Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CHILDREN TAUGHT TO SING THE PRAISES OF OBAMA

This is really shocking and stomach-turning.  Click here.   Can this be happening in America?  Does anyone sense things getting creepier and creepier?  From the beginning I have sensed something "not right" about this man and his candidacy, not right in many ways, including not right in an eerie, spiritual sense.  Which is one reason I am on my knees.

Lyrics:

We’re gonna spread happiness
We’re gonna spread freedom
Obama’s gonna change it
Obama’s gonna lead ‘em

We’re gonna change it
And rearrange it
We’re gonna change the world.

Ed Morissey posts two short videos of other "Dear Leader-type instances" of children being indoctrinated to pledge loyalty to political leaders. 

GWEN IFILL TO MODERATE VP DEBATE - CAN SHE BE IMPARTIAL?

Unlikely, since she is in the tank for Barack Obama.  But here's hoping.  Read Michelle Malkin's article to learn about Ifill's commitments and biases (Hint: she has written a book on Obama to be published on inauguration day, Janaury 20; she has has written a puff piece on him for Essence magazine, etc. etc.)

Update: 10/2/08 - Victor Davis Hanson says (my emphases:)

BANKRUPTCY, NOT BAILOUT, IS THE ANSWER

Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron writes the most sensible analysis I have  come across - and he does it with amazing clarity!  Genuinely amazing.  It's a must read article.  It is short, succinct, and easily grasped.  (HT: Drudge)

QUESTIONS FOR BARACK OBAMA REGARDING HIS RELATIONSHIP TO UNREPENTANT TERRORIST WILLIAM AYERS

Peer Kirsanow suggests the following questions should be posed to Barack Obama:

1. Sen. Obama, you dismissed your association with William Ayers by stating that his actions, while "despicable", occurred when you were just eight years old. Ayers was still a fugitive when another terrorist bomber, Ted Kaczynski (the "Unabomber") began his bombing campaign (btw — Senator, you were 20 at the time). Would you have had any reservations working with Kaczynski? Would you have had any reservations launching your political career from Kaczynski's home (prior to his apprehension)? What about from the home of abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolf? If so, please explain your criteria for working with some terrorists but not others.

2. Did you and Ayers ever discuss his participation in the bombing of the Pentagon? If so, when? How did you respond?  Did you continue working with him afterward? Why? Did this discussion occur before or after he hosted your political coming-out party?

3. Did Ayers ever tell you how you were chosen to chair the Chicago Annenberg Challenge ("CAC"), given that at the time there were thousands of more experienced lawyers in Chicago?

4. Did you ever tell Ayers that his actions were "despicable"? If so, did you do so at the time you interviewed to chair the CAC or later?  If not, why not?

DR. ALBERT MOHLER - "WHY ROE V. WADE SHOULD BE OVERTURNED"

Dr. Mohler writes:

 The question posed at "On Faith," the project of "Newsweek" magazine and "The Washington Post," had to do with whether the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion should be reversed.  The responses from columnists were very revealing, if tragic.  My own column was brief, but to the point:

The lamentable legacy of Roe v. Wade continues to poison America's culture and corrupt our moral consciousness. The 1973 decision represents a judicial usurpation of the political process and the declaration of a new constitutional "right" to destroy fetal life set the precedent for further assaults on human life and human dignity.

Roe should be reversed because it took the power to establish law out of the hands of the people and their elected representatives. Reversing Roe would not end the abortion debate, but it would send it back to the 50 states, where the people can have their say.

Furthermore, Roe is based upon a sliding scale of human dignity, with its arbitrary and unsustainable division of fetal life into "trimesters" of increasing legal significance. The decision is just what it was known to be at the time -- a badly constructed argument that had much more to do with Justice Blackmun's own personal agenda than with either law or medicine.

Roe is a compact with the Culture of Death. So long as it stands, America is the land of abortion on demand. Every pregnancy is a tentative pregnancy. Every fetus is in danger. Every American is complicit in this tragedy.

