Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

Yesterday the House voted to grant federal employees four weeks of paid parental leave. If it becomes law, that means a baby born to one or more federal employees will have four weeks of extra attention, four weeks when their parent(s) will be able to get up in the night without worrying about being a wreck at work in the morning, four weeks of bonding, maybe four weeks of breastfeeding.

Pete Sessions argued against it as too expensive: $20M/year.  With 1.8M federal employees, that’s about $11 per employee per year.

Pete Sessions also opposes abortion rights; he doesn’t mention abortion on his House website, but he’s consistently voted to make abortions harder and harder.  In other words, he favors creating unwanted babies, but he’s unwilling to spend a few dollars to help them grow up sane and healthy.

Dear Power of Pride,Thanks a lot for your great news and views for the Community. You seem to have a West Coast focus. But surprise, surprise, Southern is pretty good too.

The faculty here is diverse and tolerant. Please let your readership know there’s no need to drive all the way out to PUC to get a quality Adventist education.

Mack

!!YOUR ANSWERS FROM POWER OF PRIDE - GAY ADVENTIST NEWS!!

Dear fellow Adventist,

What you’re saying has a lot of truth in it. Certainly for the intersexed and genderqueer, Southern offers a very understanding environment. In addition to a state-of-the-art bathhouse, this university offers instruction from internationally renowned professors with

qualifications in gay studies.

LEADING SCHOLARS ON FACULTY

Professors who have published authoritative works dealing with the intersexed and genderqueer communities in the Adventist church.

“A common myth exists that people are biologically ‘either or,’ either biologically male or biologically female. In reality, people are much more complex. Some individuals are positioned along the continuum between male and female.” (Rene Drumm, The Social Experiences of Gay and Lesbian Seventh-day Adventists, Christianity and Homosexuality: Some Seventh-day Adventist Perspectives, p 3-4)

WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN THE CHURCH STORAGE ROOM

Dr. Drumm is, of course, an expert on orientations:

“Among men who engage in anonymous sexual encounters with men, the majority identify themselves as heterosexual and more than half (54-58 percent) are married. In another study that examines sexual labeling of men who have had sex with men and have requested an HlV blood test, 25 percent reported a heterosexual orientation.” (Rene Drumm, The Social Experiences of Gay and Lesbian Seventh-day Adventists, Christianity and Homosexuality: Some Seventh-day Adventist Perspectives, pp 3-7, 3-8)

Yes, according to Southern professor Drumm, that huge body of 16 million Adventists is considerably more diverse than church PR types are letting on. You may remember when the Adventists set up a gay to straight therapy center. Dr. Drumm didn’t buy into the concept at all. She says “There was and is no ‘cure’ for homosexuality - although church leaders wanted to believe there might be.” (Drumm, supra, p 3-19)

And Dr. Drumm speaks to an important challenge to the Community here — there are still, believe it or not, some of those old-fashioned, Bible-based types who say that gayness should be cured.

Even at Dr. Drumm’s institution, some of these prophets and evangelists are on the loose. Or were, prior to being packed off to a psychiatric facility.

ABSORBED IN EVANGELISM

You see, a radical group of Bible scholars formed the Twelve Disciples commando unit. Their plan was to engineer really creative, attention-getting evangelistic efforts with a large turnout of students. Brother Ezekiel studied by day in the nursing school, but in the evenings he was quite a different man. After those hours and hours of mandatory worships, chapels, and the ongoing message: “You’re not doing enough to witness”, he and his brethren in the Twelve Disciples planned an action so daring that it would finally shake those sleeping students awake!

“They did not harmonize upon every point of doctrine, but all were moved by the Spirit of God, and united in the absorbing aim to win souls to Christ.” (Ellen G. White The Great Controversy, p 257)

“Early in the morning on March 8, a male nursing student snuck in to Thatcher South, pulled the fire alarm and eventually made it to the roof of Wright Hall to preach that God was coming”. (Emily Young, Police escort preaching student off of rooftop, Southern Accent, 19 Mar 2009)

You may say, “So what! Adventists have been preaching that for the longest time”. Well, they did. But that was back in the days before Cliff Goldstein and Dr. Rene Drumm overhauled, and modernized, Adventist theology.

So, the University administration was really glad that students wanted to preach the Old Gospel?

“The servants of God trod a rugged path. Men of influence and learning employed their powers against them.” (Ellen G. White The Great Controversy, p 258)

Not at all. Their amateur security service called in the Collegedale Police to conduct a full manhunt for the evangelistic team. “Campus Safety officers and the Collegedale Police officers looked for the student for almost an hour before finding him standing on the peak of the roof of Wright Hall with his arms outstretched.” (Young, supra)

The Twelve Disciples had planned things carefully: ““His plan was to turn on all the alarms, and a huge group of girls and guys in front of Wright Hall would be there, and he would preach to them,” said Justin Wilson, a senior theology major and a friend of the student’s who was at the scene.” (Young, supra)

But that was the plan. The University would have none of it. They wanted the student to forget about his preaching plans. “Collegedale Police Sgt. Darrell Hannah and Campus Safety Officer Joshua Fraker climbed to the roof and tried to convince the student to back away”. (Young, supra)

[26] If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
[27] And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14

Brother Ezekiel was willing to bear the cross for the Gospel. And he didn’t have long to wait!

“He did not show any sign of moving away so Hannah slowly came up behind him, grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him back from the edge of the roof, according to the report.” (Young, supra)

[48] Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. [49] And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. [50] And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Matthew 26

CALLING UPON THE LORD IN DAY OF ADVERSITY

And that was the day that salvation came to Southern.

“Hannah pulled one of the student’s hands behind his back and handcuffed it, but the student began resisting and screaming for God to help him.” (Young, supra)

[13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10

LET’S TASER THAT “DANGEROUS CRIMINAL” WHO DARED TO PREACH THE SECOND ADVENT!!

““He had a lot of adrenalin and was very strong,” Hannah said in the police report. “We were trying to maintain our balance and to keep [the student] from harming us or himself.”
After telling him to put his hands behind his back multiple times, Hannah used a stun gun on the student’s shoulder several times. The student’s muscles tensed and he said, “But no pain shall befall you,” according to the Campus Safety report.” (Young, supra)

“”By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for His will! Two years ago, a piece of brick grazed my shoulders. It was a year after that the stone struck me between the eyes. Last month I received one blow, and this evening two, one before we came into the town, and one after we were gone out; but both were as nothing: for though one man struck me on the breast with all his might, and the other on the mouth with such force that the blood gushed out immediately, I felt no more pain from either of the blows than if they had touched me with a straw.”–John Wesley, Works, vol. 3, pp. 297, 298.” (cited in Ellen G. White The Great Controversy, p 259)

Our brother Ezekiel was strengthened. And pain? Just as with the great John Wesley, he felt none!

KARATE CHOP TO NECK AND CHOKEHOLD

The forces of darkness would not give up easily, though.

“When the student still would not comply, Hannah struck him in his brachial neck muscles, according to the report. This maneuver normally knocks a person to the ground, but the student did not respond to it. Then Hannah put pressure on his carotid arteries, which usually causes brief unconsciousness. This made the student relax his arm muscles so Hannah could put him in handcuffs.” (Young, supra)

“WRESTLING” HANDCUFFED PREACHER TO THE GROUND

And so they took him down: “Hannah and Fraker helped him lie down on the roof.” (Young, supra)

All this “help” had left the Adventist student unconcious. Had the SWAT boys gone too far? Was the zealous evangelist dead?

“Hannah was checking the student’s vital signs when the student shook his head, opened his eyes and asked where he was.” (Young, supra)

THE LIE

They just had to paint Brother Ezekiel in the most unreasonable light, so: “After several minutes he began to explain that he believed God would return that night, and he had to tell Southern to be prepared.” (Young, supra)

The Adventists invariably talk about “Jesus” “coming again”, and do not, as a rule, use the term “God is coming again”.

After the tasering and beating, what kind of condition was our Adventist evangelist in? He couldn’t even walk: “Around 8:30 a.m. a ladder truck from the local fire department arrived to take the student off the roof.” (Young, supra)

And all this brutality got our brother discouraged? No way!

““In the ladder truck on the way down he was just preaching away,” Penrod said.” (Young, supra)

[2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Tim. 4

And they booked this boy into the local jail, where witnesses would see him, and he’d have access to a lawyer?

Not at all. In his severely injured condition, “The student was taken to Parkridge East Hospital for medical evaluation”. (Young, supra)

Now what to do? The local police department and the Adventist university were faced with a potential lawsuit of epic proportions. There was no evidence that the student was planning to jump off the building. He just wanted to preach. If he had been allowed to do so without harassment, he would have returned to base camp for food later. But this was the old story of “Do it now, and do it my way”. And if you don’t, there’s overwhelming force.

So he’s been locked up until 1) his physical injuries heal, and 2) he “forgets” what happened to him. “then he was taken to Parkridge Valley Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He was not arrested, but taken into custody for his own protection, Penrod said.” (Young, supra) In the psych ward, plenty of drug therapies are available to erase Brother Ezekiel’s memory.

