Stones Cry Out

It’s a bit of a cliché in the Christian world to suggest that God made us with a God-shaped hole in us that can only be truly filled with Him. But a new study suggests that it’s not just a cliché.

An exciting, new Oxford University study has found that faith and religion come to human beings naturally — possibly instinctively.  The initiative, entitled the “Cognition, Religion and Theology Project,” took three years to complete and involved more than 40 different studies in 20 countries around the globe.  According to CNN, the study has some intriguing findings:

Studies around the world came up with similar findings, including widespread belief in some kind of afterlife and an instinctive tendency to suggest that natural phenomena happen for a purpose.

While the results don’t speak to whether or not God (or gods) exists, Roger Trigg, the project’s co-director, believes that the findings are immensely important to religious freedom and human rights.  When considering the idea that some governments restrict religious activities, Trigg said:

“If you’ve got something so deep-rooted in human nature, thwarting it is in some sense not enabling humans to fulfill their basic interests.  There is quite a drive to think that religion is private.  It isn’t just a quirky interest of a few, it’s basic human nature.  This shows that it’s much more universal, prevalent, and deep-rooted. It’s got to be reckoned with. You can‘t just pretend it isn’t there.”

NASA’s Spirit has completed its mission
After operating for over 6 years, for what was supposed to be a 3 month mission, NASA has ceased attempting to communicate with the Mars Rover Spirit. Quite an accomplishment for the space agency.

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Billboard of a man holding a cut-out of a baby deemed “controversial”
Heaven forbid we should actually imply that an unborn child is, in fact, a human being.

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Yet, is the pro-abortion crowd on the run?

The abortion debate will not go away. The fundamental issue at stake is not reproductive freedom but the desire to extend human rights to all — even the smallest and most vulnerable human beings among us. Those who continue to ignore or deny the humanity of the unborn are increasingly on the defensive because new technologies are opening the window into the womb. What we find there are not tissues to be discarded, but human lives worth protecting.

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A good deed, punished

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Words, and their meaning(s)
While the title of the article states, Immigrant drivers licenses will be on table for special session, the body clarifies,

The battle to stop illegal immigrants from receiving drivers licenses will continue this year.

Sleight of hand, or editor’s oversight?

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Do we have the Facebook revolution to thank for this?

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Little girls, playgrounds, and thongs… yes, those kind of thongs.

Good morning. I was real busy yesterday, and didn’t troll for links much. Here’s what I’ve got.

1. Perhaps, “virtue ethics is for idiots” but is that a statement to put alongside “consequential ethics are for knuckleheads” … what is this meta-ethics for kindergarden? 
2. A “score” being touted.
3. Sometimes we all feel that way, eh? (just not at the same time, thankfully)
4. School admissions and wealth.
5. Welcome to America, were a little “do you know who I am” and $5 will buy you a sandwich.
6. Speaking of American responses.
7. A conversation the liberals avoid. More tight coupling of healthcare and politics means more politics in healthcare. Is that a good thing? That’s really what we need, Tammany hall healthcare, where you need to confirm your political alliance and graft vouchers before your mom gets her bypass. Connections get you stuff. Wonderful. Welcome to the new world as envisioned by Mr Obama and company.
8. The economics of piracy (not software but on-the-sea with guns and stuff piracy).

In a speech that has been referred to as Churchillian, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a powerful address to Congress and provided a clear example of what true leadership looks like.

There’s no doubt that this is the kind of leadership that Americans are craving. As Hugh Hewitt notes, ” No teleprompter is necessary when you believe what you say and have history, law and morality on your side.”

As Republicans consider who to nominate to run against President Barack Obama next year they should look closely at the field and ask “Who is our Netanyahu?”

Good morning.

1. Stradeggy and the President, speaking tours (noted here as well). So what was Obama’s strategy in suggestion on opposite days that Israel receed to pre-67 borders and not receed? 
2. Still wrangling with the OSB assasination.
3. I think probably a better hybrid car solution than batteries, at least for recovering braking energy as batteries lose a lot of energy to heat (which also damages the batteries).
4. This is what climate stupidity looks like when gussied up to look like science. Two points. Heat a pot of water to say, 50 degrees (c). Observe. Now heat it up 1-2 degrees more … big difference, eh? Secondly, too bad there is no actual statistical evidence that violent storms have increased over in their intensity or freqency over the last two centuries.
5. Here’s a hint why we might think that they have increased, besides confirmation bias in the mind of the true believers.
6. That being said, the contrast is remarkable, MI before and after.
7. When three men call you an ass, buy a saddle. However, on the Internet, I’ve noticed that if you ignore someone … it’s really like they’ve just gone away.
8. The very old and very new tech finding a meeting ground.
9. Akin to Catholic cover up?
10. A Litmus test for partisan bias. 
11. Lot’s of pea-wits out there.
12. Marriage. We had a small wedding. Hopefully my daughters will do the same. Our anniversary was just last weekend, 18 years. Our first song was not “Damnation”, but perhaps not much better (I don’t know that song). Ours was Lyle Lovett’s “She’s no Lady, She’s my Wife.” 

