Cannibalism--The New Normal

There has been a disturbing development in the news lately regarding an alarming rise in instances of cannibalism.  We read these stories with a mixture of morbid fascination and innate revulsion.  They remind us of something out of a horror flick with titles like: “Miami Face-Eating Zombie” or the “Psycho Cannibal Porn Star” and “Man Arrested with Roasted Fetuses in Luggage”.  It’s almost difficult to fathom that these are all real headlines!  It’s the ultimate global car accident—we don’t want to watch it but we can’t look away.  Our initial knee-jerk reaction is “What in the world is going on?  Is cannibalism some kind of demented, new trend for goodness sakes?” 

In India, recent news articles have reported that abortion clinic workers were feeding the overabundance of aborted female fetuses to the dogs in order to clear the mountain of evidence away.  The prevalence of sex-selection abortion is something the Indian people prefer not to publicly acknowledge.  The birth ratio of boys to girls in India is now the lowest in the entire world at 1000 males born for every 801 females.  Lest we start feeling smug in the U.S.—recent undercover reports have confirmed “sex-selection” abortions are, indeed, the ugly truth at Planned Parenthood offices around our own country.  Congress recently voted DOWN a bill to ban the practice.  Truly, our national conscience has “gone to the dogs” as a result of this de facto sanctioning of infant gendercide.  This, my dear readers, is the real “War on Women”.  The symbolism and spiritual emptiness in this act is both frightful and revolting. 

When I searched for Cannibalism in Bible history, I came across the story by Flavius Josephus (c. 37-95 A.D.).  Josephus was the Jewish historian who gave a first hand account of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D.  He was appalled at the spectacle of a mother roasting and eating her own child during the siege.  Truly, he wrote, this was the epitome of a nation in the throes of a complete freefall.  When a child was the least safe in the hands of its own mother—Josephus realized there can be no doubt as to what he was witnessing: The “End of the Age” was at hand. 

In the United States, we have already “consumed” over 53 million of our children in the American Abortion Holocaust.  Do we honestly believe that we will avoid any national repercussions of this atrocity? Or, in keeping with the car accident analogy and latest news headlines, perhaps we too are on the “Highway to Zombie Hell”.

Fasten your seatbelt.  

Rev 2:4~The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.

   

Kardashian Nation

My parents had three standard answers for the age-old childhood lament: “I’m BOOORED!”  My dad would say “Go read a book”. My mom would state “Go get a job”.   If this failed to shut us up, we would be unceremoniously ushered outside to find a friend to play with.  Thinking back on it, these responses were perfectly distilled nuggets of parental wisdom.  Books were integral to creating a lifelong love of learning and rich imagination development.   A chore or job enabled us to develop a sense of responsibility, enjoy the satisfaction of work well done, and assist us with the practical ability to earn some extra money.  Lastly, face to face interaction with our friends helped us to expand some very useful social skills. 

As my children became teenagers, I assumed that I was well prepared to do battle armed with these three options.  However, there was something missing….No whiny complaints.  Just an eerie silence.  I started to wonder if I were somehow an amazing, masterful parent who was able to bring up such well adjusted children that they did not need any further guidance.  No such luck.  I began to notice two strangely hypnotized children staring with glazed eyes into a thin rectangular screen.  They seemed not to notice their surroundings except when nature or hunger called.  Even then, they would robotically go into the bathroom and kitchen--navigating the furniture while still staring into the little box. 

At first, I enjoyed the quiet.  After all, who really wants to listen to kids complaining about having nothing to do?  However, I began to realize, with a growing concern, just how damaging this can be. 

Maybe this seems like a harmless diversion to you until you realize that, as a nation, we are all gazing glassy-eyed into our individual techno devices—computer screens, IPads and IPhones.  Pollsters have actually gone out and asked people on the street to identify photos such as Ronald Reagan, Joe Biden, and Margaret Thatcher with some hilarious (or very, very sad) results.  However, these same people will easily recognize Kim Kardashian or Snookie.  Ha, ha—right?  Until you realize, the joke is on us. 

