The Fourth of July. Independence Day. The day the United States of America (USA) was born. A day signifying the results of the War of Independence, when the original colonies severed ties with Britain and declared themselves a new, self-governing country. A day people died for, giving this nation the chance to succeed. A country people have died to protect ever since. And why? Because despite the many mistakes, tragedies and terrible mis-steps the USA has made since its forming, it still offers freedoms no other country does. And it has a Constitution like no other legal framework in existence.

The USA is far from perfect. No country is. No country has existed without conflict, internal and external. The USA engaged in slavery, a horrifying practice. But the USA also fought a blood-filled Civil War to end slavery. Some people act like slavery began and ended here. It didn’t. The Slave Trade dates back millennia and continues in some parts of the world. They just call it “human trafficking” now.

What has made the USA so appealing to people around the world has been two-fold: the American Dream and the fact that it is considered a “melting pot,” where anyone is welcome. The American Dream is simple: With enough hard work, persistence, and enthusiasm, people can become who they want to be. Whether that means starting a business, becoming an athlete or any kind of professional, it is possible. Many people of all races and ethnicities have achieved that. Some have become famous or even celebrities. Not everyone has become wealthy and some have lost their fame and/or fortunes, but the opportunity was there.

I hear a lot of people downplay or even disparage the American Dream (which I will call The Dream from now on) and I don’t understand it. They call it a lie or only for the privileged. And some people act like race automatically prevents people from achieving The Dream. If that is true, please explain Oprah Winfrey to me. And then explain Morgan Freeman, Benicio Del Toro, Jennifer Lopez, Shazad Latif, John Cho, Steven Yeun, the late Chadwick Boseman and equally successful actors, not to mention a huge list of athletes, business owners and beyond. The Dream is still possible. That doesn’t mean there won’t be obstacles, sometimes even oneself, but obstacles can be overcome. Even during a pandemic.

I see so much division these days in the USA, mostly along political lines, racial lines or both. I see people disrespecting the US flag or the National Anthem. I see people promoting what is being dubbed the “Black National Anthem” (“Lift Every Voice And Sing,” which is a beautiful song) in the place of the National Anthem.

Despite what people may think and other people’s considerable efforts, the USA is NOT two nations divided by color or race. We don’t have to love everything about the country or its past, but we can respect that we are one nation. We can agree to disagree and we can also have honest dialogue when we do disagree. We can listen to both sides of an argument and not become violent. We can believe in people in general. And support each other as one nation.

Political divisions will come and go. Trends will come and go. Cultures do change over time, putting some old ways to rest and embracing some new ways. That is life.

What doesn’t change is the circle of life itself: Birth, growth, learning, faith (in something), love, the need for family, aging, and death. These are the things that tie us all together, regardless of where we were born, what the color of our skin is, what our culture is or what we choose to believe.

This is what makes us human beings.

We have a right to exist. We deserve a basic level of respect just for existing. And we are ALL biologically similar.

So on this Fourth of July, instead of focusing on over-hyped rhetoric about our supposed differences, I suggest that we focus on our similarities.

We can all get along. We just have to want to try.

I've been writing about this for a while, made a couple of trailers for my short story — and now I can share some major updates about Into The Unknown: An Ambassador International Science Fiction Anthology.

RELEASE DATE: The anthology will be released on August 17, 2021 as an ebook on Amazon and other retailers. It will become available in paperback and audiobook at later dates.

PRE-ORDER LINK: You can pre-order this anthology at this link. Price is $2.99 USD. Get it now!

COVER REVEAL: Check it out below!

This will be my next project after I finish Steam & Mettle (Christian steampunk): a Christian Dystopian Science-Fiction multi-book series called The Pavfarah Chronicles. I felt inspired to make a series teaser trailer for it!

I made a new book trailer for my Christian Science-Fantasy novel, Jordan's Deliverance (Book 3 in the Jordan of Algoran Series). I made this trailer with Canva Pro and Speechelo Pro.

Let me know what you think!

I made a new book trailer for Jordan's Arrow (Book 2 in the Jordan of Algoran Series) using Canva Pro and Speechelo. Feedback welcome!

lt has been said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.

But what about those who reject history and seek to rewrite it for their own ends?

There's a racial divide that's been forced upon this country under the guise of professed social justice. People of all races are being conditioned to be racist...by activists calling themselves "anti-racists."

I present as evidence an excerpt from Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge (3rd Edition) by Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado:

"Critical race theory's challenge to racial oppression and the status quo sometimes takes the form of storytelling, in which writers analyze the myths, presuppositions, and received wisdoms that make up the common culture about race and that invariably render blacks and other minorities one-down. Starting from the premise that a culture constructs its own social reality in ways that promote its own self-interest, these scholars set out to construct a different reality."

Originating from the Marxist "Critical Theory" in the 1930s and "Critical Legal Studies" from the 1960s and 1970s, Critical Race Theory (CRT) came into being in 1989 and assumes "racism is normal, not aberrant, in American society" and "because it is an ingrained feature of our landscape, racism looks ordinary and natural to persons in the culture."

