How to Significantly Improve our Representation in Congress

I live in a rigged Congressional District in Illinois.  I don’t say that by the regularly lopsided victories of the one political party over the other, but because of the shape of the district.  It’s like you would make two fists and then join them together by touching your extended thumbs.  I can only conclude that if they had included the skipped over suburbs in the middle, they would have been getting different election results.

There is a push today to change how these voting districts are decided, but the plan that is proposed still justifies creating convoluted voting districts but for different reasons.  The plan would encourage creating majority-minority districts, not thinking perhaps that it is also creating pretty much one-party districts as well. 

So I have a suggestion.  A radical one no doubt, but I think modern technology is able to create solutions to problems that we couldn’t do in the past.

I suggest that we create virtual Congressional districts.  I submit this not only will provide the best representation for our people, but it is the only truly fair way to do it.

Our society insists on putting people into groups, whether by race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, sex, gender, whatever.  Nobody is simply an American anymore.  We all must have one or more qualifying modifiers in front of that.

I suggest that every citizen fill out a form identifying in order what identities they most identify with.  If a majority-minority district is a major priority of political reform groups, then there are a lot of people whose main way of identifying themselves is race.  Others it’s their sexual orientation.

Let people make their own lists.  Am I Christian first, then white, then conservative Republican?  Or am I Republican first, then Christian?  Am I woman first, then a Libertarian?  They can have as many items on their list as they want.  They should be listed in order and allow items to have the same number in importance.

Then let the computers sort it all out. 

There are currently about 711,000 people in a Congressional district in the United States.  So a state needs about that many people in a subgroup to warrant a separate district. 

If my wife puts women issues at the forefront of her political thinking, and I put Tea Party as my number one, then we would have different Representatives in Congress.

So instead of districts listed by numbers, we would have districts listed by groups:  Latino 1,2,3; African-American 1,2,3; white, Muslim, Christian, gay/trans, Democrat 1,2,3, Republican 1,2,3.

The computer may even be able to identify further subgroups: minority Republicans, white Christian, female Democrats, depending on how many items are in a person’s list and the order.

How much fairer can an election be?

Some Thoughts on the Things that Really Matter in Life

It started with a question that I was trying to answer.   I don’t remember the circumstances, but I wasn’t happy with the typical answers.  I’ll mention the question a little later.  You’ll understand why when I do.

A long time ago when I used to give sermons regularly and teach classes, I often said that there are only two things in life that are permanent.  Everything else is just temporary.

The first thing is God.  God is the only thing in life that cannot be destroyed, will not break, grow old, die, wear out, go out of date, lose its shape, cannot be lost, and will not leave.  This is why knowing God is the number one thing in life.

The second is like it in a way but different.  And that is you.  Outwardly it’s constantly changing.  We get older, get wrinkles, fat, lose our muscles, our build, our flexibility, our zip.  We can lose our skills and our strength.  Even if we keep practicing and working out, our performance diminishes with age.  And if we don’t keep things up, our performance diminishes even if we are young.

But who and what we are is always progressing one way or the other, like a sculpture chiseling an image out of a rock.  Everyday we make myriads of decisions that shape our character, making us who we are.  We are either becoming more loving, kind, patient, good, and beautiful, or we are getting more angry, bitter, and selfish.  It may go back and forth, adjusting when we see ourselves becoming too much of one thing.  It’s all gradual.  But we don’t just lose it, though, because we are getting older or as time passes.  Everyday we are either adding or subtracting who we are through all the choices we constantly make.

A few years ago, my older son had a baby girl.  Sure, we had kids of our own, but it caused me to marvel again at the ‘miracle’, no, just the astonishing thing that two human beings can create another human being.  It started me thinking about this thing called life.

Oh, the question.  It had to do with the idea of hell.  If there is one, why is there one?  Does God really send people to hell?  How does that fit with everything we think we know about God?

And I got an answer which at least makes sense to me.

