All Who Hate Me Love Death

King Solomon, reputedly one of the wisest men of antiquity, was a prolific writer. He was also an astute observer of nature (isn't that a simple definition of what we now call "science"?) For Solomon, the seen and the unseen were not antithetical. If the seen led to the unseen, so be it. To begin with a presumption that only the seen was "real" is not science, it is secular faith. We have an abundance of that kind of faith today.

Today's news featured stories from two courtrooms. One was the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling was handed down that, in essence, displays of religious symbols are okay as long as they are totally divorced from the religions they symbolize. Confusing? You bet! This, in a courtroom where Moses and the Ten Commandments are displayed above the heads of the justices. I'm not the first to wonder what would happen if something like George Bailey experienced in "It's a Wonderful Life" took place in regard the the Judeo-Christian law. What if every vestige of the Law of God was removed from the public square -- not just the symbols, mind you -- but the content. Not pretty. The Law (God's, that is) defines evil and it defines what is right. It sets up boundaries that restrain evil and promote good. The Law of the Supreme Court seems intent on doing just the opposite. Modern law makes good evil and evil good.

A second scene comes from a courtroom in Wichita. Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, confessed in morbid details to the string of murders he committed. His murders were driven, by his own admission, by sexual fantasies. Here again, modern "law" refuses to connect the dots between moral causes and effects. How many Raders, Gacys, etc. does it take? Evil exists. It is not merely conceptual. King Solomon was not afraid -- no, more than that -- he was compelled to make the moral connections. He was not afraid to go where the facts led. Speaking as Wisdom personified, he wrote, "All those who hate me love death."

Missing the Point - Terri's Legacy

The results of the autopsy performed on Terri Schiavo are now public. As with the pre-death coverage, much of the media is trumpeting the autopsy results as a vindication of Michael Schiavo's (most recent) position. I say "most recent" because for several years after her mysterious fall into the abyss of brain damage, his position was that he did not know what her wishes about end-of-life were. Somewhere along the line, Michael "remembered" that she would have wanted to die if in that condition. His memory conveniently revived after shacking up with a new girlfriend and fathering a couple of children with her.

But that is all old news. The conservative right is not entirely blameless in this issue either. Their rhetoric centered on purported evidence that Terri was not in a persistant vegetative state. The autopsy results "seem" to contradict that. PVS should not be the clincher in this deal.

Consequent fallout from the autopsy shows test-which-way-the-wind-blows politicians shuffling their positions, so as not to be found on the unpopular side of the debate.

The medical examiner said very plainly that Terri's condition was not life-threatening. I even heard a talk radio show caller twisting his logic in a pretzel to avoid calling her death a "killing." What else could you call it? The medical examiner stated that she could have lived on a decade or more if cared for. She had a family willing to do that.

On the other side, you have a legion of "right-to-die" advocates who found an easy mark in Michael Schiavo to get their cause in front of a sympathetic news media. Schiavo's lawyer even wrote a book about the tactics. How much more bald-faced can you get? The "death is so blissful" descriptions of Terri's last hours were enough to make a calloused person wretch.

My wife and I care for her severely and profoundly mentally retarded brother. He has never been "normal." He is non-verbal. He can't tell us "where it hurts." He requires total care. He must be fed, diapered, bed-bathed, moved around in his bed to prevent bed sores -- he is 58 years old. In spite of that, there are crystal clear evidences of "personhood" in him. He never had an opportunity to "decide" if he wanted to live. Who will decide for him? Jesus gave a very compelling standard to us when he said "Whatever you have done to the least of these, my brethren, you have done to me." That is the way we treat him and he returns joy to us.

The upshot of media coverage and popular opinion is this: Michael Schiavo, the justice system, his lawyers all "did the right thing." If so, will our society begin systematically "helping" other non-persons enjoy the bliss of their right-to-die?

Tianamen, Havana and the Decentralizing World

One tenet of the Marxist/Leninist worldview is the need for revolution to bring in the socialist utopia. I am reminded of the Tianamen Square protests. I read an article recently, commenting on the anniversary of the deadly protests. The article was suggesting, rightly, that years later, we know hardly anything about the "true" numbers of the killed, the imprisoned and their fates. Revolution only seems to suit the envious when they are out of power.

