Christmas time is fast approaching and a literate few may still ponder Scrooge’s spectral visitors of Dickensian legend. Much may be learned of the past, the present, and the future. Art often imitates life and visa versa.

Kutter Callaway wrote last week in The Huffington Post of his Christian call to renounce his Second Amendment rights. He has politely requested I do the same. I politely decline.

I do not doubt Callaway’s sincerity so much as I do his premise and logic. You may read his article and judge for yourself. He starts with a declaration he is not appealing to political discourse per se. He then immediately spouts the popular, one-sided and discredited political arguments for gun control. His title is even stated in political terminology. Second amendment rights as opposed to Christian natural rights of self-preservation.

He is correct when he says, “as a Christian, my primary obligation is to stand in radical opposition to the forces of death and destruction that threaten to undo the very fabric of God’s good creation, regardless of what the Constitution says …” However, while Christ taught love, He did not abandon the principle of readiness. You may recall He did not turn the other cheek when confronted by evil doers in the Temple; rather, He armed Himself and beat the devil out of them – literally.

I acknowledge, though I do not necessarily respect, Callaway’s decision. To me, he and his kind represent “Christmas” past. They are relics of a failing Civilization, ever turning the other cheek as the ghost of the present does it hellish work.

The present is represented rather well by those of the jihad persuasion. They are relentlessly pursuing their goals. Murder everywhere with the promise of more to come. Has anyone seen the Moody Two lately?

The same type of Satanists whom Jesus ran out of the Temple are actively at work in American politics. No act of terrorism deters them from brining in more terrorists. Those who willingly disarm in the face of this evil merely abet it.

A preview of the future has been painted by none other than Fred Reed. His story, Allahu Akbar! :The View from 2018, is a reasonable continuation of our past and present, told with Fred’s usual thought-provoking wit and humor. In Fred’s future, three years hence, both terrorism and blind stupidity continue apace:

Everyone of importance—the New York Times, MSNBC, NPR, the Huffington Post, Mother Jones, and Salon—agreed that there was no obvious motive. Time and again for many years attackers had come from nowhere and killed for no reason. There was no pattern except the strange cry, “Allahu Akbar.”

Mrs. Clinton’s Secretary of Defense, Wilhelmina “Creepy” Crawley, offered an explanation.

“My staff at the Pentagon have determined that “Akbar” is a combination of “AK,” automatic Kalashnikov, which I am told is a form of gun, and BAR, Browning Automatic Rifle. This shows an unwholesome fascination with guns. We are investigating links to the NRA:”

The past is behind us. The present we have. The future, to a degree, is ours to make or change as did Scrooge. What, if anything, have we learned from our ghosts?

Google.