The Land of Ozz

We recently went through the task of rearranging car seats for our kids. Riley is moving into a booster and Josiah has out grown the infant car seat (carrier). We have a fairly nice Britax that we got when Riley was less than a year old. It is in good condition and has never been in a vehicle when an accident occurred. The seat is nearly six yeas old and I was wondering whether or not the seat is still usable despite its appearance. I have heard that car seats expire. Is this a true statement?

I probably would not have even given this a thought but rather let common sense dictate whether or not to replace a car seat. But, sometime last spring we had a fire rescue team at our church one Sunday afternoon doing inspections on the installation of our car seats for anyone who wanted to participate. Ours were all installed and being used correctly, but the technician did give me a little feedback that I found interesting. One of the things he told me was that Riley’s Britax seat was expired. “DO WHAT?,” was my reply. This guy proceeds to tell me that car seats expire after five years. Don’t get me wrong. I get the concept. These things are made of mostly plastic and plastics can become weak when it gets pushed and pulled on enough. The belts can become weak when they get enough acidic spit up, juices, and other foreign substances on them over the years. All that said, you would think that the manufacture would have this plastered all over the boxes that these things come in. After all, that would equate to a fresh sell ever five years. Anyway, I heard what the guy said and went on about my business since this just did not seem to make sense to me. How can you you pick a number and say that in X number of years a car seat will expire? In my opinion you can’t.

Here’s the thing about those expirations. There is currently no federal law requiring that child safety seats have an expiration date. I have also found no state laws referring specifically to expiration dates. If you find that a seat has an expiration on it, you are not likely to get put into jail for using it past its expiration date, but you should certainly contact the manufacture to make sure you understand why they put that date on the seat. A report from AAA says that you are required by most state laws to “use seats in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.”

Yes, some seats have expiration dates on them? Why? The explanations vary. Maybe the seat nmaufactures are trying to ride the wave of fear created by the technicians who tell us that the seats to expire. Many “convertible” car seats are sold touting that they can be used for 5-35 lbs rear facing and from 20-50 lbs forward facing. Those seats would need to be replaced before one child outgrew them if they were to expire in five or six years. For instance, the average boy will reach 20 lbs between 8-9 months of age based on the CDC Clinical Growth Charts that most of our pediatricians use. That same average boy will reach 50 lbs at about 7 years of age. That means that the average male child would be required to get a new seat before reaching the maximum allowed weight for most convertible seats simply due to an expiration.

The bottom line is that opinions rather than facts seem to be driving the five or six year expiration dates. The expiration age varies depending on who you talk to. Some Child Passenger Safety Technicians claim to have been taught that seats expire after five or six years depending on who trained them. One organization that offers certification classes for these technicians says, “Make sure the safety seat is less than 10 years old (preferably less than five), the expiration date stamped on the plastic has not passed, and it has never been used in a crash.” Reference

Have you come to the conclusion that Obama’s former pastor had some really bad days in the pulpit? It seems that Obama may have picked a less than stellar spiritual adviser on his first go around. Let’s hope that he does not turn to Oprah as his second choice.

I have received a couple of emails on regarding Oprah’s spiritual activities in recent weeks. The following video does a pretty good job of summing up my concerns over what I have been researching. Oprah Winfrey has an XM radio spot called “Oprah and Friends” that features teachings based on the books by two of these friends of Oprah that are mentioned in the following video.  This video contains footage of Oprah speaking against Jesus being the only way to God even though Jesus told us himself in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

I cannot validate the numbers quoted at the beginning of the video and I have no knowledge of the book promoted at the end of the video.

I whole-heartedly agree with the subject of the email that delivered to me a link to this video. The subject of the email said “Scary video…” I had already been doing some research on Oprah’s recent “spiritual” book endorsements and the XM radio shows that have followed. In particular I have reviewed dozens of the “A Course in Miracles” teachings. I have reviewed them with the intention of making sure that I could not be accused of taking one or two lessons out of the context of the series. This is the chief argument that Obama supporters have used to defend the Reverend Wright’s controversial remarks. I can assure you that it only took one lesson for me to become concerned about the “Course“. I later found a one hour video ¹ that takes you through the first fifty lessons from “A Course on Miracles“. I warn you not to view or read this “Course” material unless you are firmly grounded in what the Bible says about Jesus Christ and who you are in Christ. This “Course” is psychotherapy and brain-washing to the highest order. The “about” page for the “Course” states pretty clearly in their own description of the program that this is psychotherapy. Here is a quote from Oprah’s XM radio site regarding “A Course in Miracles“:

