I don't feel like part of my generation.

Hey guys, Daniel here. 22 year old multimedia student, grew up in Florida, and started listening to Dennis Prager after moving to California a couple years ago. At school I'm surrounded by gamers. nerds. geeks. dorks. People who live by the great philosopher Peter Griffin, the messiah Neo, the cult of the Rebel Force, the prophet Kevin Smith. They are completely engrossed in what they legitimize as an underground culture, yet they hate with a vicious venomous passion anybody who dares call themselves Christian.
The bible teaches that a virtuous walk is never easy, the closer you get to Christ the more the Devil will try to bring you back to sin. Through this strife and struggle, you will be forged into being a better person. People will be able to recognize this change, this difference. Some will be inspired by it, amazed by it, others will feel threatened by it.
At my school these others aren't hard to identify. They're usually overweight, loud, vulgar, and unable to focus or follow directions. They feel that they're not only among the smartest people alive, but among the smartest who have ever lived. They believe America is a dictatorship and that religion is a plague. These are my peers. My generation. The people I'm forced to work with not only now, but also in the industry I'm trying so hard to be a part of.
Not only are the majority of the students in lock step with this mindset, but even the instructors are intellectually self-crippled by what they believe to be the unseen forces. A computer programming teacher hands out material used to show the process of event oriented programming, by relating it to how the entire news media is dissected by a government run filter before it's allowed on television and in print. Another teacher feels disgusted when he says 'Department of Homeland Security' because he feels that the word 'Homeland' sounds too much like 'Motherland', and therefore the entire concept reeks of Communism. On the wall a student tapes downloaded pictures of President Bush and Vice President Cheney surrounded by satanic symbols, and instructor and student alike ponder and reflect on the exhibit, praising it on it's use of design theories like symmetry, continuation, and isomorphic correspondence.
The bible says Deliver us from evil, not Deliver us through evil. In todays intrusive society, there is not option to "keep from", the only option given is "through". As this astonishing ritual of self importance plays itself out in the hallways, I can't help but be overwhelmed by the possibility that the institution is counter-productive to my education.
On Sunday morning as I lie on a couch in the youth room and sketch storyboards in my notebook before the group meets, I wonder what kind of generation the younger kids are going to grow up into. I wasn't born a Christian, infact I've only been trying to follow the word in the past two years. I envy the ones who grew up in a Christian home, learned core values from talking vegetables, went to private schools where the Ten Commandments are etched in marble on the campus lawn, and are stronger than I when it comes to having to endure the filth of society while still trying to hold true to the faith.
During service the youth group performs a drama, which includes a reinaction of the Columbine massacre, where Christian students were forced at gunpoint to denounce Jesus or else be executed, and the few courageous souls who chose the latter, and tears swell up in my eyes. I think about those students who were delivered through evil, and my own moral struggles seem so bearable by comparison.
What makes my moral struggles and pursuit of happiness so much more bearable are my newfound Christian friends, and listening to incredible intellectual and moral theologians such as Dennis Prager and Micheal Medved. I put the show on my iPod and listen to it while I jog in the mornings, so that I feel physically and intellectually energized to face the challenges of the day.
Well, thanks for reading my personal rant, I certainly have my own opinions on macro issues, like the creeping anti-nationalism among the liberal left, the national ADD when it comes to terrorism and the realities of war, and the greatness of America, especially when compared to the terrible state of the rest of the world. I hope to post more whenever I'm not so incredibly busy with school and getting a production studio off the ground, so you can expect to suffer more in following posts.

-Daniel

December Meeting

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. I also hope you had a chance to listen to Dennis's Thanksgiving show.

I'm sure many of you had to bite your tongues in order to keep the peace at your family gatherings. I had to. Which brings me to an idea about a topic for our meeting Dec. 6.

The Minnesota Group took a pol of what topics they would like to discuss at their next meeting. Which also happens to be Dec. 6. The top vote getting topic was: "How to talk to those who disagree. " Perhaps that would be a good topic for our next meeting. What do you think?

I'm pleased to announce that we have four new members. Welcome, Hope, Keith, Daniel, and
Scott. Hope you can make it to the meeting Dec. 6.

My wife and I plan to attend the "Bay Area Listener's Group" first meeting Dec. 9, along with the Middle East forum to follow at the Jewish Policy Center in S.F. If you can get into the event, and would like a ride let me know. For more info visit: http://www.1220knts.com

Bob

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

What a show! I had to listen on a download following the Thanksgiving festivities. I was so touched by the beautiful words of some of our Immigrant Americans. I was also saddened that I could not persuade one of my relatives to listen to a single segment with me.

If you missed the show, you can still download it from the following link.

http://www.townhall.com/talkradio/Show.aspx?RadioShowID=3
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Cloning:

Ian Wilmut, who led the creation of Dolly in 1996, is abandoning cloning to pursue a new technique that can create stem cells without an embryo. Could this lead to the end of therapeutic cloning, in which DNA is inserted into an unfertilized egg? Just think of the millions of dollars that have been spent over the past decade on fetal stem cell research that has yielded no results. Wilmut now believes that a rival method, creating stem cells from skin fragments, is more promising.
This is good news for the pro-life minded, helps eliminate the appearance of a moral argument in support of abortion. However, this may have little impact on reducing the numbers. Focus should be directed at the woman having this invasive procedure and of the potential adverse impact to her long-term health. I believe that the research tying breast cancer to aborted pregnancies may be significant.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7099758.stm

Global Warming:
UN panel give dire warming forcast. http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/world/2007/11/16/Climate.Change.Conference/

I can hardly wait to hear Dennis' comments.

Some photos of the inaugural meeting:

Our Mission Statement

Ray brought up the idea of a "Mission Statement" for the group. I propose the following (to get the discussion going):

As the Sacramento Dennis Prager Listener Group, our mission is to promote discussions of many of life's issues with Dennis' mantra that we should promote "clarity over agreement" as the underlying premise to our discussions. We invite all to participate in these discussions regardless of their point of view.

I think this blog thing may just work out. I too was amazed when Dennis said there were 60 members of the Listener Group in-of all places-Minneapolis. If anyone else wants to join as an author-so they can post-just let me or Bob know and I'll send you an invitation.

Inaugural Meeting

"So how do you know these people", Mary Jane asked apprehensively.
"Well, I, uh, don't really know them", I replied, "They're people who've joined "The Sacramento Area Dennis Prager Listeners Group."
I was fairly confident that the people who'd show up that evening would be quality people. At least we weren't "The Pit Bull Owners Group", or something like that. Mary Jane and her husband Ray graciously opened up their home for our inaugural meeting. M.J. would later joke to the group "I made sure I didn't put out the good silverware."
The meeting was attended by twelve "Friends of Dennis". We introduced ourselves, spoke about what we'd like the group to do, and offered suggestions for our next meeting in December. One of the main suggestions made was that we should offer topics that people would like discussed. The topics with the most interest would set the agenda for our next meeting. Other suggestions were to have a mission statement, and the possibility of involvement in some community event.
I felt our meeting went very well. It was truly a delight to meet with fellow "Kindred Spirits'". Hopefully everyone else also had a good experience. Please comment.
I'm planning our next meeting for Dec. 6th at the Johansens. My wife will join me, and I'm hoping she can give a short talk on her brief trip into North Korea that she took recently.
Dec. 9th The S. F. Area Prager group will have their first meeting in San Francisco. Best of all, Dennis and Michael Medved will also be in S.F. that day for a forum on The Middle East. See: http://ontheradio.meetup.com/2/?gj=sj10 for details. We're invited to attend. Anyone interested?
The Minneapolis Prager group has over 60 members already. No small feat in liberal Minnesota. Although my grandfather was a staunch Minnesota Republican. This former long-haired-hippy-freak from California didn't appreciate his political wisdom until later in life. You can visit the Minneapolis blog@ www.mnprager.blogspot.com.
Evan Maloney the director of Indoctrinate-U has been threatend with a lawsuit from a major university regarding his expose' of americas college campuses. If you try to visit his website: indoctrinateu.com you'll only see an explanation about why he took down the site. You can still get on his email list if you request it. I'm surpised I don't hear more about his situation on talk radio.
Some links you might find of interest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfea6IWiYu0
http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html
Please let me know what you would like to discuss at our next meeting.
Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving
Bob

San Francisco ID Cards

Due to a severely waning popularity, the Governor of New York pulled back from his position to give a drivers license to person in the state illegally. Now, the mayor of San Francisco will show him how it is done.

Next week, he will sign into law, the availability of an identification card, which for all intents and purposes, will enable an illegal to become a resident of the State of California. With this ID card, they will be able to open bank accounts, apply for loans, probably obtain the elusive driver’s license and ultimately vote for Mr. Newsom who evidently has political ambitions.
As a concerned citizen of the State of California I resent this action of the Mayor of San Francisco, with the endorsement of Police Commissioner, Joe Alioto Veronese, [Your World with Neil Cavuto, 11-15-07]. I believe that this action will potentially impact the entire state and should not be allowed. I have written my concerns to the SFMayor and to the Office of the Police Commission. I have also sent a message to Governor Schwarzenegger, requesting that he take action to prevent this from happening.

New authors

I have added the list from Bob as authors to the blog. Please check out the blog and post when you can.
Don Simons

Dennis Prager Sacramento User Group Blog

11-01-07

This is the first blog for the Dennis Prager Sacramento User Group (dspug).