Catherine the Great of Russia is an example of how excessive consumption and lack of accountability can corrupt a person . . . and a system.

There was no moderation in her insatiable appetite. One symbolic fetish was the courtyard of one of the palaces that had been covered with glass and filled with birds that were confined to this glass enclosure. It was much like the Iron Curtain that kept citizens from flying to other lands for over 70 years.

When asked by her young charges why she didn’t release the birds from captivity, she would reply, “I know what is best for them, they bring me pleasure, and a great price has been paid for this structure . . .so they stay.”

That is symbolic of any government that sees the citizens merely as objects of their pleasure . . . or even a system that has replaced individual freedom with the status of state property.

The Czarina was not accountable to anyone. But our congress and IRS are, if we hold them accountable and realize our cage has many doors called tax reform, voter participation and political activism.

If you were served a piece of rotten meat or spoiled fish in a restaurant you would probably complain and ask for something else. Or if you bought a carton of soured milk from the store, you wouldn’t serve it to your kids anyway, you would let the store know that their product is not acceptable for human consumption.

So why aren’t we that picky about what comes over the airwaves into our homes? Why do most people sit blankly in front of the T.V. set listening to one inane show after another?

What about the families that do monitor what they watch and carefully select the handful of appropriate shows for their child?

They are still assaulted by the very suggestive and degrading commercials that foretell of absurdities to come. You are forced to sit as a T.V. monitor with remote control in hand to keep the spoiled food from reaching your child’s spiritual digestive system. People who argue that its the parents responsibility for what their kids see on T.V., and not the sponsors are right.

Thats why more people are turning off the sets altogether and buying products that aren’t rotten. This is Nina May.

When someone who identifies himself as a liberal wants to protest a moral absolute of someone who calls himself a conservative you will hear, “You can’t legislate morality.”

That is patently untrue as we see morality legislated every day. Society has determined assault, murder, rape, robbery, incest, cannibalism, and even tax evasion to be morally wrong.  Clear, unmistakable laws were passed to say if you do any of these things you will not pass go, you will not collect $200, you will go to jail.

If society did not legislate morality it would cease to exist . . . it would revert to anarchy where no absolute exists and all are free to make their own morality as they go.

When we forget that the foundation of our law is based on the laws of God, then we have broken our covenant with Him. You can take the Bible and prayer out of schools, you can ridicule the beliefs of Christians, but the bottom line is, all of our laws stem from the moral absolutes authored, in the Bible by God .

This is Nina May and the Renaissance Women reminding you that four little words don’t begin to change that fact.

This is traditionally the first shopping day of the holiday season. But what holiday? What used to be called Christmas is now referred to as the Winter Holiday. So why are we celebrating Winter and giving gifts?

The great irony is that to demean Christmas too much would kill the shopping spirit and the economy would suffer. So, whether the merchants like to admit it or not, they rely on Christians shopping today to celebrate the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ. And because Christ brought the free gift of salvation to all who would believe, we give gifts to one another.

So as you are shopping today and hear the piped music playing nothing by Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, and other “Winter Holiday” specials, the merchants are probably telling you that you are in the wrong place, shopping for the wrong holiday.

If Christians dont keep Christ in Christmas, and remember its true meaning, one day we will be wasting time shopping for gifts no one needs, spending money we dont have, and asking ourselves . . .Now, why are we doing this again?

This is Nina May and the Renaissance Women encouraging you to remember why you are shopping today.

When Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death,” he wasn’t demanding something, or promising to hold his breath till he turned blue. He understood that the price he would pay to obtain liberty could very well be his life.

Today, society equates liberty with license and fails to understand the cost of that freedom. Kids are taught that if they protect themselves by having safe sex there will be no consequences. They are not told of the consequences of broken hearts, tarnished reputations and in many cases, infertility. Women are told that if they leave their family for the professional freedom, everything will be OK, as long as joint custody is arranged for the kids. They are not told that the cost of that freedom is destroyed self-esteem in their children, and estranged relationships that are never repaired.

