Showing posts with label Mother's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother's Day. Show all posts

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Post No. 215: For Mother's Day, Part 4 — A Day Of Reflection


(Image by Paul Whiting)

WARNING: THIS POST HAS CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

The following is "My Commentary On The Right To Choose" as it relates to the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world. By the way, this post is ongoing, while I am summing up the influences that our Christian beliefs have on our lives:

A Day Of Reflection
(Or, "My Commentary On The Right To Choose")

...As a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher' (who is also 'A Creative Writer'), I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws go—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs, such as with regard to 'The War In Heaven!'

Please let me explain this concept further by taking you on a journey back in time to the days before I started walking wherever I go—here in Portland, Oregon—in order to transport myself, and to exercise at the same time, now that I am getting older. You see, when I was still taking public transportation in order to get around, I would often look at the various types of architecture and landscaping, including business properties and buildings, as well as single family homes, as I was riding on public transportation. And I did this because I am fascinated by the artistry and aesthetics of architecture and landscaping, since I studied architecture in college (at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City) through the various art history classes that I attended.

Thus, as I was riding past various properties with buildings and landscaping, I would often notice how many areas often look trashy, or dishevelled, as if they were some kind of conflict zone! (I mean no disrespect to what is happening with regard to war in certain parts of the world.) And I thought how odd it was that there would be so many places in America that looked to be in such bad condition! (I also mean no disrespect to what is happening with regard to homelessness in certain parts of America.) And I remembered wondering why there were so many areas that looked like some kind of trash heap, or some kind of war zone—as mentioned above—in the richest country in the world! (And, again, I mean no disrespect to those in the world who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'war mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'poor mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'homelessness mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'unaffordable housing mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'displacement mongers' wherever they live—or, at least, wherever they used to live...)

In addition to that, as I was taking public transportation and riding past single family homes in the suburbs, I noticed that all of these individual houses had their own front and backyard, as well as side yards. And each home was a kind of 'castle' situated right next to another home—all with their respective front, back and side yards looking just like a moat around a castle. It's as if the suburbs are all made of castles with yards as moats. (As the saying goes, 'A man's home is his castle!')

Thus, as a philosopher, I contemplated the meaning of the dishevelled look of some properties, and the castle-like look of the suburbs, and I came to the conclusion that all of the architectural and landscaping design in the United States of America, and all of these areas of 'dysfunctionality,' so to speak, in America are direct manifestations of our religious beliefs about 'The War In Heaven' from the New Testament of the Holy Bible!

Now, at this point in the discussion, let me also explain that I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ('The Mormon Church'). And so, my upbringing in The Mormon Church is what I know about Jesus The Christ, and Christianity, as well as the Old Testament and the New Testament. And let me also explain that I am gay (although, I am technically bisexual, because I almost married my high school sweetheart), so that basically means that I am officially 'A Recovering Mormon.' That being said, my basic understanding of 'The War In Heaven' from New Testament is as follows (and I am paraphrasing a lot):

There was a 'War In Heaven' because Satan, as The Devil, was going to force all of the souls to return to The Presence Of God, after God had cast out Adam and Eve—as the first humans—from the Garden Of Eden! For, Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge. And God had forbade Adam and Eve from eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' but Satan appeared as a Snake, or a Serpent, in The Tree Of Knowledge in order to tempt Eve into eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' which God had forbade. Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to also eat the fruit after she did—which Adam did—thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out too, which is what lead to 'The Fall Of Man!' And, therefore, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and they were ashamed.

And, later on in this discussion, I will be explaining more about this situation regarding Adam and Eve and 'The Fall Of Man,' as it relates to all females not having the right to choose to control their own bodies. You see, Eve couldn't resist the temptations of The Devil, so she lured Adam into joining her by coyly inviting Adam to eat The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil! And Eve deceived Adam in the same way that Satan deceived her. Thus, Eve tricked Adam into being cast out from Paradise just like she was! Therefore, Eve's Egregious Deception adversely affected all of Eve's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human females—and also adversely affected all of Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—since Eve could not resist the temptations of The Devil and she dragged poor Adam down with her!

After that, there was some kind of argument in Heaven about how to return to The Presence Of God now that Adam and Eve had been cast out, since Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil. And Satan said, 'I will make them obey You, Oh Lord! And they will be forced to return to Your Presence, because I will require it of them.' However, Jesus said, 'I will give them free will to obey You, Oh Lord! And they will choose to return to Your Presence, because I will allow them to decide to return.' And God preferred Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, rather than Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, for all of the souls who were going to be born on Earth.

Then, The Devil kept arguing with God to attempt to convince Him to choose Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, rather than Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, because Satan couldn't take 'No' for an answer! For, God would not accept souls returning to The Presence Of God without having the choice of free will. And Satan along with all of the 'Fallen Angels Of Heaven'—who agreed with The Devil and who became Satan's Legions Of Doom—were cast out from The Presence Of God and they were sent to Hell forever.

So, if you wish to return to The Presence Of God, you need to accept Jesus The Christ and His Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you need to reject Satan The Devil and His Forced Plan Of Salvation. Not only that, you need to prove your loyalty to God and you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt you into not accepting Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God. Thus, you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, and send them back to Hell, because they are tempting you into disobeying God!

However, here is where it gets really quite complicated: even though you are told by God to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, as often as is necessary—whenever, and wherever, The Devil and/or His Legions may appear—in order to prove your loyalty to God, you are also told by God 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament! Therefore, even though you are not supposed to be killing—or you will be disobeying one of God's Ten Holy Commandments—you are supposed to kill Satan and/or The Devil's Legions if you are being tempted away from Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation by Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom, who are like An Evil Military Leader and His Evil Soldiers.

Finally, here comes Your Eternal Reward for having obeyed God correctly, of your own free will, and you have returned to The Presence Of God: but, instead of returning to the Paradise from whence Adam and Eve were cast out, when you return to The Presence of God, The Lord provides you with 'A Mansion In The Sky,' or 'A Palace In Heaven,' or 'A Castle In The Air'—that is complete with servants to do everything for you—since God loves you for having obeyed Him the right way!

Thus, if you are a 'True Believer' in the New Testament, and you have correctly accepted Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you have rejected Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, that means you are owed the finest housing in the afterlife, due to Your True Faith. And because you are owed the finest housing in the afterlife, that also means that you are owed the finest housing in this life. Therefore, you are owed the nicest house, with the most expensive, and exclusive, worldly possessions that are available to you—because of Your True Faith—including servants to do everything for you!

Plus, anyone whom you see as being Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom (all of whom are constantly tempting you away from Jesus The Christ) totally deserve to be killed and sent back to Hell! Therefore, assuming that you deserve to have the finest housing in all of the land (which includes the ability for you to be able to vote in America, since you have a residential address) that housing is providing you with 'a license to kill' in order make sure that everyone else only deserves to be made homeless, so that they can't vote, but also so that they can die from lack of housing. Therefore, they can go back to Hell where they belong—since they must be The Devil and/or His Legions—because you don't like them! And you can also make sure that they can't vote through suppressing their vote by utilizing any number of available techniques.

The other option is that you can simply kill outright any of those who are unworthy—because they are obviously Satan, and/or His Legions, since you don't like them—by utilizing any number of available weapons. And all of this outright killing, and/or this passive-aggressive displacing, and/or this intentional creation of homelessness in order to produce passive-aggressive displacing and/or killing, is not only totally 'okay' with God, He wants you to kill every instance of The Devil and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, since you are proving your loyalty to God, so that you may return to The Presence Of God!

Therefore, I think the reason that politics, elections and laws are occurring the way that they are with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also worldwide—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible and, specifically, our beliefs about 'The War In Heaven.' Thus we, as Christians, are supposed to be fighting against—and killing—Satan and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, and in whatever form they may appear.

