Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 AUGUST 20-26, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I have a lot of faith in God, America and humanity in general. I also believe that when day-to-day circumstances get too far out of sync we, as Americans, will endeavor to take just and proper action and get things back on track. Historically, that's what true Americans do. In the meantime, as we get bombarded with the news of unfortunate, sad, hurtful and hideous acts taking place in our hometown of Fayetteville, as well as in Ferguson, Mo., or the Far East, we must try to remember to "keep the faith." Many challenges abound causing us to question our faith, doubt ourselves, our local, state and national leadership and our very own traditional American way of life. In view of this, we must remain strong and diligent by preserving American values and not allowing fear, apathy, racial tensions, social or governmental intimidation to weaken our resolve as a Christian nation. Everyone seems to be asking: Is Christianity under attack? Well, in my opinion, yes, I believe so, and, not just by the murdering militant and radical Islamist tormenting the Mid East. Here in America, little by little, it seems the virtues of Christianity have been chiseled away to a point where we are almost becoming apologetic for our beliefs. This is sad. Think about the events and revelations of the last several decades and how we have witnessed our nation and the world, nurturing unsurpassed levels of hostility, deception, dishonesty, crime, social injustice and governmental discourse all overshadowing Christianity and the Golden Rule. Well, I'm not a theologian, Bible thumper or even a consistent Sunday church attendee; however, I am a Christian who is quite capable of distinguishing good and bad and right from wrong. And, since Christianity is based on these principles and those of us honoring and obeying God's word with respect to honoring and respecting humanity, one can see where the belief in God could conflict, interfere and contradict the kind of subversive ideologies we find ourselves subjected to today. Honestly, this is not a hard concept to understand. The reality is, of course, eliminate the Christian consciousness and, by doing so, you minimalize and eliminate personal responsibility for love, honesty, fairness, compassion or humanitarian action. What remains is exactly what we are experiencing today. Detached and unresponsive government, social and racial unrest, disrespect for human life, unbridled obsession with a "win at all costs" mentality, gross dishonesty and mistrust, blatant cheating, deception and a reluctance to hold people accountable, responsible or even to punish those who violate the principles of humanity and victimize the innocent. When will it end? Who knows? Will it end? No doubt. I want to be a part of that awakening. In the meantime, if we must be at war, let's all pray we are all fighting on the right side and for the right cause. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. High 85º Low 70º Thunderstorms Keeping the Faith in Fayetteville, Our Nation and the World by BILL BOWMAN STAFF Calendar.......................................12 Concert.Connection....................16 Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'...................18 Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.....19. Classifieds....................................20 Games..........................................22 INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN High 88° Low 70° Cloudy 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday August 25 Tuesday August 26 High 89° Low 67 Scattered Thunderstorms 24 / Thursday August 21 High 89° Low 68° Scattered Thunderstorms High 88° Low 69° Scattered Thunderstorms High 87º Low 68º Thunderstorms Friday August 22 Saturday August 23 Sunday August 24 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Aurora Alexander aurora@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com Cindy Cramer Blanchard Cindy@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Eliminate the Christian consciousness and, by doing so, you minimalize and eliminate personal responsibility for love, honesty, fair- ness, compassion or humanitarian action.