The Village Idiot

Please Kill Forever "Trickle Down" Economics

Okay, so last night during the debate, Sen. Obama presented a tax break for 95% of Americans; ones making less than $250k per year.  Sen. McCain discussed the need to reduce taxes on businesses (and the wealthy) in order to create jobs.

Look, as citizens, we're not stupid.  Not only are we left with a $10 trillion national debt post Bush II, we have the largest budget deficits in history.  Hence, although "cutting taxes" for everyone and on businesses makes for a great political speech, it is NOT realistic.  The money has to come from somewhere and I'd much prefer higher domestic taxes than continuing to borrow from China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

So, the debate between McCain and Obama;Republicans and Democrats comes down to:  who are you going to tax? 

Obama favors taxing the wealthy and businesses.  McCain favors tax breaks for the wealthy and businesses which is commonly referred to as "trickle down" economics (made popular during Reagan's term).

In a nutshell, trickle down economics works like this:  rich people are the ones who build businesses and create jobs for the common man.  Hence, if you give them, and their businesses, a tax break, it will create more jobs and a healthier economy.

Now, I'm not sure how so many smart people can be SO wrong!  Let's break down the idiocy of this theory.  Here's where they're wrong:

    - Rich people and entrepreneurs build business around consumer demand, plain and simple;  in other words, if there is a lot of demand for a product, savvy businesspeople will find a way to fulfill that demand and, in the process, will always make profit
    - So, let's assume we give a tax break to poor and middle-class.  Everyone knows it's the masses (poor/middle class) who drive the economy;  if you give them a tax break...what do they do with it?  They go out and BUY things.  What does this do?  It creates demand.  So, what do the businesspeople do?  They create businesses to meet this demand!  Trust me, as an entrepreneur, we have plenty of money to fund great ideas to meet consumer demand.  I can promise you, because we pay higher taxes doesn't mean we won't decide to open a business to fulfill consumer demand.  There is always profit there.
    - Now, let's look at it the other way.  Let's assume the wealthy and businesses get the tax break.  Guess what?  I make more money.  What also happens?  The masses are struggling to make ends meet and they're not buying things.  So, what do I do?  Well, since I have this extra money from the tax break, I'll invest it in a foreign market where the economy is growing because the masses are buying things.  There is no way in hell I'm ever going to open up a new business to "create more jobs" because there is NO domestic consumer demand.  How much simpler can I make this?

To recap:  if you give business owners and the rich a tax break, they'll take their 'surplus' and invest it in Swiss bank accounts or in foreign countries with growing economies.  However, if you give poor and middle-class the tax break, they'll spend their money in the US and then we'll all be scrambling to open up new businesses to take advantage of it...which...creates more jobs in the US.

Look, I'm not happy that I live in a country where I have to pay close to 40% on the earnings my company makes.  However, I'm also not happy that I live in a country with a $10 trillion debt expected to be $50 trillion in twenty years (that will work out to be $400k per each American household!). 

I can speak for many other entrepreneurs when I say: give us a strong America, give us a strong economy and we'll figure out how to make money in it.  Would we all like to keep more of the money we make?  Of course, but, this time, let's really put "Country First" and clean up our country's balance sheet.  Then I'll ask for a tax break.

This means business owners and the wealthy who have seen their incomes and net worth significantly rise in the last twenty years are going to share an undue burden in getting our country and our economy back on track.  And, I hope they're okay with this. If they're not, they don't understand simple economics. 

Don't try to "hold on" to your wealth; "grow" your wealth.  And, unless you're investing all your money in foreign countries, you should know the only way for us over the long-term to grow our wealth is to have a growing economy.  And a growing economy happens when we give a tax break to the poor and middle-class.

One other thing I need to mention:  Republicans love to talk about how a tax break for businesses (mostly big) will drive the economy.  I wholeheartedly disagree.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses drive this economy.  And who starts small businesses?  The middle-class!  Hence, if you want to help stimulate the economy, give a tax break to the middle-class along with more incentives to start small businesses and that's when you'll really see the market move. 

