Interesting insights from the Weekly Standard by way of MereComments:
...When a gay man becomes a professor or a gay woman becomes a police officer, he or she performs the same job as a heterosexual. But there is a difference between a married couple and a same-sex couple in a long-term relationship. The difference is not in the nature of their relationship, not in the fact that lovemaking between men and women is, as the Catholics say, open to life. The difference is between the duties that marriage imposes on married people--not rights, but rather onerous obligations--which do not apply to same-sex love. ...
Well worth the read.
Over at Cathoholic, they have highlighted this article as well:
Schulman writes: "I think that the fundamental objection to gay marriage among most who oppose it has very little to do with one's feelings about the nature of homosexuality or what the Bible has to say about sodomy. The obstacle to wanting gay marriage is instead how we use and depend on marriage itself--and how little marriage, understood completely, affects or is relevant to gay people in love. Gay marriage is not so much wrong as unnecessary. But if it comes about, it will not be gay marriage that causes the harm I fear, as what will succeed its inevitable failure."
He believes that same-sex couples will determine on their own that the benefits accrued in marriage are simply not worth the obligations it imposes. Unfortunately, by the time same-sex couples and the larger culture arrive at this juncture, traditional marriage as an institution could be in even worse shape than it is now. Why? Because same-sex couples will assist in the unravelling of the social constrains and familial obligations that constitute the foundation of marriage as a once sturdy, if occasionally oppressive cultural institution.
and added some addtional thoughts
and they have added some additional thoughts:
One of the best meditations on the manifold obligations and joys intertwined in kinship practices must be an essay by Leon and Amy Kass: "What is your Name?" These two professors at the University of Chicago offer some very interesting insights regarding the deeper significance of 'naming a child' -- one of the primary kinship rituals that underscores parental authority, but also the mother and father's responsibility for the defense, nurture and education of their offspring:
You need to go read the whole thing. Perfect lunch time reading. Let's just hope enough people read it and heed it before its too late.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
DOING GOD'S WORK by Neil Anderson
Word for the Day
Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will continually guide you
An important concept of God's will is that God can only guide a moving ship. He is the rudder, but if the ship isn't under way, it can't be directed. Willingness to obey His will gets the ship moving.
In Acts 15:36, Paul had decided to revisit the churches he helped establish on his first missionary trip. The churches were being strengthened and increasing in number (Acts 16:5). Luke reports:
And they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:6-9).
Sometimes God's leading does not make sense. If God wanted Paul to go to Macedonia in the first place, why didn't He make it easier and faster by having Paul travel by land to Caesarea and sail to Macedonia? Because God starts us out on a life course to fulfill a certain purpose and then, only when we are ready, He gives us course corrections. Like a good river pilot, He steers us away from troubled waters, and like a good coach, He never puts us in the game until we are ready.
I believe in divine guidance as described in Isaiah 58:11. But the context reveals that there are prerequisites that have to be satisfied. We are sometimes like a person who seeks to be an athlete by simply suiting up for the race. That's not how the skills are gained. It's in the course of dedication, training, and the contest itself that one gains the skill of an athlete.
It's in the doing of God's work that His will becomes known.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Falling Belief in Man-Made Global Warming
According to the American Spectator, there may be hope yet...
Bad news for environmental extremists. Despite control of the government and media, the alarmists are losing the battle for public support. Reports Rasmussen Reports:
Despite the rise in voters who say human activity is to blame, the overall results represent a complete reversal from a year ago, when 47% blamed human activity and only 34% blamed planetary trends. (more)
Bad news for environmental extremists. Despite control of the government and media, the alarmists are losing the battle for public support. Reports Rasmussen Reports:
Despite the rise in voters who say human activity is to blame, the overall results represent a complete reversal from a year ago, when 47% blamed human activity and only 34% blamed planetary trends. (more)
Tale of an Attempted Cereal Killing
Kind of pathetic that the suit has hung around for four years but it made me laugh. From USA Today:
A federal judge in California has dismissed a complaint filed by a San Diego woman who had bought "Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries" for four years believing the cereal contained real berries.
Janine Sugawara cried fraud when she learned the "berries" were only colored cereal balls flavored with strawberry concentrate. She sued the manufacturer on behalf of all crunchberry-eating Americans.
Judge Morrison England Jr. drowned the claim with the milk of common sense:
"This Court is not aware of, nor has Plaintiff alleged the existence of, any actual fruit referred to as a "crunchberry." ... A reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the Product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist. . . . So far as this Court has been made aware, there is no such fruit growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world."
"Plaintiff did not explain why she could not reasonably have figured this out at any point during the four years she alleged she bought Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries in reliance on defendant's fraud."
The judge's rebuke also noted that another federal court had previously rejected a similar suit filed by Sugawara's attorneys claiming Froot Loops did not contain real, um, froot. (read the entire thing here)
A federal judge in California has dismissed a complaint filed by a San Diego woman who had bought "Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries" for four years believing the cereal contained real berries.
Janine Sugawara cried fraud when she learned the "berries" were only colored cereal balls flavored with strawberry concentrate. She sued the manufacturer on behalf of all crunchberry-eating Americans.
Judge Morrison England Jr. drowned the claim with the milk of common sense:
"This Court is not aware of, nor has Plaintiff alleged the existence of, any actual fruit referred to as a "crunchberry." ... A reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the Product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist. . . . So far as this Court has been made aware, there is no such fruit growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world."
"Plaintiff did not explain why she could not reasonably have figured this out at any point during the four years she alleged she bought Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries in reliance on defendant's fraud."
The judge's rebuke also noted that another federal court had previously rejected a similar suit filed by Sugawara's attorneys claiming Froot Loops did not contain real, um, froot. (read the entire thing here)
The Anchoress
A really good blog going over at The Anchoress, one to which I would aspire to emulate if I had time.....and writing skills.....and knowlege..... and... oh well, its good reading. Here is a sample:
Barack Obama continues to slowly reveal himself to the people he has been elected to serve.
He told us something about himself when he put the murder of an abortionist over the murder of one of his soldiers. The death of the abortionist was immediately condemned with a security deployment ordered. It took days upon days for the death of his soldier, at the hands of a convert-to-Islam intent on mayhem, to be acknowledged with the release of a woefully inadequate and rather cold expression of “sadness” at the murder of a soldier who had volunteered to serve under him. Barack Obama revealed himself in those stories.
And now, he is in Cairo, saying Ich Bin Ein Muslimer!
In Obama’s giving a 6,000 word speech we see his lighter side as he lectures the whole world, and everything that has ever come before him, with the lolcats messages, “yer doin’ it wrong! I fix!”, and “I wuvs you, now be nice” and “Interwebz is danger!”
Speaking of self-revelation, in the past President Obama has written and talked about how he has been exposed to Islam all his life and has stated that the Muslim Call to Prayer is “one of the prettiest sounds on earth”. He then recited the call in “a first-class accent” (that line no longer exists in the New York Times). Just recently Obama - who made a fuss if anyone mentioned his middle name, Hussein, during the 2008 campaign - has made much of his familial connections to Islam.
Good, thoughtful writing too as evidenced by this article (and others):
Bonhoeffer was a brilliant theologian; his book The Cost of Discipleship is one of those books a Christian reader goes back to again and again in the course of growth. In weighing the moral question of obedience to institutions who were exceeding their own rights, he once argued, "if a teacher says to a child, 'did your father come home drunk again last night,' is the child bound to tell the truth?" Bonhoeffer decided no, the teacher [institution] had intruded beyond her scope, and therefore the child, to honor his father, is not obligated to subject him to judgment or mockery, or for that matter governmental intrusion. Bonhoeffer was, in the course of a terrible war, able to extrapolate that small, defensive lie into a plot to assassinate Hitler.Rick and Charlie’s questions are sound, but one fears where theirthinking may lead. Bonhoeffer was a unique individual with a very healthy mind and tremendous depth of faith, and he was coming at his issue without carrying forty years of political baggage that could further influence his thinking to a place of imbalance. As extraordinary as he was, Bonhoeffer understood that his uniqueness in no way excepted him from the fact that what he was attempting was an evil—his evil, wholly distinct from Hitler's own evil—and one for which he would be held to account. (more)
Barack Obama continues to slowly reveal himself to the people he has been elected to serve.
He told us something about himself when he put the murder of an abortionist over the murder of one of his soldiers. The death of the abortionist was immediately condemned with a security deployment ordered. It took days upon days for the death of his soldier, at the hands of a convert-to-Islam intent on mayhem, to be acknowledged with the release of a woefully inadequate and rather cold expression of “sadness” at the murder of a soldier who had volunteered to serve under him. Barack Obama revealed himself in those stories.
