Do The Math
30/11/11 09:41
Alexis De Toqueville (first half of the nineteenth century) : In the United States the sovereign authority is religious.... there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.
It can no longer be said of America that it is the “most enlightened and free nation of the earth”. As to enlightenment, the majority of Americans have been lobotomized by the TV set. Spiritually, morally, and intellectually the lights have gone out in America. As to freedom, we are watching the complete betrayal of our Constitutional liberties as we slide into European style socialism that controls every aspect of our lives. You cannot drink unpasteurized milk without the threat of arrest! (I’m not joking.) Our nation is pathetically dumbed down and remarkably complacent about the loss of liberty. Crime, STDs, drug abuse (prescription and street drugs), abortion, domestic violence, educational failure, and economic collapse are the characteristics of the new America. America is a shadow of its former self.
If the proof of the value (utility) of Christian influence on America is the enlightenment and freedom it produces, then we would expect the removal of that Christian influence to produce exactly what we are seeing today. At the risk of redundancy, it can no longer be said that America is the “most enlightened and free nation of the earth”. Nor can it be said that “there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America”. Let’s see, no Christian influence…America is no longer enlightened or free…you do the math.
It can no longer be said of America that it is the “most enlightened and free nation of the earth”. As to enlightenment, the majority of Americans have been lobotomized by the TV set. Spiritually, morally, and intellectually the lights have gone out in America. As to freedom, we are watching the complete betrayal of our Constitutional liberties as we slide into European style socialism that controls every aspect of our lives. You cannot drink unpasteurized milk without the threat of arrest! (I’m not joking.) Our nation is pathetically dumbed down and remarkably complacent about the loss of liberty. Crime, STDs, drug abuse (prescription and street drugs), abortion, domestic violence, educational failure, and economic collapse are the characteristics of the new America. America is a shadow of its former self.
If the proof of the value (utility) of Christian influence on America is the enlightenment and freedom it produces, then we would expect the removal of that Christian influence to produce exactly what we are seeing today. At the risk of redundancy, it can no longer be said that America is the “most enlightened and free nation of the earth”. Nor can it be said that “there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America”. Let’s see, no Christian influence…America is no longer enlightened or free…you do the math.
Ankle Deep
17/11/11 15:28
ponder [verb] : 1. To consider something deeply and thoroughly meditate.
2. To weigh carefully in the mind, consider thoughtfully.
3. To think about something carefully, esp. before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.
I named this page Ponder Point after the place depicted in Berkeley Breathed’s classic comic strip Bloom County, which is sadly no longer a syndicated feature in the papers. The various characters of that strip would be found sitting in the amber glow of sunset, under a tree, next to a sign that read “Ponder Point”, gazing off across the fields below, lost in thought, pondering the point. Unfortunately this much needed exercise in contemplative thought has been sacrificed to our 7 second sound bites, 160 character text messages, 2.4 second ASLs (average scene length in movies), web surfing, channel surfing, speed dating, multi-tasking, cell phone calling, baby crying, gym membership-ing, traffic negotiating, sixty hour work week. The most appropriate adjective to apply to this generation is distracted. Who has time to ponder anymore?
In fact, we have lost the ability to ponder. The natural result of the frenetic pace of modern living is that our thought processes become a mile wide and an inch deep. Who has the time or mental energy to try to suss out the meaning of life, love, death, God, or anything else of any real consequence when we are overwhelmed with the million details necessary to keep up with a world functioning at 300,000 kilometers per second (the fundamental speed of the conveyance of electronic data)? Who reads poetry or literature anymore? Who reads the Bible anymore? Who reads anymore? (One of the criticisms of this website that I received was that it is too wordy. People won’t take the time to read it.)
If the most important things in life require some deep thought, and no one has time to think, then everything becomes trivialized and irrelevant. If I cannot ponder what is important than I am left with a life filled with what is unimportant.
I have been told by countless people that they don’t have time for church. My response is always the same: if you are too busy for God, then you are too busy! And don’t even try to dodge the bullet with the separation of God and church. That mentality is the consequence of ankle deep religion and Bible illiteracy. But of course, if you don’t have time for church, you don’t have time for the Bible, or thought, or God, or life, or anything else of consequence. Ponder that.
2. To weigh carefully in the mind, consider thoughtfully.
3. To think about something carefully, esp. before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.
I named this page Ponder Point after the place depicted in Berkeley Breathed’s classic comic strip Bloom County, which is sadly no longer a syndicated feature in the papers. The various characters of that strip would be found sitting in the amber glow of sunset, under a tree, next to a sign that read “Ponder Point”, gazing off across the fields below, lost in thought, pondering the point. Unfortunately this much needed exercise in contemplative thought has been sacrificed to our 7 second sound bites, 160 character text messages, 2.4 second ASLs (average scene length in movies), web surfing, channel surfing, speed dating, multi-tasking, cell phone calling, baby crying, gym membership-ing, traffic negotiating, sixty hour work week. The most appropriate adjective to apply to this generation is distracted. Who has time to ponder anymore?
In fact, we have lost the ability to ponder. The natural result of the frenetic pace of modern living is that our thought processes become a mile wide and an inch deep. Who has the time or mental energy to try to suss out the meaning of life, love, death, God, or anything else of any real consequence when we are overwhelmed with the million details necessary to keep up with a world functioning at 300,000 kilometers per second (the fundamental speed of the conveyance of electronic data)? Who reads poetry or literature anymore? Who reads the Bible anymore? Who reads anymore? (One of the criticisms of this website that I received was that it is too wordy. People won’t take the time to read it.)
If the most important things in life require some deep thought, and no one has time to think, then everything becomes trivialized and irrelevant. If I cannot ponder what is important than I am left with a life filled with what is unimportant.
I have been told by countless people that they don’t have time for church. My response is always the same: if you are too busy for God, then you are too busy! And don’t even try to dodge the bullet with the separation of God and church. That mentality is the consequence of ankle deep religion and Bible illiteracy. But of course, if you don’t have time for church, you don’t have time for the Bible, or thought, or God, or life, or anything else of consequence. Ponder that.
Read the Owner's Manual
05/09/11 17:07
The heretics of old, one suspects, would be sick with envy if they knew of the easy pickings that can now be had in the Church.
-David F. Wells. No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?
The problem in our culture ... isn't the abortionists. It isn't the pornographers or drug dealers or criminals. It is the undisciplined, undiscipled, disobedient, and Biblically ignorant Church of Jesus Christ.
-From an interview with Cal Thomas, Christianity Today, April 25, 1994.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
How many times have we launched into the assembly of some purchased item completely ignoring the instructions, convinced that our own unerring wisdom would guide us to a successful conclusion? And how many times have we realized that we should have put the flamitz on the dip clipper BEFORE we assembled the piltcher box?!?! Dang, I hate it when that happens!
Paul warned us that in the last days some would depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Tim 4:1) The church has always had to deal with error, heresies, and “winds of doctrine” but it seems to me that Paul’s end times warning is kicking in with a vengeance. The post-modern intolerance of absolute truth claims has given birth to a generation that is wide open to any kind of lie, and Christians today are as gullible and undiscerning as the unsaved. This is primarily because of Biblical ignorance. This is no time to be letting your Bible gather dust while you get your wisdom from Oprah re-runs and televangelists whose greed and decadence makes a mockery of the gospel. Jesus himself warned that in the last days false prophets and teachers would rise up everywhere and deceive even the elect! If you don’t stock up on the Scriptures you are a prime candidate for following the blind right into the ditch. Read your Bible! That is one owner’s manual that you cannot afford to ignore.
-David F. Wells. No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?
The problem in our culture ... isn't the abortionists. It isn't the pornographers or drug dealers or criminals. It is the undisciplined, undiscipled, disobedient, and Biblically ignorant Church of Jesus Christ.
-From an interview with Cal Thomas, Christianity Today, April 25, 1994.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
How many times have we launched into the assembly of some purchased item completely ignoring the instructions, convinced that our own unerring wisdom would guide us to a successful conclusion? And how many times have we realized that we should have put the flamitz on the dip clipper BEFORE we assembled the piltcher box?!?! Dang, I hate it when that happens!
Paul warned us that in the last days some would depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Tim 4:1) The church has always had to deal with error, heresies, and “winds of doctrine” but it seems to me that Paul’s end times warning is kicking in with a vengeance. The post-modern intolerance of absolute truth claims has given birth to a generation that is wide open to any kind of lie, and Christians today are as gullible and undiscerning as the unsaved. This is primarily because of Biblical ignorance. This is no time to be letting your Bible gather dust while you get your wisdom from Oprah re-runs and televangelists whose greed and decadence makes a mockery of the gospel. Jesus himself warned that in the last days false prophets and teachers would rise up everywhere and deceive even the elect! If you don’t stock up on the Scriptures you are a prime candidate for following the blind right into the ditch. Read your Bible! That is one owner’s manual that you cannot afford to ignore.