Various Current Events

CFR--USSC voids campaign finance law (Findlaw)
CFR--Stampede toward democracy (NYT)
CFR--Campaign finance ruling’s impact overblown (LA Times)
CFR--“Reform” wisely struck down (George Will)
CFR--Will corporations fight for freedom? (Hugh Hewitt)
Avatar--where there’s smoking, there’s ire (CBS News)
Avatar--The right has Avatar wrong (David Boaz)
Avatar--This article is not yet rated (NYT)
SOU--State of the Union text (White House)
SOU--Republican response (CBS News)
SOU—Fact-checking (AP)
SOU--State of Union speeches elsewhere (NYT)
SOU--Obama most polarizing first-year President (Gallup)
SOU--The spending freeze that isn’t (WSJ)
SOU—Lobbyist lies (Human Events)
SOU—Obama hammers USSC in speech (CBS News)
SOU—Alito disparages Obama’s Court criticism (Findlaw)
Tebow--CBS urged to dump ad (AP)
Tebow--Women ask CBS to scrap Super Bowl ad (AZ Republic)
Tebow--Pro-life ad set for Superbowl (Wash Times)
Tebow--CBS clarifies ad policy (Christian Post)
AZS--Shadegg exit shuffles Statehouse (AZ Republic)
AZS--Hayworty v McCain (AZ Republic)
AZS--Legal questions linger after Hayworth’s exit (AZ Republic)
Mesa okay’s Cubs deal (AZ Republic)
Mesa’s stadium secures Cubs (AZ Republic)
Too big to reform (NYT)
Tiller trial opens without “abortion” mention (Christian Post)
Hawaii Senate okays civil unions (Christian Post)
Phoenix diocese tries to strengthen marriage (AZ Republic)
Homeowner charged, shot at fleeing robbers (Buffalo News)
¼ of all US grain crops fed to cars, not people (Guardian)
AZ tries again to bar polygamy (AZ Republic)
Changes to immigrant detention announced (AZ Republic)
Bishop of Jos speaks out (Christianity Today)
300 arrested in Nigeria (Christian Post)
Chinese virus attack on US energy worrisome (CS Monitor)
US oil attacks, was China involved? (CS Monitor)
Venezuelans protest Chavez’s censorship (CS Monitor)
After long decline, teen pregnancies jump (NYT)
Church/state issues surround new bill (AZ Republic)
A glacier meltdown (WSJ)
What could you live without? (NYT)
Underwater, but not leaving the pool (NYT)
NBC will regret appeasing Leno (WSJ)
Kids in crisis behind bars (NYT)
CA bill requires witnesses to report violent crimes (Fresno Bee)
Prop 8 updates Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11 (ADF)
Toyota recall and reputation (CS Monitor)
Measuring deficits accurately (Findlaw)

Wacky Wednesday--The Trinity Doesn’t Matter

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~Most people who are born again don’t really understand the Trinity. How important can it be?
~Most people who are born again don’t view the Trinity as being centrally connected to their ethics or the nature of the universe. How important can it be?
~Though Christians give lip service to it as being a true and Biblical doctrine, I doubt one in twenty Christians could explain how anything about their spiritual lives and the nature of the universe would be fundamentally different if the Bible had instead proclaimed mere monotheism or tritheism instead of this idea. In other words, they know they’re supposed to believe it’s really important (and they sort of do), but they don’t really know why.
~How can something be so important and yet so dastardly difficult to describe accurately?
~Why don’t we find more natural metaphors for something supposedly so central to all of reality?
~Is it worth dividing between us and Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, and Unitarians, not to mention Jews?

Links:
Trinity (Wikipedia)
Trinity (Good links below) (Theopedia)
Implications of the Trinity (Blog)
What does the Bible say about the Trinity (Blog)
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Sermon) (Tim Keller)
The Trinity (CARM)
Doctrine of the Trinity
What is the doctrine of the Trinity? (Desiring God)
A brief definition of the Trinity (James White)
Passages showing Jesus is God (CARM)

Wacky Wednesday--The Trinity Isn’t Correct

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~It’s not mentioned explicitly in the Bible.
~Early Christians didn’t hold to it. It’s use didn’t show up until 215 AD with Tertullian.
~How can a central truth about God’s nature be so incomprehensibly confusing?
~This doctrine looks like Orwellian doublespeak, especially to simple monotheists like Jews and Muslims.
~Jesus cannot be God: God cannot die, Jesus said there were things He did not know, and Jesus said that only God is good.
~Jesus and the Father are not equal: Jesus obeyed the Father under duress, how can a Son coexist with His own Father, and Jesus said the Father is greater than he is.
~Many of the passages in the New Testament do specifically refer to God and His Son, but not the Holy Spirit.

Links:
Trinity (Wikipedia)
Trinity (Good links below) (Theopedia)
Implications of the Trinity (Blog)
What does the Bible say about the Trinity (Blog)
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Sermon) (Tim Keller)
The Trinity (CARM)
Doctrine of the TrinityWhat is the doctrine of the Trinity? (Desiring God)
A brief definition of the Trinity (James White)
Passages showing Jesus is God (CARM)

~Haiti update with Food for the Hungry--(800) 408-2206
~Which should come first on Sunday morning: singing or preaching?
~Is gratitude a skill or a gift?
~Do you believe places have spiritual mojo?
~What role does certainty play in your faith?

Miscellaneous Monday

~Are memories the most important reasons to do things?
~Ads that are misleading.
~Conan’s classy exit.
~Is it better to give to Christian or secular charities?

Various Current Events

Links (Soon)
Prop 8 Update Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 (Christian Post with ADF)
Bible code on gun sights (ABC News)
“Jesus guns” in the military (ABC News)
Pentagon: gun sights don’t violate rules (USA Today)
Gun verses not helping “crusade” image (Blog)
No more Jesus guns (NYT)
Speed-camera shooting suspect cries in court (AZ Republic)
Photo enforcement update (AZ Republic)
A bill to cut Congressional pay during deficits
Therapists report increase in green disputes (NYT)
New immigration bills In AZ Senate (AZ Republic)
CBS okays Tebow Super Bowl ad (Christian Post)
To VH1, purity is marketing ploy (NewsBusters)
Specter tells Bachmann to “act like a lady” (Politico)
Cindy McCain for gay marriage (Politico)
8 ways to rebuild Haiti (NYT)
Basic pleasures: food, sex, and giving (NYT)
New York’s antique divorce law (NYT)
The body scanner scam (WSJ)
Shades of prejudice (NYT)
Faith helps Obama in hard times (Christian Post)
Obamacare Constitutional (LA Times)
Kids screen time up to 53 hours (USA Today)
53 Haitian orphans airlifted to US (NYT)
Romneycare revisited (WSJ)
Some frank talk about Haiti (NYT)
Simple passwords invite hacking (NYT)
Ten Commandments approved by court (LifeSite)

Wacky Wednesday--We Shouldn't Have Holidays

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~Holidays are inherently controversial, picking themes or subjects which not everyone agrees should be honored.
~Especially the person-centered ones like MLK Day wind up over-emphasizing one person while failing to recognize the meaningful contributions of thousands of others.
~Most holidays just become excuses to barbecue and lose any real meaning, such as Memorial Day and Labor Day.
~Holidays really mess up work schedules and cause other logistical issues because of the changes in traffic, e.g.
~Holidays cost money and productivity because people would otherwise be working and aren’t.
~If 5 days of work seems like so much that we need periodic days off, why not go to a 4-day work week? Then again, how big wussies are we that we only work 5 days? The Bible says to work 6 days.
~If we honor God’s Son by having one day off for His Birthday, are we then saying that Columbus is as important as Jesus since he gets a full day too?

