A satisfied Wordpress user...

When Blogger was struggling a few weeks ago, Wordpress was recommended as an alternative for the serious blogger.

It made an impression.

Notes From The Exile: "I hate to castigate Blogger, especially since I am using their platform to write this entry, but the features of Wordpress and benefits of not sharing the server are wonderful. If you have any PHP/MySQL experience I recommend giving it a try. I might even purchase some basic hosting from Brinkster and get an official URL, because you can host more that one blog on the same server as well."

Finding Wisdom in 2006

This is what passes for moral education in today's teen world.

Instapundit.com -: "Just this morning, the Insta-Daughter mentioned an angle (learned from The Sims) that the essay omits: 'When you marry a maid, you get someone with excellent cooking and cleaning skills.' These are highly valued in the Sims world, where their absence is made extremely apparent. She also reported that one of her married Sims is having an affair, and that it's working out badly for all concerned."

Heh, not bad. I assume Sims get VD too, unlike the show Friends.

Talk about Art imitating life. If you can call a video game art.

Bad Poll Data

Power Line treats us to more evidence of why Blogs beat MSM like a bongo drum.

Job Security for New Media

Instapundit.com has a round up of all the lies fit to print in the New York Times.

And people wonder why I read blogs.

Warning: Cheap Shot

News: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group backed by the U.S. food and restaurant industries on Monday launched an advertising campaign aimed at dismissing as hype concerns about the large number of obese Americans.

The full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers were inspired by new government data questioning government assertions that obesity causes nearly as many deaths as smoking, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom, which paid for the ads.

The group, based in Washington, does not disclose names of its donors, though spokesman Mike Burita said casual dining restaurant chains 'are predominant sources of funding for us.'

A spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc., the nation's largest casual dining company and owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, could not say whether Darden was among contributors to the group.

Applebee's International Inc., another major casual dining chain, also could not say whether it contributes to the group, a spokeswoman said.

The group spent about $600,000 on the ads, which appeared on Monday in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Ads are also to run in Newsweek magazine and on billboards in the Washington-area metro system. "

I'll bet Michael Moore won't be doing any hard hitting documentaries on the group behind this effort.


I told you it was a cheap shot. Forgive me.

Coming to a College Campus near you...

USA WEEKEND Magazine: "MISCONCEPTION: Kids are becoming more violent and risk-prone. FACT: Over the past 10 years, serious violent crime by teenagers has fallen by 70%. Teen pregnancy is down by 33% (to the lowest level ever measured). High school sexual activity is down by 14%. Rates of teenage alcohol and tobacco consumption have fallen to all-time lows.

MISCONCEPTION: Kids are messed up emotionally. FACT: Teen suicide rates have been declining for the past 10 years. Nine of 10 teens describe themselves as 'usually happy.'

MISCONCEPTION: Kids are beyond the control of their parents. FACT: More than 90% of teens now say they 'get along' with their parents, and nearly 80% say they get along 'very well' or 'extremely well.' One survey found 82% of teens reporting 'no problems' with any family member vs. just 48% who said that back in 1974, when parents and teens were far more likely to argue over basic values.

MISCONCEPTION: Kids are having trouble in school. FACT: Eight in 10 teens now say it's 'cool to be smart,' and the average SAT score is the highest it's been in 30 years.

Adults who work directly with today's teens know about these new trends, especially the growing attachment to parents and teamwork. College admissions counselors now talk about the prevalence of 'helicopter parents' who 'hover.' So do military recruiters. And the military brass have noticed something else: 'We're seeing a huge cultural shift away from the word 'I' to the word 'we' in this new generation of young people coming in,' U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, head of U.S. forces in Europe, observed in a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy."

There's no I in team.

The Pope We Never Knew - Campus Crusade and John Paul II

I've posted a fair bit regarding the newly chosen Pope, but here's some little known history about the last Pope that helps explain why he is so popular with Evangelicals.

The Pope We Never Knew - Christianity Today Magazine has this untold and fascinating account of the long developing partnership between a Roman Catholic renewal movement in Poland and Campus Crusade for Christ. This was typical of the connections between the late Pope John Paul II and Protestant Evangelicals.

Whatever you and I might make of the theology or long term effects of this alliance, it is at the very least historic and profound.

Digging in China - Christian History: Who knew?

My Pastor is in China this week and he emailed a personal account of this interesting discovery:

Digging in China - Christian History: "In about 1625 some Chinese digging the foundations of a house near Xian, China's ancient capital, chanced upon a black marble monument. The Chinese characters inscribed at the top said, 'The Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-ch'in Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom.' Syriac characters on the stone described the arrival of a missionary, Olopen (or Alopen), in 635. The text also named Chinese emperors who had supported this religion and listed the religion's leaders, including one bishop, 28 presbyters, and 38 others, likely monks."

Turns out that Christian Missionaries in China date back much further than Hudson Taylor.

See this link for more.

What the fat?

TCS: Tech Central Station - Whoppers and the End of an Epidemic: "Apart from this huge downward revision in the numbers of people supposedly dying from fat, there are several things in this study which signal the end of any legitimate linkage between obesity and premature death. First, for the merely overweight with BMI's from 25-30 there is no excess mortality. In fact, being overweight was 'associated with a slight reduction in mortality relative to the normal weight category.' Being overweight not only does not lead to premature death, something that dozens of other studies from around the world have been saying for the last 30 years, but it also carries less risk from premature death than being 'normal' weight. In other words the overweight=early death 'fact' proclaimed by the public health community is simply not true.

Second, for individuals aged 25-59 the risks of premature death from being underweight are substantially greater than those of being overweight and they are also slightly greater than those of being obese. For those aged 60-69 the risk of dying from being underweight is much higher than from being even significantly obese, that is with a BMI > 35. Again, the total number of premature deaths due to obesity is 25, 814, while the mortality attributable to being underweight is 37, 746. If anything this points to an epidemic of not fat but thin caused death."

Now would be a good time to buy Krispy Kreme stock.

Soon scientists will have the credibility of politicians if they keep making false claims like this. Maybe it's politics that's driving the science anyway (see here)

Evil in God's name

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iraq militants show 'crash video': "The cameraman focuses on two bodies. One appears to be dead and is badly charred.

The second person, wearing a blue flight suit, is alive but badly hurt.

The cameraman orders him to stand up, but the survivor says he has a broken leg and asks for help.

The militants appear to help him up, and tell him to run away.

Then they shoot him at point blank range and he collapses.

They continue to shoot the body, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great)."

This summer I led a learning activity which portrayed this kind of evil in God's name. I thought then that the students who participated probably doubted whether things like this happen in the real world because they don't happen in the U.S.

They do happen.

Some relief for Anxiety

From Psalm 25:

In you I trust, O my God

Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me

No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.

Who is Ratzinger? from Michael Novak

Michael Novak on Cardinal Ratzinger on National Review Online: "In his most formative years, Ratzinger heard Nazi propaganda shouting that there is no truth, no justice, there is only the will of the people (enunciated by its leader). As its necessary precondition, Nazism depended on the debunking of objective truth and objective morality. Truth had to be derided as irrelevant, and naked will had to be exalted.

To anybody who said: “But that’s false!” the Nazi shouted, “That’s just your opinion, and who are you, compared to Der Fuehrer?”

To anybody who said, “But what you are doing is unjust!” the Nazi shouted louder, “Says you, swine.”

Relativism means this: Power trumps."

Read the whole thing.

Who is Ratzinger?

This is an interesting, and intimate anecdote from a former professor of mine at Seminary.

