Category: Politics
Posted by: an okie gardener
Six more Democratic County chairs have endorsed Barack Obama for president. The list includes Sioux County Democratic chair Carl Vander Meulen. In all, 20 county chairs in Iowa have endorsed Obama. Story here.
Iowa has 99 counties.
I see this as a serious setback for Hillary, who has spent years insinuating herself into the Democratic Party organization.
Iowa has 99 counties.
I see this as a serious setback for Hillary, who has spent years insinuating herself into the Democratic Party organization.
Category: Religion and History
Posted by: an okie gardener
Story here from Compass Direct News: some excerpts:
After the government destroyed its church building in 2001, a Church of the Brethren in Nigeria congregation bought the Bight of Benin Hotel for 5.5 million naira (US$46,610) as a place of worship. But the Rev. James Zoaka said his church’s 13-year-old struggle to survive is far from over. “We still have the fear that we may not survive this ordeal, as we are yet to get approval for us to continue to use this place as a place of worship,” said Rev. Zoaka. “The Kano state government may decide at any time to declare this place illegal and then demolish it.” The Kano government offered Rev. Zoaka no explanation for the previous demolition, much less compensation.
. . .
The sanctuary the state demolished had been rebuilt, Rev. Zoaka said, after Muslims burned it down – for the third time. “We first had our church building at the Brigade area of this city,” he told Compass. “But in the 10 years that religious conflicts have engulfed Kano state, our church has been burnt down three times by Muslims.” Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, Kano state information commissioner, declined to comment on the onslaught on Rev. Zoaka’s church by the government and other Islamic agents. A Christian source in Nigeria told Compass that persecution “is becoming high” in all 44 local government areas of the state.
. . .
The anti-Christian policies in Kano state came atop the violence the church suffered in Muslim rioting that erupted in 2001. Emmanuel Bappah, a church elder, recalled how 11 members were killed defending the church on October 11 of that year. “We heard that Muslims in the city of Kano were rioting,” Bappah said, “and sensing that our church could be set on fire as they rioted, some of us in the church decided, ‘We should go and be on the premises of the church in case they come, then we can try to defend the building from being set on fire,’ as was done twice previously.” As soon as they entered in the building, he said, a crowd of Muslims came up against the church chanting, “Allahu Akbar [God is Great]” and wielding weapons such as guns, machetes and cudgels. “We remained quiet, and then suddenly they began to attack us,” he said. “We tried repelling them, but it became impossible to fight back with our bare hands. They set the church on fire while we were trapped inside.” Those who tried to escape were chased down like animals and killed, he said. Bappah said he received four machete cuts on his back, and one of his ears was cut off.
Religions of Peace, yeah, right.
After the government destroyed its church building in 2001, a Church of the Brethren in Nigeria congregation bought the Bight of Benin Hotel for 5.5 million naira (US$46,610) as a place of worship. But the Rev. James Zoaka said his church’s 13-year-old struggle to survive is far from over. “We still have the fear that we may not survive this ordeal, as we are yet to get approval for us to continue to use this place as a place of worship,” said Rev. Zoaka. “The Kano state government may decide at any time to declare this place illegal and then demolish it.” The Kano government offered Rev. Zoaka no explanation for the previous demolition, much less compensation.
. . .
The sanctuary the state demolished had been rebuilt, Rev. Zoaka said, after Muslims burned it down – for the third time. “We first had our church building at the Brigade area of this city,” he told Compass. “But in the 10 years that religious conflicts have engulfed Kano state, our church has been burnt down three times by Muslims.” Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi, Kano state information commissioner, declined to comment on the onslaught on Rev. Zoaka’s church by the government and other Islamic agents. A Christian source in Nigeria told Compass that persecution “is becoming high” in all 44 local government areas of the state.
. . .
