"Of Course I Believe in Heaven and Hell"
Antonin Scalia, by our lights, is one of the greater justices in US Supreme Court history. He has been a resolute opponent of judicial activism which sees the role of a justice and the courts to make law, not test whether human actions and arrangements are lawful or not.
He has been a champion of "originalism" and "textualism". The latter insists on paying attention to the actual text of the law (not the more subjective focus upon intent, or motive, or goals of legislation). The former insists on basing opinions upon the actual text of the constitution itself. He is not interested in a constantly evolving constitution, where the latter becomes a wax nose to be twisted and reshaped according to the passing fancies of a generation.
Scalia was interviewed recently by Jennifer Senior. The whole text was published in the New York Magazine.
Here are some excerpts:
Friday, 11 October 2013
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 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:
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. —Zechariah 8:23
Devotional:
The prophet at the same time not only commends humility, but also exhorts all God's children to cultivate unity and concord. For whosoever tears asunder the Church of God, disunites himself from Christ, who is the head, and who would have all his members to be united together.
Leopards and Their Spots
Remember the Hawkes Bay Health Board
Karl Du Fresne is a journalist who has seen many winters. He has a long memory. He recently wrote the following piece on new Labour leader, David Cunliffe:
Karl Du Fresne is a journalist who has seen many winters. He has a long memory. He recently wrote the following piece on new Labour leader, David Cunliffe:
NEW Labour Leader David Cunliffe is getting good notices, even from those at the opposite end of the political spectrum, such as former ACT leader Rodney Hide. But I'm withholding judgment. I decided I disliked Mr Cunliffe when, as health minister in the Clark government, he sacked the democratically elected Hawke's Bay District Health Board, describing them as "a nasty little nest of self-perpetuating provincial elites".
He struck me then as a politician who liked to throw his weight around just because he could. Nothing since then has changed my view of him.
Thursday, 10 October 2013
Be Thou My Vision . . .
Oaths We Have Taken
Sam Robson reminds us of oaths we have taken, and declarations of loyalty we have made, to our High King.
Sam Robson reminds us of oaths we have taken, and declarations of loyalty we have made, to our High King.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 10
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 saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. —John 18:17
Devotional:
"Then the maid that kept the door said to Peter...." Peter is introduced into the high priest's hall; but it cost him very dear, for as soon as he sets his foot within it, he is constrained to deny Christ.
When he stumbles so shamefully at the first step, the foolishness of his boasting is exposed. He had boasted that he would prove to be a valiant champion, and able to meet death with firmness; and now at the voice of a single maid, and that voice without threatening, he is confounded and throws down his arms. Such is a demonstration of the power of man.
Standing Firm
Charter Schools To Be Union Free
Good news for NZ Charter Schools. The government teachers' union has voted to ostracise them. All contact with the soon-to-be launched charter schools is VERBOTEN. The Post Primary Teachers Association has put out a press release which is an hilarious read. They apparently have no idea how foolish they sound.
Good news for NZ Charter Schools. The government teachers' union has voted to ostracise them. All contact with the soon-to-be launched charter schools is VERBOTEN. The Post Primary Teachers Association has put out a press release which is an hilarious read. They apparently have no idea how foolish they sound.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Beneath Contempt
Legalisms To Salve Perverted Consciences
Sex selection abortions clarified as perfectly acceptable in the UK. This has been the consistent testimony of abortion advocates and pro-abortion groups. This breaking news from The Telegraph:
What is equally depraved is the ratiocinations issuing forth from the UK prosecution authorities to justify this position (in which they have relied upon advice from the British Medical Association).
Sex selection abortions clarified as perfectly acceptable in the UK. This has been the consistent testimony of abortion advocates and pro-abortion groups. This breaking news from The Telegraph:
This is yet another proof of how evil and wicked the whole abortion trade is. The depraved logic is inescapable: the "thing" inside a woman's womb is not a human being, not a person. Therefore, the sex of the thing is completely irrelevant when deciding whether to kill it off or not.Ann Furedi, of BPAS, [the UK's largest abortion charity] said the law does not prevent women from choosing a termination on the grounds of gender and she even compared it to abortion after rape. Mrs Furedi's comments come weeks after it was disclosed that the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] had decided not to prosecute two doctors who were exposed by a Daily Telegraph investigation arranging terminations purely because the unborn baby was a girl.
What is equally depraved is the ratiocinations issuing forth from the UK prosecution authorities to justify this position (in which they have relied upon advice from the British Medical Association).
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 09
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:
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? —Job 22:2
Devotional:
We see that he compares himself to a husbandman who has a vineyard which, when he has tended it, yields wine to him; or who has a field and reaps corn from it. God in using such figures of speech, declares that he so accounts of our works that they are like pleasant and sweet sacrifices to him.
And he says also that when we do good to the poor, it is as if we did it to him, and he accepts it as done to himself. Jesus Christ speaks thus of it, saying, "Whatsoever you shall do to one of the least of my members, I accept it as if it had been done to my own person."
Parliament's Prayer
Exposing the Curse
In New Zealand the Parliament opens its sessions with a prayer. The text is as follows:
Every so often politicians raise the question of dumping this prayer in favour of one that reflects more comprehensively the beliefs and commitments of the majority of the population. A Green MP, Gareth Hughes is the latest, writing on his blog:
In New Zealand the Parliament opens its sessions with a prayer. The text is as follows:
Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Every so often politicians raise the question of dumping this prayer in favour of one that reflects more comprehensively the beliefs and commitments of the majority of the population. A Green MP, Gareth Hughes is the latest, writing on his blog:
Speaking in my personal capacity, I think it’s time to have a discussion around it. Like many Kiwis and MPs I am not a Christian and I don’t think the prayer reflects the rich and varied religious and spiritual life in New Zealand in 2013. To me, it’s an issue of having Parliament – the representatives of the people of New Zealand – actually reflect the people of New Zealand rather than only one religious group. We should have an inclusive ceremonial opening that all kiwis can feel comfortable with, whatever their faith.So what would a prayer which reflected the "rich and varied religious and spiritual life of New Zealand in 2013" actually look like.
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Palin and Crony Capitalism
Facing Off With Smaug and His Treasures
One of the things we have always appreciated about Sarah Palin is her commitment to fighting against corruption and crony capitalism in government and politics. She fearlessly takes on vested and corrupted interests in her own party, let alone the Democrats.
Recently, a group of nouveau riche Wall Streeters complained to Republican establishment doyens (otherwise known as Beltway Barnacles) that they found offensive the present Republican Congress's refusal to fund Obama's move to socialise medical care in the United States. When the Roman Republic became the plaything of wealthy patricians and venal plutocrats, its demise was inevitable. So will pass the United States. "We the people" will be replaced by "We the entitled".
Sarah Palin recently called the them out. She has a different moral and ethical compass--as revealed in this Breitbart piece.
One of the things we have always appreciated about Sarah Palin is her commitment to fighting against corruption and crony capitalism in government and politics. She fearlessly takes on vested and corrupted interests in her own party, let alone the Democrats.
Recently, a group of nouveau riche Wall Streeters complained to Republican establishment doyens (otherwise known as Beltway Barnacles) that they found offensive the present Republican Congress's refusal to fund Obama's move to socialise medical care in the United States. When the Roman Republic became the plaything of wealthy patricians and venal plutocrats, its demise was inevitable. So will pass the United States. "We the people" will be replaced by "We the entitled".
Sarah Palin recently called the them out. She has a different moral and ethical compass--as revealed in this Breitbart piece.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 08
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
Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. —Zechariah 1:3
Devotional:
"Return unto me and I will return unto you." It must be noticed that we cannot enjoy the favor of God even when he kindly offers to be reconciled to us, except we from the heart repent. However graciously, then, God may invite us to himself, and be ready to remit our sins, we yet cannot embrace his offered favor except our sins become hateful to us; for God ceases not to be our judge, except we anticipate him, and condemn ourselves, and deprecate the punishment of our sins.
Cringeworthy Remarks
Dumb
The New Zealand Prime Minister has been asked to chair the negotiations over a Pacific free-trade agreement which will be a side-bar to the upcoming APEC meeting. President Obama has sent his apologies, due to the "government shutdown" in the United States. APEC will have to do without him.
This is quite a public honour for Prime Minister Key. However, he let himself down when he was asked for his opinion on the present US political imbroglio.
Firstly, he compared Obama's presence at such international meetings to fizz. We kid you not. This from Audrey Young, at the NZ Herald:
The New Zealand Prime Minister has been asked to chair the negotiations over a Pacific free-trade agreement which will be a side-bar to the upcoming APEC meeting. President Obama has sent his apologies, due to the "government shutdown" in the United States. APEC will have to do without him.
This is quite a public honour for Prime Minister Key. However, he let himself down when he was asked for his opinion on the present US political imbroglio.
Firstly, he compared Obama's presence at such international meetings to fizz. We kid you not. This from Audrey Young, at the NZ Herald:
Monday, 7 October 2013
Reflective Glory
In the Image of God
It is said that when Beethoven wanted to express the glory in the human race in his final, Ninth Symphony, he turned to the greatest instrument of all, the human voice. In the video below, Sam Robson provides a startling demonstration of how powerful, complex, and beautiful that instrument really is--only in this case, it is being employed properly, to glorify the God of the heavens and the earth.
Hat Tip: Keeping Stock
It is said that when Beethoven wanted to express the glory in the human race in his final, Ninth Symphony, he turned to the greatest instrument of all, the human voice. In the video below, Sam Robson provides a startling demonstration of how powerful, complex, and beautiful that instrument really is--only in this case, it is being employed properly, to glorify the God of the heavens and the earth.
Hat Tip: Keeping Stock
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 07
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:
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. —Philippians 4:6
Devotional:
Wherefore, although we are stupid and insensible to our own miseries, he vigilantly watches and guards us, and sometimes affords us unsolicited help, yet it highly concerns us faithfully to pray to him, that our heart may be always inflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving, and worshipping him, while we accustom ourselves in all our necessities to resort to him as our sheet anchor.
Further, that no desire or wish, which we should be ashamed for him to know, may enter our minds; when we learn to present our wishes, and so to pour out our whole heart in his presence. Next, that we may be prepared to receive his blessings with true gratitude of soul, and even with grateful acknowledgments; being reminded by our praying that they have come from his hand.
Marketing
Oh What a Lovely War
In 2012 the UK Ministry of Defence produced a paper giving advice on how to "market" war to the public. The intention was to work out how to increase public support for the various wars the UK was engaged in at the time. One suggestion made was to make less of repatriation and funeral ceremonies of those who had died. Downplay the negative. Accentuate the positive. That sort of stuff. Typical marketing fluff.
But wait a minute. This is war we are talking about.
In 2012 the UK Ministry of Defence produced a paper giving advice on how to "market" war to the public. The intention was to work out how to increase public support for the various wars the UK was engaged in at the time. One suggestion made was to make less of repatriation and funeral ceremonies of those who had died. Downplay the negative. Accentuate the positive. That sort of stuff. Typical marketing fluff.
The document, written in November 2012 and obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, discusses how public reaction to casualties can be influenced and recommends that the armed forces should have "a clear and constant information campaign in order to influence the major areas of press and public opinion". (The Guardian)The folk don't like hearing and seeing that soldiers and airmen have been killed. It is a negative. It ought to be downplayed. Don't regard these people as heroes who have laid down their lives for the protection of their loved ones, their neighbours, and their nation. That ends up accentuating the negative, which will reduce "market" appetite and demand for war.
But wait a minute. This is war we are talking about.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Letter From America (About a Dishonest Englishman)
A Response to Richard Dawkins
He and his supporters have a right to their atheism, but not to intellectual dishonesty about it.
National Review OnlineThis past Friday, CNN conducted an interview with Richard Dawkins, the British biologist most widely known for his polemics against religion and on behalf of atheism. Asked “whether an absence of religion would leave us without a moral compass,” Dawkins responded: “The very idea that we get a moral compass from religion is horrible.”
This is the crux of the issue for Dawkins and other anti-religion activists — that not only do we not need religion or God for morality but that we would have a considerably more moral world without them. This argument is so wrong — both rationally and empirically — that its appeal can be explained only by (a) a desire to believe it and (b) an ignorance of history.
First, the rational argument.
If there is no God, the labels “good” and “evil” are merely opinions.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 05
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:
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. —Ezekiel 3:17
Devotional:
It is now added, "Thou shalt hear words from my mouth, and shalt announce them to the people from me."
Here a general rule is prescribed to all prophets and pastors of the Church, namely that they should hear the word from the mouth of God; by which God wishes to exclude whatever men fabricate or invent for themselves. For it is evident when God claimed to himself the right of speaking that he orders all men to be silent and not to offer anything of their own, and then, when he orders them to hear the word from his mouth, that he puts a bridle upon them that they should neither invent anything, nor hanker after their own devices, nor dare to conceive either more or less than the word; and, lastly, we see that whatever men offer of their own selves is here abolished, when God alone wishes to be heard, for he does not mingle himself here with others as in a crowd, as if he wished to be heard only in part.
He assumes to himself, therefore, what we ought to attribute to his supreme command over all things, namely that we should hang upon his lips. —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.
The S-Files
Reviving the Dying
And now, a good news story.
Mrs Melrose, 70, was flying ex Brisbane to Auckland on an Air New Zealand flight with her husband John when a life and death drama unfolded.
And now, a good news story.
Mrs Melrose, 70, was flying ex Brisbane to Auckland on an Air New Zealand flight with her husband John when a life and death drama unfolded.
Before the flight, Mrs Melrose spent six hours in hospital with stomach pains. Scans failed to reveal any problem and Mrs Melrose was given medicine and told she could fly home from a three-week holiday at Noosa. But 20 minutes into the flight, she began to feel "extremely uncomfortable" and was moved into business class where she could lie flat. "I went into respiratory arrest and then cardiac arrest," Mrs Melrose, of Bucklands Beach, told the Herald.
A call was made on the aircraft for a doctor and Dr Taylor and two nurses rushed to her aid. "When I got there, Mary was gasping for air," the Manukau GP said. "I started asking her husband about her health ... and then she just collapsed on me."
Friday, 4 October 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow
An American Drubbing
I have been addressing, from time to time, the tomfool notion of American exceptionalism.
The central point I have made thus far is that the genuine exceptionalism displayed by the Founders consisted of the fact that they knew that Americans were not exceptional, which was exceptional. They built a form of government that sought to take the venality of all our current and future statesman into account, which was a marvel of prescience.
Having said as much, repeatedly, I want to come at this beast from another angle. Before doing so, allow me to state some of my bona fides. I love apple pie, I own a Winchester 30-30, and I have warm spot in my heart for red-checked tablecloths. I am a loyal son of the Republic, and wish to demonstrate my good will in this matter by giving American exceptionalism a good, old-fashioned American drubbing.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 04
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:
Incline thine ear, 0 Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. —Isaiah 37:17
Devotional:
"Incline thine ear, 0 Jehovah." From these words we conclude how great was the perplexity of Hezekiah; for the earnestness that pervades the prayer breathes an amazing power of anguish, so that it is easily seen that he had a struggle attended by uncommon difficulty to escape from the temptation.
Though his warmth in prayer shows the strength and eminence of his faith, yet at the same time it exhibits, as in a mirror, the stormy passions.
Testing Ideologies
Ain't No Fig Tree
The terms "ideology" and "ideological" are used as an insult these days, more often than not. To accuse your opponent of being ideological implies that they are out of touch with reality, closed minded, impractical, dangerous, even absolutist. The term, "idealist" less so. In common parlance, an idealist is someone close to sainthood--a person who puts their ideals and beliefs ahead of themselves and who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a higher, nobler cause. Usually, however, their devotion it is said that their devotion has put them out of touch with reality. Which is to say they are slightly mad.
Whether being ideological or an idealist is good or bad depends upon the ideology in question. Stalin and Hitler and Mao were ideological. They could even be said to be idealists, in the sense that they were controlled by a set of ideas bigger than themselves, to which they were committed and devoted servants. So was Mother Theresa. But in the case of the former, the ideology was evil; consequently the idealists devoted to it were given over to evil. Not so with the celebrated Christian in Calcutta.
Whether we like it or not, or are aware of it or not, every human being is controlled by ideologies of one shape or form.
The terms "ideology" and "ideological" are used as an insult these days, more often than not. To accuse your opponent of being ideological implies that they are out of touch with reality, closed minded, impractical, dangerous, even absolutist. The term, "idealist" less so. In common parlance, an idealist is someone close to sainthood--a person who puts their ideals and beliefs ahead of themselves and who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a higher, nobler cause. Usually, however, their devotion it is said that their devotion has put them out of touch with reality. Which is to say they are slightly mad.
Whether being ideological or an idealist is good or bad depends upon the ideology in question. Stalin and Hitler and Mao were ideological. They could even be said to be idealists, in the sense that they were controlled by a set of ideas bigger than themselves, to which they were committed and devoted servants. So was Mother Theresa. But in the case of the former, the ideology was evil; consequently the idealists devoted to it were given over to evil. Not so with the celebrated Christian in Calcutta.
Whether we like it or not, or are aware of it or not, every human being is controlled by ideologies of one shape or form.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow
To Curvet and Simper in the Pulpit
The sodomy challenge — and all related sexuality challenges — present us with a glorious opportunity. It is a glorious opportunity that the Spirit has cleverly disguised as a real hazard to our future comfort and well-being.
For the gospel is a troublemaker. Let me explain that first and then come back to the sodomy challenge.
It is quite true that the gospel is good news. It is true that the gospel is a message of salvation and redemption. It is a message of buoyancy and hope. All this is true, and the one who preaches the message should be lifted up by the glory of God’s everlasting kindness to us. It is kindness.
But it is never heard that way initially.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 03
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 the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. —Romans 16:20
Devotional:
But, as the promise respecting breaking the head of Satan belongs to Christ and his members in common, I therefore deny that the faithful can ever be conquered or overwhelmed by him.
They are frequently filled with consternation, but recover themselves again; they fall by the violence of his blows, but are raised up again; they are wounded, but not mortally; finally, they labor through their whole lives in such a manner as at last to obtain the victory.
Frogs in a Boiling Pot of Crime, Part IV
Miles to Go
In his book, Badlands David Fraser makes the point that the NZ Police force is undermanned. To be sure, no-one appreciates a fat, bloated inefficient government department. But policing is a core government responsibility, and even less appreciation should apply when a police force is overwhelmed by crime.
But is it really true that the police force is undermanned and that crime is winning? The current received wisdom is that for the first time in a long time we are winning the battle against crime. The government has set targets for fighting crime: by June 2017, reduce total crime by 15 per cent, violent crime by 20 per cent, and youth crime by 5 per cent. In July 2013 it announced progress made:
In his book, Badlands David Fraser makes the point that the NZ Police force is undermanned. To be sure, no-one appreciates a fat, bloated inefficient government department. But policing is a core government responsibility, and even less appreciation should apply when a police force is overwhelmed by crime.
But is it really true that the police force is undermanned and that crime is winning? The current received wisdom is that for the first time in a long time we are winning the battle against crime. The government has set targets for fighting crime: by June 2017, reduce total crime by 15 per cent, violent crime by 20 per cent, and youth crime by 5 per cent. In July 2013 it announced progress made:
In the past year, youth crime fell by 12 per cent and total crime by 6 per cent. Justice Minister Judith Collins said young people made up a third of all arrests, and if they could be kept out of court in their teens then they stood a good chance of staying out of the justice system for life. NZ Herald.So far, so good. Will it continue?
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Letter From Australia (About Human Maggots)
David Suzuki drives me crazy
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, September 25, 2013 (7:48am)
The Daily Telegraph
DAVID Suzuki’s appearance on the ABC flagship program Q&A spelled the death of any credibility left in the fag end of the climate alarm movement. The affable climate alarmist is described by his acolytes in the Australian media as “iconic scientist and thinker”. He is really the Canadian Tim Flannery, with an expertise in insects rather than mammals.
At 77, Suzuki describes himself modestly as an “elder”. But his performance indicates he only has mastered the age bit of the equation, more than the wisdom.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 02
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:
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. —Psalm 27:4
Devotional:
Call to mind, I beseech you, the continual sighs you have been heaving for so long a time. Although you had many kinds of grief, I doubt not that your chief regret was that of not being permitted to devote yourself entirely to the service of God.
Consider well, whether you have not vowed daily before God, that you wished for nothing but the means of getting rid of the servitude in which you were held. Now that your wish is granted, rely upon it that God holds you to your promise.
Thinning Crowds
Burgeoning Doubt
As expected, there has been much ado about very little. The UN IPCC report on global warming, and the faithful troops are trying to gin up the crusade once again. Most acknowledge that the drive to save the planet and humankind had become desultory and distracted, to say the least. One might even say the febricity has cooled off. But now, at last, an event. The IPCC is about to publish. The news media, the chattering classes, the halls of academia have something to trumpet forth once again.
Except that it is all empty theatre. You can sense it. Our own politicians betray the cause as lost. John Key, the current Prime Minister of New Zealand, once was very public about our need to "play our part" so that we did not lose access to our vital trading markets. Being good climate citizens was necessary to maintain open and free trade with other countries. Now, nary a peep. Now there is strong global demand for New Zealand's agricultural exports. No-one cares a fig about our carbon dioxide emissions. The economic idiocy of "food miles" has now been thoroughly debunked. Concern over global warming is passe.
But that will not stop the true believers having another go. They remind us of rabid fans trying to re-capture the glory of a once-dominant sports team. Out come the chants and the cheerleaders, only to be overwhelmed by their own echoes reverberating in a near deserted stadium.
Below are a couple of pieces illustrating the actual situation in the public sphere. Firstly, James Delingpole, writing in The Telegraph:
As expected, there has been much ado about very little. The UN IPCC report on global warming, and the faithful troops are trying to gin up the crusade once again. Most acknowledge that the drive to save the planet and humankind had become desultory and distracted, to say the least. One might even say the febricity has cooled off. But now, at last, an event. The IPCC is about to publish. The news media, the chattering classes, the halls of academia have something to trumpet forth once again.
Except that it is all empty theatre. You can sense it. Our own politicians betray the cause as lost. John Key, the current Prime Minister of New Zealand, once was very public about our need to "play our part" so that we did not lose access to our vital trading markets. Being good climate citizens was necessary to maintain open and free trade with other countries. Now, nary a peep. Now there is strong global demand for New Zealand's agricultural exports. No-one cares a fig about our carbon dioxide emissions. The economic idiocy of "food miles" has now been thoroughly debunked. Concern over global warming is passe.
But that will not stop the true believers having another go. They remind us of rabid fans trying to re-capture the glory of a once-dominant sports team. Out come the chants and the cheerleaders, only to be overwhelmed by their own echoes reverberating in a near deserted stadium.
Below are a couple of pieces illustrating the actual situation in the public sphere. Firstly, James Delingpole, writing in The Telegraph:
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter from Moscow
Ten Theses on Postmodernism
1. Truth is objective, ultimate, absolute, personal, alive, and triune.
2. Because of this ultimate reality, it is possible for creatures who were fashioned by this living God to know Him as the personal and ultimate truth, as well as to know lesser truths in the created world that we see all around us. We know Him apart from that world, and we know Him through and in that world. We know. Some of us only wish we didn’t.
3. Objective truth does not mean uninterpreted truth. Objectivity in our knowledge of truth means that our interpretation lines up with God’s interpretation of it.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
October 01
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:
I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. —Psalm 142:2
Devotional:
He tells us still more clearly in the next verse that he disburdened his cares unto God. To pour out one's thoughts and tell over his afflictions implies the reverse of those perplexing anxieties which men brood over inwardly to their own distress, and by which they torture themselves, and are chafed by their afflictions rather than led to God; or it implies the reverse of those frantic exclamations to which others give utterance who find no comfort in the superintending providence of God.
A New Oxymoron
Government Teachers
We have long been sceptical of the current fad in government schools of equating higher quality education with IT gadgets. Should new entrant students be taught to write and vocalise numbers and how to manipulate them in order to multiply, divide and subtract, or should they be provided with calculators and taught how to use them? Why, the latter of course. Increasingly, avant guarde educational theory in many circles equates education with competence in operating machines.
Cue the highly advanced, superior, modern classroom. An ipad on every desk, er. . . seat. But, then, even desks are so last century. Teachers now interact with students via private networks or e-mail. Neither teacher nor students we are told ever need to meet face to face. It is "inevitable" they will be replaced by virtual classrooms. There is existing technology which is perfectly capable of constructing this now. It's only the archaic structures of our ridiculously outmoded education system that are holding us back. Welcome to the wonderful world of cutting edge government education.
Michelle Malkin has a couple of examples of how superior this new pedagogical wave will be--and how pockets of vested interests will be lined with gold along the way.
We have long been sceptical of the current fad in government schools of equating higher quality education with IT gadgets. Should new entrant students be taught to write and vocalise numbers and how to manipulate them in order to multiply, divide and subtract, or should they be provided with calculators and taught how to use them? Why, the latter of course. Increasingly, avant guarde educational theory in many circles equates education with competence in operating machines.
Cue the highly advanced, superior, modern classroom. An ipad on every desk, er. . . seat. But, then, even desks are so last century. Teachers now interact with students via private networks or e-mail. Neither teacher nor students we are told ever need to meet face to face. It is "inevitable" they will be replaced by virtual classrooms. There is existing technology which is perfectly capable of constructing this now. It's only the archaic structures of our ridiculously outmoded education system that are holding us back. Welcome to the wonderful world of cutting edge government education.
Michelle Malkin has a couple of examples of how superior this new pedagogical wave will be--and how pockets of vested interests will be lined with gold along the way.
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