And so, based upon Our True Faith, we are also supposed to determine who The Devil and/or His Legions Of Doom are by assuming that anyone we don't like—which reads like a list of our worst enemies—must be The Devil and/or His Legions. Thus, we should make sure Satan and/or His Legions cannot vote, and we should make sure that they cannot live, so that we can return to The Presence Of God, because 'We Have Won The War In Heaven!'

And now, I can explain more about this situation regarding Adam and Eve and 'The Fall Of Man,' as it relates to females not being considered to be trustworthy of being allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if females cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor—and, most disturbingly, sometimes females are not even allowed to decide to have a safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking!

You see, as a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher' (who is also 'A Creative Writer'), I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man!'

Therefore, because Eve fell for the temptations of Satan, The Devil, and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge, Eve is the one who is totally at fault for us humans having been cast out from God's Presence in Paradise—which was the Garden Of Eden! And, now, because of that totally preventable, really evil act on the part of Eve, all of us have to fight in an Eternal War against The Devil in order to prove our loyalty to God by killing Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt us just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God.

And so, since Eve was not trustworthy of obeying as simple of a Holy Commandment from God as 'Do Not Eat The Fruit Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil,' that means that all of Eve's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human females—need to be controlled in the most micromanaging way possible, personally by Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—so that women will never do anything that evil again! And that is why women cannot be trusted to do something so simple as to make decisions about their own bodies, or their own health care, or their own reproductive choices. And, thus, all women need to be totally controlled by the direct descendants of Adam forevermore!

And that is why our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man' are leading to the extremely divisive issue for The American People as to exactly who gets to determine whether, or not, women who are pregnant are allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if, somehow, women cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor. And I believe that is why no Republicans in the United States Senate voted, on May 11th, 2022, to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), since women, or even girls, should not be allowed to decide whether, or not, they can have a safe and legal abortion—which is life-affirming for the pregnant female—even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking.

You see, I think that our Christian religious beliefs are creating superstitious secular beliefs, because The Holy Bible is a collection of 'superstitions beliefs,' so to speak, regarding the way that Christian True Believers are constantly being wronged by various 'Evil-Doers!' And the first and most important 'Doing Of Evil' was by Satan—and His Legions Of Doom—through disobeying God and by demanding that they be able to force us to obey God in order for us to return to Paradise. And they were condemned to Hell forever because of that, which is why the rest of us have to pay for their 'Evil-Doing.'

Plus, Eve fell for the temptations of The Devil and—against the express directive of God—she ate The Fruit Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil! Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to join her, thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out from The Presence Of God, as well. And that is why Adam had to be born on Earth—just like Eve did—and that is why he is also required to problem solve his way back to Paradise from whence Adam and Eve were both cast!

And all of this 'Start Of Creation Evil-Doing' is never Adam's fault: it is God who is at fault for having created Satan who, along with His Legions Of Doom, made it possible to go to Hell forever for having disobeyed God; then, it is also God who is at fault for having created Eve—albeit from Adam's rib—who, after having disobeyed God, coyly invited Adam to join her; plus, it is Eve who is at fault for having been evil enough to disobey God when she was tempted by The Devil. And therefore, in conclusion then, it is Eve who is at fault for having fallen for the temptations of Satan at the outset, and it is Satan who is at fault for having disobeyed God in the first place, and it is God who is at fault for having created The Devil to begin with!

Thus, all of this 'Evil-Doing' to which Adam has been begrudgingly subjugated is the fault of everyone else except for Adam. And all of this means that Adam is the biggest victim who has ever existed, along with all of Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—and who, subsequently, have been forced to micromanage everyone else in order to prevent everyone else from victimizing Adam and his direct descendants some more. Thus, based upon our Christian religious beliefs, all of the males are the direct descendants of Adam who are Religious True Believing, conspiracy theory promoting, Superstitious Conservative Micromanagers!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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The following are my post quotes from my "Poet, Artist And Philosopher" blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was" about the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments. And these quotes can also be identified by their individual update names, from the aforementioned blog post, which are 'April 11th, 2022 Update,' 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued' and 'May 13th, 2022 Update,' respectively.

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April 11th, 2022 Update: [CONTENT WARNING: THIS UPDATE CONTAINS THEMES WHICH MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!]

In honor of April 11th, 2022, here is the '411,' or 'the information,' or my philosophy about the upcoming 2022 Midterm Elections in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world:

As a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher,' I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws go—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs, such as with regard to 'The War In Heaven!'

Please let me explain this concept further by taking you on a journey back in time to the days before I started walking wherever I go—here in Portland, Oregon—in order to transport myself, and to exercise at the same time, now that I am getting older. You see, when I was still taking public transportation in order to get around, I would often look at the various types of architecture and landscaping, including business properties and buildings, as well as single family homes, as I was riding on public transportation. And I did this because I am fascinated by the artistry and aesthetics of architecture and landscaping, since I studied architecture in college (at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City) through the various art history classes that I attended.

Thus, as I was riding past various properties with buildings and landscaping, I would often notice how many areas often look trashy, or dishevelled, as if they were some kind of conflict zone! (I mean no disrespect to what is happening with regard to war in certain parts of the world.) And I thought how odd it was that there would be so many places in America that looked to be in such bad condition! (I also mean no disrespect to what is happening with regard to homelessness in certain parts of America.) And I remembered wondering why there were so many areas that looked like some kind of trash heap, or some kind of war zone—as mentioned above—in the richest country in the world! (And, again, I mean no disrespect to those in the world who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'war mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'poor mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'homelessness mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'unaffordable housing mongers,' or those who are being subjugated to the beliefs of 'displacement mongers' wherever they live—or, at least, wherever they used to live...)

In addition to that, as I was taking public transportation and riding past single family homes in the suburbs, I noticed that all of these individual houses had their own front and backyard, as well as side yards. And each home was a kind of 'castle' situated right next to another home—all with their respective front, back and side yards looking just like a moat around a castle. It's as if the suburbs are all made of castles with yards as moats. (As the saying goes, 'A man's home is his castle!')

Thus, as a philosopher, I contemplated the meaning of the dishevelled look of some properties, and the castle-like look of the suburbs, and I came to the conclusion that all of the architectural and landscaping design in the United States of America, and all of these areas of 'dysfunctionality,' so to speak, in America are direct manifestations of our religious beliefs about 'The War In Heaven' from the New Testament of the Holy Bible!

Now, at this point in the discussion, let me also explain that I was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ('The Mormon Church'). And so, my upbringing in The Mormon Church is what I know about Jesus The Christ, and Christianity, as well as the Old Testament and the New Testament. And let me also explain that I am gay (although, I am technically bisexual, because I almost married my high school sweetheart), so that basically means that I am officially 'A Recovering Mormon.' That being said, my basic understanding of 'The War In Heaven' from New Testament is as follows (and I am paraphrasing a lot):

There was a 'War In Heaven' because Satan, as The Devil, was going to force all of the souls to return to The Presence Of God, after God had cast out Adam and Eve—as the first humans—from the Garden Of Eden! For, Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge. And God had forbade Adam and Eve from eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' but Satan appeared as a Snake, or a Serpent, in The Tree Of Knowledge in order to tempt Eve into eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' which God had forbade. Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to also eat the fruit after she did—which Adam did—thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out too, which is what lead to 'The Fall Of Man!' And, therefore, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and they were ashamed.

You see, Eve couldn't resist the temptations of The Devil, so she lured Adam into joining her by coyly inviting Adam to eat The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil! And Eve deceived Adam in the same way that Satan deceived her. Thus, Eve tricked Adam into being cast out from Paradise just like she was! Therefore, Eve's Egregious Deception adversely affected all of Eve's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human females—and also adversely affected all of Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—since Eve could not resist the temptations of The Devil and she dragged poor Adam down with her!

