Category: Politics

  • The Trouble With Politics

    I don’t know how many of you have been following the American Presidential Race, but I’ve noticed that this one has been particularly bitter and cutthroat, and the fact we’re embraced by the Information Age plays no small part in it. It is easier to find the dirt to sling thanks to background searches on the cheap along with the advances of Google and Wikipedia. Mud-slinging has long been the favorite tactic of the politician; now it’s just easier to dig to the mud.

    It’s unfortunately gotten to the point that I feel I know so little about the good of any candidate. I know just  about every single skeleton in the closets of McCain, Obama, and Palin — Biden’s been oddly untouched by the media. I was fortunate to watch the Saddleback Forum and hear McCain and Obama give answers on the same subjects, which made me like Obama more than I had, but I found myself still more enamored by McCain. In that forum, I felt McCain had stronger, clearer convictions. He was able to answer quickly and to the point, throwing in the occasional joke. He talked like most of the people I have grown up around. Obama on the otherhand, came off to me as unsure of himself and his answers. He scanned the audience a lot which made me feel he was reading their reactions before saying anything.

    After the forum, Obama supporters claimed that they must have given McCain the questions before hand. I doubt that is the case, but I do have this to say. They’ve both had these questions long before the forum was announced. They’re hot button issues, many have been around for at least the last four presidential campaigns I’ve been old enough to remember. They weren’t new. Others were more current issues, but they’re still at the forefront. The fact that Obama’s supporters feel he was unprepared compared to McCain makes me wonder if Obama even thinks about these matters when he’s not in front of a camera or podium.

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  • A Few Well Spoken Arguements On Hunting

    Over the past day or two, I’ve been following a thread on IMDB under “Open Season’s” forum thread at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400717/board/thread/54564402 that has been rather stimulating debate between hunters and vegans. So far the vegans haven’t shown a compelling argument other than that they feel it’s wrong to take any life, neglecting all the while that plants are life as well. The majority of their arguments so far are either opinion and/or erroneous facts. Here’s one I thought was really well spoken on the hunter side:

    “The arguments of the anti-hunter are completely without merit. They are based strictly on an emotional, kneejerk reaction to something they do not understand. Something they would never take the time to research and actually make a decision based on logic and reasoning. They do not deal in facts. Their perspective is extremely narrow. Unfortunately, they also tend to have the loudest voice, even though they are in the tiny minority.

    The facts are:

    We are not aliens. We evolved on this planet and we are its top predator. Our eyes are in the front for a reason. We should act like it. We have domain over every other living creature on this planet. We have also evolved an intelligence and a sense of awareness not present in other animals. It is our responsibility to care for and protect them. To NOT hunt is to deny our place in the cycle of life on earth. To NOT preserve their habitat is to deny them a place to live. To NOT keep their numbers controlled, is to allow them to die off in large masses from disease and starvation. This is NOT in their best interests.

    Hunters spend more money and put more effort every year towards conservation and wildlife preservation than anybody else, by a HUGE margin. Hunting pays for your state parks, wildlife management areas, etc.

    In Africa, if there was not the big hunting industry, there would be no lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, leopards, cheetahs, warthogs or the many species of antelope. The revenue from the hunting industry is what preserves these species and their habitat. It is what pays for their game managment departments, those responsible for controlling poaching. In many places, it is the only source of revenue. It is the only way the land can generate revenue AND the wild game be allowed to live there. A very nice coexistence. It is also a huge boon to the local villagers because they receive all the meat. And yes, make no mistake, NOTHING is wasted. No meat is allowed to be exported from Africa. You may judge it negatively as ‘trophy’ or ‘sport’ hunting. But to do so is to ignore the truth and the grand scope of it. Do your research.

    Those are facts, here’s some opinion:

    Hunting is a part of our American heritage and our history as an evolving race. Civizilations were built on the backs of animals. Man has been kept warm by their hides and their bellies full with their meat. Without hunting, WE would not be here. To deny that history and heritage because it is convenient for YOU and makes YOU feel better is about the most selfish thing a person can do. It is extremely narrow minded and if anti-hunters have their way, they will only be pleased with the result in the short term.

