It is often said that hindsight is 20/20. Even in the VaTech tragedy there are those who, in hindsight, say that this could have be averted if the murderer has been helped in some way or institutionalized earlier, if the administration had locked down the school after the first two murders, if other students had been allowed to carry concealed handguns to defend themselves and others, or if there existed tighter gun control laws in the state of Virginia.
This is, like the wisdom of almost all hindsight, patent nonsense. It is just as likely that if any of those changes in history had been made, the murderer may have slain 100, escaped, and duplicated the incident on 10 other campuses throughout the country.
Humans, confusing themselves for God, regularly feel that they can manipulate the script like the director of a movie and bring to bear the ending that is more pleasing to them. Foolishly they do not see that their changes bring into play other unforeseen variables that result in an end far from the intended result and regularly much worse than that of the original.
So often is the case with political action. Legislators or judges whose vision within the greater scheme is only 'seeing through a glass darkly', attempt to play God and direct the 'movie' of human society. So many of their actions have resulted in disasters. Yet, in their blindness, they fail to learn and follow the adage, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'
Whether attributed to Ben Franklin or Albert Einstein, the following is more applicable: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
So, in hindsight, I would say that the only way that this tragedy would have been averted would have been for someone to murder Cho Seung-Hui before his actions at the university. But then again, perhaps, 7 angry relatives or friends might have taken vengeance and slaughtered even more. I'm not God and therefore lacking in omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. If there were 9 of me on the U.S. Supreme Court, or 50 of me in the U.S. Senate, or 435 of me in the U.S. House of Representatives, or even 6 billion of me, my hindsight, as well as my ability to direct reality would be laughable.
Pitiful, just pitiful.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Separation of God from Culture
To listen to the portrayal of America in the modern press, both news and opinion; to view the Hollywood depiction of America, both historically and at present, is to be led toward the understanding that the United States is, and always has been, the epitome of evil in the world. George Bush is Hitler. American foreign policy is one of imperialism; of ill-treatment of other cultures that leads the rest of the world to naturally develop hatred and nurture terrorist cults. The United States attacks Sadaam to control his oil, but disregards the slaughter in Darfur because no benefit will be derived for Halliburton or ExxonMobil. Our lifestyles and policies are even credited with spearheading the destruction of the planet. America, the world's bully, seems to be despised as much at home as it is by al-Qaeda.
How could so many citizens, who are so lavishly nourished at the breast of America's luxury, mangle the fruitful nipple that feeds them with such ferocity? Countless speakers and writers are persuaded to account for this by reaction to deep-seated guilt. This guilt provides the impetus for the great number of irrational actions and charges.
In his book, The Politics of Guilt and Pity, Rousas Rushdoony addresses the presence of this guilt that well explains the incongruous activity that is spurred by today's American guilt. This book was first published in 1970.
The direction of American culture:
A common recourse is to self-atonement and self-justification. A modern term for such behavior is masochism... self-punishment as atonement...
This masochism manifests in a variety of ways:
-Psychosomatic ailments; to suffer for sins
-Gambling; losing inevitable
-Alcoholism and drug use
-Burden-bearing; self-conscious public works of virtue, worry and fretting, worship or penance
-Injustice collecting; finding pleasure in displeasure, placing oneself in positions where he will be sure to feel offended
-Will to self and others' failure; individually as well as through political and economic views and activities calculated to fulfill the urge to mass destruction, factors which enter in include the craving for individual power and the motive for revenge. Victory through defeat.
Rousas Rushdoony's description of 'the slippery slope' of humanism was written over 35 years ago, but it depicts so well the attitudes and cultural criticisms that we see happening today.
How could so many citizens, who are so lavishly nourished at the breast of America's luxury, mangle the fruitful nipple that feeds them with such ferocity? Countless speakers and writers are persuaded to account for this by reaction to deep-seated guilt. This guilt provides the impetus for the great number of irrational actions and charges.
In his book, The Politics of Guilt and Pity, Rousas Rushdoony addresses the presence of this guilt that well explains the incongruous activity that is spurred by today's American guilt. This book was first published in 1970.
The direction of American culture:
The human race, in apostasy from God, is deeply involved in a rebellious claim to autonomy and in the guilt which follows that claim. As a result of this omnipresent sense of guilt, there is an omnipresent demand for justification. The expression, "He's trying to justify himself," points to this demand by man for justification, and insistence on psychic or spiritual wholeness of health. A sense of guilt leaves a man feeling like a leaky, sinking ship: the energies must all be resolved to the repair of that breach. The psychology of the guilty man is this geared to self-defense, to spiritual survival, by means of an overcoming of the breach of guilt. The concern is a demand for salvation: the sinking ego wants to save itself, to find justification by making atonement for its guilt. [...]
A common recourse is to self-atonement and self-justification. A modern term for such behavior is masochism... self-punishment as atonement...
This masochism manifests in a variety of ways:
-Psychosomatic ailments; to suffer for sins
-Gambling; losing inevitable
-Alcoholism and drug use
-Burden-bearing; self-conscious public works of virtue, worry and fretting, worship or penance
-Injustice collecting; finding pleasure in displeasure, placing oneself in positions where he will be sure to feel offended
-Will to self and others' failure; individually as well as through political and economic views and activities calculated to fulfill the urge to mass destruction, factors which enter in include the craving for individual power and the motive for revenge. Victory through defeat.
A closely related activity is sadism, the transfer of guilt to an innocent party to reduce them to the same level of impotence and guilt. [...]
The reality of man apart from Christ is guilt and masochism. And guilt and masochism involve an unshakable inner slavery which governs the total life of the non-Christian. The politics of the anti-Christian will thus inescapably be the politics of guilt. In the politics of guilt, man is perpetually drained in his social energy and cultural activity by his over-riding sense of guilt and his masochistic activity. He will progressively demand of the state a redemptive role. What he cannot do personally, i.e., to save himself, he demands that the state do for him, so that the state, as man enlarged, becomes the human savior of man. The politics of guilt, therefore, is not directed as the Christian politics of liberty, to the creation of godly justice and order, but to the creation of a redeeming order, a saving state. Guilt must be projected, therefore, on all those who oppose this new order and age. [...]
...the caretaker state masks its tyrannical love under the name of 'social justice.'
