De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 24, 2013 Page: 2 of 12
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Page 2/ Thursday, January 24,2013 / DeLeon Free Press
Jon Q. Public...
by Jon Awbrey
AS READ EARLIER IN
THE FREE PRESS
Sometimes, it all seems
too uncomfortable for words.
There was a blog on
CNN’s website last week titled
“Why I raise my children with-
out God,” written by a single
mom in Texas who goes by the
handle TXBlue08.
This odd manifesto made
the rounds across America, and
it even stirred up some folks
right here in DeLeon. The story
itself received 10,000 com-
ments on its message board,
60,000 readers told their friends
about it.
Now, I don’t want to spend
all day attacking a single mom
who has given up on God. Lord
knows, life’s tough sometimes,
and sometimes folks just quit.
They lose faith, and they lose
heart.
I am more concerned
about why this particular item
appeared on CNN’s website as
if it held some sort of insight.
The arguments against
God, at least those proposed by
this apparently atheistic single
mom, were fairly naive: God is
not fair, God does not teach
children to be good, God cre-
ates selfishness in kiddoes,
etcetera, etcetera.
These are not well formed
criticisms of a higher being.
Rather, had CNN wanted
to discuss atheism in an intelli-
gent way, there are a great
many philosophers and writers
who have much more credibili-
ty than TXBlue()8, people like
Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul
Sartre, and the old stand-bys
Condorcet and Nietzsche.
I figure if you’re going to
take on God, you might as well
use the voice of a genius to do
it. But what do I know?
Anyway, it got me to
thinking.
As a counter to TXBlue08,
I offer the following argument.
“Why you should hope your
neighbor believes in God”
I have never understood
moral atheists.
If, as they contend, there is
no god, why do they seek to
promote moral arguments
about the rights and wrongs of
society.
Just like TXBlue08, who
said she teaches her children to
be good for the sake of being
good, atheists of all stripes echo
a similar desire for morality.
But why?
If there is no higher power,
then what good is morality?
Why isn’t theft, and robbery,
and mayhem better? Theft and
robbery can supply any need.
What a man labors 50 hours a
week to earn, it takes another
only moments to steal.
If there is no God, then
why are you working?
To me, that’s a stupid
waste of time.
Some might say that there
is risk involved in such activi-
ties. A man who works 50
hours a week would try, one
suspects, to prevent a theft. But
if there is no God, we are just
animals. A predator in the wild
does not hesitate to remove a
weaker rival in any contest for
food or other resources.
And we are indeed the
most inherently savage of all
the creatures of the earth. The
king of the jungle has got noth-
ing on us.
Some might say that athe-
istic morality is important to
sustain our own existence.
Again, nature does not agree.
Nature provides the blueprint
for an amoral, if not immoral,
world.
Even in times of the most
meagre resources, in times of
mass species die-offs and near
extinctions, the fittest always
survive. Those who take from
the weak, those who conserve
their strength and prey upon the
most vulnerable - they are the
ones who thrive in a world
without the hand of God in it.
It is beyond me that any-
one would fail to understand
the power of God in this sce-
nario.
It is God, or at least the
notion of God, that civilizes
men.
Really, it is nothing else.
Don’t believe me?
Look at the histories of the
largest atheistic nation-states or
empires of the last century.
They also, rather bizarrely,
appear to be the last century’s
biggest boogiemen.
China, up to 80 percent of
inhabitants claim that they are
nonreligious: Between 1958
and 1961, somewhere around
30 million Chinese died in a
famine that was created, in
large part, by the policies of an
officially atheistic Chinese gov-
ernment.
Japan, at least a third of the
population claims that they are
“convinced atheists”: during
World War II, the Japanese mil-
itary literally murdered six mil-
lion Chinese, Indonesians,
Koreans, Filipinos, and
Indochinese, as well as thou-
sands of western prisoners of
war. They were also responsi-
ble for the outbreak of World
War II in the Pacific, which
claimed over 36 million lives.
