Climate Cultists

The world could end tomorrow....for you. Hell, it could end today. That's right, every moment you're living, you're avoiding the apocalypse and have escaped the inevitable doom all humans face. It's called death and it's appointed to all of us.

Christians though, believe that a catastrophic end is inevitable, and through the ages, different dates and times have been set. Currently, people are nervous because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The Dutch seem to be particularly concerned:

The Dutch-language de Volkskrant newspaper said it spoke to thousands of believers in the impending end of civilization, and while theories on the supposed catastrophe varied, most tied the 2012 date to the end of the Mayan calendar, Radio Netherlands reported Monday.

De Volkskrant said many of those interviewed are stocking up on emergency supplies, including life rafts and other equipment.

Some who spoke to the newspaper were optimistic about the end of civilization.

"You know, maybe it's really not that bad that the Netherlands will be destroyed," Petra Faile said. "I don't like it here anymore. Take immigration, for example. They keep letting people in. And then we have to build more houses, which makes the Netherlands even heavier. The country will sink even lower, which will make the flooding worse."

Earlier this year, some Russians holed up in caves and had to come out for health reasons. They'd be spared from the coming darkness while you suckers got torched. Last month, an American cult leader, convinced that he is one of the two witnesses (his wife is the other one, evidently) of Revelation fame, came back from Israel without embarrassment when the world didn't end according to his predictions.

At the one end of the spectrum, there's the manipulative cultists preparing for the world's end. Lead by a narcissistic and ego-driven (usually) man the one truth that can be counted on is this: his followers will make him very rich. Money seems to go hand-in-hand with the absolute power the disciples cede to the cult leader.

While I have a visceral dislike for cults generally, I figure the biggest harm is to the followers themselves. They usually turn on their families and give enormous amounts of cash to some idiot, but oh well. That's their choice and they are usually adhering to some fairly strict dogma which can make them decent citizens if they're following the Bible. As long as they aren't interested in imposing their skewed worldview on everyone else, they can worship how they want. It's a free country.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are secular cultists. Big sums of money, emotionalism, exclusionary status, gurus, saviors, and dogma define these guys as much as the "christianists" they like to mock. Maxed Out Mama says this:

Well, actually, I haven't seen the Pope demanding that those who are sure that God doesn't exist be put on trial. That's why I think this brand of climate science is a cult. It's not just a religion, it's a cult. And on DU, there are some true believers:

7. We're talking about CRIMES against humanity, the planet - billions of lives are at stake

Spreading doubt about climate change IS a crime, IMHO. Climate change is a PROVEN FACT, and unless we take immediate steps to rein it in, will kill BILLIONS of people over the next century. That doesn't even begin to take into account the countless species that will become EXTINCT.

This isn't about free speech. The time for debate is OVER, there is no more debate - how can you debate something that is a proven scientific fact? But unlike the "debate" over evolution, this one is going to have deadly consequences.

Darned if I know whether to laugh or cry. Hundreds of years of the Enlightenment dumped in one fell swoop.

Maybe there will be a transcript to which we can refer for the real story. I've explained as simply as possible why I believe the IPCC runaway CO2-forced warming theory is falsified, but I'd never claim that people who disagree with me should be tried for crimes against humanity!!!

Here's the problem with the global warming zealots: they don't believe in God or divine law or an overarching morality. They are god, they make the law and it is their morality that counts. In addition, not only do they want to adhere to their wacked out belief system they want to impose it on everyone.

The scary part: it's working.

In the absence of a cogent belief system, any old idea will march in take roost. Because so much is on the line and because no real Savior is coming, according to the secularists, they toss out reason to believe in a man, a myth, a legend. So Obama gets messianic status. Global warming is the religion of true believers. And socialism is the saving grace of humanity.

Christianity can be misused and abused and as the world gets more topsy-turvy, cults will abound. The absence of God has not been the presence of scientific enlightenment, unfortunately. Just the contrary. The Climate Cultists prove that.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News

On Karma

In my last post I asked, "how am I going to sleep with my blood pressure this high?" The answer: I'm not. So what to do but come up with more spleen venting for my beloved readers. Now, we've already established that I'm thoroughly pissed off and it's probably a truism that one should not drive while intoxicated nor blog while infuriated, but hey, I live on the edge, baby. So here goes....

Rachel Lucas discusses Karma--you know, what goes around comes around--and flaming fucknozzles. Go read for yourself, but she makes an interesting point:

I’m sure the 80,000 dead people got their just desserts for personally not being nice to the Dalai Lama. He’s a friend of Sharon’s! You be NICE, peasants! Or karma will destroy you and everything you own.

Technically, Karma's force follows you into the next life, according to Webster, thus Al Gore will be coming back as a bloated dung beetle next time around (what could be better energetically speaking?):

the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence

Anyway, what most dillweeds use as Karma they usually meld with the biblical parable of reaping and sowing ala Galatians 6:7 and they get both wrong:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature^[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

And still, this is ultimate judgment. As in, a scumbag can prance through life pretty much unscathed and still get it in the afterlife. In this life, shit happens to everyone. (Matthew 5:45) Ecclesiastes 9:11 says it best:

I saw something else under the sun. The race isn't [won] by fast runners, or the battle by heroes. Wise people don't necessarily have food. Intelligent people don't necessarily have riches, and skilled people don't necessarily receive special treatment. But time and unpredictable events overtake all of them.

Shit. Happens. Deal. With. It.

Now some people (my friend's ex-husband) are such assholes that their actions repeatedly reap asshole consequences (getting fired over and over and over). Is that Karma? Is that God's hand? I think it's just being an asshole and people hating you.

This idea causes people discomfort. Christians often say "God willing" as some sort of mantra. Muslims say "insh'allah" (if Allah wills). Mexicans say "manana". Oh wait, that means tomorrow. Bottom line, too many people wait around as an excuse to not take responsibility for where their life is now. They wait so they came blame God if things don't go right.

