Review of "The Jazz Theologian"

What does jazz have to do with Christian existence? Can one find deep themes in jazz that resonate with the Christian explanation of reality and which inspire the Christian life?

Last night (March 31) I friend and I attended a performance at The Soiled Dove Underground of "The Jazz Theologian," an evening of oral vignettes, musical performance, and some projected images and words. This is the brain child of Robert Gelinas, pastor of Colorado Community Church and a graduate of Denver Seminary, who has written a unique and rewarding book called, Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Zondervan, 2009).

The evening opened with several numbers by a large band called House of Soul. While it features an impressive horn section, the style was less jazz than it was soul and some gospel. The ensemble was tight and enjoyed themselves tremendously. Following this Pastor Gelinas spoke briefly but winsomely several times on key features of jazz and how they harmonize with Christianity:

1. Syncopation accents the off beat and produces swing. God is concerned with those overlooked by others and acts in surprising ways.

2. Improvisation allows one to be creative within a pattern. God has revealed his "song" but we can improvise within the chord changes. (I jazzed this one up a bit, in the spirit of the evening.)

3. Call and response means that we respond to God's initiative. He calls us to love him and live in and through Jesus Christ.

4. Jazz groups are ensembles in which the many function as one without the members losing their unique identity. Christian are united in Christ, but can express their individuality in harmony with others as part of the Body of Christ.

Robert also emphasized that jazz in rooted in the blues. The blues teaches us to embrace our pain until we smile. Jesus embraced the ultimate pain on the Cross and turned into redemption. This lesson was illustrated by the tragic but aesthetically rich life of Billie Holiday. A convincing rendition of "Strange Fruit" was performed with slides of lynched black men (whose faces were tastefully not shown). This may have been the most powerful part of the evening pedagogically.

The most impressive musical performance may have been Part I of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," where the tenor saxophonist (the multi-instrumentalist, Chris Lang) gave an inspired interpretation while the bass drums and electric piano stayed far in the background. Robert's brief discussion of Coltrane spiritual quest was well done. His book mentions that Trane was not a Christian--something left out this evening.

The evening ended with about another half hour with House of Soul. I had to leave early, but the event certainly deserved a standing ovation. If you were there, please post something.

This performance covered the first three chapters of Finding the Grove. There will be five other performances (two each month) covering the rest of the book. It was a marvelously creative and innovative way of relating jazz and the Christian worldview and way of life. It wasn't forced, nor was it trite. Neither was the Christian message overwhelmed by the discussion of and performance of the music. I hope to attend the rest in his inspiring series.

Visit Robert's web page: Reflections of a Jazz Theologian.

William Lane Craig Web Page

The inestimable Dr. William Lane Craig has a very well done and multifaceted web page (featuring transcripts, audio, video, and answers to specific questions--called Reasonable Faith. I highly recommend this material. Dr. Craig is the best Christian debater alive on apologetics issues and a world-class philosopher.

Oh my, Obama

Obama has demanded that the head of GM resign. The New York Times doesn't like it, but misses the main point: it is unheard of that a President have the power to dismiss the head of a private corporation. This is rank statism. Under Obama, the federal government is trying to take over as much of the private realm as possible. This should outrage and frighten all principled Americans.

Jazz Theologian (dates corrected)

Robert Gelinas, pastor of Colorado Community Church, and author of the book, Finding the Grove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith, will be appearing as "The Jazz theologian" at the Soiled Dove in Denver on March 30, 31. The book is an interesting, fresh, and knowledgeable challenge to apply jazz sensibilities to the Christian life. I hope to write a longer review in the near future. In any event, I hope to see you there.

Aesthetic Torture in the Land of Possible Delight

Stores featuring used recorded music--whether albums, CDs, or cassettes--are usually seedy places. I don't mind the funkiness, but I do mind the kinkiness. One can find real treasures there--rare recordings and new releases barely used for good prices. So, I haunt them once in a while. Today, while looking for used jazz CDs in a store with a large and varied collection, I had to endure some of the worst so-called music imaginable. Let us call it sickening sounds or distilled hideousness, not music.

The worst audio assault a sex-saturated, no-melody, no harmony, swaggering hip-hop eruption or idiocy. I was subjected to two selections by the same savage (whose name I do not know), who intoned, "You call me a philosopher, but I just want to..." You get the (non)idea. It had all the subtlety of a bulldozer gone berserk--although that would have sounded better. It was crude, rude, and lewd. Not all hip-hop spews these kinds of lyrics, of course; but the best-selling stuff does. What a sad commentary on our view of humanity, sexuality, and relationality. America is further east of Eden in this area than in probably any other dimension in life. Collectively--and not just in hip-hop--we are sexually insane. See Romans, chapter one, for the whole story and explanation.

Yet, while I was amidst hundreds of jazz CDs, no jazz was being played. Was it worth the torture of the sonic environment? It certainly made concentrating difficult.

There were also horrible noises made by some synthetically-twisted voice that sounded robotic and thoroughly ugly. I have no idea was genre of noise it was, but it was pointless and hopeless.

Thirty years ago, in his famous Harvard address Solzhenitsyn chastised America for the crassness of its popular culture, including music. But nothing then was a soul-shriveling, abrasive, abusive, and disgusting as what I heard today. The coarsening of culture means the corruption of souls. You are known by the company you keep and the music that buzzes in your ears and in your mind.

I detoxified upon returning home through prayer, Bible reading, and listening to Coltrane, Monk, Kenny Garrett, and Joshua Redman. And I did manage to purchase a two-disk CD from Stan Getz for only $2.00. I'm sure what I heard on the sound system would sell for far more...

Leibniz Essay

I just had an old essay of mine, "Leibniz on the Identity of Indiscernibles," put on an electronic file. This is a 1500 essay which looks at this doctrine and Kant's take on it. If you are interested, I'll send you a copy.

Why I am Pro-life: A Short, Nonsectarian Argument

Abortion is the intentional killing of a human fetus by chemical or surgical means. It should not be confused with miscarriage (which involves no human intention) or contraception (which uses various technologies to prohibit sperm and egg from meeting after sexual intercourse). Miscarriages are natural (if sad) occurrences, which raise no deep moral issues regarding human conduct—unless the woman was careless in her pregnancy. Contraception is officially opposed by Roman Catholics and some other Christians, but I take it to be in moral category entirely separate from abortion (since it does not involve the killing of a human fetus), so it will not be addressed here.

Rather than taking up the legal reasoning and history of abortion in America (especially concerning Roe vs. Wade), this essay makes a simple, straightforward moral argument against abortion. Sadly, real arguments (reasoned defenses of a thesis or claim) are too rarely made on this issue. Instead, propaganda is exchanged. Given that the Obama administration is the most pro-abortion administration in the history of the United States, some clear moral reasoning is called for at this time.

