Dissecting Intolerance

“We are much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family owned business, a family-led business. We are married to our first wives and we give thanks to God for that.” These words were printed in the Baptist Press on July 14th, reportedly said by Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy.

These are the most volatile, intolerant words probably ever spoken though there is not one word showing intolerance.

 Let’s take a look at a few more quotes that evolved since the BP report. Rosanne Barr had this to say, “Anyone who eats at S**t-fil-A deserves to get cancer.”

In a drive-thru video posted on YouTube, one anonymous man berated a Chick-fil-A employee by saying, “I don’t know how you work here. This is a horrible corporation with horrible values.” The cashier responded with a very intolerant, “It’s my pleasure to serve you.”

MSNBC correspondent Jonathan Capehart urged protesters to burglarize the food chain. Now, that’s tolerant and mature. The Daily Show’s John Stewart used words I can’t repeat in this column to show his tolerance toward the company. MSNBC’s reporter Thomas Roberts referred to gay rights supporters who eat at Chick-fil-A as “chicken-eating Judases”.  He was being tolerant of people who share his own views on gay rights. 

In a Torrance Chick-fil-A someone vandalized it posting a picture of a cow and a sign that said, “Tastes like hate.”

Vice President of Marketing, Steve Robinson issued a statement after all the brouhaha saying, Chick-fil-A appreciates all of its customers and “is glad to serve them at any time.” Yep, that sounds pretty hateful.

Then there were the complaints that Chick-fil-A uses a small portion of its profits to support Christian organizations. How intolerant can they be!? Using their own money to support causes they believe in.

Gay activist Luke Montgomery of Los Angeles, said that Jesus Christ never said anything about gay people, and Cathy should open the Bible before he opens his mouth.” He went on to say, “We have separation of church and state. It’s great if they want to have their religion, but it should not interfere with our civil rights.”  Huh? Chick-fil-A is neither a church nor a government entity, and Cathy never mentioned the name of Jesus Christ.

Just for the record, there are places where Jesus addresses the issue by directing us to the Law of Moses. And the Apostle Paul explains things quite clearly in Romans 1. 

But the point here is who has shown the most tolerance? One man shared how God has worked in his own personal life.  That’s all he did.  Never once did he show any distain for anyone else.  He was merely talking about how God had worked in his life. Because of that he has been labeled has a homophobe, among other things, by people who are threatened by his life style. These traditional-family haters remind me of something else I read in the Bible, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the writers group.

Good commonsense protects our freedom

How many freedoms are Americans willing to sacrifice? How many decisions are we willing to let our government make for us? How many laws are on the books that wouldn’t be there if we all just used commonsense?
Let’s take texting while driving, for example. It’s a national epidemic.  According to The Center for Disease Control, one-third of today’s teens reported in a survey to texting while driving. There ought to be a law. Oh wait, there is. Roughly 44 states have enacted some form of texting-while-driving law. But it’s not just teens who participate in such activity.  I’m amazed at how many adults I see looking down at their laps with one hand on the wheel and their brain disengaged from road.
Other laws that take away our freedoms to use common sense include seat belt laws, public smoking laws, speeding laws, and driving without headlights laws. 
Thinking people will never get cited for violating them.  We really don’t think of them as a lessening of our freedoms.
Let’s take a look at laws that have had to be passed over the centuries that have taken away freedoms.
The second Amendment was ratified in 1791.  Governments have been trying to limit guns ever since, with great success. Gone are the days when Charles Ingalls would grab his shotgun and head out the door to protect his little house on the prairie.
For the most part gun laws have been put in place for our own protection. The National Firearms Act brought about the first major gun control in 1934.  It was established as a direct response to the rise in gangster violence. Since then there has been thousands of gun laws established at the Federal, State and Local levels. Each new law chinks away at our personal freedom to own guns.
During a recent news interview a proponent of open field target shooting was upset because his right to do so is being suppressed during this wicked fire season.  It was determined that some of these fires were caused by such activity.  His comment was something like, “Because of the carelessness of the few we all have to suffer.”
He drove home my point.  It is either because of carelessness, lack of common sense or sheer disrespect for human life that everyone’s rights are winnowed away.  Authorities have to protect us…from us.
The city of St. George made at least two mass telephone calls to residents to let us know that aerial fireworks were prohibited over July 4th due to the high fire danger.  There were still numbskulls shooting off aerial fireworks.  There was even a city-sponsored fireworks show.  Go figure.
As long as we continue to show our lack of commonsense and do stupid things, we will, little-by-little, give our freedoms to make good decisions over to government entities.  Eventually, we will become a people who is comfortable only when someone is thinking for us.  Soon we will become like the characters in Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver. 

