Catholicity, Orthodoxy, and Lordship
For those who have been keeping up with the rescue of the 33 Chileans miners, the New York Times summarizes quiet well the triumph of the story. My favorite part of the story is a quote from one of the rescued miners:
“I’ve been near God, but I’ve also been near the devil,” Mr. Sepúlveda said through a translator. “God won.”
Maureen Dowd’s op-ed piece on the New York Times is brutal on former senator John Edwards. She details some of the main features of a new book. The man who betrayed his dying wife is the main character of Andrew Young’s revealing memoir entitled “The Politician.” The book deals with the scandal that brought down a man who was near to the presidency or who could have been in Joe Biden’s office at this point. Dowd’s conclusion is a perfect summary of John Edward’s political career:
The man who preached about two Americas will be remembered for doing it with two faces.
The more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests have now been released. Cardinal Egan, who defended the secrecy of these documents concludes his op-ed in the New York Times by stating:
It’s marvelous when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have even been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything.
Responses to Egan’s remarks took various sides, but mainly in opposition to this stunning statement. One responder who was sexually abused writes that “Priests, after all, were next to God.” Priest received an incredible amount of protection. Their superior status and the enormous fear, including the guilt and manipulation suffered by priests, hindered many from ever being known. As one responder observed:
The question, then, for Cardinal Egan is not how many priests actually do not abuse children, but how many abusing priests have gotten away with it.
We tend to see trends in society on the basis of what books are selling the most. At this point, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is flying off the shelves. I heard Andrew Breitbart say recently that there is a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and a growing interest in Libertarian theory. Viva Ron Paul!
Missiles fired from suspected US drones killed at least 15 people inside Pakistan today, the first such strikes since Barack Obama became president and a clear sign that the controversial military policy begun by George W Bush has not changed.
Security officials said the strikes, which saw up to five missiles slam into houses in separate villages, killed seven “foreigners” – a term that usually means al-Qaeda – but locals also said that three children lost their lives.
Coral Ridge Presbyterian (PCA), the well-known congregation pastored for five decades by the late D. James Kennedy, has nominted Tullian Tchividjian as Pastor. Tullian is a graduate of my Alma Mater RTS/Orlando and the grandson of the evangelist Billy Graham.
(Thanks to Dave McLellan for the link)
One of the more sane voices in the neo-con radio waves is Glenn Beck. His contributions to CNN often brought a more libertarianesque voice amidst the mostly liberal and few neo-conservative voices at CNN. I am inclined to think that Ron Paul has deeply influenced Glenn at many levels, particularly when it comes to the Federal Reserve and fiat printing of dollars. It is even possible that his hawkish ideas may be softening a bit. He has also been critical of the bailout (s) and the stimulus/government welfare checks. It is a shame that his voice will no longer be considered as relevant after he moves over to Fox. He will be lumped in with all the other big government neo-cons. On the bright side, he may have Ron Paul pay Fox a visit more often. Fox could use a good dose of sanity these days. After all, Andrew Napolitano needs a few more constitutional friends.
In a March 18 report, Christian Aid reports that nearly 5000 Buddhist monks (location undisclosed) have recently turned to Christ. A worker reports: “It appears that the Holy Spirit had urged these monks and nuns to call our evangelists to come and share the gospel of hope and love. After several intense discussions, close to 80 percent of the monks present in each of the monasteries raised their hands to accept Christ, and then kneeled down to pray and receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.”
Christian Aid reports that baptisms are being quietly performed, for the safety of both the monks and the evangelists.
Milton Friedman died a few days ago. He was 94 years old. His death probably did not make much news. Constitutional Libertarians like myself find Friedman’s writing on education partly compelling (in my opinion he failed to see the immoral and unconstitutional nature of public education) and his overall economic theories were devastating to the old Socialists and neo-Socialists running this country. Like him I repudiate the Big Government Republicrats and Demoblicans. Friedman believed that when absolute authority rested on the government our basic liberties would be stolen.
He defended the freek market economy like no one else. His ability to communicate was phenomenal. He took the complicated and made it simple. Nevertheless, Friedman was a self-proclaimed agnostic as his correspondence with John Lofton demonstrates. This has been the demise of most Libertarians in the past 50 years or more. They are in the words of Bob Enyart “immoral conservatives.” They desire a limited government and a free market economy, while at the same time favoring the legalization of prostitution, legalizing same-sex marriage, murdering the unborn child and all other sorts of promiscuous acts that clearly defy God’s eternal laws. Only a consistent Christian worldview can answer societal’s major ills. Friedman answered the procedural questions correctly (How much power?), but on the most fundamental “Who is Jesus?” question, he failed eternally.
James White posted this link on his blog page and I thought some of my readers will find it quite interesting so here it is: FBI examines pastor’s sermons on abortion & homosexuality