Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

SARAH PALIN: "I'M A RUNNER"

Runner's World  has published a remarkable interview with Sarah Palin on why she loves to run.  The article is accompanied by a series of 7 stunning photos (much larger than the sample at the right) which some politicians, for various reasons, are unhappy to see.  Allahpundit comments:

What do we think of the much-publicized photos in Runner’s World today? If there’s a woman in America who’s had five kids that looks better than she does, I’d like to meet her. But if it’s gravitas that she needs to cement herself as a serious challenger to The One, I can’t imagine that a check-me-out photo helps.

CHRISTINA HOFF SOMMERS - "PERSISTENT MYTHS IN FEMINIST SCHOLARSHIP"

Anyone even remotely interested in feminist scholarship and the textbooks used on university campuses, needs to read this article.  (HT: HotAir)  I can't do justice to the article in a sentence or two.  Summary: be very suspicious of statistics, expect hyperbole, and don't expect most feminist authors to care about accuracy (many refuse to correct mistakes even when pointed out).  Here's how Ms. Sommers begins her article:

"Harder to kill than a vampire." That is what the sociologist Joel Best calls a bad statistic. But, as I have discovered over the years, among false statistics the hardest of all to slay are those promoted by feminist professors.  [more ...]

THE HONDURAN SITUATION -- AND AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT WHO SIDES WITH A WOULD-BE DICTATOR

Why does Obama meddle only when the pro-democracy side is winning?
(Image from Investor Business Daily's Michael Ramirez)

Updates 7/3/09 - Christian Science Monitor: "A coup in Honduras? Nonsense."   Keep up to date by regularly checking news and commentary at www.freehonduras.com

- (Original Post) - There's no lack of sane coverage of the Honduran situation which makes one wonder what gives with Obama and his State Department.  What are they inhaling?  Click here for an important Wall Street Journal article, note the comprehensive and excellent editorial in Investor's Business Daily, and turn to Fausta's Blog for details.  (HT: Wintery Knight Blog for the link to Fausta and the cartoon above).  Charles Krauthammer expostulated against Obama last night on Fox News:

Well, the president has a knack for getting all of these big decisions wrong. Two weeks ago, he refuses to meddle in a country where peaceful demonstrators are getting shot by a theocratic dictatorship. He doesn't want to choose sides.

 

And now he's eager to meddle on behalf of the president in Honduras who is a Chavez wannabe, who is strong-arming his way to a referendum—that has been declared illegal by his Supreme Court—as a way to...establish a constituent assembly which will establish a new constitution, which will be a Chavez-like dictatorship.

SWEDISH PARENTS KEEP 2-YEAR-OLD'S GENDER SECRET

I find this sick, an example of taking the feminist idea of "social construction of gender" to its most stupid conclusion.  The story below represents a form of child abuse.  Kathryn Jean Lopez links to the Swedish newspaper story and provides the following excerpt:

A couple of Swedish parents have stirred up debate in the country by refusing to reveal whether their two-and-a-half-year-old child is a boy or a girl.

Pop’s parents [see footnote], both 24, made a decision when their baby was born to keep Pop’s sex a secret. Aside from a select few – those who have changed the child’s diaper – nobody knows Pop’s gender; if anyone enquires, Pop’s parents simply say they don’t disclose this information. 

In an interview with newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in March, the parents were quoted saying their decision was rooted in the feminist philosophy that gender is a social construction. 

“We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mould from the outset,” Pop’s mother said. “It's cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.” 

The child's parents said so long as they keep Pop’s gender a secret, he or she will be able to avoid preconceived notions of how people should be treated if male or female. 

Pop's wardrobe includes everything from dresses to trousers and Pop's hairstyle changes on a regular basis. And Pop usually decides how Pop is going to dress on a given morning. 

Although Pop knows that there are physical differences between a boy and a girl, Pop's parents never use personal pronouns when referring to the child – they just say Pop.   [more . . .]

BEWARE THE OBAMA EVIL EYE

Drudge put up the following images and commentary:

 

BEWARE THE OBAMA 'EVIL EYE'
Tue Jun 30 2009 07:43:56 ET

As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye!

Staffers have joked about the menacing glance, which comes when the president meets with world leaders who are not aligned with his progressive view.

