The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is
unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.”Friday, 31 May 2013
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 31
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for 1 shall never be in adversity. —Psalm 10:5, 6
Devotional:
There is a very great difference between a despiser of God, who, enjoying prosperity today, is so forgetful of the condition of man in this world, as through a distempered imagination to build his nest above the clouds, and who persuades himself that he shall always enjoy comfort and repose—there is a very great difference between him and the godly man, who, knowing that his life hangs only by a thread, and is encompassed by a thousand deaths, and who, ready to endure any kind of afflictions which shall be sent upon him, and living in the world as if he were sailing upon a tempestuous and dangerous sea, nevertheless bears patiently all his troubles and sorrows, and comforts himself in his affiictions, because he leans wholly upon the grace of God, and entirely confides in it.
Restitution Works Good Fruit
Restorative Justice
Restitution and forgiveness can work reconciliation and healing in a way that nothing else can. Such things, however, do not go down well in the Gentile world which is often riven with enmity, anger, bitterness, and a relentless drive for vengeance. But God has told us that He has reserved vengeance and retribution to Himself. He has not delegated that right to man. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12: 19)
When the judicial system and society generally get this right, when it conforms more closely to biblical truth, the outcomes can be uplifting and genuinely restorative. An example of such appeared lately in New Zealand newspapers.
A man was towing an overloaded trailer. It jackknifed and killed a motorcyclist. The online newspaper, Stuff reports:
Restitution and forgiveness can work reconciliation and healing in a way that nothing else can. Such things, however, do not go down well in the Gentile world which is often riven with enmity, anger, bitterness, and a relentless drive for vengeance. But God has told us that He has reserved vengeance and retribution to Himself. He has not delegated that right to man. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12: 19)
When the judicial system and society generally get this right, when it conforms more closely to biblical truth, the outcomes can be uplifting and genuinely restorative. An example of such appeared lately in New Zealand newspapers.
A man was towing an overloaded trailer. It jackknifed and killed a motorcyclist. The online newspaper, Stuff reports:
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Letter From Australia (About the Religion of Peace)
Koran Justifies Murder
May 27, 2013
Paul Sheehan
Sydney Morning Herald columnist
The murder of Drummer Lee Rigby by a pair of psychopaths invoking the name of Islam has galvanised Britain and gained global media attention, but what about the other 176 or so people who were murdered by Muslim psychopaths last week?
Drummer Rigby was white, English and a soldier, so the gory, bizarre and provocative manner of his death garnered headlines around the world, but hundreds of families, mostly Muslim, are also in mourning because of the actions of psychopaths using Islam to justify their bloodlust.
One of the men charged with the murder of Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, 28, was a thug long before he gravitated to Muslim fundamentalism. At high school he cultivated a gangsta persona, got into drugs, then armed robbery, and became known for putting a knife to people's throats and stealing their phones and money. . . .
It is instructive to consider the reaction to the murder from one of the clerics that Adebolajo followed, Omar Bakri Mohammed.
May 27, 2013
Paul Sheehan
Sydney Morning Herald columnist
The murder of Drummer Lee Rigby by a pair of psychopaths invoking the name of Islam has galvanised Britain and gained global media attention, but what about the other 176 or so people who were murdered by Muslim psychopaths last week?
Drummer Rigby was white, English and a soldier, so the gory, bizarre and provocative manner of his death garnered headlines around the world, but hundreds of families, mostly Muslim, are also in mourning because of the actions of psychopaths using Islam to justify their bloodlust.
One of the men charged with the murder of Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, 28, was a thug long before he gravitated to Muslim fundamentalism. At high school he cultivated a gangsta persona, got into drugs, then armed robbery, and became known for putting a knife to people's throats and stealing their phones and money. . . .
It is instructive to consider the reaction to the murder from one of the clerics that Adebolajo followed, Omar Bakri Mohammed.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 30
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? —John 14:22
Devotional:
His design was to exhort his disciples to the earnest study of godliness, that they might make greater progress in faith; and therefore he is satisfied with distinguishing them from the world by this mark, that they keep the doctrine of the gospel. Now this mark comes after the commencement of faith, for it is the effect of their calling.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Letter from the UK (Manifesting Integrity and Grace)
Showing Their Quality
According to the Guardian, the family of accused murderer, Michael Adebolajo--one of the ten involved in murdering an off-duty UK serviceman in the name of Allah--has released a letter to the public. It is replete with righteousness, wisdom, dignity, and rectitude--a salutary example amidst the pain and shame they must be enduring. No doubt they have been hounded by the media and others. We salute them. The text as reported reads:
According to the Guardian, the family of accused murderer, Michael Adebolajo--one of the ten involved in murdering an off-duty UK serviceman in the name of Allah--has released a letter to the public. It is replete with righteousness, wisdom, dignity, and rectitude--a salutary example amidst the pain and shame they must be enduring. No doubt they have been hounded by the media and others. We salute them. The text as reported reads:
Letter From America (About a National Ban on Abortion)
Doctor Who Did 1,200 Abortions Tells Congress to Ban Them
by Steven Ertelt Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
5/23/13 12:52 PM
Dr. Anthony Levatino is a pro-life physician from New Mexico but, before having a change of heart on the issue of abortion he was an OBGYN who also performed abortions. Levatino did as many as 1,200 abortions — some of them after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Then, after his daughter died in a tragic automobile accident, he re-evaluated his position on abortion and stopped doing abortions.
Today, Dr. Levatino told members of a Congressional committee that they should support a bill sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks that would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Levatino’s full testimony before the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice appears below:
by Steven Ertelt Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
5/23/13 12:52 PM
Dr. Anthony Levatino is a pro-life physician from New Mexico but, before having a change of heart on the issue of abortion he was an OBGYN who also performed abortions. Levatino did as many as 1,200 abortions — some of them after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Then, after his daughter died in a tragic automobile accident, he re-evaluated his position on abortion and stopped doing abortions.
Today, Dr. Levatino told members of a Congressional committee that they should support a bill sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks that would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Levatino’s full testimony before the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice appears below:
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 29
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Fire, and hail; snow and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word: —Psalm 148:8
Devotional:
He then ascends to hail, snows, and storms, which he says fulfill the word of God; for it is not by an effect of chance that the heavens are clouded, or that a single drop of rain falls from the clouds, or that the thunders rage, but one and all of these changes depend upon the secret will of God, whether he will show his goodness to the children of men in irrigating the earth, or punish their sins by tempest, hail, or other calamities.
The Uberman As Paper Tiger
The Christian Sense of Wrong and Right
The Highwaymen made famous a song written by Jarvis and Cook about two kids raised . . .
Nietzsche was perceptive and prescient upon insisting that there was a connection between God and ethics, between God and morals. Kill God, and anything goes. But, for Nietzsche there was a "trade off". Kill God, and we kill off morals. But we are left with man. Man can grow and develop to be an Uberman, a man with a big chest, a being who would take the place of God and determine his own morals, a morality that was worthy a superman. Nietzsche sought to kill God off in order to enable man to take His place and assert himself as a demi-god.
The West has lived with the notion of a dead God and big-chested men for over 150 years.
The Highwaymen made famous a song written by Jarvis and Cook about two kids raised . . .
In the crystal sense of wrong and rightbut the very concept of right and wrong--of morality--has come under serious attack in the past 150 years.
We were born and raised in black and white . . .
Nietzsche was perceptive and prescient upon insisting that there was a connection between God and ethics, between God and morals. Kill God, and anything goes. But, for Nietzsche there was a "trade off". Kill God, and we kill off morals. But we are left with man. Man can grow and develop to be an Uberman, a man with a big chest, a being who would take the place of God and determine his own morals, a morality that was worthy a superman. Nietzsche sought to kill God off in order to enable man to take His place and assert himself as a demi-god.
The West has lived with the notion of a dead God and big-chested men for over 150 years.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Actual Thugs
It is not too soon to begin referring to the Obama regime as scandal-ridden. But what does this mean?
I was amazed at Obama’s first election, amazed that more people didn’t see through him. His gauzy promises, his tip-tilted nose, his serene arrogance, were all a sight for the prescient gobsmacked to behold. And then I was amazed again at his re-election — but this time I was amazed that the electorate hadn’t seen him. Now it was not a matter of seeing through him, it was simply a matter of seeing him. He had a record now; he had actually done stuff. Lots of people could see it, and they kept saying to the others, “Can you see it now?” And the answer came back . . . no . . . no . . . no . . . call it a continent-wide Huxtable presidency wish fulfillment syndrome.
But the American people, bless their hearts, are now starting to see the big E on the eye chart.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 28
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. —Job 5:17, 18
Devotional:
It would be greatly to be desired that men would come to God without being spurred, and that they would cling to him without any warning being given them of their faults, and without any rebukes. This, I say, would be a thing greatly to be desired, and also that we were without faults, and were as the angels, desiring nothing but to yield obedience to our Maker and to honor and love him as our Father.
But inasmuch as we are so perverse as not to cease to offend God; and besides that play the hypocrites with him, seeking to hide our faults from him; and inasmuch as there is such great pride in us that we would have God to let us alone and to uphold us in our lusts, and finally wish to be his judges rather than that he should be ours; considering, I say, how we are so perverse, it is necessary for God to use some violent remedy to draw us to him. For if he should handle us altogether gently, what would become of it?
Grammar and Syntax
Pet Peeves
When it comes to written and verbal expression most of us have our pet peeves. Here are a couple of ours:
1. The misuse of the adjective "historic". The dictionary defines "historic" as follows: notable, renowned, famous, famed, memorable, epic. A vast swathe of people, however, use the word in common parlance to mean something which has merely happened in the past. In other words, they are confusing the adjective "historical" with "historic".
For example, we read in the newspapers of "historic sexual abuse allegations", or "historic treaty claims" and the reference is simply to sexual abuse which happened a long time ago or treaty claims about injustices alleged to have occurred in the nineteenth century, not about something momentous. "Historic" is too important an adjective to be thus abused and misused.
When it comes to written and verbal expression most of us have our pet peeves. Here are a couple of ours:
1. The misuse of the adjective "historic". The dictionary defines "historic" as follows: notable, renowned, famous, famed, memorable, epic. A vast swathe of people, however, use the word in common parlance to mean something which has merely happened in the past. In other words, they are confusing the adjective "historical" with "historic".
For example, we read in the newspapers of "historic sexual abuse allegations", or "historic treaty claims" and the reference is simply to sexual abuse which happened a long time ago or treaty claims about injustices alleged to have occurred in the nineteenth century, not about something momentous. "Historic" is too important an adjective to be thus abused and misused.
Monday, 27 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Holy Theodicy Versus the Inane Variety
When successive earthquakes struck Canterbury, devastating parts of the City of Christchurch, some clerics hastened to assure us that it was not God's doing. Similar chatterers have been busy in the aftermath of the deadly Oklahoma tornado.
Douglas Wilson takes them to task.
When successive earthquakes struck Canterbury, devastating parts of the City of Christchurch, some clerics hastened to assure us that it was not God's doing. Similar chatterers have been busy in the aftermath of the deadly Oklahoma tornado.
Douglas Wilson takes them to task.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 27
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. —Philippians 2:3, 4
Devotional:
Let this, then, be our rule for benignity and beneficence—that whatever God has conferred on us, which enables us to assist our neighbor, we are the stewards of it, and must one day render an account of our stewardship; and that the only right dispensation of what has been committed to us, is that which is regulated by the law of love.
Jihadi Challenge
Will the "Real Allah" Stand Forth?
The alleged cold-blooded murder of an off-duty UK serviceman by two Islamic jihadis has shocked the nation. The "note" left by one of those arrested provides their apologia for murder:
The alleged cold-blooded murder of an off-duty UK serviceman by two Islamic jihadis has shocked the nation. The "note" left by one of those arrested provides their apologia for murder:
The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers, and this British soldier is one, and it’s an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. By Allah, we swear by the Almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. So what if we want to live by the sharia in Muslim lands. Why does that mean you must follow us and chase us and call us extremists and kill us? Rather, you are extreme.On the other hand, the Muslim Council of Britain has condemned the attacks.
You are the ones. When you talk of bombs, do you think it hits one person? Or rather your bomb wipes out a whole family. This is the reality. By Allah, if I saw your mother today with a buggy, I would help her up the stairs. This is my nature. But we are forced by … many many [sections] throughout the Koran that we must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Not All Cake
Education - Education
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Levi Heiple has graciously interacted with my post on technology and education here. As he notes, we have a good bit of common ground -- and so what follows here is simply what I believe to be a necessary voice of caution. There are principles involved in education, and there are methods, and whenever you come across a dazzling new method, the temptation is to forget or slight the principle. I am not against the right use of a new method; I am jealous for the principle.
For me, the issue is not whether these new technologies are going to affect education -- of course they are. The issue is where and how we categorize it all -- which was my point about the enhanced library. This is the basic distinction I was making there. You either learn from someone you know personally, or from someone you do not know personally. If it is the latter, then it is enhanced library learning -- with the difference that I might be fooled into thinking otherwise with the new technologies.
Education - Education
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Levi Heiple has graciously interacted with my post on technology and education here. As he notes, we have a good bit of common ground -- and so what follows here is simply what I believe to be a necessary voice of caution. There are principles involved in education, and there are methods, and whenever you come across a dazzling new method, the temptation is to forget or slight the principle. I am not against the right use of a new method; I am jealous for the principle.
For me, the issue is not whether these new technologies are going to affect education -- of course they are. The issue is where and how we categorize it all -- which was my point about the enhanced library. This is the basic distinction I was making there. You either learn from someone you know personally, or from someone you do not know personally. If it is the latter, then it is enhanced library learning -- with the difference that I might be fooled into thinking otherwise with the new technologies.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 25
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. —II Samuel 12:23
Devotional:
It is God, therefore, who has sought back from you your son, whom he had committed to you to be educated, on the condition that he might always be his own. And, therefore, he took him away, because it was both of advantage to him to leave this world, and by this bereavement to humble you, or to make trial of your patience.
If you do not understand the advantage of this, without delay, first of all, setting aside every other object of consideration, ask of God that he may show you. Should it be his will to exercise you still farther, by concealing it from you, submit to that will, that you may become wiser than the weakness of your own understanding can ever attain to.
In what regards your son, if you bethink yourself how difficult it is, in this deplorable age, to maintain an upright course through life, you will judge him to be blessed, who, before encountering so many coming dangers which already were hovering over him, and to be encountered in his day and generation, was so early delivered from them all. He is like one who has set sail upon a stormy and tempestuous sea, and before he has been carried out into the deeps, gets in safety to the secure haven. —Correspondence
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Free Trade Risks
Negotiations With an "Exceptional" Nation
It's almost axiomatic that business owners want control of not just their customers, but of their competitors. If given a choice as to whether they would prefer restrictions upon their competitors or open market competition, most business owners would choose a restricted market for their competitors, whilst they would want the government to preserve their unlimited license to do as they wish. Only an honest few would vote for full open-market competition for all, including themselves, because philosophically they believe it is better for all in the long run.
Given this sociological reality amongst business owners it is appropriate that we should approach any "free trade" agreement with a great deal of caution. Now, we do not mean to imply for a nano-second that we stand with the Greens on this matter. That political party is pathologically opposed to free trade of any sort for reasons that make sense to it alone. But caution is required because free trade negotiations often become a cover for regulation, protection, and trade barriers.
It's almost axiomatic that business owners want control of not just their customers, but of their competitors. If given a choice as to whether they would prefer restrictions upon their competitors or open market competition, most business owners would choose a restricted market for their competitors, whilst they would want the government to preserve their unlimited license to do as they wish. Only an honest few would vote for full open-market competition for all, including themselves, because philosophically they believe it is better for all in the long run.
Given this sociological reality amongst business owners it is appropriate that we should approach any "free trade" agreement with a great deal of caution. Now, we do not mean to imply for a nano-second that we stand with the Greens on this matter. That political party is pathologically opposed to free trade of any sort for reasons that make sense to it alone. But caution is required because free trade negotiations often become a cover for regulation, protection, and trade barriers.
Friday, 24 May 2013
More Infanticide
The Tip of the Iceberg?
We have profiled the case of Dr Kermit Gosnell, the doctor convicted of murdering babies of the poor. The media pretty much ignored the story because it would have brought disrepute to the noble trade of abortion. A "woman's right to choose" is not to be impugned by a few murdered babies. In all struggles, collateral damage occurs. Nothing to see here. Move along.
But word did get out. The alternative media did a stirling job. Those who care about such things all know the name Kermit Gosnell now--what he did, and what he represents.
As expected, other cases are now coming to light. This, from Justin Taylor:
We have profiled the case of Dr Kermit Gosnell, the doctor convicted of murdering babies of the poor. The media pretty much ignored the story because it would have brought disrepute to the noble trade of abortion. A "woman's right to choose" is not to be impugned by a few murdered babies. In all struggles, collateral damage occurs. Nothing to see here. Move along.
But word did get out. The alternative media did a stirling job. Those who care about such things all know the name Kermit Gosnell now--what he did, and what he represents.
As expected, other cases are now coming to light. This, from Justin Taylor:
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 24
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in. due season we shall reap, if we faint not. —Galatians 6:9
Devotional:
But since no man in this terrestrial and corporeal prison has strength sufficient to press forward in his course with a due degree of alacrity, and the majority are oppressed with such great debility that they stagger and halt, and even creep on the ground; and so make very inconsiderable advances—let us everyone proceed according to our small ability, and prosecute the journey we have begun. No man will be so unhappy, but that he may every day make some progress, however small.
Therefore let us not cease to strive, that we may be incessantly advancing in the way of the Lord; nor let us despair on account of the smallness of our success; for however our success may not correspond to our wishes, yet our labor is not lost, when this day surpasses the preceding one; provided that, with sincere simplicity, we keep our end in view, and press forward to the goal, not practising self-adulation, nor indulging our own evil propensities, but perpetually exerting our endeavors after increasing degrees of improvement, till we shall have arrived at a perfection of goodness, which, indeed, we seek and pursue as long as we live, and shall then attain, when, divested of all corporeal infirmity, we shall be admitted by God into complete communion with him. Institutes, III, vi, v
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Grave Injustice
An Open Letter to The Commentariat About Christian Education
According to a report in Stuff, [21st May, 2013] the Post Primary Teachers' Association ["PPTA"] "outed" those organizations which had expressed interest in applying to become a charter school. Your name, Angela (as PPTA President) was cited in that report.
In particular you were quoted as opposing a situation where charter schools would be accepting state funding and would be teaching "creationism". (We note that "creationism" was undefined, either by you or the report, so we are left somewhat uncertain about precisely what approach to science you were opposing.) You, Angela were quoted as follows:
According to a report in Stuff, [21st May, 2013] the Post Primary Teachers' Association ["PPTA"] "outed" those organizations which had expressed interest in applying to become a charter school. Your name, Angela (as PPTA President) was cited in that report.
In particular you were quoted as opposing a situation where charter schools would be accepting state funding and would be teaching "creationism". (We note that "creationism" was undefined, either by you or the report, so we are left somewhat uncertain about precisely what approach to science you were opposing.) You, Angela were quoted as follows:
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Letter From America (About Accountants)
Once government is ensnared in every aspect of life, a bureaucracy grows increasingly capricious.
National Review OnlineCalvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 23
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. —Isaiah 49:15
Devotional:
"Shall a woman forget her child?" In order to correct that distrust, he adds to the remonstrance an exhortation full of the sweetest consolation. By an appropriate comparison he shows how strong is his anxiety about his people, comparing himself to a mother, whose love toward her offspring is so strong and ardent as to leave far behind a father's love.
Thus he did not satisfy himself with proposing the example of a father (which on other occasions he very frequently employs), but in order to express his very strong affection, he chose to liken himself to a mother, and calls them not merely "children" but the fruit of the womb, towards which there is usually a warmer affection.
Prophecies
Nothing Beside Remains
Violence between Muslims is exploding again across the Middle East--adding to the internecine destruction already taking place in Syria. Welcome to the Arab Spring. Hail the wonderful new beginning--at least as announced by useful idiots in the West, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom should have known better. Ah, well--at least it generated a couple of headlines and photo ops.
The most likely prognosis in Syria these days is that it is shaping up to devolve into three separate regions run by warlords who will (literally) snipe at each other in perpetuity. The regions will be, respectively, one run by Assad and his Alawite and Shi'ite supporters; the second will be a territory controlled by the Islamist rebels, supported by Sunni nations; the third will be a region controlled by Kurds.
The smartest thing the West has done in this conflict in Syria is not to get involved militarily (something for which we have Russia to thank).
Violence between Muslims is exploding again across the Middle East--adding to the internecine destruction already taking place in Syria. Welcome to the Arab Spring. Hail the wonderful new beginning--at least as announced by useful idiots in the West, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom should have known better. Ah, well--at least it generated a couple of headlines and photo ops.
The most likely prognosis in Syria these days is that it is shaping up to devolve into three separate regions run by warlords who will (literally) snipe at each other in perpetuity. The regions will be, respectively, one run by Assad and his Alawite and Shi'ite supporters; the second will be a territory controlled by the Islamist rebels, supported by Sunni nations; the third will be a region controlled by Kurds.
The smartest thing the West has done in this conflict in Syria is not to get involved militarily (something for which we have Russia to thank).
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Chasing the Laser Pointer Dot
Education - Education
Written by Douglas Wilson
Friday, 17 May 2013
If I may, I would like to urge all Christians interested in the future of education reform to continue their hot pursuit of said reform, but not to do so like a kitten pursuing a laser pointer dot on the rug.
We live in exciting pedagogical times, and the arrival of many more options in distance learning via the Internet really is exciting -- and promising. At the same time, people are still the same as they always were, and one of the things that people have always done with new technologies is draw false inferences. Sometimes the next big thing isn't, as those with vintage 8-track collections might be able to tell you.
First adapters can be visionaries or idiots, and it is sometimes hard to tell. I say all this as a preface to some cautionary notes about our newest boom town in education. And please keep in mind that I am saying all this, not as a critic, but as a participant. Okay, if you want, you could make that a participating critic, or a critical participant.
In any case, in the middle of this start-up educational reformation, there is a lot of nonsense being spouted about the history of education, and we are unlikely to get the future right if we insist on getting the past all wrong.
Education - Education
Written by Douglas Wilson
Friday, 17 May 2013
If I may, I would like to urge all Christians interested in the future of education reform to continue their hot pursuit of said reform, but not to do so like a kitten pursuing a laser pointer dot on the rug.
We live in exciting pedagogical times, and the arrival of many more options in distance learning via the Internet really is exciting -- and promising. At the same time, people are still the same as they always were, and one of the things that people have always done with new technologies is draw false inferences. Sometimes the next big thing isn't, as those with vintage 8-track collections might be able to tell you.
First adapters can be visionaries or idiots, and it is sometimes hard to tell. I say all this as a preface to some cautionary notes about our newest boom town in education. And please keep in mind that I am saying all this, not as a critic, but as a participant. Okay, if you want, you could make that a participating critic, or a critical participant.
In any case, in the middle of this start-up educational reformation, there is a lot of nonsense being spouted about the history of education, and we are unlikely to get the future right if we insist on getting the past all wrong.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 22
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. —II Timothy 2:24 .
Devotional:
The servant of God must not strive, but be gentle and patient and fit to teach. Here we will conclude that they who give themselves to vain questions show plainly that they have no desire nor zeal to serve God. For though a man be never so wise, yet notwithstanding we must count him as a desperate devil if we see he does not have this affection in him, to serve God, if he have not this end and mark before him, to honor God.
And surely it is not without cause that it was said in an old proverb that learning in a man that does not rule himself aright is like a sword in a madman's hand.
This is Saint Paul's meaning, to point out all them that are given to contention, to the end that we may detest them, and abhor them, as men that seek not in any way to serve God. And why? For these are things that can no more agree together than fire and water, to serve God and to love contentions and disputations, which breed nothing but strife and debate. —Sermons
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Using the Bible as Pretext
The Bible Belongs to Christ
A recent piece in the National Review Online by Dennis Prager has taken the National Church of Scotland to task for anti-semitism. That church has come out with a new report on Israel which Prager alleges represents "a combination of medieval anti-Judaism and leftist anti-Zionism".
We have not read the report (which has now been taken off the church's website for re-editing) and we acknowledge that the Church of Scotland long ceased ceased to be a reliable guide on things taught in the Bible, having been racked with Enlightenment rationalism and humanist, epistemic autonomy. Nevertheless, it is Prager's rejection and rejoinder to the Church of Scotland's report which is worth reflecting upon.
There are at least three assertions made in the report which Prager reacts to:
A recent piece in the National Review Online by Dennis Prager has taken the National Church of Scotland to task for anti-semitism. That church has come out with a new report on Israel which Prager alleges represents "a combination of medieval anti-Judaism and leftist anti-Zionism".
We have not read the report (which has now been taken off the church's website for re-editing) and we acknowledge that the Church of Scotland long ceased ceased to be a reliable guide on things taught in the Bible, having been racked with Enlightenment rationalism and humanist, epistemic autonomy. Nevertheless, it is Prager's rejection and rejoinder to the Church of Scotland's report which is worth reflecting upon.
There are at least three assertions made in the report which Prager reacts to:
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Gedunk Government
Culture and Politics - Obama Nation Building
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
So then, it appears as though the president is making a hash of it. The Unaffordable Care Act supplies the corned beef, the hard leftism of his administration would be the little diced potatos that we see everywhere, and this latest scandal triad is the hot grease that makes the whole thing sizzle and pop like that.
Now in this circumstance, every chance he gets, the president will blame Bush for his woes, and will do so in a way that is more risible every day. So let's not do it that way. Let's blame the so-called conservative establishment in the way they need to be blamed for all these federal fiascos. They are to be faulted because they think like short-sighted partisans, and not like the Founders, who thought with an expansive vision -- a vision that included both the greatness of the cultural mandate and a deep suspicion of man's sinfulness. Our modern conservative leaders are like the man driving a local delivery route with his Fritos truck. The Founders were coast-to-coast long haul truckers.
The legal theorist John Rawls once said that the ideal society ought to be crafted with the designer of it not knowing where he was going to be born into it. This is, of course, simply an interesting variation of the Golden Rule.
Culture and Politics - Obama Nation Building
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
So then, it appears as though the president is making a hash of it. The Unaffordable Care Act supplies the corned beef, the hard leftism of his administration would be the little diced potatos that we see everywhere, and this latest scandal triad is the hot grease that makes the whole thing sizzle and pop like that.
Now in this circumstance, every chance he gets, the president will blame Bush for his woes, and will do so in a way that is more risible every day. So let's not do it that way. Let's blame the so-called conservative establishment in the way they need to be blamed for all these federal fiascos. They are to be faulted because they think like short-sighted partisans, and not like the Founders, who thought with an expansive vision -- a vision that included both the greatness of the cultural mandate and a deep suspicion of man's sinfulness. Our modern conservative leaders are like the man driving a local delivery route with his Fritos truck. The Founders were coast-to-coast long haul truckers.
The legal theorist John Rawls once said that the ideal society ought to be crafted with the designer of it not knowing where he was going to be born into it. This is, of course, simply an interesting variation of the Golden Rule.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 21
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. —Psalm 130:8
Devotional:
Let us learn from this passage in what way we are to expect deliverance from all calamities, or the order which it becomes us to observe seeking it. Remission of sins always goes first, without which nothing will come to a favorable issue.
Those who only desire to shake off the punishment are like silly invalids, who are careless about the disease itself with which they are afflicted, provided the symptoms which occasion them trouble for a time are removed. In order, then, that God may deliver us from our miseries, we must chiefly endeavor to be brought to a state of favor with him by obtaining the rernission of our sins. If this is not obtained, it will avail us little to have the temporal punishment remitted; for that often happens even to the reprobates themselves.