The Bible talks about God creating the world and all the animals, and then He creates human beings.  Unlike the animals, God breathes on the body He formed out of the chemicals in the ground, and man becomes a living being.  The word ‘breath’ in both original languages of the Bible is the same word as the word ‘spirit.’ 

Humans, it says, are created in God’s image.  That’s generally understood as meaning that we have an intellect, emotions, and a will.  Humans create civilizations and the arts.  Humans make moral choices and can subject our physical wants to higher purposes.

But humans also contain a bit of God.  Our spirit, soul, whatever you want to call it, is divine, if you will.  (Don’t lose me yet.)

In the Garden of Eden, man could walk with God.  When they gained the knowledge of good and evil, something died in them.  They could no longer look on God.  And it wasn’t just guilt.  God later told Moses that man cannot look on the face of God and live.  Something changed inside of them such that they could not coexist with pure God.

God is holy, whatever that means.  Man is not, and man cannot endure being in the presence of holiness without cringing in fear or suffering in a way.  Like getting too close to the sun.  The same sun that warms our toes can incinerate us if we get too close to it.

I’ll just jump ahead here. 

The Bible says that we need a new birth in order to see the Kingdom of God to replace the part of us that died.

So at the end of days when we stand before God, those who have had this new birth can look at God and be happy in His presence. 

Now this is the tricky part.  People who don’t know God, love God, etc. will want to run away from Him but have nowhere to go.  Now humans are not merely animals that can just die and be gone.  Part of being made in God’s image means that they cannot just cease to exist.  They cannot just disappear, and they cannot remain in the presence of God.  So God prepared a place where He is not.

And, no, it’s not a happy place, not because God might intend for people to be unhappy, but because the absence of God necessarily makes it so.  We live in a world unaware of the countless ways God acts to sustain our lives.  A world without God is unimaginable.  Hell exists, because God created human beings to be so much more than we are, and there is no Plan B.

I thought this was important to share for several reasons. 

I think people don’t fully appreciate what it means to be human.  We are used to this evolution story where life is an accident of nature, and we are really just animals who wear clothes and can talk rather than beings created by God and who are meant to have a relationship with Him.

We talk about choice and people having a right to do what they want with their own bodies.  That’s a new idea in history.  Woman have the privilege of bringing new human beings created in the image of God into the world.  These are little bodies inside of bigger bodies, but they are not part of the bigger body.  These are new people. 

Throughout human history, people understood that sex is not merely or even primarily recreation but potentially an act of creation.  This is why we used to teach our children about not having it until they were married.  They are on holy ground here.  People are co-creators with God, creating eternal beings who will live forever. 

And, lastly, life is short.  And people need to think from time to time what this whole venture is really all about.

education funding and property taxes

Fritz Kaegi, our Cook County Assessor, wants the federal government to pay more for our public schools so that we can pay less property taxes (How education funding, property taxes and COVID-19 stimulus money are connected, March 23). 

He seems to forget that the federal government only has money that we, the same people, give to it.  Of course, the federal government has unlimited borrowing capability, but then when it borrows money, everything costs more.  We spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year just on interest.  That’s good money that we are just throwing away.  The federal government is so far in debt, I think it’s wrong to expect any money from them. 

Our school funding and property tax solutions are simple.  Public schools should be funded by the income tax.  Of course, in Illinois you have to demand that the money be kept separate from the general fund, otherwise they will spend it in a flash, and it will be gone. 

Yes, this will raise the flat income tax rate, but everybody should/will see a decrease in housing costs, as property taxes will go down a lot.

the federal government to the rescue

The nation is in crisis, and the federal government is ready to come and rescue us.  Any rescue effort has to cost at least a trillion dollars.  That’s what they spent on the last national crisis, so they can’t do less than that now.

The government solution to any problem is to spend money, the more the better.

Our economy is in crisis, because the government demanded that most businesses and stores close down.  So a lot of people are without work, and a lot of businesses have ongoing expenses with no income to pay them.

