Realmscapes

The 28 Principles

From W Cleon Skousen's The 5000 Year Leap - A Miracle That Changed the World:

Principle 1 - The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.

Natural law is God's law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe, and just as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men which are "the laws of nature and of nature's God."

Principle 2 - A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin

Principle 3 - The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samuel Adams

Principle 4 - Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." - George Washington

Principle 5 - All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible .

The American Founding Fathers considered the existence of the Creator as the most fundamental premise underlying all self-evident truth. They felt a person who boasted he or she was an atheist had just simply failed to apply his or her divine capacity for reason and observation.

Principle 6 - All mankind were created equal.

The Founders knew that in these three ways, all mankind are theoretically treated as:

1. Equal before God.
2. Equal before the law.
3. Equal in their rights.

Principle 7 - The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.

The Founders recognized that the people cannot delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves.

Principle 8 - Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.

"Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal [or state] laws to be inviolable. On the contrary, no human legislation has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner [of the right] shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture." - William Blackstone

Principle 9 - To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.

"The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures. These precepts, when revealed, are found by comparison to be really a part of the original law of nature, as they tend in all their consequences to man's felicity." - William Blackstone

Principle 10 - The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.

"The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legislative authority." - Alexander Hamilton

Principle 11 - The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ... but when a long train of abuses and usurpations ... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence

Principle 12 - The United States of America shall be a republic.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the republic for which it stands...."

Principle 13 - A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers.

"If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.... [But lacking these] you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - James Madison

Principle 14 - Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure .

John Locke reasoned that God gave the earth and everything in it to the whole human family as a gift. Therefore the land, the sea, the acorns in the forest, the deer feeding in the meadow belong to everyone "in common." However, the moment someone takes the trouble to change something from its original state of nature, that person has added his ingenuity or labor to make that change. Herein lies the secret to the origin of "property rights."

Principle 15 - The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.

Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

1. The Freedom to try.
2. The Freedom to buy.
3. The Freedom to sell.
4. The Freedom to fail.

Principle 16 - The government should be separated into three branches .

"I call you to witness that I was the first member of the Congress who ventured to come out in public, as I did in January 1776, in my Thoughts on Government ... in favor of a government with three branches and an independent judiciary. This pamphlet, you know, was very unpopular. No man appeared in public to support it but yourself." - John Adams

Principle 17 - A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.

"It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." - James Madison

Principle 18 - The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.

The structure of the American system is set forth in the Constitution of the United States and the only weaknesses which have appeared are those which were allowed to creep in despite the Constitution.

Principle 19 - Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.

The Tenth Amendment is the most widely violated provision of the bill of rights. If it had been respected and enforced America would be an amazingly different country than it is today. This amendment provides:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Principle 20 - Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.

"Every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded [bound] by it." - John Locke

Principle 21 - Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.

"The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent [to perform best]. - Thomas Jefferson

Principle 22 - A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.

"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom. For liberty is to be free from restraint and violence of others, which cannot be where there is no law." - John Locke

Principle 23 - A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.

"They made an early provision by law that every town consisting of so many families should be always furnished with a grammar school. They made it a crime for such a town to be destitute of a grammar schoolmaster for a few months, and subjected it to a heavy penalty. So that the education of all ranks of people was made the care and expense of the public, in a manner that I believe has been unknown to any other people, ancient or modern. The consequences of these establishments we see and feel every day [written in 1765]. A native of America who cannot read and write is as rare ... as a comet or an earthquake." John Adams

Principle 24 - A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington

Principle 25 - "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."- Thomas Jefferson, given in his first inaugural address.

Principle 26 - The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.

"There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America, or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated." Alexis de Tocqueville

Principle 27 - The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.

"We are bound to defray expenses [of the war] within our own time, and are unauthorized to burden posterity with them.... We shall all consider ourselves morally bound to pay them ourselves and consequently within the life [expectancy] of the majority." - Thomas Jefferson

Principle 28 - The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.

The Founders sensed from the very beginning that they were on a divine mission. Their great disappointment was that it didn't all come to pass in their day, but they knew that someday it would. John Adams wrote:

"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."

Doomsday Man

From AlGore.com

"A new study suggests the Mayan civilization might have collapsed due to environmental disasters:

'"These models suggest that as ecosystems were destroyed by mismanagement or were transformed by global climatic shifts, the depletion of agricultural and wild foods eventually contributed to the failure of the Maya sociopolitical system," writes environmental archaeologist Kitty Emery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the current Human Ecology journal.'

As we move towards solving the climate crisis, we need to remember the consequences to civilizations that refused to take environmental concerns seriously."

This guy is seriouslly something else, and potentially at risk for chronic depression.

In any case, it's amazing how it is okay to consider the collapse of the Mayans due to them allegedly ignoring "climate morality" (what exactly were they supposed to do, stop driving SUVs some 1200 years ago...?!), and yet Christians are shouted down when we cite the collapse of the Canaanite, Persian, Greek and Roman empires being due, in signficant part, to the abandonment of natural morality.

Distinctions

"We have not been willing to put our priorities properly. We have not been willing to say ... "Hey Russia, we won't expand NATO into the Ukraine and Georgia, right next to your borders, if you cooperate with us on Iran." ...

I think Iran and Israel are a hell of a lot more important than expanding NATO to Russia's borders. Why should we? What do we need it for? So let [Russia] invade Georgia. It's right next to them. Would we tolerate a foreign--a Russian army in Mexico? Which is more important to us Georgia or Israel, frankly?"   --Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

I am so tired of Democrats blurring the lines between good guys and bad guys. (And yes I am going to pick on them because they are the ones constantly doing the blurring--all the way back to the Civil War.) Frankly any American politican who can find similarities between Russia's motives and those of NATO's--while taking a passe attitude towards the sovereignty of said NATO allies--needs to be kicked out of office on the sheer basis of either their ignorance or arrogance.

NATO is a defensive coalition NOT an invading force--so hell yeah it should be supported and strengthened! Remember...

Russia is the (former) communist nation.
Russia is the one who plundered eastern Europe.
Russia is the one who decided to make a power play resulting in the Cold War.
Russia is the one who has hurt its own cause by invading Georgia and threatening Ukraine.
Russia is the one working with Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba to develop those countries' nuclear programs and/or military arsenals.

Russia is the country that needs to prove to the world that it is one of the good guys, not NATO members. 

This is what happens when a world allows too many shades of grey to saturate the spectrum of its politcal ideology.

The Race Card in 2008

Politically speaking, I am angry. Because I am a conservative, a Lutheran Christian, and a Republican, I am thus--by default--a racist, and potentially a fanatical threat. That's it--no other questions asked.