The first premise of the argument is that human beings have unique and incomparable value in the world. Christians and Jews believe this is the case because we are made in God’s image and likeness. But anyone who holds that humans are special and worthy of unique moral consideration can grant this thesis (even if their worldview does not ultimately support it). Of course, those like Peter Singer who do not grant humans any special status will not be moved by this. We cannot help that. Many true and justified beliefs (concerning human beings and other matters) are denied by otherwise intelligent people.

Second, the burden of proof should always be on the one taking a human life and the benefit of doubt should always be given to the human life. This is not to say that human life should never be taken. In a fallen, cruel, and unfair world, sometimes life-taking is necessary, as most people will grant. Cases include self-defense, the prosecution of a just war, and capital punishment. Yet all unnecessary and intentional life-taking is murder, a deeply evil and repugnant offense against human beings. (This would also be acknowledged by those who believe it is never justifiable to take a human life.)

Third, abortion nearly always takes a human life intentionally and gratuitously and is, therefore, morally unjustified, deeply evil, and repugnant—given what we have said about human beings. No real argument can be brought against the claim that what creates a human pregnancy (a fetus) is a human being. Biologically, an entity joins its parents’ species at conception. Like produces like: apes procreate apes, rabbits procreate rabbits, and humans procreate humans. If the fetus is not human, what else could it possibly be? Could it be an ape or a rabbit? Of course not.

Some philosophers, such as Mary Anne Warren, have tried to drive a wedge between personhood and humanity. That is, all persons are not human (such as God, angels, ETs—if they exist), and not all humans are persons (fetuses or those who lose certain functions after having possessed them). While it is true that there may be persons who are not humans, it does not therefore follow that not all humans are persons. The fetus as a person in progress, not a potential person or nonperson.

When we separate personhood from humanity, we make personhood an achievement based on the possession of certain qualities. But what are these person-constituting qualities? Some say a basic level of consciousness; some assert viability outside the womb; some say a sense of self interest. All of these criteria would take away humanity from those in comas or other physically compromised situations. Humans can lose levels of consciousness through injuries, and even infants are not viable without intense human support. Moreover, who are we to say just what qualities make for membership in the moral community of persons? The stakes are very high in this question. If we are wrong in our identification of what qualities are sufficient for personhood and we allow a person to be killed, we have allowed the wrongful killing of nothing less than a person. Therefore, I argue that the best ontology is to regard personhood as a substance or essence that is given at conception. Even if one is not sure when personhood kicks in, one should err on the side of being conservative simply because so much is at stake.

Many argue that outside considerations experienced by the mother should overrule the value of the human embryo. But these considerations always involve issues of lesser moral weight than the conservation and protection of a human life. An unwanted pregnancy is difficult, but the answer is not to kill a human being. Moreover, a baby can be put up for adoption. There are many others who do want the child and would give him or her great love and support.

The only exemption to giving priority to the life of the fetus would be if there were a real threat to the life of the mother were the pregnancy to continue. In this case, the fetus functions as a kind of intruder that threatens the woman’s life. To abort the pregnancy would be tragic but allowable in this fallen and disoriented world awaiting its final redemption. Some mothers will nonetheless choose to continue the pregnancy to their own risk, but this is not morally required. It should be noted that these life-threatening situations are extremely rare.

This argument does not rely on any uniquely religious assumptions, although some religious people will find it compelling. I take it to be an item of natural law (what can be known about morality by virtue of being a human being) that human life has unique value. A case can be made against abortion by using the Bible (only the Old Testament or both the Old and New Testament combined) as the main moral source, but I have not given that argument here. Rather, this essay has given an argument on the basis of generally agreed upon moral principles. If it is to be refuted, one or more of those principles, or the reasoning used, needs to be refuted.

Although at the beginning of this essay, I claimed I would not take up the legal reasoning related to abortion, one simple point follows from my argument. In nearly every case, abortion should be illegal simply because the Constitution requires that innocent human life be protected from killing. Anti-abortion laws are not an intrusion of the state into the family any more than laws against murdering one’s parents are intrusions into the family.

Who Designed the Designer: A Response to Richard Dawkins

My paper in Think: Philosophy for Everyone (a publication of The Royal Institute for Philosophy) is now on line (Spring, 2009 edition, pages 71-81). It is a secular journal, which encourages creative forms for doing philosophy that will reach past the purely academic world. That doesn't mean it is dumbed down. Some very prestigious contributors have been featured. For my paper, I designed a discussion between a Christian, an agnostic, and an atheist partial to Richard Dawkins. (In 2004, I published a paper in Think that featured a posthumous report from Pascal about the errors made in a Think paper criticizing his wager argument.)

Think was only published in the UK until recently. I'm not sure if this issue is available in the US except in some libraries. As you will see, my argument challenges Dawkins's supposedly showstopping question to theists and also defends Intelligent Design.

Lessons from the Grasshoper: How Not to be Boring as You Age

As I get older, I find that many succumb to patterns of living that are not conducive to having your youth renewed as the eagles (Psalm 103:5). I am guilty of all of not aging wisely, but let me give a few words to the wise.

1. Minimize talk about one's declining health. Yes, we need sympathy and advise as this mortal coil starts to uncoil in unpleasant and sometimes frightening ways. That is granted. However, there is nothing more boring and annoying than someone who fixates on his or her health to the exclusion of other things, especially things related to other people.

2. Being thankful for "the good old days" is fine. God has blessed you in days of yore. But remember Ecclesiastes 7:4 as well. "Do not say , 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions as." Yes, the yesteryear of thinner bodies, better memories, smaller prostates, and larger possibilities were wonderful and bountiful, but we press on to tasks, blessings, and challenges ahead--including the inestimable glory of fulfilled life with God and his chosen saints unending.

3. Associate with the younger souls. Listen to them; hang out with them; discern their vision for the Kingdom. Savor their idealism, however naive, however refreshing.

4. Savor and ponder your "grasshopperness." Ecclesiastes vouchsafes the most poignant and moving account of aging in the history of world literature in chapter 12.

1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"—
2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
5 when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. verses 1-5.

The grasshopper (one of my aliases ) moves more slowly, experiencing life at a reduced rate. Think of the jazz saxophonist (I cannot remember his name) who confessed that when he was young, he played a bevy of breezy notes--a dazzling display of dexterity. Wow, impressive it was. Yet, as he got older, he got wiser, and played fewer notes, but with more information packed into them (this is Wynton Marsalis's description of the playing of the older Louis Armstrong), with more soul, with more restraint that opens up dimensions of aesthetics unreached by the plethora of running runs delivered at breakneck speed. Slower can be better. Leave the race; join the sagacious recline.

