The Domestication

Whiskers was once a small, yet fierce, predator… a killing machine! When he wanted to do something, he was free to do it. He was hungry, and so he hunted and ate. He was sleepy, and so he slept. He was the miniature king of the forest. Roaring and calling with extreme confidence. No one in the forest smaller than he dared laugh in his direction.

 

Whiskers the cat was captured at a young age by the swindling, patient, trickery of easy predation. Being very reluctant at first, after continuing to be fed tuna straight from the can (Delicious!), and warm milk in a bowl (oh my!), he now depends on his owner for food, which has been reduced to dried food in an aluminum pie pan and water from a local mud-puddle. Through the event of this “domestication,” tactics used by his natural superiors, hunting is now a legendary practice of his pastime and ancestors because the skills required to feed him are no longer necessary. He depends solely on his owner for sustenance. Regrettably, he forgot how to hunt… He forgot how to roar… He forgot that he was once confident and competent…

 

Andre was once a real man. His own man! Accused of being toxically masculine at every level. When he wanted to do something, he did it. He was hungry, and so he barbequed. He was sleepy, and so he napped. He thought abortion and homosexuality was wrong and he gently and respectfully, but firmly, spoke against it. He would think for himself. 

 

One day after a workout, Andre turned on the television. It was after a workout and he was tired. The media before him was flashy, shocking, and exciting. The producers knew that they had to change the angle of the camera every few seconds in order to keep Andre’s attention. They knew that they had to exaggerate in order to sustain his gaze. It worked! Andre was hooked. Every morning, he would watch the news, and gasp at the embellished reports from journalists who only hoped to one day be famous. During the commercials, he saw short clips of hilarity from shows on the same channel… “Tonight at seven!” they boasted. Andre put it in his calendar. The agenda behind the hilarity spoke against his own beliefs, but he didn’t catch it. He was too distracted by the dusty, old jokes used to bring ratings up from earlier sitcoms. They knew exactly what they were doing. Eventually, the agenda started to permeate Andre’s intellect. He needed his bowl of warm milk that only the media and the sitcoms could deliver. He depends on his owners for intellect. The “domestication” was complete. Andre stopped thinking for himself because it was just much easier to go with the flow and float down river. Everyone else thought homosexuality was ok, so why shouldn’t he? After all, he really wasn’t sure in the first place why he ever thought it was wrong. Same with abortion… 

 

Are you like a house cat when it comes to thoughts and ideas? If ideas are always handed to you and you do not hunt them down yourself, then you will not think critically. Then, just like the house cat, people who can think critically will reduce you to entertainment and may no longer take you seriously. They show pictures of you dressed up in clothes that are barely functional for any real task which make you look absolutely ridiculous. You will become famous through viral memes. They will expect nothing from you because you entertain them. They are not worried about you. Who would be? You are now no threat to anything. The only way you know how to roar is by whining and complaining. You believe what they tell you. Even the belief that you are powerful and brave. You have not come to conclusions on your own. You did not examine the evidence yourself. You did not think through it thoroughly… 

 

You scratch and claw when you don’t get your way, but it is easy to remind you to whom you belong with a bowl of warm milk. You have played a part in your own conditioning, and conditioned you are. You have been programmed like a computer. You only know what is right and good because of the programming that has been installed. You now believe that the agenda grafted into your mind is the end to life, you have replaced it with real and true love… but there is so much more to life, and your dependence on others for the way you should think will keep you from living it.

 © ManDate With Frank Apologist, 2022

X-Men Apocalypse and recent Nightclub shooting

So, I just returned home from watching the movie “X-MEN Apocalypse.” I would not recommend watching it, because it had the usual explosive eye candy and such, but the “F-bomb” was once used, and generally speaking, it sends the world a very mixed message.

That mixed message has people so divided. I mean, think about it. There are the good guys and the bad guys, and they both have serious power.

