Saturday, September 01, 2018
Transgender self-defense techniques
The Vatican brothel
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/12/gay-clergy-catholic-church-vatican
The miracle of seed-faith
Apollo and Daphne
Secular bromides on death
I don't fear death. I was dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and hadn't suffered the slightest inconvenience.
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred? (Richard Dawkins).
Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Why remain Catholic?
Toward a Philosophy (Theology) of Christian Voting
This is an excellent analysis by Thomas Bradstreet, who examines some recent articles on why “NeverTrump” should be the default position for Christians, and shows clearly why this kind of thinking is so vacuous.
One of the things about politics (vs theology, I suppose), is that in theology we can often cite chapter and verse, or we can cite some prior theologian who said such-and-such, and that can be used as real evidence to support a position.
In the realm of politics, everyone has an opinion, but there are no chapters-and-verses (which aren’t taken out of context, or which aren’t subjected to the kind of rigorous thinking that you’re doing here). Rather:
What’s striking about the writing of [many of the] NeverTrump evangelicals generally is the utter absence of any theoretical discussion of what would seem to be a foundational issue, namely, how one would go about determining how one should vote. Why would a movement, one that so values truth and honesty, give so little attention to what is most necessary to prove their conclusions? The answer is this: NeverTrump evangelicals exist in a sea of rhetorical devices, tricks, moralisms, and pithy lines. The moment that they get precise they disclose their vacuous reasoning and the emotive foundations of their unthought and, in consequence, lose their cheering crowd.
It’s that same thing that we see a lot and have described in the past ... someone may be a competent scholar in one field, but that almost never seems to translate to being particularly insightful in a field that’s not that person’s field of scholarship.
This article, on the other hand, is a model of clear thinking that will benefit many evangelicals (I hope) as we move into the 2018 and 2020 election cycles.
(Thomas Bradstreet is a Ph. D. candidate in political science and teaches at a university in the southern United States.)
The Magician's Nephew
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Waiting for Aslan
"Susan, Eve's Daughter," said Father Christmas. "These are for you," and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. "You must use the bow only in great need," he said, "for I do not mean you to fight in the battle. It does not easily miss. And when you put this horn to your lips; and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you." The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, chap. 10.
5. No doubt it's wrong in the moral universe of Narnia to revive the White Witch. That's a kind of devil's pact. But is Donald Trump equivalent to the White Witch? That requires an argument–not an assertion.
Advice for the next papal conclave
Qualifications for the new Pope that would bear most fruit. He should believe that— John Piper (@JohnPiper) August 30, 2018
justification is by faith alone,
baptism is a sign not a cause of regeneration,
Christ is at the Lord’s Supper by memory and faith not physically,
the Bible alone has final authority not the pope.
Paradigm shift
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Mask of Satan
Rorate Caeli@RorateCaeliIt is extremely sad: each and every act of apostasy is very sad.But it is our experience, and this article makes the same point, that a convert who leaves is a convert who never really gave his heart unconditionally.
Burning railcar
It’s helpful for understanding the way many Protestants view the larger body of Christ, the “Holy Catholic Church” of the Apostles’ Creed, so here goes: The Church is like a navy, a collection of ships united in purpose and in destination. Each denomination is like a different ship in that navy, and while each crew is primarily tasked with the health and well-being of its own vessel, it’s also deeply invested in the strength of the fleet. Each vessel is more vulnerable as the fleet weakens. Each vessel is stronger surrounded by its protective armada. If the analogy holds, then one of the mightiest battleships in the fleet, the Catholic Church, is taking torpedoes left and right.
Second, given the plethora of recent sexual scandals in Evangelical churches and seminaries, the Catholic catastrophe should remind us that perhaps only the lack of an equivalent hierarchy has spared Evangelical churches from similar, systemic sin. “Our” scandals are more fragmented only because our churches are more fragmented. Yet the entire church should be galvanized by what’s happened and diligently consider the extent to which our own congregations are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Third, reputational harm to the church can sweep far and wide — well beyond the guilty parties themselves. No one should presume that in an increasingly secular world our fellow citizens can so easily discern the good guys and the bad guys. I remember well moving from the Bible Belt to Boston in 1991, and being stunned to discover that my classmates painted the church with a very broad brush. In my youth and naïveté I had largely pointed and laughed at the televangelist scandals of the 1980s, only to discover that I was one of “them” until proven otherwise, a gullible congregant in a church of con men.
