Gadfly's Muse

Michael Cromartie: Facilitator of Bridge Building

Michael Cromartie, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center  and chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom spoke at our church last evening.  His topic was "Red God, Blue God: Religion, Politics , and the Media."

Mr. Cromartie came to speak to us through the cooperation of our local Fellowship Of Evangelical Presbyterian Churches (we're all PCA) and the audience was a representative sampling of about 5 different churches.

This Is Kind Of Fun

Get yourself rated in politics and social ideas: OKCupid!Politics Test

I wound up being a Centrist, with a well developed moral sense.  How 'bout that.

Progressives Scare Me - especially Sam Harris & Statistics

(Very Long Post follows - sorry, I got started and just went on and on, oh well, if you want to read it anyway, here it is.)

For those who may not be aware of some recent events. 

1.  A fellow name Sam Harris is actively promoting  the general idea that fundamentalist Christians pose a direct threat to the health and well being of society.  You can hear him at Sam Harris at Idea City .  He also has a book out ("The End of Faith") that I will read and critique at a later date. 

2.  A recent study was published and reviewed by the London Times (Societies Worse Off When They Have God) .  I tracked down the report, downloaded it and read it.  It seeks to establish some correlation between the presence of a large religious segment in "modern, democratic, first world, societies" and dysfunction within those societies.  What it seeks to do is disprove that religion has a positive effect of social well being.

On the Unscrewing the Inscrutable blog there has been much made over these two things by the progressive, agnostic / atheistic  side of the house.  I posted the following as a response there and offer it here for any who may desire to read it.

Gas-Aholics Anonymous: Call the meeting to order

(Later Edit: breaking news:  NOW IT IS OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY - remember, you read it here first )
New York Times, today,    President Calls For Less Driving

With fears mounting that high energy costs will crimp economic growth, President Bush called on Americans yesterday to conserve gasoline by driving less. He also issued a directive for all federal agencies to cut their own energy use and to encourage employees to use public transportation...."We can all pitch in," Mr. Bush said. "People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption," he added, and that if Americans are able to avoid going "on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."  (later edit ends here)

 

OK - since I posted a call for all of us Gas-Aholics to start down the torturous pathway of cutting back on our addiction (The Must Not Be An Oil Crisis ) I am hereby convening the first meeting of our mutual encouragement and support group (GasAnon).

We will encourage each other with how our efforts are showing fruit.  I will seek to give glorious accolades and places of honor, here and at other nationally known, significantly read, and wondrously appreciated sites.  I, of course, cannot compete for the accolades myself so I will just start the ball rolling and ask for you to communicate your own progress in whatever way you think appropriate.

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

On Tuesday, NASA scientists announced that recent observations of Mars suggest that the planet is undergoing a climatic shift. Images over the past three Martian years indicate that the southern polar cap is slowly shrinking, indicating Mars is undergoing "global warming." No word from the Left yet as to whether President Bush's rejection of the Kyoto Treaty is responsible for this.

The Federalist Patriot, Patriot No. 05-38, 23 September 2005

Justice Rode A Pale Horse

I don't know why I awoke this morning thinking about "westerns."  Perhaps it was inevitable since, due to the dearth of decent programming on cable TV I watched John Wayne's The Shootist the other night.  It is arguably his best work and one of the best of the genre.

I don't really have a great deal of heart burn with modern kids' preference for the so called "action flicks."  The spectacular car chase scenes are just replacements for the Western's inevitable stage coach chase.  Today's movies are a lot more gory, the language is terrible and the good guys as well as the bad guys sport a three day stubble beard, but when you find one where the offense is not too great, the story line is usually about the same as the old horse operas.

Cross posted at Theologica

Post Modern Cartesian Doubt



(Click on graphic to enlarge)


Thanks to jeremiah horner [[email protected]]
In case the caption is not clear - it says "What if we're not real.... What if we're all just cartoon characters on a birthday card?"

Vocation & Purpose: In Dialog With Mark

Over on Theologica  Mark Roberts and I have been posting some thoughts on "Vocation".  Mark has been focusing on the general spheres of our "calling" - to be saints, holy apart unto the Lord.

My heart is aimed at a more immediate idea of vocation and hence the following.

Post starts here

I have been reading with great interest and appreciation, Mark's developing thought on the subject of Vocation & Relationship (Part 3 & Part 2) and I certainly am not in disagreement with his description of our vocation to be "saints" and sanctified ones at that. But I wonder if we must remain at the abstract and general or if Christian Vocation indeed ought to be understood also at the practical and specific.

A Presbyterian WRECK

It's a bit wordy, but you really ought to read this: WRECK And An Emerging New Culture .  The comment that where 3 or 4 presbyterians are gathered together there is usually a fifth, made it worth my while all by itself.

Katrina: An Act of Judgment, A Call For Mercy

Lots of folks have been debating how Christians should view Hurricane Katrina.  Was it an act of judgment on New Orleans in particular?  Is God actually responsible for catastrophes in this world or are they things that "just happen?"

Here is a sermon I preached on the topic :  Use it if you wish, if you republish it please treat it as copyrighted.  Comment on whatever you like - though I am well aware of my limitations as a preacher.

Download 091805katrina_relief.pdf