The more a civilization advances, the deeper will its sense of sin become, because the increase of prosperity and cultural advantages will only increase the masochistic desire to pay for progress, which the individuals unconsciously believe requires atonement before enjoyment. As a result, the very liberating forces of civilization themselves call into existence the forces of enslavement. [...]
...Communism has used moral nihilism to prepare the way for passive political slavery: guilty men are more docile slaves.
...In the United States, as the nation has departed progressively from God, it has indulged progressively in a debunking of its history, in a general confession of many past faults, some often imagined. The hypocrisy of such confessions is striking: by confessing the sins of past generations, the present scholar or generation thereby implies its own superior virtues and it innocence of those sins. By the fact of such debunking or confession, it confesses also, very modestly, that wisdom is now born to us and is among us, so that confession again becomes a vehicle of pride. [...]
Again, Americans are repeatedly assured that American history is a long account of guilt, towards Indians, Negroes, minority groups, labor, Mexico, and, ultimately, all the world as well for refusing the to enter the League of Nations. This is defective history and perverse politics. Its purpose is the cultivation of guilt in order to produce a submissive populace.
More basically, the subtle indoctrination of humanistic scholarship infers that the Christian, and, in America, the Protestant in particular, is guilty because he is a Christian. The inference is that the Christian has no right to his identity; he must recognize all others and their rights, but he himself has none. The principles of the atheist must govern state and school; the wishes of all others have status before the law, and his have none. [...]
Wherever false responsibility is promoted, and ugly strategy of power is present. This strategy can be briefly summarized. First, make men feel guilty for all things and for everyone. Whatever happens on any continent or country is their responsibility and their burden. All the starving, needy, oppressed, and all the indigents, criminals, and diseased of the world are their burden, and they are guilty of evading their responsibilities if they do nothing about them.
Second, it is obvious that men cannot do much more than care for their own families. Therefore, ask them to exercise this imposed responsibility for the world by delegation, to delegate it to the state and the elite planners.
Third, by being given this world responsibility, the state and its elite planners become gods, governors of all things. They can now begin to remake the world in terms of their superior wisdom. God, after all, hardly had their superior and scientific intelligence.
Fourth, salvation has thus become the work of man. Man remakes man by statist law and action....
Rousas Rushdoony's description of 'the slippery slope' of humanism was written over 35 years ago, but it depicts so well the attitudes and cultural criticisms that we see happening today.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Yeeee-Haw!
Jason Apuzzo reviews the new film, The Reaping on LIBERTAS, a forum for conservative thought on film.
Here are some selected portions of his review:
Yeah! We Northern White Christians are just as scary, pious, hypocritical & fantatical, unsophisticated, and dumb. When do we get our due?
Here are some selected portions of his review:
The Reaping is about a small Southern town hit by 10 Biblical plagues brought on by a supposed Satan worshiper.[...]
As two dozen white Southern Christian bigots drove off in their shotgun filled pick-up trucks to kill an innocent child due to their white Southern Christian bigoted need to kill all things they don’t understand, one of them actually yelled, “Yee-Haw!”
I lived in the south for ten years. I’ve seen white Southern Christian bigots grab their shotguns and jump in pick-up trucks to kill something they didn’t understand. But no one ever yelled “Yee-Haw.”[...]
The favorite Director Scare is the screeching cat jumping out of nowhere. Cats don’t screech and jump. They may jump. They may screech. But they never jump and screech.
I grew up with cats, and never once did one jump and screech. And if one had I would’ve grabbed a shotgun and jumped in a pick-up truck to kill it.[...]
In the end, The Reaping is good for nothing more than yet another insight into how elite Hollywood views the South and religion. To them the South is filled with scary, pious, hypocritical fanatics, who are both unsophisticated and dumb. And naturally, religion has turned them ugly and worse. It’s okay for the Black Guy to be religious. For some reason Christianity isn’t threatening to Hollywood when the Christian is black. Maybe they find it cute and quaint.
Hollywood treats no other culture in the world as poorly and with such contempt as they do the Southern Christian. And yet, they probably don’t even see their own bigotry. They just believe that what they portray is fact. Of course, that’s the worst kind of prejudice. The most dangerous. The most ignorant.
Yeah! We Northern White Christians are just as scary, pious, hypocritical & fantatical, unsophisticated, and dumb. When do we get our due?
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
I recently finished reading two books by Bruce Bawer. The first is titled While Europe Slept- How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within. Bawer, from New York, moved to Europe in the late 90's.
After years of immersion in the European culture in several EU nations, Bawer came to realize that behind the outward 'high culture' there lurked a denial of the realities of the present situation.
He asks a question that summarized the situation:
I tend to think that the U.S. has slipped closer to the European political/cultural situation than Bawer seems to. The American 'brilliant elite' strives ever to catch up to their European counterparts begging for similar results.
While Europe Slept is an excellent piece of work and I highly recommend it.
The second Bruce Bawer book that I picked up was Stealing Jesus- How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity. Owing to the respect that was earned through While Europe Slept, I wanted to understand Bawer's analysis on Christianity in America.
Bawer's observations on selected portions of Christians' activity in the U.S. were well taken. We often do act in hypocritical ways. However, Bruce's views on what Christianity actually means is based only on finely selected Scriptures. He deletes the whole Old Testament, Revelation, most of Paul's epistles, and ignores most of the writings of the Gospels.
In effect, Bawer creates a Christian doctrine similar to the elitist/multicultural/diversity doctrine of the European culture that he fisks so well in While Europe Slept. In other words he creates a Christianity from his own feeling and emotion just as the European elite have done while ignoring the truth within their own culture.
Don't waste your time on Stealing Jesus.
"In the Netherlands, where political dicourse had moved beyond 'culture war' platitudes, I felt light-years removed from the foolishness of fundamentalism. There, for the first time, I allowed myself to feel the rage that had built up inside me. Yes, I loved my country, but I also realized that I wanted to be away from it-away from the idiocy, the intolerance, the puritanism. More and more I felt that I belonged in Europe." (p. 10)
After years of immersion in the European culture in several EU nations, Bawer came to realize that behind the outward 'high culture' there lurked a denial of the realities of the present situation.
