This Is Not That Day- - Lord of the Rings Trilogy
I thought this was an interesting analysis of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in light of some saying that Peter Jackson and Hollywood were making a pro-Bushite film.
Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
Monday, December 29, 2003
False Witness
How can prejudice affect a Christian’s witness?
Here's a fine example. This person calls himself 'pastor', yet sets a poor example for true Christian witness.
~~~~~~~~~~
"...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:23-24
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
~~~~~~~~~~
Is Howard Dean's Sudden Religiousity Sincere or Politically Motivated?
by J. Grant Swank, Jr., Pastor
"Howard Dean may garner the votes of the Unitarian-Universalists and the Jesse Jacksons of the world, but he will never get the votes of sincere Catholics, Evanglicals, and other Christian denominations that actually adhere to the Bible."
To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):
Who is this man to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.
Take your false piety and allegiance to Fox News and shove it up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.
While people like this pastor seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they create factions in His loving name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent Bible passage from the Right Christians blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we're on the subject of theology, I saw an interesting piece in the on-line version of the most recent issue of IN THESE TIMES
It deals with Marxism, Christianity, and a new book by Slovenian philosopher [and 'godless theologian'] Slajov Zizek.
"...Zizek’s post-secular theology. Zizek’s Christianity is a Cross without a Resurrection, and I would maintain, as a Christian and a socialist, that this neglect both obscures his theological vision and undermines his political hope. (Here, I ask readers—a mostly secular audience, I’m sure—for their indulgence.) Because he still sees the atonement as a cosmic yet incomplete debt cancellation, Zizek doesn’t fully appreciate [St.] Paul’s point: that we rise as well as die with Christ—that is, all debts are erased in what Zizek calls this “New Beginning.” Moreover, for Christians, the “infinite joy” at which Zizek marvels rests on a belief from which he recoils. Christians’ collective experience of joy in the world is inaugurated by faith in a triumph over death, a victory won by God’s power—a power we share but which we are not. Zizek’s Pauline theology collapses because, to put it squarely, it does not assert the exterior reality of God, on which Christian joy and political commitment must inevitably rest. However empowering Zizek’s formulation seems, it rests on an interiorized—and, Christians must maintain, ultimately empty—space through which we end up pursuing our own shadows."
Here's a fine example. This person calls himself 'pastor', yet sets a poor example for true Christian witness.
~~~~~~~~~~
"...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:23-24
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
~~~~~~~~~~
Is Howard Dean's Sudden Religiousity Sincere or Politically Motivated?
by J. Grant Swank, Jr., Pastor
"Howard Dean may garner the votes of the Unitarian-Universalists and the Jesse Jacksons of the world, but he will never get the votes of sincere Catholics, Evanglicals, and other Christian denominations that actually adhere to the Bible."
To my fellow devout Christians (I beg the pardon and indulgence of secularists reading here):
Who is this man to judge your spirit and mine..or Howard Dean's?
How does this stranger to my soul purport to know about what lies in the very depths of it?
This is as shameful a display of prejudice as I have seen.
Take your false piety and allegiance to Fox News and shove it up your pompous assumptions!
False judgement borne of prideful worldly grandiloquence is against all you have been taught if you are a true follower of the Christ. Your personal relationship with Christ cannot abode piously or truthfully in the same temple with a reliance upon false witness.
While people like this pastor seem to believe they own Christ and consider all other theology (liberal or other) as
something less than Christian, I tell them that Christ's heart bleeds every time they create factions in His loving name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent Bible passage from the Right Christians blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we're on the subject of theology, I saw an interesting piece in the on-line version of the most recent issue of IN THESE TIMES
It deals with Marxism, Christianity, and a new book by Slovenian philosopher [and 'godless theologian'] Slajov Zizek.
"...Zizek’s post-secular theology. Zizek’s Christianity is a Cross without a Resurrection, and I would maintain, as a Christian and a socialist, that this neglect both obscures his theological vision and undermines his political hope. (Here, I ask readers—a mostly secular audience, I’m sure—for their indulgence.) Because he still sees the atonement as a cosmic yet incomplete debt cancellation, Zizek doesn’t fully appreciate [St.] Paul’s point: that we rise as well as die with Christ—that is, all debts are erased in what Zizek calls this “New Beginning.” Moreover, for Christians, the “infinite joy” at which Zizek marvels rests on a belief from which he recoils. Christians’ collective experience of joy in the world is inaugurated by faith in a triumph over death, a victory won by God’s power—a power we share but which we are not. Zizek’s Pauline theology collapses because, to put it squarely, it does not assert the exterior reality of God, on which Christian joy and political commitment must inevitably rest. However empowering Zizek’s formulation seems, it rests on an interiorized—and, Christians must maintain, ultimately empty—space through which we end up pursuing our own shadows."
