QotD: Newsweek's heresy continued

"No matter what one thinks about gay rights—for, against or somewhere in between —this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism... to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt—it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition."

Jon Meachem, editor of Newsweek magazine, commenting (here) on the heretical article that was their cover story (blogged upon here). The rest of his commentary is equally repugnant.

And right before Sunday. During advent. I think I need a shower.

Ice

It's a gray Texas day. The sky is gray. The grass is gray. The streets are gray. The trees are gray. It might even seem like winter if not for the fact that tomorrow the temperature will zorch into the 70's.

Growing up in Minnesota, the lakes had already frozen by December. My first hockey practice went down on Meadow Lake just behind Ed Hels' house. He was the coach. He had shoveled off a swatch of ice piling the snow peripherally to create a makeshift rink. Pretty funny watching a bunch of six-year old kids donned with oversized helmets and so many clothes that when they fell, they bounced and could not right themselves.

Have you ever skated on a frozen lake? It sounds different than skating upon an indoor rink. The blade of the skate cuts into the ice and reverberates upon the water below. When it's really cold, it sounds like cutting steel.

And ice creaks and moans. As temperatures change, the ice expands and contracts. I guess that's the technical reason, but when your out skating and the ice pops, the sound echoing along the sheet and through the water, it sounds haunted.

Living in the north, you knew that winter had finally settled in when the ice houses began to appear on the lakes. I guess folks from the south never think about how those ice houses get out there, so one day when my Texas-raised bride and I were in Wisconsin visiting my family I showed her. We went down to Lake Mendota and I took the car right out onto the lake. Poor girl freaked like I'd signed her death sentence. After a donut or two, I took her ashore where in her mind the ground was firmer.

Not many folks driving onto the lakes in Texas. Occasionally, they'll drive into the lakes when they forget to set the brake while backing the boat trailer into the water.

I hope you will take time this season to hearken back to the joys of your childhood winters and Christmases and give thanks to God for such delicious experiences.

And if you get the chance to skate on a lake, don't pass it by... no matter how cold!

(In the second photo, Mille Lacs Lake has what appears to be roads but are just routes traced through the snow and onto the ice by cars & trucks getting out to their ice houses)

Lost horizons: The theology of George Bush

It's getting that you cannot tell the Democrats from the Republicans. Excise abortion and homosexuality from a political debate and they have become interchangeable. That fact saddens me in the waning days of George Bush's presidency. Rather than tame a government that has become feral and vicious, he fed the beast. No, he gorged the beast.

His service to us regarding national security could hardly have been better. As Commander-in-Chief, well done. But regarding the restoration of a svelte federal government, not so much.

On the heels of this, I caught the Associate Press' treatment of his interview on ABC News' Nightline (here), and my heart sank some more. Diane Sawyer, as moderate and objective as Keith Olbermann or Harry Reid, confronted him on things Christian, and if one were to grade his responses against what the Bible says, he got an "F" on his test. Deepak Chopra and Oprah, though, titter with glee over the President's responses.

Having to think on your feet, under the lights and with a microphone near to up your nose, can melt the stablest facade, but that's why the man gets the big bucks. He's supposed to be able to think on his feet.

Considering the volatility of the topic, you'd think he'd be especially versed on the role of Christ in his life and in his decision-making as president. As such, I can't blame media pressure on these tepid responses. No, this is the stuff the President believes.

• "I don't think (the Bible's) incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution."

Vague. Evolutionists when speaking of evolution refer to transitions between kinds, reptile to bird, fish to mammal, Democrat to Republican, but those who hold to what the Bible teaches will differentiate between macro-evolution (transition between kinds) and micro-evolution (adaptation within kinds). The latter the Bible-believer will affirm while the former he will deny.

• "I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it (the Bible)."

You can learn a lot from a high school mathbook, too. Still, these responses sound like someone who has not examined the evidence or one who has not thought through their responses very well. They sound like someone who hasn't been walking with Christ for very long, something I would not expect from a man who has been walking with Christ for well over a decade. But the worst was yet to come.

