Fightin' Amish

In Strasburg, PA, a couple of days ago, two men stopped an Amish buggy with a man and two women inside. The idiots demanded that the Amish hand over their buggy (as a trophy, I guess. "Oh, yeah , we'll tow the buggy back to our hide-out"). One of the muggers threatened them with a knife. The Amish wouldn't comply and one of the women kicked the mugger's hand that held the knife. The Amish got out of there with their buggy and the would-be robbers got in their SUV and fled the scene!

Whether or not the account is true, it's still hilarious to think about the new art of Amish-fu.

Wow...

"I would rather see a Muslim become a Christian than a radical Muslim."
- Nechirvan Barzani, a Muslim and the prime minister of Kurdistan Regional Government

That's some good stuff.

Cocaine or Yoga?

I read an interview of a '70s rockstar who said entertainers back in his day were cocaine addicts and alcoholics. He complained that these days, rockstars and entertainers are generally into yoga and health foods and only rarely does he see those people get addicted to anything bad. On the surface, that sounds good. At least those people don't have any egregious habits or do anything that would influence the younger generation to get into bad things. They are in a position to influence people, which is why it's better for them not to do anything that would risk other people's lives.

Then again that may not be good. When people think they are doing all right and have their own beliefs apart from what the Bible says, then it becomes more of a challenge for them to see that they need Jesus. It's easier for people to see their need for God when they know they are doing bad things and admit that they are sinful. God wants them to reach that point. The worst is when a person thinks he doesn't need Jesus because he is already good enough and feels he is righteous and deserving of heaven. He also has his own guidance system to live life fully apart from what God says in His word.

This is true for all of the world's religions in one form or another - your good deeds should outweigh your bad and that is the way to get to heaven. In fact, this erroneous thought process is a common human belief. What is not common is God's command to believe in His way to get to heaven and not on our own imagined way to heaven. A person who believes he's too sinful to get to heaven has taken the first step to understanding what God says in His word. The next step is knowing that God already paid the price for us to get to heaven. This is usually the tricky part. Some just can't believe it because it's too simple. Others can't believe it because it sounds mythological. And others can't believe for the simple reason that they do not want to believe. They think they may turn into a "religious" nut and start doing these "religious" things like going to church and being a goody two-shoe who doesn't know how to party. That just won't be cool to them. They'd rather live in the slavery of debauchery and ignorance. People who think this way are typical of those who are too lazy to look into what the Christian life is all about. They have this false view that they will become part of a brainwashed cult, so they deny the simple truth that God has done all this work for them. They don't understand that He simply and seriously wants to be with them and desires to show His love to them.

So is it better to have a cocaine addict rather than a practitioner of Eastern spirituality? No, neither one is any good. The death rate of the cocaine addict is significantly higher than that of a spiritualized healthnut, though. But God can work in the lives of both lifestyles. There is no limit to what God can do in bringing people to Him, from the most depraved, to those who think they are highly "righteous."

He got locked up

Moussaoui is finally getting jailed for life. He doesn't deserve the death penalty, meaning he doesn't deserve to be let off easy. With life imprisonment, especially in a US prison, punishment from other inmates and the long wait for death should give ample torture. I'm not gloating over the punishment of an enemy, I'm merely stating the undeniable reality: if you say you want to seriously kill people and even plan to kill people, you must pay the punishment. Capital punishment would have made this mental case into a martyr. No need for that now. And like a villainous cartoon character, the last thing Moussaoui said was "God curse America and save Osama bin Laden. You'll never get him...You think that you own the world, and I would prove it that you are wrong...We will come back another day...As long as you don't want to hear, you will feel, America...America, you lost. I won."

Quite the confident guy. I'm sure he needed to say all that to reaffirm his psychosis. He may have been hiding his fears and anxieties. Well, he's just another jihadist loony. I'm glad he's put away. People like Massaoui should be put away as soon as possible before they hurt or kill anyone. Once they're in jail, they'll need all the help they can get.

Immigracion! Immigracion!

"If only, they say, America would share her wealth, give everyone jobs, open up her borders, offer cradle to grave welfare, free education and healthcare, she will be respected once more. Well I'm sorry but I disagree!!! "Illegal Immigration Protests and Craven High School Principals Posted: April 18, 2006 by Lisa Rahmanan on Alain's Newsletter

I worked for a chemical plant where the majority of the employees were Hispanic/Latino. One day, one of the summer temps, a college student, burst through the cafeteria doors and shouted, "INS! INS! Immigracion! Immigracion!" In an instant, about half a dozen workers got up and walked quickly towards the exit. They stopped when they all heard the kid laugh.

My stance on the immigration issue: enforce the law, kick out the illegals, guard the border. I have nothing against immigrants, I was one myself! My parents had to go through the process; it took them nearly ten years to become American citizens. Amnesty to illegals would not be fair to all of those waiting their turn and it is detrimental to the illegals themselves as well as any potential illegal. They need to be found and they need to be escorted out of this country. If they are that desperate to get into this country, they better use those wits of theirs to find a legal way in. They may have to wait in line for a long time, but at least they'll be going about it the right way. And all this talk about "Immigration reform," as in changing the law to accommodate illegals or changing the law for easier access to the US, is nonsense. The only reform necessary is to actually enforce the present immigration laws. The system isn't broken, it's just been used incorrectly.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Interviewer: "So, what's your response when you hear that a soldier is killed by a roadside bomb?"
Westboro Baptist spokesman: "We rejoice!"

