by La Shawn on January 15, 2004
in General
Spirit, a robot rover, landed on Mars 12 days ago.
It’s truly amazing that we’ve got a mechanical device up there rolling around a dry planet…looking at rocks? Oh right, the purpose is to find evidence of “life.” Man’s “accomplishments” are probably very humorous to God. Billions of dollars spent to find out if life ever existed on Mars.
While the Bible makes no mention of life on other planets, does that mean it doesn’t exist? Earth is unique because it’s the only heavenly body that’s the center of attention in the Bible. From the creation account in Genesis to the description of the New Earth in Revelation, humankind is at the center of God’s plan.
Here’s a great article from the site Answers in Genesis, “God and the Extraterrestrials.”
Still, I think it’s fun to imagine life somewhere in the Universe. I have to confess that I’m a fan of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series (which doesn’t seem dated to me even though the last episode was 10 years ago). I probably shouldn’t watch it because, according to the premise of the show, man has evolved from believing in “myths” like God, but the special effects and characters I find fascinating. Christian liberty?
Is there a hint in the Bible that life exists on other planets?
I’ve been avoiding the subject of President Bush’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. if they took jobs Americans don’t want. I’m torn between criticizing it as an American and the view of it from a Christian perspective.
I’d heard rumors about Bush’s plan a month ago, and I wrote a “letter” to the White House, stating I wouldn’t vote for him if he did whatever he was going to do. He did it, sort of. While Bush is not opening the floodgate to allow illegal immigrants into the country, he’s not deporting those already here, either. That’s a problem.
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by La Shawn on January 13, 2004
in General
To my regular readers and commenters, you may notice that the comment count below all posts — even the archives — is now “0.” I’ve added a new system temporarily because the guy who runs my other commenting system is having problems with his account and the server is down.
The old comments are still on his server, and as soon as it’s up and running, I’ll transfer any new comments you post here back to that system. The insightful comments you’ve posted are not lost.
I appreciate all who read my blog. It’s so good to know there are people out there interested in what I have to say. Please feel free to continue to comment. It’s a joy to watch the “0″ turn into 3, 5, 8…
by La Shawn on January 12, 2004
in General
It seems the Blog Speak (my commenting system) server is down for the moment. That’s why the “comments” feature below the posts has disappeared.
With the illegitimacy rate in the black community at 70 percent, Hollywood sees fit to put out tripe like “My Baby’s Daddy.” And parents who let their children see this garbage should be ashamed, especially black parents.
In the black community it’s become somewhat of a trend (and joke) to refer to one’s illegitimate child’s mother as “my baby’s mother” or father as “my baby’s daddy.” But it’s not funny. It’s sad. It represents an almost-complete cultural meltdown from generations before when black families were dignified and decent.
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I’ve always talked a lot. When I was a toddler, my favorite question was “Why?” Why this, why that. My mother said she always had to have an answer ready for her motor-mouth first-born.
Now here I am, 30-something years later, getting invitations to do radio shows. About two hours ago, I was live, on the air, talking to Rev. Jesse Peterson, author of SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America, on his nationally syndicated radio show. I was invited to discuss my latest column, Why Courting the Black Vote Won’t Work.
I had only a few hours’ notice and I was so nervous. But fortunately, Rev. Peterson agrees with my opinions and put me at ease. Not all shows will be that easy. We talked about the column, my faith, my review of his book, and the black community in general.
It was the first of what I hope to be many such interviews. As I write this, the show (1-8-04) is not archived yet but should be up tomorrow. Keep in mind that this was my first show and I was nervous. I may have stuttered here or there!
I’ve prayed for such opportunities. I missed the chance to do an interview on the Don Kroah Show on WAVA 105.1 FM in D.C. He wanted me on to talk about the Kwanzaa article, but for various reasons I didn’t find out about it until I returned from a week-long Christmas vacation. I’ll have to start acting like a professional and make sure I’m always reachable.
God has His plan for us all, and the timing just wasn’t right. That’s the way I see it.
by La Shawn on January 8, 2004
in General
by La Shawn on January 7, 2004
in Columns
My latest column:
Justifiably confident going into the election cycle, Republicans have announced they hope to win 25 percent of the black vote. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has great expectations. “If we get African American votes, [the Democrats] are in deep trouble,” he told the Washington Post. Not just any trouble. Deep trouble, he says.
Columnist Jonetta Rose Barras agrees, citing black voters’ growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that resulted in Arnold Schwarzenegger winning 17 percent of the vote and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg garnering 22 percent.
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by La Shawn on January 6, 2004
in Lunacy
Why is this news? Shouldn’t this have been done all along?
“U.S. Taking Photos and Fingerprints Of Visitors”
The United States began fingerprinting and photographing foreigners arriving at U.S. airports and ports yesterday in an effort to track down wanted criminals and suspected terrorists and identify visitors who overstay visas…
The program has attracted a wide range of critics. Airports worry that it will exacerbate immigration lines. Civil libertarians raise privacy concerns that the government will use the data for purposes beyond tracking visas and criminals. A Brazilian judge said the system discriminates against certain foreigners and has ordered officials in his country to begin photographing and fingerprinting American visitors.
They’re kidding, right? Who cares what a Brazilian judge has to say about the security of the United States? Am I on candid camera?
Michael J. Bowers, a copy editor and page designer at a suburban Chicago newspaper called The Star, wrote a great piece today called, “Global warming: The media falling for a tale of gloom.”
He writes about the overblown heterosexual AIDS scare in the 1980s and how the media betrays its bias by the way it chooses to report stories. The evidence clearly showed the disease was not becoming an epidemic among heterosexuals, but they chose to ignore facts and write sensational stories about the general population’s purported risk of contracting AIDS:
The disease emerged in America in 1981 as one that was mainly restricted to homosexual men. In fact, it was first called GRIDS: gay-related immune deficiency syndrome.
Then a few other groups started contracting the disease. For example, drug users who employed dirty needles, and unwitting people who received a transplant of contaminated blood.
It was only logical that people in these two unfortunate situations would be at risk. At the same time, it was quite illogical that a straight American who did not use drugs would be at risk. But the press couldn’t abide this truth. To progressive reporters, it wasn’t right that AIDS should be restricted to homosexuals and drug users. It wasn’t fair to stigmatize these groups. They needed to be protected.
And so they rolled out one of the biggest hoaxes of the century. For some five years, they issued a drumbeat of warnings that it was only a matter of time for straight people: Soon we too would start dying in large numbers.
By the way, the writer makes some good points, but the title of his op-ed is misleading. The title implies he believes the media fell for a hoax, but the piece is really about the media’s complicity in a hoax. I agree with everything in the op-ed; I’m just a stickler for clarity!
by La Shawn on January 2, 2004
in Faith
Since I began my political column over a year ago, I thought I had to decide whether it needed to be political or “Christian.” I’m only now realizing it’s not a matter of politics vs. religion. As I live my faith, my attitudes should reflect my beliefs. Period.
For example, while I believe that low-income students locked in failing government-run schools should be given educational choice to have a chance to make it in this world, I also know their problems won’t be solved politically.
Ultimately, voting for a Republican or a Democrat won’t save you. We, as a fallen world, have a sickness called sin that can only be healed by Christ. All of society’s ills stem from sin. Every single human being is a sinner. The only difference between believers and unbelievers is that believers are forgiven.
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by La Shawn on January 1, 2004
in General