Who is Ratzinger? Here is my personal testimony, for what it is worth. This very powerful ecclesiastical figure, even then the No. 2 in the Vatican hierarchy, warmly received us, an unimpressive group of French orthodox Protestant/Reformed theologians, for two hours. In the first hour, in fluent French, he gave a magnificent overview of the state of theology and of the dangers of German liberal theology in particular. His critique of Bultmann was superb. We Protestants then took an hour to present the case for orthodox Protestant theology. Cardinal Ratzinger listened with rapt attention. Our time together was not a casual, nor perfunctory “audience,” but a genuine theological exchange. I was impressed by his intellect, by his linguistic ability (fluency in at least five languages), by his theological wisdom and by his openness to biblical theology. As we left, we gave him a bound copy of Calvin’s Institutes, and he graciously accepted my article on the apostle Paul as the last apostle (see photo). Clearly my article did not change his mind about the papacy, but I have it on good authority that he has been reading the copy of Calvin’s Institutes.

So that was that, I thought. However, the next day while sight-seeing in Rome I happened to meet his secretary, a French priest. “How did the Cardinal enjoy our visit?” I asked. Without hesitation he replied: “The Cardinal said he wished there was a seminary like that in the Catholic Church.”

I have rarely thought about that moment, until today. As the presiding Cardinal announced in Latin: “Habemus papam….Josephus…,” I knew it was Ratzinger and I stared at the photo I have had on my study wall for many years, drawn strangely in to an event of global proportions.

I began to put things together.

When Ratzinger said in his homily at a pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's, denouncing the essence of paganism: "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires";
When, in his first address from the Vatican balcony he spoke of the “joy in the risen Lord, trusting in his permanent help”;
When, in his first papal homily in the Sistine Chapel, addressing all Christian churches, he said: I take this opportunity to send all of them my most cordial greetings in Christ, the only Lord of all”;
I did think: “That’s the same Ratzinger I met for those two hours seventeen years ago.”

How do Protestants respond, seeing that Rome often masks the pure Gospel of grace and sometimes places Christ behind Mary and even the Pope? The massive glistening white marble statue of Mary on a hill dominates the city of Santiago, Chile, with the head of the Serpent under her feet, while a small figure of Christ on a little cross below, to the left, is hardly visible.

How do we respond? This morning, Robert Godfrey, historian and President of Westminster Seminary in California (where I am adjunct professor and scholar in residence), ended our daily chapel by announcing the name of the new pope. He then did something few Protestants do. He prayed that the Spirit might lead Benedict XVI into a deeper and fuller understanding of Scripture and the Gospel.

Knowing what I learned about this man in that short but meaningful encounter, surely this prayer is not in vain.

Peter Jones
Christian Witness to a Pagan Planet

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Judicial Independence

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Judicial Independence: "The idea that Supreme Court justices or any other judges should be immune from political criticism - or even political retribution - is absurd given the extent to which those same judges have intruded themselves into the political domain by Constitutionalizing the culture wars. So if Sunstein wants to fetishize judicial independence from politics, let him lead the charge to get judges out of politics. Personally, I won't be holding my breath, however."

Well said. I have realized recently that I tend to think of judges as monarchs: those with trancendant authority, removed from democratic politics, and above criticism.

Well I think that's wrong. Monarchy is what Americans left when they left Europe. It's interesting to compare the way judges are portrayed in popular culture as opposed to CEO's or other executives. Judges are portrayed like royalty: with some foibles but above the rest of us, particulary in matters of wisdom. CEO's are routinely portrayed as corrupt and selfish.

Given human nature, surely the truth is in between. But what causes this melodramatic streak in pop culture. Perhaps we all need to have a priesthood over us. Secular people look to judges to represent them regarding the deep things of life. Religious people look to Pope, Pastor, Guru or Shaman for the same.

I've long seen secularism as equivalent to a religion. If other "religious" leaders can be criticized for being too political, does this mean only secular priests can speak to political issues? Perhaps this is already true in the minds of many.

TallSkinnyKiwi: CCC Theoblogian Makes Wired

TallSkinnyKiwi: CCC Theoblogian Makes Wired: "Try this at home: Type 'blogger stinks' into Google search engine and see McRyanMac's 15 minutes of fame."

Thanks for the link and the pub Andrew. I love the Theoblogian term as well. I've enjoyed getting to know your blog as well.

Yeah it noticed last week that I was getting a lot more traffic than normal on my blog. It wasn't an avalanche. More like the ice water that get's dumped on a coach after winning a game.

I noticed that most of the referral pages were from Wired News and lo and behold, there, my blog was quoted.

I'm such an amateur that I could just as easily have missed the whole thing.

Campus Crusade is slowly growing in it's web presence with sites like www.everystudent.com and others.

Blogging is still an unfamiliar term to most CCC staff however. I think this might be primarily due to the fact that most staff interact with students directly or with email. And most student blogs are simple diaries that end up orphaned over the long haul.

Still I think blogging is here to stay and will be an increasingly important part of campus life. Check out the Carnival of Education blog if you don't believe me.

EPIC 2014 Is this what we wanted?

EPIC 2014 is a rather dark look at a possible future that combines Google, Amazon, Blogger and just about everything else on the web.

It's interesting the parallels between this dire prediction and the predictions of chaos that preceeded the Protestant Reformation. There was much chaos in Europe, but it was a good thing in the end I believe.

Time will tell.

It is also interesting to think of the parallels between "Epic" and the Tower of Babel from the Hebrew Bible. That didn't end quite as well.

Will you be "on the grid" or will you hide cash under your matress?

Time will tell.

Ratzinger in Christianity Today magazine

Books: Inside the Vatican - ChristianityTodayLibrary.com on Cardinal Ratzinger: "He is not, of course, a 'minimalist' theologian who is inclined to tailor Catholic teaching to fit Protestant tastes. But he has intimate understanding and appreciation of the religious and theological genius of figures such as Luther. He believes that what is true in the Protestant critique can and should be embraced by what he calls 'the structure of faith.' At the same time, he does not seem to expect too much in the healing of the breach between Rome and the Reformation. Speaking of the prospects for Christian unity, he says at one point that perhaps the most we should hope for is that there will be no new schisms."

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "Ratzinger yesterday addressed fellow cardinals before they began their pope-picking conclave. As Dionne reports:

'We are moving,' he declared, toward 'a dictatorship of relativism . . . that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure.'

The modern world, Ratzinger insisted, has jumped 'from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, up to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and on and on.'"

I think this analysis is on the mark.

Comments on the Northeast

From the comments posted to KnoxNews: No Silence Here: "It amazes me sometimes that people don't ask the obvious questions sometimes. Obviously, a lot of people prefer to live in the North for climate reasons, family, or maybe they were just raised there. However, how come a family of four earning $50,000 is solidly middle class in the South, yet considered unbelievably poor in NYC? I can't tell you how many friends have remarked that to live in NYC on under $30,000 as a single person, you are just scraping by and can't have any fun at all. If I could have made $30,000 starting out in the South (where I grew up), I would have had more fun than I can imagine.
This doesn't have to be a political blue state/red state issue - although there are obviously some important geographical implications here for the parties. But when are people going to realize the skewed nature of the costs of living in these states?
Sooner or later, real estate prices in the Northeast have to start going down. People just aren't going to be willing or able to pay $450,000 for a closet.

And the same goes for California, incidentally. I have a friend with a house less than 1/2 the size of mine in California. And his is no where NEAR downtown, and is still going for over half a million. Mine is twice as big, lot 3 times as big, much nicer, 40 years newer - and is around $200,000. And my commute is less than his.

Location, location, location."

Students seek Spirituality

USATODAY.com - Youthful seekers try to find: "Two studies released this week document the extent to which teens and young adults are teeming with spiritual curiosity, tolerance for religious differences and willingness to tap multiple sources for wisdom and guidance.

One study, released Wednesday, is the most comprehensive ever done on the subject. Researchers from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA base their conclusions on survey responses from 112,232 freshmen at 236 diverse colleges and universities.

A complex picture emerges. On the one hand, students show a hearty interest in spiritual matters: 79% say they believe in God, 69% say they pray, and 76% say they are searching for purpose or meaning.

On the other hand, respondents confided some uncertainty and discomfort. Fewer than half reported feeling 'secure' in their current views on spiritual and religious matters. And students strongly committed to doing acts of charity and living by an ethic of caring showed higher levels of psychological distress than their less socially concerned peers."