RUSH LIMBAUGH - SINGLE MOST INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE VOICE IN AMERICA

Zev Chafets wrote an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times:

. . . Limbaugh's influence is greater than ever. No single Republican -- not Karl Rove or Roger Ailes, James Dobson or Sean Hannity -- has his reach and clout. Certainly President Bush doesn't. Limbaugh is, very simply, the single most influential conservative voice in America.

A lot of Limbaugh's critics dismiss him as a buffoon or a fanatic. These are people who don't listen to his show. Limbaugh is not only a brilliant communicator, he is a smart political strategist. Other radio hosts and TV commentators (on both sides) take their talking points from campaign central -- but the people who write the Republican talking points are getting their ideas, often as not, from Limbaugh. Listen to him on a daily basis and you know what Republican candidates are likely to be saying in a day or two.  [more . . .]

EX-GENERALS AND ADMIRALS BACK McCAIN OVER OBAMA BY 4-to-1 MARGIN

Story here.  See also Bill Dyer's comment.

BARNEY FRANK - MAJOR CULPRIT IN FINANCIAL MESS

Jeff Jacoby says it well: 

Frank blithely declares: "The private sector got us into this mess." Well, give the congressman points for gall. Wall Street and private lenders have plenty to answer for, but it was Washington and the political class that derailed this train.  [my emphases]

Consider Frank's culpability:

But his fingerprints are all over this fiasco. Time and time again, Frank insisted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in good shape. Five years ago, for example, when the Bush administration proposed much tighter regulation of the two companies, Frank was adamant that "these two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis." When the White House warned of "systemic risk for our financial system" unless the mortgage giants were curbed, Frank complained that the administration was more concerned about financial safety than about housing.

Read Jacoby's article which sets the record straight going back to the Jimmy Carter era.

Victor Davis Hanson says Barney Frank "should recuse himself from the present discussions given his culpability for the original mess."  Hanson finds the proceedings surreal:

Freddie and Fannie were landing pads for former Democratic insiders, who milked the agencies for millions in bonuses as they covered their tracks by donations to Congressional candiates and pseudo-racial-populism of helping minorities buy homes with little down. Their careers are every bit as nauseating as anything at Enron — and yet the press strangely does not go after them in the manner we learned of Ken Lay's deceit. God help us all.

WAS THERE A MENTOR-PROTEGE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TERROIST BILL AYERS AND BARACK OBAMA?

Looks like it to me.  At the least it certainly needs investigation.  Consider Peter Kirsanow's post:

It's been nearly a week since Stanley Kurtz presented evidence that Sen. Obama has seriously misrepresented his relationship with William Ayers, yet there's no indication that news organizations are pressing the candidate for an explanation.

 

Among other things, Stanley shows that it's reasonable to conclude that Ayers selected Obama, then a " young and inexperienced lawyer", to chair the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. There, Obama and Ayers directed substantial sums of money to radical organizations (see Stanley's article today via the web briefing).

 

A few years later, Obama launched his political career at a gathering at Ayers home. The Ayers-Obama relationship certainly appears to be more like a mentor—protégé relationship than it does Obama's description of a random acquaintance of two guys who  happen to live in the same neighborhood.

 

Perhaps the media were too preoccupied with the bail-out last week to follow up on the Ayers story. Is no journalist interested in the relationship between a presidential candidate and a terrorist?

ALLEGED "CORRUPTION" OF GOV. PALIN & SEN. OBAMA COMPARED

Mark Hemingway writes:

Good Grief. So this is the result of an AP "investigation":

Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politis as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception - and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.

She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free "awesome facial" she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The "absolutely gorgeous flowers" she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.

Not that these things are to be excused out of hand, but Palin bends zoning rules — which I'm sure are stringent and a high stakes matter in Wasilla, Alaska — and gets a free facial. Obama gets a freakin' house with help from a someone indicted for money laundering, wire fraud,

OBAMA'S WORK AS A "COMMUNITY ORGANIZER" UNDERMINED BANKS

- Update 9/30/08 - Click here for a video interview with Stanley Kurtz in which he explains further what is written below and includes additional comments on ACORN.