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.

Lesson learned: dogs need boundaries, too

We recently made a move from a two-story house in Santa Clara Heights to a single story in St. George, for which my bad knees and neuropathetic feet are very grateful.

After moving we had to reinstate the drip system our Labrador puppy had dismantled at the Santa Clara house when she was a young one.  Winnie celebrated her first birthday last month, and has matured (or at least grown)…somewhat.

Little did we know that while we were repairing her masterpiece of a destruction job in Santa Clara, she was “remodeling” the back yard at the new house more to her liking.  Within a matter of days, Winnie managed to remove all of the drip hoses from the trees, frustrating but fixable.  She then went to work on the bigger job of disconnecting the main sprinkler lines from both the front and back yards.

This was quite a feat considering she had to locate the lines under dirt, rock and paper.  She has a very keen and precise sniffer.

Needless to say, my husband had had enough, and the order of the day was to find a new home for Winnie.  But there are not many folks who want to adopt a juvenile Lab who has a mind of her own and a seemingly less-than-teachable spirit.

Not willing to take her to an animal control shelter, we amended our thinking.  She was no longer allowed in the back yard unsupervised and she would make more trips to doggy daycare. We also reinforced our new sprinkler lines with a six-inch deep ditch, wire mesh, more paper, rocks and dirt, which, by the way, she’s already started to work on.

When we weren’t home, she would stay in the house. Before we would leave the house we took Winnie out in the backyard and run her legs off so she would be tired enough to take a nap.

This last step seemed like a good one until we came home to a chewed up Dish remote control and half-read paperback.  It was then we realized that Winnie’s separation anxiety issues were much deeper than originally thought.

We were left with two remaining choices: hire a doggy therapist or buy a crate.  Calculating the cost of these two options I hit the internet to learn how to crate train a wayward pup.  We purchased our crate and set out to save the world from mass destruction, at least our little corner of it.

I have become a firm believer in boundaries.  Winnie eats her meals in her crate, and she is confined there when there is no one home.  The wire crate has become a         

And to my delight and surprise, Winnie likes her new boundaries as much as I do.  She has a plethora of new chew toys, some of which hold hidden edible treasures to keep her busy while confined.  Winnie has even managed to find favor with Mr. Tommer. Yes, miracles do happen.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the writers group. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

Lesson learned: dogs need boundaries, too

We recently made a move from a two-story house in Santa Clara Heights to a single story in St. George, for which my bad knees and neuropathetic feet are very grateful.

After moving we had to reinstate the drip system our Labrador puppy had dismantled at the Santa Clara house when she was a young one.  Winnie celebrated her first birthday last month, and has matured (or at least grown)…somewhat.

Little did we know that while we were repairing her masterpiece of a destruction job in Santa Clara, she was “remodeling” the back yard at the new house more to her liking.  Within a matter of days, Winnie managed to remove all of the drip hoses from the trees, frustrating but fixable.  She then went to work on the bigger job of disconnecting the main sprinkler lines from both the front and back yards.

This was quite a feat considering she had to locate the lines under dirt, rock and paper.  She has a very keen and precise sniffer.

