Bill of Grace

God's Rights

2011-12-19T11:26:00.005-07:00

This by John Piper is about as close as I've seen in answering my blog's hypothesis.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/does-god-have-civil-rights

He does a masterful job of analogizing how humans are different from all other animals, how God is different from humans, and how all rights which we may presume are inherent to humans by nature of our being are originally due to God.

"Where the rights of our Creator and Savior are daily denied with impunity, we should not be surprised that the rights of persons created in his image are denied in a cavalier and selfish way. Until God is given his rights, no human rights will have significance beyond convenience. And when they are no longer convenient, they will be ignored..."

Note: I have just finished A.W. Tozer's "Born After Midnight," which I read on and off for a few months, as my nightly devotional. Fantastic. If your google-fu is strong, you may be able to find a pdf copy online. My morning devotional is John Piper's "Taste and See." I'm sure all of his essays therein are free online, but this book version is nicely printed and IMHO worth it.

American education Part II

2011-12-08T09:53:00.002-07:00

Not a new story, obviously. If the moon is the quintessence of the problem, what does it say about R&D and manufacturing?

http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_4_skilled-labor.html

"The ability to make things in America is at risk," says Jeannine Kunz, director of professional development for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in Dearborn, Michigan. If the skilled-labor shortage persists, she fears, "hundreds of thousands of jobs will go unfilled by 2021."

The shortage of industrial skills points to a wide gap between the American education system and the demands of the world economy. For decades, Americans have been told that the future lies in high-end services, such as law, and "creative" professions, such as software-writing and systems design. This has led many pundits to think that the only real way to improve opportunities for the country's middle class is to increase its access to higher education.

That attitude is a relic of the post–World War II era, a time when a college education almost guaranteed you a good job. These days, the returns on higher education, particularly on higher education gained outside the elite schools, are declining, as they have been for about a decade.

Hattip to Smallestminority, who recalls this from 1974:

http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-meme.html

American education

2011-12-07T09:12:00.002-07:00

I am curious about the true nature of competitiveness in American universities. My friend and fellow blogger, Troubled Corinthian, suggests that our engineers could no longer put a man on the moon (and bring him home alive), at least not without help from foreign help. He's seen too many foreign engineers come to the States, and then take that knowledge back to Asia or India. So this drew my attention:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/thenextgreatgeneration/2011/12/10_college_courses_you_wish_yo.html

Harvard: “Anime as Global Pop Culture”. If you grew up in 1990s or later, you've definitely watched an anime. I see you trying to deny it because it’s nerdy or whatever, but I don’t believe you. Even if you didn't like it, you’ve probably at least watched the PokémonTV show for two seconds, seen a Hiyao Miyazaki movie, or played a video game with anime-like stylings at some point in your life. Harvard turns a dorky guilty pleasure into an academic pursuit. Tip: Instead of flash cards, make ninja info cards.

Harvard: “HBO’s The Wire and its Contribution to Understanding Urban Inequality”. While most students use HBO as a way to escape homework, some would rather put their television drama-watching ways to good use. Harvard’s class about The Wire takes a critical look at the critically acclaimed show as a way to analyze urban inequality. Your homework will be to watch TV, and you’ll even learn something along the way.

I leave the rest of the contemplation on this to you.

Hierarchy of Needs?

2011-09-14T12:47:00.005-07:00

What to teach the children...hierarchy of needs (to live) is an important concept the public school will likely fail on, so here's my disclaimer: the following is based on Christian principles. One may suggest Christianity can answer the "higher" levels such as morality, self-esteem and friendship, however the "lower" levels need to be achieved by the people themselves: food, water, security, etc. I completely reject that thinking, and rather posit that God is actively in charge of everything in existence, such that there are no levels, but rather one reality of needs.

So if I were to counsel my child on how to respond to the question of how to categorize "needs," I'd say #1: you need God. However of course #1 begs for elaboration...

"He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has not life." John 3:36 and I John 5:12

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

"If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." John 4:10

“I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 4:32-34

Isaiah 32 provides explanation for how God even is responsible for our shelter. People generally trust, or have faith in their homes and perhaps even in their cities. Yet Isaiah says you are better off living in the desert:

Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines
¹³ and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and briers—
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry.
¹⁴ The fortress will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
¹⁵ till the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
¹⁶ The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert,
his righteousness live in the fertile field.
¹⁷ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest.
¹⁹ Though hail flattens the forest
and the city is leveled completely...

God performs miracles, whether we see them or believe in them or not. He makes streams flow in the desert, feeds the multitudes, raises up the lowly, and brings low the mighty. The concepts that you need anything apart from God, and that you can do any good thing apart from God, are illusions..."But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;" II Corinthians 4:7. We are those earthen vessels, and the treasure is Christ. We Christians, and all of mankind, and indeed all of this mortal coil, this temporal realm. Regardless of E=MC squared, God made it all and has sovereignty over it all. How much more transitory are our efforts apart from Christ?

“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40

Disciple

2011-09-13T22:53:00.002-07:00

I spent many long hours contemplating Discipline and Punish...what a waste. I should have been producing, by the act of discipleship. This will be a continuing theme here, at Bill of Grace. It is perhaps the most profound revelation I've experienced in decades.

I came to the realization that the majority of my Christian life has been in the pursuit of inner knowledge, and thanks to a foxy blend of this world's cults of Dionysus and education for its own sake, I was generally encouraged in this pursuit. But no more.

Though some wicked strategy, an amalgam of '60s new ageism and "it's the journey, not the destination," too many churches of today glorify the seeker on his or her journey. Know what? If you aren't seizing your faith and sharing it, what kind of faith do you have?

It is an unspeakably glorious mystery to be held in the grip of the Almighty. However, to stay there is to remain but an infant, or an adolescent at best. To achieve adulthood in the faith, one must follow Christ's command and make disciples.

After surfing amazon.com and putting a few noteworthy titles in my cart (#1: Navigators Complete Book of Discipleship) I went to a used bookstore to browse for gems. I read the spines of perhaps a thousand titles, of which approximately 50 concerned evangelism or missions. The other 950 delivered countless ways of improving oneself and learning more.

Sorry to say, God did not call us to spend our lives searching, nor reading without ceasing. God commands us to pray without ceasing, and to make disciples. A friend recommended "The Trellis and the Vine," in which we see the goal of all ministry is to nurture disciples, and to be a disciple is to be a disciple-maker.

There is no neutral in the faith. The lukewarm He spits from His mouth. If you are just coasting, sinful nature is growing like mold in stagnant water. Pray about it, then go with strength and humility to your pastor, and ask where is the program on discipling. If there is none, start one. God will not only give you the strength, but will give you even more energy thereafter! Perhaps akin to exercising leaves you tired for the moment, but makes you stronger.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12: 1,2

Obama Shock

2011-09-06T15:40:00.004-07:00

As I learn about fiat currency, I intuited that Nixon and Bretton Woods would be significant history, however I didn't realize how similar the preceding events were to today:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Shock

"The year 1970 was the crucial turning point, because foreign arbitrage of the U.S. dollar caused governmental gold coverage of the paper dollar to decline from 55% to 22%. That, in the view of neoclassical economics and the Austrian School, represented the point where holders of the U.S. dollar lost faith in the U.S. government's ability to cut its budget and trade deficits.

By 1971, the money supply had increased by 10%.[1] In the first six months of 1971, $22 billion in assets left the U.S.[2] In May 1971, inflation-wary West Germany was the first member country to unilaterally leave the Bretton Woods system — unwilling to devalue the Deutsche Mark in order to prop up the dollar.[1] In the next three months, West Germany's move strengthened their economy. Simultaneously, the dollar dropped 7.5% against the Deutsche Mark.[1]

Due to the excess printed dollars, and the negative U.S. trade balance, other nations began demanding fulfillment of America's "promise to pay..."

So my research turned up this, which supported my suspicions:

http://www.conscientiousequity.com/2009/articles/the-obama-shock/

"...there are millions of Americans reaching retirement age who will be shocked to learn that they will fare no better than those in developing countries with debased currencies that have driven them into poverty. We lived through the Nixon Gold Shock. But I’m not sure we’ll make it through The Obama Deficit Shock."

Yet, what if the opposite were true?

"What the Nixon Shock recognized – what Paul did not then and still does not recognize – was that this generation's economics are naturally deflationary, not inflationary. As technology created new abundance in the form of processing power, a gold standard would have created a deflationary spiral, which is far worse in its economic implications than an inflationary one."

http://www.danablankenhorn.com/2011/08/the-obama-shock.html

That article continues to explain what will be our savior: cheap energy. All the the money being poured into renewable sources will eventually jackpot, we'll drive for cheap (and not pollute), and the economy enters a new vast upswing. When that breakthrough occurs, the Green Revolution truly begins.

What do you think? Is one or the other true, somewhere in the middle? Elsewhere? The answer is certainly a global one, on a scale only dreamed of by the Nixon Era movers and shakers. Perhaps bitcoin will play a part. China certainly will.

"When the era of floating rates began, in 1971 when President Richard Nixon abruptly abandoned the link between the dollar and gold that had been the foundation of the post-war fixed-currency system known (after the place where it was agreed upon) as Bretton Woods, there was another Asian country widely accused of unfair trading. It was Japan, whose rapid, environmentally dirty growth in the 1960s, based on cheap labour and a cheap, fixed currency, had produced a big trade surplus and was being blamed for America’s trade deficit.

"At that time, America really did have a currency weapon in its hands: by abandoning Bretton Woods and the link to gold, Nixon could force other countries to revalue their currencies against the dollar. He did so as part of a deal, in which he removed a 10% surcharge on all imports that he had imposed several months earlier. The yen soared in value. The Japanese have ever since called this “the Nixon shock” which, combined with the 1973 oil-price hike, forced their companies and their government to move their economy sharply upmarket, towards higher technology and greater energy efficiency.

"Today, there are some crucial differences but one important similarity. The similarity is that tensions over currencies and trade imbalances are centring on a rising Asian giant, one whose rapid, environmentally dirty growth has been based on cheap labour and a cheap fixed currency: China, of course. The differences are that a Nixon-style import surcharge would be illegal under World Trade Organisation rules, and that thanks to floating exchange rates the currency weapon is not in the hands of President Barack Obama but rather the Chinese themselves, for only they can choose to relax capital controls and to float their currency. It is harder now to have an “Obama shock." But it is not impossible."

http://www.billemmott.com/article.php?id=279

Why Atlas is Shrugging

2011-09-01T12:12:00.003-07:00

The below excerpts are copied from Kevin at smallest minority who is reading Mark Steyn's book. best explanation I've seen for the "2 americas" concept. Now in my cart: http://www.amazon.com/After-America-Get-Ready-Armageddon/

Once the state swells to a certain size, the people available to fill the ever expanding number of government jobs will be statists -- sometimes hard-core Marxist statists, sometimes social-engineering multiculti statists, sometimes fluffily "compassionate" statists, sometimes patrician noblesse oblige statists, but always statists. The short history of the post-war western democracies is that you don't need a president-for-life if you've got a bureaucracy-for-life: the people can elect "conservatives," as from time to time the Germans and British have done, and the left is mostly relaxed about it all because, in all but exceptional cases (Thatcher), they fulfill the same function in the system as the first-year boys at wintry English boarding schools who for tuppence-ha'penny would agree to go and take the chill off the toilet seat in the unheated lavatories until the prefects were ready to stroll in and assume their rightful place. Republicans have gotten good at keeping the seat warm.

In 1945, Hugh MacLennan wrote a novel set in Montreal whose title came to sum up the relationship between the English and the French in Canada: Two Solitudes. They live in the same nation, sometimes in the same town, sometimes share the same workspace. But they inhabit different psychologies. In 2008, David Warren, a columnist with The Ottawa Citizen, argued that the concept has headed south:

In the United States, especially in the present election, we get glimpses of two political solitudes that have been created not by any plausible socio-economic division within society, nor by any deep division between different ethnic tribes, but tautologically by the notion of "two solitudes" itself. The nation is divided, roughly half-and-half, between people who instinctively resent the Nanny State, and those who instinctively long for its ministrations.

John Edwards, yesterday's coming man, had an oft retailed stump speech about "the two Americas," a Disraelian portrait of Dickensian gloom conjured in the mawkish drool of a Depression-era sob-sister: one America was a wasteland of shuttered mills and shivering "coatless girls," while in the other America Dick Cheney and his Halliburton fat cats were sitting 'round the pool swigging crude straight from the well and toasting their war profits all day long. Edwards was right about the "two Americas," but not about the division: in one America, those who subscribe to the ruling ideology can access a world of tenured security lubricated by government and without creating a dime of wealth for the overall economy; in the other America, millions of people go to work every day to try to support their families and build up businesses and improve themselves, and the harder they work the more they're penalized to support the government class in its privileges. Traditionally, he who paid the piper called the tune. But not anymore. Flownover Country pays the piper, very generously, in salaries, benefits, pensions, and perks. But Conformicrat America calls the tune, the same unending single-note dirge. David Warren regards these as "two basically irreconcilable views of reality": "Only in America are they so equally balanced. Elsewhere in the west, the true believers in the Nanny State have long since prevailed."

Increasingly, America's divide is about the nature of the state itself -- about the American idea. And in that case why go on sharing the same real estate? As someone once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." The Flownover Country's champion ought, in theory, to be the Republican Party. But, even in less fractious times, this is a loveless marriage. Much of the GOP establishment is either seduced by the Conformicrats, or terrified by them, to the point where they insist on allowing he liberals to set the parameters of the debate -- on health care, immigration, education, Social Security -- and then wonder why elections are always fought on the Democrats' terms. If you let the left make the rules, the right winds up being represented by the likes of Bob Dole and John McCain, decent old sticks who know how to give dignified concession speeches. If you want to prevent Big Government driving America off a cliff, it's insufficient.

The Conformicrats need Flownover Country to fund them. It's less clear why Flownover Country needs the Conformicrats -- and a house divided against itself cannot stand without the guy who keeps up the mortgage payments.

Truth.

Taking off the gloves

2011-08-02T13:25:00.003-07:00

Chalk these up in the "hard to believe, but don't ignore" category, the Vice President of the United States just called Tea Party conservatives "terrorists."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/08/joe_bidens_tea_party_terrorists.html

I quit reading my local paper years ago, due to its insanely biased reporting. I could never get through the first section without wanting to drop it in the trash. But now, one of its main cartoonists shows President Barack Obama calling in the SEALS to get a "Tea Party Congressman."

http://blog.cagle.com/2011/07/send-in-the-seals/

If I may, go back in the time machine to 1964 best seller "None dare call it treason."

http://www.amazon.com/None-Dare-Call-Treason-Years/dp/0914053108/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312317007&sr=1-2

This classic revealed how those in power write history, and "those" have certainly come into power.

“Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide.” — James Burnham.

Don't let them pull the plug on our children's future: arise and defend our constitutionally recognized freedoms!

Adoption Meditation

2011-06-09T03:36:00.007-07:00

I have been meditating on Isaiah 44, one of my new favorite chapters of the Bible. One of the symbols the prophet has been implementing over the last few chapters is that of God flowing water into the desert. This use reaches a high point in Chapter 44:

³^"...For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
⁴They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
⁵This one will say, 'I am the LORD’s,'
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, 'The LORD’s,'
and name himself by the name of Israel."

This passage caused me to look backward, to God's dual promise to Abraham:

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

In Genesis 26, God confirmed it to Isaac thusly:

"...For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”

Then I looked ahead at the Jesus' Great Commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:

"...Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Next, consider what the Holy Spirit did to the disciples at Pentecost, in Acts 2:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God–fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

Consider that God gave the disciples this miraculous power so they could fulfill this central mission: to reach the ends of the earth. God poured out His spirit at Pentecost in a way that Isaiah prophesied: the disciples would take the Good News to lands which were dead to the knowledge of God. This is how God planned to fulfill His promise to Abraham and Isaac: through their descendents He would pour His spirit and bless the entire earth.

So on one hand the Great Commission is a command to get to work, but on the other hand it is a great comfort to know the reason for that is to share God's blessing which was originally given just to Abraham and the Jews, with the purpose to enrich the world. Comforted are we to be God's chosen people in adoption!

Postscript meditation, on Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 3:

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

On the 4th, SWAT, and Guerena

2011-06-07T10:21:00.003-07:00

Very informative piece if you want to understand how SWAT works, what's the deal with "no knock warrants," and former Marine Jose Guerena:

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/316833.php

"Note the Navy SEAL who took out Osama Bin Laden with two rounds and two rounds only, one to the chest, one to the head. This is a classic example of cool, perfect shot placement under stress, and is precisely the sort of thing SWAT troops are supposed to be able to do. After all, if they are no better at this sort of thing than the average street cop, all that has been done is to give average street cops more destructive, longer ranged weapons.

"UPDATE 052911, 1329 CT: According to a more recent local news story, the medical examiner has reported that Guerena was hit not 60 times as originally suggested by doctors, but only 22 times. This is far more in line with common results of police shootings where most rounds fired do not hit their intended targets. This is also far more in line with what would be expected of the wild and uncontrolled fire of the SWAT shooters in this particular incident, particularly those firing on full-auto. Highly skilled operators can control fully automatic fire in a submachine gun or light carbine such as the AR-15, untrained operators cannot. In any case, carefully controlled and aimed short bursts are always preferred. Police officers are directly responsible for each and every bullet they fire. In this case, nearly 70% of the rounds fired by the police missed. This might make more likely my contention that the officer's vision was compromised and that at least some of them had no real idea of their target or why they were shooting at it, other than the knowledge that one of their number was initially shooting at something. As shocking as all of this might be, the hit rate is about average for police shootings. SWAT teams should do much better. Knowing this, it is even more incredible that the officers did not shoot Mrs. Guerena, her child, themselves, or anyone else in the neighborhood.