And now, he is in Cairo, saying Ich Bin Ein Muslimer!
In Obama’s giving a 6,000 word speech we see his lighter side as he lectures the whole world, and everything that has ever come before him, with the lolcats messages, “yer doin’ it wrong! I fix!”, and “I wuvs you, now be nice” and “Interwebz is danger!”
Speaking of self-revelation, in the past President Obama has written and talked about how he has been exposed to Islam all his life and has stated that the Muslim Call to Prayer is “one of the prettiest sounds on earth”. He then recited the call in “a first-class accent” (that line no longer exists in the New York Times). Just recently Obama - who made a fuss if anyone mentioned his middle name, Hussein, during the 2008 campaign - has made much of his familial connections to Islam.
Good, thoughtful writing too as evidenced by this article (and others):
Bonhoeffer was a brilliant theologian; his book The Cost of Discipleship is one of those books a Christian reader goes back to again and again in the course of growth. In weighing the moral question of obedience to institutions who were exceeding their own rights, he once argued, "if a teacher says to a child, 'did your father come home drunk again last night,' is the child bound to tell the truth?" Bonhoeffer decided no, the teacher [institution] had intruded beyond her scope, and therefore the child, to honor his father, is not obligated to subject him to judgment or mockery, or for that matter governmental intrusion. Bonhoeffer was, in the course of a terrible war, able to extrapolate that small, defensive lie into a plot to assassinate Hitler.Rick and Charlie’s questions are sound, but one fears where theirthinking may lead. Bonhoeffer was a unique individual with a very healthy mind and tremendous depth of faith, and he was coming at his issue without carrying forty years of political baggage that could further influence his thinking to a place of imbalance. As extraordinary as he was, Bonhoeffer understood that his uniqueness in no way excepted him from the fact that what he was attempting was an evil—his evil, wholly distinct from Hitler's own evil—and one for which he would be held to account. (more)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Obama's (In)Justice Department
The Justice Department is turning a blind eye toward voter intimidation and radical black muslims while increasing attention on Pro-Life groups.
First from the WSJ:
...Exhibit A: Justice's inexplicable dismissal of a civil lawsuit for voter intimidation against the New Black Panther Party. The Black Panthers weren't content to endorse Barack Obama. They sent their members to the polls last November to "patrol election sites." Fox News aired a video of two Black Panthers in military-style uniforms in a Philadelphia precinct. One of them was carrying a nightstick....
...Exhibit B: Justice recently stopped Georgia from implementing a key provision of the Help America Vote Act. Passed in 2002, the act requires states to verify the accuracy of information voters provide on their registration forms by comparing it with state driver's license and Social Security records -- a sensible requirement. With input from Justice Department lawyers in 2008, Georgia implemented this verification process, including checking the citizenship status of applicants. It is a violation of federal and state law for a noncitizen to register and vote in federal and state elections....(more)
Now according to the American Spectator:
Marcel Reid wants answers.
Reid, of the ACORN 8 (a breakaway group of ACORN officials demanding an accounting from ACORN's leadership) posed 31 questions to an ACORN-CCI executive board meeting in July 2008 but failed to get answers. CCI, which stands for Citizens Consulting Inc., is the ultra-secretive financial heart of the ACORN network through which millions of dollars routinely pass. (more)
The article asks bloggers for assistance. You'd think it would be an excellent time for the Justice Department to step in, wouldn't you? Think that's gonna happen? Yeah, me neither.
First from the WSJ:
...Exhibit A: Justice's inexplicable dismissal of a civil lawsuit for voter intimidation against the New Black Panther Party. The Black Panthers weren't content to endorse Barack Obama. They sent their members to the polls last November to "patrol election sites." Fox News aired a video of two Black Panthers in military-style uniforms in a Philadelphia precinct. One of them was carrying a nightstick....
...Exhibit B: Justice recently stopped Georgia from implementing a key provision of the Help America Vote Act. Passed in 2002, the act requires states to verify the accuracy of information voters provide on their registration forms by comparing it with state driver's license and Social Security records -- a sensible requirement. With input from Justice Department lawyers in 2008, Georgia implemented this verification process, including checking the citizenship status of applicants. It is a violation of federal and state law for a noncitizen to register and vote in federal and state elections....(more)
Now according to the American Spectator:
Marcel Reid wants answers.
Reid, of the ACORN 8 (a breakaway group of ACORN officials demanding an accounting from ACORN's leadership) posed 31 questions to an ACORN-CCI executive board meeting in July 2008 but failed to get answers. CCI, which stands for Citizens Consulting Inc., is the ultra-secretive financial heart of the ACORN network through which millions of dollars routinely pass. (more)
The article asks bloggers for assistance. You'd think it would be an excellent time for the Justice Department to step in, wouldn't you? Think that's gonna happen? Yeah, me neither.
Told Ya So
In the "Told Ya So" department, we have two articles.
First, NASA makes the startling discovery that "...Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming."
from Daily Tech:
A study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland looking at climate data over the past century has concluded that solar variation has made a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The report concludes that evidence for climate changes based on solar radiation can be traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution.Past research has shown that the sun goes through eleven year cycles. At the cycle's peak, solar activity occurring near sunspots is particularly intense, basking the Earth in solar heat. According to Robert Cahalan, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Right now, we are in between major ice ages, in a period that has been called the Holocene."
And the American Thinker says this may be one more, in a long line of inconvenient backtracks by Gore's NASA lapdog, DR. James Hansen.
In the past Dr. Hansen was forced to admit that 1934, not 1998, was the warmest year on record due to a lack of standardization of weather reporting stations. Hansen also misstated that “October 2008 was the hottest on record,” largely because the data used repeated September’s.
Finally, in an ongoing attempt to forestall my retirement we have this bit of good news from our Persian friends:
Iran's main nuclear plant expanding rapidly, says IAEA
Iran's main nuclear plant is expanding so rapidly that United Nations inspectors have asked Tehran for improved safeguards against the production of weapons-grade uranium....
Let me know how that works out will ya?
First, NASA makes the startling discovery that "...Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming."
from Daily Tech:
A study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland looking at climate data over the past century has concluded that solar variation has made a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The report concludes that evidence for climate changes based on solar radiation can be traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution.Past research has shown that the sun goes through eleven year cycles. At the cycle's peak, solar activity occurring near sunspots is particularly intense, basking the Earth in solar heat. According to Robert Cahalan, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Right now, we are in between major ice ages, in a period that has been called the Holocene."
And the American Thinker says this may be one more, in a long line of inconvenient backtracks by Gore's NASA lapdog, DR. James Hansen.
In the past Dr. Hansen was forced to admit that 1934, not 1998, was the warmest year on record due to a lack of standardization of weather reporting stations. Hansen also misstated that “October 2008 was the hottest on record,” largely because the data used repeated September’s.
Finally, in an ongoing attempt to forestall my retirement we have this bit of good news from our Persian friends:
Iran's main nuclear plant expanding rapidly, says IAEA
Iran's main nuclear plant is expanding so rapidly that United Nations inspectors have asked Tehran for improved safeguards against the production of weapons-grade uranium....
Let me know how that works out will ya?
Missiles in the Skies
Not sure what to make of this quite yet. This morning I came across this story form the Houston Chronicle about the sighting by an ExpressJet pilot of what he thought was a missile:
Liberty County Sheriff’s officials are expected to meet with the FAA on Tuesday to discuss what a Continental Express pilot reported as a “missile or rocket” flying near his airplane. (For an update on this story, click here.)
A pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.
The aircraft was near the southern edge of the county, flying at about 13,000 feet, officials said.
“The pilot, from what we understand, was former military.
So I begin to look around for more information on the subject. I type in "FAA" and "missile." I figure there can't be but the one story. But I was wrong.
I found another story about another airline, this time Southwest, and another missile at about the same time. This one has a video over at one of the conspiracy sites. Though not one to put much weight on the things to be found at such sites, the video speaks for itself.
And it makes me wonder....ya know?
Liberty County Sheriff’s officials are expected to meet with the FAA on Tuesday to discuss what a Continental Express pilot reported as a “missile or rocket” flying near his airplane. (For an update on this story, click here.)
A pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.
The aircraft was near the southern edge of the county, flying at about 13,000 feet, officials said.
“The pilot, from what we understand, was former military.
So I begin to look around for more information on the subject. I type in "FAA" and "missile." I figure there can't be but the one story. But I was wrong.
I found another story about another airline, this time Southwest, and another missile at about the same time. This one has a video over at one of the conspiracy sites. Though not one to put much weight on the things to be found at such sites, the video speaks for itself.
And it makes me wonder....ya know?
