Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Kind Words or Hate Speech?
I was crying profusely. My favorite uncle had just punished me for what I thought was such a minor infraction. I was not crying due to physical pain, because he had been gentle, but firm. I was crying because he had dared to correct me. My infraction: watching him weld without wearing my welder’s helmet. Was he hateful to be so stern with his young nephew? Considering that prolonged activity of that sort would have allowed ultraviolet radiation to cause damage to my eyes, I think not. I would not have detected the damage until hours later, and a repeated injury of this sort might have resulted in cataracts. Teaching me to take care of my eyes was one of the kindest things my uncle could do for me.
I am alarmed about a social trend which defines the hateful as kind and the kind as hateful. Parents are discouraged from giving their children loving direction. A humanistic cultural revolution is preaching tolerance while extinguishing time-proven morals and values through legislative, judicial and executive manipulation. Whenever someone with common sense speaks up concerning an issue they are reprimanded with accusations that they are engaging in “hate speech” -- as if it is hateful to tell the truth. This is a recipe for societal collapse.
The Bible warns: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) If we’re not careful people who should know better will react as I did when I was a pre-teen peeking at my uncle’s welding arc; we will think of kindness as being hateful. The truth is that it is sometimes more hateful to not point out the dangers of certain activities. The kindest thing we can do is to hold fast to long-held morals and values, in spite of the politically correct rhetoric that deems such expressions of love as hateful.
Allow me to clarify with a few examples of what I would consider to be kind words and what I would consider to be hate speech:
Kind words:
1. Don’t stick things into electrical sockets.
2. Don’t play in traffic or play with guns.
3. Killing babies is wrong.
4. There are house rules you must obey.
5. It’s always wrong to cheat on your spouse.
6. Not all roads lead to heaven.
7. Be the man God made you to be.
8. Unlike in the movies, you are responsible for your actions.
9. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
10. Life on earth is just the entryway to a much longer and better life, for those who choose eternal life in Christ.
Real hate speech:
1. Whatever feels good, do it.
2. Believing in absolutes is bigotry.
3. Whatever you do, take care of #1.
4. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.
5. God doesn’t care how you behave.
6. There is no such thing as evil.
7. Whatever makes sense to you is what is moral.
8. We accidently evolved from lower forms of life.
9. There is safe sex outside of marriage.
10. When you die you cease to exist.
As a former school teacher, I can assure you that children left to their own judgment do not instinctively create a safe and healthy learning environment. Our children need kind words. I have also lived long enough to have some of my former students thank me for the kind words of discipline which I spoke into their lives decades ago. Parents, teachers, students, bosses, policy makers, city council members, ministers….thank you for your kind words. Thank you for risking your politically correct status and speaking the truth in love.
I am alarmed about a social trend which defines the hateful as kind and the kind as hateful. Parents are discouraged from giving their children loving direction. A humanistic cultural revolution is preaching tolerance while extinguishing time-proven morals and values through legislative, judicial and executive manipulation. Whenever someone with common sense speaks up concerning an issue they are reprimanded with accusations that they are engaging in “hate speech” -- as if it is hateful to tell the truth. This is a recipe for societal collapse.
The Bible warns: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) If we’re not careful people who should know better will react as I did when I was a pre-teen peeking at my uncle’s welding arc; we will think of kindness as being hateful. The truth is that it is sometimes more hateful to not point out the dangers of certain activities. The kindest thing we can do is to hold fast to long-held morals and values, in spite of the politically correct rhetoric that deems such expressions of love as hateful.
Allow me to clarify with a few examples of what I would consider to be kind words and what I would consider to be hate speech:
Kind words:
1. Don’t stick things into electrical sockets.
2. Don’t play in traffic or play with guns.
3. Killing babies is wrong.
4. There are house rules you must obey.
5. It’s always wrong to cheat on your spouse.
6. Not all roads lead to heaven.
7. Be the man God made you to be.
8. Unlike in the movies, you are responsible for your actions.
9. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
10. Life on earth is just the entryway to a much longer and better life, for those who choose eternal life in Christ.
Real hate speech:
1. Whatever feels good, do it.
2. Believing in absolutes is bigotry.
3. Whatever you do, take care of #1.
4. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.
5. God doesn’t care how you behave.
6. There is no such thing as evil.
7. Whatever makes sense to you is what is moral.
8. We accidently evolved from lower forms of life.
9. There is safe sex outside of marriage.
10. When you die you cease to exist.
As a former school teacher, I can assure you that children left to their own judgment do not instinctively create a safe and healthy learning environment. Our children need kind words. I have also lived long enough to have some of my former students thank me for the kind words of discipline which I spoke into their lives decades ago. Parents, teachers, students, bosses, policy makers, city council members, ministers….thank you for your kind words. Thank you for risking your politically correct status and speaking the truth in love.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Would Our Government Fund Slavery?
Amid the clamor of those groping for government handouts are a couple of unexpected petitioners. “…adult-entertainment moguls Larry Flynt and Joe Francis said Wednesday that they are asking Washington for a $5 billion federal bailout, claiming that the porn business is suffering from the soft economy….The request, Francis said, was being made in a letter to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The $5 billion figure, he said, reflects the decline in U.S. adult-entertainment- industry revenue from $18 billion three years ago. (Kevin Modesti of the LA Daily News, Thursday, January 08, 2009)
Surely they jest! How could such an inhumane industry even be considered for government assistance? Pornography is a type of modern-day slavery; it enslaves the viewed and the viewers. Just as prospective masters used to look at the teeth, the muscle tone, and the attractiveness of the humans they traded, modern consumers browse magazines, movies and the internet looking at body parts and lewd behavior they can purchase. Those who pose are literally selling their bodies and those who watch often find that their minds and emotions become addicted (enslaved) to it.
Admittedly, some of these sex objects are in the business of their own free will. However, many are doing it because of their desperate financial straits and some (especially children and teens) are doing it because they have no choice. Wouldn’t it be rather hypocritical for America to celebrate its decency and sensitivity to civil rights and then financially underwrite pornography?
Pornography is one of the largest industries of our day. Morally speaking it is just as despicable as the slum Lords, sweat shop owners and slave traders of yesteryear. This industry is dumping more toxic waste into the streams of society than all the factories in the world are dumping into our physical waterways. If the industry is waning, we would do well to let it fail. After all, self-respecting society doesn’t encourage its citizens to parade their nakedness and gawk at the nakedness of others.
Women should be especially offended by this business. Many readers will agree with Raymond Woodward who wrote: Women who have failed to condemn pornography have “unwittingly aided the most heinous assault against the female gender ever devised in the pits of hell…It is a virus that kills intimacy, dignity, reality, and spirituality. It snuffs out the soul of everyone it touches, because it reduces humanity to a commodity to be used…Gary Brooks, a psychologist who studies pornography at A&M university, has demonstrated that even “soft-core” pornography has a very negative effect on men because ‘it’s voyeurism—it teaches men to view women as objects rather than to be in relationships with women as human beings.’” (The Pentecostal Herald)
I Thessalonians 4:3 and I Corinthians 6:18 advise us to “flee fornication” (sex outside of biblical marriage), not because it is a forbidden joy, but because it is slavery. If you are bound by pornography it might be an encouragement to know that many people have been set free. The key is to get to know God intimately. Let Him give you a life of dignity and self-respect by means of His unconditional love.
On September 22, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states. We celebrate that legislation, and we should. But, it is high time for emancipation from the slavery of pornography. Men, treat your wives, daughters and girlfriends with respect and dignity. Women, do the same for the men in your life. Emancipate your mind. Emancipate children and young people who are selling their bodies and souls. Don’t buy the stuff and ask your government not to underwrite those who do. That is all it would take to bankrupt this whole system of slavery.
Surely they jest! How could such an inhumane industry even be considered for government assistance? Pornography is a type of modern-day slavery; it enslaves the viewed and the viewers. Just as prospective masters used to look at the teeth, the muscle tone, and the attractiveness of the humans they traded, modern consumers browse magazines, movies and the internet looking at body parts and lewd behavior they can purchase. Those who pose are literally selling their bodies and those who watch often find that their minds and emotions become addicted (enslaved) to it.
Admittedly, some of these sex objects are in the business of their own free will. However, many are doing it because of their desperate financial straits and some (especially children and teens) are doing it because they have no choice. Wouldn’t it be rather hypocritical for America to celebrate its decency and sensitivity to civil rights and then financially underwrite pornography?
Pornography is one of the largest industries of our day. Morally speaking it is just as despicable as the slum Lords, sweat shop owners and slave traders of yesteryear. This industry is dumping more toxic waste into the streams of society than all the factories in the world are dumping into our physical waterways. If the industry is waning, we would do well to let it fail. After all, self-respecting society doesn’t encourage its citizens to parade their nakedness and gawk at the nakedness of others.
Women should be especially offended by this business. Many readers will agree with Raymond Woodward who wrote: Women who have failed to condemn pornography have “unwittingly aided the most heinous assault against the female gender ever devised in the pits of hell…It is a virus that kills intimacy, dignity, reality, and spirituality. It snuffs out the soul of everyone it touches, because it reduces humanity to a commodity to be used…Gary Brooks, a psychologist who studies pornography at A&M university, has demonstrated that even “soft-core” pornography has a very negative effect on men because ‘it’s voyeurism—it teaches men to view women as objects rather than to be in relationships with women as human beings.’” (The Pentecostal Herald)
I Thessalonians 4:3 and I Corinthians 6:18 advise us to “flee fornication” (sex outside of biblical marriage), not because it is a forbidden joy, but because it is slavery. If you are bound by pornography it might be an encouragement to know that many people have been set free. The key is to get to know God intimately. Let Him give you a life of dignity and self-respect by means of His unconditional love.
