Author: Stan Cox

The August 2005 issue of Reader’s Digest, a special issue that examines “14 Amazing Trends That Will Change Your Life”, identified as a societal trend the growth of Christian merchandizing.

From GodPods to holy golf balls, marketers have found religion

Note the following short excerpt from the feature:

A lot of conservative Christian’s don’t like the fuzzy line that’s been drawn between believers and nonbelievers. They want to be able to tell the secular from the sacred, Young says. But more and more young believers “enjoy obliterating the lines and appreciate the mystery in that and feel it gives a lesson in not judging.”

So Christian entrepreneurs have found their formula for success, and it’s in stretching the traditional bounds, if not obliterating them. For every person who fells that the shirts being sold – or the books or the gadgets – are a betrayal of the faith, there are plenty of others who see a faith that’s speaking to today. In this age of market evangelism, the ring of a cash register can be sacred music.

Page 185, August 2005 Reader’s Digest

Analysis:

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself… For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 10).

The report in Reader’s Digest is without bias, noting that some are agreeable to the merchandising of the gospel while others are not. As can be seen from the text above, the Holy Spirit is not so understanding. It is shameful that some are so ready to make a profit from faith. The Catholic church was doing it centuries ago with the sale of indulgences to fund the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This is just more of the same. Those who do such things should be ashamed.

Promising but still unproven new approaches to creating human embryonic stem cells have suddenly jeopardized what once seemed to be certain Senate passage of a bill to loosen President Bush’s four-year-old restrictions on human embryo research.

The techniques are enticing to many conservative activists and scientists because they could yield medically valuable human embryonic stem cells without the creation or destruction of embryos.

Embryonic stem cells are coveted because they have the capacity to become virtually every kind of body tissue and perhaps repair ailing organs, but they are controversial because days-old human embryos must be destroyed to retrieve them.

”The new science that may involve embryo research but not require destruction of an embryo is tremendously exciting,” Senate majority leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, said recently. ”It would get you outside of the boundaries of the ethical constraints.”

Ceci Connolly and Rick Weiss
Washington Post

Analysis:

We have written about the morality of stem cell research in the past. While there is some evidence that the research can benefit and potentially cure some individuals suffering from paralysis and a number of other diseases, the process of extracting stem cells from human embryos results in the destruction of the embryo.

Continue reading “Stem Cell Legislation at Risk” →

Matthew, chapter 3, describes the ministry of John the Baptist, who was called to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.”

(Matthew 3:1-3)

John must have been quite a sight, coming out of the wilderness, wearing camel’s hair clothing, with a leather belt and a diet of locusts and wild honey.

Continue reading “John the Baptist” →

Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, noted that the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court was appointed by Ronald Reagan. He praised O’Connor for her role in lifting state sodomy laws, “Which confirmed that the principle of individual liberty extended to gay and lesbian families.”

“Justice O’Connor’s retirement is a clarion call to every American that our rights are in grave dangers,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “The loss of [ her ] moderate voice is a serious threat to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, to women’s right and to protections for racial, ethnic and religious minorities.”

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called O’Connor’s retiring “a sad day for the Supreme Court and for America.” He urged the President “to honor the advice and consent role the Constitution gives the Senate” through a meaningful interaction with that body.

Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, expressed her shock and fear “about the direct impact Justice O’Connor’s retirement will have on each of our lives. Despite her very conservative philosophy, she has been a powerful swing vote on critical reproductive, women’s and LGBT issues.”

Some groups are even taking action in response to the resignation. The state and local chapters of the National Organization for Women ( NOW ) planned to stage rallies July 5 throughout Illinois to call for the nomination and confirmation of fair justices on the Supreme Court. Terry Cosgrove of Personal PAC, an Illinois pro-abortion group, added that concerned citizens should contact President Bush and urge him to select a nominee who will protect abortion rights and Roe v. Wade. Cosgrove also suggested contacting U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama and ask them to support only a nominee who believes Roe should stand.

by Bob Roehr 2005-07-06

Analysis:

The news that Sandra Day O’Connor will step down from the U.S. Supreme Court has panicked social liberals who now have to contend with two new, potentially conservative appointments before President Bush’s second term as President expires. The above article appeared in the Windy City Times, which bills itself as “The Voice of Chicago’s Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans Community Since 1985.”