Prayer Study- Part 5- Prayer of Relinquishment
Previous studies here. A continuation of our study of Richard Foster's book on prayer:
The Spirit teaches me to yield my will entirely to the will of the Father. He opens my ear to wait in great gentleness and teachableness of soul for what the Father has day by day to speak and to teach. He discovers to me how union with God’s will is union with God Himself; how entire surrender to God’s will is the Father’s claim, the Son’s example, and the true blessedness of the soul.
Andrew Murray
• At some point Christians move from a childish, demanding prayer to relinquishment
• Like falling into the arms of Jesus in total trust (e.g. tea commercial)
• End result of this prayer brings us into soul satisfying rest
The School of Gethsemane
• Jesus’ prayer in the garden reflects both his desire that the cup pass and relinquishment that God’s will be done Luke 22:39-46. “Can people be redeemed in any other way?” “No”
• In the way of relinquishment, “My will be done” is subsumed by “not my will”
• My will my way must yield to higher authority
The Process of Relinquishment
• Struggle is an intimate part of relinquishment
• Abraham relinquished Isaac and with him the Promise itself
• Paul relinquished his desire for greater health (more)
• Relinquishment is not resignation. Christin prayer not fatalism
• We are not locked into a preset, determinist future. Dialogue with God.
• Severing the precious roots. Release with hope and trust in the character of God
• Sometimes what we relinquish may be returned to us
• Sometimes what we relinquish needs to die so that God can accomplish his purposes through us. Settled peace (p53)
• Crucifixion of the will.
• I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:19b-20
• “God creates everything out of nothing—and everything which God is to use he first reduces to nothing.” Kierkegaard
• “Crucifixion always has resurrection tied to it. God is not destroying the will but transforming it so that over a process of time and experience we can freely will what God wills.”
• A.W. Tozar ..freedom from the self-sins: self sufficiency, self-pity, self-absorption, self-abuse, self-indulgence, self-deprecation (more)
Practicing the Prayer of Relinquishment
• Begin with the prayer of kenosis (self-emptying) in Philippians 2:5-11
• Practice the prayer of surrender asking Jesus to interpret “not my will” for your life
• Practice the prayer of abandonment –into God’s hands
• Practice the prayer of release, placing all that you hold dear into the Father’s care as well as your enemies, anger, fears and thoughts of retaliation
• Practice the prayer of resurrection, asking God to restore whatever would advance the kingdom of God
Sunday, June 7, 2009
As America has done unto Israel
I just finished a very interesting book "As America has done unto Israel", great book! It is interesting to see the ties between America and the Jewish people and their importance to where we are today as a country.
It also ties disasters here in the states to our mistreatment of Israel. And finally, a little prophecy on what God has in store for us. It is biblically based and a book I would recommend. I found it very interesting and just another step in my journey with Jesus Christ.
In God We Trust
9-12 Project
It also ties disasters here in the states to our mistreatment of Israel. And finally, a little prophecy on what God has in store for us. It is biblically based and a book I would recommend. I found it very interesting and just another step in my journey with Jesus Christ.
In God We Trust
9-12 Project
Friday, June 5, 2009
White House Set to Appoint a Pay Czar
Hold onto your arse with both hands folks! This will assure the failing companies go down the toilet. Can you say Marxism, sure you can. We all know what stellar people the government attracts, notwithstanding the phenomenal pay. Why the benefits are better than the union. So when does the government start dictating wages in private companies, wait…..banks, GM, Chrysler, are government companies, never mind. They can dictate what they earn, the business model, etc. works for the post office! Surely the government would not further interfere with privately owned industry.
Why do I need to bail out failing companies? What happened to capitalism? Let them fail; those that retool will come out stronger on the other side. Well we can keep printing trillions more, however our currency is becoming/is worthless. Remember what Germany did? Do we not learn from others past mistakes?
The shear arrogance of the politicians is now growing by leaps and bounds. We are fast approaching totalitarianism as we watch freedom disappear in the rearview mirror. But who cares, won’t it be great! Sleeping in a government bed after a long night of government TV, or maybe a reading a nice piece of government propaganda, waking up to a bowl of government toasties, before climbing into our Pelosi mobile to head to that government job. Won’t have to worry about gas, I still have some left on my ration card.
Of course with Czar’s you can give people power without vetting through the Senate. Can you believe this list; I thought czars were a bad thing. Of course this can't all be blamed on Obama; both sides of the isle have dirty hands in this.
CyberSpace Czar
Technology Czar
Drug Czar
Copyright Czar
Climate Czar
Car Czar
Energy Czar
Health Care Czar
WMD Czar
Education Czar
Economic Czar
Housing Czar
Mortgage Czar
Border Czar
Pay Czar
Intelligence Czar
Green Czar
Guantánamo closure Czar
TARP Czar
Stimulus Czar
Regulatory Czar
Why do I need to bail out failing companies? What happened to capitalism? Let them fail; those that retool will come out stronger on the other side. Well we can keep printing trillions more, however our currency is becoming/is worthless. Remember what Germany did? Do we not learn from others past mistakes?
The shear arrogance of the politicians is now growing by leaps and bounds. We are fast approaching totalitarianism as we watch freedom disappear in the rearview mirror. But who cares, won’t it be great! Sleeping in a government bed after a long night of government TV, or maybe a reading a nice piece of government propaganda, waking up to a bowl of government toasties, before climbing into our Pelosi mobile to head to that government job. Won’t have to worry about gas, I still have some left on my ration card.
Of course with Czar’s you can give people power without vetting through the Senate. Can you believe this list; I thought czars were a bad thing. Of course this can't all be blamed on Obama; both sides of the isle have dirty hands in this.
CyberSpace Czar
Technology Czar
Drug Czar
Copyright Czar
Climate Czar
Car Czar
Energy Czar
Health Care Czar
WMD Czar
Education Czar
Economic Czar
Housing Czar
Mortgage Czar
Border Czar
Pay Czar
Intelligence Czar
Green Czar
Guantánamo closure Czar
TARP Czar
Stimulus Czar
Regulatory Czar
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Joker 1
On recommendation from the Acton blog I just finished reading "Joker 1" a story of Marine action in Ramadi during its most spasmodic and violent days in 2004. The story is told from the one Platoon leader's view.
I don't usually read such books but was taken in (and not disappointed) with Acton Blog's review:
This book is receiving considerable press attention and Campbell’s ability to convey love the way he does has to be a big reason for the popularity of the book. Campbell movingly says about his own Marines in the opening chapter, “And I hope and pray that whoever reads this story will know my men as I do, and that knowing them, they too might come to love them.”
Campbell’s account looks at the seven and a half months in which he serves as a platoon leader in some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war, which occurred in Ramadi in 2004. Before the Marine Corps, Campbell was an undergraduate at Princeton who spent a summer completing the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) because he thought it would look good on his resume. Campbell says he hated the entire program, and didn’t think twice about joining since he hadn’t taken any money from the Corps, and therefore didn’t owe them anything. He would ultimately change his mind however as graduation approached.
If love and leadership are recurrent themes, it is often discussed from a faith perspective, and Campbell is somebody who has thought seriously about his own faith and what that means for him and his men. Campbell talks about how before each combat mission he huddles up with his platoon for prayer, which often included reciting the twenty-third Psalm. “I had a responsibility to my men to provide for all their needs, and those included their spiritual as well as their material ones,” says Campbell. He also discusses some of his early thoughts on the prayer ritual before each mission:
Deep in my heart, I believed that prayer would work without fail, that if together Joker One prayed long and hard enough, God would spare us all from Mac’s fate [another Marine seriously wounded by a road side bomb]. What I know now, and which didn’t occur to me then, was that by praying as I prayed, and hoping what I hoped, and believing what I believed, I was effectively reducing God to a result-dispensing genie who, if just fed the proper incantations, would give the sincere petitioner (me) the exact outcome desired.
This book is masterful at tracing the growth and experience of Campbell’s theological progression just as it does concerning his leadership skills, decision making ability, and the moral questions he asks himself. Where prayer before was focused more on personal safety, He says it changed even more as the chaos and random violence surged. “To those who sought it, the prayer also provided some comfort that God was in control, that their lives had worth and meaning stemming from an absolute source,” says Campbell.
I don't usually read such books but was taken in (and not disappointed) with Acton Blog's review:
This book is receiving considerable press attention and Campbell’s ability to convey love the way he does has to be a big reason for the popularity of the book. Campbell movingly says about his own Marines in the opening chapter, “And I hope and pray that whoever reads this story will know my men as I do, and that knowing them, they too might come to love them.”