Some people don’t realize that by demanding their unbridled freedom, that their cost may be spiritual death. They have distorted Patrick Henry’s noble words . . . Their cause is not greater than themselves, it is themselves.

This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.

Every person alive is intolerant of something.

Most parents are intolerant of their children misbehaving. Policemen are intolerant of any of us running a red light. Teachers are intolerant of students not turning in their homework. And everyone is intolerant of child abuse and exploitation.

You get the picture. Intolerance is a good thing in a society that has established its moral code on absolutes that can be categorized as simply, right and wrong.

These absolutes don’t shift with social trends, or move when a certain political party is in power. Hence the term . . . absolutes. But we have allowed the term intolerant to be used as a scarlet letter on the breast of those who believe in moral absolutes. In many ways, intolerance is the most compassionate characteristic of a civilized society.

Because to tolerate immorality hurts not only the participant, but those who see that actions don’t have consequences. Intolerance is not judgmental . . . it is sanity out of chaos.

This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.

We keep hearing that it is unchristian to be judgmental. This is the spin given by people who don’t really understand what Christianity is all about. But they are not to blame.

How is anyone going to learn about Christ when Christians don’t reflect His character?  Christ did judge the Pharisees and call them hypocrites. He overturned the tables in the temple because in His judgement it was being desecrated. He had standards that would not be compromised. But, He always showed compassion and love to those who received the judgment of the world.

The prostitute, the tax collector, the lepers, anyone who realized that judgement was due them . . . these were the ones He loved. It was only those who set themselves up as superior to others, that He showed contempt for. And they in turn crucified Him.

Are you willing to give your life for what is right even though the world condemns you as a radical? That is Christ’s challenge to each of us. This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.

Remember the scene in the movie Risky Business where Tom Cruise slides across the floor in his underwear singing, That Old Time Rock and Roll? He was in a party-mood because he was left in charge of the house while his parents were away.

In the movie, Tom Cruise starts getting into jam after jam as he turns control of the house over to people with an agenda to destroy, not preserve the house. He ends up having to buy back the family treasure with his ill-gotten gains. But unlike the movie, our national character, our historical integrity have been destroyed by the intruders in our national home. And no amount of money will erase the harmful image they have created.

Tom Cruise finally realized it was time to put his pants back on, turn off the music, and give the keys to the house back to the adults. He realized the party was over . . and that it was time to get down to preserving his heritage. At least he grew up.

This is Nina May inviting you to join the Renaissance Women.

To define Middle America, you must first define its extremes.

We hear the term Extreme applied to people who want lower tax rates, or who feel that actions have consequences. This extremism is portrayed as the fringe around the American tapestry as opposed to being the bulk of the material we call America.

You cannot describe the desire to post the Ten Commandments in a class room as extreme while categorizing the desire for two women to get married as normal, without sentencing middle America to a disenfranchised position outside the market place of ideas.

With this manipulation of terms, it is easy to understand the confusion over who middle America is. But if the polls are right, if the vast majority of people are classified as right wing radical extremists, and the minority who denounce God’s absolutes are considered a normal reflection of society . . . then society must accept the consequences of its redefining or it must work to remove these distorted labels that unravel our moral fabric.

This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.

The country is divided into two classes of people. Those with class and those without.

Those who prefer to don the role of peeping Tom and view the pitiful lives of others, and those who do the best to serve and help others out of their pitiful states. Those who work their whole lives to preserve their dignity and those who destroy or desecrate all that has been sacred for centuries. This is evident on the daily talk shows that hold America spell bound as they parade a continual string of socially-challenged individuals across the stage, for all to laugh at.

It would be interesting if they did the same to the mentally or physically-challenged for the common amusement of a nation. That would be considered cruel and inhumane. Yet somehow it is acceptable to parade border-line sociopaths out to share their sordid and perverse life-styles to the total and complete amusement of those watching.

The Christians were fed to the lions for amusement 2000 years ago. Christians are laughing today as the lions devour the most vulnerable in our society. But it is our collective soul that is being destroyed.

This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.