The Soviet Union, official-
ly atheist: I will not list the mil-
lions of Germans and German
sympathizers that the Soviets
murdered in World War II,
mostly because the Germans
more or less brought that on
themselves. Nonetheless, unre-
lated to World War II, the gov-
ernment of the Soviet Union,
between 1917 and 1987, was
responsible for the murders of
something in the neighborhood
of 50 million of its own citi-
zens. At least 30 million of
those fell at the hands of the
much maligned Joseph Stalin.
Germany, where nearly
half the population says they
are either nonreligious or athe-
ist: honestly, Germany’s awful-
ness has been beaten like a dead
horse, so I’ll just give you the
number: between 1914 and
1945, various German govern-
ments were responsible for the
deaths of 46 million people,
and a whole lot more if you
count their culpability for
Japanese atrocities in World
WarIL
This is, in short, my com-
plete argument against the athe-
istic notions of TXBlue08.
When it all comes down to
it, I’ll put my faith in a long
haired carpenter who says it’s
bad to kill, steal, and be a jerk.
For me and my house, we
will serve the Ford.
10 YEARS AGO
Jan. 23, 2003. The Rock
Bluff Baptist Church members
hosted an open house and dedi-
cation ceremony for their new
church building.
Fifth grade students on the
“A” Honor Roll included
Fyndsi Clark, Don Henson,
Adrian Mejia, FaTisha Garcia,
Courtney Caraway and Colton
Mathis.
20 YEARS AGO
Jan. 28, 1993. Mary Beth
Hodges received the Woman of
the Year Award at the annual
Chamber of Commerce
Banquet, while Mike Hare
received the Man of the Year
Award. Bill Fivingston
received the Golden Deeds
AND THE WINNER
WAS...
The 2013 Annual DeLeon
Chamber of Commerce
Banquet was held on Saturday,
Jan. 19 at the Blue Moon Cafe.
The DeLeon Chamber of
Commerce would like to con-
gratulate the winners, which are
as follows: Man of the Year -
Steve Singleton; Woman of the
Year - Terrie Prather; Business
of the Year - DeLeon Free
Press; Golden Deeds - Hiram
Smith; Educator of the Year -
Dosha Butler; Freshman
Student of the Year - Brent
Cleere, Sophomore Student of
the Year - Allexis McGrath,
Junior Student of the Year -
Blake Hooker and Senior
Student of the Year - Michael
McFearen.
The Beautification
Committee also presented an
award on Saturday night. The
2nd annual Community Service
award was presented to Jim
Award, and Ardean Kimmell
received the Community
Service Award.
New Chamber directors
were Debra Briscoe, Beverly
Stewart, FaJoyce Johnson,
Gilbert Garcia and Farry
Kimmell.
30 YEARS AGO
Jan. 27, 1983. Fred
Williams was named president
of the Farmers and Merchants
Bank.
Retiring Postal employees
C.F. Mohon, Jr. and Arvil
Setzler received western hats
from DeFeon Post Office per-
sonnel.
40 YEARS AGO
Jan. 25, 1973. Mrs. Jim T.
Baugh. We thank each award
winner for their hard work and
dedication to making DeFeon a
better place to live. The
Chamber would like to thank
Jaime Welch for her dedication
to the Chamber as she has com-
pleted her term as a Board
Member and hopes to see her
back in the future.
Thanks to the Chamber of
Commerce Board of Directors
and the numerous hours putting
the banquet together, we feel it
was a success. We would like
to thank our Jr. Board of
Directors that came and served
at the banquet. They did an
awesome job... I would like to
also thank Marlene Cox for her
help with the decorations and
the collection of the silent auc-
tion items. She has been a big
part of the Chamber of
Commerce for many years and
without fail she volunteered her
time to help us again. Thank
you so much. Finally, I would
Stikbows for donating the
wood, and John Johnson and
Jimmie Baugh for cutting out
the hearts and stands for us to
paint.