Campbell’s account looks at the seven and a half months in which he serves as a platoon leader in some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war, which occurred in Ramadi in 2004. Before the Marine Corps, Campbell was an undergraduate at Princeton who spent a summer completing the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) because he thought it would look good on his resume. Campbell says he hated the entire program, and didn’t think twice about joining since he hadn’t taken any money from the Corps, and therefore didn’t owe them anything. He would ultimately change his mind however as graduation approached.
If love and leadership are recurrent themes, it is often discussed from a faith perspective, and Campbell is somebody who has thought seriously about his own faith and what that means for him and his men. Campbell talks about how before each combat mission he huddles up with his platoon for prayer, which often included reciting the twenty-third Psalm. “I had a responsibility to my men to provide for all their needs, and those included their spiritual as well as their material ones,” says Campbell. He also discusses some of his early thoughts on the prayer ritual before each mission:
Deep in my heart, I believed that prayer would work without fail, that if together Joker One prayed long and hard enough, God would spare us all from Mac’s fate [another Marine seriously wounded by a road side bomb]. What I know now, and which didn’t occur to me then, was that by praying as I prayed, and hoping what I hoped, and believing what I believed, I was effectively reducing God to a result-dispensing genie who, if just fed the proper incantations, would give the sincere petitioner (me) the exact outcome desired.
This book is masterful at tracing the growth and experience of Campbell’s theological progression just as it does concerning his leadership skills, decision making ability, and the moral questions he asks himself. Where prayer before was focused more on personal safety, He says it changed even more as the chaos and random violence surged. “To those who sought it, the prayer also provided some comfort that God was in control, that their lives had worth and meaning stemming from an absolute source,” says Campbell.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Happy Birthday
You may or may not realize that I am not exclusively responsible for the content posted on this site. I have a little help now and again for which I am grateful as it is usually provided when I am swamped with one thing or another and unable to post.
One of the posters is Chewy who is older than dirt and turns half a century old today. I've posted a picture here from a few years ago. I won't tell you which one he is so as to respect his privacy.
His posting name will be changed henceforth (or at least for today) to Gummy. I have not increased the size of the font in this post so his wife will have to read it to him.
Chewy and his wife used to be part of my Sunday School class till they moved to a different church. The church they presently attend has high fiber bran muffins and hearing assistance. Though I miss having them in class, Chewy is happier there and more regular (ahem) in his attendance.
Chewy was in the Navy but left when they retired the last of the wooden ships since they no longer needed his particular skill of keeping the sails filled when the winds died down.
Remember - Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened!
Blessings and Happy Birthday, Chewy. May you have many more!
One of the posters is Chewy who is older than dirt and turns half a century old today. I've posted a picture here from a few years ago. I won't tell you which one he is so as to respect his privacy.
His posting name will be changed henceforth (or at least for today) to Gummy. I have not increased the size of the font in this post so his wife will have to read it to him.
Chewy and his wife used to be part of my Sunday School class till they moved to a different church. The church they presently attend has high fiber bran muffins and hearing assistance. Though I miss having them in class, Chewy is happier there and more regular (ahem) in his attendance.
Chewy was in the Navy but left when they retired the last of the wooden ships since they no longer needed his particular skill of keeping the sails filled when the winds died down.
Remember - Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened!
Blessings and Happy Birthday, Chewy. May you have many more!
Monday, June 1, 2009
American capitalism gone with a whimper
The world isn’t laughing with us, even with our new found celebrity and respect. I thought this was a very interesting article that hits very close to home. We have been on the downhill path since Teddy Roosevelt pulled us away from the Constitution and put us on the path of Progressivism. Notwithstanding the huge leap his cousin took us toward Marxism.
For the first time in my life I am actually becoming a political activist. I have been complacent, but it is time to be heard. Although if I write many more letters to my “government representatives”, HA! They may give me my own zip code!
At least Obama is guaranteeing the warranty on my GM (Government Motors) Equinox!
9-12 Project.
For the first time in my life I am actually becoming a political activist. I have been complacent, but it is time to be heard. Although if I write many more letters to my “government representatives”, HA! They may give me my own zip code!
At least Obama is guaranteeing the warranty on my GM (Government Motors) Equinox!
9-12 Project.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
the president discovers an American intelligence agency at Five Guys
Wow.
From Politico/Ben Smith:
On his trip to get a burger with Brian Williams at Five Guys this afternoon, the President appears to have learned of the existence of a Defense Department intelligence arm, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, from an agency employee also at the burger restaurant.
"So explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial..." Obama said, after the worker mentioned his employer, according to a video of the event.
"We work with, uh, satellite imagery," the worker, Walter replied.
A POLITICO reader caught the exchange, which starts around 5:45 on this C-SPAN video.
The transcript: (here) You gotta read this...
From Politico/Ben Smith:
On his trip to get a burger with Brian Williams at Five Guys this afternoon, the President appears to have learned of the existence of a Defense Department intelligence arm, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, from an agency employee also at the burger restaurant.
"So explain to me exactly what this National Geospatial..." Obama said, after the worker mentioned his employer, according to a video of the event.
"We work with, uh, satellite imagery," the worker, Walter replied.
A POLITICO reader caught the exchange, which starts around 5:45 on this C-SPAN video.
The transcript: (here) You gotta read this...
Yuuummmmy
I just made a Watermelon Gazpacho this evening and it was mighty fine, if I do say so myself. My French neighbor, with whom I shared, said he added vodka. Either way it was a lovely addition to the meal on a 95 degree day.
Let me know if you are interested and I'll post the recipe.
Let me know if you are interested and I'll post the recipe.
The Lies of Obama
A list of (some of ) the lies that Obama has told us from BigHollywood
1) ”…not because I believe in bigger government — I don’t — not because I’m not mindful of the massive debt we’ve inherited — I am.” Speech to Congress, February 24, 2009
2) “And that is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists…” Speech to Congress, February 24, 2009
3) “My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs.” I wonder if the President knows he doesn’t have a line item veto.
4) “My immediate task is making sure that the second half of that money, $350 billion, is spent properly. That’s my first job.” Press conference February 9, 2009, talking about TARP money.
5) ”It also contains an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we’re spending every dime. What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, not a single earmark, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.” Press conference February 9, 2009 talking about his own economic bill
1) ”…not because I believe in bigger government — I don’t — not because I’m not mindful of the massive debt we’ve inherited — I am.” Speech to Congress, February 24, 2009
2) “And that is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists…” Speech to Congress, February 24, 2009
3) “My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs.” I wonder if the President knows he doesn’t have a line item veto.
4) “My immediate task is making sure that the second half of that money, $350 billion, is spent properly. That’s my first job.” Press conference February 9, 2009, talking about TARP money.
5) ”It also contains an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we’re spending every dime. What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, not a single earmark, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.” Press conference February 9, 2009 talking about his own economic bill
Even the Left is Getting Fed Up With Obama
Some on the left are beginning to see what the rest of us were talking about during the election. From Ted Rall
...From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn’t have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?
Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’s dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now — before he drags us further into the abyss....(more)
Robert Stacy McCain reminds us that many conservatives were once liberals, most notably Ronald Reagan. Obmas' umm, lack of follow though, on campaign promises which lacked detail of any sort may pay off:
Details . . . were not the Obama campaign's strongest selling point. Rather, Obama succeeded by capitalizing on the kind of boundless Hope that prompted a Florida woman, Peggy Joseph, to her memorable declaration after a late-October campaign rally: "I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car; I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage. You know, if I help him, he's gonna help me."Such irrational expectations are inevitably followed by disillusionment. No prediction of what the next four years might bring is safer than this: The yawning gap between Hope and reality will produce a bumper crop of ex-Democrats. . . .(more)
Well, if they don't become conservatives maybe the ignorant and uninformed/illinformed will just stop voting.
...From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn’t have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?
Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’s dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now — before he drags us further into the abyss....(more)
Robert Stacy McCain reminds us that many conservatives were once liberals, most notably Ronald Reagan. Obmas' umm, lack of follow though, on campaign promises which lacked detail of any sort may pay off:
Details . . . were not the Obama campaign's strongest selling point. Rather, Obama succeeded by capitalizing on the kind of boundless Hope that prompted a Florida woman, Peggy Joseph, to her memorable declaration after a late-October campaign rally: "I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car; I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage. You know, if I help him, he's gonna help me."Such irrational expectations are inevitably followed by disillusionment. No prediction of what the next four years might bring is safer than this: The yawning gap between Hope and reality will produce a bumper crop of ex-Democrats. . . .(more)
Well, if they don't become conservatives maybe the ignorant and uninformed/illinformed will just stop voting.
Friday, May 29, 2009
"what email would look like if it were invented today."