Today, in the news Russia and China are planning a major “war games” practice along with Syria and Iran.  The Muslim Brotherhood has claimed the winning majority in the recent Egyptian elections.  Egyptian terrorists already have begun attacking Israel from the Sinai Peninsula just within the first 24 hours of these election results.  Apparently, this outcome emboldened them and signaled that it is now “open season” on the Jews.  Let the games begin. 

If I were to poll 100 people on the street, I would venture that maybe only a handful would even have a clue as to what I just referenced.  Yet, these are matters of extreme national importance and severely affect our global security.  They have the ability to throw a match into the tinderbox of the entire world. 

No worries…Just let me check my FaceBook page again.  I always wondered what happened to Susie from 3^rd grade.  Hey!  Do you think Kim Kardashian’s derriere is actually real?

Zero Gravitas

Happy Father's Day 2012!  Here's my Father's Day message about God our Father:

I don’t believe in gravity.  Yeah, yeah…I know there is evidence of it all around us.  For instance, all my stuff somehow stays anchored to the floor and doesn’t float around the house like a NASA space mission.  Leaves fall from the tree and everything that goes up eventually comes down.  Nevertheless, I simply don’t believe in it.  It’s too “confining”.  Besides, I’ve always believed I can fly.  In fact, after I finish writing this blog I’m going to climb up on the roof of my house and jump off.  How many want to wager a $10,000 Romney-sized bet that I won’t splat on the ground?  Ok…just kidding or JK as my kids would text.  The gravity analogy was just a mental exercise.  My point?  Just because you don’t believe in something does not mean the consequences will be any different for you.

Here’s a couple of other things to consider.  We need gravity.  We wouldn’t be able to exist without gravity.  Gravity is the glue the holds the entire world together.  Without it, everything would go flying into outer space as the Earth rotates.  We all would be able to literally “fly”.  However, let me assure you, we would not enjoy the trip. 

I think God gets a bad rap sometimes.  We read the prophetic judgements of the Old Testament and equate it with someone throwing a massive celestial “hissy fit”.  Sometimes I’d really rather skip those sections and go straight to the love and forgiveness part.  However, they are there for a reason. 

Before I had kids, I don’t think I understood the concept of “God the Father” very well.  Soon after becoming a parent this became very real to me.  Sometimes you have to be harsh to get your point across.  My son is a master of persuasion. I sincerely pray he uses this skill to advance good causes later on in life.  For now, he wields it on his parents when he wants to do something we would normally not allow.  It’s gotten to the point where I over-exaggerate my answers so we don’t have to go the entire nine rounds of verbal jousting anymore.  The conversation looks something like this:

Mommmmmm….Why can’t I go (fill in the blank with any number of dangerous, unwise choices). 

My answer:  “Because you will get hit by a truck”. 

Of course, I don’t WANT this to happen.  It would be a parent’s worst nightmare.  God, our Father, is basically saying the same thing.  When He says “Repent—or else”, it is not a vicious threat.  It is an allegorical shorthand that we must sit up and take notice of.  His unchangeable moral laws are a necessary component of living in an earthly realm where there MUST be definite principles.  If we eschew these laws our society will eventually implode.  This is a historical fact.  We need to give these moral laws more gravitas…more weight.

As a nation we need to wake up and renew a commitment to our Judeo-Christian foundation…Or else the United States is about to get hit by the proverbial truck.

No, seriously. 

Hollywood Babylon

Yesterday, President Obama did what he does best--Raise money from his ultra-wealthy left wing supporters.  In a dinner arranged by Sarah Jessica Parker in her swanky NYC brownstone (appropriately most well known for her “Sex in the City” role) he stated:

“What we're going to have to do is present that choice (between his and Mitt Romney’s policies)," he said. "You (“you” apparently referencing Hollywood heavy hitters) are the tie-breaker, you're the ultimate arbiter."

Does anyone else out there find this disturbing and bizarre?  Am I the only one who thinks the other 99% of us (the REAL 99%!) who are not Hollywood superstars should be screaming and running for the hills from this President?  Did he actually state that Hollywood should be the “ultimate arbiter” for the American people?  For those of you who would like a precise definition of this phrase—please let me assist:

Arbiter:  One who has the power to judge or ordain at will

Ultimate:  The greatest extreme; the maximum

Or...The Supreme Judge.  Hmmm...sounds like Some One else...can't put my finger on it....