[By the way, on my 'Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer' blog in a blog post titled, 'For Mother's Day, Part 4 — A Day Of Reflection,' which is also titled, 'My Commentary On The Right To Choose,' I explain more about this situation regarding Adam and Eve and 'The Fall Of Man,' as it relates to females not being considered to be trustworthy of being allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if females cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor—and, most disturbingly, sometimes they are not even allowed to decide to have a safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking! (Please see the hyperlink below for the post.)]

https://paulwhitingwriting.blogspot.com/2022/05/for-mothers-day-part-4-day-of-reflection.html

After that, there was some kind of argument in Heaven about how to return to The Presence Of God now that Adam and Eve had been cast out, since Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil. And Satan said, 'I will make them obey You, Oh Lord! And they will be forced to return to Your Presence, because I will require it of them.' However, Jesus said, 'I will give them free will to obey You, Oh Lord! And they will choose to return to Your Presence, because I will allow them to decide to return.' And God preferred Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, rather than Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, for all of the souls who were going to be born on Earth.

Then, The Devil kept arguing with God to attempt to convince Him to choose Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, rather than Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, because Satan couldn't take 'No' for an answer! For, God would not accept souls returning to The Presence Of God without having the choice of free will. And Satan along with all of the 'Fallen Angels Of Heaven'—who agreed with The Devil and who became Satan's Legions Of Doom—were cast out from The Presence Of God and they were sent to Hell forever.

So, if you wish to return to The Presence Of God, you need to accept Jesus The Christ and His Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you need to reject Satan The Devil and His Forced Plan Of Salvation. Not only that, you need to prove your loyalty to God and you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt you into not accepting Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God. Thus, you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, and send them back to Hell, because they are tempting you into disobeying God!

However, here is where it gets really quite complicated: even though you are told by God to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, as often as is necessary—whenever, and wherever, The Devil and/or His Legions may appear—in order to prove your loyalty to God, you are also told by God 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament! Therefore, even though you are not supposed to be killing—or you will be disobeying one of God's Ten Holy Commandments—you are supposed to kill Satan and/or The Devil's Legions if you are being tempted away from Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation by Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom, who are like An Evil Military Leader and His Evil Soldiers.

Finally, here comes Your Eternal Reward for having obeyed God correctly, of your own free will, and you have returned to The Presence Of God: but, instead of returning to the Paradise from whence Adam and Eve were cast out, when you return to The Presence of God, The Lord provides you with 'A Mansion In The Sky,' or 'A Palace In Heaven,' or 'A Castle In The Air'—that is complete with servants to do everything for you—since God loves you for having obeyed Him the right way!

Thus, if you are a 'True Believer' in the New Testament, and you have correctly accepted Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you have rejected Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, that means you are owed the finest housing in the afterlife, due to Your True Faith. And because you are owed the finest housing in the afterlife, that also means that you are owed the finest housing in this life. Therefore, you are owed the nicest house, with the most expensive, and exclusive, worldly possessions that are available to you—because of Your True Faith—including servants to do everything for you!

Plus, anyone whom you see as being Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom (all of whom are constantly tempting you away from Jesus The Christ) totally deserve to be killed and sent back to Hell! Therefore, assuming that you deserve to have the finest housing in all of the land (which includes the ability for you to be able to vote in America, since you have a residential address) that housing is providing you with 'a license to kill' in order make sure that everyone else only deserves to be made homeless, so that they can't vote, but also so that they can die from lack of housing. Therefore, they can go back to Hell where they belong—since they must be The Devil and/or His Legions—because you don't like them! And you can also make sure that they can't vote through suppressing their vote by utilizing any number of available techniques.

The other option is that you can simply kill outright any of those who are unworthy—because they are obviously Satan, and/or His Legions, since you don't like them—by utilizing any number of available weapons. And all of this outright killing, and/or this passive-aggressive displacing, and/or this intentional creation of homelessness in order to produce passive-aggressive displacing and/or killing, is not only totally 'okay' with God, He wants you to kill every instance of The Devil and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, since you are proving your loyalty to God, so that you may return to The Presence Of God!

Therefore, I think the reason that politics, elections and laws are occurring the way that they are with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also worldwide—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible and, specifically, our beliefs about 'The War In Heaven.' Thus we, as Christians, are supposed to be fighting against—and killing—Satan and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, and in whatever form they may appear.

And so, based upon Our True Faith, we are also supposed to determine who The Devil and/or His Legions Of Doom are by assuming that anyone we don't like—which reads like a list of our worst enemies—must be The Devil and/or His Legions. Thus, we should make sure Satan and/or His Legions cannot vote, and we should make sure that they cannot live, so that we can return to The Presence Of God, because 'We Have Won The War In Heaven!'

–Paul Whiting (written April 11th, 2022, revised April 12th, 2022, revised April 13th, 2022, revised May 7th, 2022, revised May 8th, 2022, revised May 9th, 2022, revised May 10th, 2022, revised May 11th, 2022, revised May 12th, 2022, revised May 13th, 2022, revised May 14th, 2022, revised May 21st, 2022, revised August 28th, 2022, revised October 7th, 2022, revised March 18th, 2023, revised March 22nd, 2023, revised September 19th, 2023, revised September 21st, 2023 and revised October 13th, 2023)

[I feel like I need to clarify why there are so many 'revised dates' on this 'update,' just like there are often times so many 'revised dates' on other 'updates' similar to this one! You see, I really try to keep my writing consistent as possible across all of my blogs. Therefore, as I am writing, I try to use the same phraseology wherever possible with regard to similar types of my writing so that, when I am editing my writing, I can change all of the similar writing at the same time and in the same way! Thus, a lot of the revisions indicated above, after my name (–Paul Whiting), and shown right after the original 'written date,' are often times due to these aforementioned consistent-writing revisions.]

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May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," Which Is On My "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" Blog): [CONTENT WARNING: THIS UPDATE CONTAINS THEMES WHICH MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!]

Out of respect for May 11th, 2022, which is the day that no Republicans in the United States Senate voted, on May 11th, 2022, to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), here is the '511' (so to speak), or 'the explanation' (so to speak), or my philosophy about why the Republicans all voted against the WHPA here in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world.

And this update is a continuation of my 'April 11th, 2022 Update' that I wrote on my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which is on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog. And that update stated, in part, the following:

"In honor of April 11th, 2022, here is the '411,' or 'the information,' or my philosophy about the upcoming 2022 Midterm Elections in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world."

Here, then, is a brief summarization of the basic premises from the aforementioned 'April 11th, 2022 Update' in the most succinct summarization possible, as told through various quotes from that previous update, in the order in which I wrote the quotes:

---------------------------------------------

"As a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher,' I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws go—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs, such as with regard to 'The War In Heaven!'" ...

... "That being said, my basic understanding of 'The War In Heaven' from New Testament is as follows (and I am paraphrasing a lot): There was a 'War In Heaven' because Satan, as The Devil, was going to force all of the souls to return to The Presence Of God, after God had cast out Adam and Eve—as the first humans—from the Garden Of Eden! For, Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge. And God had forbade Adam and Eve from eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' but Satan appeared as a Snake, or a Serpent, in The Tree Of Knowledge in order to tempt Eve into eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' which God had forbade. Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to also eat the fruit after she did—which Adam did—thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out too, which is what lead to 'The Fall Of Man!'" ...

... "After that, there was some kind of argument in Heaven about how to return to The Presence Of God now that Adam and Eve had been cast out, since Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil. And Satan said, 'I will make them obey You, Oh Lord! And they will be forced to return to Your Presence, because I will require it of them.' However, Jesus said, 'I will give them free will to obey You, Oh Lord! And they will choose to return to Your Presence, because I will allow them to decide to return.' And God preferred Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, rather than Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, for all of the souls who were going to be born on Earth." ...

