Have We Forgotten?

With the elections of November 2006, the overall victorious party, the Democrats, claimed they’d been given a “mandate” regarding many issues, particularly the War on Terror. They claim the American people have spoken and that the only allowable course now is withdrawal and defeat. Though they speak specifically of the Iraqi War, their master policy is reflective of their general disenchantment with the whole war against terror. This belief in a “mandate”, the word du jour for giving credence to the questionably credible, does seem to be born out by the recent polls, as reported on CNN and the BBC, showing 2/3 of Americans don’t see a good plan for winning the War in Iraq.

While it is only barely debatable that the Iraq War is not going the way we’d hoped, not even complete failure is a viable reason for ever giving up, especially in this war where it is our homes, families, businesses, our way of life, and our lives themselves which are at stake. After all, this war began, at least this current phase, with the enemy attaching us, on our turf, killing our husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers, innocents all. Even many jihadists agree that non-combatants, civilians, and innocents are off-limits to any kind of attack. But attacked we were, and though it has now been several years since that attack we vowed we’d never forget, it was neither the first nor will it be the last, the danger is little abated. Is there then reason for throwing up our hands collectively, defeated?

Liberals would say emphatically “Yes!”

The current strategy, according to liberals, is not working, and therefore we must tuck tail and run. Defeatism leading to disengagement, with the ultimate goal of isolationism. An island we will be, literally and figuratively. And we having cried “uncle,” the rabid dogs hounding us around the world will allow us a gracious defeat and will let us be, alone. A final Vietnam this will be, America will no longer find the will to project itself and then indeed others will take the reins of power in the world. Except for several things, but first: Where in our governing documents and illustrious history do we the people determine the minutiae of war policy?

We expressly give the President power to direct and wage war as necessary and as he sees fit to protect our interests. This is, in part, why it is so very important that there be people of Character in high office leading this great nation. There cannot be a part-time person of character, for if at the first change of wind that person reassesses and changes their position, they are not truly a person of character. President Bush, for all anybodies disagreements with him personally and politically, has not changed course. He has stated his goal simply: to defeat terrorism whenever and wherever it is found, and has not changed. Whether agreeing with him or not, one can know what President Bush will continue to do. And the job is not finished. Far from it. The very fact of our experiencing difficulties in Iraq should be cause for us to redouble our efforts, reaffirming the need for such a battle now, before it is too late. And resolving to continue the fight we did not start in order to destroy the enemy who would destroy us.

For that is their goal whether we leave or not. The militant, radical, extremist Muslims, or Islamo-Nazis or Islamo-Facists, who began this war have a very public goal which they are not loath to tell, yet which we seem to have forgotten, it would seem. That goal is shouted by radical Imams (preachers or prayer leaders) and written officially as Fatwahs (edicts) and published to their adherents around the globe. America is the Great Satan and it and other nations which do not submit to their extreme Islamic theology, philosophy, and government must be destroyed, period. For them there is no discussion, no arguing the points and possibilities of peaceful coexistance. If we give up in Iraq and the other fronts of the War on Terror we are signing our own, our childrens’, and out entire futures’ death warrants. They will be utterly defeated or they will rule the world, there is no third option for them, and therefore there isn’t for us either.

So then, the only choice for us must be to continue to face them in classic American projectionism. To battle evil is the calling and constant duty of the good. Evil at different times and places takes different faces. Consider the World Wars of the last century. What if we’d given up because too many were dying? What if we’d accepted defeat at the hands of the Nazis? It is likely all of Europe would be enslaved to this day by them or another despotic regime along with most or all of Africa and the East. Prior to our engagement in that war it was the Republican Party arguing for isolationism against engagement, just to show how times and ideas change.

Just as in the World Wars, others are depending, both admittedly and unadmittedly, on our success. The United Kingdom continues to be our staunchest ally, showing classic British, Scottish, Irish and Welsh pluck and courage and an indomitable spirit. Mr. Blair has perhaps been more eloquent in his defence of the War and has used his bully pulpit more often explaining the rationale for our continued involvement in this fight than President Bush. Spain has given up after suffering great pain and loss of its own on its own shores. Instead of steeling its resolve as the London Train Bombings did for the United Kingdom, Spains’ Madrid Train Bombings broke the resolve of Castilla. Regardless of the allies individual or collective spines, though, if we fail, Spain will once again become a Moorish conquest, and this will not be an Islamic Kingdom such as that of the Moors of old who valued art and learning and to whom we owe a great debt for their careful preservation and translation of many priceless works of knowledge and beauty.

So if America were indeed to falter and fail, and retreat within its borders, who would then take the lead in the world? Who has the strength and ability, and more importantly the moral fiber and the national will?