But taking no chances, the Adventist university has thrown him out of the school: “The student withdrew from classes on March 13 and will be allowed to enroll again at Southern if he meets admission criteria, according to Southern officials.” (Young, supra)

Get this! The evangelist is drugged up and tied down in the psych facility. And he “voluntarily withdraws” from “all his classes”?

Cleartext: This boy isn’t getting out of psych anytime soon.

“Southern administration also issued an official statement.

“While Southern encourages its students to involve themselves in ministry and actively spreading the Gospel story, the university also places a high priority on caring for the safety and well-being of each student,” the statement said. “Southern’s faculty and staff have actively worked to keep all involved students safe. We are grateful to the emergency personnel who assisted [the student] back into a safe situation. The university respects the privacy of [the student] and his family as they move forward from this situation.”” (Young, supra)

They cared SO MUCH about the safety of Brother Ezekiel. SO MUCH that Brother got tasered, choked, tackled, cuffed, and beaten. Ah, you could say, That was just the police doing the heavy hitting. Not Southern staff.

And in a way its true. The “campus security” is not authorized to physically attack and take down someone who is not threatening immediate harm. But in the official statement, they express gratitude to the taser artist.

So who’s at fault here? Obviously, the student believed what he heard in the mandatory worships, chapels, and religion classes. The repeated exhortations to missionary work soaked in and bore fruit. Its the system at fault.

Or is it really? Sure these people still talk Bible, mission, and what not, but new times have come to Southern. Gospel evangelists get the third degree, while gay evangelists get awards and scholarly recognition.

“Did the spider spin a deceptive web before sin or was the lion capable of digesting meat? Probably not, but we can only admire the ingenuity, adaptability and, yes, ‘beauty’ in some of these changes. If we allow that homosexuality may have followed as a result of sin, does that mean we cannot find beauty in it, or even allow it to exist within the framework of God’s plan? If other changes occurred after the fall which we readily accept, should homosexuality be different?” (Drumm, supra, pp 3-20 - 3-21)

If only Brother Ezekiel had paid attention to the lessons of Dr. Drumm and her colleagues, he would have raised a gay flag over the admin building. And none of the taserings, beatings, or lock up would have happened.

So welcome to the new Southern.

From:

http://powerofpride.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/adventist-ninja-when-a-theology-student-goes-too-far/

“New jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 667,000″ says the Associated Press.

What about huge unemployment isn’t expected? Who didn’t expect this kind of massive increase in joblessness? Who’s the idiot that still hasn’t gotten the memo that the economy is falling apart?

Dear Power of Pride,

We attend a large Adventist church in central California. Our pastor is a well-known media personality, who finds that running his ministry is not enough of a challenge. So he pastors a big church too.

He’s the most personable, entertaining preacher you could ever wish for.

Just recently, he’s been preaching the importance of keeping “bedroom love” in the context of a marriage relationship.

And we say, Why not?

We’ve been a pair for several years now, in fact, ever since we were baby dykes. For the last three years, we’ve lived together in a Boston marriage. Gay marriage is legal in the State of California. So we are ready for our special moment at the altar.

Only problem is, our pastor is one of those conservatives. Not uptight or homophobic. Just old-fashioned. So we are thinking we’d best find another Adventist pastor to officiate. Do you have any suggestions?

Sandy & Karen

!!YOUR ANSWERS FROM POWER OF PRIDE - GAY ADVENTIST NEWS!!

Dear Girls,

I can perfectly understand your concerns. You have a fine pastor, but extremely conservative.

If you want to keep attending his church, you may just have to look elsewhere for someone to officiate at your wedding.

PERHAPS SOME COUNTIES DISTANT

Maybe a wedding in the Loma Linda area would be advisable — still in California, but some distance away from your home church.

Loma Linda University (LLU) is a Seventh-day Adventist educational health-sciences institution http://www.llu.edu/llu/about.html

Loma Linda University Center for Christian Bioethics

This prestigious Adventist university has a center for Christian ethics. One of the key players at the center is David Larson, DMin, PhD. http://www.llu.edu/llu/bioethics/

He’s also a professor in the School of Religion there http://www.llu.edu/llu/faculty/directory/faculty.html?uid=dlarson, and I think you will find his brand of religion very much to your liking!

