Motivation Monday© for April 1, 2013

April 1, 2013 - PRLog -- April “Fools Day.”   Whether it was born from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or some combination of holidays throughout Europe, a day given to make foolish pranks and “fool” each other seems a bit ridiculous.

However, what I would like to address today on April Fool’s Day 2013 is how we are being “fooled” and being “fools” for believing certain things.

Motivation Mondays© are about helping you “take action to make things happen” and changing or transforming your lives. There are so many stories that are repeated in the news and justifications from the government that are essentially intended to “fool us” into believing them.  Like what they are telling us is the “truth.”

For instance:

• Why is the Stock Market setting new highs when our economy is still struggling? Do the NASDAQ or NYSE really have anything to do with the health of our economy?  Especially considering that Bloomberg News reported after the last “crash” of over 400 points that over 80% of the money being traded was “institutional money.”  That essentially means that the stock market is about 80% of banks and financial institutions trading, not Americans. It’s kind of like taking our money from banks and mortgages etc. and going to the track to bet with it.

• Why do oil and gas prices go up every summer and every winter? And why do they never come back down?  Even though, the cost for a barrel of oil hasn’t changed that much?  Do they think we are actually foolish enough to believe that it has something to do with the weather or consumption during the summer months? Or that it has something to do with the processing plants that convert the oil to gas?  In that case build another one.  It will supply needed jobs and be able to convert oil faster so there will be more gas, which would then be cheaper.  Oh, that’s right, we foolishly believe them and should disregard the billions in profits that are being made every quarter.

• Why are we foolishly being dragged through a debate about “same sex couples” being “married” when there is actually a very simple answer.  There are several phrases from our history that tell us exactly what should be done and for our government, our President and our Supreme Court to try and “fool” us into believing that this is more complex is ridiculous.

We all know about the separation of church and state.  The Laws made by our governments are not for the church, it’s for American citizens.  The rules of the Church are not taken as “law” by non-members of that Church.  They are separate.  

Thomas Jefferson’s famous words in The Declaration of Independence; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_liberty_and_the_pursui...). That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;”  So, by word of law, it would seem very simple to conclude that “all men/women are created equal.”  It does not differentiate between tall, short, skinny, fat, black, white nor gay or straight.

I see the challenge being with the word “marriage.”  The word, “Marriage” has more of a religious connotation and therefore may be a “religious” term that was adopted. As anyone that has been married knows, you are not actually “married” until you have a “Marriage License” issued by the Town or Government.

However, we also know that just because there is a document given by the Government, the “Church” does not have to abide by it.  Hence, the commotion about President Obama’s attack on religious freedom when he tried to force the hand of the Catholic Church on birth control rights.

Therefore, the decision should be very clear.  “All men are created equal,” and therefore each state should recognize “same sex couples.”  The challenge becomes that you cannot force a religious institution to abide by that, because of the separation of Church and State.  

There is also the debate about what to call it, because the word “marriage” has a religious tone to it, but the “state” adopted that language in creating “Marriage Licenses.”  Therefore, it would seem, that States must acknowledge, “same sex couples” as they have traditional marriages between men and women, as long as they meet the age requirements.

Change is difficult.  For those that have a strong faith-based life and try to live by the rules of the church. This may be difficult to accept, however, the day after Easter, I would suggest that you embrace these social challenges with grace and dignity.  There are many things that are wrong in our society or things that we do not agree with.  If we were to make “religion” the law of the land, which religion would it be?  All we need to do is look at the centuries old wars of the middle east to realize that is the wrong way to run a government.  It cannot be based on one religion however, because almost all religions believe in the central figure of God, we can all have a faith that if we always try to do the “right thing” in God’s eyes, then we can be settled and resolved in that course of action. In this case “acceptance.”  Accepting that grown men and women that have chosen to love each other should be treated as equals even though you do not agree with their choices or lifestyle. The famous WWJD bracelets that people wear, What Would Jesus Do, are a perfect example here.  If Jesus would forgive murderers, adulterers and prostitutes, he wouldn’t accept to loving adults that want to spend their lives together?

Today is “April Fool’s Day.”  Today’s Motivation Monday is a request to not be “fooled” today, but stop being “fooled” every day!  There are a lot of pretty simple solutions to some of our biggest problems, but it seems that the government would rather drag them on rather than resolving them.  

In negotiating, they call it a “Red Herring,” something ridiculous from out of left field that totally distracts you from actually debating or negotiating the real issues.  In this case, our government continues to throw “Red Herrings” at us through the media and 24 hour news cycle that debates ridiculous topics in order to “divide and conquer.”  If you’re so busy debating whether “same sex couples” can get married, you won’t have time to do some research into why they haven’t passed a budget in over 4 years and why we are $16 trillion in debt.

So, once again, I encourage you to please stop being “fooled” every day.