Prop 106: AZ opt-out for Obamacare's individual mandate

I'm 90% supportive, I encourage a YES vote.

What it does
o Preserves Arizonans’ right to not buy health care insurance and to pay directly for insurance.
o Prohibit compulsory health insurance by anyone.
o Allow to buy/sell health treatment directly
o We can buy or sell health insurance freely.
o Doesn’t change laws in place prior to 1/1/9

Analysis
o Four sorts of people
1. I dislike Obamacare—Vote Yes.
2. I like Obamacare generally, but I don’t think it’s my right to force people to do what I like. Pro-Choice—Vote yes
3. I like Obamacrae, but I don’t think it’s constitutional—Vote Yes.
4. I like Obamacare so much that I think it’s right to force it upon everyone—Vote No.

For
o Medical freedom. The right to make my own choices about my body.
o “Keep your Obamacare off my body.”
o This sort of response to an invasive federal program should be a last resort, and it is.
o Obamacare is unconstitutional, and this just reinforces the fact.
o Prop 101 failed in 2008 50.2% to 49.8%
o Everything that was said in 2008 now looks prophetically true.

Against
o Wouldn’t hold up to a court challenge.
o Puts us at war with the federal government
o Would prohibit a statewide medical program or an expansion of something like AHCCCS
o It’s not necessary since there’s no public option in the current Obamacare.
o Individual mandate doesn’t take place until 2014. (That’s why it’s necessary now.)

Questions
o Impact on current programs?
--The lanuage in D5 seems to prohibit medicare withholding.
--Medicaid/Medicare/AHCCCS—resolved by the 1/1/9 grandfather clause
o How many other states are doing this?
--Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Utah, and Virginia have passed similar
--OK and FL will decide this year.

Notes from Prop 101 in 2008
~Prop 101 would establish a Constitutional right to medical choices and would prevent the government from restricting access to any private pay plans or doctors or treatments and would also prevent any law passing that would penalize anyone for obtaining or declining to obtain any sort of medical coverage.
~Advocates say that government imposed medical plans are possibly the greatest threat to our quality of medical care and freedom to choose.
~They also note that freedom means being able to pick a plan or type of care that is right for you based on your own individual choices.
~Opponents say that this protects the for-profit medical industry against government trying to help the situation and that it might be used to undo any restrictions on abortion.
~80% support. I encourage a YES vote.
~The idea here is to protect people in their ability to seek medical solutions for themselves and prevent any government program or approach to health care which would require or restrict particular choices in health care. It's almost hard to see why people would be opposed to this, since it seems like such a simple individual liberty. Nobody should be forcing you into health care or into a certain type of health care.
~This is a perfect thing to put in the Constitution since it deals with fundamental human rights. Also, this is a right which Benjamin Rush had wanted to include in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution.
~Health care in the US isn't perfect, but it is very good in my opinion. I don't want to live anywhere else. Government is not the solution to whatever problems do exist because whatever government touches generally seems to become more expensive and less productive, the basic problem of interfering with markets and competition.
~So many of the arguments made against this proposition are disingenuous or fraudulent that this alone pushes me in favor of it to a degree.
~If anything gives me pause here, it's the names of some of the groups that oppose the proposition: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Association of Community Health Centers, AARP, and virtually every chamber of commerce in the Valley. But they haven't made arguments which persuade me, and I'm not going to side with them just because there are many of them.
~The basic issues here seem to be freedom and options, but with incompatible kinds of freedom and options. Advocates want to keep freedom and options open for individuals, while opponents want to keep freedom and options open for governments. But all Constitutional rights protect people and restrict governments, so the idea that this will limit the government's options isn't so much an argument as it is a restatement of the definition of terms. As a conservative, I say it's okay to protect people's right to medical care against government intrusion.

Various Current Events

What the top TV shows say about America (Rachel Marsden)
The overseas profits problem (WSJ)
Their debt is paid (NYT)
Just knock it off (Thomas Friedman)
BOA freeze may drive prices down again (AZR)
Obama strips Creator from D of I again (CNS News)
The art of glory (CT)
ACLJ scores campus freedom victories (CP)
How to really end DADT (NYT)
Appeals court halts DADT repeal (NYT)
Juan Williams fired from NPR (Republican Redefined)
NPR ends Juan Williams’ contract after Muslim remarks (NPR)
NPR fires Williams (NYT)

Wacky Wednesday--Marijuana Should Be Legal

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.

~The Bible doesn’t mention it, let alone prohibit it.
~It’s far more similar to tobacco/nicotine or alcohol than to heroin or methamphetamines.
~It has medical benefits.
~People spend money on it, why not tax it and get a share?
~Nobody ever died of a marijuana overdose.
~People should be allowed to live their lives as they see fit.
~Where in the Constitution do you see the power to regulate drugs?
~Many religions use drugs to help achieve transcendent states.
~Cops, courts, and jails could be used for more important things.