"Notice that there is no information to indicate that any drugs or money were found in Guerena’s home, or that Guerena or his home, were in any way directly related to criminal activity. In fact, the police have, to date, not released the search warrant affidavit, warrant and return for Guerena’s home. However, there is no evidence to indicate that they found anything at all illegal in Guerena’s home. If they had, considering the public and Internet attention this case is generating, they surely would have made it public. Any drug case they were working has long been blown. Secrecy is no longer an issue.

"None of the items listed as having been found in Guerena’s home are illegal, or indeed, unusual, particularly for a former Marine who had served two combat tours. One reason that the warrant information has not been released is likely that it was non-specific. In other words, the grounds for searching Guerena’s home may have been shaky at best."

Oh, and of course consider all of this in light of my post on the 4th Amendment just a few days ago...it's feeling eerily like the editor's first cut from John Ross's "Unintended Consequences," to keep that now out-of-print 20th century alternate reality under 1,000 pages.

What's Next?

2011-06-02T16:03:00.004-07:00

At this pace, I seriously wonder how many Rights will be legal within a generation.

KENTUCKY v . KING just found that police can knock and enter without gaining the property owner's permission. Buh-bye 4th Amendment.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-1272.ZS.html

Six years ago Kelo v. New London found that municipalties can take someone's property if they feel it is in the community's best interest...like to add a shopping center, not to expand an easement for the interstate as we traditionally thought. Buh-bye 5th.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-108.ZS.html

Hmm, what about "life and liberty?" Yeah, the Declaration of Independence. Well first ya gotta get through the birthing process...thanks Roe v. Wade of 1973.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-108.ZS.html

And what about common knowledge, that you should be able to keep and bear arms, and that right not being infringed? O.K. as long as the government can register you, decide how long the gun barrel is, and if the stock is adjustable, and restricting the attempt to quiet it down so you don't get tinnitus, and a waiting period, and and... Hello, 2nd Amendment?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Control_Act_of_1968

Enter Health Care, AKA anti-capitalist, anti-rule-of-law movement of 2010:

"The danger of waiver power is that it will be used differentially, giving one private entity a competitive advantage over another."

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/mona-charen/2011/05/17/wielding-waivers-as-weapons/

Well thank God for the 10th, and our recent attention to it...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/26/tenth-amendment-movement-aims-power-states/

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/the-10th-amendment-movement/

And "Teach you children well

Your father's hell did slowly go by..."

But by gum, don't simply look at them and sigh and let them know you love them...

But rather teach them to be patriots and defend this land where my fathers died.

Let freedom ring!

A spirit not of fear

2011-05-26T23:02:00.003-07:00

Here's a Muslim who has bravely produced an expose of the radical forms of Islam which preach and fight for global dominance. Watch this and heed it. Spread the news and be knowledgeable. Don't be satisfied not knowing and letting this happen unobstructed by YOU.

http://www.thethirdjihad.com/

It is on Netflix. Instant download and watch NOW. Unless you've seen it, you don't know the whole picture. And if you think you disagree, I challenge you to watch it anyhow.

2 Timothy 1
English Standard Version

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

3I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

We identify genius by its impact

2011-03-29T09:56:00.002-07:00

No, not a review of "Good Will Hunting."

Rather the intro line to this article: http://www.sightm1911.com/1911%20History.htm

...in which we see detailed today, the 100 year anniversary of the 1911 semiautomatic pistol in caliber .45acp.

See also this fine entry: http://www.m1911.org/history.htm

For you movie buffs and patriots alike, consider Sergeant York :

"On the morning of 8 October 1918, elements of the 328th Infantry, 82nd Division, United States Army, were pinned down by German machine-gun fire. Seventeen men, under the command of Sgt. Bernard Early, were ordered to out-flank the machine guns.

"Shortly after they left their own lines, they came across a German officer and several soldiers having breakfast. Believing that they were surrounded, the Germans surrendered. However, before Early could detach a man to take the prisoners back through the lines, intensive machine gun fire swept the patrol. Eight American soldiers survived. Sgt. Early was killed. As the remaining non-com, Cpl. Alvin York took command of the patrol. While the remaining Americans covered their prisoners, trying at the same time to avoid enemy fire, York spotted the location of the German guns, about 30 yards away. In addition to his Enfield M1917 rifle, he also carried a Colt .45 automatic pistol. The German gunners peeked over the tops of their Maxim guns to avoid hitting their own men.

"With the appearance of each face, framed in its "coal-scuttle" helmet, York's Enfield spoke. One shot equaled one dead gunner. York was from the Tennessee mountains where firearms were used to put food on the table. Mountain folk were frugal, making each shot count.

"Unnoticed by York, several Germans moved forward, locating York's position. Out of sight, they counted the shots from York's rifle, establishing the pattern of his shooting. They counted a series of 5 shots from his Enfield and rushed York to gain the advantage of the few extra seconds it took to reload the rifle.

"As the Germans charged, they came into easy pistol range. York brought the .45 automatic into action, stopping the patrol in its tracks. He continued shooting and advancing, killing a total of 25 German soldiers and capturing 132 by himself. York was promoted to Sergeant and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor."

Gunwalker update

2011-03-04T09:20:00.001-07:00

You've got to be kidding me...no, it's worse than that:

"Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.

"ATF named the case "Fast and Furious."

"Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles.

"So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it.

Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let gobegan showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets... the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence.

"One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 ... most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles."

"Dodson feels that ATF was partly to blame for the escalating violence in Mexico and on the border. "I even asked them if they could see the correlation between the two," he said. "The more our guys buy, the more violence we're having down there."

"Senior agents including Dodson told CBS News they confronted their supervisors over and over.

"Their answer, according to Dodson, was, "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml?tag=strip

All's Good

2011-02-28T10:46:00.002-07:00

My son said he wanted to make a machine that would let us be able to buy oil for 25 cents for 10 gallons. I said even one gallon for that price would be great. Then I described why that isn't the case already....

We love freshly made pesto from basil plants that naturally grow all around our porch. I said, what if the government told us that it was illegal to pick basil leaves to make pesto, and instead we had to go to the store and pay $5 a bag each time we wanted it? My son said, that's stupid. We prefer not to use that word in common parlance, but this time I said he's 100% correct.

Check this out:

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

"North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.

"A U.S. Geological Survey assessment, released April 10 [2008], shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil.

"New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007. ...

"The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest "continuous" oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A "continuous" oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest "continuous" oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil.

"It is clear that the Bakken formation contains a significant amount of oil - the question is how much of that oil is recoverable using today's technology?" said Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota. "To get an answer to this important question, I requested that the U.S. Geological Survey complete this study, which will provide an up-to-date estimate on the amount of technically recoverable oil resources in the Bakken Shale formation."

"The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels."

Now check this out:

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/362/207/How_much_oil_Does_the_U.S.Have_in_the_ground_Forbes_did_not_miss_a_beat,_he_said,_more_Than_all_the_Middle_East_put_together..html

"The host said to Forbes, "I am going to Ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil Does the U.S. Have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together."

But for goodness sake, don't pick your own basil!

Project Gunwalker

2011-02-16T12:22:00.002-07:00

After all the braying about the so-called gunshow loophole, and registration, it comes down to this? For shame! We in Arizona are sickened by the border violence, and it's time for the BATFE / ATF to own up.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/14/sen-grassley-probes-border-agent-slaying/

"...wants Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to explain why Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents allowed suspected gun smugglers to purchase and keep assault rifles that later may have been used in the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

In a letter, Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa said ATF agents told his staff the agency allowed the sale to “known and suspected straw purchasers for an illegal trafficking ring near the Southwest border” and two of those weapons reportedly were recovered at the site of the Dec. 14 shootout that killed Border Patrol agent Brian A. Terry.

"Terry, 40, was attempting to arrest bandits who prey on illegal immigrants when he was killed about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexicoborder. A member of the Border Patrol’s elite Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) team, he was waiting with three other agents in a remote area north of Nogales, Ariz., when the gunbattle erupted..."

If you want to know more, just google "Project Gunwalker."

Amendment on the block

2011-02-01T12:33:00.005-07:00

[title edited, since it appears TJIC has pulled his own blog pending legal...]

http://borepatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-am-tjic.html

Whatever you believe about the 2nd, I hope you seriously consider the 1st and say with me...I am TJIC...

"It was not a famous Massachusetts citizen who said We must all hang together, or surely we will all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin was more circumspect than the men from Massachusetts, such as Sam Adams, who said this:

Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

"Eliminationist rhetoric right there. Clearly, the Arlington Police would have seized his firearms. What a sad, degraded state for a once proud Commonwealth. It seems that I got out just in the nick of time."

http://reason.com/blog/2011/01/25/the-saga-of-travis-corcoran

"Last week, law enforcement officials in Arlington, Massachusetts seized the (legally owned) guns of Travis Corcoran, a blogger and owner of an online comic book store. They also revoked Corcoran's gun permit. They were responding to posts on Corcoran's blog, TJICistan..."

His response, commented here: http://www.eternityroad.info/index.php/weblog/single/i_am_tjic/

"11. > Did they revoke your concealed carry permit, or did they confiscate your firearms all together?

I was told that if I voluntarilly surrendered my firearms, as a “show of good faith”, that my LTC would not be revoked. On the advice of counsel, I did so.

As soon as that transaction was completed, my LTC was yanked. Whether this was planned all along or not, I can not say. Technically, it has not been “revoked”, it has been “suspended”.

In either case, it sure feels like my RKBA has been infringed.

> if they revoked your firearms, did they have a warrant to do so, and under what authority?

MA is a “may issue” state.

As I understand it, under the law, the Chief of Police may revoke my right to store in MA, or carry in MA, firearms, but he may not confiscate them.

None the less, when my LTC was suspended, I was ORDERED to turn in all of my firearms; moving them out of state was not presented as an option.

> Do you have a legal defense fund set up somewhere where we can donate?

At this point in time my legal bills are noticeably but not crushing (my lawyer is ~$500/hr, and other experts we’ve called in have their own price tags). I own a home and a business, and would - at this point in time - feel awkward about accepting any help when there are so many more worthy folks out there. Please feel free to drop an extra $5 in the church collection plate, or give it to the local animal shelter or home for battered women to help those truly in need.

If this legal battle escalates, I reserve the right to revist this topic, of course!

> As you know from my comments on your website, I disagreed with you at the time you posted that. However, no matter how boorish or insensitive your statements, they were not an incitement to violence, that much is clear. What you said was “One down, 534 to go” which to me is no more an incitement to violence than the joke that goes something like this: “What do you call 500 lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?” ... a good start!”

Indeed, the post was meant as an homage to that exact joke.

> And no, Fran, it isn’t lock and load time.

Agreed. I had a long post up on my site, before I took it down, analyzing America’s current political situation in terms of the four point test of Catholic Just War doctrine. I also conclude that we currently only satisfy two of the four points.

> I think this will be turned around in court in very short order.

I’ve got my fingers crossed ... and a good legal strategy, which is a bit more important!

Thank you, all, for your support.

Posted by TJIC on 01/20/2011 at 02:53 PM

Gag!

2011-01-20T11:03:00.002-07:00

The other story on this event continues...

"As KGUN9 News has reported, some critics have suggested that some statements from the Sheriff's Department -- particularly those from Sheriff Clarence Dupnik -- could serve to work against prosecutors."

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13870560

"When Sheriff Dupnik said he thought Jared Loughner is mentally unbalanced and possibly influenced by sharp, angry political talk, conservative commentators directed sharp angry political talk towards the sheriff.

"Now a legal pundit on Fox News is suggesting Dupnik's comments on Loughner's mind may help Loughner build an insanity defense."

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13841487

As they say, "We want to know What he knew, and When he knew it!"

Tucson debate

2011-01-14T15:26:00.004-07:00

The Case for Arming Yourself - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

Limiting clip size won’t lower crime -- if only criminals get higher clips, they have an advantage.

- The "opinion", which mostly cited anecdotal evidence, was in the NYT. But so were several others, on the other side of this debate. I liked the position by James Fox, "More Guns Means More Guns" at http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/11/more-guns-less-crime/more-guns-means-more-guns which seems more reasonable from more of an authority.
- Thanks for mentioning that, Jim. Armed resistance may not dissuade criminals (tho overwhelming statistics say it does--Fox must be very selective to deny that), but the writer also conveniently fails to mention one of the heroes was armed when he made the tackle. Perhaps the fact he was armed gave him more confidence to stop further killings. More reprehensible is Fox's implication that there was something wrong with non-law enforcement being involved in maintaining law and order: "it wasn't clear which one was the perpetrator among those struggling for control." Sorry no uniformed cops were there, so "we the people" did the job. Obviously this kind of thinking is utilized by gun control advocates. Fox did rightly note the importance of Luby's Cafeteria and that AZ has ironically (in name) "liberal" gun laws. I frequent that store with my children, and I'm glad to have the option of defending myself and them...
  
  I could relate to John Cory's comment athttp://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/4600-american-madness that "nothing protects innocent life like a mob of armed citizens shooting back and forth at one another." That image is particularly poignant right now here in Seattle where a well trained police officer has been accused of unjustly shooting and killing a street person. If a well trained police officer can't always make the right decision, I'm not sure the help of several other armed citizens would help.
  
  Jim, that's sheer "Wild West" propaganda. Please let me know where that has occurred since Florida's 2005 passing of the Castle Doctrine and consequent exponentially increasing gun sales. No, instead we see plummeting of violent crime rates. We have a saying: "When seconds count, police are only minutes away." For all the violent crime reported in the mainstream media, too bad they don't report the crimes which are stopped by armed citizens. Of course no news is good news. I encourage you to peruse "The Armed Citizen" for a few months and let me know what you think of this topic: http://www.americanrifleman.org/blogs/armed-citizen-january-2011
  /
  about an hour ago
  I did do a little independent research to try and verify some stats prepared by the Violence Policy Center athttp://www.vpc.org/press/0905gundeath.htm What I found was that it's a supercharged topic and there is very little rational thought or reliable statistics on either side. No doubt there are some real "facts" but I haven't found any I trust yet. Meanwhile I do trust my own experiences based on my third world travels, life in inner city neighborhoods, work with delinquent youth and my left wing anti war past. I have found that guns are an attractive nuisance - more likely to be involved in suicides and accidents than helpful in protecting against assault or home invasion. And as for the Second Amendment goes, I agree with the intent but it's way out of date. With my pistol or shotgun I wouldn't stand a chance defending against an oppressive government armed with assault rifles, infrared detection and long range listening devices backed up with helicopter gun ships and drone missiles. I'd be more likely to be shot if I did have a gun.
  about an hour ago
  
  Jim, it could be argued that 3rd world countries became that way at least in part via the disarming of the populace: thus the overt intent of our 2nd Amendment. However, what is not stated, but found in innumerable other accounts by the founding fathers—as well as “common sense” until late-20th Century America--is the indisputable right to defend oneself and responsibility to defend one's family. This is how I see this argument: one either believes we the people are sheep under the protection of the government-shepherd, or we are responsible for ourselves and the government is our servant. You likely see that as a false portrayal...how do you see our relationship vis a vis the gov't?
  about an hour ago
  
  Maybe like you, Clint, I see the relationship between the people and the government as adversarial. I'd go a step farther and argue that it's even worse than that - it's an adversarial relationship between the people and the combined power of the government doing the bidding of the corporations. That's by definition, fascism.
  
  So, for me owning guns or not is a matter of tactics. Americans still believe in fairness and we have a government with the trappings, if not always the reality, of rule of law. And we have a media which, while increasingly subjective and polarized, at least in theory shines the light and keeps a check on corporate greed and overreaching government.
  
  In Somalia or Afghanistan, where guns are plentiful and government corrupt and rule of law non-existent, owning a gun might be your only defense. You would still be up against armed bands out to kill you and it might, even in that situation, be more effective to work toward peace, disarmament and an effective government as is being attempted now in Sudan. By the way your premise that "3rd world countries became that way at least in part via the disarming of the populace" is just not consistent with the facts.
  
  In America we are not badly off yet. We still do, as I say, have the trappings, if not the reality, of rule of law. I think a non-violent approach modeled after Gandhi or MLK would be far more effective and successful than arming ourselves and waiting for the SS comes to get us.
  
  On a much more personal level I just can't imagine who I would shoot. As I've said, I would probably not be ready and would not be able to defend myself against an armed and awake burglar or attacker. I'd be better off with a whistle, mace and a cell phone or asking the attacker if his mother knew what he was doing. Would-be attackers are likely to be kids on drugs or people desperate about something. They might be pretty much like some members of our own families or the families of people we know. I don't want to kill them.
  
  And to defend against the government or some real but amorphous and intangible corporate enemy? Just who do I shoot? The town cop? The Exxon gas station attendant? I am not in to being a sheep but I don't think I can realistically protect myself from my government with a gun. It would be better to persuade, organize, write articles and support the people when and where they are attacked and abused.
  about an hour ago
  
  Jim, I have other friends who also think guns should not be in the hands of non-law enforcement, and they too would rather use a cell phone or mace than a firearm to defend themselves. I just can't agree in this post-modern concept. If myfamily is attacked with lethal force, it's my responsibility at least to try to save them, right now. I also don't agree with the adversarial relationship concept about the government. Call me an idealist: I still believe in positive change, through initiative, referendum, recall, elections, etc. If I didn't think it was the best on earth, believe me brother, I'd leave. I don't know about 2nd Amendment rights in Somalia and Sudan, but I sure wouldn't want to move there, and this is hard to ignore:
  
  http://jpfo.org/pdf02/genocide-chart.pdf
  
  Gandhi: "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn."
  
