Tag Archives: Roundup

Roundup

Recent studies show that Conservatives have a better sense of humor – but you knew that, right? 

“I was surprised,” said Dan Ariely, a psychologist at Duke University, who collaborated on the study with Elisabeth Malin, a student at Mount Holyoke College. “Conservatives are supposed to be more rigid and less sophisticated, but they liked even the more complex humor.”

Be sure to check out Duane’s Mind if you haven’t already.  He does a terrific job of defending the faith in a most friendly way, and he is working hard to challenge people to consider the merits of Christianity in Australia, which is even more hostile to religion than the U.S.

Norm Geisler does a thorough analysis of the popular Christian fiction work, The Shack.  Other than 14 serious theological problems, he thinks it is a great book.

In the final analysis, this book is not a Pilgrim’s Progress, but doctrinally speaking The Shack is more of a Pilgrim’s Regress.

Mom Loves Being at Home had a great post on it that included the video below.  Christians should not be endorsing this book as having sound doctrine.

If you have read it and disagree with any of his points let me know what you think.  I’m thinking about reading it just to be able to converse about it. 

Do you think people are basically good?  Not at all.  Hat tip: Theology of Omaha

Pastor Timothy has a post with all the videos of Sarah Palin from Fox.  Gravatar You have to know she is good when the media put so much effort into discrediting her. The 18-1 bias on the Big 3 was proof of that. They realized she could swing the election and had to try and destroy her. I hope we haven’t seen the last of her.

Will Obama fund the destruction of human embryos – Probably.  Embryonic Stem Cell Research is still a bad idea for all the reasons discussed a couple years ago.  They have had no success with private money, which is why the researchers are desparate for government help.

Remember, this isn’t about curing diseases.  The smart money would go towards adult stem cells.  This is about abortion.  Because if you can’t de-humanize embryos, it is hard to rationalize abortion.

Baconnaise: I love bacon and I love mayonnaise, so this is quite possibly the utimate food product.  Mmmmmmm . . . Baconnaise. 

It reminds me of when my youngest daughter was about 4.  I was cooking some bacon after church and pointed out the trivia fact that Jesus wouldn’t have eaten bacon.  She replied in all seriousness, “That’s too bad, because I think He would have really liked it.”

This would be really funny if the topic weren’t so serious and if the “global warming” folks weren’t after an unprecedented and permanent political power grab.  The data shows that the earth has been cooling, but they refer to 2008 as the “least warm” year in the past decade.

Methodist group ordains lesbian for inclusivity’s sake – the picture of them in church is just sad.  They are going to a house of worship while shaking their fists in rebellion to God, and they are proud of what they are doing.

A retired Methodist bishop who participated in the ordination ceremony says those who stand against ordination of homosexuals are misreading scripture. “For too long, ” said Bishop Susan Morrison, “selective reading of the Bible has meant that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their supporters have been excluded and punished for their honesty when they reject the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ practices of the church.”

Misreading scripture?  Heh.  I’ll be glad to debate that Bishop anytime.  I’m familiar with all the problems with pro-gay theology and would be glad to educate this apostate Bishop.

Weekly roundup

Fighting for the Faith has a good analysis of the false teachings of Chuck Currie.  The host plays the whole audio of Chuck’s “sermon” with comments interspersed, so you know you are getting the full context. 

Side note: Chuck still hasn’t backed up his accusations that I left comments on his blog that were “racist, sexist, homophobic” and included “offensive language and more.”  I was curious to see if he would ever provide evidence or apologize, but all he said on his blog was, “Neil, Thanks for all your e-mails on this. I’m sorry that I don’t have the time to write back each day in person but thanks for your feedback.”

False teacher.  False accusations.  Shocking.  Maybe this week’s sermon will be on honesty.  Or asking forgiveness when you lie about someone.  No, it will probably be about why Jesus is pro-legalized partial birth abortion, anti-parental notification, anti-informed consent, etc.  (Yes, Chuck, some religious groups do support the choice to destroy the unborn — false and apostate religious groups, including segments of the Methodist Church.)

Unions prepare for BIG payday with new Prez

And, in keeping with the Times’ journalistic malpractice, quite a few things are misrepresented in favor of the unions. Take “card check” for instance. Check out how the Times describes the fact that this horrible law will take away one of the oldest democratic rights there is.

“Labor’s No. 1 priority is a piece of legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the card-check bill. The bill would give workers the right to join a union as soon as a majority of employees at a workplace signed cards saying they wanted one. Business groups have attacked the legislation because it would take away employers’ right to insist on holding a secret-ballot election to determine whether workers favored unionization.”

Once again, liberals think abortion is moral but displaying pictures of it is immoral.  I think that pictures of the Holocaust are unpleasant, but I am quite certain that the killings were immoral and showing the pictures is not immoral. 

Lots of racism from some GLBTQ folks – the violent and viscious reactions continue from their Proposition 8 loss.  I would expect black folks to be irritated that the gay lobby is trying to co-opt the Civil Rights agenda.  Do the GLBTQ folks think it is a winning strategy to alienate blacks and say how uneducated they are for voting Yes on 8? 

And even if pro-Prop 8 voters have less eduction than average, please remember that intelligence and wisdom are two different things.  You don’t need a PhD to know the definition of marriage.  I’m also reminded of this quote by J. Budziszewski:

Though it always comes as a surprise to intellectuals, there are some forms of stupidity that you must be highly intelligent and educated to commit.

P.S. to Arnold: Skin color is morally neutral, sexual behavior is not.

Crazy lefties attack old lady at No on 8 protest.  The only amusing thing in this horrible incident was when the hopelessly PC anchorman said, “a lot of hate evidently on both sides.”  Uh, sure, buddy.  The quiet old lady carrying the cross was really dishing out the hate to that mob.

Violence and disruption of a church service by a gay anarchist group in Michigan – It is hard to believe no one was arrested.  Ask yourself why you aren’t seeing this on the national news.

Hat tip to Kris for the cartoon below.  I had no idea that 1% in a margin of victory made such a big difference!  I do find the “we need to unite behind the President” theme a little ironic, because the reality is that we don’t need to do that any more than the Democrats did when Bush was President. 

This site is a little racy, but makes a great point about the messages from 52 to 48 blather going around.  This is the sanitized version: Starting prior to the 2001 inauguration, you and your bought and paid for media demonized President Bush and conservatives over anything and everything, and now you want to play nice and demand unity?  Give me a break.  We won’t be vile like the Left has been, but we will complain now and keep complaining all we like.  Will I pray for our leaders?  Yes, because I’m commanded to.  But my prayers will include requests that their dreams be haunted by visions of the slaughter of the unborn, the shattered lives of those who have abortions and the last breaths of those born alive but left to die.

P.S. Does this mean California is united against government recognition of oxymoronic same-sex marriage?  I recall that the margin was quite similar.bush_obama

Zo has my vote for head of the Republican National Committee

“After complaints of one-sided reporting, the Washington Post checked their own articles and agreed.”  Golly!

Even more weekly roundup (hey, it was a big week)

This is a terrific apologetics website (defending the Christian faith).  Check it out, especially the videos (this was probably just me, but I want to point out that you need to click on the “>” sign in the lower right hand corner to advance the slides).  It is on the blogroll as well. 

If you are voting for Obama this is required reading.  I wish the lady in the video below would read it.  This information is available, yet because of the mainstream media bias we know much more about Sarah Palin’s private life than Barak Obama’s public or private lives.

Amazingly, the truth about Obama is so grisly and bizarre that his fans can’t believe it.  His views are so far removed from what decent human beings can tolerate that his followers reflexively deny them.  In a weird way, we’d be better off just telling part of truth.  They just can’t conceive of someone standing alone against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act or being so pro-partial-birth abortion.

This is what Obama’s fans think he is going to do for them.  Think he might have cranked up the expectations a bit much?  Partial transcript:

I never thought this day would happen. . . . I won’t have to work on puttin’ gas in my car. I won’t have to work at payin’ my mortgage. You know. If I help him [Obama], he’s gonna help me.

Insanity.  Hat tip: Stop the ACLU

More about the intolerance of “same sex marriage.”

A plea to atheists – well reasoned answers from Dr. Michael Horton.  A sample:

Even the most skeptical of scholars acknowledge that Christ died on the cross under Roman authority, particularly since this is reported by non-Christian officials and historians at the time. Here is what early Jewish and Roman officials agreed on: (1) Jesus was crucified as a blasphemer under Jewish law and as a trouble-maker under Roman law; (2) Jesus died, confirmed by the strict procedures of Roman crucifixion; (3) he was placed in a tomb with Roman and Jewish guards posted (to guard against theft of his body by followers); (4) he was not in the tomb after three days and (5) a widespread commotion broke out in Jerusalem over his whereabouts. These can be pieced together by first-century statements from Romans rulers and historians such as Pliny the Younger, Trajan, and Tacitus and from rabbinical writings as well as the Jewish historian Josephus. From there, theories varied. Jewish leaders (Pharisees) argued that the body had somehow been stolen in spite of the double-regiment of Sanhedrin police and Roman soldiers. Romans, who saw the whole matter as a troublesome intra-Jewish affair, were so provoked by the empty tomb that they began rounding up anyone and everyone who claimed to have known Jesus. Disappearing bodies did not bode well for the deterrent force of Roman crucifixion.

As the apostles were brought before Roman authorities, they said nothing about how Jesus had helped them put their marriages back together or how they found it helpful and useful in daily living. Rather, they testified to datable events, which they assumed to have been well-known to their judges. If it had only promised good advice, spiritual and moral therapy, or pragmatic usefulness, Rome would have had no trouble adding another cult to the soup of imperial religion. However, the claim was that Jesus alone is Lord of the cosmos and Savior of the world (both titles that Caesar claimed for himself).

Of course, the early followers of Jesus believed that Jesus had been raised and had appeared to them for many days, explaining how his death and resurrection were promised throughout the Old Testament, and then ascended to the right hand of the Father in glory where he will remain until he returns to judge the living and the dead. The disciples, who, by their own accounts, had shown themselves to be cowards after Jesus’ arrest, were now willing martyrs for their testimony to the risen Christ and this Good News spread rapidly, just as Jesus promised, “from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

Arnold on Obama.  Funny.

More weekly roundup

Twenty reasons to vote yes on Proposition 8 in California and to preserve traditional marriage.  The main reason: Only traditional marriages have the possibility of providing one mother and one father to a child, which has always been the ideal.  Oxymoronic “same sex marriages” can never, never do that.

And for those who question such an obvious argument, ask them why the sex of one’s partner is non-negotiable and all important (i.e., a gay guy must have a guy for a partner – never a butch woman or a woman who thinks she’s a guy), but that the sex of one’s parents is completely irrelevant.  I’ve asked that countless times and have yet to have someone even try to answer.

Rick Warren is supporting Prop 8.  Good for him.

More from Zo – another must watch.  He correctly skewers those who want to destroy the unborn with Down Syndrome or who are “unwanted.”  You call Bush a fascist yet Obama tries to destroy people like Joe the Plumber just for asking a question?  Too bad more leaders don’t call out sell-outs like this guy does.

Obama vs. free speech – you’ve been warned

Deregulation – the big lie

  • The current crisis was not caused by a deregulated “anything goes” market, but by liberal intervention in the market, i.e. forcing banks to make high-risk loans or face costly lawsuits.
  • Starting his first year in office, President Bush raised alarms about what was going on at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He made a serious attempt at reform in 2003 which was rebuffed by Democrats who were angry that “safety and soundness” was being raised as an issue.
  • Barney Frank promised that, even if they were to fail, the government would not bail our Fannie and Freddie.
  • Democrats continued to fight any attempt at regulation out of concern that it might dry up the flood of subprime mortgage money. (Hey, that was the idea, dummies!)
  • John McCain co-sponsored legislation on 2006 designed to provide additional regulation and oversight of Fannie and Freddie.
  • Obama has been a non-entity on this entire looming crisis, yet now claims he can fix it?
  • Deregulation wasn’t the problem. Democrats were the problem.
  • More weekly roundup

    Great video on Proposition 8 in California and why it matters.  If oxymoronic “same sex marriage” is legal then lots more 5 yr. olds will be coming home with books designed to portray these relationships as normal and morally neutral.  This is a hugely important issue.  Those pushing this on your kids are disturbed.