Links:
Holidays by country (Wikipedia)

Wacky Wednesday--Cookies Are Evil

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~Are cookies mentioned anywhere in the Bible? Isn’t the Bible our standard for faith and practice?
~How dare you eat cookies while some people have no food at all.
~They make you fat.
~Sugar is unhealthy, just look at our diabetes epidemic
~They encourage you to eat raw dough, which contains raw eggs, which can contain salmonella, which is bad.
~Do we have a gluttony problem in America?
~Many people have whey allergies.
~What nutritional purpose does the cookie satisfy?
~They cause disagreement over how to be done or what sort is the best.
~They take too much time to make and are too difficult to cook properly.
~They ruin your appetite for real food.
~Children always want to eat them first and get into trouble pilfering them when they shouldn’t.
~Like Krispy Kreme donuts, they are really only worth eating while they are still warm. After that, what a waste!
~Isn’t self-control a fruit of the Spirit?
~At any moment you might have a cookie, you have three options: Eat a cookie, Eat nothing, Eat something healthy. When is “eat a cookie” ever going to be the best of these three alternatives?
~Your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it?

Does God cause "acts of God?"

To help rebuild Haiti through Food for the Hungry: (800) 408-2206

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There seem to be four positions on God's relationship to "acts of God":

1. God has nothing to do with these catastrophes.

2. God allows but does not desire these catastrophes.

3a. God wills and causes these catastrophes to punish evil.

3b. God wills and causes these catastrophes for a variety of reasons, including sometimes to punish evil.

Post-show thoughts: Though I was in the "2 or 3b" camp until today, after reading everything I could find in the Bible on this subject, I am now pretty firmly in the 3b camp. And when it comes specifically to earthquakes in the Bible, they always seem to indicate either the anger/judgment of God or else the presence of God. In any case, our response to such catastrophes is clear: to help those in need and to bring glory to God in so doing. But I am no longer comfortable saying that God merely allows natural disasters (as opposed to man-made disasters). His purpose in doing them is Biblically ambiguous, but His authorship of them is not Biblically ambiguous at all.

Bible References: Gen 2:4-6, Gen 7:1-5, Gen 9:8-17, Gen 12:15-20, Num 16:27-35, Deut 32:39, Job 1:8-20, Job 9:5-6, Psalm 18:6-9, Psalm 60:1-5, Isaiah 5:25-26, Isaiah 45:5-7, Isaiah 55:8-11, Isaiah 64:1-3, Jer 10:10, Jer 18:15-17, Jer 51:29, Amos 3:1-8, Amos 8, Matt 5:43-48, Matt 6:25-34, Matt 8:23-27, Matt 10:29-33, Matt 24:4-14, Matt 27:50-54, Luke 13:1-9, John 9:1-12

Links:
God’s role in natural disasters
Natural disasters: a Biblical perspective
Who causes disasters: God or Satan?

Miscellaneous Monday

~News stories that encourage you to come to the wrong conclusion.
~Haiti update with Food for the Hungry
~The Christian response to a recession…or an earthquake.

Various Current Events

Lack of fluency costs teacher job (Lowell Sun)
Gay custody fight reveals problems (Michael Medved)
WA felons can vote (Fox News)
The feigned outrage game (LA Times)
Playing race-card gotcha (Jonah Goldberg)
Democrats and double standards (WSJ)
The trouble with Harry (WSJ)
Race and Harry Reid (NY Post)
GOP charges double-standard on Reid-Lott (Politico)
Census “negro” option raises outcry (Houston Chronicle)
Palin joins Fox News (LA Times)
A serious teaching proposal (NYT)
States ease school exit standards (NYT)
CA man helps homeless, encounters barriers (NYT)
Obama weighs bank tax (NYT)
Watching TV shortens life (LA Times)
Stimulus? No stimulus here (WSJ)
30 years of global cooling are coming (Fox News)
Prop 8 trial begins (CS Monitor)
IRS Commissioner uses a preparer (CNS News)
Carnival nixes future cougar cruises (Sun-Sentinel)
Big bum, hips deemed healthy (BBC News)
State of Union? No one knows when (Wash Times)
Denver suburb rebuffs Christian university (Denver Post)
Baggage gripes down as volume down (Sun Times)
MLK black-themed school lunch nixed (Denver Post)
Employer sanctions funding cut from disuse (AZ Republic)
Haiti earthquake had been feared for years (Miami Herald)
SF library hires social worker for homeless (SF Chronicle)
Europe issuing income-proportional traffic fines (SF Chronicle)

Wacky Wednesday--Graffiti Is Good

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~It creates jobs cleaning it up.
~It’s artistic.
~People have been painting walls as early as the cave dwellers.
~The urge to leave your mark on the world is an indicator of the creator image instilled in us.
~We all want to create a sense of permanence, so we carve our initials into trees or draw them on school desks.
~As yourself this question: Why is this urge so universal?
~Sometimes the only reading material you have in a restroom is graffiti.
~Political and social commentary are often the content of graffiti
~It’s democratic. Even the poorest of people (who own no property, billboards, or printing presses) can express their ideas publicly this way.
~Some ideas are more important than the destruction (defacing) of property
~This is the only way for the young and the poor, who are systematically marginalized from social discourse because of their lack of economic power, to be heard.
~Most of the surfaces which receive graffiti were extremely ugly to begin with. Only a fascist would prefer a stark gray aqueduct to one with artwork on it.

Links:
In defense of graffiti (Fullerton)
A celebration of graffiti (WSJ)
In defense of graffiti and teen angst (Blog)
In defense of graffiti activity (English class blog)
In defense of graffiti (Blog)

Wacky Wednesday--Rudeness Is Good

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~Rudeness is just an uncharitable word for honesty.
~What’s the opposite of being rude: being polite. And polite is just a nice term for lying.
~It’s entertaining. Comedians often reveal meaningful and humorous truth by being deliberately rude and clever.
~When you say an unpleasant truth, people will wiggle their minds out of hearing it if there’s any way they can. So rudeness communicates so clearly that it denies them the ability to pretend you didn’t mean what you said.
~Rudeness is apparently in fairly high demand, look at Talk Radio and TV shows.
~Jesus was extremely rude, sometimes to His enemies and other times to His disciples.
~Paul was rude to Peter’s face and in talking about the Judaizers.
~When something is gravely serious, rudeness is the only appropriate way to express yourself and the significance of the issue.
~Rude people get what they want. They get things done.
~When the other person in the interaction is morally dense, rudeness may be the only successful strategy for penetrating his mental fog.

Links:
In defense of rudeness (Time)
In defense of rudeness (Blog)

Theological Tuesday

~Why does Jesus want us to visit convicts?

~How should Christians respond to a recession?

~How is your life different when God is blessing you?

~What should come first, worship or preaching?

~Is gratitude a skill or a gift?

~Do you believe places have spiritual mojo?

~What role does certainty play in your faith?

~Would you pray to bless a gay mayor?

Ethics: Airplanes And Young Children

In case you had not heard the story, back in November a woman and her two-year-old son were ejected from a Southwest flight because he wouldn’t stop screaming and people couldn’t hear the safety announcements. The airline reimbursed her for the flight plus a free voucher for another flight, and they apologized for her inconvenience while affirming the decision as necessary by FAA requirements. An opinion piece written for the LA Times not only thought this was a good decision, it also argued that the parent was way out of bounds in even thinking that she was entitled to take an upset child on a plane. So the question is: what should be done with young children who are screaming while flying?