Theological Tuesday

~Interview with Steve Browning about the 4th Annual Faith Summit this Thursday at the Capitol.
~Parables of Jesus 11: The Unjust Judge and the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18)
~Is success a Christian value?

Ethics: Should firefighters respond even if the owner hasn’t paid his fee?

In Tennessee two weeks ago, a distraught rural homeowner called the fire department to come out to his property and was promptly told that he had not paid his annual $75 fee and so the firemen would not be coming. He offered to pay whatever fee they named, but they refused. Over the course of the next two hours, the fire spread and the owner kept calling. Eventually, the firemen came only to watch the fire consume his home and eventually step in when it spread to a neighboring vacant field whose owner had paid. Who is responsible in this case, and did the firemen or the city manager (who defended the decision) do anything wrong here? Are firemen obligated to stop fires even for people who haven’t paid?

Links:
Firefighters let home burn (MSNBC)
Why firemen let that house burn down (NYT)
TN firefighters watch home burn (with video) (NYT)
Glenn Beck on the fire (Examiner)
Is this event crazy capitalism? (CSM)

Various Current Events

Obamacare victim: child-only policies (CNS News)
Obama to let insurers charge more for child-only policies (NYT)
Is it just to criminalize HIV transmission? (Findlaw)
Hopeless prayer (CT)
Rangers celebrate without alcohol for Hamilton (Dallas News)
Judge orders halt to DADT (ABC)
Obama admin appeals DOMA (Reuters)
Relatively Open borders follow American tradition (Findlaw)
Willow Creek expands generosity (CP)
The true mission of crisis pregnancy centers (NYT)
SC man fights to keep religious signs in yard (Fox News)
Snyder v Phelps and free speech (Findlaw)
Snyder v Phelps and free speech 2 (Findlaw)
Stimulus checks sent to the dead, and returned (WSJ)
McD’s and others get health law waivers (USA Today)
Pastor: don’t fear Muslims, protect their rights (CP)
“God views” and issues (USA Today)
Dems using abortion to rally voters (NYT)
Why banks aren’t handling foreclosures properly (NYT)
All 50 state AGs start inquiry into foreclosures (NYT)
HIV scare hits porn industry (LAT)
DHS punts on illegal DUI killing nun (Wash Post)
Family ties: Obama, Palin, and Limbaugh related (Fox News)

Wacky Wednesday--We shouldn’t care what others think of us.

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.

~Jesus repeatedly warns us that we will suffer hardship for Him.
~Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
~Only those who aren’t really Christians care whether people like them.
~If our identity in Christ is secure, we are completely indifferent to what others think of us.
~Caring about other people is idolatry.
~If Jesus suffered persecution, who are you to try to avoid it?
~All who live Godly in Jesus will get persecution.
~If you really know who you are, you won’t care what others think
~If other people have trouble with you, that’s their problem.
~My only job is to be the me that God made me to be, and if other people don’t like it, well they should take it up with God.
~How many people in history have been damaged or destroyed because they tried to fit into some ill-fitting set of social expectations?
~We’re supposed to get our identity and approval only from God, not from other people.
~There’s really no difference between doing something for social approval and doing something for money. Both are just reward schemes designed to get us to compromise on who we really are.
~How many people become slaves to the opinions of others?
~History isn’t made by people who try to fit in and get approval but by people who stood out and did their own thing.
~Conformity is just another word for destroying who you really are.

Response:
It's a false dilemma
There’s a vast spectrum of midpoints between placing a high or even an ultimate value on the opinions of others and placing no value on it at all.
We should care about people liking us, but we should not be defined by it.

Sometimes we shouldn’t care, but most of the time we should care.
As long as our care is a something and not an ultimate thing.
Productive social units require mutual consideration and compassion and forbearance
The council at Jerusalem was about bearing with each other’s weaknesses.

The person who says we shouldn’t care is fighting nature
And you see it in how much he tries to convince you that he doesn’t
We are hard-wired to crave the acceptance of other people.
This isn’t a defect, it’s a design feature.
We know that neglectful parents fail to give kids the acceptance and approval they crave in their souls by nature

The message to the popular is: don’t think too highly of yourself
The message to the unpopular is: don’t think too lowly of yourself.

Consider the Westboro folks as the ultimate example of “We don’t care what other people think.”

There’s something very strange about a person who doesn’t care what others think.
We care because we respect their judgment.
Being indifferent to their view of us is another way of saying they don’t matter. But how can we say that someone made in the image of God doesn’t matter?
God is about more than just individual salvation, but about restoring community, which presupposes relationship built on mutual concern and submission.

Caring about what God thinks is far more important than caring what men think.
But part of loving people is caring about them and what they think.

We care to gain and preserve influence.
The Bible talks about having a good reputation with those outside the Church for this reason.
Isn’t it interesting that the most apathetic, individualistic, selfish culture would tell us to not care about what others think and that some religious people would think this is also correct?

Love your neighbor as yourself. Love and care seem tightly interconnected.

