An instructive study as to how times have changed. The first time an American was displayed as a human prop in the observational gallery during a State of The Union Address occurred during the Reagan Administration. That particular individual jumped into an icy river to rescue the victims of a jetliner crash. Under Obama, those exhibited are dragged out to illicit guiltrips for increased government spending.
Regarding the inmate that petitioned the Supreme Court to recognize his right to grow a beard as a Muslim. If so concerned about adherence to the strictures of religion, shouldn't he have been as concerned about obeying the weighter matters such as murder, theft, or rape (the failure to comply with resulted in his incarceration to begin with)?
The cover of the winter 2015 edition of the UTNE Reader was about women around the world that do not possess what would be considered equal rights. Pictured on the cover was a man and woman adorned in what looked like 1950's apparel with the man having a disco ball for a head. Granted, people were not as happy back then as the portrait of idealized domesticity that they were expected to project to the public. However, to be more accurate regarding the threats posed to women outside of America, shouldn't someone have been depicted in Islamist dress or chained in an East Asian sweatshop?
In a sermon, an Anglican minister reflected positively upon Puritan Richard Baxter's practice of visiting the homes of parishioners at least once per year. Frankly, what if you don't want the preacher in your home? Isn't seeing them at church enough?
Now that one has breached the White House perimeter, President Obama wants better regulation of drones especially in regards to matters of privacy. Does that include those flown over private property on missions not related to national security to inventory wetlands for the purposes of curtailing usage rights?
In speaking to a 12 year old caller, Rush Limbaugh remarked that, in his youth, the snow had to reach 15 inches before school was closed. Maybe that was back in the day when people were more inclined to do as they were told and did not think much about incurring injury at the behest of the state. Broadcaster Chris Plante was little better regarding this issue. He snipped that, if children do not risk their lives and injury in hazardous weather,where will the next generation of skydiving commandos come from. However, isn't positing that parents breed children for no other reason than to sacrifice on behalf of the Fatherland about the most statist belief one can hold to?
If under Obamacare insurance deductibles are so high that emergency treatment can't be afforded, why ought you risk injury during a snowstorm by venturing out?
On his 1/23/15 podcast, Kevin Swanson remarked upon the number of scandals that hit Evangelicalism in 2014. Wasn't one involving his former sidekick succumbing to some undisclosed carnal temptation to such a degree that he had to be removed from that program?
It was said in a homiletic overview of I Corinthians that, if you deprive the Body of Christ of your spiritual gift, it is as bad as if you utilized that spiritual gift for your selfish glory. Yet it is often those claiming to represent th Body of Christ that thwarts and prevents the individual from using that gift to its fullest.
So is this from a desire to save on energy bills or a psychological animosity against women?
Don't you just hate those multi-roll toilet paper dispensers in public restrooms? There is really no way of seeing how low the current roll is. You can be left there mid-business having to grind on the contraption that barely moves in order to get the next roll to drop into place. But I guess if you say anything about this, employing the logic that if you complain about jury duty you must support the abolition of the entire judicial system, it means you must, in terms of hygiene, practice “left hand Arab style” or prefer a communal rag hanging on the wall.
It was suggested that public schools ought to close and education ultimately be put back in the hands of parents. That sounds wonderful on paper. But what is to be done with those that the fangs of organized religion have not sufficiently sunk into or when the skills of the parents are mismatched with the aptitudes of the child? The religious schools are controlling enough with the public alternative looming down their necks. How much worse would they be if they became the prevailing monopoly?
Seattle residents caught filling their trashcans with more than 10% of food will be publicly shamed with a red lid. The program is not intended to stop the waste of consumables per say. Rather the purpose is to prevent food items from being sent to the landfill. But what's the big deal about food items in the landfill? Aren't they by definition biodegradable?
Plaster the image of a topless woman struggling to find her way of pantyhose pulled up over her head on a literary journal and it's considered artistic. Pull the same image up on your computer in the workplace, you'd probably be fired for pornographic harassment and listed on an offender registry.
