Opus 2015-35: In the Name of Obama, Part 1 of 3

The headline on Drudge was a come-on:  “Terrible Deeds in Name of Christ.”

Most of the article was about the National Prayer Breakfast.  This used to be a meeting of Christians praying for the country.  Now it is more of a PR event for the multi-cultural agenda.  It has become a supeficially Christian event which has been secularized and lost it purpose, much like the YMCA and YWCA.  The headline came from a tired old canard that the president used.  I have read multiple references to this in different articles but, just in case you missed it, let me quote it for you one more time.  

" ‘Unless we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ," Obama said. "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

This is simply another chance for the President to express moral equivalence between apples and oranges and show how much he hates Christianity.  I say hates but I could use words implying ignorance and naivety.  Take your pick.

If someone claimed to have done something with the president’s authorization, does that mean the president is guilty?  If someone else claims the perpetrators did it in the name of Obama, does that make the president an accessory to the crime?  Obviously not.  Guilt would be based on the actual words and deeds of the president.

That is probably why the president and attorney general have been blocking access to e-mails and other documents.  They don’t want you to know what the record actually shows.

Fortunately we do have the documents that tell us what religious leaders have taught.  I want to look at two hot buttons that we keep hearing explained as moral equivalence:  Violence and revenge.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-34: Book Review: Hubris

Sometimes people don’t see their own arrogance.  What do I mean, “sometimes.”  It must be a requirement, otherwise we would simply be accurate.  Then again, if we are really superior, maybe we would have something to be arrogant about.

Celebrities are easily seduced into thinking they have a right to speak out.  They are singers, dancers, athletes, comedians, talking heads.  Their strengths are beauty, voice and the ability to pretend.  They make a lot of money and the the masses worship them.  How does that qualify them to be authorities on the environment, taxes, defense, Islam or poverty?  They start to believe being able read a script transforms them into fountains of wisdom. 

What is equally amazing is how many people take them seriously. 

I came across this quote in the introduction to a book I was starting to read. 

“Science-fiction authors such as myself sometimes look at large issues like this and make dire warnings hoping our stories will be read widely enough to make a real difference to humankind - that people in decision -making positions will take our words to heart.”

Do you feel the hubris?  Do you see it in writers other than sci-fi?  I am amused reading old science fiction and coming across the predictions they made about overpopulation, pollution, nuclear destruction and the repeated attempts to come up with explanations of how life originated and where our intelligence comes from.  In reading historical fiction you come across anachronistic characters who could have never survived, let alone existed, in their time.  These authors are frantic to force their view of the world onto a paradigm that doesn’t fit.  Herbert joins that long tradition.

I quit reading, not because of the hubris in the introduction or because of his obvious anti-Christian bias.  I am used to that.  If I only read authors I agree with I would have a lot of nights when all I could do is scrub the toilet again.  I closed the book because his writing was too cute.  He wrote well, but in the first chapters it was just too clever and cute.  I am getting too old for cute, I want beautiful.

Herbert, Brian.  The Race for God.  New York:  Dorchester Publishing Company, 2007, page 10.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-33: Immanence and Transcendence

Warning:  Theology ahead.

How is the Christian view of God different from other religions?

Two of the attributes of God that are in the books of theology are immanence and transcendence.  The God of the Bible is both.

Immanence, if you spell it correctly, means being close and mingling.  Paganism that presents a pantheon of Gods tend to stress the immanence of their gods.  If you read the stories of the Greek gods you find that they are always moving around among the people of the earth.  Often they are up to mischief and looking for ways to relieve their boredom.  This is common with polytheistic religions. 

Christianity also believes that God is close and involved in our lives.  The anti-Christian crowd would also say he is up to mischief but that is not the way believers see it.  He is present on a constant way in the Holy Spirit which we believe not only is active in the world but can indwell us.

The eastern paganism that sees god as a force is into transcendence.  This refers to the belief that god is above it all.  If you think of the Force of Star Wars or the Buddhist idea of god you see no personhood involved, just a power.  Although Christians believe that God is an aware entity they also believe that He is above creation.  He is not physical.  He is not limited by time or space.  He created it all.

So in this area the God Christians worship is different, both immanent and transcendent at the same time.  Monotheism is more than a number.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-32: Headlines: Unemployment Scam

Yesterday Drudge’s leading link went to an article at Gallup about unemployment Titled “The Big Lie:  5.6% Unemployment.”

The number is deceptive.  It does not reflect the real condition of the economy.

Gallup explained.  Some of the unemployed that are not counted:
    If you are hopelessly out of work and have stopped looking
    You are out of work and got a few dollars for a short task like mowing a lawn
    You can only find a part time, low paying job and are working it

My question would be has it always been this way or were the standards changed recently.  If changed, by whom and on whose authority? 

Who proclaims this as being good news?  The administration of course, because they want to look good.  The media goes along because they also want the administration to look good.  They assume, like Gruber on Obamacare, that we are too stupid to notice the lie.

Are we?

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-31: Got the Blues?

Blues is an example of human creativity and ingenuity.

Blues as a music form came out of the black American experience.  Slaves heard music and saw instruments but were not able to get formal training or buy, so they made do.  I remember reading how some musician when he was a kid could not afford guitar strings so he would make them from whatever wire he could come across.  He mentioned using the wire from old window screens, for example.

The first experiments under these handicaps were probably considered horrible to listen to but as the untrained and under-funded kept at it someone probably said one day, “That sounded pretty good.  How did you do that?”  A new form of music was being developed. 

Many of the standard elements of blues are the kinds of mistakes that people make when learning to play guitar.  Sliding between frets.  Moving your finger on a string that has been played.  Putting you finger on the wrong string when trying to form a chord.  Putting your fingers down firmly but late.  When done by a novice they set your teeth on edge.  Ask any parent listening to their child practice.  When developed and applied by talent they become an exciting form of expression and listening enjoyment.

What accidents are waiting to become cultural icons?

Will rap music ever grow up?

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-30: Headlines: Another Ally Gone

It is dangerous to be friends with Obama’s America.

Another ally bites the dust in Yemen.  It seems that a group of rebels backed by Iran forced the prime minister to resign after holding him in house arrest.  He was backed by the United States.  I can only assume that we did nothing to help him with the rebels were holding him captive.  In case you are not paying attention, many of the terrorists attacking us have been training in Yemen in spite of our involvement.  This means that another haven has been secured for the terrorists who want to bring the west into the fold of Islam.

This is the kind of action we have seen repeatedly under the leadership of Barak Obama.  It is getting dangerous to live in Obama’s America.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-29: Headlines: Two Strikes

Two stories have been in the news, if you are paying attention.

First we have the President of the United States announcing he is not open to meet with the leader of our only real ally in the Middle East because President Obama feels slighted.  Israeli Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, has been invited to address congress.  He accepted.  Obama and the state department were out of the loop.  Now they are getting nasty.  They say it is against policy to meet with leaders of nations who have pending elections.  Evidently this policy is ignored when it is convenient.  Since Netanyahu does not jump through Obama’s hoops he is to be chastised.

At the same time our state department has hosted a meeting with official delegates of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Muslim Brotherhood is an organization that hates the United States with a passion and is a big backer of terrorism.  They used this meeting to build their prestige and gain visiblity on the world stage.  After all, if the state department of the United States of America has a special meeting with you, you must be important. 

As a reward for our president, shortly after the meeting the Muslim Brotherhood issued a renewed call for jihad and war against the west. 

Well done, Mr. President. 

In a short time the administration of Barak Obama has done everything it can to undermine and weaken our best ally in the Middle East while giving free publicity and credibility to one of our biggest enemies. 

Candidate Obama said he wanted to fundamentally remake America.  He is doing a good job of making us a second rate, third world country.  Soon no one will trust us or be willing to work with us. 

Quite a legacy.  You elected him twice America.  It scares me that people get the government they deserve.

homo unius libri