A (World)View of "Camelot"

Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer this past Tuesday, leaving behind a tainted legacy. He was the liberals' champion and the conservatives' arch-enemy. But this post is not about his works or where his soul might be resting right now (if it is resting at all). There is something he said at a dinner, more than 20 years ago, that has shed a spotlight on a current issue. The following is an excerpt from Yahoo's biographical article on him.

When a Moral Majority fundraising appeal somehow arrived at his office one day in the early 1980s, word leaked to the public, and the conservative group issued an invitation for him to come to Liberty Baptist College if he was ever in the neighborhood.

Pleased to accept, was the word from Kennedy.

"So I told Jerry (Falwell) and he almost turned white as a sheet," said Cal Thomas, then an aide to the conservative leader.

Dinner at the Falwell home was described as friendly.

Dessert was a political sermon on tolerance, delivered by the liberal from Massachusetts.

"I believe there surely is such a thing as truth, but who among us can claim a monopoly?" Kennedy said from the podium that night. "There are those who do, and their own words testify to their intolerance."

"Tolerance" has a become a buzzword and a banner, used by the secular left, to push an agenda of relativistic morality (or none at all) and gain acceptance of practices and beliefs that have historically been frowned upon by the populace-at-large. Drug use, sexual promiscuity and deviancy, abortion, and entertainment being some of the most obvious examples.

How ironic that Kennedy confessed a belief in (absolute) truth, but in the same breath denied the possibility that anyone could know it. By accusing such people of intolerance, he himself demonstrates a similar intolerance toward those very same folks.

In general, many vocal non-Christians accuse Christians of being intolerant, just because we espouse to the immutable truths found in the Word of God. But God Himself is the very image of tolerance. Anyone who's read the Bible cover-to-cover knows how infinitely patient and forgiving God is. Just look in the Books of Judges and 1 and 2 Kings, how often the Israelites rebelled against Him, and yet He always heard their pleas of repentance. Jesus patiently tolerated not only the doubts and nearsightedness of His own disciples, as well as the humiliation of imprisonment, torture, and the cross. How many sinners does He even today allow to live to a ripe old age?

On the other hand, God told the Israelites, as they were about to enter Canaan, to mercilessly and utterly wipe out the nations around them. He warned them that if they failed to do so, their heathen neighbors would be a stumblingblock to them and lead them astray. Naturally, God's chosen people disobeyed, and we all know the results. Likewise, I think Christians as a whole have been too tolerant of society's moral slipping and sliding, to the point where we have not only become the extremist minority, but we and our children are being assaulted every day by the filth that runs through our streets, like open sewers (paraphrasing from a Carman song).

Is there a way back? Some, looking at Revelation, say that things will just keep getting worse and worse, until He finally makes His triumphant return. But I say, even if the Titanic's sinking, we should not just sit there playing fiddle, but get as many as we can to the liferafts.

So don't let the atheists shoot you down with accusations of intolerance, hatred, and judgmentality, for they are guilty of the very same thing they accuse you of. Invite them to remove the beam out of their own eyes, before they start looking for slivers in yours.

As you can see, I don't tolerate people who call me intolerant. ;)

And the War Wages On...

And the assault continues. TIME reports that Richard Dawkins and the Humanist Association (you can look them up on Wikipedia), have placed atheist ads on London buses. But Christian groups are fighting back with their own ad campaign, aimed at poking fun at the atheist ads.

Dawkins is a world-(in)famous atheist and author, who is quoted at the end of the article as saying, "If more people think for themselves, we'll have fewer religious people." You know, the guy's absolutely right, though he doesn't know it. Jesus doesn't want (as my dad says) "religious drones;" He wants people who will make the willful decision to love and serve Him. The Bible shows time and time again that tradition and mindless religion only lead to idolatry and sin. But the Apostles and prophets invite us to "come and let us reason together", and to reach a full understanding of salvation. The Bible says time and time again, that we are to serve God with not just our bodies and hearts, but with our minds, too! That means He's not afraid of being exposed as a fraud by the thinkers or philosophers or logicians. If anything, an honest search for the truth will only further confirm not only God's existence, but also His omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and infinite love.

Christians do indeed think for themselves, Mr. Dawkins. If you begin to do the same, perhaps you will also become one, someday. Better not wait to find out on the other side!

:)

8-Year-Old May Sing About Jesus at School

If that cat is real, it's the biggest one I've ever seen!!!
I just heard about this on Air1 and thought I'd let you all know. Apparently, Bailey won the opportunity to sing any song she wanted, at her school, as long as it was approved by the administration. She picked Darrell Evans' "Trading My Sorrows," but it was rejected at first, because it contained the word "Lord". Her parents contacted the ACLJ (a charitable organization that fights for religious freedoms; think of it as the Anti-ACLU), and then informed the school that it was within Bailey's Constitutional rights to sing that song. I don't imagine there would be any infringement of "separation of church and state," since the school did not pick the song.

The school reversed their decision and even thanked her parents for clearing up the issue.

The singer called her, to thank her and give her encouragement. Way to go, Bailey!

Click here to read the whole story.

