Memo to Christian artists

If people have been singing a song for a few hundred years, chances are your edit isn’t going to make it better.

Man, created in God’s image, is capable of incredible heights of creativity… and depths of depravity.

The same man who wrote “Hey Jude” also wrote “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime.”

3 Christian phrases there’s nothing wrong with, but I’m sick of.

1. “I struggle with…”
2. “Prayer request”
3. “Quiet time” (Actually, there might be something wrong with this one.)

Yours?

Coexist?

You’ve seen these, right? They make me mad. Why? Because they don’t really mean what they say.

Let’s break it down. We’ll call each worldview by the letter it’s supposed to represent. So:

• C = Islam
• O = Pacifism
• E = “Gender equality” (=the LGBT agenda)
  
• X = Judaism
• I = Wicca / Pagan / Bah’ai
• S =Taoism / Confucianism
• T = Christianity

And let’s assume a very broad definition of “coexist”: living together without calling for the destruction of each other. Here are the problems with that:

• C wants to kill E, X, T, and (by implication) O. If they achieved the world they wanted, I and S would also no longer exist.
• O doesn’t allow for effective resistance or defeat of C.
• E stands in direct opposition to C, X, and T, and accuses those who speak against them of hate speech. Also, they’re trying to edge X and T out of public schools in favor of their own agenda. (They’re afraid C will be offended, so they get less trouble.) E is actually very, very intolerant.
• X’s existence is threatened not only by C but also by O, who invariably supports C over X.
• I and S are statistically insignificant and are mainly on there to complete the bumper sticker.
• T is who the bumper sticker is really arguing against, but poses no physical threat to any of the others.

Historically, T has brought about more tolerance– “coexistence” if you will– than any other movement. But the kind of “coexistence” the people who make this sticker envision is one where at least X and T are completely marginalized.

UPDATE: My wife reminded me that I was supposed to mention this: Worldview issues aside, on a purely graphics basis, this bumper sticker is awesome.

2 kinds of faithfulness: a note on Rev 2:10

“Be[ing] faithful unto death” could look very differently for two different believers.

For one, it might mean refusing to budge while staring down the barrel of a gun or the edge of a knife. And it might be over really fast. (This was apparently the case with the original readers.)

For another, it might mean 80 years of steady plodding.

I wonder which is harder.

You’ll never read about killer bees or welt-inducing caterpillars on Wiser Time.

When I start to feel like I’m a big deal, I like to read the blog of Drs. Scott and Jennifer Myhre, fellow World Harvest missionaries in Uganda.

They’re what I call real missionaries.

I’m not a “birth partner,” dammit. I’m her husband, and I’m his father.

Symptom #472 of the scrubbing of masculinity from our culture: Reading through all the stuff they give you at the hospital, you’d never know that moms had husbands or babies had fathers.

In which someone much smarter than me agrees

A couple of weeks ago I commented on why it’s unhelpful to throw out accusations of racism in political discussion.

Charles Krauthammer last night, on the increase of such accusations:

You know, the accusation of racism is a sign of desperation by people who know they are losing the national debate, and they want to hurl the ultimate charge in American politics.

This is dealing from the bottom of the deck, and I agree that it is a disgusting tactic. It’s done as a way to end debate…

Accusations of racism are the last refuge of the liberal scoundrel.

HT: The Corner

Wow, sorry to hear that.

Apparently the church that sent us this direct mail “can think of no better way to thresh out pressing topics than through the language of song.”

No better way? Really? Perhaps I could make a suggestion.

Selective memory, glass houses, and all that.

I didn’t watch the President’s speech last night. But apparently Joe Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina shouted “You lie!” when the President claimed that Democratic health proposals would not cover illegal immigrants.

That is classless, tacky, unprofessional, disrespectful, and stupid. Wilson has since apologized, as he should have. As a human being and as the President, Obama is entitled to respect and civility, and elected officials should have the self-control to act like adults on such an important occasion. (Now I have been known to raise my voice at the TV when the President speaks; if I met him in person I would show greater restraint.)

That said, it’s hilarious to see the New York Times’ account of the incident. The article notes that “members of both parties were trying to recollect such a pointed attack from an individual lawmaker at a presidential address,” then goes back to the Clinton years for an example:

When President Clinton addressed Congress in 1993 to push his health care plan, “both sides of the aisle received the President warmly,” according to a report in The New York Times at the time.

“But when he began talking about raising taxes on tobacco to pay for the plan, or the need to cut Medicare and Medicaid, many on the Republican side of the aisle began snickering, shaking their heads skeptically and making faces at each other,” the article said.

Oh, those childish Republicans, up to their old tricks. But I was trying to remember– wasn’t there another president between Clinton and Obama? Oh yes, that’s right. His name was George W. Bush. He was booed and shouted at, oh, about every single time he addressed Congress. I’m sure the New York Times was appalled at such juvenile behavior at the time.