Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Flash/Supergirl Crossover Event Announced

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Leftist Presbyterian Beatifies Starvation With Sacramental Aura

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Lutheran Education & Vocation

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Will Darth Maul Get Another Chance?

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Monday, February 01, 2016

Danger: Overhead Obstacles

Photo by Frederick Meekins

Next Doctor Who Season Delayed Until 2017

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Bishop Of Washington Insists Christ Pleased With Those Violating His Intentions For Marriage

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Jim Bakker Sets Tribulation’s Date In Order To Peddle Meals Ready To Eat

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Is Pastor Abedini A Wife Beater?

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Southern Baptist Condemns Trump For Failing To Pander To Women & Minorities

James 1:8 warns that a double minded man is unstable in all that he does. Few religious leaders on the scene today typifies what this Scripture is getting at as Southern Baptist ethics and public policy functionary Russell Moore.

In an op-ed published in the New York Times, this theologian wrote, “Donald J. Trump stands astride the polls in the Republican presidential race... Most illogical is his support from evangelicals and other social conservatives. To back Mr. Trump, these voters must repudiate everything they believe.”

As not only a graduate of the Southern Baptist Convention's most prestigious seminary but also as a professor at the school as well, shouldn't Dr. Moore know that words mean things? Some possess very precise definitions.

In academic writing courses such as the infamous English 101, one of the first things students learn is to be cautious when applying words such as “all”. For if your opponent can find as few as a single counterexample, they have pretty much derailed your argument.

However, in his fanaticism, Rev. Moore insists that to vote for Donald Trump is to repudiate everything which the Christian professes to believe. But casting a ballot for a limited number of reasons barely touches on any essential Christian doctrine.

Granted, there was one off his rocker Charismatic or holy roller that attempted to make the eschatological case that Trump was the trump to be blown in the Book of Revelation. However, at no time has a Christian holding to an orthodox understanding or interpretation who also supports the Trump candidacy renounced the so-called fundamentals of the Gospel message. These would of course be that Christ as the only begotten Son of God and second member of the divine trinity took on human form being born of a virgin so that He might live the sinless life that we could not in order to die upon the cross and rise from the dead as payment for our sins so that those that might believe in Him could enjoy eternal resurrected life with Him in Heaven.

In his analysis, Rev. Moore raises of number of valid concerns regarding Donald Trump's moral shortcomings and failures. Of Trump's behavior towards women, Moore writes, “His attitude towards women is that of a Bronze Age warlord. He tell us in one of his books that he revels in the fact that he gets to sleep with some of the top women in the world. He has divorced two wives (so far) for other women.”

Such should give the Christian striving to live up to the rigors of Biblical morality cause for concern. However, to categorize Trump's attitude as that of a “Bronze Age warlord” is a bit over the top.

It is probably safe to assume at no time did Donald Trump impose his physical affections upon women that were not receptive to his amorous advances. As a multibillionaire, he'd probably have too much to loose in a post-Anita Hill era where rumors and allegations are too easily believed.

Unless these are rape victims, aren't these wenches as every bit the depraved whoremonger as Donald Trump? Just as Donald Trump prides himself on his carnal conquests, the women he has bestowed the honor of pleasuring him carnally have probably have had their own egos stroked (along with a few other things) by the fact that a man of his wealth and power would extend to them this kind of attention.

As an archetypal capitalist, Trump is probably quite good to these women from a material standpoint. These aren't the aging church biddies with so much hairspray that their beehives or bouffants would likely catch afire should they wander to close to an open flame. Those operating in Trump's circles know what they are getting into when they catch his eye and likely even seek out that kind of attention from the likes of him.

If Dr. Moore is going to condemn Bronze Age mentalities towards women, does he intend to criticize some of the teachings propagated by the likes of the Duggar's? For example, of that family's twenty some children, does Dr. Moore find it strange that not a single one has really attempted a college education? And what about the teaching emanating from the Duggar compound that even a pregnant wife is obligated to physically service her husband anytime he awakens in the middle of the night with an urge or an itch?

Russell Moore further writes, “In the 1990's, some of these social conservatives argued that 'If Bill Clinton's wife can't trust him, neither can we.' If character matters, character matters. Today's evangelicals should ask, 'Whatever happened to our commitment to traditional family values?'.”

