America, for the misinformed, is the greatest democratic experiment this world has ever seen. Knowing that God chose for me to live and serve Him in America makes me feel like I won the lottery. After all, less than 5 percent of the world’s population lives within our borders. The vast majority of the remaining 95 percent are not fortunate enough to experience the true freedom I experience. Even in a great nation like ours, there are those who would hold us back from progress to satisfy their own selfish interests. With this in mind, I submit to you my holiday wish list for the upcoming year at SMU and in local and national politics:

I wish Texas would solve its school finance problems. Robin Hood has been a disaster, pitting property-rich districts against those who are property-poor. Taking educational dollars from the state’s best schools and handing it over to the worst schools is a recipe for mediocrity. That is assuming that the worst schools use the money wisely. Of course, if they did spend their money effectively they would not be the decrepit places they are now. A famous example involves a poor district taking its extra money and building a faculty swimming pool with it. Way to go, Texas.

I wish environmentalists would stop exploiting the caribou population to keep us from drilling for oil in Alaska. The caribou population in Prudhoe Bay, where drilling currently takes place, has tripled. Besides, if the location of the restricted oil – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – were a football field, the drilling area would be the size of a postage stamp. To suggest that there is a significant negative impact on the environment ignores all recent advances in drilling technology. Way to go, environmentalists.

I wish liberals in America would understand the hypocrisy of their ways. They will do anything to support the sovereignty of ruthless dictators and theocracies in Iran, North Korea and Iraq (before 2003). At the same time, they want the United States to relinquish its sovereignty by adhering to the immoral prescriptions of the most corrupt bureaucracy the world has even seen, the United Nations. That is a formula for disaster. Way to go, liberals.

I wish that I could park my car in Moody Garage to attend an SMU basketball game during the holidays. I attempted to park in Moody for last Sunday’s men’s basketball game against Toledo. I was denied based on a mysterious new policy instituted prior to that game. I have parked in Moody on multiple occasions in the past during games and have never had a problem. I suppose I don’t quite pay enough to go to this school and park in its parking lots. I think the athletic department is being unreasonable. I walked through the parking garage after parking elsewhere. Half of the spaces on the ramp between levels one and two were open. The garage itself couldn’t have been more than 20 percent full. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Most people weren’t back on campus yet. It’s one thing if we are playing Texas Tech or TCU, which actually have a local fan base, but Toledo?!?! The crowd was in the hundreds, not thousands. Way to go, SMU Athletics.

I wish that people would stop attacking Christianity and organized religion in general. As a Christian, I refuse to endorse aspects of life I find morally objectionable like abortion and gay marriage. Suddenly, I become some sort of demon in others’ minds because I have Christ-based morality, but I won’t give it up. People so easily pervert the message of God to find a rationale for sin. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to understand. I am called to love the sinner and hate the sin because sin is the work of Satan. That doesn’t demand acceptance. It demands that we lovingly show those who are separated from God by their sins that there is a better way to live. Professor Henson, Christians don’t hate gays. We hate that they choose a lifestyle apart from Him. For this, we get called all sorts of nasty names by the very people who claim to preach tolerance and acceptance. Tolerance and acceptance are two of the most dangerous concepts in American public life because they only mean tolerance and acceptance for alternative lifestyles. Way to go, anti-religion bigots.

Here’s hoping that all my wishes and yours come true in 2006. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. See ya’ll in January 2006.

Reed Hanson is a sophommore electrical engineering major. He may be contacted at [email protected].