• "The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs. "I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people," Bush said."

Aw, man. I nearly urped.

And so, George Bush, the big government guy, isn't that different from Barack Obama, the big government guy. Seems they're theological bedfellows, too.

Nebuchadnezzar did a whole lot better when he had the microphone to explain what God Almighty had done in his life (here). Would that Mr. Bush had used this opportunity to the glory of God instead of taking the safe and lukewarm route.

(You can see the full ABC video here)

Newsweek's garbage

When I posted yesterday, I failed to include the Bible link to Pastor Albert Mohler's examination of Newsweek's sewage. Oops. Like I tell my kids, proofread and then proofread, again.

Anyway the link's fixed. If you want easy access, go to Pastor Mohler's essay here.

God's peace, siblings!

You are no longer welcome

The dam has burst.

Western civilization thrived because of Christ. When man subjected himself under the mighty hand of God, denying and restraining his sinful nature through the power of the Holy Spirit and loving his neighbor by seeking his good and holding accountable his sin, civilization as we know it took root.

Dinesh D'Souza spoke on this very point at a leadership conference in Colorado Springs for Hillsdale College (adapted here). Man tended his plot, helped his neighbor tend his plot, and restrained those without law from harming either one.

Our nation is so very richly blessed because the high watermark for this thinking occurred in the middle of the 18th century during the formulation of our nation. Law, founded upon God's law and natural law (also God's), erected a high and secure dam against the tide of man's depravity.

Throughout the 19th century, the dam held, but the centrality of man in Enlightment thinking began to wear. Man as evolved and man apart from God began to take hold in the universities of Europe and infected the theologies of American seminaries. As man loosed himself from God, he loosed himself from God's laws and the dam began to leak like John McCain's press corps.

The 20th century infused relative law into American jurisprudence. Jurors began to dismiss the original intent of our Founders regarding Law, and incorporated social whim. Right and wrong begin to dissolve amidst the incessant dripping of sociological silliness. No, the devil didn't make me do it, but Burger King might have. Or Folgers. Or Jack Daniels. Or Hugh Hefner. But it is most certainly not my fault.

Despite that, I had hoped that the dam would hold. It was such a work of art. It reflected the truth of the Creator like Hubble's mirrors. But the dam is down.

Overreacting, you say? Consider current events in light of California's Proposition 8. If unfamiliar, with Prop 8 Californians affirmed the obvious, that marriage is between a man and a woman. You'd think this would affirm the dam's integrity. Every state that has voted on marriage has recognized affirmed God-ordained marriage. Notice what has happened since the election.

• Churches violated. Homosexuals have invaded churches that boldly and rightly spoke out in favor of Prop 8, interrupting worship services, tossing crude fliers, shouting crude epithets and behaving crudely. Little was done to the disrupters.
  
• Mormon's targeted. While I believe Mormonism to be heretical in light of biblical Christianity, their stance against sexual sin exhibits greater courage toward their documents than most Christians show toward theirs. Because of this stance, they have had unleashed upon them the full wrath of the homosexual community with Books of Mormon burned on the doorsteps of their church. What have you heard about the search for those who have threatened the LDS?
  
• Hollywood. Did you like Nacho Libre? Swell. Jack Black and others have created a musical with Mr. Black portraying Christ that rips the integrity of the Bible mocking fundamental doctrines and mocking the Son of God all to discredit those who supported traditional marriage. Hue? Cry? Nope. Just the sound of silence.
  
• Newsweek (linked here). The cover story: The Religious Case for Gay Marriage. The precis is equally charming:

  Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.

If you're a Bible-believing Christian, you understand the absurdity of such an assertion (if you'd like some biblical guidance through the Newsweek article go here). During Christmas and Easter, you can count on Time and Newsweek unleashing some of the most unbiblical treatments of biblical topics in all journalism. Prop 8 simply provided the fodder.

