass destruction. The president distorted that." He also frequently makes comments ridiculing the President’s comments on links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda; yet in 12/2001, he said this: "I think we clearly have to keep the pressure on terrorism globally. This doesn't end with Afghanistan by any imagination. ... Terrorism is a global menace. It's a scourge. And it is absolutely vital that we continue (with), for instance, Saddam Hussein." (Quotes are from the Houston Chronicle -http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2802821). We wish we knew what John Kerry’s position on the war was so we could discuss it. The problem is that he leaves us with no clue as to what he believes in his core about this issue – if he has a core belief about it at all. This is NOT what we want out of a commander in chief during a time of war.
Domestic Policies
The largest issue within Domestic Policy is probably Health Care. Again, we can’t go into too much detail. Painting with a broad brush though, John Kerry would prefer the government take a larger role in Health Care, and Bush would prefer to give the people more control. There are things in Kerry’s plan that are good, but we feel there are 2 points of Bush’s plan that are particularly worthy of mention. For one, his emphasis on reforming tort liability will go a long way to bringing down ALL of our health care coverage. When people start suing doctors like crazy, as is happening in this country, those doctors do one of two things. They either leave the profession because it’s not worth the hassle or risk (which causes the supply to go down – pushing prices up) or they have to raise their prices because of the exorbitant prices they have to pay in their own malpractice insurance. Either way, it’s bad for you and me. President Bush has stated over and over that he will be all over these frivolous lawsuits like white on rice. And as W likes to point out, the reason you never hear John Kerry talk about this is because his VP John Edwards was a trial lawyer helping to drive these costs up.
In addition to this crackdown, Bush also wants to enact legislation that would allow small businesses to band together to buy insurance at more reasonable rates. Many of you probably work for small businesses that aren’t able to offer you good insurance premiums because they don’t have enough buying power with insurance companies. You would see a direct reduction in your costs, and small businesses would see a direct increase in profits (profits for small businesses translate quickly into more quality jobs). Lastly, Bush is supporting creation of a national HSA (Health Savings Plan) that would allow people to buy insurance and basic health care costs with pre-tax money. These plans help to reduce waste of people spending money on health care they don’t really need. If we were forced to pay for health care with our own money (that we had been allowed to save pre-tax), we wouldn’t be so inclined to seek health care in un-needed areas. Again, the difference here is in putting the control back in the hands of families, not government. I read John Kerry’s website to see what his health care policies are. Sounds great – “Affordable Health Care for all”, $1,000 off of every family’s health care premiums, etc. The question is – where does this come from … because the website doesn’t say that. There is no way to provide that for people without raising taxes. They’re going to have to take $1,500 from you, waste $500 in bureaucracy, and then give you $1,000 back on your premiums. The Government should not be in the health care business. They should be governing the health care industry.
We wish we could talk more about education, because we both view it as crucial for the success of any society. Both candidates have some good ideas on education, but we just want to point out the success of the President’s major education initiative – the “No Child Left Behind Act.” Some have questioned its success, but there is no question this bill has led to thousands of schools being held responsible to achieve certain performance objectives. In addition, these objectives are held regardless of race. The “soft prejudice of low expectations” crushes the self-worth of urban kids and causes them to grow up expecting less of themselves. This program is a great first step in eliminating poor performance across the board.
Social Issues
Although there are a number of issues we could focus on here, we will limit it to two: Abortion and Homosexual Marriage. Both of us are committed Christians and most of you know and respect this. Likewise, we respect your right to disagree with us, but please understand that our convictions on social issues stand under the authority of the Bible. We also believe, however, that there are societal reasons why you should consider what we are saying here. During the next presidential term, up to three Supreme Court justices will be retiring. Appointed to serve life terms, the newly appointed justices will be chosen by our next president and will have a huge impact on the direction our country will take on these two issues.