And at the other end of the spectrum, New Agers believe that everything in the universe, big "U", is a function of the person's beliefs. Reality itself bends to our own personal will. So, the Chinese people, on some level wanted or believed they deserved this earthquake and the earthquake manifested. Ditto the people of Myanmar. And in that case, the people believed bad Karmic actions happened and were manifested.

I'm rereading a book by Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life which is a precurser to The Secret. A mentor suggested I read it when I was in college and I did and I thought it was unmitigated crap. Well, age and life experiences can moderate our perspective and a friend suggested I read it again. Here's the essence of the book, summed up in the first sentence of the first chapter:

Life is really very simple. What we give out, we get back.
And,
We are 100% responsible for all our experiences.

And by all, Ms. Hay means all. Even the abuse you took as a kid, on some level, you're responsible for. The earthquake in China, the people are responsible for. The cyclone in Myanmar, the people are responsible for. The Holocaust, the Jewish people are responsible for. The ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, the people are responsible for. And on and on... This seems patently absurd. Shit doesn't just happen, people want shit to happen so it happens.

This thought process misses a tiny distinction: rather than responsibility for all experiences, after a certain age, we are responsible for our reaction to all our experiences. That is, how we interpret and respond to our experiences is our responsibility, but owning every experience takes away the free will of all the other people around. It makes no sense. And this warped thinking has infected the brains of far too many people and it has real world consequences. Ironically, the philosophy of God micromanaging isn't so far from the individual (we are all God) micromanaging life--we are under no obligation to do anything because nothing is in our control on the one hand or we only control our own experience on the other. Either way, everyone else is on their own--either God will take care of it or the poor sufferer will. And in the Western world, where many don't suffer much at all, the all-consuming god-self-complex means taking everything on because the world will fall apart if my caring action isn't taken right now!

Dumbasses like Sharon Stone contemplate the un-niceness of leaders rather than dip into their significant pile of dough when people are dying of misery because they are morally obtuse and hide their selfishness in psychobabble religion. It seems self-evident that you reach out and help people who need help whether you like their leaders' political positions or not. The people have nothing, absolutely zip, to say about Mother Nature's wrath. And the Chinese people have nearly zip to say about their communist government. They do what they are told which is why they're so pissed about their one-child policy. Scores of thousands of people are childless now, because of the earthquake and because of their government's policies. Part of this is time and chance; part of this is stupid.

Louise Hay is right about one thing: we create beliefs and live our lives based on these beliefs. So now, people make decisions based on some swirling mix of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Global Warming and psychology with little understanding of any of these religions and no understanding of science. The end result is do-nothing, feel-good, Selfism. Yes, I believe that's a new word and even if it's not, here's my definition: Selfism has one tenet--I am right because I care.

If Selfism sounds a lot like liberalism, you've hit the jackpot. It's not about actions. It's not about measurable outcomes. It's not about results. It's not about facts. It's not about objective reality. It's not about truth. It's about feelings. It's about intent. It's about words. It's about subjective experience. It's about my truth.

Karma in Sanskrit means action. It is what a person does that results in their placement for the next life. It's not how good-intentioned a person was. And this is a very Christian concept, too. Matthew 25:35-46 is well-worth reading. In fact, the whole chapter isn't about sitting on your butt waiting, but getting out there and doing. A Christian is known by his fruits...what he does--mostly what he does for others and what he does with what he is given.

Nature abhors a vacuum. And in the vacuum that has become the Western world's secular soil all sorts of peculiar ideologies are sprouting up and the unifying theme is narcissism. Selfism is a very popular religion.

Finding The Courage To Fight--UPDATE

Residents find the courage to fight the Mormans. Now, substitute Muslim for Morman through this whole article and see what you think.

Update: Knowledge of Islam makes fighting it easier. (Via Instapundit)

Someday.....

.......when I make it big, I'm gonna get to post a post like this. Just. Wow.

Prince Caspian: I'm In Love

Move over Legolas, there is another, fairer creature in these sun dappled woods and his name be Prince Caspian (actor Ben Barnes). Yesterday, I went to watch the next installment of Chronicles of Narnia. Good triumphs, evil staggers, and a war decides it. There is faith, hope, death and hubris, but those lessons were all subsumed by the foremost rule of life: Cast an incredibly hot guy with a British (was it Scottish? Irish? it was a bit brogue) accent and the movie is perfect.

Best lines of the movie:

Susan: Who are you?
Prince: I am Prince Caspian.

Yes. You. Are.


Okay, back to the movie. I got the feeling that director Adam Adamson tried to make the movie as non-spiritual as he could. He failed. The material is just too rich in morality. That doesn't mean that Aslan inhabits every scene. To the contrary, Aslan shows up late, thus the consternation of the people trying to save the world. Where does God go when things go bad and why doesn't He always save the day? You'll have to see the movie to get the answers.

If there is a weakness to the movie, it's the screenplay. It was difficult to follow the storyline and the editing seemed choppy in parts. It was saved by the acting and the strength of the plot. It was good verses evil after all, so that was uncomplicated. Why some were bad wasn't quite explained and why the badness was allowed to happen wasn't exactly explained either. I was left wondering if the badness was, in fact, the leaders of Narnia's fault. The question was never answered. Still, the flaws in the story didn't detract from the movie too irritatingly.

The set design enthralls. The effects felt more real and richer this time around. The villains were not caricatures. In fact, this wasn't you average Harry Potter flick where the acting is as fantastical as the story line. I appreciated that the bad guys acted bad for bad reasons and didn't condescend.

In fact, that's what I like about C.S. Lewis' and Tolkien, both. Neither condescends to the young reader. The moral choices are life and death and you don't have to be 30 years old and wizened by war to understand the implications. In Prince Caspian, both Peter the High King and Caspian make selfish choices that get other people killed and both muster the courage to continue on and learn and do differently next time around. The scenes were intense.