... "So, if you wish to return to The Presence Of God, you need to accept Jesus The Christ and His Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you need to reject Satan The Devil and His Forced Plan Of Salvation. Not only that, you need to prove your loyalty to God and you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt you into not accepting Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God. Thus, you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, and send them back to Hell, because they are tempting you into disobeying God!" ...

... "However, here is where it gets really quite complicated: even though you are told by God to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, as often as is necessary—whenever, and wherever, The Devil and/or His Legions may appear—in order to prove your loyalty to God, you are also told by God 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament! Therefore, even though you are not supposed to be killing—or you will be disobeying one of God's Ten Holy Commandments—you are supposed to kill Satan and/or The Devil's Legions if you are being tempted away from Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation by Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom, who are like An Evil Military Leader and His Evil Soldiers." ...

... "Therefore, I think the reason that politics, elections and laws are occurring the way that they are with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also worldwide—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible and, specifically, our beliefs about 'The War In Heaven.' Thus we, as Christians, are supposed to be fighting against—and killing—Satan and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, and in whatever form they may appear." ...

... "And so, based upon Our True Faith, we are also supposed to determine who The Devil and/or His Legions Of Doom are by assuming that anyone we don't like—which reads like a list of our worst enemies—must be The Devil and/or His Legions. Thus, we should make sure Satan and/or His Legions cannot vote, and we should make sure that they cannot live, so that we can return to The Presence Of God, because 'We Have Won The War In Heaven!'"

---------------------------------------------

And now that I have briefly summarized the basic premises from that previous 'April 11th, 2022 Update,' as I mentioned at the beginning of this update—which I have summarized through various quotes from that previous update—I can explain more about this situation regarding Adam and Eve and 'The Fall Of Man,' as it relates to females not being considered to be trustworthy of being allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if females cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor—and, most disturbingly, sometimes females are not even allowed to decide to have a safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking.

You see, as a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher,' I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man!'

Therefore, because Eve fell for the temptations of Satan, The Devil, and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge, Eve is the one who is totally at fault for us humans having been cast out from God's Presence in Paradise—which was the Garden Of Eden! And, now, because of that totally preventable, really evil act on the part of Eve, all of us have to fight in an Eternal War against The Devil in order to prove our loyalty to God by killing Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt us—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God.

And so, since Eve was not trustworthy of obeying as simple of a Holy Commandment from God as 'Do Not Eat The Fruit Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil,' that means that all of Eve's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human females—need to be controlled in the most micromanaging way possible, personally by Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—so that women never, ever do anything that evil again! And that is why women cannot be trusted to do something so simple as to make decisions about their own bodies, or their own health care, or their own reproductive choices. And, thus, all women need to be totally controlled by the direct descendants of Adam forevermore!

And that is why our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man' are leading to the extremely divisive issue for The American People as to exactly who gets to determine whether, or not, women who are pregnant are allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if, somehow, women cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor. And I believe that is why no Republicans in the United States Senate voted, on May 11th, 2022, to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), since women, or even girls, should not be allowed to decide whether, or not, they can have a safe and legal abortion—which is life-affirming for the pregnant female—even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking...

–Paul Whiting (written May 11th, 2022, revised May 12th, 2022, revised May 13th, 2022, revised May 14th, 2022, revised May 21st, 2022, revised June 21st, 2022, revised August 28th, 2022, revised March 18th, 2023, revised March 28th, 2023 and revised October 13th, 2023)

[I feel like I need to clarify why there are so many 'revised dates' on this 'update,' just like there are often times so many 'revised dates' on other 'updates' similar to this one! You see, I really try to keep my writing consistent as possible across all of my blogs. Therefore, as I am writing, I try to use the same phraseology wherever possible with regard to similar types of my writing so that, when I am editing my writing, I can change all of the similar writing at the same time and in the same way! Thus, a lot of the revisions indicated above, after my name (–Paul Whiting), and shown right after the original 'written date,' are often times due to these aforementioned consistent-writing revisions.]

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May 13th, 2022 Update: [CONTENT WARNING: THIS UPDATE CONTAINS THEMES WHICH MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!]

Today is Friday, May 13th, 2022! And I have a fear of "Friday the 13th," but mostly due to my fear of everyone else's superstitious beliefs about "Friday the 13th." You see, I think that our superstitious secular beliefs, such as "Friday the 13th," are being created by our Christian religious beliefs, which are producing a society in which all of the males (and the females too) are Religious True Believing, conspiracy theory promoting, Superstitious Conservative Micromanagers!

And this update is a continuation of my 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued' that I wrote on my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which is on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog. And that update stated, in part, the following:

"Out of respect for May 11th, 2022, which is the day that no Republicans in the United States Senate voted, on May 11th, 2022, to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), here is the '511' (so to speak), or 'the explanation' (so to speak), or my philosophy about why the Republicans all voted against the WHPA here in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world."

Plus, the above-mentioned 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued' is also a continuation of my 'April 11th, 2022 Update' that I also wrote previously on my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which is on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog. And that update stated, in part, the following:

"In honor of April 11th, 2022, here is the '411,' or 'the information,' or my philosophy about the upcoming 2022 Midterm Elections in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world."

Here, then, is a brief summarization of the basic premises from the aforementioned 'April 11th, 2022 Update' and 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued' in the most succinct summarization possible, as told through various quotes from those previous updates, in the order in which I wrote the quotes:

---------------------------------------------

"'As a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher,' I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws go—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs, such as with regard to 'The War In Heaven!'" ...

... "That being said, my basic understanding of 'The War In Heaven' from New Testament is as follows (and I am paraphrasing a lot): There was a 'War In Heaven' because Satan, as The Devil, was going to force all of the souls to return to The Presence Of God, after God had cast out Adam and Eve—as the first humans—from the Garden Of Eden! For, Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge. And God had forbade Adam and Eve from eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' but Satan appeared as a Snake, or a Serpent, in The Tree Of Knowledge in order to tempt Eve into eating 'The Fruit Of Knowledge,' which God had forbade. Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to also eat the fruit after she did—which Adam did—thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out too, which is what lead to 'The Fall Of Man!'" ...

... "After that, there was some kind of argument in Heaven about how to return to The Presence Of God now that Adam and Eve had been cast out, since Eve had fallen for the temptations of The Devil. And Satan said, 'I will make them obey You, Oh Lord! And they will be forced to return to Your Presence, because I will require it of them.' However, Jesus said, 'I will give them free will to obey You, Oh Lord! And they will choose to return to Your Presence, because I will allow them to decide to return.' And God preferred Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, rather than Satan's Forced Plan Of Salvation, for all of the souls who were going to be born on Earth." ...

... "So, if you wish to return to The Presence Of God, you need to accept Jesus The Christ and His Free-Will Plan Of Salvation, and you need to reject Satan The Devil and His Forced Plan Of Salvation. Not only that, you need to prove your loyalty to God and you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt you into not accepting Jesus's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God. Thus, you need to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, and send them back to Hell, because they are tempting you into disobeying God!" ...

... "However, here is where it gets really quite complicated: even though you are told by God to kill Satan, and/or His Legions, as often as is necessary—whenever, and wherever, The Devil and/or His Legions may appear—in order to prove your loyalty to God, you are also told by God 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament! Therefore, even though you are not supposed to be killing—or you will be disobeying one of God's Ten Holy Commandments—you are supposed to kill Satan and/or The Devil's Legions if you are being tempted away from Christ's Free-Will Plan Of Salvation by Satan and/or His Legions Of Doom, who are like An Evil Military Leader and His Evil Soldiers." ...

... "Therefore, I think the reason that politics, elections and laws are occurring the way that they are—not only here in America, but also worldwide—with regard to Christian governments are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible and, specifically, our beliefs about 'The War In Heaven.' Thus we, as Christians, are supposed to be fighting against—and killing—Satan and/or His Legions whenever, and wherever, they may appear, and in whatever form they may appear." ...