Do I really want another way to be "connected"? Dunno, but the "gee whiz" factor might be enough to make me switch, IF I can get something concrete in the way of info. So far the description just sounds like somebody is high...
From LifeHacker:
Google announced today a new, experimental idea aiming to reshape the future of communication on the web. It's called Wave, and if you believe its developer, it's "what email would look like if it were invented today." It's also going to be totally open source. Intrigued?
Primarily, Wave is about improving real-time communication on the web. I've been waiting all day for Google to upload the video promised on the Wave homepage, but since it's still not there, here's the skinny from Google's mouth:
What is a wave?
A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.
A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time. (more)
From LifeHacker:
Google announced today a new, experimental idea aiming to reshape the future of communication on the web. It's called Wave, and if you believe its developer, it's "what email would look like if it were invented today." It's also going to be totally open source. Intrigued?
Primarily, Wave is about improving real-time communication on the web. I've been waiting all day for Google to upload the video promised on the Wave homepage, but since it's still not there, here's the skinny from Google's mouth:
What is a wave?
A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.
A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time. (more)
The Obama administration ignores voter intimidation
Curiouser and curioser...
From the Washington Times:
Imagine if Ku Klux Klan members had stood menacingly in military uniforms, with nightsticks, in front of a polling place. Add to it that they had hurled racial threats and insults at voters who tried to enter.
Now suppose that the government, backed by a nationally televised video of the event, had won a court case against the Klansmen except for the perfunctory filing of a single, simple document - but that an incoming Republican administration had moved to voluntarily dismiss the already-won case.
Surely that would have been front-page news, with a number of firings at the Justice Department.
The flip side of this scenario is occurring right now. The culprits weren't Klansmen; they belonged to the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party when the violations occurred. Rather conveniently, the Obama administration has asked that the cases against Mr. Jackson, two other defendants and the party be dropped. (more)
From the Washington Times:
Imagine if Ku Klux Klan members had stood menacingly in military uniforms, with nightsticks, in front of a polling place. Add to it that they had hurled racial threats and insults at voters who tried to enter.
Now suppose that the government, backed by a nationally televised video of the event, had won a court case against the Klansmen except for the perfunctory filing of a single, simple document - but that an incoming Republican administration had moved to voluntarily dismiss the already-won case.
Surely that would have been front-page news, with a number of firings at the Justice Department.
The flip side of this scenario is occurring right now. The culprits weren't Klansmen; they belonged to the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party when the violations occurred. Rather conveniently, the Obama administration has asked that the cases against Mr. Jackson, two other defendants and the party be dropped. (more)
Prayer Study Part 4- Prayer of Tears
Continuing with our study begun a few weeks ago, of Richard Foster's book, "Prayer-Finding the Hearts True Home." The book examines a number of different types of prayer. Previous notes can be found here.
Tears are like blood in the wounds of the soul.
Gregory of Nyssa
Penthos-
• A broken and contrite heart
• Inward godly sorrow
• Holy sorrow
• The prayer of tears
• Keenly felt sorrow over our sin and distance from God
The Experience of Our Forebears
• Early American missionary David Brainard wrote of his tearful repentance in his journal
• O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Jer. 9:1
• I am weary with my moaning every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. Psalm 6:6
• Others pp 38-39
An Experience of Joy
• The “charism of tears”
• In earlier times, those with dry eyes and cold hearts were pitied
• Contrition and repentance is accompanied by deep joy in our relationship to God
What the Prayer of Tears Does
• God wishes to touch all aspects of our lives, including our emotions
• Tears are an indication that God has reached us emotionally
• Because we are sinners and separated from God (original sin), the prayer of tears aids us in acknowledging this
• Martin Luther recommended living a life of daily repentance
• Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes this type of repentance possible
Elements of Contrition
• Seek repentance as a gift from God
– Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
• Confess
• Receive God’s gift of forgiveness
• Obey- Obedience not just avoidance of wrongdoing, but the pursuit of virtue
When We Cannot Weep
• Be both firm and friendly with yourself. Don’t let yourself off with “I’m not the emotional type.”
• “I am a rock I am an island” mentality was not taken on overnight nor will it be overcome overnight
• Shed tears inwardly
“The fire of sin is intense, but it is put out by a small amount of tears, for the tear puts out a furnace of faults, and cleans our wounds of sin.”
John Chrysostom
Tears are like blood in the wounds of the soul.
Gregory of Nyssa
Penthos-
• A broken and contrite heart
• Inward godly sorrow
• Holy sorrow
• The prayer of tears
• Keenly felt sorrow over our sin and distance from God
The Experience of Our Forebears
• Early American missionary David Brainard wrote of his tearful repentance in his journal
• O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Jer. 9:1
• I am weary with my moaning every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. Psalm 6:6
• Others pp 38-39
An Experience of Joy
• The “charism of tears”
• In earlier times, those with dry eyes and cold hearts were pitied
• Contrition and repentance is accompanied by deep joy in our relationship to God
What the Prayer of Tears Does
• God wishes to touch all aspects of our lives, including our emotions
• Tears are an indication that God has reached us emotionally
• Because we are sinners and separated from God (original sin), the prayer of tears aids us in acknowledging this
• Martin Luther recommended living a life of daily repentance
• Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes this type of repentance possible
Elements of Contrition
• Seek repentance as a gift from God
– Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
• Confess
• Receive God’s gift of forgiveness
• Obey- Obedience not just avoidance of wrongdoing, but the pursuit of virtue
When We Cannot Weep
• Be both firm and friendly with yourself. Don’t let yourself off with “I’m not the emotional type.”
• “I am a rock I am an island” mentality was not taken on overnight nor will it be overcome overnight
• Shed tears inwardly
“The fire of sin is intense, but it is put out by a small amount of tears, for the tear puts out a furnace of faults, and cleans our wounds of sin.”
John Chrysostom
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
What the heck is that video? Updated with links to funny science songs
My son has an assignment in his science class to create a power point/music presentation on a science theme. They have to substitute science information in a song. Because of his interest in German he has chosen music from a German group that isn't available on ITunes. It is available on YouTube but he can't access YouTube from school. He can access my blog so he hopes to access in this way.
All of this begins to explain why I haven't posted much this week...
the link to Tom Lehrer's "The Element Song."
the link to The First and Second Law.
Thanks to Otepoti for both.
All of this begins to explain why I haven't posted much this week...
the link to Tom Lehrer's "The Element Song."
the link to The First and Second Law.
Thanks to Otepoti for both.
Stop global warming? No, stop the insanity!
Just when I thought the whole global warming argument couldn't get any crazier, I'm proven wrong. What next? Everybody smear their bodies with zinc oxide?
President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Missing Link Goes Missing
It made front page news here in my hometown. Referred to by many as the "missing link" it has quickly gone the way of the "gay gene".
The fossil of a lemurlike creature that probably weighed no more than 2 pounds when it was fully grown is remarkable because it is the most complete primate specimen ever obtained from so long ago, experts say. (statesman)
Hmm, well that didn't seem so big a deal after all.
The discovery was presented with much fanfare at a press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where researchers called the finding a "missing link" and a publisher from Little, Brown (which put out a related book called "The Link") called it "a scientific discovery that will undoubtedly revolutionize how we understand our own evolution." (FoxNews)
Oh well, there you have it, the precursor ahead of the book release. That explains the hoopla and the lack of science...
...David Attenborough announced with confidence that the missing link ‘is no longer missing,’ but the way the evidence has been presented and handled has raised questions about media manipulation, especially from the London Times science correspondent Mark Henderson; he seems quite miffed.
Mark Henderson reports that doubts have arisen now that others have finally been given access to the fossil and suggests that Ida is related to ‘nothing that exists today.’ Although Ida is an important fossil, he writes that ‘she isn’t all that’ and complains that the researchers haven’t provided sufficient evidence to justify their claims. He argues that this is…
‘…especially serious given the publicity blitz behind Ida…a popular book, a documentary, a website and an exhibition have been launched on the back of this find, before it has received full scientific scrutiny.’ (Uncommon Descent)
Even Time Magazine said the whole thing is overhyped:
...Most paleontologists will roll their eyes at that sort of overhyped nonsense, especially given that there's real science lurking underneath. After wading through the false advertising, though, most people might have a hard time finding it.
The sorry state of modern journalism, and science for profit make for an awkward coupling do they not?
The fossil of a lemurlike creature that probably weighed no more than 2 pounds when it was fully grown is remarkable because it is the most complete primate specimen ever obtained from so long ago, experts say. (statesman)
Hmm, well that didn't seem so big a deal after all.
