Category: Political

Christopher Hitchens Speaks Out On Rick Warren

Yeah. I know. I’m interrupting my series again. I got presented with an article though that made me think I should. We all know Christopher Hitchens, the author of “God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” As soon as the topic of religion comes up, one can expect the usual from Hitchens.

And you really shouldn’t have to ask what I mean by that.

The article I read is here: http://www.slate.com/id/2207554/

Now I’m not here to defend Rick Warren in his own doctrine. I’m here to defend where he speaks from essential Christian doctrine. I am not a huge fan of Rick Warren, but if he is saying something that I believe is true, I will defend it.

I encourage you to check the first link there where he talks about the mentor of Rick Warren as well which gives a reason for Hitchens being against Warren. Hitchens speaks of how Warren was publicly asked by a Jewish lady if she’d be in Paradise for being a Jew and he publicly told her no. 

Later, Hitchens makes this statement:

Will Warren be invited to the solemn ceremony of inauguration without being asked to repudiate what he has directly said to deny salvation to Jews?

Why should he Hitchens? If you want the honest truth. I agree with him. Before you think that’s anti-semitic, I’ll go farther than that and be clear. I also don’t think any Gentile gets special privileges before the Almighty. You see Hitchens, I don’t play favorites like you apparently think God should. (And yet, I bet you complain that God isn’t fair either.) I believe we’re all equally condemned and God doesn’t grant someone a special favor just because of their DNA. 

Now if a Jew is in Heaven, it won’t be because they’re Jewish, but because they accepted the Messiah. It’s the same reason for me. The only reason I will be in Heaven is because I accepted the Messiah that God sent, Jesus Christ. 

Later, Hitchens make the same complaint about Warren denying Mormons are Christians. 

Will he be giving a national invocation without disowning what his mentor said about civil rights and what his leading supporter says about Mormons?

Now I’m not going to support being against civil rights, but I will support the stance on Mormons. However, let me present this in a more humorous light.

Hitchens. I’d like to join a group of atheists and be a charter member. I just insist though in keeping my belief in God. Can I do that and be considered an atheist?

You would think that crazy of course since atheists all deny the existence of God. You cannot affirm the existence of God and be an atheist. That’s the way it is with any belief though Hitchens. There are some things you have to believe in order to be seen as a member of that belief system. You can’t say you are.

Imagine if you met someone who said he was a Muslim. He just didn’t believe Muhammad was a prophet. That person might think he is a Muslim, but he certainly isn’t since one of the core doctrines of Islam is the belief that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. It doesn’t matter if you think the belief is true or false.

In the same way, a key belief in Christianity is that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity who is fully God and fully man and of one nature with the Father. This is not held in Mormonism. Their idea of the Trinity is three different gods in unity and Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer. Their idea of God is a god who was once a man and progressed all the way to godhood. Now this is certainly a unique belief system, but it is in no way Christian. 

Now in your original article, you have this paragraph:

In fact, you know Saul of Tarsus—Saul was a Syrian. St. Paul, on the road to Damascus, had his conversion experience, and so Christians have been here the longest, and they get along with the Muslims, and the Muslims get along with them. There’s a lot less tension than in other places.

Please note that Hitchens. Saul of Tarsus. Where is Tarsus? That’s right. Tarsus is in Turkey. Now Saul was in Syria when he had what we call his conversion, but that does not make him a Syrian.  A few minutes with a Bible atlas would have answered this question.

If the desire to bring up Warren being against homosexuality is brought up, why I will agree with that as well. I don’t just do it for biblical reasons. In fact, my argument against homosexuality relies on Natural Law doctrine. Now you can deny Natural Law if you want, but then you become a moral relativist and your whole book just goes right out the window. You’d have to show I’m wrong by Natural Law doctrine then, though I wonder who your Natural Law comes from.

In the second article, we also have this line:

As Barack Obama is gradually learning, his job is to be the president of all Americans at all times. If he likes, he can oppose the idea of marriage for Americans who are homosexual. That’s a policy question on which people may and will disagree. However, the man he has chosen to deliver his inaugural invocation is a relentless clerical businessman who raises money on the proposition that certain Americans—non-Christians, the wrong kind of Christians, homosexuals, nonbelievers—are of less worth and littler virtue than his own lovely flock of redeemed and salvaged and paid-up donors.