So any relief or help to the nation should be directed only to these two problems.  To send money to everybody is pandering, elected leaders trying to buy the favor of the public.

We have unemployment insurance.  We can raise the amount paid out, because it was set up to be temporary and the recipients were supposed to look for work, and the government shut that down too.  So we can raise unemployment to a livable amount.  No more, and waive the looking for work requirement.

Businesses that have ongoing expenses and no income need help.  Waive any taxes and rents.  The land owners can deduct the losses on their taxes.

Do not let the Fed get involved.  What are they going to do?  Print money that dilutes the value of the money already in circulation?  The Fed can do nothing that will help.  They will only hurt the economy in the long range.

No, I do not have confidence in the federal government coming to our rescue.  They see all the answers to every problem as spending money.  They will spend money on things totally unrelated to the issues at hand, they will add things to these bills that would never pass on their own, they will overload the bills and rush them through, so there will be no time to read, let alone digest them, or to debate them.  And, of course, you have to accept the whole bills together.  So to save the country, they have to vote for dozens of things they don’t want and that will do more harm long term than good short term.  They will create programs or initiatives that will be permanent, far beyond any crisis at hand.  Congress spends other people’s money irresponsibly and for their own benefit more than ours. 

a little perspective on this COVID-19 crisis

According to the CDC. between 22,000 and 55,000 people have died from the flu in the United States between October 1, 2019 and March 7, 2020.  I am grateful that the news media have not decided to focus on the flu this year.  

Instead they have chosen to focus on a new virus, and their non-stop one-news-story approach is on the verge of destroying the entire economy.  Many small businesses will not survive.  The government will borrow trillions of dollars to compensate and bolster businesses and individuals.  And the end still seems far out of sight.

Again, according to the CDC, the flu "places a substantial burden on the health of people in the United States each year. CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010."

I think this obsession with the COVID virus is misplaced and is causing enormous damage to our country.  No, there is no vaccine available, but flu vaccines are, and we still have thousands of deaths every year.

I think we need to stop watching the news and reading the papers until our country comes back to its senses.

Our prayer - the National Day of Prayer, March 15, 2020

Our God and our Creator, all things come from You.

Nations rise and nations fall, and this is from You too.

You created us to be, a light on a hill

to show to the world a people, a nation in Your will.

But we have lost our way, what remains is but our name

and vague mem’ries of historical facts, and mounds and mounds of blame.

But none of this was new to You, when our nation fell apart

You see the ends of everything when we see just the start

We cannot believe, our end is now in view

We cannot believe, with us You now are through.

Forgive us, Lord, as You are wont to do

This is nothing new to you.

We ask for our nation, what we’ve always asked for us

mercy and forgiveness, in God we place our trust.

We are now in crisis, a nation in great need

We need an act of God, for this now we plead.

We have read in Your Word, more than once or twice

how You acted for Your Name, and that was the main price.

Deliver us now, O Lord, that all the world can see

that there is a true God and not mere fantasy.

The world sees God as remnants, of unenlightened past

The knowledge gained by science is all that now will last

You used to mock the idols, made of wood and stone

lifeless blocks of matter that neither speak nor groan.

An idol cannot deliver, that’s what You always said.

It’s vain to trust in idols, trust in You instead.

A God that cannot deliver is not God indeed.

We need to be delivered, and this is what we plead.

The world has become proudhearted, arrogant in its boast

We have no need of God, or of the heavenly host.

There is nothing we can’t do, with our science and our gold

‘cept quell the fears that run our lives and put our lives on hold.

We ask you to deliver us, to end this source of fear

Show the world there is a God, make it oh so clear.

You did this once with Moses and others in the past

Rise up, O Lord and answer, restore us now at last

Amen

Larry Craig

2020

Our Confession - for the National Day of Prayer, March 15, 2020

America, America, God shed His grace on Thee.

And we forgot and then denied, and turned our back on Thee.