  "As we have seen, the first public expression of disenchantment with nonviolence arose around the question of "self-defense." In a sense this is a false issue, for the right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law." Martin Luther King, Jr
  
  And Never Forget April 19, 2011 will be the 68th anniversary of the final battle of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto uprising.
  
  "In early April, German soldiers began rounding up Jews for their final shipment to work camps. On April 19th, Passover eve, a group of less than 20 of them began fighting back, by killing a single German soldier, stealing his gun, and killing another, then another, and so on until perhaps 1000 men were armed and fighting back against the entire German army. An entire brigade worth of Germans were killed, along with 6,000 of the approximately 7000 Jews resident in the Ghetto. It ended on May 16th in a massacre by poison gas. The last of the fighters were trapped in a few buildings, and some sewer tunnels. They flooded the tunnels with gas, and then went in and exterminated all but a few who they saved for show trials. 6,000 died on their feet, rather than on their knees.
  "
  
  Clint, Anyone can write anything on facebook or the Internet. Your information about Gandhi and MLK and others is twisted or out of context at best and seems to come from the website, "http://jpfo.org/" Jews for the Preservation of FirearmsOwnership (JPFO) which is a 4,000 member group dedicated to the preservation of gun rights and founded by former firearms dealer Aaron S. Zelman. I've read history more broadly from a variety of view points, especially the history of India and China and I don't buy the premise that disarming the population leads to genocide. Look at England.
  Sunday at 11:32am ·
  
  Jim, this is backed up by facts...According to the BBC News, handgun crime in the United Kingdom rose by 40% in the two years after it passed its draconian gun ban in 1997. "Handgun crime 'up' despite ban," BBC News Online (July 16, 2001) athttp://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/uk/newsid_1440000/1440764.stm. England is a prime example of how crime has increased after implementing gun control. For example, the original Pistols Act of 1903 did not stop murders from increasing on the island. The number of murders in England was 68 percent higher the year after the ban's enactment (1904) as opposed to the year before (1902). (Greenwood, supra note 1.) This was not an aberration, as almost seven decades later, firearms crimes in the U.K. were still on the rise: the number of cases where firearms were used or carried in a crime skyrocketed almost 1,000 percent from 1946 through 1969. (Greenwood, supra note 1 at 158.) And by 1996, the murder rate in England was 132 percent higher than it had been before the original gun ban of 1903 was enacted. (Compare Greenwood, supra note 1, with Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 1998).
  "You are more likely to be mugged in England than in the United States," stated the Reuters news agency in summarizing the study. "The rate of robbery is now 1.4 times higher in England and Wales than in the United States, and the British burglary rate is nearly double America's."6 The murder rate in the United States is reportedly higher than in England, but according to the DOJ study, "the difference between the [murder rates in the] two countries has narrowed over the past 16 years."
  Monday at 9:17am ·
  
  From the article linked above, uncanny and timely info for the US today: "A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.
  The research, commissioned by the Countryside Alliance's ...See More
  Monday at 9:21am ·
  
  It's more of a point of view than a fact, Cllint. The Countryside Alliance's Campaign for Shooting clearly is a pro-gun lobby and the "other side" says it's more complicated than that and the reason for the increase in crime is illegal international gun sales that criminals, but not law abiding citizens, take advantage of. So, once you regulate guns it's easier for police to identify and regulate criminals but the crime rate might take a while to drop.
  
  Crime and gun control really isn't my issue. I just don't need to have a gun because I think I'm safer without one. But I'd be interested in whether crime with a gun went up or down in Chicago and New York after their strict gun laws were overturned recently - as reported by a legitimate news source like the NYT, Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post that practices "fact verification".
  Monday at 11:08am ·
  
  Will you accept the Washington Times?http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/21/guns-decrease-murder-rates/
  
  "According to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, more guns in homes would cause more violent crime.
  
  "This has never been the case. Local politicians enthusiastically embraced the 1977 handgun ban predicting it would make Washington a safe place by dramatically reducing murder rates. But they were as wrong three decades ago as they are now.
  
  "A telling story is illustrated by the murder numbers since the handgun ban and gun-lock bans were struck down. Between 2008 and 2009, the FBI's preliminary numbers indicate that murders fell nationally by 10 percent and by about 8 percent in cities that have between 500,000 and 999,999 people. Washington's population is about 590,000. During that same period of time, murders in the District fell by an astounding 25 percent, dropping from 186 to 140. The city only started allowing its citizens to own handguns for defense again in late 2008.
  
  "Few who lived in Washington during the 1970s can forget the upswing in crime that started right after the ban was originally passed. In the five years before the 1977 ban, the murder rate fell from 37 to 27 murders per 100,000. In the five years after the gun ban went into effect, the murder rate rose back up to 35. One fact is particularly hard to ignore: D.C.'s murder rate fluctuated after 1976 but only once fell below what it was in 1976 before the ban. That aberration happened years later, in 1985.
  
  "This correlation between the D.C. gun ban and diminished safety was not a coincidence. Look at the Windy City. Immediately after Chicago banned handguns in 1982, the murder rate, which had been falling almost continually for a decade, started to rise. Chicago's murder rate rose relative to other large cities as well. The phenomenon of higher murder rates after gun bans are passed is not just limited to the United States. Every single time a country has passed a gun ban, its murder rate soared."
  Monday at 11:55am ·
  
  Chicago gun deaths are rising and Mayor Daily and the police want tighter gun control according to the Christian Science Monitor at - http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0427/Homicide-rate-jumps-in-Chicago-Daley-pushes-for-more-gun-control
  
  The solution, Daley says, is to continue pressing state and federal courts to tighten restrictions on gun ownership – and to uphold the city’s ban on handguns and assault weapons.
  “This is all about guns, and that’s why the crusade is on,”
  
  And in Baltimore "Targeting guns to reduce violent crime" athttp://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0110/Targeting-guns-to-reduce-violent-crime
  
  I get the impression that the police and elected officials want gun control while the NRA doesn't.
  
  Reading through these articles, it's clear to me that it's not safe to be on the streets in Chicago and Baltimore. One gang member who shot a 20 month old girl in Chicago said he was aiming at her father, not the girl.
  Monday at 12:46pm ·
  
  I agree with your conclusion: don't live in those cities. It's clear that when guns are criminalized, only criminals have guns (and law enforcement, who can't be in all places at all times to defend you). Too bad Daley's political opinion runs counter to the facts.
  Monday at 2:53p
  m

Arizona: doing the work the federal government won't do.

2010-12-08T08:17:00.004-07:00

Ummm, unfair burden on employers? What malarky. That's about as crazy as not recognizing that letting tax cuts expire is actually a tax hike. But offending employers are correct: it should be federal law.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Arizona-employer-sanctions-law-once-again-before-the-US-Supreme-Court-111518549.html

azfamily.com

Posted on December 8, 2010 at 6:54 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on Arizona's employer sanctions law.

The law allows prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants...

Eleven U.S. and Arizona companies challenged the law.

They claim sanctions for employing illegal immigrants should be federal law and that the Arizona law puts an unfair burden on Arizona employers.

Black Tears

2010-12-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119672450795312374.html

Sadly for the Arizona, after 229 bodies were recovered the Navy was forced to stop because of increasingly dangerous conditions. Not long after, a decision was made to leave the dreadnought where it lay and in the process create a lasting and powerful tribute to those who lost their lives and remain entombed in the ship. When the Arizona sank it also took well over a million gallons of fuel to the bottom. Now, at a rate of two quarts a day, tiny oil droplets, known as "black tears," rise to the surface every 20 seconds -- and will continue to do so for decades to come.

Remember the Arizona!

One of the most important days in the history of the world

2010-11-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Veterans Day, Nov. 11, also marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. On Nov. 11, 1918 the Germans signed the Armistice, bringing an end to the hostilities of WW I. This year we observe Veterans Day on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010.

In Nov. of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Armistice Day proclamation, setting the tone for future observances:

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation."

In 1938 Congress passed a bill that each Nov. 11 "shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace and ...hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day."

After WW II, there were many new veterans who had little or no association with WW I. The word, "armistice," means simply a truce; therefore as years passed, the significance of the name of this holiday changed. Leaders of Veterans' groups decided to try to correct this and make Nov. 11 the time to honor all who had fought in various American wars, not just in World War I.

In Emporia, Kansas, on November 11, 1953, instead of an Armistice Day program, there was a Veterans' Day observance. Ed Rees, of Emporia, was so impressed that he introduced a bill into the House to change the name to Veterans' Day. After it's passage, Rees wrote every state governor asking for their approval and cooperation in observing the changed holiday.

In 1954 Congress official changed the name of the holiday to Veterans' Day. For a brief period (1971-1977), the holiday was celebrated on the fourth Monday in October, but Congress reverted back to Nov. 11 in 1978.

The observance has since evolved as a time for honoring living veterans who have served in the military during wartime or peacetime.

source: http://woodlandsonline.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=38690

Marine Corps Birthday

2010-11-10T11:06:00.002-07:00

http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/marine_corps_birthday.htm

Semper Fi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXpUcRVzV1s

If your toe isn't tapping under your desk right now, call 9-11 'cause there's a medical problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0uw8jhQx5U&feature=related

Happy 235th Birthday

2010-10-13T11:52:00.002-07:00

United States Navy Birthday

On Oct. 13, 1775, the U.S. Navy was born when the Continental Congress authorized the arming of two sailing vessels with 80 men and 10 carriage guns in order to intercept British supply and munitions transports. The Declaration of Independence came nine months later, followed by the creation of the Department of the Navy in 1798. Today, our Navy is the most powerful in the world.

HT to Patriot Post

Here's to you, sailors! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhCko6qUGuc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JmqSGVRtYc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjrVpilFwzk&feature=related

I understand better now

2010-09-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

I don’t think I mentioned about a month ago I finished reading the Bible. I had planned to read it within a year but was about 8 months late. As the months passed I was happy to adopt a leisurely pace. I am reading a little less of the Bible now, as I breeze through a few other books. A friend loaned me “Thr3e” by Ted Dekker, a psycho-thriller which ends with this quotation by Paul:

“I do not understand what I do...It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me...For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing...I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me...I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin. I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Romans 7:15-25

I am not about to say I understand this paradox, which is like so many other unsolvable mysteries. However I am convinced we are, as Bruce Cockburn sang, “habit and skin,” and what follows is surely commonplace to contemplatives. We thoughtfully decide to do very few things per day compared to the vast number of habitual actions: putting on our pants, one leg at a time. Consider further that a significant percentage of those habits are neither neutral nor “good.” So we have taken into ourselves habitual sinful activity: over-eating, being prone to anger, tuning out one’s family...But here’s the rub: we are no longer slaves to that sinful nature. One cannot serve two masters: “one must either serve the one and hate the other, or love the other and despise the first.”

God can free us as readily as we have taken these sinful habits into our daily routine. It is not rocket science, my reader. However it does require a small step of faith. Stop doing it, one time. Pray every day. Allow yourself to be convinced it is actually sinful, and that your life will be better without it. Don’t do it the next day, either. Be thankful for and celebrate the good habits: daily prayer, being circumspect, listening to others and feeling compassion. When asked what God requires of us, I have often said, “To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” The Westminster Catechism is perhaps less specific however delightfully instructive: “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” So many Christians in my life were never taught, nor did they consider the enjoyment part. Please do! “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!”

A Man and A Class

2010-07-30T07:17:00.005-07:00

We will continue to search and apply means of grace in these United States, but I certainly have been spending more time in contemplation than documentation. The early life of John Paul II as told in the movie "Karol: the man who became pope" was truly eye-opening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol:_A_Man_Who_Became_Pope

While his friends chose armed rebellion against the Nazis, he became a priest and prayed for freedom. The prayer option certainly appears to take longer, however God's ways are not our ways.

This essay hit me like a ton of bricks. Excellent synthesis of why so many Americans are resembling who Nixon called "The Silent Majority." Well, with the Tea Party movement, they're becoming less silent.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

Hmmm, Nixon...JFK...who is doing a better job of re-enacting Camelot, Clinton or Obama?

Tipping Point

2010-07-08T09:53:00.003-07:00

Postnote: a friend wrote me to say thankfully the Harvard crowd are never in doubt but usually wrong...nice!

America, please stop this slide into economic Europeanism...the whole world will suffer for it.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/141349

"...the tipping point is often when the cost of servicing an empire’s debt is larger than the cost of its defense budget.

“That has not been the case I think at any point in U.S. history,” Ferguson said. “It will be the case in the next five years.”...

“Having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it,” Ferguson said. “It’s not a lot of fun, actually, decline. To be more serious, a world in which the United States is no longer predominate is not likely to be a better world, actually.”

"In what he called his “light moment,” Ferguson said, “I think there is a way out for the United States. I don’t think its over. But it all hinges on whether you can re-energize the real mainsprings of American power. And those two things are technological innovation and entrepreneurship."

Listen here: http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/pod_listen.php?row=1362

The hour is fast approaching

2010-07-02T16:42:00.002-07:00

"[T]he hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are Freemen, fighting for the blessings of Liberty -- that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men." --George Washington, General Orders, 1776

hattip to Founder's Quote Daily

³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' " --Gospel of Mark, Ch 13

What Rights Do You Have

2010-06-01T20:53:00.005-07:00

At the heart of this blog is whether humans enjoy "natural rights" at all. As a human construct John Locke's exceptional philosophy underpins the American experiment and, as such, I give it what honor is due to the finest human accomplishment. I cringe at modern social movements which attack its defense of private property and freedom worldwide. And further, the most observant Christians of the founding fathers (and more specifically, the framers) would be unlikely to have issue with this, however...

As Christians we are slaves to Christ. As one concerned commenter wrote, isn't God the ultimate sovereign from which we must flee to attain liberty? The answer is yes, and no. God is sovereign, and that relationship makes the free and rich Western person have more difficulty fathoming that relationship. Here is a recent example of the dilemma, if there be one:

I love the practical consequences of the First Amendment as much as the next person, but I worry that it is built on a faulty foundation, that it derives from ideas about the human person and human dignity that do not cut the anthropological mustard, and like everything built on a faulty foundation, it may not be as sturdy as it seems. We can keep the issues fuzzy, but at the end of the day, the fact of the Incarnation calls into question the very idea of autonomy. I submit this is the central issue in our Western culture today and the point at which the Church remains the most counter-cultural influence in the West: How do we rescue human freedom and all the manifest good that flows from a politics in which human freedom is valued, from the nasty Enlightenment influences that require the privatization of religion?

The author responds:

It is possible (indeed, it is common) to think about, interpret, and apply the First Amendment as if it were a philosophical statement about the nature of truth (e.g., "it can only be found through the operation of an unregulated marketplace of ideas") or human flourishing (e.g., "no one is any position to judge whether or which ideas and statements are damaging or harmful"). But, it can also be understood, in a more pedestrian way: "Generally speaking, the government is an unreliable, or even untrustworthy, regulator of the search for, and debates about, truth. So, we disable the government from regulating speech not because there is no truth, or because ideas never cause harm, but only because the government-speech-regulation cure will too often be worse than the disease."

http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/05/christianity-and-libertarianism.html

There is great value in keeping our eyes on the true prize, what Paul called "winning the race." We do this through self-discipline, so let's not get so caught up in political parrying that we forget the Source of our blessings, Who loves us and is active in the world today.

Land of the Free

2010-05-22T21:34:00.003-07:00

I'll bet most people who spend a any portion of their lives contemplating the Bible not only inform their lives with its principles, but also analogize some of its passages in a completely different context. Here's one:

The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians is a powerful, short letter in which he fleshes out to what extent Christians are "under the Law" and how that compares with faith in Christ. It struck me that this argument bears much similarity to the current state of politics in the USA. Why would we want to return to a state of tyranny, whether under the guise of socialism or otherwise? This is the land to which other people flee...and we wish to model ourselves on those rejected models? Isn't this very issue why our country was founded in the first place?

"For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

I challenge you to take 15 minutes to read this book of the Bible and consider this analogy. If you can only spare 10 minutes, read 2:11-5:23.

Now I certainly don't mean to diminish the Word of God by making an analogy to human politics. However, I'll bet the founding fathers wouldn't see anything wrong with it, and might even chime in: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16

Arizona struggles on life support

2010-05-01T09:22:00.004-07:00

ETA: it passed. I truly hope it does everything as promised, and that the economy doesn't suffer as a result. However taxes rarely perform that way.

Food for thought… re: Proposition 100, the “temporary” 1% (one percent) sales tax increase.

"The debate over Prop 100—the plan to raise the state’s sales tax by 18 percent—is in full swing and Goldwater is working hard to explain why this tax increase is unnecessary. Goldwater Institute President Darcy Olsen will be debating the issue on Channel 3 this Sunday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m. We hope you’ll have the time to tune in.

"You may remember that 10 years ago we raised the state sales tax with the promise that the new money would go to classrooms. Earlier this year, the state’s Auditor General looked into how that money is being spent and found that just over half makes it to the classroom. The rest gets spent on administration. In fact, less of each dollar spent on education in Arizona makes it to the classroom than before we raised the sales tax ten years ago. About an hour ago we posted a 30 second video on You Tube to explain this little know aspect of the sales tax debate."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5pc3QtBog&feature=player_embedded

emailed to me From: "Starlee Rhoades" of the Goldwater Institute
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 3:47:49 PM GMT -07:00 U.S. Mountain Time (Arizona)

Make it stick

2010-04-30T06:55:00.004-07:00

I've played around with JB Weld a few times but never before done a large project with epoxy. My most recent endeavor was fixing a “modern” auto key: they have tiny computer chips embedded within the plastic, so if the plastic ring part breaks (has happened to us 3 times now), you can’t just drill a new hole into the steel key and have it start your car. Maybe it’s due to the dry air…I just call it bad design. At $100 a pop, I wasn’t about to buy extra car keys. So after sanding the broken area, I drilled a tiny hole on each side of the key, and inserted a short length of twisted wire bicycle cable, anchored with a drop of JB Weld in each hole. Bingo: the key stays on the ring, and it looks kinda cool, too. Take that, you modern key selling pirates.