But it's not just Proposition 8 where Christians and God are being dismissed. Kathleen Parker, conservative journalist (in name only), has called upon the Republican Party to heal itself by distancing itself from the Religious Right. Only by jettisoning this obsession with abortion and homosexuality can conservatives regain their political voice, asserts Ms. Parker.

Hollywood, the homosexual community, liberal journalists and now centrist journalists state that those who hold to the Bible, biblical Christians, have no voice in the public arena. God and His word may not be used as a point of argument in the public nor the political realm. That is what is being asserted within all of these events.

Where is the public outcry against such censorship and against such bigotry? Where are the voices of elected officials denouncing such affronts against civility, against civilization, and against God?

The dam is decimated and the torrent crashes down the valley. The enmity and loathing toward those who name Christ will only increase. The silence from those who support Christ but don't want to get swept away will grow more haunting.

Life has been easy in a tranquil and protected valley. No longer. The time to retreat in cowardice is at hand. Run, if you fear. Run!

Or stand upon the rock of Jesus Christ.

- There is no other argument that matters in a world racing toward hell. Christ.
- No argument surpasses Christ when it comes to defending the unborn.
- No argument overrules Christ when it comes to indicting our sin.

Will we be overwhelmed by the flood of American decadence for the glory of God? May He give us the courage to stand for His name. May we stand with grace and dignity toward our enemies.

And may God divert the tide and reestablish the levee in our time.

A more perfect "union?"

Unions served America well in the day when some industry moguls took brutal advantage of its workers. No longer.

Heroes

How's your holiday season? Lights up yet? Tree? Shopping done? Have you lost Christ somewhere in the midst of the extraneous already?

Pilots, when they are flying on their instruments in the clouds, have something called an attitude indicator that indicates the planes orientation to the earth. It tells the pilot climb or dive and bank. High performance aircraft, upon the completion of dogfighting or acrobatics, had to ensure their attitude indicator was properly oriented to the "wings-level," because the instrument would tumble and indicate erroneous attitude. To "right" the attitude indicator, the pilot would reset it or "recage it."

Would you like to "recage" your holiday "attitude indicator"? Read Ollie North's encounter with a real hero here. All of the superficial will melt away.

Yes, God is good!

Indictment at Wal-Mart

I missed Black Friday. I was tucked away, all snug in my bed. I will be next year, too. And the year after that. I ventured out during one BF a few years back. A living nightmare. Not worth it for the ten dollars saved.

What happened at the Long Island Wal-Mart one week ago, customers (people) stampeding a part-time employee to death, provides ample impetus on many levels for staying under the covers.

The other night on the docket at Bill O'Reilly's night court, two of his Barbie-doll talking heads pitched their two cents into the opinion bowl about what the legal outcome of this travesty should be. Here were the possibilities that zorched through my mind before they opined:

a) The store worker stood foolishly before the throng. It's his fault

b) Wal-Mart should have expected such a push at store opening and either hired more security or come up with some plan to prevent the crashing wave of humanity.

c) Society in general holds the blame for making such a big deal out of Black Friday

d) The folks that trampled the man to death for a TV should be charged with manslaughter.

How do you think Bill's lady lawyers leaned? B. They believed the courts would hang Wal-Mart.

I tried to shake the cobwebs from my mind thinking I'd started to drift into the realm just shy of sleep where things melt into bizarre. Nope. Still wide awake, and that's what they were saying. Wal-Mart should have seen this coming.

Like McDonald's should have predicted 350 lb. Americans? Like Smith & Wesson should have predicted Jesse James? Like God should have predicted Ted Bundy?

No pulse to be found in civility. The expectations for personal responsibility in the public arena? Dead.

The cops should be hanging "Wanted" posters with photos from the security cams of every person in that mass who walked over or pushed past the man being stomped to death. Everyone should be charged with manslaughter.

Furthermore, each of those folks should have to pay Wal-Mart for damages to its property and for the soiling of its community image for the barbarity that occurred on their premises.