Westboro Baptist Church, what is WRONG with you?! I condemn your actions! I rebuke your approach! How dare you rejoice at the deaths of those soldiers! What unbiblical logic convinced you that it was right for you to start this fatuous nonsense? Fred Phelps, why are you leading so many astray?! I'm not just talking about the people in your church, but those who don't know Jesus Christ yet.

It's horrible enough that someone may have died in their sins, you're making it worse by pushing other people there with your hate. Compel them to make a decision for Jesus, don't confuse them and drive them away from Him!

How dare you call yourselves Christians! How dare you mock the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your hate! Instead of loving them into the Kingdom, you're harassing them into hell! You could use this opportunity to tell sinners about the Truth of Jesus. But YOU ARE NOT! You're telling them lies, twisting God's message! Your actions tell lies about what the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus has done for them, for all of us.

What you tout is NOT Christianity and is NOT Biblical. Do NOT call yourselves followers of Christ with all this protesting, especially the protest of soldiers who have died. Your protest will be nothing but wood, hay, and stubble.

I condemn your actions! I rebuke your approach!

Haters

Intolerance is everywhere. Even Google employees are joining in the anti-Christian, pro-homosexual thought process. I thought Google was about openness and free exchange of information. Guess not. No wonder Google let China's government control its Internet. They like to do the same thing to other people!

Casey at the bat

"The values I live by call on me to fight discrimination wherever I find it." - Bob Casey, State Treasurer of Pennsylvania, at a gay rights gala.

That's right Mr. Casey, the values I live by also call on me to fight discrimination as well.

Let's fight the gay activists who discriminate against Christian values.
Let's fight the abortion supporters who discriminate against life.
Let's fight the secularists who discriminate against God and the Bible.
Let's fight the extremist liberals who discriminate against America.
Let's fight the granola tree-huggers who discriminate against humans.
Let's fight the radical Islamists who discriminate against civilized people.
Let's fight the Darwinists who discriminate against real science.
Let's fight the idiots who think discrimination is bad no matter what it is.

Whoo! That's quite a lot of fighting.

Discrimination is neutral, but it was unfairly given a negative connotation. There is no reason why that connotation should exist. Simply put, people who say they are against discrimination are already discriminating against something. Too bad it tends to be loud-mouthed nonthinkers who want to "fight discrimination."

Oh, by the way, Mr. Casey, may you lose the Senate race against Senator Santorum.

They should quit trying

"The Western papers printed these sacrilegious cartoons on the pretext of freedom of expression, so let's see if they mean what they say and also print these Holocaust cartoons." - Iranian President Ahmadinejad

Quite a creative response to the whole cartoon furor. They created a cartoon contest to see who could make the best cartoon about the Holocaust and challenged European newspapers to publish it. Ahmadinny-boy doesn't believe the Holocaust ever occurred, one of his many delusions. I was as disappointed at that contest as I am to left-wingers who don't understand the true meaning of Roe vs. Wade. Do Muslims in that part of the world know about freedom? Do they even know what freedom of expression is? At best, they have a limited understanding of what it is, as in you can draw cartoons about other people's beliefs, but not about ours.

Yes, I understand that Muslims don't believe in making depictions of Muhammed. But Muslims have made depictions of Muhammed for centuries. And the Danes and most of the West aren't Muslims. So, why should we listen to their demands to stop expression? They should go ahead and kill their own for doing anything against their dear Muhammed, but not the "non-believers."

Here's a good example of what they don't understand. On an Iranian website concering the Holocaust cartoons, there is a note on the front page of the site under a stupid cartoon of Condoleeza Rice:

"Regarding to clarification of the issue of "Holocaust" this website possibly will be closed by United States, in this case please refer to the following addresses..."

I laugh at that simply because they don't know America and they don't know the idea of freedom of expression. There are limitations, yes, like not shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre when there is no fire. Any high schooler in America should know the difference between expression and outright lies, or so we hope. Also, American media should know when not to show something for respect and decency. I wouldn't want to watch a real-life murder nor should I expect to see pornography on major television networks (although it's getting pretty darn close). Because we respect the Muslims living here, none of the major networks showed the cartoons. That doesn't mean we will block or tear down a website just because it expressed someone's dissenting political view.

There's quite a big difference between what the Danes did and what 'Dinny-boy is calling for. The Danes made cartoons based on what the Muslim world have been dishing out: terrorism, extremism, wet-dreams of global domination, discrimination against women, and unparalleled intolerance. And why does 'Dinny-boy want to make fun of the Holocaust? Why does he feel the need to retaliate in an unequal way? Because of the mere existence of Israel! He wants to get rid of Israel because they represent the perennial block to Islam's domination of the Middle East. So, insulting Israel is nothing to him. He could care less for the Jews. And why does he hate the US? Because we support Israel and we don't like dictatorships. So really it's not about expression, is it? The reason all along is to incite conflict in order to take another step to having a world-wide caliphate. He's trying to get his nukes on (which, unfortunately, may happen), so he can gain that "power" to conquer. But there are quite a few nukes from around the world pointing at him, so there's nothing to worry about.

