Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CAROLINE GLICK EXPLAINS THE NEXT STAGE IN OBAMA'S ALL-OUT ASSAULT ON ISRAEL

Israel-based author and commentator, Caroline Glick, spells out the significance of the recent U.S. and U.N. moves against Israel and what they portend for the future.   She warns of the 50-nation January conference on Israel hosted by France likely to conclude by adopting another U.N. resolution further de-legitimizing Israel on the world stage. Glick suggests strategies for defeating the looming U.N. vote and offers  her thoughts on how Israel and the U.S. should proceed given the worldwide anti-Israel movement ratified by Obama.   Anything Glick writes constitutes "must-reading."  She writes:   [my bolding]

UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was the first prong of outgoing President Barack Obama’s lame duck campaign against Israel.

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on Wednesday was the second.

On January 15, stage 3 will commence in Paris.

At France’s lame duck President François Hollande’s international conference, the foreign ministers of some 50 states are expected to adopt as their own Kerry’s anti-Israel principles.

The next day it will be Obama’s turn. Obama can be expected to use the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to present the Palestinian war to annihilate Israel as a natural progression from the American Civil Rights movement that King led 50 years ago.

Finally, sometime between January 17 and 19, Obama intends for the Security Council to reconvene and follow the gang at the Paris conference by adopting Kerry’s positions as a Security Council resolution. That follow-on resolution may also recognize “Palestine” and grant it full membership in the UN. 

 

NEW BIOGRAPHY OF ERIC LIDDELL OF "CHARIOTS OF FIRE" FAME

A few weeks ago I perused a list of outstanding books published in 2016 and noticed a new biography of Eric Liddell, the 1924 Olympic gold medalist made famous by the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.  Liddell went on to become a missionary to China and died in a Japanese internment camp in China in 1945.  The reviews of the new book For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton are uniformly positive.  

 - "A marriage of prose and detail so fine and fastidious that it takes the breath away." 

 -  This book is better than a movie. For the Glory is the best biography I’ve read on its subject, and may be one of the best non-fiction books I’ve ever read.

This is a book now high on my "to read" list.  I previously blogged about Eric Liddell here, and the post is worth visiting because it not only talks about Liddell, but also about the book, Shantung Compound, that describes the living condition Liddell and others endured in a Japanese internment camp in China along with hundreds of others during World War II.  

Some years ago, Day of Discovery produced an excellent documentary on Liddell's life which is now available on YouTube.

INSPIRATION! -- 85 YEAR OLD SETTING MARATHON RECORDS

Today I went for a run after reading this New York Times' article on Ed Whitlock of Ontario, Canada.  

In October, at 85, he set his latest distance-running record, completing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3 hours 56 minutes 34 seconds and becoming the oldest person to run 26.2 miles in under four hours.

His training discipline (none) I found particularly interesting:

At the Toronto Marathon, he raced in 15-year-old shoes and a singlet that was 20 or 30 years old. He has no coach. He follows no special diet. He does not chart his mileage. He wears no heart-rate monitor. He takes no ice baths, gets no massages. He shovels snow in the winter and gardens in the summer but lifts no weights, does no situps or push-ups. He avoids stretching, except the day of a race. He takes no medication, only a supplement that may or may not help his knees.

Read the whole article to learn a lot more.  Be inspired!

CHRISTMASTIDE CONTINUES WITH THE HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHOIR

I unfortunately experienced a dearth of Christmas music this year, so when I came across this lovely Hillsdale College Choir rendition of "O Holy Night," I definitely wanted to post it on my blog not only to enjoy it many times myself, but to share it with others also.  Enjoy!  (You might also seriously consider suggesting Hillsdale College to any serious-minded high school senior in search of a first-rate liberal arts education.)  