... "And so, based upon Our True Faith, we are also supposed to determine who The Devil and/or His Legions Of Doom are by assuming that anyone we don't like—which reads like a list of our worst enemies—must be The Devil and/or His Legions. Thus, we should make sure Satan and/or His Legions cannot vote, and we should make sure that they cannot live, so that we can return to The Presence Of God, because 'We Have Won The War In Heaven!'" ...

... "And now that I have briefly summarized the basic premises from that previous 'April 11th, 2022 Update,' as I mentioned at the beginning of this update (which I have summarized through various quotes from that previous update), I can explain more about this situation regarding Adam and Eve and 'The Fall Of Man,' as it relates to females not being considered to be trustworthy of being allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if females cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor—and, most disturbingly, sometimes females are not even allowed to decide to have a safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking!" ...

... "You see, as a 'Poet, Artist and Philosopher,' I truly believe that all of the things that are occurring in America as far as Christian politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women—and in the rest of the Christian world, as well—are based upon our collective beliefs in the Old Testament and the New Testament from the Holy Bible: therefore, our politics, elections and laws specifically relating to the control of women are direct reflections of our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man!'" ...

... "Therefore, because Eve fell for the temptations of Satan, The Devil, and she ate The Fruit Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil from The Tree Of Knowledge, Eve is the one who is totally at fault for us humans having been cast out from God's Presence in Paradise—which was the Garden Of Eden! And, now, because of that totally preventable, really evil act on the part of Eve, all of us have to fight in an Eternal War against The Devil in order to prove our loyalty to God by killing Satan, and/or His Legions Of Doom, whenever—and wherever—they appear, if Satan, and/or His Legions, have appeared in order to tempt us—just like The Devil appeared in order to tempt Eve into disobeying God." ...

... "And so, since Eve was not trustworthy of obeying as simple of a Holy Commandment from God as 'Do Not Eat The Fruit Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil,' that means that all of Eve's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human females—need to be controlled in the most micromanaging way possible, personally by Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—so that women never, ever do anything that evil again! And that is why women cannot be trusted to do something so simple as to make decisions about their own bodies, or their own health care, or their own reproductive choices. And, thus, all women need to be totally controlled by the direct descendants of Adam forevermore!" ...

... "And that is why our Christian religious beliefs with regard to 'The Fall Of Man' are leading to the extremely divisive issue for The American People as to exactly who gets to determine whether, or not, women who are pregnant are allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if, somehow, women cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor. And I believe that is why no Republicans in the United States Senate voted, on May 11th, 2022, to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), since women, or even girls, should not be allowed to decide whether, or not, they can have a safe and legal abortion—which is life-affirming for the pregnant female—even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking."

---------------------------------------------

And now that I have briefly summarized the basic premises from that previous 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued,' as I mentioned at the beginning of this update (which I have summarized through various quotes from that previous update), I can explain more about how I think that our Christian religious beliefs are creating superstitious secular beliefs, which are producing a society in which all of the males (and the females too) are Religious True Believing, conspiracy theory promoting, Superstitious Conservative Micromanagers!

You see, I think that our Christian religious beliefs are creating superstitious secular beliefs, because The Holy Bible is a collection of 'superstitions beliefs,' so to speak, regarding the way that Christian True Believers are constantly being wronged by various 'Evil-Doers!' And the most important 'Doing Of Evil' was by Satan—and His Legions Of Doom—disobeying God by demanding that they be able to force us to obey God in order for us to return to Paradise. And they were condemned to Hell forever because of that, which is why the rest of us have to pay for their 'Evil-Doing.'

Plus, Eve fell for the temptations of The Devil and—against the express directive of God—she ate The Fruit Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil! Then, Eve coyly invited Adam to join her, thereby making Adam subjugated to being cast out from The Presence Of God, as well. And that is why Adam had to be born on Earth—just like Eve did—and that is also why he is required to problem solve his way back to Paradise from whence Adam and Eve were both cast!

And all of this 'Start Of Creation Evil-Doing' is never Adam's fault: it is God who is at fault for having created Satan who, along with His Legions Of Doom, made it possible to go to Hell forever for having disobeyed God; then, it is also God who is at fault for having created Eve—albeit from Adam's rib—who, after having disobeyed God, coyly invited Adam to join her; plus, it is Eve who is at fault for having been evil enough to disobey God when she was tempted by The Devil. In conclusion then, it is Eve who is at fault for having fallen for the temptations of The Devil at the outset, and it is Satan who is at fault for having disobeyed God in the first place, and it is God who is at fault for having created The Devil to begin with!

Thus, all of this 'Evil-Doing' to which Adam has been begrudgingly subjugated is the fault of everyone else except for Adam. And all of this means that Adam is the biggest victim who has ever existed, along with all of Adam's direct descendants—who are literally all of the human males—and who, subsequently, have been forced to micromanage everyone else in order to prevent everyone else from victimizing Adam and his direct descendants some more. Thus, based upon our Christian religious beliefs, all of the males are the direct descendants of Adam who are Religious True Believing, conspiracy theory promoting, Superstitious Conservative Micromanagers!

–Paul Whiting (written May 13th, 2022, revised May 14th, 2022, revised May 21st, 2022, revised June 21st, 2022, revised August 28th, 2022, revised March 18th, 2023, revised October 13th, 2023 and revised September 14th, 2024)

[I feel like I need to clarify why there are so many 'revised dates' on this 'update,' just like there are often times so many 'revised dates' on other 'updates' similar to this one! You see, I really try to keep my writing consistent as possible across all of my blogs. Therefore, as I am writing, I try to use the same phraseology wherever possible with regard to similar types of my writing so that, when I am editing my writing, I can change all of the similar writing at the same time and in the same way! Thus, a lot of the revisions indicated above, after my name (–Paul Whiting), and shown right after the original 'written date,' are often times due to these aforementioned consistent-writing revisions.]

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this prose can be summed up with the following statement: The basis for this prose came from several sources:

First, I had the idea to write a poem paying tribute to mothers who have 'gone on,' so to speak, since both of my parents have passed away. And so, I originally thought about writing a poem titled, "A Mother's Day Tribute." Plus, I was also planning to write a similar poem paying tribute to fathers who have 'gone on,' so to speak, that was going to be titled, "A Father's Day Tribute," which I was planning to publish for Father's Day.

Second, I thought about writing a post about my commentary on the extremely divisive issue for The American People as to exactly who gets to determine whether, or not, women who are pregnant are allowed to decide if they wish to become a mother—as if, somehow, women cannot be trusted to make that decision with their doctor. And most particularly disturbing is the issue of women, or even girls, not being allowed to decide whether, or not, they can have a safe and legal abortion—which is life-affirming for the pregnant female—even in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking.

Third, on the Friday before Mother's Day, I received an email from one of the many Democratic political organizations to which I am donating, during this election year, that offered to let me opt out of receiving any content over the weekend that is related to Mother's Day, which was stated as follows: "We know that Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for some, so if you’d like to opt out of Mother’s Day related content this weekend we’d like to give you that opportunity." And so, I opted out to receive any Mother's Day related content from that particular Democratic organization, since both of my parents have passed away.

And so, I decided to explain my philosophical point of view about how our Christian beliefs influence the ability to choose your own destiny—without your destiny being decided for you by someone else's beliefs being imposed upon you and without you imposing your personal beliefs on someone else. Therefore, that is why this post is alternately titled, "My Commentary On The Right To Choose."

Additionally, I wanted to explain that this prose is partially based upon an 'April 11th, 2022 Update' that I wrote for a blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which is on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog. (Please see the hyperlink below for the post.)


