Opinion: A Joyous Time Of Year

Even though among the darkest and coldest months of the year, we have much to celebrate this December. Although plagued by problems made worse by an elderly and inept President, American freedoms and wealth remain largely intact. And we seem increasingly resolved to confront our problems, instead of letting them get worse as some pretend they do not exist.

First among the celebrations in December, is the birth of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago. The messages he and his disciples brought to us form the foundation of the modern world where vast numbers of people now live in relative peace and prosperity. Yet it took humanity almost 1,700 years after his birth to fully appreciate the need to follow absolute truths, based upon our ability to observe and to reason, not blindly follow religious and political substitutes. This meant getting beyond the superstitions that have plagued humanity throughout the ages.

Until the beginnings of Science and the Age of Enlightenment in the late 17th century, outward expressions of religious devotion were considered sufficient. One need not actually be a good Christian. The Dark Ages were indeed dark. As late as 1685, ‘Christian’ religious authorities were still executing elderly women who had lost their husbands. During an especially cold period after the Medieval Warm Period, when crops repeatedly failed, it was common for the authorities to convict as many as 500 women a year for what they termed witchcraft. These women were accused of casting spells over the climate. The only fact that the authorities could bring to bear at their trials was a cold climate. But the heavily superstitious population supported hanging or burning these women at the stake. So much for Christian behavior!

Martin Luther saves Christianity

It took Martin Luther’s revolt against the Catholic Church (known as the Protestant Reformation) and the intensely religious Puritans to finally move Christianity toward more benevolent practices based on the original teachings of Christ and the Puritan devotion to absolute truths. We owe them a lot, basically the entire modern world.

This December, we should be joyful that we, as a nation, are finally overcoming many societal problems that President Biden has made worse with his headlong dive into Post-Modern thinking that is really emotion, not thinking. Emotional responses, that are collectively referred to as “woke behavior,” have been the cause of America’s precipitous decline this year.

The Rittenhouse and Arbery verdicts show justice achieved

First of all, we should be joyful that our justice system has held together and produced reasonable verdicts based on the facts in the celebrated Rittenhouse and Arbery cases. Despite the mob justice that the Left has been demanding, Rittenhouse was acquitted on the basis of clear self-defense and those who killed Arbry were found guilty of murder, with racial stereotypes playing a prominent role in the Arbry case.

This says that we have racial problems well under control and will not permit extremists to divide us along racial lines. Perhaps the ability of Democrats to play the race card is finally ebbing. From their support of slavery in the mid-19th century to their support of segregation and the Ku Klux Klan in the mid-20th century, to their support of Reverse Racism today, it is time to say “ENOUGH.” We are all Americans, regardless of different appearances and ethnic backgrounds. We may yet salvage Reverend Martin Luther King’s dream of a world where we judge a man by his character and not the color of his skin.

The Virginia Miracle

We should also rejoice at the miracle in Virginia where Democrats joined with Republicans to elect a moderate Republican, Glenn Youngkin, as Governor, the first black Republican woman, Winsome Sears, as Lieutenant Governor, and the first Latino Republican, Jason Miyares, as Attorney General. Sears enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at age 19 and became a US citizen one year later. She emigrated from Jamaica. Miyares is the first Latino elected statewide, not just as attorney general, but to any statewide office in Virginia. He is also the first Virginian to be elected attorney general who is the son of immigrants, in his case Cubans.

The central issue in the Virginia races was the insistence of Democrats that parents had no say in the education of their children, especially as it related to Critical Race Theory (CRT). Democrats knew what was best for their children, and outraged parents were deemed domestic terrorists by the Biden Administration for loudly objecting. To make matters far worse, Democrats denied that CRT was being taught in Virginia schools.
CRT maintains that whites are responsible for the many ills of the black community, even though no person alive today had anything to do with slavery. In America, each new generation gets a fresh start and is not held accountable for what their ancestors may or may not have done.

With the advent of remote learning, parents could see that their children were being taught overt racism. Later as classes resumed, a young elementary school child came home wondering how she and her parents could be white oppressors. Parents became so outraged that they voted Democrats out of office. For the first time since 1885, an incumbent Attorney General failed to be re-elected.

A similar revolt nearly unseated the Democrat Governor of New Jersey. Voters have deserted woke Democrats who fail to see the writing on the wall and double down on Un-American behavior.

The Northeast Climate Pact Dies

One Democrat who clearly got the message that woke ideology is toxic is the Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont. But his concern was not about parents irate over CRT. He was worried about his chances for re-election next year, if he continued to support the Northeast Climate Pact which sought to make gasoline so expensive that residents would not be able to afford it. As he explained, “Look, I couldn’t get it through when gas prices were at historic lows. So I think the legislature has been pretty clear it is a tough rock to push when gas prices are so high,” Massachusetts and Rhode Island quickly left the pact also, rendering it dead.

While those of us who are scientists would rather see politicians admit that such pacts are Fool’s Errands, because there is no climate crisis, we are happy to see the Northeast following the Northwest in refusing to implement carbon taxes. Even Swiss voters have refused to back such taxes.

UN Climate Conference falters

At the 26th UN Climate Conference in Scotland known as COP-26, the organizer, Alok Sharma, was almost in tears. Commentators were calling it FLOP-26. That is good, not bad, because it was nothing more than a scheme to redistribute American wealth around the world. Speeches professing concern for the environment from Joe Biden and John Kerry were completely undercut by Biden’s opulent entourage of five airplanes and 85 cars.

COVID-19 Restrictions are Disappearing

With the COVID-19 pandemic waning across the USA, most people are eager to move on. We now know that the vast majority of Americans have low to extremely low risk from COVID-19, especially with vaccines and several therapies. While the CDC is still reporting ‘excess deaths’ attributed to the virus, we can see from their data that the latest wave is declining, both across the USA and in Oregon.

That means that mask and vaccination mandates are no longer necessary from health and personal liberty perspectives. Oregon’s ‘last in the USA’ outdoor mask mandate was lifted recently. And compliance with the the indoor mandate is faltering as more simply ignore it. Of course, not everyone has received the message. The Portland mountaineering club known as the Mazamas, is demanding that those who attend their annual Christmas Party not only be vaccinated but prove to them that they are! Their leaders deserve “The Grinch who Stole Christmas” award.

Elsewhere around the world where COVID-19 cases are climbing, due to the virus finally finding those who have been hiding from it, governments are cracking down hard on everyone. Police in Austria and Germany are patrolling holiday markets to demand proof of vaccinations. Such tactics are meeting stiff resistance across Europe, as well they should.

People want a joyous holiday season. So do I. Those most vulnerable can make their own decisions to take as many precautions as they think reasonable. Blanket lock-downs harm everyone at this wonderful time of year.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Gordon J. Fulks lives in Corbett and can be reached at gordonfulks@hotmail.com. He is one of the Directors of the CO2 Coalition and holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago’s Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research.