Thursday, October 1, 2009
Walkin' the Tightrope
I wrote this back on 9/10/09, and didn't finish it and publish it until tonight.
Prevarication
I have stumbled upon the one word that sums up our current US foreign policy;
Prevarication.
This is especially true in regards to our policy (or lack thereof), towards, about, around and behind, Israel. What are we doing? If I were an Israeli, I would be VERY nervous right now.
I came across a nice speech made by Virginia Congressman, Eric Cantor to AIPAC.
Video is here.
He calls out evil as evil. His story about the Treblinka survivors trying to help the German Jewish workers escape and their response to those Poles, is astounding. It truly is the frog in the pot.
I have read enough history to know that when the proverbial fecal matter hits the centrifugal air-displacement device, the people that are denying this and covering up what is happening will go down in history as villains. And the masses that turned their collective eye away from evil, away from the enemy at the gates?
How would you feel if a very great evil happened, you could have stopped it, and you chose to do nothing? There is evil in this world and it must be confronted. This prevarication on the part of the President is...immoral.
Prevarication.
This is especially true in regards to our policy (or lack thereof), towards, about, around and behind, Israel. What are we doing? If I were an Israeli, I would be VERY nervous right now.
I came across a nice speech made by Virginia Congressman, Eric Cantor to AIPAC.
Video is here.
He calls out evil as evil. His story about the Treblinka survivors trying to help the German Jewish workers escape and their response to those Poles, is astounding. It truly is the frog in the pot.
I have read enough history to know that when the proverbial fecal matter hits the centrifugal air-displacement device, the people that are denying this and covering up what is happening will go down in history as villains. And the masses that turned their collective eye away from evil, away from the enemy at the gates?
How would you feel if a very great evil happened, you could have stopped it, and you chose to do nothing? There is evil in this world and it must be confronted. This prevarication on the part of the President is...immoral.
Skin crawling explained...
Check out Alonzo Rachel's explanation as to why Christians and conservatives are so disturbed by what they see as worship of our President. If your skin didn't crawl from my last post, maybe Zo can tell you why it should.
A message to Obama supporters: if you don't want conservatives accusing you of not be respectful of Christians and people of faith, stop taking sacred texts, songs, hymns, and themes and inserting the name of Obama in place of God or Jesus.
To back up Zo's point, I will paste below the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the tune of which those school kids were singing their Obama praise song to. Please note the opening line, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" and "He died to make men holy, so let's fight to make men free!"
This song is about Jesus, people. Not Obama. Stop taking songs about Jesus and replacing Jesus with Obama. At the lowest level, for those that don't believe in God, it is disrespectful. For others, it's creepy. Why would you want to worship ANY man? Why structure any support material for political persona's to mimic God, and Jesus? At worst, for those of us that do believe in the salvific grace of Jesus Christ, this is nothing other than a spectacularly audaciaous display of blasphemy, encountered in the Bible in only the darkest corners that allude to the devil himself. For observant Jews and Christians, this is serious and scary stuff. It is totally inappropriate and unsettling. Cut it out.
Now go back and listen to those school kids singing this song and listen to their words, and tell me that your skin isn't crawling...
A message to Obama supporters: if you don't want conservatives accusing you of not be respectful of Christians and people of faith, stop taking sacred texts, songs, hymns, and themes and inserting the name of Obama in place of God or Jesus.
To back up Zo's point, I will paste below the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the tune of which those school kids were singing their Obama praise song to. Please note the opening line, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" and "He died to make men holy, so let's fight to make men free!"
This song is about Jesus, people. Not Obama. Stop taking songs about Jesus and replacing Jesus with Obama. At the lowest level, for those that don't believe in God, it is disrespectful. For others, it's creepy. Why would you want to worship ANY man? Why structure any support material for political persona's to mimic God, and Jesus? At worst, for those of us that do believe in the salvific grace of Jesus Christ, this is nothing other than a spectacularly audaciaous display of blasphemy, encountered in the Bible in only the darkest corners that allude to the devil himself. For observant Jews and Christians, this is serious and scary stuff. It is totally inappropriate and unsettling. Cut it out.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
- Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
- He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
- He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
- His truth is marching on.
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- His truth is marching on.
- I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
- They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
- I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
- His day is marching on.
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- His day is marching on.
- I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
- "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
- Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
- Since God is marching on."
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Since God is marching on.