Conformity can be good.
It can be authentic
Rebellion can’t be universalized
Although traditional cultures are properly criticized for stifling the individual, our culture is properly criticized for worshipping the individual.

The Bible is full of praise for getting along with others
Blessed are the peacemakers
So far as it’s possible, be at peace with all men
Elders should have a good reputation in the community
Jesus was well loved by sinners, a fact we know but don’t dwell on quite as much as the fact that He offended religious folks

Comparing ourselves to Christ
He was sinless
We are sinners. We tend to look at His examples that encourage our flaws and to overlook His examples that expose our weaknesses.
As sinners, we are prone to twisting good things into bad things, such as the proclamation of God’s truth.
If I’m offending people, I start from the premise that it’s probably a result of my own sinfulness rather than from the premise that I’m doing everything so properly that the real flaw must be in them and they’re just reacting against the pure, undefiled message of God I think I’m presenting.

Love that isn’t truthful isn’t really even love. Truth that isn’t loving isn’t really even true.
A person who has no one in his life who cares enough about him to care about his plight is a very terrible and pathetic person.
Self-inflicted lack of popularity. People may dislike you because you’re a Christian or just because you’re obnoxious.

Social skills are a wide-ranging set of human competencies that are like the rules of music. You might sometimes violate them for effect, but you can’t just ignore them and hope to make anything beautiful.
Two defects in the person who can’t sing on tune in society
Don’t recognize good pitch
Don’t know how to produce it.
Paul Foote and social ineptitude. Can a person be healthy and also be socially weird, or does personality unhealthy always show up as social awkwardness? Are we defining them as the same thing?

People who tend to be on the side that doesn’t care enough about people say it’s a virtue to not care. People who tend to be on the side of caring too much about people say it’s a virtue to care. The truth is that for both natural dispositions, Christ gives the ability to not have to be that way but to be His way for His purposes.

If you get killed for doing the will of the Holy Spirit, that’s one thing. But if you get killed for being a jerk about it, that’s not glorifying to God in any way.

Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Boy people hate people like this.

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 10: The Unjust Judge (Luke 18) and The Friend At Midnight (Luke 11)
~Is success a Christian value?

Various Current Events

The alien among us: a Christian perspective (Vision and Values)
5 important lessons from 4 tragic bullying deaths (Fox News)
Gay lobby exploits teen suicides (Canada Free Press)
Why firemen let that house burn down (NYT)
TN firefighters watch home burn (with video) (NYT)
Justices take up funeral protest case (NYT)
Lamentable speech (NYT)
Arizona weather turns wilder (AZR)
Unemployment claims drop for 4th time in 5 weeks (AP)
Italian crucifix case creates a mixed bag (CT)

Wacky Wednesday--It’s Sinful To Declare Bankruptcy

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.

~We are supposed to keep our word.
~We are supposed to honor our obligations.
~We freely took the money in the first place.
~It violates the Golden Rule. Would you want someone to declare bankruptcy on you if he owes you money?
~It’s bad theology, as though you can just escape your debts magically by invoking this bizarre little word.
~If everyone did it, what would happen to our economy and our system of banking?
~People need to learn to solve their problems and work their way out of debt, not just have it waived away.
~Anyone can work out of debt if they’ll only be smart.
~Declaring bankruptcy doesn’t solve the bad behaviors and thinking that produced your financial problems in the first place, so it’s only a temporary fix that actually robs stupidity of its educationally beneficial sting.
~How does this develop for us a good reputation with our secular community or our neighbors? It’s a terrible testimony.
~It affects your credit rating, which is society’s official way of saying you are an unreliable person who can’t be trusted with money.
~If you hadn’t been a poor steward, you wouldn’t even be in this position. How likely is it that an easy escape from prior bad behavior isn’t itself also bad behavior?
~It feels like theft, right? Why do you think that is?
~If it’s not a sin, why do you feel so guilty?
~This is a worldly way of solving a problem by taking the easy way out.
~If people believe they can just skip out on their debts, no one will repay and lending will dry up.

Bible references: Exodus 22:25-27, Lev 25, Deut 15:1-11, Deut 24:19, Neh 5:1-11, Psalm 37:7,12, 21, Prov 22:7, Eccl 5:4-5, Ezekiel 22:12, Matt 5:36-37, Matt 6:12, Luke 11:4

Links:
Bankruptcy in the Bible
What does the Bible say about bankruptcy?
What does the Bible teach about debt and bankruptcy?
Is it a sin for a Christian to file bankruptcy?
12 myths about bankruptcy (MSN)

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 9: The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18)
~Is success a Christian value?

Ethics: Is Ethics Always Objective?

We live in a culture that has been heavily influenced by relativism, the idea that there is no such thing as objective truth because everything depends on the individual or culture. One of the reactions against this has been to say that all of ethics is objective or absolute to the point where there is no meaningful difference between people or any individuality to ethics. So the question is to what degree ethics is objective and to what degree, if any, it’s not.