And that particular blog post's overall theme is to explain the various states of my "Online Activism"—from the time that I stopped being an activist way back in November of 2016, right up to my most current activism—which includes regular updates, as needed. You see, I wrote this 'April 11th, 2022 Update' (which can be seen above) for the aforementioned blog post as an explanation of "my philosophy, about the upcoming 2022 Midterm Elections in America, which I think relates to the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments—not only here in America, but also in the rest of the Christian world."


So, please see above for that update which—on this blog post—I have included under the title, "My post quotes from my 'Poet, Artist And Philosopher' blog post titled, 'I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was' regarding the way that politics, elections and laws are occurring with regard to Christian governments. And these quotes can also be identified by their individual update names, from the aforementioned blog post, which are 'April 11th, 2022 Update,' 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued' and 'May 13th, 2022 Update,' respectively."

So, I essentially used that 'April 11th, 2022 Update' from the "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was" blog post and I modified it, as needed, for this blog post. Plus, I also expanded upon that particular update with my 'May 11th, 2022 Update—Continued" and my 'May 13th, 2022 Update' from the aforementioned blog post!

And this prose was only published on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog.

This prose was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 215 was edited on September 14th, 2024.

"Prose is using all of the words that are necessary in order to describe all that is necessary to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 214: For Mother's Day, Part 3 — A Happy Mother's Day!


(Image from Mothers Day Quotes Messages)

A Happy Mother's Day!
(Or, "A Song For Mama")

I Just Want To
Wish You "A Happy Mother's Day!"
I Just Want To
Be So Humble In Your Genuine Way!
I Just Want To
Live As Fully As You Do Without Drama!
I Just Want To
Sing A Song For You, "A Song For Mama!"
I Just Want To
Be As Nurturing As You So Patiently Are!
I Just Want To
Wish Becoming As Bright Of A "Day Star!"
I Just Want To
Say "Bless You" For Never Giving Up!
I Just Want To
Say "Thank You" For Raising Me Up!
I Just Want To
Be So Gentle In Your Loving Way!
I Just Want To
Say, "Happy Mother's Day!"

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: This poem is a reworking of a poem that I wrote for the 100th Anniversary of Father's Day, which was in 2010.

So, I decided to rework that poem and publish it on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog in 2015, because I started blogging after the 100th Anniversary of Mother's Day, which was in 2008, so I was unable to publish a poem for the same anniversary of Mother's Day as Father's Day!

And since I did not get a chance to publish a poem for the 100th Anniversary of Mother's Day, I decided to delete the post for the 100th Anniversary of Father's Day and publish a poem for both Mother's Day and Father's Day the same year on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog.

Plus, this poem is also inspired by the song "A Song for Mama," which is performed by Boys II Men, and was written and produced by Kenneth Brian Edmonds (better known by his stage name 'Babyface') and served as the theme song to the 1997 motion picture "Soul Food." (Please see the hyperlink below for the video.)

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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Watch "A Song For Mama" on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/vdTnuc3ktzo

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May 8th, 2022 Update, Written On May 7th, 2022 (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," Which Is On Both Of My "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" And "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Blogs): Happy Mother's Day, everyone! I signed a Mother’s Day card to military moms around the world from the USO (United Service Organizations) today, May 7th, 2022, that I received today via an email with the subject line, "Quick favor before Mother's Day", which stated the following:

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, Paul, and I need your help to make it special for military moms around the world.

When I say “military mom,” I’m talking about mothers serving in our Armed Forces right now, many of whom will spend the day far away from their kids as they work to defend our freedom. But I am also talking about all the moms back home whose kids are service members. Holidays like tomorrow are tough on every member of a military family.

That’s why it is so important to show our support for troops and their families when we can. As an officer in the U.S. Army who has spent countless holidays overseas, I will tell you that it really does make a difference to know that folks back home are thinking of us as we risk our lives to keep them safe.

So please, before midnight tonight, will you be one of the 50,000 signatures we need to meet our goal to honor military moms?***

Thank you for helping make sure military moms know how much they are appreciated on their special day — and for everything you do to support service members around the world as they defend our country.

[Name redacted], U.S. Army

***[I used to include hyperlinks contained within the email messages, or the text messages, to which I am referring in these "Activism Updates"; however, I could not figure out how to include the aforementioned hyperlinks, regarding some relevant action that I had taken—such as signing a petition, sending a letter or message to my representative(s) in Congress, signing a USO 'Thank You' card, and/or making a donation—without including my personal information.]

Plus, after I signed the card, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website to say to military moms, "We so appreciate the sacrifices you and your family make every day in service of our country and the freedoms we all cherish."

In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! You see, I usually make one-time donations to the USO each month—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via email or text message. Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage to make donations, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation.

By the way, did you know that the USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD)? The following description of the USO is from their 'About Us' webpage:

"The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection."

So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO each month!

–Paul Whiting (written May 7th, 2022, revised May 21st, 2022, revised May 26th, 2022, revised June 18th, 2022, revised June 22nd, 2022, revised June 25th, 2022, revised June 26th, 2022, revised August 16th, 2022, revised September 4th, 2022, revised November 18th, 2022, revised November 24th, 2022, revised December 27th, 2022, revised December 29th, 2022, revised April 11th, 2023, revised April 21st, 2023, revised April 27th, 2023, revised April 28th, 2023, revised May 14th, 2023, revised May 17th, 2023, revised June 14th, 2023, revised July 28th, 2023, revised September 27th, 2023 and revised November 18th, 2023)

[I feel like I need to clarify why there are so many 'revised dates' on this 'update,' just like there are often times so many 'revised dates' on other 'updates' similar to this one! You see, I really try to keep my writing consistent as possible across all of my blogs. Therefore, as I am writing, I try to use the same phraseology wherever possible with regard to similar types of my writing so that, when I am editing my writing, I can change all of the similar writing at the same time and in the same way! Thus, a lot of the revisions indicated above, after my name (–Paul Whiting), and shown right after the original 'written date,' are often times due to these aforementioned consistent-writing revisions.]

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May 14th, 2023 Update: (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," Which Is On Both Of My "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" And "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Blogs): Happy Mother's Day, everyone! I signed a Mother’s Day card to military moms around the world from the USO (United Service Organizations) today, May 14th, 2023, that I received today via an email with the subject line, "Missing your name on our Mother’s Day card", which stated the following:

Paul: Happy Mother's Day! We hope you and yours are celebrating all the caring moms in your life. But for many military moms around the world, this day can be particularly difficult.

So what is a "military mom"? Military moms are mothers who are currently serving in our nation's military, sacrificing time with their own children to protect our freedoms. Military moms are also the mothers of service members — thousands of miles away from their kids on a holiday like today.

That's why it is so important to show our support for troops and their families when we can, but especially on days like today.

So please, before our midnight goal deadline, will yours be one of the 10,000 email signatures we need to meet our goal to honor and thank our military moms?

Sign the Mother's Day card to honor military moms around the world.

SIGN NOW***

Thank you for helping make sure military moms know just how much they are appreciated on their special day — and for everything you do to support the brave troops around the world as they defend our country.

The USO

***[I used to include hyperlinks contained within the email messages, or the text messages, to which I am referring in these "Activism Updates"; however, I could not figure out how to include the aforementioned hyperlinks, regarding some relevant action that I had taken—such as signing a petition, sending a letter or message to my representative(s) in Congress, signing a USO 'Thank You' card, and/or making a donation—without including my personal information.]

Plus, after I signed the card, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website to say to military moms, "Happy Mother’s Day! We are incredibly appreciative of the sacrifices you and your family make every day in service of our country and the freedoms we all cherish."

In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! You see, I usually make one-time donations to the USO each month—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via email or text message. Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage to make donations, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation.

By the way, did you know that the USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD)? The following description of the USO is from their 'About Us' webpage:

"The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection."

