Growing Kids Against Drugs Issue #1.4
December 10, 2001: Why Bother?
Dear,
Thank you for recently subscribing to our new e-zine to help parents ‘GROW’ their kids into Kids Against Drugs, or you may have been subscribed by a friend or family member. It’s part of the Kids Against Drugs Campaign For Drug-Free Families. You have been subscribed and will receive it weekly. If for some reason you wish to unsubscribe you may do so at any time. Instructions to unsubscribe are at the end of this newsletter.
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“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” –Jimmy Carter
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Why Bother?
May of 2002 will mark the 20th anniversary of my public involvement in protecting children from the three A’s Abuse, Abduction and Addiction. It was then that while working in a small print shop I developed the very first version of the Identi-child I.D. system. Thousands of groups and individuals copied my little product and millions of kids were fingerprinted, but I never received one cent for the work I was doing or for the product I created. Note: Within the next 30 days we will have a whole section of the web site featuring the Identi-child system and will announce it here in this publication.
Since that time I have been pretty much everywhere in the US either fingerprinting kids, speaking at workshops, PTA meetings, church meetings, on radio and TV. Hundreds of articles in various newspapers and magazines about child fingerprinting and abduction always mentioned me and my ‘little crusade” and I was invited almost everywhere, to almost everything about kids. In addition I was invited to submit ideas for legislation and to sit on panels writing legislation on the state and federal levels.
Needless to say my commitment has been strong and dedicated. Yet, along the way I am frequently saddened by the weak public response to the number one issue facing our society which if not addressed and handled will cause its collapse. That issue is the break down and failure of our family unit. Most people say “so what, it doesn’t matter as long as I have my job and benefits and a roof over my head and can do what ever I want.”
Well, I am here to say, “It does matter, to every member of our society, no matter what your background, religion or ethnic heritage.” Every one of us should be vitally concerned and the purpose of this whole program is to bring awareness to this issue and the issues of the safety and protection of our children. I have chosen to focus on the issue of recreational drug abuse because it in one way or another affects almost everyone in the world.
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Help your kids stay off drugs and GROW them into Kids Against Drugs. Get our New, Unique Digital Home Study Workshop. Everything a parent needs to talk with and teach their kids about drugs. It’s a NEW five-part do-it-yourself home study workshop you download directly from our web site. Get Part 1 for $30 USD and try it out risk free. If you’re not satisfied just notify me within 30 days of purchase and I’ll return your money. Go to http://www.kidsagainstdrugs.com/ and get the Kids Against Drugs Family Action Training Plan today.
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After traveling hundreds of thousands of miles at my own expense, sleeping in my car for more than 500 nights (that’s almost two years, wow), two divorces from wives who got tired and just gave up helping and hanging on I wondered “why bother.” I kept praying that there must be an easier way to do all of this and a way I could actually get paid for what I am doing.
Bingo, about 5 years ago I was introduced to the Internet. At first I thought, I can’t do this, I don’t know very much more than word processing on computers and I can’t even understand why they say dot instead of period. Well, over the next couple of years and jobs later I finally discovered the Internet and the power of the World Wide Web. I caught the vision and learned what I needed to learn to write and design a web site, found enough money to survive on, rewrote more than 100 times the web site content, learned how to work auto-responders and a whole host of different skills needed to manage a credible web site.
Then came the dilemma of what do I sell, share my message and give worthwhile information and content so I don’t come across as a scam artist. Well, I researched and wrote my Kids Against Drugs Family Action Training Plan and needless to say, I am proud of this marvelous tool for parents to use to be able to teach their children about drugs and how to turn their kids into KIDS AGAINST DRUGS.
So here we are again, now I have the web site up and running, most bugs worked out, content that is good and expanding almost daily, a great, worthwhile and credible product that I offer and an affiliate plan so I can pay those who want to help me share this with others. Now all I need is a miracle. Money is very tight, opportunity very high and I am very excited all about the future of the Campaign For Drug-Free Families. I am sending out this e-zine, contacting all sorts of web masters to link with them and I could give you hundreds of paragraphs explaining all that I have been doing to market this great program.
In response I have received hundreds of hate e-mail messages from various sordid characters threatening and criticizing my work and me and accusing me of being a bigoted capitalist. They frequently go on to extolling the virtues of drug use and the mind-expanding experiences it affords. I usually just trash this stuff and chuckle that I must be getting to someone else. However, very seldom do I receive any e-mail encouraging me and offering help or even purchasing our fantastic program for their family use. I have had experiences like this for the past 20 years and I often wonder, “why bother”.