It is doubtful that any individual picked by the President will please the ungodly. However, it would be a shame if Bush bowed to pressure, and appointed someone who would not protect the family, and the morals upon which this country was founded and has thrived for over two centuries.

We should pray to God for Bush, as our country’s leader, as per 2 Timothy 2:1-2, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

A recent issue of Reader’s Digest contained an article entitled, Hidden Danger on the Road (How to Survive). The article noted that the government estimates at least 1.6 million car accidents a year involving trees, animals, and vehicle debris. These accidents caused over 600 deaths in 2003, and most experts believe this number is increasing.

Note the following incident in the story regarding one motorist: “As the 70-year-old Pakula neared exit 49 on the Long Island Expressway just before noon, a vehicle ahead of him drove over a seven-foot steel rod in the road, kicking it into the air. Within seconds, the rod shot through Pakula’s windshield, smashing into his forehead and killing him almost instantly. Authorities never determined where the rod, the kind used to secure a tractor-trailer’s load, came from.”

This is just one of the many hazards, including sudden illness, crime, etc., which may take the life of the unsuspecting. It brings to mind the following passage from James:

“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (2:14-16)

Brethren, may we always be prepared for our death and Christ’s coming, knowing our life is but a vapor.

Even with Kenny Rogers on the mound, the Texas Rangers faced the daunting task of catching the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.

Now they might be without their ace left-hander for a quarter of their remaining games.

Rogers was suspended Friday for 20 games and fined $50,000 by Major League Baseball for throwing an angry fit that sent a television cameraman to the hospital and prompted a police investigation…

…In a statement, commissioner Bud Selig said: “Mr. Rogers’ behavior was unprofessional, unwarranted and completely unacceptable. Major League Baseball is a social institution and all of us in the game have an important responsibility to act with reason and good judgment.”

The suspension was among the most severe imposed by the commissioner’s office for on-field conduct in decades. Only the 30-day penalty given Cincinnati manager Pete Rose in 1988 for pushing umpire Dave Pallone was longer.

Jim Cour
AP Sportswriter

Analysis:

The story has become old, as again and again professional athletes and entertainers engage in self-destructive and impulsive behavior. Rogers deserves the 20 game ban, (though it will be appealed, and while under appeal, he may be allowed to pitch in the upcoming all-star game). In fact, it could be argued that he deserves to be fired, forfeiting his present contract.

Continue reading “Rogers Suspended for 20 Games by MLB” →

Yahoo!, the internet search giant and place for personal clubs as well as chat rooms, has closed down personal chat rooms in response to a report that some of the chat rooms were being used to promote sex with minors.

The report by KPRC-TV in Houston outraged companies such as PepsiCo Inc., State Farm Insurance, and Georgia-Pacific Corp., and they quickly removed their advertising from Yahoo in protest.

“We were thoroughly appalled when we were told that our ads were appearing on those sites,” State Farm spokesman Phil Supple said. “We took immediate action to see that they were withdrawn.”

That means – no more personal chat rooms on Yahoo. And any of the chat rooms previously created by users have now been removed. Yahoo will still allow users to chat on the company’s existing rooms, which cover mainstream subjects such as “American Idol” and Web design…

…Yahoo feigning ignorance is like taking your mom to see Andrew Dice Clay, and not knowing she might be offended. This type of problem has been going on for years on the web.

AOL, several years before it’s merger with Time Warner, also had similar problems. People would create hidden chat rooms with “code names” that were widely known by those seeking pornography. All one needed to do was type in the proper name and away you went into the vast dark world of internet porn swapping and cyber sexual experiences.

Sex sells, even deviant sexual desire. And companies like the Yahoo’s and AOL’s of the world seek to capitalize on the enormous traffic numbers involved in these activities. Sure they claim ignorance, but in reality they simply turn a blind eye untill something happens that forces them to take some sort of action.

The National LedgerM. Centanni

Analysis:

The analysis by M. Centanni of the actions of Yahoo is certainly on the mark. Such internet companies will not police themselves, and it is important for each of us to be aware of the evil which exists on the internet.

Fortunately, tools exist which all parents to protect their children. Many of the sites under consideration voluntarily offer filtering to block what is commonly called “adult” themed material.

