News Weakly - 1/21/2017

Gotta Love It
According to this article at The Christian Post, "Thousands of Muslims are turning to Jesus Christ and what they view as the 'religion of freedom.'" Apparently the "religion of peace" that in many quarters is engaging in heavy bloodshed has pushed Muslims to look elsewhere. They are hearing about Christ over radio broadcasts in the Muslim Middle East. Despite the persecution in these areas, they keep coming. In Iran, for instance, from 500 Christians in 1979, they estimate 360,000 believers today. I am reminded of Joseph's words to his brothers. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Gen 50:20) Nice to know God is alive and well in an anti-Christ world.

Dangerous Christians
Pastor Tim Keller did an interview with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof just before Christmas last year. Kristof said he wasn't keen on ridiculous things like the Virgin Birth or the Resurrection, but liked Christianity in general. Keller assured him that you can't remove these from Christianity "without destabilizing the whole. A religion can't be whatever we desire it to be."

As it turns out, Keller has upset the Christian world. Church leaders took offense at Keller's declaration and at the New York Times for allowing him to represent Christianity on the subject. A religion professor from Hofstra University labeled him as "dangerous" for declaring that the Resurrection is essential to salvation. The Christian Post published a rebuttal from Peter Enns (an op-ed contributor to the Christian Post).

In my opinion, all true Christians should stand firmly on the Word of God like this. Are you that "dangerous"?

Didn't See That Coming
In Idaho Senator Dan Foreman ran for office promising among other things to introduce a law that would call abortion murder. He got elected. And he's doing it. The law would charge mothers and abortion doctors with murder except when the mother's life is in danger. Wow! A politician that promises something like that, gets elected, and is actually carrying through on it? Didn't see that coming.

(By the way, the federal government defined killing the unborn as murder back in 2004 with the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 -- the Laci and Conner's Law. They then made an exception for murdering the unborn by abortion. Irrational, sure, but, hey, it's the government!)

The Irony is Deep with This One
We all know the uproar that was caused when WikiLeaks released its story telling the world about secret DNC emails documenting their dirty dealings during the campaign this last year. Bad stuff, really bad stuff. Both the stuff they did and the fact that it was hacked and leaked. But no one is denying that it's true; they're simply mad that secret information was leaked. They're so mad that Rep John Lewis (D-GA) called Trump's presidency "illegitimate".

So isn't it ironic that the Democratic president as one of his final acts in office commutes the sentence of Bradley Manning (you can call him Chelsea if you want, but I will not call him "her") for precisely this offense -- leaking classified information to WikiLeaks? Charged with aiding the enemy which could have resulted in the death penalty, Manning was sentenced to 35 years for 22 charges. He then declared himself a "she" and demanded and was granted that the military provide him with gender transition surgery. (His military records still classify him as male.) The president has cut 28 years from his sentence. He will be released in May, 2017. (Does this mean the government will not pay for his surgery?)

The irony is deep with this one. When an enemy of the Democrats releases private emails that paint the Democrats in a bad light, the outrage is vast and heads will roll; the very presidency itself is disparaged. When an enemy of the state leaks classified information that aids the enemy, the penalty is too harsh and the president lets him off.

Side question: Julian Assange promised to allow his extradition to the U.S. if the president granted Manning clemency. Obama did; will Assange? Maybe so.

Good News/Bad News
Is this good news or bad news? Clearly we are happy that reports are out that the abortion rate "has hit its lowest point since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973." The news item says, "The researchers estimated that there were 926,200 abortions in 2014, or 14.6 abortions for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. That was down 14% from three years earlier." That's a good thing that it's down. But 926,200 children were murdered in 2014. That's not good. And a good portion of the decline, according to the story, is due to better use of abortifacients thanks to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. That's not good.

"Safe, legal, and rare" -- that's what they want. It is legal but it's really hard to classify the murder of nearly a million babies as "rare" ... and that's just the ones we know about. We are a long way from valuing human life.

And in other news, that dirty, rotten WalMart is adding 10,000 jobs this year. Oh, wait ... is that bad or good?

Guns and Grizzlies
Betsy DeVos, currently under the gun as Trump's possible education secretary, was asked if she supported guns in school. She thought it should be left up to local governments. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy was shocked. "You can't say definitively today that guns shouldn't be in schools?" Because in his mind and in the mind of every other outraged citizen like him, it is unconscionable that anyone might think that there could be a safety reason for that kind of tool of defense in a school. She referenced a story from a school in rural Wyoming where bear fences were installed to protect kids from bear attacks and pointed to that as one possible scenario in which a gun in a school might be helpful.

The takeaway? Betsy DeVos is afraid of grizzly bears. Now, come on, media hypes! Are you actually paying attention? As of 2013 18 states allowed teachers to carry guns in schools. The thinking (and, yes, it is thinking) is that if an armed criminal comes into a school to harm the kids or faculty, someone ought to be able to defend them with more than just being shot. Like Assistant Principal Joel Myrick did in Mississippi in 1997 and a school security officer did in Littleton, Colorado ... and several others did. Right or wrong, DeVos offered a possible scenario where a gun in a school might be required for safety and the response of the media is to laugh (called the "ad hominem fallacy"). Dirty rotten Republican, wanting to give greater authority to local government. And ... and ... she promotes traditional family values??!! Who does she think she is, anyway? We're the new America where valuing family and protecting children is bad and where demagogues rule by manipulating with emotion without reference to fact.