Plato said, "Those who tell stories rule society." It’s intriguing, and indeed frightening, how people are so easily taken captive by clever verbiage or personal charisma. An ancient book of wisdom tells of a serpent who told a story to the first woman and deceived her into denying what she knew was the truth. You see, that old serpent told a good story to mask the truth. The same book tells of a young brother who communicated a convincing tale and deceived his own father into an inheritance that didn’t rightfully belong to him. Once again, a well crafted story won over the truth.
Here’s part of a story by Adolf Hitler: "National Socialist Germany wants PEACE because of its fundamental convictions. And it wants peace also owing to the realization of the simple primitive fact that no war would be likely essentially to alter the distress in Europe... The principal effect of every war is to destroy the flower of the nation... Germany needs peace and desires peace!" Got that? Hitler’s story was that he wanted peace.
Do modern day politicians tell stories to get elected? Uh…yeah! Intelligent people understand this and must decipher between the lines of their rhetoric as to what’s genuine, and what is simply said out of political expediency.
ABC News reported earlier this year: “Buried in his eloquent, highly praised speech on America's racial divide, Sen. Barack Obama contradicted more than a year of denials and spin from him and his staff about his knowledge of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons… Similarly, Obama also has only recently given a much fuller accounting of his relationship with indicted political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a longtime friend, who his campaign once described as just one of “thousands of donors.” His initial reaction to the initial ABC News broadcast of Rev. Wright's sermons denouncing the U.S. was that he had never heard his pastor of 20 years make any comments that were anti-U.S. until the tape was played on air. But yesterday, he told a different story… In the case of his relationship with Rezko, Obama has also been slow to acknowledge the full extent of his relationship. It was only last week that he revealed Rezko had raised some $250,000 in campaign contributions for him. The campaign had initially claimed Rezko-connected contributions were no more than $60,000…Then the figure grew to around $86,000, and there were additional revelations that put the amount at about $150,000. Obama's $250,000 accounting was a substantial jump and clearly contradicted earlier campaign statements that Rezko was just one of ‘thousands of donors.’”
A Google search of “Obama Contradictions,” will generate a list of inconsistencies and untrue stories that Obama has concocted, but that most of the media simply ignore or “forget” about. Now, John McCain is also a politician and also embellishes and stretches and redirects. However, we are more likely to hear about his devices in the news. Moreover, this blog in not a pro McCain outlet. This is a venue regarding the one of whom Chris Matthews (MSNBC) says he gets “a thrill going up my leg,” when Obama speaks. Halle Berry said, “I'll do whatever he says to do. I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.” Dinesh Sharma proclaims, “Many even see in Obama a messiah-like figure, a great soul, and some affectionately call him Mahatma Obama." Oprah expresses, “We're here to evolve to a higher plane . . . he is an evolved leader . . . [he] has an ear for eloquence and a Tongue dipped in the Unvarnished Truth." In his victory speech after the Democratic Primaries, Senator Obama himself said that we might look back at this election season (if he is the winner, of course) as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.”
“'Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.” (The real Lord, by the way. Isaiah 1:18) There is one God, and Acts 4:12 tells us, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name [Jesus] under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Some of Obama’s thoughts are, “There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell. I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell.” – “If all it took was someone proclaiming I believe Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins, and that was all there was to it, people wouldn’t have to keep coming to church, would they?” – When asked if he believes in heaven: “What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.” – Of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he said it was “a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.”
Senator Obama claims he is a Christian. This is his story. I will not dare judge him personally since it isn’t my right or responsibility, but I could certainly judge his actions and positions which would bear the fruit of what he really believes. Reason, logic, and common sense tell me that if there is no standard, no measuring mechanism, anybody and everybody can call themselves a Christian just because they want to. But we do have a standard. It’s the Bible. This is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, and comes complete with instructions on how we are to WORSHIP Him with our lives, which is our very reason for existence. It is our main source of truth. No one is forced to accept the Bible’s validity and there are indeed various understandings regarding its content, however, truth itself is not subject to interpretation. In answer to Pilate’s question in John 18:38, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” I record Jesus’ own statement. He said, “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.” Referring to the word of God (his father). Jesus also said, “I am the way, and the truth.” If Senator Obama wants to woo me into voting for him by regularly broadcasting that he is a Christian, he needs uphold the tenets of the faith that he is proclaiming. Otherwise, I cannot believe him. The Bible admonishes us to be doers of the word, and I cannot reconcile taking the positions he has taken on abortion, marriage, redistribution of wealth, faith, and others, with being a doer of the word of truth. To me, this is reasonable.
Without truth, reasoning is shallow and superficial. Without truth, worship is misdirected and perverse. The RAW in “Obama Raw,” stands for Reason and Worship. I have yet to have a bona fide reason why he qualifies to be president of this great country. I heard that he was a community organizer, he just sounds so good, he wants change, he has a degree from Harvard, he’s cute, he would be the first African American President, Bush lied people died, Palin’s daughter is having a baby, McCain is too old, and some male commentators get chills when he speaks. None of this is reasonable criteria. Funny how often Christians get criticized for being ignorant and unreasonable. When it comes the worship, most of the worship talk surrounding Mr. Obama, is usually directed upon himself. And that’s the truth!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Obama and Molech
Abortion is boring.
Being the suave, trendy, sophisticated society that we are, we prefer to consider more fashionable political issues such as, did James Dobson really call Sponge Bob gay, or is Sarah Palin's church extreme? (After all, someone did speak in tongues there once) Those who choose to ignore the cumbersome abortion issue, often make statements like, "You know, abortion is not the only moral issue in America." Duh! Really? Or, "Well, we're never gonna get rid of abortion, anyway." Which is like, "We're always gonna have crime, so why fight it?"
The prophet Micah (a minor prophet because he was only 5 ft. 2…...OK, I just made that up) records God's condemnatory declaration toward individuals who would kill their "precious baby to cancel [their] sin." Or as the NIV quotes it, offering the "fruit of their body, for the sin of their soul." Ouch! Actually, the text is making reference to the detestable sin of people offering their children as human sacrifices. (After all, being their own children, they should have the right to choose whether to terminate them—shouldn't they?) Micah exposes their motives (blows their spot, as da’ boyz would say). This is not very different from those in our modern society who choose to live and have sex with no regard to Godly boundaries and then choose to extinguish their "precious baby to cancel their sin."
Because of the extreme nature of this sin, the Ammonite deity on whose altars these children were sacrificed was called Molech, [cf. Molech the Detestable or, the Abominable Molech]. That word, detestable, in the Hebrew is "meriting intense dislike," and is used for something that is very odious (really, really stinks). Thus, the offering which was representatively supposed to offer a sweet aroma to God (or the gods), was actually a repulsive stench. It grossed out the one true wise God because it was so vile. This is reminiscent of when the angel of the Lord witnessed the abomination of Sodom and Gomorrah first hand, they rushed lot out "for we are about to destroy this place." (I think the original Hebrew reads, “Get yo' butt outta here I’m gonna blow this place up, NOW!) No more negotiating with Abraham ["How about if we find ten righteous…?]. No more intellectual debates. Sodom and Gomorrah's sin was detestable, as was the sin of killing innocent children. In this we see illustrated quite a despicable way of thinking. I call it the Detestable Worldview, and it is exemplified in Proverbs 17:15, “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the Lord detests them both.”
This abhorrent worldview seems to be a paradigm generally adhered to by Mr. Obama. The Senator is “flatly opposed to capital punishment…against any restrictions on abortion, and in support of state laws to ban the manufacture, sale and even possession of handguns.” (USA Today 12/11/07) So, who is condemned and who is acquitted by this mindset? The epitome of innocence—babies—die. Serial rapists and murderers—guilty—should be allowed to live and not get the death penalty. Hunters need permits, special permission, and must give up their first born, to purchase a gun, while murderers on NYC streets could basically walk into a bodega and say, “I’d like a pound of cheese, a loaf of bread, and a .38 Special Please.” Again, the innocent are under condemnation and scrutiny (and left unprotected) while the guilty mock liberal gun laws. I’ve never heard of a thug saying, “Aw Jeez! Now we have to wait a week for a background check before we purchase this gun.” All this is not Obama’s fault or doing, but this is indeed the fruit of his worldview. According to a biblical worldview, such as presented in Proverbs 17:15, these issues are more serious in God’s eyes (and nostrils) than mere political matters.
Obama voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. That same year a similar federal law, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which would require doctors to try to save babies who survived “botched” abortion attempts. You could get more info at http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000007034.cfm. He was the only Senator who voted against this bill.
There is something detestable about condoning 1.3 million innocent children to be killed annually, yet resisting capital punishment for heinous criminals. Indeed, the abortion lobby in the United States has reached the extreme of apparently defending any abortion, no matter how advanced the pregnancy and no matter how developed the child. It is completely lawful to deliver a late term infant feet first, stab the baby in the base of the skull, insert a suction tube and suck out the baby’s brain, and then remove what’s left of the infant’s dead body piece by piece.
God pronounced severe judgment on those would “give their seed to Molech.” “Any[body] who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death." What makes us think that God changed his position, and would prosper a nation—or President—who would facilitate the destruction of a human in (or while exiting) the womb?
Being the suave, trendy, sophisticated society that we are, we prefer to consider more fashionable political issues such as, did James Dobson really call Sponge Bob gay, or is Sarah Palin's church extreme? (After all, someone did speak in tongues there once) Those who choose to ignore the cumbersome abortion issue, often make statements like, "You know, abortion is not the only moral issue in America." Duh! Really? Or, "Well, we're never gonna get rid of abortion, anyway." Which is like, "We're always gonna have crime, so why fight it?"
The prophet Micah (a minor prophet because he was only 5 ft. 2…...OK, I just made that up) records God's condemnatory declaration toward individuals who would kill their "precious baby to cancel [their] sin." Or as the NIV quotes it, offering the "fruit of their body, for the sin of their soul." Ouch! Actually, the text is making reference to the detestable sin of people offering their children as human sacrifices. (After all, being their own children, they should have the right to choose whether to terminate them—shouldn't they?) Micah exposes their motives (blows their spot, as da’ boyz would say). This is not very different from those in our modern society who choose to live and have sex with no regard to Godly boundaries and then choose to extinguish their "precious baby to cancel their sin."
Because of the extreme nature of this sin, the Ammonite deity on whose altars these children were sacrificed was called Molech, [cf. Molech the Detestable or, the Abominable Molech]. That word, detestable, in the Hebrew is "meriting intense dislike," and is used for something that is very odious (really, really stinks). Thus, the offering which was representatively supposed to offer a sweet aroma to God (or the gods), was actually a repulsive stench. It grossed out the one true wise God because it was so vile. This is reminiscent of when the angel of the Lord witnessed the abomination of Sodom and Gomorrah first hand, they rushed lot out "for we are about to destroy this place." (I think the original Hebrew reads, “Get yo' butt outta here I’m gonna blow this place up, NOW!) No more negotiating with Abraham ["How about if we find ten righteous…?]. No more intellectual debates. Sodom and Gomorrah's sin was detestable, as was the sin of killing innocent children. In this we see illustrated quite a despicable way of thinking. I call it the Detestable Worldview, and it is exemplified in Proverbs 17:15, “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—the Lord detests them both.”
This abhorrent worldview seems to be a paradigm generally adhered to by Mr. Obama. The Senator is “flatly opposed to capital punishment…against any restrictions on abortion, and in support of state laws to ban the manufacture, sale and even possession of handguns.” (USA Today 12/11/07) So, who is condemned and who is acquitted by this mindset? The epitome of innocence—babies—die. Serial rapists and murderers—guilty—should be allowed to live and not get the death penalty. Hunters need permits, special permission, and must give up their first born, to purchase a gun, while murderers on NYC streets could basically walk into a bodega and say, “I’d like a pound of cheese, a loaf of bread, and a .38 Special Please.” Again, the innocent are under condemnation and scrutiny (and left unprotected) while the guilty mock liberal gun laws. I’ve never heard of a thug saying, “Aw Jeez! Now we have to wait a week for a background check before we purchase this gun.” All this is not Obama’s fault or doing, but this is indeed the fruit of his worldview. According to a biblical worldview, such as presented in Proverbs 17:15, these issues are more serious in God’s eyes (and nostrils) than mere political matters.
Obama voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. That same year a similar federal law, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which would require doctors to try to save babies who survived “botched” abortion attempts. You could get more info at http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000007034.cfm. He was the only Senator who voted against this bill.
There is something detestable about condoning 1.3 million innocent children to be killed annually, yet resisting capital punishment for heinous criminals. Indeed, the abortion lobby in the United States has reached the extreme of apparently defending any abortion, no matter how advanced the pregnancy and no matter how developed the child. It is completely lawful to deliver a late term infant feet first, stab the baby in the base of the skull, insert a suction tube and suck out the baby’s brain, and then remove what’s left of the infant’s dead body piece by piece.
God pronounced severe judgment on those would “give their seed to Molech.” “Any[body] who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death." What makes us think that God changed his position, and would prosper a nation—or President—who would facilitate the destruction of a human in (or while exiting) the womb?
Friday, September 5, 2008
Obama Is Not The Anti-Christ
In Assassins, one of the now infamous Left Behind books (my apologies to amillennialists and non-dispensationalists everywhere), the Anti-Christ, Nicolae Carpathia, addressed a massive crowd in a stadium overseas and spoke of unifying the world. He skillfully "hyped" the crowd that was unwilling--or unable--to discern who this man really was or what he was really up to. He was a rock star; a super star. I thought about this scene when I saw clips of Barack H. Obama address the masses in Germany about a month ago. They just ate up his rhetoric like it was free non-tooth decaying candy. Now, for all the possible similarities and parallels, Obama is not the Anti-Christ (cf. Daniel 7, Revelation 13, 2 Thess. 2, Matthew 24). We know this because we REASON from the Scriptures. To reason is to think or argue in a logical manner; to form conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises. Indeed, the RAW part of this Blog (Raw Views) stands for Reason and Worship. The Bible admonishes us to do both, and without TRUTH, both are at least shallow, if not, impossible.
I will be frank: the main purpose of this blog--at least for this season--is specifically to present my views relating to Barack Hussein Obama, especially from a theological and Christian Worldview perspective. (In fact I was thinking of calling the blog, Obama Raw) Such a perspective you will not get via the popular media (whatever that is). This is not a pro John McCain blog. It's not a pro Republican or Conservative blog. So don't say, "Oh, Yeah? What about McCain or Bush or Sponge Bob Square Pants?" It's not about them. It is simply a who-is-this-guy-Obama exposé. I am not an expert, nor do I pretend to be. I simply want to join the forum...chime in on the discussion. I will make the same claim that Paul made to Roman Governor Festus, "I am not insane...what I am saying is true and reasonable.
I am beside myself as to how so many people are drawn in by Obama simply because he is black, or young, or a good speaker, or smooth, or whatever. Not necessarily bad reasons to be drawn to someone, but to be chosen President of the United States...? I will end this brief entry with a quote from Adolf Hitler which has arrested me since I first heard it, "What luck for rulers, that men do not think." COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER...DO NOT BE AFRAID!
I will be frank: the main purpose of this blog--at least for this season--is specifically to present my views relating to Barack Hussein Obama, especially from a theological and Christian Worldview perspective. (In fact I was thinking of calling the blog, Obama Raw) Such a perspective you will not get via the popular media (whatever that is). This is not a pro John McCain blog. It's not a pro Republican or Conservative blog. So don't say, "Oh, Yeah? What about McCain or Bush or Sponge Bob Square Pants?" It's not about them. It is simply a who-is-this-guy-Obama exposé. I am not an expert, nor do I pretend to be. I simply want to join the forum...chime in on the discussion. I will make the same claim that Paul made to Roman Governor Festus, "I am not insane...what I am saying is true and reasonable.
I am beside myself as to how so many people are drawn in by Obama simply because he is black, or young, or a good speaker, or smooth, or whatever. Not necessarily bad reasons to be drawn to someone, but to be chosen President of the United States...? I will end this brief entry with a quote from Adolf Hitler which has arrested me since I first heard it, "What luck for rulers, that men do not think." COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER...DO NOT BE AFRAID!
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