I reject this notion wholeheartedly. People are taught about race and racism by family, friends or people they look up to. We are also individuals and have free will. People can reject racism. They can change and become better. We are not "DNA Zombies," unable to act in any other way than what our skin color dictates. That would make us worse than fictional undead monsters.

It's one thing to legitimately recognize the racial injustices that have occurred in this country's flawed past, especially prior to the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. And it is entirely fair to say that the legal framework created as a result of that Movement has not been perfect. It did not remove all racism, it just made it illegal to act in a racist manner. Removing the majority of racism took desegregation and the full integration of a multiracial society over the last fifty years.

CRT claims all of the progress made during that time was a lie, that it doesn't matter. CRT says it knows better than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream...because reasons. And those reasons appear to be rooted in bitterness and racism towards other races, specifically those of European descent, who CRT unabashedly calls "white people."

CRT seeks to impose its activist, racist mentality on the US Government, Academia (where it originated) and society at large by dividing, aggravating, and shaming people based on the color of their skin.

It doesn't even evoke justice, where the law at least gives the opportunity for an accused person to have a trial and the opportunity to present facts. CRT assumes the accused ("white people") are guilty because (to its proponents) it's a given...the accused are white.

That's the very definition of racism, by the way: judging an entire race based on the color of their skin.

CRT doesn't want justice. It wants revenge.

And that is why it should be challenged. And yet, CRT proponents claim that to challenge CRT is to prove oneself racist. It's circular, intellectually dishonest logic. But facts and reasoning tend to get in the way of hate.

As I've said before, any philosophical or intellectual position that says it cannot be confronted is weak and undercuts itself. All knowledge is subject to inspection and reevaluation with time and experience.

If you don't believe me about CRT, do your own research into it. Read the original text, not people's glowing reviews of it. CRT speaks for itself quite well.

Sadly, even the church is not immune to CRT. Too many pastors and people of faith are putting down the Holy Bible and picking up the "Social Justice Bible." Some are actually preaching Critical Race Theory from their pulpits and social media.

I understand the desire to help people, do good in one's community, and fight racism. I have stood against racism for a long time, both online and in day-to-day living. But one has to be led by the Holy Spirit in such things — not CRT, which was originated by flawed human beings.

And yet, this ideology has wormed its way into a lot of ministries, redefining the concepts of sin and redemption based on race, even skin color.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't work that way. God is unchanging and is not swayed by trends, intellectual movements or political ideologies. He is God alone.

Jesus Christ did not come to separate the races. He was not here to overthrow the Romans, though He could have done so by calling on "twelve legions of angels" had He had wanted to. But He didn't.

When confronted by the religious leaders, Jesus didn't resist them. When beaten and whipped by the Roman soldiers, Jesus didn't fight back. He knew His purpose was to die for the sins of all humankind, to be buried, and to be resurrected on the third day, conquering death itself. He ascended to Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to be a Comforter and to offer salvation to those seeking the Lord. It allowed us sinners the opportunity to be redeemed back to God.

In doing so, Jesus fulfilled the prophesies of the Old Testament and proved Himself the Messiah. He also unleashed a different kind of cultural revolution on the world: a revolution of Peace.


Romans 12: 14-21 (KJV) reads:

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
 

Consider also James 1: 16-20 (KJV):

Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.


None of that said "unless they are Greek" or "unless they are Samaritans." In fact, Paul challenged Peter "to the face" for treating Jews and non-Jews differently.


Galatians 2: 11-16 (KJV) reads:

But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.


Lastly, Galatians 3: 26-29 (KJV) reads:


For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.


We as a nation need to heal from this racial divide. I don't profess to have all the answers, but I know this much: the poison of Critical Race Theory reduces everyone's merit, potential and indeed our entire existence to the color of our skin.

I'll go one step further: I believe that the activists who promote the racist ideology of CRT are the very types of people which the Civil Rights Movement fought against.

To support this claim, I will quote Dr. King:

"I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.

I have a dream today."

As the racists were challenged then, peacefully by Dr. King and so many others, they should be challenged now. Not with anger, nor with shouting and certainly not with violence.

They should be challenged peacefully — with proof that Dr. King's dream became a reality. That is the best way to debunk the revisionist history lie of CRT.

We can show them that we stand arm-in-arm with people of all races, with respect and dignity towards one another. We are not tainted or consumed by the poison of racism. We are individual people with dreams like Dr. King's. And we outnumber those who would say otherwise.

We are those who have married interracially; birthed, fostered and adopted interracially; and have love and respect for all races and nations. We are those who do not allow skin color to be a determining factor in who we choose to interact with, trust, and learn from.

If you agree with what I've written, please like and share this.

And consider a new hashtag:
#wearemorethanourskincolo

I used Canva Pro to make a 90-second promo video for this website. Let me know what you think!