Opus 2016-39: Obama and the Prayer Breakfast

I am a believing, practicing Christian.  As such I find it either offensive, hilarious or defining to have President Obama address the National Prayer Breakfast.

On one level I find it offensive.  I am not one who claims that the president is a secret Muslim.  It is possible because the Koran gives Muslims permission to stay in the closet while they undermine the kafirs, but there is no way of knowing that.  Evidently in Indonesia he attended both Catholic and Muslim schools.  At the Catholic school he registered as a Muslim, but that could have simply been the paperwork of his Muslim step-father.  It doesn’t really matter.  I don’t believe he has any genuine religious beliefs because he is too arrogant and narcissistic to actually believe there is a supreme being judging his actions.  To give even lip service that he speaks for Christianity is insulting.

It is also hilarious, for the same reasons.  What a joke.  A man who endorses gay marriage, supports abortion on demand, praises Islam and lies on a regular basis is nothing but a Saturday Night Live caricature when he talks at something called a prayer breakfast.  It is like one of the presidential hopefuls saying something nice about a rival.

It is defining because it shows that the National Prayer Breakfast has become a meaningless activity of Political Correctness.  I don’t pay a lot of attention.  I assume that it was started by Christians and for a time was a genuine time to come together and call on God.  Those days are long past.  It has become a place to be seen.  It is a mantra like saying “God bless America” at the end of a speech.  It is a sad statement about the condition of Christianity in our nation.

It is just part of the cacophony of distractions in the media to keep the sheep in the pasture.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-38: Veterinarians Lead the Way

A new entry into the morning radio market of LA is the Armstrong and Getty show.  I think they hale from Northern California.  They are entertaining in an adolescent boy humor way.  They touch on topics of substance but are so busy laughing at their own jokes that a lot of time goes by with nothing learned.  They are somewhat conservative on economics and politically correct on moral issues.  At this point I listen for short period of time and during commercials go to my pod-casts.  Often I do not come back.

But my brain can be stimulated even by mush.  At one point they were talking about capital punishment and my mind Went Tangent.  My daughter had just faced putting a pet to sleep.  I am not an animal person but my family is.  I care because they care.  I have been through this with her before but was not able to fly across the country for this one.  It was hard but the loved pet went easy.

That made me wonder:  If we can put animals to sleep without undue suffering, why can’t we do it with criminals.  One of the reasons that the Republik of Kalifornia Commissars keep putting a halt to capital punishment is because it is cruel and unusual.  It seems that they don’t want the mass murderers and psychopaths to feel discomfort when they get their just reward.  If a cat or dog can go to the grave without a whimper it seems that a slightly larger dose would do for the but cats and dogs on death row.

Is there something I am missing here?

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-37: Healthy Insights: Less Is Not More

I just finished my breakfast portion and my body is calling out, “More!”  Intellectually I know I have had enough.  If I listen to my inner self I can tell that my body is trying to deceive me.  Today I had another victory and ignored that inner voice.

The thing I miss while working on my eating is not a particular food but the feeling of satiation.  You see, I can eat anything I want.  Yes, I am diabetic, but it is on a level that if I follow common sense and show moderation I can eat anything.  I just can’t eat as much as I want.  The is the rub.  I want to supersize and finish every crumb.  I look on all-you-can-eat as a challenge.  I act like leftovers are a sin.

But I can’t follow the inclination of my appetite.  A good motivation is to think of insulin syringes.  Another reason not to keep eating is so that I can keep my eyes and feet.  I have fought the good fight for several years and don’t plan on giving up.

But those pastries and breakfast sandwiches keep calling to me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-36: Ponzi Deluxe

I was listening to Alistair Begg.  Yes, again.  He was sharing that to his knowledge there is not one believer in the news media standing up and declaring the cause of Christ.  He did not say there were no believers, just that they were not making a clear statement.

I don’t know why but that made me think about how rampant porn and such is everywhere you turn.  It is getting to the point where dissipation is on auto-pilot.  Satan does not have to push very hard any more.  Simple things like the internet are doing his work for him.  Once the seed is planted tendencies grow on their own.  Think of the ads you see when you are on line.  They start with a mild attraction and you bite.  Then you click on something just a little further down the path.  Then you click again.  If we don’t stop clicking, Satan has us.  Even if you stop the cookies have been imbedded and you will keep getting those types of ads.  The cookies planted by business are a perfect tool for Satan to distracted us with the subtle desires of our hearts.  He just sits back and laughs.  It is kind of like a spiritual Ponzi Scheme. 

Social pressure works the same way.  He spends his time working on a more subtle level:  getting young girls to dress like a rock star, getting older girls to dress in provocative ways.  Getting the boys interested and then pulled into lust.  It doesn’t start off with hard core porn but by looking out the corner of our eye. 

An old saying is that “mighty oaks out of acorns grow”.  The same procedure can produce a yard full of dandelions. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-35: Election 2016: Vive Principle

The report is that Cruz came out on top in Iowa.  I think that is a good thing.  He is the only one in the top tier that I could support without a lot of questions and big doubts.

In the overall race it doesn’t mean that much.  The winner in Iowa is mainly a morale booster.  I think of Santorum and Huckabee as previous winners that went on to defeat.  My hope is that Cruz will have what it takes to stay in the race and get the nomination.  He has been consistent in what he stands for.

I think the most significant detail about this race involves the Cruz position on ethanol subsidies.  He has been against them and wants to get rid of them.  In Iowa that is a death knell, or it has been until now.  Even the Republican governor of Iowa came out as “anyone but Cruz” because of his stand.  It is an honest stand.  It is a principled stand.  He maintained it in the face of pragmatic compromise.

That makes me believe that we can continue to see him stand strong on issues of principle.  Will compromise be necessary?  Of course.  He won’t take the end run around the Constitution that Obama has used.  On ethanol we see this in his willingness to phase it out over five years not in abandoning the goal. 

It is a glimmer of hope for me but the road is long, opposition is unprincipled and the hatred for people they cannot control is deeply rooted in the elites.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-34: On the Street: Another Potential Death Statistic

I saw another statistic today.  A foolish person, I could not tell anything else, was riding a skateboard across a busy street with his hood pulled so far forward that he could not have seen a 747 getting ready to flatten him.  He is going to make some driver feel very guilty when he finally gets run down.

I was reminded of part of the equipment that teamsters used to use on their horses and mules.  I think they were called blinders.  The purpose what to keep the horse from getting distracted by things to the side.  It made it so they could only see strait ahead.  It made them easier to control.

I do not understand why people become slaves to fashions that make life more difficult and more dangerous.  But then I have always been boring.

Grace and peace

Opus 2016-33: Monday Pulpit: Surprise, Surprise

Was it Gomer Pyle that used to say, “Surprise, Surprise!”  The pastor had an interesting statement a few weeks ago, “We should not be surprised by evil.”  This is an alert that is specifically germane to Americans.  We tend to be a Pollyanna culture.  We tend to think that the good guys win and life is full of happy endings.  We do not understand the hatred and animosity that is the standard for the rest of the world.

Notice:  Evil exists.  In fact it is very common in our world.  It is what motivates the terrorists and murderers of the world.  It is what motivates many in politics, business and even in churches.  If you live on Sunshine Acres then you need to know that you are a target.  If you are a believer then all you need to do is read Proverbs.  I found many verses dealing with this.  Let me share just two.

(Proverbs 1:16 KJV)  For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

(Proverbs 21:10 KJV)  The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.

If you are not a believer then just open your eyes and look around you.  Human nature is not a desire to do good being frustrated by society.  It is rampant with narcissism and aggression. 

Don’t be surprised.

homo unius libri