Honestly, for once and for all, can we please kill the concept of "Trickle Down" economics?  It doesn't work.  Never has and never will.

Gun Ownership

So, tonight, I'm in an email discussion with my brother, a proud member of the NRA (not to mention a great guy who enjoys both hunting and shooting handguns).  The discussion centered around whether or not the NRA is being 'honest' in its advertisements related to Obama. 

I believe the ads are distorting the truth and lying in many ways.  My brother feels the opposite.  And, his assertion is that, "far-left" Congressman will attempt to restrict 2nd amendment rights "as far as they can which "may not be very far but it all starts somewhere".

Forget the ads for a second, let's assume the NRA's ads are over 50% accurate.  As I was replying to him, a thought suddenly struck me:  "how is this country so far apart on this issue"?

I mean, seriously.  This is one of those issues, unlike abortion, where I believe we can all get around the table and figure it out.  This definitely shouldn't be a divisive issue that people vote on; especially in an election where we're dealing with much larger problems.

Let's look at the facts:  the 2nd amendment gives us the "right to keep and bear arms" because a "well-regulated militia is important to the security of the state".

In other words, forget about hunting and self-defense, let's assume this amendment is in the Constitution to allow the citizenry to protect itself from its own government through the use of well-regulated militias.  Back in the day, the  government had muskets and so did ordinary citizens.  In other words, had the US government tried to enslave US citizens or impose its will back in the late 1700's, it would've been a pretty evenly matched fight.

Let's fast forward.  Today, our government has the best fighter jets in the world, sophisticated missiles, tens of thousands of tanks, the latest combat technologies and bombs.  Nuclear bombs.  Okay, so the whole notion of the citizenry being able to protect itself from its government has long ago passed.  Hence, God bless James Madison when he submitted the Bill of Rights but I think we can all agree the "we need to protect ourselves against our government" argument probably needs to be thrown out.  Let's face it, unless we're all going to start parking tanks and developing nuclear reactors in our driveways and backyards, the government can pretty much have its way with us.

If guns aren't for protecting us against our government, then what are they for?  Two things:  hunting and self-defense.  A third possibly being "recreation", but that's an easy issue to deal with.

Hunting:  let's get back to the "far-left congressman" now.  I'm in agreement with my brother, as a country, we should enact no law that would infringe on the right of hunters and sportsmen.  This should be an inalienable right of all Americans.  Whatever reasonable firearms and ammunition they need to kill whatever they're going after, they should have a right to.  Absolutely.  Case closed.  As for "reasonable", people need to bring common sense to the table on this one.

Self-defense:  personally, I prefer security alarms and guard dogs than a loaded handgun in my nightstand but that's just me.  This is the sticking area.  NRA members believe the government shouldn't ban handguns because they need to be kept in the home and in their pockets for self-defense purposes.  Okay, let's come back to this point after a few facts:

    - guns in the home are 22x more often used to kill somebody you know than to kill in self-defense
    - guns are the weapon of choice for troubled individuals; there were 16,599 gun-suicide deaths in 1999; a gun suicide death happened once every 8 hours; imagine if your child committed suicide with your gun?
    - a gun in the home increases the likelihood of an unintentional shooting, particularly among children; because of lenient gun control laws in US, death rate for children under 14 years of age is NINE times higher in the US than the other 25 industrialized nations

Okay, these aside.  This is the area where the "lefties" need to give a bit.  Yes, in a perfect world, people wouldn't have handguns in their house because, most of the time, when used, they're not used in self-defense.  However, in a perfect world, we wouldn't have bad people either.