To anyone who knows me, that is a LOL kind of joke. Unfortunately though, that is how the leading media liberals in print and broadcasters on cable TV are portraying frustrated and angry conservative Republicans at recent McCain/Palin rallies. Democrat Representatives in Congress are taking that view as well. Assuming what is reported is true, no one on that side considers that a handful of liberal activists might have infiltrated the rallies or that it was simply made up by an Obama-supporting broadcaster.

Just me protecting my side? Perhaps. Thankfully there are still major media types willing to expose the farce, but the damage is usually already done to the regular American citizen who gets ten minutes of news on the radio, and everything else at the company water cooler. But also look at the history of the Democrat Party when it comes to race in this country--a history often that is conveniently allowed to be buried and ignored by those calling themselves "journalists" and "experts".

If the Democrat Party was so supportive of the black community in this country, why did it slander Chief Justice Clarence Thomas, a known conservative, during his confirmation hearings in the 90's? Why does the liberal community lampoon Secretary of State Rice? Or try and talk down comedian-actor Bill Cosby? Would these same people happily vote for a Michael Steele or a Lynn Swann? (And yes, that would be the HOF receiver from the famous Steelers dynasty in the 70s.) Why do liberal Democrats continue to hold back or malign anyone who attains success outside the liberal ideology?

But the race-baiting doesn't end there. There is an indirect notion being purported that a vote against Barack Obama translates to racism. Based on this logic, could I not technically acuse those Americans of racism? How else is someone to interpret it when so many black Americans say they are voting for Obama simply because he is a "fellow brotha" and for no other reason.

A vote must be cast on knowledge and sense. I will disagree with you, but if you think socialism is the way to go, then vote for the candidate that supports that view. That is a far better vote in the spirit of the democratic process than ANY vote--yay OR nay--cast based solely on race. 

Words

How does the opposition try and attain the socialism they want for the country so that they can empower themselves? Through subtlety.

Here is SECTION I (short title) of the bailout bill that failed to pass in the House yesterday (formatting is mine):

"Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Section 2, Purposes:  Provides authority to the Treasury Secretary to restore liquidity and stability to the US financial system and to ensure the economic well-being of Americans."

Here is the Preamble to the United States Constitution (again, formatting is mine):

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

That is how close the Democrat-led Congress--with support from President Bush and Republican leaders!!--came to putting socialist ideology into U.S. law books. That is frightening. What is more so is that this bill is not dead, and I doubt Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) will be foolish enough to be partisan again when a bill with similar language comes before the House again.

This bailout MUST be defeated again on the principle that such language in a law is 100% un-American. Contact your Congress representatives and tell them to reject any bailout with this kind of language.

Palin's Undelivered Speech

From Haaretz.com (archived in the case the page becomes inaccessible):

"In the speech which Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was to have delivered at a Monday rally protesting the UN appearance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, she was to have said that the Iranian president "dreams of being an agent in a 'Final Solution' - the elimination of the Jewish people."

Her appearance in the rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza was cancelled in a flap between protest organizers and Hillary Clinton, who had also been scheduled to speak. Clinton aides were quoted as saying that they had been "blindsided" by the decision to invite Palin, which they called a partisan move. In the ensuing controversy, Clinton withdrew her participation, and Palin's invitation was rescinded.

The text of the speech follows:

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country - leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.

Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York - to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan - and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him.

He must be stopped.

(The rest of the speech can be read by clicking the link below.)

Burke: The Day the Universe Changed - Part II, In the Light of the Above

In this chapter, James Burke follows how the discovery of lost Greek and Roman knowledge during the Reconqusita of Spain helped change the way law was used in Europe, and eventually led to the institution of the "university".

One thing that I can tell about men such as Burke is that their loathing of the Christian Church of the time comes directly from the way the Christian militaries bulldosed their way through land, caring very little for the cultures and the ancient knowledge they possessed. "Knowledge" to James Burke et al. is everything whereas increasing the tithing faithful was everything to the church.

Perhaps it isn't fair for a Christian to side with the intelligencia, but on this issue they certainly have a legitimate beef. The behaviour of the Roman Catholic Church in those closing centuries following the first millennium is hardly something that I am proud of--and led to even worse behaviour in the centuries that followed. In some ways, humanism is a direct result of the Church's attitude towards things like knowledge. Rome was less frightened of the Earth being round than the "consequences" of a literate and rationalising mass.

Burke makes a pretty good point that if the Church had not retreated into monastaries with much of the world's knowledge, then perhaps the Dark Ages would not have needed to be so dark. In one sense this "cutting off" is very similar to what Israel did to the world pre-Christ ("God was for the Jews and nobody else", was their belief). In any case, Burke blames St. Augustine and his City of God for initiating all this. I have not read that work (yet) so I don't know if that is a fair assessment. I would not put it past the Papacy to have taken Augustine's work and spun it. But if Augustine did in fact advocate that men should not bother with the world or knowledge, then it is something I vehemently disagree on with this noble church patriarch.

Thus, the only other culture with the West's knowledge were the Arabs. It is with them that James Burke unequivocally sides against the Christian community of the time, building up that culture for several pages as the epitome of civilisation and class against the Christian "barbarian". I have to believe that this view is more out of spite than anything given the sanctity in which "knowledge" is held by the pure scholar. In fact, the irony is striking in that Rome held sway over the Western world for nearly 1500 years, yet ever since Darwin it is the secular humanists who are the ones exacting the same institutional influence and intellectual tyranny that they suffered under the Medieval Church.

Some additional thoughts on Burke's chapter, "In the Light of the Above"...

When Ignorance is a Good Thing

Kas is in Germany right now to visit with her family; she met a bunch of her friends at a class reunion the other day, and it wasn't long before the questions about American culture came.

One part of the American way that is completely strange to them is when Kas told them of "Christian" tele-evangelists (and I'm generalising here with the quotes--Rev Billy Graham is not one evangelist I am speaking of). The whole concept that the Bible can be commercialised just didn't come into their circle of comprehension.

Man, I love that.

Europe may not be the most Christian continent on the planet right now, but at least it's all or nothing when it comes to Christianity. That a "pastor" can pick and choose the best parts of the Bible for a ministry intended to be nothing more than some kind of personal wellness scheme or financial success program, in the opinion of Kas's friends (most of whom do not have Christian faith as of this writing), is perverted.

I dare put forward that her unchurched friends are closer to God's heart in this than the "Christian" TV personas and their thousands of members who believe this. It is the same way with God: all or nothing.