MEGA ANALYSIS OF 100 YEARS OF RESEARCH SHOWS TREATMENT FOR GAYS BENEFICIAL

News report here.   Study summary here.  A reader supplies the following (non-exhaustive) links:

www.zacchaeus.ca . . . . . . . . . Anglican
www.redeemedlives.org . . . . . Episcopal
www.pfox.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . families/friends
www.jonahweb.org. . . . . . . . . Jewish
www.peoplecanchange.com . . gen. info.
www.pathinfo.org . . . . . . . . . . gen. info.
www.narth.com . . . . . . . . . . . . science/research/law
www.comingoutstraight.org . . gen. info.
www.oneby1.org . . . . . . . . . . . Presbyterian (excellent links page)
www.couragerc.net . . . . . . . . . RC
www.exodusglobalalliance.org . parachurch counsel
www.newdirection.ca . . . . . . . . parachurch counsel
www.regenbooks.com . . . . . . . . resource link
www.exodusbooks.org . . . . . . . .resource link
http://tinyurl.com/7f2na . . . . . . . medical issues & gay sex
www.becomingreal.org . . . . . . . Christian youth
www.freetobeme.com . . . . . . . . faith neutral youth site
www.stonewallrevisited.com . . .includes over 80 testimonies
www.dawnstefanowicz.com . . . effects of same-sex parenting

NORWAY HONORS MEMORY OF NOBEL NOVELIST KNUT HAMSUN, A NAZI ADMIRER

Disgusting.  This article  details Norway's moral relativism.

OBAMA DISPLAYS 'CHUTZPAH' IN HIS NOMINATIONS

Here is an ad the Family Research Council is currently running.  For more details, see my earlier post. Regardless  of one's position on homosexuality, what do you think of Obama's judgment in appointing a person with this kind of background to lead the "Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools"?   To me, it demonstrates once again Obama's "in your face" radicalism, and contempt for those with whom he disagrees. This President is intent on remaking America by any and all means possible in his power.

A FETUS DELIGHTS IN HEARING MUSIC

Chuck Colson reports on a recent PBS special on the effect of music in utero, "The Music Instinct: Science & Song."

. . . The program was an exploration of, among other things, music’s “biological, emotional and psychological impact on humans.”

Part of this “exploration” included how music affects babies. If we are, as some scientists believe, “wired for music,” then babies are ideal test subjects since their reactions are, by definition, instinctual.

Part of this research involved the effect of music on fetuses. While we knew that mothers often sing to their unborn children, we weren’t sure that the unborn child could hear them.

We are now. A segment of The Music Instinct featured Sheila C. Woodward of the University of Souther California, who has studied fetal responses to music. A camera and a microphone

FRC Launches Stop Kevin Jennings Campaign

The Family Research Council's press release is here. 

Washington, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council announced the launch of the Stop Kevin Jennings campaign. Kevin Jennings is a radical homosexual activist whom President Barack Obama appointed to head the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. The campaign includes a full page ad in today's DC Examiner newspaper and an online ad initiative.

As the former president of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings worked tirelessly to bring the homosexual agenda into our nation's classrooms, even in grades as

MOVIE: "THE STONING OF SORAYA M."

There's been a lot of talk about this new movie.  Charles Colson offers a valuable introduction.

A woman is marched out of her small Iranian village, her arms are bound behind her back, and she is buried up to her waist in the sand. The villagers—including her own father, husband, and sons—fling stones at her, showing no sympathy or compassion as the blood runs down her face and soaks through her clothes. They stone her until they’re certain she’s dead, and then they leave her body on the ground for the wild dogs.

This is what audiences will see in the film The Stoning of Soraya M., made by the filmmaking team behind The Passion of the Christ. It opens in limited release on June 26. I haven’t given away any plot twists or surprises—the title of the film tells you all you need to know.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is based on a true story; in fact, you may have read the bestselling book when it came out in 1994. Journalist Freidoune Sahebjam was traveling through Iran when he

WHAT DOES A TRILLION DOLLARS LOOK LIKE?

Click here.

ED MORRISSEY - "THE RANK DISHONESTY OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION"

Ed Morrissey is absolutely right.  He distastefully notes:

Jim Geraghty first wrote that all of Barack Obama’s promises come with expiration dates, and broken promises from politicians are nothing new, of course.  However, one usually expects politicians — especially those running on hope and change — to either remain true to their professed core values and the issues that fueled the most passion on the campaign trail, or at least explain their change in the daylight.  Obama did neither, nor did he apologize to the man he besmirched endlessly on the campaign trail while adopting the policy that Obama most demonized as a candidate.

HAS WASHINGTON GONE INSANE?

Hugh Hewitt titles his post: "Voting for Economic Suicide"  He writes:

They could not have read the bill. 

A 300 page amendment to a bill that greatly impacts every American and greatly burdens every American business was introduced at 3:00 AM Friday and passed 16 hours later.

The spectacle of the House voting for a massive tax increase and a 300 page amendment they could not have read is a low point for post-segregationist Congresses.  Never have so few read so little about so important a proposal, and yet brazen forward oblivious to the the deeply embarrassing charade it presents to the world.  Banana republics make a better show of governing themselves than did the U.S. House of Representatives today.

. . . The Senate may stop this attempt at economic suicide, but independents and Republicans cannot allow the public to forget the recklessness of today's abdication of responsibility by the hard left House leadership.   [more . .]

Me: I feel like I am at the bedside of a sick patient who is being treated by a mad doctor who doesn't know what he is doing, or who possibly intends to kill the patient via a slow, agonizing death.  It infuriates.

Update - Kim Strassel in the Wall Street Journal explains the haste to pass the climate change bill: the number of skeptics is swelling everywhere.