The anti-Christian policies in Kano state came atop the violence the church suffered in Muslim rioting that erupted in 2001. Emmanuel Bappah, a church elder, recalled how 11 members were killed defending the church on October 11 of that year. “We heard that Muslims in the city of Kano were rioting,” Bappah said, “and sensing that our church could be set on fire as they rioted, some of us in the church decided, ‘We should go and be on the premises of the church in case they come, then we can try to defend the building from being set on fire,’ as was done twice previously.” As soon as they entered in the building, he said, a crowd of Muslims came up against the church chanting, “Allahu Akbar [God is Great]” and wielding weapons such as guns, machetes and cudgels. “We remained quiet, and then suddenly they began to attack us,” he said. “We tried repelling them, but it became impossible to fight back with our bare hands. They set the church on fire while we were trapped inside.” Those who tried to escape were chased down like animals and killed, he said. Bappah said he received four machete cuts on his back, and one of his ears was cut off.
Religions of Peace, yeah, right.
20/12: Iraqi Minutemen
Category: US in Iraq
Posted by: an okie gardener
Some time ago, I posted that what Iraq needed was Iraqi Minutemen, armed citizens banding together to defend their liberty. Now they have them, and they are making the difference. These armed citizen groups will make it more difficult for any aspiring dictators, and for terrorists.
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
This article in the New Republic briefly and lucidly explains China's role in facilitating the genocide being conducted by the government of The Sudan. Military equipment, economic aid, preventing action by the United Nations, China is the best friend of the repressive National Islamic Front government. Why? Oil. In China's case it really is blood for oil.
Explain to me again why we treat the Chinese government as somehow legitimate, and have opened our markets to their shoddy and unsafe products.
Explain to me again why we treat the Chinese government as somehow legitimate, and have opened our markets to their shoddy and unsafe products.
19/12: Modern Pilgimage
Category: Religion and History
Posted by: an okie gardener
In spite of the growth of secularism in the last hundred years, the human race remains a religious species, overall. One of the ways our thirst for the transcendent expresses itself, is in pilgrimage: travel to a sacred destination.
This article from MSNBC on the top religious travel destinations.
Top sites five sites in estimated order:
*Sensoji Temple, Tokyo, Japan
*Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, Mexico City, Mexico
*The Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy
*Tomb of Imam Reza, Mashad, Iran
*Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain
Range, Japan
The website Sacred Destinations provides information on "religious travel."
Any readers ever go on pilgrimage, or visit a holy site?
This article from MSNBC on the top religious travel destinations.
Top sites five sites in estimated order:
*Sensoji Temple, Tokyo, Japan
*Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, Mexico City, Mexico
*The Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy
*Tomb of Imam Reza, Mashad, Iran
*Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain
Range, Japan
The website Sacred Destinations provides information on "religious travel."
Any readers ever go on pilgrimage, or visit a holy site?
19/12: Irony Bites
Category: General
Posted by: an okie gardener
From The Sidney Morning Herald (Australia):
Two men have died and six have been injured after a minibus carrying members of a heavy-metal band tour crashed down an embankment of the Pacific Highway. The booking agent for Geelong-based heavy metal band The Red Shore has confirmed two of the band's members died. An employee for Pan Studios in Geelong has confirmed the company's received news the band's lead singer Damo, 22 , was killed along with the group's driver and merchandiser, Andy, 27. The minibus was in a convoy carrying The Red Shore and All Shall Perish "deathcore-metal" bands on their Christmas Carnage tour. A spokeswoman for the tour organiser said that members of the Califorinia-based All Shall Perish were not involved in the crash.
Full story.
Two men have died and six have been injured after a minibus carrying members of a heavy-metal band tour crashed down an embankment of the Pacific Highway. The booking agent for Geelong-based heavy metal band The Red Shore has confirmed two of the band's members died. An employee for Pan Studios in Geelong has confirmed the company's received news the band's lead singer Damo, 22 , was killed along with the group's driver and merchandiser, Andy, 27. The minibus was in a convoy carrying The Red Shore and All Shall Perish "deathcore-metal" bands on their Christmas Carnage tour. A spokeswoman for the tour organiser said that members of the Califorinia-based All Shall Perish were not involved in the crash.
Full story.
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: an okie gardener
For the previous posts on this series click here.
"It cannot be too often repeated that what destroyed the Family in the modern world was Capitalism." G.K. Chesterton in "Three Foes of the Family" found in the collection of his essays The Well and the Shallows.
Today's post: Chesterton's religion and his economics.
G. K. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism, and he took the doctrines and practices of his faith seriously, including their implications.
His explanation "Why I Am a Catholic" is reprinted here. Some excerpts:
The difficulty of explaining "why I am a Catholic" is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, "It is the only thing that . . ." As, for instance, (1) It is the only thing that really prevents a sin from being a secret. (2) It is the only thing in which the superior cannot be superior; in the sense of supercilious. (3) It is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. (4) It is the only thing that talks as if it were the truth; as if it were a real messenger refusing to tamper with a real message. (5) It is the only type of Christianity that really contains every type of man; even the respectable man. (6) It is the only large attempt to change the world from the inside; working through wills and not laws; and so on.
Or I might treat the matter personally and describe my own conversion; but I happen to have a strong feeling that this method makes the business look much smaller than it really is. Numbers of much better men have been sincerely converted to much worse religions. I would much prefer to attempt to say here of the Catholic Church precisely the things that cannot be said even of its very respectable rivals. In short, I would say chiefly of the Catholic Church that it is catholic. I would rather try to suggest that it is not only larger than me, but larger than anything in the world; that it is indeed larger than the world. But since in this short space I can only take a section, I will consider it in its capacity of a guardian of the truth.
If you wish to pursue Chesterton's attraction to the Roman Catholic Church, see his work The Catholic Church and Conversion which can be found here.
One of the truths, or perhaps better, one aspect of the Truth, that Chesterton wrote he heard in the Roman Catholic teaching, was economic truth. To quote at length from The Catholic Church and Conversion:
We did not really like giving up our little private keys or local attachments or love of our own possessions; but we were quite convinced that social justice must be done somehow and could only be done socialistically. I therefore became a Socialist in the old days of the Fabian Society; and so I think did everybody else worth talking about except the Catholics. And the Catholics were an insignificant handful, the dregs of a dead religion, essentially a superstition. About this time appeared the Encyclical on Labour by Leo XIII; and nobody in our really well informed world took much notice of it. Certainly the Pope spoke as strongly as any Socialist could speak when he said that Capitalism "laid on the toiling millions a yoke little better than slavery." But as the Pope was not a Socialist it was obvious that he had not read the right Socialist books and pamphlets; and we could not expect the poor old gentleman to know what every young man knew by this time--that Socialism was inevitable. That was a long time ago, and by a gradual process, mostly practical and political, which I have no intention of describing here, most of us began to realise that Socialism was not inevitable; that it was not really popular; that it was not the only way, or even the right way, of restoring the rights of the poor. We have come to the conclusion that the obvious cure for private property being given to the few is to see that it is given to the many; not to see that it is taken away from everybody or given in trust to the dear good politicians. Then, having discovered that fact as a fact, we look back at Leo XIII and discover in his old and dated document, of which we took no notice at the time, that he was saying then exactly what we are saying now. "As many as possible of the
working classes should become owners."
Continued below.
"It cannot be too often repeated that what destroyed the Family in the modern world was Capitalism." G.K. Chesterton in "Three Foes of the Family" found in the collection of his essays The Well and the Shallows.
Today's post: Chesterton's religion and his economics.
G. K. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism, and he took the doctrines and practices of his faith seriously, including their implications.
His explanation "Why I Am a Catholic" is reprinted here. Some excerpts:
The difficulty of explaining "why I am a Catholic" is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, "It is the only thing that . . ." As, for instance, (1) It is the only thing that really prevents a sin from being a secret. (2) It is the only thing in which the superior cannot be superior; in the sense of supercilious. (3) It is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. (4) It is the only thing that talks as if it were the truth; as if it were a real messenger refusing to tamper with a real message. (5) It is the only type of Christianity that really contains every type of man; even the respectable man. (6) It is the only large attempt to change the world from the inside; working through wills and not laws; and so on.
Or I might treat the matter personally and describe my own conversion; but I happen to have a strong feeling that this method makes the business look much smaller than it really is. Numbers of much better men have been sincerely converted to much worse religions. I would much prefer to attempt to say here of the Catholic Church precisely the things that cannot be said even of its very respectable rivals. In short, I would say chiefly of the Catholic Church that it is catholic. I would rather try to suggest that it is not only larger than me, but larger than anything in the world; that it is indeed larger than the world. But since in this short space I can only take a section, I will consider it in its capacity of a guardian of the truth.
If you wish to pursue Chesterton's attraction to the Roman Catholic Church, see his work The Catholic Church and Conversion which can be found here.
One of the truths, or perhaps better, one aspect of the Truth, that Chesterton wrote he heard in the Roman Catholic teaching, was economic truth. To quote at length from The Catholic Church and Conversion:
We did not really like giving up our little private keys or local attachments or love of our own possessions; but we were quite convinced that social justice must be done somehow and could only be done socialistically. I therefore became a Socialist in the old days of the Fabian Society; and so I think did everybody else worth talking about except the Catholics. And the Catholics were an insignificant handful, the dregs of a dead religion, essentially a superstition. About this time appeared the Encyclical on Labour by Leo XIII; and nobody in our really well informed world took much notice of it. Certainly the Pope spoke as strongly as any Socialist could speak when he said that Capitalism "laid on the toiling millions a yoke little better than slavery." But as the Pope was not a Socialist it was obvious that he had not read the right Socialist books and pamphlets; and we could not expect the poor old gentleman to know what every young man knew by this time--that Socialism was inevitable. That was a long time ago, and by a gradual process, mostly practical and political, which I have no intention of describing here, most of us began to realise that Socialism was not inevitable; that it was not really popular; that it was not the only way, or even the right way, of restoring the rights of the poor. We have come to the conclusion that the obvious cure for private property being given to the few is to see that it is given to the many; not to see that it is taken away from everybody or given in trust to the dear good politicians. Then, having discovered that fact as a fact, we look back at Leo XIII and discover in his old and dated document, of which we took no notice at the time, that he was saying then exactly what we are saying now. "As many as possible of the
working classes should become owners."
Continued below.
Although I reserve the right to come back later and revisit these issues after some reflection, here are a few more thoughts/shots from the hip:
1. I tend to root for Obama with my heart and pull for Hillary with my head. Why? Hillary is a certain continuation of the past with all its woes. Obama equals an optimistic hope for a future full of change. The Gardener asked me to flesh out Obama's positions based on his light voting record. I am convinced, as David Brooks said today in his column, that what you see is what you get. I am convinced that there is almost no guile to the man. He actually believes what he says (sort of like George Bush in 2000). This is scary, as he is a liberal idealist who believes with the help of God he can make the world a much better place. The downside: these folks seem to do more damage than good more often than not.
2. For all those who think (and have asserted for years) that the mainstream media works for the Clintons, we finally have proof: you are wrong. The mainstream media is killing Hillary right now. The feeding frenzy and increasing momentum is proof that the MSM thinks she is toast--but that doesn't mean a whole lot because they are wrong as a group more than they are right. She is not over. She is in a tight spot--but the Clintons and their armies are not defeated. What we too often forget is that Clinton (like Reagan) had to beat the MSM to gain power. Of course, the comparison ends there--but the Clintons are experienced at by-passing the media when necessary.
3. I am enjoying the trials and tribulations of Team Clinton as much as you are; they deserve this much and more--but my schadenfreude is tempered by my belief that her departure opens the way for something that may prove much worse (or much better). Rolling the dice...
1. I tend to root for Obama with my heart and pull for Hillary with my head. Why? Hillary is a certain continuation of the past with all its woes. Obama equals an optimistic hope for a future full of change. The Gardener asked me to flesh out Obama's positions based on his light voting record. I am convinced, as David Brooks said today in his column, that what you see is what you get. I am convinced that there is almost no guile to the man. He actually believes what he says (sort of like George Bush in 2000). This is scary, as he is a liberal idealist who believes with the help of God he can make the world a much better place. The downside: these folks seem to do more damage than good more often than not.