The Bible is a complete document. The reason we have so many denominations in this world is because too many churches take it upon themselves to copyedit The Bible(?!!) "to better fit with the times". This is the same arrogance giving us "man-made global warming", same-sex "marraige", splits within the Anglican Union, Mormonism etc.

The King in the Dark Tower

Mr King has stated that he will not apologize for his remarks regarding student literacy (in this case a lack thereof) and their future--specifically a future that allegedly, almost exclusively, includes a weapon and a pair of BDUs. I strongly disagree with his remarks, but I do not want him to apologize in any manner or form. I am tired of the constant need for apology that plagues today's culture. I am delighted to have his word-ed views on the subject of our Armed Forces--and all those of liberalism--be on display.

The comments themselves are nothing we haven't heard before from a "kum ba yah" leftist, as is most of the comments he made in his follow-up interview: the war is bogus, the war is taking away precious [enter your favorite government subsidy here] funding, the U.S. military is little more than a better equipped 18th-century version of itself, conservatives are mindless ditto-heads. The last point is rather humorous, given that everything he stated are nothing more than the same old talking points spewed by liberal pundits all over cable news since the war began. So on that premise: at the very least, it's a pot-and-kettle conversation.

I would love to rail on the liberal ignorance and arrogance of all of the above points, but Mr King is most concerned about the war's affect on education. What is ironic is that after all the millions of dollars this country spends on education, liberals such as Mr King crow that our education system is failing. This is a refreshing assessment given that the education system in this country is (and has been) run by leftists. Remember that Mr King believes that conservatives are brain washed by the new media? No doubt that our kids can spout reams of "intelligence" concerning Christian imperialism, Franklin D Roosevelt, economic unfairness, and man-made global warming; but ask your children what they have been taught concerning Muslim sectarianism, Ronald Reagan, capitalism, and intelligent design. Whom is brain washing whom?

Mr King is right about the failures of Big Education to equip our young people with the full range of knowledge that will turn them into thinkers, not robots. He is also correct that there are few options for those who come out of school with a limited education. But he is wrong that one of those options is the U.S. Armed Forces. The military requires recruits to pass aptitude tests; someone without a working mind or with a lower-than-average literacy will not pass the rigorous education system of the U.S. military's tech schools.

Mr King is also wrong that Big Education is failing to make our kids literate. You see, if our kids do not come out of public high school and college being able to recite the liberal mantras, then they are "failures"; when children cannot read it is the state's fault, not a lack of personal responsibility; if students come out of graduation eager to serve their country with honor, then those men and women are to be "supported" in what all too often sounds more like pity.

In all cases, the obvious recourse (to a liberal) is to assess Big Education to figure out what could possibly have gone wrong, to blame conservatives (duh), and finally, to pour more funding into public education in hopes of doing a better job "educating" the masses.

Not being a fan of double-talk myself, I am happy to answer Mr King's questions: I am for the war in Iraq; I am for the greater War on Terrorism. I am not for investing more funds into a public education system rife with liberal agendas and biases.

I am amused that the moment you challenge what a liberal means by "I support the troops", you are somehow challenging their patriotism. Maybe we are just curious. After all, since Mr King has been all over the world, I would be interested to know when the last time was that he drove himself a few miles down the street of his "National Guard town" to show his "support" by hosting a private book signing for our local soldiers and airmen. Then again, to be fair, perhaps he doesn't because he expects there will be no books to sign.

Accepting the Nature of Islam

Rush interviewed Andrew McCarthy on his show yesterday. Andrew was the leading U.S. attorney in the prosecution of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the villain behind the 1993 WTC bombing.

The interview reminded me of an important issue--and frequent misconception--surrounding the religion of Islam. Being a Christian, I obviouslly believe my faith to be "the one". But the Islam religion is very different in the pantheon of faiths. Since 9/11 we have heard many times over that the Muslim jihadists (or "Islamofascists" as I prefer to call them) have hijacked the Muslim faith. This in fact is not true. I know this is not politically correct to state, and I can see a conservative Christian such as myself being accused of sabre-rattling, but the facts are the facts; and the fact is, the nature of this 1500-year old religion is often emasculated by the media and "experts".

MCCARTHY:  Well, I was the lead prosecutor, and [an] informant turned out to be the main witness in the case, and he was my witness, so I spent, you know, quite a bit of time studying what he had done and also, you know, having to do the other odds and ends that you do when you do a case like this, one of which was to try to get prepared in the event the [Sheik Rahman] decided to testify, which, you know, ultimately he didn't do but that didn't mean we didn't have to prepare for it.  And that was an eye-opener.  In fact, the whole experience in watching the dynamic of him and other people in the Muslim community throughout the trial was a real eye-opener for me.  I wanted to believe in 1993 the stuff that we were putting out, you know, that he basically perverted who was otherwise a peaceful doctrine.  But what I found was going through all of his thousands of pages of transcripts and statements, was that when he cited scripture to justify acts of terrorism, to the extent he was quoting scripture or referring to it, he did it accurately, which shouldn't be a surprise.

... There's no other way of putting it.  And it shouldn't have been a surprise.  I mean, he was a doctor of Islamic jurisprudence, graduated from Al-Azhar University in Egypt.  Why in the world I would have thought that I or the Justice Department would know more about Islam than he would is beyond me now that I look back on it, but back then I was pretty confident that we must have been right when we said that he was basically perverting the doctrine.

So the truth is, when Iran's president or the leaders of the Taliban and Al-Qaida, admonish the Muslim community for being traitors or soft when helping the West combat terrorism--the truth is they are correctly rebuking their fellow Muslims according to their scriptures; Muslims who practice their religion as a peaceful faith are really the ones hijacking Islam (in the eyes of the greater muslim world). Take this exchange:

RUSH:  We live in the United States of America, and the people who live here, many of them have not traveled abroad; and as a result there are many things that they take for granted and one of the things I think a lot of people take for granted is that we're pretty much like the rest of the world, except they're very impressionable and they're told that the rest of the world hates us. They despise us because of our affluence, because our productivity, because we are a small portion of the world's population and we use a majority of the world's resources. All these things, and the education system labels guilt throughout our society.  You mentioned these people in the fourteenth century.  One of the things I constantly try to tell people is that -- to demonstrate the true greatness of western democracies, representative republics and a western civilization, a culture. We are all born as little savages.  If we were not raised by parents -- if we were not instructed in right and wrong, morality and so forth -- we would turn out however we did.  These people remind me of just that.  They're being raised to behave and think as they do.  I'm talking about the jihadists, this culture that's 1400 years old.  Human beings are not by instinct, not by nature good.  That has to be programmed into them, it has to be raised in them -- and these people of course have a different definition.  They think they are good, they're doing everything in the name of God, and yet their crimes are against humanity.