The movie earns its PG rating. While there isn't gory bloodshed, the victims of hubris come to undeserving ends and the child watching this movie will know that good people die. So if you feel like your child is too young for that lesson, don't bring him. Overall, the film is visually gorgeous and not just because Caspian is a spoonful of yummy. The Narnians, castles, ruins and effects create a paradise that you'll want to jump through the screen to join. Go see it.

I give it 4/5 stars.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News.

Rational Christians

It is possible to be Christian and be rational, but Rachel Lucas didn't used to think so. She talks about her experience with C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, a book I love. It's an interesting read.

And Then She Came Out Of The Closet

One of my favorite bloggers, The Anchoress, has always blogged in anonymity. It mattered not to me. She's a genius and a wonderful person, to boot. Well, she has decided to come out of the closet. She even has a picture. In addition, one of her best pieces of writing was written under her real name: Elizabeth Scalia. She discusses suffering and nihilism. Europe precedes America on the slope toward embracing death rather than choosing life:

But this is too sad, it is. Life is so very sad and so very beautiful. Some will scoff: "Beauty? What beauty? What kind of sick mind can find beauty in this pietà? It would be more beautiful to help your brother to end his suffering. Real love has nothing in common with pain. What is to be gained from all of this beside some medieval Catholic satisfaction in suffering?"

I can only answer that question with a question: Do you think that giving my lionhearted brother a "compassionate" needle would truly lessen our suffering, or his? By cutting short the process, do we step off the Via Dolorosa and avoid it all, or do we merely thwart a plan for our own lives? Should we steal from our brother the opportunity for him to reach out a hand and have it immediately grasped, to have everything about his existence affirmed, over and over?

Should we steal from ourselves the opportunity to love?

This is a great article to read if you've watched a loved one die or if you're in the process of facing such a trial. Her perspective caused me to pause and consider. That's usually my reaction, in fact, it is almost always my reaction to her writing: careful consideration.

I'm glad she came out of the closet. It's such a lovely face to put with such lovely writing.

Keeping Focus On The True Messiah

Well, folks, I'm going to depart from politics for a moment. For my blog readers, that's not a surprise. Lately, all I've been doing is departing from politics. For John's readers, if you haven't visited my blog, it will be a little different.

The church bells ring behind me as I sit on my friend's porch. Beyond the bell tower, I see the gulf where the sun peeks through the clouds as I listen to Ode to Joy. It is a beautiful, meaningful day for Christians around the world. My friend's children exulted in Easter baskets and delighted in found treasures. It has been magical watching another family revel in their tradition.

Holidays are a nice time to slow down, take stock and refocus on what is truly important. Some things in life are so transient and fleeting. The concept of eternity, living forever, puts the temporal in perspective. We aren't here for long and what consumes us day to day often matters little in the big scheme of things.

Now, that concept is something that bothers unbelievers mightily. They feel that belief in God makes a person lazy both in thought and action. It excuses "sin" and forgives sloth. A Christian won't reach his potential because he will wait for God's will. A Christian loses his will when he surrenders to God.

A Christian knows this is not true. A Christian is freed from having to control everything. A Christian controls what is in his power to control and has faith that God is in charge taking care of the rest. Far from absolving a person of responsibility, the Christian feels moved to do more with what he has because he has been given so much.

Okay, so maybe I will talk politics for a minute. The Messianic obsession this election cycle, the live-or-die nature of the attachment to the candidates (on the Left, does anyone feel super passionate about McCain? I think blah feelings is what you get when you're a moderate) reveals a true lack of faith generally. People look to people or people look to government which is just a bunch of people to do what people used to have faith that God would take care of.

Most of us have been recipients of Christian charity at some point in our lives. I know I have. When my sons were in the hospital and every day was a financial struggle, a church I used to attend sent me $5,000. No strings attached. They gave it in faith. And I used it in faith. It paid for food, parking, rent, everything I couldn't afford while I was at the hospital. It was humbling. It was a bit embarrassing. I had never relied on anyone for anything and it was almost more than I could bear needing it so badly. It pricked my pride.

In contrast, when my son came out of the hospital we had no insurance. We were poor by any measure. He was 4 pounds 6 ounces, we were heading into the winter season and one bout of a common cold (RSV) could kill him. I sucked up my pride once again and went to the Welfare office. After hours waiting, I talked to a very kind social worker who understood my plight but explained that we didn't qualify because our car was too new (we needed a newer car, because our old one couldn't make the trip to downtown reliably and we didn't want the car to die with me in it with a tiny, sick baby). You do qualify for food stamps, the man told me. I hung my head. No. Way. There is no way I'd go to the store and buy my food with food stamps, baby or no. I'd starve first. I politely declined and marveled at the horror and humiliation of the whole experience.

Now, you might think that I cursed the government for their arcane rules where someone barely making it couldn't qualify to have a sick child covered. That wasn't my reaction. I decided then and there that we'd have to make more money and we'd find insurance one way or another and that I would never, ever, ever step foot in a government agency that way again. It was one of the most demeaning experiences of my life.

The contrast was real. The church people gave and had faith in me, but more so in God. It wasn't about me. It was about laying up treasure. And they weren't doing it to make brownie points for the afterlife (and if they were, they've had their reward), they were helping from a place of love. The government workers had tied hands. They had rules. They had limitations. They had to be wary of scammers. They were jaded, and understandably so. Had I been more wily, I suppose I could have gamed the system. I could have lied about the car. I could have put things in other people's names. There were all sorts of things people did to comply, but at what cost to the dignity of the individual and to the fabric of society as a whole?

Believing in a man or a woman, like the Hillary and Obama zealots do, is bound to be disappointing. They are human, fallible, selfish, people. They aren't God. Today is a good day to remember who God is and who God isn't. Only one person in history rose from the dead giving hope of a perfect government to the world and that person isn't [Update: oops! I saw the error but my internet connection in Florida lacked power] running in this election.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News.

