Ain't Presidents Grand?

As you can see from the title, I was off work today. Much needed day off, let me tell you. It was a great week though. A lot of epicness. I've been using that "word" too much... Anyways, here's the stitch:

On Monday, I helped one of my fellow interns make phone calls to see what Representatives were coming to our New Member Breakfast on Tuesday. No one I talked to was coming. Drat.

On Tuesday, I did Cato Today again. I was not planning on this and I got started about an hour later than usual (9:30). I was doing the newspaper delivery and when I got done the other guys asked me to take if for the day. Kind of rough. I tried the pizza place near work with Saagar. Pretty good stuff.

Wednesday, I worked through the Gokhale distribution list till I was down to the last two emails. When I got home, I called numbers for both and I was able to get an email for one.

Thursday, I finished the Gokhale list. Thank the Lord! I now hate excel. Completely. I was able to start a new project too. I began to put together my department's (Government Affairs) quantitative report for 2010. I have to list all the events and put descriptions with the events. That evening in the apartment, I had a huge foreign policy "discussion" with Josh, Jason, Taylor, and Nick. I was ganged up on, but at least I know I'm right. Our military is there to provide for the common defense, not world domination and messing in already hostile situations does nothing to make them better (the Middle East).

Friday, I worked more on the project and then I went to the International Students for Liberty Conference. It was awesome. I attended the whole weekend. I saw John Stossel, David Boaz, Gary Johnson (2012), and several other awesome speakers. If you ever get the chance to go to one of these, don't think, do it. (Employee of the Month reference.)

Today (Monday), we went to the national zoo. Saw red pandas (my favorites), giant pandas, shrews, leopards, and a bunch of monkeys. Check out my pics on Facebook if you want to see them. Awesome stuff.

Thanks and peace.

Bourbon Babies! "Somebody hit her with the ugly stick"

A wee bit behind but at least I'm posting...

On Monday I went with my supervisor, Brandon Arnold, to the Republican Study Committee. That's always an interesting meeting. Its a bunch of Republican staffers that discuss whats coming up for the house. Pretty legit. On the way back to Cato in the taxi, Brandon explained the process of making laws and procedures. Pretty awesome, and intricate, stuff.

Tuesday I started making phone calls for my distribution list. Calling offices all over the country. I hate phones... but it was still fun. You can definitely tell when you're talking to people from the south. I left about an hour early so I could drop of some testimonies for Mark Calabria for the next day.

Wednesday: More phone calls. OH JOY. Another discussion with Kuznicki. I still haven't decided if I like him. He's good, but odd. I also put together a list of freshmen congressmen that declined their provided health care. For lunch I went to Micky D's and I saw Dan Griswold. I also bought lunch for two homeless guys.

Thursday: I did CT again but I was overconfident. So it took a while. And then I went with Caitlyn Korb and Roger Pilon to a Hill briefing about restoring Constitutional liberty. Pilon and Rep. Scott Garrett spoke. Pretty awesome.

Friday: LYNCHBURG!!! But first work. It wasn't bad. Then four hours on the train.

Went to Jordan Connell's concert. EPIC. and then I went to b-dubs with everyone: JB, Cribby, Stephan, Sara Beth, Ryan, AJ, Zack, Corey, Zach, Lexie, Chris, Allison, Nick, and a random Asian girl I don't know.

Saturday: We went to the mall and got Chinese like old times (Stephan, Sara Beth, and Grant) and went to Walmart and Target. Then I went to the ball game and then played the futuristic risk and it was epic. Watched Wall Street with JB and Zack. Not sure about that.

Sunday: Left on the train at 10. Back in DC...

Thai, mushrooms, and emails...

So here's the weekly update:

On Monday, I took the lead on Cato Today. Um... can you say intense? It's Cato's daily publication that is sent out by email. I got there about 8:20 and didn't get it out until 1:00. Over four and half hours. But it made it out!

On Tuesday, Jason Kuznicki spoke to us about logic. Very interesting despite the fact one of his examples of bad logic was a faulty argument that creationists (which I am) sometimes use. He definitely had some valuable insight. At Cato we're allowed to take the books they publish home. Because of this, I've started a list of books I really want and one has been at the top: The Libertarian Reader. I found it Tuesday. I was excited! haha

On Wednesday, I put together a fax for Kuznicki's Marriage Against the State. It's a good article but not really something LU would like. Oh well. I also worked on the Gokhale distribution (like I have the last 3 weeks). For lunch I had Thai food for the very first time. Saagar talked me into (one of the other interns).

On Thursday, Kuznicki talked again, but this time about natural rights. A good lecture with a lot of good discussion. I really like the article from Ayn Rand. Good stuff.

Today, Friday, I went to Capital Hill to deliver books and then we (me and Saagar again) had lunch in the Longworth cafeteria with one of his roommates who works on the hill. His roommate is allergic to mushrooms so what did he do? He had one. We had to take him to the first aid room.

We're watching the Island right now. Epic movie. We're always watching movies... haha. Tomorrow we're heading to Georgetown to get cupcakes. Yep. Cupcakes. They're so legit they're on the food network.

Why Libertarianism Fits With, and Exemplifies, the Christian Faith

This is just my preliminary thoughts on the subject. I hope to really get into this at some point from both angles. Here is just the Christian angle.

"Many Christians today feel that the Republican Party is the only option that fits with their faith. They feel that the “morals” exemplified in the party so closely resemble their own, that they have to support the party. While I personally agree with some of the moral issues that the Republican Party takes a stand on, I do not agree with the Republican way of implementing them. I consider myself a Christian Libertarian. Many, from both sides (Christian and Libertarian), would stare at me with wonder at this pairing of seemingly contradictory words. These two things are in fact compatible. I would go so far to say that this worldview is best acted upon through this political philosophy.

Christians in today’s time have fallen down on the job. We do not have the passion that the early church had and because of this, we are losing the fight in society. In order to “shore up our defenses,” we attempt to legislate our views and morality. If we can outlaw drugs then our society will become more moral; so we think. If we legislate morality, the actual morality that we are trying to uphold is warped and lessened greatly. When we force people to act a certain way by fear of punishment, there is no morality; just fear and disdain for the overbearing authority. In order to truly reach the culture around us, we must do it on our own: through relationships and personal interactions. Legislation cannot induce morality. If people are allowed to choose what they do and how they act, then when they make good moral decisions, the decisions are actually good and true.

Christians take the easy way out when we take our moral rules and obligations and apply them to the general public. Its almost as if we are jealous that they can have fun so we have to make them “suffer” as we do. This is not true faith. It is laziness and immorality at their pinnacle. To truly win a society and make it “moral,” we must win their hearts. We must regain the passion that once made Christianity so enticing and show that to the world.

If we (Republican Christians) enact our morality into legislation when we are in power, what do we expect the other side (“Godless” Democrats) to do? It does not take a genius to see what will happen, and what has happened. If we try to enforce our beliefs on those who do not share them, when they become the ruling party they will most definitely strive to enact their policies as well. When they do, we cannot complain. We did the same.

Take a look at Genesis. God created Adam and Eve for companionship. Did you get that? He CREATED them. He chose how they would be. Every. Single. Aspect. Not long after their creation they disobeyed him and fell into sin. They were given the free will to do what they pleased even if it went against what God wanted for them. (I hold that it was still His will but that’s another discussion.) The Republican way of doing things does not recognize this. They try to tell people how to act through coercion. God wants us to come to him of our accord (with the Holy Spirit’s guiding).

Man is fallen. Dr. Metallo would be proud of that statement. Man is a sinful being. If we place people in a position of power, that sinful nature is tempted even more than a normal person. It is magnified beyond belief. Government is necessary but not the type we have today. Our founders created a governing system with a very small central government because they knew that men governed themselves better than a government can. Because of the size and magnitude of our present government, the greed and immorality of man has been expanded so much that the government rarely functions effectively. The founders confined the government by establishing certain actions that the government could take and then delegating the rest either to the states or to the citizenry. Today’s government has ignored these rules (aka the Constitution) and has stolen power from the states and the people."