Closer to home, I stumbled onto a video clip and saw a horrible display of Muslim bigotry and chauvinism. In it, a well-dressed Middle Easterner was shouting his mindless bombast about the scourge of America and called on Muslims to stand up. It looked like it was done in a typical American city. This Muslim went on with his tirade while stepping on the American flag. His thugs were around him ripping the flag to pieces. At one point, he said: "Come out of your buildings fellow Muslims and join us. Come out of your buildings! Don't be afraid! This is not like your home countries where you can't say anything on pain of punishment. This is America where women strip themselves of their honor in clubs and you can say anything you want." The protest was done by the Islamic Thinkers Society. I shook my head and disregarded them because of their dissonance. Of course I was offended, they don't seem to know what America is all about. If they were immigrants, they should have known better. Maybe that's why other Muslims didn't come out because many Muslims, especially the newly immigrated, do know better. Those idiots wanted to fight against a government that allowed them to say whatever they wanted. Follow with me, islamic nonthinkers. You want to topple this free country so you can set up your own government based on a culture that won't allow others to say anything on pain of punishment. You should be HAPPY that no one shot you on the spot or gave you a fine. If you don't like our country, why don't you leave? GET OUT! If you say you're not loyal to this country, WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE! Go back to your stinky little havens of dictatorship rule if you prefer that way of life. Leave the innocent alone and go bomb yourselves and your fellow jihadists. Go get your virgins and have fun with the rest of your deluded version of eternity. Warning you now, it may get a little hot for you, and I'm not talking about being surrounded by women.

Great Danes

Taken from Human Events. This is one of Denmark's Jyllands-Posten "controversial" cartoons.

"I gotta say it looks to me like evidence of a very weak religion when people somehow can't stand a cartoon." - Juan Williams

Why is the Muslim world in an uproar over stupid little cartoons? They weren't even that bad. Most were innocuous. Man, I've seen worse done against Christians! It's sad that we as Christians don't stand up with as much vigor. And we have the Truth! Some may say, "Christians aren't as courageous in standing up for their beliefs." Yes, many Christians may not be courageous, but we do stand up for our beliefs - just not over cartoons. Why are Muslims upset? Let's go to the root of the problem: theology. Needless to say, there's a huge difference between Muslim and Christian theology. One relevant example is that Muslims believe you can physically fight the enemy, the infidel who does not believe. There are quite a few references to this in the Koran. In fact, there are several parts of the Koran that calls for the killing of those who do not believe. Sura 8:12 is a good example. Head on a platter anyone? It's not just jihad, either, it's just something to be practiced in honor of allah, the oh-so merciful and forgiving one. If they feel persecuted, the Koran calls to fight and kill the persecutor.

Christians, on the other hand, base their bloodless and peaceful actions on Jesus' words - "My kingdom is not from this world. If it were so, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews." Yes, in context, Jesus was referring to what was happening at that point just before the Crucifixion. But if you take what He said earlier in His life, "my followers" is applicable to every true Christian for all time. His Kingdom is not of this world. It goes beyond physical boundaries. Our fight is in the spiritual and it doesn't involve cartoons.

If anything, the Muslim world should have been outraged at Osama-boy. He was the one who made Islam and Muhammed look very bad. The peaceful Muslims should be protesting nonstop against all the killings and the terrorism. Or could it be that their silence is based on their theology? Oh, yeah, Ossie did a good job with those towers. A bit overboard, but I can feel his pain. I mean, Islam is for the world but those darn freedom lovers keep getting in the way. Down with those evil freedom lovers and their Jewish dogs! I mean, let them be subject to allah's will. (I'm aware not all Muslims think this way.)

Or could it be that those protesters aren't aware of a nasty double-standard? Arab media is always saying bad things about the Jews, and to a certain extent, the Christians. (They equate Christianity with the West, which insults me, by the way.) They draw cartoons that make these Danish ones look like Peanuts. One imam said, "Freedom of speech is good but not when it insults people. There should be limits." Yeah, in your little caliphate, but not in the rest of the world. That guy didn't get it. There is always the risk of insult with free speech. Ideally, free speech should be based on truth. But, humans being idiots sometimes, can go on about anything. I hope those Muslim protesters understand that very basic idea. Time for them to lighten up! I hope they also see that they're making it worse for themselves with all this uproar.

Nah nah na poo poo

Hey, Osama! Is that a white flag I see? Aw, poor baby. Did we bomb a couple of important sites of yours? Did we kill one too many of your important guys? You want to have negotiations you say? Too freakin' bad! You sound like a whipped little playground bully, trying to make peace while making threats to the guy who socked you in the face. So you will strike at us if you don't have these "negotiations"? Still think you're on top, trying to save face? Seems to me like you're insecure. You know you're almost beaten and yet you think you have the upperhand through using terrorism. You are too prideful to be in the position you are in. If you want to keep fighting, go ahead. You'll be defeated by attrition or surrender. Either way, it's up to you. And we'll find you soon enough. In the end, God's in control. Not your fake god, by the way. The real God, the one who brought us the Jewish people who you want to obliterate. Sorry Os, your non-Jewish, anti-Christian dreams will never come true. God is just using you for awhile and then He'll toss you in the trash like He did Hitler.

What would you do?

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. Demonstrations were the order of the day as anti-abortionists clashed with pro-abortionists in front of government buildings and abortion clinics. With all the noise about abortion, have you ever thought about what you would do if you were faced with the decision to abort? If you are a pro-lifer/Christian, are you ready to back what you believe? If you are, then let's present a challenge. Personalize it as best you can:

We have a married Christian couple, both are worship leaders at their church, both growing in the Lord. One night, the husband stays out late in a meeting with the pastor of their church. The wife is at home and is in bed. Not too long after she turned out the lights, it goes back on again. She looks up and finds a strange man standing at her bedroom door. The strange man attacks and rapes her. She is left alive, but now the couple and everyone they know are devastated. She carries the stigma as the worship leader who was raped. Soon, the wife finds that she's pregnant. What would you do in that situation?

The thing about Pat

I don't like to criticize other Christians, but I'll make an exception for Pat Robertson. Can't say too much about him, don't really know him too well. He's a great guy, my brother in the Lord, and quite the influential person. He's the bane of pornstars and liberals, Communists and radical Islamists. Really, I don't mind when liberal minded people get upset over people like Pat. What I don't like is when I start to get upset over people like Pat. It's more like disappointment than anger. I know you can say whatever you want if you have your own TV show, but man, some things he said embarassed me:

On the court case over Intelligent Design:

"I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there. God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever. If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."

On President Hugo Chavez:

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

On Ariel Sharon:

"The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, "divide my land." God considers this land to be his...And for any prime minister of Israel who decides he going carve it up and give it away, God says, "No. This is mine...And now Ariel Sharon, who was again a very likeable person, a delightful person to be with. I prayed with him personally. But here he is at the point of death. He was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations or United States of America. God said, "This land belongs to me, you better leave it alone."

On judicial activism:

"If you look over the course of a hundred years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings."

I'm not too sure of Pat's motives nor am I sure how God is using him. Pat could very well be a modern prophet. The prophets of ancient Israel didn't have the most popular things to say. Their words were biting, gut-wrenching, and unpatriotic. They called for the judgement of God on an evil nation, a nation that was supposed to be set apart for the Lord. Likewise, Pat doesn't shy away from letting people know what God will do to them. He could have been misquoted by the media and I am aware that non-Christians don't usually understand the Christian worldview. But, assuming that he was quoted correctly, Pat may be one of the many prophets of God in America. (If that's the case, then my criticism is unnecessary.) He just happens to be the boldest and most televised. There may be some truth in what he says, like the Ariel Sharon bit. He didn't have to say it while the guy was in the hospital, though. Truth needs to be delivered with sensitivity. At that point, the "truth" could be withheld for a tad longer. I think it was more a guess on his part than an actual message from God. Don't know. There are no such things as coincidences, but I doubt Sharon's condition is a consequence of his decisions.

The flipside to this is that prophets were part of God's plan only in Old Testament times and only for Israel. Gentiles were mentioned but it always involved Israel and the coming Kingdom. I believe God speaks through some Christians in ways similar to the ancient prophets. I just believe that specific curses, like the Dover bit, do not carry the same weight. God works in ways that are predictable sometimes, so we of incredibly feeble minds can catch what He's telling us. I believe that 9/11 occurred because of the abundant sin in the US. No, it's not that simple, and there's more to it than that, but I won't be surprised if God tells us later that it was a very big part. Pat may or may not be a prophet for the US, but he sure talks like one. Talking about sensitivity, he could have definitely exercised some of it before making the comparison between our country's erosion and 9/11. Both are serious in its separate context. There was no need to make that comparison, saying one was more serious than the other.

Pat doesn't seem to get the idea of suffering and trials. From what he said in these statements, he seems to believe that problems equal God's curse. He of all people should know that the problems of life doesn't necessarily mean the judgment of God or the wrath of God. Most of the time, problems serve to develop people, not punish them. There are obvious punishments, but there are times when it's really shaping and chipping. He has equated natural disasters with God's will. While it's true that God controls everything, including natural disasters, I know it's just part of what Jesus said, that everything will start to go to crap in the last days. Pat can call all the curses he wants and warn as much as he wants. This is all part of what was predicted long ago, anyway, so it's nothing new.

My suggestion to you, Pat, is to read James again and know what to do with your mouth before stuffing it with your foot. You're making us look bad by saying stupid things like taking people out. Yes, I know Chavez is a murdering scoundrel and gasp even worse than Bush! I personally wouldn't mind Chavez "taken out" of office. (Why did Ford have to stop the US government from assassinating people?) You didn't have to go on TV with it; you should've just kept it to yourself. Hold the Gospel out and you'll get enough of the world's vitriol. Since you like to be political, it's best to do it with tact. You can be political without being stupid.

The only other reason I could think why Pat says what he says is simply because he's getting old. He's becoming a curmudgeon. I can only hope and pray that God keeps Pat's mind sharp and his attitude right when he's in front of the camera.

One Of The Greatest Philosophers?

Whenever I talk about philosophy in the martial arts, I always refer to Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do (JKD). I usually say that Lee was one of the greatest modern philosophers but that his brilliance was overshadowed by his entertainment career. Any knowledgeable martial artist or martial arts enthusiast would know that JKD is not a system of fighting but rather a philosophy for self-development. A major portion of that self-development, of course, would be in martial arts training, but training in the most efficient and functional way.

I give Lee a lot of credit for revolutionizing the martial arts for the 20th century. He understood the need for a practical approach to the martial arts and questioned the orthodoxy inherent in the more traditional styles. But as I progress in my training, I've come to question whether I'm correct in labeling Bruce Lee with the title "one of the greatest philosophers." Indeed, this may be blasphemous to say around the hardcore Jun Fan JKD practitioner, but then again, I've never been one to be part of a personality cult. Besides, Lee himself advocated a teaching methodology that focuses on individual instruction rather than mass instruction. He espoused an individualist mindset in the martial arts and opposed the idea of a cult around a person, or system, including himself. Likewise he lived what he believed by creating an approach to self-development that set him apart from the martial artists of his day.