This is true and substantial deliverance, when God, by blotting out our sins, shows himself merciful towards us. Whence also we gather that having once obtained forgiveness, we have no reason to be afraid of our being excluded from free access to, and from enjoying the ready exercise of, the loving-kindness and mercy of God; for to redeem from iniquity is equivalent to moderating punishments or chastisements. —Commentaries
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Monday, 20 May 2013
Slave Traders' Lobby
Gosnell, Abortion, and Slave Trading
One of the finest pieces yet to emerge about convicted murderer, Dr Gosnell's House of Abortion Horrors has been published by The Witherspoon Institute. It has been written by Matthew J. Franck who is Director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute.
The thing about the Gosnell case is this: you can get outraged over the death of innocent women who died at the hands of Gosnell's ministrations due to the squalor, filth, and brutality of his surgical interventions. Plenty of people have. Or, you could get angry over the purposive and deliberate actions of Gosnell and his staff to murder babies who had emerged from wombs alive (Gosnell "specialised" in late-term abortions). People have. But if you then go on to assert--as millions do--there are no problems whatsoever provided those same babies died whilst still in the womb due to Gosnell's actions, then your conscience has become as dead as one of Gosnell's victims.
One of the finest pieces yet to emerge about convicted murderer, Dr Gosnell's House of Abortion Horrors has been published by The Witherspoon Institute. It has been written by Matthew J. Franck who is Director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute.
The thing about the Gosnell case is this: you can get outraged over the death of innocent women who died at the hands of Gosnell's ministrations due to the squalor, filth, and brutality of his surgical interventions. Plenty of people have. Or, you could get angry over the purposive and deliberate actions of Gosnell and his staff to murder babies who had emerged from wombs alive (Gosnell "specialised" in late-term abortions). People have. But if you then go on to assert--as millions do--there are no problems whatsoever provided those same babies died whilst still in the womb due to Gosnell's actions, then your conscience has become as dead as one of Gosnell's victims.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 20
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? —Acts 2:37
Devotional:
This is the beginning of repentance, this is the entrance unto godliness, to be sorry for our sins, and to be wounded with the feeling of our miseries. For so long as men are careless, they cannot take such heed to doctrine as they ought. And for this cause the word of God is compared to a sword, because it fortifies the flesh, that we may be offered to God for a sacrifice.
But there must be added to this pricking in heart readiness to obey. Cain and Judas were pricked in heart, but despair kept them back from submitting themselves unto God. For the mind oppressed with horror can do nothing else but free from God. Therefore we must take a good heart to us, and lift up our mind with this hope of salvation, that we may be ready to addict and give ourselves unto God, and to follow whatever he shall command. —Commentaries
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Oliver Twist's Worst Nightmare
Budgets and Beggars
In New Zealand, national budgets in the parliamentary Westminster tradition are presented annually to the parliament and the people. We feel compelled to make this rather basic point because many of the US readers may be confused, since in the United States the Federal Government can stagger on for decades it would seem without a budget stipulating spending and revenue.
Budget times in New Zealand have historically been occasionally dramatic. When the government ran the economy more tightly than an Eastern European sphincter most folk in the country furtively huddled around the radio on Budget night waiting to see if some dramatic announcement would be forthcoming. Sometimes instantly, whilst we were all supposed to be sleeping, the currency would be devalued twenty percent by legislative fiat. Or petrol tax went up forty percent. Fortunes were made or lost overnight.
Thankfully Eastern European economics and tyranny were tossed out (at least for a time) early in the nineteen eighties, when the IMF was on the verge of declaring New Zealand bankrupt.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
The Original Biblical Text
Of Tape Measures and Biblical Originals
A helpful piece from Justin Taylor:
The Original Text of the Bible
A helpful piece from Justin Taylor:
The Original Text of the Bible
Even Though We Lack the Original Manuscripts
Justin Taylor 1:45 pm CT
Michael Kruger has a helpful post at TGC this morning making a helpful distinction about the reliability of the original text of Scripture:
But the original text is not a physical object. The autographs contain the original text, but the original text can exist without them. A text can be preserved in other ways. One such way is that the original text can be preserved in a multiplicity of manuscripts. In other words, even though a single surviving manuscript might not contain (all of) the original text, the original text could be accessible to us across a wide range of manuscripts.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 18
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, —Ephesians 1:13
Devotional:
Paul asserts that the Ephesians were "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." This shows that there is an eternal teacher, by whose agency the promise of our salvation, which otherwise would only strike the air, penetrates into our minds. Similar also is his remark, that the Thessalonians were "chosen by God through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of truth." By this connection he briefly suggests that faith itself proceeds only from the Spirit.
John expresses this in plainer terms: "We know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." Again, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." Therefore Christ promised to send to his disciples "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive," that they might be capable of attaining heavenly wisdom.
You Shall Not Pass!
We Will Never Surrender
We have posted recently on "slippery slope" arguments (here, and here). One of the points made by Jonah Goldberg about slippery slope arguments is that they discount the human factor, where people rise up to say "enough" and the slippery slope becomes less slippery.
Here is an example of what he means. The slippery slope in this case is abortion and its increasing availability by chemical means. Take the pill, kill your baby. In a terrible case in the United States a "boyfriend" tricked his pregnant "girlfriend" into taking an abortifacient drug, causing the death of the infant. The slippery slope argument would reasonably predict that as a result of such drugs an inevitable situation is arising where abortion will be as widespread and common as drinking a glass of water.
Turtle Bay covers the case:
We have posted recently on "slippery slope" arguments (here, and here). One of the points made by Jonah Goldberg about slippery slope arguments is that they discount the human factor, where people rise up to say "enough" and the slippery slope becomes less slippery.
Here is an example of what he means. The slippery slope in this case is abortion and its increasing availability by chemical means. Take the pill, kill your baby. In a terrible case in the United States a "boyfriend" tricked his pregnant "girlfriend" into taking an abortifacient drug, causing the death of the infant. The slippery slope argument would reasonably predict that as a result of such drugs an inevitable situation is arising where abortion will be as widespread and common as drinking a glass of water.
Turtle Bay covers the case:
Friday, 17 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Principles of War in Culture War
Culture and Politics - Politics
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Principles that govern every form of conflict are constant in all possible scenarioes. The need for mobility, surprise, etc. will never fade away. But weapons and tactics are not constant -- rocks, bows, guns, triremes, torpedoes, etc. vary from era to era, and war to war. Electronic countermeasures played no role whatever in the battle of Lepanto.
Those who are merely competent in the use of a particular weapon are followers. They may be very competent indeed, but that is not the issue. They are also essential to success of any campaign, but if they are promoted to the level where principled strategic thinking is necessary, they will also be essential to the failure of that campaign.
Those who comprehend the principles involved are effective leaders. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the fundamental characteristics of effective leadership.
Culture and Politics - Politics
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Principles that govern every form of conflict are constant in all possible scenarioes. The need for mobility, surprise, etc. will never fade away. But weapons and tactics are not constant -- rocks, bows, guns, triremes, torpedoes, etc. vary from era to era, and war to war. Electronic countermeasures played no role whatever in the battle of Lepanto.
Those who are merely competent in the use of a particular weapon are followers. They may be very competent indeed, but that is not the issue. They are also essential to success of any campaign, but if they are promoted to the level where principled strategic thinking is necessary, they will also be essential to the failure of that campaign.
Those who comprehend the principles involved are effective leaders. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the fundamental characteristics of effective leadership.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 17
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, 0 priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? —Malachi I:6
Devotional:
It was God's complaint that he was deprived of his own right and in a double sense, for the Jews did not reverence him as their Father, nor fear him as their Lord. He might indeed have called himself Lord and Father by the right of creation; but he preferred to appeal to their adoption; for it was a remarkable favor when the Lord chose some out of all the human race; and we cannot say that the cause of this was to be found in men. Whom then he designs to choose, he binds to himself by a holier bond. But if they disappoint him, their falseness is wholly inexcusable.
Confronting Islam . . . . or Not, Part II
Playing Pop Music to Break Down the Walls
In Part I of "Confronting Islam . . . . or Not" we had recourse to a series of essays [Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies From Communism to Islamism, edited by Katharine Cornell Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo (McLean, Va: The Westminster Institute/Isaac Publishing, 2012.)] The point was made that the Cold War struggle against the Soviet Union gained traction when Western leaders began to "tell the truth" about communist dictatorships. Prior to that time the received wisdom was that it was dangerous to tell the truth because it risked provoking the Soviet Union into belligerent reactions.
The general theme of the essays in the above collection is that one must fight and win the ideological war. It is equally, if not more important, than winning the military or intelligence or economic conflicts. Yet it is the war front which the US in particular and the West in general are remarkably unwilling to acknowledge. Today the West has retreated to a quietism and pacificism when it comes to Islam worse than its early conduct of the Cold War.
The lengths to which the US government has gone to cover over the influence of Islamic doctrine, beliefs, traditions and practices upon Islamic terrorism is literally incredible.
In Part I of "Confronting Islam . . . . or Not" we had recourse to a series of essays [Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies From Communism to Islamism, edited by Katharine Cornell Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo (McLean, Va: The Westminster Institute/Isaac Publishing, 2012.)] The point was made that the Cold War struggle against the Soviet Union gained traction when Western leaders began to "tell the truth" about communist dictatorships. Prior to that time the received wisdom was that it was dangerous to tell the truth because it risked provoking the Soviet Union into belligerent reactions.
The general theme of the essays in the above collection is that one must fight and win the ideological war. It is equally, if not more important, than winning the military or intelligence or economic conflicts. Yet it is the war front which the US in particular and the West in general are remarkably unwilling to acknowledge. Today the West has retreated to a quietism and pacificism when it comes to Islam worse than its early conduct of the Cold War.
The lengths to which the US government has gone to cover over the influence of Islamic doctrine, beliefs, traditions and practices upon Islamic terrorism is literally incredible.
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
When He Walks Contrary to Us
Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, 11 May 2013 11:51
Schizophrenia is no less schizophrenia if one of the voices happens to be talking sense. Hard schizophrenia is no less difficult if murderous insanity is linked up tight with weird, pathetic, and arbitrary scruples. In fact, if such an arbitary pattern is applied long enough, one may detect a method in the madness.
I am talking about our erratic public policy when it comes to protecting human life. Gosnell is a disgrace because he killed babies in this spot instead of the officially-approved that spot. As one observer noted, he is apparently being charged with murder because he enjoyed himself and because his place was dirty. If he had only kept his slaughter hygienic and had been snipping spinal columns for the sake of the Constitution, instead of doing it for his own jollies, and had done his work before that magic and metaphysical week after which responsible medical professionals cease dismembering their clients' babies, he could have served as a witness for his own prosecution.
In the meantime, the kidnapper of three women in Cleveland is facing murder charges for brutally causing a miscarriage, and for doing so without a medical degree.
Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, 11 May 2013 11:51
Schizophrenia is no less schizophrenia if one of the voices happens to be talking sense. Hard schizophrenia is no less difficult if murderous insanity is linked up tight with weird, pathetic, and arbitrary scruples. In fact, if such an arbitary pattern is applied long enough, one may detect a method in the madness.
I am talking about our erratic public policy when it comes to protecting human life. Gosnell is a disgrace because he killed babies in this spot instead of the officially-approved that spot. As one observer noted, he is apparently being charged with murder because he enjoyed himself and because his place was dirty. If he had only kept his slaughter hygienic and had been snipping spinal columns for the sake of the Constitution, instead of doing it for his own jollies, and had done his work before that magic and metaphysical week after which responsible medical professionals cease dismembering their clients' babies, he could have served as a witness for his own prosecution.
In the meantime, the kidnapper of three women in Cleveland is facing murder charges for brutally causing a miscarriage, and for doing so without a medical degree.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 16
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, 0 Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; —Psalm 94:12
Devotional:
You know, Madame, how we should turn to our profit both the chastisements we receive from the hand of our merciful Father and the succor which he sends in time of need.
It is certain that all diseases ought not only to humble us in setting before our eyes our frailty, but also cause us to look into ourselves, that having recognized our own poverty we may place all our trust in his mercy. They should, moreover, serve us for medicine to purge us from worldly affections, and retrench what is superfluous in us, and since they are to us the messengers of death, we ought to learn to have one foot raised to take our departure when it shall please God.
Nevertheless, he lets us taste of his bounty as often as he delivers us from them, just as it has been a most salutary thing for you, Madame, to have known the danger in which you were and from which he has delivered you. It remains for you to conclude with Saint Paul that when we have been delivered from many deaths by his hand, he will also withdraw us from them in time to come.
And thus take courage, so much the more to give yourself up to his service, as you do well to consider that it is to that end he has reserved you. —Letter to Madame De Coligny
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Confronting Islam, or Not . . . Part I
The Evil Empire
We have recently been reading a series of essays, entitled Fighting the Ideological War. The overarching focus is upon the West's need to fight Islam ideologically. Several of the essays argue that the West has failed miserably to this point, firstly to see Islam as an ideology, and, secondly, to combat it at the ideological level. One essay draws parallels with the Cold War. It reads like a comic opera. [John H. Moore, "Ideology and Central Planning: Lessons from the Cold War", Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies From Communism to Islamism, edited by Katharine Cornell Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo (McLean, Va: The Westminster Institute/Isaac Publishing, 2012.]
Moore points out that in the 1950's and 1960's the overwhelming consensus amongst credentialed academics was that the Soviet Union had a superior economic model and philosophy to the West. Socialism was succeeding in making the Soviet Union economically wealthy, whilst the West was being overtaken in almost every sphere. The Soviets were inevitably going to dominate the world. The Commentariat believed that this would be the outcome because socialism was an inherently better system than capitalism. In other words, as the Cold War progressed the establishment in the US, both in and out of government, in the media, and in academia had already capitulated.
It all turned out to be untrue.
We have recently been reading a series of essays, entitled Fighting the Ideological War. The overarching focus is upon the West's need to fight Islam ideologically. Several of the essays argue that the West has failed miserably to this point, firstly to see Islam as an ideology, and, secondly, to combat it at the ideological level. One essay draws parallels with the Cold War. It reads like a comic opera. [John H. Moore, "Ideology and Central Planning: Lessons from the Cold War", Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies From Communism to Islamism, edited by Katharine Cornell Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo (McLean, Va: The Westminster Institute/Isaac Publishing, 2012.]
Moore points out that in the 1950's and 1960's the overwhelming consensus amongst credentialed academics was that the Soviet Union had a superior economic model and philosophy to the West. Socialism was succeeding in making the Soviet Union economically wealthy, whilst the West was being overtaken in almost every sphere. The Soviets were inevitably going to dominate the world. The Commentariat believed that this would be the outcome because socialism was an inherently better system than capitalism. In other words, as the Cold War progressed the establishment in the US, both in and out of government, in the media, and in academia had already capitulated.
It all turned out to be untrue.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
UN as Prostitute
Nordics Launder LGBT Advocacy through UN Human Rights Office
Posted on | May 9, 2013 by Wendy WrightTurtle Bay
The UN human rights office is desperate for funding. Navi Pillay, the head of the office, is in New York this week to report on her agency’s work to UN diplomats. Overwhelming her presentation is an unabashed plea for money. The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights has more work assigned to it from the Human Rights Council than it can afford.
Which made me wonder: Why then is the UN Human Rights Office expending so much money and effort on promoting sexual orientation and gender identity, something that isn’t a recognized human right?
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 15
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. —John 12:13
Devotional:
We ought to derive from this a profitable admonition; for if we are members of the Church, the Lord calls upon us to cherish the same desire which he wished believers to cherish under the Law; that is, that we should wish with our whole heart that the kingdom of Christ should flourish and prosper; and not only so, but that we should demonstrate this by our prayers.
In order to give us greater courage in prayer, we ought to observe that he prescribes to us these words. Woe then to our slothfulness, if we extinguish by our coldness or quench by indifference that ardor which God excites. Yet let us know that the prayers which we offer by the direction and authority of God will not be in vain. Provided that we be not indolent or grow weary in praying, he will be a faithful guardian of his kingdom, to defend it by his invincible power and protection.
True, indeed, though we remain drowsy and inactive, the majesty of his kingdom will be firm and sure; but when—as is frequently the case—it is less prosperous than it ought to be at the present day, fearfully scattered and wasted, this unquestionably arises through our fault. And when but a small restoration, or almost none, is to be seen, or when at least it advances slowly, let us ascribe it to our indifference. We daily ask from God that his kingdom may come, but scarcely one man in a hundred earnestly desires it. Justly, therefore, we are deprived of the blessing of God, which we are weary of asking. —Commentaries
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 15
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: —Psalm 49:1
Devotional:
As God's providence of the world is not presently apparent, we must exercise patience, and rise superior to the suggestions of carnal sense in anticipation of the favorable issue. That it is our duty to maintain a resolute struggle with our afflictions, however severe these may be, and that it were foolish to place happiness in the enjoyment of such fleeting possessions as the riches, honors, or pleasures of this world, may be precepts which even the heathen philosophers have enforced, but they have uniformly failed in setting before us the true source of consolation.
Of Camels and Frogs
No Lost Causes
Slippery slope arguments are used in reckless abandon by both left and right. Apparently, the term "slippery slope" was coined by someone in the early nineteenth century. As some wit observed, talking about "slippery slopes" was dangerous. Once someone talks about a slippery slope, soon others will, and before you know it we'all be on slippery slopes. [Jonah Goldberg, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas (New York: Sentinel/Penguin, 2012), p.115.]
Goldberg goes on to warn us of the very real dangers of slippery slopes by reminding us of how many figures of speech in our language are applied to this particular grave danger, such as: the camel got its nose under the tent; the ship sailed; "the horse got out of the barn, and drove the wedge that toppled the first domino, which opened the floodgates, and now all we have left is boiled frog." Heh.
One problem with such arguments is that the similes leave out one small matter: human beings are not camels, ships, horses, or thin-edged wedges.
Slippery slope arguments are used in reckless abandon by both left and right. Apparently, the term "slippery slope" was coined by someone in the early nineteenth century. As some wit observed, talking about "slippery slopes" was dangerous. Once someone talks about a slippery slope, soon others will, and before you know it we'all be on slippery slopes. [Jonah Goldberg, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas (New York: Sentinel/Penguin, 2012), p.115.]
