Monday, May 28, 2007

Myth Watch; GOP Presidential Candidates; Bible Watch

Concerning Myths:

Myth:
"Fight them there so we don't have to fight them here."
Item:

Today in the New York Times the headline screeches: "Militants Widen Reach as Terror Seeps Out of Iraq." The article documents how terrorists are now being exported from Iraq to neighboring countries to attack "Americans and Jews." Terrorists have been caught in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon who came directly from Iraq.

Status of Myth: Debunked!



GOP Presidential Field:

Tim Dickinson of Rolling Stone Magazine writes a blistering critique of the Republican field of presidential candidates. His title, "All Flipper, No Gipper" says it all. The front runners, Giuliani, McCain, and Romney all have huge problems with social conservatives and the Christian Coalition who refer to them as
"a mormon and two pagans."
The four also-rans who at least have a presence in the polls are "deeply flawed" and have little hope of winning anything except spoiler status. Indeed Republican strategists admit that the one candidate who could unify the Republicans in '08 is.... a Democrat! Hillary Clinton, who inspires the same fear from the Republicans that Dick Cheney does with the Dems, will be the only reason that Christians and social conservatives go to the polls. The cross-dressing, thrice-married, abortion-backing, gun-controlling, gay marriage supporting Giuliani simply looks better to them, "warts and all," than another Clinton in the White House. Giuliani himself says
"I can beat Hillary. I have the backbone, the chutzpah and the credentials to beat her - and those other folks don't."


Bible Watch:

A report on NPR this morning announces the opening of the Creationism Museum sponsored by private funding raised by millionaire Ken Ham. Its primary message is to evangelize visitors by proving the truth of the Genesis story. Ham lays out "factual" evidence that the world was created in six days and that Man was created in his present form by the divine hand of God.

In today's society Religionists truly believe that anything the secular world tells them is fraught with danger, falsehood and sin. They can't BELIEVE in anything that scientists say that in any way goes against the Bible and it's inherent inerrancy. The tangled up logic that ensues is truly comical to any "unbeliever." The extent that this troubling trend has permeated the religious community is truly stunning.

The fatal flaw in creationism is the confusion of faith and knowledge. Insisting that matters of knowledge and scientific process are false because of the teachings of faith is dishonest, foolhardy, and ultimately anti-religion. The stupider the claims of creationism become, the more likely this version of Christianity will be rejected. The insistence on only the Bible as the source of wisdom and knowledge is anti-Christian and anti-Gospel.

My question to my fundamentalist friends will always be, would Jesus take back his insistence on rendering unto Caesar and feeding the hungry and going out unto all the nations preaching peace? Or is what Jesus really meant to say is
"kill all the unbelievers, cleanse the world of sin, and prepare for Armageddon?"
If the Bible is inerrant, what part of "Love thy neighbor as thyself" don't they understand?

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