What folks need to understand and come together on is this:

    - everyone needs to drop the "well regulated militia" argument
    - "lefties" aren't trying to infringe on rights of responsible hunters, sportsmen and gun owners to keep guns for sport or for self-defense (although one could argue the danger handguns in homes presents is far greater than the times a handgun is used in self-defense...but we won't)
    - "gun activists" need to understand one of the roles of government is to protect its citizens and keep them safe;  maintaining regulations when it comes to both firepower and access to firearms is an important responsibility they have

Hence, a proposal would have these characteristics:

    - reasonable firearms used for sports and recreation are legal
    - handguns for self-defense purposes are legal
    - in order to own a gun, you must become certified (I remember when my Dad took me to get certified...great experience)
    - in order to own a gun, it must be registered

    - there's nothing wrong with background checks and certain time limits imposed before purchasing some types of firearms in some circumstances

And, finally, the nuances of this discussion shouldn't be at a national level.  In fact, in many cases, it should be at the city or county level.  The goal is to reduce violence and keep guns out of the hands of criminals.  It's not to restrict rights of responsible gun owners.  How two sides can't come together on how best to address this issue is beyond me.  And, specifically, how the NRA is almost unwilling to do any type of negotiating to help protect America's citizens from criminals while also protecting the rights of its constituency makes no sense.

At what point in our history did we lose all of our common sense and stop working together?

Abortion

Abortion.  The most socially divisive issue ever.  And the one issue Dems can't seem to get their heads around.  If the Dems could figure out this one issue...they would make a run on the administration for years to come.

Let's give it a shot:

Q:  What is your stance on abortion?

A:  I'm against it.  It's wrong.  It's immoral and unethical.  In fact, I don't know one person who is for abortion.

Do you know what the problem is?  Do you know how much time we spend arguing and fighting over the wrong-end of the problem? 

Imagine how much of a positive difference we could make if we all took our time, energy and resources and focused our efforts collectively on ending unwanted pregnancies?  On helping bring our daughters up with a strong image of themselves and enough self-respect to say no?  On making sure birth control was affordable (highest increase in abortion rates is from 20-24 women who can't afford birth control pills)?  On making sure condoms and birth control aren't considered social taboo to talk about? 

By sex and birth control being a taboo that we can't openly discuss in society and in our schools, we're depriving ourselves of the fastest route to start saving unborn children.  Let's come together and focus on what can help, reduce and solve the problem.

Let's determine:

    - why are so many teens having unprotected sex?
    - why are abortion rates highest among poor and disadvantaged women?
    - why are abortion rates higher among blacks?
    - why aren't we promoting adoption as an alternative?

People still found ways to drink under prohibition and they'll still find ways to have abortions.  It's very sad, but it's true.

However, let's not look to our government to legislate morality.  In the Republican led belief of "small government" and keeping government out of our personal business, let's let our government focus on keeping America strong economically, keeping us safe and providing a wonderful infrastructure.  Let's leave the social issues to our churches, our schools, our parents and our families.

Growing up, my community never looked to city council to tell them what right or wrong was.  We looked to our churches, our grandparents and our parents.  Contrary to what many believe, we are our brothers keeper. 

The Surge

Q:  Did the surge in Iraq work?

A:  Do you mean, did the increase in troops subdue sectarian violence?  Then, yes, it worked.

I really wish Sen. Obama would answer something similar to:

"Of course it worked!  How could it not?  Anytime you throw 25,000 new troops at a problem, most of them in Baghdad, it will subdue violence in that city in the short-term.  Just as increasing the number of police officers by 20% in America's cities brings down violence.  Of course it helped reduce levels of violence but did it really 'work'"? 

What's the real goal?  The goal is to find long-term solutions to the sectarian violence and establish both a working government and self-sustaining Iraqi guard and police force.

So, did the surge work?  It brought down the violence but it has not done little to address the underlying problems in Iraq.  It also allows Iraq the opportunity not to have to take responsibility for their own problems and we continue to spend $10 billion a month while our economy is in shambles.

Chickens are Coming Home to Roost

Gas prices continue to rise.  Home prices fall.  Unemployment continues to rise.  Banks are losing billions.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are looking for bailouts from the Fed.  And, when given, these bailouts will fall on the backs of consumers in the form of higher taxes, higher interest rates, a weakened American dollar and greater national debt.

In 1936, US debt was $0.  From 1938 to 1982, the US went from $0 to $1 trillion (tr) in national debt.

The Reagan years (1982-1988) saw  national debt increase from $1tr to $2.4tr.  The George Bush, Sr. term (1988-1992) went from $2.4tr to $4.1tr.  Collectively, these administrations increased our national debt $3.1tr. 