The discovery was presented with much fanfare at a press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where researchers called the finding a "missing link" and a publisher from Little, Brown (which put out a related book called "The Link") called it "a scientific discovery that will undoubtedly revolutionize how we understand our own evolution." (FoxNews)
Oh well, there you have it, the precursor ahead of the book release. That explains the hoopla and the lack of science...
...David Attenborough announced with confidence that the missing link ‘is no longer missing,’ but the way the evidence has been presented and handled has raised questions about media manipulation, especially from the London Times science correspondent Mark Henderson; he seems quite miffed.
Mark Henderson reports that doubts have arisen now that others have finally been given access to the fossil and suggests that Ida is related to ‘nothing that exists today.’ Although Ida is an important fossil, he writes that ‘she isn’t all that’ and complains that the researchers haven’t provided sufficient evidence to justify their claims. He argues that this is…
‘…especially serious given the publicity blitz behind Ida…a popular book, a documentary, a website and an exhibition have been launched on the back of this find, before it has received full scientific scrutiny.’ (Uncommon Descent)
Even Time Magazine said the whole thing is overhyped:
...Most paleontologists will roll their eyes at that sort of overhyped nonsense, especially given that there's real science lurking underneath. After wading through the false advertising, though, most people might have a hard time finding it.
The sorry state of modern journalism, and science for profit make for an awkward coupling do they not?
Obama picks Sotomayor for high court
Some info on Obama's pick from AUFL:
The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Despite 17 years on the bench, Judge Sotomayor has never directly decided whether a law regulating abortion was constitutional. She has, however, decided a few cases that indirectly implicate abortion rights.
Writing for the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor upheld the Mexico City Policy which prohibited foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from using federal funding to promote abortion overseas. In a constitutional challenge brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), an American abortion advocacy group that routinely argues that "abortion is the law of the world," Judge Sotomayor first rejected a claim that the policy burdened the First Amendment rights of domestic pro-abortion groups, finding that no First Amendment rights were implicated. The significance of this part of her opinion, however, may be minimal because the issue was largely controlled by the Second Circuit’s earlier opinion in a similar challenge to the policy.
More interesting was Justice Sotomayor’s response to CRR’s second claim that the policy violated the Equal Protection Clause by impermissibly burdening the "rights of domestic abortion groups relative to domestic anti-abortion groups." Rejecting this new argument, Justice Sotomayor wrote that because the challenge involved neither a suspect class nor a fundamental right, a deferential "rational basis" test was appropriate. She then acknowledged the ability of the government to adopt anti-abortion policies, noting "there can be no question that the classification survives rational basis review. The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."
Finally, Judge Sotomayor wrote an opinion overturning, in part, a district court’s grant of summary judgment against a group of anti-abortion protestors, albeit on an issue far removed from abortion jurisprudence. When a group of protestors sued the city of West Hartford, CT alleging its police officers used excessive force at a peaceful protest, the district court issued a summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all theories of liability. Writing for the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor reversed the district court’s summary judgment order against the protestors and remanded the case for further proceedings.
The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Despite 17 years on the bench, Judge Sotomayor has never directly decided whether a law regulating abortion was constitutional. She has, however, decided a few cases that indirectly implicate abortion rights.
Writing for the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor upheld the Mexico City Policy which prohibited foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from using federal funding to promote abortion overseas. In a constitutional challenge brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), an American abortion advocacy group that routinely argues that "abortion is the law of the world," Judge Sotomayor first rejected a claim that the policy burdened the First Amendment rights of domestic pro-abortion groups, finding that no First Amendment rights were implicated. The significance of this part of her opinion, however, may be minimal because the issue was largely controlled by the Second Circuit’s earlier opinion in a similar challenge to the policy.
More interesting was Justice Sotomayor’s response to CRR’s second claim that the policy violated the Equal Protection Clause by impermissibly burdening the "rights of domestic abortion groups relative to domestic anti-abortion groups." Rejecting this new argument, Justice Sotomayor wrote that because the challenge involved neither a suspect class nor a fundamental right, a deferential "rational basis" test was appropriate. She then acknowledged the ability of the government to adopt anti-abortion policies, noting "there can be no question that the classification survives rational basis review. The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."
Finally, Judge Sotomayor wrote an opinion overturning, in part, a district court’s grant of summary judgment against a group of anti-abortion protestors, albeit on an issue far removed from abortion jurisprudence. When a group of protestors sued the city of West Hartford, CT alleging its police officers used excessive force at a peaceful protest, the district court issued a summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all theories of liability. Writing for the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor reversed the district court’s summary judgment order against the protestors and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Memorial Day
In August 2006 I did a tour of duty in Iraq. I was the NCOIC of a combat weather team. We support the Army with weather information. During that tour I had the opportunity to work with an Army Captain by the name of Sean Lyerly. Over 10 years younger than I he always had a smile on his face and always had a genuine concern for the welfare of those around him, including the enlisted. When we traveled to the other side of the base to check out the Bazaar, he got a Hum-Vee and drove us over. The Captain drove the two NCOs.
He loved spicy foods, from the wasabi trail mix that someone sent around Christmas to the Jalapeno/cheese poppers he asked me to bring him back from the chow hall.
We had many talks about wasabi. Upon finding out that most "wasabi" in the states was really horseradish, and that actual wasabi was very expensive, we decided to explore the possibility of starting a business growing wasabi when we returned. He had an interest in plants and actually received a degree in horticulture from Texas A&M and had experience caring for aquatic plants when he worked at Disneyland (or Disney world I can't remember). Naturally, we felt the answer would be to grow the wasabi hydroponically.
He loved his wife and 3 year old son and he loved to fly. He was one of the battle captains in the the tactical operations center (TOC) and consequently did not get to fly as often as he would have preferred. One of the last things I heard the Colonel tell him before I left was, "Don't worry, you'll get more flight time, I promise."
Our unit supported the Army's year long deployment with three 4 month rotations. Mine was the first. I left on December 31, 2006.
On January 20th he was shot down and killed along with 11 others who were passengers in the Blackhawk he was flying.
This Memorial Day, take a moment from the sales and the BBQs, and remember these and the many others who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country and it's citizens.
Memorial Day
They stood around the graves
And told their stories,
The very young and very old
And for every story learned,
For every one taught
A monument danced and a memory walked,
A grave remained unfinished and unfilled.
They sat upon the headstones
And sang their songs,
The living and the dead
And for every song left unheard
For every one forgot
A memory wept and a history slept,
A grave was sealed and a spirit stilled.
-Eutychus
He loved spicy foods, from the wasabi trail mix that someone sent around Christmas to the Jalapeno/cheese poppers he asked me to bring him back from the chow hall.
We had many talks about wasabi. Upon finding out that most "wasabi" in the states was really horseradish, and that actual wasabi was very expensive, we decided to explore the possibility of starting a business growing wasabi when we returned. He had an interest in plants and actually received a degree in horticulture from Texas A&M and had experience caring for aquatic plants when he worked at Disneyland (or Disney world I can't remember). Naturally, we felt the answer would be to grow the wasabi hydroponically.
He loved his wife and 3 year old son and he loved to fly. He was one of the battle captains in the the tactical operations center (TOC) and consequently did not get to fly as often as he would have preferred. One of the last things I heard the Colonel tell him before I left was, "Don't worry, you'll get more flight time, I promise."
Our unit supported the Army's year long deployment with three 4 month rotations. Mine was the first. I left on December 31, 2006.
On January 20th he was shot down and killed along with 11 others who were passengers in the Blackhawk he was flying.
This Memorial Day, take a moment from the sales and the BBQs, and remember these and the many others who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country and it's citizens.
Memorial Day
They stood around the graves
And told their stories,
The very young and very old
And for every story learned,
For every one taught
A monument danced and a memory walked,
A grave remained unfinished and unfilled.
They sat upon the headstones
And sang their songs,
The living and the dead
And for every song left unheard
For every one forgot
A memory wept and a history slept,
A grave was sealed and a spirit stilled.
-Eutychus
Friday, May 22, 2009
"Gay Gene" and the Tyranny of the Me
Years ago when talk first started about a “gay gene” I remember hearing many homosexual leaders and writers speak out against such studies saying, in essence, being homosexual had nothing to do with science and everything to do with choice. I didn’t think I’d be able to find any of this talk in the current day but I was wrong. It’s over at a site called queer by choice. While I disagree with the choice itself, it is refreshing to see such honesty. The site looks at many of the studies which purport to show that homosexuality is biologically driven and goes beyond the headlines and reads what the studies really say. For example:
To date, no researcher has claimed that genes can determine sexual orientation. At best, researchers believe that there may be a genetic component. No human behavior, let alone sexual behavior, has been connected to genetic markers to date.
—PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians And Gays), "Why Ask Why: Addressing the Research on Homosexuality," 1995
Examples of such honesty can also be found in those gay writers who stand against the redefining of marriage (here)
And from those who stand up against the "hate" law currently before congress and call it what it is-
The real reason for hate crime laws is not the defense of human beings from crime. There are already laws against that - and Matthew Shepard's murderers were successfully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a state with no hate crimes law at the time. The real reason for the invention of hate crimes was a hard-left critique of conventional liberal justice and the emergence of special interest groups which need boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and luxurious buildings. Just imagine how many direct mail pieces have gone out explaining that without more money for HRC, more gay human beings will be crucified on fences. It's very, very powerful as a money-making tool - which may explain why the largely symbolic federal bill still hasn't passed (if it passes, however, I'll keep a close eye on whether it is ever used).(more)
Over and above the concern that professional associations such as the APA and journalists have in the past and continue to this day to slant the information they provide in response to pressure from homosexual lobby groups and thought police, is the damage done to our children.
In every child’s sexual development there is a time when pseudo-homosexual activities occur. About the time when the hormones kick in and the idea that the opposite sex is not as obnoxious as had been believed over preceding years but before that point of being really comfortable with the opposite sex, many young people experiment with varying degrees of sexual or pseudo-sexual activities with the opposite sex. In a normal world most quickly outgrow this phase. Some however, because of traumatic experiences or lack of parental example, or other unknown reasons, remain in this state of immature and retarded emotional/psychological growth. In some ways it makes sense as it is always easier to love one’s own reflection than to love someone who is completely “other.” But whatever the cause it is not “normal.”
In today’s twisted world, children are encouraged to go with these initial, fitful, misguided first experiments in sexuality and to declare themselves gay, bi-sexual, etc. A prime example of child abuse if ever there was one.
Lesbian/feminist writer Camille Paglia is a fine and refreshing example of intellectual honesty in this debate. Not only does she admit that there is nothing “normal” about homosexuality but rightfully is concerned about the impact that attempts to normalize such ideas have on our children. (From Americans's for Truth)
The psychological turmoil of adolescents at sexual awakening cannot be underestimated. Everything is in flux — impulses, fears, dreams, with simultaneous longings for independence and for protection by adults. What I dislike about the push of organized gay activism into high schools is that it imposes a rigid political paradigm on a stage of life that is in rapid, painful transition for everyone, gay or straight.
As an equity feminist, as well as an open lesbian, I oppose special protections for any group, including my own. Teachers and administrators should obviously not permit physical harassment of any kind on school property, but verbal epithets, however offensive or hurtful, have First Amendment protection. The PC thought police, having been defeated on college campuses after the court-ordered banning of the fascist speech codes, are now oozing their way into high schools. “Hate” cannot be stopped by authoritarian manipulation but by slow social change, which may take generations.
The Internet has been a boon to lonely gay teens in geographically remote areas — but, of course, computers still remain largely a white middle-class luxury. I find very suspicious the statistics about teen suicides with which gay activists badger the media. If gay teens are indeed attempting suicide at a higher rate than straight teens, perhaps more questions need to be asked about the genesis of homosexuality. The intolerable sense of isolation may precede the homosexuality, rather than vice versa.
I have written repeatedly about my theory that homosexuality is an adaptation, rather than an innate trait, and that it is reinforced by habit. With its cant terms of “oppression” and “bigotry,” gay activism, encouraged by the scientific illiteracy of academic postmodernism, wants to deny that there is a heterosexual norm. This is madness. We need more art and history and less politics in primary education. Art gives the young the psychological and spiritual tools for authentic self-discovery. And art is where sexual dissenters have contributed the most to the human record.
In short, I agree with your concern about the Trojan Horse of gay activism, which is being dragged into high schools under the false flag of compassion. Young people who oppose homosexuality for any reason have a constitutional right to express their views, in or out of the classroom. Whatever they may privately believe as individuals, educators have a professional obligation to remain ideologically neutral in their treatment of students. (more)
Perhaps in this discussion lies the seeds of the hostility of many in the homosexual movement toward religion (or at least any religion who speaks against their chosen way of living). For in Christianity at least, we love and worship a God who makes a claim on every aspect of our lives including our genitals. Though we know that we are made in his image, this God is wholly other.
But the tyranny of the me, taints us all as pointed out in two excellent articles over at MereComments:
Our problem is pseudogamy, false marriage, and it assumes many forms. Same-sex pseudogamy is but the latest and most flagrantly absurd, but it is not the first. We find the most fundamental form, from which other corruptions rise up like diseases, when a man and woman go through the ceremony and utter the traditional words "as long as you both shall live," while harboring the mental reservation, "as long, that is, as I am happy," or "as long as the marriage 'works,'" whatever that is supposed to mean. In other words, in the fundamental form of pseudogamy, we don't have people who are not married behaving as if they were, but people who are married (or who present themselves as having been married) behaving as if they were not.
To date, no researcher has claimed that genes can determine sexual orientation. At best, researchers believe that there may be a genetic component. No human behavior, let alone sexual behavior, has been connected to genetic markers to date.
—PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians And Gays), "Why Ask Why: Addressing the Research on Homosexuality," 1995
Because of problems with statistics and sampling, nearly every report of a 'behaviour gene' located in this way—including those supposedly associated with schizophrenia, manic depression, criminality and alcoholism—has been retracted or called into question when later investigators failed to replicate the results. A famous example is Dean Hamer's 'gay gene,' announced with much fanfare in 1993, when his group found an association in 40 families between a marker on the X chromosome and male homosexuality. Because of the high political stakes and levels of public interest, Hamer's results immediately hit the headlines, followed quickly by the publication of his popular book, The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene and the Biology of Behaviour. The expected uproar ensued: many gays rejoiced that homosexuality could no longer be seen as a sinful choice, and some conservatives spoke darkly of pre-emptive abortion. Since 1998, however, two independent research groups have failed to find any evidence for Hamer's gene, which now seems likely to be an artefact of sampling. Unsurprisingly, the press has largely ignored these later studies.
—Jerry Coyne, "Not an Inkling" (review of Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley), London Review of Books, Vol. 22 No. 9, April 27, 2000
Examples of such honesty can also be found in those gay writers who stand against the redefining of marriage (here)
And from those who stand up against the "hate" law currently before congress and call it what it is-
The real reason for hate crime laws is not the defense of human beings from crime. There are already laws against that - and Matthew Shepard's murderers were successfully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a state with no hate crimes law at the time. The real reason for the invention of hate crimes was a hard-left critique of conventional liberal justice and the emergence of special interest groups which need boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and luxurious buildings. Just imagine how many direct mail pieces have gone out explaining that without more money for HRC, more gay human beings will be crucified on fences. It's very, very powerful as a money-making tool - which may explain why the largely symbolic federal bill still hasn't passed (if it passes, however, I'll keep a close eye on whether it is ever used).(more)
Over and above the concern that professional associations such as the APA and journalists have in the past and continue to this day to slant the information they provide in response to pressure from homosexual lobby groups and thought police, is the damage done to our children.
In every child’s sexual development there is a time when pseudo-homosexual activities occur. About the time when the hormones kick in and the idea that the opposite sex is not as obnoxious as had been believed over preceding years but before that point of being really comfortable with the opposite sex, many young people experiment with varying degrees of sexual or pseudo-sexual activities with the opposite sex. In a normal world most quickly outgrow this phase. Some however, because of traumatic experiences or lack of parental example, or other unknown reasons, remain in this state of immature and retarded emotional/psychological growth. In some ways it makes sense as it is always easier to love one’s own reflection than to love someone who is completely “other.” But whatever the cause it is not “normal.”
In today’s twisted world, children are encouraged to go with these initial, fitful, misguided first experiments in sexuality and to declare themselves gay, bi-sexual, etc. A prime example of child abuse if ever there was one.
Lesbian/feminist writer Camille Paglia is a fine and refreshing example of intellectual honesty in this debate. Not only does she admit that there is nothing “normal” about homosexuality but rightfully is concerned about the impact that attempts to normalize such ideas have on our children. (From Americans's for Truth)
The psychological turmoil of adolescents at sexual awakening cannot be underestimated. Everything is in flux — impulses, fears, dreams, with simultaneous longings for independence and for protection by adults. What I dislike about the push of organized gay activism into high schools is that it imposes a rigid political paradigm on a stage of life that is in rapid, painful transition for everyone, gay or straight.
As an equity feminist, as well as an open lesbian, I oppose special protections for any group, including my own. Teachers and administrators should obviously not permit physical harassment of any kind on school property, but verbal epithets, however offensive or hurtful, have First Amendment protection. The PC thought police, having been defeated on college campuses after the court-ordered banning of the fascist speech codes, are now oozing their way into high schools. “Hate” cannot be stopped by authoritarian manipulation but by slow social change, which may take generations.