“According to Marianne, A Course in Miracles is a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy contained in three books. It is not a religion, but rather a psychological mind-training base on universal spiritual themes. The practical goal of the Course is the attainment of inner peace through the practice of forgiveness…

“A Course in Miracles (often called just “the Course“) is an educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious, in its perspective. Although it uses Christian terminology, the Course expresses a universal experience, and its underlying ontology is reminiscent of ancient refrains, echoing the world’s most hallowed traditions. …”" ²

The about page goes on to quote the “Course” as it instructs its participants to ignore any leadings to question the teachings. I take this to mean that even if the Holy Spirit prompts you to question this based on your knowledge of the Bible, you should defer to the “Course” anyway.

Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.

Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required (Workbook, p. 2).

— Excerpted from A Course in Miracles” ²

Many of the quotes in the YouTube video come directly from the daily mind training offered in the “course”. For instance, Lesson 70 states:

My salvation comes from me. It cannot come from anywhere else.

Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past—in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:

My salvation cannot come from any of these things. My salvation comes from me and only from me. ³

There are some truths in the explanation paragraph in the center of the quote about where salvation does not come from, but the teaching has the participant drill into their own heads by repeating these sayings that salvation comes from within themselves rather than through Jesus Christ.

This stuff is exactly what they say it is, “psychotherapy…psychological mind-training”. While they plainly state that this is not a religion, the teaching has been heavily peppered with Christian terms that make it sound like it may be associated with the Bible. The “Course” even uses terms like “Son of God”, “Salvation”, “God’s will” and frequently references to “God”. The “Course” even goes as far as to capitalize pronouns like “He”and “His” when referring to God. In fact, the “Course” is based on Dr. Helen Schucman’s claim that she was given this information as some sort of prophesy directly from “inner guidance which she had identified as Jesus.” ⁴ It appears that the content for this “Course” came about much the same way that the teachings of the LDS church came from Joseph Smith. While there are some good sounding Christian like principles in both LDS, the “Course” and many other religions, the core beliefs and more importantly the end results of the sinner do not line up with the Bible.

While Oprah and Marianne Williamson may not want to call this “Course” a religion, they are certainly starting to look and sound like a religion. Let’s just hope that Obama does not convert to this non-religion for his future spiritual guidance.

“…there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who brought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end.”  2 Peter 2:1 TLB

References:

1 - http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=823374042&channel=422544479
2 - http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/mwilliamson_about.jhtml
3 - http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mwilliamson/200803/mwilliamson_20080310.jhtml
4 - http://www.acim.org/AboutUs/FIP/PublisherTrustee.htm

From left to right: Sherry (aka Mrs. Ozz or Mommy), Josiah, Caden, Hank (aka TheOzz or Daddy) and Riley

I am introducing the family because you will be seeing more of them on The Land of Ozz in the near future. The Land of Ozz will begin some slow changes over the next few weeks. Mrs. Ozz has expressed a desire to begin blogging. We talked and decided that having her join me here on The Land of Ozz is the better solution than creating and maintaining a whole new blog. My posting has been light anyway and the readership has declined as a result. Mrs. Ozz will be blogging on some of the same general topics plus much more. As a result of the “more”, I plan to add sort of a His and Hers blog roll as well as a His and Hers category list. I also hope to offer feed subscriptions by author.

So the “Ozz” in “The Land of Ozz” will begin to take on a new meaning. The blog title moving forward will represent the Ozz family instead of just one Ozz (myself). The blog design will be reflecting some changes too. I more than welcome the feminine touch to the look and feel of this blog. Mrs. Ozz has been reviewing WordPress themes and I expect to make a change to this blog’s design in the next week or two.

Should you tithe on your tax refund? The short answer is yes. The long answer goes back to another question. Do you tithe on gross income or net income? This is a question that I have heard discussed a few times, and I was even asked point blank by a co-worker once. My response was something like, “If you have to ask then you probably already know the answer.”

