All We Like Sheep

“People, like sheep, tend to follow a leader – occasionally in the right direction.” ~Alexander Chase

Sometimes I wonder if the designated leaders of many American institutions have any ability to lead. Many just seem to follow the loudest voices. These supposed leaders turned followers might learn from Greek Mythology and the tales about sailors who followed the voices and music of the Sirens. The result of following the voices of these beautiful femme fatales was always shipwreck.

Things that have caused me to wonder about leadership:

• Leaders of organized religion followed the voice of the feminist movement and changed Scripture to make it gender neutral. Hence, we have translations such as, “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Child.” (ILL) I have to wonder what makes some women so insecure.
• Because he was in uniform, an Army Lieutenant Colonel was denied permission to enter his daughter's high school for a meeting with her counselor. He was informed that some students might be offended by having a soldier in the building. People such as the leaders in this school follow the voice of political correctness. Thousands of soldiers have sacrificed their lives so these foolish people have the right to express their ignorance in any way they choose. (Maybe they would have enjoyed speaking German and living under the Third Reich much better than they enjoy freedom.)
• Many ministers are removing the American flag and all patriotic references (including national hymns traditionally sung to celebrate to the Fourth of July) because they are afraid that people from other nations will feel disrespected if they attend and see that the church honors our country. These ministers follow the voice of social comparison. How can we not thank God, even during worship, for freedom?  I attended a Methodist Church while in London and I did not feel disrespected when I saw the British flag displayed in the sanctuary. I have to conclude that my ability to reason is somewhat superior to that of many decision-makers in U.S. churches.

Our father's God to, Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright


With freedom's holy light;

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God, our King! 

     ~My Country ‘Tis of Thee – last verse

• Finally, and maybe most bizarre of all, a minister recently removed from the sanctuary of her church a picture of Christ drawn and signed by Warner Elias Sallman. This picture was not a print of one of Sallman’s famous works. It was a picture he had drawn while visiting the congregation (something he did often when he visited Covenant Churches). What was the problem with the picture? Well, Christ appears to be Caucasian and this could be offensive to people of other races who might attend church. The issue here isn’t that we know how Christ appeared. The issue is that the voice crying "discrimination"must be followed, even when totally unreasonable.

Someone please locate that signed work and give it to me. I’ll arrange to make my house payments for a while by selling it to someone who appreciates Sallman’s works and would love to own a signed original.

Warner Press owns many of Sallman’s original works. (Go to link) 

The New Shag

While being shown my soon-to-be new condo, I mentioned that I did not care for the shag carpeting. Subsequently, I was informed that the carpeting was frieze, not shag. However, having survived the 70’s and shag carpeting in almost every bright color imaginable, I knew the carpet I was viewing was nothing more than conservative shag.

Conservative is something with which I'm quite familiar. I grew up in a conservative home, attended a conservative church, and received much of my education from conservative teachers in conservative private schools. What I learned over the years was that other people were like us, just much more colorful.

While we wore plain clothes that covered almost everything with the exception of our bare faces, “others” wore pretty creations found in department stores. They wore short stockings, patent leather shoes, and decorated themselves with various kinds of baubles.

Conservative 1943

Others 1943*

While searching the Internet this week, I ran across an advertisement that confirmed I was right. My carpet is exactly what I thought. The advertisement read: “Frieze Carpet The New Shag.”

Frieze Carpet 2014

Shag Carpet circa 1970

No, I have not learned to like this carpet. It is now on my project list for “when my ship comes in."

*Girls playing by Esther Bubly on History in Photos