MCCARTHY:  You know, Rush, that's exactly right.  It actually brings me to another memory of the dynamic between [Sheik Rahman] and the community, which was an eye-opener and a frightening one to me.  We had very long defense case in the case. It actually went on for about two months; and during the course of it, any number of moderate people came in -- and they really were authentic moderate people.  There's no way on God's green earth they ever would have crossed into terrorism activity. But every now and then when they were on the stand, a question of theology would come up, of doctrine. You know, "What does jihad mean? What does this concept mean?" and at least three different times, they answered, "I wouldn't be competent to say. You'd have to ask someone like [Sheik Rahman] about that."

Andrew added this important point at the end of the interview:

"Even if you don't agree with why we went to Iraq in the first place -- and, you know, say we should never have been there --the fact is that the worst thing we ever did was pull out of Lebanon in 1983 when the Marine barracks got hit.  The next worst thing we probably ever did was pull out of Somalia when that got ugly.  These people -- and when I talk about "these people," I mean people like Bin Laden and [Sheik Rahman] -- if used to a fair thee well as a recruiting tool this notion that they're the strong horse, we're the weak horse; and if they make it ugly enough and bloody enough for us, that we will pull out.  It's like when a very strong team plays a very weak team in sports.  The strong team can never give the weak team a sniff, because the minute you do and they start to think they can win, and they start to believe in themselves, they become much more efficient. It becomes much more easy for them to recruit, to raise money, to do all the things they have to do to take on a superpower.  What they have going for them that we don't, is they have basically eradicated our threshold idea of what is civilized behavior.  They are willing to do anything to win, and they're absolutely sure that history is on their side.  Unless we become more sure than we are now that we're right, and that we have a need to show them that however long it takes, we're going to do what has to be done to win; you know, we can't rely on the fact that we're a super power and that it's inevitable that we'll win this thing."

Even a brief walk through history reveals that the Muslim world exists today through its military conquests and sectarian world-view. Do you think it a coincidence that the war between Islam and the West is almost as old as Islam itself? The first real step towards combating Islam is first understanding that at its core it is not a peaceful religion. Its followers are not brain-washed lemmings, but zealous followers of their teachings. Talking about them in this fashion makes Christians such as myself sound extreme...like we are calling for a crusade of our own. Ironically that is exactly what they like to hear because it justifies their inhumane actions.

I am not calling for a crusade, but we do have the right to defend ourselves and support our allies who desire to live in a world of freedom. This we should do without the veils of political correctness or ignorance, and with the firm conviction that we are right in doing so.

Again - Misguided

Liberals pride themselves on supposedly giving voice to the poor, the down-trodden, the minority, the starving, the sick, the oppressed, the suffering...

If you believe that load of crock here are two stories for you.

March 31, 2008
The Washington Post: Gore launches ambitious [$300 Million] campaign on climate

April 7, 2008
Reuters: Key scientist sure "God particle" will be found soon
The Times (UK): At 78, scientist hopes for proof soon that he was right about the Universe

$300 million in advertising to convince mankind we are able to control nature...

$2.36 billion for an "atom smasher" to attempt to prove that God doesn't exist so that atheists can sleep better at night, and so that a scientist can win a medal...

Don't tell me that liberals care about this world's starving and destitute when they support these kinds of selfish money-burning projects and scams. Make no mistake: a liberal's only interest is their vanity and their pursuit to be free from moral responsibility.

Americans and Their Film Preference

This article about what American movie-goers prefer to see at the theatre shouldn't really come as a surprise, but ironically seems to constantly be news to H-wood.

The Wonder of Christmas

Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.
     1 Timothy 3:16 KJV

If there is one sentiment that Christmas should awaken in our hearts, it is the sense of wonder. In the strictest sense of an overworked word, Christmas is indeed something wonderful. It brings the wonder of the incarnation. It shows how "great is the mystery of godliness: God is manifest in the flesh." In our day we have largely lost this sense of wonder. People, unwilling to live by faith, demand proof. They pride themselves on being realists.

But Christmas is a festival of wonder. Its glory lies in the very fact that it surpasses the range of human knowledge, that it transcends the realm of human experience. Its appeal is to faith.

For Christmas shows us a mystery—the mystery of God becoming man; of divinity in humanity; of eternity linked with time. But this mystery is, at the same time, intensely real. In fact, that is just why it is such a wonder! Christmas is no children’s tale. It is historic truth. Indeed all history can be read correctly only in the light of Christmas, which shows that human history has a divine purpose and an eternal destiny. In the wonder of Christmas all the ages converge. On this day God was manifest in the flesh.

   -Thomas Coates, From Daily Devotions

U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007

An article on "Man-made Global Warming" that I wish to archive.

TIME's 2007 BS of the Year

What a freakin' joke TIME's "Person of the Year" is, which "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year." So it is a prize to be competed for on the battleground of Good VS Evil. Given that Presidents Ahmadinejad and Chavez have been runners-up, Osama bin Laden considered, and Hitler (1938), Stalin (1939, 1942), Ayatollah Khomeini (1979), and Yassir Arafat "winners", clearly it is something for which villains of history (and who wish to make history) can strive for their demented trophy cases.

The Golden Compass and Liberalism

"The most telling aspect of His Dark Materials ... is that the Reformation never happened in the world of The Golden Compass. Indeed, Pullman's simplistically harsh view of the church and God posit a power-hungry, misanthropic institution out of control, and a detached, domineering God devoid of grace."

The above assessment by historian, Dr Quinn Fox, is also the feeling I have from the book (and film). It definitely is a darker and deeply cynical work; it is certainly an antithesis to Lewis's Narnia. Why would we want to expose children to such an atmosphere? Even more puzzling, how can an authour simply brush away world history in his fantasy tale? Given what the Magestarium represents, his book would have been more fitting for the 15th century than the 20th or 21st.

Liberalism and its secular religions of atheism, agnosticm, and humanism seem largely made up of people who are paranoid of everything--most especially a "highr power". God encourages us to question, but liberals go beyond this to poke and doubt everything and everyone to the point of madness. HIS DARK MATERIALS is simply one on-ramp to that highway of darkness and the ironic thing is that paranoia usually leads to an obsession to control, and that can lead to the very authoritarian tyranny that Pullman's books encourage us to fight.

As an authour I have to think that Pullman missed the boat. His trilogy of books could have gone to a vastly more rewarding and upbeat conclusion. What if the characters got to the end and found that the Magestarium was indeed evil, not because it derived its power from its Authority (aka God), but because it decided to take power from the Authority? What if the ultimate quest of the books had been to free the Authority so that all could benefit from the goodness and light that the Magestarium wanted no part of?

