This Is Why

People wonder why the leaders of this nation do not appear to be overly concerned with the troubles that the citizens seem to be enduring. The answer is very simple, they are Humanists.

These people are humanists of the stripe of those who produced the Humanist Manifestoes in the last century. They stand in stark contrast to Christians and other theistic religions which generally have a code of ethics and compassion. It is sadly true that not every religionist has always lived up to their religous confessions. There is a simple reason for that. It is called, "SIN". Humanity, as a species, is sinful by nature, and tends to fail when it comes to keeping moral commitments. Some failures are small, and some are quite large. Some don't matter to anyone except the one who fails, and some matter a great deal to many people. But fail or not, these people who practice religion based on the Bible have a code of compassion toward others, and tend to be concerned about how the other guy is doing.

Humanists do not. They will use the distress of others to motivate people to support them, or to empower their agenda for change, but they do not care about people, precisely because they are humanists. Read the Humanaist Manifesto II. It boldly asserts that there is no deity out there, caring about us, motivating our caring about one another, saving anyone. When they list the great destructive pressures of human society, "vulgarization, commercialization, bureaucratization, and dehumanization", they offer no solution. They simply tell us to pursue life's enrichment "despite [these] debasing forces". The traumas and terrors of human life are merely the evolutionary pressures which are to be endured and overcome by those fit enough to survive.

If you wonder why they campaign on the troubles oflife, as though they were going to resolve them, if elected, but never seem to actually fix the problems, it is because they never intended to fix them. The troubles are easy handles to motivation for getting people to vote for them. Solving the problems would make the elected officials less important and less necessary. Besides, they expect you to either survive or not, pretty much on your own. These problems are viewed as the evolutionary forces necessary to cull the herd of the unfit. It helps to remember, when dealing with committed evolutionists, that evolution does not care about the individual. Evolution is scarcely conscious of the individual. It focuses on populations, and is really about the species as a group, without a concern for any specific member of the group -excluding themselves, of course.

A New World

President Obama proudly proclaims that the United States is not a Christian nation. Sadly, this is only too true.

But now he tells the Muslim world that we are a Muslim nation - Now it is getting spooky!

Nonsense

I read daily about the dust-up in the Republican party between the "moderates" and the "conservatives". Clearly this is a debate by people so deeply entrenched in the world of Washington politics that they have lost all sight of reality.

First, who is Colon Powell to be lecturing on what is or is not a Republican? He went public in support of the Democrat candidate long before the vote, and he has given no evidence that his opinion has been altered by the mismanagement of the government by Obama since. If he is still a Republican, then so is Obama.

Second, political parties are supposed to offer alternative ideas, not simply different groups of men and women to enact the same ideas. If the "big tent" is so big that social progressives fit in and should have a significant voice in guiding the party, where do those who disagree go to find representation? How do we challenge the status quo and the mindless assault on our prosperity and liberties? The Republican party is not just "our team". It is supposed to be the champion of a set of principles and ideas distinct from the Democrats. It is supposed to offer real choice, not just more of the same in a different color wrapper.

Because the two national parties have abandoned the business of offering real choices, the political landscape is becoming fragmented to a significant degree. I imagine that we will see the sort of multiple-party electioneering that we see in Europe in the none-too-distant future, right here is America.

Pity.

Something Old, Something New . . .

I saw it in the newsletter of a congregation I was once a member of.  It is called "Natural Church Development".  I was curious.  The few comments about the program indicated that they had gotten the materials from somewhere official.  The program information suggested it was similar to a host of "church growth" programs.  I wondered where it had come from and who was behind it.  That sort of information often speaks volumes about things - church programs in particular.

So, I "googled" it.  I discovered that it was a program of the Seventh-Day Adventists.  As I read the materials available on-line, I found that it was pretty much a rehashing of the same-old church growth stuff.  It claimed that it was not, and that it was all about allowing the Word of God and the Power of God to cause the church to grow all by itself.  The only problem was that it identified concern over things such as sound doctrine as "legalism" which was detrimental to the growth of the church and of the eight characteristics of a "healthy" church.

The materials quoted by the pastor of the congregation focus on depending on the Word to work all by itself (which is a special phrase in NCD, they call it the "all by itself" principle).  The other materials talk about being "scientific" about things.  The Holy Spirit is the only one who can make the church grow, but if we get out of the way of the Holy Spirit (by doing things as they ought to be done properly) the church will grow.

The materials tell us that the purpose of the NCD program is not numerical growth or increased money in the coffers.  But then the materials go on to say that those churches that have used three or more surveys by the group - and their 'coaches', of course - have a track record of 51% growth in those areas.

I don't want to repeat the eight points of the program.  You can search that out for yourself.  But a "healthy" church, they report, does not care about "right doctrine".  Spiritual worship is "fun" and filled with laughter.  And small groups are very important (not "cells", mind you), but their focus is not supposed to be about teaching what the Word of God says.  No, "holistic groups . . . go beyond just discussing Bible passages to applying its message to daily life" - whatever that may mean.  And the "holistic" group is really focused on reaching out to those who do not belong to the church.  "The meaning of the term "discipleship" becomes practical in the context of holistic small groups: the transfer of life, not rote learning of abstract concepts."

Oh, yes, and Evangelism is about meeting needs.  "Need-oriented evangelism intentionally cultivates relationships with pre-Christian people".  It is to be need-centered, not message centered.  "Using appropriate ministries and authentic relationships, believers can guide others into the family of God."

The congregation in whose newsletter I noticed this program is always facing a financial challenge.  They operate a day school, K thru 8 -- and it is a good school!  I also noticed that the starter kit for this program is $175.  Never let an opportunity to make some money slip by!

The program is church growth warmed over and dressed in scientific respectability.  It is about butts in the pew and cash in the coffers, not about church or salvation at all.  It is like yogurt, you can flavor it any way you want so that it can seem Lutheran, for example, but it is fundamentally guided by those surveys and how your church is or is not meeting the goals and fitting the paradigm of a "healthy" congregation.

The ELCA is all over this program.  And now, it seems that the Missouri Synod is awakening to it, too.  Pastors beware!

An Old Question Answered

They asked the question, "How could all those reasonable people have permitted Hitler and the Nazi's to do the atrocious things they did?"  Of course, that question has been asked of all of those societies that permitted monstrous evil to walk the streets unchallenged.

Our society is answering that question with a living demonstration.  The news media, once responsible, is now demonizing everything they disagree with in the most extreme and irrational ways.  Conservative Christianity is caricatured as the cause for the loss of faith.  Conservative thought is seriously described as a form of insanity.  Conservative religion is styled as "extreme" and "fundamentalistic".  Advocates for liberal agendas openly assault institutions that they see as standing in their way - illustrated for us by gay activists interrupting worship services to throw literature and condoms around, and shout epithets at the worshipers.

Because 53 percent of the voters selected a candidate who was openly associated with the cause of  the social progressives, those who identify with that cause feel empowered and emboldened to spew their opinions publicly, and the media is reporting it all as though it were important news.

When the extremists have control of the political, and the media give voice only to them and their ilk, you end up with a society doing monstrous things, and pretending it is all so very reasonable.  Big Brother has finally arrived, he just got here twenty-five years behind schedule.

God help us, the inmates have taken over the asylum.

I Don't Get It

My puny portfolio has taken a beating.  The value of my home has dropped by approximately 20% -- according to the reports on the financial sites.  Jobs are vanishing with a swiftness not seen for seventy-plus years.  Things don't look good, and the news media is saying positively that things are bad.

Then I go to the gas station, and although I watch on the internet as crude oil drops day-by-day, my local gas station prices just went up a nickle per.  I go to the stores and prices are up for everything.  Walmart's prices are up.  Even the Subway in Walmart is now charging $1.60 for the bag of popcorn that was just recently one dollar even.

My taxes are bound to go up, seeing as how the new president is doubling down on Mr. Bush's unwise and ineffective approach to the economic woes.  Local government is cutting back on services and putting the hourly help on shorter hours (but paying the commissioners and the salaried people - the supervisors - the same money!).

If we are in a recession, shouldn't something other than my income and my investments recede? 

Hey business guys!  If you want more business from a shrinking money pool, raising your prices is the wrong approach.  Try charging less.

Sounding Eerily Familiar

Drudge Report has a headline story about Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi holding forth on how birth control will help the economy.

It has been clear that the pro-choice lobby is anti-human, and anti-life, but now one of the leading democrats has taken the position that people are a problem, and has come one step closer to government mandated birth control. It is a small step from pointing out how extra children are disadvantageous to the economy and regulating the number of permissible children in a family - as China has done, for example.

Spooky!