Mutants have the power to take and the power to give. They have the power to take what they want, or on the contrary, they have the power to give, such as protection. Professor X and his fresh crew of young mutants are portrayed right off the bat as good “people.” They like to use their powers to help others, considerably, the human world population. The problem is, Professor X is trying to show the world that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully, and Professor X’s enemies are trying to destroy the humans who are against them so the bad mutants can live how they want.

This is curiously similar to people who have guns. Gun owners have the power to either take or give as well as mutants. They have the power to rob banks, mug people, and rape people, murder people, steal from people, etc. Notice that these all involve other people. On the other hand, Gun owners also have the power to protect from home invasion, protect others from rape, or protect others from being murdered, etc. Notice again that this also involves other people.

Just like in X-men Apocalypse, it is not the mutant power that makes the mutant evil, it is the mutant him or herself. Just think if someone had a gun (or an axe or hammer or knife?) at the recent nightclub shooting. Many more people would be alive.

With some people, we want them to have guns, like police officers and such. But the problem is, even some police officers are corrupt. The issue here is that people who are trying to take away guns from the public, are trying to end evil. They see guns as evil. But the problem is that guns are not evil, people are. Long ago, the scriptures even told its readers this same truth. “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). This means that the moral compass of every person is at times overlooked. At one point or another you stole something. Think about it. At another point, you lusted the opposite sex. At another point you told a lie. You failed on a moral level. This is what this verse means.

See? It is not guns that are evil, nor is it specific mutant powers that makes one evil. Evil resides in the human (or mutant) person. What that person chooses to do or say with what he or she has will either be a sin against a holy and perfect God, or it will not.

The Good News is that “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). How does that fix the problem of separation from God? Because Jesus took our place of punishment on the cross. “He died for my sins.” Because He did this, I am now made right in the eyes of God. “It is by grace you are saved, through faith, it is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Romans 10:9 says, “Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. Go to Him right now and confess your moral failures to Him, repent (turn) from your sins (moral failures) and trust that only He will save you. It is that easy.

The problem Christians have with “gay marriage”

People have a hard time understanding why Christians make such a huge deal out of “gay marriage.” In this post, I would like to help you understand this confusion. Please, hear me out.

Christians read the Bible as the truth of God, because that is what it claims to be. The Bible says that a marriage is between one man and one woman, under God. In other words, it is not a contract, but a covenant. But I’m sure you already know this. Seriously. I know you have heard all of this before, but bear with me. The issue doesn’t even really address the fact that God calls homosexuality a sin, but it is simply focused on “gay marriage.”

Is it a cultural thing?

Maybe, you think, that it is a cultural issue that is in the Bible. Maybe that only marriage between a man and a woman was the only way back then, but maybe times are different now? For one thing, men and women are made with different parts, and these parts are meant to fit together. Whether or not you believe in God, it is clear that there is a design to the biological reproduction of life. This seems to be a sufficient case for the demise of homosexuality being a cultural issue. In other words, homosexuality is not a cultural issue because men and women will always be men and women. A biological man will never be able to give birth to a child. Homosexuality is not a biblical cultural issue.

Is it a religion thing?

Can an atheist get married? Again, we must look at what the Biblical definition of marriage is. As stated above, one can clearly see from a reading of the first three chapters in Genesis, that a marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman, under God. Jesus basically reinstates this:

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:4-6).

So, then, marriage is not for atheists either. Marriage is not for anyone out of the Judeo-Christian heritage. Marriage is an invention of God, for His people. If you want to know who His people are, read the book of Romans and Galatians. “Marriage” is misused anywhere outside of this.

If you want to call it anything, call it a civil union.

This is easy to understand. The whole problem is between church and state. They simply do not mix. The state cannot regulate what a religion should do, because the state is also under God in authority. It is understandable that homosexuals want the same rights as people who are married. I have no problem with this. I completely understand that homosexuals want the same rights as everyone else. If you want to have the same rights as people who are married, then by all means, have them. The problem I have is that homosexuals are trying to change the definition of marriage. You just cannot do that. Marriage will always be what it is, what God intended it to be and what He invented it to be, no matter what. Have the same rights, just don’t think you are married, because it is not possible. 

Chainsaw Starting and Operation

So you want to cut trees or firewood or carve bears out of logs. The best way to start this is to choose the correct chainsaw. It all depends on what you are going to do with it, really. If you are going to cut big trees down for your friends or neighbors you’ll want a bigger saw. Something that can handle at least an 18 inch bar is sufficient, preferably bigger. If you are looking to carve bears, or just prune the trees in your yard, then go for a smaller chainsaw. Anywhere around a 12 inch bar will do the trick. If you plan on using it a lot, don’t buy an electric powered chainsaw. They lack power and are simply not nearly as portable.

I have been cutting trees and logs down now for about 18 years. My father and his father both frequently used chainsaws for their jobs. I frequently helped my dad out on his logging jobs as a child. He would obviously do all the felling, but that was good, because I was able to observe him and learn a little bit.

Several years later, I started a small business felling trees. I am not really in it for the money, because I have other goals, but I simply enjoy doing it. Now let’s dive in, PPE in place.

Starting the Saw

Depending on your saw, starting it can be quite a task. With Stihl chainsaws, for instance, my personal favorite brand, you have to pull the crank a bunch of times before it will start. This is the way they are designed. I can usually start my Stihl saws in 2-4 pulls, no matter what the weather is like. Husqvarna saws are a little different in starting method, but not by much. They can be bought at several big box home stores like Lowes, Tractor Supply Company or Home Depot. Stihl’s are only sold at Stihl dealerships, which can basically be found all over the world.

Operating the Saw

The most important part of operation is obvious. Don’t get injured. There are some helpful things to remember in order to keep your appendages. For starters, when you pick the saw up, make sure it has a chain brake. This is a lever on the saw that is in front of your top hand on the handle. Whether you are right handed or left, does not matter, but for clarity, we will say that the trigger/throttle hand is the back hand, and the other hand is the top hand. In any event, if the chain moves freely around the bar when the chainsaw is off, the chain brake will immediately stop the chain when it is activated. The way it is activated is by your top hand. If the chainsaw jumps when you are cutting, the brake will hit the back of your top hand, and engage the brake, instantly stopping the chain. A good rule of thumb then is to keep your top hand where it can access the chain brake.

More safety tips include, never have the chain saw over your limbs when cutting; never cut above your shoulders; and never cut a tree from a ladder. If the saw absolutely has to cut anything besides the tree, make sure it is the ground.

I have seen people operate chainsaws very timidly. This can be kind of hazardous because it is possible that people also have a timid grip on the saw. After you get the saw started, hold on to it. You don’t have to kill it, but make sure you have a firm grip, because it could jump on you.

Chainsaws are kind of like guns in a sense. You want to have a healthy fear of the tool. You don’t want to be afraid the saw, but you want to respect that it only does what it is told to do. You are basically telling a chainsaw what to do by your hands. If the saw jumps out of your control, then it is without a doubt, operator error. To have a healthy fear of something is the active knowledge of what something is capable of. In other words, keep safety in your mind when running a saw. If you are cutting a tree down, take the time to think about what the safest way possible is to do it.

When you are wanting to cut a tree that is on the ground, maybe for fire wood, or simply to make the tree movable, perhaps from a storm or something, put the chainsaw on the tree all the way to the felling teeth of the saw. The saw will cut better and it will be lighter for you if the tree or log is as close as it can be to the engine of the saw on the bar. This technique is what basically divides the people who do not know anything about chainsaws and the people who do. If you are cutting the log or the tree with the tip of the chainsaw bar, then you are doing much more work than you need to. Let the felling teeth grab the tree, and you will find the task much easier as well as faster.

I am sure I will post more on chainsaw operation and tips and tricks, but for now, this will get you started. Stay safe, and take your time. “Think before you act” (something my dad would sometimes say)!