Posts by Brian Chicoine
Recently I was playing a game of Kahoot with a roomful of youth in 6th through 12th grade (GenZ and GenAlpha) and a question regarding President Reagan came up. One of the youth shouted out, “Who is Ronald Reagan?” And almost none of the youth knew who Reagan was…and sadly most of the youth are in high school.
Cases such as what is happening in Bow highlight the importance of the First Amendment, and its relevance to our everyday lives. I fully support the right of the People to peaceably protest, but I DO NOT support violence, blockades, or the destruction of other people’s property.
In 50 days, we will be heading to the polls to choose a new President and Vice-President, as well as members of the House, and in some states Senators, and in states like New Hampshire, Governor, Executive Council, State Representatives, State Senators, and County offices. It is often said that “this election is the most important of our lifetime,” to which I usually laugh, but believe that this one may be because our choices represent two very different directions for our state and country.
O P I N I O N FORWARD FOCUS By Brian Chicoine I am often asked what I “do.” I
I was recently reading about the criminal justice system, specifically corrections, and how the recidivism rate between 2016 and 2019 showed that within ten years of release, 82% of state inmates were arrested again, and that 62% of those arrested went back to prison. So basically, 62% of the incarcerated returned to prison…not a good rate and certainly flies in the face of one of the goals, (or desired outcomes), of the criminal justice system. *(Note that 2016-2019 was the latest statistics that I could find, and that the “arrests” and re-imprisonment were for crimes of homicide, rape, and sexual assault). So what is the solution?
I’ll start with this: The U.S. Constitution, (in which our laws are built upon), was created to – and still does – protect THE PEOPLE. The Constitution DOES NOT give us rights; it is not a document that outlines the rights that the government gives us. Rather, the Constitution limits what the government can do.
I was listening to an interview with Elon Musk the other day, and he was talking about how we seem to have stopped dreaming about space exploration – or at least stopped exploring. He mentioned how we put a man on the moon back in 1969, how we had Space Shuttle launches (1981-2011), and of course, we have the Internation
In following the 2024 presidential campaign, I find myself longing for the days when those seeking political office talked more about the issues than trying to score political points by pointing out the personal imperfections – most of the time some character flaw rather than their abilities – of their opponents, or worse that of their opponents families. I remember when people debated issues, didn’t yell or act hateful, maybe disagreed but respected the other, and when “politician” wasn’t seen as a bad word
In my last article, I wrote a brief history of Christian denominations. I originally wanted to include both the benefits and the problems of denominations, but because the history and theological significance of denominations is so rich, I decided to not make the article any longer by adding to it. Instead I am writing about the benefits and problems with Christian denominations this week.
I want to make it clear that I believe that there is a difference between the Separation of Church and State and the outright removal of God from the public square. For example, I do not believe that “In God We Trust” needs to be removed from money because it is a phrase and I do not believe that it alone establishes a religion. However, like John Locke, I believe in religious tolerance and believe that the government should be a secular institution. I believe that the government should serve the interests of all citizens regardless of their religious beliefs.