Needless to say, my husband had had enough, and the order of the day was to find a new home for Winnie.  But there are not many folks who want to adopt a juvenile Lab who has a mind of her own and a seemingly less-than-teachable spirit.

Not willing to take her to an animal control shelter, we amended our thinking.  She was no longer allowed in the back yard unsupervised and she would make more trips to doggy daycare. We also reinforced our new sprinkler lines with a six-inch deep ditch, wire mesh, more paper, rocks and dirt, which, by the way, she’s already started to work on.

When we weren’t home, she would stay in the house. Before we would leave the house we took Winnie out in the backyard and run her legs off so she would be tired enough to take a nap.

This last step seemed like a good one until we came home to a chewed up Dish remote control and half-read paperback.  It was then we realized that Winnie’s separation anxiety issues were much deeper than originally thought.

We were left with two remaining choices: hire a doggy therapist or buy a crate.  Calculating the cost of these two options I hit the internet to learn how to crate train a wayward pup.  We purchased our crate and set out to save the world from mass destruction, at least our little corner of it.

I have become a firm believer in boundaries.  Winnie eats her meals in her crate, and she is confined there when there is no one home.  The wire crate has become a         

And to my delight and surprise, Winnie likes her new boundaries as much as I do.  She has a plethora of new chew toys, some of which hold hidden edible treasures to keep her busy while confined.  Winnie has even managed to find favor with Mr. Tommer. Yes, miracles do happen.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the writers group. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

Santa Clara Kidnapping

The recent kidnapping of a young girl in Santa Clara has people talking.  Kids are talking at the schools.   People are talking in the Vent. Even The Spectrum & Daily News editorial board had their say on the topic. 

I’ve made a few observations of my own. First let me say to the victim, you are a very strong young woman.  You fought back and got yourself to safety.  That took a lot of guts. You chose not to be a victim. You go, girl! By taking charge of your situation and taking the opportunity to escape, you very well may have prevented these perpetrators from doing something else stupid.

Some have referred to this stunt as a prank, performed by otherwise innocent boys who don’t get into trouble.  Well, good boys don’t just randomly kidnap people. Even the victim’s father, under pressure from others I’m sure, referred to them as “good kids who made a huge mistake.” Seriously? It’s okay to be angry about this and to expect these “good kids” be held accountable to the extent of the law.

The victim has gone from enjoying a jog in her neighborhood to sleeping in her parents’ bedroom, and has not returned to school. It’s not just the trauma of the initial crime that she is dealing with. There are lasting ramifications.

Had that been my daughter, I would not be going from “furious” on the night of the incident to “I hope they realize their mistake someday” in a week’s time. There can be room for forgiveness and expectation for strong punishment to coexist.

 And why were they not held by authorities that night? If I received a call saying that my son was picked for locking a girl in the back of his truck and driving her around my first response would be keep him overnight and call me in the morning.  A night in detention would allow him to realize what a stupid thing he did, and allow me to cool down long enough to come up with a proper punishment. 

It would start with the relinquishment of his keys and the selling of his truck. Then it would move to a face-to-face apology to the victim and her family.  I would not consider asking them not to press charges.

I don’t care if these boys are the sons of the mayor, police chief, bishop, or judge. What they did was wrong. It wasn’t a prank, it was a crime.

Within a day or so a rape occurred on one of the walking trails nearby, and the perpetrator is still at large. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to be a rapist.  It starts out with behavior that is less aggressive.  Like, kidnapping, perhaps, that goes uncorrected. They get away with lesser crimes, either by having charges dropped or by not getting caught. Letting these boys off easy is not helping them.

 If you do the big-boy crime, you should do the big-boy time.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.

Santa Clara Kidnapping

The recent kidnapping of a young girl in Santa Clara has people talking.  Kids are talking at the schools.   People are talking in the Vent. Even The Spectrum & Daily News editorial board had their say on the topic. 

I’ve made a few observations of my own. First let me say to the victim, you are a very strong young woman.  You fought back and got yourself to safety.  That took a lot of guts. You chose not to be a victim. You go, girl! By taking charge of your situation and taking the opportunity to escape, you very well may have prevented these perpetrators from doing something else stupid.

Some have referred to this stunt as a prank, performed by otherwise innocent boys who don’t get into trouble.  Well, good boys don’t just randomly kidnap people. Even the victim’s father, under pressure from others I’m sure, referred to them as “good kids who made a huge mistake.” Seriously? It’s okay to be angry about this and to expect these “good kids” be held accountable to the extent of the law.

The victim has gone from enjoying a jog in her neighborhood to sleeping in her parents’ bedroom, and has not returned to school. It’s not just the trauma of the initial crime that she is dealing with. There are lasting ramifications.

Had that been my daughter, I would not be going from “furious” on the night of the incident to “I hope they realize their mistake someday” in a week’s time. There can be room for forgiveness and expectation for strong punishment to coexist.

 And why were they not held by authorities that night? If I received a call saying that my son was picked for locking a girl in the back of his truck and driving her around my first response would be keep him overnight and call me in the morning.  A night in detention would allow him to realize what a stupid thing he did, and allow me to cool down long enough to come up with a proper punishment. 

It would start with the relinquishment of his keys and the selling of his truck. Then it would move to a face-to-face apology to the victim and her family.  I would not consider asking them not to press charges.

I don’t care if these boys are the sons of the mayor, police chief, bishop, or judge. What they did was wrong. It wasn’t a prank, it was a crime.

Within a day or so a rape occurred on one of the walking trails nearby, and the perpetrator is still at large. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to be a rapist.  It starts out with behavior that is less aggressive.  Like, kidnapping, perhaps, that goes uncorrected. They get away with lesser crimes, either by having charges dropped or by not getting caught. Letting these boys off easy is not helping them.

 If you do the big-boy crime, you should do the big-boy time.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.

Keep the Scriptures in proper context

At a recent prayer breakfast President Obama gave a speech on the need to help those who are less fortunate.  In the context of helping others he stated, “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”

The scripture he quoted can be found in Luke 12, verse 48.  Jesus is talking to his disciples about being watchful. He was paralleling his return with a parable about a servant who is given authority over his master’s dominion.  The King James Bible quotes this part of the verse as thus, “…for unto whom much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more.”

The New King James Version puts it like this, “for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Looking at the verse Mr. Obama quoted we must ask ourselves, “much what?”  Mr. Obama used this verse to say that if you are given much prosperity then it should be shared with others. This was the main theme of his speech.  But upon further observation we see that what Jesus was talking about here was not things, money or possessions.  It was authority.  If your boss gives you authority over his business in his absence he expects you to do a good job. The context of this verse has nothing to do with the theme of Obama’s speech.

The high school and college kids I teach call me the “Queen of Context” because they know if they quote a verse, they better be able to give the context surrounding that verse.

We can all agree that it’s important to help our neighbors in need.  When we do that out of love for our neighbors, it’s a very good thing. I have not found anything in Scripture that says the government should be the middleman in that relationship. 

What is equally important is to know when someone is taking Scripture and twisting it out of context to make it say something it doesn’t.

On March 2 and 3 Precepts Upon Precepts training workshops will be held at St. George Community Church for those who are interested in studying the Bible for themselves. Learning to observe, interpret and apply what is learned helps us to instinctively know when Scripture is being misused. All are welcome to attend these workshops. Pre-registration is required. 

Mr. Obama stated in his speech that he wakes up each morning and “say(s) a brief prayer and spends a little time in Scripture.” I applaud his efforts. But if he’s going to quote Scripture, I suggest he watch his context.  

Rhonda Tommer is a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group and a resident of Santa Clara. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.