5. Cash in your chips of age. As we age, we earn some respect and log some miles. I can say that I have been studying apologetics for over thirty years. If said humbly, this adds ethos and pathos to your logos. Be an elder, a mentor, a gray hair who does dye his hair and pretend otherwise. As the incomparable King James puts it:

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.--Lev. 19:32.

As the Preacher said, "There is a time for every purpose under heaven." There is a time to get older, slower, more feeble. It has its unique strengths and opportunities. Savor them for the glory of God, the Ancient of Days.

Ditch Your Television

Here is a clear, straightforward argument for eliminating television. It does not address matters of the form of the medium and its limits (as I do in Truth Decay), but it makes a strong, salient point. Thanks to Ian Colle for this reference.

Hurray!

Hear and see what this British statesman has to say to his Prime Minister. May God raise up men and women in civil government to say similar things to Barack Obama. Note the oratorical and literary flair delivered with real conviction (and without a teleprompter). Thanks to Sarah Geis for this clip.

Keep Obama Away from Notre Dame

It is a good sign that there is a major protest under way to keep Obama from speaking at Notre Dame, an historic Catholic institution. You may not have noticed this from politicians such as Geraldine Ferraro, John Kerry or Joe Biden, but Catholicism is a religion that opposes abortion. Given that Obama is a pro-abortion extremist of the highest order--even opposing The Born Alive Children Act in his home state, as documented in Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama--he should not be welcomed by Notre Dame. Sign the petition; write the president of Notre Dame, as I (a nonCatholic) did.

A Fresh, Clear Voice (material added)

Listening to The Sean Hannity Show today, I was very impressed with the articulate and principled response of Michele Bachmann (Republican Congresswomen from MN) to Obama and his hencemen's attempt to revamp and deconstruct the American form of civil government for the worse. She spoke in clear and cogent terms of the unconstitutionality of Obama's massive and unprecedented governmental power grab and the dangers of switching to an international currency (something Obama's people are considering). I don't know too much about her, but please consult her web page. I especially appreciated her editorial on health care reform: Obama's and a sane and fair plan (her own).

I also note that Mark Levin's book, Liberty and Tyranny, is #1 at Amazon.com. Perhaps people are waking up and smelling the socialist/authoritarian poison in the air. I tried to purchase this today at Barnes and Noble, but it was sold out. Let me know if you have read it. He is an expert on the Constitution, which is a but a wax nose for most liberals. l learned much about the Constitution and attacks on it from attorney John Whitehead's excellent work, The Second American Revolution.

Distortions of Christianity

The most recent issue of The Christian Research Journal (Volume 32; No. 1, 2009) features my article, "Distortions of Christianity." This addresses false ideas often keep people from taking its claims seriously. This is not on line. It is taken from my book-in-progress, What Matters Most (an apologetics textbook for InterVarsity Press).

Worse Than That

Obama's bowling score would not cut it the Special Olympics. Also note how hurtful his remark was to a Down's syndrome person.

Where's My Teleprompter?

Mr. Obama remarked on national TV that he bowled like "the Special Olympics or something." He has apologized, but not in the right way. He should apologize for putting all the Special Olympians in his category.

The New York Times story on this ignored Obama's mega-gaff

Troy Nunley Dr. Classes at Denver Seminary

My new colleague, Dr. Troy Nunley, will be teaching these classes at Denver Seminary in the summer and fall of 2009. Please consider taking or auditing one of these classes.

Teleprompter

Ubiquitous,
but unseen
by us,
not by them.

Speech lines fed, read,
good, and dead.

Text channeled, narrowed,
and harrowed.

Eyes look forward,
not down.
Looking at us.
But no:
aimed at it.

Eyes on their screen
Not their eyes on our eyes.
Their eyes on their camera, then
From our screen to our eyes,
Not their eyes on our eyes, screen-less.
The unreturned look.

Personality staged, arranged,
contrived, contained,
willingly savaged
by artificial articulation,
simulated cerebration.

The oracular eclipsed by
the mechanical (muse).

Amused, outraged,
I move on to
Book, discussion,
book,
lecture, book, and plain speech.
unprompted, but not unbidden.


Teleprompter,
Video redactor of reality,
fatally artificial.
Hidden persuader
of its bemused benefactors.

Commanding presence,
detached insistence
that we serve homeless words
aimed at our happy and hapless souls.

Screen-less
would be speech-less
--a word and world less prompted,
but not unbidden.

Illusion
with precision,
a concise incision,
cutting deep and wide,
video born
across land and sea
that every knee
might bow.

Tele-Bama

Obama's unheard of reliance on teleprompters is noted in this editorial from The Washington Times. While it is no laughing matter, no TV comedians are spoofing it, which they should. It is passing strange: a law professor who cannot think on his feet--and who is the most powerful man in the world. Using a teleprompter during a press conference is akin to me using one while I am engaged in a live debate or while answering questions in a class I'm teaching.

Philosophy at Denver Seminary

While this blog in no way represents Denver Seminary, it is no secret that I teach there. I encourage you to visit the Denver Seminary Philosophy Department blog to see what three classes I will be teaching next fall. You need not be a degree-seeking student to take these classes. You may audit them or take a certain number of hours without committing to a degree program. For more information on schedule, please see the Denver Seminary web page.

Tribute to Dr. Vernon Grounds

Here is a short video on the unveiling of a bronze bust of Dr. Vernon Grounds, who has served Denver Seminary since 1951. I am one of his approximately 1500 close personal friends. He is a warm and distinguished Christian statesman, now in this mid 90s. Denver Seminary has been tremendously blessed to have him for so long. Please read Dr. Bruce Shelley's biography on Dr. Grounds, Transformed by Love.

The Great Republican Disaster

It looks as if the new chairman of the Republican National Committee is not a principled conservative (waffling on the pro-life issue; dismissing homosexuality as a genetic and not a moral issue), has little tact, and is alienating the most important constituents of the party.

I am a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. The Republican party has made deep mistakes in recent years, betraying the Reagan Revolution with the nomination of McCain (however better he was than Obama) and failing to produce compelling orators who can dynamically communicate deep conservative principles. (Senator Jack Kemp could deliver, but he fell by the wayside after the 1996 presidential election, when he ran for Vice President. Instead we got the first Bush, who set things up for Clinton.) President George W. Bush was more conservative than McCain, but a terrible speaker and easy to parody and ridicule, sadly. But even Bush was not really a fiscal conservative, despite his other strengths.