"They are searching for answers to big questions: What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose in life? What will happen to me? Will I leave my mark in this world?" says Helen Astin, co-principal investigator of the study with her husband, Alexander Astin. "No one, including ourselves, ever thought of that as being an important aspect of student life. I hope we'll get to know the students better and look at them in a more holistic way."

Very Interesting.

Diversity in Churches

I and many others have been very critical of the lack of diversity on college campuses. Well here's an excerpt from an interesting Christianity Today Magazine article: "If the statistics in the book bear out, it means that less than 6 percent of American churches are multiethnic, given what I think are the authors' fairly generous guidelines of 80 percent of one ethnic group and 20 percent of another. Those are pretty wide guidelines, and still less than 6 percent of American churches approach that.

If we were to hear of any other institution in the United States that had those kinds of statistics, we would be outraged. If less than 6 percent of universities or government institutions were integrated, we would say there is something seriously wrong."

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that there is more intellectual diversity in American Churches than in American universities.

Still, the fact that most churches remain generally monoracial is an embarrassment to those who attend them.

Dartmouth and Diversity or lack thereof

Brain-Terminal.com � The Campus Political Establishment: "Exactly how a political film about a news network relates to the mission of the Women's Resource Center has yet to be explained to the parents, students and alumni who ultimately paid for it."

Who said anything about Freedom? Well, Bush

Read this. It explains so much about the difference between left and right in our current political world.

Campus Diversity, or lack thereof

Todd Zywicki: has these facts.

The Becker-Posner Blog

The Becker-Posner Blog: "I believe they can largely be explained in economic terms."

Yeah there's no soul in human beings to worry about with regard to sexual behavior. We're just grown up apes and amoebas.

The Swamp is Draining

And now for some politics. War politics no less.

The Belmont Club: "I believe that historians in retrospect will understand the Iraqi insurgency was not something spontaneously ignited by outbreaks of looting in Baghdad in the aftermath of OIF, but a meeting engagement between two prepared forces. Iraq, as Princeton's Michael Doran observed, was intended to be the graveyard of America's counteroffensive against terror. Instead the enemy dug the grave for themselves. What we are seeing now is not simply the rout of a few armed men, but terror's greatest defeat in modern times."

How's that for a meme. In the months and months and months and months that crawled by while George Bush "rushed" to war, trying to gain the support of a corrupt UN and morally bankrupt Europe, terrorists gathered en masse in Iraq because they understood it as the front line of the war between Islamist terror and Western Civilization. Isn't it interesting that terrorists have a more accurate handle on geopolitical realities than some American Presidential candidates. I guess that's why they remained candidates.

I remember when the Bush administration started talking about the need to "drain the swamp" of terrorism by attacking states that harbored and promoted terrorists. Afghanistan was first, Iraq was second. This seemed to me to make a lot of sense from the very beginning.

I don't know if the Bush administration had any idea how successful they might be in this policy. It seems now that all the bugs gathered in the swamp of Iraq and our brave fighting men and women have pulled the plug and the scum has drained considerably, not just in Iraq but in the whole region.

The free peoples of this earth are safer as a result.

If you want to see someone get it wrong, read this:

"Progress and peace in the Middle East? We should only live so long."

Well, we did.

Bloggers Pitch Fits Over Glitches

It turns out I'm not alone in my frustration with Blogger.com.

I'm trying to post something directly on blogger instead of using the awesome "Blogthis" feature in Firefox, and it's not working!

I'm tempted to take the suggestion of Franki.

Using Gmail as a Spam Filter - And a back up

iBLOGthere4iM links to this smart way to use gmail as a spam filter.

I use gmail as a quick and dirty offsite backup. I have a critical database that I weekly save in a gmail draft email. It is saved online so if my house burns down I can still retrieve my dbase.

Bush: "No doubt" about Christ

Yahoo! News - Bush, Clinton Disagree on Pope's Legacy: "'I knew the ceremony today would be majestic but I didn't realize how moved I would be by the service itself,' the president said. 'Today's ceremony, I bet you, was a reaffirmation for millions.'

That was true for him, Bush said.

'No doubt in my mind the Lord Christ was sent by the Almighty,' Bush said. 'No doubt.'"

I'm sure the elites will love this. It's like George Washington or Lincoln was talking or something.

Christian News - CCC Students to Deliver 5,040 ‘Holiday Care Boxes’ During Christmas Conferences

Christian News - The Christian Post | CCC Students to Deliver 5,040 ‘Holiday Care Boxes’ During Christmas Conferences: "
“Students are putting their faith into action by helping meet the physical needs of the less fortunate by delivering the HolidayCare Boxes,” said Ryan McReynolds, director of the Denver Christmas Conference. "

Check this out. Who knew! I was ego surfing Google and lo and behold!

If you can read this post... your an influencer!

Random Culture: Dueling Blog Surveys?: "Blogads has just released its second annual blog reader survey, and the overriding sentiment that many are taking out of it is the following: Blog readers are influencers."

This is why anyone who "works" in "influence" (e.g., Ministry, Politics, Education, Marketing, Parenting, ;-) should take Blogs very seriously.

Weblog: 'Antichrist' No More: Evangelicals Praise Pope - Christianity Today Magazine

This summary is an interesting look at Evangelical reaction to the Pope and his passing.

Less Men, More Women on Campus

Instapundit.com -: "Note that, even though in this case the photographer is female, women still dominate the scenes. Why? Because that's who goes to college, these days. . . .

No, really."

This is not just because men are in crisis in society. There's also fewer men out of doors because they are inside playing Halo and looking at porn. I know from experience that young men are increasingly uncomfortable dealing with real people and prefer digital "people" who are far more "user friendly". This is not healthy.

USNews.com: John Leo: End of the Schiavo affair (4/11/05)

John Leo has his usual sober and even handed commentary on the whole Schiavo issue.

Li'l help!

Help a good friend of mine out and take this survey. It's for his degree program.

I want my young TV

Al Gore and Joel Hyatt Unveil Current ...: "The first national network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience, Current will offer 24 hours of programming in a unique, short-form content format when it premieres August 1. Current will invite audiences to move beyond their roles as viewers to become active collaborators, encouraging them to help shape the network's content and fulfill its mission -- to serve as a TV platform where the voices of young adults can be heard."

This should be interesting.

Power Line: Thanks for helping me know I'm not insane!!

For two weeks I've been thinking I must be crazy.

Poll after poll supposedly proves that most Americans agreed with removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

I kept thinking that couldn't be right. People must misunderstand the issues or the questions are not clear enough.

Well I'm not crazy.

This, finally, is a Zogby poll via Power Line: "'If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water,' the poll asked.

A whopping 79 percent said the patient should not have food and water taken away while just 9 percent said yes."

I didn't think I was crazy. When my common sense disagrees with "polls", I stick with common sense. Apparently it really is "common" sense.

John Piper on the ESV

From Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog:

"Not only am I not on board. I would be happy to see the NIV sail into the sunset if it could be replaced by the ESV as the standard preaching, reading, memorizing Bible of the English-speaking church."

-John Piper

Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog: Is an ESV wave sweeping the blogosphere

Uber God Blogger Adrian Warnock has this post cataloging positive reviews of the ESV Bible translation by a host of bloggers.

TNIV or ESV? I need to buy some new bibles!

Dennis Prager: Judeo-Christian values: part III

Dennis Prager: Judeo-Christian values: part III: "There are four primary problems with reason divorced from God as a guide to morality.

The first is that reason is amoral. Reason is only a tool and, therefore, can just as easily argue for evil as for good. If you want to achieve good, reason is immensely helpful; if you want to do evil, reason is immensely helpful. But reason alone cannot determine which you choose. It is sometimes rational to do what is wrong and sometimes rational to do what is right."

To comment on Dennis' article: A friend recently told me about how pigs act. Pigs are smart but they are ruthlessly selfish. They are smarter than horses or dogs but are, well, pigs because they use their intelligence strictly for selfish wants.

It is interesting that in the Hebrew Bible, the OT, Pigs are "unclean". It's as if God is saying, "don't be like this, I've made you for something greater." God knows that reason is not enough.

Read the whole thing.

More Job Security: Shadow VS The Crusaders

tashadow: Shadow VS The Crusaders: "Now despite my jesting in this paragraph I must say that I really enjoyed it. It was cool to hear what other people had to say. To be honest, this is more like how I imagined university to be, open debate about all kinds of issues."

It's interesting to me that this student had to talk with Campus Crusade students to find the kind of intellectual "diversity" he thought college would be about.

I'm proud to say that I train students in just such "open debate about all kinds of issues".

Return of the Mac

Return of the Mac: "And open and good is what Macs are again, finally. The intervening years have created a situation that is, as far as I know, without precedent: Apple is popular at the low end and the high end, but not in the middle. My seventy year old mother has a Mac laptop. My friends with PhDs in computer science have Mac laptops. [2] And yet Apple's overall market share is still small."

The most interesting part of this article is that hackers are using Mac's again and that means that we all will be using them in the future.

Hmm. I've always been a Mac guy at heart. It's not McRyanMac for nuthin ya know. Maybe my next laptop will be a Mac.

We report, you decide.

More: How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo

I think this will have political implications that matter to the religious and the disabled:

How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo:

"A true adherence to procedural liberalism--respecting a person's clear wishes when they can be discovered, erring on the side of life when they cannot--would have led to a much better outcome in this case. It would have led the court to preserve Terri Schiavo's life and deny Michael Schiavo's request to let her die. But as we have learned, the descent from procedural liberalism's respect for a person's wishes to ideological liberalism's lack of respect for incapacitated persons is relatively swift. Treating autonomy as an absolute makes a person's dignity turn entirely on his or her capacity to act autonomously. It leads to the view that only those with the ability to express their will possess any dignity at all--everyone else is 'life unworthy of life.'

This is what ideological liberalism now seems to believe--whether in regard to early human embryos, or late-stage dementia patients, or fetuses with Down syndrome. And in the end, the Schiavo case is just one more act in modern liberalism's betrayal of the vulnerable people it once claimed to speak for. Instead of sympathizing with Terri Schiavo--a disabled woman, abandoned by her husband, seen by many as a burden on society--modern liberalism now sympathizes with Michael Schiavo, a healthy man seeking freedom from the burden of his disabled wife and self-fulfillment in the arms of another. And while one would think that divorce was the obvious solution, this was more than Michael Schiavo apparently could bear, since it would require a definitive act of betrayal instead of a supposed demonstration of loyalty to Terri's wishes."

You don't want to be a political party that is seen as killing the weak and infirm.

Just like you don't want to be a political party that is seen as being soft on terrorism.

How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo

How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo:

"Imagine, for example, that the Schindlers had agreed with Michael Schiavo that Terri's time had come, that she would never have wanted to live like this, that the feeding tube keeping her alive needed to come out. Chances are, there would have been no federal case, no national story, no political controversy. Terri Schiavo would have been buried long ago, mourned by the family that decided on her behalf that death was preferable to life in her incapacitated state. Under law, such an outcome would have been unproblematic and uneventful, so long as no one had claimed that Terri Schiavo's previous wishes were being violated. But morally, the deepest problem would remain: What do we owe those who are not dead or dying but profoundly disabled and permanently dependent? And even if such individuals made their desires clearly known while they were still competent, is it always right to follow their instructions--to be the executors of their living wills--even if it means being their willing executioners?

For some, it is an article of faith that individuals should decide for themselves how to be cared for in such cases. And no doubt one response to the Schiavo case will be a renewed call for living wills and advance directives--as if the tragedy here were that Michael Schiavo did not have written proof of Terri's desires. But the real lesson of the Schiavo case is not that we all need living wills; it is that our dignity does not reside in our will alone, and that it is foolish to believe that the competent person I am now can establish, in advance, how I should be cared for if I become incapacitated and incompetent. The real lesson is that we are not mere creatures of the will: We still possess dignity and rights even when our capacity to make free choices is gone; and we do not possess the right to demand that others treat us as less worthy of care than we really are."

This is the fundamental difference: if you are religious, you tend to think of life as a gift and the dignity of that life is not dependent on you ability to exert your individual will, it is dependent on the will of God.

If you are secular, then God's will does not exist. What else is there but the will of the individual to give the individual life meaning. So when the will of the individual is compromised, so is the dignity of the life.

That's why the Schiavo case is related to abortion and euthanasia and the great moral debates of our age, because it is rooted in our worldview of what gives dignity to humanity: God's will or human will?

In abortion, the will of the mother trumps the will of the fetus. In Euthanasia the will of the individual to end their own life trumps the will of God to say that life should be preserved even if it means suffering. In the more sinister possibilities of Euthanasia the will of the surviving "loved ones" or "society" trumps the will of the individual being killed if the individual can no longer express their "dignity" in a way that satisfies those left with the power to decide life or death.

I think this suicide is the modern emblem of secular dignity in death as Earnest Hemingway's suicide was a forerunner. Now Terri Schiavo's death is "peaceful" and "beautiful" because someone decided to kill her, because she decided that she would want to be killed (or so they say).

It is troubling to me that in my own heart I want the right to disregard whatever God's will may be to make my own decisions. This is where all of us start in relation to God. The reality is that my decisions invariably skew selfish, and hurt others. That is why guidance from the Bible about God's will has become so important to me to keep me from selfishly hurting others.

Secular people and skeptics say that the Bible can't be trusted to let us know the will of God and only fools would submit their will to the illusory will of religious God.

Terri Schiavo is dead. From where I sit those who believe the Bible are doing a better job fighting for others lives than the secular. It seems that even the secular are beginning to agree.

Way to Lead

Rusty and Lisa Akers are good friends of ours and started a new church on Easter. They raised $1000 to give to a needy family that lost their home in a fire.

Way to go guys!

Easter Sunday marks Community of Hopes inaugural service

In a related story...

Hoosiers react to monument vandalism: "'It's really an indication of how morally bankrupt people are who were involved in this,' said State Police Officer Dave Bursten."

CCC family mourns fallen son

Roger and Roxanne Hershey have both served with the U.S. Campus Ministry of Campus Crusade for more than 30 years.

Their son Brett was killed by a land mine while serving our country in Afghanistan.

We mourn their loss and rejoice in their son's love of God and others. I am grateful for Brett's service.

Hoosiers mourn fallen sons: "said his brother 'loved people very well, and he loved them because his first love was Jesus. He was funny, witty and passionate about just sucking the marrow out of life."

Campus Values: Anything Goes! (except religous values)

Dennis Prager - Tapes of The Show:

"Thursday, March 17, 2005 Radio Show
Hour 1:
Newly Bi-Sexual
Dennis
talks to Anna Montrose, a Canadian student who wrote an article in her college
newspaper describing her sexual transformation from rigid heterosexual to
bi-sexual."

This is among the most riveting hours of conversation that I have ever heard. I subscribe to Prager's web site and can download these for free. I'd put in on the web but that would be cheating Dennis.

Ms. Montrose is an upperclasswoman at McGill College, among the most prestigious campuses in Canada. This conversation makes painfully obvious the moral and intellectual vacuum that students experience at college. The most stunning moment was when Ms. Montrose admits that incest is not wrong and really no ones business as long as it's between consenting adults. She's was willing to conclude this rather than affirming that society has a right to encourage some kinds of sexuality and discourage others.

If you want to hear firsthand the dominant thinking of the university, this is it. You will likely be shocked and discouraged.

Blogger stinks

I'm getting really tired of all the glitches and hiccups of Blogger. You may have noticed double posts at times on this blog. That's because you never know whether clicking something on Blogger will actually accomplish what is intended. Lately it seems like clicking does nothing but bring up a "document contains no data." Maddening.

Update: Welcome Wired News Readers. Thanks for the link. At least I didn't use the word sucks. That would have been unoriginal apparently.

