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She barely mentioned him, but when she did, she said this: All the candidates save one, the obscure but intellectually serious Ron Paul, seemed to be trying to show they will not break with the Bush administration on the war, but that, at the same time, they each know a heck of a lot more than President Bush.

Note: It has been over two years since I wrote this paper for a class in History of Christianity. Even at that time, I had some serious doubts over the war in Iraq. Since then, my ideas have become concrete and my opposition has grown since the day I wrote this paper. This paper was intended to show both perspectives; both sides of the issue. I used the best resources I had at that time and composed what appears to be a fair representation of why some believed the war was necessary and why others believed it would be a disaster. The evidence is here presented. I hope this analysis may bear some fruit as you consider the condition of this debate over two years ago. Please leave some thoughts when you are done. For your convenience I have added some links and made the footnotes more easily accessible.

Read article: The Just War Theory and the War in Iraq

Imus just could not apologize enough. CBS announced Thursday that it has fired Don Imus from his radio program, following a week of uproar over the radio host’s derogatory comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. ^a This was expected and should not be shocking as I mentioned in a previous post. If our culture is leading towards a seeker-sensitive market, then what is the use of the radio air waves? Whatever happened to free speech?

Christians like myself find Imus disturbing and just another display of liberal idiocy, but he is not the center of the problem. He is just a tool for the pseudo “reverends.” They need one more example to propound their spurious idea that they are still victims.

Perhaps the greatest outcome of this entire situation is the lucid analysis of a black columnist named Jason Whitlock from Kansas City.com. Jason begins his column summarizing what all of us (particularly non-whites) in the Libertarian camp have been saying for a long time:”You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem…Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessarythan eradicating our self-hatred.” ^b

The black community (this community does not represent all blacks as Whitlock makes clear) is still plagued by the 1965 virus and until they heal that virus, they will continue to depend on the day to day groceries from mother government. But is the real problem Don Imus? Is there something intrinsic in these blacks that Jesse Jackson fights for that hinders them from becoming productive citizens? I am so enamored by Whitlock’s piece that I will quote it once more:

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

Imus’ remarks pale in comparison to the innumerable murders of innocent children in the womb in these communities, it pales in comparison to drug lords who catechize their young ones to see women as objects of pleasure, it pales in comparison to investing in fancy cars, rather than providing for the future of their families. Wise investment and Biblical regeneration are the solutions! These are not contradictory ideas. God’s people are called to be productive citizens in an age of guilt manipulators.

Sharpton and Jackson may well be great apologists contra rap music, but the truth is: rapsters do not have nation-wide audiences, except in the communities where they are expected to be heard. So, why not persecute the white guy with a cowboy hat? Better yet, why not listen to my new favorite sports columnist

Jason Whitlock:

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in thatbattle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

1. CBSNEWS  (back)
2. Jason Whitlock  (back)

Last evening we enjoyed a pleasant dinner with our neighbor. He was full of energy and delighted to have a dinner with someone, rather than himself. As some of you may know from previous journal entries, my dear friend Tom McBride, who just turned 85, lost his dear wife almost 2 months ago. We have ministered to him in any way we can. As he has mentioned to us before, after living 58 years with your spouse, life makes no sense. This is the crux of our ministry to him. For us Christians, our attention, hope, love, passion, trust, commitment, is not merely to our spouse, but to our great Lord Jesus Christ.

The “great” scholars are now are backtracking on their claims concerning the “Empty Tomb.” See article here.

There is much that can be said regarding Don Imus’ incident, but in this brief assessment I will keep my comments to some general ideas that surface behind the scenes. Imus’ words were unfortunate, but beyond unfortunate, they were said in a context where certain words can be treated as dangerously as those by the KKK. Liberal Postmoderns may be saying: “But words do not have meaning outside of what we give them.” In this case, each word has a profound meaning, leading to profound consequences. Janet Jackson’s bodily “oops” is nothing in comparison to this. The radio airwaves are becoming more and more limited in what can be said. The spies are everywhere seeking to find a meaning within the meaning. But in this case the spies did not have much work to do. It was just too clear. Before continuing, let me recommend my friend Dan’s excellent remarks on De Civitate Dei.

The publicity of this event is superb in light of the shallow ratings of both Al Sharpton and Don Imus. Both are second class radio talk show hosts with little knowledge of political theory, and both are “progressive” thinkers. By that, I mean they are both for anything that is for anything.

Al Sharpton invited Imus to his program to discuss his remarks (hence, the title of this article). The interview is replete with apology after apology. Sharpton continues to be the sole representative for the liberal black community. Perhaps I should mention Jesse Jackson, but in the end of the day both share identical ideologies and both hide behind the title Reverend; never earned by a Trinitarian church, hence making their ordination a hoax.