    The biggest threat wildlife faces is not the rifle, bow or pistol of the hunter, it is the bulldozer, the dump truck, the housing development and the shopping mall. The uncontrolled development that is so prevalent in many places is FAR more cruel than hunting could ever be. Yet people have no hesitation in moving to another brand new housing development or condominium. As they sit on freshly destroyed woodlands and preach about ‘saving animals’. Hypocracy!

    The sickest part is how they assess value to animal life based on ‘cuteness’. It’s OK to kill birds and pests but not those cute bunny-rabbits! Not Bambi! Hypocracy. I, for one, do not draw those lines. I have an immeasurable amount of respect for our wildlife. More, I dare say, than your average tree-hugger. A rabbit’s life is not more precious to me than a snake’s. Alligators are not detested while Bambi is to be adored. To make such judgements on the value of an animal’s life while standing under the flag of activism is just sickening. What is even more sickening is how they use the term ‘murder’. To somehow equate the life of a human to that of an animal, THAT is a mental disorder.”

    -newfrontier45

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  • Perhaps Afghanistan Will, For Once, See a True Martyr

    I don’t know how many of you have been following it, but there is a man in Afghanistan who is on trial for his faith. He converted to Christ 16 years ago. Abdul Rahman is on trial in Afghanistan for rejecting Islam, a crime that carries a death sentence by their law. He was told that if he denounced Christ and returned to Islam, the charges would be dropped and he refused. Now they are seeking to show him as mentally ill so as not to be required to execute him. All the while, Muslim clerics demand his death for what they see as a grievous attack on Islam by Satan.

    I personally admire the man’s faith. I hope to be as courageous in the face of persecution as he. If executed, he will be a true martyr. Webster’s definition of a martyr is:
    a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion.

    In fact, it originates from the Greek word μάρτυς (martys) and means “witness, testimony”. It also came to refer to a man killed for his testimony. Now it seems to be used for anyone who dies for a cause. To me a true martyr is the former, person who is killed for what he believes. A man who straps bombs to himself to kill many innocents while taking himself with them is not a martyr.

    There are those that I’ve talked with who don’t understand why he doesn’t just deny Christ and go back to Islam to save his live. Some of these people profess to be Christians and this greatly disturbs me as it shows a lack of knowledge of what it is to be Christian.

    When we all became born-again, we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. To denounce Him is essentially to lose our salvation. For further evidence of this, refer to Matthew 10:32-33:

    “‘32 Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.’” – Matthew 10:32-33 NIV

    This same passage has been floating around various chain messages in MySpace and Yahoo — although not reposting it, and spamming your friends with it, is not to disown him in my understanding of scripture. But that is another discussion for another time. — This passage explains why the Christian cannot simply deny his faith to save his skin.

    Some may argue, “Well I’d commit this sin then ask forgiveness later.” Yet another attitude I’ve seen in more self-professing Christians around me these days. There is also a fallacy in this. While it is true that Jesus does forgive us, that is no excuse to intentionally sin. The Apostle Paul, in my opinion, put it the best in Romans chapter 6. In fact, this theme is all through Romans.

    “1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” – Romans 6:1-2 NIV

    We are also told that we are “not promised tomorrow” numerous times in the Bible. We are told to keep short accounts for this reason.

    This also leads to another problem; loving the world. The only reason to deny Christ to save your skin would be live another day in this world. Heaven awaits me, a place far more beautiful and better than this world if I should be killed anyway.

    It is also taking things in your own hands and especially telling God that you don’t trust him. If God wants him to live, I guarantee that Abdul Rahman will live. God will do something here if He wants to save him, rest assured. It may not be some obvious miracle such as breaking the cell open like He did for Paul and Silas; it may be as simple as touching a heart or two to sway them into releasing him.

    No matter what the outcome, live or die, this man will be able to stand before Jesus on Judgment Day and be able to say, “I stood up for you, Jesus!” All we can do for him at this point is pray for him. And remember in your lives what GK Chesterson once said, “Jesus promised his disciples three things. They would be absurdly happy, absolutely fearless, and in constant trouble.”

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