The Clinton years saw national debt increase from $4.1tr to $5.8tr; a $1.7tr increase (note the trend line flattened in his last four years with his balanced budget-- 2nd term increases were due to interest payments on the then current debt load; the majority of his increase was during his first term).

Since George W. Bush, Jr. has taken office, America's debt has increased from $5.8tr to $9.6tr currently with projections already escalating to more than $10tr by the end of his term; representing a $4.7tr increase.  In summary:

Reagan/Bush Sr.:      $3.1tr
Clinton:                     $1.7tr
Bush Jr.:                   $4.7tr

In the last 10 years, we've seen housing prices soar as banks lent high-risk consumers credit to purchase homes which increased demand.  At the same time, this increase in home values allowed Americans to borrow billions of dollars with their home equity as collateral.

As consumers account for 70% of spending in America, they fuel our economic engine.  And, without consumers spending, there's very little incentive for businesses to spend if no one's buying.  Without the ability for consumers to access credit, cheap or otherwise, it significantly slows down or retracts America's economy.  And, for the first time, the cycle of figuring out how to get credit in the hands of consumers has come to an end.  There's nowhere left to fund the "credit economy".  Our chickens are coming home to roost.

Traditionally, consumers made money, saved some and spent the rest.

Then, they made money, stopped saving it and spent it all.

Then they made money, spent all of it and borrowed from banks in the form of credit cards to fuel their lifestyles.

Then, with credit cards maxed out, they turned to the equity in their homes from a strong housing market and soaring home prices to continue to fuel their spending habits.

Once the home equity market dried up, the party ended and, for good or bad, there's no one left to fund the party.  Unless you count China, who I'm sure will be happy to keep allowing the US to borrow money.

The recent cycle:  Credit markets tighten.  Housing prices fall.  Banks stop lending money.  Consumers default on their mortgages.   Consumers default on their credit cards.  Banks lose money.  Banks leave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac holding the bag.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look to the Fed to bail them out.  The Fed taps its reserves to bail them out.  The Fed needs more dollars and borrows from other countries thereby increasing national debt; or it decides to print more money thereby weakening the dollar and causing inflation.

Either way, folks, we're out of money to lend to consumers.  And let's hope Wall St doesn't come up with any new types of securities as they did with the latest high-risk mortgage backed securities (CDOs) to figure out a new way to fund America's insatiable need to frivolously spend money we don't have.

Frankly, as long as oil doesn't continue to increase, nothing too catastrophic is going to take place as its in the worlds best interest to keep America's economy strong. However, we're in for a prolonged flat-lined economy and GDP growth.

As consumers, the gravy train fueling our spending habits has ended.  We'll be forced to live within our means and actually learn how to, as my parents always told me, "save for a rainy day".

The 'What' of Leadership

A friend sent me a compelling link today regarding 'leadership' published today in The Manila Times. It's incredibly insightful in light of the struggle in the Philippines to find the "right" and the "best " leaders over the past decades.  What I found most intriguing though is how easily this Op-Ed could have been written with "Philippines" replaced with "USA" and it be perfectly applicable and accurate to our current election practices taking place.

One day, we'll revert back to a character-based society that focuses on real issues versus a personality-based society that focuses on peoples' images.  Here's the link: The 'What' of Leadership.

"The Secret's" Lost Chapter

I've been impressed with the international success "The Secret" has received over the past few months.  I couldn't be happier that it has raised the level of consciousness and awareness to the power of manifestation of ideas, dreams and goals and the ability of this manifestation to make these dreams come true.  However, in many conversations I've had surrounding the aftermath of "The Secret", its apparent the movie misses two major and incredibly important points. 

This is not to say I find the movie a farce or I find it inaccurate; quite the opposite in fact.  I believe "The Secret" has done an incredible service to the world in helping change paradigms and move the level of consciousness forward.  And, had "The Secret" contained the two adjoining principles I'm going to write, I question whether or not it could've shared the commercial success it did.  The current version of "The Secret" is so appealing because it plays into one of the fundamental flaws in Western culture: the focus on money, material and fame making us happy.  "The Secret" spends a bit too much time focusing on the materialistic aspects of life such as "having wealth" or "owning a BMW".  Don't get me wrong, if one truly adopts The Law of Attraction which "The Secret" is trying to teach, these things can happen, but they're not guaranteed unless its line with the following principles. 