The President talks condescendingly to the American public out of both sides of his mouth.  Sure, sure…he’s for the “little guy”, the middle class, the struggling proletariat (oops—maybe that’s revealing a little bit too much disconcerting Socialist lingo).  He just doesn’t want to get his hands dirty hanging around with us.  That’s OK.  With his Hollywood good looks and connections, he can just lift his proud chin and sneer down on us with a little haughty “noblesse oblige”.  Just throw us a food stamp, student loan or entitlement program every now and then to keep us medicated.  Give us this day our daily Obama allotment.  The adoring disaffected crowds seem to lap it up.    

We had better wake up soon.   Dear God please help us.  Or should I say “Dear Hollywood help us”.  Apparently, according to this President they are one and the same.     

Indifference--A Force to be Reckoned With

How would you define the opposite of Love?  The obvious rote response would, of course, be “Hate”.  This answer, however, happens to be incorrect.  Hate, like love, flows out from our emotions with a high degree of passion.  You can passionately love someone or something and hate passionately as well.  Love and Hate both also stem from a position of ideological certainty.  You can’t love or hate something if you are unsure about it. 

The correct answer is “indifference”.  Indifference is the opposite of Love.  Indifference goes hand in hand with passivity.  You don’t need to get worked up about indifference.  Love and Hate require a certain degree of continual stoking in order to be maintained.  Indifference just kind of floats along with no energy expended.   

So what is the point of this conversation?  I propose that indifference is the antithesis of Love and, therefore, is something that caring people should actively oppose and be mindful of avoiding.  Today, when discussing social issues we hear comments like:  “Who cares…that doesn’t affect me”.  “Let people do what they want—it’s a free country”.  My all-time exasperating one is “Live and let Live”.  I nearly burst out laughing (or crying) when I heard someone actually use this as a defense for the Pro-Abortion position.  Did you just say “Live and let Live”???  Oh…if only that were truly your ideal!  What you are really saying is—“I am indifferent to all of these social issues”.  I couldn't “care less”—ergo the complete opposite of love. 

The Bible commands us to “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  What does this really mean?  Well, are you passive and indifferent about yourself?  If someone threatens you or your family, do you just shrug your shoulders and say:  “Oh well, it’s a free country”.  Of course not!  You get worked up about it.  You become indignant.  You fly to their defense or defend yourself.  If the person being threatened happens to be your child, you may turn into a description of a wild animal.  Ever hear a parent described as a “Mother Bear” or a protective Lion?  You have an inherent, almost organic sense that the child needs defending.  We intrinsically sense that children are at a disadvantage and cannot defend themselves.  This is how God commands us to love those least among us:   

Help the down-and-out.  Stand up for the homeless.  Go to bat for the defenseless. ~Isaiah 1:17 (Message Bible).

Last month, during Memorial Day, there was a megathon History Day Channel presentation on World War II.  Since it was a holiday, I’m embarrassed to say I spent much of the day in my pajamas watching the entire thing.  I believe if we take the time to learn our history lessons, we can avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.  This applies to our personal lives as well as for our nation.  One of the last battles of WWII was on the island of Okinawa. The Japanese fighters were brutal, stubborn fighters, resisting to the bitter end in their entrenched dug out cave positions.  Unfortunately, due to their “passion” (or Hate), they convinced the local Okinawan population that the Americans were going to rape and torture them once they took the island.  In real life footage, never before shown on TV, these ordinary, everyday Okinawan families responded by jumping off cliffs in unison, or holding hands with their children around a hand grenade.  Those who surrendered were treated humanely. It was graphic and upsetting footage.  However, it left me with one solid understanding:  Believing a lie + being passive (indifferent) = a dangerous combination that literally leads “hand in hand” to destruction of you and your family.  I shudder to think this has the potential to be a characterization of the American Family in the advancement of the Human Secularism philosophy. 

So, do you really LOVE your family?  Of course you do.  May I humbly propose that inactivity, passivity or indifference can lead to destruction of not just your neighbor but, ultimately, everything you hold dear.  We cannot afford to sit inactive.  We cannot afford to do or say nothing. 

Our very lives depend on it.

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German pastor martyred for opposing the Nazis)

Get In, Get Out or Get Run Over

My daughter and I are big fans of the TV show “Project Runway”.  This reality show pits up and coming fashion designers against each other.  To stay in the game, the contestants must perform well on individual fashion challenges.  At the end of each challenge, super-model Heidi Klum tells the remaining contestants:  “As you know in the fashion world, one day you are IN, and the next day you are OUT”.  She then proceeds to boot someone off of the set. 

This is always the climax of the show because it sounds so brutal and finite.  No more chances.  You are either IN or OUT—plain and simple—nothing to misinterpret.  Get out. 

It got me to thinking about this scripture verse: 

So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (God addressing his people during the end of the age)~Rev 3:16 

It’s interesting that in this scripture, like Heidi Klum in Project Runway, God is very clear.  It cannot be misinterpreted.  According to God, you are either IN or you are OUT--no in between status, no gray, fuzzy areas.  No Swiss “demilitarized zone” where you may retain your citizenship in one country and also flirt with divided loyalties to another sovereignty (sorry Michele Bachmann!).  Apparently, God has more disgust for someone who is “lukewarm” (claims to be godly but lives in disregard to it) than someone who is downright enthusiastically evil!   

Recently, a U.S. District Court Judge recommended removing the first 4 Old Testament Bible commandments from the wall of a school and just displaying the final 6 in order to settle a lawsuit by the ACLU.   

For reference here’s a list of the Bible’s 10 commandments:

1)      You shall have no other Gods before Me

2)      Do not make any graven images (idols)

3)      Do not misuse the name of God

4)      Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy

5)      Honor your Father and your Mother

6)      Do not Murder

7)      Do not commit adultery

8)      Do not Steal

9)      Do not Lie

10)  Do not Covet

Sounds too deliciously absurd to be true, right?  Well, here’s the link:

Click Here for 6 Commandments Article

Is this guy serious?  Unfortunately, he is VERY SERIOUS.  This is the obvious ultimate and final solution for adopting the “religion of human secularism”.  This judge is a brainwashed proselyte for this new religion--the sad fact is he just doesn’t realize it!  He thinks he is being “compromising” and “fair” (dare I say “lukewarm”?).

For a more complete definition of human secularism—read blog posted June 1^st

 (To Believe or Not to Believe…that is the Question).

Amazingly enough, this is the last line of this news story (verbatim) that explains the Judge’s suggestion: 

“Rather than keeping all 10 commandments, he suggested removing the first four and simply leaving the remaining six. Why, you ask? Well, the first few commandments are religious in nature, whereas the final six are far more secular.”
 

Phew….for a minute there I thought he was espousing another religion or philosophy instead of the Judeo-Christian ethic this nation was founded on.  As long as they are SECULAR, then it should all be OK, right?  Folks, who are we kidding?  When you base our culture on ANY different philosophy, we are then adopting a new set of standards.  Just because they are deemed not to be “religious” in nature, makes them no less formidable to rock the very foundations of our society.  If ALL things are equally true, then nothing is ultimately true.  It’s the old philosophical argument—if Truth is relative, then there is no absolute Truth.  Then…this very statement is also not true (wow, somebody get me a Tylenol—I haven’t felt this confused since Philosophy 101).    

Interestingly enough the Bible calls the number 6—the number of man or humanity (Rev 13:18).  Even more interesting, the first 4 commandments ALL pertain to man’s relationship with God.  It actually makes PERFECT SENSE in the religion of Human Secularism to ditch the first 4 commandments.  You CANNOT have the religion of Human Secularism if you keep Commandments 1-4.  There really is no way to spin them.  Human Secularism is IN, God is OUT.  Got it?  

So…I believe God is asking Americans today…Are you IN or are you OUT?   

We are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness~1 John 1:1-9

Today in the United States, we need to Get IN, Get OUT or Get RUN OVER by Human Secularists—or we will suffer a fate that is much, much worse….get spit out by God himself.  There really is no more frightening outcome than this.

Please join me in praying that this is not the path of our nation.   

To Believe or Not to Believe--That is the Question

Quick…If someone were to ask you, how would you define yourself spiritually--What would your response be?  When was the last time you really studied the doctrines of your faith?  I’m not picking on Christians today, but several times this week during the news I watched people identify themselves as either Catholic or some Protestant denomination.  Both times, they asserted that they were pro-abortion (amongst some other very disconcerting non-Biblical views).  Maybe I’m a simple person, but this really confuses me.  It’s sort of like defining yourself as a “meat-eating vegetarian” or a “spiritual atheist”.  I’m really just not sure what in the world they mean.  Here’s what I THINK they mean, and I welcome anyone to post comments to challenge my understanding.  I guess that they sort of identify with the religion of their family as a label, but as soon as a clearly stated doctrine of that faith doesn’t comply with their own human reasoning—that portion is discarded.  Perhaps a better description would be the “Ala Carte” religion.  Move through the buffet line of faith choices and put whatever interests you on your plate.  Or how about the “Take-Out Chinese Religion”:  (1) belief from column A and (2) beliefs from Column B.  This would at least be a clearer and more honest explanation than claiming to adhere to a Judeo-Christian ethic. 

Yikes!...I can almost hear the screaming and garment-renting now.  Judge not, lest ye be judged.  How dare you?  Who do you think you are?  Actually, I know very well…a sinner just like you.  However, I’m a sinner who likes to call it what it is.  If you dare, keep reading:

If you identify yourself as a Catholic:  Life is sacrosanct from conception through to natural death.  Abortion is considered a grave evil--One of the seven deadly sins (Wrath/Murder).  Under no circumstances is abortion permitted.  Ask your Priest. 

“Abortion is a crime of aggression not only against the unborn, but also against society”~ Pope Benedict XVI  

If you identify yourself as a Protestant:  Thou shalt not kill. The 6^th Commandment.  Plain and simple.  This scripture applies to Jews and Catholics as well.  If you attend one of those freethinking Protestant denominations where “everything goes”, don’t bother asking your minister.  I’m sure he will give you a “tickle your ears” answer:

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

However, if your minister is a serious, Bible-believing Godly person—then by all means, ask to see the scripture.   

If you identify yourself as Jewish:  Here’s the Jewish doctrine on abortion:  As a general rule, abortion in Judaism is permitted only if there is a direct threat to the life of the mother by carrying the fetus to term or through the act of childbirth. 

Since I am not Jewish, I urge you to research this for yourself if you identify yourself as a Jew.  I did quite a bit of research and reading on this before writing this article.  This is the OFFICIAL Jewish doctrine almost universally accepted by seriously practicing Jews.  Ask your Rabbi to explain it to you by going through the Old Testament and Moses’ penalty for harming a fetus.    

Interestingly enough, Muslims call Christians and Jews “People of the Book”.  One would make the obvious assumption that the “Book” (i.e. Old/New Testament scripture) is our “handbook” and we would actually read and abide by the revelations of faith obtained therein.  Hmmm…something to think about…

Today, we see a new contaminated religious permutation of the Judeo-Christian ethic.  It’s called “human secularism”.  It’s actually a combination of two ideologies: “humanism” and “secularism” Here’s a Webster’s definition: 

Humanism:  a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; especially a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason

Secular:   indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations

So the next time someone says:  “It stands to reason”….unless they are predicating that on some immovable and fixed moral law---be prepared to get your scriptural beliefs run over by the latest, fastest growing religion: human secularism.   

Lastly, please do us all a favor.  Be bold! Be authentic for “goodness” sakes!  Don’t identify yourself as a member of a faith whose beliefs and tenets you no longer support, or worse, scoff and mock.  If this ideology best describes you, be prepared the next time someone asks you “What are you?”  Be HONEST!  Proudly step up and say…”I’m a Human Secularist”.  Remember—Thou Shalt not Lie.

Or maybe not…depending on your “religion”. 

Isaiah 1:18:  "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.