So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO each month! –Paul Whiting (written May 14th, 2023, revised July 28th, 2023, revised September 27th, 2023 and revised November 18th, 2023)

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May 12th, 2024 Update No. 1 (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," Which Is On Both Of My "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" And "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Blogs): Happy Mother's Day, everyone! In celebration of Mother's Day, I did a Google search for "Mother's Day USO" and found the following USO (United Service Organizations) search result regarding Mother's Day:

United Service Organizations

Sign the card: Thank the mothers moms serving our country this Mother's Day

This Mother's Day, the USO is thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice. Sign the card to military moms!

And, after I read the search results above, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage, the relevant text of which can be found below:

★★★USO★★★

50,000 signatures needed to hit our goal!

→→→→→19,857

This Mother’s Day, the USO is thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice. Sign the card to military moms!

Thank you for all you do for our country, and happy Mother’s Day!

Sincerely,

First Name: Paul
Last Name: Whiting
Email: [redacted]

SIGN THE CARD

---------------------------------------------

Thanks for signing the card! Will you take a few minutes to complete a quick survey about supporting all of our nation's heroes?

The USO supports America's men and women in uniform at more than 200 locations around the world, including on the front lines in places like Djibouti and Afghanistan. How important is it to you that Americans continue supporting our deployed service members?

[✓] Extremely important
[  ] Very important
[  ] Somewhat important
[  ] Not at all important

The USO is more than concerts and airport lounges. Which of the ways we support our military men and women do you believe are valuable? Check all that apply.

[✓] Providing connections to family, home and country during deployments.
[✓] Helping military personnel and their families transition back into civilian life.
[✓] Supporting military families whose loved ones are deployed.
[✓] Providing support and rehabilitation for wounded, ill and injured service members.
[✓] Delivering special gifts and cheer to our heroes through programs like USO2GO.

Thousands of service men and women are currently deployed overseas, including in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Have you or a family member or friend ever served in the U.S. military?

[✓] Yes
[  ] No

How important do you think it is to support our nation's heroes and help them stay connected to family back home during deployment?

[✓] Extremely important
[  ] Important
[  ] Somewhat important
[  ] Not at all important

A Navy lieutenant commander recently told us that USO Care Packages are a "constant reminder to those of us out 'in the sandbox' that we are not forgotten and folks back home actually care."

Now, as we work to deliver our brave service members a touch of home, we need to ask for your support.

It takes a lot of time, coordination and money to get our care packages to more than 200,000 service members who are away from their families, sacrificing so much defending our freedoms. The USO is not a government agency we rely on the generosity and patriotism of citizens like you.

But right now, time is running out before our midnight deadline, and we need your support. Help us make sure that we have the resources to support our troops. Will you please donate by MIDNIGHT tonight to send a little bit of home to our service members and show them how thankful you are?

[  ] Yes, I'll donate $35 or more. Send me a T- shirt!
[✓] Yes, I'll donate but don't want a T-shirt!
[  ] No, I don't want to donate to support our service members today.

---------------------------------------------

Help Connect our Heroes to Home

It takes a lot of time, coordination and money to get our care packages and other essentials to more than 200,000 service members who are away from their families, sacrificing so much defending our freedoms.

Will you please donate by MIDNIGHT tonight to send a little bit of home to pur service members and show them how thankful you are?

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

[  ] $25
[  ] $50
[  ] $75
[  ] $100
[  ] $250
[  ] $500
[  ] $1,000
[✓] $ 10.00

And so, I signed the USO Mother's Day card "thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice." Plus, after I signed the card, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website to say to our military moms, "Thank you for all you do for our country, and happy Mother's Day!"

In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! You see, I usually make one-time donations to the USO each month—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via email or text message. Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage to make donations, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation.

By the way, did you know that the USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD)? The following description of the USO is from their 'About Us' webpage:

"The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection."

So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO each month!

–Paul Whiting (written May 12th, 2024 and revised May 18th, 2024)

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November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]: Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know it will be over! So, I am choosing to not engage in any 'activism' whatsoever—plus, I am not even sure that I will be exercising my 'civic duty' by voting in any upcoming elections because, as a (formerly) donating and a (potentially former) voting Democrat, I totally fear the retribution of President Donald J. Trump. Full stop!

P.S.: It's July 31st, 2025, and I feel like I need to provide an addendum (that is, "an item of additional material added at the end of a book or document, typically in order to correct, clarify, or supplement something") to this November 6th, 2024 'update!'

You see, a couple of days ago, on July 29th, 2025, I copied the text of this update to use as my reason for unsubscribing from a particular political email that I received that same day!

And so, I actually bothered to read this update—in order to verify that it made sense for me to use as a response to the request on this political email's unsubscribe page which stated, "Please tell us why you are leaving"—during which I realized there was a typo (that is, 'a typographical error') in the text of the update, as I have highlighted below, with the correction in brackets:

"And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know [it] will be over!"

Thus, I accidentally left out the word "it" in the sentence above. Hence, I corrected said typo on July 29th, the verification of which can be seen reflected in the addition of the date "revised July 29th, 2025" after my name.

However, as I got to thinking about the fact that I had originally said I may not be voting in any upcoming elections, I realized that, in fact, I did vote in Portland Oregon's Multnomah County Special District Election on May 20th, 2025, just like I usually do! [I always vote in every election (even 'special elections') and I always vote Democrat, which is why I was worried about voting in any upcoming elections given President Trump's clear disdain for Democrats.]

Therefore, I decided to write this "P.S." today, July 31st, as a way to clarify that I am still voting in elections (even 'special elections'), it's just that I am no longer engaging in any 'Online Activism,' during Trump's Presidency, as I explained in great detail above. (I hope that makes sense!)

–Paul Whiting (written November 6th, 2024, revised November 7th, 2024, revised July 29th, 2025 and revised July 31st, 2025)

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Blogger's Note: This is a follow-up to my 'November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]' that is located on my blog post "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog. And that update stated, in part, the following:

"Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. ..."

You see, I have restarted donating to organizations which support the U.S. Military, including the USO (United Service Organizations)—that I restarted donating to as of April 16th, 2026—which supports our Active Duty Personnel, as well as Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA), in addition to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)—that I restarted donating to as of May 25th, 2026—all of which support our Military Veterans.

So, for the complete updates (with any corresponding ‘My Writing About...’) regarding these restarted donations, please see my blog post titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," which can be found on both of my "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" and "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blogs, within which you can do a find-in-page search for the updates listed below by their label names (or, by their corresponding ‘My Writing About...' titles, where applicable).

These are the updates regarding my restarted donations to the USO on April 16th, 2026:

April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1

April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 1, Written On April 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026]

April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 2, Written On April 19th, 2026)

April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 3, Written On May 17th, 2026) [My Writing About How I Restarted Donating To The USO (United Service Organizations) As Of April 2026, Part 2]

April 16th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Follow-Up No. 4, Written On June 15th, 2026, Which Also Discusses June 14th, 2026)

Theses are the updates regarding my restarted donations to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and to Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA), as well as to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), respectively, on May 25th, 2026:

May 25th, 2026 Update No. 3, Written On May 26th, 2026

May 25th, 2026 Update No. 4, Written On May 27th, 2026, Which Also Discusses May 2026

May 25th, 2026 Update No. 5, Written On May 27th, 2026

Now, to clarify something: I would normally also refer you to my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog, for these blog post updates (and for the corresponding ‘My Writing About…’, where applicable), but I cannot edit this post anymore—for an unknown reason—as of May 11th, 2026. So, any editing that I have tried to do on this blog post, after May 11th, for some reason won't save...

…Although, on June 20th, 2026, I thought to relocate all of the 2026 updates from my original blog post, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was," to my newer "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was, Part 2." You see, I had created that 'Part 2' blog post as a backup post, because there was a period of time when the original blog post kept being unpublished by Blogger for being too 'spammy'—I am guessing because of all the hyperlinks that I was providing for news articles that I was referring to my readers!

