Eric Goodman tracked down Neil Postman's only email communication, in which he channels the ghost of Marshall McLuhan.
----------
Subject: Observing the Law, 1997
This is the Ghost of Marshall McLuhan speaking to you. I don't haveto tell you from what world I come. I am using Chris Nystrom's facilityin order to reach you. I will say what I have to say only once. Youwill not hear from me again unless you persist in your foolishness.
Does the word "books" mean anything to you? Do you have so much timeon your hands that you can afford to waste yourselves on this infernalmachine? Have you already accumulated so much wisdom that you no longerneed to read the best that has been thought and written? Is this theway you honor the work and life of my great friend and disciple, NeilPostman? Do any of you actually know how to spell?
I have now read all of your idiotic messages. Hear, now, The Law:Every medium taken to its furthest extent flips to its opposite. Thusthe written word, which is the source of all the intellect we have,when used in this unholy fashion becomes a medium for the expression ofall our stupidities. This, you have demonstrated amply. Enough, I say.
I must now return from whence I came. Remember what happened to the Hebrews when they did not follow the Law.
Ghost
Friday, July 31, 2009
Darwin's Dilemma
There is a preview of the new Illustra Media film, "Darwin's Dilemma," which addresses the Cambrian explosion. I cannot wait to see this film. Illustra's previous work--"Unlocking the Mystery of Life" and "Privileged Planet"--were superb: strong interviews with articulate experts, pleasing music, excellent narration, and state of the art computer graphics used for educational ends. It does not get any better than this.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Creator's Cafe: Jazz Gig and Benefit (Written by Ezra Ministry)
Ezra is an outreach to the streets & streetkids in Denver. The street kids we work with range in age from 15 to 40. Most come from backgrounds of abuse and neglect by those who were supposed to love and nurture them. This neglect has continued in how society treats them and they are now a forgotten and ignored segment of society. Many deal with addictions, mental illness and violence on a daily basis. These streetkids have much to offer, but the opportunities for them are few. Ezra offers an atmosphere of love, acceptance, expression, hope, opportunity and growth.
For more info on what Ezra does, go to http://www.justezra.com/ or www.justEzra.com/facebook.
Creators' Cafe is an outreach to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, offering an enjoyable, safe environment to listen to great live music and view incredible art (available for purchase) created in the studio at Ezra by the talented streetkids in Denver.
On Friday, July 31st, Creators' Cafe is hosting a Fundraiser for Ezra. We will be blessed with live music from the Steve Selinsky Band featuring Michael Vlieger and Dave Montoya. The suggested donation cover charge is $5. All of the proceeds will go to support Ezra. Our goal is raise $500.
For more info on what Ezra does, go to http://www.justezra.com/ or www.justEzra.com/facebook.
Creators' Cafe is an outreach to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, offering an enjoyable, safe environment to listen to great live music and view incredible art (available for purchase) created in the studio at Ezra by the talented streetkids in Denver.
On Friday, July 31st, Creators' Cafe is hosting a Fundraiser for Ezra. We will be blessed with live music from the Steve Selinsky Band featuring Michael Vlieger and Dave Montoya. The suggested donation cover charge is $5. All of the proceeds will go to support Ezra. Our goal is raise $500.
Wes Montgomery
Thumb on string, "Four on Six,"
swinging free,
flying fast
swinging free,
flying fast
over friendly frets.
Sweet heat
of liquid lyricism.
Octivation.
Elevation.
Inspiration.
Never before,
never since...
Sweet heat
of liquid lyricism.
Octivation.
Elevation.
Inspiration.
Never before,
never since...
Wes Montgomery.
Television Termination: Lesson #98
Here is another good reason to get rid of your TV. Obama is always on it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Jitter
Move over Twitter, your day is over.
Introducing: Jitter, the newest Internet instant ego-casting device. Jitter does Twitter one better. Instead of bogging down with words. Jitter allows anytime, anywhere emotivism through state-of-the art emoticons!
Jitter reads sounds you make into your Blue Tooth and translates them into strings of moving, multi-color, evolving emoticons. So, if you are cut off in traffic and utter a sign or groan or blast of outrage, jitter translates this into the appropriate emotion string to all your JitterConnections. If you yawn, Jitter is there, and will find the emoticon to best capture this precious moment of your autobiography for all to experience. If you laugh, the world laughs with you--through Jitter!
Any acoustic blast emanating from your mouth is translated instantly into emoti-mania for the jittering masses. And you have access to the ego-casting of endless others throught the JitterEye mini-screen that attaches to your Blue Tooth. Your Jitterisms can also be seen on iPhones, Blackberries, on anything that receives data!
This makes LSD look like 3.2% beer. It will connect our psyches, transform our culture, cure our loneliness, fill the howling void in our souls. And more, always more.
Jitter is word-free--beyond text. Words take too long to write and read and just get in the way. Jitter is the new way to spray the world with your viscera virtually. Text-less, word-less--join the JitterWorld. Now.
Introducing: Jitter, the newest Internet instant ego-casting device. Jitter does Twitter one better. Instead of bogging down with words. Jitter allows anytime, anywhere emotivism through state-of-the art emoticons!
Jitter reads sounds you make into your Blue Tooth and translates them into strings of moving, multi-color, evolving emoticons. So, if you are cut off in traffic and utter a sign or groan or blast of outrage, jitter translates this into the appropriate emotion string to all your JitterConnections. If you yawn, Jitter is there, and will find the emoticon to best capture this precious moment of your autobiography for all to experience. If you laugh, the world laughs with you--through Jitter!
Any acoustic blast emanating from your mouth is translated instantly into emoti-mania for the jittering masses. And you have access to the ego-casting of endless others throught the JitterEye mini-screen that attaches to your Blue Tooth. Your Jitterisms can also be seen on iPhones, Blackberries, on anything that receives data!