“I’d Never Pay More Than __ for __”

I suppose one of the most common new year’s resolutions in this economy is to manage money more responsibly. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to talk a little about prices for ordinary items and talk about how much we are willing to pay for them, especially when we see those things being ridiculously overpriced and other people apparently willing to buy them. See, I figure that for some people, just finding out that other people think $50 for a pair of jeans is outrageous, for instance, might help them get a better perspective on areas where they are currently overspending. So, pick something you have a particularly clear idea about and then tell me what price you wouldn’t pay over for it. Another way to think of this is to think of the things other people buy that just amaze you when you hear how much they’re willing to spend.

Various Current Events

Brit Hume wrong to proselytize Tiger (NBC Sports)
Narrowing our public discourse (Michael Gerson)
Something about the name of Jesus (Cal Thomas)
Q&A Brit Hume (Christianity Today)
Olbermann on Hume (video) (MSNBC)
The naked truth about airport scanners (Steve Chapman)
Flying with the enemy (David Harsanyi)
Nigerian indicted in terrorist plot (NYT)
Obama measures decried as profiling (Fox News)
The war against Islamic religious zealots (Marci Hamilton)
“New decade” and untrue beliefs (Walter Williams)
America’s can’t-do list (LA Times)
Wahid and moderate Islam (WSJ)
The happiest people (Nicholas Kristof)
Schwarz wants schools, not prisons (NYT)
Phoenix considers taxing food (AZ Republic)
Tax by the mile in TX? (Houston Chronicle)
“Nobama” student receives settlement for arrest (Denver Post)
Planned Parenthood plans Houston super-center (Catholic.org)
Marriage penalty in health bill (WSJ)
Obama reneges on health care transparency (CBS News)
Obama promised 8 times to televise debates (NY Post)
White House on defensive on health care (Breitbart)
Do we have a right to know if candidates are gay? (Sandy Rios)

Wacky Wednesday--Petition Prayers Are Wrong

~Is your love of Him conditional upon Him satisfying your demand list?
~God isn’t Santa Claus
~He already knows what you want, why do you bother telling him?
~He already knows what is best for you, why would you try to persuade Him to change?
~Either what you’re praying for is the ideal thing for you or it isn’t. If it is, why would you imply that God isn’t wise enough to know this. If it isn’t, why would you imply that God is imperfect enough to be persuaded into doing an inferior thing?
~If God’s Will is perfect, why do you bother expressing your own?
~People spend so little time in prayer as it is, why waste that time with something so much less important than adoring God, confessing to God, loving God, or thanking God?
~If we’re supposed to be content in all circumstances, why would we bother asking God to give us particular circumstances?
~If we’re supposed to thank God for everything, why would we bother praying to God for anything in particular?
~Don’t you get annoyed with a friend or a relative whose only reason for getting in contact with you is to ask you to do something for him?
~Consider the college student who only calls home to ask for money.

Wacky Wednesday--Physician-assisted suicide should be legal

~Abortion is wrong because of the potential destroyed, when people reach the end of their lives, what potential is being destroyed?

~People’s desires should be honored.

~Even if you think this is wrong, that’s your choice for your own life. How dare you impose your peculiar religious convictions on other people?

~Either you understand this decision, in which case how can you so oppose it, or you don’t understand it, in which case you just haven’t ever seen someone go through this or really thought much about it yourself.

~When a horse has a broken leg or a dog has a serious disease, we kill them because we love them and because that’s the merciful thing to do.

~Why is life in the continuous and increasing presence of pain good?

~Why is life in the continuous and increasing inability to think clearly good?

~When people’s entire personality is gone, what sort of “dignity of the person” is left anyhow?

~How do you view athletes who don’t know when it’s time to quit their sport?

Theological Tuesday

~How important is the Apostle’s Creed?
~Why does Jesus want us to visit convicts?
~Should Sunday morning friend seekers or deepen believers?
~How should Christians respond to a recession?
~Is gratitude a skill or a gift?
~Do you believe places have spiritual mojo?
~What role does certainty play in your faith?

Links:
Apostle’s Creed (Reformed.org)
Apostle’s Creed (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Apostle’s Creed (Wikipedia)