From the monthly archives:
May I interrupt the suicide and phony love story blogging for a few seconds of pop culture/music?
I “discovered” Coldplay a few years ago. Nice sound, but too hyped. When the new album came out, I avoided listening to it. Why? Kinda juvenile, I guess, but I try to avoid following the crowd. I favor non-hyped-but-should-be-hyped artists (hint, hint). I heard “Viva La Vida” while driving one day but didn’t know it was “Viva La Vida” and said, “I dig it.”
I like the sound of this thing:
Oh, how I wish I’d blogged about the latest literary hoax last week before the publisher canceled the contract! Feet-dragging is a bad habit, boys and girls.
The air’s out of the balloon now. A man named Herman Rosenblat claimed that while he was in a concentration camp, a Jewish girl whose family was pretending to be Christian gave him apples over a fence. One day he asked her not to come back because he had an “appointment” with the gas chamber. He wasn’t killed; he was transferred to another camp.
Years later, he went on a blind date with a woman who turned out to be the girl who’d given him apples lo those many years ago.
Critics cried foul. First, the concentration camp where Rosenblat said he was detained didn’t have gas chambers. Second, the Nazi’s didn’t tell prisoners when they were going to the gas chamber. The point was to trick them into going. Third, there’s no way Herman or Roma could have gotten close to the fence without the guards seeing them. Fourth, it was highly unlikely that a Jewish family who feared the Nazi’s wouldn’t know about their nine-year-old daughter’s daily visits to a concentration camp fence, for crying out loud, or would allow her to continue once they found out. And on and on.
Herman Rosenblat and his wife Roma ended up on Oprah, and Berkley Books offered him a deal for his memoirs, Angel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived. And you know Hollywood is partial to Holocaust stories. The book is set to be made into a movie.
A 22-year-old man killed himself because, according to WND, he lost his belief in God after reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Young Jesse Kilgore blew his brains out, convinced that God and faith in God are delusions. (I became a Christian some 10 years ago. Unlike young Christians today, I didn’t have to deal with unbelieving college professors challenging my faith or making me question my beliefs. I was just as much a heathen as they were.)
His father told WND that a biology professor was “really challenging my son, his faith…They didn’t like him as a Republican, as a Christian, and as a conservative who believed in intelligent design.”
First, I take a hard stand when it comes to suicide. It’s the work of inconsiderate and self-centered cowards, whatever the reason. But we’ve all had suicidal thoughts – from mild “what if I just offed myself right now” to actually taking a weapon in hand (bottle of pills, gun, whatever) to attempting suicide and ending up in the hospital. If you say you haven’t, you’re probably lying.
[Update: Did she write "inconsiderate and self-centered cowards"? There I go again, being too harsh. Christians aren't allowed, so I've heard. What about the mentally ill, you ask? Well, if someone isn't in his "right mind" when he commits suicide, I suppose that's a different story. In some cases. Generally, my opinion of suicide, which I've contemplated in my younger years, stands. More sympathy for those left behind, please.]
David Wayne and I go way back. He’s a pastor at a church in Maryland, and his blog was one of my daily reads in the early years. Because of his perspective on political issues, his easy-to-understand exposition of the Scriptures, and his sense of humor, I really enjoyed reading his blog and called him my favorite theologian-blogger.
I finally got to meet “The Jolly Blogger” at a meet-up a few years ago (where I also met the “radical” Carolyn McCulley), and he was just what I thought he’d be…gregarious, funny, kind. We saw each other again at GodBlogCon.
I was stunned to learn, via Twitter of all places, that David has colon cancer. He made the announcement on his blog, and someone linked to the post in Twitter. Here’s the latest:
“I saw the surgeon yesterday and the news wasn’t good. My CT scan revealed not only a large tumor on the colon but a tumor on my liver and 2 nodules on my lungs. Needless to say this was a pretty big blow…The treatment plan as of now is this. I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow – December 24th at 11:00am at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore. After that I am to immediately begin receiving chemotherapy…Don’t know how much or how often I’ll be able to update after this but I will do so as I am able. Please know that I deeply appreciate all of the kind words and prayers.”
What do you say to someone who just found out he has cancer? And at Christmas? You’d think it would be easier to comfort a Christian, who knows and accepts the truth about Christ and forgiveness and salvation and heaven and hell. The Christian knows that God sends trials into our lives to chastise us, teach us, mold us, and make us more Christ-like. We know we’re living in a fallen world in fallen bodies, and those bodies break down. Death and disease are consequences of sin in the world.
Christians know all of that. But I still couldn’t stop myself from being angry. “Why, God?” I asked. “Why him? A man who faithfully preaches the Word, shepherds your sheep…a husband and father with children who still need him. Why?”
Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean pain ends and or that disappointment is a thing of the past. The Christ follower has to live in this world. Heaven comes later. While we’re in this world, we must deal with loss and hardship and heartache. The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that we are part of God’s kingdom, and we have the privilege of advancing that kingdom.
We advance that kingdom by doing what God commanded: preaching the Gospel. But it’s not just our words that accomplish the goal. How we deal with pain and loss serves as a testimony to the unbeliever and accomplishes God’s will.
I already knew the answer to my question, but that didn’t stop me from asking. The Book of Job provides all the answers we need.
At the beginning of the book, Satan tells God that believers are faithful only as long as they prosper.
“But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has,” Satan said about Job, “and he will surely curse you to Your face.”
But God knew Job, a man he called upright and blameless, a true servant of God who shuns evil. In that moment, God allowed Satan to take away Job’s family, his health, and his wealth. Understandably, Job complains, cursing the day he was born. There seems to be no sense to his suffering, and he questions why he’s been afflicted. It’s important to note that Job remains faithful and loyal to God even in his confusion.
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
Beginning at Chapter 38, God answers Job’s questions, revealing his omnipotence.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?…Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”( I can’t do the passages justice here, so I encourage you to read Chapters 38-41.)
Job was humbled by God’s series of questions, and he realized he was wrong to complain and to question why God allowed him to suffer. In the end, God restored what Job lost.
The Book of Job is a kind of blueprint for believers. Whenever you’re faced with sickness and loss and other disappointments in life, put yourselves in Job’s place. Imagine that God and Satan are having a conversation about you, and God is making your case as Satan accuses you. Which one do you want to prove right?
I don’t need to tell David Wayne about Job. I’m certain he knows. But I want him to know how sorry I am that he has to suffer through this, and I pray for him and his family. May they continue to keep the faith and know that God is with them.
This post is inadequate, and I don’t think I’m being very articulate right now. 
Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of Christ, God made flesh, the One who came into the world to suffer for our sins and to redeem his people. No matter what “bad” things we’re going through, take comfort in knowing he came to redeem YOU. Though you may suffer from The Fall’s consequences, there will come a sweet day when there will be no more suffering, no more tears…
I’ve never read The Purpose-Driven Life nor am I inclined to now. I don’t like mega-churches or “superstar” pastors.
But I’m pleased Barack Obama chose the socially conservative Rick Warren to do his inaugural invocation, regardless of his motives.
Whatever you think of Warren, make no mistake: he’s a social conservative, my favorite kind. Among other things, he is pro-life and opposes homosexual “marriage.” (I’ve learned in recent years that being socially conservative doesn’t necessarily mean one holds these values.) And that’s good enough for me.
Homosexuals are a tad upset that their brother-in-arms chose someone who calls homosexual behavior by its proper name and shares my opinion about the slippery slope of allowing two men to call themselves married in the traditional sense of the word. People may be offended that I think such a mockery eventually would lead to atrocities like allowing adults to marry children. But look at it this way: I can’t believe in my lifetime, Americans are discussing allowing people of the same sex to marry. Whoever thought that would happen? You honestly don’t think it will lead to other perverted things? You’re either naive, imbecilic, or straight-up lying.
Be offended, curse, laugh, say evil things about me behind my back — whatever you need to do, but I will always oppose homosexual “marriage” and will continue to speak out boldly and publicly against it.
Why did Obama (who said he opposes homosexual “marriage,” by the way) choose a Prop 8-supporting man like Warren, knowing it would anger and confound his leftist base? To “reach out” to social conservatives who voted for John McCain, to skim off a few Republican-voting Christians who dig Warren – I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters that much.
I’m enjoying the fact that Barack Obama is not doing what his supporters expected. For example, blacks, hispanics, and radical leftists aren’t satisfied with his cabinet picks, and some say he’s being too careful, too timid. Careful or timid, he’s still an infanticide-supporting liberal. And that’s bad enough for me.
Happy invocating, Rick!
(Let’s pray that he smuggles in the Gospel.)
Special thanks to reader Julia G, who sent two books from my Amazon wish list:
A few years ago, I was reluctant to post a link to my Amazon list of wishes. Guess what? I got over it!
Thank you, readers, for sending me such books as The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, and Scripture Alone: Exploring the Bible’s Accuracy, Authority and Authenticity.
If readers want to buy me books for Christmas and other occasions, who am I to stop them? My bookcases runneth over! Thanks, again. 
Finally, some legal action!
This is “old” news, but in case you missed it – Lila Rose, an adult posing as a 13-year-old girl, told Planned Parenthood abortion mill workers that she was carrying a 31-year-old man’s child. Did the woman call child protective services? Encourage the girl to tell her parents about the rape? This is what she said:
“I didn’t hear the age.”
As you should know, sex between an adult and a 13-year-old is called statutory rape. A felony. The “nurse” was obligated to report the rape, but her primary concern, obviously, was making sure the “child” exercised her right to have her baby murdered. Crime? What crime?
“I don’t want to know how old he is. Okay. Okay…I didn’t hear the age.”
Lila Rose went undercover at another abortion mill, told the same story, and got this response:
“I don’t care how old he is.”
The women acknowledged their duty to report the rape, but they both buried their heads in the sand and even encouraged the “child” to lie. Why? As far as they knew, the girl was 13, a child, for crying out loud! (Also see Lies and Regrets)
It’s senseless, and someone’s finally doing something about it. Indiana’s Attorney General says his office is investigating Planned Parenthood of Indiana. (Source)
Color me a cool shade of jaded, but I don’t think justice will be served. And I won’t hold my breath waiting for feminists to speak out against this flagrant lawbreaking and appalling disregard for the welfare of a child violated and taken advantage of by an adult male. Destroying the fetus is the focus of the pro-child killing movement. Think about it: a cause dedicated to snuffing out precious life growing inside a woman…how twisted is that?
I hope I get a front row seat to watch God’s wrath rain down on unrepentant child murderers.
(Hat tip: Dawn Eden)
A rejected idiot named Majid Movahedi threw a bucket of sulfuric acid over Ameneh Bahrami’s head, blinding and disfiguring her. This woman had been kind to the fool, by the way. She’d given the obviously impoverished man clothing.
An Iranian court ordered that five drops of sulfuric acid be dropped into his eyes. (Source)
This kind of Islamic justice I dig. An eye for an eye, or in this case, two eyes.
“Eye for an eye,” which I think is better understand as “an eye only for an eye,” is a principle of legal justice to encourage proportionate punishment for a crime. Not too lenient, and not too strict; hence, an eye only for an eye. The punishment must fit the crime, a principle codified in our own criminal laws.
Some people cite Matthew 5:39 to argue that Christ put an end to the eye-for-an-eye principle. Not true. As I’ve stated before, that passage deals with personal insults and offenses, not criminal behavior, and admonishing against personal retaliations.
What about capital punishment? Should a murderer be executed in a similar manner in which he killed (shot, tortured, lynched, hit upside the head, etc.)? Our country has developed a system of punishment in which execution methods like drawing and quartering, burning alive, disemboweling, and other methods I mentioned are considered “cruel and unusual,” even if the criminal killed his victim(s) that way. Too bad. I wouldn’t flinch in the slightest to know a child rapist and murderer received within himself the due penalty of his error. Would you?
Majid Movahedi, prepare for the darkness.
(Photo credit: Washington Post)
I guess it’s race week at LBC!
According to a new study, black students in their first year of college perform better academically when paired with a white roommate than with a black roommate. (Science News)
What to make of this? Natalie Shook, lead author of the study, said black students may adjust better because they live with someone who can help them adjust to college and its challenges.
While black students benefit from having a white roommate, white students don’t necessarily benefit from having a black roommate. For white students, the academic ability of the roommate is more important than the person’s skin color.
I went to a predominately black college, so I have no frame of reference. My youngest sister, on the other hand, roomed with white students. She said she could see how the study yielded such a conclusion.
“Watching them study helped me learn how to study,” she told me. “That was the main thing.”
Update: Points to consider, via Facebook friends – The study’s findings might indicate a fundamental flaw in race preferences (which involves lowering standards to admit a certain percentage of blacks) in college admissions. Black students may be poorly matched to their schools compared to white students. Did the researchers isolate for class background and academic preparation, i.e., are black students who attended private high schools better prepared for the college setting, etc.
Here’s the study’s abstract. You have to subscribe to the journal to download the full study.
Blackbird, the browser for black people. Good grief. No, it’s not a “Saturday Night Live” skit. It’s not from The Onion. Somebody came up with and implemented this idea. If you don’t like it, organize a massive Firefox boycott. Or a protest? Isn’t that what the disgruntled do? This will do wonders for race relations. Great idea, guys. Very innovative and cutting edge.
Read reactions here. As I said before, I don’t know why these things happen. I just blog and link (and provide reams of commentary!).
I need a vacation. A Christmas vacation!
Update (12/16): A little birdie told me that the Mozilla Firefox team is not behind Blackbird.
“It was created by a group of black entrepreneurs from the Firefox source code, which anyone can download and change. As such, I think it is unfair to boycott Firefox, since they aren’t behind this absurd concept.”
In New Haven, Connecticut, the fire department threw out test results and canceled promotions because too few black firefighters scored high enough to receive promotions. A group of firefighers who achieved high scores is suing.
I’m at a loss for words, but here’s one, repeated three times: shame, shame, shame.
Ah! More words. If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that the New Haven Fire Department already watered down the test, ala New York City and Denver.
I don’t know why these things happen. I just blog and link (and provide reams of commentary!).
Uh…well…what had happened was, you see:
And most important:
In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan sounded an alarm about the rising rates of illegitimacy in the black community (about 24 percent at the time). The collapse of the black family, he contended, would have devastating consequences. Branded as a racist for merely stating facts, Moynihan was drummed into silence. Forty-three years later, he’s a prophet. Seventy-five percent of black babies in the United States are born to unmarried mothers.
Smile!
Writes Gawker: “Now that Obama has been elected, a tipster inside a PR firm tells us, clients are demanding ‘an increased number of [blacks] added to the guest list’ at their holiday parties.”
Hey, add my face to the collage. Let’s see. I’m black.
But I’m not well-known or connected or young or rich (or all that interesting, really), and I didn’t and won’t ever vote for Barack Obama.
Outspoken judgmental black female Christian fundamentalist Proposition 8-supporting right wingers need not apply.
Merry Christmas!
Even when I’m not blogging here, I’m still blogging. I blog for work. I blog for non-work. I blog.
And I want to do more than blogging.
The thing about living in Southern California is that you’re always one or two people away from somebody who works in the entertainment industry. A friend invited my family to join his family and friends for Thanksgiving. There I met people who work in the industry. If I ever write a novel, one of these new acquaintances would be the go-to person to turn the novel into a screenplay.
A young woman who attends my church just signed on with Columbia Records (beautiful voice), and her success story is compelling. In fact, she’ll be opening for Grammy-nominated singer Adele (whose recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance reportedly blew people away) at some point during her tour. My niece’s little friend attends the same church as Taylor Lautner, the kid who plays Jacob Black in Twilight. (As “Twilight” fans know, his character will have a prominent role in subsequent movies as vampire Edward Cullen’s competition.) He gave my niece an autographed photo for her 10th birthday last week. “Delighted” is too mild to describe her reaction.
And on and on. I confess: it is difficult not to get caught up.
When I’m not doing paying work, I’m developing and pitching story ideas to editors. Unfortunately, I don’t have any recent off-blog work to show you because competition is stiff, especially with laid-off journalists competing for the same freelance assignments.
(My story ideas tend to be faith-based. For instance, I’m very interested in getting people to open up and go on record about their faith. See Hanson and Rissi Palmer.)
And – I shouldn’t mention this because it hasn’t happened yet and may not happen at all and I’ll be embarrassed if it doesn’t happen esp. because I’ve already mentioned it on the blog – I’m a bit nervous. I’m waiting for a publishing committee to decide yay or nay on a book idea. If this particular house says no, I’ll move on. But still…AHHHHHHHHHH! The wait is maddening.
So that’s why I haven’t updated LBC often. Pitching and plotting like crazy. Just my “luck,” though. I had to wait until a bunch of experienced professional writers were laid off to get serious about being a writer.