January 24 is “Global
Faugh Day” so plan on a good
belly laugh all day long. We
can’t wait, and we practice
almost daily.
Alpha Omega Hospice
will be in to help give mani-
cures and also this week we
will get together and read this
firearms. Items taken were a
SKS rifle, a Winchester 30-30,
a Stevens 410 shotgun, a
Remington 12 gage semi-auto
shotgun, a Fox Double barrel
12 gage antique shotgun,
Featheright 20 gage single shot
shotgun, a Stevens 22 single
shot bolt action. Two of the
Callison was named manager
for the DeLeon Lone Star Gas
office.
A large photo and lengthy
story regarding the death of
President Lyndon B. Johnson
noted that Comanche County
residents were sharing in the
grief of a nation.
50 YEARS AGO
Jan. 24, 1963. After 58
years of service with F&M
Bank, R.R. Harvey announced
his retirement.
W.D. Bailey and Robert
Qualls, Service Department
employees of Mahan Chevrolet
Co., received plaques designat-
ing them as Chevrolet
Mechanical Technicians at a
banquet in Brownwood.
like to thank Mary Ann Stewart
for opening her home to the
Chamber to work countless
hours on decorations for the
Annual Banquet. Tom and
Mary Ann were very hospitable
to us and we really appreciate
them.
With the Annual Banquet
behind us, we can move for-
ward to 2013.
The DeLeon Chamber of
Commerce is also looking for
an Executive Director. Anyone
wishing to apply can pick up an
application at the Chamber
office located at the Terrill
Antique Car Museum.
Resumes can also be sent to De
Feon Chamber of Commerce,
133 S Texas, De Feon, TX
76444.
If you want to contact the
chamber, you can call us at 893-
2083 or email us at
chamber @ cctc .net.
The DeLeon Free Press, P.O. Box 320, DeLeon, Texas 76444
(Publication No. 150080) is published by Morgan Publishing Co.,
51 weeks per year, at 324 S. Texas in DeLeon. Periodicals
postage is paid at DeLeon, Texas 76444. Telephone: 254-893-
6868; Fax: 254-893-3550; e-mail:ads@deleonfreepress.com, web
site: www.deleonfreepress.com.
Mailed subscription rates per year: By Comanche County post
office-$30, elsewhere in Texas-$35, elsewhere in U.S.-$40.
We will be pleased to correct an erroneous description of any per-
son or organization which may appear in the DeLeon Free Press if
it is brought to the attention of the editor. All reprinting rights are
reserved. Copyright 2013.
Publisher-Jon Awbrey
Editor-Laura Kestner
Office Mgr.-Kay Hodges
Advertising-Betty Wofford
Staff Writer-Sarah Awbrey
Serving the DeLeon area since 1890,
striving to be a positive voice in the community.
MEMBER
2013
TA
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Home Sweet Home
at DeLeon Nursing & Rehab
By Linda Levens
I sure have missed our
weekly chats DeLeon, and I
look forward to the days ahead.
Here at the center we start
every morning with some sort
of exercise class. We do every-
thing from balloon volleyball to
the Happy Face Triathlon. One
of the ladies in the class said she
discovered a skirt was about an
inch too big after our “sit and
get fit” efforts.
We have been working on
Valentine projects. Thanks to
Comanche County
Crime Stoppers
Crime of the Week January 21,2013
The Comanche County
Sheriff’s Office is currently
investigating a burglary of a
habitation in the 7000 block of
Hwy 6 east of DeFeon.
Sometime between the
21st of December and the 3rd
of January 2013 person entered
the residence and stole
HOOVES S HORNS
BY A.W. ERWIN
"Hey there.....SdpeFlVoma/ir.., yew dun?? Yew only
roped one calf...... Wve still got 43 more to go/
very newspaper to stay up with
current events in DeFeon.
We invite at least two peo-
ple from DeFeon a month to
come in and keep us informed
and an active part of the com-
munity, look for a call from me
soon.
Don’t forget, we are still
looking for volunteers and we
would love to have you sign up.