Further, programs exist which do a good job of protecting browsers from unsavory material. They are relatively inexpensive, and are worth considering if you have children. Of course, parental supervision is most important.

“Fathers… bring [your children] up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

Luke records for us, in Acts 11;26, “And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

It is interesting to note the prophecy found in Isaiah 62:2 with regard to Luke’s statement.

“The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will name.“

Some would deny that the “calling” of the disciples as “Christians” was divinely ordained, but there seems to be no other name given to the disciples of our Lord. In fact, in all of the New Testament, the only proper name by which followers of Christ were known was Christian.

Continue reading “What Is A Christian?” →

Boy, what a Miracle!
Belfast Telegraph, UK
(Five year old survives a bullet wound to the head)

Miracle Baby Gives Hope to Women
News.com. Au, Australia
(Artificial insemination from an egg which had previously been frozen)

Spurs Need Miracle in Game 5
FOXsports.com
(Basketball team has lost two straight, and needs a win badly)

The Miracle of Love
Mobile Register, Alabama
(A son and his father patch up a strained relationship before the father’s death. The son, a Methodist minister, said, “But God performed a miracle, and dad and I were participants”)

A Multiple Miracle at Women and Infants Pavilion
Youngstown Vindicator, Ohio
(After four miscarriages, a woman from Liberty, OH gives birth to triplets)

Five Miracle Treatments Headed Your Way
USA Weekend
(An article speculating on what new wonders medical science
might bring in the future)

A Musical Miracle Among the Ashes
FAZ.net, Germany
(A lost composition from Johann Sebastian Bachm, dated to 1713 is found amidst the ruins after a fire in a German library)

Analysis:

Many religious people believe that miracles still happen in our day. This is understandable, as we note how loosely and casually the word is used.

A miracle is an event in which God sets aside natural law, intervening for his purpose. Obviously, all of the headlines noted refer to events which, though they may be rare or fortuitous, are nowhere near miraculous.

More importantly, none of them in any way fulfill the purpose of miracles, as related by the Apostle John in his gospel.

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).

Miracles proved Jesus as God’s son, and confirmed the word he preached. The age of miracles has ceased. (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10)

Straight people aren’t the only ones in God’s congregation in Rev. Carlyle Stewart’s view.

“People who are homosexual are worthy of God’s love and they are open to God’s gifts and graces,” said Stewart, the senior pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield.

Stewart and Rabbi Tamara Kolton of the Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills spoke about faith and morality at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Royal Oak on May 24. [Both towns in Michigan, SC]

The talk, presented by the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, was intended to spark a conversation in the community at large about morality in the face of conservative religious figures’ political ascendance.

Before the gathering, Rabbi Kolton said gays and lesbians are more than welcome at her congregation.

“We are excited to have their participation and voice,” she said. “The Birmingham Temple was founded on the principal of human dignity.”

Many of the members of the Temple don’t believe in God, said Kolton, who describes herself as an agnostic.

“We’re not theists,” she said. “Judaism is more than a religion that worships God. We’re a civilization.”

Kolton spoke about her vision for a new day, when human dignity is truly appreciated, and a new clergy and a new religion – based on putting the planet first – comes to light.

“I want a new clergy where power flows from the people to the top,” she said. “Clergy should be experts in empathy.”

Sharon Gittlemman
Between the Lines News (6/2/05)

Analysis:

The report above is yet another indication that we are living in a Post-modern age. It is a time where individuals deny the idea of a absolute standard or reality, and is characterized by the belief that men have the right to create God in their own image. Or, in the case of “Rabbi Kolton”, to practice religion without even acknowledging God’s existence at all!

But, man does not have the right to determine for himself the purpose of religion, or to set his own standards with regard to morality. It matter’s not what we believe, what matters is God’s Will!

Rather than a religion that puts “the planet first”, note what Jesus said should be our priority. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

Karen Spurney acknowledges that she hasn’t made much time for her spiritual life while attending the University of California, Los Angeles.

She is busy with schoolwork, piano practice, sorority activities and other aspects of college life. That’s quite a shift for the 19-year-old sophomore, who said that before college she rarely missed Sunday masses with her family and was an altar server at her Temple City, Calif., church.

“I’m a Catholic on pause,” said Spurney, who is majoring in piano performance. “I didn’t come [to college] for the spiritual aspect. My goal is to experience as much as I can.”

According to a recent UCLA study, Spurney’s experience reflects that of many college students who have a high interest in spirituality and religion but are not necessarily looking for ways to explore or practice their beliefs.

The national study, based on a survey of more than 112,000 entering freshmen at 236 universities and colleges, found that 80 percent of the students expressed interest in spirituality. But fewer than half said they considered it necessary to find ways to nurture their spiritual growth.

More than three-quarters of students — 79 percent — said they believe in God. But only 40 percent consider it “essential” or “very important” to follow religious teachings in everyday life.

Natasha Lee
Los Angeles Times
May 15, 2005

Analysis:

We have several young people who will be leaving home next fall, to begin college life. It will be their first extended time on their own, and there will be temptations and distractions which will tend to derail them from a righteous path.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. It is invalid to say that the “day to day” activities of life must take precedence over your spiritual walk. This is true at any time of your life. When at college, your responsibility will be the same that this always has been, and it always will be:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

AUSTIN – Forget education reform and taxes. On Tuesday, the Texas House turned its attention to a measure dubbed “the booty bill,” voting to crack down on cheerleaders who perform sexually suggestive routines at school-sponsored events.

The legislation, which passed 65-56, would give the state and school districts more power to shut down or punish drill teams, dance squads, cheerleaders or “any other performance group” that perform ribald acts.

Many members chortled, joked and jovially waved blue and white pompoms during the debate, but the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Al Edwards of Houston, said the legislation is no laughing matter.

“Girls can get out and do these overtly sexual performances and we applaud them. And that’s not right,” said Edwards, an ordained minister. “This is the beginning of an era to change some of what we’ve been seeing.”

Though Edwards is a Democrat, most in his party opposed the bill while most Republicans voted in favor.

Opponents said the bill has already made Texas a national laughingstock, can’t be enforced and gives the state a power that should be reserved exclusively for local school districts&ldots;

…State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, said the bill was embarrassing and insulting, particularly as more pressing issues — like a major overhaul of the state’s school finance system — await consideration.

“We can’t legislate morality,” Thompson said. “I don’t know how this bill got to the floor. It’s stupid!”

The measure, which would still have to pass the Senate and be signed by the governor to become law, would allow the Texas Education Agency to require that school districts review possibly lewd performances.

If the school district determined that the act was conducted in an “overtly sexually suggestive manner,” they would have to take unspecified “appropriate action” against the performers and the performers’ sponsor.

Will Harrell, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the legislation was too vague, petty and “patently unconstitutional.”

“This broad, morally restrictive legislation reminds me of the Taliban,” Harrell said, referring to the former hard-line regime in Afghanistan. “Why not go all the way? Why not require them all to wear a burka?”

Ft. Worth Star Telegram
Jay Root

Analysis:

I purposefully printed most of the article, as it speaks for itself. While I will not comment on the wisdom of the legislation itself, the present attitudes toward what is obviously lasciviousness is interesting:

• The view that we can’t legislate morality is obviously not so. Laws against murder, for example, do just that.

• We live in a society in which many think that any limitation of prurient activity is tantamount to fascism.

• The world recognizes that the routines and dress of cheerleaders are sexually suggestive. Why is it that so many Christian parents still allow their daughters to participate?

CATHOLIC cardinals have destroyed the late Pope John Paul II’s ring and seal in a symbolic end to his authority before secluding themselves from the world to elect his successor. The cardinals will begin their conclave this week, and the Vatican said smoke signals would pour from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel twice a day to tell the world whether or not a new pope had been elected.

Overnight, the cardinals watched an ancient ritual marking the transition between two popes – the destruction of John Paul’s Fisherman’s Ring and his lead seal, two symbols of his authority.

During John Paul’s 26-year pontificate and his many trips around the world, countless pilgrims kissed the gold signet ring.

At 4.30pm Monday (Rome time, 12.30am Tuesday AEST), the 115 cardinals under the age of 80 with the right to choose a new pope will file in solemn procession into the Sistine Chapel, with its Michelangelo frescoes, where voting takes place. They come from 52 nations.