Goldberg goes on to warn us of the very real dangers of slippery slopes by reminding us of how many figures of speech in our language are applied to this particular grave danger, such as: the camel got its nose under the tent; the ship sailed; "the horse got out of the barn, and drove the wedge that toppled the first domino, which opened the floodgates, and now all we have left is boiled frog." Heh.
One problem with such arguments is that the similes leave out one small matter: human beings are not camels, ships, horses, or thin-edged wedges.
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Letter From America (About Allegations Now Proven True)
Seeing No Evil
It was Daniel Webster who declared, the power to tax is the power to destroy. Instinctively we know this to be an axiomatic adage. Taxation is the compulsory expropriation of income and property of citizens by government. Not all taxation is immoral or bad. Government is a God-ordained institution, serving a vital, albeit particular purpose. That purpose can only continue if government is funded. Expropriation of private property to fund legitimate government activity is lawful, holy, just, and good.
But implicit in the power to tax is the power to destroy citizens. In particular, governments can declare fiscal war upon those citizens, or races, or groups, or classes it dislikes--not for the purposes of revenue, but for the purposes of destruction and control. The road to tyranny is readily paved by targeted taxation--and the road is short.
It now appears that the Obama administration has embarked down that road. Some would call it traditional Chicago politics applied at the Federal Government level. The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has admitted targeting Obama's political opponents during the last election in an attempt to suppress their opposition to the President and his administration.
It was Daniel Webster who declared, the power to tax is the power to destroy. Instinctively we know this to be an axiomatic adage. Taxation is the compulsory expropriation of income and property of citizens by government. Not all taxation is immoral or bad. Government is a God-ordained institution, serving a vital, albeit particular purpose. That purpose can only continue if government is funded. Expropriation of private property to fund legitimate government activity is lawful, holy, just, and good.
But implicit in the power to tax is the power to destroy citizens. In particular, governments can declare fiscal war upon those citizens, or races, or groups, or classes it dislikes--not for the purposes of revenue, but for the purposes of destruction and control. The road to tyranny is readily paved by targeted taxation--and the road is short.
It now appears that the Obama administration has embarked down that road. Some would call it traditional Chicago politics applied at the Federal Government level. The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has admitted targeting Obama's political opponents during the last election in an attempt to suppress their opposition to the President and his administration.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 14
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. —Psalm 110:1
Devotional:
So, in another place, when, speaking in the name of God, he says, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool," he apprises us that though numerous and powerful enemies conspire to assault the Church, yet they are not strong enough to prevail against that immutable decree of God, by which he has constituted his Son an eternal King. Whence it follows that it is impossible for the devil, with all the assistance of the world, ever to destroy the Church, which is founded on the eternal throne of Christ.
Now with respect to its particular use to each individual, this same eternity ought to encourage our hope of a blessed immortality; for we see that whatever is terrestrial and worldly is temporary and perishable.
Therefore, to raise our hope towards heaven, Christ declares that his "kingdom is not of this world." In a word, whenever we hear that the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, excited by this declaration, we ought to penetrate to the hope of a better life, and as we are now protected by the power of Christ, let us expect the full benefit of his grace in the world to come. —Institutes, II, xv, iii
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Kinsey's Dark Secret
A Man For Our Times
The following paragraph introduces Wikipedia's article on Alfred Kinsey:
The following paragraph introduces Wikipedia's article on Alfred Kinsey:
Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) was an American biologist, professor of entomology and zoology, and sexologist who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. He is best known for writing "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" (1948) and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female" (1953), also known as the Kinsey Reports, as well as the Kinsey scale. Kinsey's research on human sexuality, foundational to the field of sexology, provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s. His work has profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States, as well as internationally.So far, so good. Kinsey has been lionised, celebrated and glorified. But it appears he was an acutely depraved man.
Monday, 13 May 2013
Letter From the UK (About Education)
Plain Speaking
Education Secretary, Michael Gove has been trying to shake up the education system in the UK. Naturally there has been plenty of pushback. However, we cannot help but applaud his no-nonsense confrontation with the "experts" over infantile approaches now being recommended for the teaching of history. It is salutary that the one ultimately responsible for education in the UK is not afraid to denounce the emperor as having no clothes. This from The Telegraph:
Education Secretary, Michael Gove has been trying to shake up the education system in the UK. Naturally there has been plenty of pushback. However, we cannot help but applaud his no-nonsense confrontation with the "experts" over infantile approaches now being recommended for the teaching of history. It is salutary that the one ultimately responsible for education in the UK is not afraid to denounce the emperor as having no clothes. This from The Telegraph:
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 13
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. —Zechariah 4:6
Devotional:
When we now see things in a despairing condition, let this vision come to our minds—that God is sufficiently able by his own power to help us, when there is no aid from any other; for his Spirit will be to us for lamps, for pourers, and for olive trees, so that experience will at length show that we have been preserved in a wonderful manner by his hand alone.
Thus we remember that all our confidence ought to be placed on the favor of God alone; for were it to depend on human aids, there would be nothing certain or sure.
Man As Animal
Unleashing Sin
One of the abiding lusts of Western pride is the lure of a perfect society brought into being through human ingenuity, planning, and enlightened application. No matter what problem we face, throw enough resources at it, study it to death, put a management plan in place, and hey presto, the problem will be solved.
Such approaches may work well when we are dealing with problems arising out of the non-human natural order. They fail miserably when we are dealing with human beings. Why? Precisely because man is not a cipher. He is not the impersonal product of impersonal natural forces. He is altogether more wonderful and complex: he is a moral agent made in the image of God. When sin entered the human race through Adam and spread to all mankind "descending from him by ordinary generation" the wondrous complexity and moral agency of mankind became perverted. The sophisticated complexity of humanity became a spectacular resource for cunning, duplicity, and evil.
But modern man has "advanced" to the point where he sees himself as a sophisticated animal, nothing more.
One of the abiding lusts of Western pride is the lure of a perfect society brought into being through human ingenuity, planning, and enlightened application. No matter what problem we face, throw enough resources at it, study it to death, put a management plan in place, and hey presto, the problem will be solved.
Such approaches may work well when we are dealing with problems arising out of the non-human natural order. They fail miserably when we are dealing with human beings. Why? Precisely because man is not a cipher. He is not the impersonal product of impersonal natural forces. He is altogether more wonderful and complex: he is a moral agent made in the image of God. When sin entered the human race through Adam and spread to all mankind "descending from him by ordinary generation" the wondrous complexity and moral agency of mankind became perverted. The sophisticated complexity of humanity became a spectacular resource for cunning, duplicity, and evil.
But modern man has "advanced" to the point where he sees himself as a sophisticated animal, nothing more.
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Letter From America (About a Christian Exodus)
The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world
Published May 07, 2013
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 11
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. —Isaiah 53:10
Devotional:
But now we are spared. Consider Jesus Christ the only Son of God: he was imprisoned and we are released; he was condemned and we are acquitted; he was exposed to utter disgrace and we are set up in honour; he descended into the depths of hell and to us the kingdom of Heaven is opened. When we hear all these things, should we still stay asleep, pleasing and flattering ourselves in our vices?
So let us carefully notice the purpose of the Holy Spirit and always ponder this word—that it was God who wished to afflict him.
Laments and Dashed Hopes
Revealing Songs
Songs that the people sing are always revealing, one way or the other. Consider this hymn the the revolution from Les Miserables:
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men . . .
Laments are also revealing:
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
Laments pour forth when hopes are dashed, when longings are shredded. Consider the following extended lament from one who is a card carrying member of the Commentariat and whose hopes are crumbling before her eyes.
Songs that the people sing are always revealing, one way or the other. Consider this hymn the the revolution from Les Miserables:
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men . . .
Laments are also revealing:
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
Laments pour forth when hopes are dashed, when longings are shredded. Consider the following extended lament from one who is a card carrying member of the Commentariat and whose hopes are crumbling before her eyes.
Friday, 10 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Not Whether But Which, As I Keep Saying
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, 06 May 2013
It is not hard to understand the chaos and pandemonium going down around us if you keep certain inescapable realities in the forefront of your mind.
Cornelius Van Til called it epistemological self-consciousness. C.S. Lewis referred to the idea this way in his great novel, That Hideous Strength.
Even apparent neutrality. There is never any real neutrality, but there are times when it looks like there might have been. I said that there are such times, but given the times in which we live, it would be better now to say that there were such times.
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, 06 May 2013
It is not hard to understand the chaos and pandemonium going down around us if you keep certain inescapable realities in the forefront of your mind.
Cornelius Van Til called it epistemological self-consciousness. C.S. Lewis referred to the idea this way in his great novel, That Hideous Strength.
"I mean this," said Dimble, answering the
question she had not asked. "If you dip into any college, or school, or
parish, or family—anything you like—at a given point in its history, you
always find that there was a time before that point when there was more
elbow room and contrasts weren't quite so sharp; and that there's going
to be a time after that point when there is even less room for
indecision and choices are even more momentous. Good is always getting
better and bad is always getting worse: the possibilities of even
apparent neutrality are always diminishing.”
Even apparent neutrality. There is never any real neutrality, but there are times when it looks like there might have been. I said that there are such times, but given the times in which we live, it would be better now to say that there were such times.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 9
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. —Isaiah 33:6
Devotional:
"The fear of Jehovah is his treasure." This is a very remarkable passage; and it teaches us that our ingratitude shuts the door against God's blessings, when we disregard the Author of them, and sink into gross and earthly desires; and that all the benefits which we can desire or imagine, even though we actually obtained them, would be of no avail for our salvation if they were not seasoned with the salt of faith and knowledge.
Hence it follows that the Church is not in a healthy condition unless when all its privileges have been preceded by the light of the knowledge of God, and that it flourishes only when all the gifts which God has bestowed upon it are ascribed to him as their Author.
But when the knowledge of God has been taken away, and when just views of God have been extinguished or buried, any kind of prosperity is worse than all calamities. —Commentaries
John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.
Letter From the UK (About US Citizen Surveillance)
The "War on Terror" is Proving to be a War on Citizens
In wartime it is common for civil liberties to erode. The exigencies of war mean that extraordinary and emergency measures are required to prosecute the conflict. Often civil liberties are attenuated. At the very least, the resistance to the state exerting emergency powers over its citizens becomes muted.
Hopefully (and hope is the operative word) at the end of the conflict the greater powers of the state prove to have truly been emergency powers and temporary only. They are revoked, and civil liberties are restored. But what happens when the state moves to a permanent state-of-war footing? George Orwell's dystopian 1984 shows us one consequence: an alleged state of perpetual war was used as a pretext for totalitarian controls over all citizens (in the name of freedom and liberty, naturally).
The United States has been at war now for decades.
In wartime it is common for civil liberties to erode. The exigencies of war mean that extraordinary and emergency measures are required to prosecute the conflict. Often civil liberties are attenuated. At the very least, the resistance to the state exerting emergency powers over its citizens becomes muted.
Hopefully (and hope is the operative word) at the end of the conflict the greater powers of the state prove to have truly been emergency powers and temporary only. They are revoked, and civil liberties are restored. But what happens when the state moves to a permanent state-of-war footing? George Orwell's dystopian 1984 shows us one consequence: an alleged state of perpetual war was used as a pretext for totalitarian controls over all citizens (in the name of freedom and liberty, naturally).
The United States has been at war now for decades.
Prophetic and Prescient
Modern Blasphemers
For the past two days we have run pieces by Dr Grégor Puppinck on the planned militant imposition of homosexual ideology in French schools. This "project" apes similar moves in Spain and Germany. European institutions are moving rapidly to asset the rights of the state over parents and children, and officially to indoctrinate children into believing homosexuality is normal. Parents that resist or object conscientously are being punished. These programmes and moves have largely been endorsed and supported by the European Court of Human Rights.
Why? On what basis? Well, children have rights too, don't you know. They have a right to learn the truth about human sexuality (that it is all a matter of individual preference, choice, freedom, and personal inclination). The state must protect children from any moral pre-conditioning by anyone--except the state itself.
We have characterised this as "madness". It is madness because it is self-destructive.
For the past two days we have run pieces by Dr Grégor Puppinck on the planned militant imposition of homosexual ideology in French schools. This "project" apes similar moves in Spain and Germany. European institutions are moving rapidly to asset the rights of the state over parents and children, and officially to indoctrinate children into believing homosexuality is normal. Parents that resist or object conscientously are being punished. These programmes and moves have largely been endorsed and supported by the European Court of Human Rights.
Why? On what basis? Well, children have rights too, don't you know. They have a right to learn the truth about human sexuality (that it is all a matter of individual preference, choice, freedom, and personal inclination). The state must protect children from any moral pre-conditioning by anyone--except the state itself.
We have characterised this as "madness". It is madness because it is self-destructive.
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Letter From France (About the Madness of Unbelief) Part II
The fight against gender stereotypes and parental rights: the case in France and other European countries
April 23, 2013by Grégor Puppinck, Ph.D
Reprinted from Turtle Bay
[In Part I, Dr Puppinck exposed a new "project" about to be introduced in French schools. This will require the removal of all "gender sterotyping" and an active positive programme to socialise children into believing that there are no distinct male and female roles in parenting and families. Having two fathers and a "carrier" mother will be framed as normal. In Part II, below, Dr Puppinck reviews similar initiatives in other European countries--and the outcomes.]
That which French parents now face has already been successfully confronted by Spanish parents. On the other hand, in Germany, parents have preferred to go immediately to jail (that is; with no opportunity to receive a suspended sentence) rather than send their children to sex education classes. In Russia, the situation is different, where regional Governments, on the demand of families, have adopted laws which are intended to protect children against LGBT propaganda, but they are faced with strong pressure from European Institutions and lobbies.
IN SPAIN
Mr Peillon’s proposal is very similar to the “Education for Citizenship” courses created and imposed by the former Spanish Government of Mr Zapatero. This was a project to teach a secular, fairly anti-religious, morality with a strong insistence on gender equality and infantile sexuality (see this presentation video). The objective of this compulsory and graded class from primary school onwards was to “construct the moral conscience” of children, to develop their “personal identity” and their “emotional and affective education”.
An important part of Spanish society rejected this course.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 9
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. —Ephesians 4:10
Devotional:
Though Christ began to make a more illustrious display of his glory and power at his resurrection, having now laid aside the abject and ignoble condition of this mortal life, and the shame of the cross, yet his ascension into heaven was the real commencement of his reign. This the apostle shows, when he informs us that he "ascended that he might fill all things." Here, in an apparent contradiction, he suggests to us that there is a beautiful harmony, because Christ departed from us, that his departure might be more useful to us than that presence, which, during his continuance on earth, confined itself within the humble mansion of his body....
Catching the Conscience of the Human Rights Commission
Propaganda Stunt
The following should be an "open and shut" case. This from the NZ Herald:
The following should be an "open and shut" case. This from the NZ Herald:
A homosexual man is taking the Anglican Bishop of Auckland to the Human Rights Tribunal after being rejected for training as a priest. A hearing begins today following a complaint from the man, who says he feels discriminated against because of his sexuality. It is understood the man - who is in a sexual relationship with his partner - has wanted to enter the church's training programme for priests for years. But after applying to enter after years of study, he was rejected by the Bishop Ross Bay, who approves entrants.The NZ Bill of Rights provides a carve out for churches and religions from the non-discrimination obligations of the Bill of Rights. In such cases, the law says conscientious discrimination is just fine.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Letter From France (About The Madness of Unbelief)
"Gender for All" and
the Rights of Parents, Part I
The fight against gender stereotypes and parental rights: the case in France and other European countries
Dr Gregor Puppinck
Doctor in Law, Director
of the European Centre for Law and Justice.
5th April
2013.
Republished from Turtle Bay
Republished from Turtle Bay
French parents who wish to pass on certain values to their children will clash in the coming months over the Republic’s education system, which the current Government wishes to reform, particularly in relation to the complementary nature of men and women, of human sexuality and of morality.
The Taubira marriage law reform proposal should be considered in conjunction with another fundamental project of the current Government: the “reform of the education system of the Republic,” presently being discussed by the National Assembly. This law project on the “reform of the education system of the Republic” pledges, among other provisions, to introduce an obligatory new secular morality and civic education, in order to fight against gender stereotypes from the youngest age possible.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 8
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. —Psalm 78:4
Devotional:
Although your piety, noble lady, is much better known by certain proofs in the country which you inhabit, you have made it known to us also, by the pledges you have confided to us. For in not hesitating to send your children far from you and into an almost unknown country, that they might better imbibe the pure doctrine of Christ, you have clearly shown how precious a virtuous and pious education is in your eyes: Lively indeed must that zeal be, which forces you to forget and divest yourself for a season of that softness of tender affection which is naturally implanted in the heart of mothers, till you see your sons imbued with the uncorrupted faith of Christ, when you shall welcome their return with a more joyful mind than if they had never been separated from your embraces and your sight.
The Kool Aid Tastes Bitter
Thankful for Spineless Hypocrites
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) is one of the most celebrated jurists ever to sit on the benches of the United States Supreme Court. He was an atheist. He had little respect for human life in an abstract sense. Accordingly, he could write as follows to a correspondent:
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) is one of the most celebrated jurists ever to sit on the benches of the United States Supreme Court. He was an atheist. He had little respect for human life in an abstract sense. Accordingly, he could write as follows to a correspondent:
I see no reason for attributing to man a significance different in kind from that which belongs to a baboon or a grain of sand. [Holmes to Frederick Pollock, August 30, 1929, in Richard A. Posner, ed., The Essential Holmes: Selections from the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (University of Chicago Press, 1992), p. 108.]Consistent with this particular religious commitment, Holmes advocated forced sterilisation and eugenics. the following citation is taken from Conservapedia:
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Letter From Australia (About Profligate Privileges)
No dragons live in PM’s perilous fiscal fantasy
Miranda Devine
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Daily Telegraph
‘IMAGINE a wage earner, John, employed in the same job throughout the last 20 years. “For a period in 2003 to 2007 every year his employer gave him a sizeable bonus. He was grateful but in his bones knew it wouldn’t last. The bonuses did stop and John was told his income would rise by around five per cent each year over the years to come. That’s the basis for his financial plans.
“Now, very late, John has been told he won’t get those promised increases for the next few years but his income will get back up after that to where he was promised it would be. What is John’s rational reaction?”
This was Julia Gillard’s patronising attempt to explain her government’s latest budget crisis. In a speech this week the Prime Minister used “John” to explain why it’s the fault of everyone but her feckless spendthrift government that there will be a $12 billion revenue shortfall in the year she promised a surplus.
