COMMENTS TEMPORARILY CLOSED - MIGRATING FROM HALOSCAN/ECHO TO DISQUS
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
Environmentalism vs. Wildlife
Old comments migrated to Disqus, currently working outtechnical issues
Blog quote of the day, by yours truly: "I hope
the ghost of that bird comes back to haunt Al Gore, like the albatross
in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.'"
Posted by Alan at
9:00 AM |
Friday, June 28, 2013
Political Hypocrisy Du Jour
Obama supports voter ID law - in Kenya.
This sort of voter identification comes in the form of a National ID - a policy historically opposed by libertarians, conservatives and the ACLU. All three came against such a proposal in 2004. The ACLU makes a strong case against the concept here. Some of the dangers dovetail with the recent NSA/IRS abuses.
Conservatives do want voter ID - just not in the form of a national ID card.But how to achieve it?
Posted by Alan at
9:00 AM |
This sort of voter identification comes in the form of a National ID - a policy historically opposed by libertarians, conservatives and the ACLU. All three came against such a proposal in 2004. The ACLU makes a strong case against the concept here. Some of the dangers dovetail with the recent NSA/IRS abuses.
Conservatives do want voter ID - just not in the form of a national ID card.But how to achieve it?
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Quote of The Day
My comment on the question asked of Marissa Powell, Miss Utah in this year's Miss USA pageant:
"She had the right answer to the wrong question. Unemployment in general suffers because there's too many damn monkey wrenches in the way of business creation and expansion."
Posted by Alan at
9:00 AM |
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Family Ties
My Father's Day post of 2007 is now an annual blog tradition. It has applications for the relationships revolving around both our earthly fathers and our heavenly Father.
--
Most Christians have no problem getting along with non-Christians. This may seem confusing to some; after all, Christianity teaches that those who are not reconciled with God will not receive salvation. Why care about people who aren't going to Heaven?
One could say that while a particular non-Christian is alive we really don't know that that person's eternal destination won't make a course change at a later date. That's a valid observation, but not the real reason.
Christianity makes a radical claim about the relationship between believers, nonbelievers and God: we're all family. God created the souls of all, thus he is the father of all, believers and nonbelievers alike. All of the children have gone astray - but some have reconciled with him while others have not.
When one is faced with the earthly parallel - being in good standing with Dad while some of the other siblings aren't - one is charged with three tasks: to build and maintain the relationship with Dad, to build and maintain the relationships with the wayward siblings without doing anything that interferes with the paternal relationship, and to act as a bridge between the wayward siblings and Dad. That third task is tricky; there will be occasions to discuss the rift outright, but most of the time it involves nothing more than being a positive influence to that sibling.
Christianity works the same way. Loving God doesn't mean giving up on non-Christian friends. We may have to reassess what kinds of "fun" we pursue with them, though. (Heck, sometimes we have to reassess the "fun" we pursue with fellow Christians.) Witnessing to nonbelievers isn't all Amway sales presentations. Most of the time it's just bringing good to someone's life.
The hardest part of doing good to others is when it requres criticism. We see them doing something destructive, and we want to help. We need to effectively communicate what the problem is, how it hurts that person, and how the future can be better when that problem is dealth with.
Most Christians grasp all this, even if they haven't thought it out as thoroughly as outlined here. They care about both believers and nonbelievers out of the same human motivations that drive us all, and because they believe in a God who values everyone.
Posted by Alan at
3:00 AM |
Most Christians have no problem getting along with non-Christians. This may seem confusing to some; after all, Christianity teaches that those who are not reconciled with God will not receive salvation. Why care about people who aren't going to Heaven?
One could say that while a particular non-Christian is alive we really don't know that that person's eternal destination won't make a course change at a later date. That's a valid observation, but not the real reason.
Christianity makes a radical claim about the relationship between believers, nonbelievers and God: we're all family. God created the souls of all, thus he is the father of all, believers and nonbelievers alike. All of the children have gone astray - but some have reconciled with him while others have not.
When one is faced with the earthly parallel - being in good standing with Dad while some of the other siblings aren't - one is charged with three tasks: to build and maintain the relationship with Dad, to build and maintain the relationships with the wayward siblings without doing anything that interferes with the paternal relationship, and to act as a bridge between the wayward siblings and Dad. That third task is tricky; there will be occasions to discuss the rift outright, but most of the time it involves nothing more than being a positive influence to that sibling.
Christianity works the same way. Loving God doesn't mean giving up on non-Christian friends. We may have to reassess what kinds of "fun" we pursue with them, though. (Heck, sometimes we have to reassess the "fun" we pursue with fellow Christians.) Witnessing to nonbelievers isn't all Amway sales presentations. Most of the time it's just bringing good to someone's life.
The hardest part of doing good to others is when it requres criticism. We see them doing something destructive, and we want to help. We need to effectively communicate what the problem is, how it hurts that person, and how the future can be better when that problem is dealth with.
Most Christians grasp all this, even if they haven't thought it out as thoroughly as outlined here. They care about both believers and nonbelievers out of the same human motivations that drive us all, and because they believe in a God who values everyone.
Labels: Blog traditions, Holidays, Religion
Thursday, June 13, 2013
The Cold War Is Definitely Over
KGB veteran Vladimir Putin cautions the US on intelligence agencies and adherence to the rule of law.
Posted by Alan at
9:00 AM |
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Jean Stapleton (1923-2013)
Rest in peace.
Posted by Alan at
9:00 AM |
Labels: Obituaries, Television
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