In part, that once strong conviction was been undermined by self-styled sophisticates such as Russell Moore positioned higher along the ladder of ecclesastical position that go out of their way to enunciate their contempt upon those seen as mere pewfillers with little purpose other than depositing coins in the collection plate when so ordered. In other columns, Rev. Moore has gone out of his way to express a giddy delight at the demise of so-called “cultural Christianity”, described as an interpretation of the faith more concerned with the preservation of the social norms derived from the faith perhaps at times even more so than the relationship between the individual and the Savior.

However, what Moore has criticized in such cases is apparently not so much activist Christianity. For he certainly has little problem with advancing policies that perpetuate his own perceptions of White guilt bordering on that exhibited among the ranks of the Emergent Church Movement.

Dr. Moore writes, “Mr. Trump incites division, with slurs against Hispanic immigrants and with protectionist jargon that preys on turning economic insecurity into ugly 'us” versus 'them' identity politics. When evangelicals should be leading the way on racial reconciliation, as the Bible tells us to, are we really ready to trade unity with our black and brown brothers...for this angry politician?”

Regarding “protectionist jargon”, would Russell Moore be as giddy at the prospect of foreign labor depressing what are no doubt his own extravagant wages and posh expense accounts? Like many a hillbilly pastor, Russell Moore can no doubt prattle on for hours about how hard he probably toiled in the cotton fields, bayous, or coal mines.

But only in his mid 40's, it is doubtful much dirt has accumulated under his manicured fingernails or callouses formed on his hands. The most profound physical strain Dr. Moore has encountered in his occupational position as of late has probably been an occasional paper cut.

Perhaps we mere pewfillers ought to embrace Dr. Moore's call for stagnate or declining wages. It would mean, after all, fewer dollars that we would be required to be slipped into the collection plate.

From his own actions, Russell Moore's call for racial reconciliation amounts to little more than aligning himself with Evangelical front groups that deep down advocate their own distinct hue of racial separatism at best or ethnosupremacism at worst in that (to put it in a plainspoken manner) despise the White race (or however else you want to describe Caucasoids in this era where whatever flies out of the mouth of someone of that demographic extraction attempting to stand for their particular people or heritage will be coopted in order to indict the enucinator with allegations of hate speech or thought crimes).

For example, Russell Moore sits on the board of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference. Of that, the discerning believer ought to ask a number of questions that in today's climate could result in either losing their position as a Sunday school teacher or deacon and might even lead to their church membership being revoked.

Firstly, would a group of that name open its positions of leadership to individuals advocating a Buchananite foreign or immigration policy? If not, how are these sectarians any better than the ministries that focus upon family values such as abortion or the preservation of heterosexual marriage now condemned as divisive by the religious progressives that applaud ethnic and racialist agitation?

Secondly and perhaps even more importantly, would Russell Moore sit on the board of an organization titled something like the Coalition For Nordic or Teutonic Evangelicals? If not, why should such an organization be any less commendable than one advocating that someone is deserving of special praise, adulation, or accommodation just because they happen to be Hispanic?

Interesting, isn't it, that the Scripture that there is neither Greek nor Jew is only presented for exegetical contemplation when it can be invoked to criticize the tendency of Whites to gravitate towards others of their own particular phenotype? The admonition is conveniently overlooked when certain grievance industry minorities have no problem with judging someone by the color of skin rather than by the content of character.

There are indeed a number of reasons to be concerned regarding a potential Trump Presidency. Without a doubt, this tycoon excels at expressing many of the concerns and frustrations weighing on the hearts and minds of average Americans. However, many of his proposals and solutions seem lacking in the specifics that would be needed to get the country from the state of crisis in which we presently find ourselves to the more solid footing Donald Trump promises in a manner that would adhere to the liberties and procedures of a constitutional republic while minimizing the social disruption that would likely result from a dramatic alteration in governmental policy and approach.

Apparently Russell Moore intends to posture and preen in an attempt to acquire accolades for himself from progressives by heaping condemnation upon those giving what Donald Trump has to say a serious hearing. In his reflection, perhaps Russell Moore ought to as seriously reflect upon the role he himself has played in propagating a milieu where many Americans no longer feel as if they have a place any longer in either this country or even the church.

By Frederick Meekins

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Toddlers Brainwashed Into Cultic Compliance

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Friday, January 29, 2016

Golden Bovine

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Orthodox Political Theology For The 21st Century

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Lessons From C.S. Lewis

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Artificial Intelligence: Dream Or Nightmare?