First and foremost, the primary responsibility of government is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. This is true in the case of the disabled, the orphaned, and those abused by oppressive foreign governments (i.e. Iraq, Sudan). The unborn are those most in need of that protection because they are the most vulnerable. The debate about when life actually begins is beyond the scope of this email, but we both feel the evidence is astounding in defense of it beginning at conception. Let us just mention this one point: In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court stated that human life began when the baby could live on its own outside the mother. In 1973 when the decision was handed down, that was estimated at approximately 28 weeks. Today, some scientists put that number at as early as 10-12 weeks thanks to modern medicine. Therefore, the “viability” argument is changing with changes in technology. There is no reason to believe that further innovations won’t push this number closer and closer to the date of conception or at least the date when the mother learns that she is pregnant. Surely we do not believe that life’s value is proportionate to the state of medical technology.
The reason that we leave the beginning of life debate at that is that both candidates are on record stating that they believe life begins at conception. Because of this, we don’t feel it necessary to show from the Bible that abortion is wrong (see most clearly Psalm 139). Both candidates agree that “it is against their religion.” George W. Bush stands firm on this belief. He is committed to appointing Pro-Life Supreme Court Justices and helping fight for Pro-Life legislation. John Kerry has stated that as a Catholic, he holds to the belief of life at conception, but cannot enforce this morality on the rest of the country. To this we say one simple thing: there is no law that is not inherently moral. Laws by definition state what one should or should not do for the good of society, and laws protecting human life are fundamental to society. If John Kerry views life as beginning at conception, why does he not also believe that women should have a choice to kill their toddlers or teenagers when they are inconvenient? If a fetus is alive, they have the same moral right to life that you and I have that is protected by laws against murder. To argue about when life is conceived is one thing; to believe that the baby is alive before birth and not to stand up and protect their rights is quite another, and reflects poorly on a leader’s ability to act on their convictions.
Homosexual marriage is also a hotly debated topic that we feel is worthy of mention here. At the outset, let us mention two things. First, we believe it is clear from God’s design in creation that the institution of marriage is foundational for the success of any society. It is significant then that God created the marriage relationship to be between a man and a woman. This was not a coincidence. God created the woman because he saw that it was not good for man to be alone, and that he needed a companion. Secondly, we are not “homophobes.” Homosexuality is clearly described in the Bible as a sin. Let us point out here that we are all sinners. Mike sins, Josh sins, and so do all of you. We are not attempting to discriminate among sinners by saying their sin is “worse” than ours.
However, Government has a role in protecting an institution more fundamental to the success of society than government itself: the family. Therefore, there is more to this protection of marriage act than just homosexual marriage. If government doesn’t clearly define and defend marriage, what’s to stop us from coming to accept polygamy as an acceptable “alternative lifestyle”? After all, if I’m pre-disposed to adultery, who are you to tell me that’s wrong and that I shouldn’t just be able to marry all of my lovers? Not only is polygamy wrong morally, it is also clearly bad for society. Society’s very existence is dependent upon God’s design in family to effectively govern itself and to pro-create. God’s design for the family is restricted to one man, one woman. NOT one man, one man. NOT one woman, one woman. NOT one man, two women. This also has implications for how the government views divorce, which we feel could use some reform as well.
Both candidates say that they are against homosexual marriage. Bush, however, as you have probably heard, has fought for the federal marriage amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. Kerry, on the other hand, wants to leave the decision to individual states, in a break from typical democrat politics. Normally, we would agree with leaving most issues for the states to decide, but this does not make sense in this case. If a couple marries in a state that allows same-sex marriage, all other states must recognize it as valid according to the “full faith and credit” clause of the Constitution – regardless of the will of the citizens of that state. This makes no sense for society and necessitates an amendment to the Constitution in order to make marriage uniform from state to state. Kerry also argues for civil unions while Bush opposes them. Civil unions are nothing more than another word for marriage; the obligation of government is to protect the institution of the family – not simply the name of the union. Under that system, it wouldn’t be long before heterosexual couples would begin to use civil unions as a way to have all the benefits of marriage without any of the commitment, further devaluing the most foundational institution to our society.
Economy
This is an issue dear to Josh’s heart because he is currently teaching economics at Trinity University. There are many issues we could discuss here (the tax credit, funding for community colleges, tariffs, interest rates, etc.), but for the sake of space, we’ll only talk about the one that gets the most press: jobs. Bush has been widely criticized for being the first president since Hoover to have lost jobs since the beginning of his presidency. There are many reasons why Bush has in fact done a good job in this regard.