After purchasing a box of Marine Tex, I realized I was in a different ballpark. You don’t want to mess around with this stuff…without being thoughtful. All the lessons my Dad taught me 20+ years ago came flooding back: (1) don’t use the same tools for scooping out resin and catalyst, (2) read the instructions, (3) have all your tools and clean-up stuff ready to go, (4) make plenty of extra…and be ready with extra projects to fix with the left-over. And so forth. You don’t want to be a doofus by blowing the job, which could get much more expensive than the cost of the epoxy.

Once the job was complete, I pondered the art of epoxy. Like welding, it’s a true art and one which is coming to a close in this post-modern world. Like hunting and farming. I encourage you to learn another skill and teach it to your kids. Like sharing the Gospel, it won’t be a fruitless endeavor for both you and the recipient.

235 years ago

2010-04-19T15:11:00.002-07:00

While at school out East, I took a winter's field day to Concord, crossed the North Bridge, and tested the ice on the creek. Yeah, I got my toes wet. I recall thinking it isn't much of a creek, across which a shot was heard 'round the world. But numerous times since, I've wondered how quickly I'd have scrambled up and down its banks with a musket on my shoulder...

"The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[8][9] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America.

About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonials had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk, and had moved most of them to other locations. They also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and were able to rapidly notify the area militias of the military movement.

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they searched for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, several hundred militiamen fought and defeated three companies of the King's troops. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory.

More militiamen arrived soon thereafter and inflicted heavy damage on the regulars as they marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Lieutenant-General Hugh Percy. The combined force, now of about 1,700 men, marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his "Concord Hymn", described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world," even though it was not the first shot of the war.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord

God, please bless these United States of America!

Our state of health

2010-04-06T16:39:00.007-07:00

Here is the best summary I've seen about the practical impacts of the new Health Care law. We are free to think either, "It's the right thing to do," or, "It's socialist," but it is worth knowing specifics...

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/mar/28/health-laws-heavy-impact/

Here's are two samples:

"Tax on Home Sales. Imposes a 3.8 percent tax on home sales and other real estate transactions. Middle-income people must pay the full tax even if they are “rich” for only one day – the day they sell their house and buy a new one."

"Tax on investment income. ObamaCare imposes a 3.8 percent annual tax on investment income of individuals making $200,000 or more and on families making $250,000 or more. The new tax is not indexed to inflation, so more people will fall under it each year. Seniors on fixed incomes and people with IRAs and 401(k) plans will be hit particularly hard."

How do you think that's going to affect homeownership, the real estate market, individual investing, the economy? Just remember, a government discourages activities by taxing them. Hmmm.

Mustard Seed

2010-03-23T05:34:00.005-07:00

To preface, here's another recommendation for the Chronological Bible. I began the New Testament a few months ago, and the way the Gospels are woven together is a treat and a blessing. I have a feeling I'll be reading the Gospels again quite soon.

In our Bible study tonight we discussed I Peter Chapter 2, in which we are called to respect all human authority which is over us. This is one of the Bible's "hard sayings," especially for Americans, not only because it calls us to do something difficult, but also because we have a hard time understanding practically what it means. Similarly, the chapter continues by instructing slaves to obey their masters. What can this possibly mean to Americans?

My friend Dave, AKA Troubled Corinthian, made the point that Americans are under the Constitution, and that every American is, in effect, a sovereign individual. We have no master but God. This has interesting ramifications when applied to whether we should obey a law which we understand to be un-Constitutional, let alone such laws as may be in violation of our Christianity. Be that as it may, the focus here is that Jesus is our Lord, and we are slaves to Him. I repeat, this is difficult to understand for the modern mind, let alone to live under. All Americans are equal under the Constitution (if not treated equally in practice, another topic for another time), and all Christians are slaves to Christ.

Let's consider Mark 9:14-29, the story of the demon-possessed son, whom the disciples did not have faith to heal. Jesus rebuked them for their faithlessness, and we recall another saying of Christ, that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea, and it will. Now consider Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and gave them all kinds of power. Do you have faith that is true? Although we often bemoan particular losses of liberty in recent decades, imagine American life compared to human history: how blessed we are with political freedoms and earthly riches! Not only a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage, but a TV in every living room as well! Few of us contemplate how different much of the outside world is, where the right to gather and worship God is not protected by law. May the American dream help move our faith a little closer to appreciating the difference between a fisherman's life before and after Christ entered his life?

The founding fathers said, "Yes." They used overtones of the Great Commission and adamantly believed it was God's Will that the United States be formed and consciously planned to spread liberty. If we are truly thankful for the many blessings America bestows--especially compared to the rest of the world and all of world history--how much more should we be thankful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever, who died to redeem humanity and now lives, Whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light? His love and power is infinite, and He has invited us to be adopted sons and daughters into His kingdom. What an inheritance!

So although as Americans we struggle to understand what it means to suffer for Christ, or to be a slave, our imaginations are blessed nonetheless by comparing our blessings here on earth to the endless riches God has yet to unfold. Let us never take our blessings for granted, nor forget even America is only a tiny glimpse of the freedoms in store for all believers in Christ.

Christianity in the Middle East

2010-01-28T10:49:00.001-07:00

This is hilarious...and true IMHO...

ABC News found that Trijicon, which makes rifle scopes for the military, stamps references to Bible verses on its equipment [1]. The defense contractor subsequently announced [2] that it will voluntarily stop stamping these references on combat rifle sights. These sights are used in Iraq and Afghanistan — sometimes to train Muslims, sometimes to shoot them. According to ABC News, this is very important. If a Muslim were to see this code on the side of a rifle and then look up the verse in one of the many Bibles you can easily find in Muslim countries, then that Muslim might become indoctrinated with Christianity and then … chaos or something.

read it all...

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/does-the-middle-east-need-more-christians/?print=1

Of Machinery and Parasites

2010-01-21T12:14:00.003-07:00

"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Ludlow, 1824

Boy, this sure sounds like a host of federal bureaus to me. With Massachusetts electing a conservative senator to fill "Ted Kennedy's seat," I look forward to seeing that big train turning.

Hattip again to Founders Quotes Daily

New Years Revelations

2010-01-13T11:32:00.003-07:00

I've been blessed with a few enlightening DVDs over the past 12 months, so here goes:

Star of Bethlehem: you will be amazed by the ground-breaking astronomical discovery behind this, whether you're a believer or not. http://www.bethlehemstar.net/

John MacArthur: Taking the mystery out of knowing God's Will. In short, God Wills that you be:
1. Saved (from your sins, and eternally)
2. Spirit-filled (Holy Spirit)
3. Sanctified (separated from sin)
4. Submissive and humble before Almighty God
5. Suffering in this world, as did Christ, but NOT like He suffered, necessarily
6. Thankful
7. Free to act as you will, as long as you do the above!
excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2AYv4Q2BaQ

And the glue which holds us all together, awesome science and speaking. Here's an excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Life Principles

2010-01-06T15:55:00.003-07:00

I again refer to and quote from Gabe Suarez's excellent Warrior talk emails.
Chalk this as one of those lists which would do well do tape on the mirror.

What are the components of the Warrior Mindset?

1. A firm belief in G-D
2. Knowing the deep love of family, friends and country
3. Belief in the sanctity of human life
4. Knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong
5. Having the strength to act on what is right
6. Having the strength to resist that which is wrong
7. Strength to overcome fear when necessary
8. Taking responsibility for one's safety and the safety of dependants
9. Wisdom to be selective in one's battles
10. Alert to one's surrounding
11. Profiling and evaluating people and things on a constant basis
12. Making plans of action dynamically and continually
13. Being committed to any necessary action
14. Placing the outcome of one's actions above the personal cost of the action
15. Willingness to terminate the life of another who threatens innocent lives
16. Accepting the possibility of death as a consequence of engaging evil
17. Commitment to training and further improving skill sets as well as deepening the understanding of the spiritual basis for being a Warrior

Pruning Knife

2010-01-06T12:23:00.002-07:00

Hey, most people I know are sharpening their pruning knives,
while the government violins get new strings and play on. Enough.
(If you haven't yet signed up for Founders Quotes Daily, get thee hence.)

"The multiplication of public offices,
increase of expense beyond income,
growth and entailment of a public debt,
are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Spencer Roane, 1821

Unless you think the founders weren't that smart,
or that their thoughts don't apply to modern society, or...
...in which case I'm not sure what to do with you.

Founding Minds Write

2010-01-04T15:22:00.003-07:00

My friend Troubled Corinthian is moved to spread the reading of our founding documents to anyone who will get together. He gave me the book "5000 Year Leap" for Christmas which should be required reading for all U.S. high schoolers. I suggested this book would be a great starting point, since most Americans (let alone students) are rarley able to digest the founders' writing.

http://www.amazon.com/5000-Year-Leap-Miracle-Changed/dp/0880801484

Indeed, unless you are a law student, it's a rare person who picks up, say, the Federalist Papers for light reading. Also, I think the below service is excellent for sharpening one's mind in the writing of our founders. I easily recall how in college my mind worked to process reading Shakespeare, and within a few plays it was cake. Much easier than learning a new language, but it takes a little patience and attention at the start. Of course the founders came much later than Shakespeare, and their language is the same as ours...excepting their glorious choice of wordsmithing...e.g.:

"There is something so far-fetched and so extravagant in the idea of danger to liberty from the militia that one is at a loss whether to treat it with gravity or with raillery; whether to consider it as a mere trial of skill, like the paradoxes of rhetoricians; as a disingenuous artifice to instil prejudices at any price; or as the serious." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 29

I thoroughly enjoy daily quotations from this service, followed by weekly editorials.

http://patriotpost.us/subscribe/

Thank your military

2009-12-15T12:01:00.002-07:00

http://media.causes.com/576542?p_id=92681239

"Show our military there are still plenty of people who appreciate their service and sacrifice. Pass this YouTube video link to every person you know so it will eventually reach every present and former military person across the globe! Love your freedom? Thank your military."

The rationing begins?

2009-11-19T09:56:00.004-07:00

If you've been concerned about health care reform, and wonder if rationing is really being considered, check this out:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/16/mammography.recommendation.changes/index.html

"With its new recommendations, the [task force] is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them," Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

Welcome to the brave new world, comrade.

Post script...here's some more fine reading from a recovering Berkely liberal...

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/obamas_mind_game.html

Brainwashing the masses to believe that racism is a greater danger than radical Islam...
Opposing health care means you oppose Obama. Oppose Obama and you're part of a vast right-wing racist conspiracy.
...
Obama and the Left are making sure that there ia an increasing number of persuadable people. By displacing workers, panicking business owners with Draconian laws, and whipping up rage and paranoia, they amass more lackeys.

The American Hard Left knows how to create a cult because it is a cult, one with a violent history. The Black Panthers, Symbionese Liberation Army, Weathermen, Black Muslims -- all nefarious cults.

Members of the Weathermen, for instance, had their spirits broken through forced wickedness, such as animal abuse. Patty Hearst morphed into bank robber Tania after weeks of isolation, rape, and beatings by the SLA. Huey P. Newton sent his Black Panthers to the hospital or to the grave if they didn't practice total obedience.

So what's the end game here?

The first goal is power. The Left has an insatiable need to control every aspect of our lives.

But there's a deeper reason, one much more insidious.

The Left wants to tear Americans down. Just as the Weatherman did to those naïve lost kids, they want to break our spirits. This goal of degradation is more crucial than their one-world government.

The progressives want to turn us into them, to make us feel as deprived and depraved and deadened. It's the only way that they can silence the roar of shame and self-loathing.

What they don't understand is this: it's not going to happen. There are too many of us who won't be hypnotized.

We can see right through them. We know who they are: the most piteous of human beings, and the most dangerous. Men without a country, orphans far from home. The forsaken and disowned.

They're "hungry ghosts," to use a Tibetan phrase: tormented beings who are starving to death from their inner nothingness.

Mother Teresa was once asked how she coped with serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. She responded that what she saw in the cities of the United States was much more disturbing, because it was a "poverty of the spirit."

Poverty of the spirit. No truer words can be spoken of the progressive Left.

Flora and Fauna

2009-11-18T08:51:00.002-07:00

What responsibility do humans have to the rest of creation, specifically, on planet Earth? We live in decadent times, indeed, since it is now en vogue to be philosophically suicidal. Some track this back to Neitzsche, but the root actually goes to day one: in that day you will surely die. What? You won't die, and don't call me Shirley! And so goes the great lie, that we can be as gods.

However today we see people actually espousing the destruction of the human race, so we stop abusing the rest of nature! I kid you not: yesterday I saw a bumper sticker which proclaimed, "Plants and animals die to make room for your fat ass."

These people have confused America's freedom of speech with countries which really do abuse the planet and don't care.

Change begins on the inside

2009-10-30T10:01:00.004-07:00

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
-Patrick Henry

Please consider these things when you observe the news: is it just? moderate? temperate? frugal? virtuous? in harmony with America's fundamental principles? If not, then you government has gone astray, and it is your job to deal with it. Midterm elections are in 2010, and you can be a part of the CHANGE.

Now, what does God require of you?

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (NKJV)

Please consider these things when you react to the world around you: do justly. love mercy. walk humbly with your God. God bless the United States which, for all its faults, is still the greatest country on earth and makes provisions for peaceful change in its government.

And for the "deep thoughts." Do you disagree with Patrick Henry's first sentence above, that there are no "bad" people? Perhaps that assumption is one of the roots of the division in America. We will discuss this more at a later time.

Bind him down

2009-10-29T11:08:00.005-07:00

"In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

--Thomas Jefferson

I leave it for you to decide how to apply that quotation, then read where I just saw it:

http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/10/29/nobody-questions-that/

Breaking down into our Constituent pieces

2009-10-28T15:47:00.003-07:00

Go read "Dismantling America" by Thomas Sowell. It's short and important, but no big surprise.

"...Nothing is more consistent with his lifelong patterns than putting such people in government-- people who reject American values, resent Americans in general and successful Americans in particular, as well as resenting America's influence in the world.
"...Whether enough people will wake up in time to keep America from being dismantled, piece by piece, is another question-- and the biggest question for this generation."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/10/27/dismantling_america_98883.html

I am behind in my reading through the Bible in 2009, however I find it very interesting that I am now in the book of Isaiah, in which the prophet warns God's people to turn back to Him or be laid waste.

In defense of liberty

2009-10-01T10:53:00.001-07:00

Thoughts of the day:

"The contest for the ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power." - Daniel Webster"

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." – John Quincy Adams

Hattip to m4carbine.net

God-Incidents

2009-09-19T07:02:00.001-07:00

While discussing whether or not coincidences exist, my wife used the word "incident," in saydescribing what God crafts in our world. She recently experienced an incident which appeared so out of the ordinary that she felt it was a small miracle. I am blessed by experiencing these all the time. This matter is related to two different Wills of God: what is His Will (what would He prefer), and that all things are within His Will (power and control). God-incidents versus coincidence is obviously a difficult concept for the finite human brain. To believe that God organizes events before the beginning of time such that, for instance, we miss being in a car crash by 2 seconds, may be more easily dealt with by attributing this to the laws of nature and good fortune. However, for those who believe in a God who is good, omnipotent, active and present, the small leap of faith yields great rewards. I do not say small because it is easy...the faith of a child generally becomes more and more difficult for adults to enjoy, and it is even harder for a rich man, since this entails depending solely on the power and desier of God to take better care of us, at all times, than we would of ourselves at any time. One portion of the reward is a glance into the realm of the Real, for our struggle is not bound by this physical world, but against spiritual powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12).

Most sane individuals desire to know what is real: a desire ranging throughout history from Plato's cave to the movie The Matrix. However one's sanity may be called into question anyhow when making such statements as "God knows the number of hairs on every human head on earth" (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7). Or consider this:

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
(Matthew 6:26 ff)

If God is also personal and desires to have a relationship with us, why would He not want to design small and great events in our lives, before the beginning of time, to draw us closer to Him? What is difficult for us to conceive is a snap of the Almighty's fingers. While discussing this matter with another friend, I suggested the challenge of thinking that God is in control of all things, and nothing we do can ultimately change His Will (which one?) Andy replied that our response is one of responsibility. We are responsible to the extent that we are capable, and God uses our efforts to make us grow.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

Have you forgotton

2009-09-11T13:10:00.002-07:00

From the NY Post today:

Instead of proudly and promptly rebuilding on the site of the Twin Towers, we've committed ourselves to the hopeless, useless task of rebuilding Afghanistan. (Perhaps we should have built a mosque at Ground Zero -- the Saudis would've funded it.)
Instead of taking a firm stand against Islamist fanaticism, we've made a cult of negotiations -- as our enemies pursue nuclear weapons; sponsor terrorism; torture, imprison, rape and murder their own citizens -- and laugh at us.
Instead of insisting that Islam must become a religion of responsibility, our leaders in both parties continue to bleat that "Islam's a religion of peace," ignoring the curious absence of Baptist suicide bombers.
Instead of requiring new immigrants to integrate into our society and conform to its public values, we encourage and subsidize anti-American, woman-hating, freedom-denying bigotry in the name of toleration.
Instead of pursuing our enemies to the ends of the earth, we help them sue us.
We've dishonored our dead and whitewashed our enemies. A distinctly unholy alliance between fanatical Islamists abroad and a politically correct "elite" in the US has reduced 9/11 to the status of a non-event, a day for politicians to preen about how little they've done.
We've forgotten the shock and the patriotic fury Americans felt on that bright September morning eight years ago. We've forgotten our identification with fellow citizens leaping from doomed skyscrapers. We've forgotten the courage of airline passengers who would not surrender to terror.
We've forgotten the men and women who burned to death or suffocated in the Pentagon. We've forgotten our promises, our vows, our commitments.
We've forgotten what we owe our dead and what we owe our children. We've even forgotten who attacked us.
We have betrayed the memory of our dead. In doing so, we betrayed ourselves and our country. Our troops continue to fight -- when they're allowed to do so -- but our politicians have surrendered.

read the rest of novelist Ralph Peter's article here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/betraying_our_dead_H6T95r1BTCnkC1UbEdUfsO
and hattip to Michael Bane.