 

OBAMA SHOWS HIS COLORS; STABS ISRAEL IN THE BACK

That Obama hates Israel should not have taken anyone by surprise, but apparently it did, including American liberal Jews who chose not to consider seriously the facts Stanley Kurtz  laid out 5 years ago.  So now with the U.N. Security Council vote (on the eve of Hanukkah of all days!) we have Israel stripped of territory it has occupied for the past 1,000 years (Jewish Quarter of East Jerusalem and the Western Wall) plus so much else.  Thank you, Mr. Obama.  

Here is a worthwhile discussion of Obama's treachery.  

My own feeling is that this U.N. action against Israel will be a catalyst for a major shakeup of the world's international relationships.  As someone presciently said of President-elect Trump months before he was elected, "Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political correctness."   Similarly, I think he will be a "wrecking ball" to the world's international alignments as they appeared at the end of 2016.  The world needs "shaking up" in a positive way.  Charles Krauthammer says "it is time to rethink our slavish devotion, to an institution that devotes itself to attacking an ally and to undermining American interests."   Absolutely!   That's a first step.

Partial transcript:

The fact is that Americans have to really think about why we still invest, support, and, in a sense sort of psychically invest in the U.N., which was a great idea 70 years ago when it was an idea. But it’s a complete failure, and it’s a farce. Sixty percent of its activity is devoted to reports, attacks, denunciations, and demonization of one state — the one Jewish state on the planet, a dot on the map.  . .  Time to rethink our devotion, slavish devotion, to an institution that devotes itself to attacking an ally and to undermining American interests.   [my emphases]

Other inportant commentaries:

Caroline Glick - "Obama's War Against America" 

Bat Ye'or - "Deligitimizing the Jewish State" - important history by an indefatigable researcher.

Daniel Pipes - "The Way to Peace: Israeli Victory, Palestinian Defeat"

NICHOLAS KRISTOF INTERVIEWS TIM KELLER, WELL KNOWN NEW YORK CITY EVANGELICAL PASTOR

Keller pastors Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.  He is known for his thoughtful sermons which attract a large and varied audience.  He has lectured at Google on three occasions that I am aware of (here, here, and here), as well as at Oxford and other universities. Keller is also a prolific author.  Just before Christmas New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof published an interview with Keller titled, "Am I a Christian, Pastor Keller?"   I think it really good, both the questions and answers, and commend it to you.

(Note: I have blogged about Tim Keller several times.  Simply google "Muddling Toward Maturity - Tim Keller" for a list of posts.)

HOLLYWOOD IS EMPLOYING A NEW TECHNIQUE TO INCREASE THE BOTTOM LINE: CONNECT WITH CHURCHES

It has taken Hollywood a long time to seriously gear up to tap into the vast potentially lucrative Christian marketplace.  Brooks Barnes recently penned an eye-opening article describing how such efforts have now taken on more energy than ever before. He writes in "Secular Hollywood Quietly Courts the Faithful":

On the surface, Hollywood is a land of loose morals, where materialism rules, sex and drugs are celebrated on screen (and off), and power players can have a distant relationship with the truth. But movie studios and their partners have quietly — very quietly, sometimes to the degree of a black ops endeavor — been building deep connections to Christian filmgoers who dwell elsewhere on the spectrum of politics and social values. In doing so, they have tapped churches, military groups, right-leaning bloggers and, particularly, a fraternity of marketing specialists who cut their teeth on overtly religious movies but now put their influence behind mainstream works like “Frozen,” “The Conjuring,” “Sully” and “Hidden Figures.”  

The marketers are writing bullet points for sermons, providing footage for television screens mounted in sanctuaries and proposing Sunday school lesson plans. In some cases, studios are even flying actors, costume designers and producers to megachurch discussion groups.

I found it a fascinating article, filled with marketing details and personalities new to me.  As I read I began to wonder, might these developments be a sign that God is beginning to answer many people's prayers for Hollywood to change its direction and offer uplifting and morally challenging films on a more regular basis?    One can hope -- and continue to pray.  Read the whole thing.

IT'S TIME WASHINGTON SENT A MESSAGE TO EGYPT TO PROTECT ITS CHRISTIANS

Egypt receives $1.5 billion dollars of U.S. miitary and economic aid a year.  The Egyptian government is not serious about protecting Egyptian Christians.  Withholding aid money until Egypt protects its Christians makes total sense.   We need to press Trump to initiate a vigorous freedom of religion foreign policy. As John Stonestreet writes:

[Egyptian Christian] Copts have been, at best, second-class citizens since the 1952 coup that created the modern Egyptian state.  Repression, discrimination, and violence have all been part and parcel of their existence.

While the Egyptian government obviously didn’t attack the worshippers at St. Peter’s or attack Christians in Minya, the Egyptian government is largely indifferent to the fate of its Christian citizens.

Actually, it’s even worse than that. Mistreating Copts was the way that Egypt’s rulers, including the present one, have burnished their Islamic identity. And, until recently, virtually no one, especially in the West, said “boo!” about it. The sad truth is that Copts had to start dying in significant numbers for anyone to take notice, and that “anyone” includes their brethren in the West.   [more...]

TRUMP'S GEOGRAPHY VS. CLINTON'S GEOGRAPHY

From Vivid Maps:

QUICK TAKES

From the Drudge Report:

-- Millennials looking to fix overpiercing, remove tattoos...

-- Pakistan airline mocked for goat sacrifice...

-- Title IX is “bureaucratic sex creep” gone wild

-- Hopeless Afghan struggle to save boy sex slaves...

From other sorces:

-- New York Times staff less diverse than Trump’s cabinet

-- IN PICTURES: WHAT AN ISLAMIC SUICIDE BOMBING LOOKS LIKE

TRUMP'S CABINET AS VIEWED BY "THE NEW YORK TIMES"

The New York Times offers its thumbnail sketches of Trump's new cabinet under the title "Outsiders Selected by Trump Aim to Unnerve Washington."

Seven men and one woman named by Mr. Trump to run vast government agencies share a common trait: once they are confirmed, their presence is meant to unnerve — and maybe even outright undermine — the bureaucracies they are about to lead.

Some of those chosen — 17 picks so far for federal agencies and five for the White House — are among the most radical selections in recent history. Other presidents’ nominees, even when controversial, were often veterans of the Washington bureaucracy and generally believed in it. But a number of Mr. Trump’s most important selections have no experience in federal government and a great drive to undo it.  [more...]

Let us hope so!  Government by the Administrative State - the bureaucracy - has led to tyranny.  It is time to roll the bureaucracy back to manageable levels where we the people, through our elected representatives, become responsible for the laws and regulations under which we choose to live. 

Here is the Times' reporting on Trump's selection of David Friedman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel:

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday named David M. Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer aligned with the Israeli far right, as his nominee for ambassador to Israel, elevating a campaign adviser who has questioned the need for a two-state solution and has likened left-leaning Jews in America to the Jews who aided the Nazis in the Holocaust.

Mr. Friedman, whose outspoken views stand in stark contrast to decades of American policy toward Israel, did not wait long on Thursday to signal his intention to upend the American approach. In a statement from the Trump transition team announcing his nomination, he said he looked forward to doing the job “from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”  [more. . .] 

Seems a really gutsy choice to me!

THE LEFTIST ATTACK ON CONSERVATIVE VALUES DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Rod Dreher reports:

Sean Trende, on what the left has done over the last four years to attack and provoke religious conservatives:

Democrats and liberals have: booed the inclusion of God in their platform at the 2012 convention (this is disputed, but it is the perception); endorsed a regulation that would allow transgendered students to use the bathroom and locker room corresponding to their identity; attempted to force small businesses to cover drugs they believe induce abortions; attempted to force nuns to provide contraceptive coverage; forced Brendan Eich to step down as chief executive officer of Mozilla due to his opposition to marriage equality; fined a small Christian bakery over $140,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding; vigorously opposed a law in Indiana that would provide protections against similar regulations – despite having overwhelmingly supported similar laws when they protected Native American religious rights – and then scoured the Indiana countryside trying to find a business that would be affected by the law before settling upon a small pizza place in the middle of nowhere and harassing the owners. In 2015, the United States solicitor general suggested that churches might lose their tax exempt status if they refused to perform same-sex marriages. In 2016, the Democratic nominee endorsed repealing the Hyde Amendment, thereby endorsing federal funding for elective abortions.

QUICK TAKES

  - The Impending Collapse of the Global Warming Scare

  - Netanyahu Pays Visit to Strategically Positioned Azerbaijan: Iranians now fretting the Israeli military option is back on the table.

  - Child chain gangs of North Korea exposed, as kids as young as five forced to repair railways (Video and photos)

  - Identity Politics are Anti-American (David Horowitz)

THE DEADLIEST CHURCH ATTACK IN EGYPT’S MODERN HISTORY

Raymond Ibrahim reports on the recent church bombing atrocity in Cairo calling it "the spectacular manifestation of a constantly simmering hate." Ibrahim, the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians, is the premier reporter on Muslim hatred towards Christians.

The worst attack on Egypt’s Christian minority in recent years occurred yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2016.    St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, packed with worshippers celebrating Sunday mass, was bombed; at least 27 churchgoers, mostly women and children, were killed and 65 severely wounded. As many of the wounded are in critical condition, the death toll is expected to rise.

As usual, witnesses say that state security was not present and that police took an inordinate amount of time to arrive after the explosion.   Preliminary investigations point to a bomb placed inside an unattended lady’s purse on one of the rear pews of the women’s section, though more recent revelations indicate there was a male suicide bomber involved.

Mutilated bodies were strewn along the floor and pews of the cathedral.  “I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” said one witness.

Ibrahim makes important points about what life is like for Christians in Egypt so I would encourage reading the whole piece.  (Bolding emphasis is my own)

GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER REFUSES TO WEAR THE HIJAB ON A VISIT TO SAUDI ARABIA

-- Update:  I learned that First lady Michelle Obamam, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former first lady Laura Bush also refused to wear the hijab on their visits to Saudi Arabia.

Good for her!

Hannah Crouch reports for the UK Sun:

Her decision not to wear a hijab during her meeting with the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, was not met warmly by Saudi’s who took to Twitter to express their anger, the Express has reported.

One translated Tweet read: “The German Defence Minister: not wearing the hijab in Saudi was deliberate. This is an insult to Saudi Arabia.”

According to an Iranian newspaper, Von der Leyen said: “No woman in my delegation will be required to wear the abaya, as the right to choose one’s attire is the right shared by men and women equally.”

The abaya is a loose robe-like dress, worn by women in Muslim countries, which covers the whole body except for the head, feet and hands.

The hijab is the word used to describe headscarves worn by Muslim women which cover their heads. [more . . .] 

TRUMP CHRISTMAS PARODY - IT WILL DELIGHT TRUMP FANS, HILLARY FANS NOT SO MUCH

My thanks t0 Brian for passing this along to me.

 

FOUR RIDDLES FOR THE KIDS

(Courtesy of my friend Joyce and mikeysfunnies) - 

Riddle @1:

Alice: What do you get if you cross an iPad with a Christmas tree?
Johnny: I don't know. What?
Alice: A pineapple!

Riddle #2:

Phil: Where do snowmen keep their money?
Bill: Beats me.
Phil: In a snow bank.

Ridle #3:

Josh: What does Jack Frost like best about school?
John: What?
Josh: Snow and tell.

Riddle #4:

Trey: What do you get when you cross a snowman and a dog?
Brandon: I give up.
Trey: Frostbite.

SHOULD CONSERVATIVES BE PLEASED WITH TRUMP'S CABINET SELECTIONS SO FAR? YES!

I value Andrew C. McCarthy's views on any subject on which he opines.  He writes with great erudition, a respect for facts, and a willingness to form independent, well-researched judgments.  His books on Islam in America constitute essential reading --Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (2008) and The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America. (2010).

 

Here he offers his judgment on Trump's cabinet picks so far:

 

. . . The incoming administration is still a work in progress, the president-elect is still tweeting the night away, and plenty could still go wrong. But those of us who worried aloud that there might not be much daylight between Trump and Clinton are thankfully being proved wrong.

 

If there had been a second Clinton administration, do you think we’d have gotten Pruitt [for EPA chief]? How about Jeff Sessions at Justice, or General James Mattis at Defense? Or Trump’s promised upgrade in immigration enforcement to be carried out by General John Kelly, the clear-eyed So-Com commander who has warned about radical Islam’s inroads in Central and South America (and a Gold Star dad whose son laid down his life in Afghanistan, fighting our jihadist enemies)? Do you figure Hillary would have tapped teachers-union scourge Betsy DeVos for the Education Department? Or a staunch Obamacare critic such as congressman (and doctor) Tom Price to run HHS?

QUICK TAKES

-- Good idea of the day - relocate a number of federal bureaucracies out of D.C. and to the Midwest

-- Free speech is not a Dutch value: Geert Wilders convicted of hate speech.   Charlie Cooke: "Cherish the First Amendment, Americans.  It's exceptional."

-- French government votes to criminalize prolife websites

-- A major reason for Trump's victory - the progressives went too far in denying religious liberty and created a backlash.

BIRTHDAY PERSPECTIVE

To all my friends having birthdays this month (none of whom are 91 years old), consider the following point-of-view.   On an old man's shirt was written a sentence:

             'I am not 91 years old ... I am sweet 16 with 75 years’ experience."

BILL GATES SUGGESTS BOOKS TO READ

Here are 5 books Bill Gates suggested for summer reading 2016.

And here are his holiday 2016 suggestions:

String Theory, by David Foster Wallace. This book has nothing to do with physics, but its title will make you look super smart if you’re reading it on a train or plane. String Theory is a collection of five of Wallace’s best essays on tennis, a sport I gave up in my Microsoft days and am once again pursuing with a passion. You don’t have to play or even watch tennis to love this book. The late author wielded a pen as skillfully as Roger Federer wields a tennis racket. Here, as in his other brilliant works, Wallace found mind-blowing ways of bending language like a metal spoon.

PETER SPRIGG - "A TRANSGENDER MILITARY IS A WEAKER, COMPROMISED MILITARY"

The Hill published Peter Sprigg's article (with which I agree) today: 
Donald Trump’s election as president, and the reelection of a Republican House and Senate, have created an opportunity for America “to rebuild our military” — a pledge that Trump made during his campaign.

While increasing the number of ships, submarines, and aircraft will cost billions of dollars, there is one change that would not cost a cent — ending President Obama’s use of the military to engage in liberal social engineering.

At President Obama’s urging, the law against homosexual conduct in the military (colloquially referred to as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”) was repealedby a lame duck Congress in 2010. However, the Obama administration’s latest effort to deploy the military in the sexual revolution was the June 30, 2016, announcement by Defense Secretary Ash Carter that “transgender Americans may serve openly” in the military.

Carter also announced that by July 1, 2017, “the military services will begin accessing transgender individuals.”

Congress did not address the issue this year in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House on Dec. 2 and should see Senate action soon. However, Congress and the new administration should reconsider this policy next year.

Previous policy had prohibited military service by those who identify as transgender.

An April 2010 Department of Defense (DoD) Instruction regarding “Medical Standards” listed a “change of sex” as a disqualifying physical condition. This regulation was justified by the concern “that transsexuals would require medical maintenance,” and that “complications which may stem from the hormone therapy” could cause service members “to lose excessive duty time and impair (the) ability to serve in all corners of the globe.”

Under the same DoD Instruction, one of the disqualifying “Learning, Psychiatric, and Behavioral” conditions was:

“Current or history of psychosexual conditions including but not limited to transsexualism … (and) transvestism.”

A recent review of the scientific literature by psychiatrists Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh notes that:

“Adults who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery continue to have a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes.”

In a reversal, the DoD has now issued an Instruction on “In-Service Transition for Transgender Service Members.” It requires the military to provide “all medically necessary care and treatment” to facilitate the “gender transition” of service members.

 

JERRAM BARRS ON "HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS"

I have not yet read the Harry Potter books.  Jerram Barrs' exultation (below) at the excellence of the last book in the Harry Potter series has wet my  interest. Barrs serves as Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis.  He met his wife, Vicki, at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and then served for 18 years at English L'Abri Fellowship before joining Covenant Seminary in 1989. 

Barrs has authored several books and articles.  Here is the opening paragraph of a paper titled, "Christianity True to the Way Things Are:" 

Christianity claims that the Bible explains the world in which we live, tells us of the origin and meaning of man's existence, gives us a basis for knowledge and for understanding the difference between good and evil, shows us how to live in this world, provides answers to the problems we face as humans, and offers us a hope for the future which lends a purpose to our life now. Before such claims can be examined, there is an important objection that must be considered. (More...)

DR. LANCE WALLNAU DELIVERS THE MOST ENGAGING SPEECH I CAN EVER REMEMBER HEARING

Prediction:  Lance Wallnau will become very well known in the years ahead.  Here he speaks to the Full Gospel Christian Business Men's Fellowship Convention in the fall of 2016.

From his website:

Dr. Lance Wallnau is a catalytic thought leader. An internationally recognized speaker and business consultant, he is one of the premiere speakers on the subject of cultural transformation and the seven mountains. He delivers his message of transformation with relevance, wit, and intensity.

NABEEL QURESHI AND AN AMAZING PROPHECY

Nabeel Qureshi, the well known Muslim convert to Christianity and author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, announced in late August 2016 he had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer.  He has been updating his progress regularly since then.  An earnest Christian and intellectual and a well-trained  New Testament scholar (Ph.D. Candidate in New Testament at Oxford University),  the world of charismatic Christianity had until recently been foreign to him. His latest report (below) reveals a stunning and unexpected "word of knowledge" that proved true and which has rocked his world.   I think you'll find it quite fascinating, as did I.  I love the evident joy flowing from his being.  (More text below the video)

Nabeel Qureshi tell his personal story in "An Intellectual and Spiritual Journey from Islam to Christianity."   I recommend watching Nabeel's talk at Georgia Tech University and a quick YouTube search will reveal a plethera of additional lectures and debates.  

In addition to Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, his written works include Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward and No God but One: Allah or Jesus?  

FOUR IN TEN BRITISH MUSLIMS WANT SOME FORM OF SHARIA LAW ENFORCED IN UK

Macer Hall reports:

Forty-three per cent of followers of the religion living in the country believed that parts of the Islamic legal system should replace British law while only 22 per cent opposed the idea.

Researchers also found "deeply worrying" levels of belief among British Muslims in conspiracy theories such as blaming the US government or “Jews" for the 9/11 terror attacks on America. . .

More than 3,000 Muslims living in Britain were quizzed for the research. 

When it came to 9/11, 31 per cent of Muslims quizzed in the survey thought the US Government was to blame while 7 per cent blamed "the Jews".

In contrast, only 4 per cent thought the terror group Al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York Twin Towers and other targets. . .

The research found a deeply worrying belief in conspiracy theories such as 9/11.  "Unlike the general population, nearly a third of British Muslims believe the American government was responsible for the attacks on the Twin Towers, while a surprisingly tiny number attributed blame to al-Qaeda."

Me:  What a horrifying report!  I wonder what the results of a survey of Muslims in America would reveal.