The Internet has been a boon to lonely gay teens in geographically remote areas — but, of course, computers still remain largely a white middle-class luxury. I find very suspicious the statistics about teen suicides with which gay activists badger the media. If gay teens are indeed attempting suicide at a higher rate than straight teens, perhaps more questions need to be asked about the genesis of homosexuality. The intolerable sense of isolation may precede the homosexuality, rather than vice versa.
I have written repeatedly about my theory that homosexuality is an adaptation, rather than an innate trait, and that it is reinforced by habit. With its cant terms of “oppression” and “bigotry,” gay activism, encouraged by the scientific illiteracy of academic postmodernism, wants to deny that there is a heterosexual norm. This is madness. We need more art and history and less politics in primary education. Art gives the young the psychological and spiritual tools for authentic self-discovery. And art is where sexual dissenters have contributed the most to the human record.
In short, I agree with your concern about the Trojan Horse of gay activism, which is being dragged into high schools under the false flag of compassion. Young people who oppose homosexuality for any reason have a constitutional right to express their views, in or out of the classroom. Whatever they may privately believe as individuals, educators have a professional obligation to remain ideologically neutral in their treatment of students. (more)
Perhaps in this discussion lies the seeds of the hostility of many in the homosexual movement toward religion (or at least any religion who speaks against their chosen way of living). For in Christianity at least, we love and worship a God who makes a claim on every aspect of our lives including our genitals. Though we know that we are made in his image, this God is wholly other.
But the tyranny of the me, taints us all as pointed out in two excellent articles over at MereComments:
Our problem is pseudogamy, false marriage, and it assumes many forms. Same-sex pseudogamy is but the latest and most flagrantly absurd, but it is not the first. We find the most fundamental form, from which other corruptions rise up like diseases, when a man and woman go through the ceremony and utter the traditional words "as long as you both shall live," while harboring the mental reservation, "as long, that is, as I am happy," or "as long as the marriage 'works,'" whatever that is supposed to mean. In other words, in the fundamental form of pseudogamy, we don't have people who are not married behaving as if they were, but people who are married (or who present themselves as having been married) behaving as if they were not.
Why should anyone care about the private mental reservations entertained by the couple next door? The obvious answer is that those reservations are not really private. They will inevitably be talked about, urged upon others, or acted upon, if not by the couple next door, then by the couple two doors down, and then their problems are also ours. We must live with their divorce. We must try to teach their addled children. We must get along in neighborhoods blasted by the instability and the chaos. We must help feed the sharks in the divorce industry....
...That's the obvious answer, but not the best one. The best answer examines what we in our culture of divorce have nearly forgotten, namely the high and adventurous calling that marriage truly is. "Should a man give the woman he is weary of a bill of divorce?" ask the scribes, and Jesus replies by reaching behind all human custom, and behind all of the Mosaic law's concessions to human weakness, by reminding us that it was not so from the beginning -- which is to say also that it is not so now, from the foundations of our beings. "What God has joined together," says Jesus, "let no man put asunder."...
...In love and only in love do we discover the beauty of another being, and only in love do we become ourselves, for he who would save his life will lose it, but he who would lose his live will save it, unto life everlasting. ... Christians should acknowledge the truth of this, but it is ready to be seen by anyone, regardless of faith. Marriage -- marriage such as Jesus defined it -- is the foundation of society not simply because it is the best environment for raising children, though it is. It is the foundation because in it man and woman commit themselves one to another, as if they were, so to speak, gods freely bestowing freedom upon what they create. They are like God Himself in that free and freedom-making relinquishment of themselves, and they find themselves in that greater thing they create, the one flesh, the love that embraces them and that stands as an example to all others of the beauty and grandeur of that complete gift....
...In other words, the mental reservation vitiates the marriage. To the extent that we entertain it, we lie. We say aloud, "I give myself to you," but whisper to ourselves, "I retain myself for me." We say, to paraphrase Augustine, "Lord, marry me to this woman, but not quite." We engage in a convoluted and expensive pretense, complete with band and wedding cake and ring and honeymoon in Cancun, when all along we are saying, in part, "I am for myself, and for this person here only insofar as this person is for me," rather than, "I now belong to my spouse, and in my belonging to my spouse I will become myself, because it is only in giving that we receive, and only in binding ourselves to the gift that we are set free."...
... The man and woman who bind themselves together with Elmer's glue do not really intend to bind themselves together. Wedding ring or no, they are passing off as marriage what is, at least in part, a pseudogamous relationship. And they are helping to build a pseudosocial culture, a culture of selfishness, division, chaos, and enmity. (read the whole article here) the second is here
The idol of this world is no golden calf but rather a mirror. It is unrestrained and unchecked appetite and instant, (and often impersonal) careless gratification. We are in love with our own reflection.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
BREAKING NEWS - Celebrity Swine Flu Fatality
And we all know who gave it to him.
Thanks for the chuckle Marcos
Friday, May 15, 2009
APA revises 'gay gene' theory
Whenever I remind my Sunday school class that there is no scientific evidence for a "gay gene," (or anything of the sort) I always get some doubtful and startled looks. The reality is that if you look at the studies (rather than the headlines) you'll see that the best that any researcher (gay or hetero) can come up with, is it may be a combination. The APA gave in to the homosexual lobby quite some time ago (as is pointed out in the article) and lost a great deal of credibility. This statement is a beginning toward regaining a shred of that credibility:
From OneNewsNow:
For decades, the APA has not considered homosexuality a psychological disorder, while other professionals in the field consider it to be a "gender-identity" problem. But the new statement, which appears in a brochure called "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality," states the following:
"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles...."
That contrasts with the APA's statement in 1998: "There is considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality." (more)
From OneNewsNow:
For decades, the APA has not considered homosexuality a psychological disorder, while other professionals in the field consider it to be a "gender-identity" problem. But the new statement, which appears in a brochure called "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality," states the following:
"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles...."
That contrasts with the APA's statement in 1998: "There is considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality." (more)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
where evil is good and good is evil—Welcome to God's plan B
Some Townhall prophesy....
...However, when Israel blew the prophets off by condemning the messenger, categorizing the message as hate speech, jailing the prophet(s) or, as in some cases, killing the prophetic salvo, God would in turn switch to plan B to get His insubordinate group’s good ear.
God, not the one to run out of advanced repentance techniques, would allow Israel’s economy to go to hell, plagues to ravage their land, nature to convulse, and enemies the ability to pulverize them.
Yep, unless I’m reading the Bible upside down, it seems that when the nation went astray from God’s law and wouldn’t listen to the prophets’ calls to repentance and instead vilified the saving voices, God allowed one (or more) of the four aforementioned hammers to pound them until Israel became all ears.
This is, at least to me, a plain prophetic pattern within the Scripture. The $64,000 question you gotta ask yourself is this: If there is a God, and if the Bible isn’t a bunch of fairy tales written by a stack of whack jobs, then does God still roll today like He did with Old Testament Israel as He interfaces with 21st century nations that spurn His values to His face?
I’m guessin’ God hasn’t had an extreme makeover and that He is the same yesterday, today and forever, which could mean in our current culture—where evil is good and good is evil—that we might be in line for grave negative sanctions because, apparently, America’s new favorite pastime is whizzing on that which is holy, just and good. (read the entire article here)
...However, when Israel blew the prophets off by condemning the messenger, categorizing the message as hate speech, jailing the prophet(s) or, as in some cases, killing the prophetic salvo, God would in turn switch to plan B to get His insubordinate group’s good ear.
God, not the one to run out of advanced repentance techniques, would allow Israel’s economy to go to hell, plagues to ravage their land, nature to convulse, and enemies the ability to pulverize them.
Yep, unless I’m reading the Bible upside down, it seems that when the nation went astray from God’s law and wouldn’t listen to the prophets’ calls to repentance and instead vilified the saving voices, God allowed one (or more) of the four aforementioned hammers to pound them until Israel became all ears.
This is, at least to me, a plain prophetic pattern within the Scripture. The $64,000 question you gotta ask yourself is this: If there is a God, and if the Bible isn’t a bunch of fairy tales written by a stack of whack jobs, then does God still roll today like He did with Old Testament Israel as He interfaces with 21st century nations that spurn His values to His face?
I’m guessin’ God hasn’t had an extreme makeover and that He is the same yesterday, today and forever, which could mean in our current culture—where evil is good and good is evil—that we might be in line for grave negative sanctions because, apparently, America’s new favorite pastime is whizzing on that which is holy, just and good. (read the entire article here)
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