The following are two fundamental points which should have been included; I'll refer to these as The Lost Chapter:

Lost Principle #1:  Sometimes God Needs to Teach You a Lesson

The first fear I have from someone who watches The Secret is they will draw up a wish list of everything they want, begin reading it every morning and night, and then get frustrated if things don't start happening for them instantly.  Which is not to say things won't happen instantly (as I've seen them happen instantly many times).  A shortened version of The Law of Attraction is the following: determine what you want, put it "out there" in the universe, focus/meditate on it, open yourself/envision yourself having it and then work towards it.  Conceptually, if you do this, you will achieve your dreams.

However, the missing principle which is critically important for everyone to understand is this: in helping get you to your goal, sometimes you must experience hardship in order to prepare yourself to properly receive the things you want into your life.  And there is no time limit to this hardship; it can last years depending on the lesson(s) needed to be learned.  The Law of Attraction is entirely based on faith: faith in the Universe, faith in God, faith that what you want will happen in time.  The second you lose faith and allow doubt to enter your mind or spirit, it breaks down your energy pattern, subliminally communicates the wrong things around you and you begin to attract the same things you've been attracting for the last few years.

Once you start down the road of The Law of Attraction, it's incredibly important to keep at the forefront of your mind that "everything happens for a reason".  The good news is that now the "not-so-pleasant" things that happen to you in your life are happening to teach you something to move you closer towards your goal.  Before you understood the Law of Attraction and your individual purpose or mission, you were an actor playing out a supporting role in someone else's manifested movie because you didn't have a movie of your own to star in.  Once you decide on your purpose and dreams and employ the Law of Attraction, you have just created your own real world movie in which you're the primary character and others in the world become supporting roles to yours (the great thing, because of the synchronicity of, and the abundance in, the Universe, its possible for everyone to have their own movie and we'll all become supporting characters of each other).

If you're just given everything you want, without the proper lessons being taught of what to do with it once you have it, you'll waste it away and be back to where you were in no time at all (it's why most lottery winners end up poor after a few years--instant "anything" gets salted away and misused over time); and in such cases, the people are worse off for having achieved the riches than they were before they achieved them (it's why the suicide rate for lottery winners is much higher than the norm).

Hence, once you believe in and begin using the powerful Law of Attraction, don't expect life to be a bowl of cherries.  In fact, expect life to get tougher and, the tougher life is, the faster you'll learn life's lessons and the sooner you'll be on your way to achieving what you want.

Sidenote: In discussing the movie, one person asked me, "well, what about the tsunami in Indonesia or Hurricane Katrina, are you saying the world brought this on itself"?   In a way, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.  Disasters and hardships, whether they are personal or global, are incredibly meaningful in our maturation process to a higher level of understanding and spirituality.  I wouldn't want everything to always go my way...if it did, I wouldn't learn anything.  I wouldn't understand patience, I wouldn't understand how to believe in myself, I wouldn't understand the meaning of fighting for something I truly want and I would be robbed of the experience of feeling an incredible sense of accomplishment after, metaphorically, "going through hell" to achieve what I set out to do.

To take it one final step further: once I went through hell to achieve something and did it, it increases my belief in my abilities and allows me to achieve more and greater things. 

Welcome and embrace the hardships all the while knowing it's a fundamental step in your maturation process in allowing you to achieve anything you want.  This is incredibly important and fundamental to one's understanding of "The Secret" and The Law of Attraction.

Lost Principle #2: Your Goals Must be in Line with the Goals of the Universe

This one is simple: you're asking the Universe (the perfect Universe/the synchronized Universe) to conspire with you in achieving your goals and dreams. If you're asking for the help of the Universe, then your goals should be somewhat in line with the Universe's.  And, frankly, I really don't think the Universe cares whether or not I ever own a BMW.