As I walk through the wilderness of this world
This is nothing more than a bleat from a sheep (in staccato fashion) about life in the wilderness:
- It's intellectual suicide to become an apostate. No worldview makes so much sense and plumbs our totality as the Biblical one: the God of the Bible, Creator and creation, mankind in his image; sin and death, fall and fallen world, our destitute state and hopeless plight; the story of redemption, the sent-Messiah, the God-man who made peace between God and man by his sacrifice, his death and resurrection; hope renewed, Eden reclaimed, the call to return to God; rebirth and rejoice; the resurrection and glories to come in the new heavens and the new earth where our great God will dwell with his thankful people! All unfolding in Scripture, in history, in our lives. Promises made, promises kept, by the One who cannot lie, nor ever change, who is faithful till the end for his own thrice holy name's sake. As C.S. Lewis said: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
- At the same time, the flesh is weak, the pull of the world is strong, and the devil is a cunning and formidable foe.
- Our hearts are prone to wander. We ought to guard our hearts (Prov 4:23).
The old self has been dealt a fatal blow, but it refuses to expire. It must die, but it wants to take us down with it.
We must beware the jaws that bite, the claws that catch. Kill sin or sin will kill you.
- The world is like a painted desert, with beauties to behold, and majesties in which to marvel, but it’d be deadly to abide therein. Those who stray too far and wander off from the flock will die in sand-blasted, wind-torn wastelands.
God's flock should keep together and keep moving forward. The Israelites had to follow God’s shekinah in pillars of cloud and fire, and keep moving through the Sinai toward the Promised Land. They serve "as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did" (1 Cor 10:6).
- For some Christian men, forbidden beautiful women might entice. Sirens who sing songs to seduce sailors to sink into the sea. Men in a fit of passion cast themselves overboard, plunging in pursuit, forever lost in the swirling abyss, drowned in the depths. All that remains are the billowing waves above and an eerie silence beneath. Prov 2:18 warns: "her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed".
- Another temptation might be the lure of riches. Glittery bait on a fish hook.
Wealth can lead to many "friends". Doors opened to circles once closed. By contrast, poverty can lead to social isolation (Prov 19:7), though so can wealth in that "friends" may not be true friends.
Wealth can lead to newfound respect, status, or prestige, wherein the rich is sought for advice and help.
Wealth can lead to people forgetting God. No longer realizing their utter need for and dependence on God who "makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts" (1 Sam 2:7).
Just to be clear, there are wealthy men who are godly men (e.g. Abraham, Job). Just as there are poor men who are scoundrels. It's not wealth that's the issue. Rather, the issue is "the love of money" (1 Tim 6:10).
Some love money so much they will do anything to acquire it. Morality is a small obstacle on their path to riches.
Hoarding hearts turn proud and vain like dragon's heart. They become as hard and as unbreakable as the coin they love.
Some love money so much they end like King Midas ended, having lost the most basic need and simplest pleasure - human touch.
Perhaps it'd do well to pray Prov 30:8-9: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."
- Behind it all, the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), and the ruler of this world (John 12:31) is only too happy to keep one far away from God. To keep one living in illusions or delusions rather than reality. To keep one in darkness rather than light. It doesn't matter how that goal is accomplished, so long as it's accomplished.
It can be accomplished through external trials or internal struggles. It can be accomplished through physical violence or psychological pressures. It can be accomplished through outward or inward temptations. It can be accomplished through the spectacular or the subtle. Screwtape matter-of-factly observed: "Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick."
The devil is both dragon and serpent. Both roaring lion and wolf in sheep's clothing. Both chief fallen angel as well as disguised angel of light. Both "murderer from the beginning" and "the father of lies" (John 8:44).
- Nevertheless to apostatize for the things of this world and in this life would be like trading in a lush banquet in Beverly Hills for some bread crumbs and a cold pot of stew in Juárez. That’s putting it mildly. Eternity is at stake.
The "pleasures of sin" are "fleeting" (Heb 11:25), while Christ and his rewards are forever. What awaits those in Christ is "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading" (1 Pet 1:4). Deep down, Christians know this.
- However, it can be a long journey until we arrive in Zion. It can be a painful and toilsome trek until we reach the celestial city.
We travel on a poorly lit and unpaved road. A road fraught with obstacles and dangers, where one can easily stumble and fall. Or step off the path and lose our way home. Or fly off the knife's edge of a precipice we had failed to see.
A road likewise traversed by ravenous beasts and evil men. Tricksters and bandits. Giants of despair club and beat the spirit, while Lyssan mania and madness assault the mind.
A road criss-crossed by eye-pleasing but poisoned fruit. Rotten Halloween candy. Hansel and Gretel’s grim house of sweets. Delicious food and drink that weigh one down not unlike Kierkegaard's parable of the wild duck.
A road to exotic locales with loose women and fast cars to wipe one's memory of who we are in Christ.