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Pat Buchanan Discusses The State Of The Union & Nikki Haley’s Response

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Danish Maiden Punished For Refusing To Submit As Islamist Sex Slave

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Should Pharmacies Be Compelled To Peddle Human Pesticides?

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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Reformation & The Printing Press

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Pope Admits Roman Catholics Just As Much At Fault For Reformation Upheaval

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Denominations: The Methodist Movement

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The Subtle Lie Of Emergent Theology

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Introductory Lesson On Wicca & Witchcraft

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Retiring Episcopal Hierarch Calls For Communist Upheaval

In reflection on her term as the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church posted at YouTube, Katharine Schori said that the reign of God would look like a society where there is justice in the sense that nobody lives in want and nobody has too much.

Given that the apostate wing of Anglicanism isn't exactly known for its apocalyptic millennialism or even a literalist interpretation where these eschatological expectations can only be fulfilled at the Second Advent of Christ's return, such a statement ought to be a cause for concern.

There is little reason to object to the aspiration of everybody being free from want provided they lift a finger of their own to some degree in pursuit of this ideal.

However, without Christ Himself on scene to render such a verdict, who is to say what constitutes “too much”?

Might “too much” be the ostentatious vestments and silly hats many belonging to this retired bishop's particular denomination like to prance about in?

If these functionaries really cared about the equitable distribution of recourses, they could still solemnly fulfill the requirements of their ritual and liturgy in little more than a collared clergy shirt running not more than $50 online.

More importantly, how are those that “don't have enough” necessarily negatively impacted by my having “too much”?

What if one has more simply because one has been a better steward of what one has been blessed?

By Frederick Meekins

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Unearhtly Beings

Rather than embrace the salvation there for the taking provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a growing percentage would rather put their trust in alleged visitors from outer space planning to usher humanity into a New Age utopia under the guise of a “benevolent dictatorship”.

A good example of this increasingly-pervasive UFO mythology appeared in an edition of the Prince George’s Journal when one of the columnists exhibited a number of the typical intellectual and spiritual fallacies surrounding this controversial issue. For starters, the columnist assumes the federal government is concealing alien corpses from another planet or knowledge pertaining thereof under lock and key in the deserts of the Southwest.

Our government might be guilty of many things (including psychic warfare according to various reports), but harboring extraterrestrial biological remains is probably not one of them. Naturally, people are going to see strange things in the skies above Roswell and Area 51; it is, after all, where experimental aircraft are tested, many of which in all likelihood do not conform to popular aeronautical configurations.

The philosophical reasoning of the columnist under consideration is even more fuddled than her historical assumptions. The columnist complains about the popular conception that the universe’s non-human inhabitants are diabolical and bent on interstellar domination. But she herself then makes the equally egregious error in assuming any extraterrestrial intelligence must be in a moral sense inherently superior to any human being.

Many of the great Western thinkers of both the classical and Christian traditions contend human beings possess the same nature the world over, operating along an established behavioral continuum. Isn’t it safe to assume that sentient life across the universe would adhere to a similar standard?

Popular science fiction seems to bear this out as television programs in this genre exhibit a wide array of alien psychologies often in the span of a single episode.

On Star Trek alone, Vulcans value the intellect while Klingons revel in bloodshed; the Borg epitomize Communism as they have no rulers yet all are slaves having their individuality sublimated to the prerogatives of the collective. The Bajorans of Deep Space Nine are deeply religious, the shows producers using them to comment on the role of religious faith in light of the Space Age. On Babylon 5, the Vorlons claim to stand for universal order while pursuing their own nefarious agenda. So much for extraterrestrials being superior.

It seems from this small sampling that such creatures would be as complex and varied as the nations and peoples now inhabiting our own world. Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry through his work seemed to argue humans would actually be the ones providing a sense of balance to galactic affairs with the so-called aliens actually the ones for the most part exhibiting behavioral and philosophical extremes.

It seems the incessant praise of all things alien might just be another attack on the wonders man has accomplished in his few short millennia of existence. The liberals who bash human ignorance in light of the knowledge an advanced extraterrestrial civilization would have to offer turn around and praise the backwards peoples of the Earth such as jungle tribesman and desert nomads.

Applying this heuristic of the “noble savage” (to borrow Rousseau’s term), wouldn’t us simple Earthfolk bring enlightenment to the interplanetary voyagers? Perhaps we simpletons would even persuade them to abandon their vile space-faring technology (which no doubt pollutes the solar winds) for a way of life more in tune with the principles of cosmic sustainability confined to a single planet.

By Frederick Meekins

The End Of Humanity

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Deluded Messianic Rabbi Continues To Peddle Shemitah Swill

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Thursday, January 21, 2016

Permit Parking Sign

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Meteorologists Covering Their Rears By Referring To Predictions Of Pending Doom As “Models” Rather Than “Forecasts”

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United Methodists Deny God’s Hand In Creation

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Will Your Smart Appliances Rat You Out To Law Enforcement & The Intelligence Community?

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Headline Potpourri #82

Rochester, New York canceled New Year fireworks for fear of terrorism. How many other holiday celebrations will be canceled in the years ahead over similarly fabricated threats? The same bureaucrats pulling this stunt probably support open borders and refuge relocation.
Religious hucksters Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis insist that they retain access to their private jetliners in order to protect these ministers from the demonic entities that apparently prefer to fly in coach. So what about the remainder of we mere pewfillers? If this really was the case, instead of hogging this opulent form of travel for themselves, wouldn't true men of God instead open some kind of charter flight service for traveling Christians?
Is there a reason that we should be outraged over the White House spying on members of Congress and visiting foreign dignitaries when media propagandists and administration functionaries constantly harp that those not celebrating the diminution of individual privacy are mentally deficient to the point of political subversion?
It is claimed in an anti-bullying public service announcement featuring a number of ABC celebrities that there is not one correct way to be. As such, kindness is urged. But isn't that an assertion that there is indeed a correct way to be?
It is being suggested that additional taxation be levied to battle the ISIS threat. If additional revenue is required, that is an admission that the taxes that have been collected are not being utilized effectively. So why shouldn't we conclude that a so-called “ISIS tax” won't be similarly squandered?
Apparently a militia group has occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge. And that is worse than the antics of the Occupy movement or Black Lives Matter why?
Regarding those that attended the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in costumed regalia, Neil Cavuto of Fox News remarked such was a symptom of the end of civilization as we know it. Maybe so. But was he as blunt in his condemnation of gay matrimony? Isn't the usual modus operandi of the economic wing of Fox News to determine the rightness or wrongness of a thing by calculating the wad of money it has accrued? For example, the network's approval of pee wee football coaches verbally degrading the tykes playing under them? So why are Star Wars fans more condemnable than out of control sports enthusiasts? Would Cavuto ridicule the film to the same extent if Star Wars was still owned by his corporate overlords at Fox rather than Disney?
In terms of the Clinton Foundation, Hillary insisted in 2009 that she or her husband accrue no financial interest in the charity. As if couple live in such a state of destitution that the hookers Bill must settle for are the toothless meth addicts with the sunken in faces.
In a commercial for a wifi video doorbell, a man rings the device. A woman depicted at a cafe replies she's busy bathing the children at the moment. The conspicuously pious will fly into conniptions how this woman is guilty of bearing false witness. But there is a more important concern regarding her response. Wouldn't her response indicate to a potential assailant or predator that she is home alone unprotected with defenseless urchins? Where is there any requirement that you are obligated to open a door or to provide a reason as to why you are not to someone that you do not know?
Did police drag their feet in bringing Bill Cosby to justice because he is a Freemason?
Unlike Black Lives Matter, the “Bundy Militia” occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon have yet to loot haircare products, smartphones or destroyed any property. Will Southern Baptist functionaries Russell Moore plead now for the need to understand the plight of rural Caucasians and why urbanites need to beseech the forgiveness from the Almighty for the wrong perpetrated against that particular demographic?
Under the Obama regime gun control executive directives, certain individuals on Social Security could potentially be denied their Second Amendment rights. Is that so they won't be put up much resistance when the Healthcare Reform Act death panels come for them?
In the account of Gideon elaborated in Judges 6, Gideon's army was divided along the lines of those that knelt over to drink and those that cupped the water in their hands. Isn't it a bit much to insist that the hand drinkers were somehow superior to the slurpers? There does not seem to be anything to indicate in the Scriptures that the slurping of water was somehow forbidden in the Mosaic code. The response for generations throughout the history of homiletics has been that those drinking with their hands possessed what today is termed situational awareness. Maybe so. But at each step of the winnowing process, wasn't God attempting to prevent the nation of Israel from finding a basis upon which they could congratulate themselves for victory against the Midianites? God simply needed a criteria by which to reduce the assembled throng down to His required number. The fuss that has been made over the hand drinkers from the pulpit over the years is akin to suggesting that the twelve impaneled on a jury are better from a moral standpoint than the remainder of the summoned pool.
At the CNN gun control forum, President Obama counseled that at best firearms only protect those that they are intended to protect only in a few instances. More often, these implements end up injuring those that they are intended to protect. If so, for the President's sake, shouldn't the Secret Service be disarmed?
The network ABC Family is changing its name to “Freeform”. The executives must really want to broadcast some debauched and bawdy programming with out attracting the sarcastic scrutiny that would likely result from the name “Family” still being attached.
Will the ecclesiastical potentates in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposing America's “cowboy culture” and applauding President Obama's dictatorial gun control proposals call upon the Vatican to set a planetary example by disbanding the Pope's heavily armed Swiss guards?
Ted Cruz assured that law is not enforced in America with jackboots. The Branch Davidians, Randy Weaver, and the extended family of Elion Gonzalez might suggest otherwise.
Rand Paul refused to accept his demotion to the second tier debate on Fox Business Network. By this point in the game, do that many even care?
Montgomery County, Maryland Executive Ike Legget assured that he would not cooperate in the deportation of illegal residents. Shouldn't the same liberals that applauded the imprisonment of Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis for failing to uphold the implementation of assorted judicial rulings regarding gay marriage now be calling for the incarceration of this rogue municipal functionary as well?
In the State of the Union, President Obama insisted that Food Stamp recipients did not cause the financial crisis. Maybe not. However, it is not a sign of cultural or economic health when ghetto sows in there 20's get $2000 per month in Social Security disability and nearly another $1000 to go towards their subsidized housing which they still refuse to pay for because they don't like it that the landlord did not get around to fixing the latch on the mailbox in a timely manner.
In the State of the Union, President Obama admonished that democracy “doesn't work if we think people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice,...are unpatriotic, or trying to weaken America.” How else do you describe those that rampage in the streets destroying property over a trial verdict with which they disagree. Was not President Obama the one that told his supporters to get into the faces of those with which they disagree and to make the holiday's miserable of counterrevolutionary family members that dare to vocalize sentiments not in compliance with prevailing multiculturalist dogmas? Wasn't President Obama that suggested that leftwing Hispanics should punish their political enemies that failed to embrace a progressivist agenda? In the State of the Union, President Obama went on to say, “We need every American to stay active in our public life and not just during election time.” Does this include those that he accused of clinging bitterly to both their God and their guns?
Representative Jim Jordan insisted that he was not trying to make some kind of statement by inviting Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis to the State of the Union. And what if he was? How could it be any worse than jihadist sympathizer Nezar Hamze being invited to Representative Alcee Hastings to attend this event? Even if you disagree with Davis' refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, to remain a consistent liberal, don't you have to admit such a transgression pales in comparison to teaching small weapons usage at a mosque where the clergy were accused of funneling funds to the Pakistani Taliban?
Will those condemning Ted Cruz's remarks regarding “New York values” get as jacked out of shape regarding Gov. Cumo insisting there is no place for you in New York unless you are in spirit a baby killer and moral deviant. Isn't that more in keeping with the totalitarian nature of Anti-Semiticism and its desire to liquidate whole scale populations than to make observations regarding those with disproportionate sway over media and finance.
In light of the Black thespians flying into histrionics over those bestowing Hollywood accolades being predominately White, how is that much different than those pitching a fit suggesting the the media is controlled by Jews?
In his tirade against Star Wars, Pastor Jason Cooley was introduced by the Darth Vader theme. If Star Wars is so wicked, isn't that analogous to playing the stripper theme or Marvin Gaye's “Let's Get It On” when discussing modesty or fornication? If Christians are to remain separate from these entertainments as Pastor Cooley suggests, how are they expected to understand the references Pastor Cooley makes such as the theme “The Jeffersons” or even the “You will be assimilated” of the Borg from Star Trek?
In the inaugural edition of his podcast “Signposts”, Russell Moore bashed those invoking Scripture as evidence of their apocalyptic catastrophism. Defective in certain regards as such a hermeneutic might be, isn't it still more a more accurate interpretation than Moore's own variety of progressivist social gospelism?
An MSNBC headline reporting arguments before the Supreme Court regarding compulsory union fees states, “Religious Freedom Used To Weaponize The First Amendment”. But how is that different than when the First Amendment is invoked to justify rampaging mobs looting businesses following an unpopular jury verdict or to financially ruin businesses that refuse to applaud the state-sanctioned solemnization of moral licentiousness?
By Frederick Meekins

Anglican Church Of North America Bishop Reflects Upon The 2016 Primates Gathering

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Geese

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Pope Francis Applauds Mass Migration As Weapon To Undermine Human Liberty

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Hawking Warms Humanity On The Verge Of Extinction

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Republican Elites Demand Americans Embrace Servile Acquiescence

The United States drifts further into decline.

However, don't expect establishmentarian Republicans to do anything about it.

It seems the party's foremost luminaries and rising stars are more concerned about maintaining the go along to get along mentality that has brought the nation to the precipice of collapse.

This was evident in South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's response to the 2016 State of the Union Address.

The party has grown so weak and tepid that it was suggested on the WMAL morning show in Washington that some debated the propriety of even referring to this short oration as “Republican” for fear of appearing too partisan.

In her remarks, Haley insisted that, “Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true. Often, the best thing we do is turn down the volume. When the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.”

The Scripture does counsel that a soft answer can turn away wrath and can make a world of difference in terms of personal relationships.

But what is being suggested by Governor Haley is that, while subversives threaten violence and destroy private property in pursuit of assorted radical agendas, once again the so-called “Silent Majority” really ought to remain quiet and continue to be walked all over.

As an example of the path she suggests to utopia, Governor Haley uplifted the response to the terrorist madman that murdered those assembled for prayer at the Charleston church prayer group.

The end result of that tragedy that Governor Haley is the most proud of is not necessarily the aversion of widespread looting but rather the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from South Carolina state property.

But was this move not the epitome of the loudest voices being triumphant in terms of determining the course of public policy?

For it is doubtful that workaday South Carolinians had the final say in this decision.

Rather, as with many of the others made across the various levels of government and throughout influential social institutions, this one was no doubt the result of activist leeches not even living in the particular jurisdiction that threaten to burn entire cities to the ground if you so much as look askance in their direction working in tandem with nefarious elites attempting to implement a globalist New World Order.

In her remarks, Governor Haley assured, “No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.”

Too bad this sentiment no longer seems to apply to you anymore unless your progenitors just got off of the boat or have wads of cash large enough to pay your way into an assortment of secret societies.

By Frederick Meekins

Saturday, January 16, 2016

The Christian & The Socratic Quest For Truth

Not well acquainted with the Western intellectual heritage, some Christians readily dismiss all philosophical endeavor because of the results arrived at by many ungodly thinkers seeking to elevate their own finite speculations above God's revelation. However, it must be remembered that all truth is God's truth. Made in the image of God, man can mirror to a small degree a portion of his Creator's rationality if he is seeking after that truth in an honest fashion.

It has been remarked that Western civilization owes its foundation to the two ancient cities of Jerusalem (representing Judeo-Christian theism) and Athens (representing Greek philosophical inquiry). And while the primacy of the Judeo-Christian contributions must not be forgotten as it represents God's direct relationship with man, the Athenian connection must not be forgotten either. For it represents man trying to come to grips with the world --- both the terrestrial and the human --- made by that divine Creator.

Ranking among the foremost of ancient Greek thinkers was the Athenian Socrates. It must be remembered that the thought of Socrates rested outside the accepted canons of orthodox Christianity.

For example, Socrates believed that man existed prior to his earthly incarnation. However, the idea professed by Socrates that absolute morality exists apart from human culture and convention has a great deal of truth about it.

Like the current era, those living in Athens during the time of Socrates found their culture awash in the chaos of moral relativism. This situation arose in part as a result of Sophist teaching.

The Sophists were a group of traveling teachers who would share their insights with those willing to pay, namely the well-to-do of the Athenian aristocracy. The Sophist worldview was epitomized by the following aphorism attributed to Protagoras, pivotal member of the movement: “Man is the measure of all things.” This meant that man had to rely on his own experience with the highest arbiter of conduct being the collective conventions of any given reality and objective morality nonexistent.

Protagoras was not willing to live out the implications of his own ethical theorizing as he maintained that individuals ought to follow the practices of their own particular culture in order to guarantee social stability. The doctrines promulgated by other Sophists were just as dangerously inconsistent.

Gorgias said truth did not exist nor could it be communicated. Apparently with the exception of this truth of course. Thrasymachus believed might did indeed make right.