Money, fame, success and all the similar ego-driven goals people envision for themselves are selfish in nature and the Spirit, world, Universe, in the long-run, doesn't reward selfish behavior.  It's not wrong to enjoy these things or value these things but they must be in line with a greater good.  The adage, "money doesn't buy happiness" is true.  In fact, the unhappiest people I know are the ones who dedicated their life to achieving wealth without a higher goal.  In other words, wealth/fame/success, in itself, is a spiritual dead end that leads to nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

So, The Secret should have taught that The Law of Attraction works much better (and faster) and creates lasting happiness and accomplishment when the goals you set are in line with the goals of the Spirit or Universe.  What are these goals?  I'm not one to believe they're humanly definable.  My faith and beliefs lead me to understand these goals revolve around moving society to a higher understanding of Spiritual awareness.  In the process of gaining Spiritual awareness, it leads one to understand the concepts of "love one another as Christ has loved you", "turning the other cheek", "thou shalt not judge", compassion for mankind and helping those less fortunate around you lead fuller, healthier and happier lives.  I'm also assured that gaining a million dollars, owning a mansion, driving an Aston Martin, or becoming famous are not part of the goals of the universe.

However, that's not to say these seemingly materialistic goals are not means to a greater end.  For instance, I desire to reform the education system in America.  To this extent, having enough money which allows me to take the necessary time off of a traditional job to allow me to focus on this greater good may allow me to help 'attract' the necessary wealth in my life to do so.  Or, allowing someone to become famous in order that they can use their pulpit of fame for a greater good is in line with the goals of the Universe (i.e. - Bono).

In other words, before you set out to write down the list of things you want to attract in life, take a moment to reflect and calibrate your goals with what you believe is good for the world around you.

In quantum physics, we understand the difference between high frequency waves and vibrations of energy and low frequency waves of energy (the lower frequency waves of energy being closer to the spiritual realm than higher/faster vibrations).  Materialism operates at a high frequency of vibrations which prohibits one from tapping into the Spiritual energy around us that helps the Universe conspire with us and helps us achieve our goals.  Hence, during your visualization or meditation on your goals, it won't resonate as well as goals more spiritually in line with helping others.

This isn't to say The Law of Attraction won't work for someone looking to attract money or fame into their life, but if you want to be on the fast track, do your best to listen to what the Spirit is trying to communicate with you (through relaxation and meditation) and things will come into your life faster than you can imagine.

Conclusion

Do your best to make sure your goals aren't completely self-centered and be sure to expect (and welcome!) hardships into your life so that you may learn new lessons that you need to learn if you're going to achieve your dreams.  If you do so, you'll grow much faster as a person and will be able to achieve and accomplish more than you've ever thought you were capable of achieving.

No Revenge

I'm amazed at the level of victory the Democrats enjoyed in the past election.  As in any shift in governmental power, this sea change offers an opportunity for true character and leadership to shine.  Democrats hold the power in their hands to show, not only Republicans, but also the American people what it means to govern with values and principles at their roots.

What is the most important thing they can do to help the country?

Purge any thoughts or desires of revenge.  It's natural to want to do to Republicans what they've done to the Democrats during the Bush administration.  Don't do it.  It doesn't help the country, it wastes our resources and takes time away from working on the important issues. 

In focusing on revenge and not fixing the issues that plague our country, the Democrats will lose office again in a few years.  Only through adherence to time-tested values and principles can success be sustained over decades versus a few years or elections.

In Leadership, there is no place for revenge.  The golden rule always prevails.

Fear Mongering Republican Ad

I'm not sure where to begin on this one.  So, I get a mass email today from Ken Mehlman, the RNC Chairman, touting the RNC's new TV commercial.  Being interested, I click to watch it (you can see it at www.gop.com). 

What I see is not only sick but downright offensive.  How can the RNC stoop to this level?  If this latest fear-mongering commercial doesn't scream "We're desperate and have no idea what else to do but use fear as a tactic to try and get America to vote Republican!", I don't know what else does.  Frankly, I'm embarrassed for the party and upset at what they're pandering to the public.