- Ed Whelan over at the Corner notes this ([emphases mine]:

Some excerpts from Stanley Kurtz’s New York Post essay today on Barack Obama’s role in pushing banks to make bad loans: 

What exactly does a "community organizer" do? Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question. Here's a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.…

 

In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it.…

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ - "FREE SARAH PALIN!" (TO BE HERSELF)

Update 9/29/08 - Bill Kristol explains how McCain/Palin can win

                                 - Add Mitt Romney to the chorus

- I think Kathryn Jean Lopez is right.  Click here.

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

I've debated whether I wanted to post anything on the current economic crisis since the situation is so fluid that anything posted will probably be outdated in a matter of hours.  Be that as it may, I've decided to post a few items that give a snapshot of opinions and concerns as of Saturday night, Sept. 27th, 2008.

- William Kristol - A Genuine and Immediate Crisis  - Kristol cites the European Fortis bank crisis as ominous.  I've never seen a major commentator [Kristol] in such virtual panic mode.  - The man on the street is apparently getting scared, too. - The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its 1 oz. gold coin because of soaring demand.  A sign of how scared people are.

- Rasmussen report - Support for bailout plan now down to 24%

- Newt Gingrich wants Treasury Secretary Paulson to resign - Newt has strong words. He says Bush doesn't understand the situation; Paulson's arrogance is unending and he should resign

“But it’s probably impossible, without the president getting a new secretary of the treasury, to get to a good deal. Which I think’s just tragic, and bad for the country. We’re taking an immediate tummy ache, and we’re in danger of turning it into cancer.”

IS THERE A BIOLOGICAL BASIS FOR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE? (ANDREW NEWBERG)

Michael Gerson brings us up to speed on research experiments. 

. . . It is typical work for Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine -- perhaps the nation's leading expert on the biological basis for religious experience. More exotic subjects of his brain scans have been nuns at prayer, Buddhist monks during meditation, Pentecostals speaking in tongues and entranced Brazilian mystics who write out messages from the other side.

These subjects have little in common theologically. But the activity of the brain during intense religious experiences is often (though not always) similar. The frontal lobes are activated, indicating attention and focus. The thalamus shuts down normal sensory input. And the parietal lobes -- which ground us in time and space -- are less active. In this state, people describe a sense of timelessness, a suspension of self, a feeling of bliss and oneness with the universe.

Keep reading... 

THE "REBELUTION" HAS ARRIVED - "Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations"

- Update 10/21/08 - Christianity Today published an interview with Alex and Brett Harris available here.

* * *

The September-October 2008 copy of Mission Frontiers landed in my mailbox today.  Editor Ralph D. Winter always has stimulating things to say in his "editorial comment."  This time he recommends Do Hard Things A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and and Brett Harris (who happen to be twins, and the younger brothers of Joshua Harris). 

Winter writes:

"This exciting book lays out irrefutably the fact that today's teenagers are what-they-are because society does not expect (even allow) much from them.  This is not just a theory.  An enormous response to their web site, www.TheRebelution.com, and their face-to-face conferences literally all over the world, reveal a huge, powerful, and deep-seated exasperation on the part of millions of bright young people who (especially in the Western world) are essentially deprived of opportunity to do their best -- through 'low expectations" of society." [my emphases  - also, as long as I am adding a comment, check out the Rebelution blog]

Winter says "Look, every teenager ought to have this book." 

A whole lot of other people agree.  Here are some comments from the Amazon.com book listing:

BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (A SAD COMMENTARY)

This is a sad account of an orthodox priest going head to head with the liberal Presiding Bishop in the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori.  (She's the top person in the hierarchy). 

When Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently visited the Diocese of Georgia she got more than she bargained for when she went head to head with the orthodox rector of St. John's Church in Savannah, Georgia.

At a meeting with the clergy of the diocese, she asked them to meditate on Mark 1:11, "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased", the words spoken by "a voice from heaven" to Jesus at his baptism in Jordan.

"We were to apply this text directly to ourselves, and to ponder what it meant to be assured of God's unconditional love and approval. To judge from the responses, the assembled clergy loved this exercise, and in the discussion that followed the conventional themes of inclusiveness emerged - although a few did

WHICH ENGLISH BIBLE TRANSLATION IS PREFERABLE?

