Ain't Complicated

Borderline Parallel

The Miami Herald’s headline for the story is interesting (Remember Berlin Wall? Now, think Mexico) yet deeply flawed as an historical parallel.

My recollection of the Berlin Wall is at least three-fold:

It was an intra-national wall.
It was built by the government whose people were “voting with their feet.”
It was there to keep people in.

So when should anyone think of the Berlin Wall when a US-Mexico border fence is discussed?

When the thinker believes the US-Mexico national distinction should not exist. In said case, the thinker would see the fence as an intra-national fence rather than an inter-national fence.
When the thinker believes the fence is to be built by Mexico to keep its oppressed people from choosing freedom in the US.
When the thinker believes the purpose of the fence is to keep people in the United States.

In my view, the parallel the Miami Herald expounds is borderline at best.

If you haven’t yet, at least scan the article/editorial. Notice the words and expressions that serve to plant and foster and anti-fence bias.

Oh, and why should a conservative Anabaptist care about the issue?

Good question. 🙂

They’re Children?!

Have you ever heard of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement?

I would say that extinction and movement have a way of being mutually exclusive. If the members truly are for voluntary extinction, how can they possibly be part of any movement?!

Nevertheless, consider what UPI has to report:

Make no mistake about it, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement isn’t anti-child, it’s more like anti-human.

The VHE is dedicated to phasing out the human race in the interest of the health of the Earth, founder Les Knight told Wednesday’s San Francisco Chronicle.

Not very dedicated, I would say.

But please continue reading….: With 16,000 people born per hour and a current global population of 6.5 billion, there are already more than enough people on the planet, Knight said.

Not that I believe Mr. Knight should voluntarily extinctivize himself, but what’s he doing here then?

Oh, perhaps you’re wondering about the headline for my post.: Knight, who had a vasectomy at age 25, emphasizes VHE likes kids and says many of its members are parents as well as children.

Many of its members are children. Good deal. They were all born, albeit involuntarily. I don’t find that particularly unique — ever since Adam and Eve, all humans have been children.

Oh wait. I get it now. Membership in this organization is comprised of adults and non-adults.

Am I mocking Mr. Knight and the organization? Perhaps, though I really don’t mean to.

I hope Mr. Knight finds a better purpose for living.

God’s purpose.

Got (God’s) Love?

Noordin Mohamad Top (maybe)

The Star (Malaysia) offers this AP story:

A video found in the hide-out of one of Asia’s most wanted militants shows a masked man threatening attacks against the United States, Britain and Australia.

Police suspect the man in the video could be Malaysian fugitive Noordin Mohamad Top, considered a key leader of the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Noordin has been accused of direct involvement in at least four deadly bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 and 2005 suicide attacks on the resort island of Bali that together killed 222 people, many of them foreign tourists.

OK, Christians. How do you pray for a man like this? Or would we even consider praying for him?

You could even right-click the image (in Windows XP anyway) and select to have it be your wallpaper. As a reminder, you know.

I’m sure this man has lots of hate directed toward him. What he needs is God’s love directed toward him.

Yeah, I know. Easier written than done.

It’s Against the Law in MA

General Laws of Massachusetts; Chapter 272, Section 36: Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

That’s still on books there!

However, they have Senate Bill 938 to remedy that oversight and a few others as well — “SECTION 7. Section 36 of chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.”

Keep an Eye on Him?

Reuters via Yahoo! News reports:

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is “The Most Influential Man in the World,” according to Esquire magazine.

The magazine has designated him as “the most powerful agent of change in the world” despite his lack of electoral standing and the fact he was laid low by a heart attack ahead of last year’s presidential election.

Since leaving office, Clinton has been so active that his post-presidency amounts to “a third term” for the Democrat who held the White House from 1992 to 2000, the magazine said. He has tackled global issues from AIDS, poverty and global warming to the recovery from last December’s Indian Ocean tsunami.

I wonder if this leads up to becoming General Secretary of the UN?

And after that…?

Should I care?

Childless — Just Like That

As we knew it would, time continues on. Late this afternoon (11-15-05) will be two weeks since the five Schrock children were killed in an auto wreck in Washington State.

As we knew it would, time continues on.

Late this afternoon will be two weeks since this happened:

Pronounced dead at the scene were Carmen Joy Schrock, 12; Jana Louise Schrock, 10; Corina Jean Schrock, 8; Jerrill Burdiette Schrock, 5, and Creig Allen Schrock, 2.

In the course of the subsequent week, I sent out four reports to email subscribers of The Roth Report.

The link above takes you to the first one. Here are links to the others:

Didn’t He Know the Risk?!

From The Washington Times this story of commitment:

A court sentenced a teacher to 40 months in prison and 750 lashes for “mocking religion” after he discussed the Bible and praised Jews, a Saudi newspaper reported yesterday.

Al-Madina newspaper said secondary-school teacher Mohammad al-Harbi, who will be flogged in public, was taken to court by his colleagues and students.

He was charged with promoting a “dubious ideology, mocking religion, saying the Jews were right, discussing the Gospel and preventing students from leaving class to wash for prayer,” the newspaper said.

I wonder what this man’s testimony is.

Oh, and before anyone goes off on what the “religion of peace” does to its opponents, wait.

Remember the Crusades. Remember the Catholic-Protestant battles of not so long ago.

That said, I do believe there is a substantial spiritual and moral difference between genuine Islam and genuine Christianity.

The question for me is simple: Is my faith (and subsequent life) an accurate reflection of the Lord Jesus?