"The main reason I'd been glad to leave America was Protestant fundamentalism. But Europe, I eventually say, was falling prey to an even more alarming fundamentalism whose leaders made their American Protestant counterparts look like amateurs. Falwell was an unsavory creep, but he didn't issue fatwas. James Dobson's parenting advice was appalling, but he wasn't telling people to murder their daughters. American liberals had been fighting the Religious Right for decades; Western Europeans had yet to even acknowledge that they had a Religious Right. How could they ignore it? Certainly as a gay man, I couldn't close my eyes to this grim reality. Pat Robertson just wanted to deny me marriage; the imams wanted to drop a wall on me. I wasn't fond of the hypocritical conservative-Christian line about hating the sin and loving the sinner, but it was preferable to the forthright fundamentalist Muslim view that homosexuals merited death." (p. 33)
He asks a question that summarized the situation:
"In a war between people who had rock solid beliefs and people who are capable of nuancing away pure evil, who has the advantage?" (p. 161)
I tend to think that the U.S. has slipped closer to the European political/cultural situation than Bawer seems to. The American 'brilliant elite' strives ever to catch up to their European counterparts begging for similar results.
While Europe Slept is an excellent piece of work and I highly recommend it.
The second Bruce Bawer book that I picked up was Stealing Jesus- How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity. Owing to the respect that was earned through While Europe Slept, I wanted to understand Bawer's analysis on Christianity in America.
Bawer's observations on selected portions of Christians' activity in the U.S. were well taken. We often do act in hypocritical ways. However, Bruce's views on what Christianity actually means is based only on finely selected Scriptures. He deletes the whole Old Testament, Revelation, most of Paul's epistles, and ignores most of the writings of the Gospels.
In effect, Bawer creates a Christian doctrine similar to the elitist/multicultural/diversity doctrine of the European culture that he fisks so well in While Europe Slept. In other words he creates a Christianity from his own feeling and emotion just as the European elite have done while ignoring the truth within their own culture.
Don't waste your time on Stealing Jesus.
Has Lucy Pulled Away the Football Again?
Michael Medved posts an article titled 'Biblical Liberation from Liberalism' on Townhall.com based on a verse from Leviticus.
"You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." (Leviticus 19:15)
"You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." (Leviticus 19:15)
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Good News About The Good News
Monday, March 5, 2007
Iranian Imam Receives Christ Via Satellite TV, Escapes Country
Four More Imams Are Underground Believers
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- One of the top Islamic leaders in Iran accepted Christ and left the country after facing death threats and imprisonment, according to an Iranian pastor living in the U.S.
“This man has been watching Christian TV programs for the past two years,” said Pastor Elnathan Baghestani, founder of Iran for Christ Ministries. (www.iranforchrist.com) Pastor Baghestani and his wife provide Christian programming to the Mohabat Network satellite, which broadcasts 24/7 into Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.
The imam called one of the phone counselors connected to Iran for Christ Ministries and prayed to receive Christ in early February. “The man has been watching Christian TV programs for the past two years,” Baghestani said. “He said he has believed since he began watching the programs but his salvation was sealed through his confession.”
“This man knows all the verses of the Qur’an by heart,” he added. “After he began watching, doubt began in his heart about the Islamic faith.” The man spent nine months in prison after he questioned the violence of radical Islam. Following his release from prison, he faced numerous death threats and escaped the country.
Several other religious leaders may follow suit. “He knows four other high-ranking imams that are in the same condition and want to leave Iran,” Baghestani said.
While it is illegal to own satellite dishes in Iran, many hide them on their roofs or other locations on their property. “They arrest people for having satellite dishes because they know the Christian programming is effective,” Baghestani noted.
The imam who fled left everything behind. “His salary was 700,000 of their monetary units every month,” Baghestani said. “He was honored and respected, but when the gospel came to him he lost everything,” he noted. “Now he is a poor refugee in a foreign country.”
“God is shaking the foundation of Islam in Iran,” Baghestani said. “We have been praying for some of the main government officials to come to Christ and God is answering us,” he reports. “I pray God will open more doors for us to send the gospel to the Middle East.”
(Reprinted by permission)
Iranian Imam Receives Christ Via Satellite TV, Escapes Country
Four More Imams Are Underground Believers
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- One of the top Islamic leaders in Iran accepted Christ and left the country after facing death threats and imprisonment, according to an Iranian pastor living in the U.S.
“This man has been watching Christian TV programs for the past two years,” said Pastor Elnathan Baghestani, founder of Iran for Christ Ministries. (www.iranforchrist.com) Pastor Baghestani and his wife provide Christian programming to the Mohabat Network satellite, which broadcasts 24/7 into Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.
The imam called one of the phone counselors connected to Iran for Christ Ministries and prayed to receive Christ in early February. “The man has been watching Christian TV programs for the past two years,” Baghestani said. “He said he has believed since he began watching the programs but his salvation was sealed through his confession.”
“This man knows all the verses of the Qur’an by heart,” he added. “After he began watching, doubt began in his heart about the Islamic faith.” The man spent nine months in prison after he questioned the violence of radical Islam. Following his release from prison, he faced numerous death threats and escaped the country.
Several other religious leaders may follow suit. “He knows four other high-ranking imams that are in the same condition and want to leave Iran,” Baghestani said.
While it is illegal to own satellite dishes in Iran, many hide them on their roofs or other locations on their property. “They arrest people for having satellite dishes because they know the Christian programming is effective,” Baghestani noted.
The imam who fled left everything behind. “His salary was 700,000 of their monetary units every month,” Baghestani said. “He was honored and respected, but when the gospel came to him he lost everything,” he noted. “Now he is a poor refugee in a foreign country.”
“God is shaking the foundation of Islam in Iran,” Baghestani said. “We have been praying for some of the main government officials to come to Christ and God is answering us,” he reports. “I pray God will open more doors for us to send the gospel to the Middle East.”
(Reprinted by permission)
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Cheeky Monkey
Robert C. Cheeks writes in The American Thinker about the life and thought of Alexksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn; 'Solzhenitsyn, the Prophet':
"In his corpus Isaevich teaches us the history and pathological reality of Soviet Man, who in reality very much mirrors Western Man. He also makes us aware that the foundation of the Marxist System is the Enlightenment project and the triumph of its heresies. From doubting God, to destroying God, to the Gulag, Western man's egophanic revolt results in a profound disorder of language and articulation, a destruction of the noetic symbols of transcendence, and the loss of the cosmic order. There can be little wonder, then, that modernity collapsed into relativism, nihilism, objectivism, and the resultant postmodern age is best described as the anti-philosophical triumph of "groundlessness," the epoch devoid of the meta-narrative, the age without God."