Although it's based on a different subject, the words of a hymn prompted my predominant feelings of this day: "Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Ohhhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble..."

Poor in spirit

2009-09-10T06:23:00.003-07:00

Imagine a time you set aside for earnest reflection or prayer. Thoughts seemed focused for a short while, then the concerns of the day sprang up, and you were again hooked by normal habits of thinking. You realized this, then tried again, with more or less earnest focus, and again your prayer was foiled. At this point, it is natural to give in to the day's concerns...perhaps leaving the scene at least grateful for having made the attempt, or guilty at not having succeeded...so less likely to try again. For these reasons I often am thankful to have at least made the attempt in the morning, before anyone else in the house is astir, admiring the sunrise, and as of yet not focused on phone calls. This first fruit of my time is a good start, anyhow.

So what do we make of this inability to break away from the world's cares even for a few minutes? Christian reformers described the depravity of the soul, that humans are by nature caught in sin's quicksand. I suggest Attitude is key, here. When, at the point of giving up on prayer, we are moved to return to it, feeling guilty, we have a few predictable choices: (a) continue in guilt, (b) leave prayer behind and proceed with the work-day, (c) acknowledge our situation and ask for peace. Since (a) is untenable for long, it must give way to something else. Choice (b) is the natural human default position. Yet Grace is found in (c): admitting we are indeed poor in spirit--as evidenced by our week attempt even to pray for a few minutes--to recognize we are unable on our own to break away from these earthly chains, and to plead with the Almighty for forgiveness and love and an abundance of blessings to be showered upon our existence. This is what God wishes for us, if we simply ask, with a correct attitude, and have faith. Prayer is not a one-way conversation, and God uses even our natural propensities--easy to be distracted, prone to fee guilty--to call us back away from ourselves. This, too, reveals a facet of why we were created as finite, so that our own weakness points us to our Creator. When our spirit is poor, we are ready to inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

Fluttering Contemplation

2009-09-05T19:02:00.004-07:00

Caught up as usual in the business of the day, two butterflies chased across my window view: chaotic flight. Fluttering contemplation is not an oxymoron. Contemplation is understood as "going deeper" than standard operating procedures, not reflecting shallowly, nor flitting from thought to thought. We contemplate when a truth alights our consciousness and interrupts our mental routine. This is not simply chasing butterflies.

Some may say contemplation does not require external stimulus: they conceive that their spirit contains longings which of their own accord draw them into contemplation. This may be, and yet it may also involve the oneness of the universe, such that there is nothing external: all material things touching each other, interconnecting, such that (for example) our subconcious and the need of our gardens for water interact and intersect. Certainly our internal longings cannot logically be completely dissasociated from the rest of the material universe ("nature"), since we are made of it and cannot remove ourselves from it--yet the difference between these two modes is useful for discussion. Since we are inextricably caught up in our "habit and skin" (Bruce Cockburn), contemplation is so important as a tool to "know ourselves," and why we should accept the invitation to contemplate, even if it comes on the wings of the temporary butterfly.

Another explanation for the original cause of contemplation is that there is something or someone beyond the realm of our material confines, of this mortal coil. Let's imagine God calls us out of ourselves, away from our prideful existence which, left to its own accord, operates like a child's Slinky toy: a spring falling through time, reacting within its physical shape and within physical law, not unlike any other material substance, awaiting the bottom of the stair. So, contemplation may be seen as (a) within one's own self, (b) connection with the rest of nature, or (c) God calling us out of (a) and (b). If this last is so, it would lend evidence that everday miracles do occur: http://billofgrace.blogspot.com/2009/05/everyday-miracles.html

The defensive measure or contrary use of the contemplative exercise is a glance out of the corner of your eye.* All animals' senses are heightened when they perceive danger. You may have noticed, when you are concerned with crossing a very busy street, that your peripheral vision reflexively kicks into turbo. However, this is the opposite of contemplation, for it directs us outwardly towards that which opposes us. This is one example of (a) and (b) above, and it is an exercise we share with non-human animals, a more reasoned (perhaps) approach to the fight-or-flight instinct. Thus we may consider contemplation to be NOT this defensive response, but rather a momentary countermeasure. We may then entertain that the ability to contemplate is one faculty which makes us different from the rest of nature.

If that is so, logic requires we consider that humanity is not alone in this structure or capacity, but rather there exists another who is that much different from us than we are from the rest of nature. This is just another way of describing one historical argument for the existence of God, and one thing we have in common with our Creator, which is separate from the rest of nature.

*Postnote: I have just read about "stress induced tunnel vision." This contrasts the example in an analogy discussed above. We will contemplate this further.

Original Understanding

2009-08-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I was young, the King James version of the Bible was the standard. I memorized enough verses in AWANA (a Bible study for children) so that other translations' sentence formations still seem awkward, when it comes to those "Greatest Hits" of memory verses. However I have a new-found appreciation of what my colleagues call "the proper" version: the New American Standard. Not to be confused with the Catholic New American Bible, nor the NIV...all of which I feel comfortable with. I'm still enjoying my year-long journey reading the Chronological Bible, in New Living Translation, (although I am running about two months behind.) Regardless of what naysayers who don't actually read the Bible may tell you, I haven't seen THAT much difference between versions, especially when it comes to the most important of issues, like the saving blood of Christ. Different sentence structure, sure, but essentially the SAME meaning.

Now onto current events. There seems no end to debate regarding whether the Constitution should be considered with the Founders' intent, or whether it is a "living, breathing document," which can basically mean whatever you want it to. We are seeing changes which drastically alter the meaning of the Constitution. I posit that one reason the soul of "America" is in its death-throes, regardless of how well the United States are doing, is due to a lack of interest in our governing documents. Imagine a Christian who said he or she didn't really care what the Bible actually said, because it's just the spirit of the text that matters. That's what's happening with the Constitution today. Certain members of Congress actually want to change its meaning, and say that the original intent matters not.

http://www.umt.edu/law/original-understanding/presentation.htm

Amazing bibliography there, for getting a sense of the climate in which the Constitution was written. Here are a few excerpts:

It also requires taking account of heavy influence of Latin on eighteenth-century English. This influence existed partly because the Founders were temporally closer to widespread Latin usage than we are and partly because boys from the influential classes customarily were immersed in Latin from an early age and were expected to be fully competent before they enrolled in college. It is difficult to do effective originalist research without a fair knowledge of Latin, and some serious textual misconstructions have arisen from trying to do so.

The founding generation tended to look at the world through a classical lens, not merely because of their immersion in Latin, but because Greco-Roman writings comprised such a large part of their education. Many of the founders retained a love of classics throughout their entire lives. (It was said, for example, that Patrick Henry – not someone thought of as a particularly bookish figure – annually re-read Livy’s Roman history.) Therefore, the originalist scholar needs at least a cursory knowledge of the history of ancient Greece and Rome, particularly of the Roman Republic. Especially important are the histories of Rome written by Livy and Polybius, Aristotle’s Politics, and Cicero’s De Officiis (“On Duties”) and Cicero’s more important orations.

Although the Founders didn’t talk much about it, they also were influenced by the Bible, long passages from which children learned by heart.

A clear super-majority of the leading Founders, including many, if not most, of the leading Anti-Federalists, were lawyers. Moreover, legal knowledge was very widespread among educated non-lawyers, and legal arguments were common public fare in the debate over ratification. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that much of what passes for originalist scholarship treats legal sources skimpily – often relying on little more than Coke and Blackstone.

It's sad today's Congress presumes to know better than the Founders.

500th anniversary of grace and glory

2009-08-01T15:30:00.003-07:00

It's the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, and whether you agree with his theology or not, this is a biggie. It's been suggested that the Protestant Reformation, and Calvin's teachings in specific, were fundamental to the rise of capitalism (see "Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism" by Max Weber). Of course the spirit of America, too, owes a great debt to this man and these philosophies. Some would say the spirit of America is dead, and only the United States remain, but I'll let that go for now...

If you've been reading so far, you'll note we're challenged by attending to the politics of the age, since we wish to maintain America's freedoms--which defend the practice of our religions--and yet, we want not to be "of this world." Here's a recent essay on Calvin which poignantly speaks to this dilemma:

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2009/07/where-is-the-glory-found.html

Calvin understood that we must remake worship. Everything else is icing. To put it another way, Calvin understood that we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not so that we might have all these things added to us, but so that we might have the one needful thing -- the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

We, the heirs of Calvin, have forgotten this lesson. We, if we think about worship at all, see it as a means to the end. The end we have in mind is the power and the glory. We want to build political coalitions that we might change the world. We want to overcome the powers of the Hollywood elite that we might change the world. We want to remake the economic landscape that we might change the world. What God wants is that we would bow down in repentance and give glory to His name. What God wants is what Calvin did.

When Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He wasn't telling us: "Now when you go about your life, when you pursue your goals, don't forget the big picture. Don't lose sight of why you do what you do." Instead Jesus was telling us: "Seek this. Seek this alone. Forget about everything else. Have a single-minded passion and leave the rest alone. It is in my hands anyway."

We, on the other hand, have it all upside down and backwards. We will, especially this year, look at the glory that once was Geneva because of the ministry of Calvin. We will, especially this year, look out at all the nations that felt the ripples of Calvin, moving from Geneva, to England, to these United States, then back out across the globe through the modern missionary movement. We will, especially this year, remember the great economic power that was unleashed with the spread of liberty that likewise redounds to Calvin. What we will miss is the true glory, the real story. What we will miss is the unvarnished beauty of a single congregation in one neighborhood of Geneva, bowing in prayer to the living God, lifting up their voices, singing the Psalms of God, receiving the Word preached, and receiving the Word as bread and wine. There is where the glory is found.

Is reading fundamental?

2009-07-24T11:00:00.002-07:00

Many of you may recall the RIF movement of the '70s: reading is fundamental. It passed through public TV into the public elementary schools: content is not as important as the fact that they're reading. In the '80s we experienced DEAR: drop everything and read. I remember often thinking...what if it's Playboy? I mean, there are probably some good articles in there! O.K., that's not acceptable. So what about witchcraft? Or communist manifestos? Yeah, that's the ticket. Just as long as the kids are reading, the actual content isn't that important. I look back at the Electric Company show and see so much bickering between the characters...is that ideal for impressionable minds? No, but it's secondary to the paradigm that reading is fundamental. So this movement in education walked hand in hand with relativism: as long as it's your truth, no one should tell you it's wrong.

So now we have Harry Potter. I didn't like the withcraft part, but that wasn't the worst of it...see below. Just consider how many people will consider that editorial to be heretical to the religion of RIF. Think of all the kids who have been saved from illiteracy by Harry Potter. Yuk.

So that's my issue

2009-07-23T23:19:00.005-07:00

I've had plenty of issues with the Potter stuff, but this one hit it on the head. via http://www.nypost.com/seven/07192009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_trouble_with_harry_180093.htm
and hattip to House of Eratosthenes

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
NO CHALLENGES, NO MORALS -- POTTER IS THE PERFECT HERO FOR AN ENTITLED GENERATION
By KYLE SMITH

Last updated: 12:57 pmJuly 19, 2009 Posted: 2:52 amJuly 19, 2009
...Harry might be the blandest superhero ever conceived. He simply follows the trail, learns the spells and saves the day. Kids love to be in Harry's shoes: all zapping bad guys, no taking out the trash.
Compare Luke Skywalker, who has to conquer his own vanity, laziness and anger in order to earn his powers. Harry, like many of his generation, is the Cosseted One from an early age. He's told that he's special, that he's got awesome gifts, that those who don't understand this are blind to the plain facts. Deploying his powers involves no more character or soul-searching than following a recipe.
The whimsical creations and the narrative pull -- making readers beg to know what's going to happen next -- are all Rowling offers. The great kids' works strike deep, satisfying chords. "The Wizard of Oz" would be just a Technicolor fun ride without Dorothy's discovery that everything she always wanted was right there at home. "Willy Wonka" isn't just a funny freak-out. It's also a near-biblical catalog of sinners and punishment. The Potter tales are built on nothing. Inside them is a deathly hollow.
Is there any children's writer more dismissive of morals? A Rowling kid starts learning at an early age that principles are adjustable depending on convenience.
Rowling ignores ethics to the point of encouraging dishonorable behavior. Harry spends "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" -- the film version of which is raking it in this weekend -- cheating out of a textbook that has all the answers written in the margins, causing him to fraudulently win a luck potion that he uses to solve the central mystery. And his punishment for this is . . . nothing. Harry's taking advantage of the annotated textbook is depicted as simple resourcefulness, and Hermione's protests seem mere whining. Rowling's readers will conclude it's OK to go on eBay and buy a teacher's edition of a textbook.
..."Gulliver's Travels" and the "Alice in Wonderland" books are comedic sociopolitical satires. "Winnie the Pooh" has been used as a teaching aid to introduce Nietzsche, Descartes and Taoism. Superman (born in 1938, as Nazis marched) meant truth, justice and the American way.
Rowling, sensing that her readers would think her corny or un-PC if she (for instance) dared to make Harry stand for the transcendent appeal of British civilization and culture, is no more interested in principles or resonance than "Desperate Housewives" is. If the Potter books are about nothing except childish good vs. childish evil (and they are), then they amount to a cosmic quidditch match. There's not a lot of suspense about who will win, why they should, or what it all means. All the pleasure for the reader is in the how -- the vacuous, disposable, inconsequential how.

Nehemiah Group

2009-07-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

This just in from Gabe Suarez:

THE NEHEMIAH GROUP

Nehemiah 4:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night because of them.

Nehemiah 4:17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.

Nehemiah 4:13 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people,"Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

The Nehemiah Group is a new section of Suarez International focusing on the security analysis of places of worship, as well as the training of Church Security Groups around the world. This has been a long time coming. Interested pastors, or rabbis please contact us at info@suarezinternational.com

Some of my Bible study guys and I have discussed the matter of church security many times. After 9/11 our pastor asked around to see who among the flock carries a pistol, in case of a violent attack. We have more than a few, in and out of law enforcement and military, so we'll have a fighting chance.

Since July 4th, I've spent much less time in the news, and more time in The Word. That's a good thing, folks. Nothing like the Sword of Truth to cut through modern times.

Where's Waldo when we need him?

2009-06-27T23:13:00.005-07:00

For what avail the plough or sail,

>>>

or land or life,

>>>

if freedom fail?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yet further from the heart of things, what avail universal health care or corporate stability?

The wilderness returns

2009-06-26T20:22:00.007-07:00

I've heard from a few pulpits over the last few years that the light is going out in America, that God is taking away His guiding hand, etc. But our thesis is that God's grace supercedes human rights, and Christianity is indeed growing in leaps and bounds...just not in the USA. So we don't depend on human organizations, but rather focus on the invisible, spiritual war.

But what is the relationship between having the freedom to worship and true freedom? Christ said in no uncertain terms that if you take up your cross (not necessarily the same as His cross) and follow Him, you WILL BE persecuted. Further, persectution is fertile ground for the growth of the Body of Christ (all Christian believers). Should we then pray that God sends more persecution? Umm, I don't criticize others who do, but that's not really up my alley. Likewise, although I think fasting is good for the soul, I don't think I'm called to do emulate monks who wore scratchy woolen underwear.

Why are more people than ever simutaneously concerned for the future of America AND foretelling a new Great Awakening? Largely due to the present state of politics, I'll wager, especially at the federal level. For example:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html

"Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules," Alinsky wrote in his 1989 book Rules for Radicals. When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short. The system's failure to "live up" to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist "rule book" with a socialist one. (Courtesy Discover the Networks.org)
Newsmax rounds out the picture:
Their strategy to create political, financial, and social chaos that would result in revolution blended Alinsky concepts with their more aggressive efforts at bringing about a change in U.S. government. To achieve their revolutionary change, Cloward and Piven sought to use a cadre of aggressive organizers assisted by friendly news media to force a re-distribution of the nation's wealth.
In their Nation article, Cloward and Piven were specific about the kind of "crisis" they were trying to create:
By crisis, we mean a publicly visible disruption in some institutional sphere. Crisis can occur spontaneously (e.g., riots) or as the intended result of tactics of demonstration and protest which either generate institutional disruption or bring unrecognized disruption to public attention.
No matter where the strategy is implemented, it shares the following features:
The offensive organizes previously unorganized groups eligible for government benefits but not currently receiving all they can.
The offensive seeks to identify new beneficiaries and/or create new benefits.
The overarching aim is always to impose new stresses on target systems, with the ultimate goal of forcing their collapse.