The first 25 pages and the last 8 pages of Tao of JKD (Lee's collection of notes turned into book form), gives the essential treatment of Lee's philosophy. He was influenced by both Eastern and Western thought, but JKD is predominantly Eastern. The philosophical underpinnings of JKD is a mixture of Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and Indian mysticism as expressed in Krishnamurti. The Big Three, as I'll call them here, can be debated over for a very long time, but inevitably, when taken to their logical end, they all come up short. They are unlivable as a spiritual foundation, especially Zen Buddhism, with its nonsensical disregard for the Law of Contradiction (which states that something can't concurrently be non-something). Lee was a philosophy major in college so he should have been fully aware of the Law of Contradiction, as taught in Philosophy 101. But his background and the counterculture mileu of his day emphasized the relativistic post-modernist views that relate well to the Big Three.

In his attempt to explain JKD in Eastern mysticist terms, he overcomplicated JKD for what it is - his own personal development in the martial arts. That's it! Nothing else. Lee acknowledged this simplicity, but it was clouded by the mysticism that was part of his thought process. He intended to create a philosophy that incorporated both martial arts and life and was still in the process of doing so when he died. In fact, he was only beginning to develop as a martial artist. Like any good philosoper, he sought correspondence between thought and reality. Because his cultural and philosophical background was steeped in the Big Three, it only made sense that he expressed it in his martial arts.

Should I label Bruce Lee as "one of the greatest" ? Yes, but to be precise, he's a great philosopher in the sense that Ayn Rand or Lao-tzu are great philosophers. They were not necessarily correct in their thinking, but they earned the title because of their honest struggle for coherence and because of the following that resulted from their teachings. In my book, a truly great philosopher earns the title only if he has reached a sensible, livable, holistic, and logical end to his thoughts, and that includes having a following as well. (And to clarify, it's not an exhuastive end to that person's thoughts, but rather acknowledging absolute propositional revelation and to grow in thought and behavior based on that revelation.) Even though Lee used nonsensical philosophies to undergird his message, he was still able to explain truths about the search for martial arts efficacy and that the individual should always be in a state of learning and growing.

My article JKD vs. PMABM (coming soon) summarizes the comparison between the two approaches to the martial arts.

A Letter to Joe

If anyone has any contact with Joe Martorell, please get him to write me or call me.

Dear (former Youth Pastor) Joe,

Where in the world are you? Don't be afraid to talk to me. Why do you hide in the shadows? Why do you avoid me? Don't you know I'm aware of forgiveness? Don't you know I'd rather talk about things than to not talk at all? I'd rather you face the challenge of talking to me again instead of staying under the radar, living in fear. Fear of having to open up to me and admit that you're human.

Yes, I'm very sympathetic to what you went through eight years ago. I can't imagine what it's like to lose your father then lose one of the youth group kids nearly the same time. Please remember that your dad came to know Jesus before leaving this world. I will never forget the glow on his face, and on yours, after he made the salvation decision. And you couldn't do anything about Mike, so don't blame yourself. It was hard for all of us. I'm now a youth group leader as well and I would be devastated if any of the kids under my care took his or her own life. Didn't realize that it wouldn't take long for you to buckle under all the pressure. I don't even know what you did; everyone told me you did something that caused you to lose your ministry, that was it. Whatever you did I only hope you've already placed it under the blood of Christ.

Come on Joe, don't just avoid me because of what happened in the past. Man, the time I needed you most was back in college. Of all things, I barely asked you for help while I was in youth group, but then after youth group was when all the crap happened to me. No, don't stinkin' feel guilty over another thing now. All I want is for you to overcome! And the first step would be to talk to me. Or if you've already overcome, talk to me anyway. You know very well that nothing you did was so bad that God can't forgive you. And nothing you did was so bad that you can't tell me, or at least give me an idea of what garbage you had to go through. Don't think that I don't know about all the corruption and evil in the world. And don't think I don't know what Christians have to face all the time, either.

So stop thinking about yourself and your mistakes. You know what to do already. Yes, that's right: bless others with what you've learned from the past and help others to overcome as well. If it'll make you feel better, you could make up for everything by showing me what it means to be more than a conqueror.

I'll talk to you soon.

mtc,

L

Unintelligent

It is incorrect to say that intelligent design is the same as Biblical creationism. Before I begin, there are three terms that need to be defined:

Intelligent Design (ID) - the idea that a higher power created the universe regardless of religious leanings with scientific research supporting the claim.

Creation Science (CS) - scientific research based on the Genesis account of creation.

Biblical Creationism (BC) - acknowledging Genesis as the true account of the universe's origins with God as the Creator.

So to use these terms in a sentence: Acknowledging ID, CS has made great strides in offering support for BC.

Or it can be understood in a secular sense: Acknowledging ID, the Sci-fi club had more proof of the superior ancient alien race that created the universe.

The latter is crap, but it should be more understandable now.

It's round two for Darwinism vs. Creationism in the court of law, this time in Dover, PA. Americans are presently more brainwashed by Darwinism than in the last battle. The more militant Darwinists think that creationists are sneaking in through the back door with this new phrase "Intelligent Design." The media, and a number of creationists, define Intelligent Design as the universe being so complex that there must have been an intelligent agent behind it. While that's true for the most part, I would define ID even further to avoid misunderstanding. It's not so much the complexity issue, even though the universe is more complex than if it had spontaneously generated by chance. Rather I would say that the universe can be understood through the use of reason and we can learn more about it using the tool of science. The complexity idea then is not so much that we can't understand the universe, but that we can understand it! There is something reasonable behind the material world, everything from an atom to a galaxy. Once a person grasps even a few principles behind the workings of the atom or the vastness of a galactic spiral, it would be utterly ridiculous for that person to think that these came to existence by random chance processes.

