Tag: evolution

STEREOTYPE HYPE

“Sadly, that city has now joined the vestiges of other Democrat ruined populaces, to put things bluntly.”

Weathered white Nissan Sentra parked on a rainy street with “MEAN PEOPLE SUCK” sticker

My great-grandfather James Burton Hankins was a dirt farmer in rural Fayette County, Alabama, and a fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher on the side. I never met Grandpa Jim, as he died in 1950, four years before I was born. Dad, Mom, and my grandparents told me many interesting stories about him.

I’ve seen pictures, and he was an imposing figure, standing somewhere around six feet five. That was very tall back then and still is. My father inherited the tallness genes, but my brother and I took after Mom and were on the shorter side. 

Grandpa Jim didn’t mince words, while I took after him in that respect. A bucket of manure was called a bucket of manure and still is. My brother and I were never allowed to use the S word like other kids.

Political correctness wasn’t invented that far back, as some of the comments my grandparents used still have me chuckling to this day. My favorite is ‘shacking up,’ which I only tell people when my wife is around. Joleen deplores that remark and quickly launches into an informational about how long we’ve been legally married: 49 years and counting.

Some other terms my grandparents and parents used were ‘illegitimate child’, although I can see that one not being accepted, as it was no fault of the child that parents weren’t married. ‘Shotgun wedding’ is another favorite. Living in sin was often mentioned, and that’s still very relevant.

Sometime back I spotted a small sticker on the rear window of a beat-up car that read: MEAN PEOPLE SUCK. I’m not sure Grandpa Jim ever owned a car, but if he did, that’s the kind of sticker he’d put on it. Wanting to know whether mean people suck is in the Bible, I looked it up and found that Proverbs 15:9 comes close.

“The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness”.

I’ve encountered mean people throughout my life, many of whom took their anger out on children, spouses, pets, and even strangers. This meanness is sometimes fueled by ‘liquid spirits,’ although most of the time it’s the spirit of Satan dwelling inside of them. I took the driver of this vehicle for kind-hearted, although they could’ve just bought it with the decal.

My former pastor in Anchorage, Dr. Jerry Prevo, was small in stature, but over the years I saw him stand up to large, unruly groups. He never backed down, although the left-leaning ‘Anchorage Daily News’ constantly waged a war against him for unapologetically preaching the Gospel and stepping on people’s toes. Sadly, that city has now joined the vestiges of other Democrat ruined populaces, to put things bluntly.

It’s not the case in this town yet, or in many states in the Bible Belt of the South, but there’s a growing movement in the East to ban preaching the Holy Bible on the same lines as hate crimes.

If you spot a fish emblem on the back of a car or truck with Darwin written in the middle, you’ve undoubtedly just encountered one of those indoctrinated atheist types. They didn’t buy the vehicle this way, because anyone with a lick of sense would promptly remove it.

Some will say, “Gee, Mr. Hankins, you sure can make up biased stories based solely upon mean people decals and plastic Darwin fish emblems!” Yes, I can. It’s called stereotyping, and I’m an expert here; just ask my wife.

One of my favorite people to stereotype are those riding Harleys with ‘ape-hanger’ handlebars. I mean those handlebars sticking up seemingly a foot above a rider’s head. I tell Joleen that these guys and gals have watched “Easy Rider” a few too many times. Real bikers won’t disagree, or at least the honest ones.

Yes, I know it goes against the Bible to judge someone based solely on their looks. John 7:24 says: Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

All I can say here is that I’m working on it, along with other shortcomings. I’ve somewhat gotten through my stereotype that all height-challenged guys driving lifted trucks have ‘short man syndrome.’

I’m making progress in other areas too, as I no longer believe that pipe smokers are automatically the worst drivers. Textaholics have taken over that spot.

Dating myself here, it was popular back in the 50s and 60s for some young fellows to stick an unlit cigarette above their earlobe as a symbol of coolness. I never saw it that way and still don’t. That popular Forrest Gump phrase, “Stupid is as stupid does,” comes to mind.

In Anchorage, Alaska, if a neighbor had a 36-can empty beer box sitting by their garbage can each week, which one fellow always did, I figured they were alcoholics. That doesn’t hold true here in hot Havasu. It’d take two of those empty boxes for me to think the same.

Lifted pickup truck on a street by London Bridge Resort and lake

DUST to DUST

“Because Charles is deader than a mummified Egyptian, there are only two ways to prove they’re right.”

Silhouette of a cowboy walking in a desert at sunset with dust swirling around him
A cowboy dissolving into dust walks across a desert towards the glowing sunset.

Several years ago, I wrote a public piece jokingly advocating that Charles Darwin’s body be exhumed and sent to a lab for DNA analysis. I mentioned that I believed the results would show no direct relation to tadpoles, monkeys, or apes, although a correlation to dust would be found.

I was immediately besieged by harsh comments from scholarly critics who said I knew nothing about DNA. They were mostly right, as I understood little of the subject. I can’t remember DNA even being mentioned in my early 1970s high school biology classes.

I wasn’t a Biblical scholar back then and knew little of what I’d just written, other than it sounded logical. If anything, a song composed in 1976 spurred my idea forward as music sometimes does.

The song “Dust in the Wind” was penned by Evangelical Christian Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas. Its message reflects on the fleeting nature of life, the limits of wealth and achievement, and the reality that human accomplishments are temporary.

I believe that Livgren’s final message in this tune is that our bodies are made of dust and will return to it. For those questioning things, simply turn to Genesis 7:7 and 3:19, as well as Ecclesiastes 3:20. Kerry Livgren evidently knew these verses well. The next time you sing along with this song, remember the story behind it.

Evolution is something that some instructors tried to cram down my throat in my last years of public school, although in Alabama and Texas, not so much. These states were considered the Bible Belt back then and still are. Liberal ideology had infiltrated the curriculum in Alaska, and NEA officials, along with selected teachers, spoon-fed it to students. I was one of those who regurgitated.

As young parents, and with our eyes wide open, my wife and I elected to send our children to Christian schools, while at the same time still having taxes taken from our pay for public school. It was tough, but we paid double for their education through all 12 years without complaining. We believe it paid off as they avoided the secular brainwashing.

I did some studying on Charles Darwin to see what his religious beliefs were. Baptized and raised in the Church of England, Darwin at one point was headed toward becoming a clergyman. Somewhere along the way, he changed and became agnostic. Darwin died in 1882, some 144 years ago.

It is claimed by some that he recounted this viewpoint while on his deathbed. Those same scholarly critics who attacked me say this is poppycock because it sticks a dagger into their evolution theory. Because Charles is deader than a mummified Egyptian, there are only two ways to prove they’re right.

His body needs to be exhumed, DNA removed from it, with an attempt to clone his existence. Only then can we ask him. The only other way is to wait until we die.

If I find Charles Darwin in Heaven, I’ll know for sure that these anti-creation experts were wrong. Something tells me, ultimately, those evolution scholars might find that information not so gratifying, especially when they go looking for him elsewhere and discover Charlie is not there.

Sand dunes and blowing sand in a desert at sunset with a glowing sky and distant mountains