BluegrassBulletin.com

Nye vs. Ham: Two Views Of Reality

I watched the entire Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate last night.  It was two and a half hours long.  Today I was confronted about my Facebook comments by an old friend and a professor of Mathematics and Physics at Thomas More College.  Rather than write a long post, let me share our exchange.

The Problem Isn't Republicans, It's The Hated View Of Republicans

EDITORIAL RANT

I was once asked by a news paper editor if I was a Republican, or a TEA partier.  I told him that I prefer to avoid labels because they are over-broad.  I am who I am, think what I want and try to have good reason for what I think always willing to be persuaded, if possible, where I am wrong.

As Emerson once said "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."  I would emphasize the word "foolish" in that quote as I do not believe that there is anything inherently wrong in being consistently wise.

I know many people who are registered to vote under different banners who think very much alike on many issues.  The Republicans certainly have no special claim to the "right to life" issue, the "right to bear arms" issue, the right to be free from intrusive government regulations issue or many other issues that are of real concern to people regardless of their party registration.

But listen to the haters and you would think that all Republicans are evil.  Such thinking is over broad, over inclusive and born of a little mind.

Dea Riley, former candidate for Lieutenant Governor with the late Gatewood Galbraith recently posted this to her Facebook page:

Come on Dea.  Do you really think that all persons in the Republican Party openly embrace exclusion, elitism and social categorization?  That we are all radical fascists seeking to impose a specific ideology/theology on everyone, embracing intrusion into individual rights?  That certainly doesn't define me, and neither does it define or describe many of the republicans I know. That is an insult.

But you are in good company.  MSNBC which has turned out to be the great hater of all things republican made up out of thin air a claim that "conservatives" hate bi-racial families. 

My God!  First of all there was no "conservative" backlash last year which the facts prove and which caused MSNBC to amend it's tweet to remove the word "conservative".  But that doesn't cure the problem.

The far left, the liberals in the democratic party and yes, even some of the TEA party liberals who are hiding out under the banner of "constitutional conservatives" hate republicans so much that they refuse to see that we are all individuals, with individual thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

As a republican I still believe in individual freedom, and that is because like our founders I believe that my life is a gift from God and that I am endowed by Him with inalienable rights.

As a republican I still believe that when a government fears the people there is hope for liberty, but when the people fear the government we have tyranny.

As a republican lawyer I defend the constitution every day, which on some days means that I defend the rights of people to do things, and say things with which I might personally disagree, but they have the right to do and say them.

And as a republican I have no compelling desire to see that we control people through a particular theology.  I am a Christian and my faith teaches me that I am to love my neighbor, introduce them to God when the chance arises, but recognize that they operate with free will and their choices are their own.  Do I want everybody to be a Baptist, or a Catholic, or a Methodist, or a Quaker or a Mormon or a Pentecostal?  Of course not.  As a Christian I would like everyone to know and accept Christ and I think the best way to do that is to live what I believe to the best of my ability and introduce them to each other.

But as an American, who believes that people should be free from government dictates as to whether and how they worship, I do oppose the goal of radical Islam to force the world to capitulate to their twisted worship of a pedophile prophet or be killed or enslaved.

And likewise I oppose any effort, by any person or group of persons to enslave people under any ideology, including the disgusting political game that addicts people to government hand outs, destroying their sense of self worth, de-incentivizing them to reach their full potential and thus enslaving them to the masters who they eventually think are the only ones who can provide for them.

The problem in this nation isn't republicans, it's the irrational, unsupportable, off the chart hatred OF republicans.  And THAT my friends is not an accident. 

Hating republicans is not the natural consequence of an honest study of history.  It is not the result of deductive reasoning.  Hating republicans is the cold and calculated strategy of those who wish to fundamentally transform America into the kind of nation our founders and thousands upon thousands of our best and brightest ever since have fought to prevent.

It is unfair to say that all democrats are far left liberals.  It is unfair to say that all republicans are cracker-assed racists.

We are all Americans.  We all have the right to want and pursue different paths to happiness.  But hatred of others is destructive.

You may assign to me a desire to run things by my theology, but only on this one point.  In my view, hatred has no place in America.  I would prefer that we love each other, and all people, as we love ourselves. 

If that was our guiding principle, I believe everything else would fall into place.

Hmmmmm..... Is New Egyptian Policy A Scary Reflection Of Obama's Plans For America?

When Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt he did so with an iron fist that killed any dissent.  Then the Muslim Brotherhood rioted (with the encouragement of President Obama) and took over the country, installing Mohamed Morsy as the new Brotherhood leader of Egypt.  Then the people rose up and ousted Morsy.

Now the new government, installed after the military removed Morsy, has declared all of Morsy's supporters and the entire Muslim Brotherhood to be "terrorists", vowing to arrest and kill every single on, even women, following a series of attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood which have killed or wounded hundreds.

Egypt may be moving more toward a true democracy, but think about how they are accomplishing this.  They have labled the opposition as "terrorists".

Not too long ago the Obama administration sent out a memo to various law enforcement agencies around the nation.  It was a study funded by his "Department Of Homeland Security".  In the report various groups of people, such as veterans returning to the United States were identified as potential terrorists.

Now think about that.  If the government can label you as a terrorist with the stroke of a pen, then you could be arrested, imprisoned and maybe even executed.

This kinda makes you wonder if the new Egyptian Policy is a scary reflection of our President's attitude.

Has America Gone Crazy?

I offer this for your consideration:

A bearded successful businessman, Phil Robertson, is being castigated for expressing his personal opinion that homosexuals are not acceptable in the eyes of God.

A Clean shaven teacher of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, has spent years calling out homosexuals as being anti-God but receives none of the same treatment.

Actor Chris Noth of “Law and Order” and “Sex and the City” tweeted a call for violence against every member of the TEA Party.

Actress Marg Helgenberger tweeted her opinion that "one can only hope" that members of the NRA get shot.

Another victim of the "knock out" game crime was victimized in Brooklyn, a 33-year-old Jewish woman who was walking down the block with her 7-year-old daughter when she was ambushed by a Black male in his thirties.

And as all of this nuttiness is raging all around us, we once again find ourselves in the midst of the season of remembrance of the day when a crazy world was given the greatest gift next to life itself, when God came to earth in human form and walked among us.

He came in the form of a child, with none of the circumstance of being a king.  He was raised without much ceremony until his time had come and he, through his life and his teachings, led us back into communion with God, a communion we had by our own acts broken, turned away from and had suffered for that sin.

And in that new covenant our original sin was forgiven, we were re-united with God and given a second chance.

How have we behaved?  Are we loving each other?  Are we helping the less fortunate?  Are we trying to abide by God's will for our lives?  Are we trying to bring others into a closer relationship with God?

Do we represent God in our deeds, our words and our own legacy that we create every day?

Or has America gone crazy?

Peace, love, joy, all can be found, not by looking high up on shelves at the mall, not by pecking away on Amazon trying to take advantage of the last minute deals.

All of the things that really matter can be found only when you get down on your knees and ask for them to be shown to you.  And if you ask, you shall receive.

Merry Christmas.

Obama Orders Military To Classify Christian Ministry As Domestic Hate Group

The Barracuda Brigade website reported last week that several dozen active duty and reserve troops were told that the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because the group advocates for traditional family values.

The briefing was held at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and listed the AFA alongside domestic hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam.

A soldier who attended the briefing contacted me and sent me a photograph of a slide show presentation that listed AFA as a domestic hate group. Under the AFA headline is a photograph of Westboro Baptist Church preacher Fred Phelps holding a sign reading “No special law for f***.”

American Family Association has absolutely no affiliation with the controversial church group known for picketing the funerals of American service members.

“I had to show Americans what our soldiers are now being taught,” said the soldier who asked not to be identified. “I couldn’t just let this one pass.”

The website was more than terse in its criticism of the President.

Amazing: Pope Says Love Most Important Of All

Remember when Jesus shook up the world, challenged the Rabbi's and the teachings of Judaism with the simple concept that Love rules the world?  The outcome was not good for Jesus, but GREAT for the rest of the world.  Read this and then consider what a sea change the new Pope's comments are in a world focused on things other than love.

Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized. He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church. [NY Times]

These comments will no doubt be disconcerting to those driven by dogma, but to those inspired by love, they come as a breath of fresh air.

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Matthew 7:2-4

Religion Of Peace Update: Woman Murdered Over Women's Rights

From Turley:

In a culture of the oppression and abuse of women, Sushmita Banerjee stood out. An Indian married to an Afghan businessman, Banerjee wrote of the rule of the Taliban and her effort to flee the medieval Islamic rules placed on women. Her book “A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife” was an inspiration for women facing religious oppression and was later made into the movie “Escape From The Taliban.” The title proved tragically optimistic. This week, after she returned to her husband in Afghanistan, Banerjee was executed at her home by the Taliban.

Oh, but we dare not speak ill of Islam, so says our commander in chief.  But if we make even the slightest comment about a female candidate being an "empty dress" we've crossed some imaginary red line of misogynistic politics.

Idiocracy has arrived.

Court Says Photographer MUST Shoot Gay Wedding

A New Mexico court has ruled that a local photographer was not permitted to refuse to shoot photos at a gay wedding on the grounds of religious opposition.  The court dealt with both the discrimination laws and the First Amendment in coming to its decision.  In essence the court said that personal opinions must yield to a changing society.

You will recall that Rand Paul got himself in a bit of a problem during his campaign when he was portrayed as opposing a requirement of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits a restaurant owner from refusing to seat or sell to a customer based upon race.  This case applied a similar civil rights analysis to the refusal of the photographer to take pictures at a gay wedding.

This language from the case is sure to spark some pretty heated discussion.

“[I]n the “world of the marketplace, of commerce, of public accommodation, the [photographers] have to channel their conduct, not their beliefs, so as to leave space for other Americans who believe something different.” [Turley]

Regardless you feelings about gay marriage, "government compelled conduct" is a hot topic.

Data Collection: Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree

"1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5

Every tweet since the beginning of Twitter is being collected and analyzed in order to capture the rhythm and movement of history.  Physical data is being studied in order that power companies can predict which powerlines are likely to be damaged in storms.  Medical data is being studied to predict future patterns of illness and everyday patterns of human life are being collected, cataloged, studied and used to predict, and perhaps, manipulate future behavior. [CSMonitor]

What is all this stuff being collected?  Knowledge of the good, and evil, that men and women experience.  What might it be used for?  To control the path down which people travel, making men like gods.  Wouldn't this be similar to what we, the faithful, consider to be God's exclusive reign over the universe?

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Genesis 3: 8-17

Religion Of Peace Update: Morsi Supporters Kill 10 Year Old Girl

These are the guys that Obama supported when they took over Egypt and removed Mubark from office.  Now the people of Egypt see right through the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and have removed Obama's buddies from power.  This is how the Muslim Brotherhood supporters are reacting.

An horrific attack has taken place against Egypt's Christian Coptic community, after several unidentified individuals indiscriminately opened fire in front of the Evangelical church in Ain Shams, a suburb of Cairo, killing Jessi Paulis Issa, 10, and injuring dozens of Copts...

"Bearded men belonging to Morsi's supporters opened fire on the citizens as they were exiting from the church," one witness described. "They fled the scene in a pick-up truck."