Special Case
The pope continues to leak. In a recent interview he said that Africans were a "special case" in opposition to homosexuality. "For them," he said, "homosexuality is something bad from a cultural point of view." With the exception of the "special case," then, Francis is pretty sure that we can all be included, not divided, over homosexuality. Odd thing when the "special case" is the "small ideological group" that happens to ... you know ... agree with the Bible on the topic. Eventually he hopes, apparently, to get everyone on board with selectively jettisoning Scripture.
Don't Begg
Pastor Alistair Begg got himself in trouble when he told someone an interview that he advised a Christian grandmother that she could certainly attend her grandson's marriage to a transgender person. He figured as long as she made it clear that the grandson knew she was a Christian and didn't affirm his choices, she could go celebrate his (non)wedding. Oh, and bring a gift. Mind you, one's sex is not a matter of choice (Gen 1:27). Mind you, marriage has a definition (completely unrelated to gender) (Gen 2:24). So this whole "marriage to a transgender" thing is so far outside of functional that "bring a gift" can't begin to touch it. How a Christian, following God's Word, could attend a celebration of a barn fire like that and consider it "kind" is beyond me.
Best Trump Imitation -- "You're Fired!"
According to the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Times is laying off more than 20% of their newsroom. Because, as we all know, the economy under Biden is booming. (Of course, the Bee is telling of the tragic report that there are still a lot of journalists that have not been laid off.) What's the matter? Running out of news that's fit to print?
Lost Cause
The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding hearings with five major social media platforms. Snap, Discord, X, Instagram, and Facebook are all being questioned about child safety amid growing concerns about harms these platforms are doing to children. Of course, putting that toothpaste back in the tube isn't really possible, is it? And since parents appear to be unable to regulate their own children in this area, why would we expect the folks making all that money off of it to do so? "How can we save this obviously dangerous technology?" doesn't seem like a reasonable question.
Economic Ping Pong
They tell me that 107,000 jobs were added in January. That's good, right? Then they tell me that jobless claims climbed to a 3-month high, businesses are hiring slower, and layoffs seem to be increasing. Oh, hang on, I don't know what I was thinking. Apparently they added 353,000 jobs, unemployment remained the same, and no one knows what they're talking about. Benjamin Disraeli (apparently) referred to "lies, damned lies, and statistics," where, apparently, statistics are the worst kind of lies. I suppose you'll have to choose the news that suits your bias here. "Jobs were added -- Biden is great!" or "Unemployment is rising -- Bidenomics stink!"
Let It Not Bee So
President Biden is shrewder than we thought. Between Russia trying to grab Alaska and Iran attacking Americans in the Middle East, it looks like he's going to distract from a possible civil war here by starting a world war elsewhere. In other news, the guy who damaged a statue of Satan in Iowa is being charged with a hate crime (actual story). The Bee reports that Iowa is also charging God with a hate crime for planning to cast Satan into the lake of fire. In a related story, the Bee offers a guide to which statues can be torn down. George Washington? Yes. Satan? No. Abraham Lincoln? Yes. Michael Jackson, remembered for "fun sleepovers" with kids? No. Helpful stuff.
Must be true; I read it on the Internet.
4 comments:
Watching the increasing number of print media laying people off in droves is kind of humorous considering the whole "learn to code" message the media sent to laid off miners not that long ago.
It's really not surprising that print media is slowly going away.
The bold faced lie from the Pope is impressive, but not surprising from a liberal. Say that someone is doing something for a completely different reason because admitting the true reason unravels your entire position.
That's a shame about Pastor Begg. I wonder if he was thinking that because in actuality it was a heterosexual marriage with a mentally ill person, it was okay? I don't agree, but maybe that was his thinking.
Maybe the news media wouldn't be losing so much money if they would be open and honest about their reporting. But everyone knows they are pushing an agenda that the majority of people don't agree with. Other conservative news media don't seem to be having the same problem. I'm not hearing about mass layoffs from Daily Wire or Babylon Bee.
To me, in God's eyes, the people running those programs are responsible for putting out a product they know are harmful. But I don't see any legal justification for holding them accountable when it is the general populace feeding it. Mark Zuckerberg is not responsible for what people say on his Meta programs. He's morally culpable for providing the platform, but the only people legally responsible for leading others to harm or kill are the ones that say the things. If the heads of the companies were morally responsible people, they would ignore the loss of money and shut the programs down.
Maybe both are true. Maybe there were 353,000 jobs added, and an increase in unemployment. Both could be true and still end up with a net loss. But like you said, people will simply choose the data set that agrees with their world view.
For this story in particular, and for the law in general, hate crime is such a stupid ruling. But how insane have we become that hating Satan is a bad thing?
I found Francis’s comments as reported in the MSN.com article astounding. It’s hard to believe that Africans are the last hold-out among Catholics regarding accepting same-sex behavior, but even if that’s true, I’m sure it is just a matter of time before they too “eventually understand it” as the pope does (and no longer as God sees it). And Francis’s comment that “talk of a schism is always led by ‘small groups’” and therefore he’s not too concerned shows that he forgets the Protestant Reformation’s modest beginnings but enormous impact.
Alistair Begg’s advice was very sad to see; it was even sadder to me that the grandmother had to ask for advice in this case (if ever something was so “black and white” to me). It occurs to me that if the woman attends the wedding (and honors the occasion with a gift, as she was advised), she will need to continue that perceived support in future dealings with this couple--thereby no doubt compounding her compromising position, rather than being bold for the Lord. That’s not a good choice for any serious Christian, so I hope she thinks his advice through very carefully.
David, I don't think Begg thought it was okay. I think he thought that she had already made it clear that it was NOT okay, so she could be supportive of her grandson. (And it wasn't in the least a heterosexual marriage since it was between a guy and a guy who thought he was a girl. Begg knew that.) He just failed to see that, while are lots of things a believing family member can do with an unbelieving one, celebrating a wedding that was not didn't help anyone.
Post a Comment