The country is moving to the hard left with Obama. It seems there is little principled resistance at this point, outside of talk radio and a few senators and congresspeople. It is a time to lament.

Obama Among the Economists (updated)

Economists give Obama low marks. This is to be expected, since they generally know more about markets, profits, property, and civil government than Obama, his press, and the people who voted him in.

To make this an educational opportunity and not simply a condemnation, I recommend the following on economics:

1. Anything on the topic by Thomas Sowell.
2. George Gilder, Weath and Poverty.
3. Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism.
4. Richard John Neuhaus, Doing Well and Doing Good.

The Power of Presupposition: Wayne Shorter or Andrew Hill?

It was a strange experience. I had listened to nearly an entire CD while inhaling steam out of my vaporizer. I got up and noticed the CD was on track 7, but the CD had only six tracks. Then I realized I had been listening to "Point of Departure" by Andrew Hill instead of "The All Seeing Eye" by Wayne Shorter. They are both mid sixties Blue Note recordings, and the disks look similar. While listening, I kept thinking, "Wow, James Spauding (alto sax) really sounds like Eric Dolphy. Why hadn't I noticed that before? (I should have known better; no one sounds like Eric Dolphy except Eric Dolply.) Morevoer, I mistook Andrew Hill for Herbie Hancock. Although at one point I thought, "Herbie isn't comping the way he usually does." And I mistook Joe Henderson (tenor sax) for Wayne Shorter! Ouch. This is embarrassing to a jazz fanatic.

You see, my presupposition that this was "The All-Seeing Eye" affected and infected my interpretation of the music. Nevertheless, the presupposition wasn't so deep that it could not be refuted by evidence--in this case, simply checking which CD was one.

When we challenge the worldview of nonChristians, we must realize that their nonChristian presuppositions affect how they view the world. I learned this first from Francis Schaeffer and later from Cornelius Van Til. (I was even a Van Tillian--although a blessedly inconsistent one, since I often appealed to evidence in my apologetics--for a season, but later repented of it.) No one is a blank slate or a logic machine. Nevertheless, we can challenge these presuppositions--whether naturalistic or pantheistic or Islamic--on the basis of evidence that supports a contrary worldview, which itself uniquely explains the world, ourselves, and the future according to its unparalleled merits.

My presupposition as the which CD was in the changer was not so set, so deep, so systematic that it was impervious to counter-evidence. Of course, worldview beliefs are deeper than this; however, when we view them as revisable truth claims or hypotheses, we can grant their intellectual power without taking them to be impregnable.

Review of The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science

Jedd McFatter, a graduate of Denver Seminary with a Masters Degree in Philosophy of Religion, and now a graduate student in history, has written a fine review of Peter Harrison, The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 313 pages with index. £50.00, hardback. This sheds much light on the history and historiography of modern science and challenges some secular assumptions.

Barack Obama: Conditioner of Man (minor factual correction made)

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article exposing the reality of Obama's stem cell policy, which politicizes the issue by allowing tax dollars to support the creation and destruction of human embryos. All of Obama's justifications are false and deceptive. He is a master prevaricator and needs to be exposed like this. The truth is this: He is lifting the ban on your tax dollars going to create human beings solely for the purpose of their experimentation and destruction (read: killing). The funding is sure to come from the liberals that control everything at this point. Moreover, there is no hard evidence that embryonic stem cells are even helpful in curing any diseases!

Obama makes a good character as one of C.S. Lewis's "conditioners" in The Abolition of Man. These are power players who detach themselves from the objective moral law, and then try to manipulate people through the invention of "new values" and propaganda. Read The Abolition of Man for a prophetic warning--and for a description of Barack Obama as an amoral "conditioner."

Obama's policy violates four deep moral principles:

1. The Hippocratic Oath principle that doctors should "do no harm."
2. The principle that humans should never be treated merely as means to an end.
3. The principle that the most vulnerable among us should be given special protection and not exploited. See Matthew 25:31-46.
4. It comes down to this: "You shall not murder."

But this is done to "restore science to its proper place." This is chilling, ominous, and deeply wrong. Christians, wake up!

Addendem on Burkas

In a previous post, I likened bargaining with the Taliban (Obama's recent not-so-brilliant policy statement) to bargaining with Nazis. My driver back and forth from the car repair today was wise to mention that bargaining with Nazis would be easier. They were less religious and didn't think they'd get a passel of virgins in paradise when they died in jihad. Good point, Bob!

President Fabian

Barack Obama is a Fabian Socialist. To learn what this means, please read this article in Forbes.

Reach Out and Put on the Burka

Obama says he want to "reach out to moderate members of the Taliban" in Afghanistan, echoing the mindless words of Colin Powell back in the first Bush Administration. America, you should shudder.

It hasn't take Obama long to reveal his true colors. There are as many moderate Taliban members as there are moderate Nazis or Klu Klux Klan members. The Taliban sheltered Osama be Laden (remember him?): the man who engineered the worse terrorist attack on US soil in our history on September 11, 2001. Have we (has Obama) already forgotten? The Taliban is an an extremist Islamic party that wants women uneducated and covered from head to toe and which wants the infidels dead or subjected to themselves as dhimmis. These are the enemies of God, of civilization, and of the United States. To look for moderate members to negotiate with is to dine with the devil. Yet this is the essential problem with contemporary liberalism: it has no strong sense of real evil in the world. "Problems" are mere effects of root causes (economic and cultural). This makes for a Utopian foreign policy.

Many of us knew that Obama was soft on terrorism and ignorant (or worse) to the true nature of Islam as a totalistic ideology. (See the writings of Mark Gabriel, especially Islam and Terrorism and Culture Clash). We warned you. Now we all have to live with the absurd and .abominable results.

Atheist Examiner

There is an on line newspaper of sorts call The Examiner, which solicits views from people in Denver. One such writer is the Atheist Examiner. I posted a response to her comments about inane atheist billboards.

Denver Seminary graduate, Daniel Seatvet has a column called "Christianity and Culture Examiner."

Now for Something Completely Different...

Singer, songwriter, Suzanne Vega reflects on the meaning of melody. She says little about jazz, but some of the most beautiful are Coltrane's performance of "I Want to Talk about You" (the cadenza of live versions is breath-taking) and Monk's, "Round Midnight."

Obama's Stem Cell Error

Not unexpectedly, but tragically, Obama will reverse President Bush's policies on restricting research on embryonic stem sells. Claiming this restores science and separates science from politics, Obama declares open season on human beings at their earliest stages. He treat human beings as means to be experimented upon (and, of course, killed) for sake of merely possible medical benefit. This is deeply immoral. Experimentation on nonembryonic stem cells is another matter, since no embryo is destroyed in the processes. Morever, this has been shown to have promise medically.

Morever, Obama is not restoring sound science or separating politics from science. He is violating a deep moral principle through federal (political) policy. He is using his political power to empower technologies that harm (in fact, kill) human beings. One should protect the most vulnerable among us. One should not treat human beings--at any stage or in any form--as mere material to be exploited for the potential benefit of other more powerful human beings. Sound science tells us that a human person begins at conception. Moral principle tells us to put the burden of proof on anyone for any reason who would kill this human being.

For a detailed philosophical development of the status and rights of the human embryo, see Embryo: A Defense of Human Life by Robert George and Christopher Tollefsen.

Obama's Blackberry: Why Care?

"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.--Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:26).

Obama has been given permission to use a modified version of his Blackberry. Why should anyone care about this? From what I know, the Blackberry communications are not traceable or recorded anywhere. This means Obama has a mode of communication not subject to official recording, something mandated by law for sitting Presidents. Can we simply trust him to use it for merely personal matters of no consequence. Of course not. Anyone with that much power, must be held accountable.

As a radio host mentioned tonight (substituting on "The Savage Nation"), why couldn't Obama use it to get advice from his old crony William Ayers, a domestic terrorist? This would not be traceable, as would conversations on land line or conversations in the White House itself. As I wrote during the election Obama's connections to Ayers went very deep, but mainstream press never pressed this issue sufficiently. Now I find Ayers's book, Fugitive Days (a chronicle of his years of evading the Law) on sale at Kings Soopers. His rehabilitation has began in earnest. Obama will not likely officially sanction or be known to communicate to Ayers, but who knows when he might communicate with him--if the form of communication is absolutely secret? Who else would Obama talk to? What would we say? Apparently, we will never know, given this recent development, which seems ominous.

Once again, Obama is given a pass where he does not deserve one.

(I usually do not allow responses to my comments on Obama ]simply because they are typically very caustic], but in this case, if you can correct what I have said about the technology or the law, I will post your critical comments.)

Obama's People

Meet three Obama appointees to Cabinet or sub-cabinent positions: one a consistent advocate of pornography; another was on the legal team defending Michael Schiavo's bid to have his handicapped wife, Terri, killed (sadly, he won), and another who advocates special rights for homosexuals. Contact your congressperson to vote "No!" on all of them.

This is not surprise to me, knowing Obama's politics. Perhaps some evangelicals who voted for Obama will be surprised and outraged. One hopes so.

Unplugged

Here is an essay after my own heart: a media sabbath.

Verse, Universe

A verse
in a universe.

A universe
in a verse.

Perverse,
parts of universe.

Reverse the perverse
in part by verse.

Diverse verse,
Universe diverse.

Verse versus universe;
Universe versus verse:

Tension.
Spark.
Flame.

Flame down,
Flame in,
Flame out.

Reborn--
forlorn
no more.

The poem told.
The telling done.

The verses fixed.
The world unjinxed.

Groothuis on Blaise Pascal

My brief essay on Pascal has been featured on The Philosophers Magazine web page. This was originally published in a book of short vignettes on major philosophers. I think this means the article must have run in their print magazine as well. If you know, please let me know!

Missing

Does anyone have an audio file of this lecture of mine?

My lecture, "What Philosophers Wish Theologians and Biblical Scholars Knew About Philosophy," It was on my web page and in at least another place at one time.

Thank you.

Three More Books...

I have posted a new bibliographic essay at the Denver Seminary Philosophy Blog: Three More Books That Influenced Me Most. Please tell people about this blog, which helps generate interested in the Denver Seminar Philosophy of Religion Masters Degree program.

The Rocky Mountain News: RIP

I was surprised to learn today from my good friend Tony Weedor that The Rocky Mountain News published its last newspaper today, February 27, 2009. Newspapers are in deep decline around the country, and the paper had been for sale for several months; but I did not know its demise was imminent.

The Rocky was the more conservative of the two local papers, and sported a fine editorial page editor (Vincent Carroll) and religion reporter (Jean Torkelson). I know both of them. Mr. Carroll published many of my editorials over the years (and rejected some as well) and Ms. Torkelson often called me for comments on religion-oriented stories. Unlike too many journalists, they were fair-minded and enjoyable to work with. I also wrote a number of book reviews for the paper since moving to Denver in 1993. (But more recently, I have been reviewing more books for The Denver Post.)

This paper was nearly 150 years old. It's passing marks a sad stage in American journalism. Periodical print media simply cannot compete with the Internet. We will likely see papers go under around the country in the next few years. Most news on line is free and more up to date than a paper can be. And yet, and yet... Having a paper, an object, with heft and smell and feel is something irreplaceable. Moreover, while the Internet opens up a myriad of perspectives (including my own in new ways), few of these organs have the sense of authority that the better newspapers carried with them as longstanding institutions.

So, goodbye to The Rocky Mountain News. I wish the best for Jean Torkelson and Vincent Carroll, wherever they end up.

Ronald Nash on Capitialism and the Bible

In light of the trashing of capitalism of late, and the sad, bad, and mad move toward socialism, I suggest you read this speech by the late Christian philosopher, Ronald Nash on "Socialism, Capitalism, and the Bible."

A Fruitful Omission: Forgetting a Book and Learning a Lesson

As I opened my briefcase before teaching my evening Ethics 1030 course at Metro State College of Denver, I noticed that I had forgotten the textbook. However, I did have my notes and had read the entries for that evening (Kant and Richard Taylor) many times.

However, I could not point students to specific pages or read from the text. That was, I thought, a drawback of my forgetfulness. Yet, it ended up making for a more interactive and textually-oriented class because I had to ask the students to read pertinent passages aloud so we could analyze them. This gave them more ownership of the texts and got them more involved a deeper level.

Sometimes, teachers can teach too much--that is, do too much of the work for the students. But by not having my text, I was forced to depend on student involvement more than usual. All teaching involves some trust in and reliance upon students (as Parker Palmer points out), but my absent-mindedness deepened this need and actually enhanced the classroom environment.

I'm not planning on leaving the text behind next time, but I will encourage students to supply more of the textual involvement for themselves.

Rethink Obama's Claim

From Obama's speech Tuesday night:

"As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by Presidents Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets, not because I believe in bigger government -- I don't..." (italics added).

Given his voting record, given his campaign promises, there is no reason to believe this claim that he does not believe in bigger government. He just authorized the largest outlay of federal funds in history; he wants to socialize medicine. Please do not be deceived by his image. Consider his actions and his principles. They all point in the direction a massive increase in the federal government and a diminishing of individual liberties.