Gov. Mitt Romney: Faith in America

Former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, gave an inspiring speech on religion and American culture while on his Presidential campaign trail. It is rare that we hear such words in current American politics, and from a high-profile Presidential candidate no less. Even though I am a (Lutheran) Christian and have not yet chosen to support a specific candidate for the Republican nomination, I am posting this speech in its entirety on my weblog because it is informative, heartfelt, and true insight into the role religion should play in the governance of a nation (and the role Christianity has played in the governance of ours).

You can also view the speech via Governor Romney's website (it runs about twelve minutes).

I also encourage you to read Rush Limbaugh's follow-up commentary to the speech, which is just as informative and inspiring.

The Golden Compass

I generally do not support activism when it comes to literature. I admonished parts of the Christian community for their extremist stand on the Harry Potter series, and I urged clear-thinking when it came to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. I am a firm believer that if you raise a child strongly rooted in the Christian faith, then they will be able to read books like Harry Potter and discern the many positive elements from those elements that are better left to the fictional world (using magic and all that). But the controversy surrounding Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy is very different.

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanks Susan!

Thanks Sis!

Happy 30th Anniversary, STAR WARS

Star Wars.

Some curse it. (Like probably my Sister, who had to listen to me watching the films upteenth million times--and she has good company out there with similar experiences with brothers, husbands, boyfriends.. who may have become EX-boyfriends thanks to Princess Leia.)

But those like me are grateful to it. For many fans, the saga of that galaxy far away changed their lives, some more prfoundly than others. In my life, Star Wars has had an immeasurable impact and it is in listing all these impacts that I intend to celebrate the 30th Annivesary of this film.

Personal Friendships ...Thanks to Star Wars, I count some very deep friendships amongst my blessings. One of my deepest is with my friend Charlie. If you (are I) are ever going to blame someone for my love and passion for these films, he's the one. Before Charlie I had never seen A New Hope in its entirety (for some reason I always happened across it on TV and always at the Battle of Yavin). Charlie's family picked up the last video versions in 1995 before the Special Editions were released two years later. We watched all three films that afternoon/night. I was hooked from the opening scenes above Tatooine and I have never looked back. ...Another friendship that came as a result of Star Wars is Jeremy. That friendship has winded down some very interesting and varied paths for more than a decade, and they led to him being the Best Man at my wedding. Jeremy has been there through the rough times and the easy ones, more the former than the latter, but I hope the scales tip back very soon. ...Ken, Jacob, Dan, Abel, Joe, Steve, Steve, Jason--all awesome friendships either borne out of Star Wars or solidified by it. All people that I am most grateful and honoured to call "Friend" and with who I look forward to continuing to traverse life's paths with.

Gaming ...Many of my friendships (named and unnamed) came about from a little phenomenon called the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. And through the Star Wars CCG I learned or strengthed many skills and personal qualities e.g. leadership, honour, integrity, self-confidence, marketing, writing, networking, game design, organisation, and good sportsmanship.

Creative Success ...Many of my first breaks in the worlds of writing and gaming are a direct result of my Star Wars friendships and gaming. The most obvious is the long line of articles I contributed to Scrye Gaming Magazine that started with Star Wars (and eventually led to articles on gaming in general as well as coverage for The Lord of the Rings, Highlander, WWE card games). ...Steve DeChellis was Connecticut's first Star Wars CCG tournament director. For some reason neither of us can really pin down ;-D we became friends. This professional freindship led to us trading ideas for game designs. Out of one of those designs I created a set of sword-dueling mechanics intended for use with the Highlander franchise. Those mechanics were twice nearly bought by a gaming company (who at the last minute both times decided they didn't want to invest in the franchise). Even though that didn't work out, Steve has gone on to become successful in the arena of game design and we hope to partner for a game based on my wife's fantasy universe at some point in the (near) future. ...Abel Pena and I met after he read one of my "Letters to the Editor" for an issue of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: X-Wing. Abel introduced me to a group known as "the Star Wars Fanboy Association". Through this group I also met Joe Corroney. Joe is a fantastic artist and with his support (and my credentials as a freelance writer writing Star Wars CCG article for Scrye) I achieved the ultimate goal in the freelance writing world: an assignment and published credit with an official Star Wars publication (Star Wars Gamer). The article was so successful that I was given a second assignment. ...Also through this group I achieved some professional contacts that helped me get a high volunteer position with TheForce.Net (TFN) as that site's content mananger for their Card Game section. I got to know one of the co-founders of TFN very well so that when the co-founders started up their own comic book company, I was assured a very good chance at getting a creator-owned comic book project (of which my wife is the "creator-owner") published by them--maybe no guarantee of publishing, but certainly the best oppurtunity I've had to date.

Star Wars has been very good to me, and continues to be so. And even with all the success and fun and friends I have made, the movies still continue to be held most special to me on a deep and personal level. For at its heart, Star Wars is a story of Good over Evil, Courage over Fear, Faith over Doubt, and Love over everything.

Happy Anniversary, STAR WARS!

Blaming Video Games (and everything else)

I am really REALLY done with the blaming of video games whenever a random act of violence happens. Millions of people play video games, yet there aren't millions of random acts of violence being reported every day.

I would love to blame the media and liberalism. Afterall they preach hatred for American culture, loathing for the rich, and contempt for the religious. But ultimately I can't because the media only speaks to you if you choose to let them.

Blaming video games for violence is absolutely lame and completely devoid of logic, just like blaming gun control, the media, movies, war, whatever. This tragedy at Virginia Tech is about personal responsibility. When we screw up the blame lies within a very small circle: ourselves--being our own inner motivations.

UPDATE: 4.26

Here's a good example of somone (in this case an LA Times columnist) making a decision he knows to be abnormal (aka "wrong"), but needing to find reasons (aka "blame") to be right:

Recent studies have shown that such physiological factors as genetics and hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy can significantly affect how our brains are "wired" at birth.

So (as usual) it is ultimately the fault of God (or science if you're an atheist) that this guy has felt compelled to be a girl. God somehow got it wrong. You know, if this person had written a simple paragraph for his column that read "I was Mike, now I am Christine. I have decided to be a woman because being a man sucks." I at least would have given the person the props for having integrity. But why print about it at all? Gays and transsexuals are constanty insisting that they are hated and persecuted for their private lifestyle. Well if it's their private lifestyle then keep it private! No, these people print it because they want persecution and they want sympathy. But when someone goes public with something like this they must be rebuked publicly lest he (perhaps unwittingly) leads someone else down his errant path.

When faced with this kind of decision we must understand just how badly we must fight our inner desires to replace God with ourselves. It is amazing how much we would rather choose to kick our own mental asses and spend thousands of dollars on unnecessary science than to simply accept God's will in our lives. And when we go public with a decision (or an act) of this nature we are even more accountable to God than if we would have kept our sin between God and ourselves.

There is a comment posted to the above article that says this:

Christians--always the first to pass judgment. I'm a Christian and I pass none, because there's none to be passed. You are an extraordinary human being, Christine. Don't ever forget it.

This is what I am talking about. This is an example of someone giving the Gospel when the sinner first needs the Law. The Law shows us our sin; the Gospel washes it away. But too many Christians want to make peace at the expense of accepting another person's sin. This is not the kind of peace Christ preaches. The peace he speaks of is the peace of the heart--the peace of knowing that God forgives anything and everything. But this can only be done when we first recognise that we have sinned against Him. And we Christians must ask for the strength to rebuke should He present us with the situation when it is required--whether it be a transsexual or a troubled mind looking to kill innocent people. I pray that Holy strength finds someone when I am in need of rebuke. My soul depends on it.

The Fourteen-century Threat of Militiant Islam, and counting

Like Thomas, I found this essay by Orson Scott Card about the consequences of pulling out from Iraq, to be exceptional. But the warning at its heart concerning the Islamo-fascists' war on the West via Europe is not new. Tolkien and CS Lewis, both well-renowned authours and respected academics, also warned of this southern threat--most notably in their famous fictional works from Middle-Earth and Narnia. But talk about this threat to Europeans (or Americans) and you'll get nothing but scoffing and estranged looks.

To much of the Muslim world, the Crusades are a current event. Here in the States, many poke fun that in some parts of the deep South the Civil War is still being fought. But the threat from Arab extremists is nothing to joke about. Watch Muslim scholars on the History Channel and see the fire in their eyes when they speak of their role in kicking the Christians out of the Holy Land. In the minds of most Westerners, the Crusades were the beginning and end of the Muslim/Christian wars, and all of those people would be wrong:

• 636: Muslim Arabs under Caliph Abu Bakr (student and the successor of Islam's Muhammad) take Damascus from the Roman Empire in the Battle of Yarmouk; this battle was the first Muslim conquest outside of Arabia (which includes present-day Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates) and culminated with the taking of Jerusalem in 637 following a siege
• 732: Charles Martel halted a strong Muslim incursion into southern France at the Battle of Tours
• 1087: the Almoravid Muslims conquered half of Spain before El Cid, recalled from exile, finally stopped them
• 1371: the Islamic Ottoman Empire takes its first European nation (Macedonia); the military expansion continued for over three hundred years and reached as far as Austria until King Jan III of Poland halted the Muslims' northern push at the Battle of Vienna in 1683; the Muslim empire isn't officially defeated until 1918 with the help of T.E. Lawrence
• 1936: leading up to World War II the Muslims attempt to re-establish their place in the world through a series of revolts and a (failed) alliance with Adolf Hitler
• 1947: Muslim Palenstinians commence terrorist attacks on Jewish citizens in Palestine leading to the Arab-Israeli War and the subsequent Muslim attacks on Israel and its allies throughout the rest of the Twentieth Century
• 2001: Muslim extremists destroy the World Trade Center towers in New York City, resulting in the current War on Terror

Whatever individual Muslims believe, the Muslim religion is being used by fascists and tyrants to make war on the West. And with Western Leftists spread throughout Europe and North America, the Islamic extremists have found a new weapon with which to make war: Politics. Through politics the Muslims have been able to immigrate in droves to the West, grafting themselves into our culture and succeeding in emasculating our defenses.

Don't believe me? Remember, the UK has recenty decreed that they will cease to teach the Holocaust and the Crusades out of "respect" to Muslim students; liberal-American political leaders are meeting with tyrants in their terrorist states to talk "peace" and fighting for terrorists to be tried as criminals instead of killed as military enemies; Leftists everywhere are demanding that U.S. and British troops pull out of Iraq. The last time Britain pulled out of the Holy Land in 1948 the result was hardly peace and in fact the world has now had to deal with the Muslim terrorists who were left to their own devices when the last Western soldier exited the region.

If the Muslims really want to live in peace they need to take charge of their culture and help Western forces to capture the militiant extremists that poison their faith. Iraq is the example that the West wants democracy and freedom, NOT imperial rule. The history is out there for anyone to read who has eyes to see and ears to hear. Shrugging off the evidence because it might make someone feel bad, voting in Leftist politicians, and not protecting our own culture by allowing porous borders only promises the inevitable.

A Beautiful Day

On this day God, who manifested Himself into the very flesh He used to create man at the genesis of the world, gave Himself up in a perfect sacrifice so that Satan Lucifer could not win the final battle of the great war between Heaven and hell.

Whether you believe in Him or not, God died so that you might live.

What a miraculous and beautiful day.

Captain America Revisted

I opened quite the can of worms in a public forum with my post below about Cap and the purpose of Marvel's limited series, Civil War. I got mauled with attacks from the left (as expected) and was involved in several debates on The Patriot Act, also as expected, because as I have stated people believe that Civil War was all about The Patriot Act and related policies. Otherwise I would have heard the sweet chirping od crickets.

Even after a week of Cap being dead, it is hard for me to believe that Marvel didn't axe the character because of real-life politics. In a recent interview following the shocking events that have made national news, the current writer of the series, Ed Brubaker has said, "What I found is that all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the street corner against the George W. Bush administration, and all the really right-wing fans all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam Hussein."

If you look at the character's history, he is a defender of America against its military enemies and a symbol of the morals and values that the country was founded upon. Now is it my fault that the libs out there (specifically the lib writers in entertainment) that Cap doesn't fit their agenda? The libs own so many of the agendas and bullypulpits in fiction, and it galls them that they couldn't have Cap fighting on their side as well. Marvel could easily have found a conservative writer to pen the series if Brubaker was not comfortable in the role. I personally think that he was doing a good job with the character, although I admittedly haven't read most of the issues that he has written (just the "Winter Soldier" story).

In any case, the ultimate reult is that Cap is dead. Marvel is now free to put someone else under the mask whenever they want to bring the character back to the racks at the comic book shop. I just think it is a shame that the character had to be a casualty in the war of ideals between conservatives and libs at a time when the character was nothing but idealistically neutral. Which means the character died for nothing. It is like General Patton dying from injuries sustained by a freak accident and not being take in th midst of a military operation.

Marvel's "Civil War"

In light of this Captain America death, I am trying to understand exactly what is going on here. The writers of the story-arc admit that there is political allegory as it relates to The Patriot Act.

Therein lies the problem: The Patriot Act was written to protect Americans against terrorist attacks, specifically another 9/11. It does not read the e-mail or tap the phones of EVERY American as the Democrats and media leads law-abiding Americans to believe.

Now in the comic book, The Superhero Registration Act is meant to register all superheroes in an attempt to control the mayhem that is caused when heroes and villains lock up. So if the comic is a commentary on The Patriot Act then the writers are giving a very false representation of what The Patriot Act is.

The libs in this country contend fiercely that The Patriot Act is a violation of civil liberties... which it is not. The Superhero Act is also considered a violation of civil liberties... which it is.

The Superhero Act is something out of communism or Nazism: implemented in order to track certain races, cultures, and political/religious beliefs; it is dangerous in that it sets the precedent for the government to require registration of anyone with a difference. That would mean that the comic is an commentary against communism/socialism/fascism--which is GOOD. But Marvel is releasing this thing at a time where the media is labeling The Patriot Act as a violation of civil liberities and the Bush Administration as Nazis. Meaning many of Marvel's readers are thinking right away of The Patriot Act and not of political theory.

The Patriot Act and The Superhero Registration Act are NOT the same thing. The story only confuses and blurs the lines of the debate. If this was intentional (and it sounds like it is) then allowing readers to discuss the comic in light of The Patriot Act is cowardly and irresponsible of Marvel.

P.S. And I still think Marvel killed Cap becasuse he is too conservative a character for the otherwise mostly liberal entertainment industry.

RIP Captain America

So Marvel has killed Captain America, proof that the liberals in this country are pushing the front ever further. And you know it's true when MSNBC jumps at the chance to print a story reflecting their own personal fantasy: "Death to 'America'"

It's sad that Marvel has to kill a character because they can't deal with the fact that Cap is supposed to symbolise everything that has made this country so great in the modern world. They haven't been able to write him to fit liberalism since they first tried it after Watergate. They have been pushing it again post-9/11 and during the Iraq War, but sales have not been there (except for the Winter Soldier story arc). ..They put Cap on the side of liberals (the Anti-Registration group) in Civil War and the reaction has been mute at best. Know why?

Because it is Captain America. For those of you who are reading this and know America's role in history and the things it has achieved and given to its citizens as well as the citizens of the world, then you know why I have put that in italics. You also know why you haven't been buying Captain America books, except for those select issues that contain the Cap we all expect. Marvel can't deal with that so they killed him with a "if we can't have him then you won't have him either" attitude.

Marvel isn't the only one to blame. DC is as well with their castrating of Superman's motto into "Truth, Justice...and all that other stuff"

All that other stuff?

Shameful.

Hyphen-ing Ourselves

Rush touched on something today in his show that also bothered me while watching the halftime show of yesterday's Pats/Colts game.

Just before going back to the game, Shannon Sharpe congratulated Coach Lovee for being "the first African-American coach in the NFL" to make it to the Super Bowl. This combined with something my wife brought to my attention some time ago--a cultural observation that was unfamiliar to her when she lived in Germany:

Why the continued call to attention of race? Coach Lovee (and Coach Dungy) is going to the Super Bowl because of his exceptional coaching skills this season. ANYONE can succeed in 21st century America based on their skill, strength of character, etc. Why aren't we shining spotlights on the exploits of every hypenated American?

If there is continued racism in this country, it is because the media keeps perpetuating it. One more vegetable in the tossed salad that is the liberal vision for American culture.

Yielding to Biblical Authority

"And while I believe in God I have no use for organized religion," I read in Stephen King's On Writing.

It does not matter if it is a high profile fiction authour, a learned college professor, or a young "skull of mush", this is the montra of the Modern World--and many can't even get "And while I believe in God" over their lips.

Where this comes from is simple: people just refuse to yield to any kind of authority anymore, and especially Divine Authority. And organized religion (aka the Church) is always here to remind us that we are NOT the final authority when choosing our convictions, morals, and principles.

Its always incredible to me that people actually think that they can somehow circum-navigate God's authority, and thus His Word in the Bible, simply by saying "Nah" to going to Church. It is just like Adam and Eve who really thought that they could hide from God in the bushes: as long as we jettison the Church we can freely interpret the Bible any way we choose without God ever knowing.

This is wrong, and ultimately spirtual suicide. Unlike William Goldman's edition of The Princess Bride, you cannot edit the Bible into your own personal "Good Parts Version". When we stand before the Judgment Seat He will know whether we accepted his Authority through His Word or not. And one way or another we will take responsibility for this decision.

Perhaps His Question will come in the form of, "If my Word was not sufficient for you, why should my gift of Eternal Life be any more sufficient?" What will you say to this question?
"It was too hard"
"It was unfair"
"I was too weak"
"I didn't know"
"I'm sorry"

I do not know how God will respond to these--I have a fairly good guess. What I do know with 100% certainty is that the question will not even be put to you if you accept the Bible is as God's Word and Autority on your Life. Then you will have a use for "Organized Religion", and may further find that the fellowship and assurance of God's Grace to the faithful that "Organized Religion" offers is more than worth the yielding of one's human pride.

My Hogwarts House

I don't classify myself amongst the rabid Harry Potter fans--I'm already a gold-card carrying "rabid" fan of Star Wars, Middle-Earth, and Highlander--but in the spirit of the final book being released, I thought it'd be fun to find out which House I would be sorted into. The result?

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

A superb match I thought.. I was only one point from being a Gryffindor, but I never thought of myself in that house anyway. My wife got Hufflepuff, which made me LOL since that House's quarters is located right next to the kitchen...

American Heritage Under Attack...Again

Houston's new Major League Soccer team, the Dynamo (formerly the San Jose Quakes), were not named so-named out of the gate. Here are the details from a recent AP preview of the MLS Cup Final:

"The team initially was called Houston 1836 before Hispanics complained the name offensively referred to the year Texas defeated Mexico for its independence."

I hope Boston's native population doesn't have a measurable amount of English immigrants otherwise the New England Patriots could become the New England Beaners.

Tightly Wound Society--Example #924.4b

FOX fired colourful baseball broadcaster, Steve Lyons, for what was interpreted by the FOX suits as an inappopriate racial comment towards Lou's Latino heritage.

Part of this (and left out by the AP report) is that Lou's analogy included finding a stolen wallet on the street and keeping it. Now I have not yet seen a report that Lou was reprimanded for his lack of values in returning said wallet... nor should I expect to see one because I took it as the funny joke/analogy it was intended to be.