TNIV Perspectives

I got an email from a friend on staff with CCC yesterday who told me The New International Version of the Bible by Zondervan was being proposed for use by Campus Crusade for Christ. Each fall CCC gives away a free gift to freshman called a Freshman Survival Kit with various things that will help a student with their first year of college life. Included in the kit may be the TNIV.

My friend has heard controversy over this translation (as have I) and I decided to look into it just a bit. Here's what I found quickly (with more to follow):

Point by Mark D Roberts: http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/tniv.htm

On the Debate: Supporters of the TNIV include many of the heavyweights of evangelicalism: Bill Hybels, Lee Strobel, Erwin McManus, Darrell Bock, Philip Yancey, John R. W. Stott, Ted Haggard, Craig Blomberg, Roger Nicole, Timothy George, Dan Kimball, Diane Komp, John Kohlenberger III, Tremper Longman, Jim Cymbala, and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

His street cred: If a mature Christian is looking for a study Bible, I recommend The Reformation Study Bible (formerly New Geneva Study Bible) which as of this date comes only in the NKJV. It will soon be released in the ESV, however, which should improve readability and accuracy. This Study Bible comes with the best notes of any Bible of which I am aware, though Christians who are not Reformed theologically won’t appreciate it as much as I do.

Counterpoint by Vern Poythress in this article: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/living/11258508.htm

I personally swear by the Reformation Study Bible.

Campus Ministry Job Security Update

For any of you in Campus Ministry, fear not for diversity rests on your shoulders.

This study shows again today why Campus Ministry is needed on most campuses:

"By their own description, 72 percent of those teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal and 15 percent are conservative, says the study being published this week."

In general, my experience on campus has taught me that liberal is a synonym for secular in the vast majority of cases.

"Religious services take a back seat for many faculty members, with 51 percent saying they rarely or never attend church or synagogue and 31 percent calling themselves regular churchgoers."

So two thirds of those with grading power over your academic career are by their own admission out of step with those who regularly observe religious services. In my experience religious views are treated with ridicule and dismissal by those in power on college campuses. Yet the monolithic cloud of secularism that dominates campus life gives rise to weakness in the the arguments against religious belief. Apparently the views of those in power on campus are dismissed by many students:

"It's hard to see that these liberal views cut very deeply into the education of students. In fact, a number of studies show the core values that students bring into the university are not very much altered by being in college."

This is true and not true. Many students retain a religious perspective but become ashamed to admit it in public, fearing ridicule and marginalization which they experienced on campus. Some reject their faith outright under such pressure but others subvert it in shame. It is difficult to maintain a vibrant faith that is hidden.

Yet because students are attracted to the subversive, campus ministry remains strong. Christianity is the subversive ideology on today's campuses in the face of the dominant secular overlords. It is an honor to be a representative of real diversity in an otherwise monochrome world of ideas.

Of course I will soon be on campus in the Northeast:

"The researchers say that liberals, men and non-regular churchgoers are more likely to be teaching at top schools, while conservatives, women and more religious faculty are more likely to be relegated to lower-tier colleges and universities."

It will be an honor to bring diversity to some of the top campuses in the country in and around the Boston area.

Finding Neverland

Once upon a time I used this blog to review movies. Well I'm at it again. I've watched many movies over the past week and months and tis time to get busy again.

Finding Neverland is a subtle, sweet and wonderful movie. It recalls the joy and innocence of childhood to quickly lost to adult concerns. It is a picture of a man who grew up too fast and spend his days trying to regain his lost childhood. Johnny Depp is as good as it gets, another fine performance. This film is a bit to complex for children but only because of the depth of character portrayed.

My rating: Suprisingly it's Big Screen. This film is so subtle that the Big Screen is necessary to fully experience it's emotional power.

No Joke!

Yahoo! News - Latest casualties in Iraq: Ethnic jokes: "'Now if you tell a joke about a Sunni or a Kurd, you wonder whether you're hurting their feelings,' said Joudi, 42, who's a Shiite. 'People are just not relaxed about that stuff anymore.'"

You know what they say, "If you aint Muslim, you aint Shiite."

No offense of course.

CCC Blogging

Mad props to Berger for showing me that like so many other things, students in Campus Crusade are on the leading edge of blogging.

Retreat

I'm headed to the mountains with my wife for a time of west and wewaxation (as Elmer Fudd would say). I'll post as possible.

OpenOffice.org: Goodbye Microsoft!

Have you seen this. WOW!

OpenOffice.org: Home Page

A friend of mine just gave me this new teaching.

Science's new heresy trial

Science's new heresy trial: "Mr. Meyer submitted his paper to the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, a scientific journal affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History. The editor, Rick Sternberg, a researcher at the museum with two Ph.D.s in biology, forwarded the article to a panel of three peer reviewers. In scientific and other academic scholarship, submitting research to the judgment of other experts in the field ensures that published articles have genuine merit. Each of the reviewers recommended that, with revisions, the article should be published. Mr. Meyer made the revisions and the article was published last August.

Whereupon major academic publications—Science, Nature, Chronicles of Higher Education—expressed outrage. The anger was focused not on the substance of the article, but on the mere fact that a peer-reviewed scientific journal would print such an article.

So the wrath of the Darwinists fell on Mr. Sternberg, the editor. Although he had stepped down from the editorship, his supervisors at the Smithsonian took away his office, made him turn in his keys, and cut him off from access to the collections he needs for his research. He is also being subjected to the sectarian religious discipline of 'shunning.' His colleagues are refusing to talk to him or even greet him in the hallways.

His supervisors also staged an inquisition about Mr. Sternberg's religious and even political beliefs. Mr. Sternberg, who describes himself as a Catholic with lots of questions, has filed a case alleging discrimination not just on the grounds of religion but 'perceived' religion."

Schiavo: Who's life is it anyway.

As with many of us I expect, I have begun to follow the case of Terri Schiavo more closely over the past week. I still do not consider myself an expert on the facts of the case but I was called as an expert witness the other day.

While driving my oldest daughter around town she asked me to explain what all the fuss was over starving someone.

As I began to explain I could feel nausea in my gut. I explained that Terry Schiavo is in a coma (which I learned later is not true) and her husband wants to relieve her suffering by removing a tube that feeds her. I tried to be as even handed as possible in my explanation but when it came right down to it I was explaining to my daughter that a judge is going to order the starvation of a helpless victim.

My daughter, even at the tender age of 11, was incredulous. She immediately asked an interesting question, "Why is it her husband's decision? He's not even related to her."

I'm not one to extol the virtue of blood over love in the realm of family bonds (a la Dennis Prager) but in this case I thought my daughter had raised a pretty fair question. Why is the life of Terry Schiavo in the hands of someone who has no life long blood relation to her?

It seems from this article that Terri Schiavo's brother is more concerned with her life than here husband.

...and a little child shall lead them.

ScrappleFace: Judge Rules Separate Restrooms Unconstitutional

ScrappleFace: Judge Rules Separate Restrooms Unconstitutional

Priceless.

Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part II

Here's the next installment in a great series.

Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values: Part II: "Years ago, I debated this issue at Oxford with Jonathan Glover, currently the professor of ethics at King's College, University of London, and one of the leading atheist moralists of our time.
Because he is a man of rare intellectual honesty, he acknowledged that without God, morality is subjective. He is one of the few secularists who do."

Campus Paper: I think I was born this way?

Dennis Prager talked about this article the other day.

The McGill Daily: Brain Candy: Meow meow meow mix: "It’s hard to go through four years of a humanities BA reading Foucault and Butler and watching The L-Word and keep your rigid heterosexuality intact. I don’t know when it happened exactly, but it seems I no longer have the easy certainty of pinning my sexual desire to one gender and never the other. "

Apparently some people choose to be gay.

Updated: You gotta be kidding me!

I could have mailed this faster:

I'm in the airport in Phx @ 2pm on Sat. March 12. I don't know how much internet access I'll have for the next few days. More soon..
From my phone,

Ryan

Why Oil in ANWR us probably a good idea...

