Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Faith without works is dead. But for Christians that hold legal and honest employment, why can't ones' daily routine rank among such works? For did not God also create the physical realm or other assorted spheres that these various occupational tasks keep functional? Hyperlegalists and the ultrapious will likely respond that such deeds cannot qualify as a good work because one is financially compensated for them. But according to that logic, nothing that a minister does on behalf of the particular church they represent counts as a good work either since the deed is being carried out as part of the duties for which the journeyman theologian is reimbursed.
Obama Insists The Best Way To Honor Trayvon Is To Undermine The Second Amendment
Reflections Upon The Lone Ranger Film
However, it is somewhat saddening that in many remakes beloved classic pulp culture characters are held up to ridicule.
As much as liberals complain how Indians such as Tonto were depicted decades ago, this Johnny Depp interpretation exhibited none of the dignity of the original.
Neither did the Ranger exhibit the intelligence and courage that place him in the same league of other great heros such as Superman.
Though not as bad as the Green Hornet a few years ago, before adding unnessary profanity to a screenplay about an American icon, perhaps Disney should stop and consider how it would like such earthy dialogue flying out of the mouth of Mickey Mouse or any character he is interacting with.
At one time, Disney did not want Annete Funicello wearing a two piece bathingsuit on screen.
It's doubtful he'd approve of a film with his brand attached depicting urine flowing into a bucket or someone's head deliberately being dragged through a pile of horse turds.
By Frederick Meekins
Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Obama Voters Set White Lad Aflame
But it's the victim that should be grilled by authorities to make sure nothing but glowing terms of admiration and respect flowed from his melting and blistering lips for his attackers.
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Malnourished Imaginations Fail To Comprehend The Significance Of “The Hunger Games”
This includes segments of the Evangelical Christian population as well. One might assume adherents of this particular belief system might be concerned about the violence and language that would seem to be inherent to a tale about teens forced to battle to the death in a form of televised postmodern gladiatorial combat.
Even if details in the story cross the line in terms of propriety, one would think there would be a number of elements within the overriding theme that the believer could find agreement.
A great deal of the saga focuses on how, as the West slides deeper into social decay, conditions revert back to the waning days of Rome. However, the issues raised by homeschool activist Kevin Swanson are in a sense even more shocking than the homicidal lotteries featured in the story.
In a sermon addressing “The Hunger Games”, Swanson focused in on a scene where one contestant plotted to eliminate a fellow competitor while they slept. To determine whether such an action was right or wrong, Swanson consulted the account in I Samuel 24 where David could have slain Saul but did not do so while the king slept because, at that point in the narrative, Saul was still the Lord's anointed King of Israel.
Instead of explicating both the Old Testament account and “The Hunger Games” as an example of where the Commandment against murder might apply, it seemed as if Swanson elevated the actions of David themselves to the status of an absolute applicable in all situations just because it was David.
Let's just hope Swanson doesn't look to what David had done to Uriah as an example of what a man should do when he desires an unattainable woman. So from the story of of Abigail's first husband, should one take away that we should threaten to whack those that diss us (to place the story in the terms of the urban vernacular of those likely on public assistance)?
Yet this is not the most controversial component of Kevin Swanson's thesis. It's not too ludicrous to hypothesize it's not very courageous to slay your enemies while they slept. Swanson conjectures that, since David would not kill King Saul in the monarch's sleep since God had unequivocally selected Saul to be King of Israel at that specific time, the Christian is obligated to allow the operatives of an out of control government to take the lives of Americans without due process or valid cause under the universal precepts of natural law.
If exegetes arguing this position couple this notion with obeying civil authoroties in all instances, where does that end? If during the ambush police, intelligence operatives, or military personnel decide to have their way with the daughters of the proper pliant Christian, would they condemn those resisting such defilement? If not, then why must citizens passively surrender their lives and their property when their other protections from the Decalogue are wantonly violated?
Enthusiasts of unbridled power will remark that such a scenario is unlikely to ever take place. But what of the incident where New York police were alleged to have shoved a plunger up a suspect's backside? If the government is doing such things, is the proper Christian response suppose to be “Please, sir, may I have another?”
In the years ahead, Christians will be required to make ethical decisions of nuanced gradation as the institutions founded from on high to defend the innocent abandon their intended purpose to rank among the foremost of dangers. Narratives such as The Hunger Games, even if Christians cannot endorse them on every point, can assist believers in reflecting upon contingencies beyond the parameters of their normal experience.
By Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Trayvonites Beat Property Owner Into Critical Condition
Too bad the mainstream media is not as outraged over this as they are Paula Deen.
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Monday, July 08, 2013
Legalists Rally Against The Speculative Fiction Menace
This pastor contends that the true Christian ought to avoid the film all togeher since the symbols and motifs utilized in the story could be coopted by the Son of Perdition to delude the unsuspecting into accepting the End Times 'deceiver as the Son of God.
But the question must be asked, how does this pastor know so much about the movie if he is not simply suggesting discernment should one decide to view the film but that the film be avoided altogether?
By bringing up a topicthat does not appear blatantly wicked on the surface, doesn't a pastor worthy of the respect and pay as such have to encourage those in his congregation to be like the Bereans and to then investigate the claims on their own which might entail actually watching the film to determine for themselves whether the conclusions made by the minister are valid or not?
How does Superman not live up to Christian values if we take the narrative at face value? He doesn't make the world bow at his feet demanding worship, he renders his services for free, and for decades let the woman he's attracted to treat him like dirt before she realized who he was.
Doesn't Zod serve as evidence of what Superman would be like if he was not a highly moral individual?
The arguments against comic books and fantasy films spouted from the pulpits of the extremes of fundamentalist Christianity only decline in lucidity from that particular logical plateau.
Pastor James Cooley condemned Batman as a humanist for relying primarily upon his mind to solve crimes.
So I guess we should wait idly by for all of life's problems to miraciously resolve themselves with no effort on our part?
Another pastor condemning the conceptual construct of the superhero narrative said that God has called us to “kingdom work” and not fighting aliens.
But we may be on the cusp of a time when those missions are about to overlap.
A pastor opposed to superhero stories and comic books insisted that such narratives were wicked because intrinsic to the structure was an attempt to save the world.
So by that standard, it would be immoral to write a novel about the military especially during a conflict like World War II?
Pastor James Cooley, in a sermon titled “Super Heroes Replace Christ” said, “JRR Tolkien was a lost Catholic that went to hell, amen.”
Indeed Tolkien did if he did not rely soley on Christ to save him from his sins But so does the confused Baptist that thinks adhering to all of the Baptist peculiarities (including avoiding comic books and fantasy movies) are necessary to attest to the authenticity of one's faith.
In a sermon condemning superhero entertainment, a legalist complained that you can't have a decent understandable conversation with someone that watches movies and plays video games.
Now the legalist knows how the rest of us feel in dealing with someone whose faith doesn't simply inform or influence what they say and do but is the only thing they can obsessively talk about.
By Frederick Meekins