If I've said that once, I've said it a thousand times.
"In his corpus Isaevich teaches us the history and pathological reality of Soviet Man, who in reality very much mirrors Western Man. He also makes us aware that the foundation of the Marxist System is the Enlightenment project and the triumph of its heresies. From doubting God, to destroying God, to the Gulag, Western man's egophanic revolt results in a profound disorder of language and articulation, a destruction of the noetic symbols of transcendence, and the loss of the cosmic order. There can be little wonder, then, that modernity collapsed into relativism, nihilism, objectivism, and the resultant postmodern age is best described as the anti-philosophical triumph of "groundlessness," the epoch devoid of the meta-narrative, the age without God."
If I've said that once, I've said it a thousand times.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Metaxas Interview
N.R.O. editor, Kathryn Lopez interviews Eric Metaxas, author of Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce and his battle to abolish both the slave trade and then slavery in early 19th Century Britain.
The historical context: (A quote from the book taken from Rich Lowery's article, 'The Wilberforce, How faith moved a nation', also in N.R.O.)
“Slavery was as accepted as birth and marriage and death, was so woven into the tapestry of human history that you could barely see its threads, much less pull them out. Everywhere on the globe, for 5,000 years, the idea of human civilization without slavery was unimaginable.”
Lopez: "What’s the Wilberforce message for today’s politicians — besides the obvious: slavery, human trafficking, is evil?"
Metaxas: "One needs a core. If one is merely a “party man” one cannot succeed any more than one who governs by poll or focus groups. Wilberforce was an exceedingly canny politician, and he understood the political process brilliantly — but at the end of the day, he played to a constituency of One. And it needs to be said that he did it with the very greatest humility, not with any sort of moralistic or triumphalist arrogance. He didn’t think that he was God’s vector, to get back to Euclid and others. He knew that he was a sinner, saved by God’s grace. He really knew that and one can see it in how he lived, and how he treated his political opponents, with a disarming and quite extraordinary graciousness."
The historical context: (A quote from the book taken from Rich Lowery's article, 'The Wilberforce, How faith moved a nation', also in N.R.O.)
“Slavery was as accepted as birth and marriage and death, was so woven into the tapestry of human history that you could barely see its threads, much less pull them out. Everywhere on the globe, for 5,000 years, the idea of human civilization without slavery was unimaginable.”
Lopez: "What’s the Wilberforce message for today’s politicians — besides the obvious: slavery, human trafficking, is evil?"
Metaxas: "One needs a core. If one is merely a “party man” one cannot succeed any more than one who governs by poll or focus groups. Wilberforce was an exceedingly canny politician, and he understood the political process brilliantly — but at the end of the day, he played to a constituency of One. And it needs to be said that he did it with the very greatest humility, not with any sort of moralistic or triumphalist arrogance. He didn’t think that he was God’s vector, to get back to Euclid and others. He knew that he was a sinner, saved by God’s grace. He really knew that and one can see it in how he lived, and how he treated his political opponents, with a disarming and quite extraordinary graciousness."
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Black History Month
Marvin Olasky writes a piece on Townhall.com about an upcoming historic anniversay:
"I hate your little whittling sneer
Your pert and self-sufficient leer
begone, for shame
Thou dwarf with big resounding name."
This little ditty was penned by James Boswell, the famed biographer of Samuel Johnson, directed to the 5 foot giant, William Wilberforce. There were many such sentiments directed to Wilberforce during the first 20 years of his politcal career, but Wilberforce did not react in kind. Rather, he continued to press his agenda forward.
Finally, on February 23rd, 1807, the patience and determination of Wilber Wilberforce began to pay off. On this day, the British Parliament finally voted to abolish the slave trade. (It was another 30 years before the Brits abolished slavery in the Commonwealth, just 3 days before Wilberforce died.)
Olasky quotes Wilberforce, showing that his words are as applicable today in America as they were in 19th Century England, "...the national difficulties we face result from the decline of religion and morality among us. I must confess equally boldly that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies and armies as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the Gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail."
"I hate your little whittling sneer
Your pert and self-sufficient leer
begone, for shame
Thou dwarf with big resounding name."
This little ditty was penned by James Boswell, the famed biographer of Samuel Johnson, directed to the 5 foot giant, William Wilberforce. There were many such sentiments directed to Wilberforce during the first 20 years of his politcal career, but Wilberforce did not react in kind. Rather, he continued to press his agenda forward.
Finally, on February 23rd, 1807, the patience and determination of Wilber Wilberforce began to pay off. On this day, the British Parliament finally voted to abolish the slave trade. (It was another 30 years before the Brits abolished slavery in the Commonwealth, just 3 days before Wilberforce died.)
Olasky quotes Wilberforce, showing that his words are as applicable today in America as they were in 19th Century England, "...the national difficulties we face result from the decline of religion and morality among us. I must confess equally boldly that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies and armies as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the Gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail."
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Why Do They Hate Us?
Dinesh D'Souza wrote an article in the Washington Post answering personal attacks on him by critics of his newly released book, The Enemy at Home.
Some excerpts:
[...]"Contrary to the common liberal view, I don't believe that the 9/11 attacks were payback for U.S. foreign policy. Bin Laden isn't upset because there are U.S. troops in Mecca, as liberals are fond of saying. (There are no U.S. troops in Mecca.) He isn't upset because Washington is allied with despotic regimes in the region. Israel aside, what other regimes are there in the Middle East? It isn't all about Israel. (Why hasn't al-Qaeda launched a single attack against Israel?) The thrust of the radical Muslim critique of America is that Islam is under attack from the global forces of atheism and immorality -- and that the United States is leading that attack."
"Contrary to President Bush's view, they don't hate us for our freedom, either. Rather, they hate us for how we use our freedom. When Planned Parenthood International opens clinics in non-Western countries and dispenses contraceptives to unmarried girls, many see it as an assault on prevailing religious and traditional values. When human rights groups use their interpretation of international law to pressure non-Western countries to overturn laws against abortion or to liberalize laws regarding homosexuality, the traditional sensibilities of many of the world's people are violated."
[...]"In other words, bin Laden believes that the United States represents the pagan depravity that Muslims have a duty to resist. The literature of radical Islam, such as the works of Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb, resonates with these themes. One radical sheik even told a European television station a few years ago that although Europe is more decadent than America, the United States is the more vital target because it is U.S. culture -- not Swedish culture or French culture -- that is spreading throughout the world."