O God, we have sinned, and of that the very worst kind

We were blessed and prospered, and then we lost our mind.

I blame the courts who took God from our schools

For too long a time we raised gen’rations of fools

We knew from your Word that knowledge begins

with a deep fear of God and a hatred of sin.

But we let it be done, we put up no fight

We didn’t think that it would be right.

The ungodly arose, and we turned to flight

We set up our camp, far out of their sight.

You told us how often to diligently teach

our kids from their youth their souls if to reach

But we were so busy with so much to do

We missed the first things and then everything too.

Our nation is not what we’ve been led to believe

It was a gift from our God for His own to receive

Clamoring voices raised up a fuss

We left them unanswered and did not discuss.

Now our nation is built on a lie,

that God is irrel’vant and can now please die.

We have taken a gift, from our Creator our King

and allowed it to rot while its failings we sing.

We were once a light on a hill

Now we’re embarrassed, that we are here still

There will never be, a nation like ours

that forgot its roots and knew not its hour.

Larry Craig

2020

Maybe we should have virtual representative districts

I read dumbfoundedly an editorial by a ChangeIllinois director no less how gerrymandering can be fair if it’s done for the right reasons.

The right reason to create incredibly contorted voting districts is to create a majority/minority district, so we can be sure that we get a minority representative, because that is fair.  Certainly not fair to all the non-minority residents who live in those districts.

But it still meets the definition of gerrymandering.  Gerrymandering isn’t simply diluting a group’s numbers; it also occurs when you concentrate a particular group into as few districts as possible.  Oh, they may get their one or two candidates of choice, but they will be the only people looking out for their ‘unique’ needs vs. having many representatives with a lot of those constituents in their districts.  Any representative with a sizable group of any demographic in their district will always have their back.

True fairness seems to me requires virtual districts.  Let every person fill out a form defining their demographic in order of importance: race, ethnicity, religion, age, language, wealth.  Then let the computers sort it all out. 

We won’t number our districts anymore.  We will have the black districts, the Latino, the rich, the Christian, the Muslim, the Jewish, the old people.  But we will be linked together with all the other people whose values and interests best match ours, and then we will all truly be represented.

Other than that, I would recommend that districts be drawn blindly, compactly, following natural boundaries.  Anything beyond that only leads to mischief.

No, Sexism did not stop Elizabeth Warren

Everybody it seems, including the Chicago Tribune (Did sexism stop Elizabeth Warren?, March 7), thinks that blatant, outright or subtle, subliminal sexism is depriving women of achieving political heights in our country. 

No, it’s an election process that needs fixing, but nobody seems to see the problems with it.

When you only get to pick one candidate out of a field of 20, you don’t learn the breadth of a candidate’s appeal.  Somebody may get 20% of the vote, but the other 80% may hate him.  Another candidate may get 3% of the vote but a favorability rating of 60%.

In a primary, voters can be asked to pick their favorite, but they should also be asked to vote for every candidate that they can support.  That will tell you who the nominee should be.

Some Random Unscientific Observations on the Economy after a Lifetime of Work

Lenny, not his real name, is our local StreetWise vendor.  He’s been out there for decades.  We talked again recently.  I recommended a good place to get a job.  They were always hiring, you could write your own ticket, and they had the highest ratio of fulltime workers of anybody.  At least all this was true when I worked there. 

Well, I lit a fire.  I saw him again in a few weeks.  He applied there and at the store he was standing in front of.  Both companies would only offer him 12 hours a week.  I thought that strange until I thought more about it.

The company I recommended was under a new owner, and they now boast a $15 an hour starting wage.  The company gets the good publicity, but they don’t want to spend more than they have to on an untrained new employee, so they limit the hours.

The second company is a union company which historically gave good insurance to anyone working 16 hours a week.  Now they hire people for 12 hours a week, so they don’t have to pay for insurance. 

Why the change?  I would surmise it was from Obamacare, where the government demanded that insurance companies include a long list of things in all of their policies.  This was why so many people lost their insurance under Obamacare.  The government made it unaffordable for companies and a lot of people by telling them how to run their business.

Which reminds me of the last company I worked for.  Parttime work there was anything up to 32 hours a week.  But then the government required companies like this to give insurance to anyone working 30 hours a week.  So they cut parttime hours down to 24 hours a week.  Still no insurance, but now less hours.

When I was growing up, you could work in a grocery store stocking shelves and support your family.  The grocery and meat business were all good union jobs.  But then things changed with the coming of non-union companies.  Coincidentally, this all happened at the time when illegal immigration was becoming an issue.  Working in the field, you could see the change in demographics in the work force. 

Local grocery stores do not face foreign competition, so when everybody worked on the same playing field, wages were strong.  But here, what I would call unfair competition destroyed the entire field as an option for a middle class life.

Concluding thoughts?  To me, the government creates more problems that it solves.  Then it tries to solve the problems it created by doing more of the same things that caused the first problems. 

a letter to my Senators about babies

I hope you are doing well.

I read something in the news that disturbed me.  I hope I heard it wrong or it was wrong.

The basic founding principle of our country is that God gave unalienable rights to human beings, among which there is a right to life.  That is from the founding document of our country, the Declaration of Independence.

It seems that a lot of Senators are either unaware of this or choose to ignore it.  In either case, that should disqualify a person from even being a Senator and they should resign their position as Senator.

When a child is born, that child has a right to life.   There is nothing to debate.  We have a living human being, and it is the government’s responsibility to protect that life.

 

I don’t know the outcome of that vote and debate in the Senate, but I hope you will do the right thing here. 

Thank you

the morally superior immigration position

The Declaration of Independence says that governments, our government, exist for the safety and happiness of the citizens of our country.  That does not mean that, among other things, this is something that they will do.  It means that that is why they are there in the first place. 

Your article assumes that open borders is clearly the morally superior position to closed borders.  To word it differently, putting the needs and wants of people who are citizens of other countries over the needs and wants of the citizens of our own country is a morally superior position. 

It is not moral to be elected to do one job, but then you intentionally do something else because you think it is the right thing to do.  If you cannot in good conscience do the job for which you were elected, then you should resign.

With regards to borders, a country has the responsibility to know who is coming into its country, whether temporarily or permanently.  People are clamoring today for background checks for anybody who wants to buy a gun.  Shouldn’t we at least do the same for somebody who wants to move here?

We are concerned about the mentally ill, the violent, the criminal, the extremist, the terrorist.  Shouldn’t we have the same concerns about people who want to live here?

The article specifically brings up the coronavirus, a medical condition with a two week incubation period before anyone knows who has the disease.  Most borders throughout the world are unable to house everybody wanting to cross their borders for the necessary two weeks to ensure that they are safe to enter the country, and you shame them for not just letting them in?  Seriously?

The fringe has become mainstream in our country, and the mainstream has become fringe.

Columbus Day: what it's really all about

I read the responses in the Sun-Times to the Chicago Public School’s decision to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day, both the letters and the articles, and they missed the point.  All of them.

Columbus Day is not about honoring an explorer who exemplified the ultimate in virtue and courage.  Neither is it about giving an ethnic group their own holiday so they have some public pride and acknowledgement. 

Columbus Day is about the whole New World venture itself, whether people from Europe should have come here in the first place. 

I get the impression that many of our public school educators are not proud of our past and many seem to regret the entire enterprise.   They don’t begrudge modern day migrants seeking to improve their lot in life, but those who founded our country apparently did more harm than good and should not have come.

What all our modern-day critics miss is that the world today would not know freedom apart from the United States.  The world would be a very different place were it not for the United States.

Europe would be run by Nazis and communists.  Asia would be run by communists, Muslims, and the Emperor of Japan, and Africa would be Muslim.  And, of course, there would be no New World.  And there would be no freedom.  Period.