Various Current Events

In a computer worm, possible Biblical clue (NYT)
Proposition 112 (AZR)
AZ job training funds revived (AZR)
McDonald’s may drop health plan (WSJ)
Christian bookstore name called offensive (Kittanning Paper)
Complaint filed over politics in church (CP)
Obama discusses his faith (CP)
Obama “a Christian by choice” (Fox News)
Toy makers seek new safety rule exemptions (NYT)
Saying no to “I do” with economy in mind (NYT)
Prop 111 (AZR)
Park51 stakeholder considers different site (CP)
One third of “extinct” animals turn up again (Daily Mail)
Taxing the rich (John Stossel)
Why Obama’s Israel diplomacy is flailing (Richard Cohen)
Advertising on school walls? (Fox News)
The real income inequality scandal (VDare)
USSC will post audio of every argument weekly (AP)
Sec. Educ. promises to make kids green (CNS News)
Colbert reminded us immig. is moral issue (CP)
Colbert to Congress (Grist)
Fisher-Price recalls 10 million toys (LAT)
Environmentalist: too few people will be problem (CNS News)
Science Czar confronted on redistribution, runs (CNS News)
Congress avoids Colbert (Politico)
Activists release minks (AZR)
1 in 5 gay men has HIV (Reuters)

Wacky Wednesday--Street Preaching Should Be Illegal

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.

~Only the most zealous people engage in it, and it is precisely such people who make the very worst representatives of Christian love and joy.
~Every time I’ve seen street preachers, it has either made me think Christians were all weird (when I was an agnostic) or made me think that this is making all Christians look weird (since I’ve become one).
~Most pastors I personally know have said something to the effect that street preaching just makes their job harder.
~Nobody likes to be accosted when all you’re trying to do is walk down the street and mind your own business.
~Street preachers would be much more useful if they would take their same energy and devote it to serving the community so that the community wants to know why they’re being so generous and sacrificial.
~If it were illegal, then we would also have the security of knowing that false religions also wouldn’t be able to use this tactic.
~What would the crazies at the Westboro cult do if they couldn’t do their highly offensive street preaching?
~Just like a book someone is willing to finance has more likelihood of being accurate and valuable, an evangelist who can earn a church and its support is more likely to not be a flake.
~Preaching repentance is far too serious a business to conduct in such a silly, ineffective way.

Wacky Wednesday--American Supremacy Is Bad

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.

~In America, we believe in checks and balances and separation of powers, right?
~Power always makes you believe a bit too much in your cause.
~People envy us and resent us, which compromises our Christian witness.
~Hasn’t America propped up third world dictators because it suited our economic or political purposes?
~Monopolies are bad in business but good in politics? Well, it may be good to be the monopolist.
~Look at how much of our budget gets wasted on military because we are the biggest ones on the block.
~Is our nation truly a healthy one to whom you would entrust the sort of global dominance power we wield?
~If America were less, others would be forced to be more to make up the difference.

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 9: The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18)
~Is success a Christian value?
~Is fear a sin? How can we overcome fear?

Ethics: Is Vigilantism Ever Right?

In Ciudad Juarez, where the drug gangs seem to run the town, there have been a few recent incidents of mob justice against kidnappers. In a place where the law is so clearly not in control, are citizens obligated to do nothing to defend their community? Vigilantes have a strong tradition in American folklore from Robin Hood to Batman to Dirty Harry. But are these Christian heroes? Would it ever be right to take up force privately to fight evil this way? We’ll talk about it.

What Is Your Favorite Board Game?

I love games. That’s not even a strong enough statement. My whole life I’ve been playing games, from sports to solitaire or video games to cards. As a game lover, I get excited to find an excellent game and share it with others. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to talk about the great board games you love, old and new.

Various Current Events

Chaplains worry about DADT repeal implications (CT)
Senate Reps block DADT repeal (CP)
Obamas go to church (CP)
Colbert at Congress? (CSM)
Repubs unveil “Pledge to America” (CBS)
Islam, immigration, and Catholics (CT)
Sesame Street cuts Katy Perry segment (AP)
6 in UK arrested for Quran burning (AP)
Fed up Mexicans turning to vigilante justice (CSM)
Physical explanation for parting of Red Sea? (CSM)
FL court strikes down gay adoption ban (CNN)
For many, health care relief begins today (NYT)
ADF supports AZ return to spouse-only benefits (ADF)
AZ to assess gas-pipe safety (AZR)
AZ docs may face marijuana dilemma (AZR)
Thieves cart off St. Louis bricks (NYT)
Colvin and maple bats (ASU State Press)
Do Senators understand homosexual conduct? (Townhall)
Dream Act derailed (AZR)
Dream Act stalls in Senate (Color Lines)

Wacky Wednesday--It’s Virtuous To Doubt

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.