This is 4 minute of PM Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress today. If the Palestinians will acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, that would put so much on the table.

Harold Camping was "flabbergasted" when the world didn’t start to be destroyed with earthquakes on May 21st, when he had predicted that Christ’s second coming would happen. Many Christians, including those of us that write for Stones Cry Out, were, shall we say, less overwhelmed. Every generation has had its doomsday predictors, of differing specificity, all of them wrong, and Camping has added his name to the list.

You didn’t hear much about the whole kerfuffle here. For myself, this was because I don’t take much stock in "date-setters", as they’re sometimes called. Not that I don’t think there are end time coming. It’s just that:

• Not even Jesus would set a date (Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 17). What makes any of us think we can?
• One should be living like Jesus is coming soon (or that we’re going to die; same difference) any time now. That is to say, our love for God and our actions resulting from that should not change quite so much even if we knew the date. (We’re sinful, and thus these things do change, but they shouldn’t because of some date.)

And now, backpedaling, Camping is saying that Judgment actually did come last Saturday; we just didn’t see it. The earth’s been judged and no one else can come to Christ, and on October 21st, the actual end of the world will come.

Look, here’s the deal. Camping and his followers have received big media attention for preaching "The End". Yeah, the media loves those kinds of stories, and they’ll spend more time on an already-discredited preacher with a calendar and a billboard than they will the Christian on an inner city street ministering to prostitutes and drunks, or the missionary who’s given up everything to bring Jesus to an obscure group of people in Africa or Asia. But this whole over-emphasis on "The End" is not what we’re supposed to be about.

Preach Christ and Him crucified, as Paul said. And "The End" will take care of itself.

Good morning.

1. Healthcare and the elderly, two (elderly?) gentlmen discuss … here and here.
2. All those wealthy backers.
3. On ascetic toil.
4. So, this brings up a question, how do you remember Ms Hill and that kerfuffle? True victim or politically motivated character assasination? 
5. Coming to understand Obama. Unless he is saying something politically damaging to himself, there is no reason attribute his statements as being anything other than noise.
6. For graduation.
7. China.
8. I laughed out loud. How about you?
9. For Memorial Day, some thoughts on sacrifice.
10. Our friendly neighborhood racist, sees everyone else as racist it seems.
11. Why is that man being paid for public pronouncement? Perhaps it’s a for a public display of liberal bigotry in full feather.
12. One for women’s rights, just not in Illinois.
13. Another girl going, uhm, very fast!
14. The DSK kerfuffle.

I recently was a part of a rather lengthy blog comment discussion about same-sex marriage on the site of a liberal Christian. I noted that Genesis 2:24 was pretty clear what marriage was defined as, and that when the Bible mentioned marriage, it was always heterosexual. (Another commenter picked up on the idea that, even when polygamy is mentioned, it is one-man-many-women.; each of the women were married to the man, not to each other.) Every mention in history, in a parable, or even just talking about a particular married couple, it was heterosexual. There’s even a whole book (Song of Solomon) devoted to heterosexual marriage and the sexuality within it. But nothing–no press at all–on same-sex marriage.

And the mentions of homosexuality in general? Again, 100% negative. You can argue the contexts, I suppose, but every time homosexuality is mentioned, whatever the context, it is sin. I’m willing to listen to arguments as to where homosexuality is mentioned positively, or even neutrally, but I don’t recall ever hearing it.

I find this significant. The Bible talks about marriage quite a bit, and yet nothing at all about same-sex marriage. Now, the arguments against me included the idea that, while Genesis 2:24 says what marriage is, it doesn’t say what marriage isn’t. I found this laughable, and surprisingly legalistic for someone who, I’m pretty sure, did not appreciate legalists. In this particular case, it sounded like this person required that the commandment must include fine print and enough provisos worth of a car commercial. “This command should not be construed to permit situations such as, but not limited to, marriages of minors (under the age of 18), animals, toasters (including other mechanical and/or electrical objects), and/or siblings. Tax, tag, title and dealer prep extra.”

Another objection was that the Bible didn’t mention nuclear power, either, but we don’t take it as a handbook on that. Indeed,the Bible says nothing about all things nuclear, nor energy sources in general. But it does talk about marriage, a lot, and when it does, it’s all about the man and the woman.

I was also told that there were so very few verses at al that even talked about homosexuality that it wasn’t enough to really draw any concrete conclusions. This from guys who were literally ridiculing my point about 100% of the Bible talking exclusively about heterosexual marriage. Amounts only matter, it seems, in certain cases.

Anyway, that’s what the Bible has to say. Over the millennia, a lot of smart guys have looked at the issue and have come to the same conclusion.

Church history is crystal clear: Homosexual practice has been affirmed nowhere, never, by no one in the history of Christianity. . . .

Christianity is a tradition; it is a faith with a particular ethos, set of beliefs and practices handed on from generation to generation. The Christian tradition may be understood as the history of what God’s people have believed and how they have lived based upon the Word of God. This tradition is not only a collection of accepted doctrines but also a set of lifestyle expectations for a follower of Christ. One of the primary things handed down in the Christian church over the centuries is a consistent set of lifestyle ethics including specific directives about sexual behavior. The church of every generation from the time of the apostles has condemned sexual sin as unbecoming a disciple of Christ. At no point have any orthodox Christian teachers ever suggested that one’s sexual practices may deviate from biblical standards.

Concerning homosexuality there has been absolute unanimity in church history; sexual intimacy between persons of the same gender has never been recognized as legitimate behavior for a Christian. One finds no examples of orthodox teachers who suggested that homosexual activity could be acceptable in God’s sight under any circumstances. Revisionist biblical interpretations that purport to support homosexual practice are typically rooted in novel hermeneutical principles applied to Scripture, which produce bizarre interpretations of the Bible held nowhere, never, by no one.

This applies to a host of other churches and traditions, not just the orthodox ones. Ignore all of that collected wisdom at your peril. Indeed, sometimes there does need to be an overturning of established understanding (see: Martin Luther), but there had better be an extremely good Biblical foundation and argument accompanying it. The reasons I’ve seen so far trying to establish a Christian imperative for same-sex marriage could just as easily be applied to many other actions that the church considers sinful. Jesus loved the woman caught in adultery, and did not condemn here there, but told her to “go and sin no more”. He called it what it was and didn’t affirm her behavior just because it was forgiven.

We should do the same. The  Christian Left will complain, but while they can come up with their own arguments, they have little (if anything) to stand on, biblically speaking. When the Bible speak of homosexuality, it is always negative, and when the Bible speaks of marriage is it always heterosexual. This is significant.

Good morning. 

1. Winning the lottery, and consequences.
2. Big angry white bears.
3. Tax and consequence.
4. So, now what Mr Constitutional lawyer?
5. What happens now that we have unwisely ignored Mr Hamilton’s advice in the Federalist (regarding confirmations).
6. I think he’s wrong on that exacty point (kids for quite some time are going to be using a whole plethora of devices for their formative artworks), but the main point remains. Oddly enough, this weekend our “family movie night” movie was the 80s film Diva, which by the by I’d recommend. They had no idea what a reel to reel tape was.
7. Abuse in the Catholic church and a few myths exploded. 
8. I can never tell which is more affecting, the art or the words.
9. Fun with wet rodents.
10. That 11th commandment (of politics).
11. Non-orientable pasta, seems to me there’s a whole bunch or horrible puns in that notion.
12. Ooooh, incorrect stupid memes from the last election return from the dead. Uhm, Ms Palin was not incorrect in her answer, there were at least 4 different doctrines that could be described as “the Bush Doctrine”. Being unable to answer when an interviewer pretends there is only one is not incorrect but spot on.
13. The tea leaves predict, lots more Arab unrest.

When the minimum wage goes up, low-wage jobs are lost. This isn’t a prediction, it’s an observation. The Wall St. Journal notes it’s happening again, at the worst time for it, and mostly for minorities.

Syria pulled out of the running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The problem is that they pulled out rather than being pushed. Given the number of human rights violators on that council, they could have easily been approved.

"I am a scientist who was on the carbon gravy train, understands the evidence, was once an alarmist, but am now a skeptic." Read why here.

The headline says it all: "WikiLeaks Threatens Its Own Leakers With $20 Million Penalty If They Leak Elsewhere". Transparency for thee but not for me.

Green energy losing green: A solar farm in Texas is losing money because the property taxes are so high.

High-speed rail losing speed: "California’s much-vaunted high-speed rail project is, to put it bluntly, a train wreck." Of course, the solution, according to the LA Times, is do it over, throwing good money after bad ($43 billion of bad money).

What a shock! "Autotrader survey shows most motorists go green to ‘save money, not the environment’." Make green energy affordable, and the world will beat a path to your door.