I read one article by a well-known op-ed writer who tried to dismiss the creationists in this renewed debate. He insisted that there is a huge divide between science and faith. He defined faith as a hopefulness for something that may or may not be true. The example he used was a person rooting for his favorite sports team. He said that no matter how hard that person puts his "faith" in the team, by putting on their jersey or waving their flag at the right moment, there is no way that person has any effect on the team's chances to win. He started off with a bad example to illustrate "faith" and he was only in the first paragraph! By using that illustration, he erroneously thought that faith was akin to luck and hope. It's apparent the man is ignorant of the various definitions of faith and the amount of scientific evidence supporting creationism. Not only that, but he wasn't aware of the differences in the three terms mentioned earlier that he should have known if he were to be part of the debate. Instead he jumped in and displayed to the world his ignorance of "the other side."

Another piece I read was some local man's opinion on the debate. He was a Darwinist scientist who said that creationists rely on "gaps" in the evolutionary record to prove macroevolution wrong. Well, it seems this man has gaps in his understanding of what creationists use to prove our case. This "scientist" obviously didn't have too many discussions with creationists. Yes, Lyell's geological column has a lot of gaps and the carbon 14 dating methods have gaps also, but "gaps" aren't the big guns in the creationist argument. Those are merely a couple of pieces in the puzzle. There are several hundred more ways to disprove Darwinism and I'm only talking about one branch of science - geology. The picture becomes more clear for evolutionists (hopefully) when you include other branches of science like biochemistry, astronomy, genetics, etc.

It's too bad that popular scientific opinions are more readily accepted by the masses than good science.

Simpson silliness

"Me and my family got out of that and came to L.A...To see all forms of meditation and prayer made me less judgmental."
- Jessica Simpson talking about her Southern Baptist background

"What's wrong with that guy?"
- David Spade, in a commercial talking about Joe Simpson, Jessica's dad


Of all the things I could write about, I end up with Jessica Simpson. I don't even consider myself a fan. In fact I don't even think much of her or her music. She's this blonde chick who gets in front of my view every now and then on TV or in a store's check-out line. I have no real reason why I want to respond to anything by Jessica Simpson, no matter how dumb it is. Maybe I just want to loosen up a bit with this blog entry, not get so serious all the time. So instead of being combative let me simply complain. I could care less about the idiotic rumors about her and Lachey. My beef is with the statement she made. My word, what the heck is wrong with Jessica Simpson? It seemed the moment she donned the daisy dukes, she cut off her Christian roots. I won't even say anything about the Boots video. She was walking all over something all right - she walked all over her Baptist background and Christianity in general. Unbelievers do that already. Don't need any volunteers from our side of the fence.

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt...for now. She may not be handling the whole fame and fortune thing so well and is in a period of backsliding. Or, it was a statement that was taken out of context. Maybe she is merely less judgmental like she said and that she meant she just got out of the youth group seminar lifestyle of her dad's. Or, (the most plausible reason) she didn't know what it was all about in the first place, thinking she just came from another one of the world's religions. Joe Simpson's ambition for fame and fortune, done vicariously through his daughters, caused him to neglect his first, foremost important job: raising his kids right in the way of the Lord. Yes, Joe, go ahead and exploit them to the fullest! I'm sure Jessica was just one of those kids who wasn't exposed to other points of view and all she knew was the Southern Baptist way. Then came the glitter and the glamour and she never had the chance to really deliberate in her heart and mind what the Truth was all about. I could just hear her say, "Oh, wow, other people pray also? It's not just a Christian thing? Well, then. I guess all roads lead to the same place!" The depth of thought astounds me. And Joe S. was a youth pastor? Sad. I only hope they figure things out about their lives before God does something drastic to them. They're in the position to influence a whole lot of people for Jesus and yet they're only using it to fulfill their desires. Let's see how this all unfolds.

Meaninglessness

"I am in existential depression."
- Garrison Hoffman, using an Arnold accent watching the end of Predator where Arnold sits in the helicopter expressionless after the final fight.

I heart Huckabees is a movie Camus would've loved and hated. I read Ebert's film review and he didn't get it. He had to watch it twice to get an idea of the plot. Of course he wouldn't get it, he's a film critic, not a philosopher. He isn't familiar with existentialism and all its different fractures. The main character in the movie, Albert, was looking for meaning. For about two hours, he goes to and fro finding meaning in life, whether it is in the cause he champions (not allowing a company to destroy a nearby wooded area making way for a mini-mall) or the love he seeks. This was demonstrated in the very first scene when he started to chase someone who looked like himself; he was trying to find himself. The movie was cute and interesting, but wouldn't be something I'd endorse. Way too much cursing and unnecessary scenes; makes something that could've been decent very unappealing. Other than that, I understand the message of the film, which are a series of questions itself, questions any thoughtful person would ask.

When people are unaware of God, or worse, deny His existence, they end up trying to figure out the answers the harder way. There's the hard way and the harder way. Most people live on the surface, as Dustin Hoffman's character says, which is true. They don't want to take the time to answer the hard questions. They live life in ignorance, enjoying it every now and then, working for most of it, then die. Those who do take the time to search for meaning beyond work-play-die cycle will usually have difficulty figuring things out but inevitably, in their struggle, come across God. Then, to deny God will make the questions even harder to answer. They get this muddied thought-pattern/belief-system that even they can't follow. Or those who are brave enough will follow it to its rational end – nothingness. Life becomes a theatre of the absurd (or in this case a movie of the absurd) when man becomes the center of the story. Sadly, our society is heading in that direction in full speed.