~You’re less likely to be drawn into error. How many times have you been saved from some stupidity by doubt or regretted not being?
~How bad do you feel when you were gullible? How bad do you feel when you were skeptical? ~That should tell you what the default should be.
~The world is out to mislead you, whether intentionally or not.
~When you look at people who believe in false religions, aren’t you wishing they would express some doubt?
~You aren’t suckered into scams.
~You aren’t likely to join a cult.
~If something is true, it’ll hold up to the questions.
~If some idea wants my affirmation, it needs to persuade me. I don’t just marry every wishful young notion who courts my affections.
~Gullible is never spoken of as a virtue.
~Just look around at all the ridiculous things people believe because they don’t have enough capacity for doubt.
~Doubt is the cornerstone of modern science. The attempt to disprove things and then to accept whatever remains.
~If someone doesn’t know how to doubt, they are just going to become ideological robots.

Links:
Virtue of doubt
Postmodern doubt (Christian)

Wacky Wednesday--It’s A Sin To Be Sad

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.

~We’re supposed to be content with whatever situation we find ourselves in.
~Angels singing and trumpets playing are not a morose or serious picture.
~Daniel and David are the people most after God’s heart, and they’re the happiest as well.
~Dennis Prager claims that unhappiness is a powerful testimony to the falsehood of a religion because the unhappy person is either a good practitioner of a religion which doesn’t work or else a poor practitioner of a religion which does but is apparently so hard to do right that it’s adherents can’t do it. If he’s right, and Christians are supposed to be bringing others into Christianity, then wouldn’t that make unhappiness a sin? It either turns people off to Christ or to you as His representative, right?
~Joy is the fruit of the Spirit
~Sadness is just lack of faith in a God who is supposed to meet all our real needs.
~Only circumstances can make you sad, and why are you so concerned with circumstances?
~Worry is a major cause of sadness, and Jesus tells us specifically not to worry.
~Fear is a major cause of sadness, and we are repeatedly told to not fear.
~If you know Jesus, how can you ever be sad?
~There won’t be any tears in heaven, and we should be trying to emulate that now, shouldn’t we?
~Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.
~The main thing that produces sorrow is sin, why should we let sin control us?
~The Catholic church, following Aquinas, taught that sloth is the laziness that keeps us from meditating on God’s goodness and doing the works that flow from loving Him, and this term Acedia was originally translated as sadness, especially the sadness at failing to fully manifest the fruit of the spirit, which led to inactivity: sloth.

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 8: The Unjust Manager (Luke 16)
~Is success a Christian value?
~Should we try to talk people into Christianity?

Ethics: Boomerang Kids

We typically think of adult children who return home to live with their parents as a bad thing, and it's certainly been a concern for a lot of people in this culture. But in the grand scheme of things, is this really a good thing or a bad thing when all the factors are considered? Would you want to be one? Would you want your kids to return home to live with you? What about the grandkids?

Links:
10 Boomerang kids who clashed with their parents (funny compilation)

What’s Your Favorite Song Right Now?

I’ve been listening to music for my entire life. As a result, it seems like there are always new songs running through my head. I may not always know the words, but some songs just seem to have that ability to capture and recapture my musical imagination. And these “favorites” which have endured are sort of like past romances or at least fond memories for me. So I thought it would be fun just to share what songs are captivating you right now.

Various Current Events

Craigslist deletes adult services section (NYT)

California rewards child molester (Daily Caller)
Making prisons safer
Stock market trading: computers 1, investors 0 (CS Monitor)
Top 10 reasons Quran burning is unbiblical (C Post)
What the Mosque controversy shows about America (Findlaw)
The next Christian response to Islam (Christianity Today)
Founding fathers on Islam (Library of Congress)
Census: 1 in 7 live in poverty (CNS News)
Mexico celebrates 200th anniversary (AZ Republic)
NJ teacher 90 days in jail for ejecting student (NJ.com)
Girl, 6, kicked off team over sexy cheer (Fox News)
Jeter’s great acting job (Huffington Post)
Jeter’s apology (ESPN)
Darnell Dockett mocks Ines Sainz (Huffington Post)
Bush forfeits 2005 Heisman (CNS News)

Wacky Wednesday--Christians Shouldn’t Watch Action Movies

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.

~They cultivate a justice-oriented mindset, not a grace-oriented one.
~Action movies encourage us to practice and enjoy wrath and anger.
~Christian see, Christian do.
~How are action movies redemptive?
~Whom would Jesus shoot with a Beretta?
~Arnold Schwarzenegger probably isn’t the best ambassador for the Sermon on the Mount.
~It’s not generally a good idea to mentally practice killing people.
~Are vigilantes good Christian role models?
~What does it say about a person who really enjoys watching people get blown to bits?
~They make you angry when you see the bad guys do horrible things.
~They make you afraid and perceive the world as being much more dangerous than it really is.
~If children shouldn’t watch it, then adults shouldn’t watch it, unless there is some really valuable counterbalancing value.
~They cultivate a pace of life which is unhealthy.
~You act and drive differently upon leaving the theater.
~Jerry Bruckheimer is not the producer of all things Christian.
~“Blow ‘em all away” is not a particularly Christian sentiment
~They’re never realistic, especially in their depiction of the horrors of combat and killing.

Wacky Wednesday--War Is Never The Answer

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.

~We are supposed to turn the other cheek.
~We are supposed to overcome evil with good.
~Jesus never took up arms against an unjust anything.
~Paul never defended himself with arms.
~Jesus stopped Peter from defending Him with a sword.
~Can show me the place in the Bible where Jesus tells people to take up arms?
~Early Christians taught that if a soldier was born again, he should leave the army.
~How does killing someone deliberately honor the idea that God created that person in His own image?
~When you think of Jesus, do you think of Him riding the .50 on a Blackhawk?
~Who would Jesus bomb?
~To take someone’s life is to destroy someone who can actually and potentially praise God. This, therefore, robs God of praise that is due to Him.
~If Jesus didn’t overturn the Roman Empire, what form of government deserves to be fought with arms?
~We do not wage war against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers.
~It’s impossible to think that a country will look at its own warfare and say, “Hey, maybe we’re in the wrong here.” Hence Just War Theory never actually works in real life to restrain warfare.
~Who loves warfare? What sort of person? How is it that the most sinful, vengeful, hating person can wind up being in agreement with supposed Christians on something as significant as this?
~Life is sacred, therefore taking a life is desecrating God’s image in people.
~You can’t be pro-war and pro-life at the same time.
~When has anyone ever looked at warfare in reality and been overwhelmed with the impulse to worship God because of the beauty of the thing he beheld?
~How many action movies have profanity and sexuality in them?

Response:
Romans 13 and the purpose of government
~This means that individuals and governments are ontologically different sorts of entities.
~What’s necessary for the state would be wrong for the individual
~Taxing would be theft
~Jail would be kidnapping
~Warfare would be murder.

Bible notes
~In a nation populated by Christians, it would be very odd to say that only the non-Christian could be in the military or government and wield those powers. But that’s the logical conclusion any pacifist must hold.
~Obviously, God called people to wage war in the Old Testament, including David, Abraham, Gideon, and Joshua, notably.

Is there a Christian way to wage war?
~Well, like so many other things, the key isn’t that you must not do it, but that will inevitably do it in a way different from the world when you do it God’s way.
~That’s how Just War Theory came about. As a way of codifying Christian principles into the times and methods of war conduct.
~We realize that the New Testament tells us precious little about how to run a government by Christian principles. ~Therefore, they key is to do things differently, not necessarily to not do them at all.
~Principles that apply to warfare: Humility, Patience, Respect, Prayer, Self-criticism, Faith in God, Mercy

Just War Theory:
Jus ad Bellum (Justice of the War)
~Just cause for going to war
~Right intentions in going to war
~Public declaration of war by a constituted authority
~Good achieved outweigh evil incurred
~All means of resolution been exhausted prior to war

Jus in Bello (Justice of the Warfare)
~Discrimination between combatants and non-combatants
~Means proportional to ends
~Means relevant to ends
~Minimum force principleAlways be aimed at achieving peace

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 7: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
~Is success a Christian value?
~Did Job actually exist?
~What is repentance?

Various Current Events

Whatever happened to walking to school? (WSJ, Lenore Skenazy)
County boycotts hotels with porn (ABC News)
Cardinal,"I can't say, 'Don't embrace Quran.'" (CNS News)
Evang. Leader says mosque is good foreign policy (CNS News)
More children being raised by grandparents (Pew)
Terry Jones is setting fire to America’s identity (CS Monitor)
Who is Terry Jones? (ABC News)
Webhost takes down Jones’s websites (SF Chronicle)
Christian leaders repeat calls to stop Koran-burning (C Post)
Petraeus: Burning Quran could endanger troops (C Post)
How Koran burning would play in Mulsim world (CS Monitor)
Trump offers to buy off mosque investors (NY1)
Christians encouraged to be good neighbors to Park51 (C Post)
Brewer: no more debates (Politico)
The gospel of wealth (NYT)
NY school district allows rosaries (C Post)

Wacky Wednesday--Libraries Are Bad

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.

~Deprives authors of their revenues.
~Completely uncensored content not good for kids or adults
~They spend so much money acquiring DVDs not books these days
~They often wind up just being secondary homeless shelters
~Internet is used for games and chatting, if not porn.
~When you buy a book, you take it more seriously
~When you own a book, you can take notes in it and mark it up, as you should.
~Why should we be forced to pay money so that other people have access to their favorite romantic novels?
~Libraries rarely have the books I am personally interested in checking out, on theology and Christian thought.
~The magazine section is disturbingly shallow and trashy in what is carried.
~This is just a form of wealth redistribution, from people who buy large houses to those who can’t afford books.

Wacky Wednesday--Christianity Is Bad For The Environment

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.