First, it’s important to understand that the current unemployment rate is 5.4%, which is barely above the natural rate of unemployment and is phenomenal considering the incredibly low inflation we are currently experiencing.
Secondly, the reasons for the losses of those jobs were not bad policies, but rather events beyond the president’s control. September 11th lost anywhere from 1-2 million jobs, depending on which economist you ask. The corporate scandals at Enron and WorldCom, which actually took place under President Clinton’s term, were discovered during Bush’s term and resulted in a huge blow to the economy as a whole, much less to those two huge companies. The country was in a recession (from Clinton’s term) when Bush took office and there is a time delay for when a country goes into recession and when companies start cutting jobs.
Thirdly, we must consider the “Tech Bubble.” The explosion of computer technology/dot com companies during the Clinton years created hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, it wasn’t long before these companies went under because they were not producing anything of value to society. While it seemed that the economy was benefiting, by the time Bush took office, the Tech Bubble had burst. This was no fault of a president (or the government at all, including Clinton), but rather a failure of the market to adequately assign resources.
Lastly we would like to talk briefly about outsourcing. Politicians love to talk about outsourcing because when they say that they are “protecting jobs,” they sound compassionate. What they mean when they say this is that they are protecting American jobs. As the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, the president of the United States has a responsibility to establish free trade policies that promote justice throughout the world. John Kerry advocates tax breaks and tariffs to companies who keep their jobs in America. These policies would impoverish entire third world countries. Let us give you a simple example. If the U.S. were to place tariffs (import taxes) on cotton brought into the country from Africa in order to protect American cotton farmers, those African cotton producers would no longer be able to compete. When an African loses their job, they starve. When an American loses their job, they go get unemployment. The best situation for everyone is for companies to move jobs to the nation that can best produce its products. This leads to two important economic outcomes. 1. The United States consumer is able to buy products cheaper (i.e. they can buy their cotton from Africa cheaper than they could in America). 2. Those United States cotton farmers can get government money to fund their education in a new industry in which the U.S. is the best producer – i.e. technology, healthcare, etc. We understand that this places hardships on the American working person, but we have a system in the U.S. that takes care of them in the short run (unemployment) and benefits everyone in the long run. Bush is a strong advocate for free trade AND for government funding of education programs that reallocate workers into new industries. While we do not agree with every trade policy Bush has endorsed, he is a strong advocate for free trade in general and his policies have vastly improved the economies of impoverished countries and given the opportunity to continue, will improve ours in the long run.
Conclusion
Like we said, we wish we could write more, but we certainly welcome comments, counterpoints, or questions. We’ll do our best to respond when we can. We’ll close by acknowledging that there are things about Bush we don’t like. He has made mistakes. No doubt about it. But so have all of us. True leadership comes from building a set of core principles, sticking with them when times get tough or political winds change, and learning from your occasional mistakes. We are uneasy about not really knowing John Kerry’s core. James Carville once asked then-President Bill Clinton, “What is the ‘box’ you will NOT go out of?” We have no idea what John Kerry’s box looks like. We don’t know what he stands for – only that he stands strongly against President Bush. Right or wrong on his convictions, we can’t support a president who holds a fundamental conviction (that a fetus is alive) and won’t stand up to defend it because it isn’t in the party line. President Bush is losing a lot of friends (even among Republicans) for his strong stances on the War in Iraq and the protection of traditional marriage. But at least he’s standing up. For this, we respect him and will support him in spite of his mistakes.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this email, and we pray that America would bless God.