Miranda Devine
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Daily Telegraph
‘IMAGINE a wage earner, John, employed in the same job throughout the last 20 years. “For a period in 2003 to 2007 every year his employer gave him a sizeable bonus. He was grateful but in his bones knew it wouldn’t last. The bonuses did stop and John was told his income would rise by around five per cent each year over the years to come. That’s the basis for his financial plans.
“Now, very late, John has been told he won’t get those promised increases for the next few years but his income will get back up after that to where he was promised it would be. What is John’s rational reaction?”
This was Julia Gillard’s patronising attempt to explain her government’s latest budget crisis. In a speech this week the Prime Minister used “John” to explain why it’s the fault of everyone but her feckless spendthrift government that there will be a $12 billion revenue shortfall in the year she promised a surplus.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 7
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reproduced from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. —Revelation 14:13
Devotional:
But what advantage, you will say, is it to me to have had a son of so much promise, since he has been torn away from me in the first flower of his youth? As if, indeed, Christ had not merited, by his death, the supreme dominion over the living and the dead! And if we belong to him (as we ought) why may he not exercise over us the power of life and of death? However brief, therefore, either in your opinion or in mine, the life of your son may have been, it ought to satisfy us that he has finished the course which the Lord has marked out for him.
A Man of Principle
A Politician Not For Turning
Most politicians are seen as venal and self-serving. They will do anything, say anything to get their name and their "brand" in the public's mind. But not the mercurial Winston Peters. Here is a politician of different stamp, not only with deep convictions, but one willing to pursue and investigate wrongs, exposing the corruption and evil actions of his own class.
We have long admired his campaign against selling 8,000 hectares of (not-so-prime-farmland-at-the-time) to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin last year. Land is precious to New Zealand, argues Mr Peters. We should not be selling it off to foreigners. Peters has the evidence to prove his point. He has personally tramped over every hectare of the Shanghai Pengxin farms at not inconsiderable personal cost. He has seen what has happened to the land.
Most politicians are seen as venal and self-serving. They will do anything, say anything to get their name and their "brand" in the public's mind. But not the mercurial Winston Peters. Here is a politician of different stamp, not only with deep convictions, but one willing to pursue and investigate wrongs, exposing the corruption and evil actions of his own class.
We have long admired his campaign against selling 8,000 hectares of (not-so-prime-farmland-at-the-time) to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin last year. Land is precious to New Zealand, argues Mr Peters. We should not be selling it off to foreigners. Peters has the evidence to prove his point. He has personally tramped over every hectare of the Shanghai Pengxin farms at not inconsiderable personal cost. He has seen what has happened to the land.
Monday, 6 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Book of the Month/May 2013
Book Review
Written by Douglas Wilson
Thursday, 02 May 2013
This was truly a refreshing book. Every liberal pastor needs to get and read it as part of the process of becoming evangelical. Moreover, and this is the crucial thing, every evangelical pastor needs to get and read it as part of the process of becoming evangelical. We have gotten to the point where we think we know what certain words mean because they are much in use, but it is high time we clicked the refresh button.
Book Review
Written by Douglas Wilson
Thursday, 02 May 2013
This was truly a refreshing book. Every liberal pastor needs to get and read it as part of the process of becoming evangelical. Moreover, and this is the crucial thing, every evangelical pastor needs to get and read it as part of the process of becoming evangelical. We have gotten to the point where we think we know what certain words mean because they are much in use, but it is high time we clicked the refresh button.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 6
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. —I Timothy 1:2
Devotional:
Let this be well understood, that when God receives us into his love, there is nothing that moves him to this but our wretchedness and miserable state; yes, the mercy of God, in that he pities us and has compassion on us, shows that there is on our part a wretchedness and misery to be pitied, so that the one answers to the other.
Note well, then, do we want him to love us? Then we must begin at this end, namely with a feeling that we are wretched creatures, that we are castaways and damned.
Diabolical Alternatives
In Chains, Everywhere
The ethic of freedom has become the engine of oppression. At first blush, this seems nonsense. How could the ideal of being free from compulsion, constraint, and restraint become the instrumental cause of force, compulsion, and oppression? Unless we work this out, freedom is a dangerous concept.
Let's start with Jean Jacques Rousseau--one of the more pathetic figures in Western annals. He famously proclaimed that man was born free, but is everywhere in chains. The image is powerful. We know what being in chains means. We have seen dogs on a leash or chained. We have seen them leap forward only to crash to the ground as the chain restrains. Rousseau's idea intuitively conveys the idea of human enslavement; freedom is being released from constraints. But for Rousseau, freedom meant being released from constraints of any sort.
If you were to come into your neighbour's house and he asked you to remove your shoes, Rousseau would have us believe that chains were rattling.
The ethic of freedom has become the engine of oppression. At first blush, this seems nonsense. How could the ideal of being free from compulsion, constraint, and restraint become the instrumental cause of force, compulsion, and oppression? Unless we work this out, freedom is a dangerous concept.
Let's start with Jean Jacques Rousseau--one of the more pathetic figures in Western annals. He famously proclaimed that man was born free, but is everywhere in chains. The image is powerful. We know what being in chains means. We have seen dogs on a leash or chained. We have seen them leap forward only to crash to the ground as the chain restrains. Rousseau's idea intuitively conveys the idea of human enslavement; freedom is being released from constraints. But for Rousseau, freedom meant being released from constraints of any sort.
If you were to come into your neighbour's house and he asked you to remove your shoes, Rousseau would have us believe that chains were rattling.
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Broken Loose
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, 29 April 2013
We live in a bad neighborhood, meaning this world of ours, and so this means that we have two kinds of problems. The first would be, naturally, the bad dudes roaming the neighborhood. The second problem would be those endearing but exasperating naifs living inside the house with us, who persist in leaving invitational lights on and doors unlocked. One problem is direct, and the other is indirect. One problem is assault and the other problem is failure to take the real possibility of a real assault into account.
So here is the the unlocked door. It is what W.W. Bartley called the "retreat to commitment."
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, 29 April 2013
We live in a bad neighborhood, meaning this world of ours, and so this means that we have two kinds of problems. The first would be, naturally, the bad dudes roaming the neighborhood. The second problem would be those endearing but exasperating naifs living inside the house with us, who persist in leaving invitational lights on and doors unlocked. One problem is direct, and the other is indirect. One problem is assault and the other problem is failure to take the real possibility of a real assault into account.
So here is the the unlocked door. It is what W.W. Bartley called the "retreat to commitment."
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
May 4
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. —Luke 11:8
Devotional:
In our supplications, let us have a real and permanent sense of our need, and seriously considering our necessity of all that we ask, let us join with the petitions themselves a serious and ardent desire of obtaining them. For multitudes carelessly recite a form of prayer, as though they were discharging a task imposed on them by God; and though they confess that this is a remedy necessary for their calamities, since it would be certain destruction to be destitute of the Divine aid which they implore, yet that they perform this duty merely in compliance with custom, is evident from the coldness of their hearts, and their inattention to the nature of their petitions. They are led to this by some general and confused sense of their necessity, which nevertheless does not excite them to implore a relief for their great need as a case of present urgency.
Now what can we imagine more odious to God than this hypocrisy, when any man prays for the pardon of sins, who at the same time thinks he is not a sinner, or at least does not think that he is a sinner? What open mockery of God himself!
Exposing Pre-Commitments
A Moment of Rare Honesty
Every so often an Unbeliever comes along who shows he is aware of his assumptions and pre-commitments. It does not happen very often. The cry of our age is, "Just the facts, ma'am." We just focus upon facts and follow wherever they take us. The problem with this is that our presuppositions have already determined what will be accepted as fact, and what will be discarded.
For example, the Christian is predisposed to accept the existence of the God revealed in the Scriptures. Therefore, His revelation of Himself is factual, objectively and eternally so. It is true truth. The Unbeliever is predisposed to deny the existence of God. Therefore, he regards the Bible as anti-factual or non-factual or mythical. The Unbeliever's presuppositions have already determined not only what the facts will be but also how and where they will be discovered or learnt. So Unbelief is plagued by two self-deceits. The first is that it believes it has no fundamental suppositions or presuppositions. The second is that it believes Unbelief is objective: it follows the facts wherever the facts lead.
Every so often an Unbeliever comes along who shows he is aware of his assumptions and pre-commitments. It does not happen very often. The cry of our age is, "Just the facts, ma'am." We just focus upon facts and follow wherever they take us. The problem with this is that our presuppositions have already determined what will be accepted as fact, and what will be discarded.
For example, the Christian is predisposed to accept the existence of the God revealed in the Scriptures. Therefore, His revelation of Himself is factual, objectively and eternally so. It is true truth. The Unbeliever is predisposed to deny the existence of God. Therefore, he regards the Bible as anti-factual or non-factual or mythical. The Unbeliever's presuppositions have already determined not only what the facts will be but also how and where they will be discovered or learnt. So Unbelief is plagued by two self-deceits. The first is that it believes it has no fundamental suppositions or presuppositions. The second is that it believes Unbelief is objective: it follows the facts wherever the facts lead.
Friday, 3 May 2013
Letter From America (About the Skull)
The Collapsing of the American Skull
The parameters in which we allow ourselves to think about vital issues shrink remorselessly.
The parameters in which we allow ourselves to think about vital issues shrink remorselessly.
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