A group calling itself the “Radical Brownies” at this time is denying membership to White girls. The group was founded by Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest. The duo describe themselves as “Queer Women Of Power”. In other words, they are likely on the prowl for fresh victims to molest and abuse. Think not? Would you allow girls of the targeted age to spend time alone with a man? Then why around women that have admitted to a sexual attraction to those of their same gender?
It is a shame that John McCain does not exhibit as much backbone against the illegals victimizing his constituents as he displayed against the protesters assaulting Henry Kissinger.
If John McCain had displayed as much backbone during his campaign as in his defense of Henry Kissinger, American might not have been subjected to an Obama Presidency. However, that is not to say a McCain presidency would not have been without its own shortcomings.
Howard Dean insists that anyone going to view American Sniper must be angry members of the Tea Party. Anger is not yet against the law. Would he dare say something similar regarding audiences of the Selma film? Seems that is the particular demographic that can't seem to channel their frustrations without burning other people's property to the ground.
A definition of “filthy word” delivered from the pulpit was anything that you would not want to put into your hand. That might sound pious, but it is ultimately impractical and downright silly. For are the words “slug”, “phlegm”, or even “mud” ones that Christians ought to avoid vocalizing?
The question to ask is not so much whether Chris Kylie was racist. That really doesn't bear to any significant degree upon his actions. All that really matters is that those eliminated were terrorists.
What's so wrong with the Nationwide insurance Super Bowl commercial? Probably more kids need to know about the possibility of death by household accidents than erectile dysfunction and vaginal discharges.
The same ones at Art Forum International Magazine that probably wouldn't consider Thomas Kincaid or Norman Rockwell “real artists” place on the Feb.2015 cover the photo of a shirtless man with a plastic grocery bag taut over his face with his tongue poking through a sliver of a hole.
ISIS savages burned a Jordanian pilot alive. Tolerancemongers insist that the greater concern is whether or not Chris Kylie enunciated a sufficient amount of White guilt and satisfactory number of self-deprecating denunciations.
The Obama Administration has issued a report hoping to spark a national conversation regarding future transportation needs. That translates as the American people are to be mentally reconditioned to accept restrictions on individual travel and daily movement analogous to the limitations being implemented in the name of healthcare reform.
If vaccines are so effective at halting the spread of disease, why all of this panic among those that are already inoculated?
If illegal aliens are manipulating the system and are abetted by authorities to the point where they are able to vote unimpeded, why aren't we to assume that they are just as fraudulent in documenting their inoculations against communicable diseases?
The Feb. 2015 cover of the American Journal Of Public Health depicts a young Black man holding a sign that reads, “To my unborn son, If you wish to survive you must be beyond reproach.” Shouldn't anyone, irrespective of color, expect trouble should they go lurking about their neighborhood late at night, beat up a convenience store operator during a cigar heist, refuse to get out of the street when instructed by a police officer, and then rush headlong towards the officer aggressively?
A deranged cosplayer has disfigured himself by cutting off his nose and tattooing his face in homage to the Red Skull. The Red Skull is the Nazi supervillain. Why couldn't he have just shaved his head and pretended to be Lex Luthor? So who is going to pick up the tab for this deadbeat when no sane establishment will extend this deadbeat an offer of gainful employment?
An advertisement aired on WUSA during a broadcast of the MacGlaughlin Group insisted that obesity is EVERYONE's problem. Does that mean society can dictate what those of girth may or may not eat? Can Americans be compelled to exercise against their wills? Interestingly, Checker's Burgers were advertised just two commercials later.
At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama pointed out that atrocities have been committed in the name of Christ as well. What the President failed to point out was that those Christian actions were set into motion by Islamic aggressions. Secondly, even if atrocities were carried out in Christ's name, Christ would not have supported them. That is the opposite of the actions taken in the name of Muhammad whom would have supported the violence committed in his name.