Apocalypse Now? It's The Gays Fault

Around the web, commenters shared fears about the apocalypse starting with the Red Moon. And now, an MP in Israel believes that earthquakes around the country are being caused by immoral activity:

Shlomo Benizri, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, said the tremors had been caused by lawmaking that gave "legitimacy to sodomy".

Israel decriminalised homosexuality in 1988 and has since passed several laws recognising gay rights.

Two earthquakes shook the region last week and a further four struck in November and December.

It does seem that the Judeo-Christian world is diverging further. There are the ultra-conservatives who see signs everywhere and the increasingly secularized, marginally churched who hold their noses at such archaic notions. I guess we'll find out who is right soon enough.

Naked Confessions

The Anchoress wrote a provocative piece explaining mankind's nakedness before God. It is a must-read piece. I would like to explore the yin to her yang. Where she urges us to open up and reveal ourselves fully and completely to God, it is interesting to consider how hiding hurts us.

Few people exist on this planet, who've lived any length of time, who don't know regret and shame. We've all done things that horrify us in retrospect. We violate our own code so completely that we shrivel up some, contract within ourselves and hide. We die a little, or sometimes a lot.

Underlying this dying is the notion that some sins are unforgivable. We believe we are unredeemable. For some things, there is no forgiveness. This belief separates us. We might not overtly lie, but we might not tell the whole truth either. This compounds the isolation.

This is why confession is so powerful. The act of expelling the darkness makes room for the light. James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (NASV) The confession heals us body and soul.

Which leads to another idea: Every man desires to be unconditionally loved, to be loved for who and what he is, faults and all. By withholding and hiding, men deprive themselves of the connection with their fellow man that they so seek. Revealing ourselves, as the Anchoress points out, makes us vulnerable, humbled. And yet, the only way to have full communion is to cast off all self-imposed chains, bring the self low and ironically, be free at last.

Being soul-naked is the only way to fully avail oneself of love. Physical nakedness is merely a metaphor--and how many people are happy with their naked selves? Note that James says confess that we may be healed. Holding on to shame causes dis-ease. We are eaten from within.

Many illnesses can be traced to spiritual roots: migraine headaches where a person struggles to not think, chronic sinusitis where a person holds onto unshed tears, ulcers where a person's insecurity eats away at the self, low back pain where a person feels unsupported, pneumonia where a person chokes on grief, gallstones where a person clings to resentment, and on and on.

Heart-felt confession, loving-kindness and prayer would put a lot of doctors out of business. Unspoken shame does more to destroy health than a diet of Big Macs. Too many people put a band-aid on their souls--eat better, exercise--and ignore the corrosive affect their spiritual and emotional suffering has.

Getting naked goes a long way to heal. The path to healing includes the heart and mind. In fact, it begins there.

Golden Compass Blues

Few movies or books have generated more desperate emails from concerned conservative friends than the Golden Compass. The last time I saw this intensity was when the Da Vinci Code came out as a movie. I had already read the book. It was clearly fiction to me--fantastical and hardly grounded in sound doctrine or history. The premise was intriguing and the book was a fun read. My faith wasn't shattered. I doubted few others would be either.

Now comes the Golden Compass. In this case, I haven't read the books, but plan to. Some put books with questionable content in the same category as porn--detritus that will pollute and confuse the mind. And while I grant the idea that the "dark arts" can poison the mind, it seems that to be able to have an intelligent conversation, understanding the arguments from all sides is necessary.

Adhering to my policy of waiting to read the books so that the movie isn't ruined (movies are invariably a disappointment) will no doubt color my interpretation somewhat as I understand that the movie has been watered down to appeal to the masses. In fact, even the atheists are up in arms:

Among the points of contention:

The movie refers to the ominous "Magisterium." But is this simply a totalitarian "authority," as the filmmakers say, or does it refer to the Roman Catholic Magisterium — meaning the pope in communion with the bishops?

Are mystical particles called "Dust" a euphemism for sin?

That's the implication in Random House's teacher's guide, which suggests students "use the Bible, a storybook, or an encyclopedia to read about the Garden of Eden and the fall of Adam and Eve."

In the publisher's interview with Pullman, he says his books depict "the Temptation and Fall not as the source of all woe and misery, as in traditional Christian teaching, but as the beginning of true human freedom, something to be celebrated, not lamented."

So the film isn't doctrinaire enough--a point I find amusing in this post-modern world.

Catholics are equally dismayed at the movie and have moved to educate their members:

The Catholic League will have none of that. "We're just taking Pullman at his word," says Donohue. The League produced a pamphlet, The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked, debunking Pullman on 95 different points; copies have been distributed to every Catholic bishop in the USA.

"The movie is just bait for the books, which are worse," and the chance to make more movies, Donohue says. "We don't want unsuspecting Christian parents to … take the kids to the film, buy the trilogy, and unknowingly introduce their children to the wonders of atheism and the damnation of Catholicism."

I won't take my kids to the movie, though they enjoy fantasy adventures. They didn't see Happy Feet and Sesame Street isn't played in this house, either. Once they have a good, solid foundation and learn some critical thinking skills, then we can work our way through a movie like The Golden Compass.

The world brims over with objectionable ideology. The notion that there are no moral absolutes and that we can each define the world our own way makes it seem like all ideas are equally valid. But that's certainly not what these Atheists believe. They believe religion to be poison to the mind. They believe that freedom is only possible apart from God. In short, they believe and have faith in something, it's just not God.

It's important for Christians to understand the arguments if only because it demonstrates free will. For all the moral relativism on the Left, they hardly seem interested in understanding why people might disagree with them. Narrow minded, churlish, and resistant to nuance, it causes one to wonder who the zealots are these days.

The Church Staggers: Treasure and The Heart

There are only two things in life: money and love. Right now, the church is hurting on both accounts. As previously discussed, the role of women in the church and what some perceive as the feminist neuterization of male and female roles which results in socialist jargon passing for sermons, empties seats.

It's all love, all the time in churches but what does love mean? Are there any expectations to demonstrate that love?

That brings us to the other immutable issue: money. Tithing has become an issue in the modern church. People are reading their bibles and rejecting the commonly accepted notion that tithing is required. The Wall Street Journal reports this phenomenon (worth reading the whole article):

The anti-tithing movement has found support in some unlikely places: theologically conservative divinity schools and church pulpits. At Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., professor Andreas Kostenberger challenges tithing in classes on the New Testament. He teaches that if you add up all taxes paid by the ancient Israelites, they exceed 10%, and that in the New Testament there's no percentage rule. He says pastors perpetuate the 10% figure out of "pragmatism, tradition and ignorance, quite frankly."

Matthew 6:21 says it all regarding giving:

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

People don't have their heart or treasure in the church these days. And they are suspicious of the way their churches are spending money. And in many cases, churches spend selfishly.

For six years, while avoiding any churches because the ones I had contact with seemed filled to the brim with hypocrisy and anything but love, we gave charitably other places. Many charities were still ministries--charities with Christian foundations--but they offered concrete, tangible ministry.

But I can't help but wonder if the church isn't just a reflection of the people attending there. Consumed with their own busy lives, many church-goers don't take time for church, or more importantly, God. Going to church is a way of giving time (these days, a much more precious commodity) to worship and learn and to be filled up spiritually. People are doing this less than they used to, too.

So while some church goers complain about the church's priorities and selfishness, the same could be said for the members themselves.

If a person has adequate funds, 10% giving back doesn't seem too much. It seems like a basic contribution not unlike the minimum set aside for retirement.

Ultimately, churches reap what they sow. The Catholic Church has hurt herself, I'm guessing for a generation at least, in the United States because of their scandals. Church pastors are as prone to sin like porn as the rest of the populace. And then there are the church leaders who live secret lives. All these scandals HAVE made a difference in how people, men especially, view the church.

Distrust in authority makes it seem almost unbelievable that a pastor or church board would do this when a member wonders about tithing:

When he objected to his church's instructions to tithe, Kirk Cesaretti took it up with the church leaders. In response, he received a letter from the pastor and elders of Hydesville Community Church in Hydesville, Calif. "At this time, we believe your concerns do not warrant any change in our church policy or positions," the letter read.

The letter closed with a verse from Hebrews 13:17: "Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls; as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."

When the leaders are corrupt or lazy or sinful, or people may fear them to be, no amount of scriptural brow-beating will get them to give to the church.

The pastors and church leadership would do well to read Malachi 2. Tithing is a secondary problem.

Thanksgiving 2007--UPDATED REGULARLY

Hi all! A very happy, healthy and whole Thanksgiving to all of you! I'll be going out and grabbing Thanksgiving posts and adding them.

My first is by John Stossel courtesy Betsy about the famine in Plymouth. Can you say a socialistic experiment gone wrong? Once the settlers got capitalism, it was all good. Thus, Thanksgiving. He notes:

What Plymouth suffered under communalism was what economists today call the tragedy of the commons. But the problem has been known since ancient Greece. As Aristotle noted, "That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it."

When action is divorced from consequences, no one is happy with the ultimate outcome. If individuals can take from a common pot regardless of how much they put in it, each person has an incentive to be a free rider, to do as little as possible and take as much as possible because what one fails to take will be taken by someone else. Soon, the pot is empty and will not be refilled -- a bad situation even for the earlier takers.

What private property does -- as the Pilgrims discovered -- is connect effort to reward, creating an incentive for people to produce far more. Then, if there's a free market, people will trade their surpluses to others for the things they lack. Mutual exchange for mutual benefit makes the community richer.

UPDATE 1:
Ace talks about post-T-day dieting. Don't want to get fat to begin with? What's wrong with you? It's Thanksgiving. Really, it's the carbs. Ditch 'em. That means you'll be eating turkey and well, turkey. Have a salad, some cranberries, a dab of sweet potatoes and a thin slice of apple pie. Avoid potatoes, stuffing, pecan pie, bread and all the other "fixins". Don't eat like a pig and you'll be fine. Go out for a walk before the game starts. No harm done. If you choose to eat like a pig and forgo post-nosh puking, the best bet is to put yourself into ketosis. That's essentially the Adkins diet--deprive your body of carbohydrates so your liver starts breaking down fat for energy. You'll be fine. Really. Step up your exercise while eating only protein, fat and veggies and you'll drop weight.

UPDATE 2:
Are you guilty about feasting on Thanksgiving? So do Leftists, but for other reasons. Sez Michael Medved:

"The notion that now you have a major school system sending out a message that, no, rather than expressing thanks we should emphasize guilt on this holiday — that is sick, it is destructive and it is anti-American."

More Thanksgiving anxiety for those with eating disorders. As we've already seen, if you eat and/or have relatives, T-day can be anxiety-provoking. Get over it, anorexics!

If you're in a giving mood, you can get a free laptop if you buy one for a kid in Africa. They look cool, but I wonder if a kid needs food more. My kids want to adopt a kid--you know send money every month. Any good organizations?

UPDATE 3:
LaShawn Barber is thankful to blog and that her blog is read by important people.

Mark Steyn recounts the history of Jingle Bells. Will anyone be dashing through the snow, what with Global Warming and all? Oh, and Steyn explains why America and Thanksgiving are great.
UPDATE 4:
What to overlook when you're with your relatives and what to remember, by Gina Cobb.

Kinds of Turkeys. Some from Washington, but they won't be there for long.

