With my friends and supporters I walk a line trying to agree with and please, but I do have rules. I've found that when I write an article that I personally think will be my undoing, THOSE are the hits! I really do avoid being controversial, but let's face it, when you have a pen name like, "Bill the Butcher," well, people expect things, you know.
The more I write the more I settle on what I believe. Like Doc said about me last week, there are times when I don't even know my position until I begin to write. I do take inspiration from others I respect. Our opinions differ. For instance, I'm not all torn up about Jade Helm. I guess it's from living near Fort Hood, and putting up with cannon fire and gun ships flying over my head most of my life. I AM concerned about ISIS because I know the dynamic driving them, and I really DO think Muslims in our state bear watching. I don't give a flip about gay marriage. I can accept gay people, I just don't want one of them marrying my sister.
My neck is not near as red as it used to be. Time was when I really said, and wrote some outlandish stuff. Here's the deal. YOU sell three million records on the black market out of a garage in Harker Heights, Texas, then come back and tell me all about it! Publishing has changed a lot since 1994. Back then you had to have "distribution." Now, all you need is an iPad. Being exposed to loads of other opinions has lightened my neck considerably. Hey, I can even get along with someone from California if she's cute.
I study all the time. You may not believe it, but as I was writing about the attack in Garland this week I was reading a psychological study of Joseph Smith's mindset in the context of his times. In modern times he would have just wrote the Book of Mormon and left the "inspiration" involved to the conjecture of his readers, but in the magical world view of the 1830's . . .well, people expect things. Understanding people like Joseph Smith helps me understand politicians. Connect those dots! There IS a connection there people, trust me.
People believe the absurd. They want magic. Hence religion. Now don't get me wrong. I am a theist. I even believe in Jesus Christ. I just don't believe in religion. Religion is man's feeble attempt to explain the unexplainable. I try not to really pick on people's religious beliefs, but as a writer I KNOW how Mohammed came up with the Qu'ran and Joseph Smith penned the Book of Mormon, and it ain't hard to figure out, folks. I have a nephew who once spent hours trying to convince me that during a seance, Satan, the evil one, arch angel, fallen from glory, source of all evil, came all the way from hell to beautiful downtown Killeen, Texas just to chunk rocks over a fence at him. I don't try to pick on people's religious beliefs, but it's hard. People read into religion their own desires. Now, that's ok until you start stoning pretty girls for looking good in jeans or tell me I can't have a Martini, then we gotta talk. Come to think of it . . . pretty girls . . . martinis . . .stoned, but I digress.
I don't chase women as much as I used to because I have a bad leg that seems to be getting worse with age, and they keep getting away. Also I've found that double amputees do not attract me. Wait, let me think about that one. Sometimes I worry about myself. Anyway, as I blog myself to literary hell I thank you for putting up with me, and reading. Communication is the most important thing. I figured that out after five ex-wives you know. I keep my style simple, like I said. I write like I speak. I have a friend with like a double degree in writing, literature, stuff like that. Kid writes for a solid week, ain't said nothing! I now have written thousands of articles that have gone all over the world. Not bad for someone who couldn't pass high school English, huh?
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