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Few things are impossible to diligence and skill . . .Great works are performed, not by strength, but perseverance. –Samuel Johnson
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So what do I do? I go on of course, I can’t quit just when I am almost over the top, but I need your help. I have to expand the subscriber base I contact with this e-zine. You can forward this to your friends, co-workers and church members or to any one who you think would be interested in protecting their children from the slavery of recreational drug use. Don’t spam, that’ll just create more problems.
Write me with suggestions for articles which might interest the group, send articles you have written, pass this e-zine along to home school parents, working moms, ministers, and others who can operate without the government control that the schools have. You see, “I’m from outside the education establishment and that is taboo in those circles.”
As an example of the type of reaction I am getting and to illustrate how the public is reacting to our ‘Campaign For Drug-Free Families’ I have included an e-mail that I have received several copies of. This is supposedly a response Billy Graham’s daughter gave on TV a short time ago. Where it came from is not important, its message is. It’s titled “Why God?” you may have already received this. I have inserted it below.
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Family Action Tip of the week: Hold regular family council meetings weekly. Discuss the everyday issues facing your family. Get all family members to participate and require everyone to be present at every family council meeting.
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Why God?
What's happening to the world today?
Finally, The Truth on National TV
Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and
Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" And
Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I
believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've
been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to
get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has
calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His
protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"
a. Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body was found recently) complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
b. Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in
school... the
Bible that says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your
neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.
c. Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our
children when
they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide) and we said,
an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK.
d. Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our
children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no
faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because
we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued
(There's big difference between disciplining and touching, beating, smacking,
humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we said, OK.
e. Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they
want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, OK.
f. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they
want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell
their parents they got them at school. And we said, OK.
g. Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we
do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it
doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in
private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.
h. And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude
women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the
female body. And we said, OK.
i. And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and
published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making
them
available on the Internet. And we said OK; they're entitled to their free
speech.
Let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and
illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder,
suicide,
and satanic themes. We said, “it's just entertainment, it has no adverse
effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead”.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they
don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it
out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
"Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl killed in her classroom?"
Sincerely, Concerned Student...
AND THE REPLY: "Dear Concerned Student, I am not allowed in
schools".
Sincerely, God.
a. Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why
the world's going to hell.
b. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the
Bible says.
c. Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have
to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
d. It’s funny how someone can say, "I believe in God", but still follows
Satan who, by the way, also "believes" in God.
e. It’s funny how we are quick to judge, but not to be judged.
f. It’s funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they
spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord,
people think twice about sharing.
g. It’s funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but the public discussion of God is suppressed in the school
and workplace.
h. It’s funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an
invisible Christian the rest of the week.
Are you laughing?
a. It’s funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it
to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or
what they will think of you for sending it to them.
b. It’s funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me
than what God thinks of me.
Are you thinking?
Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not, then just
discard it.... no
one will know that you did. But, if you discard this thought process,
then don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in!
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It gives you something to think about doesn’t it? This is a great example illustrating public opinion about the place God holds in our everyday lives. I can tell you they feel the same way about recreational drug use. It’s really sad when we shut the important things out of our lives and pursue those self-interests that change the consequences we would normally expect. I think this story illustrates just that point.
How about you? Do you have a why bother attitude about recreational drug use? Are you one of the many who claim we can’t do anything about drugs because it has gone to far? Do you realize we can whip recreational drug use in our society if we start with our own children, one-at-a-time? Did you know we can unite and together have an impact for good if we GROW our kids into KIDS AGAINST DRUGS.
Over the next few months I will try to illustrate why it is important for us to “bother about recreational drug use” and how we can take charge in our family and GROW our own kids into KIDS AGAINST DRUGS. We don’t have to let the Nay Sayers and the Mockers stop this vital work. Our kids futures depend on it. Join me and help launch this great anti-drug campaign worldwide.
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In our e-zine you will receive regular up-to-date information, tips and training about drugs and what they do. You will read real stories of those heroes who have overcome drug use and the tragic stories of the victims of various drug use and abuses and its lurid lifestyle. You will read of new programs and publications to help you learn and become aware of ways you can protect your family members. You will be notified of workshops available nationally, regionally, locally and on the Internet.
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Thank you for subscribing and we welcome you. I promise I will use every tool and my total effort to make this e-zine a valuable and informative publication.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Meredith, Publisher.
E-mail: Click Here
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