There are few countries indeed who do not have the desire to lead the world the way America has led. The relevant question really is not would they, but could they and should they. The UK has perhaps the nearest moral fiber (nationally) to America. Willing to take unpopular stands around the world in what they see as preservation of good. However, by size they are physically unable to produce enough to lead economically. A leading nation must be able to produce enough to be nearly self-sufficient if necessary. They must be an economic powerhouse challenging all others to give it weight enough for it’s word to mean something. The European Union has shown it does not have the moral fiber to stand against evil at crucial times. Like the UN, when it comes to actual meaningful action, the EU is hampered by it’s own universality, someone is always involved with the enemy and therefore no one can do what must be done. Further, being based on “old-world” economies, it does not produce or consume enough, even collectively, to give it’s word weight beyond it’s member n ations.

In Asia, both China and India have the size, and economic and political/military might and/or potential. However, China is hampered by an immoral, communist quasi-dictatorship, and even if democracy or some less greedily repressive and philosophically backward form of government than comunism were to take over immediately, the people would not soon be ready for world domination and protection. India perhaps has the best chance of becoming a or the world dominant nation, post America, but even they suffer under a socially restrictive religion, social order, and government.

African and South American nations suffer almost universally under corrupt, despotic governments and appear too busy enriching their own upper crusts illegitimately to worry too much about their being the trailing end of the nations of the world. Russia seems unable to throw off cronyism and corruption in business or the siren song of a communist government.

Those nations among our allies in the Middle East have their hands much too full trying to set their houses in order without offending any of their geographical or theological brethren, and many of them officially support ideologies as destructive and evil as any of their more violent neighbors who we’re now in struggle against

So that leaves America. Oh, and not to offend anybody, but who’s heard anything out of our northern neighbor Canada recently? I’m told it’s a beautiful place and the people there are special and nice and kind, but they appear to be content, in a global perspective, being frosting, a whole lot of white stuff, on top of the United States. That and trying to win the title “More Socialist Than France While Still Drinking Beer (Wine Is For Sissies).” So here we are, the lone strongman holdout against the encroaching darkness, to whom all others cling. Some more grudgingly than others. But this is what we are fighting for, the whole world. This is the responsibility that comes with being the nice big kid on the block: We have to face every bully. And if we don’t win, this particularly bully is a rapist.

How To Win The Culture War

Romans 1:18-32 (ESV):

(18) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (19) For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. (20) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (21) For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

(24) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to (25) because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

(26) For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; (27) and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

(28) And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to what ought not to be done. (29) They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, (31) foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (32) Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

This passage is contains the litany of sin from it’s roots, to it’s inception, to it’s fruition. Of particular importance is the fact that this litany is particularly applicable to a lifestyle of sin.

The process of temptation described in James 1:14-15 (ESV) is more universal in it’s application:

(14) But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (15) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James’ process applies to all in that even we as Christians are prone to temptation, lustful desires, sin, and spiritual death or dormancy.

Paul’s process and description is more applicable to the sin of lifestyle. From a consistent denial of God and His attributes, God will cast them down into degrading passions. If they will not exalt Him, He will deny them even ‘human’ decency.

But in our sinful state, the heart of man seeks approval, approbation, and acceptance. As our sins have crawled out of the closet and been accepted by others, they have gained courage and through courage, further acceptance. Eventually, and this is the state of our nation today, sin and acceptance reach critical mass and breaks out into the mainstream, demanding recognition as something other than what it is.

But how do we deal with this? The lines have been drawn, the gauntlet thrown down, our children are being indoctrinated in school and our cities are being cajoled into hosting sex-fests in their streets in the form of “gay pride parades”.

We’ve confronted them, attacked their ideology, beaten back their growth at times, but bit by bit they seem to be winning as people stop caring and say to themselves: “what’s so wrong about it, they aren’t hurting anybody”.

A key fact in any war is that those fighting FOR something have a distinct advantage over those fighting AGAINST something. A positive goal inspires confidence and wins allies, while a negative goal works against the human spirit bringing discouragement and desperation.

So far in our culture war, we’ve been fighting against the encroaching forces of multi-culturalism, sexual deviancy, and other forms of social decay. At times we remind ourselves that we’re fighting for our families and children and nation, but overall, it is a war of defense.

We have lost the high-ground though. The momentum is with the enemy. We are being backed into walls in nearly all fronts of this war. This is a good thing.

Yes, this is a good thing.

We now have something to fight for.

But what are we fighting for, and how do we wage that battle most effectively.

In the last year of blogging here at I, Pandora, I’ve come to realize the futility of forcing political change. Bringing about a political change may bring temporary gains, but we have to compromise. We force ourselves to accept less-than-optimal options in our leaders.

Political change is still important, very important. Those who stand in the gap for us are heroes who ought to be protected, and prayed over, and supported. But unless the hearts change, the same people will keep coming back with the same goals: to wipe out the influence and effectiveness of God’s word in the world.

Don’t be misguided, the people who champion the wrong ideas’ personal goals may be the forced societal acceptance of some deviance. But they are only the faces, they are not the enemy. They need true love, God’s love, as much or more so than any other.

No, the enemy is Satan. The deceiver. And it is in his impending and sure doom that we have our strength.

His goal is not acceptance of homosexuality, it is destruction of individuals in any way possible.

Our counter is the reaching of individuals in any way possible. And just as when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and it brought healing to those who saw it, and as Jesus, when He was lifted up on the cross, drew all men to Himself. Lifting God’s standard once again will draw men and women to Him.

The root cause, according to Paul, of the sin lifestyle is a refusal to recognize God, His attributes, and His truth. So we need to place God, His attributes, and His truth before them in an unimpeachable, undeniable, and undeniable way.

This is not done necessarily with posters and signs, slogans and shouts. But with lives lived wholly for Him.

The mission field is not just in Zimbabwe or Zambia, China or Croatia, or India. It may be in Indianapolis, or Sacramento, or Dallas, or Boston. For you it is wherever you are, whenever you are there. And if you’ve not started yet, it starts right now.

Your mission: to live your life wholly for God.

This does not mean perfection or even the illusion of perfection. God’s law and God’s love balance each other and provide guidance for us through our struggles and our triumphs.

The family is under assault, so shore up the breeches. Starting with as solid a foundation as can be found, Christ’s love, build your family with hard work and constant prayer. Grow it as large as God will give, and share and spread.

It is humorous, but conservative, loving, Christianity enjoys a distinct advantage over all alternate and deviant lifestyles even if only through the “Rabbit Method”: where we out-grow the deviant by means of procreation. (Soberingly, this is exactly how Muslims are taking over much of the world, by having large families).

Large families are not required, and I know many good people who choose a single life of service, or if they cannot have children, use their additional freedom to free energy to wage mighty war against the enemy.

The important thing is not that we have large families, but that we follow God’s call for our lives.

In our stable and strong, God-fearing, and God-glorifying relationships, we have something the rest of the world, including every religion and worldview and mythos, envies: peace.

Not a hypnotized, brainless, mind-numbing peace. But an despite-the-world-falling-around-us peace which comes from having the Master and Maker of all creation caring for us and promising that He’ll work everything together for our good.

That peaceful life, lived on ever lane and at each corner, in the car and on the roads. Lived in public and in private, at the grocery store and the lumber mill and the cannery. And yes, even on the battlefields around the world. Will draw all people.

So don’t beat your plowshares into swords or your rakes into Uzis. Using your plowshares and rakes to God’s glory will bring a far greater, far more lasting, and far more effective harvest.

American evangelicals are the wests best hope (American Thinker).

Wealth Begets Religious Apathy, Except In The U.S.

Over at the Acton Institute’s Power Blog, Jordan Ballor mentions a survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project finding that the wealthier a country, the less citizens’ lives revolve around religion. The one country bucking the trend? The U.S., but why?

Ballor gives a somewhat lengthy and ambiguous answer.

Ballor theorizes that it is America’s heritage and the “penetration of the Gospel message into people’s hearts and minds.” As an example, he notes that Satan’s attacks American’s differently than others. He quotes a John Piper column, “Gutsy Guilt:”

“The great tragedy is not masturbation or fornication or pornography. The tragedy is that Satan uses guilt from these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had or might have. In their place, he gives you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures, until you die in your lakeside rocking chair.”

Interesting thoughts and worth a read, if nothing else, for the mental exercise.

Redemptoween

Halloween. Bugbear of knee-jerk non-involvists and new ‘favorite holiday of the religiously atheistic media and cultural leaders’. Where did it come from anyway? And can and should a Christian participate in it and to what extent?

I make no claims to historical accuracy in this article, merely stating what I’ve heard over the years and researched myself, all thrown into a big puddle and stirred until I get this… mess.

It is common to hear that Halloween is a night dedicated to the worship of Satan, the prince of evil and darkness. The favored decorations are dark on the nice side, and hideous on the bad side. Tales of ancestor worship and demon calling are frequent and true. Yes, it does happen.

The current version of Halloween borrows, as do most holidays we celebrate, from a plethora of traditions and belief systems. First we shall visit the Christian roots. The early Christians celebrated days when brave Christians laid down their lives as holidays. As persecution grew and the number of martyrs rose, it became impractical to even celebrate only your regional martyrs, and one day, the 1st of November, was dedicated to the celebration of the lives of those who gave their lives for Christ’s glory. Eventually, the rumor grew that on All Hallows Eve (Hallowe’en) God allowed the saints one day to walk the earth, visiting and comforting people and their loved ones and doing good deeds. This of course fueled the imaginations of people, feeding ghost stories and our natural fear of the unknown, the dark, and the dead.

The primary pagan roots of Halloween are Celtic. Druidism is an earth-worshiping, animistic, pan-theistic, evil religion which practiced, at various times, human sacrifice and erected marvelous structures facilitating it’s domination of the superstitious Celts. An brief but accurate description of the Druid’s hold on early Britain can be read in the early chapters of Charles Dickens’ A Child’s History of England (an excellent book for family and table reading). Around the time of Halloween has always been a time of harvest festivals, as the last of the summer and fall crops have been stored, the fields and woods were full of fat, lazy animals to hunt and kill. The storehouses of the industrious young civilizations were stuffed and the people were ready for one last wild fling before being confined to their hovels and huts by inclement weather. The Druids had convinced the populace that they were responsible for the success of each year, and that the god’s must be payed with ritualistic sacrifice in order to procure their blessing for the long winter and hope for the coming spring. The spiritism and human sacrifice and overall dark tone of the Druid religion permeated this time of the year for the pagan Celts. With the arrival of Saint Patrick in Ireland and other missionaries and conquering cultures such as the Romans, Druidism gave way to a hybrid Christianity, much as it did in South America, where a pagan reverence for the Dead mixed with a Christian knowledge of eternal life and an entirely human desire to see one’s loved ones again.

Halloween retains it’s Christian name: “All Hallows Eve”, and for most of us it retains a good theme, going into the neighborhood one last time to knock on all the doors and receive gifts and give greetings before the cold of winter chases us all indoors again. For a few it retains the pagan trappings of animal sacrifice, for others it involves getting drunk and/or high and naked, making pentagrams, lighting a fire, and chanting loudly at midnight and waking the neighbors.

For the vast majority it means walking your kids around the neighborhood worrying about razor blades in candy and never finding any (kids will digest ANYTHING) and waving hi to the neighbors who fuel your children’s sugar rush for the next 2 weeks.

For some Halloween is a time of remembering Luther’s 95 Theses, which he nailed to the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral on this day 490 years ago. His 95 arguments against the teachings of the Roman Catholic church set fire to the revivals of spirit and social and cultural upheaval and growth which started immediately thereafter and have continued to some extent even to this day.

Some even still remember the martyrs for the faith, whose numbers are growing at an ever greater rate as many nations seek to expunge the redemptive work of Christ from their borders.

But it is important to note that evil has not, cannot, and will not ever create anything new for itself. Evil is only capable of perverting things that are good, taking them out of balance and propriety, assigning more of less significance to them. That is all evil can and will ever be able to do.

God is capable of redeeming all things because He first created all things. Just as man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man, days and times and seasons have no inherent control over us, and can only affect us to the extent we allow ourselves to be controlled by them. The only thing we as Christians should allow to control us is Christ, and through His power we share in His overcoming the world. Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. We are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, of strength, and of a sound mind. Our God has overcome the world, and nothing occurs without His knowing it and His plan and purpose directing it.

Halloween, for me, is a time to enjoy the change of season, to remember the faithful who have given their lives for Christ, to visit the neighbors while enjoying costumes and goodies. These are pics of my costumes for Halloween 2005 and 2006. I went to work in these. The English Lord included poofy pants and leggings and THE most uncomfortable shoes ever, and I went trick-or-treating with several of my friends that night. It was fun. The other one is, obviously, Mr. Clean, and yes, I shaved my head. It was the first time ever, and it felt weird.

The important thing to remember is that we are called to be light in a dark world. The culture’s current view of Halloween reinforces very strongly the fact that we are indeed in a very dark world that desperately needs light. We are also called to do whatever we do for Him and His glory. If that is not our goal, whether we participate or not, we’re doing it wrong.

EDIT: Scott over at Verum Serum has his own response to kids he teaches and knee-jerk non-involvists.

“What About A Pole Dancer Mother?”

So as some of you may know I’m back to Jr. College to finish up some transfer classes required by the UC system and one of the classes happens to be English critical thinking. I already had a fairly good knowledge of what I was getting myself into but it’s still fun to actually experience ignorance. Let me get to the point which is the little story I have from yesterday.

Our instructor wants to focus on interpretative argumentation which in my opinion is fine because I didn’t want to argument about the existence of god, morality of abortion and whether or not gays have the right to marriage. Her first exercise for us was interpreting a piece of art that was published in “The New Yorker”. You can find it here . We were to determine as a class what the artist was conveying in the picture. We students immediately begin to describe the picture factually with three women, NY subway bench, Catholic, Muslim, Secular, etc. Then we began interpreting. I said, “On either side of the middle woman we have the extreme representation of the world religions and the woman in the middle is obviously someone who is suppose to stand out.” Students bounce that idea around in their own way. And then I pointed out, “She’s clearly meant to be out there because most women don’t wear a halter top and a short shirt.” Immediately a girl next to me says, “Well women do dress that way, so it not like its abnormal.” I took my leave for the moment, let the students continue analyzing and looked about the room to see NOT ONE girl dressed that way. Thankfully the African man came to my rescue. “These aren’t just women they are the extreme forums. This isn’t just a Catholic it is an extreme Catholic, this isn’t just a Muslim it is an extreme Muslim,” all the students paused in adoration of such foreign intelligence and he continued, “and so in the woman in the middle. I do not see one woman in here whose dress like the woman in the middle,” he finished in his thick African accent.

Students came up with other ideas like the three monkeys, “Speak no evil, See no evil and hear no evil.” But nothing really stuck like our first statements so we continued in that direction which led to good old’ feminism. The teacher brought up the idea of the current anti-feminism movement with such figure heads as Dr. Laura. Then an Indian man, though very American, spoke up in reference to feminism and commented that feminism was like when a teenager receives freedom, they don’t know exactly what to do with it. Knowing he was on the right path but would be lynched if it wasn’t finished I stated, “Well yeah, its like a pendulum which swings from abortions and pole dancing to all you’re (as a woman) good for is making babies.” And no sooner than I finished my sentence the later thirty something getting married to PhD in three months over weight woman pipes up and says, “What about a pole dancer mother?” Thankfully the teacher took it from there but I was just shocked at the stupidity of feminism.

Thank you for your patient reading but the point of this of post is how shocking to me hearing feminism spoken from women’s’ mouths. I expect it from the liberal media from the New Yorker, MSNBC, CNN, my local news paper etc, but to hear it for real just strikes me differently and is just shocking. Feminism began in the late 1800s and eventually succeeded in its objective to give women suffrage in early 1900s. This in great numbers was driven by Christian women. But in the wake of this came the second and third feminist movement which as we see today has taken women to the other extreme. I understand the reasons for feminism in regard to men objectifying, raping, disrespecting, insulting and in so many ways treating women like a second class human being. I often think of the “Leave It To Beaver” mother who takes care of everything in the home, the children, the husband and is more of a robot than a person. Often for these 50s women the husband thought little of her and would go out and arrogantly have an affair or two knowing the wife would do nothing. Women have indeed suffered so much under men through out all of history so in this regard I understand the reaction of feminism.
God created man and woman in the beginning and put them as equals to each other and to God. They were equally responsible to keep the covenant; they were partners. However, with the fall of mankind God placed specific curses on man and to the woman he stated:

3:16 “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

So from that point on women were on a hierarchal lower position than man in the world, which I believe has given the fact that “Its a man’s world.” Women do not have a lesser nature and have equal rights to God’s love, forgiveness and grace but as the Father has a position of authority of the rest of the Trinity the husband has the position of authority over women and they have suffered because of this curse. And as my wife points out, this is what happens when women chose another thing to be there God. When Eve chose to heed Satan she was placing herself under his rule and not God’s rule, therefore, God said, “Okay if what you want is to be under another’s headship and not mine then this is what you’ll have.” Since that time women have been under the rule of man. The world of Islam, for example, in Iran is a perfect example of how women are made to be less human than men. Women are stoned to death for dating a man the family doesn’t agree with, they must wear their dress even when swimming at the beach, and they are even segregated at the Mosques because it’s believed they distract the men from their prayers.

Getting back to the extreme which feminism in America has achieved its understandable why the anti-feminist movement has come to be. Feminism in its blind desire of “freedom” has received it but not known what it would do with it, at least nothing more than abortions, divorce, spousal abuse and pornography (visual in strip dancing or physical in prostitution). Yet all of these things are not forums of freedom but enslavement and self hatred. Freedom for the sake of freedom is dangerous. Often the argument for abortion is “choice”. Choice is placed over the sacredness of life! Insanity! Choice is placed over the sacredness of the woman’s body so you have women who see themselves merely as sex toys and honestly not people. Feminism is clearly not just about getting more legal rights and job opportunities which I believe are good, its been about the freedom to have choice for the sake of choice. The social aspect is a lie because choices have consequences and choice is not the ultimate achievement as I hope people will come to see.

In America the only reason why people such as Dr. Laura are so successful is because there’s a deep need for answers and guidance for women who need to know how to be a woman because what they’ve done in their past has not worked. This is why Dr. Laura is so strict. Women need to date for a certain period of time and need to become engaged and married before they “shack up” lest they become “humped and dumped”. If these feminists would take the time to listen to Dr. Laura they’d realize she isn’t as far off her rocker as they think. Feminism has produced the lie that women are just like men and the truth is we are not the same which is clearly displayed by the fact that we have different but complimenting bodies. Men and women were created for specific purposes and similar purposes. Men are physically stronger and built for hard work and war and do this in great numbers though some women can do this as well. Women are very good communicators and find it natural to give and help, though men can do this also. Specifically though men are designed for humble leadership in all regards of the word (its no coincidence that Jesus Christ was a man) and women are specifically designed for giving life. The fault is when we begin to place priority on certain things over another but the fact is we need both to be fulfilling their abilities and callings because they fit together like puzzle pieces to make life.

The inability of men to teach and disciple their sons and daughters with this wisdom is why feminism and chauvinism came to be. The problem with feminism fundamentally is that it is still placing women under the headship of something other than God. Christian women are not called to be mice who are stuck in a corner of our churches. Women are called to challenge the men in their lives, particularly husbands and their children to become better people. Not to say that one must become married to be fulfilled or feel whole but the fact is we were created to be complimented by the opposite sex in marriage. Therefore, a wise man chooses a woman who he can love and respect. A wise woman is patient and chooses a man whom she can respect and challenge and not a chump. All to often either sex selects another in the hope such things can come to be, but it never passes. I was once told the following which I find very true:

“A man marries the woman he has come to know and the woman marries the man whom she hopes he will become.”

It just illustrates how man and woman are different but how they also compliment one another.

I hope in my class that as we continue in our discussions this white, middle class, blue eyed, Christian male gets a little more credit. Nevertheless, I am thankful that we’re not going to be discussing such hot topics as abortion and homosexuality as they always opens up a can of worms with lots of vitriol.

Peace out.

The Problem Science Has

“Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. “You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”"Yes, sir.”

“So you believe in God?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is God good?”

“Sure! God’s good.”

“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”

“Yes.”

“Are you good or evil?”

“The Bible says I’m evil.”

The professor grins knowingly. “Ahh! THE BIBLE!” He considers for a moment. “Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?”

“Yes sir, I would.”

“So you’re good…!”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could… in fact most of us would if we could… God doesn’t.

[No answer.]

“He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”

[No answer]

The elderly man is sympathetic. “No, you can’t, can you?” He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. “Let’s start again, young fella.”

“Is God good?”

“Er… Yes.”

“Is Satan good?”

“No.”

“Where does Satan come from?” The student falters.

“From… God…”

“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he?” The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking, student audience.”I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen.” He turns back to the Christian.

“Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? Did God make everything?”

“Yes.”

“Who created evil?

[No answer]

“Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All the terrible things - do they exist in this world? ”

The student squirms on his feet. “Yes.”

“Who created them? ”

[No answer] The professor suddenly shouts at his student. “WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!” The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Christian’s face. In a still small voice: “God created all evil, didn’t He, son?”

[No answer]

The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails.

Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized. “Tell me,” he continues, “How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?” The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. “All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn’t it, young man?”

[No answer]

“Don’t you see it all over the place? Huh?”

Pause.

“Don’t you?” The professor leans into the student’s face again and whispers, “Is God good?”

[No answer]

“Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. “Yes, professor. I do.”

The old man shakes his head sadly. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen him? ”

“No, sir. I’ve never seen Him.”

“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”

“No, sir. I have not.”

“Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus…in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?”

[No answer]

“Answer me, please.”

“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“You’re AFRAID… you haven’t?”

“No, sir.”

“Yet you still believe in him?”

“…yes…”

“That takes FAITH!” The professor smiles sagely at the underling.”According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?”

[The student doesn't answer]

“Sit down, please.”

The Christian sits…Defeated.

Another Christian raises his hand. “Professor, may I address the class?”

The professor turns and smiles. “Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering.”

The Christian looks around the room. “Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I’ve got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?”

“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”

“Is there such a thing as cold?”

“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”

“No, sir, there isn’t.”

The professor’s grin freezes. The room suddenly goes very cold.

The second Christian continues. “You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super- heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 -

You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. “Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”

Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.

“Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?”

“That’s a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn’t darkness? What are you getting at…?”

“So you say there is such a thing as darkness?”

“Yes…”

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you…give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?”

Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester. “Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?”

“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error….”

The professor goes toxic. “Flawed…? How dare you…!”"

“Sir, may I explain what I mean?”

The class is all ears.

“Explain… oh, explain…” The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the Christian explains. “That for example there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it.”

The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has been reading it. “Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?”

“Of course there is, now look…”

“Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality.

Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?” The Christian pauses. “Isn’t evil the absence of good?”

The professor’s face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.

The Christian continues. “If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work, God is accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil.

The professor bridles. “As a philosophical scientist, I don’t view this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable.”

“I would have thought that the absence of God’s moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going,” the Christian replies.

“Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”

The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.

“Professor. Since no-one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?”

“I’ll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?” the professor hisses.

“So you don’t accept God’s moral code to do what is righteous?”

“I believe in what is - that’s science!”

“Ahh! SCIENCE!” the student’s face splits into a grin. “Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed…”

“SCIENCE IS FLAWED?” the professor splutters.

The class is in uproar.

The Christian remains standing until the commotion has subsided. “To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?” The professor wisely keeps silent.

The Christian looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out in laughter.

The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. “Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain… felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain?” No one appears to have done so.

The Christian shakes his head sadly. “It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor’s brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain.”

The class is in chaos.

The Christian sits down.

This is a humorous story of dubious veracity, but it is accurate in it’s description of the fight a Christian must deal with in the college classroom. I’ve been in my share of science, philosophy, even speech and literature classes where the instructors taught things so diametrically opposite God’s law and against His nature I wondered at their capability to contain a rational thought inside themselves without being torn apart by the lies the lived and espoused. I’ve felt like that first student before and many times decided not to confront the class in order to maintain peace. There were a few classes where I spoke up, Biology to challenge evolution, speech to argue for a moral good. But there were many more where I sat by quietly and received my grade.

There really are serious holes in so much of what we base our lives upon. Science is a vaunted, hallowed term which tolerates no controversy. However it is stiff and unable to capture the whole of the human experience. To deny all that Science cannot define is to deny a large and important portion of the human experience and ourselves as humans. The proper perspective must be kept in regards to Science, Philosophy and our spiritual natures.

We are created by God in His image, as spiritual and eternal beings. This physical life is a process, a lesson, a test. The correct answer in this test is to accept Christs redemptive work on the cross as covering our sins and failures, justifying us before God. The correct practice for the lesson is to love the world the way Jesus does, grieving over sin and bringing others to His love and forgiveness. The correct method for the process is to live each day trusting in Gods’ holiness and Christs forgiveness and the Holy Spirits assistance in all our life. Science is brought into perspective with Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Science serves to illuminate the order and rationality of God and sheds light on His breathtaking creativity and wisdom. And it shows His unbounded love. All creation is made for Him and for our enjoyment of Him. Philosophy seeks to understand the logic of God in the realm of ideas and concepts, morals and ethics. God is logical by nature, though His thoughts are high above us, beyond our comprehension. He has deigned to give us the ability to understand logic so that when we pass the gate of death and stand before Him, His logic and wisdom will awe us and impress us with our own inadequacy, and His amazing love and glory.

Our spiritual natures are what will continue past this fallen, failing earth and physical universe after it is destroyed and into the next, the new Jerusalem and Zion. With new physical body to enjoy the new physical creation God is creating for us we’ll learn ever more about God’s glory and holiness. As Keith Green sang, God made this world in 7 days and consider its grandeur to us, now consider that He has been working on heaven at least 2000 of our years. I know it is foolish to even think of God constrained by our time, but just consider…

Sinning Into Socialism

America is hardly the first nor the last nation to be gripped by socialism. I say this as a matter of fact and in a manner that should not be alarming, because while America is unique in all of history we can’t be so naive to believe it is immune to degradation and failure? No, America is not immune because nothing is free of sin and that which follows in its wake, death. America over the past hundred years and predominantly the last sixty has slowly become more socialistic. I believe taking a look back in history and observing other great nations in history will aid in helping us prevent the failure of another great nation.

I observe the historical empires such as Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Ottoman Empire and all fundamentally fell due to a lack of morality. Morality prevents death, disease and upholds life and produces national vitality as it brings the people together under a common banner. There’s still tension in the nation, but moral anarchy is even more damaging. Just as gravity and thermodynamics are true today and tomorrow, for the workings of mankind morality is equally especial and true.

The moral fiber first breaks down with the rejection of God or an object of worship which is similar to God and secondly the rejection of the family (via abortion, divorces, illegitimate pregnancies, polygamy, pornography, homosexuality). The break down of these two slowly lead to disunity, more sin, unrest and inevitable civil war. I believe the Roman Empire is a very good example because its failure began first within via the worship of Caesar, the peoples’ moral degeneracy and civil wars which allowed the Germanic tribes to easily conquer and ruin the Roman Empire. Another historical power is that of the nation of Israel and its rise and fall is detailed very well in the Bible. Under obedience to God Israel grew and became a regional power under King David and Solomon. However, with the disregard for God by David and Solomon and the people Israel fell under the heel of other pagan nations.

Considering history I must now take a hard look at America and ask the question of whether or not we as a nation are on the path towards becoming another statistic. Now I’ve titled this writing, “Sinning Into Socialism” because an indicator of sin in a nation is directly proportional to socialism in a nation; and vise versa. I generally define socialism as the centralization of the individual’s or families’ responsibilities and power into the State government, due to the individual and family abdicating responsibilities. Now I say sin and socialism are directly proportional, in that order, because sin abdicates responsibility and power and produces a void that the State is often more than happy to fill; thus the centralization of responsibility and power. This filling of the void is also necessary as a last resort to restore relative order. One living example of socialism would be public school.

Public school is not the natural means of education, because before there was ever a State or central school children were raised by their parents into a trade or skill. For thousands of years parents have been raising and educating their children without the help of that State. I’m not saying there were never higher levels of learning like colleges and scholastic programs but that children were first taught by their parents and eventually financed onto higher learning.

In public school from the ages of 4 to 5 years unto age 18 or 19 years (~15 years) parents give up all of their responsibilities in managing the time, money and curriculum in order to educate their children, rather these are given to the State to manage. But the State does not generate wealth of its own and has to tax indiscriminately, so whether you are retired or have no children you are taxed to send children to public school. Curriculum wise the State is allowed to determine what is taught in the classroom which logically is a conflict of interest as hopefully you’d see that the State can teach exactly what will perpetuate the State’s agenda and power. While American government is a constitutional republic and in theory is to represent the people, this belief is based on the assumption that the people will be an active role within the government via voting and petitioning but when none of this happens the State becomes an entity of its own without accountability and thus more power. And the more people abdicate their responsibilities and power the more power the State will receive.