2. For all those who think (and have asserted for years) that the mainstream media works for the Clintons, we finally have proof: you are wrong. The mainstream media is killing Hillary right now. The feeding frenzy and increasing momentum is proof that the MSM thinks she is toast--but that doesn't mean a whole lot because they are wrong as a group more than they are right. She is not over. She is in a tight spot--but the Clintons and their armies are not defeated. What we too often forget is that Clinton (like Reagan) had to beat the MSM to gain power. Of course, the comparison ends there--but the Clintons are experienced at by-passing the media when necessary.
3. I am enjoying the trials and tribulations of Team Clinton as much as you are; they deserve this much and more--but my schadenfreude is tempered by my belief that her departure opens the way for something that may prove much worse (or much better). Rolling the dice...
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Religion of Peace (my *ss) Update:
Roman Catholic Priest stabbed in Turkey.
Egyptian Muslims Attack Christian Owned Shops
Gang that Specialized in Kidnapping Christian Doctors Arrested in Kirkuk
Minnesota Community College's Interfaith Chapel Unofficially Turned into a Mosque, complete with Islamist Supremacy Literature
Kenyan Christians Could Be Subject to Sharia Law
Muslims Attack Christian in Nigeria
Christians in Bethlehem Persecuted
Four Indonesian Militants Jailed for Attacks on Christians
Islamophobia: Is it paranoia if someone is really out to get you?
Roman Catholic Priest stabbed in Turkey.
Egyptian Muslims Attack Christian Owned Shops
Gang that Specialized in Kidnapping Christian Doctors Arrested in Kirkuk
Minnesota Community College's Interfaith Chapel Unofficially Turned into a Mosque, complete with Islamist Supremacy Literature
Kenyan Christians Could Be Subject to Sharia Law
Muslims Attack Christian in Nigeria
Christians in Bethlehem Persecuted
Four Indonesian Militants Jailed for Attacks on Christians
Islamophobia: Is it paranoia if someone is really out to get you?
18/12: Rolling the Dice Again
I have been on the road for the last five days and fairly oblivious to politics. But I have two quick reactions to Bill Clinton's comments in re Barack Obama and his inexperience, which I heard about only last night (Monday).
1. "Hello kettle; this is pot." Ron Fournier beats me to the punch on this obvious analysis (read his excellent piece here); he once again has it absolutely right in re the Clintons. Of course, Clinton was an incredibly inexperienced 46-year-old governor from a minor state when he miraculously won the Democratic nomination in 1992 and inexplicably bested the most experienced president of the twentieth century, who was actually doing a fairly bang-up job of things.
2. Clinton is absolutely right. Of course, electing Obama is "rolling the dice." We know almost nothing about him other than we like him. This phenomena is not completely unprecedented in American politics--but I cannot think of an instance in which we (the people) have elected a lesser-known, less-experienced president than Obama--but the nation is still young (some earlier thoughts on this subject here).
Why is it that the even the most obvious statement about Obama can stir up such a firestorm of controversy? This imbroglio is reminiscent of the Biden controversy nearly a year ago (my thoughts back then here).
1. "Hello kettle; this is pot." Ron Fournier beats me to the punch on this obvious analysis (read his excellent piece here); he once again has it absolutely right in re the Clintons. Of course, Clinton was an incredibly inexperienced 46-year-old governor from a minor state when he miraculously won the Democratic nomination in 1992 and inexplicably bested the most experienced president of the twentieth century, who was actually doing a fairly bang-up job of things.
2. Clinton is absolutely right. Of course, electing Obama is "rolling the dice." We know almost nothing about him other than we like him. This phenomena is not completely unprecedented in American politics--but I cannot think of an instance in which we (the people) have elected a lesser-known, less-experienced president than Obama--but the nation is still young (some earlier thoughts on this subject here).
Why is it that the even the most obvious statement about Obama can stir up such a firestorm of controversy? This imbroglio is reminiscent of the Biden controversy nearly a year ago (my thoughts back then here).