Another tight-fisted dictator is Fidel Castro. It baffles me (well... not really) that the champions of freedom -- the American elite -- have such an incongruous love for this despot. Again, revolution suits him when he is the challenger, not the defender. Nat Henthoff comments in the Village Voice about a May 20 meeting in Havana:

You wouldn't know it from The New York Times or nearly all the media in New York (the purported center of communications for this nation), but in Havana onMay 20—for the first time in Fidel Castro's 46 years of brutal rule—there was apublic mass meeting, with subversive shouts of "Freedom! Freedom!"

As Anita Snow reported for the Associated Press, "A little more than half [of the 200] present [for the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba] were delegates from diverse opposition groups around the island. The rest were organizers, international journalists, diplomats and other special guests." The resident dictator was clearly concerned at the refusal by these Cubans to be silenced for fear of being thrown into his gulags. He tried to keep the resistance quiet. As
the Financial Times noted, "Cuba denied visas to dozens of European politicians and Cuban American leaders who sought to attend the meeting, and expelled four European deputies."

And, the AP added, "Cuba on Thursday expelled two European lawmakers who had planned to attend the gathering and refused entry to two others. . . . Six Poles—three journalists, a human rights worker and two students"—were also expelled.

Among the Cubans intending to come who were arrested beforehand were two independent librarians from eastern Cuba, Elio Enrique Chávez and Luis Elio de la Paz. In a quick, secret trial, they were charged and convicted for the crime of "dangerousness" (peligrosidad). They were a danger to his dictatorship. (Read the entire article)

The world is escaping the grasp of its overlords. Many commentators, including Gary North, have commented about the meltdown of the traditional press being faciliated by the decentralized media -- the internet and bloggers primarily. I work in the information technology world. In the last twenty years, there has been a back-and-forth move from centralization to decentralization and back.

Decentralization is great for freeing people to do things that they might not be able to accomplish otherwise. The "killer" for this tectonic shift -- wouldn't you know it -- is the individuals to whom the decentralization flows. Many are unwilling to take the initiative to learn the technologies that come to them in this newfound freedom. They are positively irresponsible in their dabbling with detrimental technologies (loading junkware on their PC and spreading their misery to other users). They fail to recognize the overriding business goals that govern their technological freedom.

I commented several days ago that one necessary ingredient for successful decentralization is self-government. It all comes back to character. The downside of decentralized computing is applicable to decentralized governments. If we don't want despots, we must have overriding agreed-upon principles which glue our individually free lives together. We must take responsibility for progress and shun the detrimental. What a concept!

Will The Real Gulag Please Stand Up?

It would be foolish to assume that the Gitmo facility is being run in a squeaky-clean fashion. Any statements made to that effect should be viewed with some reasonable suspicions. That said, recent statements by Amnesty International accusing the Bush administration of running a "gulag" are laughable. It seems like we can hardly have a bona fide disagreement over political issues nowadays without resorting to polemics.

Guess that's what happens when politics becomes your religion. Governments make bad saviors and politics makes bad religion. Many of the American founders, believed that self-government was essential to good government. NewsMax recently quoted a real (meaning: Soviet style) gulag graduate, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. Speaking about Russian democratization, he made some statements that we could all learn from. Here is an excerpt:

"If they are going to take away our democracy, they can take away only what we have. But if we have nothing, then nothing can be taken away," he said. "We have already taken everything from the people. ... We have nothing that resembles democracy.

"We are trying to build democracy without self-governance," he said, according to a transcript of the interview. "Before anything, we must begin to build a system so that the people can manage their own destinies."

Solzhenitsyn, whose best-known works include "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "Gulag Archipelago," appeared thin, but he spoke energetically and gestured with emotion.

Solzhenitsyn spent a decade in a labor camp and documented life in the camps in his "Gulag Archipelago" trilogy. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970 and was expelled from the Soviet Union four years later. He lived in Vermont until his 1994 return to Russia, three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

His profile as a moral arbiter and a literary star have declined since he returned to Russia, taking a train across the country and criticizing the corruption and poverty of post-Soviet Russia. He has kept a lower profile in recent years, giving few interviews and issuing few public statements.

Watch What We Do, Not What We Say

One of the memorable quotes from the Watergate moment was that of Attorney General John Mitchell, "Watch what we do, not what we say." It could be said that the reality of one's beliefs lies in what they do, not what they say.

