D is for Dinosaur

On Friday, the wife and I ended up going to a local Christian book store. Find out what a little digging around the book shelves got me.

D is for Dumb

Conservatives and Christians both have some thinking to do, and based upon recent history, they need to be thinking a lot harder.

I've kind of been on hiatus this week as I work

to get other projects up and running, but here is a little bit of consolation, anyway, a funny joke about an atheist: The Atheist in the Woods. Not all of the jokes under the "religious" section are very pious, but this is another funny one that's okay: Infallible behind the wheel .

Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly in the near future.

Most Jewish Israelis do not want more churches in Jerusalem

I am a huge fan of Israel. I believe in the lasting Israeli nation and in our responsibility to protect it from the evils that surround it, but one thing that Israel must improve upon is to stop being so similar to the evil nations that surround it and to embrace religious freedom.

In an article from Haaretz, Most Jewish Israelis do not want more churches in Jerusalem, we see the opinions that Jews living in Israel have towards Christianity, and for many of us it is probably a bit shocking. A constant theme in Israel is disgust for Christian missionaries and copies of the New Testament have been burned by officials in the last two years.

To quote from the article, "The survey, carried out by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies and the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, 74 percent of respondents do not see Christians as "missionaries," and 76 percent are not bothered by encountering a Christian wearing a cross."

The first thing you should realize is that the word "missionaries" is essentially a bad word in Israel. It's not quite as ugly as "terrorist," but it's not far behind. It has a very negative connotation. And so 26 percent of respondents to this survey considered Christians as "missionaries," but even more troubling is that 24% are bothered by merely encountering someone wearing a cross.

We must open our eyes to what Israel is when we think of Israeli and Middle Eastern relations. To be certain, my heart lies with Israel and against the Religion of Murder that surrounds her, but Israel must, too, come to God and become a more open and gentle nation.

Church Jokes and Funny Emails

So I have a new site up and running called Funny Email, and I have a section called Church Jokes, although I'm not sure all these jokes would be appropriate to be told church (none contain any profanity, but one in particular is a little racy).

Check out the one called "Church Bloopers." It's one of those collections of funny things either announced in church or in the church bulletin.

By the way, the site is still in process of being built, so don't mind the mess...

Stimulus Package Not Helping Charities

Want to study the impact of cow farts on penquins? You've probably got $100 million coming your way thanks to the pork bill signed this week by Barack Obama. Are you a charity that wants to house and clothe the homeless? You were probably left out.

According to this article from The Washington Post, "faith-based charities, which provide an enormous array of private social services to the nation's sick, elderly and poor, are facing unprecedented cutbacks from one of their biggest funders: the government."

Well, when you are throwing around a trillion dollars to the favorites in your good ole boy network of liberal causes, I suppose something has to be cut back.

Read the article here: Government Cutbacks Leave Faith-Based Services Hurting

Lawsuit Over UC Berkeley's 'Evolution' Website Appealed to Supreme Court

Head...spinning...feeling...dizzy...

So if you've ever read here before, you may know that I'm a huge fan of both Christianity and science. At UC Berkeley, where you wouldn't normally expect to find folks of reason, but rather folks chained to trees, they created a rather nice website on evolution and religion. Per this article from The Christian Post, the site explained:

"Religion and science (evolution) are very different things. In science (as
in science class), only natural causes are used to explain natural phenomena,
while religion deals with beliefs that are beyond the natural world."

"The misconception that one always has to choose between science and
religion is incorrect. Of course, some religious beliefs explicitly contradict
science (e.g., the belief that the world and all life on it was created in six
literal days); however, most religious groups have no conflict with the theory
of evolution or other scientific findings. In fact, many religious people,
including theologians, feel that a deeper understanding of nature actually
enriches their faith. Moreover, in the scientific community there are thousands
of scientists who are devoutly religious and also accept evolution," the page
states.

The page also contains a link to the National Center of Science Education Web page that features statements from religious organizations - including General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, Roman Catholic Church and United Methodist Church - in support of evolution.

Sadly, this was too radical for fundamentalist fruitcake Jeanne Caldwell, who has sued on the basis of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Thanks, Jeanne. You are continuing the perhaps irreparable harm to Christianity that has been the hallmark of fundamentalism.

Baha'is welcome support from Iranian intellectuals worldwide

Baha'is welcome support from Iranian intellectuals worldwide

The Baha’i International Community has issued a statement of gratitude to the Iranian intellectuals, scholars, writers, journalists, activists and artists throughout the world who signed a recent open letter apologizing for their silence during Iran’s long-running mistreatment of the Baha’is.

Baha’i is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

I'm not a huge fan of Baha'i, though it is an interesting religion which claims that most of the world's greatest religious figures, including Jesus, Krishna, Buddha and Muhammad were all anointed messengers from God. But what I am a huge fan of is religious freedom and tolerance in the Middle East, western Asia and across Africa. From Libya and Israel to Iran and practically everywhere in that large region, religious tolerance is virtually non-existent, which is the main reason that this part of the world is so constantly in turmoil.

Jesus Hates Me, This I Know; For the Bible Tells Me So

One of the strangest and most destructive parts of fundamentalism is the "Jesus Hates You" movement being experienced in various churches around America. This may be, and in my mind is, the worst heresy against Christianity ever committed.

How did this philosophy find a foothold in a book about God's love for his sinners? To be certain, the Bible is filled with passages that display God's displeasure with his people, the Israelites, when they continue to go far astray of his laws. But each of these statements were directed to a specific situation and using them today as a foundational tenet of Christianity is pure insanity. How can Jesus tell us to love our enemies and then hate us? If God so loved us that He sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins, then how can he hate us?

The entire concept of God hating his creations is just so opposite the truth as presented in the Bible that it is difficult to wrap one's brain around. How can people believe and even preach this? They certainly have no relationship with God.

Church in America Marked by Decline

No, this is not another rant against the fundamentalists, although I could easily turn it into one. This is a rant, on the other hand, about what counts for missions in today's churches.

The impetus for this story comes from The Christian Chronicle, a monthly paper put out by the Church of Christ. It reports on a comprehensive study that shows statistically significant declines in church going, particularly since 2003. This, I believe, should be the principal goal of missions now in churches around the world. After all, singing songs at nursing homes is great, but the Great Commission is to spread the word. We are not spreading the word.

Every week churches all across America do the traditional forms of outreaches. We play Upward Basketball, which is good. We send cards to troops in Iraq, which is good. We run Angel Food Ministries, visit hospitals and senior centers--all good. What we don't do, by and large, is have outreaches to people who need it most, those who have left the church or never started in the church to begin with.

First on my list is parents. Children who don't grow up in a loving church are almost always lost. Very few ever find their way to God later in life. Every effort should be made to get out into the community and get to the parents, who need to be made to understand that they are creating spiritually bankrupt children who will struggle later in life.

And what about your average young worker? We make care packages for the fire department, but what about care packages for the cashiers at the grocery store? What about a little happy note and an invitation to church?

It is time to step out of the box and reach for the people who need saving.

Pope Reacts to Israel's Anger Over Holocaust Denier

This story from The New York Times emphasizes two remarkable things: One, that people from developed nations can still be so hopelessly lost as to deny the holocaust, and two, that Israel continues to fight like Michael Vick's dogs every single dissenting lunatic.

What's the point? There will always be people who believe that the holocaust didn't happen, or wasn't as bad as advertised, or that we didn't land on the moon, or that the Earth is 10,000 years old or that 9-11 was a government plot. And coming out voraciously, swinging wildly at the entire Catholic Church, is not a proper way to handle such things and to rehabilitate a constantly declining world image.

What would you tell your child to do if there were one kid at school who kept telling him that he had green skin? Your reaction might be different depending upon the reactions of the other children. Is there a chance that the other kids will start believing this kid? Of course not. Are the other kids joining in the harassment? If not, you simply have one loan, weird kid. Would you demand an accounting of the school or would you tell your child to laugh it off?

By playing the perpetual, angry victim, Israel can hope to remain the world's pariah for eternity.

Judgmental Fundamentalists Drive Atheist Anger

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life," so say the bus ads running in countries around the world. The ads are a response to a fundamentalist ad that directed people to a website that told them they were going to spend an eternity in Hell.

Just from your average, non-lunatic fringe Christian, I would like to beg, plead with fundamentalists to stop being so foolish and to stop trying to drive people away from Christianity.

You are the modern Pharisees.

The story from the Washington Times is here: Atheists' bus ad campaign gains global momentum

This Week in Christian News - 1/23/09

Pulling favorites from the feeds in the right columns:



Was Rick Warren's Invocation Less Inclusive Than He Let On?

If splitting hairs were like splitting atoms, the world would be annihilated after the whining that comes from U.S. News and World Report on Rick Warren's "inclusive" prayer.

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Amnesty calls on UK government to help Obama shut Guantanamo

Amnesty International and liberal Christians fight to free murderers.

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Methodist anger at Government’s ‘immoral’ gambling proposals

Methodists in England take an unusually conservative position against gambling. Wouldn't you know? My church finally takes a conservative position on something and it messes up my poker playing. Remember the greatest of the laws: Thou shall not go all-in with less that three-of-a-kind.

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Abortion Film '22 Weeks' Disturbs, Exposes

If you think abortion is cool, you need to go read this. The movie is "based on a true account of a woman who sought a late-term abortion but found herself living a nightmare."

Angela, the mother, changed her mind when she saw her baby, who was born alive, but the abortion clinic refused to help her and even tried to turn away 911 assistance.

I don't believe I'll actually be able to watch the movie. Just reading about it is horrible enough.

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A Prayer for President Obama

We know that you and you alone are sovereign; that you rule over all, and that you alone are able to keep and defend us. We know that our times are in your hands, and that "the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord" [Proverbs 21:1].

Okay, so that's actually directed at the real God and not the new messiah, but it's funnier this way. Actually, you should go read the entire prayer, a very worthwhile endeavor.

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1400 Flowers to be Placed in Front of White House Today in Honor of 1400 African American Children Slain Each Day Through Abortion

That's pretty much it, but read below.

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Obama praises Roe decision on anniversary

Per the "Magic Negro" as the L.A. Times likes to call him:

On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.

Which brings us to our last article for the week in review:

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Evangelical Alliance to send new Bible to Obama

That's great because apparently the one he has contains very poor translations regarding commandments not to kill and to defend the innocent.

Rick Warren Prayer

Yesterday's inaugural prayers, including the prayer of Rick Warren, signal yet another potential shift away from public spirituality in the never-ending quest of liberalism to create a thoroughly secular world where acknowledgement of God takes place only in private and becomes a shameful act to be hidden away from those too sensitive to view.

Under the mantel of "freedom from religion," public ceremonies like yesterday's inaugural are becoming more and more ridiculous. Almost stopped altogether by lawsuits from atheists, Christian Pastor Rick Warren managed to stand before the world and deliver a "diverse" prayer, including nods to Judaism and Islam. (You can read a fawning article regarding diversity in the inaugural prayer here.)

Besides the absurdity of seeing "America's Preacher" become pantheistic, there is the serious question of how much longer a public person will still maintain the constitutional right to freedom of religion. As a Christian, I would not acknowledge other faiths in prayer, and while Obama, who wishes to be everything to everyone, finds it suitable and right to stand before the country and give a nod to nonbelievers, as he did in his address, this will soon be expected behavior from every public official whether they wish it so or not. And the step after will be the loss of the ability to mention religion in any way at all.

This country needs to recognize that specifically secular behavior and speech should be categorized in the same way as religious behavior and speech. All should be protected equally, and those who are traditionally religious or practice secular religion should be encouraged, whether publicly or privately, to be open with their beliefs. Instead, we find ourselves in a world of secular evangelists spreading the anti-religion word as aggressively as any religion is being spread currently in the world. There is, in fact, a sort of secular jihad, or crusade, to wipe religion from public view.

The reality of the U.S. Constitution, and regardless of what activist judges may have ruled in the past, is that there is no reason for municipalities to have to remove things such as the Ten Commandments from public buildings or to take nativity scenes off of public green space. None of these acts establish a state religion, nor deny anyone their right to worship, as is stated in the First Amendment.

Expressions of religion should not be considered to be "establishing" a state religion because nothing is required of the populace. A requirement, just so that we know the difference, would be to force public school students to say the Lord's Prayer, a specifically Christian act. To be even more specific, I believe that to encourage a "moment of prayer" in school is a possible violation, but a "moment of prayer or reflection" is definitely not. Yet the mere mention of the word prayer in school sets off a secularist's alarms and sends him into an emotional breakdown.

And so this is the battle that we are facing today, that progressive secularists are waging an escalating war over the very basic right to practice religion openly. People of faith, of all faiths, need to band together and fight for their religious freedom.

The Proposition 8 Video

Jack Black and friends have made an anti-Proposition 8 music video that is raising some eyebrows because it attempts to further the gay agenda by showing the Bible in an absurd light. Prancing around as Jesus with a shrimp cocktail, Black tells about "all" the things the Bible says you can and can't do, like eating shell fish is bad; selling your daughter into slavery is good, etc.

He then says that either you agree with all or you are picking and choosing.

This is not correct, of course. All of this is taken out of context and used for nothing more than to belittle Christianity for the benefit of the homosexual civil rights movement. As I have said in the past, I have no problem with gay marriage and think that, to a small extent, some Christians have brought this upon themselves by their intolerance. However, this video crosses the line and then some, by attacking many innocent Christians with a piece that has no scholarship, but very effective propaganda.

The producers and artists associated with this video should be ashamed.

The Bible's Buried Secrets, Chapter One: Merneptah Stele

Okay, so my plan to review PBS's "The Bible's Buried Secrets" on a chapter by chapter basis may be a little aggressive and overestimating the amount of information provided in each chapter, but we'll still give it a shot.

A quick note on production quality before I get angry (just guessing): it does appear to have been beautifully put together if the first chapter is any indication. The soundtrack is commingled with somber, atmospheric musical notes and sonorous sound effects, and a lot of the reenactments have an earthy, washed visual effect that makes for a very pleasant experience. The overall impact of the storytelling style is to create, in fact, a "buried secrets" feel. One becomes fully engrossed and almost edge-of-seat, as though the most amazing puzzle is going to be joined in your presence. Very well done.

Chapter One: Merneptah Stele, running time 6:45

This chapter introduces the Merneptah Stele and, I presume, creates the foundation upon which the puzzle will be worked. William Dever states, "You cannot afford to ignore the biblical text, especially if you can isolate a kind of kernel of truth behind these stories and then you have the archaeological data. Now what happens when text and artifact seem to point in the same direction? Then, I think, we are on a very sound ground, historically."

Merneptah Stele: The Merneptah Stele, dated to 1208 B.C., is the earliest, undisputed reference to a people known as Israel and places them in Canaan.

This, of course, would be argued by some, but no surviving books of the Bible exist that date to anything near this age, and the Amarna letters, which mention the Habiru, are in dispute, not as to their age or authenticity but as to who the Habiru were. Were they Hebrews or some other tribe? And, of course, there are other claims that are impossible to verify regarding early stages of the Hebrew language showing up in Egyptian caves. Nevertheless, the Merneptah Stele is now, and may forever be, the earliest undisputed reference to Israel.

Not that it's a polite reference. The one line devoted to the Israelites is this: "Israel has been shorn. Its seed no longer exists."

This means that the earliest verified mention of Israel is incorrect, but the accuracy of ancient texts, much like modern texts on the Internet, is never much of a stumbling block. You merely take what you can from such things. In this case, you take Israel in Canaan in 1208 b.c., possibly near devastated in a battle with Merneptah. That's pretty useful stuff.

You cannot afford to ignore the biblical text: This is a pretty generous statement by William Dever, don't you think? The truth is that there is not much else to go on, so folks like Dever must suffer it against their wills. Much like the Merneptah Stele, they will tell you that the Bible is filled with nonsense and/or exaggerations that one must sort through.

Be that as it may, archaeology does, in fact, require more than a "believing everything you read" attitude even if that includes the Bible, so the rest of his statement, "especially if you can isolate a kind of kernel of truth behind these stories and then you have the archaeological data," is to be the expected attitude among scholars.