This makes LSD look like 3.2% beer. It will connect our psyches, transform our culture, cure our loneliness, fill the howling void in our souls. And more, always more.
Jitter is word-free--beyond text. Words take too long to write and read and just get in the way. Jitter is the new way to spray the world with your viscera virtually. Text-less, word-less--join the JitterWorld. Now.
Jesus Christ and the Trinity
The doctrine of the Incarnation is closely related to another cardinal Christian doctrine, that of the divine Trinity. Jesus is called the Second Person of the Trinity, along with the Father as the First Person and the Holy Spirit as the Third Person. Although the Trinity, like the Incarnation, is often taken to be a hopeless mystery or paradox, it is nothing of the sort. Before explaining the apologetic significance of the Trinity, it should be described briefly.
The Bible that Jesus believed in and taught from (Matthew 5:17-20; John 10:33) affirms that God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4), deserving our complete worship. This was the central credo of the Jews. Polytheism was anathema. Jesus also spoke often of his heavenly Father and of the Holy Spirit, making them central to his teachings. To understand Jesus, one must understand his relationship to the Father and the Spirit, thus opening up discussion about the Trinity. While there are intimations and anticipations of the Trinity in the Hebrew Bible,[1] the central planks of the idea are not revealed until the New Covenant revelation, which teaches that there is one God (1 Corinthians 8:4), but that the Father is God (Matthew 6:9), the Son is God (John 1:1-2; Colossians 2:9), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). But there is one God, not three. While the doctrine of the Trinity was formulated over time, the essential concepts for the doctrine are contained in the Bible itself. The Athanasian Creed (381) puts it this way:
We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. For such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Ghost uncreated.[2]
God is, therefore, one what (or Godhead) and three whos (or persons). The three persons are equally divine, eternal, holy, and so on. The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor is the Spirit the Father or the Son. However, they are one (or united) in their shared deity.
There is no reason to take this as a hopeless paradox or contradiction. The Trinity is not the nonsensical mathematical equation of 3=1, but rather a profound statement of three-ness and oneness. There are three persons in one Godhead. The members of the Trinity are alike in deity, but different in some functions. For example, God, the Son offers himself for atonement of human sin. This is not the ministry the Father or the Spirit. Yet the unity between the members of the Trinity is so strong that they are one God, not three gods. The members of the Trinity live and work together so intimately that theologians use the term perichoresis to describe their relationship. This literally means “to dance together.” At the heart of eternal reality, then, is a dance of love.
Far from being a hindrance to rational belief and knowledge, the Trinity—as brought to light through Jesus’ loving relationship to the Father and the Spirit—opens up the profundity of God’s being. God is not a faceless oneness, a solitary entity, who knew no genuine relationship until he created the universe of finite things. God has always been a unity of three mutually loving and communicating persons. As Chesterton quipped, “It was not well for God to be alone.”[3] In his high priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus speaks of his relationship with the Father “before the world began” (John 17:5). The doctrine of the Trinity secures the fact that love precedes the creation of the universe, that the deepest possible dimension of being is personal and interpersonal. Love and communication has always existed at the highest possible level in the Trinity. No other worldview stakes this bold claim. The God of Islam (Allah) is irreducibly singular in every respect. He is personal, but alone. Eastern religions take personality to be an illusion that must be transcended in mystical experience. Naturalism claims that personality is a latecomer in a godless universe and has no privileged status. It will die at the final command of entropy.
The Trinity is not a hopeless paradox, an opaque mystery, or a flat-out contradiction. Rather, it distinguishes Christianity from the two other monotheistic religions (Judaism and Islam) and gives a meaning and significance to personality (love and communication) unavailable according to any other worldview.[4]
[1] See Millard Erickson, God in Three Persons (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995)
[2] The original creed says “the Father uncreate…” I have updated the language by adding “uncreated.” I have quoted only part of the creed.
[3] G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (orig. pub., 1908; Garden City, New York: Image Books, 1959), 136.
[4] For more on the logic of the Trinity, see John Feinberg, No One Like Him (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books); Moreland and Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), chapter 29.
The Bible that Jesus believed in and taught from (Matthew 5:17-20; John 10:33) affirms that God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4), deserving our complete worship. This was the central credo of the Jews. Polytheism was anathema. Jesus also spoke often of his heavenly Father and of the Holy Spirit, making them central to his teachings. To understand Jesus, one must understand his relationship to the Father and the Spirit, thus opening up discussion about the Trinity. While there are intimations and anticipations of the Trinity in the Hebrew Bible,[1] the central planks of the idea are not revealed until the New Covenant revelation, which teaches that there is one God (1 Corinthians 8:4), but that the Father is God (Matthew 6:9), the Son is God (John 1:1-2; Colossians 2:9), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). But there is one God, not three. While the doctrine of the Trinity was formulated over time, the essential concepts for the doctrine are contained in the Bible itself. The Athanasian Creed (381) puts it this way:
We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. For such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Ghost uncreated.[2]
God is, therefore, one what (or Godhead) and three whos (or persons). The three persons are equally divine, eternal, holy, and so on. The Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor is the Spirit the Father or the Son. However, they are one (or united) in their shared deity.
There is no reason to take this as a hopeless paradox or contradiction. The Trinity is not the nonsensical mathematical equation of 3=1, but rather a profound statement of three-ness and oneness. There are three persons in one Godhead. The members of the Trinity are alike in deity, but different in some functions. For example, God, the Son offers himself for atonement of human sin. This is not the ministry the Father or the Spirit. Yet the unity between the members of the Trinity is so strong that they are one God, not three gods. The members of the Trinity live and work together so intimately that theologians use the term perichoresis to describe their relationship. This literally means “to dance together.” At the heart of eternal reality, then, is a dance of love.
Far from being a hindrance to rational belief and knowledge, the Trinity—as brought to light through Jesus’ loving relationship to the Father and the Spirit—opens up the profundity of God’s being. God is not a faceless oneness, a solitary entity, who knew no genuine relationship until he created the universe of finite things. God has always been a unity of three mutually loving and communicating persons. As Chesterton quipped, “It was not well for God to be alone.”[3] In his high priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus speaks of his relationship with the Father “before the world began” (John 17:5). The doctrine of the Trinity secures the fact that love precedes the creation of the universe, that the deepest possible dimension of being is personal and interpersonal. Love and communication has always existed at the highest possible level in the Trinity. No other worldview stakes this bold claim. The God of Islam (Allah) is irreducibly singular in every respect. He is personal, but alone. Eastern religions take personality to be an illusion that must be transcended in mystical experience. Naturalism claims that personality is a latecomer in a godless universe and has no privileged status. It will die at the final command of entropy.
The Trinity is not a hopeless paradox, an opaque mystery, or a flat-out contradiction. Rather, it distinguishes Christianity from the two other monotheistic religions (Judaism and Islam) and gives a meaning and significance to personality (love and communication) unavailable according to any other worldview.[4]
[1] See Millard Erickson, God in Three Persons (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995)
[2] The original creed says “the Father uncreate…” I have updated the language by adding “uncreated.” I have quoted only part of the creed.
[3] G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (orig. pub., 1908; Garden City, New York: Image Books, 1959), 136.
[4] For more on the logic of the Trinity, see John Feinberg, No One Like Him (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books); Moreland and Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), chapter 29.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?
Dr. Troy Nunley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary, will be giving a talk on "Recent Developments in the Fine-Tuning Argument for God" on Sunday August 2 at 4:00 PM in room #133 at Bethany Evangelical Free Church--6240 S. Broadway, Littleton, Colorado.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Lowering the Pulpit: A Theology of the Pulpit
I have noticed that as churches embrace more of popular culture, especially in worship forms, the pulpit disappears or is lowered in elevation. One church has the sermon delivered on a riser on a lower level than the stage on which the worship occurs. Another church has an elaborate stage, but a tiny, transparent podium with no substance.
Pulpits at one time were sturdy, large, and central in Evangelical Churches. In Lutheran Churches, where they are off to the side, they are big and tall.
We need a theology of the pulpit. The Word of God is above us. The preacher should explain and proclaim and defend Scripture as true and holy. He or she is a servant of the Word and should be a deep student of its truth (2 Tim 2:15). There is, therefore, good reason for the pulpit to be central and raised up, since Holy Scripture is central and exalted.
I recently preached in a small church with a high pulpit. (The entire liturgy was the deepest I have heard outside of an Anglican Church.) There was no room to prowl around up there, as I sometimes do. That would mean falling off the raised square. It was a bit awkward, but the idea is strong. Too much of preaching is personality-driven, consumerist, and informal. The authority of the Scripture is eclipsed by the personality of the speaker, who must be interesting, dynamic, a good salesperson. This is deeply wrong.
We are creatures of place and symbol. A low, small, pulpit (or even a music stand, which I hate with a perfect hatred) does not communicate authority or transcendence. Of course, a bad preacher in a good pulpit is a bad preacher still. Yet, the pulpit itself speaks, both to the congregation (not an audience) and to the preacher. If you climb up into it, you had better be ready to deliver Spirit-led, biblically faithful words of truth.
Selah.
Pulpits at one time were sturdy, large, and central in Evangelical Churches. In Lutheran Churches, where they are off to the side, they are big and tall.
We need a theology of the pulpit. The Word of God is above us. The preacher should explain and proclaim and defend Scripture as true and holy. He or she is a servant of the Word and should be a deep student of its truth (2 Tim 2:15). There is, therefore, good reason for the pulpit to be central and raised up, since Holy Scripture is central and exalted.
I recently preached in a small church with a high pulpit. (The entire liturgy was the deepest I have heard outside of an Anglican Church.) There was no room to prowl around up there, as I sometimes do. That would mean falling off the raised square. It was a bit awkward, but the idea is strong. Too much of preaching is personality-driven, consumerist, and informal. The authority of the Scripture is eclipsed by the personality of the speaker, who must be interesting, dynamic, a good salesperson. This is deeply wrong.
We are creatures of place and symbol. A low, small, pulpit (or even a music stand, which I hate with a perfect hatred) does not communicate authority or transcendence. Of course, a bad preacher in a good pulpit is a bad preacher still. Yet, the pulpit itself speaks, both to the congregation (not an audience) and to the preacher. If you climb up into it, you had better be ready to deliver Spirit-led, biblically faithful words of truth.
Selah.
Of Skunks On Line
After my first book was published, I was getting some vicious and irrational criticism from a speaker. I asked Walter Martin for his advise. (He had endorsed the book.) He said that given that this person was somewhat influential, I should send him or her a registered letter in which I rebutted all the charges, and then drop it. Then he said, "You can fight a skunk and win--but who wants to?"
I have not aways lived up to that sage advice, but I am trying. On the Internet, there are hordes of skunks--those who take cheap shots, don't use their real names, insult without arguments, and so on. So this should be kept in mind.
I have not aways lived up to that sage advice, but I am trying. On the Internet, there are hordes of skunks--those who take cheap shots, don't use their real names, insult without arguments, and so on. So this should be kept in mind.