I found this article, 'NET, NIV, ESV: A Brief Historical Comparison," by Dr. Daniel B. Wallace helpful.  Concluding paragraph:

Ultimately, whatever translation your congregation uses should be one that they can trust, one that they will read, and one that they will memorize from. On those three fronts, I think the NET Bible may be the best. But the ESV, RSV, and, to an extent, NIV and TNIV also fit the bill. My own recommendation to English-speaking Christians is to own more than one Bible. In fact, I usually recommend the KJV (for historic and literary reasons), the NET (for accuracy especially, but also for elegance and readability), and a Bible of their choice (which could be either for reading [NIV, TNIV] or memorizing [RSV, ESV]).

Read the whole thing.

A FRIEND CONSIDERS THIS ONE OF THE BEST POLITICAL ADS HE HAS EVER SEEN

It's put out by CatholicVote.com and stresses life, faith, and family.   Maybe he is right.  I'm not sure.

PHOTO: PALIN'S CORNIEST MOMENT

Click here.  (HT: Hot air)

VIDEO: VISITING PASTOR FROM KENYA, BISHOP THOMAS MUTHEE, PRAYED OVER PALIN (2005) FOR PROTECTION FROM WITCHCRAFT

Click here for video and commentary. I suppose, as Allahpundit suggests, that this prayer by Kenyan pastor Bishop Thomas Muthee is supposed to be some kind of Leftist response to the criticism leveled at Barack Obama for his 20 -year subjection to Rev. Wright.  That comparison won't wash.  Judge for yourself.

PALESTINIAN CRIMES AGAINST CHRISTIAN ARABS

Manfred Gerstenfeld of the "Institute for Global Jewish Affairs" offers a major article and overview.

AT THE UN, VICIOUS ANTI-SEMITISM IS MET BY A ROUND OF APPLAUSE

Anne Bayevsky writes:

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 will go down in history as the day the United Nations General Assembly provided a platform for a head of state [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran] to spew unadulterated, vile antisemitism — and the assembled nations of the world clapped.

The United Nations has become the largest global purveyor of antisemitism in the world today.  In the full knowledge that the president of Iran denies the Holocaust and advocates the destruction of the U.N. member state of Israel, the U.N. invited him to mount the dais and gave him a megaphone.  [more . . .]

OBAMA: MORE LIKE A PRESS SECRETARY THAN A PRESIDENT

I think this person's perspecive makes sense (my emphases):

". . . there is something about Barack Obama that seems more like a Press Secretary than a President. He comes across as a pleasant and articulate team player, the kind of guy who would walk into a policy room or a political war room and say, "Okay guys, what are we thinking here?" Once he has mastered the message, he is a great communicator. But he has never had an original thought. That is a plus in a Press Secretary, I suppose. It is a real danger in a President. . .

LISTENING TO PREACHING AS A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

 Craig Brian Larson, penned an interesting article on preaching as a spiritual discipline.  Most books and articles on "spiritual formation" pay scant attention to the discipline of listening to preaching.  Larson emphasizes: "There are at least nine characteristics that separate sound, biblical preaching from Bible reading, memorization, and meditation."  He lists them as follows: 

TONY BLANKLEY - 'MAINSTREAM MEDIA NOW STRAIGHT OUT PROPAGANDISTS FOR THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN"

Tony Blankley's column says exactly what needs to be said (my emphases):

The mainstream media have gone over the line and are now straight out propagandists for the Obama campaign. While they have been liberal and blinkered in their worldview for decades, in 2007-08 for the first time, the major media are consciously covering for one candidate for president and consciously knifing the other. This is no longer journalism — it is simply propaganda. . .

The image of Barack Obama that the press has presented is not a fair approximation of the real man. They have consciously ignored whole years in his life, and showed a lack of curiosity about such gaps that bespeaks a lack of journalistic instinct. Thus, the public image of Mr. Obama is of a "Man who never was."

MAGIC MARKER CAMPAIGN

From a person's lawn in Indiana (posted at the Corner):

 

ADOPT A TERRORIST FOR PRAYER

I read something this morning that strikes me as a good idea:

Why Pray for a Terrorist?
"The war on Islamic terror is primarily a spiritual battle.  Fear is the primary weapon against our liberties, and terrorist are Satan's primary tools.  If terrorists begin turning to Christ in increasing numbers, the Islamist agenda will fail.  Christ has told us, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  In view of this command, we heartily suggest that you go to the following Christian website to adopt a terrorist for prayer:  http://www.atfp.org

AN AMERICAN HERO IN AFGHANISTAN (CAPT. BRUNO de SELENI) LEAVES A LETTER . . .

Talk about military valor.  This letter describes the thought processes and actions of a heroic man.  One should be very proud and humbled to know such a man. 

Update 9/25/08 - Click here.  More here and here

JOE BIDEN IN 24 HOURS - THE GAFFE MACHINE IN FULL GAFFE MOTION

As Victor Davis Hanson said, "Had this been Palin, the election would now be over."  Here's Hanson's summary of Biden's recent "speech events":

I think in the space of about the last 24 hours, Joe Biden claimed that the AIG bailout was bad, but then said it wasn't bad;

that we did not need to burn coal;

that his apology about the dirty McCain ad was, as they say, inoperative;

ON THE MISTAKEN IDEA THAT CREDIT IS A CIVIL RIGHT

- Update 9/24/08  - Krikorian has more...

Mark Krikorian makes sense when he says:

I have no way of judging whether the Wall Street bailout is a necessary evil or an impending disaster.  But we're in this mess, ultimately, because our political elites thought it was good social policy to encourage banks to give mortgages to uncreditworthy people, resulting in what Sailer months ago called the "Diversity Recession" (if this doesn't work, make that the Diversity Depression). In other words, if poor people in general, or blacks or Hispanics in particular, were less likely to be approved for a mortgage, the only possible reason was racism or classism or whatever. Thus "creditworthiness" was an illegitimate, dead-white-male concept, like middleclassness. Because, after all, isn't everyone entitled to credit? Therefore, I propose any bailout bill start with these words: "It is the sense of Congress that credit is not a civil right."

STANLEY KURTZ - "OBAMA AND AYERS PUSHED RADICALISM ON SCHOOLS"

Updates: See updates below on evidence of a possible cover-up of Bill Ayers’ role in choosing Obama to lead the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

- This much talked-about article represents a major piece of careful investigation. Michelle Malkin summarizes: "Stanley Kurtz elaborates on how Barack Obama and Bill Ayers organized a community of left-wing grievance-mongers in Chicago’s public schools."

Kurtz also published "Obama's Challenge," saying,

This second piece contains the full text of a public statement from the Obama campaign in response to my findings about Obama, Ayers, and Annenberg. It also includes my detailed response to that statement. I’ll have more on Obama, Ayers, and Annenberg soon. Stay tuned.

Update 9/24/08  - Stanley Kurtz points to another article he just published:

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FINANCIAL CRISIS?

The Democrats.  You don't believe me?  Then read this.

HAS OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN ORCHESTRATED A GOV. PALIN SMEAR CAMPAIGN VIA A MAJOR PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM?

If this story is true (and the evidence seems strong), it underscores the high level strategic deception and maliciousness engaged in by those who fear Gov. Sarah Palin's popularity to sway the election.  It looks undeniable that outright lies and accusations from "grass roots" attacks are actually engineered by a PR firm now apparently trying desperately to cover its tracks.  "Hot Air" offers a good synopsis and Michelle Malkin has still more as she keeps on top of the story.  Update: Click on the previous Malkin link for follow-ups.

Update 9/24/08 - from Michelle Malkin:  "The latest from Rusty Shackleford is here. Ray Robison weighs in here and here. Ace of Spades: “I think they’re lying.” Jay Tea at Wizbang: “Some enquiring minds don’t want to know.”

WILL THE REAL IRRATIONALISTS PLEASE STAND UP? -- Turns out to be the Atheists and Liberal Protestants, not Evangelicals

Jonah Goldberg links to a Mollie Ziegler Hemmingway Wall Street Journal essay, "Look Who's Irrational Now," and provides these excerpts:

"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians.