I could profess my love for my wife very eloquently, but living in betrayal through infidelity or otherwise would nullify my loudest protestations. Likewise, one's worldview may be accurately determined by what they do, not what they say.

Many years ago, Dr. Paul Ackerman related related how he, as an ardent behavioral psychologist, came to that realization through an unfortunate event in his life. He related how he watched as his young child pedaled down the driveway into the path of an oncoming car. Through that fatal moment, he came to realize that his behaviorism and its attendant naturalistic underpinnings was at odds with the reality of love and loss. To hang everything on stimuli, hormones, genetics -- simply molecular things did not square up with real life.

Similarly, the ACLU is in the spotlight. According to a New York Times article, their internal practices betray their professed statements of purpose. If we were to pull off the covers, what other things might we find at odds with this organization?

Shoulda Seen It Coming

Last night, I was reading an old essay written in 1993 by Gary North. It had something to say about how the Islamic world would cope with the encroachment of Western culture:

The problem is, the likely Islamic defense will be military: terrorism. Islam will have to attack the source of the West’s technological superiority if it is to retain its leadership at home. The West will be challenged. Squads of dedicated terrorists will seek to bomb Western power stations and communications centers, or use biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of city dwellers. They will seek to create havoc in clandestine ways. Islamic nations cannot defeat the West on the conventional military battlefield, as Iraq learned in Kuwait in 1991. They will have to try to defeat the West on unconventional battlefields inside the West. To escape falling behind the West economically, the Islamic theocracies must bring down the West, even though the West has made them rich in the second half of the 20th century. The envy factor will combine with the Islamic theocracy factor: a highly destructive combination. A war is now in progress. It will almost surely escalate.

Terrorism was nothing new in 1993. I'm sure others could see this trend, as well. It was still an insightful comment, in light of events in the last decade, especially since 9/11/2001.

The Times They are A-Changin'

I can't think of a better way to kick off this publication but to quote Bob Dylan's 1964 anthem:

The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Forty-one years later, it's just as pointed as the day it was written. History is moving and, as they say, "Lead, follow or get out of the way."

U-571 and the Call of Duty

Joseph got me this movie for Christmas a couple of years ago. One of the things that impressed me in watching and re-watching it has to do with a pivotal scene near the end of the movie where a young crewman is ordered to swim in the bilge to shut off a leaking air valve which is endangering the whole crew.

As you will recall, young Lt. Tyler (portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) has been turned down for a promotion to skipper his own boat because his senior officer is unsure the younger officer can make life or death decisions on behalf of his subordinates when it is crunch time.

As the story develops, he is thrown into the position of skipper in the heat of battle when his own skipper is killed during their mission. In the ensuing attempt to get the boat and crew to safety, Tyler finds himself facing the demons that the older skipper warned him of. The situation with the leaky valve is one of the make-or-break decisions that "gel" him as the commander. After a failed attempt to find the valve, the young seaman complains to Lt. Tyler that he "can't do it." Tyler responds that he has to do it, that the lives of the entire crew depend on him doing what was ordered. I very well remember Tyler's order for the seaman to get back in the bilge and "do your job." The seaman obeys and his courage ends up saving the crew, though it cost him his own life in the process, drowning in the sub's bilge.

Duty has lost favor in our "do what floats your boat" world. Christians bend over backward to stress that we obey Jesus "because we love him... because we want to, not because we have to." I have heard duty talked down as a proper motivation for a follower of Jesus. In Jesus' world, love involves duty. It does not exclude it. Perhaps it is because of the absence of duty that today's "love" is so shallow.

U2: Still Humming After All These Years

I can remember hearing a young new band from Ireland years back and being intrigued by their sound. One of the intriguing things to me, as a musician, was how they effectively re-defined the guitar-bass-drums trio sound.

I had always been left a little empty by the previous heavyweights in that genre - Cream and the the Jimi Hendrix Experience, later the Band of Gypsies. Their guitar-driven sound was fronted by what was then considered "superstar" guitarists with decent chops as solo players, but the sound was thin and empty. It 's hard to have just bass and drums filling in behind a lead guitar excursion without sounding anemic. (I later had a trumpet-bass-drums bop trio named Boplicity-- even more difficult to get a "fat" sound! Ooof!)