The spot uses quotes from Osama Bin Laden dating back to 1998 with the background being the sound of a ticking bomb.  It singles out quotes like, "kill the Americans", "inside America", "suitcase bombs", etc. 

The RNC is attempting to make terrorism the #1 issue in the 2006 election.  As a country, do we really believe terrorism is America's largest problem?  Only if you believe everything the RNC tells you.  And, interestingly enough, the irony in this situation isn't lost when the reason terrorism alerts are at an all-time high is due to the mis-guided foreign policies implemented by the Republican administration.

Once again, we have a political party reducing their message to the lowest common denominator of fear to feed to the general public.  Maybe I'm wrong in giving our society too much credit, but I believe we're a lot smarter than the parties give us credit for.  We don't believe that just because Independents or Democrats are in office that Osama Bin Laden is going to begin blowing up American buildings easier than he could right now. 

Frankly, America's done a great job at figuring out ways to protect ourselves and keep ourselves alert.  Now it's time to get back to fixing the real problems in America like our budget deficit, education and dependence on foreign oil. 

Amish Forgiveness

With everyone else, I watched in horror and sadness as the events of the Amish schoolhouse shootings were being reported. I felt absolutely sickened and mortified at what took place and have prayed for God to comfort the families of both the victim and the shooter.

However, even in the depth of my sympathy, I knew, unequivocally, what was going to take place.  The Amish were going to forgive.  They were going to give comfort to the family of the shooter.  And, at a time when the world most needs it, God, through the Amish, was going to set an example for what it truly means to live as a Christian.

For an excellent read on Amish forgiveness and the recap of a thank you letter to the Amish community published by the killer's wife, please visit Newsday here.

Disclosure: I was fortunate to have been born into a Mennonite home and raised in a Mennonite community in rural Ohio. I have distant family members who are Amish and I have grown up in admiration of their lives and values (for those interested, the Amish separated from the Mennonite Church in 1693; Amish history here).  Although separated, the Amish and Mennonites share the same fundamental beliefs.

Can the world today fathom forgiving someone who just killed your grandchild the day before?  Read here.  Can the world imagine family members of the slain children attending the funeral of the killer in a show of total forgiveness?  Read here.  Can the world imagine a murder where there are no court cases?  No one being sued?  Unfortunately, it can't.

In Luke, Christ offers the words, "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."  In Matthew, he states, "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well."  To the Amish, these aren't just words or phrases, they are a way of life.  And, in the depth and sorrow of one of the greatest tragedies in our country, the character of Christ has been shown to the nation and to the world through a group of people considered to be 'out of touch' with reality.

When I was fresh out of college and selling advertising for The Beacon Journal in Akron, OH, my territory included Holmes County where the largest settlement of Amish in the world live.  I remember one afternoon, sitting on a park bench talking to an Amish furniture maker and I asked him, "does it ever bother you that you don't have all the tools and items we have that could make your life easier and more efficient?"  He replied, "Sure...life isn't always easy being Amish, but I can tell you this, I'd much rather have my problems than your problems".  He was right.

I'll never forget that statement.

With all the high-priced luxury goods and technologies we have at our disposal that supposedly make life easy and comfortable for us, are we better off?  With the recent explosion in knowledge that we've received in the past few decades through the industrial, technological, biological and information revolutions, has it helped increase our level of character or integrity?

When it takes a sickening tragedy and what is probably considered to be the most backward sect of all Americans to teach us a lesson in character, in integrity, in moral values and what it means to truly forgive and love one another, it seems all of the recent revolutions leading us to this current state of 'enlightenment' hasn't gotten us anywhere.  In fact, it appears we've progressed in many tangible areas but regressed in most of intangible areas such as character, integrity, values, morals, etc.

From a character standpoint, it seems for every one step forward, we're taking two steps backward. Let's work with each other to not let the deaths of these beautiful and innocent children be in vain.  Although we'll never understand the "why" of God, we need look no further than the Amish community to catch a glimpse of what God is asking of each of us. 

Here is another interesting viewpoint on Amish forgiveness coming from The Manila Times:  here.