When liberal columnists in the New York Times are writing like this, you know environmentalism has a bad name: The New York Times (free sign up required):

"In the 1970's, the environmental movement was convinced that the Alaska oil pipeline would devastate the Central Arctic caribou herd. Since then, it has quintupled.

When I first began to worry about climate change, global cooling and nuclear winter seemed the main risks. As Newsweek said in 1975: 'Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend ... but they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.'

This record should teach environmentalists some humility. The problems are real, but so is the uncertainty. Environmentalists were right about DDT's threat to bald eagles, for example, but blocking all spraying in the third world has led to hundreds of thousands of malaria deaths.

Likewise, environmentalists were right to warn about population pressures, but they overestimated wildly. Paul Ehrlich warned in 'The Population Bomb' that 'the battle to feed humanity is over. ... Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death.' On my bookshelf is an even earlier book, 'Too Many Asians,' with a photo of a mass of Indians on the cover. The book warns that the threat from relentlessly multiplying Asians is 'even more grave than that of nuclear warfare.'"

Actually the UN has been convening to figure out how to solve the problem of underpopulation.

Back in 1991 I heard some guy on the radio doing a bit he called an "Environmentalist Wacko Update". I was stunned because I had never heard anyone desecrate the holy name of environmentalism. He went on about how most of what Environmentalism claims is exaggerated or outright, politically motivated lies.

He later published a book called See I told you so.

I wonder why?

Cronkite: Stay Classy America!

In a Providential irony, I watched the Netflix DVD of Anchorman on the way back from Phoenix yesterday. Ron Burgundy is an newsman who is almost completely ignorant about the world around him. This is only a movie though, right?

Just the day before, however, I read this article about the rambling incoherence of America's foremost anchorman, Walter Cronkite. His comments are too long winded and muddled to reproduce here at length but this summary will give you an idea:
OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "So, to sum up: 'Those Arabs,' who are at once 'dying of AIDS' and 'starving to death,' and who by the way get their electricity from 'a foot pump,' are 'mad at us' over the Kyoto accords and bejeweled TV 'doxies.' Ergo, we need 'true world government.' Such wisdom is the product of 65 years in the news business."

This is not a joke. Read it for yourself.

Life imitating art. Stay classy America!

Will Vietnam be the next Iraq?

OpinionJournal - Claudia Rosett: "Will Vietnam be the next Iraq?"

Maybe war, sometimes, is the answer.

The Globe and Mail: Family movies outselling R-rated fare

The Globe and Mail: Family movies outselling R-rated fare: "LAS VEGAS -- Family crowds spoke louder than fans of racy stories or shoot-'em-up action flicks last year at U.S. movie theatres, with PG-rated films hauling in more money than those rated R in the United States (equivalent to 18A in most Canadian jurisdictions) for the first time in 20 years."

And this is in a year that included the most successful R rated film of all time: The Passion of the Christ

Dennis Prager has said for years that the reason Hollywood doesn't make more family films is not economic; clearly the money is there. It's that hollywood generally is not populated by families. R rated fare better reflects the demographic of hollywood.

Academic Freedom; enemies and defenders

FrontPage magazine.com :: Correction: Some Of Our Facts Were Wrong; Our Point Was Right by David Horowitz:

"The problem being that many professors seem to regard their classrooms as political soapboxes and require one “correct” answer to questions that are controversial.

Since the intent of many of the critics of our story is to put this view of what is going in our universities in question, allow me to point out that the president of Harvard has just been publicly humiliated by his faculty for expressing a politically incorrect opinion on a controversial subject. If the president of Harvard – a former member of the Clinton cabinet and a distinguished scholar in his own right -- can be humiliated by out-of-control ideologues on his faculty, imagine what these same faculty members will do to students over whom they have authority and grading power. That – and not a particular exam at the University of Northern Colorado – is the basis for our academic freedom campaign."

Think of this when you are saving money for a college education that will make you a "free" thinker. It's not free in any sense of the word.

God Bloggers

Hugh Hewitt has a few examples of the emerging media reformation among God bloggers.

Slow Phone Posts

Well I tried to post to the blog from my phone on Saturday afternoon. Apparently it takes days for the post to process and well, post.

I'm in AZ and found a sweet little coffee shop with free wi fi. Little time to post though, till Wednesday probably.

Blogging Clicks With Colleges (washingtonpost.com)

Memo to Campus Ministry people: Figure out what Blogging is.

Blogging Clicks With Colleges (washingtonpost.com) (required Registration):

"Blogs already have seeped into everyday life on campus. At Johns Hopkins, two juniors just set up a service for students and faculty to start their own blogs. Georgetown University tinkered with software to make it easy for professors to create blogs. There are course blogs on religion, war, literature, even cattle, at Texas A&M University.

'It's more power to the student,' said junior John Dorman, whose Georgetown government class blog bubbled with a debate over morality and politics recently, with students posting comments from 7:30 p.m. until nearly 7:30 the next morning.

Students in sophomore Craig Kessler's English class got hooked, and he said they became closer and more engaged than in any class he has taken. When the semester ended this winter, students asked the professor, David Lipscomb: Could they keep writing the blog?"

Home State of Rainy Seattle Declares Drought

Yahoo! News - Home State of Rainy Seattle Declares Drought

If these aren't the end times, they are end times kind of times.

(sarcastic pause)

Blogads: reader survey for blog advertising.

Interesting data on Blogs
Blogads: reader survey for blog advertising.: "Last year, we got 17,159 responses. This year, 30,079 blog readers responded.

Last year, 61% of responding blog readers were over 30 years old. This year, 75% are over 30 years old.

Last year, 40% had family incomes greater than $90,000. This year, 43% exceed that figure."

A Large Regular for the Sox Fans in the House

A Large Regular: " some of the issues facing the Boston Globe today. And that's just the sports section."

Fighting for a Generation

For all who work with Gen X and Y, some interesting observations.

The New Yorker: Fact: "There may be a generational explanation. While most high-ranking officers are baby boomers, most lieutenants and captains are of Generation X, born in the mid-sixties or after. Gen X officers, often the product of single-parent homes or homes in which both parents worked, are markedly more self-reliant and confident of their abilities than their baby-boomer superiors, according to Army surveys of both groups. Baby boomers moved up the ranks during the comfortable clarity of the Cold War, but the Gen Xers came of age during messy peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, and Haiti. Gen Xers are notoriously unimpressed by rank, as Donald Rumsfeld discovered in December, when enlisted soldiers questioned him sharply about the lack of armor on their vehicles. This turns out to be a positive development for the Army, because the exigencies of the Iraq war are forcing the decision-making downward"

untitled

I blogged this from my phone. This will be interesting.

Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 911

Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 911, by Dave Kopel, Independence Institute

If you have not read this article, then you have not "seen" the film. Minute by minute, scene by scene, Kopel, a Nader voter, takes apart the unethical propaganda of Moore.

What I learned from this is a great respect for the integrity of George W. Bush. If you spend two hours of film cramming in one deceit for every two minutes of the film, doesn't that mean that you don't have anything really damning to spend your time on?

There's no there, there.

You may not agree with Bush's policies, but if Michael Moore can't make a better argument than this, then Bush has to be a pretty sound guy as politicians go.

I am going to buy this film soon. I've read that it's a primer on the ethics of documentary film making. So much so that it could be a "text" for any media studies class.

How can I honor God with my work, and leisure?

This article changed my life.

It is in many ways the reason that I decided to go into ministry.

It is a jarring exploration of the significance of how we spend our waking hours.

It is a classic by Walt Henrichsen that I can't find anywhere else.

I read it in college and I've never been the same.

I've kept it for 15 years and now, through the miracle of blogging, make it available here.

I strongly urge you to read this and/or give it to students in High School or College who are approaching graduation.

Many thanks to Rebecca and her Mom for digitizing it for me.

Elizabeth Hoffman Resigns from CU

I just heard it on KNUS.

Update: More here and here.

Her resignation would be effective June 30, or as soon as the regents name a successor, she said.

The regents planned a press conference for later this morning.

