Walking Away from God

We have the right to live any way we want. But if you are living a life away from God, there are problems, and there is also hope for the future.

Check out this video by Dr. Charles Stanley titled 'Walking Away from God'. Great explanations of the costs of living without God, and God's response when you turn to him. Based on the passage of the prodigal son.

Watch the video

Playing For Change

Check out this neat video. Even more neat is the vision behind it - to bring about unity and help the hurting through music. Check out the site playingforchange.com

Virginia Tech, Guns and Torture

"The second question you asked was a theological question. And I get that asked every time there is a tragedy. And you properly ask that question over and over again. And I say things that always get incredible uproars because people don't think. And it's as simple as this: God is not in control of everything. I know that's going to sound like heresy, because we love to say in the midst of everything that's going on, "Oh God's in control, God's in control, God's in control," but that's absolutely absurd. God did not bring about Auschwitz. God does not bring about these horrible events on this planet. They are the doings of human beings in most instances. May I say this: It's obvious that God is not in control, by God's own choice. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them freedom. Now, you can't give your children freedom, and still say you're in control of them…"

Tony Campolo's podcast on the Virginia Tech tragedy covers several questions:

• How can God allow such a thing to happen? Campolo explains that God has given up much control in order to allow us, His children, to be free. In Campolo's words, "what we do with that freedom has been horrendous, but it's also been glorious."
• The legitimate question asked by the parents of US soldiers "Where's the outcry for our fallen?" And where's the outcry for the many thousands of fallen Iraqi civilians?
• The power of lobby groups such as the NRA over politicians through financing.
• The strong connection between the NRA and the religious right in the US, and the difference between the potentially violent outlook of many Christians with that of Jesus' teachings.
• US patriotism being placed as an idol above Jesus.
• Accountability for US soldiers who massacre Iraqi civilians, in contradiction to the Geneva accord, and the unquestioned support for these obscenities by US citizens. "In fighting the dragon, we have become the dragon."

I deeply respect Tony Campolo, and have begun listening to his collection of podcasts found on his website. They're worth checking out, as is his book, Speaking My Mind.

Torture on TV Rising and Copied in the Field

I've taken this entire post from the Human Rights First website.

U.S. soldiers are imitating torture techniques from TV.

They are in serious need of clear guidelines.

Click here TODAY to demand oversight from Congress!

The Problem: Torture on TV on the Rise
The number of scenes of torture on TV shows is significantly higher than it was five years ago and the characters who torture have changed. It used to be that only villains on television tortured. Today, “good guy” and heroic American characters torture — and this torture is depicted as necessary, effective and even patriotic.

The Impact: Soldiers Imitate What They See on TV
In interviews with former interrogators and retired military leaders, Human Rights First learned that the portrayal of torture in popular culture is having an undeniable impact on how interrogations are conducted in the field. U.S. soldiers are imitating the techniques they have seen on television – because they think such tactics work. Listen to former interrogators describe the problem.

The Background: U.S. Policy Shifts Ushered in Abuse
Hollywood writers, of course, did not create the environment that led to the torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere; the U.S. government created this environment by authorizing coercive interrogation techniques, departing from the long-held absolute ban on torture and cruel treatment, suspending the Geneva Conventions, and by assigning soldiers to tasks for which they were not trained. »more

What Can Be Done: The Primetime Torture Project
Human Rights First has launched a project that seeks to limit the impact TV has on the way interrogations are conducted in the field and also the way Americans view torture. Working with military educators and prominent Hollywood producers and writers, Human Rights First is developing a training film aimed at educating junior soldiers about the differences between what they see on TV and the way they ought to act in the field. Human Rights First is also working to encourage those with control over creative content in Hollywood to consider portraying torture in a more nuanced, more responsible fashion. »more

Nichols For His Thoughts

This entire article is written by my friend EternaLee, a talented writer and insightful Christian. I feel compelled to re-post the entire article. You'll see why when you read it.

Shakespeare once wrote, “This above all: to thine own self be true,And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

These days Canada persecutes, er, prosecutes someone like that. Orville Nichols, a marriage commissioner in Saskatchewan since 1983, could not stay true to himself or his heartfelt faith, to marry two homosexuals in 2005. For this, he may be fined $5000, then either change his mind or lose his job.

At one time, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Frank Quennell said it was desirable to protect the religious freedoms of commissioners like Nicholls. Sometime later, he changed his mind, forcing all of them to do same-sex marriages. Three of the eight provincial marriage commissioners actually took the Saskatchewan government to a human rights tribunal over being forced to marry homosexuals. They lost their cases. Freedom of religion and conscience had no place in the public sphere. Only clergy would be exempted.

Now Nichols himself has been brought before human rights tribunal—by the homosexual couple he refused to marry. Nichols hoped at the very least commissioners like him, hired before same sex marriage was legalized, could have freedom of conscience. But while the case was still being heard, public officials with interests in the case were already shooting that smallest of concessions down.