In an episode of Generations Radio featuring a more godly alternative to the Boy Scouts, it was asked why was it important to get lads off the couch reading Science Fiction novels and into the outdoors. Isn't that a loaded question? Science fiction is no more inherently immoral than the outdoor experience promoted by the organization highlighted in the interview. Each is merely a recreational choice made good or bad by the one guiding the individual through the respective experience. So what if a SciFi novel is the preference of a child rather than nature? Should the outdoorsy child be compelled to read comic books against their will? The group emphasized it is their mission to teach young men to become responsible adults. So why ought those that rather acquire these values through imagination and speculative narrative be looked down upon as if they are almost deviants?
The following phrase was used in a podcast posted by a prominent Evangelical seminary: “Held accountable in community.” What that means is that you might not have violated anything concrete from the pages of Scripture. Rather, it means you just violated the nebulous sensibilities of the group. What can they do to you if you don't show up? If no other church will take you because of a sentence imposed by another ecclesiastical assembly, what is to prevent the dispossessed from forming a church of their own? The churches being openly defied can't very well complain about it when nearly the same thing occurred in their own backgrounds and origin accounts.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order forbidding the issuance of marriage licenses to gay couples. The proponents of solemnized deviancy accused Roy Moore of grandstanding. But unlike that of the Ferguson insurgents, at least this jurist's political theatrics don't result in the widespread destruction of property.
A number across the political spectrum are outraged that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore would attempt to block the establishment of gay marriage in that state. You know, the law is the law. So in the future, should the inheritor of his judicial mantle step aside as easily as they suggest when Jews are once again onto box cars and octogenarians assert the right to 12 year old child brides? Given the advancement of Islam across the globe, don't kid yourself about the aforementioned scenario being beyond the realm of possibility.
Regarding Christian Reconstructionists opposed to Fifty Shades Of Gray. Are they so much opposed to a firm hand of discipline or that someone might actually enjoy it? Isn't there more wrong with that film than a blind fold and a pair of handcuffs as one homeschool podcaster seemed to go on and one about?
A number of Christians have suggested that, if the state sanctions gay marriage, it might no longer be appropriate for believers to acquire a marriage license. Though the state sanctioning gay marriage undermines the institution, how would that impact the quality of your own relationship if you as a heterosexual acquire a license? You are in no way forbidden from pursuing a partner of the opposite sex. If a state allows unmarried couples to own the same piece of property, does that mean a devout Christian couple should not purchase a house or take out a mortgage?
If President Obama insists that terrorism is not that serious with global warming actually being the greater danger, why is he negotiating with Congress to expand powers to address a nonexistent threat?
With school starting later next school year, will Montgomery County students be getting additional sleep or just staying awake that much later?
On an episode of “Standing Up For The Truth with Mike Lemay”, it was claimed that experiments in Christian communal living in the 1960's and 1970's fizzled out because the participants became materialistic and wanted their own possessions. But is that really sinfully materialistic or merely the way that God has wired human beings to maximize individual well being? The sharing of resources mentioned in Acts 2 is more a description of a specific historic incident. It is not elaborated as categorically imperative doctrine.
Michelle Obama has banned boxed macaroni and cheese from the White House because she insists that the delicacy is not real food. But neither is what we are having inflicted upon us from the current occupants of the White House real leadership.
An article claims that Amish children don't get autism. Probably because, with the near inbreeding that takes place with the sect where the vast majority of members are not too distant relatives, the more profound manifestations of retardation unfortunately bubble to the surface first.
In the book “Stop Dating The Church”, Josh Harris popularized the analogy that church membership is akin to marriage. As such, when things become difficult, according to Harris, one should not set out in search of greener pastures but instead endure through the misery. So does his resignation as pastor at the scandal-ridden Covenant Life Church constitute a form of abandonment akin to divorce? In most doctrinally conservative churches, the divorced cannot usually remarry without a profound curtailment of their ecclesiastical privileges and opportunities. So by the logic of his own analogy, should Josh Harris be forever denied another ministry position?
