A look at determinism

This strip is from just about my favorite webcomic, Schlock Mercenary (it is second only to Penny-Arcade and that is mostly because PA is more of a counter-culture revolution at this point). This captures what I feel about determinism in general and Calvinism in particular. Enjoy.

On Ann Coulter

So yeah...she's a handful.

I am not a particularly political person, mostly because it is neither fun nor funny and the people you would have to deal with seem to be demon possessed and/or dead. Also, and I can't state this strongly enough, I hate meetings. Hate them. All of them. They are, quite possibly, the single worst social invention in history and I want them all to stop. SOMEONE JUST MAKE A FREAKING DECISION ALREADY! WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING!

Sorry, I had a flashback to student government (story for another time). But as God is teaching me the necessity of not fighting the culture wars stupidly, I am trying to broaden my horizons about politics and how I should be involved as a Christian. Which brings me to Ann Coulter. Why, you might ask?

Apparently she is a Christian.

And now for the portion of the blog where I talk to myself:

Huh.

Yeah, I know.

But she's so...mean.

No kidding.

I mean, I'm not like that and I'm a Christian.

Well, that's true. Good thing you are not the standard by which all Christians are measured.

Fair point...but didn't I just state that I'm not mean?

Doesn't count when it is self analysis.

If you...

Ahem

...I say so.

And now back to the blog already in progress.

So, I'm looking at Ann Coulter and some of her articles and even an interview she gave a while back and I must say that I am a big fan. Her humor does not always work and yes, I find her to be harsh, but she is absolutely fantastic at pointing out the hypocrisy of the left. And now, for the other shoe.

Ann Coulter should not be doing what she is doing. But not for the reason that you think.

I was talking to my mentor one day and he was talking about Deborah, a righteous woman of God and the only female judge of Israel. He was talking about Deborah's song and how the form of it was Canaanite. What he said was that the point of the song was to parody the ways of the Canaanites in verse that the Canaanites would use in order to make the Canaanites and their practice ridiculous in the eyes of the Israelites. His analogy was Weird Al's Amish Paradise. You can't watch that video and then go back to Coolio's original. It's just not...cool anymore.

I feel like this is what Ms. Coulter does: she shows just how ridiculous liberalism is. But the thing about Deborah that is always at the forefront of my thinking about her is how she did not seek to lead Israel in war. That call was on a man, Barak son of Abinoam. He shrugged that responsibility by making his obedience conditional on Deborah's assistance and was therefore denied honor. This paradigm is what I think about when I think of male leadership. It is not that women are incapable of leadership or that they would do a bad job, it is that God has given to men a responsibility and when it is avoided, men are diminished and women are endangered.

I don't think Ann Coulter should be writing her books or doing shows not because she is wrong, because I don't think she is. I don't think she should stop because I don't like her style, even though I do think it could use some work (and I do mean some, mostly in comedic timing and a little bit of tact). I think she should stop because men should rise up to do what she does: calling hypocrites out on their hypocrisy. I don't want to be one of those men (see previous thoughts on meetings) but...well, Lord, do with me what You will.

On Memes

As I wait in a limbo of dental surgery delays, I would like to post this brief thought: of all the memes throughout the history of the internet, my favorite has to be the vuvezela. At this point, I must have seen (and I'm estimating) 2.4*10 to the eighth power vuvuzela jokes from various sources. I love them all. Each new take is special and precious in its own way, like a snowflake or like comments on how snowflakes are unique. But for all my love of this vuvuzela meme (and that love is quite vast), it does lack the utility of another recent meme, coincidentally also an annoying noise source that could not be stopped. I believe you know of what I speak.

Also, this is a pretty cool story/pic.

On Superman

I am still planning on posting my thoughts on Jesus, masculinity, and culture but that topic is a bit more complex. And since I just received a word of encouragement to continue in my writing, here is a brief aside on the greatest of all superheroes, Superman:

I have been reading comics for most of my life and by far my favorite character is Superman. It was not always so. I started reading X-Men due to the '90's cartoon and my older cousin's interest. The tale of a band of misfits fighting for a better world despite the animosity of the populace fit in well with an anti-social Christian kid. But it was my youth minister who got me interested in Superman. I got on board the comic during Grant Morrison's JLA run, which was right during the height of Superman, Electric Blue Boogaloo. Despite that, I loved Superman. I had glanced through enough comics at the grocery store (back when there were comics at the grocery store) to have seen his stories. I had caught the fringes of the death and return storyline, the return of Lex Luthor, and other assorted tales. Through my youth minister I learned a bit of his history, some of his story trends (every time that Superman is dealing with radiation poisoning, whether kryptonite or solar, Parasite shows up…every time), but mostly I learned to appreciate why he was the greatest.

