Another Letter to The President

Dear President & Mrs. Obama,

I recently wrote you a letter asking for you help in my efforts to put prayer back into schools.  Since then I have done a little research in this matter that, hopefully, will help my appeal.

It is my understanding that praying in school does not go against our rights as citizens under the Constitution of the United States.  As a matter of fact the First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the practice thereof…”  Yet in 1962, the year prayer was removed from school, the government seems to have done just this.

I have also learned that the “Separation of Church and State” is also not in the U. S. Constitution, and since we have done this the pregnancy rate for teenaged girls has gone from 5,000 to 27,000 per year, with numbers possibly steadily increasing.  As important as education is to you and your wife, you should also know that SAT scores have dropped drastically, and the drop-out rate is spiraling out of control; not to mention the increase in violence and drug use.

There are approximately 80% of Americans who claim to be religious and pray, yet we have taken the flawed morality of the minor few and incorporated them into our system.  I am not afraid to call out the enemy, who is trying to destroy our nation where its leaders are being trained to lead.

Though the Constitution does not uphold the ban on prayer in our schools, I do understand that the law does prohibit our educational systems to mandate standard prayer.  This is why I feel there should be a freedom of choice, even inside the walls of the school.  If prayer is allowed, it should be an individual’s choice to participate.

As a substitute teacher,  there have been many times that I wanted to take a child who I knew was a Christian, just as I am, and pray with them.  They were suffering, or in trouble, but my hands were tied because it was not allowed.  Prayer changes things Mr. President, I know that you know that.  My prayer, joined with the prayer of many others, is why we have the privilege of your leadership in this great country today. 

The backbone of our society, in its inception, was built on the Bible and its teachings, and the Bible says, “Do not be anxious about any thing, but in every thing BY PRAYER AND PETITION, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” (Phillipians 4:6).

I appeal to you Mr. President, and I appeal to Congress, please, can we put prayer back into the school system where it belongs?

Sincerely,

Tonya D. Bernard

A Letter to The President

Dear President and Mrs. Obama,

My name is Tonya Bernard, and I am an American citizen concerned about the state of the educational system in our country.  It is a concern that is not what I would say was traditional, or even popular by today’s standards, but I feel it is one that bears tremendous weight.

I address you and your wife because I am impressed by both of your spirits and devotion to change this world we live in.  I want to do that too, yet I am just one person; a wife, and a mother, with one voice.

This country was built on “One nation under God,” but it was this country who allowed one woman to take away the spiritual foundation on which our fore fathers built this great nation on, Madelyn O’Hare.  At no time were some of the nation’s greatest leaders hesitant to pray for guidance and give reverence to the God who gave it to them during the era where this country was being built.

Just this morning I mentioned  to my husband how it took that one woman to come into our schools and take prayer away; why could it not be one woman, me, to come in and do just the opposite?  Our schools are where the nation’s next leaders are being trained to do battle in the place we call the real world.  We rely on these places to shape the minds of our most impressionable, but yet take away the one thing that should be impressed upon them, the power of prayer.

My husband reminded me, in our talk, that this was a free country and no one can force people to participate in something they don’t believe in.  I believe that’s true, but I also believe that my duty as a Christian is to walk in the light, no matter where I am, and to guide the lost into salvation by the life that I lead.  One of the gifts that God gives us is a direct line to Him, and while I recognize that He also gives us the freedom of free will, this is the very reason that I believe that those who pray to Him should, and those who don’t shouldn’t be made to participate. This country Democracy is very much a Hypocrisy if they take away the rights of some (believers) to give to others(unbelievers).

Our children are in school for the most part of the day, so are the teachers.  Should these people who share the same faith be deprived of their right to come together and pray on a regular basis?  I don’t think so.

What I’m asking you is, where do I start?  How can I get pray back into the schools that our children attend?  Please help me.

Sincerely,

Tonya D. Bernard

Women

Some times I sit back and think, trying to remove myself from myself, as if I were on the outside looking in, whenever I get into an argument with someone (namely my husband).  I must admit that it is during those times when I think: "Why do I, as a woman, have to be the victim in this situation?"

I'm a work in progress, of this I'm sure of, but the nagging and complaining thing is getting kind of tired, and I don't want to be apart of it any more.  I'm trying to be apart of the rare breed of women who can humble themselves and admit their faults when the situation calls for it, not play the innocent when I know I'm wrong.

Proverbs 31 is a hard goal to attain.  I read it and immediately wrote it off as unrealistic.  But if we all call ourselves getting on the road in the right direction, what better place to start than putting one foot in front of the other?  Without striving to achieve the unrealistic our world would be void of some of the greatest leaders it has ever known.  How many are going to stand up and walk with me?

Marriage

I think people now-a-days think that marriage is just a faze you go through in life. None of them seem to take it as seriously as God intended it to be. We forget how marriage is supposed to be a sacred vow made before God, and to Him and your spouse. If we can't honor the vows we make to God, then what kind of foundation is the unity between two people based on?
When I look today at how "Hollywood" portrays marriage, or how influential people like politicians are facing the crumbling sanctity of their once happy union, all I can do is shake my head at how dreadful this world has become. Instead of a 'til death do us part' some want to add clauses that include, 'until we fall out of love, or I find someone better, ie: Swizz Beats and Alicia Keys, Antuan Cook and Fantasia Barrino.

In no way am I judging these people, because I feel that I am in no position to, but their situations were just sad. It hurts me to see a marriage break apart, especially under such controversy. I recently watched an interview E! News held with Swizz Beats where the reporter asked him how he felt about his life as a newly wed with a baby on the way. He described how he finally felt happy and every thing was great. Of course every thing is great in the beginning. Its the beginning!! But how in the world did he think that made the wife and child he left behind feel? Abandoned? Lost? Confused?

There was a letter posted on the internet where the wife of Swizz Beats explained how she had felt blind-sided by his sudden departure from the marriage. She wasn't bitter, she wasn't vindictive, but she was very hurt that her husband, who seemed to be living a double life, would leave her no indication that their marriage was over while carrying on with Ms. Keys, a woman whom she highly respected and had been introduced to through her husband. That was a cold thing to do, and while I still very much like Alicia Keys, her talent, and her music, I have to say that no matter how I tried, I lost respect for her when I learned how she played a part in the break up of a marriage.

No matter how many excuses we may want to use to break up a marriage, or to get out of one, the truth of the matter is; the fault of the dissolution falls right on the shoulders of the person staring back at you in the mirror. Fantasia is no exception. Yes, she had a hard life. Yes, she says the man told her that he was separated from his wife. Yes, he may look nice. There could be a thousand yeses, but it only took one NO to stop all of the controversy going on in her life now. That would be the no she should have told him as soon as she found out he was married. Separated or not, wait until after the divorce, then there would be no need for accountability. I'm sorry to say it, because I love Fantasia and her music, but she played a part in the drama as soon as she decided to be in that married man's life.

I pray that one day the world will realize how serious the vows we make to be apart of someone else's life are, and do every thing within their might to make it work. When you run out of strength God always has an extra portion. When you feel that you can't go on, God pulls out the encouragement you thought was all wiped out, because He never puts more on us than we can bear.

Lynched

Yesterday I was working out at the gym and happened to glance up. There before me flashed a picture of a man hanging. He had been lynched. The sad part was, there was a little girl standing next to this lynched man (along w/male adults) smiling!


Coming from a race of people who cringe when they hear the word lynch, I have to say this is truly appalling to be happening in the present day, no matter what part of the world its in.

I didn't get too many details about the story, so I'm trying to do some research, but I was shocked into a stupor for a moment.

We can try to say this society has grown away from Jim Crow, but the sore still remains, just not as prevalent. Just a little over a decade ago there was the lynching and dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, TX, and in 2008 the body of Brandon McClelland was found mutilated and dismembered in Paris, TX. This happened after he was picked up by two white men in a dodge truck.  So the world has not moved along much, it just seems to do a better job at covering up the sore.

I can speak out all I want about the nation taking full responsibility for its ignorant citizens, but there is no way to change the minds of those who choose to wallow in their so-called superiorism. Do you notice though, that a lot of the white supremacist usually don't have much going on in their lives, so they have to try and be better than somebody else, because when they look at the sadness of their situation, they feel they have no other choice? GET A LIFE!!! Then maybe you can stop worrying about other people because of their differences.

Read the story on Brandon McClelland at: http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5348.shtml

Black People

My people. Black people. I love you from the bottom of my heart, but we don't have to assimilate ourselves to the culture of others in order to be apart.


We built this nation too, with our hands, and on our feet. Some of us going down in the struggle, being sought after and beat.

Our voices have been heard, and yes we do count. There's proof of that sitting right there in the White House.

He didn't perpitrate a fraud, or wear a blonde arm piece to get where he did. And though he's not all black, he claims it proudly, and doesn't base his image off of what other people think or have said.

Just because white rhymes with right, doesn't mean that it is. Not for us any way. Our strengh should come from who we are, not what other people say.
When God formed us in the belly of our mother's wombs, with our dark skin, textured hair, and defined noses, He was privy to what He did. He said His work was good, and I agree one hundred percent.

We SHOULD be proud of the GOOD in our look, our culture, and trends. Once I heard a preacher say, "My hair is good hair! When the wind blows, it does not shift or bend..."

Black men stop using the negative aspects of your women, which can be found in ANY woman, as an excuse date on the other side. Black women don't blame the black man when you turn away, not all of them leave, or do things to make us cry.

They say love sees no color, but of that I do not believe. 'Twas said in ignorance, because I say, love sees color and appreciates the beauty of its difference!

The Middle Class Tax Mules

If you happen to fall between the lines of rich and poor, then you're considered middle class.  What does this mean to the government?  Basically, it means for us, every January through April, to bend over and take it up the behind. 

I don't consider myself to be business savvy, neither am I a pro at numbers, outside of paying my bills, but what I do know is that for those who have so much money they don't want to pay, and for those who don't have enough to pay, the middle class has to come in and pick up the slack.  That's crap!

The main ones who are so vocal about not paying more taxes (the rich) are the ones with the keen knowlege and connections to get around doing so.  And I'm not letting some of the poor off the hook.  My problem with some of them is that the crooked ones are getting paid under the table and not reporting it to the IRS.  Personally, I can't say that I blame you (rich or poor), but the economy doesn't work together fairly when you do this.

See I look at the government and the American people like a parent/child relationship.  More should be expected of the eldest (the rich) because they know better, and as you go on down the line to the middle child (the middle class), there should be a little more leniency, because they are still caught in between learning the ropes and having a full grasp of them.  Of course the youngest (the poor) gets to be "babied" the most, because they don't know any better.  Not knowing any better is not necessarily a bad thing.  Being poor doesn't count you among the ignorant, but some poor do have less connections, which is what it takes to make it to the top in this world.  Ask any rich person at the top and you'll find that out.  Some of them are the most ignorant people on the planet, but they so happen to be hooked up to the right people to secure their places in the line of the priviledged.

This is the way I see things, but apparently the government says different.  They think we should be the mules to carry the load of the rest of the nation.  I don't know about you, but I'm tired and my back hurts...

Passion