Bob Kerry
Monday Ramblings Which Begin with Bob Kerry
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Howard Dean:
"He’s got a big neck; he looks like a wrestler."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Terry McAuliffe:
"I think they [DNC] need a new chairman. I like Terry McAuliffe; he’s a friend.… [but} I think they need a new face at the Democratic Party."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bush:
"[Bush has] got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him.."
LINK
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bill Clinton:
"Clinton is an unusually good liar. Unusually good. Do you realize that?"
Esquire/January 1996
"It was not an angry comment. It was actually intended as an off-handed compliment."
Omaha World-Herald (2/5/96) [Senator Kerry commenting on the previous quote]
A Book Review on Bob Woodward's Accounting of A Conversation between Bill Cinton and Bob Kerry:
"What is also amazing about this book, is that Woodward gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of the battle to pass this
budget through both the House and the Senate. It also gives you the word for word account of a bitter phone conversation between Clinton and Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerry, in which Clinton tells Kerry to go f--- himself, when Kerry refuses to vote for his budget, which turned out to be the crucial vote.
As it would turn out, Kerry would vote for it, making it a tie. Gore then gave the over the top vote and the budget was
passed..."
An opinion about Bob Kerry and the 2000 Dem VP slot vs. Sen. Joe Lieberman:
"Senator Lieberman will likely help Gore with moderates (the political middle), but may hurt him with the left. The Gore Campaign probably believes that its support within that constituency is solid, but if Green Party candidate Ralph Nader runs a strong campaign, then the selection of Lieberman could backfire.
Nevertheless, a more socially progressive Vice-Presidential candidate, such as Senator Bob Kerry of Massachusetts, could have weakened Gore's chances with swing voters. Thus, Lieberman remained the safest choice - regardless of the fact that he is an Orthodox Jew."
From the same article, thoughts on why Gore chose Lieberman as running mate in 2000:
"Perhaps it is the inevitable consequence of the Bill Clinton's tumultuous time in office that Al Gore felt compelled to select a candidate based largely upon his moral character. Senator Lieberman may lack personal dynamism, but he is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public."
So...do we want a President who looks like a wrestler?
Do we want a President with no personal dynamism, but is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public?
Do we want a President who'll be an unusually good liar?
Or do we want a President who has got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him..?
People of America, I submit to you that Bob Kerry would rather see George Bush re-elected than to see
Howard Dean elected. The airing of his public doubts will help Bush in 2004.
WOW!
You GO, Bob!
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Howard Dean:
"He’s got a big neck; he looks like a wrestler."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Terry McAuliffe:
"I think they [DNC] need a new chairman. I like Terry McAuliffe; he’s a friend.… [but} I think they need a new face at the Democratic Party."
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bush:
"[Bush has] got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him.."
LINK
Ex-Senator Bob Kerry on Bill Clinton:
"Clinton is an unusually good liar. Unusually good. Do you realize that?"
Esquire/January 1996
"It was not an angry comment. It was actually intended as an off-handed compliment."
Omaha World-Herald (2/5/96) [Senator Kerry commenting on the previous quote]
A Book Review on Bob Woodward's Accounting of A Conversation between Bill Cinton and Bob Kerry:
"What is also amazing about this book, is that Woodward gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of the battle to pass this
budget through both the House and the Senate. It also gives you the word for word account of a bitter phone conversation between Clinton and Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerry, in which Clinton tells Kerry to go f--- himself, when Kerry refuses to vote for his budget, which turned out to be the crucial vote.
As it would turn out, Kerry would vote for it, making it a tie. Gore then gave the over the top vote and the budget was
passed..."
An opinion about Bob Kerry and the 2000 Dem VP slot vs. Sen. Joe Lieberman:
"Senator Lieberman will likely help Gore with moderates (the political middle), but may hurt him with the left. The Gore Campaign probably believes that its support within that constituency is solid, but if Green Party candidate Ralph Nader runs a strong campaign, then the selection of Lieberman could backfire.
Nevertheless, a more socially progressive Vice-Presidential candidate, such as Senator Bob Kerry of Massachusetts, could have weakened Gore's chances with swing voters. Thus, Lieberman remained the safest choice - regardless of the fact that he is an Orthodox Jew."
From the same article, thoughts on why Gore chose Lieberman as running mate in 2000:
"Perhaps it is the inevitable consequence of the Bill Clinton's tumultuous time in office that Al Gore felt compelled to select a candidate based largely upon his moral character. Senator Lieberman may lack personal dynamism, but he is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public."
So...do we want a President who looks like a wrestler?
Do we want a President with no personal dynamism, but is unlikely to offend the sensibilities of the American public?
Do we want a President who'll be an unusually good liar?
Or do we want a President who has got great political and personal skills; people like him; women like him..?
People of America, I submit to you that Bob Kerry would rather see George Bush re-elected than to see
Howard Dean elected. The airing of his public doubts will help Bush in 2004.
WOW!
You GO, Bob!
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