Discrepencies

"Pete Carroll, the head football coach at U.S.C., received $4,415,714 in 2007," reports The NY Times. The average full professor at a seminary or Christian college received much less than $100,000 a year.

More evidence of a fallen world. Kenny G far outsells John Coltrane, too... But money is not the final marker of worth, as Jesus repeatedly affirmed.

Monk's Loft

Here is an excellent story about jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, during his days in a New York loft. There was only one Monk. If you don't believe me, listen to his music. As much as I dislike The New York Times's politics, their coverage of jazz is superb.

"The Anti-Bono" (from The New York Times)

A well-educated native of Zambia, Dambisa Moyo, claims that much of the aid to Africa is counterproductive. While counter-intuitive, this is correct. One does not solve systemic economic problems by throwing money at them (as liberals typically do). One must understand the underlying cultural and historical forces that shape economies (an essentially conservative insight). P.T. Bauer argued years ago that state to state foreign aid seldom accomplishes its goals and often establishes the opposite of its its goals, since money ends up in the wrong hands for the wrong purposes.

None of this is reason to ceasing caring about the millions of refugees, hungry, and oppressed in Africa (and elsewhere). Rather, one should give (and loan) wisely. The more personal and relational the ministry is, the more is demands responsibility, the better it can serve the world's poor and marginalized. In fact, we serve Jesus Christ himself as we serve "the least of these" (Matthew 25).

Tiptoe Through the Tulip

The Dutch rethink their Calvinist heritage!

Wells on Charles

Dr. Jon Wells, author of Icons of Evolution, has an incisive commentary on Darwinism for Darwin's 200th birthday. The main point is that Darwinism (not an ancient earth or evolution as differential population changes within species over time) is more materialist philosophy than verifiable science. The more thoughtful Darwinists even admit this, as he notes.

There is a God

I noticed just today at a bookstore, that the new paperback edition of Anthony Flew's There is a God uses a two line endorsement from "The Denver Post" at the top of the back cover. Apparently, the newspaper is more name worthy than me, but I was the author of that review. So, go buy and read the book that scandalized the atheist world.

Truth and Freedom

From Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer:

Christianity is not just "dogmatically" true or "doctrinally" true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life.

The ancients were afraid that if they went to the end of the earth, they would fall off and be consumed by dragons. But once we understand that Christianity is true to what is there, including true to the ultimate environment -- the infinite, personal God who is really there -- then our minds are freed. We can pursue any question and can be sure that we will not fall off the end of the earth. Such an attitude will give our Christianity a strength that is often does not seem to have at the present time.

TV Togetherness

The cover from Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, a modern classic from 1985. Turn off the TV (ipod, bluetooth, laptop, etc.) and read it, please.

The unfairness of the fairness doctrine

[This is from Salon.com, Feb. 12, 2009. The answer is from Camile Paglia, the inimitable social critic. She is no conservative.]

I am a conservative lesbian living in New York. I would love you to address how the Fairness Doctrine has become a viable possibility for the liberal agenda, given that it is simply modern-day censorship, and also taking into account the undeniably left-leaning media. How can the left not see its hypocrisy?

Kara McGee

If there's anything that demonstrates the straying of the Democratic Party leadership from basic liberal principles, it's this blasted Fairness Doctrine -- which should be fiercely opposed by all defenders of free speech. Except when national security is at risk, government should never be involved in the surveillance of speech or in measuring the ideological content of books, movies or radio and TV programs.

Broadcasters must adhere to reasonable FCC regulations restricting obscenity, but despite the outlandish claims of Democrats like Sen. Charles Schumer, there is no analogy whatever between pornography and political opinion. Nor do privately owned radio stations have any obligation to be politically "balanced." They are commercial enterprises that follow the market and directly respond to audience demand. The Fairness Doctrine is bullying Big Brother tyranny, full of contempt for the very public it pretends to protect.

As a fan of AM radio since childhood, I adore the proliferation of political talk shows spurred by Rush Limbaugh's pioneering rise to national syndication in the late 1980s. It represented a maturation of the late-night coast-to-coast radio programs that I had been listening to in the 1970s, such as Herb Jepko (broadcasting from Salt Lake City), Long John Nebel (from New York) and Larry King (from Miami).

However, I do lament the gradual disappearance of small, quirky local shows due to the trend toward national syndication. And I often get bored and impatient with the same arch-conservative message being drummed out 24/7. But let's get real: Liberals have been pathetic flops on national radio -- for reasons that have yet to be identified. Air America, for example, despite retchingly sycophantic major media coverage, never got traction and has dwindled to a humiliating handful of markets. The Democrats are the party of Hollywood, for heaven's sake -- so what's their problem in mastering radio?

Instead of bleating for paternalistic government intervention, liberals should get their own act together. Radio is a populist medium where liberals come across as snide, superior scolds. One can instantly recognize a liberal caller to a conservative show by his or her catty, obnoxious tone. The leading talk radio hosts are personalities and entertainers with huge rhetorical energy and a bluff, engaging manner. Even the seething ranters can be extremely funny. Last summer, for example, I laughed uproariously in my car when WABC's Mark Levin said furiously about Katie Couric, "What do these people do? Open fortune cookies and read them on air?"

The best hosts combine a welcoming master of ceremonies manner with a vaudevillian brashness. Liberal imitators haven't made a dent on talk radio because they think it's all about politics, when it isn't. Top hosts are life questers and individualists who explore a wide range of thought and emotion and who skillfully work the mike like jazz vocalists. Talk radio is a major genre of popular culture that deserves the protection accorded to other branches of the performing and fine arts. Liberals, who go all hushed and pious at Hays Code censorship in classic Hollywood, should lay off the lynch-mob mentality. Keep the feds out of radio!

Theological and Apologetic Classic

If you have never read it, you must read the classic essay by J. Greshem Machen called, "Christianity and Culture" (1912). It is on line at Mars Hill Audio.

Bambi Meets Godzilla, II

Thanks to Ross Bebee for this classic clip from Milton Freedman on wealth, poverty, and economics. It looks to be a Phil Donahue Show from the 1980s.

Darwinism and Intelligent Design in America Today

For Darwin's 200th birthday, please read this fine editorial in US News and World Report.

Pray, Act for Sri Lankan Christians

New Petition for Sri Lanka Christians

Dear Doug Groothuis,

Buddhist monks have once again introduced an anti-conversion bill to restrict conversions in Sri Lanka.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (National Heritage Party), which is led by Buddhist monks, introduced the bill under the title "Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Bill" on Tuesday, January 6. The bill was first introduced in the Sri Lankan parliament in 2004, and was subsequently challenged in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the bill was valid except for two clauses, and since then the bill had remained in committee after being revised in accord with the Court's ruling.