[...]"Contrary to the accusations of Alan Wolfe and others, I have no sympathy for bin Laden or the Islamic radicals. But I do respect the concerns of traditional Muslims, the majority in the Muslim world." (Emphases mine)
To me, it is doubtless that D'Souza makes some excellent points. But I also believe that the reasons go much deeper, but have very little to do with the urban legends that are purported by most of the talking heads.
One critic of D'Souza claims that he is siding with Jerry Falwell who stated that we were attacked due to our legitimization of abortion and homosexuality.
Although I cannot state that these attacks are a result of God's judgment, I don't have any problem with considering the possibility. God often acts in history to call people and nations to repentance. He also often uses people or nations that are even more evil than those he is warning to carry out His admonition.
Some excerpts:
[...]"Contrary to the common liberal view, I don't believe that the 9/11 attacks were payback for U.S. foreign policy. Bin Laden isn't upset because there are U.S. troops in Mecca, as liberals are fond of saying. (There are no U.S. troops in Mecca.) He isn't upset because Washington is allied with despotic regimes in the region. Israel aside, what other regimes are there in the Middle East? It isn't all about Israel. (Why hasn't al-Qaeda launched a single attack against Israel?) The thrust of the radical Muslim critique of America is that Islam is under attack from the global forces of atheism and immorality -- and that the United States is leading that attack."
"Contrary to President Bush's view, they don't hate us for our freedom, either. Rather, they hate us for how we use our freedom. When Planned Parenthood International opens clinics in non-Western countries and dispenses contraceptives to unmarried girls, many see it as an assault on prevailing religious and traditional values. When human rights groups use their interpretation of international law to pressure non-Western countries to overturn laws against abortion or to liberalize laws regarding homosexuality, the traditional sensibilities of many of the world's people are violated."
[...]"In other words, bin Laden believes that the United States represents the pagan depravity that Muslims have a duty to resist. The literature of radical Islam, such as the works of Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb, resonates with these themes. One radical sheik even told a European television station a few years ago that although Europe is more decadent than America, the United States is the more vital target because it is U.S. culture -- not Swedish culture or French culture -- that is spreading throughout the world."
[...]"Contrary to the accusations of Alan Wolfe and others, I have no sympathy for bin Laden or the Islamic radicals. But I do respect the concerns of traditional Muslims, the majority in the Muslim world." (Emphases mine)
To me, it is doubtless that D'Souza makes some excellent points. But I also believe that the reasons go much deeper, but have very little to do with the urban legends that are purported by most of the talking heads.
One critic of D'Souza claims that he is siding with Jerry Falwell who stated that we were attacked due to our legitimization of abortion and homosexuality.
Although I cannot state that these attacks are a result of God's judgment, I don't have any problem with considering the possibility. God often acts in history to call people and nations to repentance. He also often uses people or nations that are even more evil than those he is warning to carry out His admonition.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Ethics- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor, was executed by the Nazi regime in 1945. Compiled and published in 1949, his papers on ethics contain the following excerpt:
"Marriage involves acknowledgment of the right of life that is to come into being, a right which is not subject to the disposal of the married couple. Unless this right is acknowledged as a matter of principle, marriage ceases to be marriage and becomes a mere liaison. Acknowledgment of this right means making way for the free creative power of God which can cause new life to proceed from this marriage according to His will. Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder. A great many different motives may lead to an action of this kind; indeed in cases where it is an act of despair, performed in circumstances of extreme human or economic destitution and misery, the guilt may often lie rather with the community than with the individual. Precisely in this connection money may conceal many a wanton deed, while the poor man’s more reluctant lapse may far more easily be disclosed. All these considerations must no doubt have a quite decisive influence on our personal and pastoral attitude towards the person concerned, but they cannot in any way alter the fact of murder."
Bonhoeffer's writing was in opposition to the Nazi doctrine of Lebensunwertes Leben, life that is not worthy of life, and its usage to dictate life and death over the unborn as well as the 'unfit'.
In the 1930's and 1940's Germany, it was the regime controlling 'the guillotine'. In present America, it is between a woman and her doctor with the judicial regime in the background nodding in approval. Will it be long before forced euthanasia of various categories of the 'unfit' and those whose 'quality of life' do not meet arbitrary standards are similarly feted, fated, and fetid?
"Marriage involves acknowledgment of the right of life that is to come into being, a right which is not subject to the disposal of the married couple. Unless this right is acknowledged as a matter of principle, marriage ceases to be marriage and becomes a mere liaison. Acknowledgment of this right means making way for the free creative power of God which can cause new life to proceed from this marriage according to His will. Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder. A great many different motives may lead to an action of this kind; indeed in cases where it is an act of despair, performed in circumstances of extreme human or economic destitution and misery, the guilt may often lie rather with the community than with the individual. Precisely in this connection money may conceal many a wanton deed, while the poor man’s more reluctant lapse may far more easily be disclosed. All these considerations must no doubt have a quite decisive influence on our personal and pastoral attitude towards the person concerned, but they cannot in any way alter the fact of murder."
Bonhoeffer's writing was in opposition to the Nazi doctrine of Lebensunwertes Leben, life that is not worthy of life, and its usage to dictate life and death over the unborn as well as the 'unfit'.
In the 1930's and 1940's Germany, it was the regime controlling 'the guillotine'. In present America, it is between a woman and her doctor with the judicial regime in the background nodding in approval. Will it be long before forced euthanasia of various categories of the 'unfit' and those whose 'quality of life' do not meet arbitrary standards are similarly feted, fated, and fetid?
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Other White Meat
A Jeff Jacoby column on Townhall.com entitled 'The Atheists' Bleak Alternative' concludes:
"What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That is because without God, the difference between good and evil becomes purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does: "Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."
Obviously this doesn't mean that religious people are always good, or that religion itself cannot lead to cruelty. Nor does it mean that atheists cannot be beautiful, ethical human beings. Belief in God alone does not guarantee goodness. But belief tethered to clear ethical values -- Judeo-Christian monotheism -- is society's best bet for restraining our worst moral impulses and encouraging our best ones.
The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and joy."
Actually, these days, Jacoby falls short on one alternative. He didn't mention an alternative reality possible with an Islamic America.