GOV. SANFORD HAD THE RIGHT POLICIES

Lisa Schriffen laments the likely political demise of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford.  She writes:  

Which will be a pity. Because he had all of the right ideas. And these days, I would take a flawed Christian, with a failed marriage, who believes in liberty, markets, and low taxes, over what we have, no matter how good a family man President Obama might be, any day.    [more . . .]

Me:  I agree with her regarding Sanford's policies, though I am greatly disturbed by Sanford's flight from his State responsibilities, not to mention his unfaithfulness to his wife.  On the other hand I think Obama may well prove to be the "negative" judgment of God on this nation.  Your thoughts?  (I edited this a bit)

VIDEO OF JENNY SANFORD RESPONDING TO REPORTERS' QUESTIONS

Update 6/27/09 - AP print interview with Jenny Sanford

- (Original post) It's only about 46 seconds long, but worth viewing.  Click here.  The comments from viewers are interesting.  One says:

Good for her. Wow. The republicans sure have some strong women:  Palin, Lynn Cheney,  Jerie Thompson, Michelle Malkin, Michelle Bachman,  Jenny Sanford   --  Proud. Loud. STRONG

Update: I think readers will be interested in Cal Thomas' column, "Should we forgive him?"   Excerpt:

I once asked evangelist Billy Graham if he experienced temptations of the flesh when he was young. He said, "of course." How did he deal with them? With passion he responded, "I asked God to strike me dead before He ever allowed me to dishonor Him in that way."  [more . .]

Update #2 - I think readers will also want to read Charles Colson's reflections on the Mark Sanford affair.  Colson is disappointed, pained and angered.   He warns and admonishes:

Nearly every grave moral failure begins with a small sin. Because there comes a time, after we toy with sin, when one pull of the flesh causes us to cross the line, to disengage from reason, and to follow our appetites wherever they may lead. . . [more . . ]

RABBI SHMULEY ON MICHAEL JACKSON

Rabbi Shmuley offers insightful reflections on the tragedy that is Michael Jackson.  (HT: Drudge)  Excerpt:

In many ways his tragedy was to mistake attention for love. I will never forget what he said when we sat down to record 40 hours of conversations where he would finally reveal himself for a book I authored. He turned to me and said these haunting words: "I am going to say something I have never said before and this is the truth. I have no reason to lie to you and God knows I am telling the truth. I think all my success and fame, and I have wanted it, I have wanted it because I wanted to be loved. That's all. That's the real truth. I wanted people to love me, truly love me, because I never really felt loved. I said I know I have an ability. Maybe if I sharpened my craft, maybe people will love me more. I just wanted to be loved because I think it is very important to be loved and to tell people that you love them and to look in their eyes and say it." One cannot read these words without feeling a tremendous sadness for a soul that was so surrounded with hero-worship but remained so utterly alone. . .  [more...]

Update:  For a negative review of Michael Jackson's life and a refusal to join the mourning, see Jonah Goldberg's reflectons.

DO YOU THINK "HATE CRIMES" LEGISLATION A GOOD IDEA?

Then it's crucial to read this analysis.  It will explain the horrors of the bill that Congress will soon be voting on.

Call your two senators and representative and ask them to vote against the "Hate Crimes" bill.  You can reach all three at 202-224-3121.

Update 6/25/09 - From Family Research Council:

This morning FRC submitted testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding one of the Left's most coveted policy objectives--a federal hate crimes law. The House passed the Hate Crimes measure on April 29, but today's hearing in the Senate was the first on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 909). I won't go into how the bill's title is historically and factually incorrect (you can see that for yourself in FRC's documentary, Censoring the Church and Silencing Christians). This measure would create special protections for people based on their sexual behavior, gender identity, or perceived sexual orientation or gender.

Yielding to pressure from the homosexual community, which is among the loudest in the Democratic Party's base, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had vowed to attach "hate crimes" to must-pass legislation by August. As we document in Censoring the Church, hate crimes laws are a threat to free speech, religious freedom, and equal protection under the law. Congress should not allow certain privileged groups to have special protection under the law, and FRC said as much in our testimony when we stated, "A federal hate crime law is unnecessary, it's ineffective, and it promotes inequality."

To read how, click over to www.frc.org and read our testimony. You can also see where this legislation would lead in stunning real-life stories featured in our documentary, Censoring the Church, available online. When you're through watching clips, contact your senators and urge them to vote "no" on S. 909.

Additional Resources
Read Tony Perkins' written testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee

CHRISTIAN GROUP BARRED FROM SIDEWALK HANDOUTS AT ARAB FESTIVAL IN DEARBORN, MI

According to the Family Research Council, the Dearborn Arab International Festival is expected to draw 300,000 people.  FRC reports:

Dearborn's Muslim population, which is about 30 percent of the city, wields strong political influence. So strong, in fact, that the city's ordinances were modified in 2004 to allow the Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast across the city five times a day.

