First, we have been treated to the rantings of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week. Then came the untimely discovery of a new and hidden nuclear facility hidden underground in the bowels of the Iranian country side. At last, the evil that has been planned by the Iranian leadership has been revealed for all the world to see!
The United Nations finally has the proof necessary to take definitive action. On most matters, even the clearest violations of human rights, genocide and international aggression seem to get lost in the diplomatic fog that seems to envelop the world’s foremost center of savoir faire. But this time, bare naked for the universe to see, we have unambiguous proof that Iran is up to no good.
Since there is no doubt about this issue and since we know that the wheels of diplomacy turn slowly, I have taken the liberty of proposing a resolution that the UN might issue the unruly Iranian nation:
Be it resolved, this 26th day of the month of September, in the year of the Christian Lord 2009, that we, the members of the United Nations Security Council do hereby condemn the actions of the nation-state of Iran. (Not that we couldn’t use another calendar, like the Babylonian, or the Chinese calendar, but for expediency we used the Christian calendar, even though we do not endorse any particular religion. Also, by not endorsing any particular religion, we do not wish to offend Muslims or any of their affiliates, who we would like to commend and applaud, but cannot officially endorse.)
We the Council have been made aware that the nation of Iran has an additional fissile materials plant. We are also aware of the claim by Iran that said fissile material is being produced for the peaceful purpose of power generation. Even though it is possible that you forgot to mention the existence of the plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency, we are very concerned that something untoward may be happening.
We fear that the existence of this additional plant may greatly increase the likelihood of the most severe threat known to humankind, global warming. We believe that the construction equipment used to dig such a subterranean site might be emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment. It is also possible that the construction of such a plant might interfere with the ecosystem surrounding the area. It has been rumored that the construction of your plant might endanger a relative of the “Delta Smelt” in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Like the US Government, one of our members, it is recommended that you shut down any and all industries associated with the construction and operation of your plant, because there is a possibility that the reproductive cycle of the “Persian Smelt” might be interrupted. Though there is no proof at this time, we suggest a 10 year study be commissioned by the UN to determine the existence, life-cycle and threat level of human activity on this precious world resource.
Be it resolved that this Council condemns the reckless acts of the leadership of Iran. In the same way that we warned your neighbor, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, we warn you. (Even though we warned him 18 times by issuing similar tough resolutions, we still think that George Bush rushed to war.) The consequences of ignoring this warning could be dire. The next warning is probably going to be in mostly capital letters and maybe even colored ink!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
One More Nail: TV Driving the Culture
Wednesday, September 23rd marks another watershed day in America, as we are introduced to a new "prime time", "family oriented" program by the mainstream media. On the 23rd, ABC will unveil the pride of its new fall lineup, a new show called "Modern Family". I was doing my usual "plop on my butt in front of the TV" thing with my kids on Saturday, watching ABC Family, hoping for the best when a trailer for the show came on. Not paying full attention, I was awakened from my stupor when the commercial touting this masterpiece was almost over. Did they say what I THINK they said?
My curiosity was piqued so I headed for the Internet for confirmation. A three and a half minute video later and my fears were indeed realized. I believe that "Modern Family" may be a barometer reading for America's cultural weather. There's a storm coming.
"Modern Family" is a sitcom that focuses on the lives of three "families". The first is a nuclear family with a mom, dad and kids. Ahhh, but Ozzy and Harriet this family is not! Homer and Marge Simpson are a closer match. From just the 210 second intro, it is obvious that in this family, the parents are incompetent boobs and the kids are generally in charge. Modern pressures and the business of life has left this family leaderless and comically indecisive.
The second family is a marriage between two divorcees. He is in his late middle age and she is a thirty something from Columbia. The only indication we have about what family life is like is a reference she makes about her ex-husband. It seems that the only marital activities that they participated in were fighting and sex. Pretty funny, huh?
The last so-called family is a couple of homosexual males that have adopted a baby. I am sick to my stomach. When wickedness becomes common and evil is celebrated in art, something is definitely wrong. Unfortunately, the writers of this tripe may have just created a hit.
Our country may have slipped past the point of no return in the last few years. It may have happened long ago and I just didn't notice it. There is no doubt about one thing, evil is assaulting our country and the family, the REAL God sanctioned family is the unlocked door. The strongman is sleeping while the thief is stealing the minds of his children.
I pray that we beg God as a nation for forgiveness and that genuine revival and repentance become our obsession. If not the nation, then at least for me and my family!
My curiosity was piqued so I headed for the Internet for confirmation. A three and a half minute video later and my fears were indeed realized. I believe that "Modern Family" may be a barometer reading for America's cultural weather. There's a storm coming.
"Modern Family" is a sitcom that focuses on the lives of three "families". The first is a nuclear family with a mom, dad and kids. Ahhh, but Ozzy and Harriet this family is not! Homer and Marge Simpson are a closer match. From just the 210 second intro, it is obvious that in this family, the parents are incompetent boobs and the kids are generally in charge. Modern pressures and the business of life has left this family leaderless and comically indecisive.
The second family is a marriage between two divorcees. He is in his late middle age and she is a thirty something from Columbia. The only indication we have about what family life is like is a reference she makes about her ex-husband. It seems that the only marital activities that they participated in were fighting and sex. Pretty funny, huh?
The last so-called family is a couple of homosexual males that have adopted a baby. I am sick to my stomach. When wickedness becomes common and evil is celebrated in art, something is definitely wrong. Unfortunately, the writers of this tripe may have just created a hit.