If that was the case, I’d disagree entirely. However, I, as a Christian do not see a homosexual or nonbeliever as less worthy than I am. We are all equally human. I seek to win them to Christ because they are so valuable. It’d be interesting though to hear what Hitchens bases human equality on.

My final plea in this is that to say Christianity is false is one thing, but please. If you’re going to attack Christianity, have it be on some sort of factual basis like the existence of God or the resurrection instead of simply “Christianity says a lot of things I don’t like.” That will simply end in what we call a desire for wish fulfillment, and we don’t need that as serious intellectuals now do we?

Thankful For Freedom

While a question was raised in an earlier comment, today, I’ve chosen to write on freedom due to it being Veteran’s Day. Any time I’m out and I get to see a veteran, I’m always thankful and usually salute them. It’s incredible what these men do. They are the ones that are willing to go out and face death from an enemy just so I can be free.

In Ben Stein’s “Expelled”, he speaks of how valuable freedom is and why it must be defended. He is certainly right on this. Here in America, freedom has always been of rank importance. I’ve said that I’m skeptical as to how much freedom we’ll have in our next administration, but despite that I don’t favor it, I still urge people who want to enlist, do it. We had a clip playing here before the election of John McCain saying something every American should agree with. “America is worth fighting for.”

Too often, we don’t really think about what happened. I’ll be blunt and say that veterans haven’t been on my mind much today. I fear that I am not alone. I wonder how many people have gone through today and not even realized that it is Veteran’s Day? How many people are living in a land of freedom and not considering how that freedom came about?

Freedom does not come cheap and with things that come cheap, we should hold them in awe. As Christians, for example, we should hold our forgiveness in awe and realize the graciousness of God in giving it, for it certainly did not come cheap, but it involved the very Son of God coming and living among us so we could be free from sin.

How many veterans have their been in history? How many people put on a uniform and took up arms and kissed their wives and children good-bye not knowing if they would ever return again? How many of them are overseas right now as the Thanksgiving holiday gets started simply because they believe in fighting for their nation?

Even if you disagree with the war now, those are still our troops over there in it and we should honor them. One reason you are walking around free and not fearing terrorist attacks now is because someone else isn’t. Someone is in an area and for all they know, they could be attacked by the enemy and die tomorrow. For all we know, some of them might go to sleep tonight and be the recipient of a bomb in their sleep and wake up in glory. We don’t know.

Neither do they.

And I speculate, they don’t really care either.

Now I’m not saying they don’t love their life and wouldn’t like to get back and see their families? I’m saying that they enlisted because they are willing to pay that price in order to bring about freedom for the land that they love. When they enlist, they know what they are fighting for and they are ready to go fight for it.

We saw this after 9/11. Immediately, one of the first stories I recall seeing is that of several people going to offices to enlist for the military. Someone had attacked their homeland and they wanted that someone to know that they don’t take that lightly. These men were immediately ready to drop what was going on in their lives because they love their country.

I still love America. I’m not pleased with all that’s going on in it now and I’m not pleased with the way the upcoming administration looks, but I still think I live in the best nation on Earth. At this moment, I can go and worship where I want and I can speak what I want. I have a job and I have education and I have family and friends. I have that not as a freebie though, but at the price of many men who died in combat so I could be free. If we could count that number, I wonder how great it would be.

Today though, there are some who fought and lived to tell the tale and we need to honor them. Let’s remember though that it is not just today that we are free. We are free everyday because people were willing to fight. Honor the Veterans today that you know.

Election Night and Anxiety

Well readers, I’m interrupting our look at WallsofJericho to talk about what’s on everyone’s mind tonight, the election. I know some of you are Obama supporters. You know I’m not. This election leaves me very concerned about the future and my dear readers, you do not have to guess how I react to such situations. I fret to no end!

And tonight, I intend to tell you all about dealing with anxiety.

Physician, heal thyself.

There is hardly any better time to talk about it though than from experience. I’ve had anxiety today. I got a bottled water as soon as I could at work today because I thought I needed a drink. I have had panic attacks in the past before and I’m thankful that thus far, I have managed to fight them off and not have one.