    UPDATE: Here’s another example of what you’ll get lots more of if Prop 8 fails: School holds surprise ‘Gay’ Day for kindergartners

    Abortion changes you – a good website for those needing hope and healing after an abortion

    “If Americans can watch this video and still support Barack Obama, then America is…beyond all hope.” – Jason ‘Molotov’ Mitchell.

    He just lies and lies – Obama knew the “kill him” rumors were false before he mentioned them on the debate, and the media gives him a pass on his easily identifiable lies about the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.

    Mary worship still alive in Catholicism – and it still isn’t biblical.

    Richard Dawkins – still evolving? 

    This week’s debate, however, was different because from the off Dawkins moved it onto safer territory– and at the very beginning made a most startling admission. He said:

    “A serious case could be made for a deistic God.”

    Palin breaks with McCain on gay marriage amendment – when I first saw the title as an Internet news headline, I thought, “Wow, she is against it?  How disappointing!  But she is still strongly pro-life and that is a more important issue.”  Then I read the article and found that she is for a Constitutional Amendment (McCain is not), which I think is a great idea.  I like her even more now.  For years we were told that a Constitional Amendment was unnecessary, but it won’t be long until states are forced to recognize the oxymoronic same-sex marriages from places like Massachussetts and California.

    Wealthier than you think – click here and find out how rich you are compared to the rest of the planet.  May our giving reflect our understanding that we are among the richest 1-2% of the people on the planet and the richest 0.5% who have ever lived.

    Snopes.com – good for debunking email chains, bad for discerning political truths

    Did you see how the media and the Democrats are up in arms over the scandals of Mark Foley’s replacement, the truly hypocritical Democrat who cheated on his wife and is accused of other ethics violations?  Yeah, me neither.  Foley’s problems came out just before the 2006 election and became a major issue.  Not so this time.

    Weekly roundup

    Tragic persecution of Christians continues in India by Hindus (aren’t they supposed to be peaceful?).  They are not letting much news out so updates are spotty. 

    Real Christians should pray for them and continue to support organizatons such as Voice of the Martyrs.

    Pluralistic Christians (those who teach that all paths lead to God, which is the opposite of what the Bible teaches) should send reverse missionaries to these countries.  After all, if their views are true then the loving thing would be to tell everyone to avoid hardship and just worship the local god(s), right? 

    An inspiring true story of Haralan Popov, a Bulgarian Christian minister severely persecuted by the Communists for 13 years. 

    Quote of the week:

    The best health care, the best economy, the best social justice system means nothing to the millions of Americans that never made it out of the womb or never will.

    Rebecca Taylor

     Hat tip: Pro-Life Blogs

    So Obama wants to give $4,000 per year to college students.  Guess how much college tuition will increase when he does that?  I’d bet on $4,000 per year.  Colleges will be fatter and less efficient, we’ll pay higher taxes and/or the debt will increase, and kids will have the same costs and debt.  Write it down.

    I taught Junior Achievement classes for various grades for 12 years.  I was always impressed at how quickly Junior High kids could not only pick up on concepts like supply and demand, but even the elasticity of supply and demand (i.e., demand for needs such as insulin will not be as influenced by price as wants like entertainment).

    Too bad Obama doesn’t even get the basic part right.  Just spreadin’ the wealth around, right Comrade?

    Sarah Palin, the real deal.  Regardless of the outcome of the election, I love how she has put a face on families with special needs children and why it is better to let them live than to destroy them in the womb.

    “As the media fumes over nonexistent hate at Palin speeches, it ignores leftists who go berserk on city streets.  Will the media run with a story of [a white male] Obama supporter who went berserk at the sight of McCain signs and repeatedly struck a woman volunteer on the head with a stick?”

    More media bias: Even Dan Rather admits the media would have jumped all over Palin if she had said what Biden did about a crisis being generated if her running mate were to be elected. 

    Also, have you noticed how Biden hasn’t had press conferences for a long time?  Think they’re hiding him?  Why no outrage from the press over that?