Veritas,
Josh Nottingham and Mike Brown. | | |
| Okay, finally I am back from not writing. So it is weird not seeing you folks at school any more. Let me tell you about a taumatic thing in my life. Tonight my best friend Derek is coming to town. He will leave for New jersey on Friday to work at a camp. After the camp he could except a job that would be traveling across the country until November. he and I have had some weird times. We dated senior year of high school untill Freshmen year of college and then broke up, but still talked all the time! Basically, we acted like we were dating, but we didn't have that label (please do not do this-it saves a lot of harm in the end). We have both still liked each other, but I have had my doubts-so that is why i never said we could date again. he and I get a long so great, but the way we were raised was pretty different. I want a mate (you can laugh that I just said mate) who allows God to be everything. We can all try to let God be everything to us, but it takes time for this transformation to occur. there are areas in my life that I'm sure I don't even know about that I try to control myself and do things selfishly. More and more Derek is letting God take back control of his life, but I jsut don't feel ready to commit to dating. i have searched my mind and soul trying to figure out why I don't feel ready and i think it is because I am still very curious as to what dating other guys is like. I haven't really dated anyone else since Derek. Not to sound like i am feeling sorry for myself, but the opportunities to date other people just didn't happen. No one has asked me. I thought I was being open to other relationships, but maybe I haven't been. I think I build up a wall when it comes to meeting guys my age. I think I put up a front that I don' t want you to think i like you so I will act like I don't. Derek and I have thrown around the idea of not talking for this summer so that I can see what it is like to not be dependant on his relationship and to figure out what I really want. I have been thinking and I think he and I should perhaps not talk even through November. The summer doesn't seem like long enough. So he and I have to talk about that tonight and it is sad. it will be hard for both of us. But I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the long run. these are the deep thoughts of Cory Fisher.
i hope i will run into you guys soon because it won't be long before i am off to work at a Young Life camp for a month-July 23-Aug 14.
This weekend i am going to St. Louis with my family | | |
| Just got back from the Royals game-we lost... My friend from college and I decided to go at 7:00 and the game started at 7:10. We got there in the 4th inning which is the perfect time to get there really, because you know why? FREE PARKING-and that saves 10 whole dollars!! I ate nachos. Tomorrow, my house is getting exterminated. I can't be here for a lot of the day.
Just wanted to give a shout out to all of my BVHS comrades. I am glad I have met all of you. Thanks for letting me read about your lives on your sites. I haven't quite gotten used to feeling free to write all my thoughts and what not-and I only check this about once a week at the most. But keep the comments coming.
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| I had the best conversation I have ever had on Saturday night. I was with my best friend, Derek, my good friend Meredith and her boyfriend and some of Derek's theater friends from K-state-we talked over coffee until 2:00 am at the bar and coffee house. We talked about Jesus, the Bible and the whole meaning of life and my eyes were opened to a lot of things and I am going to process that now-so sorry if it is confusing. I have always considered the whole Bible the "word" of God, and I still believe that God knew that these other letters besides the gospels were going to end up being in the Bible and He totally wanted them there and agrees with them, but the actual "word of God" is actually what Jesus says in Matthew, Mark luke and John and the Old testament through prophecy (because it came true thousands of years later.) The other books of the new testament were written by people who hung out with Jesus so they knew what he was all about, but they were people. I think it is so important to concentrate on what Jesus says because He is GOd. He is all about love and that is our whole purpose on this earth. TO love GOd and to love others and when you think about it everything can be measured by those 2 things. For example, lying. You are not loving that person if you lie. Feeling inadequate next to a pretty girl-you are not loving yourself or God because you are telling the maker of the universe that he messed up on you and made mistakes to make you look not as attractive as someone else. He's God, He can do what ever He wants. What a cool God. Love is good and that is what He is all about. He loves us so much and so many times I just think He is looking at me with a mean and disapointed face. Sure, we can do things that are not what He intended for us, but we just look to HIm to be able to learn from it and move on-and his love hasn't changed. Okay, really I am not preaching jsut reflecting on this life and that conversation. I wish everyone could have been a part of this conversation!
Brian, you missed out on the most fun night ever, but I still like you!!! THere was a lot of Blue Valley representing at YOung Life club tonight and Paige got to come for the first time. I am kinda on an adrenaline rush. I have the greatest job ever. Britany I missed you! I am such a dork I show my room to every one who comes to the house. I think that is a bit prideful, because I like my room so much. It is just a room, but I also feel like it shows who I am. Today I met with my new boss and we decided we are going to have people donate 10-12 chase lounges and put them by the lake outside my house and have 1-2 days a week where guys and gals can come lay out and play sand volleyball. I am so excited that this house will get to be used! | | |
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