And your fatigue? Not the turkey's fault. H/T Brendan Loy. Brendan Loy is almost a dad! Only a few weeks left. Something to be thankful for, for sure.

Michelle Malkin reminds us: STOP Before You Gripe. An absolute must read!

Here's one more thing to be thankful for: Hillary isn't president.....yet. UPDATE: Oh, and neither is Monica Lewinsky, but some prefer her.

Reasons to not be thankful for the press. 300,000 reasons to be thankful for Democracy.

UPDATE 5:
Abe Lincoln's original intention for Thanksgiving. And the post-modernists' butchery of Thanksgiving as a demonstration of gluttonous narcissism. I'll have a big, fat helping of myself and my own world view, thank you!

More on surviving the holidays and challenges, too. Stay sane out there people!

Thoughts on justice, or lack thereof. And why to be thankful this isn't a communist nation and be thankful for free speech. Paul Belian notes:

It is worse. These habits also haunt Western Europe. America’s first amendment, which allows people to say what they want, even if it is deemed offensive to others, is simply anathema to Europeans. The great 20th century American journalist H.L. Mencken once said: “The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.” The Europeans failed to stop the oppression at the beginning.

We will go the way of Belgium, if we aren't willing to acknowledge threats to free speech. Right now, it's coming from the unlikeliest of places, but it's a place Europe is used to.

Comical holiday horror--go here for turkey laughs.

UPDATE 6:
I'm thankful for blogging and Thomas Jefferson would be, too. Faux freedom of expression is pronounced amongst the artsy fartsy types. You'll find the real thing on blogs.

China can keep their products from those post-holiday sales. As they deny our troops a good time, I say BUY AMERICAN! More American product links here. This won't make a difference. I know you're lining up for that $800 42" flatscreen at Wal-Mart, but still. China and freedom don't seem to mix.

More, later!

UPDATE 7: Thanksgiving Day 8:25 AM CST

James Lileks shares what he's thankful for and has great retro pictures, too.

Personally, I'm thankful for a the links I've been thrown by some big bloggers, including Instapundit, The Anchoress, John Hawkins and others! My readership is steadily building and I'm thankful for you readers, too!

Why Man Suffers

Two new books discuss this God problem: Why do men suffer?

Maybe I'll discuss it later.

Surrender

C.S. Lewis said, "We are all female before God."

Friends of mine who struggle with their faith right now, in fact, may even be devoid in any faith, except in themselves, shared that they had demanded and confronted God, wanting answers. I gave that idea much thought. It's certainly Biblical. Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, desiring to be blessed and he was rewarded for his prolonged cage match. To men, the concept of struggle, physical domination and aggression is more natural. As providers and protectors and as the pursuers (often) in relationships, they naturally go for it.

Women in contrast, are physically weaker, must rely on other forms of conflict resolution and find that they often have to surrender control to get what they want. And here, I'm talking specifically, sexually. No woman can force an orgasm. A man can make it happen. A woman must allow it to happen. It is a huge difference in physiology and psychology.

Women must also surrender to birthing. It is my belief that many women schedule their C-sections, even though perfectly healthy, because they are in no way interested in surrendering the control to give birth. A woman, drug-free, cannot give birth without giving it up. It just won't happen.

To know God, though, struggle must sometimes be secondary to surrender. Sometimes, we must let the spirit wash over and through us. If we think about it, many of the best experiences in life aren't the ones we control or dominate. Often, they're the happy accidents, the moments of fate that seem so perfect and wonderful. The breath-taking sunset with the cool sand under our feet and the waves lapping ashore. A gentle rain where the sun shines through producing a vibrant rainbow. A child's laugh. A piece of music sung perfectly. During these times, we feel grounded yet free, strangely connected to our fellow man, full of love for all that we've been given, resplendent in the joy of being.

In those moments, even a skeptic wonders about God.

So much of our understanding of God is filtered through our own experience and perspective. My notions of God have evolved significantly especially since I've had children. My jealous, consuming love for them has put God in a whole new perspective. I understand his lust for vengeance a whole lot better. My own mother-bearishness is fearsome to behold. It's instinctual and immediate when a threat presents itself. God loves me that much? He surely demonstrated his fury when His children were threatened or hurt.

And this was the same God who gave His only begotten Son that NONE should perish but have everlasting life. Now that, I have an almost impossible time understanding, except that as the Father of us all, He knew He would lose all of us without His beloved Son.

Giving birth helped me to understand the notion of giving up and letting go and facing death so my child could live. Psalms 23:4:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

A woman giving birth feels like she is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. In more primitive cultures, the ritual of a young man going on a hunt was akin to the woman giving birth for the first time. Facing death, living fully, almost recklessly, coming to the brink not knowing how it will turn out, risking it and possibly dying in the process--so you can live. Birth.

It is also rebirth. Being Born Again is likewise embracing life, fully, willing to give up the physical life if necessary to life fully forever. Like giving birth, it is a daunting notion. To hunt down and slay our own desires, to give and sacrifice and love another. The abandonment of lovemaking doesn't even come close. Giving birth is a shadow. Ritual sacrifice barely touches the notion. Being a living sacrifice, surrendering to a Power you can't see and trust is there.

So often, Christian surrender happens backwards. That is, we don't feel it. At least we don't feel it like we feel a baby's soft, perfect skin. We don't feel it like we see the tangible results of a successful hunt. Surrendering to God means sometimes obeying what seem like impossible commands. And we're not the first to think that it's an impossible quest--this surrender.

The solution may be to obey and understand later. This requires faith. It requires staying open to the possibilities. Like a woman in a lovemaking session, ecstasy is not guaranteed. It is guaranteed to never happen, though, if it's never tried. During our Christian walk, sublimating our ways and elevating Godly ways takes faith. But like all things, with practice, understanding, even ecstasy comes. And just as often, it's mind-blowing and transcendent and strangely surprising. It's new every time.

Rather than wrestling God, consider surrender. We're all female before God's mighty sword, as C.S. Lewis noted. And true communion with light and truth is impossible without surrender.

Yom Kippur: A National Holiday?

Ed Cone has a point:

Yom Kippur is a day of introspection and not eating, and if there was ever a culture in need of introspection and not eating, we're it. Raised on hedonism and credit cards, Americans make every day a holiday and every meal a feast, to the point of devaluing actual holidays and feasts. We have name-branded golden calves and a television show called American Idol. At the same time, we are encouraged to think of ourselves as victims, not to take responsibility for ourselves. We could all use some of the dermabrasion for the soul that Yom Kippur promises.

On Yom Kippur, the idea is to take responsibility for who you are, and how you conduct yourself, how you treat other people, and how you are planning to do better at all those things in the year ahead. You are obligated to make things whole with those you have wronged, and to come to terms with those who have wronged you. This is the occasion to get right with God, which traditionally involves hours of prayer and fasting, along with a semi-annual visit to temple for twice-a-year Jews.

I would like to add this about the Day of Atonement (which I observe, yes I'm a strange Christian): Spending 24 hours without food and drink does tend to put the self in perspective. With a full belly, the world is yours. Starving, head-achy, empty and intensely food-focused, it becomes abundantly clear how fragile we humans are. Hunger is humbling.

In addition, the absence of food makes thinking easier. I don't know why, exactly, but even healthy food can bloat and release toxins, free of food, the mind thinks better. So, it's a great time to take stock and atone and seek forgiveness and forgive.

Ed Cone's idea is a good one. Americans can be fat and stupid. Better to be slim and smart--at least for one day a year.

Hurricane Dean's Route Nearly Miraculous

Personally, I believe prayer works. That might sound absurd while writing about a very scientific thing like a hurricane. But that's just it, the possibilities and probabilities for this storm were dire. And yet, this storm has shimmied its way through the Caribbean and may now shimmy its way through Mexico:

As Hurricane Dean's forecast track moves south we can begin to become cautiously optimistic that the powerful storm will move ashore into a relatively unpopulated area of Mexico's Quintana Roo state on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Dean this morning has re-strengthened into a 150-mph hurricane. However, its hurricane-force winds extend only 60 miles in each direction. Under the current scenario, based upon models that have the system as a powerful Cat. 4 system before a Yucatan landfall, Dean would only very briefly bring Category-1 winds over Cozumel, and tropical storm-force winds over Cozumel.

For Mexico this is the best possible scenario and something to hope for. With landfall less than a day away, it's also a plausible scenario.

I do think prayer works. And many of the forecasters asked for prayers for the people of Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Scientists asking for prayers. Doctors do this all the time with patients. Humans are very limited. But every doctor has seen miracles. I think we're witnessing an amazing thing with Dean. Let's continue to pray that it stays on its path and spares Mexico's population the worst.

And it's a good time to give thanks, too.

It is also a good time to remember the hard facts. We're only half-way through hurricane season. Dean was truly the beginning.


Leaving everything to faith and not preparing is tempting God. So stock up on emergency supplies and stay alert. There's another wave forming in the Caribbean.

Let's pray it's nothing.

Evolution Theory Evolves

Well, here we are. And here we were. Knuckle-dragging poop flingers morphed into upright poopers with indoor plumbing. We've advanced over the millenia.

The problem with the photo at left is that it's wrong. It misrepresents evolution and yet it's how evolution is presented in schools and everywhere else--disgruntled scientists protesting that the linear theory went out with poodle skirts, notwithstanding.

So Gina Cobb gets raked over the coals by two experts who purport that true evolutionary theory is more like a bush with branches. OK, then, show me one visual representation of that idea. One good one. The best I could find was this:

Essentially, it's a mess. Not exactly a tree, not linear, more a splatter effect of evolution. We think maybe this guy lived when this guy did and this guy ate this guy and then this guy survived and mated with this gal and we think maybe that's how we got Britney Spears, but we're not sure. But we're absolutely sure we evolved.

Well, it is a theory. And it is tested and changes.

One problem is that evolution has not been treated as a theory in schools. That iconic picture of man as former monkey is still rooted in the minds of public school graduates everywhere. Has the nuanced view of evolution evolved in curriculum? Not that I know of.

In medicine, a discarded procedure (ineffective, no scientific support) usually takes ten to twenty years to leave standard practice: think blood letting, frontal lobotomies, episiotomies (still in use), HRT (still in use), back surgery (still in use), arthroscopic knee surgery (still in use) and tonsillectomies (mostly gone.) And there are doctors who cling to harmful procedures because they are convinced it's the best way, because it's always been done this way.

Now, scientists refine and finesse the Theory of Evolution:

The old theory is that the first and oldest species in our family tree, Homo habilis, evolved into Homo erectus, which then became human, Homo sapiens. But Leakey's find suggests those two earlier species lived side-by-side about 1.5 million years ago in parts of Kenya for at least half a million years. She and her research colleagues report the discovery in a paper published in Thursday's journal Nature.

Fine. Great. Represent evolution as a working theory that is continually evolving. And try to refrain from making snide comments about people who openly profess their faith rather than hide behind the scientific theory to justify theirs:

"This is not questioning the idea at all of evolution; it is refining some of the specific points," Anton said. "This is a great example of what science does and religion doesn't do. It's a continous self-testing process."

How snarky! How positively emotional! Where is the cool, scientific detachment? And how, pray tell, does one "prove" their faith? This is an impossibility. I have as much faith in the scientific method as I do in the people performing the science. That is, humans are fallible and doing their best to explain the world in which we live. More power to them! I wish them well on their quest, and I observe their research with keen interest.

If scientists eventually explain how we got here from there with no million year gaping holes, no absurd jumps, no missing links, I might consider evolutionary theory closer to evolutionary fact and view it with less skepticism. Skepticism and observation are scientific stances, no?