I believe that you should tithe on gross income before Uncle Sam, your 401k, or your health insurance provider gets their cut from your pay check. This is not the most popular answer, but I believe it to be the correct one. It is not your first fruits if someone else has already been nibbling.

The long answer to the original question is that it depends on whether you are a:

• Gross Income Tither - Then no, you have already tithed on this “refund” money when you earned it.
• Net Income Tither - Yes, you now have new spendable income that is flowing into your wallet that has not been tithed on already.

There is a fairly large international Christian radio network broadcasting in the local area that exclusively plays hymns and classical Christian music. This radio network plays absolutely no contemporary Christian music (CCM). Several months ago the early morning broadcast included a short sound bite calling attention to an active stance against CCM. It should not come as a surprise to my regular readers that one of my pet peeves is to hear a self proclaimed Christian rant over the practices of other Christians. It is even worse when the complaining party resorts to name calling and scripture manipulation to emphasize a position against the fellow Christians that they are criticizing. I really did not mind the fact this station avoided CCM. I akin this to Southern Baptist who are not comfortable with laying on of hands, healing prayer, and speaking in tongues. Just like I was fine listening to this particular radio station who I thought was simply avoiding CCM, I am also comfortable attending a Southern Baptist church where certain subjects are simply avoided by the pastor and congregation. But, I will not support a church or ministry that openly criticizes these things. In the instance of the radio station, the sound bite included a reference to Mathew 6:7. The person on the radio said “when you pray and sing, do not use vein repetitions.” The following is part of what I emailed to the radio network later that day.

“There was a short explanation this morning explaining your position against Christian Contemporary Music (CCM). The man speaking used Matthew 6:7 as a reference for not saying vain repetitions when praying and singing. I agree with the praying part, but I have been through over a half dozen translations of the Bible and can not find the word sing in that verse. Where does he get his reference? I am also of the firm belief that Jesus was teaching us a model on how to pray in Matthew 6.”

Now I am no theologian, but I believe these folks did get a little ahead of themselves with the use of Matthew 6:7. I ended up having over a dozen emails pass back and forth between me and a man who has worked for this network for a couple of decades.

He remained firm on his stance against CCM. That did not surprise me. What surprised me was that he also remained firm in his crusade to criticize those who listen to and sing CCM even though his own “vain repetition” argument could easily be applied to the hymn that was played immediately after the above mentioned sound bite. What follows are snippets from our email exchange as I challenged his criticism of other Christians us heathens who listen to CCM. We’ll call him Radio Joe for the purposes distinguishing his emails from mine.

From Radio Joe:

“Thanks for your comment. Matthew 6:7, as you know, is a teaching on prayer and comes just before our Lord’s teaching of the model prayer for Christians. Albert Barnes has an interesting commentary on that verse:

“Verse 7. Use not vain repetitions. The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1Ki 18:26: “They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us;”*

The heathen do. The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the “nations,” the nations destitute of the true religion. Christ does not fix the length of our prayers. He says that they should not repeat the same thing, as though God did not hear. And it is not improbable that he intended to condemn the practice of long prayers. His own supplications were remarkably short.

{q} “as the heathens do” Ec 5:2
{*} The following is a specimen of the vain repetitions of the Romans.

“Pious Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee. Gentle Antonine, the Gods preserve thee.”

I would submit that a CCM tune could be put to the above phrases.

One of the reasons we criticize CCM is that it robs the Christian of the great teaching in the hymns. I had a sample CD sent to me and it had 14 songs on it. Only one identified the Lord by name. Those other songs could have been song to a lover or sweetheart with the same result. Isn’t it amazing that in crisis times, people turn to the hymns and not CCM?”

My response:

“I agree with you that many of the CCM songs out today “could have been song to a lover or sweetheart with the same result.” I agree that there is value in “the great teaching in the hymns.” Our church “Seacoast Church” does incorporate hymns in the singing. However, I believe [the network] takes there position a little too far in calling Christians heathens for singing CCM. Some CCM may be unacceptable, but that does not justify stereotyping, name calling, and twisting of scripture to justify your position.

For instance, you have once again left out the three words that lead into the that part about vain repetitions in Mat 6:7. “When you (or ye) pray…” Not “when you sing”. Not “when you give praises to God the father”. It is “WHEN YOU PRAY”. Please do not try to twist this scripture to fit your man made rules on church music.