While the professor has a few quirks:

BONDAGE, GAYS, AND “NEEDLESS PAIN”

“On the one hand, we have developed institutional patterns that needlessly hurt homosexual men and women. On the other hand, we relish the many ways they enrich our lives. In this sense, they are OUR SLAVES.” (David R. Larson, Comment of 01 January 2008 at 3:28, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/collegiate/
2007/12/27/gay_theology_without_apology)

SOLIDLY IN FAVOR OF EQUALITY FOR GAY UNIONS

He fights for equal rights for gays (at least for those who are not slaves, see above):

“If it were up to me, we would use the same term for both heterosexual and homosexual unions but it would be “domestic partnership” rather than “marriage.” This would put both on an equal footing in legal word and deed” (David Larson, Words Matter: The California Supreme Court on “Straight Marriages” and “Gay Domestic Partnerships”, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/node/699)

MODERN ADVENTIST THEOLOGY

You may be thinking this is all too good to be true. Well, think again!

David R. Larson is a Seventh-day Adventist minister and professor of Christian ethics at Loma Linda University
http://www.spectrummagazine.org/reviews/film/2007/10/19/does_bible_condemn_homosexuality_look_bible_tells_me_so

Sure he’s a top professor at the leading Adventist university. And of course he’s an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister. But he’s also a member of the Community:

This movie is not about them. It is about the rest of us. It is about how we straight—or pretending-to-be-straight—Christians (David R. Larson, David R. Larson Reviews For The Bible Tells Me So, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/reviews/film/2007/10/19/does_bible_condemn_homosexuality
_look_bible_tells_me_so)

On the other hand, if you expect a large number of guests from the Sacramento area, you may wish to consult an expert closer to home.

PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR AND SOUGHT-AFTER GUEST AT GAY WEDDINGS

“Last week I attended the wedding of two Christians lesbian friends (one with an M.Div) who have been together for 14 years. Their legal marriage was such a meaningful ceremony for them and their family and friends gathered around. Tears, laugher, memories and prayers shared - having lived in places where folks don’t know out LGBT Christians I understand the hesitation and worry about the future”

Posted by: Alexander Carpenter | 05 August 2008 at 10:02
www.spectrummagazine.org/blog/2008/08/05/
why_everyone_should_oppose_samesex_marriage

PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE: BIBLE TEXTS AGAINST GAYNESS DON’T APPLY TODAY

Dr. Carpenter has been on the faculty at Pacific Union College since 2008. http://www.puc.edu/academics/departments/visual-arts/faculty/visual-arts/acarpenter

“Pacific Union College is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a world-wide Christian community that runs one of the world’s largest Protestant school systems. The college is owned, operated and subsidized by the regional division of the Adventist Church, the Pacific Union Conference.” http://www.puc.edu/about-puc/about-our-adventist-faith

Someone who doesn’t trouble you with a lot of anti-gay Bible texts. Because he really doesn’t take the Bible seriously:

The biblical writers knew nothing of sexual orientations, mutual erotic relationships, or sexuality as the expression of a passion for equality. Our world is not their world; and theirs is not ours—and as a woman, I have to say, “Thank Goodness” to that. If the Bible really is, as some have argued, America’s iconic book, it becomes especially important to examine the values this icon encodes. The natural submission of women and the natural domination of men might not be the values most of us would like to see America emulate; yet, it is precisely those values that lie behind the very little the Bible does say about homoeroticism. In a very real way, to stand with the Bible in its rejection of same-sex erotic acts is also to stand with the Bible in its adherence to misogyny—and hatred of women is not a cultural value I will ever claim should be normative for contemporary culture, including Christian culture.
Posted by: Alexander Carpenter | 16 June 2008 at 8:06, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/blog/2008/06/16/why_adventists_should_consider_supporting_gay_marriage

Just face it. Many in the Community find the anti-gay Bible texts to be a burden.

KETTERING COLLEGE OF MEDICAL ARTS: THE BIBLE IS A BURDEN

“The Bible is at once a revelation and a…burden.” (Charles Scriven, Comment of 30 June 2008 at 5:38, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/podcast/2008/06/24/test)

“Charles Scriven is president of Kettering College of the Medical Arts and chairs the Adventist Forum/SPECTRUM board.” (Alexander Carpenter, Reconstructing Seventh-day Adventism - Charles Scriven, 26 June 2008, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/podcast/2008/06/24/test)

“Owned and operated by Kettering Medical Center, KCMA is an integral part of the educational mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” http://www.kcma.edu/AboutUs/sdaInfo.html

JUST A SHORT TRIP AWAY FROM A TOP EXPERT

Yes, girls, you are located just 77 miles away from a true oasis of tolerance (if you travel through Winters).

Make the drive, and you will find one of the top experts on sapphism in the whole world!

Prof serves on the faculty, imparting his unique wisdom to the coming generation.

Ask for him by name, and either he will officiate at your wedding, or recommend an Adventist pastor who will!

Good luck girls!

pix:

http://www.eadventist.net/orgphoto/ANPIN6.jpg
http://www.stateuniversity.com/assets/logo/image/5222/large/UniversityCampus.jpg
http://religiousfreaks.com/UserFiles/Image/gay.christian.flag.gif
http://www.topnews.in/law/files/gay_marriage_large.jpg
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http://www.stateuniversity.com/assets/logo/image/3554/large/PUC-med.jpg

Dear Power of Pride,

REAL STORIES AND IN-DEPTH JOURNALISM

This is just a public way of expressing our thanks to Union College, The Clocktower, and Savannah Bowers.

The student body at Union College turns to The Clocktower when we need news and views about the tough issues of our day. Not that sugar-coated PR-style chit-chat you can read on the “official” website.

CRASS INGRATITUDE

Sadly, there are some students at Union who are complaining about Savannah’s hard-hitting investigative pieces. Savannah is not paid for her work at The Clocktower, and I think she’s doing a great job of building Community at Union!

Flash

!! Your Answers!!

Dear Adventist Scholar,

JUST TALKING ABOUT STUDENT INTERESTS

The fact is, The Clocktower would not exist at all were there not local news to report and were there not a demand for news of interest mostly to people at Union College. For otherwise, people could make do with worldly newspapers like the JournalStar.

If you want to know what’s on the mind of Union College students, you need only peruse the pages of The Clocktower.

Strangely, not everyone on campus is pleased with this powerful dose of reality.

UNION COLLEGE PAPER: WHY NOT MJ?

“Firstly, was the article featured in the most recent issue regarding legalization of marijuana necessary or representative of what we believe as Christians? I left a state school that promoted a drug and alcohol-centered lifestyle. Here, I pay for and expect to not have to be exposed to such worldly influences. While I understand the dangers of censorship, (and would be outraged over any form of censorship,) I am of the opinion that the choice to publish such an article makes evident that the writing priorities within the Clocktower staff are not Christian priorities. Is this something that should be given some thought or perhaps be discussed with the editorial staff by school administration? I know I would feel much more comfortable if this occurred.” (Ellen Hansen, Letter to the Editor - Is the CT Lacking Christian Priorities?, The Clocktower, 14 Nov 2008, p. 7)

THE DRUG BUSINESS

They may argue that MJ is a drug, well, hey, so is caffeine:

“Caffeine is a bitter white crystalline xanthine that acts as a psychoactive stimulant drug” (Caffeine, Wikipedia)

ADVENTIST INSTITUTION PUSHES POPULAR DRUG

This drug/stimulant is widely consumed:

“In humans, caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, having the effect of temporarily warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness. Beverages containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks enjoy great popularity. Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike most others, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions. In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily.” (Caffeine, Wikipedia)

According to the Prophet Ellen White:

“Tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol we must present as sinful indulgences.” (Ellen White, Lifestyle and Activities of the Remnant, Last Day Events, page 81)

ENTRY-LEVEL DRUG

For many, caffeine is the entry-level drug. Its a milder stimulant. “Yet so insidious is the work of these milder stimulants that the highway to drunkenness is entered before the victim suspects his danger.” (Ellen White, Counsels for the Church, page 102)

While at least one Adventist university actively advertises “Coffee to Go”, some Adventists think there’s a difference between caffeine-sugar drinks and caffeine-coffee drinks.

ALL THE SAME

The Lord has a different counsel:

“Effects of All Caffeine Drinks.–The action of coffee and many other popular drinks is similar. The first effect is exhilarating. The nerves of the stomach are excited; these convey irritation to the brain, and this in turn is aroused to impart increased action to the heart, and short-lived energy to the entire system. Fatigue is forgotten; the strength seems to be increased. The intellect is aroused, the imagination becomes more vivid.” –The Ministry of Healing, page 326. (Ellen White, Section IV - Other Stimulants and Narcotics, Temperance, p. 77)

The Union College student newspaper illustrates Ms. Bowers’ outstanding article with the chart at right. Savannah Bowers points out that some drugs, like alcohol, sugar, and caffeine, are legal. In fact, Adventist colleges push sugar and caffeine. And if they’re all legal, how is MJ any different?

Sister White agrees. Whether we’re talking caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or MJ, its all the same!

“To use drugs while continuing evil habits is certainly inconsistent, and greatly dishonors God by dishonoring the body which he has made. Yet for all this, stimulants and drugs continue to be prescribed and freely used; while the hurtful indulgences that produce the disease are not discarded. The use of tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, wine, beer, and other stimulants gives nature a false support.” (Ellen White, Chapter XXXVI. - Drugs, Healthful Living, page 247)

WHY NOT A FULL-SPECTRUM “HEALTH MINISTRY”?

Its really doesn’t make any difference. If the college is going to sell caffeine-based stimulants to the students, they might as well stock “healing herbs” as well.

After all,

“The effect of tea and coffee, as heretofore shown, tends in the same direction as that of wine and cider, liquor and tobacco.” (Ellen White, Effects of Stimulants, Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, page 34)

Savannah Bowers has done an excellent job of pointing the bony finger of reproof at this double standard.

“God’s Chosen Instrument–Luther was God’s chosen instrument to tear off the garb of hypocrisy from the papal church and expose her corruption. He raised his voice zealously, and in the power of the Holy Spirit cried out against and rebuked the existing sins of the leaders of the people.” –Ellen White, 1T 372.

Savannah Bowers is a modern-day Luther. Christians around the globe need to band together in prayer for her godly work, praying that she will proclaim the Holy Word of the Lord with boldness.

Pix:

Newspaper illustrations from The Clocktower.

Outlook, Feb 2008

The Reuters headline reads:

Wall Street bets on stimulus after job cuts

and all of a sudden the worrying thought occurs to me: Are we rewarding job cuts? Is it that corporations are learning that, if they’ll go on and cut enough jobs so that people believe in the reality of an economic crisis, the government will then come along and then give them lots of money?

Are we encouraging corporations to kick people to the curb?

Everywhere I go tonight, I hear people talking about some kind of plan to “sue per bowl”. Sue per bowl, sue per bowl, sue per bowl!

Stop it already! I’m tired of hearing about your frivolous lawsuits! I don’t care if your kitchenware is defective! You ought to have the decency to just file one lawsuit for all your dishes at once…

…oh, what? A football game? They’re all talking about a football game?

Well that’s even sillier.

U.S. Representative Phil Gingrey got up on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday in order to praise the work of the National Association Management Group.

The sensation I had when I read about the name of the NAMG was like how it feels to look at one of those optical illusions that contain two pictures, depending on the perspective of the viewer - like the one where a woman sitting at her mirror can also be seen as a skull.

Is the National Association Management Group concerned with the management of national associations, or with the national association of management?

Congressman Gingrey said of William Patterson, the Chairman of the National Association Management Group, that his “service has been marked by a dedication to the growth and continued development of the organization while providing steadfast leadership and direction”. So, does that mean that Patterson’s job is to provide leadership and direction to the dedicated development of a group that manages associations?

Well, that makes it more clear.

For a bit of perspective on the revelations from former NSA employee Russell Tice, which corroborate reports from a former AT&T employee about the scope of the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance of the American people, let’s compare it to Watergate.

The NSA spying program makes Watergate look like small potatoes. Watergate was a politcally-motivated break-in to just one office in just one building for just a few files. The National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program, authorized retroactively through the FISA Amendments Act, on the other hand, is a break-in to every home and every office in every building in America. The NSA spying against Americans didn’t just gather a few files - it’s gathered every single file, every single telephone call, every fax, every text message, every bit of information about everywhere we go on the Internet.

The NSA seizure of our private records is not just bigger in scope than Watergate, it’s also much more free of oversight. The Democratic-led Congress in the 1970s responded to Watergate with investigations and hearings that forced Richard Nixon to resign. The Democratic-led Congress in this decade has responded to the NSA program to spy on Americans’ private lives by helping George W. Bush to cover it up, with retroactive immunity granted through the FISA Amendments Act.

Barack Obama voted for the FISA Amendments Act as a senator, and now President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder say that they want to keep the program to spy on our electronic communications without any search warrant, without real congressional oversight, and without any external controls. It’s essentially a resurrection of Total Information Awareness, and yes, Barack Obama supports it.

That’s enough to shake that Obama change loose from your pockets, isn’t it?

So why haven’t you heard more about this? Well, it’s because the story has been forgotten. Why? Well, journalists who have been targeted by the National Security Agency’s spies have become strangely silent about the program. Also, the story about Russell Tice came out last Wednesday, the day after the Obama Inauguration, when almost precisely nobody was paying attention.

This forgotten story is something you need to pay attention to, however, if you care about the future of American freedom. That’s what Chester A. Arthur says in the following video. Why Chester Arthur? Chester Arthur is America’s most forgotten President - who better to warn about the perils of our nation’s short-term memory?

Is David Paterson’s choice of Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton in the U.S Senate a choice for inaction? Given Gillibrand’s enthusiasm for right wing legislation, we can only hope so.

You might think that, with strong Democratic control over Congress and a new Democratic President, Representative Gillibrand would have been enthusiastic to craft legislation in the 111th Congress. So far, however, Gillibrand has not introduced a single bill - not even one to rename a post office somewhere in her district.

Did Paterson want a do-nothing senator representing New York?

One of the consequences of global warming is rising sea levels. There is no rational debate about whether sea levels are rising - this change has been measured worldwide.

At the end of last week, the EPA issued a new report on the likely implications of sea level rise. The report goes into a good amount of detail, making it a useful resource if you’re truly interested in the subject, but not a thrilling read if you’re only casually tracking the issue.

The report confirms that “Rising water levels are already an important factor in submerging low-lying lands, eroding beaches, converting wetlands to open water, and exacerbating coastal flooding.” In comparing the social and environmental costs of trying to preserve current shorelines and managing a retreat to higher ground, the report concludes that attempting to preserve current shorelines will have a lower social and environmental cost in the short run, but will have a higher cost in the long term.

I’ve winced over the last week as I’ve watched colleagues announce, in professional situations, “Well, so much for global warming! Do you know how cold it’s going to be tomorrow?”

They’re reacting, of course, to the strong cold front that has been active in the upper Midwest and East Coast of the United States. These prophets of instaclimate don’t seem to be aware that, at the same time as there’s been a cold front in some parts of the country, the Pacific Coast has had a strong heat wave. What would they suggest, that global warming doesn’t count in the East, but it’s stronger than ever in the West?

It’s uncomfortable to watch people exhibit such sloppy thinking in professional settings, forgetting that global warming is a global, not local, phenomenon, and failing to understand the difference between a day’s weather and changes in climate. Would these people suddenly believe in the reality of global warming again, if only they encountered a hot summer day where they live?

I’d love to send these people to meteorology school, but failing that, I’ll give them the reminder that December was one of the warmest Decembers on record, and 2008 was one of the top ten hottest years ever recorded.

One chilly week of fluxuating weather doesn’t undo the kind of trend that climatologists have been tracking for decades.

It’s become fashionable for big businesses to deride us little itty bitties, but here’s something to keep in mind in terms of business patterns: The big fall big. While the small keep on keeping on.

Irregular Times was here before Circuit City, and now we’re here after Circuit City. That’s a clue to where the true tech staying power lies.

It’s amazing how many people have found ways to apologize for Israel’s white phosphorus attacks against Gaza. White phosphorus is an incendiary weapon, which causes objects it lands upon to catch fire - even burning human flesh.

Now, Israel has been caught in a white phosphorus attack against a United Nations compound. Confronted by the UN after the attack, Israel called it a grave mistake.

A grave mistake? How do you accidentally attack a United Nations compound with an incendiary device?

If this attack truly was a mistake, then it only proves that the Israeli military is completely incompetent, and cannot operate in a manner that is safe to civilians.

Sending such a military to attack a territory thick with civilians, one can expect massive civilian deaths. In such a case, those deaths cannot be called mistakes, because they are sadly predictable.

This is NO COVER to Hamas, which purposefully attacks civilian areas just as Israel does. It’s to point out that neither Hamas nor Israel is in the right.

SELF-HATING GAYS

Even in these modern times of tolerance, some gays are troubled:

“Why are gay men sometimes so horrible, mean and stupid, to me, to everyone and to each other? It seems as though too many of us hate ourselves, really hate ourselves.

Despite all our progress, our gay marriage and Pride parades, too many of us still take self-destructive and foolish risks, too many act as if we think we are worthless pieces of shit.” (Joseph Couture, Gay men need to face self-hate head on, National, 17 November 2008)

A STRUGGLE FOR ACCEPTANCE

“Charles Scriven is president of Kettering College of the Medical Arts and chairs the Adventist Forum/SPECTRUM board.” (Alexander Carpenter, Reconstructing Seventh-day Adventism - Charles Scriven, 26 June 2008, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/
podcast/2008/06/24/test)

“Owned and operated by Kettering Medical Center, KCMA is an integral part of the educational mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” http://www.kcma.edu/AboutUs/sdaInfo.html

His publication has confronted this problem head-on:

There are too many of us who are not sick, or inverted, or perverted, or even “effeminate,” but who just have a knack for falling in love with people of our own sex. When we have been damaged, it has not been due to our homosexuality but to your and our denial of it. The burden of proof now is not on us, to show that we are not sick, but rather on those who insist that we would be better off going back into the closet. source

SELF-HATING ADVENTISTS

Just as in the gay community, the Adventist community includes people who are: “horrible, mean and stupid, to me, to everyone and to each other? It seems as though too many of us hate ourselves, really hate ourselves.”

HATING OTHER ADVENTISTS AND HATING THEMSELVES

We’re talking here about people who can’t stand it when handicapped people attend religious meetings, people who are into gross anti-Semitism directed against a fellow Adventist of Jewish descent, and, needless to say, love to abuse elderly Adventists.

Yes, dear reader, check the links, and you’ll see that just such self-hating Adventists populate Dr. Scriven’s team.

Sure these people get a paycheck from the church. You’d think gratitude would be logical, but no, they call their supervisors “washed up”.

DERISION FOR A PRINCIPLED LIFESTYLE

Consider this graphic from Dr. Scriven’s publication. Its described as a “satirical take on Adventism”. (Jared Wright, Adventist Caricaturist Captures Essence of Adventism,

2 September 2008, http://www.spectrummagazine.org/
node/926)

Satire: “A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.” www.answers.com/topic/satire
There’s nothing funny about not smoking or eating meat. No irony here either. So — its derision!

SELF-HATE IN ACTION

Dr. Scriven’s publication is making fun of the classic Adventist lifestyle.

There are some Adventists who don’t consume alcohol.

In some cases, these Adventists don’t even enjoy smokes, meat eating, movies, or dancing.

And what do these champions of holy living get from Dr. Scriven’s publication? Satire! Derision!

So what does Dr. Scriven think these people should be doing? Partying all the time?

“He says he became a popular figure on the Toronto gay club circuit.

“I thought I was glamorous because I did drugs and partied all the time,” he says. “Everything I did said, ‘Look at me, I’m so cool.’ But what I was really highlighting for everyone to see was what a fucked-up mess I was.”" (Couture, supra)

Dr. Charles Scriven’s website likes to have “cartoon fun”:

Saying what must be said about Revelation Seminars…

Just when you thought that it was safe to come out again, the Adventist Caricaturist returns with another satirical take on Adventism. This time it is a pithy summary of the whole of Adventism.

You can find more Adventist cartoon fun at the Caricaturist’s website. If you’re feeling lucky.
http://www.spectrummagazine.org/node/926

MAKING IT UNSAFE FOR CLOSETED ADVENTISTS TO COME OUT

The self-hating Adventist would really like to come out, and live the life as described by the Great Prophet, but then along comes Dr. Scriven’s publication with its satirical attack on the classic Adventist lifestyle.

Michael De Corte, for example, says he nearly self-destructed before he managed to turn his life around. He grew up in conservative northern Ontario. He was in high school when he came out to his parents. His worst fears were realized.

“My mother’s reaction after I told her I was gay was to tell me that she was afraid friends and family would stop visiting her because they would be scared to use the same toilet seats as me,” he says. “It was particularly devastating to me because I always thought of myself as a mama’s boy and here our relationship was being destroyed. It really hurt.”

De Corte says his self-esteem plummeted as his family and society taught him that gays are bad people.

“What made matters worse was that I lived in constant fear of having the shit kicked out of me at school for being gay,” he says. “It was hell.” (Couture, supra)

Timid Adventists find that their self-esteem plummets as Dr. Scriven’s publication teaches them that strict Adventists are bad people. Those at liberal Adventist schools can come to live in constant fear of persecution for their lifestyle.

AND WHAT IS THE END RESULT OF ALL THIS SELF-HATE?

The insecurities of the self-hating Adventist can have serious consequences.

When he eventually landed in Toronto he brought his small-town ghosts and insecurities along with him.

“I turned to every addiction imaginable for comfort: cocaine, crack, pot, alcohol, cigarettes, food, you name it, I abused it,” he says. (Couture, supra)

SOLUTION

There will always be some self-professed Christians who pour out hate and contempt on those trying to live a holy life. But decent people need to band together against this satanic hate.

The church should be a place where sinners are loved, but also a place where those on the upward path should receive acceptance and encouragement, rather than satire and scorn!

Just say NO to the hate!

MORE ON THIS SINISTER THREAT FROM WITHIN:

Ellen White, Plagiarism, and the Adventist Forum/Scriven Accusations

They Will Never Enter the Kingdom of God

Abomination of Desolation Settles Upon Holy Place

Man of Sin Revealed!! Gross Hatred for the Christian Brother

Graphics:
http://gridskipper.com/assets/resources/2006/06/06192006.3.jpg
http://www.maltagayrights.net/files/gay-flag.jpg
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http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/toiletseat.jpg
http://www.canada25toronto.com/toronto-skyline-photo.gif