The Gallup Organization, under contract to Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion, asked American adults a series of questions to gauge credulity. Do dreams foretell the future? Did ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis exist? Can places be haunted? Is it possible to communicate with the dead? Will creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster someday be discovered by science?

The answers were added up to create an index of belief in occult and the paranormal. While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.

Keep reading. . .

HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF "FAITH-BASED DIPLOMACY"? - Douglas Johnston and the Int'l Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD)

Well, perhaps you have, but I hadn't. I was intrigued to read about Douglas Johnston and his work in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, among other places.  A Christianity Today article says,

Johnston, a globetrotting 69-year-old, founded the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) eight years ago because he saw religious faith as a catalyst for peacemaking, instead of a basis for conflict. Johnston, an evangelical who attends the prominent Falls Church in Virginia, has learned that Muslims will listen more closely to a Christian than to the typical secular Westerner. Johnston doesn't evangelize, but his center's Christian motivation and framework are clear. "If you can operate on a faith-based basis, you find that, particularly with Muslims, they really open up," says Johnston. "This is what they like to think they're about. They get very uncomfortable dealing with just secular constructs."

According to the article,

ICRD is working with madrassah leaders in the North West Frontier Province to reform these training centers of Islamic militancy. By appealing to the schools' centuries-long tradition of education and scholarship, Johnston hopes to add mathematics, science, and literature to their curricula. And he hopes to inspire critical thinking.

Keep reading...

CHRISTIANS CONTINUE TO UNDERGO PERSECUTION AND VIOLENCE IN INDIA

Referring to a major Washington Post news article on the current state of extraordinary persecution of Christians in the Orissa region of India, the Family Research Council summarized:

"The Washington Post" reports today that Christians in the Orissa region of India have been  relentlessly attacked in recent weeks by Hindu extremists who, as the Post reports, "wielding swords, hammers and long sticks rampaged through their village, chanting 'India is for Hindus! Convert or leave!'" These extremists have destroyed nearly 4,000 homes of Christian families, and at least 115 churches, resulting in the displacement of nearly 20,000 people who are now afraid to return. Many are hiding in the forests. The Hindu fundamentalists claim that Christianity is a "foreign religion," a claim that is both untrue and irrelevant. The Christian presence in India is nearly as old as the church itself. But ancient or not, freedom of religion is protected under Indian law. It is time that the Indian national government stepped up to defend its own citizens from violence. And it is also time for our State Department to insist that they do so.  [my emphases]

I urge you to read the entire Washington Post article.   I blogged about persecution in Orissa last month also.  The persecution and violence continues.  One can keep abreast of persecution of Christians at the International Christian Concern website.   Click here for a list of atrocities earlier in the month plus video footage.

HOW PACIFISM VIOLATES THE COMMAND, "THOU SHALT NOT KILL" (CHARLES WILLIAMS)

Does that sound like a contradiction?  It did to me . . . until I read something by Charles Williams (1886 - 1945), the esteemed friend of C.S. Lewis, and a member of the famed "Inklings."  A couple of weeks ago I happened to dip into Williams' book, The Forgiveness of Sins, and came upon these shocking words:

Must we, for example, consent that men, the other men, shall be killed and maimed?  The answer to that is simple-- we must.

Williams explains: 

We may do it by ourselves inflicting death and torment on others (by bombs or however), or we may do it by abandoning others to death and torment (in concentration camps or wherever), but one way or the other we have to consent by our mere acts.  To call the one war and the other peace does not help.

He goes on:

This--whichever it is--is certainly, in part, the result of what we do.  Is there any direction?  Even to quote "Thou shalt not kill" does not finally help, for we have been taught that consciously to abandon men to death is, in fact, to kill.  To hate is to kill; to kill is to kill; and to leave to be killed is to kill. . .

Me:  I am still pondering these words.  Do  others have responses to offer?  

(The quotes above are from chapter VI,   "The Technique of Pardon.")

IN CRISIS, WALL STREET TURNS TO PRAYER

This substantial article by Tony Carnes of Christianity Today offers great insight into this past incredible week and the stresses that assaulted men and women on Wall Street.  It's worth reading.  It offers insight into a world that many of us know little about.  The article's subtitle reads "Financial meltdown triggers prayer sessions citywide."

IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD RETURNS TO THE UN

I P. David Hornik offers a valuable overview of the return visit of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the U.N.   Hornik writes:

Incitement to genocide is doing well these days. On Monday, September 22, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be arriving to address the UN General Assembly for the third time. At least this time he won’t be an honored guest of Columbia University as well.

Since his last address to the world body, a year ago on September 24, Ahmadinejad has been adding to his genre—not only referring to Israel last May 8 as a “stinking corpse” that “should be wiped off the face of the earth” as Sarah Palin has noted. Six days later, for instance, on Israel’s 60^th birthday, he said on Iranian state television that “The Zionist regime is dying. The criminals assume that by holding celebrations...they can save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation…. Nations of the region hate this criminal fabricated regime and will uproot this fabricated regime if the smallest and briefest opportunity is given to them.”

Me:  This time Ahmadinejad will be met by protests and responses.  Read on...

- See also "Iran's Faltering Economy" by Michael Rubin in Euro-Atlantic Quarterly (HT:  Corner)

SOMETHING TO TAP YOUR TOE TO

A Fairbanks, Alaska TV anchor recorded a catchy little ditty titled "I'm a Sarah-ist."  Click  here.

(HT: John McCormack at the Weekly Standard blog)

SEN. JOE BIDEN'S CHARITABLE GIVING (NOT EXACTLY EXTRAVAGANT!)

This is pretty amazing.  The information is available here (as well as on other websites).  What do these figures tell us about the man?  

                 

                                                  Adjusted
                                             Gross Income             Charity

                                           1998    $215,432          $195

                                           1999    $210,797         $120

                                           2000   $219,953         $360

                                           2001   $220,712         $360

                                           2002   $227,811         $260

                                           2003   $231,375         $260

                                           2004   $234,271         $380

                                           2005   $321,379         $380

                                           2006   $248,459         $380

                                           2007   $319,853         $995

                                           Total $2,450,042   $3,690

The Personal MBA Recommended Reading List

Josh Kaufman produced the following:

Top MBA programs don't have a monopoly on advanced business knowledge: you can teach yourself everything you need to know to succeed in life and at work. The Personal MBA Recommended Reading List features only the very best business books available, based on thousands of hours of research. So skip b-school and the $100,000 loan: you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these books.  (HT: Culture11)

WHY IS CHINA PUMPING IRAQI OIL AND NOT THE U.S.?

Mainly because of three Democrat United States Senators: Chuck Schumer, Sen. John Kerry, and Sen. Claire McCaskill.   Frederick W. Kagan explains.

BRITAIN'S SHARIA COURTS

- Updates: 9/18/08 - John O'Sullivan comments . . . 

- Be sure to read Diana West as well.  She chronicles the continuing capitulation of the West to Islam.  "Europe means Rome, Greece, Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian roots. Europe is a continent of castles and cathedrals, not of mosques and minarets."  - "How can anyone who values freedom of conscience, equality before the law and other such Western jewels not have a healthy fear of Islamic law, which values none of these things?"

- Kathy Shaidle writes:

Muslim Sharia courts have been operating throughout England for more than a year. This startling fact came as news to not a few UK residents when the Sunday Times broke the story last week. Officially called “arbitration tribunals,” these courts already have ruled on over 100 cases, including divorces, financial disputes and domestic violence cases – even though the latter is a criminal and not a civil matter. As such, they represent a worrying advance for Islamic law into the heart of Europe.

According to the Times, the rulings of these courts are now legally binding. Previously, their judgments could not be enforced unless all parties involved agreed to abide by them. As of August 2007, however, “[r]ulings issued by a network of five Sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.” To match their growing authority, the courts themselves are proliferating: Two more Sharia courts are planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Click here for a whole lot more. . .