The cardinals will hold up to four ballots a day – two in the morning and two in the afternoon – until they elect the 265th pontiff.

Smoke signals above the Sistine Chapel – black smoke for an indecisive vote or white for a new pope – are expected around noon (8pm AEST) and 7pm (3am AEST) each day.

by Philip Pullella and Claudia Parsons in Vatican City
April 17, 2005, www.news.com.au

Analysis:

A simple reading of this news report, which refers to the Pope’s “authority” and his “reign” show how very different the Catholic pattern is from the pattern revealed in God’s Word. Consider the following passages, contrasting the authority of Jesus with that of a bishop:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth'” (Matthew 28:18).

“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:2-4).

God never intended for any man to have the authority or to experience the adulation and worship that is experienced by any man who is appointed as Pope in the Catholic church. A new Pope will be elected within a few weeks, but his reign and authority will not be ordained by God.

An intellectual bombshell dropped last week when British professor Antony Flew, for decades one of the world’s leading philosophers of atheism, publicly announced that he now affirms the existence of a deity.

To be sure, Mr. Flew has not become an adherent of any creed. He simply believes that science points to the existence of some sort of intelligent designer of the universe. He says evidence from DNA research convinces him that the genetic structure of biological life is too complex to have evolved entirely on its own. Though the 81-year-old philosopher believes Darwinian theory explains a lot, he contends that it cannot account for how life initially began.

We (the Editorial Board of the Dallas Morning News) found this conversion interesting in light of last year’s controversy regarding proposed revisions to the state’s (Texas) high school biology textbooks. Our view then was that while religion must be kept out of science classes, intellectual honesty demands that when science produces reliable data challenging the prevailing orthodoxies, students should be taught them.

We were bothered by Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin’s statement that for scientists, materialism must be “absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.” That’s called stacking the deck.

Mr. Flew may be dead wrong, but it’s refreshing to see that an academic of his stature is unafraid to let new facts change his mind. The philosopher told The Associated Press that if admirers are upset with his about-face, then “that’s too bad. My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato’s Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads.”

If the scientific data are compelling enough to cause an atheist academic of Antony Flew’s reputation to recant much of his life’s work, why shouldn’t Texas schoolchildren be taught the controversy?

Editorial Board
Dallas Morning News
December 15, 2004

Analysis:

I came across this four month old admission by Antony Flew just this past week. The web site where I found it had an accompanying article with the following statement concerning Jonathan Witt of the Discovery Institute: “Witt noted that Darwin and his contemporaries thought a single cell was a simple blob of protoplasm and that it wouldn’t have been difficult for nature to randomly produce something so simple. ‘In those days the cell was a black box, a mystery. But in the 20th century, scientists were able to open that black box and peek inside,’ he notes. ‘There they found not a simple blob, but a world of complex circuits, miniaturized motors and digital code. We now know that even the simplest functional cell is almost unfathomably complex, containing at least 250 genes and their corresponding proteins.'”

While we appreciate the fact that some evolutionists are beginning to recognize that complexity indicates intelligent design, it is a contention creationists have made from the very beginning of the controversy. As the Psalmist wrote, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well” (Psalm 139:14).

GENEVA (Reuters) – North Korea represses religion and has an official ideology that is a form of secular humanism, a U.S. government agency said on Thursday.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said interviews with North Korean refugees showed a pattern of arrest, imprisonment, torture and execution for public expressions of religion.

“Any reappearance of Christianity, possibly permeating from northern China to where many thousands of North Koreans fled from famine in the 1990s, is rigorously repressed,” USCIRF North Korean researcher David Hawk told a news conference.

Only two active churches, with one more to be built, and one Buddhist temple were known to exist – all in the capital, Pyongyang, and apparently serving the foreign diplomatic and business community there.

USIRC vice-chair Felice D. Gaer said a full report on the findings from interviews with some 30 ordinary North Koreans among some 6,000 who have escaped to South Korea since 2000 would be published later this year.

Analysis:

With all the attacks that are made against religion in general, and Christianity in particular, it is interesting to note that the country which is considered the most antagonistic to human rights claims to be a humanistic in philosophy.

Continue reading “U.S. Team Says N. Korea Suppresses Religion” →