Other examples of the State filling the void of responsibility which the people should be caring for such as, social security, welfare and Medicare. Now what happens when even the states within America abdicate their responsibilities? Naturally the Federal governing body which is even more detached from the people gains power and leads to Statism. Often I hear people bemoaning the fact that public schools are not safe or the students are not getting a good education, or I hear Medicare drugs are to expensive, or I hear the question, “What is the president going to do about it,” and at the same time I hear the chains of the masses sounding. Such statements and questions imply the State and Federal government has the responsibility and power. The people have set themselves in debt to the State and thus bondage.

Now I realize I have implicily jumped over making an argument against socialism or in more general words, relying on the state to fulfill certain needs. As socialism is defined and in practice the power is centralized in fewer people in the body called the State. As history has shown the more power fewer have, the more corrupt they become because there’s no accountability. This is exactly the case for socialism, communism, totalitarianism, fascism, etc. “Absolute power, corrupts man absolutely,” as the phrase goes. Thus the more power that can be spread out over the people, assuming the people willingly take on the responsibilities, the better the health of a nation. All the empires I had listed above didn’t begin as a totalitarian government, but rather the people had more power, and it was over time that the State became absolute. So in short we all must rely on ourselves and call ourselves to be good stewards first because we are the foundation for our society.

Going back to the Garden of Eden we can see the action of Adam and Eve abdicating their responsibility and power to Satan by rejecting God and his commandment and also his blessings. After that moment where did God find Adam and Eve, in the garden hiding (abdicating) their responsibilities and thus began the story of man’s bondage. However, I have not only written this to point out the problem, but also to point out the answer.

The answer is simple! People must take responsibility for themselves and their families. People must take back what they have given up to the State whom they have come indebt to. I don’t call for radical revolutions which would honestly cause more harm to America, but slow generation by generation taking back what is rightfully ours. First we must submit ourselves to God and his revealed word in the Bible. Our attitude and worldview must be centered on God and we must stop being the judge of God and the following steps will naturally fall into place. Secondly we must take back the family which is the cornerstone to all of life and civilizations. One man and one woman is marriage and they are commissioned by God to have children in their means and to raise them in the Lord which means to be a self reliant, contributing citizen. Thirdly the Church must stop dividing over pointless doctrines and pride. Forth would be to be a productive person in the State and Federal government to ensure the people are protected from evil acts.

I realize though that no one is perfect and I can say this especially of Christians. Knowing right and wrong and not living in ignorance of Jesus Christ is not easier, it is in fact harder. It’s harder because it’s taking back responsibility for us and our families and I think that is why Christians have such a hard time. We set ourselves in a place where we can easily be called hypocrites and failures, but it is still better than living in ignorance. To deny the one true God and deny one’s calling is easy and I see many people do it. I don’t expect a revolution over night, but rather a generational progress to taking back dominion and being better stewards.

It would, however, be not wise to rapidly abolish all socialism in America because many would be left destitute and unable to care for themselves or their families. For example, removing public school would ruin families dependent on two incomes or even a single parent. They would not be able to run the home and care for their children’s education and furthermore, the state and federal government wouldn’t remove the tax used to pay for public education. Therefore, it’s a slow step by step process first beginning with the man and woman of a family making the decisions to build a family based around a single income and or income from home and then preparing the home for educating their children. Also it requires these families to rightfully vote down bonds and additional taxes for funding public school as the family is now taking on the responsibilities and costs.

I’d like to note that I am NOT talking about instituting a theocracy or any religious state. I am actually a proponent of the complete opposite, I am calling for the many, the people, to take back upon themselves their own responsibilities that they were born into and that they have chosen. This is quite close to what our Founding Fathers created and intended. Once the people take back their power the State or any other institution will fall into its proper place. This is the price of freedom, it isn’t easy and it never will be. The very nature of man calls him to be in bondage and to break free of that is daily work.

In conclusion, only the straight and narrow path of scripture is the means to any hope for America. Not socialism, post-modernism, humanism, communism, statism, relativism, nihilism, etc. I always relate morality and truth to that of the laws which are observed and govern the universe. If the universe is governed by such strict laws, how can we believe that mankind can be governed by anymore than one law? Morality is not relative and it is not us who determines it. The revolution begins with the individual and the family. If America can take this to heart and slowly remove sin within and without, there will be hope. Otherwise this great nation will come and go as all have! This is not speculation or opinion, the wages of sin is DEATH, death of self, families, and state; nothing is free of the wages of sin. The pyramid of civilization begins with the foundation of the people and if the foundation is weak and crumbling the pyramid will fall. For the sake of my family I hope we all can make wiser choices in the years and generations to come.