Ward Churchill Yes! Phil Mitchell No! Diversity (or it's lack) at CU

Denver Post writer David Harsanyi provides an invaluable service this morning by contrasting the fate of Ward Churchill and another, lesser known CU Professor, Phil Mitchell:

"Mitchell never refers to "actions" or "trigger fingers" and seldom calls anyone a Nazi.

Boring stuff.

As an alternative, Mitchell likes to employ facts in his history courses.

He teaches. He doesn't preach.

His reward? After more than 20 years, Mitchell may be out at CU."

Mitchell belongs to that hated sect, responsible for so many atrocities in the Middle East and around the world: Conservative Christianity?

Of course, as Harsanyi notes, this kind of "radical" agenda is not welcome at CU:

"...Mitchell had the audacity to use a book on liberal Protestantism in the late 19th century. So repulsed by the word "god" was one student, she complained, and the department chair fired him without a meeting, he said.

Was there a protest for academic freedom? Bullhorns? Power to the people?

Conceivably, if Mitchell would have used a less-offensive book - say the Churchill classic "Perversions of Justice" (Ward's hobby?) - he could have rallied the Kool-Aid brigade lickety split.

In time, Mitchell was reinstated but was never able to teach in the history department again."

Of course one thing we all know about conservatives of any stripe, they are racists right?

Mitchell taught at the Hallett Diversity Program for 24 straight semesters. That is, until he made the colossal error of actually presenting a (gasp!) diverse opinion, quoting respected conservative black intellectual Thomas Sowell in a discussion about affirmative action.

Sitting 5 feet from a pink triangle that read "Hate-Free Zone," the progressive head of the department berated Mitchell, calling him a racist.

"That would have come as a surprise to my black children," explains Mitchell, who has nine kids, as of last count, two of them adopted African-Americans.

There seems to be discrimination here, just not by the conservative.

And so the sad saga of CU slouches from silly to sinister. I wonder if it's a coincidence that this article didn't come from a Boulder paper.

BAPTISTS EXCLUDE MCLAREN

SmartChristian Blog brings us word that Brian McLaren of "emergent" fame has not endeared himself to baptists by saying you don't have to follow Jesus, to follow Jesus:

He wrote that that not all people may need to be Christians to be followers of Jesus. Some people, he suggested, may be able to be "Buddhist … (or) Jewish or Hindu followers of Jesus."

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Jesus was so narrow minded.

Dateline and Michael Horton drop the hammer on Benny Hinn

Since I'm an alum of WTSC, I heard that Michael Horton was going to be on Dateline (what a lame web page for their coverage) tonight for their story on televangelist Benny Hinn.

I Tivo'd it and just finished watching with my wife.

We were sickened.

Being in ministry ourselves, our revulsion is particularly violent upon seeing the shameless manipulation for personal gain that characterized Benny Hinn's "ministry".

Most painful were the shots of the lame and ill who wait in the back to experience healing at a Hinn event, and go away with nothing but crushed hopes and less money.

This juxtaposed with Hinn "laying over" at the most expensive hotel suites from Cancun to Europe.

I consoled myself with this though.

Hinn's ministry is not part of the ECFA which includes reputable Christian organizations like the one I work for.

Mike Horton looked good. Fatherhood seems to agree with him. He's apparently had 4 since I left the seminary in 2000. He obviously takes seriously the part about God's promises "for your children also."

They highlighted his book on televangelism on the show. His organizations web site is full of resources. No blog though, which is very disappointing for a guy who thinks so highly of the Reformation. I think I'll send him a copy of this.

Atheism Losing Believers

Science, 'frauds' trigger a decline in atheism - The Washington Times: World - March 04, 2005: "Two developments are plaguing atheism these days. One is that it appears to be losing its scientific underpinnings.
The other is the historical experience of hundreds of millions of people worldwide that atheists are in no position to claim the moral high ground. "

Someone tell our fine Universities.

Velveteen Equations

Velveteen Equations is a blog from a student at South Carolina who is involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. I hope to begin to gather a list of Cru bloggers.

Krugman: Another casualty of the Blog Reformation

I was reading Linked, which on the whole is a fine book when I choked on a particular name:

From pg. 210: "Paul Krugman, professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton..."

5 years ago I would have been very impressed by this description. Princeton is where smart people of towering moral intellect like Peter Singer work, right?

But since I began to read Instapundit last year, I have read the name Paul Krugman again and again.

And his name is always mentioned with derision.

Examples are as fresh as today's headlines.

Blogs have made it possible for me to read, almost weekly, devastating critique of a New York Times economist.

I don't know anything about Economics. Heck I can barely balance a checkbook.

But I know from the withering accountability of blogs that Paul Krugman is usually wrong, and usually partisan. Never mind that he's featured in "the paper of record".

Speaking of which, the New York Times is regularly the object of derision. At least it's not the object of outrage (like the LA Times).

The emperor has no clothes.

Thanks Blogosphere: Reformed and always reforming.

Dennis Prager: The case for Judeo-Christian values

I realized the other night after hearing Dennis Prager at CU that I ought to link to his series on Judeo-Christian Values.

I heard someone say years ago that an evangelical Protestant like me has more in common with a Roman Catholic than a liberal Protestant. I think that's true.

The reason hinges on the question of whether the text of Scripture is Divine and infallible.

I think the same could be said about Jews like Prager. Prager has more in common with evangelical Protestants like me than he does with secular Jews.

Here's the first installment.
Dennis Prager: Better answers: The case for Judeo-Christian values: "Better answers: The case for Judeo-Christian values"

Here's a juicy quote:
"The oft cited charge that religion has led to more wars and evil than anything else is a widely believed lie. Secular successors to Christianity have slaughtered and enslaved more people than all religions in history (though significant elements within a non-Judeo-Christian religion, Islam, slaughter and enslave today, and if not stopped in Sudan and elsewhere could match Nazism or Communism)."

Von Trier: Death Penalty for Donkeys

Death Penalty opponent Lars Von Trier who made the powerful film Dancer in the Dark, apparently doesn't extend his mercy to those further down the food chain:

"Maverick Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier will cut scenes of a donkey being butchered from his film about slavery in the U.S. South after protests from animal rights activists who said he killed the animal for entertainment."

Von Trier denied the donkey was killed for entertainment. He said the political and social content of the film, "Manderlay," was so important that it would be unfortunate if it was rejected or ignored because of the donkey.

"My personal feeling is that I acted conscientiously, and I don't suppose we'll ever agree on that."

Thank You Hillel for inviting Dennis Prager to CU

Here's a slightly blurry picture of Dennis Prager, taken at a reception after the talk. Major kudos to Hillel at CU Boulder for making it possible for Dennis to speak.

Here's Dennis after the talk examining a digital camera from someone in the audience. He's probably asking if they read the Instruction Manual. ;-) 

Dennis Prager Spoke at CU Boulder - 7 Should Israel Exist

Dennis responded to the claim that Israel has no right to exist by asking why one would single out Israel. Every country was founded by war and conflict and yet Israel is singled out as the one that is not legitimate.

He said that compared to the founding of Pakistan out of India, the founding of Israel was like a square dance.

He recommended Freedom at Midnight to prove the massive death and strife that accompanied the founding of Pakistan.

Dennis Prager Spoke at CU Boulder - 6 Save Money on College, don't send your kids.

I've heard Dennis Prager on the radio for 14 years and until last night, I've never heard him so forcefully suggest that you might be better off not sending your kids to college.

He used to say that college was not as important as most people make it out to be.

Last night he actually said that unless your child is going into the hard sciences, you would be better off giving your child $15,000 a year for four years and lettting them travel or do as they will with it.

His argument is that a liberal arts education is so foolish, that just living in the real world, is better than recovering from 4 years of disinformation and propaganda.

His famous quip is, "whenever I hear something particularly stupid, I know the person speaking must have gone to graduate school".

Dennis Prager spoke at CU - 5 America is good for Jews

One of the classic moments from last night's talk by Dennis Prager was when two students asked Dennis about how he can say that America is Judeo-Christian and good for Jews and that Europe is bad.