Pray for me dear readers. I mean that, and I also know I’m not alone. 

Yet as the fear built up inside of me, I remembered that the Dean of our Seminary preached a great sermon a few weeks ago on anxiety and he used Philippians 4. I thought of that passage immediately and began trying to say it as best I could from memory. Let’s take a look though at the relevant portion to us:

 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Let’s look at that.

Rejoice. Rejoice? Rejoice? Wait a second Paul. My life is in pieces right now. Things are going terrible. I’m supposed to rejoice? Yep. You’re supposed to rejoice.

What is there to rejoice about?

Well, God’s on his throne and he still rules. Jesus Christ is still the savior of the world. You’re still breathing and you have life. The Holy Spirit has come into your life and you are being conformed into the likeness of Christ. You have the love of God for you and you have the promise of eternity with him someday.

Amazing how easy it is to lose sight of those. As I write them, I feel better, but it seems the temporal world seems to come in and make us ignore eternal realities.

Yet I try to keep this in mind, when something happens that gets you to trust God more, even if the thing is not good in itself, it has been used for good for you.

And when do we do this? Always? Maybe it’d be easier for us to do it in anxious times if we did it in good times. It’s easy to remember God when things are hard. It’s easy to forget him when things are good. We need to be thinking on the same grounds in good times and bad. We are people who are not good at praise.

Our gentleness is to be known to all. This goes along with our rejoicing. If we are rejoicing, we should be people of joy. Keep in mind in thinking about difficulties also that it’s likely that Paul wrote this from a prison cell and the prison cells in the ancient world were far worse than they are in modern-day America. 

Verse 6 also gives us some difficulties.

“Be anxious for nothing.”

Beg your pardon?

Look what’s going on and you’re telling me to not be anxious?!

Yep!

He doesn’t just leave us hanging though. He tells us to pray. Let our requests be made known to God. If we are anxious about something, we definitely have a need. Paul says “Instead of worrying, take it to God and trust him.” He also tells us to have thanksgiving. Thanksgiving needs to be a part of our prayers regularly. When I pray, one thing I always give thanks for especially is my friends. They mean much to me.

Again, would we probably be more thankful in hard times if we were in good times? If you’re like me and seeing anxiety now, could it be because of a lack of rejoicing and thankfulness in good times? Yes. I am speaking to myself as well.

In doing this, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. This peace is the recognition that God is on the throne and he is allowing all to happen for good. To not think so is to doubt him. From my reading of the commentaries, it seems the idea of transcending all understanding is pretty much undescribale. It’s like all the words are inadequate.

I’d also add that this is deep with a Trinitarian concept of God. Imagine the fellowship of the three persons of the Trinity. How much peace do you think exists amongst them? As much as is possible. That is the peace that is promised. The Trinity isn’t worried about what’s going on. If they’re not, why should you be?

Finally, we have a list of attributes of things to think on and to think means to not just have an idea but to deeply reflect and take into account. Really ponder these things. Don’t just have a momentary idea of them. Ponder them. Weigh over them in your hearts. Why do you want to think about what makes you anxious? Instead, think about what fits these qualities.

Paul is so sure of this that he points to himself as an example. Paul, in a jail cell, is telling people how to experience joy. Would that we could be the same!

Tonight, and for the next four years if you’re like me, try to keep these in mind. I feel much better writing them out, but I do ask your prayers as my memory will be terrible and those of us who teach can have the hardest time following our own principles.

May the God of peace be with you as well.

I Think You’re Wrong

Yesterday, a news story broke about how some kids in Tennessee had had a plan to try to assassinate presidential hopeful Barack Obama. While I am a strong McCain supporter, I can say that thankfully, the plan did not succeed. I don’t want Obama in the White House at all, but this certainly is not the proper way to prevent that from happening. Murder is always an evil.

I’m also on the Facebook application. Several of you are probably on there as well. I’ve found many of my high school class who have, unfortunately, drunk the Obama Kool-Aid and one of them put up a link about the story. What was most amazing though was that in her comment on the story, she was blaming the religious right.

