Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

GLENN BECK'S "RESTORING HONOR RALLY" IN WASHINGTON, DC

I appreciate the photos from the right scoop:

 

J.E. Dyer, "What Beck Does Right" (excerpts):

" . . . What Glenn Beck believes he has been appointed to say is about character in the American people.  He’s been making that point for months, as far as I can tell.  It’s why he invokes Martin Luther King, Jr. so often.  If you weren’t prepared for Beck’s Restoring Honor rally to be about character, then you don’t know much about him.  And for Beck – as for millions of other Americans – character cannot be addressed apart from God.  For Beck, as for these others, there is nothing artificial or strained about calling on God and behaving as if we live in His presence; it is natural, reflexive, and unforced. . . .

When we see 500,000 or more people turn out on the Mall at the end of August – in the heat and humidity, in a painful recession, after school and sports have already started in many states – are we going to insist that that’s “not conservatism,” that it’s something we need to triangulate away from and reject, because people prayed to God, got emotional, and talked about character?

And if so, what is it we’re waiting for that we think is better?  From what standpoint is it better? Glenn Beck, for all his intellectual faults (and we each have them), sees something very clearly:  that America needs a restoration of character.  Our republican liberties depend on republican virtues, and there is no future for our republican ideal if the virtues are not re-identified and cultivated again.  His unique perspective on this is

SARAH PALIN AT THE "RESTORING HONOR RALLY" IN WASHINGTON, DC

 

 

ALBERT PUJOLS SPEAKS AT THE "RESTORING HONOR" RALLY IN WASHINGTON, DC

From Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit:

St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa introduced Cardinal great Albert Pujols today at Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” Rally in Washington DC. Albert was the recipienct of this year’s Hope Award. The hundreds of thousands of attendees roared when La Russa and Pujols took the stage.

Here is Albert Pujols accepting this great honor today at the Lincoln Memorial.

Me: What struck me was Pujols' taking this opportunity to testify to his faith in Christ: "My job as a Believer is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. . . .  Twelve years ago I made the best decision of my life, and that was following Jesus Christ."  In addition, I am impressed and moved to know of his foundation's work with  children and adults with Down syndrome.

DICK ARMEY - GLENN BECK'S "SERIOUS, SCHOLARLY WORK"

Robert Costa over at NRO reports:

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R., Texas) spoke with National Review Online on Friday at FreedomWork’s “Take Back America” conference in Washington. The evening rally, which was attended by thousands of conservative activists, was a precursor of sorts to Saturday’s “Restoring Honor” event at the Lincoln Memorial. Armey calls “Restoring Honor,” which will be hosted by Glenn Beck of Fox News, an “important moment for America.”

Armey, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oklahoma, has high praise for Beck’s ability to provide viewers with a “more true and accurate history of the United States.”

“We see it documented at levels of rigor that, in fact, one would expect out of Ph.D. dissertations — [it is] serious, scholarly work,” Armey says. “[Liberal critics] don’t have to argue with Glenn Beck. They have to argue with his documentation and they can’t match that level of rigor.”

C.S. LEWIS HAD A WIFE . . . JOY DAVIDMAN

Here's an interesting article about Joy Davidman, the American woman C.S. Lewis married at age 56.

Lyle Dorsett's biography is titled,  And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidman.  Don King edited the valuable, Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman.

See also Davidman's book dedicated to C.S. Lewis, Smoke on the Mountain: An Interpretation of the Ten Commandments.

A list of C.S. Lewis's publications may be found here.

"SUMMER FOR MARRIAGE" SPEAKERS HARRASSED AND SHOUTED DOWN BY HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS

If I were a same-sex marriage advocate, I would be embarrassed and ashamed of the "tolerance" shown by my compatriots.  The "Left" has no interest in civil debate.  It can be counted on to employ intimidation and strong arm tactics.  Charles Colson reports:

In the debate over same-sex marriage, why is the side demanding tolerance so radically intolerant? And how should we respond to intolerance?

The little family had gone to hear the speakers who had arrived in Albany, New York, to talk about the need to protect traditional marriage. But they soon found out how determined some people were that they not be allowed to hear this message.

As the family tried to listen, a group of men and women lined up directly in front of them, holding “rainbow” umbrellas and balloons, blocking their view. As the mother later told an interviewer, “I was scared

MUSLIM DOUBLE-TALK: "WE DON'T SUPPORT TERRORISM" - "UMMM, NO, WE WON'T CONDEMN HAMAS"

Andrew C. McCarthy writes:  (my emphases)

Last night, I was on David Asman’s Fox Business Channel show, Scoreboard, debating Imam Dawoud Kringle of the New York State prison system, a GZ mosque supporter. Imam Kringle, who seems like a nice enough fellow, reeled off the usual talking points about how Islam forbids terrorism and, therefore, if someone commits an act of terrorism that act is, by definition, un-Islamic.