Reports indicate that the bill will be debated in parliament in February and is likely to pass. Though proponents claim that the bill would only restrict "fundamentalist" groups from using monetary rewards or coercive methods to convert people, the language is so broad that it would criminalize any form of humanitarian assistance from religious groups.

The bill is especially concerning because it is the culmination of a widespread pattern of violent attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka (see photo of a church in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo attacked in July 2008). Similar measures enacted in several Indian states such as Orissa have led to an increase in attacks on Christians. If this bill is passed, it would likely serve to legitimize anti-Christian persecution.

Here's How You Can Help

#1 Pray: The first thing you can do to help is stop right now and ask the Lord to intervene.

#2 Next, review our petition. Sri Lankan officials are concerned about their relationship with the United States and other Western countries, so when the people shout, they will listen. We have also found that evil prefers to stay hidden and when we shine the light on it, it flees.

#3 Electronically sign the petition by clicking here.

#4 Print out the petition and take it to your church and have everyone you know sign it. Send it back to us so we can present it to the Sri Lankan Ambassador. Feel free to print out extra signature pages for large numbers of sign ups. When you have collected all your signatures, please mail the signature pages to :

ICC

PO Box 10277

Silver Spring, MD 20914-0277

or fax them to us (301-989-1709).

Please get them back to us by March 12.

#5 Forward this email to all your email contacts and ask them to do the same.

Sincerely in Christ,

Jeff King

President, ICC

International Christian Concern

P.O. Box 10277

Silver Spring, MD 20914-0277

Phone: (800) ICC-5441

Fax: (301) 989-1709

Lament for a Lost Friend: Gary Lewis

For many years, I have sadly wondered whatever happened to my friend, Gary Lewis. Gary was one of my first Christian friends after my conversion in 1976. I met him at the University of Oregon in the fall of that year. The next year I lived in a Christian men's house called The Way Inn (owned by First Baptist Church) along with Gary and about a dozen other young men. We took several classes together that studied the work of Francis Schaeffer.

Gary was a brilliant student, who studied linguistics and Chinese in particular. He wanted to be a missionary to China, but later joined the military. The last communication I had with him was in the early 1980s when he sent me an inscribed copy of Warning to the West by Solzhenitsyn. I had become a pacifist, and Gary--now in the military and with conservative convictions--was abjuring me to rethink my views. Thanks to that book and others, I did so, and adopted a just war position and more conservative views in general. (It may shock some readers to know that I was a Sojourners-reading, pacifist from about 1979-1980. I even voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980).

Gary was a sensitive and bright soul, earnest for God and his Kingdom. We often talked and prayed and laughed together, sharing significant things from our young Christian lives. Yet for over a quarter of a century, I have had no idea where he is. I do not know his middle initial, and Google searches always turn up a pop group called Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Wrong that is.

So, if anyone can point me to this man, Gary Lewis, please let me know. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1978 and served in the military. His parents were from California, I believe. I miss him and would like to see what God has done with his life over all these years.

Ministry Principles from Chinese Underground Church

These are the five principles for ministry for the Chinese underground church as given by Brother Yun in Living Water, and as preached at Denver Seminary in September of 2008 (scroll to "Living Waters").

1. Always pray.
2. Always be ready to witness for Jesus.
3. Always be ready to suffer for Jesus.
4. Always be ready to die for Jesus.
5. Always be ready to escape from prison for Jesus.

How does this speak to American Christians?

A Few Thoughts on the "Stimulus Package"

"The state is God walking on earth"--Hegel.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food supply.On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a mere mortal." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God continued to increase and spread.--Acts 12:19-24


The "stimulus package" pushed by Obama and the Democrats is utterly wrong-headed, un-American, and dangerous in principle--and not just because of where the money goes, mostly to liberal causes.

1. It massively increases the federal deficit.
2. It takes money from taxes and gives money for projects, instead of letting people keep more of their money and letting them engage in their own projects, free of governmental regulation and control.
3. It views society as the same as the state when, in fact, they are two different things. The state should be one small aspect of society--civil government: an instrument of basic law and justice. Society, including the economy, is all the rest and should be influenced more by persuasion than the coercion of the state.
4. It is based on forcibly redistributing wealth as opposed to letting people create wealth through their own wits and resources.
5. It makes people dependent on the largess of the state, instead of being self-reliant and accountable to their family's and voluntary organizations, such as the church.
6. It pretends to be compassionate when only voluntary giving can be compassionate. Obama taking my money for his projects is not compassion. It is coercion.
7. It will reinforce and create even more giant bureaucracies difficult to dismantle in subsequent administrations.

Finding a compromise between a trillion dollar package and half a trillion dollar package is not the issue. The issue is the principles involved. Obama is trying to peddle fear and bully Americans into thinking this boondoggle is the only hope for economic recovery. He is a demagogue of the highest degree with no economic sense whatsoever.

Just when we need another Ronald Reagan, we get European style socialism sold by a face of hyped up by "hope." This "hope" I cannot believe in.

For more on what is economically and politically wrong with this "stimulus package," go to The Heritage Foundation.

Creative Exile

Please read Charles Colson's essay on political exile under the reign of the far-left, abortion-friendly, homosexual special rights O and his cohorts.

Worldliness: A Preliminary Prod

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?—Jesus, Luke 6:46.

We must resist the spirit of the world—or worldliness—in whatever forms it takes in our age. So warned Francis Schaefer in 1968 in The God Who is There. But what exactly is worldliness? Here is a rough and ready definition of worldliness: Any pattern of living that refuses God’s ways and embraces the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil instead. Worldliness does not mean to care of the things of this world or to be knowledgeable about the world (one definition of this term). Biblically, it means that our perspectives and priorities are out of alignment with God’s way, as revealed in the Bible and as quickened to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a framework for unholiness that often masquerades as Christian and highly “effective.” Worldliness is the way of the fallen world, its ideologies and systems.

This is not a complete treatment, but let us consider a few key Scriptures that warn us of this soul-sapping, Kingdom-betraying condition and how we may repent of it and embrace nothing but God and Kingdom living (Matthew 6:33).

1. Worldliness begins on the human scene with the seduction of the serpent in Genesis 3. This charge was that God was holding something back from our first parents. By disobeying the one thing God forbid—eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—they could gain something beneficial not otherwise available. This is the essence of sin: disbelieving God and consulting and obeying counterfeit sources of information. On the other hand, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” See also Psalm 119.