Now imagine if Piniella had made the comment that Oakland wasn't winning because of a lack of latino and black players. What do you think the response would have been?

Steve was replaced by Jose Mota, whose commentary eventually caused this baseball fan to mute his TV until the Ninth Inning.

Anti-Semitism

You know, this whole anti-Semitic thing has always puzzled me. First there are seemingly two definitions: one political and one religious.

The political one pretty much comprises the debate on Israel's "right to exist". In the opinion of many nations in the Middle East (and of the UN based on the rivalry of the two entities), Israel's claim to the land (formerly known as Canaan) based soley on divine guidance is BS. Yet at the same time the Palenstinians and Muslims claim that Israel is theirs for much the same reason. The Arabs, who often trace their lineage back to the same Canaanites of "the Walls of Jericho" fame, are obviouslly still bitter at being thrown out of their land by God. I can imagine they feel like Esau felt when Isaac chose Jacob as his favorite son.. or Cain when God chose Abel.

The religious version of this is basically the Jews v the Christians--or at least the Christians that blame the Jews for killing Christ. I've already stated on this weblog that any Christian who believes this way is in need of studying his or her Bible. But what I don't get is why Jews get offended when Christians do blame them. The Jewish faith clearly rejects Christ's claim to be the promised Messiah. A lot of Jews give Jesus credit for being a great teacher who was unfortunately caught up in the revolutionary politics of the day. But there has never been any love lost between Jesus and the his religious culture. In fact, at the time, the Jewish leaders believed they were doing the people of Israel a big favor by handing Jesus over to Rome. Okay.. so if the Jewish people thought they were doing the right thing at the time, why don't they just come out and state that as their position? Done and done. It doesn't affect the Christian faith one way or the other.

Inter-Immigration War

There was an excellent segment on FOX news' Hannity & Colmes program last night. Pat Buchanan, was the special guest promoting his new book, State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America, about the threat of Arab immigration (legal and illegal) to not only America's national security, but Western civilisation as a whole.

Mr. Buchanan discussed some of his research and data that you will find in the book, and even the liberal host was mostly silent... except at the end when he urged the watching liberal audience to check out the book before forming a hasty opinion.

I find this issue more and more fascinating, especially since it was an issue that worried such respected intellectuals as CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Even in the mid-20th century, Lewis and Tolkien insisted that the Crusades, which started in the 11th century, are still going on. The War on Terror... escalating problems with Iran... these are all proofs that Arab extremists are still fighting the Crusades, except they are the ones on the offensive at this point in history.

Of course, Lewis and Tolkien were concerned about their native Europe. But now America is part of that front with members of Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda being smuggled over the U.S. border from Mexico, and possibly Canada. It's a shame that these extremists are ruining oppurtunities for the honourable Arab peoples who want to come to the West to start new lives and be a part of Western culture (while keeping their religious faith). But such is the world we live.

I highly recommend checking out Pat Buchanan's new book.

Media "Credibility"

How is it that the Media is still trusted or given any kind of credibility at all?

They make up stories about people they hate (Dan Rather).. they divulge state secrets and call it their right (the NSA and the NY Times).. and now they're proven to doctor or stage photos to move their agenda (Reuters).

I'm tired of the Media going unchecked and unchallenged. Rush, O'Reilly, and Hannity are three Generals leading the charge.

A Question on Tragedy

What is more a tragedy: Someone who rejects Christ completely? Or someone who comes so close to accepting the Truth, but never does fully?

It is human to hope that the latter is not considered a tragedy at all in God's final judgment, but that is a risk I will never advocate.

Joseph Campbell

The insights of Joseph Campbell are fascinating. I certainly don't agree with him concerning everything he taught, and I read his books much more for my writing craft than for religious debate. But something I happily found that we both can agree with is the necessity to seperate faith from religion. He believed (as I do) that religion has come to dominate faith in a way that has turned many people off from the journey of faith. God does not see a Catholic here or a Lutheran there--just one of his own either believing in the redeeming miracle of the Resurrection or not.

Where I disagree with Campbell, of course, is the validity of "universalism"--that all religious roads lead to God.

DVCS: The Circle

The circle has got to be one of the most oft-used shapes in humanity and no religion--alive or dead--can claim exclusivity to it.

To the Christian, the circle has always represented God--perfect and eternal. Aside from that, the circle pretty can represent anything eternal. The gold band in Luther's seal (see below), for example, symbolises Heaven and thus eternal life.

The Da Vinci Code draws further attention the apparent uniqueness of the Templar churches due to their circular layouts. Building on the foundations of "the circle religion" that is ancient feminine paganism, the story connects the Templars to paganism. A more practical purpose may be that the Templars built their churches to resemble their Jerusalem surroundings. Or to serve as a kind of business advertising.

There are also interesting theories that the Templars may have been adept in geometry and science, and built their churches circular as a kind of calendar. Templar churches in Scandinavia offer several clues in support of these theories. (However, I do not subscribe to follow-up theories connecting the Templars advanced scientific knowledge--if they had any--to non-Christian symbolism or practices, or to the Masons.)

DVCS: The Rose

In The Da Vinci Code the rose plays a prominent role in the story's line-up of "sacred feminine" and pagan symbols tied to the Holy Grail. But the rose is just as strong in Christian symbology, and its inclusion in churches should not be viewed as unusual.

First, one of Jesus' Messianic titles is "The Rose of Sharon", which is an actual flower found in Palestine's green valleys (and referenced in the Old Testament book, Song of Solomon 2:1). This rose (or lily) has puzzled scientists and scholars alike. You can view the parrallels of this enigmatic rose with the person of Christ at this very interesting website.

Second, the rose is prominent in the seal of Reformation founder, Martin Luther (and thus throughout Lutheran symbology). This seal has come to represent the Protestant movement started by Luther and could have been a way for a church to mark itself as being of that line of thinking.

Fake America

I applaud Rush Limbaugh for many things, not the least of which is his endless optimism concerning "the American experiment". But my own optimism is waning. As a solidly conservative Christian American, I should be rejoicing in things such as the Gay Marraige Amendment. But even the most sacred of ideals provides little enjoyment for me. And it's more than just disgust that such an amendment should even have to be proposed in the first place to ban something that is not normal to the human physiology.

The American Revolution was fought to create a country that was different from the slant of the rest of the world. America is a place where neither your class in society nor the colour of your skin will not hinder the achieving of a goal; America is where you cannot be executed for the faith you choose; America is where the woman is respected and allowed to more freely choose her own course, and husband; America is t