I read the story that she put up and it said nothing about religious beliefs. (Well, it did say they shot out the window of a church. Last I checked, religious people don’t normally do that.) What was said though was that we all know what happens when the religious right starts acting with literal interpretations of Scripture.

I’ll also point out that what I’m saying is paraphrase and there is no intention to misrepresent what was said. Unfortunately, it looks as if the comments that I made aren’t there any more. However, I was told in reply that we’re from different worldviews so there can’t be any discussion and that this poster has a real beef with the religious right.

My reply was simple. If you have a real beef with the religious right, that’s just fine. It doesn’t mean though that they’re to blame for every evil out there. However, if we also have different worldviews, the thing to do is to meet in the open marketplace of ideas and discuss them. We can find out which, if any, of our views are true. As much as we should be eager to share beliefs we think are true, we should always be open to the possibility that we’re wrong. I also stated that my Facebook IMs were open for such a discussion. The reply I got was simple:

“Ugh.”

Then, there was a change to this one saying they were being personally attacked in describing their activity. This really stunned me. Personally attacking? I was simply stating a divergent viewpoint. (If anything was an attack, it was insisting that the religious right were the ones behind an attempt by neo-nazis to assassinate Obama.)

It makes me think we’ve lost something in our world today. It’s getting to where you can’t tell anyone that they’re wrong about anything. This is something especially evident in political circles today. Thomas Sowell has written a great article telling how presidential candidates back in the 1800’s got called far worse things than anything McCain or Obama have been called.

Some people might find my stance on negative campaign ads odd. I’m all for them. If someone goes too far, the public will see it. However, I think it’s perfectly legitimate for any candidate to call his opponents view into question. Let me see his record. I want to see that. I don’t want to just hear the good things being promised today.

It’s what Sowell refers to as record vs. rhetoric. If someone has a problem with someone on an issue, it’s perfectly all right to say so. This is the way ideas get sharpened and improved. I have my own stances on theology. If I meet a Christian, I’m more than wiling to discuss our disagreements. (There is one exception. If that disagreement becomes a point of fellowship, I no longer want to discuss it. It seems that what divides us has then been put above what unites us, our faith in Christ.)

If we live in a society where we can’t even say someone is wrong without considering it an attack on the person, there’s a problem. I’m not saying I’m against cold hard truth at times either. If someone is honestly being an idiot, I have called them on it before. I don’t prefer to beat around the bush. There are several people though I don’t use the tactic on. The ones that get the toughest treatment are the ones I believe are not really seeking truth but simply to destroy the flock.

Either way, they do have a right to raise questions though and we should answer them. If we have reached a point in society though where we cannot call something into question though, then we definitely need to take a second look. Anyone of us could be wrong and we dare not try to play God and act as if we can’t.

Abortion And The Election

Like many of you, I did watch the presidential debate last night. I’ve been avoiding writing on it often, but there are times that I think that a man can’t stay silent. My blog isn’t about politics specifically though. It’s about the Christian faith. However, the two do often intersect. The way I see it, by my nature, I am a human being first. My religious heritage is next in importance as I am a Christian. My national heritage comes after that in that I am an American. Finally, my political tradition is next and in case you haven’t guessed, I am a strong Republican conservative.

I am quite concerned with this election. We have had leftist candidates before, but I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone as left as Barack Obama. If there is one issue though where we often here talk about faith and politics intersecting, it is in the topic of abortion. Fortunately, that was an issue that was raised in the debate last night.

One ironic statement made was that this should be a woman’s decision. The irony is that this reeked of a post I made recently here:

http://deeperwaters.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/i-dont-have-a-uterus/

Ironically, a lone comment there raised some points about that post I agree with. I have to agree that it is a very dumb argument, but I brought it up because we often do encounter dumb arguments and some of them are so dumb we’re not even sure how to answer them. The following is the comment that was made:

These types of discussions– arguing against a lame “uterus” argument from a woman who is an idiot and happens to be pro-choice only helps to perpetuate a trivialization of a woman’s ability to choose. I don’t think I would trust this person with any decision. Of course it seems ridiculous to trust this woman to make a decision about life. Seems like a cheap foundation to build a pro-life argument on.

