Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

THE STORY OF A MALE-IDENTIFYING LITTLE GIRL WHO DIDN'T TRANSITION

This is a great story that Lindsay Leigh Bentley tells of her growing up as a "tomboy" (my word) and how her life developed.  It has over 3,000 comments so you know it has hit a nerve.  Excerpt:

Anyhow, even as a baby I seemed to prefer “boy” things.  I was rough, tough, and daring.  My parents had to cut my curly hair short because I would twist it into knots and refused to let my parents brush it.  I once managed to make my way onto the second story roof, and was gleefully running around, as my parents had simultaneous panic-attacks.  My toys of choice were sticks, sling-shots, bows & arrows, guns, mud, motorcycles, and monsters.  When my sister and I picked out “My Little Ponies” I chose a blue one, and promptly cut all of that lustrous long hair off as short as possible.  My barbie also got the chop.

If ever a "girl" seemed to a "boy" it was Lindsay.  But there is more to the story...

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA'S IMPORTANT DISTINCTION

 

I wish people would quit attacking those who disagree with them as "bigots" or "haters" and instead engage in mutually respectful dialog and discussion.    ht:pg

TED CRUZ CHOOSES CARLY FIORINA AS HIS VICE-PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE

I really like Carly Fiorina.  She will bring zip and pop to Cruz's campaign.  Her witty rebuttals to Donald Trump in the early debates were devastating.  She can hold her own against Trump and expose him as the empty windbag  that he is.   She will give Hilary Clinton nightmares.  Cruz made a wise move in selecting Carly at this early stage.  Here is her acceptance speech.

 

CBN: WHOSE LAND IS IT? JEWISH AND ARAB CLAIMS TO ISRAEL

I found this report well done

 

 

Part 2

 

"PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS" VS. REALITY

 

Michael Brown writes:  This is not fiction! It's the real story of a man who identified as a woman but who now identifies as a female dragon -- and has a big Facebook following.

NC GOV SAYS LGBT GROUP 'MORE POWERFUL THAN NRA'...

From Breitbart:

The embattled governor of North Carolina says the anti-Christian Human Rights Campaign is more powerful than the National Rifle Association, which is arguably the most powerful issue group in the United States.

Republican Governor Pat McCrory tells NBC that the powerful gay group has “…millions of dollars, which makes me want overturn [Citizens] United, because I don’t know who their donors are, either. But they are putting on a lot of pressure, instead of having a good dialogue.”

McCrory said, “I don’t think the government should be telling the private sector what their restroom and shower law should be, to allow a man into a woman’s restroom or shower facility at a YMCA, for example.”

McCrory is under continued assault from a highly organized and very rich coterie of homosexual organizations and their friends in business and the entertainment world for his defense of women and girls who do not want biological men urinating and showering with them.  

CAN WE TRUST SCIENTIFIC "STUDIES"? NO!

Corruption has now invaded and invalidated much of the sacred precincts of "science."  As Pascal Emmanuel Gobry writes in his article, Big Science is Broken:

Science is broken.

That's the thesis of a must-read article in First Things magazine, in which William A. Wilson accumulates evidence that a lot of published research is false. But that's not even the worst part.

Advocates of the existing scientific research paradigm usually smugly declare that while some published conclusions are surely false, the scientific method has "self-correcting mechanisms" that ensure that, eventually, the truth will prevail. Unfortunately for all of us, Wilson makes a convincing argument that those self-correcting mechanisms are broken.  [more. . .]   

Me: This is a "Must Read" article...

TED CRUZ A "DOMINIONIST"? NO!

Robert Gagnon and Elizabeth Humphreys set the record straight.  And it does indeed need to be set straight! In their article, "Stop Calling Ted Cruz a Dominionist," they address many misrepresentations of the man and his faith.   They write:

. . .  Some have charged Cruz with being a “dominionist.” John Fea, professor of American history at Messiah College, raised this issue in an article in Religion News Service(picked up by theWashington Post). Another version of his views was recently published in Christianity Today. Fea is echoed by Warren Throckmorton, professor of psychology at Grove City College, and byFrederick Clarkson, author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy(1997). Then there is the provocative article by Jay Michaelson, an LGBT activist and religion columnist at The Daily Beast, “Does Ted Cruz Think He’s the Messiah?”

Dominion theology and dominionism were terms coined in 1989 by sociologist Sara Diamond(Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right), referring to Christians who want to take over the government and six other facets of society (the media, business, arts and entertainment, education, family, and religion), together known as the “Seven Mountains.” Diamond views this as “the central unifying ideology for the Christian Right.”

The term has become elastic, encompassing Christians who believe the United States was once a predominantly Christian nation as well as those who hold “right-wing” views. But as many writers have noted, this elastic sense has become a bogeyman. Jewish journalist Stanley Kurtzcalled it “conspiratorial nonsense,” while Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson declared: “Thin charges of dominionism are just another attempt to discredit opponents rather than answer them.” Even the liberal journalist Lisa Miller called the loose accusation of dominionism “the paranoid mot du jour” (On the dubious ways that this term is used, see also Joe Carter.)

Cruz, however, is not a dominionist. As a teenager he joined the Constitutional Corroborators, travelling throughout Texas reciting from memory the text of the Constitution up through the Bill of Rights. He was taught law at Princeton by Robert George, and at Harvard Law School byAlan Dershowitz. Dershowitz, who is Jewish, observed that he was “one of the brightest students we ever had.” Cruz, with his formidable knowledge of the Constitution, is a passionate proponent for a republican form of government with checks and balances, accessible to all.

Accordingly, he stands against those who would use the Constitution as a cipher for personal ideology. Liberal proponents of a “living Constitution” seek to amend the Constitution by the fiat of unelected liberal jurists, bypassing the constitutionally-prescribed process of amendment. As Abraham Lincoln said, if American citizens accepted the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, they would “have ceased to be their own rulers, having … practically resigned their government into the hands of that … tribunal.” Cruz’s view is consonant with two contemporary Catholic giants of jurisprudence: his professor, Robert George, and his mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. George wrote us:

The contemporary religious Left’s version of McCarthyist red-baiting is to smear opponents by labeling them “dominionists.” … Ted’s not a dominionist; he’s a constitutionalist. I’ve known Senator Cruz for more than half his life. I supervised his junior year independent project and senior thesis at Princeton, working with him closely on the Constitution’s protections of liberty by way of structural limitations on power. I’ve stayed closely in touch with him in the years since, sometimes discussing constitutional questions (especially those pertaining to religious freedom). In 31 years of teaching constitutional law and civil liberties, and 25 years of serving on various capacities in public life, never have I met a person whose fidelity to the Constitution was deeper than Senator Cruz’s.

When Ben Carson asserted he “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,”Cruz rejected that view: “The Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office, and I am a constitutionalist.” At a CNN Milwaukee Republican Presidential Town Hall discussion, Cruz responded to the concern that his Christian faith would interfere when “making decisions for all religions in the United States.” He replied,  (more. . .)

 

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY SUMMARIZED

Jim Geraghty:

The Obama presidency has brought us a world on fire, an $18 trillion debt, a sense of endless economic stagnation for millions of Americans, a major drop in the workforce participation rate, higher insurance premiums, riots in our cities, worsening race relations, the rise of ISIS, terror attacks on our soil, a functional defeat in Afghanistan, a tidal wave of refugees destabilizing and threatening Europe, and many other problems. 

"FREEDOM OF RELIGION" VS. "FREEDOM OF WORSHIP"

There's a world of difference between "freedom of religion" and "freedom of worship."  Secularists and leftists have subtly substituted freedom of worship for freedom of religion.  Today the Family Research Council notes a small victory in rectifying the matter with regard to the Department of Homeland Security.  FRC writes:

For seven years, the White House seems to have done a virtual find/replace for every administration policy. Where “freedom of religion” used to be, a more restrictive “freedom of worship” is now -- including the text of the U.S. citizenship test. As part of the naturalization exam that prospective immigrants take, it seems Homeland Security made a few edits to the First Amendment. And Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) was not amused.

Back in June, Lankford sent a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson calling on the agency to correct the error. “The freedom of religion is much more than just the freedom of worship,” he argues. “Worship confines you to a location. Freedom of religion is the right to exercise your religious beliefs -- it is the ability for Americans to live out their faith or to choose to have no faith at all.” It may seem like a minor change, but it’s had major consequences on Christian businesses, charities, service members, athletes, celebrities, teachers and othershurt by this narrow understanding of our First Freedom. Under the president’s term, the administration would have us pack up our Christian symbols, our biblical beliefs, and our free speech, and stash them in the church, where they could be quarantined. Senator Lankford thinks America should embrace the proud tradition of religious expression -- not suppress it. And fortunately, DHS finally agrees.

On Thursday, ten months after the Oklahoma leader’s first request, DHS issued a notice to the public that they’re updating their material -- including the test -- to reflect the “freedom of religion.” It was a rare victory in two terms of frustration over America’s freedom to believe.

“I applaud the Department of Homeland Security for listening to me and deciding to change their material to reflect our First Amendment right of freedom of religion,” Senator Lankford said. “The ‘freedom of religion’ language reflects our right to live a life of faith at all times, while the ‘freedom of worship’ reflects a right simply confined to a particular space and location. We live in a great nation that allows individuals to live out their faith, or have no faith at all. To protect freedom and diversity, we must carefully articulate this right throughout the federal government.”

Hats off to Senator Lankford for making religious freedom the priority it should be!

PayPaL - HYPOCRITE OF THE YEAR?

From the Family Research Council:

After this week, PayPal may need a pal! After pulling the plug on a major expansion in Charlotte, the money transfer business is getting hammered over their political posturing that is clearly inconsistent with their corporate actions and policies. CEO Dan Schulman kicked off the controversy when he announced earlier this week that he was so outraged by North Carolina’s H.B. 2 that he was scrapping plans for their Charlotte office. Why? Because the state won’t force businesses to let men in the women’s restroom. Like most Americans, Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) thinks that decision belongs in the hands of individual companies -- not imposed on them by the government’s heavy hand.

Unfortunately, Schulman must not have read the bill he’s blasting because he made the knee-jerk reaction to pull out of the state over a measure that actually empowers businesses to operate their way. Executives like Schulman now have the right to set their own bathroom policy (which PayPal apparently has -- and not in favor of the agenda they supposedly support). But that’s just the first of many duplicities reporters say. “Becoming an employer in North Carolina,” Schulman argued earlier this week, “where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable. The new law perpetuates discrimination, and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture.”

That’s interesting, Congressman Robert Pittenger (R) points out, considering that PayPal has no trouble doing business with more than 25 countries where homosexual behavior is illegal “including five where the penalty is death. Yet, they object to the North Carolina legislature overturning a misguided ordinance about letting men into the women’s bathroom?” North Carolina hasn’t outlawed homosexuality or discriminated against anyone. It hasn’t even barred men from women’s restrooms. All it did was guarantee that businesses have the freedom to set those policies themselves!

Unfortunately, Big Business, like the cultural bullies it reports to, is too busy complaining about the phony speck in someone else’s eye to realize the plank in its own. While Apple, Google, Home Depot, Facebook, and others sink their companies’ time and money fighting laws they think are “anti-gay,” their own companies are partnering with countries that actually are! How is it that PayPal can take conservatives to task for protecting business’s autonomy, when they consistently turn a blind eye to international partners that stone or jail the very population they claim to support? No wonder Rev. Franklin Graham is calling PayPal the “hypocrite of the year.” “PayPal operates in countries including Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Yemen for pete’s sake. Just last month PayPal announced they would be expanding in Cuba, a country in which people who identify as homosexual and transgendered have been imprisoned, tortured, and executed. PayPal only agreed to come to Charlotte in the first place after holding out for millions in corporate incentives. And under the current law that they are so strongly protesting, PayPal could have chosen their own corporate bathroom policies.”

As if that weren’t embarrassing enough, Erick Erickson reminded readers that Schulman’s group is already in plenty of hot water for violating U.S. sanctions. According to the Wall Street Journal, PayPal was processing payments for blacklisted countries like Cuba, Sudan, and Iran -- as well as a man operating a nuclear weapons black market. “In all, nearly 500 PayPal transactions, worth almost $44,000, potentially violated U.S. sanctions, according to the Treasury Department.” Who is PayPal to lecture anyone on business ethics? While Schulman gets on his moral high horse, his own company is forking over more than $7.7 million in fines for helping to arm America’s enemies! So maybe, when it comes to common sense local laws, PayPal should do what North Carolina’s law suggests -- and mind its own business.

WATCH: Rich Lowry Explains What a Contested Convention Means for the GOP

It won't be a bad thing.

 

"RISEN" MOVIE - VERY MUCH WORTH SEEING

The movie "Risen" is quite good and definitely worth seeing.  A positive review and helpful reflection on Christian faith and "Christian movies" can be found in the following article:   "Risen and What Makes a Good Christian Film"

A friend of mine recently wrote me and included a link to the First Things  review of Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups.  He saw it shortly thereafter and wrote:

I thought the movie, Knight of Cups ... phenomenal. I think Malick is attempting to express profound truths about life, God, and relationships through film like no one else.  I can understand why some don't have the patience for his films - they are like visual poems, very beautiful but demanding. Certainly high art.   

 I am grateful for this introduction to Terrence Malick's work.

ASLAN: "NO ONE IS TOLD ANY STORY BUT THEIR OWN"

The words appear in C.S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy."  

Graham Heslop offers two short helpful meditations:

        "The Horse and His Boy: Having Faith when it is Hard"

        "No One is Told Any Story But Their Own"