Our country may have slipped past the point of no return in the last few years. It may have happened long ago and I just didn't notice it. There is no doubt about one thing, evil is assaulting our country and the family, the REAL God sanctioned family is the unlocked door. The strongman is sleeping while the thief is stealing the minds of his children.
I pray that we beg God as a nation for forgiveness and that genuine revival and repentance become our obsession. If not the nation, then at least for me and my family!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
American Exceptionalism and President Obama
It is a really strange time in history. I know that I'm naive, but I never thought that I would see a time when our country would take such a dramatic turn; dramatic politically, ethically, economically and dramatic in our inability to read our moral compass. There are many, like political and pop cultural commentator Michael Medved, recent author of "The Ten Big Lies About America", who believe that America on the whole, is on a good trajectory and that any negative trends are not permanent and catastrophic. He writes that America has not fallen off the moral cliff and cites hard statistics to make his point. In spite of this optimistic view, I still disagree.
What is happening? First, is American Exceptionalism real or is it just a conservative myth? President Obama was asked by a French reporter if he believed in American Exceptionalism. He responded, "I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." I quote from the movie "The Incredibles" from a scene where the antagonist jealously aspires to sell everyone super powers, "When everyone is super then no one will be." Well, if everyone is exceptional then no one is.
The President may be speaking truth. Not that America hasn't been exceptional in the past, because I believe we were, but if we follow the President's vision we certainly will not be. The idea of American Exceptionalism began with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. He spoke of America's greatness, but warned, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
What made America "good"? I submit that the Founding Fathers, however imperfect, made a good stab at creating our government using a Biblical model. The current struggles in our country can be directly connected with our departure from God and His word. For instance, God made fathers responsible for educating their children. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Fathers have passed this mandate off to teachers, schools and school boards. Now we have kids with truly substandard educations. Recently, the Goldwater Institute asked Arizona high school seniors ten civics questions. 9.2% of the kids got this question right: "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" How about 26.5% know: "Who was the first President of the United States?" Kids are not only ignorant when it comes to civics, but also areas like economics, religion and history. The modern student is well versed however, when it comes to pseudo-sciences, (or so-called inductive science), like global warming ecology and evolution. (These inductive sciences are more strongly related to philosophy than to actual science.)
Another crisis area is the economy. Paul was very clear in 2 Thessalonians when he said, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Now, our new President is selling free healthcare, free food, (food stamps), and free mortgage money as a "right". As you might expect, as we continue to drift away from the Bible, we continue to warp reality, and right and wrong get more and more fuzzy.
Our military is the greatest in the world, technologically, but we have imposed strange moral laws on war that supercede Biblical principles governing war. Now we are fighting war as though we are a police force, always keeping in mind the "rights" of the "criminals" that we are pursuing. Boys die, families cry and we don't really win anything with our blood. It only takes a few minutes to scan the Bible to discover what is God's view of war. Unfortunately, we are drifting farther from even the way we faught the Revolutionary War.
Yes, we USED to be exceptional as a nation, but now we are relinquishing our superiority, superiority established by our adherence to Biblical principles, in order to follow a worldly, naturalistic philosphy that will eventually result in the United States becoming another footnote in world history. Internal moral collapse, loss of moral direction and then by some means the loss of our country as we knew it. Please pray for our President and this nation.
What is happening? First, is American Exceptionalism real or is it just a conservative myth? President Obama was asked by a French reporter if he believed in American Exceptionalism. He responded, "I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." I quote from the movie "The Incredibles" from a scene where the antagonist jealously aspires to sell everyone super powers, "When everyone is super then no one will be." Well, if everyone is exceptional then no one is.
The President may be speaking truth. Not that America hasn't been exceptional in the past, because I believe we were, but if we follow the President's vision we certainly will not be. The idea of American Exceptionalism began with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. He spoke of America's greatness, but warned, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
What made America "good"? I submit that the Founding Fathers, however imperfect, made a good stab at creating our government using a Biblical model. The current struggles in our country can be directly connected with our departure from God and His word. For instance, God made fathers responsible for educating their children. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Fathers have passed this mandate off to teachers, schools and school boards. Now we have kids with truly substandard educations. Recently, the Goldwater Institute asked Arizona high school seniors ten civics questions. 9.2% of the kids got this question right: "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" How about 26.5% know: "Who was the first President of the United States?" Kids are not only ignorant when it comes to civics, but also areas like economics, religion and history. The modern student is well versed however, when it comes to pseudo-sciences, (or so-called inductive science), like global warming ecology and evolution. (These inductive sciences are more strongly related to philosophy than to actual science.)
Another crisis area is the economy. Paul was very clear in 2 Thessalonians when he said, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Now, our new President is selling free healthcare, free food, (food stamps), and free mortgage money as a "right". As you might expect, as we continue to drift away from the Bible, we continue to warp reality, and right and wrong get more and more fuzzy.
Our military is the greatest in the world, technologically, but we have imposed strange moral laws on war that supercede Biblical principles governing war. Now we are fighting war as though we are a police force, always keeping in mind the "rights" of the "criminals" that we are pursuing. Boys die, families cry and we don't really win anything with our blood. It only takes a few minutes to scan the Bible to discover what is God's view of war. Unfortunately, we are drifting farther from even the way we faught the Revolutionary War.
Yes, we USED to be exceptional as a nation, but now we are relinquishing our superiority, superiority established by our adherence to Biblical principles, in order to follow a worldly, naturalistic philosphy that will eventually result in the United States becoming another footnote in world history. Internal moral collapse, loss of moral direction and then by some means the loss of our country as we knew it. Please pray for our President and this nation.
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