Then came the moment of truth: the very simple question, “Is Hamas a terrorist organization?” Have a look at the YouTube clip below. Like his friend Imam Feisal Rauf, Imam Kringle won’t answer the question. I pressed him, pointing out that it is a very simple question. And it is: Quite apart from the fact that Hamas is formally designated as a terrorist organization under U.S. law, Hamas’s own charter makes abundantly clear — indeed, wears like a badge of honor — that Hamas exists solely for the purpose of driving Israel out of Palestine by violent jihad. Yet the imam cannot bring himself to say Hamas is a terrorist organization.

This is a game that sharia-promoting Islamists like Feisal Rauf have raised to an art form. As I explain in the debate, it is why they can look you in they eye, claim in all apparent earnestness that they condemn “terrorism,” and yet excuse Hamas, call for the “one-state solution” for Israel, and support the Iranian theocracy — the leading terrorist state in the world. They do not consider the killing of non-Muslims whom they portray as opposing Islam to be terrorism — they call that “resistance.” They know if they merely say they deplore “terrorism,” the media and the Left will swoon and call them “moderates.” But what you think you’re hearing, and what they’re actually saying, are two very different things.

THE CANVAS PRISON

I find this incredibly sad.  That women in the West keep their mouths shut (by and large) is amazing.   HT: John

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS

Update 2/11/15:

   Courting vs. Dating: What's the Difference? - Wyatt Fischer, Psy.D.

Original Post: Chuck Colson weighs in and links to the following:

The End of Courtship - Leon R. Kass

The Good Christian Girl: A Fable
Gina R. Dalfonzo | Christianity Today | July 19, 2010

The Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
"Strengthening Marriage for a New Generation"

The Ruth Institute
"One Man, One Woman, for Life"

Marriage Savers
"Preparing, Strengthening and Restoring Marriages"

 

PERSEVERANCE

From Kim's picks  (HT: my friend Brian) 

A powerful reminder about perseverance

Tearing a hamstring during an Olympic race would throw anyone for a loop. But this athlete decided he was going to finish the race. With the help of his father, he made it to the finish line. It's a touching story of perseverance in the face of disappointment.

Me:  It brought a lump to my throat and mist to my eyes.

THE "TOLERANCE" OF PROGRESSIVES

Pamela Gellar (depicted with the "No Mosque" blouse) provides the link to the drawing below:

Does the scene above remind you of anything?  I looked at the Pelosi figure and immediately thought of Fairy Hardcastle in C.S.Lewis's That Hideous Strength.  And then I discovered that a commenter had made the same connection:

Nancy Pelosi in this picture reminds me too much of Fairy Hardcastle in CS Lewis’s novel That Hideous Strength. The whole thing about her and all the progs just might be prophetic if Obamacare gets its way. N.I.C.E. in C.S. Lewis’s novel (the National Institute of Co-Ordinated Experiments) is eerily similar to what they want to do with health care as well as for anyone who disagrees with them and their evil and wicked worldview. In the end God always wins.

CAN ISLAM MORPH INTO MODERATE ISLAM?

Not without a major reform movement.   We in the free West need to wake up to that reality sooner  rather than later, and quit kidding ourselves.  That said, what kind of game plan should the Free West employ?  Andy McCarthy offers comments in his post, "Islamophobia" Or Empowering Pro-Western Muslims?:

My column today addresses what I think is the real battle for religious liberty in the Ground Zero mosque controversy. The question is whether, wittingly or unwittingly, we are going to keep supporting authoritarian Islam – the mainstream, sharia-promoting Islam of the Middle East — or expose and marginalize Islamist ideology, in the hope that a real reformist, pro-Western Islam can emerge.

Having worked for a very long time with moderate Muslims, I can tell you it’s disheartening to be called an Islamophobe. Not by the CAIR types — who cares what they say? No, it’s when the charge (or at least the whiff of it) comes from thoughtful people, people like Ron Radosh, whom I admire. When that sort of thing happens, it tells me two things: first, the smear tactics of the CAIR types work; second, maybe I haven’t been clear enough — although God knows I have tried to be — about my position.

I have long argued that: (1) Islam is not a moderate doctrine; (2) Islamists who practice terror and are otherwise aggressive toward non-Muslims (and toward Muslims who disagree with them) are not twisting or perverting Islam; (3) this does not mean that the Islamist interpretation of Islam is the only possible viable interpretation; but (4) a concrete theology of “moderate Islam” does not exist (even though there are plenty of moderate Muslims) and therefore it will have to be created; and (5) because it will have to be non-literal and reformist, it will have a tough time competing with Islamist ideology which, however noxious it may be, has the advantage of being firmly rooted in Islamic scripture. Nevertheless, (6) Islamist ideology is anti-constitutional and anti-freedom in many of its core particulars, so that (7) if, instead of letting them pretend to be “moderates,” we force Islamists to defend their beliefs, we will marginalize them — at least in our society, which (8) will empower true moderate Muslim reformers and — maybe — give them the space they need to solidify a coherent, moderate Islam that embraces the West, and in particular the separation of secular public life from privately held religious beliefs.

There is more to say about all this, not least to observe that we may be arriving at a juncture at which most people of good will agree that Islam as-is is problematic, that promoting real moderate Islam (meaning reformist Islam) is vital, and that our real difference of opinion is how to do it: Do we expose and confront the Islamists, or do we embrace them — as long as they seem not to be terrorists themselves — and hope that we can co-opt them before they co-opt us?

On that point, and many others, I commend readers to Roger Kimball’s stellar response to Ron Radosh’s thoughtful essay. As usual, Roger says a lot of what I want to say — except better than I could say it.

Me: The Roger Kimball post mentioned above is MUST READING

BUMPER STICKERS

I'm sorry to be so negative about our President, but the American people truly made a terrible mistake in 2008.  From a friend's e-mail:

CLICK THROUGH TO THE "OBAMA AT THE BAT" VIDEO (BASED ON "CASEY AT THE BAT")

ISRAELI NEWSPAPER REPORTS 15,000 JEWISH BELIEVERS IN JESUS IN ISRAEL: 350,000 IN THE U.S.

  Joel Rosenberg reports:

For Shabbat today, "Yediot Aharonot", a widely read and respected Israeli newspaper, and Ynet News, the paper’s popular website, has published a lengthy and fascinating article with this headline: “JESUS LIVES ON IN JERUSALEM: Thousands of Messianic Jews reside in Israel, perform Jewish ceremonies and serve in IDF.” I commend it to your attention, in part because the article reports two facts certain to intrigue secular Jews and infuriate some of the ultra-Orthodox:

• In Israel, there are now some 15,000 Jewish followers of Jesus (known in Hebrew as Yeshua) as the Messiah, and the number is growing.
• In the U.S., there are now some 350,000 Jewish followers of Jesus as the Messiah

The article is really a profile of the growing community of Jesus followers in the Land, and is remarkably devoid of cyncism, snideness or derision. To the contrary, it is really quite respectful of the life-changing beliefs of the Israelis they interview and profile.

THE SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW - AUGUST 19, 2010

Herewith the latest selection of articles from sources far and wide collated by the Family Research Council.  Themes include educational freedom, environmental issues, faith and policy, health care, homosexuality in the military, judiciary, family economics, marriage and family, religious liberty, and sanctity of human life.  Previous collections of articles can be found here.

DINESH D'SOUZA NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE KING'S COLLEGE IN NEW YORK CITY

Breaking news:

The best-selling author and Christian apologist Dinesh D'Souza has been selected as the new president of the King's College, a small Christian institution located in the Empire State Building.

Mr. D'Souza is the author of books like Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus and What's So Great About Christianity. He was a White House policy analyst in the Reagan administration and is a former fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. In recent years, he has become well known for high-profile debates against atheists like Christopher Hitchens.

In some ways, Mr. D'Souza is a surprising choice. He doesn't have a background in academic administration, and he is a Roman Catholic, while the King's College's has "its roots in the Protestant evangelical tradition" according to its Web site.

But in an interview Mr. D'Souza said that would not be a problem. He attended a nondenominational church in San Diego and has called himself "a believing Catholic but a poorly practicing one." He said that the college was "very well administered," and his job would be to help tailor its mission—along with bringing in more students and more money.

"I've been kind of a think-tank scholar for most of my career," he said. "In that sense, I've been part of a faculty of scholars, but in some ways I've seen myself as a lone operator, and this is a chance to spearhead an institution with a great history."

Mr. D'Souza said he would like to see the college grow from 450 students to four or five thousand. He said he wanted to take something that is "very young and build it into something." . . .

Me:  D'Souza is a fine scholar.  It will be interesting to see what kind of dynamic he brings to the college.  I find the choice intriguing.

NEW CHURCH BODY TO BE FORMED FOR LUTHERANS IN NORTH AMERICA

Conservatives in mainline denominations continue to react to liberal theology that condones ordaining practicing homosexuals and the straying from Scripture.  Read the story.  

More than 1,000 Lutherans from throughout North America will gather Aug. 26-27 in suburban Columbus, Ohio, to form a new church body for confessional Lutherans. The annual Convocation of Lutheran CORE will adopt a constitution that will give birth to the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

"The NALC will embody the center of Lutheranism in America. The NALC will uphold confessional principles dear to Lutherans including a commitment to the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions," said the Rev. Mark Chavez, director of Lutheran CORE. . .  [more . . .]

David Virtue comments:  " This is exactly the road the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) took when it broke free from TEC [The Episcopal Church] and it is being emulated now by the Lutherans. I believe we will see a coming together of Protestant orthodoxies in the coming months. The devil has overplayed his hand."

FRANK TUREK - "TOP TEN GAY MARRIAGE FALSE "FACTS"

Part one and part two.  Turek writes:

When one judge overturned the will of more then seven million Californians last week in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, he listed 80 supposed “findings of fact” (FF) as evidence that Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Many of those 80 findings are not facts at all. They’re lies or distortions.

Before we address the top ten false “facts” asserted by Judge Vaughn Walker, there is one real fact in his opinion that defeats the entire case for his opinion. Here it is:

“The evidence at trial shows that marriage in the United States traditionally has not been open to same-sex couples.”

Since that fact is unquestionably true, how can Judge Walker honestly declare that Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment? Certainly no one in 1868 intended the Fourteenth Amendment to redefine marriage. Only the most tyrannical form of judicial activism can get Judge Walker to his conclusion.

Second, Prop 8 doesn’t violate the Fourteenth Amendment because every person in America already has equal marriage rights. We’re all playing by the same rules—we all have the same right to marry any non-related adult of the opposite sex. Those rules do not deny anyone “equal protection of the laws” because the qualifications to enter a marriage apply equally to everyone—every adult person has the same right to marry.

What about homosexuals? That leads us to Judge Walker’s first false “fact.”

1. “Sexual orientation is fundamental to a person’s identity and is a distinguishing characteristic that defines gays and lesbians as a discrete group.” (FF 44) This is the most important of the false facts because Walker’s entire case collapses without it. The “fact” is false because it ignores the difference between desires and behavior.

Having certain sexual desires—whether you were “born” with them or acquired them sometime in life—does not mean that you are being discriminated against if the law doesn’t allow the behavior you desire. Good laws discriminate against behavior. They do not discriminate against people. If Walker’s false “fact” was

ALBERT MOHLER: "THE INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE: THE FIFTY YEARS' WAR . . . AND COUNTING"

Mohler offers a useful overview of new challenges to the evangelical doctrine from within the evangelical camp.  (HT: VirtueOnline)

BARNA REPORT: DO AMERICANS CHANGE FAITHS?

Excerpts:  (HT: VirtueOnline)

The most common type of spiritual shift was from those who were Christian, Protestant or Catholic in childhood to those who currently report being atheist, agnostic or some other faith. In total, this group represents about one out of every eight adults (12%), a category that might be described as ex-Christians.

Converts to Christianity (those converting from another faith or from non-belief as a child to the Christian faith as an adult) represent 3% of the population. About twice as many (7%) moved from Protestant to Catholic or from Catholic to Protestant. Another 2% of adults were no longer the same as their childhood faith but did not fit into any of these three categories. . . .

Most of the people who have made these changes did so as a teenager or young adult. The study discovered that the median age at the time they changed faiths or significantly altered their faith perspective was 22.

One-third of those who experienced a significant faith shift did so during their twenties and another one-third did so before age 20. In total, two-thirds of people who had a major faith change experienced that outcome before the age of 30 (68%). In fact, among respondents over 40, only 5% of them reported making a major shift in their religious affiliation after the age of 40.  [more . ..]

DAVID VIRTUE - "SCREWTAPE PROPOSES AN EPISCOPAL TOAST"

David Virtue, the extraordinary journalist who runs VirtueOnline, a worldwide Anglican news and commentary website, offers a satirical essay in the vein of C.S. Lewis's famous Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast.   These are the concluding paragraphs of the toast (remember, Screwtape is a senior devil writing to his nephew, a junior devil):

. . . We are particularly enamored with the British approach to anyone who opposes sodomy and wears their faith around their necks. Individuals are losing their jobs. In time, they will go to jail for opposing what the state, and, by its silence, what the church now embraces. However, mind how you go, Wormwood, it could backfire.

The most important thing you can do is to create a counterfeit faith that mimics the real thing but is not faith at all. Keep up the appearance of things. Let the religious leaders talk about morality, the environment, women's ordination, but keep them from entering into a personal faith that trusts solely in Him who lived and died for them. On no account must they entertain such thoughts.

Hammer justice for all, peace in our time, no fear of Islam, justice for gays, women, wombats and whales, if need be. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to reflect on the Sermon on the Mount or meditate on John Chapter 1 or the book of Colossians and the exaltation of The One who was before all time and in whom everything co-inheres. We cannot bear a repeat of the "darker" side of history.

We have almost won the Culture Wars, Wormwood. Individual battles over sodomite acceptance and same-sex marriage are being won in country and after country aided and assisted by the US State Department and the help of that Clinton woman. The battle is almost over. When Proposition 8 is finally overturned in California, traditional marriage

CLARK PINNOCK (1937-2010)

Justin Taylor writes:

Controversial Canadian theologian Clark H. Pinnock died on Sunday afternoon (August 15, 2010) at the age of 73. He and his wife Dorothy were members of Little Bethel Community Church, where the funeral service will be held.

In March of this year he had written to a couple of colleagues to explain why he was retiring from active theological work:

I want to inform you that I am now middle stage Alzheimer’s. I will not be able to do my writing etc. I am 73 years now, and I’ve enjoyed my biblical three score and ten. I am not bitter. I have had a good life. I’ll meet you over Jordan if not before.

You are free to make this news known.

With love,

Clark

Taylor offers an assessment of this evangelical theologian whose theological position kept moving, many would say, away from crucial Biblical positions.  Others would disagree.  In addition to his own assessment, Taylor points readers to Russell Moore's “Why Conservative Evangelicals Should Thank God for Clark Pinnock."

Me:  I count myself privileged to have sat under Pinnock for a semester during his more conservative years.  I found him gracious, humble, deeply engaged in pursuing truth, and a stimulating lecturer.  He was always honing his material, and fully open to class dialog.   I did not follow his later wanderings (though my dippings in his Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit I found vigorous and stimulating), but I have only fond memories of the man and great respect for his personal integrity.

I note one commentator to Taylor's blog wrote:

My first book was a sustained critique of Pinnock’s position on annihilationism (or conditional immortality). I sent it to him to make sure it was fair. He went further and gave it a glowing endorsement along with my other three endorsers of J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Dallas Willard.

Clark Pinnock blessed me with his generosity and humility!

Pinnock's endorsing a book that critiqued him doesn't surprise me.  It sounds exactly like the man I remember from so many years ago. 

Another person left this comment, which also does not surprise me:

The church he was involved with is a small, very missional and very evangelical congregation in a very poor section of town. Whatever his left-of-center views concerning God’s foreknowledge and the Scriptures, they didn’t keep him from being engaged in Kingdom work.

Christianity Today has an excellent, balanced article on Clark Pinnock.  (HT: David Virtue)  It concludes with these words:

While he was courageous in his ability to adopt new ideas and positions, Pinnock did allow that theological change has its painful aspects. "Not only am I often not listened to, I am also made to feel stranded theologically: being too much of a free thinker to be accepted by the evangelical establishment and too much of a conservative to be accepted by the liberal mainline."

ED MEESE - PROP. 8 RULING IGNORES PRECEDENT, EVIDENCE AND COMMON SENSE

Meese offers a compelling analysis.

SCHULLER'S CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE

The Crystal Cathedral, which has seen more than a 30 percent dip in revenues, has been trying to sell off properties to bridge a $55 to $70 million budget deficit. At least 100 employees have been laid off over the last year or so.

The Schullers will take a 50% pay cut the next four pay periods.  Inquiring minds wonder how much that would be.  What is going on?  Is the monetary shortfall due to the economy alone?  Do people find the ministry style no longer appealing?   What's the story?   [more...]

Ambassador John Bolton: Israel Has 8 Day Deadline to Attack Iran (Video)

From Gateway Pundit: 

Former Ambassador John Bolton told FOX Business Network that Russia’s loading of nuclear fuel into the Iranian Bushehr plant means that Israel has an August 21 deadline for an Israeli attack.

Ambassador John Bolton on the Bushehr plant:

“Unless the Israelis act within the next 8 days… Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once their in the reactor, attacking means a release of radiation. No question about it. So if Israel is going to do anything against Bushehr it has to do something within the next 8 days. If they don’t then

RONALD REAGAN VS. THE CURRENT REGIME

HT: Gateway Pundit

IS THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO?

Yes.   Rich Lowry:

If you wanted to locate a mosque at Ground Zero, it’s hard to see how you could get much closer. The title of the Malyasian edition of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s book, "A Call to Prayer from the World Trade Rubble," is not far from the mark, and Ground Zero mosque seems an appropriate, loose way to refer to his project.      [my emphasis]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY FUND SELLS ALL ISRAEL HOLDINGS

Story here.  No explanation given.  One can guess.  (HT: Drudge)

Obama's comments take mosque controversy national.  (HT: Drudge)

Robert Spencer - Obama's Ramadan Delusions

DESPERATE STAKES FOR WOMEN UNDER SHARIA

From the Washington Examiner editorial:

It is impossible to view Time magazine's cover photograph of Aisha, an 18-year-old Afghan girl whose nose and ears were severed by her husband and brother-in-law on the order of a Taliban commander, without shuddering in recoil. Her "crime" was nothing more than fleeing the hellish home of in-laws who had beaten and enslaved her. That Aisha's only recourse in the face of such abuse was to run and hide is testimony to the reality that, in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world that Sharia law prevails, women are at best second-class citizens. Sharia is the vehicle by which the most oppressive tenets of extreme Islamic religion become the civil law of any society on which it is imposed. In many such places, daily life for women and girls remains today much

DAVID P. GOLDMAN LOOKS AT OBAMA'S MENTAL HEALTH AND HOW MICHELLE FITS IN

I don't usually blog about materials such as this, but I find Goldman a sufficiently intriguing thinker (he writes under the pseudonym "Spengler" for Asia Times), that I take his observations and predictions seriously.  He ends his discussion of  Obama and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) saying,

". . . no man can look into another man’s soul. But we are dealing with a man who was abandoned by three parents–dad, stepdad, and mom–to be raised by his grandparents. Neglected children, if they are clever, become adept at manipulating those around them, while at the same time searching for surrogates for the parents who dumped them. In a Feb. 26, 2008 “Spengler” essay, I conjectured that Barack Obama was deeply dependent on Michelle.  Obama the candidate brought to mind Tyrone Power’s carnival mentalist in the 1947 noire film “Nightmare Alley.” Power’s character ended up as the geek.

How much failure can Obama tolerate? Until now he spent his entire life climbing the ladder of power without being called to account. The Republicans are too gentlemanly to probe; not so his fellow Democrats. If DSM-IV does in fact provide insights into Obama’s character, the way to find out is to go after the strong woman in his life. That is why the ridicule of the First Lady may have broader significance.

The American political system has a brutal but thorough way of uncovering the character of a leader. Sometimes character flaws stay hidden until stress forces them out, in the case of Richard Nixon, for example. The hounds are nipping at Obama’s heels; in fact, they have sunk their teeth into Michelle’s.  [more . .]

TO UNDERSTAND AMERICA, ONE NEEDS TO READ THE FOREIGN PRESS

or listen to talk radio, or read blogs.  Don't bother with the "liberal-dominated US mainstream media." So says Nile Gardiner, writing for the U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper who titles his column "The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Regime: extravant and out of touch with the American people."   (HT: Drudge)

JOHN EDMISTON - TEN WAYS THE INTERNET IS CHANGING EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS

Edministon writes:    (HT: VirtueOnline)

There are currently 1.7 billion active Internet users; another three billion are expected to be added in the next five years. The developing world will soon go online as cell phones become smartphones and as cheap digital devices such as netbooks and e-readers proliferate.

The rollout of fiber-optic cable in Africa and massive satellite communication projects will also mean that bandwidth availability and reach will increase. Within five years, at least half the globe should be online; within fifteen years, Internet reach should be almost universal. Global proclamation will soon be within the reach of any Christian with a computer.

The changes are not only quantitative, they are also qualitative. The very nature and dynamic of Christian ministry are being fundamentally altered due to the new possibilities for relationship, connectivity, and information delivery that

THE SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE READER - ISSUE DATE 8/6/10

Subtitled "The Insider's Guide to Pro-Family News,"  The Family Research Council has posted yet another collection of valuable links to current articles on a variety of themes.   (I have posted previous editions here  and here.)  Themes include educational freedom, environmental issues, faith and policy, health care, homosexuality in the military, judiciary, family economics, marriage and family, religious liberty, and sanctity of human life.  Be sure to click the "Continue reading" link at the bottom of this post.

 

Educational Freedom and Reform

• "Department of Health and Human Services "encourages LGBT-inclusive sex ed"," Alliance Alert, Alliance Defense Fund
• "New York's Lake Woebegon Effect," Sol Stern, City Journal
• "Minnesota Resists Common Core State Standards," Ben Boychuk, School Reform News
• "As Race to the Top competition intensifies, so do education reforms," Amanda Paulson, Christian Science Monitor
• "Senate Clears Way for $26 Billion State Aid Bill," Warren Mass, The New American
• "An Avalanche of Reform?," James Hall, The Heritage Foundation
• "Professor fired over offensive views of homosexuality gets $100,000 -- but not her job back," Lisa M. Krieger, MercuryNews.com
• "Court Upholds Expulsion of Counseling Student Who Opposes Homosexuality," Todd Starnes, Fox News

CHUCH COLSON ON THE PROPOSED MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO

Colson writes:

Sense and Sensibility

As anyone who listens regularly to BreakPoint might guess, I am distressed—aghast, in fact—over the controversy about building a mosque at ground zero.

Earlier this week, the proposed New York City mosque at ground zero cleared its final hurdle. Nothing seems to stand in the way of its construction.

I am appalled that peace-loving Muslims would want to do this on what is, for most Americans, hallowed ground. I am even more appalled that the mayor of New York is in favor of the idea.

It would be like the Japanese building a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor! At a speech in front of the statue of liberty, Mayor Bloomberg made the case for the mosque on the grounds of tolerance. But tolerance isn’t the issue here. And certainly not tolerance as Bloomberg means it. Tolerance used to mean listening respectfully to others’ opinions, even when you disagree. Tolerance as Bloomberg understands it, means “I won’t say no to you for anything you want, and you don’t say no to me for anything I want.”—The ultimate expression of political correctness, and the most certain formula for moral chaos.

JUDGE OPENS PATH FOR RIFQA BARY TO STAY IN U.S.

Meretith Heagney reports:   (HT: AtlasShrugs)

A ruling by a Franklin County Juvenile Court magistrate this afternoon will allow Rifqa Bary to apply for an immigration status that her attorneys hope will keep her in the U.S. after her 18th birthday on Tuesday.

Magistrate Mary Goodrich ruled that reunification between Rifqa and her parents is not viable by Tuesday and that it is not in Rifqa's best interest to be returned to her native Sri Lanka at this time.

Rifqa's attorneys had filed a motion saying those findings were necessary for her to apply for an immigrant juvenile status that would allow her to apply for a green card to stay in the country. The special status provides a potential path to citizenship for children separated from their parents. . .

Me: Wonderful news!

C.S. LEWIS - "MERE CHRISTIANITY" and THE SIGNIFICANCE OF "DESIRE"

I am facilitating a Sunday morning discussion class on C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity."  In the process I came across a wonderful 60 minute audio introductory lecture to "Mere Christianity" by Boston College philosophy professor Peter Kreeft. 

Also, I was pleased to discover a helpful outline/summary of the book here.

One of my favorite chapters in Mere Christianity is Lewis's chapter on "Hope."  Here he touches on the theme that lies at the center of his life:  human desire and longing as a pointer to God and heaven.  We  experience it as "joy".  This feeling of longing and desire is what the Germans call "sehnzucht," which Louis Marcos explains as:

 a German word that means "longing" or "yearning."  Lewis often used it to signify moments in his life when he felt an intense, overwhelming desire for an indefinable, numinous "something" that was just beyond his grasp.  For Lewis, the reality of these moments of longing (he more often calls them simply, "joy") and the stubborn fact that he could find no object for them, either within himself or the natural world, proved to him that their source must be supernatural (a "proof" of the existence of God and heaven that is  generally referred to as the "argument by desire").  - From Louis Markos, Course Guidebook to "The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis," published by The Teaching Company.

Perhaps Lewis's premier discussion of longing and desire may be found in his masterful sermon preached at Oxford University, "The Weight of Glory", which some regard as the best sermon of the 20th century.

Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft dissects the subject in his internet article, "The Argument from Desire." He offers a longer discussion in his contribution to G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis: The Riddle of Joy, (a wonderful book for anyone interested in GKC or CSL).  Check also his audio lecture here.

Finally, I will simply add that I thoroughly enjoyed and profited from a book I read shortly after it was published in 1974, Bright Shadow of Reality: C.S. Lewis and the Feeling Intellect by Corbin Scott Carnell.  It is still in print, though with a revised subtitle: "Spiritual Longing in C.S. Lewis."  Highly recommended.

MARTIN WEISS INTERVIEWS PETER SCHIFF

Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital is a familiar name to economy watchers.  As Martin Weiss says,

Not only was his massively best-selling book — Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Economic Collapse — dead right about the debt crisis and the Great Recession, but he has now taken this effort to the next level: A maverick campaign for Senate in the State of Connecticut.

I am not putting up this post because Schiff is running for the Senate, but because I think it useful to be familiar with his views on the economy.  Memorable lines:  

Schiff: Forget about “double dip.” I do not believe the recession ever ended. In fact, I think we are in the early stages of a depression. True, GDP grew in the last few quarters, but none of that growth was real. It simply resulted from spending more borrowed money, which we now have to repay. If you net the debt out of the growth, we didn’t really grow at all. We simply dug ourselves into a deeper hole. . .

 If policy makers don't wise up to counsels such as his, Schiff offers a warning (a real zinger to me):

I think many of our grandchildren will decide to leave [America].  They will go to other countries. And I’d much prefer not to force them to emigrate the way my grandparents had to, coming to America in search of freedom.

I don’t want our descendants to have to go to Asia to find freedom. I’d rather have freedom here. But if we make it so inhospitable, if we regulate them and tax away their freedoms, if we try to stick them with all the bills, they will leave us with the tab. We will have to suffer the consequences of our own profligacy.  [more . .]

RON DICIANNI: PAINTING THE RESURRECTION (CBN-TV VIDEO)

Thanks to my friend Tom's e-mail, I can point you to a magnificent painting where the painter, Ron Dicianni, explains his  painting.  This is a MUST-SEE.  Go here.

N.T. WRIGHT - "SIMPLY CHRISTIAN: WHY CHRISTIANITY MAKES SENSE"

Is there a better communicator than N.T. Wright?  Not many, I'm convinced.  The following 50 minute talk flies by, and what Wright says, stimulates and enlivens.  Dorothy L. Sayers, writing about conditions in England in 1949 said, "The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the Church teaches about God or man or society or the person."  (Creed or Chaos).  It's worse now, if that can be imagined, and the U.S. is about where England was in 1949.

My thanks to the Veritas Forum for permission to embed the lecture below.

DEEPAK CHOPRA

I don't know anything more about this event other than the short YouTube video below.  At the very least, Deepak Chopra looks very foolish indeed.  (HT: Wintery Knight)

STUPIDITY - THY NAME IS OBAMACARE

Kevin Hassett offers a chilling analysis of Obamacare in an article titled, "Obamacare Only Looks Worse Upon Further Review."  It seems we've elected to Congress either a group of idiots or treasonous adversaries of the public good.   This healthcare overhaul will accelerate the ruin the Obama administration determines to bring on the United States of America.  Read Hassett's article.

 

Update: Actually it may be worse than the above chart.  Ed Morrissey:

It seems clear that Congress just authorized a self-perpetuating bureaucracy, one that can expand on its own and make determinations far outside of the boundaries Democrats promised during the ObamaCare debate.  And if that’s true, then it is equally true that the claims made on the cost of administering ObamaCare had no real basis in fact.  How can one estimate a cost for a bureaucracy that is entirely undefined in size and scope?

Brady probably didn’t create the chart above as a best-case scenario, but that may be indeed what it is, at least in terms of certainty.

U.S. AID TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: MONEY WELL SPENT?

Caroline Glick says:

Watch this amazing video about what US aid money to the Palestinian Authority pays for and what it could be used to do.

MAKING BABIES, MAKING MONEY: THE WELFARE STATE AT WORK

This is amazing. (HT: Atlas Shrugs)

  Things are getting out of hand! This letter came from a doctor in Danville, IL. 
 
  Dear Mr. Limbaugh, 
 
  I was speaking to an emergency room physician this morning. He told me that a woman in her 20’s came to the ER with her 8th pregnancy. She stated “my momma told me that I am the breadwinner for the family.” He asked her to explain. She said that she can make babies and babies get money for the family. The scam goes like this: The grandma calls the Department of Child and Family Services and states that the unemployed daughter is not capable of caring for these children. DCFS agrees and states that the child or children will need to go to foster care. The grandma then volunteers to be the foster parent, and thus receives a check for $1500 per child per month in Illinois. Total yearly income: $144,000 tax-free, not to mention free healthcare (Medicaid) plus a monthly “Linx” card entitling her to free groceries, etc, and a voucher for 250 free cell phone minutes per month. This does not even include Wick and other welfare programs. Indeed, grandma was correct in that her fertile daughter is the “breadwinner” in the family. 
 
  I hope you share this story with your listeners so that they know how the ruling class spends their tax dollars. 
 
  Also, many thanks for the fine service you provide in educating people about the merits of conservative thinking. 
 
  Cheers, 
 
  Sebastian J. Ciancio, M.D. Urologist, Danville Polyclinic, LTD.

SHOCK VIDEO: DEM CONGRESSMAN BRAGS: 'FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN DO MOST ANYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY'...

HT: Drudge   Wow.  This is pretty amazing.  The Federal Government has become a monster eating up liberty.  The Constitution no longer offers any restraints in the eyes of many members of congress.

GOLD FROM JUSTIN TAYLOR'S "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS" BLOG

No doubt there are many fine Christian blogs "out there" in cyberspace, and I wish I had unlimited time to benefit from many more than I do.  But for my money, the one blog that requires frequent visiting is Justin Taylor's Between Two Worlds.  Here's a sampling from recent posts:

- Free Audiobook: Tim Keller's Ministries of Mercy 

- Keith Getty on Writing Today's Modern Hymns  (I found this stunningly good)

- Thielman's New Testament Theology  (Seminary audio lectures with outline.  Amazing resource!) 

- Professor Peter Kreeft's audio lectures:

• 10 Uncommon Insights Into Evil from The Lord of the Rings
• Christianity in The Lord of the Rings
• The Language of Beauty

- D.A. Carson's "The God Who Is There" Video and Audio (MP3s for the 14 - part series here).

DETAILS OF A 100 MILLION FACEBOOK USERS PUBLISHED ONLINE

My long-standing decision to steer clear of Facebook seems vindicated.  Click here for the story behind the headline above.  (HT: Drudge)  My previously posted concerns can be found here and here.