This story reinforces my belief that the vast majority of people in this country are tolerant and even friendly toward religious expression, particularly Christianity. But people in authority too often bend to the will of a tiny but vocal minority (that sue-happy atheist, anyone?), that threatens to sue, if they so much as sneeze the wrong way. It's a form of extortion, my friends, and we need to stand up to it.

In the News

U.S. Elections

Yes, we all know how that turned out. I was reading an article on CNN today, that tried to explain why the win seemed so lop-sided. While the statistics are not yet fully analyzed, the percent turnout was much higher among Democrats than Republicans. This means that while Obama's supporters were energized to vote, many more of his detractors (not all of them actually supported McCain) stayed home.

But here's something very interesting, that should give us all hope. As you can see from the map above, both Florida and California sided with Obama. However, both states also voted to ban gay "marriage". In California, voters were almost 2:1 for Obama, yet a decisive majority were for the ban! Furthermore, while Floridians narrowly favored Obama, around a 2:1 majority were for banning gay "marriage"! In fact, all four gay "marriage" bans passed, which is encouraging news to me that there is still a strong air of conservative values, across our country.

For the past couple elections, I noted a very interesting statistic that most (if not all) of the urban centers lean Left (some overwhelmingly so), while less populated areas lean to the Right. This split is particularly obvious in our own Washington state. It seems something happens when you cross the Cascades! Maybe it's the thinner air or reduced humidity. Someone should totally do a study on that!

In the News

I had gotten such a good response on my post on worldviews, I was really reluctant to move on, but it was time. I've got something really neat to share, that the Lord showed me a while ago, but first...

Gay "Marriage" Vote in California

Jeff was the first to draw my attention to this latest installment of the nation-wide battle against this abomination. I counted that state as already lost, until I read this article from TIME.com. At stake on Nov. 4 is Proposition 8, which aims to ban gay "marriage" in California. Voters already approved such a measure in 2000, but a recent California Supreme Court ruling struck down that law, forcing conservatives to put the issue up to the voters again. Recent polls show that public opinion is split about 50/50. If you live in California, I urge you to vote YES on Proposition 8!

Anyway, here's a scary peek at the strategy of the pro-gay groups. As you probably know, they've been winning crucial court decisions in several states, while losing at the voting booths, by wide margins. Read what one of their main activists has to say in the article:

Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Washington-based Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, an advocacy organization that specializes in using ballot initiatives to further liberal causes, says her group picks its battles in fighting anti-gay-marriage amendments largely because most votes aren't even close. "We would never bring gay marriage up before the voters," she says. "This is [our opponents'] strategy." She admits they've been terribly good at it.

In other words, these groups are bent on imposing their secular progressive agenda on a population that largely disagrees with their views! They want the select few (themselves and the judiciary) to force their will on the majority of the populace. But I thought this was a democracy!

But wait! There's a little more:

Wilfore says she's prepared to take the long view in California. "I am not going to be discouraged if we lose," she says. Victory will come over time in the courts, as demographics works its influence on the nation's voting patterns, she says, noting that young people support gay marriage far more than their parents and grandparents do. "A lot of people are going to have to die" before Election Day is an easy day for gay marriage, she says.

I know this isn't what she meant, but she is basically implying that those who oppose government sponsorship of the abominable sin of sodomy should die... and the sooner the better.

We need to stand together and united against the amoral, vocal minority in our country, which desires to remove God from all aspects of our daily lives, starting with laws that make it harder and harder to live the Christian life.

In the News

Fireproof

The Kendrick brothers have come up with yet another Christian hit movie! Fireproof is in theathers now! My wife and I have not seen it yet, but we really enjoyed their previous two movies: Flywheel and Facing the Giants. Here's a CNN article, talking about its unexpected popularity. It's encouraging to see Biblically-based, family-friendly movies enjoy such popularity, in a world that tries so hard to shut God out.

Fireproof is the story of a firefighter whose marriage is on the brink. While on the job, the husband's philosophy is "never leave your partner behind," he's willing to do just that, on the home front. The movie depicts the personal journey he undertakes, in an effort to save his marriage.

While Flywheel and Facing the Giants were two of our 8-year-old's favorites (he wanted to watch them over and over, on DVD), the subject matter in Fireproof is too grown-up for young children. Although the Kendricks handle everything in a sensitive way, adult issues, such as adultery and pornography, are significant in the starring couple's marital problems.

One interesting trivia fact is that lead actor Kirk Cameron has a rule that he never kisses anyone but his wife; a noble creed, given Hollywood's loose morals. So, in the movie, whenever he is shown kissing his on-screen wife, the filmmakers actually used his real wife, as a "stunt" double. Awww, that's sweet! :)

In the News

I am an avowed news website addict, and although most of the news today is disheartening, I was blessed by this video from CNN.com. Here's a little girl who's running for Student President at her school, and she is unafraid to stand up for her faith in Jesus Christ. What's almost as encouraging are all the people they interviewed, who support her.

Jesus said that we must become as little children, in order to enter into His Kingdom. How fitting that a little child so unabashedly demonstrates that same kind of faith! God bless her!