On September 22, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states. We celebrate that legislation, and we should. But, it is high time for emancipation from the slavery of pornography. Men, treat your wives, daughters and girlfriends with respect and dignity. Women, do the same for the men in your life. Emancipate your mind. Emancipate children and young people who are selling their bodies and souls. Don’t buy the stuff and ask your government not to underwrite those who do. That is all it would take to bankrupt this whole system of slavery.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mounting Proof Against Evolution
Our society is the best observable evidence that the theory of evolution doesn’t hold true. Crime is up, divorce is up, faith in God is down, greed and sloth are increasing. Few people will disagree that, in their lifetimes, our society has degenerated. We are in desperate need of a fresh infusion of goodness.
According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the concept of entropy, over time all systems tend to become more disorderly and break down. Organisms and systems don’t naturally evolve from bad to good or from lower forms of life to higher forms of life. In the case of social and moral systems, entropy has been proven again and again. Our society in no exception, and most honest citizens are recognizing that things are getting worse. Our nation was formed based on faith in the Christian God, freedom, honesty and family. Those values are not only disappearing, they are being openly and officially opposed.
Consider the evidence. Alcoholism, drug abuse and extra marital affairs used to be private matters, but now they are the central factors in most high profile deaths, arrests and trials. The best paid people in our society used to be those in the helping, protecting or building professions, but now entertainers, money brokers and sports figures are best paid and even demand exorbitant salaries. As demonstrated by popular entertainment, our treatment of one another has grown less civil and even vicious… almost animalistic at times. We are never more like lower forms of animal life than when we mate in public, pay to see people bash one another, and publically flaunt selfishness and greed. One need not look any further than movies and daytime television to see that these behaviors are becoming “normal”.
If evolution holds true and is still working, mankind would be becoming less like animals, the world would be getting less polluted and every endangered species would simply adapt and save itself. If the creation is true and still working, when things get bad God, the source of life and every good thing, can fix it. Mankind naturally gets worse until God is allowed to step in and provides the strength to change. Of course, if we choose to refuse His help by not applying his principles to our nation, our family, or our personal lives, things will get worse and worse.
But, enough of the diagnosis. There is a huge silver lining to this dark cloud. Mankind was created with the capacity for love, decency, creativity, kindness, humility…. and when a person or a society finds itself bankrupt of these virtues, they can turn to God and be renewed. The Bible says it like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV) An infusion of goodness is possible. Revival can still happen. God provides the power; we provide the desire.
In fact, if we choose to live God’s way, we have the privilege of being the best observable evidence that there is a Creator. Think of it: cultural deterioration proves that time alone does not make things better but that things naturally go downhill, but one changed life becomes proof that God’s is powerful and creative. The end result is that both good and evil are proving that all good things come from God.
According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the concept of entropy, over time all systems tend to become more disorderly and break down. Organisms and systems don’t naturally evolve from bad to good or from lower forms of life to higher forms of life. In the case of social and moral systems, entropy has been proven again and again. Our society in no exception, and most honest citizens are recognizing that things are getting worse. Our nation was formed based on faith in the Christian God, freedom, honesty and family. Those values are not only disappearing, they are being openly and officially opposed.
Consider the evidence. Alcoholism, drug abuse and extra marital affairs used to be private matters, but now they are the central factors in most high profile deaths, arrests and trials. The best paid people in our society used to be those in the helping, protecting or building professions, but now entertainers, money brokers and sports figures are best paid and even demand exorbitant salaries. As demonstrated by popular entertainment, our treatment of one another has grown less civil and even vicious… almost animalistic at times. We are never more like lower forms of animal life than when we mate in public, pay to see people bash one another, and publically flaunt selfishness and greed. One need not look any further than movies and daytime television to see that these behaviors are becoming “normal”.
If evolution holds true and is still working, mankind would be becoming less like animals, the world would be getting less polluted and every endangered species would simply adapt and save itself. If the creation is true and still working, when things get bad God, the source of life and every good thing, can fix it. Mankind naturally gets worse until God is allowed to step in and provides the strength to change. Of course, if we choose to refuse His help by not applying his principles to our nation, our family, or our personal lives, things will get worse and worse.
But, enough of the diagnosis. There is a huge silver lining to this dark cloud. Mankind was created with the capacity for love, decency, creativity, kindness, humility…. and when a person or a society finds itself bankrupt of these virtues, they can turn to God and be renewed. The Bible says it like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV) An infusion of goodness is possible. Revival can still happen. God provides the power; we provide the desire.
In fact, if we choose to live God’s way, we have the privilege of being the best observable evidence that there is a Creator. Think of it: cultural deterioration proves that time alone does not make things better but that things naturally go downhill, but one changed life becomes proof that God’s is powerful and creative. The end result is that both good and evil are proving that all good things come from God.
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