Throughout the movie, he didn't seem to acknowledge the existence of God. There wasn't much space in the movie to acknowledge it at all. Albert began his journey and search for meaning through coincidence. There were a few times when Albert randomly came across "the African guy." Because of those chance encounters, he thought there was something that tied them to each other. In the real world, God would've used that thought pattern to lead a guy like Albert to learn more about Him. The sequence would go like this: Albert meets the African guy; Albert thinks his "coincidence" idea; Albert meets up with the African guy and African guy invites him to dinner with his family, who we find are Christians. At least the director makes a brief visit to the Christian experience, even if it wasn't the best example. In the commentary, the director talks about the irony of Christians (and he included most other religions) that they have big, open hearts, but closed minds. How unfortunate that he considered Christians closed-minded. (The different definitions of open-mindedness I explained in "Straight Talk".)

If something like the Christian family dinner scene happened in real life, the idea of coincidence would've been a perfect way to introduce Albert to the subject of God. The director unfortunately portrayed the family as closed-minded in the sense that they were uninformed of the rest of the world's suffering, intellectual and otherwise. Not only that, but he made the father unloving, which caused Albert to run away from a perfect opportunity to meet more accepting, open-minded, and knowledgeable Christians. The director must have had a similar negative experience with the few Christians he's met in real life. I would've loved to have a discussion with Albert and allow him to see for himself the dearth in existentialism. I guess the belief in the ignorant Christian, both intellectually and socially, is still pervasive in this society. H. L. Mencken, the most popular American journalist during the Scopes trial, described fundamentalist Christians as "peasants and ignoramuses" and it seemed to have stuck over a hundred years later. In my experience, when I was younger, I've always seen Christians as highly intellectual and cosmopolitan as any secular person. My dad and my uncles are scholars with intellect and wit that can run circles around anybody. All the pastors I've ever known were very knowledgeable and aware of the world system. It wasn't until I was in my late teens when I met a broader range of adult Christians, from disappointingly dumb to obnoxiously unloving. Just like the rest of the population, some Christians "get it" about life in general and some don't. For those who are seeking the Truth, I only pray that they meet Christians who are aware. No, I don't expect every Christian to be an expert logician and apologist like C. S. Lewis. But it would be nice that they develop themselves. At least C. S. Lewis wrote great books so that we of lesser degree may share with those who are seriously seeking. Those who are truly open-minded will investigate the claims of Christianity and not just regard it as some hokey religion. Some may consider themselves open-minded but are too lazy to follow through with that claim. Then there are those who, when someone says "Christian," get irritated or uncomfortable and it only shows their prejudice and are themselves closed-minded.

In the end, the director dealt with two major approaches to existentialism: looking for meaning through disconnected deconstruction (nihilistic existentialism) or through interconnectedness (Buddhist existentialism). Whether or not I have the correct terms, it's at least a general description of the conflict between Vaubon and the detectives. No matter how much you synthesize (both/and), the human brain will always express its fundamental binary function, seeing antithesis (either/or). By the end of the movie, given the choice between Vaubon and the detectives, Albert synthesizes the two differing viewpoints, as any good existentialist will do. In principle, he created his own new senseless philosophy and Sisyphus is back where he started. Following the synthesis will lead to meaninglessness once again. Take God out and it will lead to nothingness. Start and end with man and life will be absurd.

The Politics of a Hurricane

One thing is sure, Mayor Nagin is no Rudy Giuliani. While Rudy did something during 9/11, Nagin went on radio and bashed Bush and other conservatives saying they aren't helping and practically blamed them for the flood in New Orleans. He should've just kept quiet and helped people instead of turning a tragedy into a political blame game. Helping people would've made him heroic. But his idiotic rant made him look like a fool. Yes, of course people will help, we all see the need. But there was absolutely no need to take this into the political arena. If he needed to say anything, he should've focused on coming together as Americans to overcome the crisis and not let politics divide us.

The leftists will use any means to blame the Bush administration in order to gain the upperhand in US politics. But it was inexcusable for them to use Hurricane Katrina to try to advance their incongruous ideology. They made it seem like Bush himself caused the hurricane. Some have complained that Bush didn't provide the funds to help in building up the levees. The same complainers said there were computer simulated predictions that this very incident would occur and that Bush ignored it. These people do their best to tear others down in imagined and unprovable ways. First of all, if there’s anyone to blame, it’s the laziness of state and local politicians. There is no excuse why it takes so long to build things that can help people. Then again, the reason why the levees weren’t built was because no matter how big the levees, it won’t do any good; New Orleans sits on some really soft ground. Simply put, the bigger the levees, the quicker the sinking of those levees. And there were enough people who knew of the computer simulations to round up the amount of resources to counter this natural disaster. Waiting for the federal government to do anything only shows they don’t know how to help themselves and don’t know the workings of government. Depending on the government for assistance is unwise and inefficient.