Pointing to child support as a man’s responsibility is not necessarily the case, and turns the woman into a victim– who would trust such a victim with the responsibility to make a decision about life (since she clearly cannot care for a child on her own). Making an argument against choice using this ridiculous pro-choice person, and irrelevant financial and circumcision decisions is a waste. Pick a real and logically sounds pro-lifer’s argument to discuss, please.

End.

Of course, this wasn’t the only thing said by Obama last night. For the rest of what I say, I am largely in debt to Francis Beckwith, an excellent philosopher with a great book called “Defending Life” that anyone wanting to defend the life of the unborn should read. His blog at FrancisBeckwith.com called “Southern Appeal” has an article and now a response to a critic from Robert George. Who is that? Let’s see what the article says about him in description.

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics and previously served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He sits on the editorial board of Public Discourse. 

I just wish to bring out some highlights. In his first essay, Robert George points out that not only is Obama pro-choice (Though I prefer pro-abortion), he is the most pro-choice candidate we have ever had and each time you think things have gone as far as they could, George assures you that they get worse. I urge all concerned voters to read the article. Robert George has done his homework.

In another article though, he responds to a critic and speaks about what Obama said related to a Born Alive Act last night. The law was seen to be inadequate and didn’t really deal with the situation as it was still a judgment call on the part of the doctor. This is why a nurse like Jill Stanek found a dying baby in a soiled linen closet.

While an act that followed at the start of the 21st century did well in D.C., it didn’t so well in the Illinois Senate. Some were concerned that abortion rights would be limited if the bill were allowed to pass. The most prominent one and the only one that actually spoke against it when it was being debated was Obama.

Even when it was changed so that there was a neutrality aspect to identity and said nothing about the legal status of a human being before birth, it was still voted down. Obama was leading the charge.

Friends. I say this because frankly, I’m concerned. Abortion isn’t my only issue when I go to the polls, but it’s a big one. I do have a dream of seeing Roe V. Wade overturned someday and I do believe that that will come about by getting people who will at least be open to the pro-life position. This is especially true with the Supreme Court where the trouble originally began.

I also think that when I vote, I want to keep in mind that there are future lives at risk. Is the next generation going to be around to see the fruit of my voting? For me, voting is an honor and a privilege. I get to take part in the leadership of this great nation that I have been blessed to be a part of. This is how the system works. Rest assured, I have no problem with abortionists going out there and making their case and wanting people to vote their way. That’s part of how the system works. All voices are to be heard in the public square and we are to debate the issue and respond accordingly.

My hope is that when you go to the polls though, if this is an issue for you as it is for me, you will have the facts there. As I have said, this is an issue for me and I don’t even enjoy writing largely in a political way, but I just don’t think I can stay silent any more.

Obama, Socialism, And My Story

I started a thread on TheologyWeb where I often post about what Barack Obama said to a plumber who is concerned about his tax plans. I won’t deny it here. I am not a fan of Obama in any way. I urge you if you are though to not stop reading now. I’m not writing this to attack him specificially. My stance is against his for another reason though. I wrote on this on TheologyWeb and a wise friend suggested I blog about it. I resisted it, but I thought eventually I might as well. 

My stance was that I find what was said insulting. I don’t appreciate the idea that if I’m going to be a success, I need the help of the government. Someone responded to me and told me that some people have inequalities and it isn’t as easy for them so get over it. Now that really ticked me off and I had to respond and I am giving a longer form here of what I said there.

I’ll also say that this is something difficult to write. My wise friend would tell me that if anyone attacked me for anything I said here though, it would be their problem. I agree with her astute wisdom once again.

The truth is, I have those inequalities. My scoleosis is well-known actually though. In speaking about that, I’m not really limited. I played ultimate frisbee earlier this month at our Seminary and I was the fastest one on the field. It is interesting to go to the Y though and be at the mirror and keep trying to contort myself in every way to see the scar on my back and how it is, but I can’t. No one has ever asked me about it though, but I honestly wouldn’t mind if they did.

At an earlier age, I was diagnosed as autistic. Some people think I’m Asperger’s, so I prefer to say Aspie/Autistic these days. I’m not sure what it is entirely, but I will say life is difficult at times. If I get in a social situation, I’m not really the best. I thrive on the intellectual. I see the world through a different set of eyes. I can illustrate this with my coming into work today and a co-worker trying to engage me in a conversation. This person started the conversation.

“Hi!”

“Hi….”

“How are you?”

“Hello.”

“Anything new?”

“Hello.”

“Are you reading anything new?”

” ‘The Trinity’ by Saint Augustine.”

The other questions are the small talk questions that don’t really go over so well. I never know exactly what to say with my penchant of wanting to be honest and realizing that if I’m honest in this case and I’m feeling great, what will happen in the day when I’m not? If I’m not feeling great today, then it is not appropriate to be honest.

If anyone wants more info on this, I recommend reading a chapter of a book by a guy with Asperger’s named “John Robison” called “Look Me In The Eye.” The chapter is called “Logic and Small Talk.” I read through it at the bookstore and thought the guy was inside my head. This is a book I definitely plan to buy someday.

Let me go back to my history some though and talking about inequalities.

I remember being taken by my parents often to the Birth Defects Center as it’s believed I have some muscle disease also that limits my strength. It’s not conclusive. A muscle biopsy didn’t reveal anything as far as I know and I don’t think about it much, but the autism aspect I think was a strong reason behind my being there.

Let me be clear. My parents are very good people and very supportive. They didn’t do perfect though. They shielded me from a lot and I had to learn a lot when I got out on my own, but I did prove to them that I can handle things and with their last visit here to see me, they got to see that firsthand. It’s still hard for them of course, but they’re pleased. They are also both Christians who raised me in the church.

I also hate that kind of term though of the place I was. “Birth defects.” I may not be functioning on all cylinders like everyone else, but I am not a defective product. Could it be part of our view that tends to treat people like they’re machines? I do not socialize well. That is true. Because of my condition though, I do a lot of other things well.

As an example, I was talking to a philosopher friend of mine on Facebook recently and he was surprised when I told him I’ve never had a formal class on logic. He told me he was stunned because I seemed to have such a grasp of it. Well that’s the way my mind works. I can see a 10-digit number and memorize it. I do mathematics the way a lot of people breathe. It’s just innate. 

However, many counselors seeing me growing up were quite hesitant. I was told for instance that I would never finish High School.

I was in public high school and I didn’t have special help. The only case really was when I had the scoleosis surgery and due to physical weakness then, someone else had to carry my bags for me and I had to leave class five minutes early so I wouldn’t be out in the hall during the rush when the students got let out.

Nevertheless, I finished. I would say I was a lazy student though simply because I did not need to study. I grasped ideas immediately and was able to recall them. Did I interact with students a lot though in things like dating and such? No. I had a lot of crushes, but I didn’t really act on them. My friends were few, but they were there.

I graduated though. Okay. The other side was wrong.

So I go to Bible College. I hadn’t even heard of apologetics yet, but there was a lot of stuff going on in my life and I needed to find answers and I had a natural grasp of the Bible and I had friends telling me I should be in ministry as I was already doing evangelism on the internet and actually enjoying that more than anything else. 

How did I get there? My family is not rich. VOCRehab paid for my education. It’s an organization that pays for those with “disabilities.” They didn’t really like my choice though. They urged me to not go into ministry as my mind could be better put to use in something like engineering (Which I had no interest in) and I just couldn’t speak well of course.

It’d have been nice if they’d had been there when I preached my senior sermon before the faculty and student body of my Bible College which would be about 1,000 people.

I loved my college years and was increasingly educating myself. For the first time after having discovered apologetics, I was buying books and books and books. Last night, I told my roommate that I’m going to need to go and buy another bookcase. This had never happened with any interest before. Before too long, I was an authority.

Did I graduate? Yes. I am the first in my family in a long time to have a college degree. Looks like VOC Rehab was wrong.

However, I have yet to get a ministry position and in my hometown, I eventually knew that I wanted to come where I am now. I moved out on my own to a local apartment which my folks had concern about. Nevertheless, I proved to them that I can budget and in fact, they tell me that I budget better than my married sister. 

VOC Rehab when they found out had offered to give me classes on living on my own. Forget it. I don’t need a class on that. I taught myself much of what I know. They also offered to have someone help me get a job. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t care for my job at all. However, I also wanted to be sure of something. I plan to get a job because I’ve earned it and not because I need help due to disability.

I got accepted to the Seminary I wanted to go to and I am there now. My president knows my condition as do much of the staff. I try to be open with them about it. They don’t treat me the way they do out of pity though. They do it because they respect me and believe that I have the ability to do the things that I want to do.

I work right now in a situation where I am doing a non-intellectual job that is socially geared. It’s anathema to me. That kind of stuff just wears me out. When there’s too much activity going on and too many people talking, it wrecks my thinking. It is that time at the end of the day when I sit down and read or do something else I enjoy that I get restored.

I am especially thankful for my friends, especially my roommate. I find it amazing at times that he willingly agreed to live with me knowing all these things about me. It is thinking of a friend like him that gives me some comfort in whatever goes on in my life. Of course, this doesn’t discount my Christian faith as keeping me going, but I’m so thankful that God gave me friends.

Sometimes, those of us with Autism/Asperger’s are seen as rude and we really have a huge disadvantage. If you see someone in a wheelchair, you don’t challenge them to a footrace. If you see someone without arms, you don’t ask them to play a game of catch. When you see me though, I look like everyone else. You can’t see a social disorder like that.

My friends though are the ones that I can be open with, but even still I can be guarded. I speak more with sounds and actions. Music plays a big part as I usually have a tune or a song in my mind. I will often try to gesture to someone that I don’t know. It’s a lot easier to me than talking and frankly, I can’t tell you why. The exception is if the conversation is about something I know and it can be anything. Talking about Smallville, for instance, can get someone into my world.

Btw, that’s another reason I love Smallville. I see a lot of myself in Clark Kent. Why? Clark Kent lives with a secret and he looks like everyone else. He wrestles so much with existential struggles involving his humanity and what it means. How are people supposed to feel? Nevertheless, he’s out there trying to use his abilities to make the world a better place.

Now what about VOC Rehab also? Are they paying for my Seminary? Nope. I made something clear. I would not get my education out of pity. I would get it out of ability. I am paying for everything. If I earn a scholarship, that is different. Right now, I’m not sure how things will be paid for, but they will be. I have some dentistry bills coming. I’m not sure how it will be paid for, but it will be. 

What does this have to do with Obama and his statement? Here’s the truth. I don’t want pity. I want the government to simply ensure that I can have the freedom to go out and make a success of myself. I consider Obama’s idea that I need that help an insult. Do I have an inequality? Yes I do. Don’t underestimate me though. I have overcome a lot thus far and I can rest assured any detractors out there that we’ve only just begun.

Connecticut Lifts Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Normally, I don’t like to go into politics here, but this is one of those areas where there is a tie between Christianity and politics. Interestingly, politics was originally about producing a good state. Today, it seems to be just about producing a state and often, goodness has nothing to do with it. In fact, it seems the antithesis of politics.

I have here an article from the DrudgeReport on the decision:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93NOK900&show_article=1

For all who are interested, The Connecticut State Constitution can be found here:

http://www.harbornet.com/rights/connecti.txt

I found this decision not surprising, but very depressing. Especially since the reasoning behind it is nonsensical. Consider this from the first article.

“Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote in the majority opinion that overturned a lower court finding.

What equal protection principles though? Perchance there are more, but I am wondering what one is being protected from in this case. Is the report wishing to say that all people are equal? In a sense, they are, but in a sense they are not, and this is a very fine distinction that must be made if we are to understand what is going on. 

I can look at our government easily and say that based on our Constitution, that we believe all men are created equal. That is equal in ontology though, that is, our nature. We are all fully human. No one is 99% human. Everyone is 100% human. That’s what humanity is. You either are human or you don’t. Now you can act ways that are or are not humane, but you cannot change your ontology. 

We all know that men and women are different though. Blacks and whites are different, but not in ontology. There are some diseases black people are more prone to and there are some white people are more prone to. This is not a racist statement. This is simply a matter of fact. To point out a difference in race is not to be a racist.

We also know the sexes are different, and we should all be thankful for that. (This single guy definitely is.) Not only in their reproductive systems, but in other ways men and women are different. A Harvard president had to step down for saying men might be better at certain things than women. There was a huge outcry from the world but one question was never asked. “Was what he said true?” Well if it was, then it’s true. There are things women are better at than men. That’s not sexism in any way. It’s simply truth. If you said women are less human for what they can’t do as well as men, then that would be sexist, and vice-versa.

Also in our world, everyone has equal rights. That is, there are some things that people are not allowed to take from you within reason. You have a right to liberty, but that doesn’t mean you have the liberty to go rape a girl you find attractive. Note also you have a right to the pursuit of happiness. You do not have a right to happiness. The government is not entitled to make you happy. They are just to protect you in your pursuit of it.

Homosexuals don’t want the same rights though. They want different rights. They want a right that others don’t have and that is the right to marry someone of the same sex. That has not been observed because of what sexual intercourse is. It is the method whereby the human race continues and if you are a homosexual in union with another homosexual, that is not going to happen. Homosexuals do not reproduce together. It is not because a part in the system is broken, such as in the case of sterile parents, but it is because the system itself cannot bring about that function. 

What we are doing is a dangerous activity. We are re-defining what the world is to suit our purposes, including what marriage is. If you have the right to marry who you wish, then how long until someone says they want to marry their sister? Why can’t NAMBLA get to have what they want? How long will it be before Mormon women have to start dealing with polygamy again?

Ultimately though, I believe the problem is much deeper. Homosexual marriages will strike at what it means to be a man and a woman. They will be seen as interchangeable in their most unique area and in the end, we will have male and female be simply social constructs. There is no objective male or female nature. Society simply creates that idea. 

Well why can’t society just construct human nature then and re-define what it means to be a human?

And when we do that, won’t some people be ruled out by definition?

Either we will bow ourselves to reality or we will try to re-create reality after our own desires. The latter is a dangerous game no one has ever survived.

I don’t think we’ll be the first.

A Nation of Wimps

Exactly when did America become one? I saw another news story today about a statue of Moses with the Ten Commandments being removed because some people found it offensive. This boggles my mind how much we in America give in to fear. Could it be we fear violating everyone’s personal god, themselves, expressed through their own prophets, their feelings?

<> Not all offense is wrong of course. There are some things that just shouldn’t be done in public. I do believe in decency laws. There is another kind though where the word offensive isn’t enough. When you hear a story about rape or child abuse or the like, then you should not feel offended. You should feel outraged.

<> Outrage isn’t allowed though. You’ll hurt someone’s feelings. Geez. We need to grow up then instead of having a nation of children. It is a shame we can’t have rage due to the threat that we might actually hurt someone’s feelings. Forget how they treated their victims. Be sensitive and understanding. No. Here’s another idea. Give justice.

<> Yet this permeates our whole society. The employee gives in to the angry customer lest he hurt their feeilngs and they complain to the manager. The manager does the same lest the district manager does the same. The district manager does the same lest the, well, you get the picture.

<> I really think we need to recover the fine art of offending people, especially those of us who are Christians. Why do I say that? Because Christ called us to go out into the world. He did not call us to have the world walk all over us. When they say they don’t want to offend anyone, orthodox Christianity is always the exception. You can say what you want about the Evangelicals. Just don’t insult group X.

<> We don’t need to be needlessy offensive of course, but we need to be tough. The only way we’ll get some people to move is by stepping on their toes. In fact, the gospel should offend people. It should still offend us. Do you like being told that you’re a sinner after all? Do you like that your choices on how you live your life are called into question continually by the carpenter from Nazareth?

<> I speak especially to my fellow men. We need to be men. There was a day when a man was considered to be a warrior. Today, we are turning men into pushovers. Yes. Men and women are ontologically equal, but we are not entirely equal and thank goodness for it. You would rather go on your honeymoon with Danielle than with Daniel if you’re a guy.

<> What’s at stake? Everything. Our story is that we have allowed ourselves to be walked on in the name of political correctness. Truth knows nothing of this. Truth is willing to offend people if it will do them good in the long run. What is the purpose of protecting a feeling that is not only wrong but will lead away from truth?

<> Go out then! Be a warrior!