Yesterday morning, two Christians were detained and questioned by police for over four hours. Their crime? Distributing Bibles on a public sidewalk. Organizers of the festival had adopted a policy that restricted the Arabic Christian Perspective (ACP) from disseminating religious materials or sharing their faith on the public sidewalks around the event. Although the Christians were later released, city officials told ACP that their activities would have to be limited to a booth at the festival.

One News Now has details about the Arab Festival and the denial to the Christian group.  Literature distribution would be limited to a designated table-and-booth section of the festival site.

USA PROMOTES COERCED INTERNATIONAL ABORTION

I consider this a MUST-READ article.  Chuck Colson writes:

Last year, a young Chinese woman—let’s call her Dan Li—ran afoul of the Chinese government. She had become “illegally pregnant.” By the time the authorities found out, Dan Li was seven months along. Family planning officials tied her to a bed, induced labor, and, when the baby was born, killed the baby.

What happened to Dan Li is an abomination—one, however, that tragically takes place regularly in China. But now, thanks to the U.S. Congress, you and I will be paying for it.

Last March, without fanfare, Congress passed a bill providing $50 million for the United Nations Population Fund. This organization promotes abortion around the globe—including in China. What makes the bill especially heinous is that it voided Kemp-Kasten, a bill which, for two decades, prevented our tax dollars from funding forced abortions and sterilization.

This blows the lid off the argument that abortion is all about giving a woman choice. If Congress really stands for choice, as they claim, why did they vote for coercion? If feminists are really for choice, why aren’t they fighting this law? Why isn’t our pro-choice President demanding that this brutalization of women be stopped?  Keep reading. . .

DO YOU LIKE THE PAINTINGS OF THOMAS KINCADE?

Joe Carter offers an evaluation.   (HT: Justin Taylor)  I hope to run this by some of my friends whose opinions I value.  At the very least, readers will find Carter's article extraordinarily stimulating, especially since it includes many illustrations, including some that contrast Kincade's earlier work with his later.  Take the following for example:

Which is the earlier?  Which is better?  Why?  For one man's answers, read Carter's essay and the discussion that follows.  Also, you might want to heed a reader's suggestion and read Gregory Wolfe's earlier article,"The Painter of Lite."    I have not pondered these matters sufficiently to offer my own opinion.

ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHRISTIAN SITES IN TURKEY

Prof. Ben Witherington recently visited a number of archaeological sites in Turkey.  He offers several posts complete with magnificent photos and commentary on the agora at Izmir (Biblical Smyrna), the archaeological museum at Izmir, the funerary monuments and statues in Hierapolis,  and the Papias Stele.   

 

The memorials (above) are to those who died as gladiators.  Witherington says Hierapolis and Laodicea undoubtedly had its share of such games.

Regarding the agora at Smyrna, Witherington writes:

In the agora there would be the exchange of ideas, not just the exchange of goods.  Consider the story of Paul dialoguing with the Stoics and Cynics in the agora in Athens.  Here the politicians and

SUGGESTIONS ON PREPARING TO MEET ACADEMIC INTIMIDATION

After linking to one of my posts, Wintery Knight (whose blog should be read on a daily basis) went on to offer advice to prospective conservative and Christian students.   One would do well to click through to the links embedded in his post.  He wrote:

. . . young conservatives and Christians need to get used to staying calm while ideas that they don’t agree with are shouted in their faced in the typical vulgar, abusive manner that secular leftists seem to find so fetching these days. The best way to do that is to watch as many debates as possible in advance and get used to sitting still and disagreeing while someone else explains their point of view. . .

Other points of view are only annoying if you have lousy reasons for your own point of view. If you put the time in learning your arguments and evidence, and the best that could be argued against you from the other side, then there should be no problem. . .

We need to start making it common knowledge that atheism does not ground morality and that is a worldview that is responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths in the last 100 years alone.  That point must be made over and over – that when someone claims to be an atheist it should be immediately put to them that meaningful morality is not rationally grounded by their worldview. Don’t let them make any moral judgments without challenging them on the foundations of morality.  . . .

GOOD NEWS FROM INDIA: HINDU EXTREMISTS DEFEATED IN ORISSA ELECTIONS

 Compass Direct News (via Christianity Today) reports:

Christians in India heaved sighs of relief after the surprise rout of a Hindu nationalist party in  May national and state assembly elections in Orissa, the scene of anti-Christian violence that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands last year.

A local centrist party, the Biju Janata Dal, took charge of the Orissa state government, soundly defeating the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 109 to 7 assembly seats. A coalition led by the centrist Indian National Congress won a second term in the federal government; it defeated a BJP-led coalition in 2004.

"The election result is a statement against the persecution of non-Hindus," said Vijay Simha, a senior Indian journalist. "Since the vote went against right-wing parties, the result is a strong rejection of extremist religious programs."

WORLD MAGAZINE NAMES THE "ESV STUDY BIBLE" THE BOOK OF THE YEAR

Marvin Olasky explains:

Among the excellent books of the past 12 months one stands out: Crossway's English Standard Version Study Bible. To the accuracy and readability of the ESV, it adds 20,000 notes based on top evangelical scholarship, 80,000 cross-references, 400 maps and charts, and much more, all under the supervision of two splendid theologians, Wayne Grudem and J.I. Packer.   [more]

Me:  I bought a copy on sale last Christmas and like it a lot.  It's a hefty "tome," and thus not handy for carrying around.    But what I especially appreciate is that it is fully accessible via the internet.  I appreciate the notes and the hyperlinks that make Bible study fast as well as enjoyable and profitable.  And, in general, I prefer the greater literalness of the ESV to the NIV.  Highly recommended!

Update: See my earlier post:  "Online Bible Reading Plans (with Sound!")

OBAMA'S VIEW OF THE U.S. VIS-A-VIS THE REST OF THE WORLD

I have pondered for some time Obama's view of the United States vis-a-vis the world for an explanation for his continued apologies abroad.   I well understand that his view represents the politically correct view of the left that predominates in most university settings.  Victor Davis Hanson agrees and expands:

Obama—the Manichean?

Of all the puzzling reasons one can adduce both for Barack Obama recent serial apologies abroad, and now his strange silence about human rights abuses from Venezuela to Iran, I think one of the most likely is his Manichean notion of world affairs—one also reflected in most of the curricula of our major universities.

The binary oppressor/victim narrative goes something like this: the United States for the last half-century—through its embrace of neocolonialism and imperialism, and then again through its birthing of globalized capitalism—is at fault for most of the mess outside the West.

We as the bad guys impose, dictate, exploit, ignore, and manipulate the more noble Other to such a degree that he is forced to lash out in understandable, though often dangerous ways.

 This is a sort of all-inclusive worldview that in postmodern fashion pits those with “power” against those without it. And in such a simplistic bipolar world, only a few gifted Western elite intellectuals, of superior intelligence, empathy, and insight, can reach across the divide,

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R- MN) REFUSES TO COMPLETE 2010 CENSUS

Bachmann, a conservative Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, thinks the government needs to know only the number of people in her household and nothing more.  I'm impressed.  Gutsy gal.  Story here.  (HT: Drudge)

Some days ago before this latest news broke, Wintery Knight put up some good video about Bachmann.  She is one of his heroes.  She is fast becoming one of mine also.  She has also been praised by Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online.

Here's a Wintery Knight paragraph:

Don’t forget my recent post which has even more amazing and encouraging videos of Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn defending the American way.  Or click here to see all of my Michele Bachmann posts. You can read more about her strong Christian faith in this article from World Magazine.

BRUCE S. THORNTON - "THE HISTORICALLY-CHALLENGED PRESIDENT"

Obama's inadequate knowledge of history is anything but reassuring.  In fact, it is extremely unsettling.  Obama seems to have imbibed a sophomoric, truncated, inaccurate, politically-correct, anti-American, distorted view of history which can only hamper his governance, even if it fails to dampen his arrogance.  Bruce Thornton addresses the problem, and it's a good beginning.  I appreciate his link to Victor Davis Hanson's article as well.  Thornton writes:

Barack Obama, as Victor Hanson recently documented, may be our most historically challenged president ever. Some might think that the inaccuracies Hanson identifies are no big deal, but there are several reasons to be troubled by such ignorance.

 First there’s the double standard of a mainstream media that for eight years scorned George Bush as a syntactically challenged ignoramus, and now gush over a president touted as an eloquent intellectual. Of course, the media have to ignore the fact that Obama’s eloquence is dependent on the teleprompter, or that he refuses to publicize his college transcripts, not to mention the

JAMIE GLAZOV INTERVIEWS ROOZBEH FARAHANIPOUR, AN IRANIAN JOURNALIST AND DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST

I learned a lot from this interview.  I realize that news out of Iran is spotty and uneven, and it is difficult to know whose opinion to trust.  Nevertheless, Jamie Glazov consistently proves a trustworthy source to ferret out individuals with special insight, and this interview doesn't disappoint.  One thing I learned: Mousavi is not a good man.  According to Farahanipour,

Mousavi has had a long history of hard line positions and murderous suppression of opposition and presiding over massacres of political prisoners in the 1980s. Even today he has constantly declared his devotion to the Supreme Leader and his religious ideology of hierarchical Islamic government. His moderation myth has developed out of his opposition to Ahmadinejad’s open and bold statements. Mousavi believes in quietly doing the same things, i.e. the nuclear development, support of Hezbollah and Hamas and etc.

ANOTHER REASON TO BE WARY OF FACEBOOK

European regulators express new privacy concerns.  Story here.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON - THE ORWELLIAN NATURE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

I suspect that this is but the first of many posts that will need to be written about the "Orwellian Nature of the Obama Administration."  VDH writes:

We use Orwell, Orwellian, and Orwellianism loosely a lot these days, but what is going on in the Obama administration is beginning to get a little creepy and resembles a lot of things Orwell wrote about in 1984.

When in, Soviet fashion, a critical overseer is dismissed as being "confused" and suffering mental problems in carrying out the law, as Gerald Walpin probably did in uncovering waste and possible fraud in connection with the mayor of Sacramento; or when the government begins to create new words like "overseas contingency operations" and "man-made catastrophes"; or when Justice Sotomayor says that a Latina is inherently a better judge than a white man — and then says

JONAH GOLDBERG - HITLER & CHRISTIANITY

In a series of posts (here and here) Jonah Goldberg has excerpted pages from his book Liberal Fascism that deal with "Hitler &  Christianity."  If you read further down this post, you will see tie-ins Goldberg makes with neo-pagan and New Age thought.  Goldberg writes:   

From pages 364-365 of my book:

Like the engineers of that proverbial railway bridge, the Nazis
worked relentlessly to replace the nuts and bolts of traditional
Christianity with a new political religion. The shrewdest way to accomplish
this was to co-opt Christianity via the Gleichschaltung
while at the same time shrinking traditional religion’s role in civil society.
To this end, Hitler was downright Bismarckian. The German
historian Götz Aly explains how Hitler purchased popularity with
lavish social welfare programs and middle-class perks, often paid for
with stolen Jewish wealth and high taxes on the rich. Hitler banned
religious charity, crippling the churches’ role as a counterweight to
the state. Clergy were put on government salary, hence subjected to
state authority. “The parsons will be made to dig their own graves,”
Hitler cackled. “They will betray their God to us. They will betray
anything for the sake of their miserable little jobs and incomes.”5
Following the Jacobin example, the Nazis replaced the traditional
Christian calendar. The new year began on January 30 with

OBAMA'S CONTINUING ANTI-FAMILY MANEUVERS

From the Family Research Council:

The Obama administration continues to attack the family from the inside. According to our sources, the Department of Health and Human Services is poised to name David Hansell to a key post in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). This is particularly disturbing since Hansell served in leadership positions at Gay Men's Health Crisis, a nonprofit that actively lobbies for the radical homosexual agenda. His promotion to Assistant Secretary of ACF is a slap in the face of mainstream America, who relied on this office to promote heterosexual adoption, traditional families, abstinence education, child care, and healthy marriages.

To give you a picture of the extreme makeover underway at ACF, Hansell's predecessor was Dr. Wade Horn, a well-respected family advocate who used to head the Fatherhood Initiative. Under Hansell's direction, ACF would radically morph from a federal program meant to empower traditional families into a government vehicle aimed at sabotaging marriage with your tax dollars.

See also "Barack Obama and Homosexuality/Gender Issues:  A Brief Survey"

TACTICS OF THE LEFT: PREFERRING STIGMA TO RATIONAL ARGUMENT

I found David French's post devastatingly accurate, drawing as he does on an astute observation by Ravi Zacharias.  French wrote (my bolding):

Late yesterday afternoon, I happened to catch a short-but-insightful lecture by one of my favorite Christian apologists, Ravi Zacharias. In the midst of an interesting discussion about the allure of Eastern mysticism in Western culture, he made a fascinating statement (I'm paraphrasing): In the battle of ideas, stigma always beats dogma. In other words, through stigmatization, one can defeat a set of ideas or principles without ever "winning" an argument on the merits.

I was instantly reminded of not just my own experiences in secular higher education, but also the experiences I see and hear every day while defending the rights of students and professors. Why convince when you can browbeat? Why dialogue when you can read entire philosophies out of polite society? That's not to say there aren't intense debates on

WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW WITH AMIR TAHERI ABOUT IRAN

Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Amir Taheri, author of The Persian Night: Iran Under the Khomenist Revolution.  Taheri is an Iranian-born journalist.  Lopez offers a substantial, informative interview with this very astute observer of Iran and Middle East turmoil.   Excerpt:

All that Iranians want the U.S. to do is to be true to its own principles, not to kowtow to the Khomeinist regime, and not to help it restore its shattered legitimacy. We want Obama to condemn the shooting of demonstrators in Iranian streets and the rigging of the election, and to make it clear that he would not shake Ahmadinejad’s bloodstained hand. We want Obama not to organize a strategic retreat from the Middle East, which would create a vacuum that the Khomeinists would fill. We want him not to leave the region’s new and fragile democracies alone and defenseless against the Islamofascists.

We also want him not to flatter the Islamists by pretending that the Renaissance and the Enlightenment were bred in an Islamic theological college. Don’t claim that Islam invented the pen and the printing press along with poetry and architecture — as if the Hellenic, Byzantine, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations could be scripted out of history. Today, the U.S. has a choice: It can side with the Iranian people and invest in a future democratic Iran, or it can beg for a dialogue with the Islamofacists gathered around Ali Khamenei.   [more . . . ]

CONGRESSMAN FRANK WOLF: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR)

 Click here.

Previous blog posts on CAIR -

"Keeping Track of the Insidious Council for American Islamic Relations" (CAIR)

The Myth of An Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Epidemic

CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Estalbishment

PRAYERS FROM THE ARK - Humor

I was thumbing through one of my files and came across an academic article that began whimsically with some quotes from Prayers from the Ark by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold.  I thought the humor delightful.  Noah's prayer begins:

Lord,
What a menagerie!
Between Your downpour and these animal cries
one cannot hear oneself think!

The cock's prayer begins and ends on a somewhat different note:

Do not forget, Lord,
it is I who make the sun rise.
.......

I am Your servant,
only do not forget, Lord,
I make the sun rise.

THE POLITICAL LEFT'S ROMANCE WITH ISLAM

- (Original Post) -Cliff May wrote an excellent article and cited Jamie Glazov's new book, United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror.  Description:

United in Hate analyzes the Left's contemporary romance with militant Islam as a continuation of the Left's love affair with communist totalitarianism in the twentieth century. Just as the Left was drawn to the communist killing machines of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, so too it is now attracted to radical Islam.Both the radical Left and radical Islam possess a profound hatred for Western culture, for a capitalist economic structure that recognizes individual achievement, and for the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States. Both seek to establish a new world order: leftists in the form of a classless communist society, and Islamists in the form of a caliphate ruled by sharia law. To achieve these goals, both are willing to "wipe the slate clean" by means of limitless carnage, with the ultimate goal of erecting their utopia upon the ruins of the system they have destroyed.

Update 9/30/09: Ralph Peters reviews "United in Hate." [my emphases]

If you’ve ever wondered at the delight with which academics excuse Islamist terrorists, or at the callousness with which radical feminists ignore the oppression of Muslim women, or at the gushing adulation the Left devoted to the last century’s worst butchers, from Stalin to Saddam, “United In Hate’ is the book for you.

Radical Leftists have been losing their war against human nature for a long time, but they continue to search desperately for a winning formula. After Stalin, Mao, Uncle Ho, Pol Pot and countless Third World thugs had let them down, they believed they’d found redemption at last on 9/11. Jamie Glazov, the editor of Frontpagemag.com, describes the reaction of Leftist acquaintances to the fall of the Twin Towers: “Never had I seen them so happy, so hopeful and ready for another attempt at creating a glorious and revolutionary future. Without doubt, September 11 represented a personal vindication for them.” Noam Chomsky agreed with Osama that we deserved our misery. Ward Churchill had finally met his love match.

This rigorous, fight-back book dissects the Leftist identity in which personal dissatisfaction and social dysfunction are externalized as the fault of our wicked society an uncanny reflection of the Islamist platform that worldly evil flows from the US and Israel. Glazov is scathing on the inability of Islamists and Western fellow-travelers to form healthy male-female relationships: Sex may (or may not) be OK, but love between a man and a woman threatens the collective.

No matter whether the idealized system is a Communist utopia or an Islamist caliphate, the happy couple is a mortal threat. Worst of all, “The pursuit of happiness implies … that the world can be accepted for what it is,” Glazov argues, “and human beings can be accepted for what they are.”

So the Leftist believer embarks upon “the desperate search for the feeling of power to help him counteract the powerlessness he feels in his own life.” That could equally describe a suicide bomber. You and I may be too stupid to realize we’re miserable or damned, but the American Left and the mullahs are going to perfect us for our own good. The horrific bloodshed along the way is the outcast’s great revenge.

Whether analyzing Code Pink or “Code Sharia,” the book’s descriptions hit the target dead-center again and again: “Like Islamists, Leftists have a Manichean vision that rigidly distinguishes good from evil. They see themselves as personifications of the former and their opponents as personifications of the latter, who must be slated for ruthless elimination.”

Welcome to the hellish alliance that encourages American college brats to root for Hamas andHezbollah. Dead Jews? Today’s Left has no more problem with the Holocaust than Stalin did or Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah does.

Fearlessly, Glazov rips into “the deep-rooted hatred and fear of female sexuality that permeates Islamist-Arabic culture.” But he also unveils our pseudo-feminists who excuse the burqa, genital mutilation, honor killings and general savagery toward Middle-Eastern women, noting that the privileged Americans need to ignore the suffering of their distant sisters in order “to hold onto their self-created victim identity.” If America isn’t so bad, it spoils everything.

I’d quibble with a few propositions: I find all fanatics dangerous, Left or Right but no honest person could deny this book’s validity and power. It’s a serious work by a brave scholar. It’s also fun to read (fun’s another no-no to Islamists and the Left).

Ralph Peters is a Post Opinion columnist and the author of “Looking For Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World.”

NETANYAHU'S SPEECH IN RESPONSE TO OBAMA'S CAIRO SPEECH

The text of Netanyahu's speech can be found here.

Caroline Glick interprets Netanyahu's speech and its significance in an interview here.

THE CONTEMPORARY STUDENT - FASTER! FASTER!

Mark Edmundson, Professor of English at the University of Virginia, has penned a brilliant article on the contemporary student's use of technology, hunger for life, and fast pace.  He titles his article, "Dwelling in Possibilties."  Dr. Os Guinness referred briefly to the article in his first lecture at UVa's "Veritas Forum."  Those of us from another generation will find this article genuinely enlightening.  It borders on "must reading."  Read the whole thing.

CHAOS IN IRAN

- Update 6/16/09 - a round-up of op-eds and stories on Iran from The Anchoress:

Michael J. Totten: has running updates on Iran, plus a cautionary note. Just keep scrolling.
Christopher Hitchens: A scathing piece, Don’t call what happen in Iran an election
Richard Just: Finally, in Iran, Something Left & Right can agree on!
Robert Fisk: Day of Destiny
Michael Ledeen: Excellent analysis
Pajamas Media: Is America Sleeping?
Weekly Standard: Did Iraqi Democracy affect Iran Elections? Would like to think so, but who can say?
Jonah Goldberg: POTUS votes “present” on Iran
Althouse: Could Obama be Blander? Yes, his statement lacked umm..passion and maybe empathy. Rather cold, I thought. 

OS GUINNESS SPEAKS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA VERITAS FORUM

"Survival of the Fastest: Living Sanely When Life is Fired Point Blank"  (18.3 mb mp3) 

--- The Q&A  following the talk (11.6 mb mp3)  

"You Only Live Once (if then): Shopping for Our Selves in the Global Supermarket"    (16.1 mb mp3)    

 ----The Q&A following the talk (10.5 mb mp3)

About Guinness:

Os Guinness is the author of more than twenty books on religion, culture and political life, including The Case for Civility and Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Hype, Lies and Spin. He is the co-founder of the Trinity Forum in Washington, DC, and formerly a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. Dr. Guinness was born and spent his early childhood in China, where he witnessed the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949; he has since lived in Switzerland, England and the United States. He received his PhD in social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford, and is a frequent speaker to college students, business leaders and government officials around the world.

LISTENING TO GREAT COMPOSERS

My knowledge of classical music is rudimentary I'm sad to say.  So I was glad to come across Jay Nordlinger's suggestions (via Between Two Worlds).  Nordlinger offers listening suggestions to which I expect to refer quite a lot.  It's not for the well-schooled, but for people like me.  A reader of "Between Two Worlds" adds helpfully:

On a related note, NPR Music is running an online (weekly?) series called the The NPR Classical 50. Two critics are listing the 50 essential classical recordings for building a library. Each article has commentary and a significant streaming sample (~20:00).

STORY OF A PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

I tuned in this morning to the "Hour of Power" TV program and was moved by Becca Cook's story.  Video and transcript can be found here.  It's a powerful story of God's deliverance of a young woman who seemed beyond help, "too far gone."  Her parents expected to pick up the phone and be asked to go down to the morgue to identify their daughter's body.   Becca's story should be an encouragement to many. 

BARNEY FRANK - CUTS SHORT AN INTERVIEW

What's with Barney Frank?  Once again he barks at an interviewer (in his customary way) for "interrupting" him, and then walks off the set.  Watch his 1 minute, 16 second CNBC interview here and draw your own conclusions. 

I think the man suffers from major interior chaos which in turn produces the short fuse and periodic volcanic eruptions.  Clearly, as with all of us, he is a man standing in the need of prayer.  This is a new thought to me, since it is easier to think of him as a man on the wrong side of almost every issue, and therefore a man to be scorned.  But that attitude chokes off prayer, and all that goes with wishing another to live and flourish in truth.  I need to think more about these things...  and to do so more prayerfully.

"1984" - THE BOOK THAT SAVED THE WEST FROM COMMUNISM

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the book's publication.  David Pryce-Jones gives the historical background of the book and concludes:

"1984," it seems to me, had the effect of saving the English-speaking intelligentsia from the Communist snares and delusions rampant on the continent of Europe, and any future totalitarian society will be obliged to ban it just as the Soviet Union did. That’s an immortal achievement.

REIHAN SALAM - NEW BLOGGER WITH "NATIONAL REVIEW" WORTH CHECKING REGULARLY

X I am adding Salam to my blogroll.   Check his new blog, "The Agenda."  I appreciated his post today celebrating the excellencies of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.  The Indiana governor had not been on my radar screen before.   Periodically Salam participates in short, informal video debates with The Nation's Chris Hayes.  Here they discuss the topic, "Do Americans have a right to healthcare?"

(Note: I see that Rich Lowry wrote on Mitch Daniels today also.  Click here.)

JONAH GOLDBERG INTERVIEWED ON HIS BOOK "LIBERAL FASCISM"

Goldberg's book was 16 weeks on the New York Time's best seller list in hardback.  It's just come out in paperback.  Here's a 4 1/2 minute video interview with Goldberg.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER - "OBAMA HOVERS FROM ON HIGH"

An alternative title to Krauthammer's article might be,  "The Messiah of moral equivalence"