Internet Idiots

I really hate it when network administrators do not listen to sound adive because they are too proud to accept that their course of action is not working and will not work. So I have been unable to get internet access in my office for the past week and as soon as I find out where the router is hidden I will reset that will box myself. I'm sure that that will solve the problem, because as you see now I am using my computer to access the internet over another network. I will have something nice for you once this 'problem' is fixed. Have a good week.

School Has Started Again

As the title implies I am back to work and the higher ups have seen to it that I have a larger class load this semester than in the previous, how nice of them. I will have smaller chunks of time in which to post but I still hope to have some goodies coming your way before too much longer. In the mean time I wish you all the best.

What is a Man to Do?

[Warning: this post is one about my personal experiences of late and about my feelings that make me question the whole system around me.]

What am I to do? I, being a Christian male approaching the age of 25, see little value in the world of today. Everywhere I look I see people who are so deluded that are blindly following lies that are presented to them from all sides. I see people who have sowed but who are not permitted to reap, I see people who play with people's futures like they are nothing but chaff, and I see people who do not love anyone but themselves. I see it everywhere. I see justice being withheld in the name of affirmative action, white guilt, peace, rehabilitation, and happiness. I see women revolting from the authority of men and going into the loving arms of the welfare state. I see the people's idols everywhere, on every billboard and every movie screen, in many churches, and around every street corner. I see people playing with other people's lives and not giving two pence about the outcome.

In this world around me, given the things that I see, I can only say where is the justice? Where is the love? Where is the discipline? What do people see in this broken world where Jesus himself clearly told us that the poor will always be with us but in the humanist spirit people say that they will overcome poverty, AIDS, and even death. What foolishness. In this world the God given gift of reason is used to advocate everything from abortion to atheism. Science has become a mockery of God and now practices magic rather than the art of the discovery of God's design. Rapists and killers are not punished for their crimes but are released back into the public before their appointed time just to commit their crimes anew. People disregard the law as if it were nothing, in practice many Christians seeks to circumvent many just laws in order to help illegal immigrants. Shame on them. Justice used to be about making amends. These amends were designed to replace that which was lost. Victims should not hope in the state because it does not give them justice. It only gives criminals a middle class lifestyle albeit behind hidden steel bars while the victims are left without reimbursement when they have suffered loss of property, loss of liberty, or loss of person. The world has certainly changed, and I daresay not in the least for the better.

How I wish that I was born and lived in an earlier age where reason was reasonable and the faith of Christendom was still strong. Where wives were submissive to their husbands in everything and were soft spoken and gentile. Where children listened earnestly to their parents' teaching and applied it evenly in their life. Where the Church was a bastion of righteousness and a beacon to the masses. Where petty crimes were discouraged by serious penalties and serious crimes were settled by a quick hanging. Where one could have hope in ones savings because it was based on things of real value such as gold or silver. Where families we at the center of everyday life and life lessons could be transmitted from generation to generation. These times have long passed us by and the world is all the worse for the change.

Now I find myself engaged to a woman that has been led astray by the global warming crowd and who knows what else. Despite the proof (and truth) to the contrary everyone is hurrying about trying to stop the fallacy that is global warming by making the poor even poorer and the hungry even more hungry in an effort to stop the unstoppable. What other things will arise after we are married about more serious issues? We presently have a hard time talking to each other because whenever things turn serious she is unable to talk with me for some reason. She has told me that she gets the feeling that I am lecturing her, and I am, with good reason; and I am well within in my rights and responsibilities in that regard. She has only been exposed to Baptist teachings in her Christian life and I fear that there are many things wrong with that denomination. I came from those roots myself but I have grown and learned that things are not always as they seem and that once saved always saved was authored by Satan among other things. There are other problems with protestantism in general and I am by no means a Catholic - I have just as many quarrels with them as I do those on the other side of the schism, but how do I relate all of this to the woman who is about to become by wife? Will she follow the divine command given to her that she should be subject to me? Will I find myself able to love her like Christ loves the Church in light of these defects?

In short - these are the questions that I struggle with at this time, most of them at least for there are others; and they give me great pause.

Where Muslims Get Things Right

I know that I have been rather harsh on muslims in the past and to tell you the truth I am still harsh with them because of their actions in the aggregate. This harshness is similar to the harshness that I have for the black community but for different reasons, yet both groups are the way they are by an act of will, not by inevitability. Yet, muslims are not wrong on all fronts. In reality they get many things right and if there was not that whole Jesus problem we would most likely get along just fine just so long as they reformed their actions. The main areas where they get it right would be in the area of family, devotion, and prayer.

By family I do not mean the permitted wife beatings, but I can see where discipline is needed for an errant wife who should be subject to her husband in all things such as the Lord has commanded. The women show signs that they are not their own masters, this most commonly is observed in the head coverings. While I object to the covering of the entire face as to be unable to see only the eyes I do think that a very conservative dress is appropriate both women and men. Such actions used to be part of Church practice but they have fallen away with the westernization of the Church. See 1 Corinthians 11:3-10. Yet, we need to see the real purposes of these practices. They are intended to keep families together and to prevent what we see in the west that is commonly referred to as feminism which I call disobedience to proper authority. These efforts also reduce envy in society and make it more stable. Oddly enough it also serves to protect the women because authority is set up by God to provide protection. For example, look at government (most of them anyway, what they are supposed to do), the clergy, and the women.

By devotion I do mean the zeal with which they praise their god and how they eagerly seek to spread their faith. I do not approve of many of their tactics but if used in other ways they could be very effective in spreading and converting people. The one condemnation here is in their use of martyrs that initiate their martyrdom. It is one thing to be put to death at the whim of another and something totally different to be put to death by your own will to attack another.

The last point that I have time for is the purpose of prayer in the muslim life. These people pray unceasingly that is for sure. Some of us might look down on these prayers because they are pre-rehearsed and memorized but does this take away from their validity? Certainly not. Christians should strive to pray more often and more solemnly and respectfully.

Christians could stand to learn a few things from muslims so long as we learn the right things from them.

Quote of the Day

This quote brought to you by Maggie's Farm.

"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. … Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the "new, wonderful good society" which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean "more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

Obama and the American people could stand to learn a real lesson from this one...

What a Revelation!

I stumbled upon something that I have searched for for some time while I was reading up on Christian movements on Wikipedia. The movement is called the New Perspective on Paul and without knowing it I find myself a member of the first class. Now I will let Wikipedia's babble inform you or you can read it for yourself here.

What is held in common is the belief that the "old perspective" (the Lutheran and Reformed interpretations of Paul and Judaism) is fundamentally incorrect. New perspective interpretations of Paul tend to result in Paul having nothing negative to say about the idea of human effort or good works, and saying many positive things about both. New perspective scholars point to the many statements in Paul's writings that specify the criteria of final judgment as being the works of the individual. New perspective scholars tend to place a higher value on the importance of good works than the old perspective does, taking the view that they causally contribute to the salvation of the individual. For in the old perspective, God graciously empowers the individual to the faith which leads to salvation and also to good works. While in the new perspective, God graciously empowers individuals to the faith and good works which lead to salvation. It is argued that because the idea of God's gracious initiative and empowerment is retained, the subsequent change in the relationship of faith and works in salvation is not so important. Many recent studies of the Greek word pistis have concluded that its primary and most common meaning was faithfulness, meaning firm commitment in an interpersonal relationship.^{[11][12][13][14]} As such, the word could be almost synonymous with "obedience" when the people in the relationship held different status levels (e.g. a slave being faithful to his master). Far from being equivalent to 'lack of human effort', the word seems to imply and require human effort. The interpretation of Paul's writings that we need to "faithfully" obey God's commands is quite different to one which sees him saying that we need to have "faith" that he will do everything for us. Old perspective writers have generally translated the Greek word charis as "grace" and understood it to refer to the idea that there is a lack of human effort in salvation because God is the controlling factor. However those who study ancient Greek culture have pointed out that "favor" is a better translation, as the word refers normally to 'doing a favor'. In ancient societies there was the expectation that such favors be repaid, and this semi-formal system of favors acted like loans.^[16] Therefore, it is argued that when Paul speaks of how God did us a 'favor' by sending Jesus, he is saying that God took the initiative, but is not implying a lack of human effort in salvation, and is in fact implying that Christians have an obligation to repay the favor God has done for them. However, this view then undermines the initial 'favor' - of sending Jesus - by saying that, despite his incarnation, life and death, Christians still have, as before, to earn their way to heaven.

The last reference there will give many people great pause and will generally push them towards the "old perspective." But think of this, even in the "old perspective" Christians have to earn their way into heaven by saying yes to Jesus and letting them into their hearts and lives. Jesus then gets to work on the works -- if you let Him. The "new perspective" is more realistic in the fact that we are not saved by faith alone, indeed God says that He will say that He did not know us if when we meet Him in the heavens at the end if we have not labored for Christ. Works are the fruit of the spirit and when Christians say that they have faith but they do not have any works to show for it then they do not have faith. Faith and works are needed to enter into the Kingdom of God. Those who tell or preach to you the lie that you need only acknowledge Jesus as your savior and then may carry on as you had before are not telling you the whole truth. You need the whole Truth to get into heaven. We try to make for ourselves an easier road if we follow the lies of faith without works. We only lie to ourselves and deprive ourselves of the real Christ and His power. Just as the tattoo on my arm says "slave of the God" (in Greek!) so too must we be slaves of God not only acknowledging that Christ is King but by following His commands. For even the demons believe that Christ is King, and shudder.

Finally, to sum up my thoughts on this and to further understand why I want to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy here is the Wikipedia author again:

The new perspective has, by and large, been an internal debate among Protestant scholars. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox writers have generally responded favorably to new perspective ideas, seeing both a greater commonality with their own beliefs and seeing strong similarities with the views of many of the early Church Fathers. Passages in the works of many early Church Fathers show that new perspective interpretations were widely held among them. One of the many exceptions is the great and influential Augustine of Hippo. While most in the Catholic and Orthodox camp would see him as espousing a view of grace and justification in keeping with this new perspective, Augustine is often blamed by many new perspective writers for introducing incorrect ideas and assumptions into Christianity that led to the "old" perspective of Luther and Calvin.

The increased importance new perspective writers have given to good works in salvation has created strong common ground with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Historic Protestantism has never denied the place of good and faithful works, but has always excluded them from justification, which Protestants argue is through faith alone, and in which good deeds are of no account, either within or without God's grace. This has, since the Reformation, been a line of distinction between Protestantism (both Reformed and Lutheran) and other Christian communions.

EDIT: I just stumbled upon Paleo-orthodoxy on Wikipedia and well it has what is above and more. I suggest you read up on it here. I am certainly a member of this group as well. Who would have ever thought that flipping the pages in an encyclopedia (even an online one) would ever be so fulfilling?

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps someone find their way home. Have a good day. [Text in bold is accented for effect by me and text in italics are direct, verbatim cut and paste from Wikipedia.]

Should the Truth About HBD Be Propagated?

For starters I suggest reading "What's So Great About Christianity" by Dinesh D'Sousa. Other than being a great hammer to the mole that is Atheism, it also describes what you get when people no longer have a defined moral code. The latter point comes into play in this post about HBD.

First, in the above mentioned book, the author talks about the deaths caused by Atheism. Marx, Nietzsche, and those who took their ideas and ran with them (read: Stalin, Mao, Hitler, etc) caused more deaths than the crusades, inquisitions, and witch trials ever could have by many factors of 10. The author is more thorough than I will be here but the main point behind Marxism is that the State is the end all be all: the State is God, father, mother, husband, wife, friend, and savior. Plus, the state does not enforce a strict moral character and thus we have moral relativism and other great horrors that cause many ills.

