Shun the Shysters Update

I figured I’d give a quick update after my last post. Overall, the responses have been extremely positive. If I had to attach numbers to it, I’d wager 90% of the replies (email, online, text) were extremely encouraging and positive. Folks are genuinely sick and tired of non-critically thinking anarchists taking over entire city blocks, Marxists denigrating cops and their families, looting, non-socially distanced rioting, and tyrannical politicians destroying small businesses and jobs.

I don’t post on mainstream social media and likely never will, but if I did, I’d try and push #shuntheshysters, #metronashvillestrike, and #starvethestatusquo. Just for starters. Forget the silly recalls – as if the current system will produce any justice – and peacefully and disobediently hit them where it hurts: The stomach.

5% of the responses have been from the typical violence-philes and agents provocateur. Yes, I have a nose for detecting the difference between a wingnut and a cloak-and-dagger clown. Give it up already. Seriously. What we do in this life echoes for eternity, as Maximus Decimus Meridius so eloquently stated. Unleashing the dogs of war in the middle of Nashville – or anywhere else – solves nothing. You destroy the lives and livelihoods of innocents, which isn’t exactly going to win hearts and minds, Osama.

Lastly, there are the 5% who haven’t responded. I expected this, but not from some of the individuals. I tend to believe half of them are concerned but don’t want to rock the boat. The other half were likely appalled because it doesn’t fit the tightly knit narrative spun by the mainstream media and public officialdom. Both cases are understandable but unfortunate. I’ve been prepared to lose friendships along this road called Life, but it never, ever gets any easier. To all of you I say, good luck with everything and I send nothing but agape peace and love your way. I try every day to live my life according to Joshua 24:15. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. But at all times I pray on my path and stand with the courage of my convictions.

I cannot define how each man or woman should individually respond to these difficult and trying times, but I do believe that this author laid out the best case that Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God. Simply put, the detractors and naysayers would have had Moses and the Israelites remain under Pharaoh as slaves. That is not me. That was not Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. And if Pharaoh were alive today, he’d loved to have stripped us of the human touch (social distancing), non-verbal communication (Face Diapers), and freedom of movement (lockdowns, travel). It’s a dictator’s dream come true and make no mistake, none of this is going to end without demanding that Pharaoh let us go.

Unlike James Dean, I am a rebel with a cause. Now granted, I have positioned myself to be as much in control of my destiny as possible, and based on where all of the trends are pointing: Civil disorder, global cooling, economic decay, and dis-globalization/re-localization. But that does not mean that others have to take the abuse. Form local communities that tend to the needs of every neighbor. Aggregate knowledge, skills, and abilities such that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a win-win in that making new friends and voluntarily pooling resources can only provide positive examples to our kith and kin.

One last thought before closing time: My kids love the throwback memorabilia that I had in the 1980s. They frequently sit with me on eBay looking for PSA 10 graded Garbage Pail Kids and unopened, vintage Trend scratch and sniff snickers. I do this as much for them as I do for my nostalgia. On one of those occasions, my son looked over at me and said, “Dad, you really had it good. You and your friends got to play King of the Hill and trade cards. If we brought Garbage Pail Kids into school today, we’d get suspended or worse.”

That really hit home. That is what I want back. In the immortal words of Glenn Frey, “So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key. That’s me.” Stand strong in the knowledge that the Lord favors righteous indignation.

Vive la Liberté!

Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise