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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

National Day of Prayer?

In 1952, President Truman established one day a year to be a 'National Day of Prayer'.

In 1988, President Reagan designated the first Thursday in May of each year to be the 'National Day of Prayer'.

In June, 2007, Presidential candidate Obama declared 'the United States is no longer a Christian nation'.

In September, 2009, a 'National Day of Prayer' for the Muslim religion was held beside the White House.

In 2010, President Obama canceled the 'National Day of Prayer' under the guise of 'not wanting to offender anyone', never mind he offended a nation where Christians compose 80% of the population.

Is this part of Obama's fundamental change for America?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Someone Asked THE Question!

We should have seen it coming down the road. On ABC-TV's 'Network Special on Health Care' President Obama was asked directly and to the point and I quote, "Mr. President, will you and your family give up your current health care program and join the new 'universal health care program' that the rest of us will be on?"

After a silence of 15 seconds, an eternity as far as TV time goes, President Obama not only choose not to answer the question but in fact, completely ignored it as if it had never been asked. Why are we now surprised that the recently passed health care reform bill explicitly provides Congress a 100% exemption from participating in the health care reforms foisted on the rest of the nation. No less than 23 Senators when asked the very same question responded unanimously, "We'll think about it.".

This great new health care reform, the salvation of you and I, is not good enough for President Obama, his family or Congress. If you're surprised you've either been asleep or not paying attention.

America Will Soon Be Canada Lite

Ann Coulter never gave her scheduled speech at the University of Ottowa. Matter of fact ,she never showed up as the speaking engagement was canceled by the police. Before Ms. Coulter could set foot on the soil of our neighbor to the north she was accused of crimes not yet committed, threatened with possible criminal prosecution and denounced on the floor of Canadian Parliament.

The provost of the university, Francois A. Houle, informed Ms. Coulter by letter, which he saw fit to widely distribute to various other parties, that she should familiarize herself with Canadian law governing hate speech and the possible criminal ramifications. This being the same provost who welcomed Israel-hater Omar Barghouti (one of the original inventors of hate-speech), and Angela Davis, communist and former Black Panther, and who saw no need to advise them in advance of Canadian law governing hate speech.

Regardless of your opinion of Ms. Coulter or her political beliefs and philosophy, as Americans we should be afraid, very afraid. As this nation slides further and further into socialism, turning from the principles that founded the greatest nation on earth toward a mimicry of the European and Canadian socialist societies, how long can it be before we begin to experience similar treatment in our own back yard? In the name of Anti-Hate thousands surrounded the auditorium where Ms. Coulter’s speech was to be held, screaming, blocking entrances, throwing furniture and demanding the burning of her books. Similarly, in our own country, any disagreement with this administration is met with cries of hate, racism, greed, obstructionism, etc.

America is not a socialist society. America is not a liberal nation. The United States is a nation of the people, established by the people, for the people. The will of the people carries no weight with this administration and any claim otherwise cannot be honestly supported. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Have we reached the point to which Mr. Jefferson alluded? I pray not. How long before the majority awaken and realize a minority has led this nation to the brink?

It's Easier to Believe In God

A study of history and civilization will show that every culture has been convinced that there must be a higher power. Some entity or God, if you will, watching over them. I believe the desire to reach that power to be man’s attempt to reconnect with God. All cultures possess the concept of God in their consciousness, believing he is there. Who put the innate, universal desire to seek out this higher power throughout the ages? God did.

Looking to science, we find order and a pattern to the structure of the human body as well the universe we live in. The astronomer Sir Frederick Hoyle illustrated how the chances of man and the universe evolving through chance are a mathematically impossibility. His analogy; "What are the chances that a tornado might blow through a junkyard containing all the parts of a 747, accidentally assemble them into a plane, and leave it ready for take-off? The possibilities are so small as to be negligible even if a tornado were to blow through enough junkyards to fill the whole universe!" This universe exists in such a set a pattern that no man, when he looks carefully, can deny the hand of God unless he does so willfully.

From our earliest years we possess a sense of right and wrong. Our “conscience” keeps us in a moral and ethical balance unless over-ridden. Without this innate component to the human makeup, the world would break down into chaos. From where does this sense of right and wrong come. I submit, from God. No other religious leader has ever claimed to be the Son of God. Jesus did. He claimed to be God in the flesh. Neither Buddha, Mohammed, or Confucius were able to make this claim nor change the entire world as Jesus did. He backed up his claims through his life, death, and resurrection. The impact of Jesus exists to this day, not only in our spiritual lives, but also by the very idea that the structure and keeping of time has evolved around Jesus’ birth.

As human beings, with few exceptions, we continuously look for a greater meaning, a higher plane of existence. There must be something more. Our brief lives on earth can’t possibly be the sum total of our existence. We have a multitude of theologies, ideologies and beliefs, each seeking to explain the existence and continuation of man. I can easily explain mine. God.

Polar Bears Eat Whales!!!

I’m in a quandary. Thanks to Al Gore the world has learned that Polar Bears are endanger of disappearing from the face of the earth due to global warming. Time, Newsweek, People, National Geographic magazines all publishing heartrending stories covering the soon to be extinct Polar Bear. The polar ice is melting at an alarming rate. Soon, the last Polar Bear will be swimming for his life. All this doom and gloom in spite of the fact that there is a ‘consensus’ , you progressives should have no argument here because I used the magic word, among scientist that the Polar Bear population is on the rise and has been since the mid 1950’s. In 1954, the year of my birth, the Polar Bear population was an estimated 5,000. As of 2008, the population was roughly 30,000 and rising. Thank God Mr. Gore brought the plight of these bears to our attention, but, their plight has not caused the turmoil within me. It’s the whales.

Save the whales! Save the whales! When I was a senior in high school it was stated as fact that within 20 years the whale would be extinct. Nations set aside their differences, came together for the good of mankind, except Japan, held conferences and outlawed whaling for the most part. If you were a member of Greenpeace, or even contributed, you were a god. You cared about the planet and its creatures. You were a good person. Any product derived from the death of a whale was banned. T-shirts were printed and sold. That, in and of itself, assured the safety of the whales. Or so we thought.

While watching Animal Planet with my youngest son this weekend, my world came crashing down around me. The show was about Greenland, its beauty, resources, climate, indigenous animals, that sort of thing. Near the end of the program the narrator stated one off-hand fact that shook me to the core. Polar Bears eat whales. Let me state that again so it will sink in. POLAR BEARS EAT WHALES. Oh! My! God!

I find I have lost all faith in nature and no longer trust the ‘natural order’ of the world we live in. I haven’t been this torn since I tried to decide whether to become a Methodist or Presbyterian. Man has expended so much time, money and energy to ensure the safety of the Polar Bear and the whale and now I find, one group is feeding on the other. How can this be so? Doesn’t the animal world realize that we, as men, know what’s best for them? We are the top of the evolutionary chain, if you will. Don’t these stupid animals understand our compassion, our angst, our zeal to protect all wildlife and the environment? Everything we’ve done has been for their good and they’ve ungratefully turned their backs, seemingly refusing our benefitiousness.

Or, could it be they could care less what our goals are and can take care of themselves just as they have long before we came along.

The Mystery Behind Science and Religion

There is a mystery behind both science and religion; the fact that no matter what observations occur or what artifacts are found, religion and science can never concretely prove or disprove anything. This leaves science and religion so intertwined that no one can be religious and shun science or vice versa. Scientists naturally are dynamic thinkers and brilliant investigators so it’s no question that when studying gravity or the vastness of space they must ponder who it came to be. Therefore, though scientists might not be religious by nature, their work must overcome religious obstacles.

In Einstein’s short work, ‘On Scientific truth’, he says his possession of a brilliant mind and capability of higher thinking leave him with some sort of conviction to reduce superstition and find some tangible facts about any ‘higher spirits’. The ‘religious feeling’ Einstein developed in his pursuit of scientific knowledge is not the same as a believer in Church. His feeling is more the recognition he is finite in body and mind and will never be able to perfectly explain the anomalies of the universe. Einstein admits he could never define truth so he had to rely on some faith that his work was correct although it was not the same as a believer’s faith.

Richard Feynman, the American physicist, did not view religion in as much an intellectual was as did Einstein. Feynman stated that ‘science enables us to do all kinds of things’, conveying the message that science can be used for good or evil. His ‘religious feeling’ then would be one of moral consciousness toward keeping science in the hands of the ‘good guys’ so to speak but, Feynman agrees with Einstein in that he also is sometimes in awe of science in that even with the best tools and research we many times simply ‘don’t know’. Feynman was in awe of the beauty of scientific discovery and thinking but also respected it as ‘the key to heaven or hell’.

Sigmund Freud represents the most negative, resentful view toward religion in the scientific realm. More than likely this is due to the religious taboos of the time resulting in Freud being viewed as perverted rather than as a pioneer. Freud had no ‘religious feeling’ in his work other than his dedication to study every day or ‘religiously’. He viewed the belief in higher powers as a sign of an Oedipal complex where a patient tries to establish structure in social groups, makes wishes, and is almost delusional. In his book, ‘The Future of An Illusion’, Freud states that religion is comparable to a childhood neuroses.

I would point out that in these three vastly important and different views on religion in the world of science, no scientist believed in the God that created this world but, that does not mean that science did not bring them a ‘religious feeling’, whether morally, intellectually, or, in Freud’s case, a feeling of disgust. As science and religion are so inevitably intertwined, religion will always be a stumbling block or motivational source for scientists, present and future, as it was in the past.

Essay on Religion and Science, Christian Beck, 2010



Sources:
Webb, Igor: Ideas Across Time: Classic and Contemporary Readings
Kirzer, Laurie: The Concise Wadsworth Handbook
Mandell, Stephen
Freud, Sigmund: The Future of an Illusion
Freud, Sigmund: Analysis of the Mind

So, You Lost Your Girlfriend

So, You Lost Your Girlfriend

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010

America, the Great Evil

America, the Great Evil

Our Unpresidential President

President Obama is apparently amused by the Tea Party rallies taking place across the nation.  At a fundraiser in Miami he couldn't help himself from a) lying about his implementing tax cuts and b) reverting to his childish, unpresidential nature by casting aspersion on those audacious enough to protest against his 'vision' for the country.  Displaying his inate inability to grasp reality and his utter lack of understanding or contempt for over 60% of American citizens Obama is quoted as saying, offhandedly, "You would think they'd be saying thank you."  This from our 'savior' who's done nothing more than raise the deficit to record levels in less than a year, over 2 trillion dollars, weaken this nation's defenses, bowed to foreign leaders repeatedly and divide this country as no other elected leader in history.  I would ask, thank you for what exactly?