    Weekly roundup

    A good overview of Bill Maher’s “facts” from the Religulous movie.  A sample:

    Within a few minutes Maher is denying not just the divinity of Jesus Christ but his actual historical existence, a question disputed by almost no credible scholar. You can argue that it is difficult to believe in Jesus’s existence considering that primary records for his existence are recorded by only a precious few devoted disciples who recorded his allegorical teachings in detail as well as the social unrest they inspired. Then again, if that’s the standard – you probably don’t believe Socrates [existed] either.

    A very thorough debunking of the movie (just one error after another) plus some of the deception behind it here.

    A nice summary of the false beliefs of Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle.  Despite the claims, it is not a belief system compatible with Christianity.

    Obama is amazing.  His ACORN associates are getting nailed left and right for voter fraud, yet he has the nerve to twist it to say that his voters are getting suppressed!

    Snopes-certified email about Obama – Pianist Huntley Brown explains why he won’t vote for Obama.  Great stuff.

    I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama’s positions.

    Black women comprise only 6% of the population, yet they comprise 36% of the abortion industry’s clientele.  Obama has done nothing to stop this.

    He is dead on there.  Pro-life = pro-black.  Pro-choice = anti-black. 

    He nails him on the Jeremiah Wright mentorship as well.

    If you have stock in Intuit, the maker of Quicken, you should sell it.  I have used Quicken for over 10 years and just upgraded when I bought a computer with Vista that would not run the old version.  Wow, are they a poorly run company.   I would have just returned it to the store except that the transition was slightly less difficult than starting over with a new company.

    They de-featured the low end program so radically that it is way behind the version that was 10 years old.  Their support is inefficient, error filled and goes in circles.  There are many bugs in the software.  Upgrading to a more robust version was a challenge, as there were mistakes on their order pages (the prices changed from one page to another).  The Help menu kept referring to non-existent menu option.  And this is a software company!

    The Fairfax County Virginia school system won’t accept books about overcoming homosexuality because it will make gays and lesbians “feel inferior.”

    Do you think those who hyperventilated over Sarah Palin asking about book restrictions will get equally upset with this decision?  Censorship! Censorship! 

    Don’t hold your breath.

    Busting the myth about who believe the earth was flat

    Weekly roundup

    The “fat gene” is not an excuse – it turns out that exercise can overcome it.  Leave it to the Amish to prove it.

    Forget the national polls, you want to check out the electoral vote status – this has shifted back and forth between McCain and Obama depending on the close states.

    Yes, Barack Obama does support sex-ed for kindergarteners.  Here’s a video of him defending it, folks, and some documentation of his lies about it just being to warn them of predators. 

    AIDS: The statistics don’t lie – read it all

    Are we saying that no one but gay men get HIV? No, not at all. But in the face of sustained lies that AIDS is “an equal opportunity disease”, statistics show that’s a half truth at best and manipulation at worst

    “The male-to-male sexual contact transmission category represented 72 percent of new infections among males, including 81 percent of new infections among whites, 63 percent among blacks, and 72 percent among Hispanics,” the report said.

    Billions of dollars have been dumped into bottomless hole of ”research” and “safe sex” messages, but that hasn’t and won’t stop it. You can’t stop it with condoms or cute “prevention” messages.

    Camille Paglia on the frontier feminist – a surprising look at Palin and a critique of the judgmental intolerance and dogma of current liberalism by the libertarian social critic, feminist, atheist and Barack Obama supporter, Camille Paglia. 

    Weekly roundup

    Media bias?  What media bias?  The NY Times is over 500 times more likely to refer to Hillary Clinton as Mrs. than Ms. than they are Sarah Palin.  And they are 156 times as likely to refer to Clinton with her title of Senator than they are to refer to Palin as Governor.

    Searching the New York Times shows the following results: 
    Mrs. Clinton found 40,400 times 
    Ms. Clinton found 909 times 
    Senator Clinton/Sen. Clinton found 23,360 times 
    Hillary Clinton found 21,500 times

    Mrs. Palin found 297 times 
    Ms. Palin found 3,370 times 
    Governor Palin/Gov. Palin found 1,067 times 
    Sarah Palin found 154,000 times

    I used to think it was unfair that the media spent such disproportionate time dissecting her record and ignoring Obama’s, then I realized why it wasn’t so illogical: She has a much broader record to review.

    Obama wants change?  I kinda like the zero terrorist attacks for the last 7 years, as Ann Coulter reminds us.  Like him or not, Bush did what he thought was right and not what was popular. 

    Christopher Hitchens is a smart guy, but makes many logical mistakes when debating God.  Here’s a good answer to this question that Hitchens tries to use as some sort of trump card.

    Name one moral action performed by a believer that could not have been done by a nonbeliever.

    The short answer is that he sets up a question that he can’t lose, because he’ll define morality however he likes.  If we name an act such as worshiping God, he’ll simply say he doesn’t find it to be moral. 

    Michelle Malkin on the Four Stages of Conservative Female Abuse

    There’s something about outspoken conservative women that drives the left mad. It’s a peculiar pathology I’ve reported on for more than 15 years, both as a witness and a target. Thus, the onset of Palin Derangement Syndrome in the media, Democratic circles and the cesspools of the blogosphere came as no surprise. They just can’t help themselves.

    Liberals hold a special animus for constituencies they deem traitors. Minorities who identify as social and economic conservatives have left the plantation and sold out their people. Women who put an “R” by their name have abandoned their ovaries and betrayed their gender. As female Republican officeholders and female conservative public figures have grown in number and visibility, so has the progression of Conservative Female Abuse. The astonishing vitriol and virulent hatred directed at GOP Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the most severe manifestation to date.

    My $0.02: What a perverse form of feminism – if you don’t push for the unlimited right to kill your unborn children then you aren’t a real woman.

    I would have given Obama the benefit of the doubt on his “pig on a lipstick” idiom if I didn’t know he usually uses teleprompters and that it was scripted.  The best case for him is that he has a speech writer who couldn’t anticipate how it would get misinterpreted.  But that is stretching things.

    My bigger beef with him is that he has played the race card over and over and now acts shocked that people would “misinterpret” what he said.  It isn’t the color of his skin that bothers me, it is the lack of thickness.

    Here’s a great ad highlighting Mr. Hope & Change’s failed strategy:

    Obama and friends – what a crew!  This is real and scary.

    Weekly roundup

    Violence flares against Christians in India – It is not as peaceful and tolerant a place as many think it is.  Christianity appeals to the Dalits (the “untouchables”) because Jesus died for anyone who would follow him and because Christianity shows that all people have equal worth.

    Voter fraud reported – but which party?  I’m shocked that (1) they are Democrats and (2) that the media forgot to mention the party.  /sarcasm

    Media bias?  What media bias?  Wow, even the gossip magazines aren’t pretending to be neutral.

    I made my first political donation ever today.  McCain is good, Palin is terrific, Obama is horrifying.

    Lots o’ links about Palin at this post plus others at Haemet.

    Sarah vs. Hillary = no contest

    Consider: Hillary has spent her whole life in the quest for power. She is a political animal through and through, willing to do what ever it takes to obtain the highest office in the world. —- 
    Speaking of the real world, Sarah Palin is a life long member. No power hungry politico, she. Gov. Palin, by all accounts, is a woman who embodies the best of the female species. Experienced in real life, she is the epitome of what America stands for. She exhibits the traits that have made America great. And she does it effortlessly, because that’s who she is.  A mother of five, a wife, a conservative, a person who has lived life and succeeded at everything she has set out to do. That’s what America is.
     
    Unlike Hillary, Gov. Palin has never had the need to ‘reinvent’ herself. Unlike Obama, her message comes from the heart instead of the teleprompter. Unlike McCain, she is not a career politician. She has a life, and politics is a part of it. Kinda like the citizen legislators our founding fathers favored.

    Top Hillary supporter switches to McCain – and it doesn’t look like sour grapes.

    John Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer, husband of Fox TV host Greta Van Susteren and a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, announced today that he was supporting John McCain for president. Coale, who traveled with Sen. Clinton, President Clinton and her family through out the primary season, complained of sexism, and said the Democratic Party is “being taken over by the moveon.org types” in an exclusive interview with Newsweek.com’s Tammy Haddad.

    This version of Abraham, Martin and John by Marvin Gaye wasn’t released in the U.S. but it was on a greatest hits tape I picked up in the 80’s.  I’ve been looking for a CD or MP3 version of it ever since!  They still don’t have it on iTunes, but I found it on YouTube.  Cool.