~Our view is that humans are special and animals and plants are not. Therefore we exploit them and do not care about them except as means to our own selfish ends.
~Christians and Western Civilization are the reason for ecological damage because we have this attitude of superiority and contempt for the planet.
~We are commanded to subdue the earth, not be friends with it.
~Nature exists for us to use as we will.
~We are supposed to have dominion over the earth. Does that sound like something a granola would say?
~Every conflict between human interests and the interests of nature or of animals result in a win for the humans because only humans are created in the image of God.
~Environmentalists raise up both animals and sometimes even plants or rocks to a status morally equivalent to humans. They cry over trees and squirrels, but not people.
~When you start down the path of caring about the environment, how do you stop from becoming a Buddhist, who believes it is evil to kill a mosquito?
~We always find ways to solve these problems anyhow, so why worry about them?
~Eco-terrorism is the most common kind of terrorism in America.
~Environmentalists are atheistic or pantheistic and at the very least naturalistic, as opposed to being Christians.


Bible References: Genesis 1:1-31, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19, Genesis 8:21-9:17, Deut 20:19-20, Deut 25:4, Prov 12:10, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 24:1-2, Psalm 65:8-13, Psalm 96:11-12, Matthew 10:29-31, John 3:16-17, Romans 1:18-20

Response:
Naturalism fails, too.
o From whence come our obligations to care for the planet on an evolutionary worldview?
o We got here by exploitation and dominance.
o There is no basis for ecology as a moral imperative.
o Perhaps as a practical one, but even so, that which is most fit is merely that which survives. Only time will tell whether the ecologists or the non-ecologists were right.
o If we die, well that’s what we deserve. Evolution does not care one way or another.
o Species being destroyed is how all species got here, right?

Conservatism and conservation
o Teddy Roosevelt
o Conserve is at the heart of our very philosophy, right?

Christianity
o It’s not that Christianity and environmental concern are at odds with each other, it’s that most Christians haven’t been doing good theology in their thinking about the world.
o One can make the argument that Christianity compels ecological awareness and also that naturalism is an inadequate source of that very thing as well.

Keller’s four features of Christianity
1. Creation is good
§ Everything is good in Genesis 1, even before there are humans.
§ The world is God’s handiwork
2. Stewardship of Creation
§ Gardeners, cultivate
§ Covenant is to save
· God enters into a covenant with animals and the earth
· They don’t sin
· But we do and have polluted it with our sin
· We have sinned and caused the earth to groan, God wants to save us and the world we contaminated
· Humans, indeed, are the problem. Unredeemed human beings.
§ We need to get on God’s side and work to save the Earth from human sin and destruction and exploitation.
§ We are powerful, the animals and the plants are weak. What is the attitude
3. Fallenness of Creation
§ What’s so bad about species extinction if you’re a secularist?
§ We want to fight the decay and destruction that is all too natural these days
§ We fight disease, for instance, because we view nature as corrupted and fallen.
4. The restoration of Creation
§ Secularism says this world is temporary and will end
§ Other religions say we will depart this world
§ We do not abandon this earth, which is permanent. God restores it to the condition it should always have been in.
§ Will there be trees in the New Jerusalem?
· The Tree of Life
§ Will there be rivers in the New Jerusalem
· The River of Life

What is the Earth
o God’s curio cabinet. He is a very eclectic collector.
o God’s art gallery
o God’s revelation in nature

Scripture comments
o Genesis 1
§ Everything is good BEFORE humans get here
§ He is enjoying it, not discovering it
§ It’s a reflection of His goodness.
o Genesis 8-9
§ Covenant with the whole world and with all flesh
§ The rainbow isn’t only for us.
o Deut 24
§ Treat the animal with respect by letting him eat of his own effort.
o Prov 12:10
§ Righteousness to treat animals well.
o Deut 20:19
§ God counsels ecological restraint to an army.
o Psalm 19
§ The heavens declare the glory of God.
o Psalm 65
§ God cares deeply for the earth and causes it to flourish
o Psalm 96
§ Trees sing the praises of God
§ All a tree has to do to glorify God is be a tree.
§ Trees don’t need humans to have value.
§ They are sacred and have intrinsic value.
§ They are not just potential wood. They have value in themselves.
o John 3:16-17
§ Cosmos is the Greek word for world.
o Romans 1
§ If we are to tell God’s glory from nature, then defiling nature is very much like defiling or altering the Bible.
§ Destroying the world is like burning Bibles.

TREES by Joyce Kilmer, c1917
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray,

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair

Upon whose blossom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems were made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree.

Links:
Can faith be green? Sermon (Tim Keller)
A conversation with a Christian ecologist (NYT)
A Christian farm (NYT Magazine)
Trees, Poem (Joyce Kilmer)
The [Christian] Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis (Lynn White)
Was Lynn White right? (John Richardson)
Comments on Lynn White (JASA)

Theological Tuesday

~Parables of Jesus 6: The Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)
~Should Christians follow Glenn Beck?
~Is success a Christian value?
~Would you call Robin Hood a good Christian?
~Why is the story of Solomon’s Judgment (1 Kings 3) in the Bible?

Labor Day: Is Christianity Pro-Union?

