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The following piece is written by my Facebook friend Steven Olivo. This piece begins as a retaliation against CNN"s Bill Weir using HIS open letter to his son which is to indoctrinate him into radical environmental activism which makes the human race guilty for its own ills. Weir was raised in a not so perfect Christian home (his mother was divorced) and went to several Christian schools (including Oral Roberts University). He eventually departed the faith and embraced the dominant worldview of Progressivism which basically is the official faith of most journalists sadly. Even worse he embraced the environmental radicalism sub-faith of Progressivism. It becomes an open letter to a son that Steven likely will never have.
CNN climate change correspondent Bill Weir a creative writing major with zero background in science just had a son who he gave the hippie-ish name of River. Yay for him right? Maybe so if hed just announced it with a quick blurb. Instead he wrote a puke-worthy screed in which he apologized in advance to this kid for the human race having broken the world praised environmentalist puppet Greta Thunberg and revealed that he was concevied in a lighthouse. The article is utter garbage written by someone untrained in science but trained in making up stories - bad stories.
One day when River is grown up assuming he makes it there and isnt driven off the deep end by constant teasing about his name or how his parents made him I hope he reads this article and asks him just like Greta how dare you?" How dare you use my birth to push your own agenda and your employers agenda? How dare you plaster pictures of me as a newborn infant all over the internet where anyone can see them? How dare you reveal the circumstances of my conception to the world? Im an individual. I am not an accessory to flash around like a new pair of sustainable dockers. I am not a prop for your causes. I am not an illustration to make a point next to pictures you cherry-picked to tell the story you wanted.
Im not a half bad storyteller myself and Id tell quite a different story if a son were born to me (unlikely now but not the point). Originally I wrote this for another site but since some of the folks there said it was very good I decided to repost. I always said if I had a son Id name him Charles James after my grandfather and father (ironically also now after two heroes of my own writing). So if he were born Id say this:
Welcome to the world son. Some will ask me if I should even say that because were dealing with a major problem maybe even a few at the moment. However I still say welcome. When your dad was born people said the human race was going to blow itself apart in the Cold War. Around the time your grandad was born people said mankind was going to tear itself apart in the greatest war this world has ever seen. When your great-grandad was a kid they were saying both of those things AND that we were going to all die from a wave of illness. However we made it through all those things and Im confident well make it through this one too maybe even before youll be old enough to remember it.
You are lucky. Youve been born into the greatest nation in the world with the greatest power in the world the greatest economy in the world and a Constitution often imitated but never duplicated. Youve been born into a world thats conquered a lot of problems you will never have to deal with. You will never see a house quarantined for diptheria or measles and youll probably never see one quarantined for this problem either at least that youll remember. You will never have anyone tell you not to speak your mind lest you be arrested for it. You will never hear anyone tell you that you must go to this house of worship or go to jail instead. You will never have anyone tell you that you cant profit from your own business. You will never have anyone tell you that you cant marry the person you love. Youll be able to tap a few keys and find out almost anything you want to know. Youll be able to keep in touch with almost anyone anywhere in the world at any time. Theres a very good chance youll be spared a lot of the pain and discomfort that go with major illnesses should you be unlucky enough to have one were doing very well there now and were making advances every day. When I was where you are now many of these things werent true.
Im not going to say we dont have our challenges now or that new ones wont pop up in your lifetime. There will always be those who hate our way of life and will do everything to try to impose theirs. The names and the symbols will change and have changed but the basic concept is always the same. Some wore the hammer and sickle some wore the swastika some hid behind a crescent and a star. We saw through them and youll need to see through them when they come again whatever symbol they dress up in then. Natural disasters are a fact of life and have been since the beginning of history. The earthquake that obliterated Lisbon in 1531 wasnt because we did anything and neither was the Thera eruption that almost wiped out the Minoans completely. They are just things that happen and that we deal with when they happen. That said we humans mess up occasionally too and cause oil spills chemical leaks and so on. However we are getting better at dealing with them when they happen and stopping them from happening in the first place.
The biggest dangers youll meet though wont be the ones that come from without. They will be the ones that come from within. Pride is a big one. We are all entitled to be proud of who we are and what we achieve but never let yourself get so proud that you dont ask for help until its too late. Never let yourself get so proud that you cant see the value in someone else. Never let yourself get so proud that you overreach. Anger is another. Like a fire it can spur you to achieve or right a wrong or help where no one else will. But also like a fire it can destroy you if you let it burn out of control. Shame is yet another. Sometimes it is justified when you make a costly mistake or do something you should have known better than to do. The danger is when you let shame become a chain that holds you back or a weight that keeps you from even trying. Never let pride make you think youre above someone or shame make you think youre below someone simply because of what color he is or what name he uses when he prays.
Remember you share this world with others and dont get so proud that you become selfish. Dont spend all your energy on trying to get even the books of life just dont balance like that. Never let anyone shame you into doing something you know to be wrong. Dont be afraid to stand up to those who are deliberately rude or who try to bully you. Remember every choice leads to a result. Some we cant see but a lot we can see coming a mile away.
Were Catholic and thats what were going to teach you. I hope you will embrace the belief in a loving God the concept of forgiveness of wrongs and the promise of a life to come. However maintain a respect for the beliefs of others. Too many bad things in history resulted from those who believed one way refusing to respect those who believed another. Also dont become too reliant on faith to rescue you. A wise fisherman prays to God but continues to row to the shore.
Speaking of history weve got an awful lot of it. Become familiar with it. Take note of the things that keep happening again and again and why they happen again and again. Beware disagreements that cant be reconciled as I just said. It is best to compromise it is usually better to agree to disagree if a compromise cant be reached to fight is the least desirable way of dealing with a disagreement although sometimes it cant be avoided. Beware too much success too fast. It almost always leads to taking one step too far which can take away all the gains you made. Beware too easily classifying anyone as good or evil almost no one is purely one or the other and doing that leads you to those disagreements that cant be reconciled. Choose wisely your heroes and villains and do not base them on fame or popularity.
Be wise about who you trust. Be wiser still about who you trust completely. Do not hesitate to ask questions you believe need to be asked. Stay away from tobacco and recreational drugs nothing good and a lot of bad comes from them. Beware the excessive use of alcohol especially when dealing with a problem. No one ever found the solution to his problems at the bottom of a bottle.
Remember always that the person who will be most responsible for you is you. Your success your happiness the solutions to your problems all start with you. Others can help or they can hinder but it all starts with you.
Remember there will always be one thing that you cant see but you will show constantly. You wont be able to hear it yet it will precede you wherever you go. You wont be able to touch it but you will hold it all the time. You wont be able to eat it but it will put its taste in everything. You wont be able to spend it yet it will be priceless. It can however be stolen from you. If it is it will leave the thief no richer and you as poor as you can be. That thing is your honor and for these reasons guard it wherever you go.
One other thing youll always have at least as long as it lasts is family. You come of Italian heritage so thats very important. Your mom and I will always be here for you and you can always come to us.
This is a lot to take in and youll be able to take it all in in good time. Its not time yet though so for the moment sleep on and gather your strength for the journey ahead. It will be mostly what you make of it but it will be one heck of a ride by the time youre through.
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