I call it a loose apples and oranges example at best in your 1 Kings example. These people in 1 Kings were praying to Baal and Elijah was warning them, the heathen, about praying to their god. This was not a command from God to avoid praising Him with CCM music.

I submit that even if you want to try and tie prayer to singing like you are doing with Mat 6:7, then think about the numerous verses where you find, “pray without ceasing”. Look at Romans 1:9 in particular where Paul says, ” For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” Would you call Paul a heathen too? I do not believe you would. I know this verse is not about vain repetitions in singing, but it does illustrate that repeating even prayers is a practice of the apostle Paul.

I don’t believe I am far off here in illustrating that the apostle Paul was admitting to repetition in his prayers even though it appears to go against what Jesus said in mat 6:7. Let’s see what Barnes has to say on Romans 1:9, ” That without ceasing, adialeiptwv. This word means constantly, always, without intermission. It was not only once, but REPEATEDLY. It had been the burden of his prayers. The same thing he also mentions in regard to other churches, 1Th 1:2 2:13.” (my emphasis of all caps added)

The bottom line is that what ever we do, if truly by the leading of the Holy Spirit, whether we are praising, praying to, or worshiping God, how can any man criticize it? I encourage you to stand on James 4:11-12 in your feeling against CCM.

“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbor?” (NIV)

I also encourage you to stand on Titus 2:8 as a fellow believer:

“Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.” (NLT)

I truly believe that your critical spirit can be more damaging to the body of Christ even if you were correct. You and [the network] have not been sent to earth to judge.

As [the network] continues to criticize other believers who listen to and sing forms of CCM, then as one of those Christians, I will stand on Ecc 7:5 (NLT) It is “better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.” Notice I am referring to you as a wise person as in being characterized by scholarly knowledge. I believe you are certainly misled in some of your interpretations and uses of scripture just like any of the rest of us are subject to at times.”

Response from Radio Joe:

This will be my last reply to you, as I have a lot of positive emails to answer. You agree that the people in First Kings are Baal worshippers. Why, then, would CCM imitate them by repeating the same words over and over? Does Baal worship honor God?

Praying without ceasing does not mean repeating a Rosary type prayer over and over. Would you talk to another human, like your father, that way? Did Jesus ever pray that way?

Paul did not say that he prayed the same exact words over and over, but brought the same requests to God in prayer.

If you believe that Paul never criticized anyone when they were wrong, read Galatians 2:11 “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

That was not his last email. There were eight more (4 each) after that one.

My Response:

It might be best if we do drop this subject. I have never won a person over to Christ by arguing with them and I do not expect you or [the network] are going to change policies regarding on-air criticism of fellow Christians based on one man’s input. I am confident that I am not the only one who has voiced these types of complaints to you regarding your criticism of CCM.

The very music played on [the network] repeats phrases so your vain repetition argument goes out the window pretty quick anyway. Once again, go back and listen to the song that played just after the sound bit that I have been referring too. I counted at least 12 instances of “Take me gently”. No I would not speak to another human that way either. I really did not want to split hairs to make my point, but you are being very hypocritical. I have no problems with [the network]’s use of hymnal music, and in fact like that it is used it in our church from time to time.

We are Christians singing and praising God with the music and instruments that we feel led of the Lord to use. We are not heathen praising and worshiping a false god as referred to in 1 Kings. You are either comparing apples to oranges, or you are questioning who I am praising with my use of CCM. Either way, I believe you may be on dangerous ground with God. Stop going by what your religious teachers taught you and ask God to speak directly to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. You may not even be aware of how God can use you if you will just surrender yourself to him.

As I said, this went on for a while and then he closed one of his emails with this phrase.

From Radio Joe:

“… God bless you, Hank. If CCM is your thing, that is between you and your God, not between us.”

“You and your God”? Like MY God is different from the God that other Christians praise and worship?

I will skip a few emails to one that neared the end of our exchange.

My Response:

You did it again. In your last line you wrote to me as if my God were different than yours. It is as if you are speaking to me in a condescending way based on my choice of music. It is a shame that you think God can only be worshiped your way with music. Believe it or not, I do understand your point at some level even though I do not agree with it.

I have never in my emails with you requested that you start playing CCM on [the network], not once. Play the hymn music and enjoy it. It is great. Even promote your support of hymn only music. What I request is that you stop criticizing the things you do not play. Stop criticizing Christians who sing and listen to CCM.