- He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
- He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
- Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
- Our God is marching on.
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Our God is marching on.
- In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
- With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
- As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
- While God is marching on.
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- While God is marching on.
- He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
- He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
- So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
- Our God is marching on.
- (Chorus)
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Glory, glory, hallelujah!
- Our God is marching on.
Now go back and listen to those school kids singing this song and listen to their words, and tell me that your skin isn't crawling...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Throw me a bone, Mr. President
I read tonight the Fox News web page equivalent of the front page and i find:
1. Obama is indecisive in Afghanistan.
2. Throws Poland and Czeck Republic under the bus.
3. Defends AG Holder's agressive pursuit of special operators and intelligence personnel.
Mr. President. Cannot ONE day go by without doing something to upset those of us from the center-right? Your positions are alarming and so far to the left of anythink ever seen on a national stage before, you could at least give us some time to absorb what you are doing, eh?
I guess not. I am still trying to figure you out. This is either brilliant Alinsky-esque attacks, shocking the system with so much change and crisis, that it shuts down; or you are really naive.
It seems to me that it would be good politics to throw an occasional bone to the opposition, to take the sting out of their remarks. I don't see any bones being thrown, except for the ones underneath those brass knuckles to keep pummeling my country with. Which begs the question; is this hubris and overreach? Or do you truly expect to maintain power so handily that you are not worried about elections anymore?
You could even throw a small bone by appearing on Fox News for an interview. You scheduled interviews with five networks, and left out Fox.
Coward.
UPDATE: Zbigniew Bzrezinsky was quoted saying that US should confront militarily Israeli planes if they try and fly over Iraq to defend themselves against Iran's nukes. Obama makes a juvenile speech at the UN about global warming, then tops it off with another speech, effectively throwing Israel under the bus, just in case you were about to accuse me of getting excited about ZB, the old has-been. Then Benjamin Netanyahu makes one of the best speeches I've heard about the rights of nations to defend themselves, drawing great distinctive lines between the good guys and bad guys around the world. Whatever the leftie loons may have felt about W, multiply it by ten and you are starting to get the idea on how i am feeling about the current state of politics in my country. It has only been a couple of days since my last post. Can we have a breather?!? Mr. President, please go on vacation again!
1. Obama is indecisive in Afghanistan.
2. Throws Poland and Czeck Republic under the bus.
3. Defends AG Holder's agressive pursuit of special operators and intelligence personnel.
Mr. President. Cannot ONE day go by without doing something to upset those of us from the center-right? Your positions are alarming and so far to the left of anythink ever seen on a national stage before, you could at least give us some time to absorb what you are doing, eh?
I guess not. I am still trying to figure you out. This is either brilliant Alinsky-esque attacks, shocking the system with so much change and crisis, that it shuts down; or you are really naive.
It seems to me that it would be good politics to throw an occasional bone to the opposition, to take the sting out of their remarks. I don't see any bones being thrown, except for the ones underneath those brass knuckles to keep pummeling my country with. Which begs the question; is this hubris and overreach? Or do you truly expect to maintain power so handily that you are not worried about elections anymore?
You could even throw a small bone by appearing on Fox News for an interview. You scheduled interviews with five networks, and left out Fox.
Coward.
UPDATE: Zbigniew Bzrezinsky was quoted saying that US should confront militarily Israeli planes if they try and fly over Iraq to defend themselves against Iran's nukes. Obama makes a juvenile speech at the UN about global warming, then tops it off with another speech, effectively throwing Israel under the bus, just in case you were about to accuse me of getting excited about ZB, the old has-been. Then Benjamin Netanyahu makes one of the best speeches I've heard about the rights of nations to defend themselves, drawing great distinctive lines between the good guys and bad guys around the world. Whatever the leftie loons may have felt about W, multiply it by ten and you are starting to get the idea on how i am feeling about the current state of politics in my country. It has only been a couple of days since my last post. Can we have a breather?!? Mr. President, please go on vacation again!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Something I can congratulate the President on...
President Obama finally did something that I agree with yesterday.
I wonder if the media will listen? I wonder if he really means it, or if he is just saying it so as to placate some criticism? I know that is cynical, but it really ties in with what I think most conservatives are thinking at this point.
I think the question in the collective conservative mind is this; Is Barak Obama an inexperienced idealist, or is he a brilliant politician, pushing his agenda to radically change this nation as quickly as he can so that we reach the point of no return.
Being the skeptical and eternally reluctant conspiracy theorist, I have to believe the latter. I think the man is genuine and believes what he says much of the time. I also beleive that he is not above stretching the truth and lying to get the proper tone for his sound bytes and speeches.
So, I think he actually means that he doesn't think that the criticism is about race. He needs to say so more forcefully, because the MSM is doing everything they can to push that storyline, and he is the only one that can squash it.
I will take it on face value and congratulate the President for trying to dampen the flames of the conversation and keep them on the true arguement; the issue of the proper role of government in our society. If we actually have that debate, it would be a good one, and he and his allies will lose.
UPDATE: I have a correction in the third paragraph from the bottom, first sentence, where I said "...I have to believe the latter", I really meant "former".
UPDATE 2: The President went on Letterman and this topic of race came up and he said something to the effect that he was black during the election campaign too and that the latest stuff has nothing to do with race. He earns respect from me when he does that. Kudos to you, Mr. President. Keep that stuff up. You won't win me on your socialism, but you will have my respect and gratitude if you keep it civil and honest.
I wonder if the media will listen? I wonder if he really means it, or if he is just saying it so as to placate some criticism? I know that is cynical, but it really ties in with what I think most conservatives are thinking at this point.
I think the question in the collective conservative mind is this; Is Barak Obama an inexperienced idealist, or is he a brilliant politician, pushing his agenda to radically change this nation as quickly as he can so that we reach the point of no return.
Being the skeptical and eternally reluctant conspiracy theorist, I have to believe the latter. I think the man is genuine and believes what he says much of the time. I also beleive that he is not above stretching the truth and lying to get the proper tone for his sound bytes and speeches.
So, I think he actually means that he doesn't think that the criticism is about race. He needs to say so more forcefully, because the MSM is doing everything they can to push that storyline, and he is the only one that can squash it.
I will take it on face value and congratulate the President for trying to dampen the flames of the conversation and keep them on the true arguement; the issue of the proper role of government in our society. If we actually have that debate, it would be a good one, and he and his allies will lose.
UPDATE: I have a correction in the third paragraph from the bottom, first sentence, where I said "...I have to believe the latter", I really meant "former".
UPDATE 2: The President went on Letterman and this topic of race came up and he said something to the effect that he was black during the election campaign too and that the latest stuff has nothing to do with race. He earns respect from me when he does that. Kudos to you, Mr. President. Keep that stuff up. You won't win me on your socialism, but you will have my respect and gratitude if you keep it civil and honest.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Walkin' the Tightrope
"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." 1Corinthians 4:1
"For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" Matthew 25:29,30
I have been struggling and wrestling with the proper role of a Christian in modern American politics and culture. I read chapter four in 1Corinthians and come away initially with a message that Christians should focus on Christ and forget about everything else. This is true, per se, but I mean in the sense that there is no involvement whatsoever in the politics of the day. We should focus upon only serving others and ignoring the deeds and events of the day. I call this the ostrich mentality, or the "meek" school of Christianity, waiting to inherit the earth.
But I look at the broader picture in which Paul writes this letter (i.e. in context), and I think he was speaking to a proud church that had a lot of trouble casting away their love of money and power, much like modern America. In this context, the exhortation is to love Christ more than these other things.
I wonder how much legal authority the average inhabitant of Corinth actually possessed. The Roman authority left much local power alone, as long as they received their proper taxes and homage, they didn't interfere too much. So, did these church-members get to vote? Did they have any political clout? Any duty?
The reason I ask, is because in this country, we do have these things. And the counter-arguement to the "meek" school, is that we were given incredible bounty in this country and we are expected to do great things with that bounty because of it.
The "meeks" may argue that by spending their lives in poverty, serving others, they are growing the Kingdom and serving God's people. I agree. However, how many more people could you serve and help, if you were a man of resources and influence? The arguement is that of gaining as much influence in this world as you can, while still remaining a Christian, and using that influence and wealth to further God's will. It is a dangerous enterprise, but one worth taking.
If you are born with some measure of ability, wealth, station and influence, should you not use those resources to further the Kingdom? If you work hard and succeed in your life's work, shouldn't you use those resources? I don't mean to detract from the "meek". In fact I greatly admire their work and recognize the holiness of their dedication. But I think God calls us all in different ways.
We live in a country that has proven to be the most successful economic, and political experiment ever conducted by mankind. Second place is so distant, it is hard to measure the differences between contenders well enough to decide who gets the honor. We have been given much. The success of this country has been the greatest boon to worldwide Christianity ever to exist. Shouldn't our work for the Kingdom include preserving and perpetuating that which has provided so much? Don't we have an obligation as Christians to get involved and active in the governance of a free society, or risk losing it all?
Now, I have just crossed an invisible, but very important line, in that I have just created a Biblical justification for political activism. I am walking a tight rope, and if I lean too much to the left or right, I fall. We don't want clergymen running our government, but we can't have God divorced from our decision-making process any longer. I read scripture for wisdom, but have to be careful not to have my desires color my interpretations.
I was born a fighter by nature. I am contentious, argumentative, and strong-willed. Is it possible, that those are my spiritual gifts which God will use for His purposes? Or do I need to keep working on being meek? Some of my friends teased me that offending people was my spiritual gift. I laughed heartily at that, but inside I know there is some truth to it.
"For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" Matthew 25:29,30
I have been struggling and wrestling with the proper role of a Christian in modern American politics and culture. I read chapter four in 1Corinthians and come away initially with a message that Christians should focus on Christ and forget about everything else. This is true, per se, but I mean in the sense that there is no involvement whatsoever in the politics of the day. We should focus upon only serving others and ignoring the deeds and events of the day. I call this the ostrich mentality, or the "meek" school of Christianity, waiting to inherit the earth.
But I look at the broader picture in which Paul writes this letter (i.e. in context), and I think he was speaking to a proud church that had a lot of trouble casting away their love of money and power, much like modern America. In this context, the exhortation is to love Christ more than these other things.
I wonder how much legal authority the average inhabitant of Corinth actually possessed. The Roman authority left much local power alone, as long as they received their proper taxes and homage, they didn't interfere too much. So, did these church-members get to vote? Did they have any political clout? Any duty?
The reason I ask, is because in this country, we do have these things. And the counter-arguement to the "meek" school, is that we were given incredible bounty in this country and we are expected to do great things with that bounty because of it.
The "meeks" may argue that by spending their lives in poverty, serving others, they are growing the Kingdom and serving God's people. I agree. However, how many more people could you serve and help, if you were a man of resources and influence? The arguement is that of gaining as much influence in this world as you can, while still remaining a Christian, and using that influence and wealth to further God's will. It is a dangerous enterprise, but one worth taking.
If you are born with some measure of ability, wealth, station and influence, should you not use those resources to further the Kingdom? If you work hard and succeed in your life's work, shouldn't you use those resources? I don't mean to detract from the "meek". In fact I greatly admire their work and recognize the holiness of their dedication. But I think God calls us all in different ways.
We live in a country that has proven to be the most successful economic, and political experiment ever conducted by mankind. Second place is so distant, it is hard to measure the differences between contenders well enough to decide who gets the honor. We have been given much. The success of this country has been the greatest boon to worldwide Christianity ever to exist. Shouldn't our work for the Kingdom include preserving and perpetuating that which has provided so much? Don't we have an obligation as Christians to get involved and active in the governance of a free society, or risk losing it all?
Now, I have just crossed an invisible, but very important line, in that I have just created a Biblical justification for political activism. I am walking a tight rope, and if I lean too much to the left or right, I fall. We don't want clergymen running our government, but we can't have God divorced from our decision-making process any longer. I read scripture for wisdom, but have to be careful not to have my desires color my interpretations.
I was born a fighter by nature. I am contentious, argumentative, and strong-willed. Is it possible, that those are my spiritual gifts which God will use for His purposes? Or do I need to keep working on being meek? Some of my friends teased me that offending people was my spiritual gift. I laughed heartily at that, but inside I know there is some truth to it.
Do we focus on loving others to the exclusion of taking a stand, or do we start participating in a political process that gets messy and embattled and risk chasing away those that might otherwise seen some of Christ in you? Politics can be extremely contentious and very un-Christ-like.
Do we try? Or do we focus on other things? What about facing evil?
I have written in the past about my beliefs in fighting for what is right. I believe in standing up and resisting evil, with force if necessary. Is that me? Is it Biblical? Is it Pride?
I believe that is can be all of those things, and that only by putting my trust in God will I be able to stay on this tightrope.
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