I am responsible for my actions. Not my Mom & Dad. Not my kids, not my bride. Not my boss & not my neighbor. Not chocolate, coffee or Big Macs. Me. Hold me accountable for my actions. It's biblical. It's American.

But no. We bailout banks that squander money. We toss cash at car companies that cave to crazy union demands. Some even want us to apologize to the Middle East and the world for 9-11. Nuts!

Law standing on its head and society laughing at the comedy. Yikes.

Socialized medicine: Oh, Canada

Here's why we don't want the government involved in our medical care:

"Emergency rooms in Canada are so crowded that patients are dying while they wait to be treated, Canadian doctors said (last month). Treatment is free in Canada's national health care system, and at many hospitals packed ambulances idle outside for hours because there is no place to leave patients. . . . 'We've had people have heart attacks in the waiting room, people seize in the waiting room, and patients have miscarriages in the waiting room,' said Dr. Brian Rowe of the University of Alberta Hospital. 'It's like a Third World country.'"

And we want this? Am I missing something?

Excerpted from The Week from within Ross MacKenzie's column

"Terrorism" by any other name

**An afterthought: I came across this quote by Jay Nordlinger an hour after I wrote this post:

"About the atrocities in Bombay, I will say only this — something you have heard many, many times: There is no negotiating with or appeasing these people; they must be faced down, until they don’t bother us anymore. They are the same, really, wherever they strike: Bali, London, Madrid, New York . . . They are Islamists, or Islamofascists, and the civilized world must round on them, until they die or quit. This is a war of civilization against barbarism. All the rest is a matter of details."

And a little later in the same article...

"Some Indians are pointedly identifying the terrorists as “Pakistani.” And they are, in some sense. But in a more important sense: They are Islamists, or Islamofascists. It doesn’t matter where they’re from — whether Pakistan or India or the Philippines or Egypt or Amsterdam or Marin County. They are Islamist terrorists, and they must be faced down until they bother us no more.

"Or did I say that already?"

Now to my original post...

----------------------------------

I offer here three political cartoons from over the weekend. Note what they have in common.

By Steve Breen

By Glenn Foden

By Lisa Benson

YES, all three have elephants, but that's not the target at which I'm shooting. YES, two have snakes, but cobras, like elephants, have symbolized India for years. Here's a fourth cartoon. No elephants. No reptiles. But the same thing in common.

By Scott Stantis

Ah, "terrorism." There's the rub.

What a horrible euphemism we've created. You might as well say that we battled blitzkrieg in the 1940's and fought a War on Trenches two-plus decades before that. Terrorism flows like poisoned water from the well of an ideology. It is a symptom of the cancer that ravages our planet. Most of the time it remains unseen and then without warning, it flares into a malignant tumor.

Why do politicians and journalists (and cartoonists) for the most part refuse to insert Islam as the impetus behind these atrocities? Why must they couch it with adjectives like radical, extremist, way-out-there-in-the-nether-regions, wacko, etc, if they identify it at all?

Why? Theo van Gogh. European cartoonists. Salman Rushdie. Critiquing Islam or Muhammad has become akin to suicide on the European continent, and because we refuse to identify the threat, it has become hate speech in America. You risk losing your job, exorbitant fines, or imprisonment for declaring that that against which we fight has been instigated by those practicing purist Islam.

We have been cowed. We don't want to offend. We don't want to lose our heads. And so we ignore the Saudi-funded Islamic schools going in down the street in major metropolises across our land. Even President Bush, a man I respect greatly, buckles and refers to it as a religion of peace.

Wait for the next major explosion. Once again, reporters will be running around like chickens with their heads lopped off trying to determine why anyone would do such a thing. Who could be behind such hideous acts? They might even pry open the door and see the sinister source, but fearing for their very lives, they'll secure the door and once again label the monster "Terror."

And the malignancy will spread--unseen and undisturbed--until the next tumor erupts.

In my neighborhood.