Through our conversations I have come to a sobering realization that you have not yet disputed. It appears that you are questioning the salvation of others based on the fact that they sing and listen to CCM.

The conversation pretty much ended as we exchanged a few pleasantries and went on about our own business. Unfortunately, [the network] can easily be replaced with [a church or pastor] and the term CCM can be replaced with at least a few dozen other items like: what you wear, the translation of the Bible you reference, your religious denomination, whether you get your baby baptized, what parenting philosophy you choose, whether you have tattoos or nose rings, and the list goes on and on.

Can’t we Christians all just get along without criticizing things about each other that have nothing to do with our personal relationships with Jesus Christ? If you have turned your life over to God, it doesn’t mater what you look like, what tunes you sing to praise God, or whether you attend a particular church. All that matters is that you have Got Jesus.

I had my eye on Fred Thompson at first, but my wife and I ended up giving our votes to Huckabee in the SC primary due to what appeared to be a lack of motivation on Thompson’s part. Duncan Hunter was the first choice for me based solely on my answers to an online survey. If supporters of Thompson and Hunter were following them for their core conservative values, then those supporters should easily shun the remaining republicats and follow Huckabee now that he is the only real conservative in the race. Here are my two cents on each of the remaining GOP candidates:

Huckabee - The only true conservative left. Mike Huckabee is most likely of the remaining candidates to stand up for core family values and nominate conservative judges who will uphold the constitution. Nominating judges is one of the most important and longest lasting reason to choose a person for president in my opinion. The only real negative things he has going against him are the cheesy campaign ads with Chuck Norris and the notion that Mexicans don’t know how to climb fences.

And now for the Republicrats:

McCain - He is one of the most likely REP senators to side with Ted Kennedy on anything and that is more than a little scary. What he has going for him is war hero status and name recognition due to past presidential race experience. I could stomach voting for him in the general election if he could get on the right side of gun control and tax cuts. I actually like him better than any of the rest when it comes to immigration even though I think that immigration should not even be an issue in the race.

Romney - Not far enough removed from pro choice stance prior to entering this race. Seems a little convenient of a switch if you ask me. How is it anyway that his religious convictions will cause him to abstain from alcohol and smoking but leave him to support abortion? (source) And another thing, how exactly did he single handedly turn around dozens (the numbers were stated as high as 100s) of companies in one lifetime? He didn’t. He was CEO of a venture capital / consulting firm that did the work. Never mind that this is a race for president and not CFO of the USA.

Giuliani - Gun control, LIFE of unborn children, marriage protection. Need I say more?

Pon Raul - Who? Anti-war stance sounds like it came right out of the last DEM debate.

Our family hosted a pizza party this passed weekend. The party was very family friendly and did not have any beer, but did end up with a deer. More on the deer in a minute. We had about twenty five friends over for lunch including their children. It was a great time to celebrate the beginning of a New Year. The weather was great for grilling the pizza. Sherry and I have decided to make this an annual event. We intended to have the party on New Years Eve, but ALL of our boys ended up sick enough to be put on antibiotics a few days before the big event. Our two oldest, Riley and Caden were even put on breathing treatments due to wheezing. The big plan was to have a mock up of the “ball drop” at 7PM on New Years Eve in celebration of Zulu New Year. The Zulu New Year was an idea some of us dad’s came up with we would not miss out on the coming in of the New Year…somewhere.

Anyway, about the deer. The big event of the day for me came when I sat down with my good friend Chad after most of the guest had departed. Chad and I were enjoying the cool breeze on the screened porch as we looked out over our backyard into the wetlands protected area behind our house. Chad asked if I had ever seen any deer in my backyard or in the wetlands. I told him no, but I had seen deer tracks. He went on to tell me about the deer he saw in his backyard a few days earlier. Well, it was about 5 or 10 minutes after Chad asked me about the deer when we both just happened to be looking in the same direction at my next door neighbor’s yard. My neighbor has a privacy fence and we were entertained by the leaves swarming up over the hight of the fence as he used his leaf blower. Then, in the flash of an eye, a full grown whitetail doe came flying through my yard (front to back). I could barely believe my eyes. I told Chad that I was so glad we were both looking in that same direction at that moment because he would never have believed me if he had not seen it for himself. I have lived in this house for six and a half years and never once seen a deer. I had not five minuted earlier told Chad as much and then there comes a deer out of my front yard.

A few minutes later my new neighbor from three doors down came walking up. He introduced himself and asked if we saw that deer run through the yard. He said it came running right past him as he was sweeping his driveway and then it took a hard turn into my yard. I think he was as surprised by it as we were and maybe he just wanted someone to verify that he was not crazy.

It was an unbelievable end to a great pizza party to see a full grown deer run through the yard at 2pm. I think the next time Chad comes over, I would like for him to ask me if I have ever seen bags full of $100 bills fall from the sky into my backyard.

I meant to post this a couple of hours ago, but could not get to it until now. I guess some sailors in the mid Atlantic will be turning the calendar over to 2008 in a few minutes.

For all you non-military types, Zulu is the equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time.  We are in Romeo Time also known as EST which is Zulu minus five hours.  So the New Year celebration would have happened at 7pm if I had been on my game.

All joking aside. I do wish all of my readers a very happy and safe New Year and many blessings.

Below are the comments I left over at BigDaddyGib on this subject. I felt it was worth blogging about after finding other bloggers with similar concerns.

“I got an email on this at work last week. It is a great campaign, BUT it has raised some concern in the deaf and speech impaired community.

We use ASL (American Sign Language) in our home. Our three year old son Caden hears fine, but has serious problems with speech that are linked to a genetic defect. Due to my exposure to ASL over the past three years, I was puzzled when I saw the way “Thank You from the bottom of my heart” was signed in this campaign. Come to find out, the creator of the campaign did not do his homework. Due to some questions of those in the ASL community, the creator of the campaign has placed a message on “The Sign” link within his web site.

Don’t get me wrong. I think this campaign is great. I just wish the guy had done his homework BEFORE getting so well publicized.”

It appears that my gut feeling about this gesture seeming odd was right on the money. Some members of the deaf and speech impaired community have been all over Scott Truitt “The Gratitude Campaign” site owner like white on rice. There were some strong criticisms misleading verbiage on his web site that could make people believe that this gesture was linked to ASL (American Sign language). One of the more polite critics of how this gesture was presented is from Raychelle over at Rays of Raychelle. Raychelle has posted some detailed email exchanges with Scott Truitt.

Scott admitted in his responses to Raychelle that not everyone had been as nice on this subject:

“That is very helpful, Raychelle. I have been getting a lot of e-mails on this, and they are negative. I appreciate you telling me about the blog – I’m hoping that I can log on and clarify this a bit. The last thing we want to do is be disrespectful of the Deaf community – and I absolutely understand your concerns.” Source

Raychelle is not the only blogger following this story with concern over the impact it may have on the signing community. You can read more from lolypup, Kokonut Pundit.

The change made to his web site as a result of the concerns go like this:

“Please note that there has been some debate as to whether this sign is a recognized sign from American Sign Language. With the utmost respect to those who know and use ASL, we are currently consulting several authorities on ASL to come to a resolution on that issue. We will update this page with our findings. In the mean time we would suggest that you use this sign only to thank those who serve, and do not assume that who use ASL will recognize this sign.”

The campaign is certainly getting some press from the big fish bloggers and many others. Michelle Malkin, Black Five, WizBang, and Ace of Spades.

Deborah Feldman reported back in September from over at King5.com that Truitt “got the Seattle Seahawks to play it [The Gratitude Campaign video] on their jumbotron before the Seahawks-Bengals game. His hope is for the gesture to become so common, no one even remembers it took a “campaign” to get it started. Do you think it’ll catch on?”

Well Deborah, it looks like it did catch on. Now there are a few big questions:

Will this campaign prove to be damaging to the ASL community?

and

How do you tell difference between a troop returning from war and one that just left high school 12 weeks ago and has just graduated basic training?

and most importantly

Who is going to train the returning troops on what this gesture actually means?

Given the bad press on the war effort by main stream media and some bleeding heart liberal congress members, the troops could easily mistake this gesture as getting flipped off or something equivalent if it does not come with a smile or some other form of positive gesture.

Why don’t people just go up and say “thank you” with the God given communication skills they normally use everyday? It is the least we can do for a person who voluntarily signed their name to a contract with the US government to die for our freedom if necessary.