Janice Gringell, a lawyer for the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, said it didn’t matter that same-sex laws were not in force when Nichols signed on as a marriage commissioner in 1983. Because he was an agent of the state, he would have to follow the state’s laws without discrimination. Tom Irvine, lawyer for Saskatchewan Justice, told the media the same thing.

"I couldn't sleep or live with myself if I were to perform same sex marriages," Nichols told the tribunal. "I don't have a problem with them getting married,” he explained, “but I can't perform the service.” As a man of daily Bible reading and prayer, the seventy year old could not solemnize a marriage so against the faith he said took “first place” in his life. Nor did his faith allow him to lie and say he was unavailble that day. Instead, he referred the homosexual couple to another colleague.

His conscience mattered none to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. It's seeking an order to stop Nichols from discriminating against same-sex couples. It also recommends a $5,000 fine. They also kept the names of the homosexual couple from publication. However, we know one of them is a 51 year old father of three, who spnet seventeen years married to a woman.

In 1999, Parliamentarians overwhelmingly supported traditional marriage, and pledged to do all in their power to preserve it. A few years later, many of those Parliamentarians voted against the wishes of their constituents, and passed a motion to make it law! Today, a strong majority would support a law codifying freedom of conscience for clergy, at least. But as we all know, one judicial “interpretation” could put those laws through the shredder.

For Christians like me, it’s hard not to think of other times our rights were similarly eroded. Soviet Union, Nazi Germany—both were Christian societies before other forces came to dominate. Incrementally, the power of the state silenced and subjugated all who opposed their ideology. Today secular humanism with its creed of human rights is doing with communism and fascism did before them—seeking to silence the faithful in the land through unjust laws.

Orville Nichols can live with himself, even if the justice system can’t live with him. In reality, his fidelity to his conscience actually had him on the path of true justice. Nichols and many others would rather fight an injustice system doomed to fall than give consent by their silence. History will vindicate them, as it did the opponents of Marx and Hitler. But for our nation’s sake, I hope it’s sooner rather than later.

How Far We've Come - From The Virgin Mary to Angelina Jolie

"Blessed Art Thou" by Kate Kretz

I actually found this painting thru Father Joe's blog, and it is definitely worth a re-post, along with the painter's explanation:

This painting addresses the celebrity worship cycle. The title, “Blessed Art
Thou”, is taken from a line in the Catholic prayer “Hail Mary”: “…blessed art
thou among women”. Our culture is deifying celebrities, but in the bible, it is
the meek who are blessed, so the title presents a question for the viewer to
ponder.I chose a setting where the cycle begins: psychologically oppressive
environments like this one are one of the feeding sources for the consumer,
hungry for “information” about the celebrity's private life. I am interested in
the psychological ramifications of celebrity worship, particularly as they
relate to class.Angelina Jolie was chosen as the subject because of her
unavoidable presence in the media, the world-wide anticipation of her child, her
"unattainable" beauty and the good that she is doing in the world through her
example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions
surrounding her status.The "Virgin" and Zahara figures are loosely based on a Van Dyck Virgin painting, and the Maddox figure's pose is borrowed from a Raphael
painting.

Taken from the blog of Kate Kretz.

I find this painting very thought provoking. Many of those who commented pointed their fingers at the painter, but I think if we stop and give it the thought she is asking us to, we will learn about ourselves.

I'd like to hear what you think about this painting. Let me know!

If We Break Faith With Those Who Die

It was very moving to watch the Rembrance Day ceremony on CBC this morning. I was especially moved by the faces of the World War II soldiers, men and women in their 80's and 90's. Two of my grandfathers fought in that war, and lived through it. One volunteered for the British Royal Air Force, and was shot down three times. The other lived his life with shrapnel in his back.

We have no difficulty remembering these great men and women for their sacrifices. My concern is for our soldiers who are currently fighting in Afghanistan. With the ongoing political debate as to whether or not Canada should continue her involvement, it is easy to forget the soldiers themselves. They fight because they know that our freedom to debate was bought with blood, and that freedom will always be bought with blood. We owe them a lot, and cannot afford to sacrifice their efforts on the altar of politics. In the immortal words of Lt. Col. John McRae:

If ye break faith with those who die,

we shall not sleep, though poppies grow

in Flanders Fields.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Ottawa, Ontario
Photo taken from Occasionally Right blog

A Dollar A Day

And here I am, a few days after the experiment ended, and I'm sure of two things:
That what I call "liking nice things" or "looking after myself" or "spending the money which I earn to treat myself" has another name. Gluttony. Forget images of clinically obese, aging emperors gorging themselves on global delicacies, the truth about gluttony in the 21st century is that it wears a thousand perfectly respectable, blinking, flashing, shining, enticing masks. Gluttony is not the preserve of the ultra wealthy; it is the driver that powers our materialism.
And if I'm sure that I've got a long way to go, then I'm even more assured of this eternal truth: that change is possible, that my life does not have to conform, that nothing is written.
850 WORDS OF RELEVANT :: 06.19.06

This is a quote from an impacting article I read by Craig Borlase who lived on 53 English pence a day, for one week. Details on his blog, nothing is written.