So, from the ounce of truth that Darwin uncovered you have all this death and destruction. Wait a minute, I need to back the bus up and explain evolution for a minute. Sure evolution is truth. (Believers hold the flames for just a second.) Yet, it is not the whole truth. People, especially those who are Atheists (Dawkins and his ilk) like to think that evolution was all there ever was or is. That idea takes evolution too far. Much how salt is nice when added to french fries but if you put too much salt the fries become inedible, so too with evolution. Evolution works through time on things that were originally created by the Master of the Universe and slowly changed them over time. One species does not change into another. This is a very important fact. Sure, the man can be white, black, yellow or red, but he is still a man much the same as the dwarf and the giant with a brain tumor on the pituitary gland are human. Small changes over a vast time. Animals don't evolve from the primordial soup, they evolve from the original made by The Master Artisan from the beginning.

Now that we have that settled we can continue. Without the Christian moral framework evolution or Darwinism becomes the harbinger of death of millions. Without the moral framework that every soul is equal in the sight of God then the Jews, gays, mentally ill, infirm, old, and stupid become non-existent at the hands of their fellow men. We saw this unfold in WW2 and the times since then.

I do not want to live in a world absent of religious people. In such a world life would surely be nasty, brutish, and short. Without the moral teachings and the realization that one culture can (and most likely is) better than another the world as we know it begins to crumble. Since we are on the edge of this scenario as it is today, then why, assuming that HBD is true, should we share this little pearl of truth to a world that will only take it as carte blanche to commit genocide while feeling righteous fervor of ridding the world of an inferior species of man? We see what this world has made of Darwinism, and that is a god unto itself: what then will they make of HBD?

Should we share the truth of HBD with this world or keep it to ourselves to prevent mass killings? I don't believe that I have the answer to this question. Therefore I propose it to all those who carry the standard of HBD. What do you think?

Obama Wins Nobel Prize: Prize No Longer Noble

I was away for two days and Obama wins a friggin' Nobel Peace Prize!? WTF!? Really, what has this man done to warrant the prize? Has he fought against world hunger? Has he got all the muslim middle east to recognize Israel and to promise no more attacks against them? Did he liberate Iran and somehow managed to bring democracy there? This man has done nothing. He has been handed everything to him in his life because he is black! This is so insane. If hell is not yet frozen over I would be quite surprised. Mr. Nobel is most likely rolling around in his grave right now and like me he surely must wish that he took a good 'ole stick of dynamite and used it to do some real good, the permanent removal of a threat to the world. What really puzzles me is why normal people do not see it. When I say it I mean the total foolishness of the world when it comes to global warming, feminism, and this God forsaken leader of ours. People's eyes and ears are surely closed.

Congratulations to My Newly Wedded Friend

Today is the wedding day of a dear friend of mine and I want to wish him and his new wife the very best. The previous two days have been spent helping my wife to be preparing the flowers for his wedding. We went to Bangkok at 4am on the 9th to buy flowers and then returned after lunch with a truck bed full of fresh flowers. The rest of that day and the morning of the next was spent getting the flowers arranged and set up for the wedding. We had lots of help but it was lots of work and I am really amazed at the skills of my soon to be wife. Perhaps there is a chance of eventually opening a flower shop when we get back into the United States. I don't feel much like posting anything of significance today due to my lack of sleep the past two days. The post I have been working on will have to wait. Have a good day.

Back From the Country

I am back from a three day two night boring adventure to Isan Thailand where me and the wifey to be visited her grandmother and other family members. It was hot, boring, and the food was not that good except for the sticky rice of which I ate far too much. There is no internet or telephone way out there so that is the reason why I have not posted in a bit. Plus, yesterday after we got off of the bus that we were on for four hours we took showers and got spiffy for pre-wedding pictures. I especially liked the old European style clothing set we had pictures in and the wifey to be was as she always is very beautiful.

Coming soon to this blog will be a post considering whether or not if HBD is true whether it should be advocated in a world that has lost its Christian moral compass. Until then, have a good day.