Reading some bio material at http://www.threechordsandthetruth.net -- their beginnings were pretty rough. I even read there that they gave up trying to be a cover band because they were not good at it. So, they worked on writing their own material and, as they say, the rest is history.

The Edge's guitar work, which he described as "doing the work of two," was - to me - a major factor in their unique sound. It must be said that neither he nor any of the other members of the band are "virtuouso" musicians, but they are the typical "sum is greater than the individual parts." Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton lay down a solid bottom end while The Edge "does the work of two" on the guitar, with arpeggiated sweeps, lots of upper neck chording with inversions putting the fifth or third on top, ringing suspensions and choppy rhythm strumming with lots of effects. Plus, Bono is truly a fine front man, again, not a great singer as singers go, but just the right stuff for the band's chemistry.

Lyrically, U2 seems to have captured the spiritual yearnings of the last twenty years. I wonder if that, in part, is what has contributed to their longevity.

As U2 tours the US promoting their newest CD "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" -- in your opinion, what makes them resonate with their vast and diverse audience for twenty-some years? What has been the secret of their success? Leave a comment and let me know!

Tolerance is a Two-way Street

I read a very interesting commentary today. It was relating to the hoo-haa surrounding the supposed desecration of the Quran. Interestingly enough, it was written by a muslim from Saudi Arabia. The gist of the commentary was this: Despite all the carping about the supposed lack of tolerance shown by red-state Bible-thumpers, this muslim said he could go to any number of bookstores here in the states, buy a copy of his holy book (the Quran) and read it here, there... anywhere in this country without so much as the slightest bother. Turning the tables, he said that in his home country, no one can purchase or possess a non-muslim holy book, such as the Bible. It is a crime. He recognizes the hypocrisy.

Before we mindlessly blather about how narrow-minded the right is, we need to pause for a reality check.

So What's The Difference?

I have seen a very interesting commercial for, 7-Up I think, where someone comes up to the snack counter and asks for a specific sparkling lemon-lime beverage (we'll just assume it's 7-Up due to poor memory) and the counter person says "We have Sprite... it's all the same." He then draws a Sprite and hands it to the customer and says, "That's a dollar." The customer wittily pulls out a small coin -- dime or penny or something -- puts it on the counter and says, "...it's all the same."

What a beautiful illustration of the fact that we may think and talk relativism, but in real life, we don't buy it.

We may think and say "whatever... one way is as good as another" but we know better.

Philippians - Being Right-Minded

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Being “right-minded”: We have a choice about what we think on, what we read, what we watch and listen to. Our choices in these things matter much in experiencing God's best. A lot of the time, we -- sort of mindlessly -- ingest whatever is playing. Don't be mindless. If you want God's peace, dwell on the things this verse says and forego the mediocre.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Being “right-minded”: Guarding our minds by not bearing our own burdens. Take every need to God or you will be eaten up with overwhelming needs.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

Being “right-minded”: Ah, Euodia and Synthche. These women obviously had some differences that they let come before or pre-empt the same-mindedness that God desires. They needed to put aside their differences and look out for each other.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Being “right-minded”: Having the temporary and the eternal in right perspective. Anyone who trades the eternal for the temporary is a fool. Earthly life and responsibility is not “bad” versus heavenly things “good”. That is Platonism. Rather, the issue is not banking on the temporary. Instead, use it for the eternal.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Being “right-minded”: Mature thinking is not “having arrived.” It is continually growing and never going backward.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Being “right-minded”: Credentials are okay. They're not bad or evil. I wouldn't want an uncredentialed brain surgeon operating on me. However, credentials only go so far. They are, in Paul's words, rubbish (literally dung) in comparison to a right relationship with God and experiencing, not just knowing about, his life and purpose. To be right-minded, keep it in perspective.

Philippians - Being Right-Minded

Phil 2:25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

Being “right-minded”: Example two - Epaphroditus. He risked his life to be the Philippians' servant to Paul in Paul's time of need.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 2:17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Being “right-minded”: Example two - Timothy. He was like-minded with Paul (and Jesus) in that he didn't seek his own, but was concerned about the good of the Philippians. He served Paul the way Jesus served his Father.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Being “right-minded”: Did Jesus complain about what he had to do? Do we trust that what God is working out in our lives is good? Don't be a whiner!