Science may eventually explain the how, but it will never explain the why. The "why" is a mystery. It requires faith. And until evolution is proven, it's a working theory. Don't expect me to embrace it with all the enthusiasm and blind adoration of religion. Last I checked, science wasn't a cult.

Christian Praise Music Sucks

There, I said it. I've said it before. And now The Anchoress is saying it:

Worst Jesus Praise Song Ever. Really. That’s execrable. H/T Junkyard Blog. 95% of all “praise music” and 98% of all Catholic “hymns” written since 1972 are just shudder-inducing. Most of what is played at mass these days serves as useful penance and not much else.

Ha, ha! The Anchoress makes me laugh. I'm so glad I'm not alone in my distress. Here's the thing: anyone who is musically inclined recognizes that the songs are all in the same key, they have no interesting rhythm, the melodies are bland, the repetition puts one into a zombified trance.

There are a few good songs. I've been forced to listen to this stuff because 1) my kids love it (more proof they're more spiritual than I am--not that that's a huge accomplishment) and 2) I was drafted to lead the kid's choir at church and they like this music.

Here are some Christian praise I like, with commentary.

First, "Held" by Natalie Grant (no relation to Amy). This song has great meaning for me because of my own son who died.


Second, going a totally different direction, is TobyMac singing "Made to Love". The message is fantastic. Redemption again. I love the line, "Daddy, I'm on my way." Check the lyrics here.


Third, "Remember Me" with Ginny Owens. This is a ridiculous video, but you can at least hear the music.


There's a start. They're not all bad, but few are truly great. See, here's how I see it. Either a song glorifies God or it doesn't. And some don't glorify God even though the lyrics are well-meaning, because the musicality of the piece is an insult to music and ears which are a creation of God. Good intentions pave the road to musack hell.

And don't get me started about Amy Grant's "Pave Over A Parking Lot". Just when I think Democracy is the best thing going, I remember that song and her singing it and I thinks to myself what a horrible world!

G.K. Chesterton's Modern Thoughts: Part II Suicide....Bombs

During the summer after my Sophomore year in High School, a local tragedy shocked the neighborhood. The sister of the kid who mowed our lawn came home during his parents first ever vacation to Europe, first vacation during parenthood, period, to find her brother, our lawn guy, hanging from his ceiling. Dead. The cause of his despair? His two best friends got accepted to their dream college. He was convinced he'd been denied since he got no letter that day. His acceptance letter came three days later, but he wasn't around to open it.

The tragedy, besides his shortened life, was his parent's horror and shame. Devoted Catholics, they now lived with knowing their son suffered eternal damnation. Whether true or not, that was their belief and they were doubly devastated. They lost their son twice over.

Suicide. It's all the rage these days. It's the most-beloved tool of the would-be destroyers of the West. It is a telling tool. One learns much from an enemy's war craft. This is an enemy who holds nothing dear--not even his own life. The message he sends gets muddied, though, in this multi-culti world unwilling or unable to fathom evil. Smart ones are afraid of the implications, should evil be acknowledged. To save themselves this double-bind, the word martyr is used as a substitute. This despicable attempt to elevate evil and obfuscate truth will be death to us all should the message get permanently warped. G.K. Chesterton had this to say:

Grave moderns told us that we must not even say "poor fellow," of a man who had blown his brains out, since he was an enviable person, and had only blown them out because of their exceptional excellence. In all this, I found myself utterly hostile to many who called themselves liberal and humane. Not only is suicide a sin, it is the sin. It is the ultimate and absolute evil, the refusal to take an interest in existence; the refusal to take the oath of loyalty to life. The man who kills a man, kills a man. The man who kills himself, kills all men; as far as he is concerned he wipes out the world. The thief is satisfied with diamonds; but the suicide is not; that is his crime. The thief compliments the things he steals, if not the owner of them. but the suicide insults everything on earth by not stealing it. He defiles every flower by refusing to live for it's sake.

About the same time I read a solemn flippancy by some free thinker: he said that a suicide was only the same as a martyr. The open fallacy of this helped to clear the question. Obviously a suicide is the opposite of a martyr. A martyr is a man who cares so much for something outside him, that he forgets his own personal life. A suicide is a man who cares so little for anything outside him, that he wants to see the last of everything. One wants something to begin: the other wants everything to end. [Orthodoxy]

People will protest that the Islamic suicide bomber believes paradise awaits him and his death ushers in the new beginning for others. This, of course, ignores the fact that he isn't willing to kill himself alone, immolating or bleeding his beliefs as a witness. The Islamist wishes to kill all things. And with his suicide vest, he often succeeds.

Unlike the Christian martyrs who were killed, publicly and who died as a witness to the message of life, the Islamist, murders himself and everyone else, even his so-called brothers, to glorify death. The Islamist murders with the dull knife, causes pain, perpetuates pain. They are lords of chaos, confusion and hopelessness. They win by provoking despair. They conquer by terror. Suicide is the perfect vehicle for the Islamist. It expresses hatred for all living things.

That so many within Western civilization admire these maniacal murderers reveals the depth of deception. Whether under a dark spell or willingly believing the lie, those who defend the Islamic suicide bomber or secretly admire the courage to carry out such destruction mean trouble for those who see the bomber for who he is: evil personified.

**************

I had trouble understanding the sin of suicide as a kid. To see my friends parent's anguish not just for a life cut short but a soul lost, troubled me. It still does. Surely the Deceiver himself deserves the blame for the sort of adolescent sadness that would lead to suicide instead of waiting with hope. I wouldn't presume to judge my friend's heart, but I can discern his actions: by committing suicide he gave up. He couldn't think of one thing to live for. Dying, in his warped mind, saved him. According to his parent's theology, trouble followed him.

Trouble follows all who embrace suicide as a viable option for problem solving.


More on the life of a suicide bomber.
Chesterton: Part I