Labor Day, perhaps to the surprise of some, is not the official national holiday to rest after the opening of the college football season. It originated in the labor movements of the 19th century and was granted as a public concession to the labor unions in the aftermath of the deadly Pullman Strike of 1894. So, on Labor Day, we are celebrating the labor movement and labor unions. But the question is whether the values of the labor movement and unions coincide with or are at odds with those of Christianity.

Links:
Labor Day, U.S. (Wikipedia)
Labour Day, world (Wikipedia)
Trade Union (Wikipedia)
History of Labor Day (US Dept of Labor)
Labor Union Membership in the Light of Scripture
A Christian View of Labor Unions (Freeman)
Is it unbiblical to belong to a labor union? (John MacArthur)
Merits of labor unions (Everyday Christian)
Drawbacks of labor unions (Everyday Christians)

Various Current Events

Court says feeding poor not religious activity (Religion Clause)
TX court rejects gay divorce petition (Christian Post)
Mohler bothered by Beck rally (Christian Post)
Beck wants to lead, will Evangelicals follow (Christianity Today)
Ecoterrorist killed at Discover Channel (ABC)
Police kill Discovery building gunman (NBC)
Daniel Quinn, muse of Discovery Channel suspect (CBS)
Sears sells/withdraws offensive mouse pads (CBS 2 Chicago)
Did cash for clunkers work? (Fox Business)
Swing sets removed from schools (Yahoo)
AZ illegal population down 21% in one year (AZR)
WSJ praises LA Times on exposing bad teachers (WSJ)
AZ DUI rates cut in half in 15 years (AZR)
President Obama’s address on Iraq (White House)
A note to my fellow hawks (William Kristol)
Folly of subsidizing unemployment (WSJ)
Ten fallacies about Web privacy (WSJ)
Case against street preachers to proceed (Christian Post)
A very long engagement: Iraq and South Korea (WSJ)
Fired for questioning second-hand smoke claims (Fox News)
HOA battles Laveen man over flag (AZR)

Wacky Wednesday--Obama Is Not A Christian, Probably A Muslim

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.

Not a Christian

~His mother was a Christian-turned atheist, raised by two lapsed Christian parents.

~He has no clear faith record

~He doesn’t have a home church

~He hasn’t attended many churches

~The one church he is known for being a member of was a radical liberation theology church founded by a known radical: Jeremiah Wright Perhaps he’s a supporter of that way of thinking. Perhaps he did it only because it was politically necessary for him in Chicago. Either way, he doesn’t have the sort of clear religious core that would have led him away from it.

~He is pro-choice

~He is pro-gay

~His religion is unidentifiable to most Christians.

~Michelle and the girls don’t go to church, either.

~What denomination is he?

Muslim

~Um, his name?

~He refused to call this a Christian nation overseas

~He is certainly actively building relationships with Muslim countries

~He came out in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque.

~His father was a Muslim turned atheist.

~His stepfather was a Muslim.

~He spent time in Indonesia as a child

~We know that Muslims who believe in jihad also believe in lying about their true identity

~When Michelle visited Spain, she went to Muslim sites and not Christian ones.

~He hosts Muslim dinners such as during Ramadan

~He was born to a Muslim father, which makes him by definition a Muslim in the eyes of Muslims.

Wacky Wednesday--The Ground Zero Mosque Must Be Stopped

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.

~This is sacred or hallowed ground and should not be politicized.
~We must consider the foreign policy implications of our domestic actions. This will be a recruiting tool for Al Queda.
~Cordoba is a site where the Muslims built a Mosque atop a conquered Christian church. Muslims have a long tradition of building Mosques on sites of conquest, such as Jerusalem.
~This imam is a really bad guy, blaming America for the 9/11 attacks, never repudiating known terrorist organizations, and getting money from dubious sources.
~If we allow this, it will signal weakness to the terrorists and to Muslims generally.
~It’s insensitive to the victims of 9/11 and their families.
~The reasons given for building it are to bring reconciliation, but it clearly isn’t accomplishing that. Therefore, there must be other motives at work here.
~You can build a Mosque at Ground Zero when we can build a church in Mecca.
~There’s already Mosques nearby, why is this one necessary?
~There are all sorts of other places to build it, why here?
~You wouldn’t allow a Shinto cultural center on the periphery of Pearl Harbor while the war was still going on.
~We’re at war. That’s more important than anything else.
~It could become a recruiting ground for terrorists or a funnel point for terrorist activity.
~The Greek Orthodox Church damaged in the attacks still can’t get its permits to be rebuilt.
~64% of people think it’s wrong to do this.
~It’s a provocation and insensitive.

Links:
Ban a ground zero mosque? (Steve Chapman)
Obama’s mosque duty (Michael Gerson)
President apostate? (NYT)
What is moderate Islam, a symposium (WSJ)
Mosque imam says fight about Muslim role in US (AP)
Obama: Muslims have right to build (Christian Post)
Never Land Mosque, must read to the end (Mike Adams)