"What is at stake in all this isn't just angels on Christmas cards. What society loses when it discards Judeo-Christian faith and belief in God is something far more difficult to replace: the value system most likely to promote ethical behavior and sustain a decent society. That is because without God, the difference between good and evil becomes purely subjective. What makes murder inherently wrong is not that it feels wrong,but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others inherently right is not that human reason says so, but that God does: "Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."
Obviously this doesn't mean that religious people are always good, or that religion itself cannot lead to cruelty. Nor does it mean that atheists cannot be beautiful, ethical human beings. Belief in God alone does not guarantee goodness. But belief tethered to clear ethical values -- Judeo-Christian monotheism -- is society's best bet for restraining our worst moral impulses and encouraging our best ones.
The atheist alternative is a world in which right and wrong are ultimately matters of opinion, and in which we are finally accountable to no one but ourselves. That is anything but a tiding of comfort and joy."
Actually, these days, Jacoby falls short on one alternative. He didn't mention an alternative reality possible with an Islamic America.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Thanksgiving
I have often marvelled that the Pilgrims held a feast of thanksgiving to God while preparing to enter the New England winter when, in the previous winter, one-half of their number had died.
Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of a day of thanksgiving to God did the very same thing in 1863; honoring God and his goodness while in the midst of a bloody civil war. This was the proclamation that set aside the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom."
"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed."
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln
And as I am the party of the 'big tent', I don't want to exclude my secular friends. To them I say, "Happy Turkey Day!" (Although it does make me wonder... Did you kill, stuff, roast, and eat a veteran on Veterans' Day?)
Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of a day of thanksgiving to God did the very same thing in 1863; honoring God and his goodness while in the midst of a bloody civil war. This was the proclamation that set aside the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom."
"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed."
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln
And as I am the party of the 'big tent', I don't want to exclude my secular friends. To them I say, "Happy Turkey Day!" (Although it does make me wonder... Did you kill, stuff, roast, and eat a veteran on Veterans' Day?)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Grudem on Townhall!
I was awfully surprised to see an article published on Townhall.com yesterday by Wayne Grudem, the author of my favorite text on systematic theology.
Excerpts from 'Memo on Prayer and the Nov. 7 Election':
"Please continue in much prayer for the election coming up November 7th." [...]
"As I think through the different branches of US government (executive, beginning with the President, then the legislative branch, and judicial branch), and think about many people in leadership at the state level, I know of many, many people who are seeking to do right for our nation and are praying earnestly that God would grant blessing and success to their efforts. Many of them openly profess their faith in Jesus Christ, and many others are unbelievers but (by God’s common grace) are genuinely seeking to do what is right for the nation and have basically good goals for the nation (or so it seems to me)."
"Particularly with regard to President Bush, I was praying this morning, asking, “Lord, if you will not help this kind of a courageous President who earnestly seeks to follow you, and continually seeks to walk in paths of righteousness, then what kind of President will you ever help?” He has been frustrated by a wayward and timid Congress, and especially by a foolish Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes to pass anything, but he himself has steadfastly done just what I (at least) had hoped he would do with regard to:"
Grudem goes on to list 20 things for which he is thankful.
He concludes:
"I can become troubled and discouraged (and astounded) by the polls that I see in the news media, but I continue to be encouraged that God is still in control of the affairs of nations (Ps. 75:6-7; Dan. 4:17; Rom. 13:1). And so, I call out to him to have mercy on us (for certainly the sins of our nation are many) and to hear the prayers of his people for the good of this nation and of the rest of the world (Matt. 6:10; 1 Tim. 2:1-2). The Lord could certainly intervene remarkably in events and in people's hearts in the next few days."
"Please pray with me for this (if you feel the same way)."
Excerpts from 'Memo on Prayer and the Nov. 7 Election':
"Please continue in much prayer for the election coming up November 7th." [...]
"As I think through the different branches of US government (executive, beginning with the President, then the legislative branch, and judicial branch), and think about many people in leadership at the state level, I know of many, many people who are seeking to do right for our nation and are praying earnestly that God would grant blessing and success to their efforts. Many of them openly profess their faith in Jesus Christ, and many others are unbelievers but (by God’s common grace) are genuinely seeking to do what is right for the nation and have basically good goals for the nation (or so it seems to me)."
"Particularly with regard to President Bush, I was praying this morning, asking, “Lord, if you will not help this kind of a courageous President who earnestly seeks to follow you, and continually seeks to walk in paths of righteousness, then what kind of President will you ever help?” He has been frustrated by a wayward and timid Congress, and especially by a foolish Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes to pass anything, but he himself has steadfastly done just what I (at least) had hoped he would do with regard to:"
Grudem goes on to list 20 things for which he is thankful.
He concludes:
"I can become troubled and discouraged (and astounded) by the polls that I see in the news media, but I continue to be encouraged that God is still in control of the affairs of nations (Ps. 75:6-7; Dan. 4:17; Rom. 13:1). And so, I call out to him to have mercy on us (for certainly the sins of our nation are many) and to hear the prayers of his people for the good of this nation and of the rest of the world (Matt. 6:10; 1 Tim. 2:1-2). The Lord could certainly intervene remarkably in events and in people's hearts in the next few days."
"Please pray with me for this (if you feel the same way)."
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wisconsin Marriage Amendment
It is indeed unfortunate that this November's midterm elections also contain the Wisconsin Marriage Amendment proposal. Not long ago an action such as this would have been thought unnecessary. Times are achangin' and the few are finding the present judicial sentiments favorable to the pressing forward of their agendas.
Perhaps it is needless to say, but I will be voting for the implementation of the amendment. Primarily, there is assuredly Biblical warrant, but also many political and cultural reasons as well.
Homosexual activity is sin.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, NASB)
Notice that at least seven elements on this list are not generally judged to be illegal in our culture, but all are nonetheless aspects of wickedness.
God takes His stand in His own congregation. He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? (Psalm 82: 1-2, NASB)
Rulers or judges that grant special rights or favors to the wicked are held responsible for those actions. The whole culture will suffer as well.
As this upcoming vote is in the public sector, the meme of 'separation of church and state' lifts its raucous voice. God has no say or place in this matter. It is as though the default position is that He doesn't exist and should have no say in governmental matters even if He did. So I shouldn't be bring that argument or philosophy to bear. Concerning these matters, however, I am not the one who first brought it up.
From the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ..."
From the Preamble of The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin:
"We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this constitution."
