Just Brilliant! Three Things Only a PhD Can Believe — read it for the explanations.  It reminds of the quote by the philosopher 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. God keeps them in His arsenal to pull down mulish pride, and I discovered them all.”

Absurdity #1 There Are No Universal Standards

Absurdity #2 There Are No Essential Differences Between Men & Women

Absurdity #3  There Is No Clear Dividing Line Between Humans & Animals

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Study: Christians Who Tithe Have Healthier Finances

. . . researchers compared tithers to non-tithers using nine financial health indicators, and found that tithers were better off in every category. “The weird thing is, a tither looks at that and says to himself, ‘Well I’m better off because I give.’ A non-tither looks at that and says, ‘Oh, they give because they’re better off,'” said Brian Kluth, the founder of the study.

The Takeaways: Some of the more interesting findings from the study include:

• 77% of those who “tithe” give 11%-20% or more of their income, far more than the baseline of 10%.

• 97% make it a priority to give to their local church.

• 70% “tithe” based on their gross income, not their net.

• 63% started giving 10% or more between childhood and their twenties

• Tithers carry much less debt than most people and are financially better off than Christian non-tithers—80% of “tithers” have no unpaid credit card bills; 74% have no car payments; 48% own their home; and 28% are completely debt-free.

• What keeps non-tithing Christians from giving: 38% say they can’t afford it; 33% say they have too much debt; and 18% said their spouse does not agree about tithing.

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Has anyone tried the 7 minute workout?  Here’s an article about it and here’s an animation you can follow.  At a minimum it looks like a decent workout if you are short on time or traveling and don’t have equipment.  Potential buzzkill: The original article mentions repeating it 2-3 times.  Hat tip: The Christian Alert.

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Triage: Obama Summons Media Lapdogs to Secret White House Meeting — I’m not surprised, but you would think that at some point these “journalists” might have just a tiny bit of shame.  But Obama owns them.

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What Christians Do About Modern-Day Slavery

1. Pray for the victims.

Pray for the estimated 27 million slaves in our world today who are in bondage within affluent countries like America to Third-world countries like Haiti.

2. Raise awareness.

Raising awareness about this issue may not sound like an action point, but it is an extremely important component in tackling slavery. People need to know that this is happening, so it can be reported and prosecuted. . . .

3. Don’t look at porn.

As evil and degrading as pornography is, here’s another reason to never look at it. Porn is part of the problem. If you are looking at pornography, you are perpetuating the satanic industry of sex trafficking. . . .The authors show various connections between pornography and sexual exploitation. Many of the individuals who appear in pornography are slaves. They have been trafficked, drugged, manipulated in some way, and are forced to be part of this wicked business.

Then there are the forces of supply and demand, and the way that pornography creates more and more demand for the commercial sex industry. Pornography is like the gateway drug. People get addicted, and then they want something more. Pornography fuels prostitution (heightening the demand for prostitutes), and a higher demand for prostitutes means more lucrative opportunities for pimps, which means more women and children exploited by them for these purposes. So if you’re looking at porn, even if you’re not paying for it, you’re showing the advertisers and producers of pornography and all those involved in the sex business that demand is high, which then motivates them to shame and exploit even more people.

Think about that the next time you’re tempted to click on that website. Your momentary “pleasure” is contributing to the absolute devastation of women and girls and boys around the world.

4. Use your gifts.

What are your particular gifts and abilities that you could apply to the problem of human trafficking? There are many different sides to this, and many ways to address it. There’s the political aspect. We need stricter laws against these crimes. . . Lawyers need to vigorously prosecute these cases. Police officers need to know how to deal with these cases, so that a girl doesn’t go to jail because she’s assumed to be a voluntary prostitute, when in reality she’s a sex slave. Business professionals can address the issues of poverty that make many susceptible to being exploited. Doctors and nurses can help to care for victims of human trafficking.

. . .

5. Men, take a stand.

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Northwestern student govt nominee’s confirmation blocked because he is a ‘heterosexual white male’ — Gotta have diversity!  Which means none of you white heterosexual males!

The same thing happens in corporations. The “diversity” organizations at Compaq and HP were the least diverse groups in the company. They were all black females, except for one guy, who was a gay black. I know a Liberal who did a magazine cover photo for a diversity group and she sheepishly admitted the same thing: It was all black females. If I were in their position I would have been insulted. They didn’t have any prominent roles in the rest of the company.

Ironically enough, our Christian Employee Network Group (which Compaq officially approved and HP did not — even though they approved the gay groups) was the most diverse group in the company. At some lunch time Bible studies I led we would have great diversity in ages (literally 20’s through 60’s), races (black, white, Asian), disciplines (accounting, manufacturing, etc.), levels (administrative coordinators through directors), and even denominations. All the other groups were as homogeneous as could be.

Worse yet, how does this square with Christian organizations being forced to include non-Christians as members? Note that this guy isn’t asking to be in a gay group, just a “diversity” group.

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The shamelessness of pro-abortionists: Democrats in Congress Respond to Gosnell by Attacking Pregnancy Centers.  Then again, what would expect from people who support the legalized killing of babies?

Let’s see. Kermit Gosnell has just been sentenced on three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of three unborn babies aborted alive and involuntary manslaughter of a woman who died of a drug overdose during her abortion.  Another abortionist in Texas is reportedly under investigation for Gosnell-like behavior,” he says. “So what is the pro-abortion congressional response to this litany of horror stories. Well, according to The Hill Newspaper, “Dems look to crack down on anti-abortion ‘crisis pregnancy centers.’” Yes, that is their response, which is applauded by the likes of (surprise, surprise) NARAL Pro-Choice America and the National Abortion Federation (NAF).

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