If you think America was a bad idea and we should work toward its downfall, I guess this is as good a strategy as it gets. Obviously I think that's, ummm, SATAN speaking, since Capitalism and the Protestant Work Ethic (Weber), combined with the New World, has been the most significant force of freedom, democracy, and human rights the world has ever seen.

See also here: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/once-upon-a-time-in-america/

In America, you were free.
Here was a New World. No kings, no knights, no dukes, no earls. No titles, no shackles, no pales of settlement. Some of us, shamefully, owned slaves. But when push came to shove, Americans were willing to kill and die to make other men free. It was true in the Civil War. It was true in World War Two. It remains true today in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We were never perfect, but we were always working on it — at least when we weren’t trying to make a buck, or maybe just trying to avoid attention. America was the land of promise, and the land that delivered on that promise.
American freedom was a huge, sprawling, messy, brawling thing. It consumed everything and anything, and spewed out an unimaginable bounty. For some, the freedom was about growing their business and making money. For others, it was about growing their hair and making love. But it was always here, for anyone willing to risk the journey and leave behind the Old World and its old ways.
But now that we have this wonderful place, this precious idea — what are we doing with it?
Already, the government runs our children’s education and our parents’ retirement. Now we’re allowing it to usurp our banks and nationalize what remains of our auto industries. Within weeks, Washington promises a plan to dictate our health care. To do all this, we’ve let Washington run up enough red ink to impoverish our grandchildren. As if all that weren’t enough, the president still found the time to kick our friends in London and Tel Aviv while courting a genocidal, election-stealing maniac in Tehran. He even gave a speech in Cairo — that oppressed, impoverished Old World megalopolis — in which he assured the world that America really is no better than anywhere else.
Well, once upon a time, we were.
...If the Old World comes here, where does the New World have left to go?
When the Puritans were persecuted in England, they risked everything to come to America. When young Germans faced the Prussian army’s grip, they gave up their ancient towns to come here. When Jews faced the Czar’s pogroms, they gave up their bucolic steppes for the slums of New York. Rather than accept stagnant lives in their own countries, Latin Americans risked uncertain lives in America. Rather than accept far milder impositions than our own, America’s Founding Fathers risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor just to sign their names on parchment.

What are our federal branches of government risking for us today? Certainly not their lives. On the contrary, they're betting their constituents' (yours and mine) lives and fortunes. Ugh, without faith in God this would be a dark situation.

My friend Dave also sees this struggle and is engaging: http://troubledcorinthian.blogspot.com/2009/06/wisdom-of-men-and-holy-spirit.html

To what extent should the Christian be a voice in the political wilderness? To what extent should human rights issues--even in our own country!--compare with spreading the Gospel?

For the children, part deux, Age of Decadence

2009-06-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

A friend referred me to an ancient philosophy which suggests everything we do is for the future generations. We had a short debate on how attempting to get us out of a recession by burdening future generations with trillions of dollars of debt may not be logical, then...but I digress.

Yes, our example is always an educational model for our children--we "are always teaching"--however my point was that too often people disguise their rationale for doing something as being "for the children," and even at times as a burden! This is not only disingenuous but also counterproductive. Children also hear what we say, and what we say becomes part of our psyche, so it would be better: "I'm doing X with my kids."

Thinking of the tax burden on the future, and the nature of government to encroach upon rights, Troubled Corinthian and I discussed the nature of government and what is the best direction for government today. He simply and brilliantly said that the crucial change for our generation is to lower taxes, to starve the government. Regardless of any other policy--to save the earth or the unborn, to become energy independent or insured against any health problem--government must be reduced.

We have entered the Age of Decadence. We have arrived here mostly due to the economic prosperity of the United States carried into the 21st century, which many historians have already posited will continue through the next 100 years. I love having a good drink, coffee, and dessert, and we typically revel in such an event as being "decadent." I'm sure you've seen "Chocolate Decadence" on the menu. The bittersweet definition, however, is usually directed toward the fall of the Roman Empire, in which society became too rich for its own good. Yeah, my 42" LCD TV isn't good enough; I need a 56" plasma screen. Kids would rather play video games all Saturday than play outside. This is uncannily similar to 2000 years ago.

This means for our government that, not only do we feel comfortable in our seeming isolation from overseas terrorists or any other enemy (unjustifiably, of course), we spend far too much time trying to redistribute wealth from those who produce to those who do not. Too much energy attempting to control education at the federal level. Too much in tax credits to people buying so-called "energy efficient vehicles" and building "green buildings" when these measure could never counteract pollution spewing communist China.

One lesson we should learn from the current financial crisis is that we need to--and CAN--survive on less...and that means the government, too. Why should it be expanding while "the people" are losing their investments? The government needs to tighten its belt, and that means lowering taxes. A wonderful consequence is that it will have less power to encroach on our freedoms.

Second, we need to throw ourselves at the feet of the Almighty. Only God can make the sun stop in the sky--not the crazy North Korean dictator, certainly not Osama bin Laden...and not even the U.S. government. The more the government takes control of the economy, the more it fails. We will look back at this moment in history and wonder why Americans allowed its federal government to use a recession as a rationale to take over General Motors. Our founding fathers would appraise this situation quickly and, like it or not, they believed in individual people's relationship to God more highly than the federal government. This worked hand in hand with contemporary Adam Smith's "invisible hand." Let the market correct itself...because it WILL, sooner or later. If the government tries to fix it, the crisis is prolonged...as with the Great Depression. The federal government attempts to be god, it will be slapped down, as have all other gods in history...by The Almighty.

Nine/twelve plus one

2009-06-16T21:27:00.002-07:00

This from Glenn Beck.

The 9/12

The 9 Principles

1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

The 12 Values

* Honesty* Reverence* Hope* Thrift* Humility* Charity* Sincerity* Moderation* Hard Work* Courage* Personal Responsibility* Gratitude

http://theglennbeck912project.com/the-912/

Oh yeah. That's what I'm talking about! And toss in a little of this, and we'll be set.

"No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Thomas Jefferson

Wish it weren't true

2009-06-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Walter Williams epitomizes what we've been discussing everyday, when the topic comes to the current state of politics:

...it was Albert Einstein who explained, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So which is it -- stupidity, ignorance or insanity -- that explains the behavior of my fellow Americans who call for greater government involvement in our lives?

According to latest Rasmussen Reports, 30 percent of Americans believe congressmen are corrupt. Last year, Congress' approval rating fell to 9 percent, its lowest in history. If the average American were asked his opinion of congressmen, among the more polite terms you'll hear are thieves and crooks, liars and manipulators, hustlers and quacks. But what do the same people say when our nation faces a major problem? "Government ought to do something!" When people call for government to do something, it is as if they've been befallen by amnesia and forgotten just who is running government. It's the very people whom they have labeled as thieves and crooks, liars and manipulators, hustlers and quacks.

Aside from the general level of disgust that Americans have for congressmen, there's the question of whether there is anything that Congress does well. What about Social Security and Medicare? Congress has allowed Social Security and Medicare to accumulate an unfunded liability of $101 trillion. That means in order to pay promised elderly entitlement benefits, Congress would have to put trillions in the bank today earning interest. Congressional efforts to create "affordable housing" have created today's financial calamity. Congress props up failed enterprises such as Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service with huge cash subsidies, and subsidies in the forms of special tax treatment and monopoly rights. I can't think of anything that Congress does well yet we Americans call for them to take greater control over important areas of our lives.

I don't think that stupidity, ignorance or insanity explains the love that many Americans hold for government; it's far more sinister and perhaps hopeless. I'll give a few examples to make my case. Many Americans want money they don't personally own to be used for what they see as good causes such as handouts to farmers, poor people, college students, senior citizens and businesses. If they privately took someone's earnings to give to a farmer, college student or senior citizen, they would be hunted down as thieves and carted off to jail. However, they get Congress to do the identical thing, through its taxing power, and they are seen as compassionate and caring. In other words, people love government because government, while having neither moral nor constitutional authority, has the legal and physical might to take the property of one American and give it to another.

The unanticipated problem with this agenda is that as Congress uses its might to take what belongs to one American to give to another, what President Obama calls "spreading the wealth around," more and more Americans will want to participate in the looting. It will ultimately produce something none of us wants: absolute control over our lives.

The path we're embarked upon, in the name of good, is a familiar one. The unspeakable horrors of Nazism, Stalinism and Maoism did not begin in the '30s and '40s with the men usually associated with those names. Those horrors were simply the end result of a long evolution of ideas leading to consolidation of power in central government in the name of "social justice." In Germany, it led to the Enabling Act of 1933: Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation and, after all, who could be against a remedy to relieve distress? Decent but misguided Germans, who would have cringed at the thought of what Nazi Germany would become, succumbed to Hitler's charisma.

Today's Americans, enticed, perhaps enchanted, by charismatic speeches, are ceding so much power to Washington, and like yesteryear's Germans are building the Trojan Horse for a future tyrant.

http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/06/10/americans_love_government

Dang, if he doesn't hit the nail on the head. No wonder that in addition to serving on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, Dr. Williams is the author of More Liberty Means Less Government: Our Founders Knew This Well.

Conspiracy time

2009-06-14T08:18:00.003-07:00

Isaiah 8:11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 "Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. 14 He will be as a sanctuary... 17 And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. 18 Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.

What a waste of time and energy are conspiracies! Please help us focus on what's eternal, defend the weak and fatherless, and maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. (Psalm 82:3)

Freedom's crossroads, part 2

2009-06-12T13:57:00.010-07:00

These men formed a more perfect union, with the goal of maximizing freedom for the most people. If they were alive today, they'd be spitting mad, regardless of how serene this picture looks. We recognize freedom is under attack within our own borders, and we make it our mission to fight back. Some call the fall of the Berlin Wall the end of the 20th century, and 9-11-01 the beginning of the 21st. While considering our current struggle, I keep recalling Churchill: "America did not become what it is by being made of candy." I subscribe to Tim's e-mail reports, and here's an especially poignant one. While you read it, consider what's going on in our country, right now, and whether the U.S. is striving for more freedom or more governmental control...which incidentally is its exact opposite, in the minds of our founding fathers. Are we heading for a more or less secure America for future generations?

...I’d like to share some principles from a book called ‘The 5000 Year Leap’ written & put together by the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Simply put, this book is AWESOME! Heck, I wish it was required reading for all high school students. It’s about ‘The 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World.’
The 15th Principle, one of my favorites! The Highest Level of Prosperity Occurs when there is a Free-Market Economy and a Minimum of Government Regulations. Most of this is straight from the book.

The United States was the first people to undertake the structuring of a whole national economy on the basis of natural law and the free-market concept described by Adam Smith (who wrote a book in 1776 called The Wealth of Nations). Among other things, this formula called for the following:

1. Specialized production – let each person or corporation of persons do what they do best.

2. Exchange of goods takes place in a free-market environment without governmental interference in production, prices, or wages.

3. The free market provides the needs of the people on the basis of supply and demand, with no government imposed monopolies.

4. Prices are regulated by competition on the basis of supply and demand.

5. Profits are looked upon as the means by which production of goods and services is made worthwhile.

6. Competition is looked upon as the means by which quality is improved, quantity is increased, and prices are reduced.

The Four Laws of Economic Freedom: Prosperity also depends on a climate of wholesome stimulation protected by law. Reduced to its simplest formula, there are four laws of economic freedom which a nation must maintain if its people are to prosper at the maximum level. These are:

1. The Freedom to try.

2. The Freedom to buy.

3. The Freedom to sell.

4. The Freedom to fail.

Proper role of gov is to protect equal rights, NOT provide equal things.
By 1905 the United States had become the richest industrial nation in the world. With only 5 percent of the earth’s continental land area and merely 6 percent of the world’s population, the American people were producing over half of almost everything-clothes, food, houses, transportation, communications, even luxuries. It was a great tribute to Adam Smith.
Those are the values this country was founded on. One person CAN make a difference. You can teach those around you, your family, your friends timeless principles that we need to all follow once again.

http://blog.timothyjschmidt.com/2009/06/12/freedom-is-under-attack/

Thanks, Tim. You're making a difference.

Hell and the Hitler principle

2009-06-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

A recent Bible study veered into the intersection of Evangelism Avenue and Hell Street. One fellow said that hell is a most important topic to discuss, since it is one of the biggest roadblocks to new converts. On one hand, how can genuinely good people go to hell, just because they don't believe in Jesus and, on the other hand, how can a just God allow genuinely bad people to go to heaven via a "deathbed" conversion?

My short answer was, that we should not let a discussion with new believers get bogged down in a discussion of hell. I spent way too many years in college researching William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," peering into Dante's "Inferno" and C.S. Lewis' "Great Divorce," and now laboring under a media thrilled (under a romantic spell--see vampire meaning attributable to "thrill," especially in the novel "Monster Hunter International") with all things hellish. Allowing a serious discussion of one's immortal soul to fall into the hands of modern day gnostic entertainers makes me reach for the Tums.

Another fellow chimed in that hell, among other topics, can be a "smokescreen" to distract from the underlying issue: whether that person is angry, hurt, or what-have-you. Others, however, felt hell is a very important topic to be fluent about, to be able to answer those questions, and so on. Now I agree that hell is a very important topic, and that we should be prepared to answer questions about hell. Here's an excerpt from an article one fellow forwarded to me:

http://www.grace4u.org/Topical/doct_hel.htm

A close look at hell can make us more godly and compassionate.

That Hideous Doctrine
by John Thomas, free lance writer

...Hell is a place of darkness (Matt. 8:12). Imagine the person who has just entered hell--a neighbor, relative, co-worker, friend. After a roar of physical pain blasts him, he spends his first moments wailing and gnashing his teeth. But after a season, he grows accustomed to the pain, not that it's become tolerable, but that his capacity for it has enlarged to comprehend it, yet not be consumed by it. Though he hurts, he is now able to think, and he instinctively looks about him. But as he looks, he sees only blackness.
In his past life he learned that if he looked long enough, a glow of light somewhere would yield definition to his surroundings So he blinks and strains to focus his eyes, but his efforts yield only blackness. He turns and strains his eyes in another direction. He waits. He sees nothing but unyielding black ink. It clings to him, smothering and oppressing him.
Realizing that the darkness is not going to give way, he nervousiy begins to feel for something solid to get his bearings. He reaches for walls or rocks or trees or chairs; he stretches his legs to feel the ground and touches nothing.
Hell is a "bottomless pit" (Rev. 20:1, 2 KJV); however, the new occupant is slow to learn. In growing panic, he kicks his feet and waves his arms. He stretches and he lunges. But he finds nothing. After more feverish tries, he pauses from exhaustion, suspended in black. Suddenly, with a scream he kicks, twists, and lunges until he is again too exhausted to move.
He hangs there, alone with his pain. Unable to touch a solid object or see a solitary thing, he begins to weep...
A hard look at this doctrine should first change our view of sin. Most believers do not take sin as seriously as God does. We need to realize that in God's eyes, and in His actual plan, sin deserves eternal punishment in hell.
We can actually learn, by comparison, to hate sin as God hates it. As the reality of hell violates and offends us, for example, so sin violates and offends God. As we cannot bear to look upon the horrors of hell, so God cannot bear to look upon the horrors of sin. As hell revolts us to the point of hatred for it, so also God finds sin revolting. The comparison is not perfect, but it offers a start.
...Reprinted from MOODY MAGAZINE, Sept. 1985

Yes, it is important not to allow modern discussions to vascillate from "this is what churches use to scare you into converting" to "hell's not a real place." On the other hand, it is important NOT to let discussions with prospective believers circle round and round about whether hell is real or not. Likewise with any other smokescreen topic. Our discussions must rise to the level of, and remain focused upon, the love of Christ.

If someone raise the objection of whether a genuinely good person could go to hell, or if Hitler could have had a deathbed conversion, I offer the pithy response: "Let God sort 'em out." What's more pertinent to the current discussion is, what side are YOU on?

Christian warrior

2009-06-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

BoG disclaimer. In reference to the Winston Churchill quotation some time ago, and my adjacent invective that conservative should make life hell for socialists, a liberal friend of mine said she's not interested in my blog because it is partisan. Let me be clear. Socialism leads to tyranny and the death of innocents. If you don't understand this, please Google that, and expand your historical knowledge base. I am interested in God's grace, and in His blessing this country such that it defends people's "rights" to practice religion, defend themselves, and so on. (To what extent God is concerned with human rights we will leave for a later date.) No other country was founded on such principals. No other country goes out of its way to defend others around the globe, in the way the U.S. does. To the extent the U.S. falls away from its original principals, it will also quite likely fall out of grace with the Almighty, upon Whose Name it was founded. Those who wish to re-write the Constitution to fit their political agenda, making it more like failed systems aroud the globe and less like the proverbial City on the Hill, these are either misguided souls, enemies of freedom, or both. As Churchill also said, in one of the most quoted graduation speeches, "Never, never, never, never, never give up!" And with Christian love, we will continue to promote the Gospel of Christ, and the remaining foundation of this country which still stands upon His principals.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The below is quoted from one of Gabe Suarez's emails to which I subscribe. This one in particular exemplifies our themes of the supplication of God's Will and the absence of coincidence.

CHRISTIAN WARRIOR

Suarez International is dedicated to His service, and this section exists to glorify His name and to provide encouragement to our brothers-in-arms that serve Him as Christian Warriors. We believe that God gave us courage and called us to the profession of arms, and that its His will that we be strong and dangerous in the face of evil and the sons of perdition that walk this earth.

Responsibility and Preparation

When a publically-traded business fails, investors quite reasonably look at the CEO to ask what happened - and to place the blame. When a military unit is captured, the generals will want to interrogate the team leader for the same reasons. This is all very reasonable. One might even expect it would be an inherent aspect of leadership to "accept" such responsibility.

Yet today, when a church fails, many church leaders are very quick to simply blame their Boss - The Lord. "It was not His will", they will say, "that this church succeeds". What might we say of the CEO, of say, a failed automobile manufacturer, or a failed bank, if when asked about the jobs and livelihoods of those dependant on him, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "C'est la vie"? (That means "That is life" in French for any liberals that might be reading). Probably nothing you would repeat in front of a gaggle of girls at a Sunday service, yet it is OK for a pastor to use such an excuse?

What about when a family fails? You know - kids go bad, relationship ends in divorce, poor spending discipline, etc. Stuff like that. Whose responsibility is it? God's will, or the failure of leadership?

Listen. Do not blame God for your own mistakes. I often see failure in leadership as far as churches go because the pastor makes some sort of decision with his own interest in mind and not necessarily the interest of his church. Then, falling in love with his decision, convinces himself that it is God's will. Yet at every turn there is nothing but resistance and closed doors and problems. An attentive man might be thinking that God does not want him to go that way, but not the pastor (or Christian Leader) that has already made up his mind. He will press on and dismiss the resistance as spiritual warfare.

I do not believe God forces us to do things, rather, having free will, He will guide us. But all too often we refuse to pay attention. I remember back in 2002 when the idea of moving out of California first came up for us. It was a difficult thing as we owned a home, belonged to a church there, and still had family and friends there. So what did I do? I prayed. I asked the Lord that if it was in fact His will that we move, to please make it so easy that we would in fact know it was His will. Some might say such a prayer was unfaithful. Truth is, I don't care what they think. If they prayed such prayers (just as Gideon did in Judges) I suspect they would not make as many life mistakes.

In any case, God made the transition so simple it was almost too funny. Think of a door not only being opened after such a prayer, but that door being blown up by det cord and a big suction sucking us through the opening! But I consulted God before moving a finger. And most importantly, waited for an answer before moving. David did likewise as I recall.

In the old martial arts world we had a saying about preparations - Those destined to win, study first, then fight the battle. Those destined to lose, fight the battle first, and then study why they lost. Same thing here. Don't you think?
__________________
Gabe Suarez

One Source Tactical
Suarez International USA
Christian Warrior Ministries

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace,
but a sword.

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

We have begun a new website titled

Christian Warrior Ministries

Take a look. http://www.christianwarriorministries.com/

BoG aside: I heard a market report last night which suggested that if Chrysler were allowed to fall a few decades ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today...not to say that would eliminate failure, but rather it would set a better precedent for success. It also made the interesting note: "Capitalism needs failure like religion needs sin." Well, let's not delve into the theology of that, but rather reflect upon our sinful nature, and need for a saviour, and upon capitalism's natural tendancy to have market cycles, successes and failures. To the extent to which the government interferes with that failure and subsequent recovery, the market will take longer to recover. It's take plenty of academic openness to admit recently that the Great Depression was prolonged by the New Deal, NOT solved by it. We can only hope that the U.S.'s inherent economic strength, and God's Will, don't make us pay for this meddling.

And on the poetic side, this is from a year-old mailing from Gabe:

To prevent the unforeseen when I’m alone and down the block, I pack a Holy Bible…a Bible and a Glock.
If the enemy opposing has a Christian soul to seal, I will bless him with a scripture, but if not…with lead and steel.
I want to live in peace with everyone I see. I shall always try to do so, as much as depends on me.
But there’s no evil I will stand, no devil hand that I won’t still, like the Lion and the Lamb,
the very hand that blesses you can kill!
To prevent the unforeseen when I’m alone and down the block, I pack a Holy Bible…a Bible and a Glock.

Gabe, thanks for all you do, as a Christian, and as an American.

The sky is falling

2009-06-07T15:18:00.004-07:00

You all know the beginning premise: Chicken Little runs around saying "The sky is falling," and the rumor spreads.

But who can tell the rest of the story?

More and more birds (Turkey Lurkey, et al) become similarly afraid, and together they journey to warn the king. Along the way, they come across the path of Foxy Loxy, who generously offers her den to keep the others safe while she undertakes the perilous journey to the king. Of course the sky is fine, Foxy gets fat, and the birds go missing or KIA.

Next thing you know, the government imposes extortionate environmental standards, takes control of a major auto corporation, attempts to disarm the populace and silence opposition...

The religion of socialism

2009-06-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

As in the 1930s, we are seeing a resurgence of socialism in the media. An antithesis of freedom, socialist methodology attempts to turn each new generation's minds to mush.

Socialists advocate abortion rights, since socialism purports that "personhood" is defined by use value, which status can be bestowed by a person's caregivers. (A side note: aged people can have that status taken away when they are no longer useful. Keep that in mind as our nation contemplates a national health care system.)

So when does a person become useful to the movement as a whole? Answer: when they become true believers! As youths under the spell of their parents, proto-people struggle for meaning and awakening. If this is not acheived sooner, they may attend socialist purgatory--the university--for one last chance at seeing the light, before entering "the real world." Winston Churchill: "If one is young and not a liberal, he has no heart. If one is old and not a conservative, he has no brains." Sadly, modern liberals have become socialists, and conservatives are left fighting for both freedom and tradition.

Therefore, conservatives make life hell for socialists. Forge ahead.

Say it ain't so, San Diego

2009-05-29T10:56:00.002-07:00

http://www.10news.com/news/19562217/detail.html

...Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"

The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars...

Simply.Amazing.

The saving grace (or silver lining, if you prefer) is the attention this blatant attack on the 1st Amendment will draw to our most modern of citizens, in this most free nation on earth.

The Church historically flourishes under persecution; let it be so today.

Continually in prayer

2009-05-29T08:40:00.004-07:00

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

What does it mean to be "continually in prayer?" It is fairly axiomatic among Christians I've spoken to, that we should be doing this. However each conversation ends up with: "Yeah, but then you have to go to work. Maybe go back into prayer during lunch or on the commute home." So we typically proceed in thinking that "continually" means "daily" or "regularly."

Here's another suggestion. God calls us into a loving relationship. When you love someone, you're thinking about that person all of the time, occassionally to distraction. God being omnipotent can love everyone without becoming distracted. Then again, most people I know talk on the cell, or text, or at least eat fast food while they drive. If you can do that, can't you think about God, too? Perhaps being continually in prayer is the most important multitasking available to humans. If you want a loving relationship with God, you need to think about Him as you conduct ALL of your daily living.

Unreasonable? Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure you have done something your spouse (or S.O.) has asked you, "Were you thinking of me AT ALL when you chose to do that?" How much more so with God, Who loved you before you were conceived. The Bible suggests that the relationship between Christ and the Church (all Christians, the body of believers) is like a marriage. When we are "married" to Christ, we are expected to put on new clothes, a new life. New attitude, new behaviors...

And I suggest, new multitasking. Give it a shot. Perhaps you wear one of those rubber bracelets which says "WWJD," or have a Bible verse taped to your desk, or whatever. Just try to be continually in prayer, and see what God has in store for you.

The Face of Prayer

2009-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hattip to G&R Tactical.

What makes us different

2009-05-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

We're pondering the Christian foundations of the U.S. and, in this season, turning our thoughts to Memorial Day. Although we traditionally contemplate WWII and the "Greatest Generation," it is also important to remember those who are fighting for our freedoms right now.

Americans generally have a reverence for life which is unknown to America's enemies. Enjoy this bittersweet, solemn and yet entertaining movie: "Taking Chance." I guarantee you will be choked up during at least one scene, and you will walk away with an even deeper sense of pride in the American soldier.

And please don't go around saying, "Happy Memorial Day."

That just doesn't make sense.

If you see a Veteran, say, "Thank you." Just two more things:

Putting on that uniform they are saying to all of us.....
"I will put myself in harm's way for you. I will take your place in time of danger."

"If you are an American, you know of two people who have died for you: Jesus Christ, who died for your soul, and the American G.I., who died for your freedom."

The American Way

2009-05-21T17:48:00.003-07:00

Permission to circulate gladly granted by the author. Download an easy-to-print version.

The American Way, by Alan Korwin, May 21, 2009

I was fortunate to be invited to a meeting of thirteen deep-thinking well-educated men recently, and for two-and-a-half hours over lunch we examined some of the critical issues of our time, from our perspective.

The question came up, "What Is America?" and I ask you today, "What is America?"

It seems to me this is a question without an answer, because America is as many things as there are people to define it. It is a complex and huge topic that could fill encyclopedias and not scratch the surface.

But it dawned on me that a few fundamental principles of America stand out. These are the principles that have made America great. These are the reasons America is a shining beacon of real hope for the entire world, such as the world has never known. These are guidelines that people have adopted in their hearts, instilled in their families. These are understandings that drive people from their homes across the entire planet and to our borders. These fundamental principles are The American Way, and this can be described.

I've been a champion of The American Way for as long as I can remember, and way before I even knew that this was what I was championing.

The American Way is hard work. It is keeping the benefits of your hard work. It is ownership of private property, and the sanctity of a contract between people.

It is the idea that you and you alone own the fruits of your labors. It is the idea -- of paramount importance -- of self ownership. You and you alone own and are responsible for you. It's a tautology. The king doesn't own you. The state doesn't own you. You own you.

This is not a right you demand, or get from the state, or earn. It is a fundamental right of the fact that you exist. It is a right that comes from your Creator, by nature. It is the natural order of things. And it is honored here like nowhere else -- that's why we've achieved so much.

The American Way is the idea that all you Americans can make something of yourselves, because you are free to do so. This is the great magnet that draws people here. In 2006, net immigration into 78 nations from Albania to Zimbabwe was below zero -- people were fleeing. In America in that year, more than two million people, risking life, limb, family and arrest, walked across blinding miles of blazing snake-infested desert to get here. That says something. Half got caught and sent back. Half snuck in. Those are problems for another time, but that raw drive speaks volumes about what we have accomplished that their native lands have not.
____

In one of the documents that helped start our country, Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, published in the year of our founding, 1776, he described principles that drive The American Way (although it was too early for him to call it that). Wealth of Nations, in the country's infancy, identified what has led to unprecedented opulence, prosperity abundance, opportunity and freedom that is The American Way.

Smith recognized that private property, free trade, self interest, limited government and division of labor were the basics of capitalism and cornerstones of personal freedom and economic security.
____

So these are the factors that make you and me special, and make the land we live in special, and attract many non-Americans to this special place, seeking to be Americans. But along with the teeming masses yearning to be free are undesirable miscreants seeking to leach off our success, eat out our substance and do us harm, who must be resisted. Col. Jeff Cooper put it plainly: Some people prey on other people. I don't like it. That's just the way it is.

So I ask you: Do you intend to preserve, protect and defend these special attributes that make us what we are? You bet we do! Will you resist the constant forces that seek to diminish, denigrate, defeat and delete these special attributes? You bet we will!

The American Way can be summed up, not perfectly, and not for all cases, but it can be summed up for our purposes: The American Way is the idea that the people are the rulers and the rulers are the servants. Have we strayed from this? Yes. Does that make it less true or less valuable or less right? Not at all.

The American Way is the rule of law, individual responsibility and government of limited delegated powers only. It is free markets, free enterprise, low taxes, entrepreneurship and capitalism. The American Way is moral and just and yes, has a strong religious underpinning, whatever your religion may be -- so long as your religion does not include forcible coercion of others. It is "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," but definitely not, "You better submit to our way," no matter how strongly convinced that your way is right.

Convince people to follow and you follow the precepts that drive much of what we are. Force people, and you are by definition the enemy of The American Way. Neither political party has a really good score card on this.
The American Way is what has generated the most opulent, abundant, prosperous, generous, productive, creative, inventive and loving society the world has ever known, light years ahead of whatever is in second place. Our politicians have lost support because they've abandoned our goals.

The idea that such a land could even exist was beyond the comprehension of earlier societies -- the ideas that made it possible had not been invented yet. The uniquely American ideals of freedom were born here. They were birthed by a lucky confluence that skeptics might say were coincidental. True believers might say it was destiny, or divine providence. And who knows who's right. The important thing is that it happened.

Our natural geography, limits of technology, self-selected pioneers and thinkers in a brave new land, the abuses and usurpations of a tyrant, the homogeneous nature of voluntary leaders, simultaneous existence of so many geniuses in one place and one time, an abundance of natural resources, existence of such vast expanses of untapped wilderness -- all contributed to the damn lucky creation of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights that set us on our way.

When people are turned free to do what they will, they do what we have seen here. Acting in your own self interest, you persevere, plant and harvest great seeds of innovation and wealth. And great wealth results from the work of your loins. True Americans, recognizing the great blessings that have been bestowed upon us, share those fruits, like no society before us has ever done. Americans donate and share more food, more wealth, more health care, more humanitarian aid, more power of righteous self defense, than the world has ever seen -- without exception.

And what of guns? Guns, guns, guns, they are so American. All nations have guns, but only in a scant few do the people have guns. And only in America is there a wildly western tradition of a gun for everyman. Only in America is there broad understanding that guns save lives. Guns stop crime. Guns keep you safe. Guns deter evil. Guns are good.

Colt, Remington, Winchester, Browning, Smith and Wesson -- is it just coincidence that Americans have guns, and use guns, and have invented some of the finest firearms ever known -- and the fact that America has been the freest nation on earth? It is not coincidence. Guns are why America is still free.

We know and easily accept that you can't let slaves have guns and expect them to remain slaves. Does that mean that if the forces of darkness were to succeed in their endless effort to disrupt our long-standing balance and disarm peaceful, innocent Americans, that America would be devolve into slavery? Is it safe to confiscate guns from the innocent? I'm not eager to find out!

Why is it safe to give all those dangerous guns to other people, just because they have government jobs and are paid with your tax money? Why can they be trusted any more than any of you who actually earn the money that pays them? What magical writing says guns are OK but only if rulers have them all? Where does it say that a man in government is more trustworthy than a man in his own home?

We know that just the opposite is true. It is our resistance to the bad idea that only leadership should have power that put power into the hands of the people and created The American Way. It is the understanding that the power to govern is only legitimate if it comes from the consent of the governed. When the power to govern is disconnected from consent, you have classic tyranny, no checks on leadership, only those latitudes leadership arbitrarily decides to offer. That, my friends, is the Anti-American Way.

Guns are indeed why America is still free. Guns in the hands of the masses help assure that leadership cannot just run wild. It stops them short. Guns are power to the people.

Slaves must be disarmed. Americans must never be disarmed. A disarmed docile subservient America would cease to be the magic magnet it is.

Now, there's corrosion in the aging machinery of The American Way. Jefferson's warning that the natural tendency is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground is true, and 200 years of yielding and gaining have taken us to a strange place.

Our great strides forward are at grave risk today. The idea of true human freedom, freedom from the state, freedom from arbitrary rule, appeal to a power higher than any government or man can exert -- these are what give us what we have. Today, far too many people, influenced by dastardly powers, reject the very things that give them the power to speak out against us.

We are now infested with czars -- a drug czar, an education czar, an environment czar, and now even a border czar. Czars are horrors yet we're embracing them, welcoming them into our midst. Czars are toxic waste, destroyers of freedom, autocratic tyrants who have no place in our system. Yet they are praised and promoted with glee by our failed "news" media. Tolerance of czars is a repugnant result of the insidious success of political correctness. Czars should be removed and replaced with representatives.

But our representatives need to be replaced with representatives, because they've long since left the scene.

We have reached a point where our laws are written by secretive government operators and clandestine conspirators, creeps working in deep basements without the light of public scrutiny, who draft endless edicts that cannot be read by a person of decent education. The edicts are thrust upon our elected hollow men, who are coerced and intimidated into signing before they have read what they are handed, and saddle us with unacceptable, anti-American crap whose contents they don't know.

Think about that. The laws are now written by people you don't know, can't name, can't see, signed by people without reading or understanding, and then held against you at the point of a government gun and prison. That, my fellow Americans, is corrupt. It is tyrannical. It is intolerable.

Our elected participants should fall to their knees in shame and tears for what they are complicit in forcing upon this great nation and its people. But they show no shame. They justify, and excuse and continue. How much further must that travesty go on before a few heads are on pikes on the K Street bridge? A bridge, by the way, actually named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner.

Tyranny has its appeal. Especially in the young, a desire to follow rather than lead burns hot. It's easy to be sheep, to obey, to stand in line, take what's handed you, care not for the higher values. They are far from the roots that got this tree growing. And their schooling, run by the very government that schooling is supposed to tame and keep in check, encourages the collectivist antithesis of The American Way.

Freedom is hard work, but worth it. Socialism, the Anti-American Way and our arch enemy, seems easy, because it runs on other people's money and sweat. Too many Americans today have had their values turned upside down and actually crave socialism, or can't even tell the difference between craven collectivism and freedom's liberation.
________

We have our share of difficulties, and our ability to surmount them looks increasingly grim. And when you're the big dog, as freedom has made America, people and groups and nations and even ideologies nip at your feet.

The have nots, the do nots, the know nots, freeloaders and the useful idiots wound up into a frenzy by people of ill will and a disgraceful media, seek to take you down. Seek to hurt you. Seek to diminish your accomplishments, cast aspersions on your greatness, work to undermine your success, mean-mouth your achievements, deny, rewrite and twist history to say it isn't so. They would rather pick at the nits than recognize how far America has drawn humanity out of the primordial goo.

Americans know our greatness. America haters hate our greatness. Too many of our own countrymen are misled, misguided, propagandized and brainwashed into hating -- blind fuming hatred -- of the very hand that feeds them.

America haters are the most pernicious, deceitful and hate-filled enemies of all that is good and prosperous and productive and beneficial to humanity. Too many exist within our midst, in our Congress and schools and newsrooms and within the bureaus of the czars. And they are clever, and devilish in their cunning, and left unchecked they will indeed ruin the greatest society the planet has ever seen, and then dance in the bloody gore of the havoc they reek.