There is no need to rehash all the incident and background (here is a summary); my purpose here is to state the ideas behind the incident. First of all, what happened with Don Imus was more than a slip. It reveals what is deeper within, but Imus is not an amateur; he should have been more careful, but it is possible that he may have had a particularly bad morning. It happens with everyone. Nevertheless, in our politically correct culture – he should be fired. ^a Why? Simply because this is the direction of a politically correct society; say only what you want others to hear. And if this is the direction of our sensitive culture, then Imus deserves to be fired.
Secondly, Imus’ racial comment reveals an interesting reality about our society: our skin color dictates who we are. No longer are we bound to the teaching that says: “God looks on the inside.” Our outward appearing carries on the climax of human existence today. This is not to say that the outward does not matter, indeed it does. But one can hide who he is without revealing too much of his inner being.

Thirdly, Imus’ words reveals his perception of the world, or his worldview. He perceives women who are black and who tattoo their bodies as prostitutes (this is a more direct summary of his phraseology). This is a powerful reminder that all people have presuppositions and that it affects all of us. The way we perceive reality will be clearly demonstrated in our assessment of society at large.

Fourthly, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are deceivers. They fool portions of the black community to think that there is a war raging America; and it is either the whites or the blacks that will hold the trophy in the end of the day. If it were not for their roles in American politics in the last 30 years, it is possible that this country would have made much more progress in this great racial divide in our culture.

Fifthly, it must be noted that these men do not speak for all blacks. ^b They speak for a group of people that still abide in the days of the Civil Rights. Even if they are treated properly they still think they were not treated properly enough. These people still believe that society owes a large debt for the misery of their forefathers. This reminds me of what Thomas Sowell ^c once said: “Civil rights used to be about treating everyone the same. But today some people are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination. ” Further, the state and the Lincolnian cult ^d are their great fathers. This great father provides for all their needs. When disaster occurs, our father is there. When there are no funds to attend college, our father is there. But there are blacks who still believe that working hard brings food to the table; that sacrificing for your family, brings hope to their children, and that loving out Father who art in heaven is much greater than loving our father who art on earth.

So, Don Imus will continue to apologize again and again. First, on his miserable government endorsed radio program, then in a pathetic way to Al Sharpton, then to the girls in the basketball team (these are the only ones he needs to ask forgiveness), and then to all peoples, because he has become the new target for self-aggrandizing con-men with “Rev.” as their titles.

1. MSNBC drops Imus simulcast  (back)
2. I am a dark skinned South American, in case anyone is wondering; so I have an invested interest in this issue for may reasons  (back)
3. Sowell is a black economist  (back)
4. A term used to define the all-powerful state, due to our 16th president, see Thomas DiLorenzo  (back)

Holy Saturday ^a

(Also known as Black Saturday.)

• A day of silence and prayer which commemorates the dead Christ in the tomb. No Mass is celebrated. In cases of the danger of death, Eucharistic Hosts remaining from the Liturgies of the two previous days are used as viaticum.
• The Tabernacle is left empty and open. The lamp or candle usually situated next to the Tabernacle denoting the Presence of Christ is put out, and the Eucharist is kept elsewhere, usually the sacristy, with a lamp or candle burning before it.

Suggestions: Read through the Gospel account of our Lord’s crucifixion and burial.
Fast during one meal and pray that God would give you greater understanding of the death of His beloved Son.

1. Artist and description  (back)

Last evening my wife and I were part of our first Maundy Thursday Service at our Presbyterian congregation. I led the service through hymns and our pastor prepared the people to eat and drink of Christ. At the end, we left in silence remembering that awful night when our Lord was betrayed and handed over to Jewish authorities.

“Good Friday, the second day of the Triduum, is the solemn remembrance of Jesus’ death on the cross. The name “Good Friday” is a corruption of “God’s Friday,” although the term is a very fitting one since the Lord’s death was for our eternal good. ”

“In spite of the solemnity of Good Friday worship, it is not by any means a funeral service for Jesus. It is rather a time of quiet and serious contemplation on His great saving work.” ^a

O painful, painful, painful day!
My Lord, my flesh, my son;
the breath of life you breathed away,
was life in God now won.

The pain of birth you chose to make
a sign of God’s new life.
So for God’s Kingdom you now take
the pain, the curse, the knife.

“Here is your son”, you said to me,
“Mother”, to one well loved.
Disciples all, we are to be,
in grief and love embraced.

O painful, painful, painful day!
That joy through tears may come,
I do believe, and hope to say,
when you have led me home.
© David Beswick, 1997

1. See Holy Week  (back)