The two of them, in turn, read a list of examples of anti-Semitism in America. They questioned whether America could be described as Judeo-Christian.

They thought Dennis was too dismissive of Europe.

They said, in effect, that actions are more important than beliefs to judge a person or country and the anti-Semitic actions of Americans are more indicative than any Judeo-Christian values.

Prager's response was overpowering.

He said that he had written a book on anti-Semitism and he was familiar with the examples they gave. He asked them why they didn't include several other famous examples.

One of the students asked how he could dismiss Europe when it produced the likes of Einstein. To which Prager responded that Einstein fled Europe.

The crowd roared.

Prager then said that despite all of their examples, he could prove that America was the best country in history for Jews.

He asked the two students at the microphone if they were both Jewish. They said they were.

Prager then asked them why they would choose to live in America, when there is a Jewish state, if they really believed that America is so bad for Jews.

"Talked about your actions betraying your beliefs", Prager quipped. The crowd bellowed in uproarious laughter.

Checkmate.

These two students slowly returned to their seats, encouraging one another and obviously licking their wounds.

Boker tov, on Prager, CU, the media and free speech

Boker tov, Boulder! got up this morning and did as I did.

He looked for news coverage of Dennis Prager's talk at CU last night.

What he found was that tolerance and free speech only go so far at CU, depending on what your politics are:

"When someone is called a N----- [the N-word], no one talks about Free Speech.

It's Free Speech to degrade and defame thousands of innocents murdered in a terrorist attack by calling them 'little Eichmanns.' It's Free Speech when you trivialize the Holocaust, or -as Prager said last night- make it seem silly. It's Free Speech when Ward Churchill publicly laments that 9/11 proved 'insufficient to accomplish its purpose' and says, 'What the hell? It was worth a try.'

Nearly 200 CU faculty took the time and trouble to to sign and publish an ad in the local paper (Daily Camera) to the effect that these statements by Ward Churchill fall under the protection of Free Speech and as such, do not warrant a formal investigation by the University. Do you think they would sign and publish a statement saying that one student calling another a nigger is a matter of Free Speech? No way.

So what do we learn from this? One thing I've learned is that the ethical stance being applied to the 'recent wave of racism' is a sham, differentially applied, based not on timeless principle but on fleeting popularity and utility. What kind of ethical code is it that only applies to some of the people some of the time? Certainly not one you can count on.

The public's responsibility 'for doing something' of which the Vice Provost spoke --the responsibility that 'shouldn't rest solely on the people victimized'-- is not applied equally across the board. Look at it this way. This responsibility to 'do something' is vehemently invoked in this case where folks have been insulted, but is not being invoked where folks have been incinerated ... Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust, passengers on hijacked planes and so-called 'technocrats' working in the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

That's some standard they've got going.

While I started out this morning wishing that Jewish concerns might receive the same level and kind of response as Black concerns, I don't anymore. We may not be supported at all, but any sense of security felt by the Black community could be false. Anyone can, and the Black community may yet, have the rug of support pulled out from under them, should the political wind shift.

At least as a Jew I know where I really stand. There are limits to what people will tolerate, but the lines are drawn in shifting sand. I know I cannot assume that my people will be included, considered or respected at any given time or place. I cannot necessarily expect protection, equal or otherwise. But at least I am not being fooled.

The other thing I learned was that Churchill won't have truly gone over the top until he calls someone a N----- [the N-word]."

Strong words. Read the whole thing.

Ward Churchill, The Nazi's and Godwin's Law

How to post about Nazis and get away with it - the Godwin's Law FAQ includes some interesting guidelines about refererring to the Nazi's:

"1. If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it wasn't necessary or germane without it necessarily being an insult, it's probably about time for the thread to end.

2. If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it was vaguely related but is basically being used as an insult, the speaker can be considered to be flaming and not debating.

3. If someone brings up Nazis in any conversation that has been going on too long for one of the parties, it can be used as a fair excuse to end the thread and declare victory for the other side."

Does this mean the conversation was over as soon as Churchill began it?

Dennis Prager Spoke at CU Boulder - 4 Jews and Christians

Dennis Prager said that there is an alliance of Jews and Christians in America today that is unlike anything in history.

Jews protested for the cross to remain on the seal of LA County.

Christians are working for the good of Israel.

Dennis sees this as a powerful alliance. I remember Dennis talking about dialogue that occurred between Jews and Christians following the release of The Passion. He said it was very positive. Wouldn't it be ironic if a movie that was described by the ADL as anti-Semitic was a cause of greater unity between Jews and Christians?

Dennis asked last night why the leaders of the ADL shouldn't be fired for being so wrong about The Passion. He accused them of slandering Christians by accusing them of the possibility of violence accompanying the release of the film. Prager also asked why the ADL doesn't condemn people like Ward Churchill who trivialize the holocaust by improperly citing Adolph Eichmann.

Maybe the ADL is growing in their moral acuity.

Tyroblog links...

Tyroblog, thanks for linking me. Did you go hear Prager last night?

Dennis Prager Spoke at CU Boulder - 3

Dennis Prager said regarding the question of whether to fire Ward Churchill: "Do not fire him, he is our ally".

Prager views Churchill as a poster boy for the moral bankruptcy of the University. His views are helpful to clarify the low intellectual state of the professoriate.

He said if Prager could be fired it should be by the left and not by conservatives. If conservatives are behind it it will confirm the propaganda of the left that conservatives are bullies.

A Kerry Democrat: What happened to my party?

Dennis is playing a clip from last night from a CU student who worked for the Kerry campaign. I'll reproduce a paraphrase:

I don't like Michael Moore, I don't like Howard Dean and I don't agree with what Ward Churchill said. Those people in the world trade center just got up and went to work.

I don't know if I'm a Democrat any more because I can't hang out with people like this. I don't know if if I'm a Republican either. I don't know if you are my people.

Dennis' response spoke about how he was caught between the amoral left that ignored the evils of Communism, and the propaganda that Republicans are evil.

"Your party is lost", Prager said. He referred to Martin Peretz (hat tip The Belmont Club) as saying this as well.

He also talked about how as an observant Jew who went through a non-kosher period, that it was much harder to vote republican the first time than it was to eat pork the first time.

A black woman is calling Dennis right now talking about how she was shaking in November when she voted republican the first time. She said her mother would be rolling in her grave.

A CU Student comments on Dennis Prager at CU

Here's a commentary from a CU student who was at the talk by Dennis Prager:

"I don't understand why none of you guys went or why you don't go to any of these speakers. Even if you don't agree with them, most are world famous and if nothing else worth going to see just as celebrities. And don't say you didn't know about it, Prager was advertised in the Buff Bulletin and in the CRs email, as well as the newspaper and on fliers all around campus. These speakers are the best part of being in college. When else in you life will you have the chance to go to hear someone like this, especially for free.

His talk was probably the best that has been at CU in the past two years (I go to most of them), and that includes Desmond Tutu and Salmon Rushdie."

Dennis Prager Spoke at CU Boulder - 2

Here's some highlights recreated from my notes during the talk:

Dennis began by saying "God has certainly seemed to have chosen CU". Dennis didn't spend very much time talking about the specific topic which was: "Why are America and Israel the Two Most Hated Nations?"

He did spend a lot of time speaking about the issues of Ward Churchill and the radicalized nature of Academia.

Dennis called Churchill's "little Eichmanns" comment "sick" and the equivalent of saying that blacks who were lynched deserved to be so.

More interesting was Prager's question regarding the response of faculty at Universities. He said in effect , what would be the reaction of faculty if a professor at CU said that blacks deserved to be lynched. The outcry would be great, as it should be. And so the deafening silence of faculty regarding "little Eichmanns" is as morally repugnant as silence in the face of racist comments. But the faculty on university campuses like CU can only muster outrage at sickening comments from the right, and ignore sickening comments from the left.

Hearts and minds present to hear Dennis. (Sorry it's so far away). Also click on any of these photos to enlarge them.