A big reason health care costs are rising so fast is because of central planning (aka Medicare, Medicaid). The Democrats solution? More central planning.

Civility Watch: Wisconsin Attorney General releases 100 pages of threats against lawmakers during the budget battle.

The White House shut out a reporter from the Boston Herald because of a critical editorial that the Herald put on their front page. The issue with Obama is not Fox News; it’s anyone who disagrees with him. But if you didn’t know about this, it’s not your fault. The rest of the media, who you’d think would be all over this treatment of colleagues, were virtually silent on the matter.

The anti-war crowd has seemingly melted away into the woodwork with the election of President Obama. I mean, if George W. Bush had violated federal law by invading a country without, within 60 days, getting congressional approval, how loud would the outcry have been, from the Left and the Media? Instead, a collective yawn.

(Sorry, no cartoon this week.)

Good morning.

1. Holocaust denial in the White House.
2. Some words spoken regarding aff action. For example regarding collegiate admissions,”Does an abjectly poor white Billy Sabinksi from Tulare deserve no special consideration to Harvard, but a rich George Rainbird from a Native-American casino-owning tribe does?”
3. Talking about Thor.
4. Aren’t “how it’s built” film clips fun?
5. A question for policy statement makers. And speaking more directly about the President’s Mid-East remarks.
6. The latest round of doping allegations and a good response.
7. A tale of 40 tails.
8. A dog and his boy. And yes, I link that site too much. But he finds wonderfully amusing things.
9. When will Christians not admit this is a good thing. The word martyr means witness people. We are called to witness. If it’s hard … that’s either irrelevant or possibly a good thing.
10. And your feel good about America story to cap the week off.

Recently some conversation of (university) clubs came up. University is in parens there because it seems that it isn’t required for the following discussion. a distinction can be made between types of social groups. Those that form on the basis of an activity and those which form on the basis of an identity. My intuition is that the former are far healthier (and a sign of a healthier culture) than the latter. There is a little overlap in this definition. A club of bike racers or cyclists may likely hold for themselves an identity as being a cyclist. However, they do not get together on account of that shared identity, but to share an activity, specifically riding. 

It was said that disallowing particular clubs is a sign of unhealth of a culture/society, e.g., a school that prohibits GALA clubs. 

So am I correct in this? Is my intuition that activity clubs are a healthy sign and the existence of identity clubs is not. This might just be me. I’ve never been drawn to or wanted to be part of any identity group, and hold such with some amount of distaste. 

But I don’t know why. Do you share that? Reject it? Do you have intutions why? 

There is an agenda, and it does involve indoctrination, at least according to one writer.

As the same-sex “marriage” battle heats up again in New York, one writer at a prominent gay news source is questioning why his lobby refuses to admit that the gay agenda involves “indoctrinating” schoolchildren to accept homosexuality.

Queerty contributor Daniel Villarreal criticized the homosexual movement’s knee-jerk reaction against accusations of meddling in public schools. Villarreal pointed to a recent National Organization for Marriage (NOM) ad launched in New York that points out how homosexual indoctrination has been introduced in Massachusetts and California schools.

While gay activists usually deny that they want to indoctrinate children, said Villarreal, “let’s face it—that’s a lie.” “We want educators to teach future generations of children to accept queer sexuality. In fact, our very future depends on it,” he wrote.

Villarreal pointed to the tactics of a gay activist group FCKH8, which fought a recent Tennessee bill prohibiting classroom discussion of homosexuality in grade school by “hir[ing]some little girls to drop F-bombs” in their controversial online ad campaign, and handing out gay paraphernalia to schoolchildren. “Recruiting children? You bet we are,” he said.

I mean, what else would you call it? But this is a rare bit of honesty amongst the flood of those who seek to soft-pedal what they’re doing. Just be honest about it.

And then see how much the public approves of the indoctrination.

Good morning. Bleah. Wake up 10 minutes late. Leave 15 minutes late. Get to work and dressed 10 minutes late. Get call, youngest missed bus and mom’s car didn’t start. Finally … back to work. Whaz next?

1. Batteries, the sun, and the expeditionary Marine.
2. Slavery, or is it a straw argument. If you’re free to leave, you’re not a slave, Jason.
3. Wealth, education, and denomination.
4. A pointed question for the practices of teacher wage/pension construction.
5. Safety nets and India.
6. Of personhood.
7. The billion/day discrepency.
8. A little levity.
9. Yeah, and used books and used cars really cut into book and car retail sales.
10. Editorial practice and the White House.
11. Liberal/Conservative dialog in academia … how not to do it right.