Press Release for Upcoming ID Conference
For Immediate Release July 26, 2009
Contact – Craig Smith at Shepherd Project Ministries: 720-231-7579 / info@shepherdproject.com
Colorado-Based Shepherd Project Ministries Announces the Legacy of Darwin Intelligent Design Conference for Oct. 30-31, 2009.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his culture-shaking book, The Origin of Species. What has been the impact of a century and a half of the theory of naturalistic evolution dominating our universities and secondary education systems? As even secular researchers have discovered, the answer is frightening. Recent films like Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed have contributed to a growing awareness in the non-Christian world that the implications of embracing naturalistic evolution as a culture have been destructive and far-reaching.
On October 30-31 at the Douglas County Event Center in Castle Rock, CO, Shepherd Project Ministries will offer a revolutionary conference featuring scientists, researchers and speakers from the Discovery Institute. The conference will explore the cultural impact of Darwinism and the ground-breaking new evidence for Intelligent Design that is changing the shape of this crucial conversation today.
With presentations by some of the world's foremost Intelligent Design experts, this conference will equip Christians to understand the key issues and be able to speak effectively into a culture that is foundering in the sea of meaninglessness that is Darwin's most lasting legacy.
The world-class line-up of presenters includes Dr. Stephen Meyer (author of The Signature in the Cell), Dr. Michael Behe (author of Darwin's Black Box), Dr. David Berlinski (featured prominently in the recent film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed), Dr. John G. West, Dr. Craig A. Smith, Dr. Douglas Groothuis and more!
Presentations will include:
· Signature in the Cell: DNA Evidence for Intelligent Design
· Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
· Darwin Day in America: The Impact of Darwinism on Our Culture
· Training the Next Generation: Practical Strategies & Resources
Because Shepherd Project Ministries is dedicated to touching both the head and the heart, we have also asked nationally known singer/songwriter Danny Oertli to lead times of worship before each main session.
No scientific background is necessary! This conference is designed to equip ordinary Christians to have an extraordinary impact on our culture.
Space is limited. Register now at www.shepherdproject.com/idconf.
Conference Details:
Oct. 30-31 (7-9:30 pm Friday & 9:15 am – 3:30 pm Saturday)
Douglas County Event Center, 500 Fairgrounds Dr., Castle Rock, CO 80104
Cost: $10 (single), $20 (family), $5 (student)
Register at: www.shepherdproject.com/idconf
Contact – Craig Smith at Shepherd Project Ministries: 720-231-7579 / info@shepherdproject.com
Colorado-Based Shepherd Project Ministries Announces the Legacy of Darwin Intelligent Design Conference for Oct. 30-31, 2009.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his culture-shaking book, The Origin of Species. What has been the impact of a century and a half of the theory of naturalistic evolution dominating our universities and secondary education systems? As even secular researchers have discovered, the answer is frightening. Recent films like Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed have contributed to a growing awareness in the non-Christian world that the implications of embracing naturalistic evolution as a culture have been destructive and far-reaching.
On October 30-31 at the Douglas County Event Center in Castle Rock, CO, Shepherd Project Ministries will offer a revolutionary conference featuring scientists, researchers and speakers from the Discovery Institute. The conference will explore the cultural impact of Darwinism and the ground-breaking new evidence for Intelligent Design that is changing the shape of this crucial conversation today.
With presentations by some of the world's foremost Intelligent Design experts, this conference will equip Christians to understand the key issues and be able to speak effectively into a culture that is foundering in the sea of meaninglessness that is Darwin's most lasting legacy.
The world-class line-up of presenters includes Dr. Stephen Meyer (author of The Signature in the Cell), Dr. Michael Behe (author of Darwin's Black Box), Dr. David Berlinski (featured prominently in the recent film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed), Dr. John G. West, Dr. Craig A. Smith, Dr. Douglas Groothuis and more!
Presentations will include:
· Signature in the Cell: DNA Evidence for Intelligent Design
· Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
· Darwin Day in America: The Impact of Darwinism on Our Culture
· Training the Next Generation: Practical Strategies & Resources
Because Shepherd Project Ministries is dedicated to touching both the head and the heart, we have also asked nationally known singer/songwriter Danny Oertli to lead times of worship before each main session.
No scientific background is necessary! This conference is designed to equip ordinary Christians to have an extraordinary impact on our culture.
Space is limited. Register now at www.shepherdproject.com/idconf.
Conference Details:
Oct. 30-31 (7-9:30 pm Friday & 9:15 am – 3:30 pm Saturday)
Douglas County Event Center, 500 Fairgrounds Dr., Castle Rock, CO 80104
Cost: $10 (single), $20 (family), $5 (student)
Register at: www.shepherdproject.com/idconf
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Doug Groothuis Preaching
I will be preaching at West Bowles Church the next two Sunday mornings, July 26, August 2 on "Christianity in the Marketplace" (Acts 17:16-34). Services begin at 10:00 AM.
Hope for Liberia
Many Christian ministries and churches are being hit by the economic recession. However, many of them can absorb setbacks, given their resources. Some, however, cannot rest on acquired properties or large amounts of savings.
One such ministry is a visionary outreach to a war-ravaged and struggling African country called Liberia. Tony Weedor, his wife, and young daughter survived the civil war and Liberia in the late 1980s and spent three years in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast. They later came to Denver where Tony received an M. Div at Denver Seminary. Tony's vision is to start a study center in Liberia where the deep things of Christianity can be taught to those without theological and philosophical foundations. Tony is uniquely equipped to do this. They have purchased property and have received thousands of books to start a library, which would become the only functioning library in Liberia.
However, Tony has been losing support because supporters are losing jobs. The and his wife are struggling to keep up to support their four children and their aspiring ministry to bring truth and hope back to Liberia.
Please visit the CenterPoint web page, pray for this vital ministry, and consider supporting it financially, as my wife and I do.