In the town newspaper, a local business owner described the municipality as a “perfect” kind of place where “Everybody knows everybody else” and where “Everybody still looks out for each other”. So I guess that's why his shrill banshee of a hag wife called my brother in the early hours one Saturday morning threatening her refusal to approve a permit for a tree that the electric company wants to remove.
Disney has announced plans for a cruise ship featuring a number of Star Wars-themed celebrations. Does that include a Princess Leia impersonator singling the Wookie Life Day anthem?
It was remarked in a sermon on submission in the church that those in the congregation should not work against the vision of the elders. But unless it is further elaborated that what the congregation was doing was in blatant violation of the Scripture, how do we not really know that it is not the elders that are in violation of the Spirit's leading? All things being equal, the vision in terms of an overarching purpose that you need to get behind is the one you believe God is giving you; not the one that God is giving someone else. Usually when churches talk about your need as mere pewfiller to get behind the vision of the leadership, they mean more than simply treating your family right and slipping a few dollars in the collection plate every so often. Usually such language is a euphemism about micromanaging nearly every aspect of your existence.
The Census concludes that 30% of millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 reside with their parents. So what? Isn’t the more important question to ask be how many are employed? Some might just prefer to live with parents rather than in a roach-infested flophouse.
The same ones insisting that all ISIS needs to turn from their policy of homicidal genocide is a job training program rank among those that would refuse to cut Pope Benedict any slack for having been forced into the Hitler Youth.
Eddie Murphy refused to portray Bill Cosby in a Saturday Night Live skit. The reason given was the impropriety of kicking a man while he is down. But hasn't that been a fundamental modus operandi of Saturday Night Live over the past forty years? Would the show even exist without that variety of comedy?
There is nothing in the Constitution stipulating that it disrespects the office of the President to question the patriotism of a particular occupant of that office.
The 2/15/15 episode of “Knowing The Truth with Kevin Boling” titled “The Tragedy Of The Male Ego” approached the Brian Williams fiasco from that particular analytical perspective. Isn't it a testament to how much more frightening the female ego is that hardly anyone would dare raise the specter of Oprah Winfrey's own journalistic embellishments or programs such as the View as examples to which the base impulses and deficiencies of character tempting to that particular gender have been allowed to run rampant throughout the media? Is it really male ego that prompted Brian Williams to fabricate news accounts or rather a media complex that requires increasingly extravagant spectacles to gain ratings? How is what Williams did all that different than the “evangelastic” tales many missionaries elaborate in order to guilt-trip congregations into filling collection plates?
At the conference on combating extremeism in announcing what amounts to a jobs program for ISIS, President Obama remarked, “The United States will make new commitments to help young people, including in Muslim communities, to forge new collaborations in entrepreneurship, science, and technology.” In other words, we Americans are going to teach terrorists how to construct more destructive bombs and how to administrate their cabals more efficiently.
Southern Baptist Ethics & Policy Commission chairman Russell Moore urged Christians to pray not only for the defeat of ISIS but also for the conversion of the terrorist group's members. However, if Dr. Moore wants to remain consistent in his Reformed Calvinist theology, isn't the second portion of the request pointless? For according to this particular theory of soteriology, God has already preselected whatever number within that genocidal sect will come to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior if any at all. To urge prayer in the matter as if it would make a difference is to imply that these divine decisions really aren't made before the foundation of the world as is taught.
Doug Perry of the Fellowship of the Martyrs claimed in a Youtube video that the snarkyness of apologist Todd Friel destroyed Perry's marriage. If someone else's scathing wit that you aren't even in direct contact with can destroy your marriage, it is doubtful that the relationship was all that solid to begin with.
Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.
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