LIBERALS AND BOOK BANNING

Leftists and liberals are spreading false stories about Sarah Palin and book banning.  Michelle Malkin has the full story showing that Liberal accusations against her are totally untrue.  But in treating the subject, Malkin notes some astonishingly full-court press efforts of liberals and leftist  to ban books themselves.  Consider: 

John Kerry and his rabid minions were pressuring Regnery Publishing to withdraw  "Unfit  for command" from bookstores . . .

Where were they when left-wing hit man David Brock of Media Matters for America sent a demand letter to Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble urging them to pull “Unfit for Command” from their shelves?

Where were they two years ago when two Democrat lawmakers, New Jersey Assemblywomen Joan Quigley and Linda Stender, called on merchants to ban the sale of Ann Coulter’s book, Godless,” because of her remarks about anti-Bush 9/11 widows. “No one in New Jersey should buy this book and allow Ann Coulter to profit from her hate-mongering,” the politicians lashed out. “We are asking New Jersey retailers statewide to stand with us and express their outrage by refusing to carry or sell copies of Coulter’s book. Her hate-filled attacks on our 9-11 widows has no place on New Jersey bookshelves.”

Or this:

LIBRARIES IN HOMES ARE COMING INTO STYLE

This Wall Street Journal article is interesting.  I hadn't realized that a guy like me, with a lot of books, could be associated with anything "stylish."   Ha!

Quote of the Day -- on the Election and the Culture Wars

Rich Lowry writes:

Palin will forever be a target. A pro-life, pro-gun evangelical with five kids, Palin has made the election even more into a culture war than it was before. Not only do national journalists resent that, they are, as urbanites and self-styled sophisticates, largely on the other side of that war as a matter of lifestyle and conviction. Because cultural matters cut so close to the core, it is nearly impossible for them to hide their allegiance.

Me:  Lowry is absolutely right.  The election has become (at least as it looks now), a referendum on whether voices opposing a reflexively militant secular culture will be granted an opportunity to significantly influence future American culture or not.

BILL PASSED IN IRAN: ANY MUSLIM WHO CONVERTS TO ANOTHER RELIGION MUST BE PUT TO DEATH

Wow.  This has the force of civil law.   The bill was approved by a majority of 196 to 7, with two abstentions.  From the Memri Iranian Media Blog...  (HT: Michael Ledeen at the Corner)

Last week, Iran's Majlis ratified a bill under which any Muslim who converts to another religion would be put to death, with no possibility of pardon.

The bill was approved by a majority of 196 to 7, with two abstentions.

The few Iranian media outlets that covered the issue played down their reports, while on others, such as the Majlis website and the website of the conservative daily Resalat, the reports were removed after a few hours.

Under the bill, anyone declaring publicly that he was knowingly abandoning Islam of his own free will face the death penalty.

The bill is now in permanent force, after being extended every five years since its temporary ratification in 1991.

It should be noted that a ruling by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, states that any Muslim who converts to another religion is subject to the death penalty, but until now this ruling has not been anchored in civil law.

THOMAS SOWELL DISCUSSES CROWD HYSTERIA OVER OBAMA AND THE LIMITS OF RHETORIC

Many of us have sensed something weird and wacky about the adulation over a man whose rhetoric totally masks his lack of accomplishments.  To put it more finely, Thomas Sowell says:

Barack Obama is truly a phenomenon of our time — a presidential candidate who cannot cite a single serious accomplishment in his entire career, besides advancing his own career with rhetoric. 

Sowell also cites what has probably come to a lot of people's minds:

To find anything comparable to crowds’ euphoric reactions to Obama, you would have to go back to old newsreels of German crowds in the 1930s, with their adulation of their fuehrer, Adolf Hitler. With hindsight, we can look back on those people with pity, knowing now how many of them would be led to their deaths by the man they idolized.

This is not to say that Obama himself is evil or has evil intents.   Sowell goes on to make the important point that,

A leader does not have to be evil to lead a country into a catastrophe. Inexperience and incompetence can create very similar results. . .

Sowell next observes, and this is what especially bothers me:

On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right

So says Byron York after careful investigation.   Click through to the article.