If you believe in The American Way, if you have benefited from The American Way, if you want your children and their children and generations to come both here and abroad to bask in the glory of The American Way, then you need to rise up -- in all your righteous glory and indignation -- and denounce the siren song of those who would rend and ridicule what we have achieved.

You need to always say the obvious, and flatly refuse to participate in the debilitating socialist disease of political correctness! Don't joke about it, which reinforces it, denounce it! You need to substitute e pluribus unum -- "From Many, One" for the leftwing sickness of multicultural divisiveness. You need to know that belief in limited government, low taxation, delegated powers, free markets, free enterprise, gun ownership, religion and personal responsibility makes you a moderate not an extremist. Those who tell you to reject these core American values, they are the extremists. The extremists are calling the moderates extreme, and the media helps sing that song. Clinging to The American Way makes you a centrist, a moderate centrist. Only a vile and corrupt media could see it otherwise and then promote an upside-down cake of the truth.

You must loudly and publicly reject laws that violate the separation of Congress and the States, laws that violate the 10th Amendment by delegating forbidden powers, laws that grow government illegally, laws that use color and sex and language to force compliance, quotas, and deceptive non-equality. Equal treatment under the law, not enforced treats and benefits through income redistribution. Special treatment to favored groups is the behavior of tyrants. We are and must remain a nation built on merit and compassion, not central dictates and giving away your money to other people.

You can do all these things, and keep America at her heights of glory. You can for generations to come preserve all the things that made America great and this shining beacon of liberty it has been for more than two centuries. You need to ask yourself, of every proposal that comes down the pike from central government, state government, local government, media pundits and all others who profess to know what's right for you, "Does it maximize freedom?"

Does it maximize freedom, that's the question. That's the benchmark.

If it maximizes freedom, it's good. That's what our Founders knew. That's what got us to this great pinnacle of success from which we are now slipping. If it would do good but does not maximize freedom, it must be rejected. If government could take action -- but has no authority to do so, it must be rejected. There is always another way. The American Way.

Thank you, and may God bless America.
Alan Korwin

Thank you, Alan. Considering current events, it's no coincidence Alan takes note of America's "czars"...see "Soft shoe" post below.

May God bless America indeed and, through her, may God bless the whole world.

Soft shoe

2009-05-21T10:21:00.005-07:00

You may have seen the video of Kruschev beating his shoe on the table and declaring, "We will bury you." After the Berlin Wall fell, did we assume this could never happen?

"American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper"

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.
Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.
The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.
These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-0/

So do we go dancing our way into the dustbin of history? Forbid it, Almighty God.

Hattip to Smallest Minority, via Arms and the Law

Weird science

2009-05-21T09:35:00.002-07:00

Go over to TC and let me know if that ain't the truth:

"For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 1 Corinthians 1:18-20

http://troubledcorinthian.blogspot.com/2009/05/wierd-science-of-post-modernists-and-un.html

That is the brilliance of the American system of government as designed and laid out in the US Constitution. The concept is that the more general and large the government, the less ultimate power it possessed. There are checks and balances everywhere to, hopefully, ward off attempts to hijack the government for narrow purposes.
A friend recently wondered aloud whether as Christians, there is nothing we can do other than pray and spread the Gospel, and that we shouldn't worry so much about this world. He may be right, but to paraphrase Hugh Hewitt, we may not be of this world, but we are in it.

I also think some of Dave's writing has to do with the justifiable pride in being a man, with the attendant emotions a man naturally has, notably, the desire to actively defend what is right. A dear old friend of mine, who has been a lifelong Catholic priest, often mentioned he was proud of being: a man, a Catholic (Christian), and a priest. I'll bet most men wouldn't find anything wrong with NOT being ashamed of his gender, however I'll also bet not many have actually contemplated the concept. Yeah, we've heard plenty about "I'm woman, hear me roar," but how many men have consciously said, "I'm proud to be a man." When you consider the post below, about emasculizing our culture with an attack on hunting, think further that post-modern society has elements which suggest being a man is sinful in itself. That woman is holy and man should feel guilty. Isn't this a new Manichean heresy? Now there's some weird social science.

What's it good for?

2009-05-20T15:26:00.005-07:00

I had occassion to attend the NRA convention in Phoenix last weekend, and what a class act that was. Incredibly polite children learning tips at the air rifle range, manicured displays of pistols, shotguns, and rifles of every configuration...most right out there where you could pick them up. Know what? I didn't see one nasty sign or hear one voice raised in anger. And I read that large numbers of the attendees were legally "packing heat." So let's look at this topic.

The most famous Right of the people is the 1st Amendment, an acknowlegement that we possess the right of free speech, assembly, press, petitioning the government, and practicing religion. Now keep in mind the founding fathers did NOT say the government grants these rights, but rather it acknowleges these rights are inherant in human beings. One of the most infamous (to many people) is ironically the 2nd Amendment, which I'll quote here: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Many people would suggest that unless you belong to the militia (which they think means the National Guard), you should not own guns. That's historically disingenuous, since the militia in Revolutionary times meant all able-bodied males from 17-45 who are NOT in the armed forces.

Others suggest guns are O.K. for hunting, but not otherwise. GONG! Not according to our founding fathers, who assumed hunting was a given, for as young a chap as could swing a longarm and bring home dinner. Arms are for defending the rest of our rights, thank you very much. Still others may say, that's all fine and dandy, but "What would Jesus do?" Here's one response (in the Gospel of Luke): And He said to them, "But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one."

So, although we should trust in God alone, we do not throw away those rights He endowed us with, rights the U.S. Constitution recognizes. Today we hear much in the news about whether the U.S. should restrict the rights of its citizens to benefit other countries, and other such nonsense. Jesus was a leader, not a follower, and to maintain our rights and live freely, neither should we follow the whims of other nations. Here's a little blast from the recent past...

Too Young To Hunt? By John Hay Rabb, Posted: 10-08-05

... the Humane Society of the U.S. and the rest of the antihunting community argue that youths under age 18 are not mature enough to hunt safely with a firearm. Never mind that millions of 16-year-olds are handed driver's licenses each year. Tragically, thousands of these youthful drivers are killed or seriously injured before their 18th birthdays. By contrast, there were only 89 hunting fatalities in 2002. Of these, 29 involved hunters less than 12 years old.
Celebrity animal rights activist Mary Tyler Moore recently excoriated state fish and game officials for allowing young people to hunt so that license revenues would increase. "The government should not be in the role of promoting and placing firearms in the hands of children," she said. "Basketball, baseball and books are much better alternatives."
...According to the National Sporting Goods Association, there are almost 18 million active hunters in the U.S. As a participatory sport, hunting ranks higher than baseball, soccer, softball, tennis or volleyball. Hunting is also safer than some other popular sports. The National Safety Council reported that in 1995 there were 1,700 swimming-related fatalities and 836 boating-related fatalities. In the same year there were only 87 hunting-related deaths.
By seeking to limit hunting to those individuals who are at least 18 years of age, the animal rights movement has carefully planned the ultimate demise of hunting in America. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, 80 percent of all first-time hunting experiences occur between the ages of 6 and 15. There is only a brief window of opportunity to interest young men and women in hunting. After about age 12, young people are increasingly drawn to computer games, cars and the opposite sex.
...But if hunting must wait until a child reaches age 18, then parents may see little reason to buy guns for their children. Taken to its logical extreme, interest in firearms could virtually disappear in the next generation. For the coercive utopians this would constitute a victory beyond their wildest imagination
In reality, the HSUS will never persuade a majority of congressmen and state legislators to go along with its hare-brained scheme to increase the minimum hunting age to 18. But in politics, sometimes you win by losing. Even after its plan crashes and burns, the HSUS will derive solace from the knowledge that it has put its issue on the radar screen. The organization needs only keep its powder dry until the next congressional and state legislative sessions begin.
The most important responsibility for today's hunter is to train his replacement. He must pass along his love of hunting to the next generation. ...

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/Too+Young+To+Hunt?packedargs=recid%3D1198098376868&rendermode=flush

Indeed, we must train our "replacements" and pass along our love of Christ as well. This is a most important responsibility if they are to remain free: in body, soul, and spirit.

Reading through, for the 1st time

2009-05-14T23:09:00.003-07:00

My friend Dave over at Troubled Corinthian mentioned recently that non-believers may think the Bible isn't much of a good read. After they become Christians, the Bible takes on a whole different meaning. As an adult convert, he discovered the Bible as literature in a way that "cradle Christians" don't naturally appreciate, since that kind of reading generally implies a suspension of disbelief. For Christians, the belief itself is primary, and suspension of disbelief plays into the more existential/philosophical battle.

At any rate, this year I'm going for it, on track to reading the Bible through in 2009. As with other literature, I've found I look for characters with whom I can associate, however I also look to the opposing character, to see how I also relate to him: Job and his "friends," Saul and David, Naomi and Boaz, and so on. These interrelationships are archetypes for humanity, and I usually see a little of myself in all of them.

So I'm connecting with God as I appreciate the depth of His Word. I found a 365 day Bible which also organizes chapters chronologically, so David's Psalms are inserted throughout the events he was experiencing. Great read. So here's a challenge: find 20 minutes a day to profoundly change your life for the better. Worst case, it's a notable accomplishment. And you probably already have a Bible, so you don't have to buy anything or go anywhere...or get on the StairMaster, or do yoga...

And if you need a little political reflection (don't put off the Bible for it, though!) go here:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2009&month=04

Who's the boss...For the children

2009-05-13T21:24:00.004-07:00

Two concepts which drive me bonkers, and which so many people (especially men) unthinkingly support by repetitive use: one's wife is "the boss," and "we're doing it for the children." Analyze the use of these throw-off phrases, to see if they reflect an imbalance in relationships.

First off, even to some modern thinking that men and women are basically the same in addition to being equal, the concept of the wife being the boss is at times disingenuous, weak, or a backhanded compliment. If the husband should actually husband his family, this term is philosophically self-defeating as well. I understand it's a term of endearment, and "if Mom's not happy, the family's not happy," and so forth. However, to call one's wife "the boss" is unhealthy and may even, in some circumstances, cover up her actual disempowerment.

Whether married or not, a woman wishes her man is prepared with great ideas and things to do, even if that occassion is "her choice," in addition to him being a chivalrous gentleman and her defender. For now, we won't go into other ramifications of being a husband, but let's suffice to say that we should ceast and desist this practice of calling the female spouse "the boss." Reasonable alternatives may include "cruise director," CFO, and so on.

Second, our generation seems overly preoccupied with the concept (or excuse) that life is "for the children." Now I'll grant that so much of what we do has eternal consequence and, for many if not most, the greatest inheritors (for better and worse) of our earthly example are our children. However, it's crucial not to equate our children with that eternal consequence.

Again, I understand we often laugh while we say this, while appreciating an elementary school band for instance, yet if we spend the overwhelming majority of our extracurricular hours being occupied with or for our children, our relationships with God and spouse will suffer for it. It's a slippery slope to provide more and more opportunities for the children while denying them for ourselves. Life apart from our children has eternal consequence as well, and we must not allow parenthood to become idolatrous.

Edit, 9/19/09:
Lat night my wife and I discussed another reason why men do wrong in saying, "My wife wouldn't let me do such and such." This allows men to suggest they are not responsible to make decisions. It also demeans their marital relationship. By "not allowing" a spouse to do something, this put them into more of a parent-child relationship. So, whether or not you really mean it, please refrain from these trite sayings.

Everyday Miracles

2009-05-11T09:18:00.003-07:00

Around 5 or 6 years ago I watched "Signs," a Mel Gibson movie which made me re-think the existence of coincidence, or things which occur "by chance." Since then, my worldview has more and more solidified into the belief that there is no such thing. This occurred during the growth of the "intelligent design" movement in U.S. education, which came to the public noteably via Ben Stein's movie, "Expelled," and to me in the "Truth Project." The deeper my relationship with God grows, and the more I ponder, the more I realize God's hand in everything, in all of creation: His creation. He can no more adopt a laissez-faire attitude than can parents ignore their children's pleas for help. At times you let them learn hard knocks but, when they come back, your arms enfold them again. God always wants to be in good relation with us.

In other attributes we enjoy, like humor and creativity, God shows through. This is what I think about most when I recognize what some would say is a coincidence. God taps on my shoulder and says, "Hey, it's Me! Got yer back! Don't forget!" God, acting through daily events and in our imagination, as we recognize interrelated occurences in our lives, which are designed to bring us closer to Him and each other...these are miracles. And what do you know, but this exact same lesson sings through the theme of the below referred book, "The Shack." Is it a perfect display of doctrinal Truth? Probably not. And I doubt the author would suggest that. However there's plenty of goodness going on in that novel, such as this quotation with which I'll conclude, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Centipede's Tail

2009-05-09T17:23:00.003-07:00

I came across this desert creature in the middle of a trail, its head buried in the abdomen of a dead mouse. Eight or nine inches long, its orange segmented torso the diameter of a flattened pencil, 100 yellow legs continually shifting--gaining purchase--in the sandy ground. After watching for a spell, I blew at it and POOF, the last pair of legs flinched up, readying to pinch like poisonous, monstrous earwig jaws. After a few more puffs, I gingerly poked that pair of legs with a stick, and over and over they nabbed at the stick...

...but the head worked away in the gullet of the mouse. Most creatures would scamper away, or defend their meal, or quit eating in any case. This one continued to feed as its defensive rear pair of legs mindlessly groped at the annoyance. Finally I swept it to the side of the trail, lest it be crushed by a nervous hiker, and it turned this way and that. Until I re-joined it with its dinner, and it plunged head-first, back into the belly, back to the best meal it may have seen in some time.

On one level, these rear legs are our security systems, whether store-bought or mind-forg'd--upon which we depend for our sanity. A gated community, a cynical attitude, a pistol: these fill the gap so we need not perpetually mind the barbarians at our gates. However defense works best in layers. Merely one of these tools won't suffice, and may even work to our detriment. And yet, at the logical extreme, all of these may be defeated by paranoia .

Without God, humans have their heads buried: if not in the sand, in their work, in their hobbies, in their own "personal Jesus" (or, as a friend mentioned to me, their "substitute saviour.") Those defense mechanisms are working away, and usually on a program separate from our present-time consciousness! Much has been made of the "mind-body" dualism, however we know there's a much deeper division at work. We will discuss a proper defense, of the mind and body, however I pray we are granted the Grace never to consider these without a defense of the spirit.

Freedom's crossroads

2009-05-08T13:13:00.008-07:00

A great advocate of human freedoms, I hereby introduce you to Oleg Volk:

http://www.a-human-right.com/

Oleg is a professor and photographer, and one of his photos is captioned thusly:

I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,
nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory.
I love only that which they defend.

(hattip to Tim @ USCCA, quoted from J.R.R. Tolkien's Two Towers, 2nd book of 3--also the shortest, and the best IMHO--in the Lord of the Rings trilogy)

To dramatize the relationship between physical and religious freedom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uprising_(film)

How much have you pondered your physical security?

How does your physical freedom affect your ability to think freely?

Would God be in control of both, given the invitation?

If it comes across your desk, don't veto it

2009-05-08T11:25:00.005-07:00

I'll go into the historical derivation later...

Bill of Grace is a play on Bill of Rights, since I'm particularly interested in the relationship between religion and politics in our conception of freedom.

When I taught History long ago, a student posited: "But doesn't the government give us the right to..."

Then I cut her off, stood up from the child-sized desk I was squeezed into, and tossed it behind me for show. Well, it scooted across the carpet several feet and bumped the door behind me, and the students immediately gawked as I proclaimed: "The government doesn't GIVE you ANY rights!"

Then I spent a few minutes preaching about where the founding fathers thought our rights originated, what POWERS the government lawfully has, and why the concept of federalism is crucial. That event came in handy for several topics thereafter, such as the Nullification Crisis, the Civil War, and so on. Sadly the event also broke a bridge with that student, for which I am still sorry.

We'll discuss the Bill of Rights occassionally, but for now let's consider that they were an affirmation of the human rights already existant before the founding of any nation. This is astounding. But even more poignant is the Grace upon which these rights were founded.

Bill of Grace

2009-05-07T10:35:00.006-07:00

Get a hold of a copy of "The Shack" (Young). Worst case, you've had a quick read which will inevitably come in real handy for a friend. More likely, you'll enjoy this page-turner, and it will be a conduit to change the way you live. Then pass it on. Now here's some context for our discussion:

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/05/04/jim-demints-freedom-tent/

Mr. DeMint is spot on: "We can argue about how to rein in the federal Leviathan; but we should agree that centralized government infringes on individual liberty and that problems are best solved by the people or the government closest to them" (originally in the 5/2/9 WSJ).

The issue posed to me, via Young, is that individual freedom shouldn't be the ultimate goal. For the U.S., for human politics, maybe. But for the human soul? We grant that freedom to our deepest-seated values. We set our brains to process certain values daily, and even minute-by-minute...and to satisfy our responsibilities to those values. On what or Whom do you spend your mental energies? For some, that's God. For others, it's their kids. For others, it's a sense of security. To what or Whom do you grant your freedom?

Still quite young in world history, our country is experiencing growing pains: http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/02/09/state-sovereignty-movement-quietly-growing/

James Madison in The Federalist:
“”The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.”
The founding fathers believed in a balance between state and federal power. This state sovereignty movement clearly arises from the belief that the balance of power has tilted too far and for too long in the direction of the federal government and that it’s time to restore that lose balance.

My question for you is: are you ready to allow a sovereignty movement in your soul?