One such ministry is a visionary outreach to a war-ravaged and struggling African country called Liberia. Tony Weedor, his wife, and young daughter survived the civil war and Liberia in the late 1980s and spent three years in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast. They later came to Denver where Tony received an M. Div at Denver Seminary. Tony's vision is to start a study center in Liberia where the deep things of Christianity can be taught to those without theological and philosophical foundations. Tony is uniquely equipped to do this. They have purchased property and have received thousands of books to start a library, which would become the only functioning library in Liberia.
However, Tony has been losing support because supporters are losing jobs. The and his wife are struggling to keep up to support their four children and their aspiring ministry to bring truth and hope back to Liberia.
Please visit the CenterPoint web page, pray for this vital ministry, and consider supporting it financially, as my wife and I do.
Friday, July 24, 2009
ID Conference in Denver Area This Fall
The Shepherd's Project and The Discovery Institute are co-sponsoring a significant conference on Intelligent Design to be held in Castlerock, CO, on Oct. 39-31, 2009. Some of the best thinkers in this vibrant movement will be giving lectures. I will be part of a panel discussion with John West and Stephen Meyer on Saturday. This is a conference that thinking people will not want to miss.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Health Care?
The Heritage Foundation on what's wrong with Obama's nationalized health bureaucracy plan. This is deeply disturbing. It could even require religious organizations to pay for abortions for its employees, says Jay Seculow. Our freedoms are being blown to bits by this statist.
"Well, I Really Didn't Mean It..."
Obama's "science czar" (he has way too many of these for a democracy) once defended forced abortion and other depopulation absurdities. Of course, he is now dissembling.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Moral Basis of Capitalism
Here is a detailed PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Paul Prentice on "The Moral Basis for Capitalism." I'm no fan of PowerPoint, but this offering is truth heavy with no fluff. I saw this presentation on July 17 as part of the Centennial Institute's "Issues Friday" program at Colorado Christian University. Dr. Prentice makes a compelling case.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Attitudes Hindering Religious Experience and Christian Belief
Some unbelievers may fail to experience the clues, signals, and wooing of God through personal experiences—or fail to respond to them wisely—because of certain settled dispositions that hinder an awareness of God’s presence. The Christian message may be found offensive because of three basic reasons, which have nothing to do with Christianity’s truth or rationality.
First, the offer of salvation through Christ is free; it cannot be earned. This offends our desire to earn what is most important to us.
Second, the gospel calls sinners to repentance. The message of Christ and his Apostles is inherently humbling to the prideful ego. We may chafe at this.
Third, the way of Jesus is the way of the Cross and of personal sacrifice for Christ and the Kingdom of God. The Cross asks for our all and warns us of the costs therein—but always with the promise of God's presence and ultimate vindication in view. Many would rather (try to) control their own lives as “captains of their own ship.”
These ideas are culled from John Stott's Why I am a Christian, but I cannot find the page number!
First, the offer of salvation through Christ is free; it cannot be earned. This offends our desire to earn what is most important to us.
Second, the gospel calls sinners to repentance. The message of Christ and his Apostles is inherently humbling to the prideful ego. We may chafe at this.
Third, the way of Jesus is the way of the Cross and of personal sacrifice for Christ and the Kingdom of God. The Cross asks for our all and warns us of the costs therein—but always with the promise of God's presence and ultimate vindication in view. Many would rather (try to) control their own lives as “captains of their own ship.”
These ideas are culled from John Stott's Why I am a Christian, but I cannot find the page number!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Solid Grounds Coffee House
The postmodern world is very technologically "connected" (I hate that word), but suffers from systemic loneliness. We have few truly public places for discussion and serendipity. We are so busy yelling into cell phone, checking text messages, or playing video games in the virtual world that we often fail to listen and speak to each other unmediated.
However, a few such places can be found amidst the postmodern desert. One of them is Solid Grounds, a coffee shop in Littleton, Colorado. (6504 S. Broadway.) The atmosphere is warm, friendly, and interesting. You can purchases a "bottomless" coffee (in a real, non-plastic cup) for about a dollar. The coffee is good, far better than Starbucks. Moreover, it seems to be a place where people linger and converse. The background music is not obtrusive and has been enjoyable the three times I have been there.
Solid Grounds is owned and run by South Fellowship. The manager, Mike Lasswell, tells me that their mission is to provide a public meeting place for Littleton where people can be served and loved. Some low-key outreach events may be in the offing there as well. You will learn of it here when it happens.
However, a few such places can be found amidst the postmodern desert. One of them is Solid Grounds, a coffee shop in Littleton, Colorado. (6504 S. Broadway.) The atmosphere is warm, friendly, and interesting. You can purchases a "bottomless" coffee (in a real, non-plastic cup) for about a dollar. The coffee is good, far better than Starbucks. Moreover, it seems to be a place where people linger and converse. The background music is not obtrusive and has been enjoyable the three times I have been there.
Solid Grounds is owned and run by South Fellowship. The manager, Mike Lasswell, tells me that their mission is to provide a public meeting place for Littleton where people can be served and loved. Some low-key outreach events may be in the offing there as well. You will learn of it here when it happens.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Doug Groothuis on BBC Radio
The BBC radio program, "Beyond Belief," will feature a half hour segment on religion and the Internet on its July 20 show. I am one of three panel members, which include a Rabbi and a man who found a cyber-church, St. Pixels. The latter gentleman and I had some disagreements. I recorded the program at 7:00 AM (not the Curmudgeon's favorite hour for social commentary) at the KUVO-FM studies in downtown Denver. (This is my favorite station [jazz!], so it was fun to be there and meet Rodney Franks, a radio host.) We had a satellite connection to Britain, where the host and two other fellows were talking. We recorded over forty minutes, but only about 27 will be used of that amount. There is also a three minute story.
Let me know what you think.
Let me know what you think.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Walter Cronkite (revised, spelling corrected)
Walter Cronkite, the legendary American newsman, has died at age 92. He officially retired from "The CBS Evening News" in 1980. His distinguished career in television was played out in a different media world than the one we know inhabit.
There were but three major television networks. There were no cable channels. Special effects were nonexistent on the news. Readers of the news did not have to have great good looks or big hair.
Yes, it was still television. Stories were usually only two minutes long; they jumped from one to another; they were interrupted by commercials having no conceptual connection with the news--what Neil Postman called the "And now this..." sensibility that makes incoherence a way of media existence. Yet compared to the hyperactivity of contemporary television--which literally makes me nauseous when I am accidentally exposed it terrors--television was rather calm, and Walter Cronkite possessed an avuncular gravitas. He was not histrionic; he was not an entertainer. Moreover, the language of the news was more thickly articulated; it had a richer vocabulary, and made more allusions to high culture. This is noted in Thomas Shachtman's book, The Inarticulate Society. Language has suffered horribly since then...
In the evening of November 21, 1968, I was in my small bedroom watching the evening news by myself. I was eleven years old. Adults filled the living room and kitchen of our small rented house in Anchorage, Alaska, as they had all day; but I was alone. My eyes were red from weeping. Mr. Cronkite ended the news that day by saying, "Labor leader, Harold Groothuis, and five others were killed at Point Barrow, Alaska today when their small plane crashed after take off." He may have also said, "They were part of government commission investigating claims of labor abuse among Alaska Native workers." That is true, but I do not remember if he mentioned it. (I was told my a reader of this blog that the videos are available. There is an abstract of the story on line, but it did not mention my father by name. I think the actual story did.) He looked a bit sad, and said, as he did at the end of every news broadcast, "And that's the way it is, November 21, 1968." I later told my Mom, "Mom, Walter Cronkite mentioned Dad on TV." It was the first and last time.
In many ways, I miss Walter Cronkite.
There were but three major television networks. There were no cable channels. Special effects were nonexistent on the news. Readers of the news did not have to have great good looks or big hair.
Yes, it was still television. Stories were usually only two minutes long; they jumped from one to another; they were interrupted by commercials having no conceptual connection with the news--what Neil Postman called the "And now this..." sensibility that makes incoherence a way of media existence. Yet compared to the hyperactivity of contemporary television--which literally makes me nauseous when I am accidentally exposed it terrors--television was rather calm, and Walter Cronkite possessed an avuncular gravitas. He was not histrionic; he was not an entertainer. Moreover, the language of the news was more thickly articulated; it had a richer vocabulary, and made more allusions to high culture. This is noted in Thomas Shachtman's book, The Inarticulate Society. Language has suffered horribly since then...
In the evening of November 21, 1968, I was in my small bedroom watching the evening news by myself. I was eleven years old. Adults filled the living room and kitchen of our small rented house in Anchorage, Alaska, as they had all day; but I was alone. My eyes were red from weeping. Mr. Cronkite ended the news that day by saying, "Labor leader, Harold Groothuis, and five others were killed at Point Barrow, Alaska today when their small plane crashed after take off." He may have also said, "They were part of government commission investigating claims of labor abuse among Alaska Native workers." That is true, but I do not remember if he mentioned it. (I was told my a reader of this blog that the videos are available. There is an abstract of the story on line, but it did not mention my father by name. I think the actual story did.) He looked a bit sad, and said, as he did at the end of every news broadcast, "And that's the way it is, November 21, 1968." I later told my Mom, "Mom, Walter Cronkite mentioned Dad on TV." It was the first and last time.
In many ways, I miss Walter Cronkite.
Growing Through Doubt
I will be preaching on "Growing Through Doubt (Matthew 11:1-11)" at Reformed Baptist Church of Colorado in Boulder, CO, this Sunday morning at 10:30. The church is pastored by Rev. Douglas Van Dorn, a Denver Seminary graduate and astute theological preacher.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Fetuses Said to Have Memories
The Washington Times reports that the unborn have memories. We, the unaborted, should remember this and act accordingly. More importantly, God remembers all of it, and will bring all into account when he judges "the secrets of humanity."
DemocraChurch
Since the voice of the people is the voice of God (vox populi, vox dei), and since technology gives us instant feedback, we announce:
DemocraChurch!
Each week member of DemocraChurch vote on the sermon topic (including video clips), worship songs, skits, and church activities. This is tabulated by a computer program and presented to the church staff (who come up for re-election each month). The service is based on the voting and every week is different! You even vote on the hair style and clothing of the pastor and worship leader!
It is totally relevant, just-in-time church. It empowers the congregation to be as comfortable as possible at all times. No authority above the voters! No challenges to conform to old-age, worn out ideas. No dull theology!
DemocraChurch!
With DemocraChurch, you can receive an automatic email telling you what the voting results are for each week. If you don't like the line up, just stay home! Or, if there are several DemocraChurch's in your city, chose the one that suits you best.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Iron Fists in Green Gloves
Read this article on the demonizing those who question global warming. The author is mistaken to compare global warming authoritarianism to McCarthyism. Communism was (and is) a real threat to civilization. Moreover, Communists had infiltrated many areas of American life and were trying to subvert the Constitution.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Free Philosophy Conference
Anyone interested in attending this at CU Boulder? The letter is from the Department of Philosophy.
----------------------
Dear Philosophy Friends,
In conjunction with the tenth-annual summer seminar at CU–Boulder, the Philosophy Department is hosting a tenth-anniversary reunion conference on July 24–25. Attendance is free and open to the Colorado philosophical community.
