**Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard,
publish, and conceal not." - Jeremiah 50:2
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2Oi8 winner:, Best Serious Column - On the Porch
2018, 2OI7 winner: Best Humorous Column - On the Porch
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
"~. ~ y mother and step-father were visiting this
I~ li past weekend from Raleigh, N.C which is
,V,a long way from Forsyth. I m not just talk-
.A. ~ing about geographic distance.
Raleigh, where I spent the first 14 years of my life, is
the capital city of North Carolina and it's one of the most
socially and economically
upscale cities in the South.
Raleigh is the easternmost
point of the Research Triangle
Park, which encompasses three
major universities, UNC, N.C.
State and (throwing up in my
mouth) Duke.
The social center of the
city is the Carolina Country
Club, where the blue bloods
and the well-heeled play golf,
bridge and eat pimento cheese
sandwiches while planning ~~,~x~.~
their next trip to the coast or
the mountains. It's a beautiful
place with a lot to often But it's
very interesting growing up in a place like that, and then
raising my family in a small town in Georgia. One's not
better than the other. It's just different.
I asked my step-dad this weekend about a childhood
friend.
"Oh;' said my step-dad, "her husband is killing it in the
venture capital business. Her parents can spend all their
money because she won't need any of it." And that's how life goes in Raleigh.
I don't know many venture capitalists here in Monroe
County.
It's a common flaw of men that we compare ourselves
to others. It starts early. Kids consider who has the best
toys. Teenagers compare who looks the best, has the
coolest car or is the most popular. I'd like to say we grow
up and quit these silly games. But we know it's not true.
We just hide it better.
And so I havesome advice: If you worry you haven't
done well in life materially and don't have much, move.
We are moving from a neighborhood to the country here
in Monroe County. We had decided to de-clutter before
we put our house on the market to help it sell. And that's
when he learned that after 12 years in the same home,
we were a lot richer than we thought. It was a week-long
process. I filled my pickup truck bed no fewer than 20
times hauling our prized stuff to the Smarr garbage
dump and the Circle of Care, and just a l!ttle bit to stor-
age. That,was a month ago. Thirty days later I assure you
we haven t missed one thing that we carried out. You
don t realize how much you have until you have to move
it. And then you realize how worthless most of the stuff
we long for and covet really is.
That's not to say that having nothing i~ preferable to
having much. There's nothing glamorous about poverty.
But the main advantage of success and having money
is that people can then know by experience that while
money helps pay the bills, it does not satisfy our hearts.
There must be somethin+ g more.
Easter this Sunday tells us that man has a spiritual
nature that material success cannot satisfy. Easter tells us
that we were not made to live in prosperity, but to live
for eternity.
"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this
world can satisfy," wrote C.S. Lewis, "the most probable
explanation is that we were made for another world:'
But Easter tells us that another world is unreachable
for us. Our hearts are too wicked and sinful to deserve
to live forever in paradise. And that's why the God-man
had to suffer and die a bloody death on the cross 2,000
years ago.
"It is finished!" he announced.
His death and resurrection make us rich beyond mea-
sure. Happy Easter!
d~e Monrt~e C~nmly
www. MyMCR.net
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President. Robert M. Williams Jr Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-Treasurer
STAFF
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Publisher/Editor
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Business Manager
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Community Editor
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Publication No. USPS g97-840
PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyie Wingf+e+d
The 2019 legis-
lative
session
is complete.
Observers of the
goings-on~
though they
are fewer in
number than
they used to
be, are still at
work trying
to describe
and evalu-
ate just what
went on.
Me? I ve
moved on to
telling you
how to evalu-
ate next year's
session, and
the one after that. Tomor-
row's opinion toda~ you
might say.
Even better, I'm not going
to conceal my methods. I'll
share this less-than-mystic
power with yotL And so,
herewith, I vouchsafe the
metric: Future legislatures
shall be judged more favor-
ably if they pass fewer bills
like House Bill 83.
What dastardly thing,
you ask, does HB 83 do? It
mandates a daffy recess pe-
riod in Georgi~ elementary
schools, and "encourage(s)"
an allotment of 30 minutes
per day.
Now, don't get me wrong;
I'm pro-recess. Very much
so. Have been since I was in
/
kindergarten. I'm grateful
my own kids' school takes
not one but two recesses per
day in the earliest grades.
Why, then,
would I look
down on a
bill that gives
Georgi
schoolchildren
something I
myself have
supported and
appreciated for
some 35 years?
Here comes
the trick,
the part that
f does require
~/I~/~ one to gaze
across time
and space for
discernment. The problem
lies not with the bill itself,
championed ably and
tirelessly in recent years by
Rep. Demetrius Douglas,
D-Stockbridge, and lately
joined by Sen. JeffMullis,
R-Chickamauga,
The problem lies with the
very nece~qity ofm,-h ,~ k;n
We are told, and I will
stipulate to the notion,
schools across our state are
shortening recesses or skip-
ping them altogether The
main reason given for this
trend is high-stakes tes +ting:
Given a choice between
more taking instructional
time and trusting that burn-
ing some energy will help
students focus the rest of
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dole Lik r+s
MBany years ago persecuted throughout the
Ruth Graham world.
ill,y Gra-,Was Ruth Graham cor-
ams wife) rect when she sai&"If God
was quoted
as saying, "If
God doesn't
punish Amer-
ica soon, He
will have to
apologize to
Sodom and
Gomorrah:'
Shortly after
she said this,
Kay Arthur,
a teacher of
God's word,
was quoted
as telling
her listeners
throughout
America that America was
on the brink of losing its
soul.
Gov. Mike Huckabee of
Alabama has been rebuked
by some of today's candi-
dates for president of the
U.S. of America because he
believes in our Holy Bible.
He claims he does hot hate
homosexuals nor those
who abort their babies. He
truly loves them. Still he is
often referred to as homo-
phobic and has no right to
express his thoughts about
abortion.
Phil Roberson of the
Duck Dynasty television
show carries his Bible
wherever he goes and pulls
scripture from his Bible to
prove his love for God. To
some, he is a fanatic.
The world and America
have changed drastically.
Science has changed the
world of medicineoand
farming for the better. Auto-
mobiles are now driverless
and robots now vacuum
your floors. But what about
our morals today? Have
we changed our morals
so much that those of our
past would not recognize
America today? Has God
changed his word about
homosexuality? Is abortion
truly a woman's decision?
Many churches seem to be
rewriting our Holy Bible
toda Christians are being
doesn't punish
America soon
He will have
to apologize
to Sodom and
Gomorrah'?" To
understand Ruth
Graham and all
the others men-
tioned above,
one only needs to
look at American
politics today.
At this mo-
ment nearly 20
/~[2//e / 'k~ ~/~ men andwomen
are entering the
Democratic Par-
ty's bid for the president of
the U.S. of America. Almost
all are unabashedly push-
ing for a socialistic form of
government. Almost all are
desperately trying to prove
to their followers that our
form of government today
and our morals are no
longer accepted in America.
Even though she is not a
presidential candidate, Al-
exandria Ocasio Cortez (or
AOC as she is more often
referred to) explains in all
her wisdom that this world
of ours will only last another
12 years because Americans
refuse to do anything about
global warming. Cows must
go. Planes must go. Houses
need to be tom down and
rebuilt. A few other candi-
dates call Prime Minister
Netanyahu a racist because
he doesn't want the Arabs to
vote in Israel. One candi-
date claims Israel must be
defeated. "The Israelites are
full of hate!" he explains. Do
we no longer care that our
Bible tells us Israel is God's
chosen country, His chosen
people?
Pete Buttigieg, a mayor
from Indiana, has now
entered the scene. Of course
he moved up immediately
in the list of favorite can-
didates for the Democrats.
He proudly prodaims he is
a homosexual and is now
married to another man.
the day, school leaders are
choosing the former.
Standardized tests are a
useful tool, but there is some
truth to the argument that
government has attached
too much emphasis to them.
There is also a strong case
to be made that, beyond
this weighty expectation,
lawmakers have piled too
many other mandates onto
educators without increas-
ing the minutes in an hour,
or the hours in a da~; or the
months in a year.
(To those of you who read
my columns advocating
school choice and think I'm
just a public-schools "hater":
See? I do think y'all have a
point sometimes.)
Let's assume it's true that
testing and other require-
ments to blame for
kids' recesslessness. If so, a
mandate to reinstate time
for free play is not just an
unintended consequence of
those earlier policies. It is,
itself, bound to have unin-
squeezing a boJloon, that
which is displaced has to go
somewhere.
Maybe recess is worth the
displacement of something
else. And while I'm skeptical
Georgia will solve our child-
hood-obesity problem by
sending students outdoors
for 30 minutes a day - the
law does not (yet) require
them to actually run or
0
His demeanor is convinc-
ing. He has a pleasant look,
speaks many languages
~d is convincing to many
voters that he may be their
new messiah. Often visiting
television programs, such as
the Ellen Degeneres show,
where her audiences enthu-
siastically applaud him, he
has admonished those of us
who disbelieve in homo-
sexual marriages. Then he
challenged Vice President
Mike Pence (who has never
scolded Pete for his beliefs
but simply expressed his
own beliefs about homo-
sexuality and abortion) that
his disagreement with Pete's-
lifestyle should not be with
him but with God. Al-
though our Bible condemns
homosexuality, Pete believes
we need to get on board
and change our beliefs to
accommodate all, no mat-
ter what our Bible tells us.
Many Americans support
Pete Buttigieg's views.
Olhan Omar, a congress-
woman from Minnesota,
boldly daims that Israel
is our biggest enemy and
must go. Since she is a
proud Muslim other
representatives are afraid
to speak against her evil
voice. Many churches are
now supporting these bold,
new ideas as to what should
be accepted in America
and what should not be
accepted. Those of us who
disagree are now guilty of a
hate crime.
Some Hollywood super-
stars are now exposed for
paying others to take their
children's ACT and SAT
tests. Our media is still do-
ing everything they can to
bring down our President
instead of trying to make
America great again. Dan
Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A,
is being attacked for simply
giving his Biblical opinion
ofhomosexuali . Chris-
tians across America are
being harassed and con-
demned for believing abor-
tion is murder, especially
when a child has been born
and left lying comfortably
jump or do anything active,
and there are plenty of other
reasons for kids' expanding
waistlines - maybe it's worth
a shot.
lust keep in mind that
someone, somewhere,
thought the same thing
about whichever mandate(s)
led to the rarity ofrecess.
Ultimatd ; this is an exam-
ple of why I always return to
letting students and families
have more choices over their
education. Let educational
entrepreneurs experiment
with various ways to teach
and to run their schools. Let
parents decide which way
is best for their individual
child. Let teachers, as well,
decide which way is most
agreeable to them as they
survey a wider army ofjob
opportunities.
Let, let, let. Not mandate,
mandate, mandate.
Maybe, just maybe, giv-
ing students, families and
.even teachers more choices
would spur our dected offi-
a L -,-,ucrats alike to
give school administrators
more latitude in how they
operate.
The kids on the play-
ground might not be the
only ones who ended up
running freer.
The president and CEO
of the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation, Kfle Wing-
field's column runs in papers
around the state of Georgia.
r
until this child's mother and
doctor decide whether the
child should be allowed to
live or die.
But what about you and
me? Are we also caught up
in a world that laughs at
God's words? As Christians
do we now lock our per-
sonal beliefs and our deep
love for God in our local
churches never to speak His
word throughout our daily
lives? Do we truly believe
the first amendment--the
second amendment? Is it
fine to tell our dirty jokes
and only speak of God
when we swear? What
about the popular rap music
that uses filthy language to
describe our President? Are
you okay with that? Are we
ashamed of God?
I am not telling other
Christians they should be-
lieve as I do. However, I am
suggesting it may be time
Christians begin speaking
out as to why we believe
as we do. Do we believe in
homosexual marriages? Do
we believe in abortion? Do
our beliefs follow our t~ible?
Drugs are flowing across
our borders and killing our
children. Television and
intemet are full of indecent
sights and sounds. Speaking
out against these atrocities
and behaviors will cause
others to accuse us of hate
crimes. Are we bold enough
to stand firm in our beliefs
as Vice President Pence,
Dan Cathy; Mike Huckabee
and other strong Chris-
tians?
Until we do, I'm afraid
Ruth Graham may be
correct in what she has
said: If God doesn't punish
America for its dastardly
deeds then I would guess
He might apologize to
Sodom and Gomorrah.
On the other hand, I don't
believe God will apologize
to anyone or any nation.
I believe God has already
spoken. Now it's up to us.
God bless!
Dale Likens is an author
who lives in Monroe Count)z.
q.