2. Ancient Israel was called by her covenant Lord to be separate and different from the pagans roundabout her. In so doing, Israel would not be a gated community or a fortress, but “a light to the gentiles.” That is, following God’s way of life shines a light in the darkness. Yet Israel repeatedly turned away from her Lord, forgot his promises, and turned to lesser things: idols. Or they attempted to combine holy worship and living with things that contradicted the covenant, such as worshiping in “the high places” instead of at designed holy places.

3. The prophets repeatedly called Israel from worldliness to repentance and godliness. The knowledge of God must not be suppressed for forgotten. God will not be marginalized for long. The false prophets will be found out and ungodliness/worldliness will be exposed for what it is. Jeremiah, for example, warned of those who prophesied without the counsel of God. Thus, there words were vain and dangerous (Jeremiah 23:25-27).

4. Jesus was holiness Incarnate, so detected and exposed worldliness throughout his ministry, especially in the guise of religion. Consider his stinging rebuke, “He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight” (Luke 16:15).
Popularity or tradition does not equal godliness. The audit of Eternity is what matters eternally. As Soren Kierkegaard repeatedly highlighted, the crowd is usually wrong, and we can seek solace for our sinfulness therein.

5. The Apostle Paul clearly warned of worldliness in Romans 12, after he has given a systematic account of Christian doctrine:

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will—Romans 12:1-2.

6. The Apostle John warns the early Christians about worldliness in comparison to matters of eternity.

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever—1 John 2:15-17.

John understands worldliness not as involvement in physicality, but as a sinful approach to life.

7. Worldliness is often subtle and attractive. Think of Paul’s warning about the ways of the devil:

13 For such persons are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.—2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

To avoid worldliness, we must attend to biblical truth studiously and prayerfully; otherwise, we will be misled by what seems to be good, but what is evil. As Jesus warned, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly" (John 7:24).

William Ayers in Kings Sooper

The mainstream media ignored William Ayers during the Obama campaign. I often commented on O's deep associations with Ayers, an unrepentant American terrorist and anarchist/Marxist. Well, the rehabilitation of Ayers continues. First, was a puff piece by Ayers that ran in The NY Times just after the election. Yes, he blew up buildings, but it was only "vandalism" against an illegal war, and more of the same. That, to use Harry Frankfurt's definition is pure BS--words used with no intention to communicate truth, but rather to produce a certain effect, in this case exoneration. See Frankfurt, On Bullshit--a serious book. (Of course, Ayers does a good deal of old fashioned lying as well, but BS is not identical to lying; it is really the essence of propaganda. Please read the book if my differentiation between BS and lying is not entirely clear.)

A few days ago, I saw Ayers's book, Fugitive Days, in (of all places) Kings Soopers, a supermarket. Now, there are not many books in a supermarket, and most of them are cookbooks, diet books, or fan books on O himself. But William Ayers's chronicle of how he evaded the police for years as a wanted man--in King Soopers?! Truly, we have entered the Twilight Zone of pandemic unreality. As Isaiah said, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil" (5:20). Perhaps Ayers will now write children's books and appear on Sesame Street (along with O).

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (King James)

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Apocalypse Delayed

Given the tremors of fear and panic gripping the nation, Congress has passed a bill extending the deadline for the conversion of all television broadcasts from analogue to cable. I am so relieved.

First, the civil government should have no say in mandating something like this. Let markets decide the matter. That saves us from all the public service announcements, confusions, and so on.

Second, it is pathetic how deeply this affects some people. It is as if their lifeline is in danger. I hear adds by bureaucrats warning that if one does not make the proper call and do the proper thing, the screen will go blank (just like the minds already watching the screens). Of course, there are no publicly-funded advertisements warning you that television undermines reading and critical thinking, that it wastes time and habituates people to unreality.

My dream: On the dreaded day when the analogue dies, all of television mysterious dies with it. All screens go blank and black; the roar of white noise engulfs the planet...and then we move ahead.

A New Nadir: "Arranged Marriage" TV Show

NPR ran a piece today about a new reality CBS-TV program called, "Arranged Marriage." Couples actually marry by arrangement by third parties. Then the couples are filmed over a period of time to discover how it works out. They are, in a sense, media prostitutes: they both get paid to get married and have sex.

The holy institution of matrimony is now an entertainment experiment. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with arranged marriage, but it does not fit the American ethos very well. Moreover, the commentator was not worried about "the premise" of the program as long as it was all treated with respect. But how is that possible? What vows could be taken for such a marriage: "...as long as the ratings are up?" This program, a desperate bid for ratings, is intrinsically disrespectful of marriage and of those stupid enough to participate--"the actors"- in the program. Moreover, as the interviewer pointed out, what if children are conceived? What chance do they have to being raised in a loving, stable family? Maybe they'll grow up to imbalanced TV stars themselves.

Sadly, CBS is capitalizing on the breakdown of marriage as an order of creation, the rise of cohabitation (experimenting without committing, which is the real "premise" of the program), and a society entertaining itself to death.

I cannot prove it, but I once heard someone say that Francis Schaeffer was asked what a radical Christian thing to do would be. He answered, "Stay married to one person until one of you dies."

Never Give Up

The American Center for Law and Justice is preparing to fight Obama and the democrats desire to pass The Freedom of Choice Act, which could bring back the horror of partial birth abortion and strike down any restriction on abortion in all 50 states. Consider supporting the ACLJ cause with prayer and money. Do it for "the least of these."

Corrupt Officials Brought In

Amazingly, The New York Times exposes Obama's key moral compromises regarding his picks for leaders in his administration. Can you imagine appointing and supporting a man who failed to pay $128,000 dollars in back taxes? Many of us don't even make that much in several years and wouldn't consider not filing a tax form every year.

And this is only the beginning. It is Chicago-land politics all over again--except now on the national stage.

"Evidence"--Gazing into...

A wordless video of seven minutes. I shall say no more.

Super Bowl Sunday

Here are five reasons to not watch the Super Bowl:

1. It does not befit the Christian Sunday, a time for worship, rest, reflection.
2. The game is inherently violent and punishing on the bodies that participate and on the consciousness of those who immerse themselves in its debaucheries.
"Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways. For the LORD detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence"--Proverbs 3:31-32.
3. The players are paid obscenely high amounts of money, given what they do. This should not be supported.
4. Life is short: you could be doing something restful or productive in some way.
5. The commercials will appeal to all or most all of the seven deadly sins (actually, all sin is deadly), and tempt you thereby. The cutaways to the cheerleaders will do the same thing (for the men; and how many women watch this nonsense?)

You can find my essay against football elsewhere on this blog.