It was in such an atmosphere that Socrates undertook his relentless pursuit of the truth in order that he might live what he termed “the good life”, defined as living in such a way as to maximize virtue. He attempted to discover what constituted this morality by subjecting the truth claims propagated within his culture to careful scrutiny and reflection.

To Socrates, the knowledge of morality and truth were not merely intellectual commodities to be touted out to score points in public debates or used to pass the next philosophy exam. Similar to the Christian view of truth, knowledge of the ethical was to serve as the basis of action.

It was this conception of truth that Socrates sought after despite the hardships it eventually brought him. The events leading to the trial of Socrates occurred approximately 405 BC when Socrates as a member of the Committee of 500 refused to convict a number of generals accused of military negligence. The thoughtful sage reflected that to try the military leaders as a group violated the established judicial norms.

Throughout his trial for allegedly corrupting the Athenian youth, Socrates was confronted with several occasions where he could have escaped from authorities or played on their sympathies in order to spare his life. But instead Socrates let the truth stand on its own and accepted whatever consequences the defense of it brought.

Socrates' quest for morality and truth is to be commended, especially in light of the cultural conditions in which he found himself. However, the Christian must be careful when employing this thinker as an historical example worthy of personal emulation.

For starters, Socrates was only partially correct when he argued that individuals do evil because they do not know it is wrong. This might be true in some circumstances like when one eats an extra cupcake thinking it will be pure pleasure when in fact it ends up resulting in a stomachache. However, such is not always the case.

I Timothy 2:14 says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” Adam, therefore, fell into sin knowing full well what he was doing when he went against God's command not to eat the forbidden fruit.

Even though Socrates is to be commended for searching for the truth in light of the spiritual darkness that gripped Athens in the form of Sophist philosophy and pagan religion, that search was only partial at best. For Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. If one's quest for truth is not to be washed away like the house built on the sandy shore mentioned in Matthew 7, it must ultimately be based upon Him.

By Frederick Meekins

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Decorative Fish

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Inhuman: The Final Phase Of Man

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Anglican Primates Quarantine The Episcopal Church From Spreading Theological Infection

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Obama Cronies Threaten Enduring Dictatorship

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Are America’s Enemies Designing A Cyborg Army?

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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Cross & Eagle

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Bill Gothard Accused Of Rape

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Will Depravity Prevail In The Anglican Communion?

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Levantine Savages Rape Toddler At Swedish Refugee Center

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Avengers To Emphasize Characters No One Cares About

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Are Globular Clusters The Mixed Use Developments Of Extraterrestrial Civilizations?

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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Cross Ornament

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Open Source Artificial Intellignece

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NASA Prepares For Planetary Bombardment

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Google Crony Insists Skynet Will Resolve The Population Crisis

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Monday, January 11, 2016

Astute Parents Alert To Jihadist Intrusion

A Virginia school system shut down classes for a day over protests that erupted in response to a Geography assignment that would have required students to write in Arabic the fundamental Islamic statement of belief known as the shahada.

If Jews or Muslims rebuffed an assignment to write John 3:16 or “Jesus Is Lord”, would the leftwing media formulate coverage of this story in such a manner so as to paint those standing up for their First Amendment rights against the state attempting to impose a particular religious perspective as the villains?

Students are rarely taught English penmanship these days.

So why is time being spent now in regards to what amounts to a Third World language?

Before progressives look down their haughty noses in condemnation at those seeming to oppose the celebration of pluralism, perhaps they ought to realize to what it was these parents were reacting.

In Islam, to be considered a Muslim, the primary requirement is to recite with conviction the disputed statement that the students would have been required to write.

That is, in essence, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad was his prophet.”

In the eyes of jihadists and allied extremists, if students sign their names to such a statement, is that considered a binding proclamation of conversion?

If so, should jihadists discover the names of students having completed this assignment reverting back to their Christian professions of faith and ways of life, what is to prevent fatwas from being drawn up calling for the violent execution of these unsuspecting pupils?

For the punishment regularly called upon those those leaving Islam for another faith is often death.

The parents noticing this subtle subversion of the public school system should not be looked down upon as unsophisticated rubes or rednecks.

Instead, they ought to be commended for exercising a degree of vigilance and discernment many in this day have been conditioned to overlook for fear of the reprisals that might be imposed for failing to surrender to the tyranny of political correctness.

By
Frederick Meekins

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