One of the gifts of living in a representative democracy is that voting is only one of the rights it confers. For ordinary people who want to make change — who in some way want to alter their neighborhood or town or state or even the nation — the promise exists that by dint of their own efforts they can do so. This is a precious gift. But it is not an easy one to enjoy. Even … [Read more...]

Minnesota has gone “blue” in every Presidential election since 1976. Three times since, it has been the only state out of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and both Dakotas to vote Democratic. In 1984, as quipped by Homer Simpson, Minnesota was the only state won by Walter Mondale, not counting the District of Columbia. In 2010, when the rest of the country went under a red tide … [Read more...]

As many of you already know from previous articles, I give tours to the public. At the beginning of every cave tour, I go through a regular spiel, giving my name, going over rules, and encouraging questions. I don’t fully understand the reason for my joy of a guest getting my attention by calling me by name, but it exists nonetheless. Remembering “faces and names and … [Read more...]

I’ve been reminded recently of the old cowboy song, Home on the Range. You know the line, “Where never is heard a discouraging word”? That is not the United States right now. It feels like pretty much everywhere I turn, all I hear is discouragement. Our institutions of government are paralyzed. We face serious national problems with no effective response in sight — or even, in … [Read more...]

The hardest thing I do is wake up in the morning.  I figure I know how Lazarus felt when he was raised from the dead! As I struggle to become conscious, I pass through a field of dreams inhabited by shadowy figures.  One morning as I woke I heard a jingle of female voices singing a  happy little song.  (Did I mention I watch too much television?)  It seems even my dreams are … [Read more...]

Having been absent from the pages of FCJ for several months, many readers have asked me why. Two main reasons: One, I thought people would enjoy a break from political discussion. Two, The subject I really wanted to share was difficult to broach because it flies beneath the notice of almost everyone. A couple weeks ago I sent an editorial about it to a large local paper and … [Read more...]

By Aaron Swartzentruber Greenleafton, MN Athiests or evolutionists who flat out reject God and Creation is one thing, God have mercy on them and open their blind eyes, but what is worse yet is that there are now many “professing Christians” who are trying to mingle evolution with creation. Evolution is the Devil’s work, it’s no different than when he said to Eve, “hath … [Read more...]

A dozen years ago, the preface to a report on federal election reform began with these words: “Polls indicate that many Americans lack confidence in the electoral system, but the political parties are so divided that serious electoral reform is unlikely without a strong bipartisan voice.” I can find no part of that sentence that’s not still true. Americans still lack … [Read more...]

Dear Mr. Trump: As most of us know, your childish, hateful acts of cruelty and divisiveness have been legion over the past couple of years.  Just to name a few of the worst: There is your insulting John McCain as not being a war hero, dishonoring a Muslim Gold Star family whose son gave his life in Afghanistan to save the lives of his fellow soldiers, spreading the ugly, … [Read more...]

First off, I feel an apology is in order. In my last column, I referenced a Pew Research article that listed Baby Boomers as people who were listed as being ages 51-69 and the article was written in 2016. I did some quick subtraction and came up with 1947, but I noticed later that the article has the Boomer generation written as beginning in 1946, not 1947. This is probably a … [Read more...]