Davenport’s Bright Idea

      There was a time when I was in love with the state of Iowa. Twice in my life, I had opportunity to ride my bicycle across the state on the largest organized bike ride in the country called RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). The ride begins at the Missouri River on the west, and finishes at the Mississippi on the east. It takes seven days to complete the course. Every year the organizers route the ride through a different set of towns.  I have ridden my bicycle over one thousand miles of Iowa and have stayed in, or passed through forty towns.  I met a lot of great people. They are friendly, helpful, and cheerful.

     Most of Iowa is agricultural. I peed in many cornrows, and passed by hundreds of acres of soybeans. I rode quickly past many pig farms. The stench being, well let me just say distinctive. Just about every town had at least one church with a cross on the steeple

     Farmers are usually small businessmen. They are independent, and in my mind conservative.  . That is why I was surprised to see the big support Iowans gave Obama. It is also a surprise, that the city of Davenport, Iowa wanted to change Good Friday to “Celebrate Spring Day.”  It was their attempt to separate the church from the state.

     I have a suggestion for Iowa. If you want to separate church from state, do not celebrate the holidays. I believe government should work three hundred and sixty five days a year.  You pay the bill, and as boss it should be your rule for your government to follow. If you do not like it leave, and work for the private sector. The state will improve with fewer people working for it. Besides, by working an extra hundred and five days, you need fewer people to do the work.  Do not try to change two thousand years of tradition and the culture of Christianity because you believe in separation of church and state.

     For the farmers of Iowa, please do not get any more good ideas like Obama again.  I recommend that you get away from the pig farm regularly, and breathe some fresh air. That way when another Obama shows up you will be able to recognize what he really is by the odor.

Ronald Reagan’s reflection on God and morality: “Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. I’m convinced more than ever that man finds liberation only when he binds himself to God and commits himself to his fellow man. Our liberty springs from and depends upon an abiding faith in God.”