A road to houses of learning that excite and delight, that tantalize and tease, but may threaten to puff up and pull in, further in, into inner sanctums of secret knowledge and elite societies. Ivory towers where only the learned "we" are truly in the know. We, the thought leaders. We, the trenchant trend setters. We, the intellectuals, whose ideas are more important than any particular individual, for our ideas enlighten the ignorant masses. So say we all in confidence and confidentiality.
A road with no end in sight at times. No welcome rest anytime soon. Only treacherous terrain or difficult hills to climb as far as the eye can see.
A road with oases that promise to quench our thirsts then turn out to be mirages. We pour cool water down our throats only to fill our mouths with sand.
A road littered with travelers turned into pillars of salt as they cast a soulful backward glance at their former life and previous ways.
A road which our adversary Apollyon roams to and fro, walking up and down on it, prowling like a roaring lion, to waylay wayfarers and devour them (Job 1:7, 1 Pet 5:8).
- There's nothing new under the sun, but each generation thinks it has promethean light brighter than the sun to see beyond the sun.
- Of course, this is why the Bible constantly calls for God's people to persevere. To overcome. To conquer.
We have "a great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1) who went before us and made it home by God's grace. Though dead, "they still speak" (Heb 11:4): they cheer us on and bring us good cheer by their testimonies.
The prophet Isaiah "set [his] face like flint" (Isa 50:7). Even our Lord, nearing the cross, "set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Lk 9:51). No servant is greater than his master (Jn 15:20), and we follow and serve Christ alone.
We take heart, for Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). We can trust the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6; Heb 13:5). If we are his sheep, then he is our shepherd, and the rest of Psalm 23 follows. Soon, very soon, we "shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever".
Our good God does not leave us without help, for, among many other gifts, he has given us his Spirit and his word, which is "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph 6:17). And he has given us one another.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Basinger on miracles
However, since I am in that camp of philosophers who maintain that God’s existence cannot be conclusively disproved... (45).
Blindsided by evil
When hell prevails
How Conservative Christians can help foster competition among the Social Media as a way of limiting their influence
Source: Statistica 2018 |
Nevertheless, money talks, and while founders and some of the big names may have liberal agendas, it’s a sure bet that not all of the shareholders of those platforms have liberal agendas, and they are going to be more interested in profits and share prices than in “sharing the pure leftist agenda”.
The kind of money that businesses care about is the “net profit” line (or “retained earnings”, as some of the financial statements put it). It’s the money that a business owner puts in his own pocket, or that makes its way into shareholder earnings. All the rest of it is money that goes into someone else’s hands … to vendors, or utilities, or other suppliers.
But “net profit” is money in the bank. And so, if you want to send a message to the various social media, you want to focus your fire on their net profit. (I suspect this will work even in the age of social media).
Most of the social media earn huge amounts of money through advertising revenue. It’s the only real way they can monetize their platforms.
Ogilvy on Advertising Profit
Ogilvy on Advertising Profit |
These rules worked neatly enough for me to get jobs in advertising, first as a copywriter, then as an advertising manager, even though I had no experience or education in the field. (Back in the 1980’s, after I was graduated from college, I worked in a Christian ministry for the better part of a decade, earning neither money nor career experience.)
Ogilvy states his rule for clients (advertisers) in search of a good ad agency (and good advertising):
Ask what the agency charges. If it is 15 per cent, insist on paying 16 percent. The extra one per cent won’t kill you, but it will double the agency’s normal profit, and you will get better service (pg. 66).
Normally, agencies didn’t charge a fee in those days. They added 15% “commission” onto whatever the media outlet would charge. And that paid for the agency’s work (and their rich lifestyles). But agencies (like everyone) worked on a thin profit margin. The difference between 15% and 16% commission was the difference between 1% or 2% net profit.
That’s why Trump’s 4% economic growth is so much better than Obama’s 2% growth. It’s not just adding 2% to the bottom lines of businesses. It’s doubling the net profit (and for stockholders, it’s doubling what’s in their 401K accounts).
[This is how “trickle-down economics” works for the common person. It doesn’t increase their income. It increases net worth.]
The flip side of this can be applied to the Social Media that we are all growing to dislike, because of the “liberal bias”.
How Social Media Make Money
By opening up forms of competition, in the various media, we conservative Christians can significantly affect those bottom line numbers – at least to the kind of degree that will make a difference between 15% and 16%, or 2% and 4%.
There are ways that technology companies (and the “social media” are first of all “technology companies”). They can actually “sell” products … this is how Microsoft earned its fortunes. People were buying PCs, and there was Microsoft software to be sold on every PC. And many software companies would only write their programs for the Microsoft operating system --- because everyone was using it, and everyone wanted “interoperability”.
Microsoft’s monopoly existed insofar as everyone needed to use the same operating system and programs so that the information could be interoperable – so that everyone could read the same documents and spreadsheets.
The other way technology companies earn revenue today is to sell “advertising” on the “platforms”. “Platforms” such as Google.com (and spin-offs like gmail), Facebook, and Twitter, don’t really sell anything. They earn their money from advertising. They are paid by “views” or “eyeballs” on their various pages.
The more eyeballs, the greater the profits. The fewer the eyeballs, the less the profits. And in this regard, Ogilvy’s “pay your agency 16% instead of 15%” will work in reverse, too. If Google, or Facebook, or Twitter, lose just a couple of percentage points in terms of “eyeballs”, their bottom line net profit can be seriously affected.
And when that happens, the shareholders will notice.
(If there are enough conservatives to win all the elections that we won in 2016, there are certainly enough of us to affect market share. On the flip side of it, “the left” is currently making all the noise it can possibly make. They can not turn up this dial. Their method is now to limit conservative participation. This is where we need to work against them.)
Helping Google’s Competitors
In our free enterprise system, the way that these numbers are affected is simply through the addition of competition. And while it may not have been easy to add competition for Microsoft in the 1990s because of interoperability standards, we can still introduce “choice” (that magic word to which “the left” cannot object) by just simply giving our conservative eyeballs to other sources of advertising revenue.
Outside of its Android operating system, and phones (which have natural competition in the iPhone), Google doesn’t make money by charging you a nickel for each search that you make. It makes money because it charges advertisers (“clients”) for each search that you make.
So we see President Trump complaining about Google searches. This makes sense. In marketing, one of the new buzzwords is “content marketing”. The idea is to produce “content” (either written or video) that draws lots of eyeballs for you (and hence, revenue for the “platform”).
Perhaps the government can do to Google what they did to Standard Oil in the late 19th century, or to ATT in 1984 … break them into smaller components. But a government-led solution is not necessarily going to be a good one.
Here is how Google makes its money (contrary to how Microsoft gained its dominance):
When an “advertiser” (or “marketer”) gains lots of eyeballs for itself, it’s been demonstrated that those numbers can turn into “demand” (“demand generation”), “sales leads” (“lead generation”), and hopefully revenue (“top line”) and eventually “net profit” (see above).
THE way, in recent years, to gain “search engine optimization” (or “SEO”) was to look to Google’s algorithm. Google re-writes its algorithm on a regular basis – the algorithm is the set of rules that put a piece of content high or low on the Google search page. (A particular “search” may generate millions of “results”, but the only ones that really count are those on the “first page”, because most lazy people don’t continue to flip through the pages; they merely click on the first thing they see).
So for the last few years, marketers (“content marketers”) have been rushing, like lemmings (almost), to understand Google’s latest algorithm, and to write or produce “content” in such a way that is normal, natural, not repetitive, and informative.
(This perhaps is one reason why the journalistic styles of the NY Times and Washington Post may factor into the results so heavily. This may be a self-fulfilling kind of thing).
Regarding search engine market share, Statistica.com shows that Google “generated 63.5% of all core search queries in the United States“ in April of this year. However, this doesn’t take into account searches done on mobile phones. On “mobile devices”:
Despite Google's dominance of the U.S. search market, it is Microsoft's bing service that leads in terms of longer search queries. In terms of the mobile search market in the United States, Google leads again with an over 93 percent market share.
The alternative is to use other search engines. Make certain that those search engines (Bing, DuckDuckGo, Oath (formerly Yahoo), Ask, AOL, etc.) are generating higher traffic numbers.
One way to do this, even on Android phones, is to have those search engine apps handy on your phone, and to re-set some of your default settings.
It’s only a little bit of effort – maybe a lot for those of us who are technologically challenged. But the difference will be significant – Ogilvy’s 16% vs 15% for the competitors – or Trump’s 4% vs Obama’s 2% economy.
Similar tactics can be used for Facebook or Twitter. While there aren’t natural competitors for these platforms, we CAN affect the traffic … instead of shying away from “political discussions” on Facebook, we can add to them. As I noted above, “the left” is currently making all the noise it can possibly make. There are a lot of Christians simply staying away.
The response should not be to turn off social media. The response should be to turn up Christian messaging, to the point that it produces more eyeballs than those on “the left” can (in terms of noise).
Challenge your liberal friends and neighbors when they say something like “you’re a racist and a homophobe”. They are certain to lose that discussion, and you’ll generate more conservative “eyeballs” which, in turn, will persuade the shareholders that it’s in their best interests to eschew censorship and to foster free speech (“competition in messaging”).