Anyway, that relocation of the 2026 updates seemed to have worked in getting the original blog post to be "editable" again, at least temporarily... But, then, later on that same day, I tried to add some additional text to the post and it would not save again! However, at least this time, instead of just saying that the "Update failed," it specifically stated, "The body is too large." Thus, I am assuming the 'unknown reason' that I stopped being able to edit the post on May 11th was because I had—apparently—reached some sort of blog post size threshold!

(So now, I am thinking of editing out most of the news updates, which I wrote on that original post, because those updates weren't nearly as pertinent to my "Online Activism" as was responding to the text message, email, and regular mail communications that I was receiving from various political, progressive and charitable organizations.)

In conclusion, then: for the complete updates (with any corresponding ‘My Writing About...’) regarding these restarted donations, I can now refer you to my blog post titled, "I Am No Longer Being An Activist In The Same Way That I Was, Part 2,” which can be found on my "Poet, Artist and Philosopher" blog, in addition to the above-mentioned blog post titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," which can be found on both of my "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" and "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blogs.


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May 10th, 2026 Update No. 1 (Originally From My Blog Post Titled, "My Point Of View On...Giving Charity And Accepting Charity," Which Is On Both Of My "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" And "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Blogs): Happy Mother's Day, everyone! In celebration of Mother's Day, I did a Google search for "the USO Mother's Day" and found the following USO (United Service Organizations) search result regarding Mother's Day:

United Service Organizations https://action. uso.org»

Sign the card: Thank the mothers moms serving our... USO This Mother's Day, the USO is thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice. Sign the card to military moms! Read more

https://action.uso.org/1804_MD

And, after I read the search results above, I clicked on the hyperlink to the referenced webpage, the relevant text of which can be found below:

★★★ USO ★★★

50,000 signatures needed to hit our goal!

→→→→→19,860

This Mother’s Day, the USO is thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice. Sign the card to military moms!

Thank you for all you do for our country, and happy Mother’s Day!

Sincerely,

First Name: Paul
Last Name: Whiting
Email: [redacted]

SIGN THE CARD

---------------------------------------------

Thanks for signing the card! Will you take a few minutes to complete a quick survey about supporting all of our nation's heroes?

The USO supports America's men and women in uniform at more than 200 locations around the world, including on the front lines in places like Djibouti and Afghanistan. How important is it to you that Americans continue supporting our deployed service members?

[✓] Extremely important
[  ] Very important
[  ] Somewhat important
[  ] Not at all important

The USO is more than concerts and airport lounges. Which of the ways we support our military men and women do you believe are valuable? Check all that apply.

[✓] Providing connections to family, home and country during deployments.
[✓] Helping military personnel and their families transition back into civilian life.
[✓] Supporting military families whose loved ones are deployed.
[✓] Providing support and rehabilitation for wounded, ill and injured service members.
[✓] Delivering special gifts and cheer to our heroes through programs like USO2GO.

Thousands of service men and women are currently deployed overseas, including in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Have you or a family member or friend ever served in the U.S. military?

[✓] Yes
[  ] No

How important do you think it is to support our nation's heroes and help them stay connected to family back home during deployment?

[✓] Extremely important
[  ] Important
[  ] Somewhat important
[  ] Not at all important

A Navy lieutenant commander recently told us that USO Care Packages are a "constant reminder to those of us out 'in the sandbox' that we are not forgotten and folks back home actually care."

Now, as we work to deliver our brave service members a touch of home, we need to ask for your support.

It takes a lot of time, coordination and money to get our care packages to more than 200,000 service members who are away from their families, sacrificing so much defending our freedoms. The USO is not a government agency we rely on the generosity and patriotism of citizens like you.

But right now, time is running out before our midnight deadline, and we need your support. Help us make sure that we have the resources to support our troops. Will you please donate by MIDNIGHT tonight to send a little bit of home to our service members and show them how thankful you are?

[  ] Yes, I'll donate $35 or more. Send me a T- shirt!
[✓] Yes, I'll donate but don't want a T-shirt!
[  ] No, I don't want to donate to support our service members today.

---------------------------------------------

★★★ USO ★★★

Donate to support our service members

Our service members keep our nation safe. And we work hard to keep them connected to home — but we can't do that without support from military supporters like you. Our heroes are counting on you to be a part of this important work for our country. So please, donate now.

By donating, you agree to allow the USO to use your gift, combined with others, in a matching gift fund.

Secure donation

[✓] Give once
[  ] ❤ Monthly

[  ] $1,000
[  ] $500
[  ] $250
[  ] $75
[  ] $45
[  ] $30
[✓] $10

Become a monthly supporter

Would you consider becoming one of our valued monthly supporters by converting your $10 contribution into a monthly donation.

Ongoing monthly donations allow us to better focus in our mission.

[  ] ❤ Donate $10/month
[✓] Keep my one-time $10 gift

Enter your details

First name: Paul
Last name: Whiting
Email address: [redacted]
Phone number (optional): [redacted]
Donate as an organization: N/A

Double your impact

Many employers have a donation matching program that will double or triple the value of your donation.

Just enter the name of your employer, and we'll see if your impact can be amplified!

Your company (optional): N/A

Enter your address

Street address: [redacted]
Apartment/suite/floor: [redacted]
City: [redacted]
State: [redacted]
Zip code: [redacted]

You donate $10 USD

[  ] Cover transaction costs

Donate

And so, I made a one-time donation on the USO.org website in order to support the USO's following statement: "This Mother’s Day, the USO is thanking moms in the military for their service and sacrifice. ... Thank you for all you do for our country, and happy Mother’s Day!"

Then, after I made said donation, I received an email from the USO today, May 10th, 2026, with the subject line, "Thank You for Your Donation to the USO", which stated the following:

★★★ USO ★★★

[Picture of "a soldier kneeling to embrace a child in an airport setting, conveying a message of reunion and support, with the USO logo on the left."]

Thank you for your generous $10.00 USD donation!

Dear Paul Whiting,

Thank you for your generous tax-deductible gift in support of the USO.

Donation Amount: $10.00 USD

Donation ID: [redacted]

Donation Date: May 10, 2026

Email: [redacted]

Your gift honors the service and sacrifice our troops make for us every day and will provide comfort and support to them and their families.

As a reminder, your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowable by federal law. And if there is a premium associated with your donation, please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.

If you have any questions or would like to contact the USO, please call [phone number redacted].

-Your friends at the USO

In addition to that, I already make a recurring monthly donation to the USO in order to show my support for our U.S. Military Personnel! You see, I usually make one-time donations to the USO—as often as I can manage when they request a donation via regular mail, email or text message. Therefore, I am planning to continue making one-time donations to the USO in the future, as often as I can manage, in addition to making the aforementioned recurring monthly donation.

By the way, did you know that the USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD)? The following description of the USO is from their 'About Us' webpage:

"The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection."

So, that is why I 'volunteer financially' as a member of the "USO Home Team" through a recurring monthly donation, as well as through one-time donations to the USO! –Paul Whiting (written May 10th, 2026, revised May 11th, 2026, revised May 21st, 2026, revised June 21st, 2026 and revised July 7th, 2026)

P.S.: By the way, I wanted to highlight the fact that the very first Mother's Day in America was observed on May 10th, 1908! So, that's 118 years ago this Mother's Day!

Mother's Day (United States) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this blogger (I make a totally affordable one-time donation if they are requesting donations when I am on their website):

"Mother's Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States and, since 1914, in Canada on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well as their positive contributions to their families and society. It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first Mother's Day celebrated through a service of worship at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908. Popular observances include holiday card and gift giving, churchgoing often accompanied by the distribution of carnations, and family dinners. In the United States, Mother's Day complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day, Siblings Day and Grandparents Day. ..."

Please see the hyperlink below for the article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 214 was edited on July 10th, 2026.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]