So, why did the National Guard come so late? Is Bush guilty of negligence? No, of course not. There seems to be this overwhelming misunderstanding that only the President has all the responsibility of calling in the National Guard to the rescue. Not so. It was Governor Blanco who had just as much responsibility to call them in. She thought the Red Cross and all the other volunteers were already doing a swell job, but she was ignorant to how large a force was necessary to help. Contrary to popular opinion, the LA National Guard, the Coast Guard, the Red Cross, FEMA, and DHS were poised and ready to help before Katrina made landfall. Within a day, several other state’s National Guard were already helping with rescue efforts. The Coast Guard alone rescued a few thousand within two days of the flooding. What we all saw in the news was the National Guard coming in after Nagin told them to help the local and state police. They weren’t late at all, they were already there. There were a few thousand National Guardsmen doing a whole host of things from rescuing to policing. It was Nagin and Blanco who didn’t know how to use the resources efficiently. Besides, with devastation this large, it usually takes time to gather the troops needed and I don’t blame the National Guard for trickling in over the course of the week, all 7,000 and then some. Within four days there were over 10,000 troops helping, not including all other branches of the military. The media made it seem like the National Guard came five days late and that Bush sat on his hands while the Gulf Coast suffered. And they also made it seem like all of our military were in Afghanistan and Iraq while only a few of them were manning the stateside barracks. Some people come up with the strangest conclusions. A few liberal pundits went so far as to call Bush a racist. I shake my head at that because it is so unnecessary. Goes to show the lack of respect these people have for themselves and their country. They also like to make opinions based on a paltry amount of information. I must admit, the entire rescue effort had a lot of errors. Too much happened with inefficient handling of resources. Nagin and Blanco weren’t prepared for the devastation and worse, didn’t prepare the citizens with information acquired from the previous year. They set the stage to play the blame game, but they ended up as the losers.

I'm not a Bush sycophant, but I know when a leader has a good head on his shoulders and a big heart in his chest. He was man enough to take responsibility for the mistakes of others. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco.

Dropping the bomb

The 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing came and went without a hitch. No poetic terrorist stupidity that would cost lives. It was just a remembrance day, with old Japanese and US vets talking about WWII and the usual pundits doing their TV rounds. The war in Iraq is still in full swing, the confirmation process for Judge Roberts is only heating up, Brits are recovering from the previous month's attack, and New Yorkers are squabbling over security screenings.

Saturday before the anniversary, I was talking to my martial arts teacher, John, and a few other students about the war. One guy named Tony was quite outspoken and was very pessimistic about the war and continually compared it to Vietnam. He claimed to be a conservative, but for the most part, he was spewing liberal garbage that you hear on CNN, MSNBC, talk radio, and the like. I'm glad he knew his history or else I would've dismissed him without further thought. Thing is, even with his knowledge of the Vietnam war, he lumped the two wars together using the similarity of the possibly long time it would take to finish the task. He didn't even acknowledge the huge differences between the two wars other than one is in the Mideast and the other was in Asia. Even then he tried to bridge the two saying that we entered a conflict that was already going on for years. His conclusion: Pull out while we still can and leave them alone to kill themselves. John is conservative as well and simply said the US should just bomb the areas with the most terrorists. Col. Al, John's most talented student, now out in Iraq, told him in a recent e-mail that 85% of Iraq is normal and are rebuilding. The other 15% are the terrorists who cause all the trouble and are being beaten back, slowly but surely. I don't call them insurgents because they're not Republican Guard holding on to the last vestige of Saddam's rule. After Hitler was killed, the Nazis who continued to fight were insurgents. These guys killing the Marines (an average of 1 Marine killed for every 25 terrorists killed I might add) don't even have the dignity to be called insurgents.

I read an opinion that said the US military should capture and destroy Mecca to teach terrorists a lesson. No, I'd have to dismiss that because it's strategically unsound in an asymmetrical war (instead of just a small number of Muslim terrorists as WMDs there will be millions more created because of that action) and besides, the force vs. force principle should be used sparingly.

In an asymmetrical war, tactics are drastically different from WW II battles and a whole different world from Napoleonic battles. It is guerilla warfare on steroids. There is not only no walls but there are no boundaries, which means the US is vulnerable. (I’ll talk about the extremist Muslim mindset another time.) The enemy can enter the US and blend in easily. I agree that there are similarities to the Vietnam war in the terrorists’ tactic: soldiers that look like civilians. Except this time around the terrorists are not soldiers, they ARE the civilians. And in Iraq, there are civilians from other countries helping the extremists in that country. There are no more clear lines.

Also, the other similarity to the Vietnam war is the media coverage. Although, in this type of war, especially with the communications technology we have, the terrorists have figured out a variation to their one main strategy, one they always use: strike fear into the hearts of your enemy. The terrorists know they can’t win against US Marines. They’re being beaten back daily and methodically by the US. The terrorists also know that American news will always focus on bloodshed. So their only way to beat the US is to beat the American citizen in a mind game. Their strategy is to bomb and kill consistently and almost always, the media will faithfully cover it. This news will dishearten American citizens who will then influence politicians into pressuring Bush to pull the US military out of Iraq. Beautiful strategy, incorporating a simplified psy-ops and using your enemy’s strength (US citizens) against them. Of course, Bush and his team are well aware of good strategy and as he has said many times before, will stay the course. Pulling out now will spell victory for the terrorists and will leave a vacuum for something worse later on. The whole “clean the house of one demon only to find it occupied by seven more” principle.

That’s one big lesson to learn from Vietnam – we do not leave until we’re done. It took ten years for Germany to become a sovereign nation again after World War II and that was after millions were killed. Leaving Vietnam was a huge mistake and cost the lives of more people than if we had stayed and rethought our strategy (as in let the military make the decisions, not politicians from the other side of the world). If people really want Iraq to be like Vietnam then we leave now. If not, then we should stay. The rebuilding of Iraq is moving faster than expected. Yes, it will take time and lives will be lost. Staying the course is the best decision. Bush didn’t have to focus so much on the WMD in the very beginning. If anything, he should have said that the terrorists themselves were the WMD and that Saddam was paying people to kill Americans. Then he could have emphasized the freedom of the Iraqi, since the war is called Operation Iraqi Freedom, not Operation Get the WMD. One thing is certain, this is definitely different from World War II and the Vietnam war and to compare it exactly to either one is ignorance.