Everyone knows Superman's origin story: the last child of a dead world, sent to Earth. But it wasn't until I started thinking about him in comparison to other superheroes that it started to make sense. Take Batman. Bruce Wayne was the son of loving, wealthy parents. And in an instant, they were taken from him, along with his innocence. Bruce Wayne died that day, and what took his place, though it would long go without a name, was a creature of pain and darkness. His is a life defined by loss, and as such it is supremely sad. Not so with Superman. His parents, in seeing the destruction around them, did the only thing they could to protect their son. They sent him away to a place beneath their technological might, which proved so lacking in saving themselves, but abundant in the one resource that any good parent wants for their child: love. And this is what defined him and is supremely beautiful. Batman does good in the hope of saving others from what he has suffered. Superman does good because the sacrifice made on his behalf was sufficient to save him. In light of the cross, I guess it's not too hard to see the appeal.

Input Processing

Things running around my noggin:
MMA, Jesus, and Masculinity;
Some post about the perpetuation of rape-culture in young adult literature;
John Greene giving dating advice.

Processing...

Processing...

Processing...

On Interpreting Scripture and Why We Are Screwed

So, I was looking through my RSS feed (man, I love that thing) and Christ and Pop Culture put up a link to an interview with Jennifer Knapp, talking about her life, her Sabbatical from Christian music, and her coming out of the closet. First, that makes me sad. I'm not a fan. I picked up one of her albums because it was free and have heard her music on KSBJ (before the advent of the iPod I used to listen to the radio; it's crazy). But from what I hazily recall, she did good work. But even had she not, she claims to be a Christian and I want good for all who make such a claim. And homosexuality is not good, it's not beneficial, and there will be a cost.

I am also perplexed. I read in Scripture a very strong and clear condemnation of homosexuality. It is a sin. So how do you go from Scriptures condemnation of it as an unnatural lust to it being acceptable and good? So, I read a bit of her interview and even a link to a gay christian website. That is when I got mad. Essentially, they accuse me of being fearful and bigoted, persecuting them like the Pharisees persecuted Jesus. Now aside from not liking being called a Pharisee...

...DON'T SAY THAT YOU ARE BEING LIKE CHRIST WHEN YOU ARE TWISTING SCRIPTURE TO JUSTIFY YOUR SIN!!! It's kind of like when a rich white guy compares himself to Rosa Parks (I cannot tell you how long I have wanted to use that reference) except INFINITELY worse because you are comparing yourself to our perfect Lord.

And that will end the screaming portion of this post. Because once the anger is acknowledged, the sadness returns. I don't know how it happened or when, but people who acknowledge a need for Jesus and for grace and for mercy have been deceived. It was Satan's first tactic and with it he excels. Satan was so bold as to attempt such a maneuver against Christ Himself. It's not a surprise that it worked on them or anyone else. It is so much easier to convince someone of a lie. There are people smarter, wiser, more informed, and have read the Bible more than me who are Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Atheists. Just talking to one person who is sure that they are right makes me wonder if I'm the crazy one. But again, the unbelievers don't sadden me. And they certainly don't scare me. Because if you want to look at something truly terrifying, it is this:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" -Matthew 7:21-23.

That someone could wield power in the name of God and not be saved, that they could go to their deaths convinced that they were Heaven-bound only to find that they were absolutely wrong. There is no metric for salvation save a relationship with Jesus. And without that, there is no revelation, no truth, and no hope.

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. -Proverbs 29:18.

The Heavens Declare...

One of the sites I frequent is Astronomy Picture of the Day. They show a picture a day with a brief description from an astronomer. Whether you read the description or not, the images are gorgeous. This is one of those images (click said image if you want a better look at it):



"In the heavens there is nothing accidental, nothing arbitrary, nothing out of order, nothing erratic. Everywhere is order, truth, reason, constancy ...I cannot understand this regularity in the stars, this harmony of time and motion in their various orbits through all eternity, except as the expression of reason, mind and purpose ...Their constant and eternal motion, wonderful and mysterious in its regularity, declares the indwelling power of a divine intelligence. If any man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling." -Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods.

There exist in creation so many things that bring about awe and wonder, that speak of transcendence. I don't know how anyone can escape that greater things are happening than can be accounted for by simply "matter plus energy plus chance." And on a lighter note because I just love this song: