two or three . net

Richard Dawkins drops the F-bomb

In one of my classes, we have been watching The Atheism Tapes, a BBC series where atheist Jonathan Miller interviews other prominent atheists on their disbelief and other related topics. Today, we watched his interview with Richard Dawkins.

I was surprised at who poorly Dawkins handled Miller's God's-advocate (as it were) questions. Miller was obviously not pushing the theist point of view, but he asked Dawkins questions from what he believed to be a theistic view point in order to elicit a pro-atheistic answer from the former professor at Oxford. When he was unable to explain his rationale for holding a certain position, Dawkins surprisingly to me fell back on what he so often attacks in others - faith.

The Lady and the Reaper

Hitchens argument is not great

"What can be asserted with no evidence can be dismissed with no evidence." - Christopher Hitchens

It sounds so convincing, so logical and seemingly so devastating to religious belief. However, I can guarantee that Hitchens most assuredly beliefs something with no evidence and all I need to prove it is the statement I just quoted.

This dog will grow up to be an atheist

CNN's Cafferty tells it like it is - the Obama administration lies to our faces

WWII Posters, before the age of Political Correctness

My uncle sends me a lot of conservative 'spam,' and some of it is interesting stuff.  Here's the latest.  I wonder what these posters would look like if they focused on our modern enemy, 'militant' Islam? 

Quote of the Day - Dan Rather the racist

Obama couldn't sell watermelons?!?  Nice.

Political motivations somehow always point right

It is a media inevitability that when a high-profile murder occurs the motivations will invariably be described as "right-wing." Somehow, regardless of the circumstances, the political motivations always point toward the right.

Guide: Best Atheist / Secularist / Anti-theist Podcasts?

I love the whole debate scene, and I have listened to a lot of Christian and non-Christian news podcasts, and narrowed down my favorites to Guide: Favorite Podcasts for Christians. Now, I want to venture out into the land of my ideological opponents.  Here's my list so far.  Most of these I got from the list at Podcast Alley.

Last Update:  03.01.10

Guide: Best Podcasts for Christians

I have subscribed to many podcasts over time, and most of them fail to enlighten significantly.  However, a few have stood the test of time, and I enjoy them regularly. You'll note that most of them are weekly rather than daily - because less often usually means better content. 

Last Updated: 03.01.10

Added:

• Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot (the only atheist podcast worthy of being on my Christian podcast list)
• I also demoted many from Essential to Good - trying to keep the best up top.

Guide: Best Android Apps for the Motorola Droid

Here's my list of favorites.  Feel free to comment, and bookmark this page, I will update regularly, I'm always testing.  Thanks!

Last Updated: 02.26.10

Updates:

• I have stopped updating this page, but have created a new public list of my favorite android apps at appbrain.com

Obama deserves credit for progress

Republicans and conservatives are often accused of holding President Obama to an impossible standard and simply criticizing him for every decision he makes. It is not surprising that the GOP is opposed to many of the policy proposals of the president (similar to the Democrat's response to Bush), however when Obama accomplishes something in the War on Terror he deserves credit for that progress.

Does it take a miracle to believe in the supernatural?

Miracles have long been a stumbling block for many investigating Christianity and other religions. Why would a person living in the 21st century believe that the miraculous not only could happen, but did happen?

Reflections on my 10 Day Silent Vipassana Retreat

I wrote this essay back in 2001 during my period of away from Christianity, while I was exploring Vipassana Buddhist Meditation.

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Although it has been a few weeks since I did the 10 day course, it is still worthwhile to try and remember. In retrospect, I find Vipassana a premium tool for self-knowledge and control, though not comprehensive as a spiritual/emotional tool for healing and growth. In addition to yoga, devotional study, and prayer, it fills out (almost) a complete set of inner spiritual disciplines (don’t forget the outer ones of service, etc.)

The Jesus of History

Much has been made of the phrase "Jesus of history." Many liberal theologians have attempted to argue the Jesus of the Bible is different from the Jesus of history. They most often do this by appealing to the Gnostic Gospels and the version of Jesus they present.

That was always struck me as strange. Why would they use documents written hundreds of years after Jesus lived and died to refute documents that were written within decades of His life, if they were truly concerned with an accurate historical presentation of Jesus?

At this point, those skeptical of the Christian claims of Jesus will point out, "I do not believe any of those descriptions of Jesus since they were written with a religious bias." What would the picture of Jesus be if we simply examined the historical, non-Christian records?

Finally something that Obama did not inherit from Bush

One of the repeated political strategies of the Obama administration has be to blame any of the current problems facing our nation on his predecessor (some of it correctly, some of it debatable, some it incorrectly).

Recently however, Vice President Biden signaled that they were going to take responsibility for one of the more important political developments - the success of the war in Iraq.

Winter of discontent

Richard Dawkins is right ... kinda

It's not often I agree with New Atheism spokesman Richard Dawkins. However in this BBC video clip, he details a problem within Christianity (despite it having the feel of a SNL Jack Handy spot). The ardent atheist explains his opposition to the religious identification of children (calling small children "Christian child," or "Muslim child," not so surprisingly he left out "atheist child).

I somewhat agree with Dawkins, despite his refusal to include his own philosophy in his list. A faith must be adopted by an individual on their own. That would be why Baptists and other similar groups of Christians rejected infant baptism.

While Dawkins may prefer to speak of a blind watchmaker, I think this is more an instance of him being a blind squirrel.

Objectivists, subjectivists, and realists

A good friend of mine has wandered full force into the positive thinking, humanistic, Dale Carnegie type of success training that is popular in professional circles these days.  Now, I don't necessarily disparage it, and there is a lot of good stuff to learn.  But sometimes, the overly simplistic, boiled down talking points lack sophistication, and give an unbalanced idea of what is good and bad.

Case in point? Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work, which lists the characteristics of Judgers (bad) vs. Learners (good). Now granted, I only skimmed the book, but the charts below reveal what I think is our culture's buy-in into subjectivism, and our rejection of any objective morals or truths.

Theological Liberalism as measured by your doctrine of Hell

Al Mohler has suggested that we can use a church or individual's theology of hell as a measure of their theological liberalism.  He also mentions that there is a characteristic 'slide' from the orthodox (read 'biblical') view of hell to the liberal view that abhors the idea as cruel and unjust (odium theologium).   Here you go.

1. Orthodox Belief: You believe in and preach the doctrine of Hell
2. Silence: You stop mentioning it because you find it offensive
3. Reduction to Consequentialism: A doctrine is revised and retained in reduced form - something like consequentialism, as opposed retributionism (God is actively punishing evil)
4. Positivism: Essentially, don't worry about it, we're not even sure if hell is real or what it means.  Just be as positive as possible - focus on being a good person and hell will take care of itself.
5. Liberalization of the Doctrine:  Changing the doctrine from eternal to denying that hell is everlasting, arguing for a form of annihilationism, or conditional immortality.
6. Denial of Biblical Accuracy:  Basically, yes the Bible teaches eternal Hell, but the Bible is wrong. 

New Atheists heart Old Fundamentalists

When I think of horribly unpersuasive spokespersons for their views, I think of Pat Robertson and Richard Dawkins. Both see the absolute worst in those with whom they disagree and feel the need to constantly speak their mind when no one wants to hear it. So why would I be surprised when Dawkins actually defended Robertson's Haiti idiocy? New York Times columnists Russ Douthat explores what he calls "the symbiotic relationship" between new atheists and fundamentalists.

Jesus: Prophet, Priest & King

Recently, I heard Pastor Mark Driscoll explain how the three facets of Jesus' ministry (Prophet, Priest and King) tend to be over-emphasized depending on your religious leaning. I thought he made excellent points that spoke to virtually everyone who would call themselves a follower of Christ.

What can we do to REALLY help Haiti?

While the tradgedy of Haiti rightly moves us all to help, there are some reasons to think about what kind of help Haiti needs in the long term, not just in this emergency, in part because Haiti has been in crisis almost continually for decades.  Perhaps the way we have been helping them IS NOT WORKING.

A few facts to consider (sorry, no time for footnotes, you can correct me if you need to):

• Since 1992, the US alone has poured in over $3B dollars into Haiti, and the UN has done more on top.
• Haiti's population is only 10M, so how much money has been spent per capita?
• The current earthquake in Haiti was about the same strength as the big Loma Prieta quake in CA.  Some 60+ people died in CA, while the body count in Haiti is now easily over 100,000
• Some experts say that the reason that Haiti's economy hasn't grown (besides the rampant corruption and thuggery) is it's dependence on foreign aid

Massachusetts: A bellwether for the country?

As Newt Gingrich pointed out today in What's Going on in Massachusetts?, Scot Brown, the GOP challenger in Massechusetts in the run for former Senator Ted Kennedy's seat, raised $1.3B this past week alone, and is now neck and neck with the liberal candidate.  This is remarkable because MA might be the most liberal state in our nation, and if it is having this trouble, this might be a sign of what's to come in the midterm elections.

One of my friends thinks that it's just a reflection of conservative angst, not a movement or trend.  Newt and I disagree with him.  We see it, albeit with hope, as a sign of what is really happening - the nation is finally waking up to the false promises (read "lies") of liberal economics and policy in general.

Avatar merely a modern Pocahontas story? You bet!

Got this from twitpic - awesome!  And for the record, I really liked Avatar.

 

Another reason why abortion is a crime: Patrick Henry Hughes

This story is so amazing, I just had to share it.  I know I sullied the inspiration of this by mentioning abortion, but I just have to say that such 'handicapped' children are murdered by their parents more often than not today. This Dad is a hero, and so is his boy.

Hypocritical left race practices

Sure, both sides play politics, but liberals do it best.  Here's their decision chart.  Enjoy.

 

The Third Jihad

Promoting a new documentary along the lines of Obsession, featuring interviews with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, M. Zudhi JAsser, Walid Phares, Tom Ridge, Mark Stein, and more.

Luke / Challies Letter Series - an atheist talks to a Christian about working together

Luke over at Common Sense Atheism is engaging in a letter exchange with Tim Challies.  I have taken it upon myself to answer Luke's letters, since I am not Tim Challies, and see things a litle differently.  Luke has not answered my responses, but perhaps he may.  Here's the Series links, in chronological order

1. Luke's First Letter
2. My First Response
3. Tim's First Response
4. Luke's Second Letter
5. My Second Response
6. Tim's Second Response
7. Luke's Third Letter
8. My Third Response
9. Tim's Third Response

Movie predicted the underwear bomber

One of my favorite movies, panned by the easily offended leftist critics, was An American Carol, a mocumentary making fun of Michael Moore (played hilariously by Kevin Farley, Chris Farley's brother).  Watching it again, I re-enjoyed the mini-mocumentary buried in the Bill O'Reilly interview, in which people are subject to long lines at airport security due to the Christian fundamentalists. 

As people have to strip down to their skivvies, and other's have cavity searches, two passengers complain about the reason - the Christian "underwear bomber."  Who knew that some crazy Muslim (redundant?) would actually do exactly that.  Enjoy the predictions of Islamic idiocy, couched in liberal anti-Christian idiocy.

Why no empirical test for God? Perhaps quantum science will provide it

Atheists are full of good questions, one of which was recently broached at Common Sense Atheism in the post A question online theists refuse to answer? - that question is

“Can you prove to me that God exists in a way that will also show that Zeus does not?”

I initially responded by citing my series on Pascal's Wager, explaining that, while there is no direct empirical evidence for the existence (or non-existence!) of God, there are plenty of other methods for showing a difference in the believability of the various Gods. 

One atheist responded that I had missed the point, writing:

What you *really* want here is an experimental test. Show us this goddy thing, and let us fire protons at it…

So let me take another stab at it - rather than giving him the sensible argument I gave (there is no empirical test, but that does not mean that we don't have other methods by which to distinguish between metaphysical claims), I'll try another valid one - that is, empirical science is not yet able to measure the spiritual - it can barely quantify, measure, or understand the psychological realm, so what makes us think we can evaluate the spiritual?

Letter To Tim Challies / Luke - Part II

In the six part interchange between Tim Challies the Christian and Luke the atheist, it looks like Tim took a different approach than me, which seems to take offense at Luke's confident declarations of Biblical problems.  I agree with Tim a little, such declarations are a bit too definitive and value-laden to allow for discussion of cooperation within an umbrella of mutual respect, but I also agree a bit more with Luke that they were spoken in context of his personal journey and feelings in his 'deconversion' process.

So Luke also went sort of in Tim's direction, although I think he is trying to redirect things back to 'how can we work together?' which I tried to address in Letter To Tim Challies / Luke - Part I.  Luke has written a second Letter to Tim Challies, to which I now respond.

Letter To Tim Challies / Luke - Part I

Luke over at Common Sense Atheism is engaging in a letter exchange with Tim Challies which should be really great.  I am not Tim Challies, but I endeavor to be.  All I need is to publish my own book and read a few hundred books to catch up, right?

Anyway, here is my response to Luke.  I know that he may not have the time or the desire to answer me as well, since I am less influential.  However, I think Luke asks good questions, and I have praised his blog before, as well as trolled commented on it.

So here's my response to Luke's first letter.

Mark 12:41-44 - At the bottom

Here is my sermon from 12/06/09 entitled At the Bottom.  Based on Mark 12:41-44, it covers these main points.

1. Turn towards God, not away
2. Do not worry
3. God is doing something new
4. Put God first
5. Give what you have

At the bottom

God's cartoonist - Jack Chick

You either love or hate 'Chick Tracts' - this documentary is interesting.  Imagine this - over 1 Billion of these have been printed, in over 100 languages.  Jack Chick may be the most successful cartoonist, in numbers of items sold, ever.  And yet, he is not that well known. 

Why the unconverted can't tell a Pharisee from a Christian

The problem with humanists is that they throw out the baby with the bathwater. They call it 'humility' to suspend judgment, yet they judge others in matters that suit them. They want compassion for all, but any hint of truth they dislike coming from the mouths of others equals Phariseeism. The real truth is, they can't tell a true Christian from a Pharisee. To them, Paul was a Pharisee when he condemned sins (of course, he was a Pharisee before conversion).

The essence of Phariseeism is that keeping of the rules makes one righteous. A true Christian knows that this is not so, yet he seeks moral purity because he loves God and hates sin. He hides in mercy and gives it to others, but also seeks to live and declare the truth to save himself and others from sin.

An unconverted 'Christian' flees from the truth and towards truthless mercy because he, remaining uncoverted, still wants his sin more than God. He can not preach against sin, except that of 'judging others' because he himself is still living in it, powerless to transcend or fight it without the indwelling spirit, and must make excuses for himself.

In being 'graceful' (truthless) with others, he may pass this off as generosity, but he is mostly excusing himself from continuing in sin. And until the supernatural power of God does convert him, he can do naught but try to fool himself and others that he is really Christian.

Are you a Christian because of your experiences, or because of logic?

In Why do some Christians become atheists?, I discussed five reasons why some Christians may have abandoned faith to become atheists - some noble reasons, some not.  The ensuing commentary helped me see that these same principles can be applied to any faith or anti-faith decision.  Here are those now six ideas, but I wanted to also ask the question - is Christianity primarily or first a decision of the heart or head?  I argue that, to the chagrin of logicians and empiricists, Christianity is a religion of the heart - that is, conviction of the intuition and conscience, not an intellectual decision of the mind.

You are a Christian because (choose all that apply):

1. You were raised that way, and have never seriously considered any other viewpoint, nor seriously questioned your faith.
2. You made an emotional decision to become Christian during a dark time in your life.
3. You felt a deep conviction and a reality in the presence and peace of God that led you to receive Christ.
4. Your conversion was based on the first good argument you heard, and you came from a position of weak ideological commitment - again, you may have never seriously considered any other viewpoint.
5. You are caught up in the novelty of your new Christian world view mostly because it is different, and will leave it when the novelty wears off.
6. Reason and experience have led you to your conclusion that Christianity is true.

What's wrong with the Senate health care bill? OMFG

I don't often curse, especially in print, but can I just say that the current administration's health care and climate plans are the height of idiocy!  Especially since these crises are largely manufactured, and not real.  The health care 'crisis' is really a crisis of EMPLOYMENT, which the Obama admin, despite their claims of saving jobs ('Mission accomplished'), has run into the ground since Bush, promising us that it would have been worse without it (even though under their plan, unemployment got even worse than their projections had we done nothing).

So here's some conservative 'spam' that is making the viral rounds.  OBAMACARE IS AN ABOMINATION, and he is turning out to be one of the worst presidents in history.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Senator Bayh,

As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the government's proposed involvement in the patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a health care system that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed.

I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens.

Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Leaders in hell, an Obama joke

A joke from the conservative spamosphere...

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George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell. While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for.

The devil tells them it is for calling back to Earth.

Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes.  When he was finished the devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a check.

Next Queen Elizabeth calls England and talks for 30 minutes.  When she was finished the devil informs her that cost is 6 million dollars, so Queen Elizabeth writes him a check.

Finally George Bush gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he was finished the devil informed him that there would be no charge for the call and feel free to call the USA anytime.

When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Bush got to call the USA free.

The devil replied, "Since Obama became president of the U.S. the country has gone to hell, so naturally it's a local call."

An Anti-theist reading list

I just discovered (via the Secular Nation podcast, one of the many atheist/anti-theist/secularist podcasts I follow) Margaret Downey's answer to the Christmas Tree, the Tree of Knowledge - that is, an atheists' substitute for the religious celebration of Christ. 

Downey has a long reading list that represents perhaps the best (?) that skeptics of faith have to offer.  I have reproduced the list below. 

Downey is a true despiser of religion - she even hates when people exclaim "Oh God!" but you can bet she's not concerned about taking God's name in vain.

Why are Jews predominantly liberal?

One of the most annoying voices on conservative talk radio is Mark Levin, author of the bestselling Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto.  However, it's all I've got some days, and once in a while, he has an interesting guest rather than the lowbrow callers that frequent the more rant-ridden types of shows. 

Today, he had Norman Podhoretz, author of the controversial new book Why Are Jews Liberals?

You can listen to the 10 minute interview I've excerpted from the Levin archive. But the main interesting points I got from the interview were:

1. In the mid 19th century, it was liberalism that defended Judaism from the threats of fascism.
2. In 1967, a great shift occurred in American politics.  The left became increasingly anti-Zionist to the point of being anti-Semitic, while the right, esp. the Christian right, began seriously taking up the cause of Israel.
3. However, Jews did not become conservative because

(a) Converting or turning to conservatism in Jewish culture is as objectionable as converting to Christianity, and most Jews abhor both.

(b) Liberalism has replaced the values of the Torah for most Jews - where the two disagree, most Jews now side with liberalism and NOT the Torah.  That is, liberalism is now the predominant religious stance of most Jews.

There's much more great content in the interview, including Jews' support for Obama.  Enjoy.

Podhoretz interview on Mark Levin

Create jobs with government spending? STUPID

Conservatives are getting tired of Obamanomics - it's just plain idiotic to think that we can tax, spend, and borrow our way out of our economic problems.  It's contrary to reason and history.  In fact, as Orrin Hatch recently remarked in exasperation at this anti-sense position, it's stupid.

Top 4 Action Steps to combat Obama's Insane Policies

Courtesy of Faith 2 Action.

1. Government Health Care Takeover. The Senate debate of health care is now underway.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants a vote to take place before Christmas. Strongly urge your two Senators to oppose this bill at 202-224-3121.  Send "Pink Slips" to all of them (as well as each Congressman) here.

2. Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.   There is great concern that the U.S. will enter into some type of agreement  when world leaders meet in Denmark for a global climate change conference that starts on Monday.  This treaty would be devastating to our economy and sovereignty.  The U.S. could also be asked to contribute billions of dollars toward implementing this.   Call the White House at 202-456-1414 and your two Senators at 202-224-3121 to express opposition to this treaty.  A number of large companies, including Coca-Cola, are supporting the treaty efforts..   Call them, and strongly urge them to withdraw their support for Copenhagen.

3.  Energy Tax Bill.   It's appearing less and less likely that a "cap-and-trade" bill will pass this year, but we must not become complacent about it.  It has already passed by the House and sub-committees in the Senate.  Continue to ask your Senators to oppose this bill at 202-224-3121.  Contact the companies supporting this and consider boycotting them, including BP America, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, and Pepsi.

4.  Safe School Czar.   Kevin Jennings, the homosexual activist who was recently chosen by the President to run the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools.  Call your Congressman at 202-224-3121 to ask Congress to expel Jennings.   Then, send letters to the President and your Congressional leaders through expeljennings.org

10 Commandments of Ethical Witness are peace-loving but controversial

The Christian Muslim Forum, an interfaith group, has released what it calls Ethical Guidelines for Christian and Muslim Witness in Britain (PDF).   Interestingly, some more conservative Christians don't like a couple of the provisions because they fear that it could be used to stifle criticism or even moral condemnation of spirituality that contradicts what some would call basic human rights.

If you'd like to hear a spirited debate about the guidelines between a moderate Christian, a moderate Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, and a conservative Christian, check out the excellent debate at Muslim, Christian, Hindu debate on evangelism.

What some are calling Ten Commandments of Mission? are after the jump, with my highlights and brief commentary.

Guide: Conservative Social Action Blogs

I subsribe to way more blogs than I read.  I wanted to pare down my political blogs to just the few that would help me take action against the alarming initiatives of the Obama administration.  Here's my latest list.

Last Update: 11/20/09

• American Family Association
• Faith 2 Action
• Glen Beck - the 9/12 Project
  
• Heritage Foundation

Oregonians chant: "Al Gore's a liar!"

Perhaps the argument is over, the science is in - global warming is a hoax?   Not yet, but here's some footage you won't see on MSNBC - Oregonians unwelcoming Al Gore to Portland.  I hope people are waking up the the climate change hoax.

Oh, and don't miss Al Gore is a big fat lying weenie and wrong about climate change.

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

Today, a coalition of leaders from the three major branches of Christianity - Evangelical (Protestant), Catholic, and Orthodox, approved and released The Manhattan Declaration.  This is an important statement for conservative Christians about what we hold as important and worth working towards in life and society. It also will serve as one of the rallying points around which we will take back society from the socialist boobs running the show.  However, I'm, though I think the Declaration is well done, I am not sure the origianal signers are a broad enough representation of even conservative Christianity.  I mean, I know that liberal Christians won't sign on (though I see Ron Sider there), but even the Declaration of Independence had more signers than 10!

It defends three central truths:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Read the Preamble after the jump...

Al Gore is a big fat lying weenie and wrong about climate change

I couldn't think of a good title for this great illustration, found on iMaksim's blog.  So I went obnoxious - but also, it turns out that the infamous and debunked CO2/temperature graph from Al's movie was not only wrong, it may have been done ON PURPOSE (i.e. 'they lied.').  Happy Holidays.  I hope the health care bill fails.  Really, it's bad on so many levels, it will doom our economy and our healthcare.  It's lunacy.  Moonbattery.  Stupidity in hope's clothing.

The Age of Reason = The Age of Infidelity

Atheists and secularists are fond of quoting the articulate Thomas Paine, author of the free-thinkers creed Age of Reason.  Few know, however, that a founding father wrote a rebuttal in 1801, which American Vision has reprinted. Elias Boudinot's book The Age of Revelation was seen as a powerful rebuttal.  And now you can read it too.  Below is the blurb about the book from American Vision.

How many times have you heard some skeptic claim that this or that non-Christian was a Founding Father of America? Thomas Jefferson is one of their patron saints, and yet he wasn’t even present during the drafting of the Constitution. Of course, Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence which states emphatically that God is the Creator and the Judge of the world. The ACLU plays down these words. Benjamin Franklin is another one skeptics love to trot out as an anti-religious Founding Father. But it was Franklin who stood up at the Constitutional Convention and quoted Psalm 127:1 as a warning to the delegates: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Not much is said about these remarks by Franklin.

The reality of abortion

A video describing a first-trimester abortion -- produced by Priests for Life and published on YouTube, is getting a lot of deserved attention.  They show how such an abortion is done with a model.  I pray that more people will have their consciences awakened.