It’s good to be back. Come see
me!
guns had camo cases and one of
the guns had a black case that
were also taken.
Anyone with information
about this crime or any other is
encouraged to call Crime
Stoppers at (325) 356-3737.
Crime Stoppers can pay up to
$1,000 for information that
leads to an arrest and conviction
of the party involved in this
crime. You can find previous
postings of the Crime of the
Week on the web at
http://www.comanchecounty-
crimestoppers.org and our
FaceBook page Comanche
County Crime Stoppers.
Thank You
The family of Robert
“Skeex” Miears would like to
thank everyone for their
thoughts and prayers during
our time of sorrow. We would
also like to thank Todd and
Angela at Nowlin Anders
Funeral Home for their kind-
ness and Kenneth Wilson for
the service he performed.
Thanks for all the food and
flowers.
Vemel Miears and Family
Chamber News
Wilkerson
Makes
Dean’s List
Wesley Wilkerson, of
DeFeon, was named to the
Dean’s Fist at Howard Payne
University for the fall 2012
semester.
Students must earn a 3.65-
3.99 grade point average to be
named to the Dean’s Fist.
Area Band
Congratulations to band
students Jordan Coan (2nd, and
alternate to State Band) and
Marion Fandredth (5th) who
competed in the Area Band
Competition in Waco. Marion,
Jordan, and Charlie Miller per-
formed with the region band
last Saturday at Tarleton.
American
Cancer
Society
Stew Supper
The Comanche County
Chapter of the American
Cancer Society will host its
annual Stew Supper on
Monday, Jan. 28, from 4:30 to
7 p.m. at the Comanche
Community Center. Tickets are
$5 for adults and $3 for chil-
dren, and may be purchased
from any Cancer Society mem-
ber or at the door.
The meal will include
stew, cornbread, various
desserts, and tea or coffee.
Takeout will also be available.
In addition to meal, there will
be a silent auction. Come and
join us for a wonderful evening
and help support our fight
against cancer.
If you have questions,
contact Trevlin Strong (254-
879-2758), Faura Brown (254-
893-3799), or Sharon Fesley
(254-893-6644).
First ESA
Meeting of
2013
DeFeon ESA sisters came
together on Monday, Jan. 14,
2013, to hold their first busi-
ness meeting of the year. The
meeting was held at the F&M
Bank Community room begin-
ning at 7 p.m. A light supper of
baked potatoes with fixings,
cinnamon roll dessert, and
drinks was served by hostesses
Amanda Gilmore, Fori Jordan,
Jessica Richmond, and Debbie
Morris.
The main topic of the
short business meeting was dis-
cussing a date for the upcom-
ing ESA garage sale. The
January food pantry items
brought by ESA members were
toothpaste and shampoo.
Those attending the meet-
ing were Amber Bates, Cindy
Beaty, Debbie Caraway,
Amanda Gilmore, Kathryn
Harper, Rae Jean Hasty,
Charlotte Higginbottom, Fori
Jordan, Debbie Morris, Donna
Oglesby, Jessica Richmond,
Joyce Sides, Christine Steed,
Fauren Venable, Sue West, and
Shirley Wilkerson.
Senior
Citizens
Menus
Wednesday, Jan 23:
Meatloaf w/tomato sauce,
mashed potatoes, winter blend
vegetables, wheat roll, apple
fluff, 2% milk
Friday, Jan 25: Chicken
spaghetti, carrots, zucchini,
wheat bread, bananas w/pud-
ding, 2% milk
Monday, Jan 28: Ham &
beans, cornbread, seasoned
com, margarine, orange
pineapple cup, country apple
crisp, low fat milk
Wednesday, Jan 30:
Creamy mushroom soup,
mashed potatoes, peas & car-
rots, emerald pears, whole
wheat roll, margarine, low fat
milk
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Kestner, Laura. De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 24, 2013, newspaper, January 24, 2013; De Leon, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787126/m1/2/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Comanche Public Library.