Nevertheless, God is no longer 'allowed' a voice. Since neither unalienable rights nor a level of equality have been endowed by the Creator, where, praytell, do they come from? The only plausible answer is that the government creates and defines them according to their sentiments at the time. Therefore The Declaration of Independence has been altered to read, "That to create and secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers without the consent of the governed."
Therein lies another reason for which I will vote for the Marriage Amendment. I wish to make it more difficult for the judicial aspect of government to create and secure a 'right' without the consent of the governed. I do not want them to redefine marriage by fiat, feelings, or sentiment, according to their rationale of what should be, contrary to that which has already been defined by tradition, natural law, common law, as well as positive law.
Power to define is power to control. For example, we have allowed a redefinition of human life. A baby is not defined as human until its head clears the birth canal. Until then you may manipulate a breech 'birth' and before the head presents, you may insert a catheter to suck out his brains. It is the moral equivalent to pithing a frog in a high school biology lab.
That which the government 'endows', the government can take away. Only the government's rights remain unalienable.
Perhaps it is needless to say, but I will be voting for the implementation of the amendment. Primarily, there is assuredly Biblical warrant, but also many political and cultural reasons as well.
Homosexual activity is sin.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, NASB)
Notice that at least seven elements on this list are not generally judged to be illegal in our culture, but all are nonetheless aspects of wickedness.
God takes His stand in His own congregation. He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? (Psalm 82: 1-2, NASB)
Rulers or judges that grant special rights or favors to the wicked are held responsible for those actions. The whole culture will suffer as well.
As this upcoming vote is in the public sector, the meme of 'separation of church and state' lifts its raucous voice. God has no say or place in this matter. It is as though the default position is that He doesn't exist and should have no say in governmental matters even if He did. So I shouldn't be bring that argument or philosophy to bear. Concerning these matters, however, I am not the one who first brought it up.
From the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ..."
From the Preamble of The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin:
"We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this constitution."
Nevertheless, God is no longer 'allowed' a voice. Since neither unalienable rights nor a level of equality have been endowed by the Creator, where, praytell, do they come from? The only plausible answer is that the government creates and defines them according to their sentiments at the time. Therefore The Declaration of Independence has been altered to read, "That to create and secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers without the consent of the governed."
Therein lies another reason for which I will vote for the Marriage Amendment. I wish to make it more difficult for the judicial aspect of government to create and secure a 'right' without the consent of the governed. I do not want them to redefine marriage by fiat, feelings, or sentiment, according to their rationale of what should be, contrary to that which has already been defined by tradition, natural law, common law, as well as positive law.
Power to define is power to control. For example, we have allowed a redefinition of human life. A baby is not defined as human until its head clears the birth canal. Until then you may manipulate a breech 'birth' and before the head presents, you may insert a catheter to suck out his brains. It is the moral equivalent to pithing a frog in a high school biology lab.
That which the government 'endows', the government can take away. Only the government's rights remain unalienable.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Quote of the Day
“When a child of God looks in the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he is changed into the image of God by the Spirit of God to the glory of God.” --Warren Wiersbe
Friday, June 09, 2006
Jawbone of the Church Fathers
Although I have some minor disagreements with this author's view of human nature and organic inclinations, his general point is very well taken.
Youth When the Church Was Young
"The Church Fathers had a distinctive approach to youth ministry.
Now, don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t uncovered any evidence that St. Ambrose led teens on ski trips in the nearby Alps. Nor is there anything to suggest that St. Basil sponsored junior-high dances in Pontus. (There’s not even a hint of a pizza party.) In fact, if you check all the documentary evidence from all the ancient patriarchates of the East and the West, you won’t find a single bulletin announcement for a single parish youth group.
Yet the Fathers had enormous success in youth and young-adult ministry. Many of the early martyrs were teens, as were many of the Christians who took to the desert for the solitary life. There’s ample evidence that a disproportionate number of conversions, too, came from the young and youngish age groups.
How did the Fathers do it?
They made wild promises.
They promised young people great things, like persecution, lower social status, public ridicule, severely limited employment opportunities, frequent fasting, a high risk of jail and torture, and maybe, just maybe, an early, violent death at the hands of their pagan rulers.
The Fathers looked young people in the eye and called them to live purely in the midst of a pornographic culture. They looked at some young men and women and boldly told them they had a calling to virginity. And it worked. Even the pagans noticed how well it worked."...
..."What made the Church attractive in the third century can make it just as attractive in the twenty-first. In the ancient world and in ours, young people want a challenge. They want to love with their whole being. They’re willing to do things the hard way — if people they respect look them in the eye and make the big demands. These are distinguishing marks of youth. You don’t find too many middle-aged men petitioning the Marines for a long stay at Parris Island. It’s young men who beg for that kind of rigor.
No young man or woman really wants to give his life away cheaply. Tarcisius knew better. So do the kids in our parishes."... (Emphasis mine)
(H.T. Joe Carter.)
Crossposted at Grandpa John's.
"The Church Fathers had a distinctive approach to youth ministry.
Now, don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t uncovered any evidence that St. Ambrose led teens on ski trips in the nearby Alps. Nor is there anything to suggest that St. Basil sponsored junior-high dances in Pontus. (There’s not even a hint of a pizza party.) In fact, if you check all the documentary evidence from all the ancient patriarchates of the East and the West, you won’t find a single bulletin announcement for a single parish youth group.
Yet the Fathers had enormous success in youth and young-adult ministry. Many of the early martyrs were teens, as were many of the Christians who took to the desert for the solitary life. There’s ample evidence that a disproportionate number of conversions, too, came from the young and youngish age groups.
How did the Fathers do it?
They made wild promises.
They promised young people great things, like persecution, lower social status, public ridicule, severely limited employment opportunities, frequent fasting, a high risk of jail and torture, and maybe, just maybe, an early, violent death at the hands of their pagan rulers.
The Fathers looked young people in the eye and called them to live purely in the midst of a pornographic culture. They looked at some young men and women and boldly told them they had a calling to virginity. And it worked. Even the pagans noticed how well it worked."...
..."What made the Church attractive in the third century can make it just as attractive in the twenty-first. In the ancient world and in ours, young people want a challenge. They want to love with their whole being. They’re willing to do things the hard way — if people they respect look them in the eye and make the big demands. These are distinguishing marks of youth. You don’t find too many middle-aged men petitioning the Marines for a long stay at Parris Island. It’s young men who beg for that kind of rigor.
No young man or woman really wants to give his life away cheaply. Tarcisius knew better. So do the kids in our parishes."... (Emphasis mine)
(H.T. Joe Carter.)
Crossposted at Grandpa John's.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Joshua's Dirty Jawbone
Joshua, the son of Nun, had been chosen from among the millions of his people to succeed the great Moses in leading them in the conquest of the lands of Canaan. He was at the top of his game. Some say that he had a favorite song that he would sing often throughout the day. My Hebrew is weak, but his lyrics roughly translate, "Oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful day. I have this wonderful feeling, everything's going my way." He had found favor with both God and man, and was feeling pretty good about himself and his prospects.
Here are a few excerpts concerning Joshua's status:
So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him." Numbers 27:18 (ESV)
And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. Deut. 34:9 (ESV)
And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you." Deut. 31:23 (ESV)
The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." Joshua 3:7 (ESV)
And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous." Joshua 1:16-18 (ESV)
Whoa! Joshua, dude, you may need a bigger hat size! Just then, of course, God stepped in to assure that things were put into distinct perspective.
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No!!" Joshua 5:13-14a (ESV)
No?? How could you possibly say that to Joshua, the esteemed leader of the Israelite horde, who was just about to conquer several strong, established nations?
The stranger continued, "...but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come." Joshua 5:14b (ESV)
Joshua was sharp enough to understand what he meant, "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." Isaiah 48:11 (ESV) By grace Joshua was given his place through providence, just as others had, even, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show MY power in you, and that MY NAME might be proclaimed in all the earth."" Romans 9:17 (ESV)
" And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?" Joshua 5:14c (ESV)
Out of the corner of his eye, Joshua saw and heard Job lying face down next to him, having a similar conversation, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:2-6 (ESV)
Joshua also heard the commander, the Christ, saying to those who relied on their own righteous acts and expected favor from God, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham." Luke 3:8 (ESV)
What does my Lord say to his servant? The proper perspective from which to go forward.
Here are a few excerpts concerning Joshua's status:
So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him." Numbers 27:18 (ESV)
And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. Deut. 34:9 (ESV)
And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you." Deut. 31:23 (ESV)
The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." Joshua 3:7 (ESV)
And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous." Joshua 1:16-18 (ESV)
Whoa! Joshua, dude, you may need a bigger hat size! Just then, of course, God stepped in to assure that things were put into distinct perspective.
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No!!" Joshua 5:13-14a (ESV)
No?? How could you possibly say that to Joshua, the esteemed leader of the Israelite horde, who was just about to conquer several strong, established nations?
The stranger continued, "...but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come." Joshua 5:14b (ESV)
Joshua was sharp enough to understand what he meant, "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." Isaiah 48:11 (ESV) By grace Joshua was given his place through providence, just as others had, even, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show MY power in you, and that MY NAME might be proclaimed in all the earth."" Romans 9:17 (ESV)
" And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?" Joshua 5:14c (ESV)
Out of the corner of his eye, Joshua saw and heard Job lying face down next to him, having a similar conversation, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:2-6 (ESV)
Joshua also heard the commander, the Christ, saying to those who relied on their own righteous acts and expected favor from God, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham." Luke 3:8 (ESV)
What does my Lord say to his servant? The proper perspective from which to go forward.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Mephibosheth's Jawbone
If you are anything like me, you might often spend time daydreaming about living the lives and having the talents and disciplines of certain other people. I can become Michael Jordan, Hank Aaron, Brett Favre, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan in an instant. In my ‘spiritual’ dreams, I become Noah, Moses, Joseph, David, Peter, or Paul. Heroes all. Of course, I have never demonstrated the talents in sports or leadership that these men have exhibited. But in my more reality based dreams, I realize that I have a great deal of basic commonality with all these men. Each of us have someone that we can look to as a role model in our lives. That, of course, is the famous Biblical super-hero, Mephibosheth. Particulars of his biography can be found in 2 Samuel, chapters 4, 9, 16, 19, and 21. I know I don’t have to tell the Biblical specifics since everyone is so familiar with the details of the life of this great man of God. I will, however, convey the rendition of another.
According to Jawbone’s Shorter Biographies, "Mephibosheth was the grandson of Israel’s first king, Saul. After the deaths of King Saul and Jonathan, M’sheth’s father, in battle, the young lad Mephibosheth was hidden from danger by his nanny. In his flight Mephibosheth’s feet were accidentally crippled."
"As a direct descendant of the king, Mephibosheth had a legitimate claim to the throne of Israel. His ‘disappearance’ kept him safely away from the cut-throat battle for rule of the kingdom. As he grew, he may have entertained the expectations of returning to the rule of his kingdom by means of his natural, genetic rights. Like all men, he chose to believe in his own rule over that of God’s chosen king. He could talk the talk, but, due to his crippling, he couldn’t walk the walk."
"One day, the King had Mephibosheth located and forcibly brought before him. Custom in that culture required a brutal death to all rivals to the throne. In facing his condemnation, Mephibosheth realized his fate and prepared himself for his just reward. He fell down before the King in the manner of a servant. To his surprise, the King not only comforted him and spared his life, but also restored land and possessions to him and even allowed him to be seated at the King’s own table as one of his sons. Instead of puffing up in pride, Mephibosheth asked why the King had ‘noticed a dead dog like me?’ The King stated that it was because of a promise to another. Mephibosheth was spared death by the work of another."
"While the King left his kingdom through rebellious threats, Mephibosheth was tricked into remaining behind. During his King’s absence, he suffered the loss of all things, but cared nothing for it. He did not even care for himself, but only for the safe return of his King. When it came to pass, he rejoiced. We aren’t told about his later life, but can assume he faithfully served as a son until his death."
Mephibosheth portrays an accurate picture of all of us– crippled and weak, but still foolishly seeking autonomy from God our King. By grace he was forcibly brought to his senses and reality, and was enabled to reject his own specious claims and fully accept subservience to God’s chosen King. In the King’s absence, his life was consumed with His return. Noah, Moses, Joseph, David, Peter, and Paul all followed in Mephibosheth’s footsteps. I don’t know about Jordan, Favre, Aaron, Churchill, or Reagan. I can only speculate and hope.
Mephibosheth is a hero among heroes. None of the ‘greats’ ever strayed from their attitudinal kinship to him.
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