Where exactly the stories and the artifacts match up for the makers of "The Bible's Buried Secrets" must be buried in future chapters because the first chapter essentially ends with the acknowledgement that there were Israelites in Canaan in 1208 b.c. One open question as Chapter One concludes is "How did the Israelites, alone among ancient peoples, discover the concept of one god?"

Perhaps this will be answered in Chapter Two, or maybe it will come later because the description for Chapter Two is:

Who Wrote the Bible?
Traditional beliefs hold that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, but scholars today identify the hand of at least four different groups of scribes writing over several hundred years. running time 6:52

Should be interesting. See you tomorrow.

PBS: Bible's Buried Secrets

This much-hyped show produced for PBS on Biblical archaeology I am preparing to watch and comment on over the next week or so beginning tomorrow. You can watch along by going here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/program.html

I must profess to beginning from an unsympathetic point of view. One of the principals of the show, scholar William G. Dever, described it in to The Christian Post as being "a shocking film in many ways, but it’s truth, revolutionary."

Typically when a scholar describes a work in this way we can be prepared for the worst sort of flimsy and whimsical speculation, which always, without fail, assaults the basic premises of Christianity. In any event, I will suffer through and give my reports and try to keep an open mind.

We'll begin with Chapter One, described by Nova as:

Merneptah Stele
Near the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt, in 1896, archaeologist Flinders Petrie unearths an Egyptian stone monument containing the first mention of a people named Israel.

First report coming tomorrow.

11-18-08 | Christians and Gays Clash in San Francisco

From World Net Daily, Sparks fly as 'gay' activist mob swarms Christians

For some reason that is beyond me, we Christians are ramping up our anti-gay agenda in California and other states, once again showing the world that Christianity is the place to be if you are angry about other people.

There is a saying amongst Christians that goes, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." If you asked these folks who were in a gay district of San Francisco, they likely would defend their behavior with this sort of nonsense. In fact, the Christians told the gay people that they loved them, thereby achieving a sort of blameless, judgmental nirvana.

The Bible tends not to rank sins except that sins against God (faithlessness and worshiping false gods, for instance) tend to be greater than sins against man. And the sins committed against another are greater than the sins committed against self.

The bottom line is this: you worry about your own personal sins until you become perfect, and then you may begin to worry about the personal sins of others. In the meantime, the primary sin of others you should concern yourself with is the sin of accepting the sacrifice of Christ. Spread the Word.

Operation Shoebox Charity Auction

Bill O'Reilly is running a charity auction for Operation Shoebox, which sends much needed care packages to troops overseas.

The winners of the auction will receive a beautifully framed American flag that flew over Kuwait and a certificate of authenticity. The bidding prices are, at least for now, surprisingly low and would make a fantastic Father's Day gift--and what a great cause for the money to go to.

The auction ends on June 4th at 9:30 pm PDT (east coasters may have to stay up late to get those last bids in).

To go to O'Reilly's auction site, click here.

New York and Gay Marriages

In this article from CNN, New York to recognize gay marriages, we learn that "The governor's legal counsel told state agencies in a May 14 memo to revise policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in California and Massachusetts as well as Canada and other countries that allow gays and lesbians to marry, said Erin Duggan, the governor's spokeswoman."

New York doesn't actually marry gay couples, but they are going to recognize the marriages from other states. From information in the article, Massachusetts, "New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut permit civil unions, while California has a domestic-partner registration law."

As you know if you've been reading this site, I don't mind telling you what I think even if I'm pretty certain that no one will like it. This will be much the same. You see, as Christians, it is not for us to make immorality illegal. It is for us to try to evangelize the true message of God. Becoming so involved in the U.S. secular government by trying to impose the laws of God on the laws of the country is overstepping our bounds and is, again, not a way to win converts. People will always sin no matter what we make illegal. You will always sin though you might be a Christian. Should we find all the ways that you and I sin and make them illegal in the U.S.?

Furthermore, Jesus died for all our sins, not just the sins of Christians and certainly not just for the sins of those who sin the least or only partake in a particular types of sins.

Matthew 7:1-31Do not judge, or you too will be judged.2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Added a bar...

Or, I suppose, that would be BAR. The daily news feed for the Biblical Archaeology Review has been added to the bottom of the first news column.