The schedule is as follows:
Friday, July 24th:2:00–3:15pm: Eric Swanson (Univ. of Michigan)“Counterpart Theory and Limit Assumptions”
3:45–5:00pm: Daniel Z. Korman (Univ. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)“Restricted Composition without Sharp Cut-Offs”
Saturday, July 25th:9:00–10:15am: David Robb (Davidson College)“Are Properties Dependent Beings?”
10:45am–12:00pm: Christina Van Dyke (Calvin College)“The End of (Human) Life as We Know It: Thomas Aquinas on Bodies, Persons, and Death”
LUNCH
1:45–3:00pm: Katherine F. King (London School of Economics)“Lucky Genes? An Argument against the Natural Lottery”
3:30–4:30pm: Bas van Fraassen (San Francisco State Univ./Princeton)“Measurement Seen through Theory-Colored Glasses”
4:30–5:30pm: Isabelle Peschard (San Francisco State Univ.)“Measurement Seen through the Experimenters’ Eyes”
*All talks will be in MCOL W100, two buildings west of Hellems Hall on the CU–Boulder campus.
----------------------
Dear Philosophy Friends,
In conjunction with the tenth-annual summer seminar at CU–Boulder, the Philosophy Department is hosting a tenth-anniversary reunion conference on July 24–25. Attendance is free and open to the Colorado philosophical community.
The schedule is as follows:
Friday, July 24th:2:00–3:15pm: Eric Swanson (Univ. of Michigan)“Counterpart Theory and Limit Assumptions”
3:45–5:00pm: Daniel Z. Korman (Univ. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)“Restricted Composition without Sharp Cut-Offs”
Saturday, July 25th:9:00–10:15am: David Robb (Davidson College)“Are Properties Dependent Beings?”
10:45am–12:00pm: Christina Van Dyke (Calvin College)“The End of (Human) Life as We Know It: Thomas Aquinas on Bodies, Persons, and Death”
LUNCH
1:45–3:00pm: Katherine F. King (London School of Economics)“Lucky Genes? An Argument against the Natural Lottery”
3:30–4:30pm: Bas van Fraassen (San Francisco State Univ./Princeton)“Measurement Seen through Theory-Colored Glasses”
4:30–5:30pm: Isabelle Peschard (San Francisco State Univ.)“Measurement Seen through the Experimenters’ Eyes”
*All talks will be in MCOL W100, two buildings west of Hellems Hall on the CU–Boulder campus.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Doug Groothuis Sermon on Line
My sermon at Scum of the Earth Church, "Meeting Jesus: Money Made New" (Luke 19:1-10), is available on their web page. Look for June 28, 2009. I can send you the sermon outline if you are interested.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
TV in the Good Old Days
While hunting for a Mortimer Adler quote (which I never found, on the idea of God from the Synopticon to the Great Books), I found this transcript from--hold on to your hat--a television program from the 1950s. This was when TV was copying other forms, such as the classroom. That is almost never done today.
Now we get the Michael Jackson funeral.
Now we get the Michael Jackson funeral.
Friday, July 10, 2009
"Does God Exist?"
I will be preaching both morning messages and the evening message at Grace Chapel in Englewood, CO this Sunday, July 12. The title is, "Does God Exist?" I have never preached on that before, but was asked to do so. I will give three arguments for God's existence and explain why this is important.
Buddhist, Christian Dialogue in Barnes and Noble
While at a local bookstore, I noticed that the all-important philosophy section had moved. But I could not find it. So, I asked a salesperson where it was. As she guided me there, I said, "Just when you think you really know a bookstore, it changes." She replied, "That's an object lesson in Buddhism: everything is impermanent." After a pause, I said, "Well, not everything is impermanent." She said, "Name one thing that is not impermanent." "God," I announced. She said, "Well, you are right about that."
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Narcissism is Good
Narcissism is good.
Nothing, spare self, has value.
In the beginning (for no reason)
were
the Particles,
the Laws,
the Chance.
Self, born from impersonal cauldron
finds itself
with
Itself.
It gives Itself
value.
It gives all else
value.
I value
myself.
Nothing else values anything
for me.
"All things are nothing to me" (Max Stirner).
Nothing is everything to me.
Axiology is autobiography.
Don't judge me
Don't censure me
Don't improve me
Don't punish me
But praise me,
for being me.
I confer value on
anything, everything, nothing, something,
as I deem fit.
I am fit
for anything, nothing, something.
It all depends on me.
Narcissism is good.
Who are you to say otherwise,
you orphan of particle, law, and chance?
You are nothing to me,
or something or everything
if I so choose...
Or am I chosen by
particle, law, and chance?
Never mind,
all is matter;
it doesn't matter;
I matter
to me--for now.
I am my own anchor
gyroscope,
map.
i am
i a m
ia m
i
a
m
.
.
.
Nothing, spare self, has value.
In the beginning (for no reason)
were
the Particles,
the Laws,
the Chance.
Self, born from impersonal cauldron
finds itself
with
Itself.
It gives Itself
value.
It gives all else
value.
I value
myself.
Nothing else values anything
for me.
"All things are nothing to me" (Max Stirner).
Nothing is everything to me.
Axiology is autobiography.
Don't judge me
Don't censure me
Don't improve me
Don't punish me
But praise me,
for being me.
I confer value on
anything, everything, nothing, something,
as I deem fit.
I am fit
for anything, nothing, something.
It all depends on me.
Narcissism is good.
Who are you to say otherwise,
you orphan of particle, law, and chance?
You are nothing to me,
or something or everything
if I so choose...
Or am I chosen by
particle, law, and chance?
Never mind,
all is matter;
it doesn't matter;
I matter
to me--for now.
I am my own anchor
gyroscope,
map.
i am
i a m
ia m
i
a
m
.
.
.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Philosophy Chops
The Philosopher's Magazine has put on line my article "Swinging in Class." This was published in their hard copy magazine about two years ago. It is about applying jazz themes to teaching philosophy.
Defending Capitalism
Centennial Institute Invites You to Join Us for
Issue Friday * July 17, 10:00-11:30 am
Colorado Christian University, School of Business Room 103
"DEFENDING THE MORAL FOUNDATIONS OF CAPITALISM"
Dr. Paul Prentice, Centennial Institute Fellow & UCCS Economist
Prof. Tamara Hannaway, CCU School of Business
Plus Discussion Forum Moderated by John Andrews
** Why can we say that the market economy and free enterprise
are not only materially superior but ethically superior?
** What are the moral flaws in a centralized command economy?
** How is your intellectual ammunition for making these arguments
at a critical moment in American history? Come & reload with us!
Reservations recommended * RSVP on this email or call 303.963.3424
Directions to CCU Campus in Lakewood: From Garrison, go east two short blocks on Cedar, park on your right.
Continue east into the campus, toward flagpole. School of Business is the 2nd low building on your right.
The Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance
public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation.
By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom,
teach citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, Colorado
80226303-963-3424
Centennial@ccu.edu
Issue Friday * July 17, 10:00-11:30 am
Colorado Christian University, School of Business Room 103
"DEFENDING THE MORAL FOUNDATIONS OF CAPITALISM"
Dr. Paul Prentice, Centennial Institute Fellow & UCCS Economist
Prof. Tamara Hannaway, CCU School of Business
Plus Discussion Forum Moderated by John Andrews
** Why can we say that the market economy and free enterprise
are not only materially superior but ethically superior?
** What are the moral flaws in a centralized command economy?
** How is your intellectual ammunition for making these arguments
at a critical moment in American history? Come & reload with us!
Reservations recommended * RSVP on this email or call 303.963.3424
Directions to CCU Campus in Lakewood: From Garrison, go east two short blocks on Cedar, park on your right.
Continue east into the campus, toward flagpole. School of Business is the 2nd low building on your right.
The Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance
public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation.
By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom,
teach citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, Colorado
80226303-963-3424
Centennial@ccu.edu
Sunday, July 05, 2009
The Great Give Away
CAIR, inspired by Obama's positive comments about Islam, wants to give away 100,000 copies of The Qu'ran to influential US leaders. If you receive one, be sure to read the parts about jihad and polygamy, which have never been renounced by Islam and cannot be. Sharia law is incompatible with the American Constitution.
Lost in MeWorld
Hi, this is Me.
You need to know everything about Me. Here are hundreds of photos of Me. I am cool, cute, in the know, have photogenic friends, and those who aren't make Me look better. I can strike a pose, even hundreds of them: Me on display for you.
You need to know all My likes and dislikes, too: My favorite TV shows, movies, video games, foods, celebrities, clothes, tweets, and more. My trivia is your treasure--because it's Mine.
It's MeWorld: just Me for everyone out there, because you need to know Me. I need more friends on Facebook, more twitter partners, more posts on My blog, more cell calls, more links to Me, more emails to Me, more YouTube videos featuring Me.
You need to know everything about Me.
Don't you? Hello...
You need to know everything about Me. Here are hundreds of photos of Me. I am cool, cute, in the know, have photogenic friends, and those who aren't make Me look better. I can strike a pose, even hundreds of them: Me on display for you.
You need to know all My likes and dislikes, too: My favorite TV shows, movies, video games, foods, celebrities, clothes, tweets, and more. My trivia is your treasure--because it's Mine.
It's MeWorld: just Me for everyone out there, because you need to know Me. I need more friends on Facebook, more twitter partners, more posts on My blog, more cell calls, more links to Me, more emails to Me, more YouTube videos featuring Me.
You need to know everything about Me.
Don't you? Hello...
Media Analysis by Eric Goodman at Denver Seminary
I have recommended the video, "Thus Spake the Spectacle" on this world-famous blog. The creator of the video noticed and asked if he could present something at Denver Seminary. So, we will have Eric Goodman present the following on July 7 at 7:00PM in room 120 at Denver Seminary. The event is free, but will make you think. There will be time for discussion as well.
Thus Spoke The Spectacle:
Media, Technology, and the Co-option of the Sacred
Eric Goodman is a musician and videomaker living in New York City. He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he led off the first annual "MIDI Madness" Digital Music Festival. He has studied electronic music, music composition, video production and film scoring at Cornell and the Center for the Media Arts. His project of conceptual music videos, Thus Spoke The Spectacle, fuses original compositions, video clips, and narration from the fields of media studies, literature and philosophy. Drawing upon a wide range of theories, the project explores the meaning and effects of our corporate-controlled, media-saturated, technological society.
Thus Spoke The Spectacle:
Media, Technology, and the Co-option of the Sacred
Eric Goodman is a musician and videomaker living in New York City. He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he led off the first annual "MIDI Madness" Digital Music Festival. He has studied electronic music, music composition, video production and film scoring at Cornell and the Center for the Media Arts. His project of conceptual music videos, Thus Spoke The Spectacle, fuses original compositions, video clips, and narration from the fields of media studies, literature and philosophy. Drawing upon a wide range of theories, the project explores the meaning and effects of our corporate-controlled, media-saturated, technological society.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
A Prediction
I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it’s been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has.—Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1980), 59.
Friday, July 03, 2009
"Truth Under Fire"
My essay, "Truth Under Fire," has been published by The Centennial Review, which is published by The Centennial Institute, a think tank associated with Colorado Christian University and led by John Andrews, formerly a Colorado state Senator. I am proud to be associated with The Centennial Institute, where I serve as a Fellow.
The Declaration of Independence: Truths Still Needed Today
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton