How blind salamanders make nonsense of creationists’ claims.
By Christopher Hitchens
It is extremely seldom that one has the opportunity to think a new thought about a familiar subject, let alone an original thought on a contested subject, so when I had a moment of eureka a few nights ago, my very first instinct was to distrust my very first instinct. To phrase it briefly, I was watching the astonishing TV series Planet Earth (which, by the way, contains photography of the natural world of a sort that redefines the art) and had come to the segment that deals with life underground. The subterranean caverns and rivers of our world are one of the last unexplored frontiers, and the sheer extent of the discoveries, in Mexico and Indonesia particularly, is quite enough to stagger the mind. Various creatures were found doing their thing far away from the light, and as they were caught by the camera, I noticed—in particular of the salamanders—that they had typical faces. In other words, they had mouths and muzzles and eyes arranged in the same way as most animals. Except that the eyes were denoted only by little concavities or indentations. Even as I was grasping the implications of this, the fine voice of Sir David Attenborough was telling me how many millions of years it had taken for these denizens of the underworld to lose the eyes they had once possessed.
If you follow the continuing argument between the advocates of Darwin’s natural selection theory and the partisans of creationism or “intelligent design,” you will instantly see what I am driving at. The creationists (to give them their proper name and to deny them their annoying annexation of the word intelligent) invariably speak of the eye in hushed tones. How, they demand to know, can such a sophisticated organ have gone through clumsy evolutionary stages in order to reach its current magnificence and versatility? The problem was best phrased by Darwin himself, in his essay “Organs of Extreme Perfection and Complication”:
O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity on accused church shooter’s reading list.
“Adkisson told Still that ‘he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office.’
“Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because ‘he expected to be killed during the assault.’
“Inside the house, officers found ‘Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder’ by radio talk show host Michael Savage, ‘Let Freedom Ring’ by talk show host Sean Hannity, and ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.” http://rawstory.com/news/2008/OReilly_Savage_Hannity_on_accused_church_0728.html
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Seems the shooter took Savage to heart. Too bad this idiot didn’t take a good look in the mirror. I doubt this will be the last time some moron takes his RR views too seriously and decides to shoot people. Thank God no children were shot.
The word of God makes it clear to us that abortion is not a sin. In fact it’s quite clear that to believe otherwise is nothing short of idolatry and blasphemy, and those are, quite definitely, sins.
Psalm 139 and the Beginning of Life
One of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible is Psalms 139. It speaks of God’s constant, practically doting, love for his creation. It is distressing to see this chapter used by anti-abortionists as proof that life begins at conception. If you read the chapter in its entirety it becomes clear that our existence begins in the mind of God and that God’s attentions follow us all of our days, through good and bad. Here are the verses that anti-abortionists use to twist this beautiful chapter to a common political tool:
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalms 139:13-16
These verses are used to prove that human life begins at conception. But there is nothing here to even suggest that. God conceives of us first. We read that a blueprint, of sorts, exists in a book, God’s book. Before we are born God uses this to form our bodies. Nowhere here does this describe anything but the making of the human form. Nowhere here does it describe how we are imbued with a human soul. But there are numerous other places in the Bible where God makes it quite clear when and how we become a living being and not just an “imperfect substance” as mentioned in Psalms 139.
Consider first, Genesis 2:7,
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
First, God forms Adam, he forms of dust, a flesh and blood body. SECOND, he “breathes into his nostrils the breath of life” and THEN man became a living soul. Man did not become a living soul when God first formed the IDEA of creating Adam, in Genesis 1:26. Man did not become a living soul when God created his BODY. Not until God gave man his first BREATH did he become a living soul. Life comes from God. It does not come from human conception. To believe that the entry of a sperm into an egg constitutes a human soul is blasphemy. To believe this is to eject God from the mystery of birth and put the power of the male ejaculation above the generative power of God. It is nothing less than idolatry, elevating the status of mere man, his sperm and his ejaculation above the power of God to give life.
The verses in Genesis are not the only verses in the Bible to make this clear. Consider Job 33:4
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Consider the story of Ezekial and the dry bones, Ezekial 37:1-6,
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” Again he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause BREATH TO ENTER YOU, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and PUT BREATH IN YOU, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ (emphases mine)
Just like Adam, who had a body before he had a soul, like every fetus in the womb, these dry bones were given sinew, flesh and skin, and AFTER they received the body GOD breathed into them and THEN they became alive. And, as in the verses above, because of that we “know that [God] is the Lord.” Only God can bestow life and he tells us again and again in his word how this is done.
There is no trickery here. God does not breathe through an umbilical cord. We receive the breath of life, from God, through the nostrils, when we take our first breath. The concept of life beginning at birth, rather than conception, is so central to Christianity that we are “born again,” not “conceived again.”
Psalm 139 and the Beginning of Life
Why doesn’t the Bible say anything directly about abortion? Why didn’t Jesus dedicate his crusade against the practice as many of his modern day followers have? Did women have abortions in Biblical times? Yes. The Bible tells us so. Many anti-abortionists feel that the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” covers the abortion issue. But in Mosaic law God covers the exceptions to this law, indicating quite clearly who may be killed and for what offense. For instance, if a man or woman has sex with an animal or commits adultery they must be killed. Does “Thou shalt not kill” apply to abortion? No. Miscarriage or abortion is an exception. Let’s look at Exodus 21:22
“When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
In this instance a woman has been so injured, in a fight between two men, that she has aborted. The law states that if “no harm follows” the outsider must pay the husband a fine. An abortion has been induced through violence and this is not considered harmful. Abortion, then, is not a capital offense or a violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Does anyone know where in the Bible a prophet of God calls upon God to induce abortions in the wives of his enemies? Let’s look at Hosea 9:14.
Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb (an abortion) and dry breasts.
And later,
…yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
Hosea 9:16
In this case God causes abortions, the prophet prays that these women will abort. If these are truly innocent children, how could God do this? But they are not, they are “miscarrying wombs,” “unperfect substances” and God will prevent them from becoming human souls that will grow up to oppress his people.
What if Mary had Decided to Abort Jesus?
Many people are surprised to learn that God gave Mary a choice concerning her pregnancy with the future Savior. In the gospel of Luke the angel came to her announcing what the will of God was for her life. In verse 1:38 Mary replies, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Mary gives her assent. To believe that Mary had no voice in the process is unthinkable, for that would mean that God forced Himself on (raped) an unwed, teenaged virgin. Mary chose to be the mother of our Savior. God honored her ability to make that choice.
Conclusion
Abortion is not a sin, though blasphemy and idolatry are. To say that human copulation (which the Bible calls unclean) has the power to bestow life is blasphemy. No mere act of man can negate the fact that only God bestows life, by giving the fully formed body, breath. Asserting that human life begins at conception is counter to the claims of the word of God and is a sin. It is doubly a sin because this debased belief leads others to sin. Those that kill clinic workers, harass clients and attempt to legislate this wayward belief lead innocent believers down a road to murder and depravity.
Follow the example of Jesus, let those that want Christ come to you. Do not force the grace of God on anyone. God has the power, not only to give life, but to save. As Paul says in Galatians 2:21,
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Wind power is responsible for a LOT of CO2 emissions!
The Brits have a goal of getting 30% of their electricity from the wind in 12 years. But the wind is not reliable. A backup will be needed. Which led to a study headed by James Oswald, an engineering consultant and former head of research and development at Rolls Royce Turbines.
He said: “Wind power does not obviate the need for fossil fuel plants, which will continue to be indispensable. The problem is that wind power volatility requires fossil fuel plant to be switched on and off, which damages them and means that even more plants will have to be built. Carbon savings will be less than expected, because cheaper, less efficient plant will be used to support these wind power fluctuations. Neither these extra costs nor the increased carbon production are being taken into account in the government figures for wind power.”
Lewis Page of the Register interviewed Oswald. Page wrote: “The trouble is, according to Oswald, that human demand variance is predictable and smooth compared to wind output variance. Coping with the sudden ups and downs of wind is going to mean a lot more gas turbines - ones which will be thrashed especially hard as wind output surges up and down, and which will be fired up for less of the time.”
Every generation wants to save the world from some calamity, usually depicted as karma for man’s sin. The nature of the sin varies - Sodom and Gomorrah had no SUVs - but the call is the same: Repent and sin no more and save the world.
The speed of the wind does not determine the output of the wind turbines… They turn at the same rate of speed, regardless of the wind speed… Wind is always moving somewhere, even at low speeds… And those great gentle giants always turn at their appointed speed…
The latest models supposedly can start at about 5 miles per hour wind speed, but most start at around 8 miles per hour, though it is debatable whether a really useful amount of energy can be generated at these low speeds.
The turbines also need a very large electrical ‘kick-start’ from the National Grid to get them into action, and a large amount of power is also required to brake them when the wind speed hits around 50-55 miles per hour, which is their upper safety limit.
We may never exhaust our need for fossil fuels… But, we can sure as shootin cut WAY back on our dependency level… WIND power is but one alternative… And it WILL happen!! And it wont take 10+ years to get it online!!
I am very knowledgeable about power generation. Do you really want to start with me?
Wind turbines cannot exist without a power grid that has a source of regulated power. The reason that wind turbines turn at the same speed regardless of wind velocity is because they are syncronized with the grid.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5
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40 million babies plus aborted in this country. Holocaust.
MonkeyHawk is, of course, very wrong. His words,(or as Regular points out, actually the words he plagiarized) are deceptive twistings of God’s word. To take the advice of someone like him, to whom political ends justify any and all means is perilous.
Many, many mothers who have chosen to abort have gone on to regret deeply their decision. Because they know in their hearts and through God’s word, as shown above, the truth about the humanity of the precious life they are carrying in their body.
As usual, Regular misses the point, errrr, attempts to poison the well….
The point is not how much wind it takes to turn the turbines… very minimal…. The point is that the turbines do not increase their speed regardless of whether the wind is 5 mph, or 45 mph…
And why would the grid turn them off??? Well, because peak usage drops for such things as night use… and other factors…
The speed of the wind does not determine the output of the wind turbines
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I didn’t miss the point Chas, I added information that wind speed is indeed important.
Apologizing for your lack of clarity again Chas. You appear to do that a lot.
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Chas
Posted July 29, 2008 at 7:38 am | Permalink
Still you continue to miss the point….
Wind speed is NOT important as to the turning of the Turbines… Their speed remains the same, regardless of wind speed!!
Can you comprehend the difference??? Geez!! You are off to an early start!!
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Evidently wind speed is important to wind turbines as they have a minimum and maximum speed.
As indicated in the term “Wind” Turbine, the transfer of energy potential is dependent on available wind and the requirement to meet min and max wind conditions.
Building a wind turbine on a plateau near a mountain range may not be a good idea if there are continual gusts of greater than 50 mph.
Face it Chas, you have a ability to try to dispute what other posters post, because you cannot stand being left on the sidelines with the other Liberal airheads picking their collective noses.
Progressives in Virginia Not High on Gov. Tim Kaine: Top Obama Veep Prospect
Several reports are circulating that Gov. Kaine (is) ‘very, very high’ on VP shortlist. This makes some sense. Kaine is a moderate to liberal Catholic from an important swing state, he speaks Spanish and was a civil rights lawyer. But we haven’t heard much about him as a Governor.
So we checked in with our old friends at Raising Kaine to see what his former progressive backers thought of the Governor they helped to elect. We found this, not very encouraging post,: We Won’t Get ‘Kained’ Again
Three years into the Kaine Administration, Virginia Progressives stand aghast at what it has become. From his repeal of the estate tax to his abandoned plan for universal Pre-K, to his opposition to embryonic stem cells, from his failed transportation plans to cozy relationship to Dominion Power and his reprehensible support of the Wise Coal Plant, the Kaine administration has fulfilled our every early fear and never failed to disappoint progressive Virginia.
In order to become the powerful and vital leading force for Democratic politics in the 21st century, the backbone of an enduring Democratic majority, Progressivism needs leaders who are regularly willing to take a critical, principled stand. This is why the RK community never fails to denounce the failed positions of even our most dogged champions.
Personally, I’d still prefer a known national player like Sen. Joe Biden–but it is Sen. Obama’s call.
“Evidently wind speed is important to wind turbines as they have a minimum and maximum speed.”
THAT is the very point I am arguing with you on… The wind turbines turn at the same speed regardless of WIND speed… Well, with the exception of going from stopped, to moving… Once turning, their speed is a constant… Please dont start nit picking so damned early…
“Building a wind turbine on a plateau near a mountain range may not be a good idea if there are continual gusts of greater than 50 mph.” [Regular]
THAT is a total moot point… total nonsense… no company would put a wind generator in such a location… Your illogical crap might work in some places… but not here… So, just stop trying to build up something that you can tear down, when it isnt an issue to start with!!
Anybody here ever been to visit a “company” town?? Company store… Company businesses… Company housing… Company schools… Company everything… Miners who hardly have a pot to pee in, and barely a window to throw it out of… Horrid living and working conditions… Families who have 4 and 5 generations of miners in one family… Fierce loyalty… Even to the company that OWNS them, lock, stock, and barrel!!
And they live in constant fear and danger of hearing the awful sound of the mine whistle, signaling a collapsed shaft…
It is a sight I have no desire to re-visit anytime soon… However, such is what it takes to produce the coal, for the hundreds of coal fired power plants… to provide power to our nation…
Thousands of people, living in dead end towns, owned by the Company, working in dead end jobs, all headed for the same grave yard… some earlier than others…
We have new and better alternatives to such living/working conditions… All we need do is reach out, and run with it!!
With your mentally ill fellow travelers deciding to kill the “liberal” straw men your side of the aisle has created… perhaps it is time to cool your dehumanizing of people you disagree with.
Please stop whipping up your hatred and insults of “liberals.” It is so unbecoming and cheap. It hurts America.
“It will be interesting to see how his proposed wind energy plan can put Kansans in the position of helping break our dependency on imported oil.” — David B
America’s electrical system does not run on imported oil.
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country — if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who is running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
11. The Wichita Eagle is read by people who recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it.
Bebe is correct, of course. Less than 2% of US electricity is from burning oil. It used to be much greater, but it was replaced by coal. Coal! Now there’s a hightech solution!
The wind energy plan is just part of a comprehensive energy strategy to help free America from the many problems that fossil fuels are creating.
Pickens points out that 70% of the oil goes to transportation. He wants to convert much of the American fleet to run on compressed natural gas. The natural gas is now largely used for generating electricity. A conversion to wind generated electrical power will free you that natural gas to use in transportation.
I had not realized the point here was scoring zings. Now I better understand this blog’s psychology.
With all due respect, I’m not sure you’re smart enough to talk about wind turbines.
Wind is very important. Wind Turbine. Wind. I answered the constant speed question, it has nothing to do with the wind, everything to do with the frequency on the grid.
It takes a minimum amount of wind to turn the turbine. The minimum amount to make the turbine economically feasible is even more. It is based on two things, minimum velocity and the percentage time of the day and season that the minimum velocity is available.
The energy available in the wind that can be turned into power increases exponentialy with an increase in velocity. The amount of power generated is exponentially proportional to the velocity of the wind.
The maximum velocity of the wind the turbine can handle is based, not only, on the mechanical limits of the turbine, but also, on the maximun electrical power output the generator can handle.
Wind turbines have to sync with the grid. The grid has to be able to handle a power source that is highly variable and unreliable as the wind turbines are. Wind turbines will never be able to reliably provide more than a very small percentage of the power needed on the grid.
God I’m no expert on all the wind stuff, and once i start reading into the real nuts and bolts on the matter, my eyes gloss over.
I think …if i’m not mistaken, that energy by wind is produced by the friction of the metal and magnets spinning around each other. Now, once it is energy, how is it that we cannot store it as we do now with other energy?
I would also think that a series of cogs designed to spin smaller and mroe rapidly (such as the way a watch moves) would be able to increase the output even at a slow turbine speed.
Perhaps that’s something we need to look at…something that relies on natural physics to drive the turbine around and around when there is no wind…think of those ball thingies that when you start one…they go on indefinately…or like how a wind watch powers itself throughout the day.
Remember, I’m absolutely ignorant of this…so if I said something really stupid, please dont hurt me too bad.
The nuclear waste problem is political, not technical. You need to define what you mean by waste. Most of the waste is currently being stored ant the individual power plants because a central location is such a political football.
The highly radioactive spent fuel can be safely processed and stored at a central facility with little or no risk. The other waste, materials left over from maintenace, etc. can be safely disposed of almost anywhere.
All you need to know about wind turbines is that they are subsidized by tthe government. With out government subsidies they would not be attractive to business men like Mr. Pickins.
Nuclear waste management is both technical and political. There is a rather small total amount of very hot high-level waste and a large abount of low-level. Remember, things like contaminated clothing can be considered low-level waste.
All that said I remain pro-nuclear with my ‘twists’ to the idea. Use decommissioned warheads (already classified as waste) as a fuel source. Back-mix with depleted U-238 (also waste) to render useless as weapons grade. This approach would be at least close to “zero net new nuclear waste”.
I’d like to see some reaesrch done in incinerating rags etc with capture of the ash. This could turn a large volume of very low-level material into a smaller volume of high-level. Then make “synthetic obsidian” to contain the radioactive isotopes.
A limited number of sites use wind generated electricity to pump water into holding damns to “store” energy. The hydroelectric generators then run as needed to generate electicity using the stored water.
The number of sites where this is practical and efficient are very limited.
My opinion is that electric cars and home based solar system with the accompanying storage are the way to store wind power. Charge the batteries when wind power is available. Discharge them when wind is not available. That’s years away, of course. Who knows what will happen in the future, but the path now is to go broke and walk.
The importance of the massive environmental crisis for the future of our culture is that it forces upon all of us in urban-industrialized society a terrible, inescapable awareness of how intolerably high the price is of our Baconian power-knowledge. At the very least, all of us must suffer the immediate discomforts of “development blight” (quaint phrase!), the noise, the foul smells, the corrosive anguish of the eyes and throat, the devastation of amenities.
For most people, ecological politicking still seems to reach no further than such issues,
taken up piecemeal as necessity dictates and always with the hope that minor adjustments will serve—like building the airport or freeway somewhere else. But even this superficial sense of the problem can be enough to raise bothersome doubts about the meaning of industrial progress. For once real issues are joined and the easy ecological platitudes evaporate, are not the government and the corporate spokesmen quick to castigate the comfort-and-amenity-conscious citizenry for being Luddites and to warn them that the clock must not be turned back? Suddenly, it becomes a subversion of progress to assert the commonsensible principle that communities exist for the health and enjoyment of those who live in them, not for the convenience of those who drive through them, fly over them, or exploit their real estate for profit. After all, the argument runs, the factories, freeways, and airports must be built somewhere, must they not? The economy depends on them. And so it does. Given the lifestyle demanded by the artificial environment, the economy is bound to
be anti-environmental.
I used to be a heavy supporter of hydrogen powered cars. The caveat I see is this; the GW alarmists complain about CO2 emissions as a green house gas. Water vapor is a much more significant green house gas. If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?
Solar power. They have solar panels that double as roof shingles. Think about all the barns you see outside the city limits. Panel their roofs with solar power and dump the electricity back into the grid.
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ABORTION IS A SIN
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The personhood of the unborn. The Scriptures regularly treat the unborn child as a person under the care of God.
1. The Bible recognizes that a woman is with child even in the first stages of pregnancy. When the virgin Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, an angel made this announcement to her: “[Y]ou will conceive in your womb and bear a son (huios)” (Luke 1:31, NASB). The angel then informed Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child (huios, “son”) in her old age” (Luke 1:36). Scripture makes it clear that in the prenatal phase both Jesus and John the Baptist were recognized as males well before the time of delivery. Moreover, John before birth is recognized as a “baby” (brephos) (Luke 1:41, 44). This translates a Greek word used for children both before and after birth (cf. Acts 7:19). The Bible always recognizes the prenatal phase of life as that of a child and not a mere appendage to the mother’s body to be aborted at will.
Even when pregnancy in Bible times was due to an illicit relationship, the sanctity and value of that life was not questioned. The daughters of Lot willfully became pregnant by incestuous relationships (Genesis 19:36), and Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon after an adulterous relationship initiated by King David (2 Samuel 11:5). In none of these cases are the lives of the unborn considered to be unworthy and requiring an abortion.
2. The Bible recognizes that God is active in the creative process of forming new life. Concerning Leah, the wife of Jacob, Scripture says, “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb…. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son” (Genesis 29:31, 32). When Job compared himself to his servants, he asked, “Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?” (Job 31:15). In pointing out God’s impartiality, Job said He ” ‘shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands’ ” (Job 34:19).
God spoke through Isaiah: ” ‘This is what the Lord says–he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant’ ” (Isaiah 44:2). And again, ” ‘This is what the Lord says–your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things’ ” (v. 24).
David summed it up, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16).
3. The Bible recognizes that God has plans for the unborn child. Only He knows the potential of this new life. When God called Jeremiah to his prophetic ministry, He indicated the ordination was prenatal when He said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). When Zechariah the priest was ministering at the altar of incense, an angel announced that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a son who should be called John. Then it was revealed that God had definite plans for this child. He was to be a forerunner of Jesus (Luke 1:11-17).
4. The Bible recognizes that God is sovereign in all things, including the quality of life of the unborn child. When people reject God, eventually they cheapen human life and make it relative. Some are considered worthy to live; others are considered expendable. Who but God knows whether someone destroyed in the holocaust might not have discovered a cure for cancer. Who but God knows what blessing millions of children killed before birth might have brought to improve the quality of life. When people set themselves up as God to determine if a life is worth living–whether before or after birth–they are usurping the sovereignty of the Creator.
There are also things finite humans cannot understand. God’s ways are above human ways. While today’s medical technology frequently makes it possible to know when impairment exists in unborn children, it is important to remember they are still in God’s love and care (Matthew 19:14-15).
The killing of innocent persons. God’s Word is very explicit concerning the taking of innocent human life. “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) is not only one of the Ten Commandments, but also a moral imperative that recurs throughout Scripture (cf. Matthew 19:18; Romans 13:9).
God inspired Moses to include in the Scriptures a law that brings the sanctity of the lives of unborn children into focus. “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Exodus 21:22-24).
It should be noted that the value of the life of both the mother and the child is such that even if there is no critical and lasting harm to either, the responsible party must be fined. However, if either the mother or the premature child is seriously injured or dies, then the severe penalties of the law are to be applied, possibly in this case those having to do with manslaughter (Exodus 21:13; Numbers 35:22-25). It is clear that the life of the unborn child is precious, and even a non-premeditated injury inflicted on the unborn is a serious crime.
God’s attitude toward the killing of innocents is clear. No one is guiltless who takes the life of another, with the possible scriptural exceptions of capital punishment administered by a system of justice (Genesis 9:6; Numbers 35:12), unintended killing in self-defense (Exodus 22:2), or deaths occasioned by duly constituted police and war powers (Romans 13:4-5).
John Calvin expressed the horror of abortion in commenting on Exodus 21:22,23: “The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of his mother, is already a human being, and it is a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light.”3
The nuclear waste issue is largely a matter of the Not In My Backyard complaint. The designated Yucca Mountain site was approved for go ahead by Bush Senior in 2002. But safety questions remain.
This is a worldwide problem. No one has satisfactorily solved the issue of safely storing material that will be dangerous for thousands of years. Ground water likes to seep everywhere and carry off contamination.
Even the Europeans still store waste in above ground “temporary” storage sites.
This is not an insignificant problem.
With wind available, why open this can of worms?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not offer guidance on long term nuclear storage.
“If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?”
NO. The dynamics of the water cycle are vastly different from those of the carbon cycle. My big problem with “hydrogen power” is where to get the hydrogen. It is like electricity - a medium for energy rather than a source. That said; it could be interesting in conjunction with wind or nuclear.
“40 million babies plus aborted in this country. Holocaust.”
Abortion is a part of nature. It exists when the mothers life is in danger or when the mother does not have the natural resources to care for an or another offspring.
I fully expect to see Outlander and others advocating for more economic and social welfare. Until then? Their opposition to a womans right to choose is hypocrisy.
Face it. Church Shooter Jim Adkisson is a right-wing jihadist. His holy books: “The O’Reilly Factor,” by Bill O’Reilly; “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder,” by Michael Savage; and “Let Freedom Ring,” by Sean Hannity.
SolDevVB
Posted July 29, 2008 at 10:52 am | Permalink
Solar power. They have solar panels that double as roof shingles. Think about all the barns you see outside the city limits. Panel their roofs with solar power and dump the electricity back into the grid.
I like it. Add in roofs inside the city and perhaps even my car (plug-in hybrid).
With some ingenuity we could ‘nickle-dime’ the energy situation down to size.
“I used to be a heavy supporter of hydrogen powered cars. The caveat I see is this; the GW alarmists complain about CO2 emissions as a green house gas. Water vapor is a much more significant green house gas. If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?” — Sol
Now that’s a hard one. If the hydrogen comes from water, it’s a wash. If it comes from methane, then you’d gain water but lose methane but add co2 (probably?) Don’t worry about it. The fuel would at least burn clean, and no nitrogen or sulfur compounds would be added to the atmosphere.
Now what about solar panels intercepting God’s good sun, and triggering a new ice age?
President Bush inherited a $100 billion budget surplus upon taking office. He’ll leave his successor with a $480 billion deficit. The latter figure doe not include funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, which are tabulated “off the books.”
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
* TN: Angry over not finding a job and hatred for the liberal movement, Jim Adkisson, 58, used a shotgun he purchased at a pawn shop, and walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church where he shot and killed two adults, and wounded seven others before being tackled by church members.
* IL: Two men were killed in a drive-by shooting on Chicago’s Northwest Side early Monday morning.
* MN: Two men were shot to death in a bloody weekend in north Minneapolis, one as the result of a fatal encounter outside a bar that has seen two other killings in the past year and a half.
* NY: Shawn R. Wolf, 19, shot and killed Kari A. Gorman, 18, his girlfriend of eight months then drove to a Youngstown cemetery where his father is buried and shot himself.
* IA: Lacrissa Davis, 27, was shot and killed at the convenience store where she worked; her boyfriend said he would kill her if she went to work. A police shootout and a high speed chase where the suspect stole a squad car resulted in the man fatally shooting himself.
* TN: Nearly six weeks have passed since Alicia Garcia’s estranged husband walked into an Old Hickory salon and shot her five times before using the final bullet to kill himself. The couple was in the midst of a divorce after a rocky five-year marriage, and Alicia Garcia already had a court order to protect herself and their two sons, Michael, 5, and Gabriel, 3.
* FL: Levi Dixon Jr., 17, was shot to death at a friend’s house in Tampa. He was alone at a friend’s housewhen someone kicked in the door and shot him.
* TX: Christopher Lee Heck, 21, fatally shot his mother’s boyfriend during his own birthday party and is in jail. A fight started when Donald Lee Cates, 36, punched Heck in the mouth, breaking one of his teeth. Mr. Heck took a pistol from inside the house, confronted Mr. Cates and shot him multiple times in the chest and head.
* NY: Joscelyn Francis, 27, and the father of three children, went to a barbecue and asked “the wrong” girl to dance. After some kind of an encounter he left the party when an angry gunman shot Francis execution-style in the head.
* AZ: A 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg and a man lost his hand after two parties in south Phoenix parties became violent on Saturday night.
This is the hate speech I was talking about yesterday–the kind that leads to terrorism like we recently saw.
“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals.
Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.” — Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95.
See Nathan, your post earlier is combining logic with bible. you can’t do that. What the bible says…what the translation said…what one believes currently…and the differences between the religions are all separate things. you can’t move between logical discussion on abortion and biblical discussion on abortion because the two do not mix. So since you posted that long post, I’ll address you biblical belief that abortion is wrong…which you’re certainly entitled to that opinion but remember it is a RELIGIOUS opinion not based upon fact.
And the difference between this shooting and the other Church shootings….this time the guy wasn’t a fundy shooting up other fundies as it usually is. That’ll be a good comparison for when one asks why there is so much black on black crime….why is there so much Christian Fundy on Christian Fundy crime.
Anywho…
1. Nathan….”is going to have a child ”
in other words…WILL have, is not currently.
Luke 1 refers the quickening..and for a good many years the Christians believed that was when a fetus became ‘life’ if you recall. Acts discusses casting out babes…children. Not preborn. Note that in both of those citations, the actual words weren’t written…just believe that the writer’s interpretation is true.
The second paragraph is disturbing…he calls the relationship ‘illicit’…it was incest. And lets be honest..anyone drunk enough to pass out isn’t going to be able to have sex with his daughters. That was acceptable to God, but oh dear, the rest of the town was to be destroyed? There is so much wrong with how the story of Lot comes about- thats enough right there to make one question the entire validity of the bible. The girls ‘rape’ their father (I bet it was quite the other way around..but hey this was the stone age nearly) and yet Lots wife gets turned to salt for looking back at the city. Yeah right. Evilbible.com.
2. Job was speaking…not god.
And yeah, so we have another immaculate conception with Leah then. Tell me dear, who do you know that just gets pregnant without having sex? So if God plays a role in who gets pregnant, how come no good virgins are getting pregnant today? Tell that to the devout Christians today who beg and plead to become pregnant and it doesn’t happen.
‘who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things’ GOod to know that its God’s fault when the miscarriages happen, and deformed babies, and stillbirths. At least he’s owning up and not trying to scapegoat the responsibility on that Satan guy.
“When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. ” Wow now that’s new…babies can incubate in the earth. Who would have thunk it.
I wonder if anyone ever told him how babies came to be.
3.”He said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5)”
So he’s appointing from the womb one’s destiny…and yet, that scumbag who just blew away two innocent people …whose doing was that? Tell me do you think that God designed hte guys who flew the airplane into the World Trade Center too? That he designed them to do just that? If God puts the design for the human being in when conception occurs, why do you suppose he does that knowing that the woman is so distraught that she finds it important to have an abortion? Why does he allow a raped woman to get pregnant in the first place?
Evilbible.com
4. The Bible recognizes that God is sovereign in all things- There are thousands of incidences of slaying, killings, rapes, and all sorts of bad stuff going on in the bible. So God is responsible for the death and destruction of Millions..but ONE woman decides that she’s not ready to be a mother and she’s suddenly burdened with the world’s morality? I don’t think so.
5.
“There are also things finite humans cannot understand. God’s ways are above human ways. While today’s medical technology frequently makes it possible to know when impairment exists in unborn children, it is important to remember they are still in God’s love and care (Matthew 19:14-15).”
Yeah but you get pretty darn mad at those who say they’re killing on behalf of God….now how do you know they’re not? If they’re in the care of God, then by golly he’s to blame for the pain they endure. How many people commit suicide every YEAR?
“The killing of innocent persons. God’s Word is very explicit concerning the taking of innocent human life. “You shall not murder” ” Unless of course, God commands it of you.
“22And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow; he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine”
THAT is the actual Exodus scripture…that’s a far cry from what the author is trying to say totally. Matter of fact it is completely OPPOSITE of what the writer is trying to portray and supports the belief that the preborn aren’t as valuable. And do we really want to talk about the warm fuzzies coming from that Exodus chapter to begin with?
MH…what is the purpose of posting those out of context incidents? How many of those are gang related shootings, using stolen guns? How many of those are criminals using guns that were illegally smuggled into this country? How many of the involved parties are in this country illegally? How many are already illegally possessing weapons due to prior crimes? How many of these weapons were acquired illegally?
Seems that the postings of these snippets with minimal background information are simply inflammatory, one sided and very poor attempt to indict “something”…tho I am not quite sure what. Are you advocating more gun laws? Like that would stop those who already are breaking the law?
Steve Sills, a Knoxville Police Officer wrote in his report: “Adkisson targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country’s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets.”
Wow. He’s Hank Price and about half a dozen other CON posters here.
I guess the best thing to do then…is you can have whatever biblical belief that you wish to have. If you believe that abortion is wrong..don’t have one.
CapnAmerica
Posted July 29, 2008 at 1:49 pm | Permalink
This is the hate speech I was talking about yesterday–the kind that leads to terrorism like we recently saw.
“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals.
Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.” — Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95.
——
Post more Capn’A!! That’s hilarious…Oh and why not post some Bill Mahr(sp?) hate quotes…you know, for equal time.
Sorry, capn…I don’t take orders from you. I will post when/what I please..regardless of your desires.
Cheap shots? An accusation of cheap shots from the king of cheap shots? Man..that is either a compliment or the ultimate case of the pot calling the kettle black..not sure which one.
Attacks on liberal talk radio stations and their hosts are not a new thing. …a gunman fired a shot through a window at the studios of KPFT, Houston’s, Pacifica station narrowly missing a DJ who was hosting music show at the time.
This is not the first politically motivated attack on KPFT. More than 35 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan blew up the station’s transmitters twice within the Houston station’s first year on the air.
Also, shortly after AAR morning talk show host Thom Hartmann, started doing talk radio (about four years ago), he was told by auto mechanic that there were several bullet holes in his car.
“To this day I don’t know if somebody shot out my car as kids joyriding with a pistol or rifle… or was a warning or statement of displeasure about my radio show,” Hartmann told TR.
Talk show host, Tom Leykis, who known to express liberal views on his daily “hot talk show” was assaulted outside a Seattle bar three years ago by agitated radio listeners.
…Stephanie Miller received a death threat from a nut case in Ohio named “Sock” Sokolowski. Here’s what the letter said in part.
“As with Cindy Sheehan the best thing that could happen to you would be seeing some WONDERFUL activist sticking an AK-47 up your Glory Holes and sending you into eternity” —
I want to make a special plea to you who live here in Wichita, specifically USD259 school district. I attended the school board meeting last night so I could hear the actual words spoken instead of the interpretation of the newspaper.
I am so disappointed! All of us should be. And, it has to do with a culture that is being encouraged more than the fact they want us to approve a bond issue to spend $350 million on our schools.
This culture has to do with our public schools generating specifically skilled workers. Test scores are down and maybe that fosters an attitude of, “we may as well train them for the workforce, they don’t know much else.” They seem to have given up on providing a well-rounded high school education that would prepare people for whatever they may choose to do after that — technical training, college, job… The mentality of our educational leaders seems to be heading toward mass mediocrity.
Don’t let the word “technical” fool you! The technical upgrades at seven high schools and the magnet high school tech ed program means aircraft worker. Our educational leaders are allowing business to rule the roost and they are allowing themselves to appease that master.
We deserve better, our students who are our tomorrow deserve better — we should demand more. But as long as we’re ignorant of what happens to our money, we blissfully stay busy doing other things.
BlueJay
Posted July 29, 2008 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
Ha HA!
Alas CON Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted!
I can’t wait to see that old codger do the frog march!
———–
Don’t hold your breath BJ. We are still waiting for the same from William ‘cold cash’ Jefferson. He was re-elected by the democrat party. Shows you how they view corruption. Or how they view corruption by their own.
Linda I think for once I totally agree with you on something. Throwing money at a problem won’t solve what is wrong with our schools in Wichita.
You are right in thinking that college bound students are being sent to the back of the line. We are catering to the lowest common denominator. Before they get our tax money they need to come up with a plan to decrease the dropout rate and increase the number of students seeking further education after leaving high school.
Hang in there. I think you will have plenty of company if what I heard from others this morning is representative of the voting public.
“…what is the purpose of posting those out of context incidents? How many of those are gang related shootings, using stolen guns? How many of those are criminals using guns that were illegally smuggled into this country? How many of the involved parties are in this country illegally? How many are already illegally possessing weapons due to prior crimes? How many of these weapons were acquired illegally?
“Seems that the postings of these snippets with minimal background information are simply inflammatory, one sided and very poor attempt to indict “something”…tho I am not quite sure what. Are you advocating more gun laws? Like that would stop those who already are breaking the law?”
Fair question.
My cut-and-post of “Americas Shooting Gallery” is just to show how insidious guns are ingrained in American culure.
And, as always, if you want the original reporting of any of those “out-of-context incidents,” I can provide them. Which gun crime are you interested in, “Raptor?”
“HANCOCK COUNTY –An 84-year-old man, who repeatedly held off an alleged intruder Sunday when the man tried to break into his home, finally got a gun in desperation and shot through a door, wounding the intruder in the leg.”
When the madrassas preach hate and violence against the West, they are “fanning the flames of terrorism.”
But when right-wingers do the same to liberals, hey, it just sucks to be us.
The one funny thing was that when the hate-filled terrorist started shooting, all those lily-livered, Frenchified, gay-loving, Latte drinking liberals quickly tackled him and took away his gun.
They should have let the Unitarians take care of the pedophile-rapist David Koresh instead of the wimpy ATF . . .
“He was re-elected by the democrat party” — Oknoxious
I wasn’t aware the Democratic Party voted in Congressional elections. I believe the people re-elected him, although in that particular election, few of them voted.
“Before they get our tax money they need to come up with a plan to decrease the dropout rate and increase the number of students seeking further education after leaving high school.”
This is just another poor excuse to NOT invest in our schools. It wouldn’t matter if there was a “plan” to your liking as you state (there are actually numerous plans to do exactly what you seek) , you still wouldn’t vote for the bond issue.
Face it okobserver, you just plain hate children and our community schools.
“Madam Speaker, I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America . The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days–growing more frequent all the time–when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur. These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed. ”
He had a 12 gauge shotgun and was able to shoot 9 people.
7 wounded and 2 dead.
Sounds like they got him when he was reloading. Figuring that most shot guns can only hold up to 8 rounds he got off 9!
Oh yeah, I commend them for taking action and stopping the crazy killer. The ones who did were heroic. It is far better than just lining up and letting him kill even more.
But to try to say they quickly stopped him?
Sounds like they got lucky that he only brought the shotgun and had to stop and reload.
BlueJay
Posted July 29, 2008 at 11:14 am | Permalink
Heh HEH!
On all fronts. In every way every DAY, the cons are losing!
———–
BJ you scare me much more than that shooter in Tennessee because you live in my town. Some of your ranting if read by outsiders would scare people to death and you would no doubt be on someones watch list.
Ok…”MH” guns are ingrained in American culture. So are cars. Shall we start posting snippets of the 40,000 people per year killed in car accidents?
Again, I ask..what is your point of this listing? Are you advocating changing the constitution to ban ownership of guns? Are you posting an indictment of every person on that list without any of the background?
That’s not fair Apophis. It was me who criticized and she only agreed.
I know for sure I don’t hate children and don’t have words to tell you how important I think education is. If I could give my portion of the money (was it 11 cents a day?) directly to the teachers I would do it. I don’t trust the MULTIPLE LEVELS above building principal. If I had some assurances our teachers would be trusted to be the professionals they are and do the job they prepared and trained for during their years of higher education, I might vote yes. I don’t see that being possible.
And without our teachers being allowed to do their jobs we’re rushing our students to mediocrity instead of inspiring them to be their best.
271 Comments
Global warming has now been replaced by Global Wetting.
How blind salamanders make nonsense of creationists’ claims.
By Christopher Hitchens
It is extremely seldom that one has the opportunity to think a new thought about a familiar subject, let alone an original thought on a contested subject, so when I had a moment of eureka a few nights ago, my very first instinct was to distrust my very first instinct. To phrase it briefly, I was watching the astonishing TV series Planet Earth (which, by the way, contains photography of the natural world of a sort that redefines the art) and had come to the segment that deals with life underground. The subterranean caverns and rivers of our world are one of the last unexplored frontiers, and the sheer extent of the discoveries, in Mexico and Indonesia particularly, is quite enough to stagger the mind. Various creatures were found doing their thing far away from the light, and as they were caught by the camera, I noticed—in particular of the salamanders—that they had typical faces. In other words, they had mouths and muzzles and eyes arranged in the same way as most animals. Except that the eyes were denoted only by little concavities or indentations. Even as I was grasping the implications of this, the fine voice of Sir David Attenborough was telling me how many millions of years it had taken for these denizens of the underworld to lose the eyes they had once possessed.
If you follow the continuing argument between the advocates of Darwin’s natural selection theory and the partisans of creationism or “intelligent design,” you will instantly see what I am driving at. The creationists (to give them their proper name and to deny them their annoying annexation of the word intelligent) invariably speak of the eye in hushed tones. How, they demand to know, can such a sophisticated organ have gone through clumsy evolutionary stages in order to reach its current magnificence and versatility? The problem was best phrased by Darwin himself, in his essay “Organs of Extreme Perfection and Complication”:
More at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2195683/
Hey Cuz Maggot! Morning to ya!
Any of those salamanders start talking yet or develop frontal lobs or cognitive skills?
Millions of years just to lose eyes…
How long would it take for those blind puppets to learn to dance the mambo and sing opera?
(chortles)
O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity on accused church shooter’s reading list.
“Adkisson told Still that ‘he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office.’
“Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because ‘he expected to be killed during the assault.’
“Inside the house, officers found ‘Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder’ by radio talk show host Michael Savage, ‘Let Freedom Ring’ by talk show host Sean Hannity, and ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.”
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/OReilly_Savage_Hannity_on_accused_church_0728.html
======================================================
Seems the shooter took Savage to heart. Too bad this idiot didn’t take a good look in the mirror. I doubt this will be the last time some moron takes his RR views too seriously and decides to shoot people. Thank God no children were shot.
Trailer for the new Oliver Stone movie about the Republican messiah, W.
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Bush_movie_trailer_pulled_from_YouTube_0728.html
It’s probably not accurate since there’s not enough drinking and snortin’ of coke.
Well there’s the problem JM, he should have added books to his personal inventory like
The Manifesto
How to have uncommitted sex by Dr. Tiller
What the meaning of “is” is. by Billiary Clinton
Abortion is Not a Sin
The word of God makes it clear to us that abortion is not a sin. In fact it’s quite clear that to believe otherwise is nothing short of idolatry and blasphemy, and those are, quite definitely, sins.
Psalm 139 and the Beginning of Life
One of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible is Psalms 139. It speaks of God’s constant, practically doting, love for his creation. It is distressing to see this chapter used by anti-abortionists as proof that life begins at conception. If you read the chapter in its entirety it becomes clear that our existence begins in the mind of God and that God’s attentions follow us all of our days, through good and bad. Here are the verses that anti-abortionists use to twist this beautiful chapter to a common political tool:
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalms 139:13-16
These verses are used to prove that human life begins at conception. But there is nothing here to even suggest that. God conceives of us first. We read that a blueprint, of sorts, exists in a book, God’s book. Before we are born God uses this to form our bodies. Nowhere here does this describe anything but the making of the human form. Nowhere here does it describe how we are imbued with a human soul. But there are numerous other places in the Bible where God makes it quite clear when and how we become a living being and not just an “imperfect substance” as mentioned in Psalms 139.
Consider first, Genesis 2:7,
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
First, God forms Adam, he forms of dust, a flesh and blood body. SECOND, he “breathes into his nostrils the breath of life” and THEN man became a living soul. Man did not become a living soul when God first formed the IDEA of creating Adam, in Genesis 1:26. Man did not become a living soul when God created his BODY. Not until God gave man his first BREATH did he become a living soul. Life comes from God. It does not come from human conception. To believe that the entry of a sperm into an egg constitutes a human soul is blasphemy. To believe this is to eject God from the mystery of birth and put the power of the male ejaculation above the generative power of God. It is nothing less than idolatry, elevating the status of mere man, his sperm and his ejaculation above the power of God to give life.
The verses in Genesis are not the only verses in the Bible to make this clear. Consider Job 33:4
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Consider the story of Ezekial and the dry bones, Ezekial 37:1-6,
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” Again he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause BREATH TO ENTER YOU, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and PUT BREATH IN YOU, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ (emphases mine)
Just like Adam, who had a body before he had a soul, like every fetus in the womb, these dry bones were given sinew, flesh and skin, and AFTER they received the body GOD breathed into them and THEN they became alive. And, as in the verses above, because of that we “know that [God] is the Lord.” Only God can bestow life and he tells us again and again in his word how this is done.
There is no trickery here. God does not breathe through an umbilical cord. We receive the breath of life, from God, through the nostrils, when we take our first breath. The concept of life beginning at birth, rather than conception, is so central to Christianity that we are “born again,” not “conceived again.”
Psalm 139 and the Beginning of Life
Why doesn’t the Bible say anything directly about abortion? Why didn’t Jesus dedicate his crusade against the practice as many of his modern day followers have? Did women have abortions in Biblical times? Yes. The Bible tells us so. Many anti-abortionists feel that the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” covers the abortion issue. But in Mosaic law God covers the exceptions to this law, indicating quite clearly who may be killed and for what offense. For instance, if a man or woman has sex with an animal or commits adultery they must be killed. Does “Thou shalt not kill” apply to abortion? No. Miscarriage or abortion is an exception. Let’s look at Exodus 21:22
“When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
In this instance a woman has been so injured, in a fight between two men, that she has aborted. The law states that if “no harm follows” the outsider must pay the husband a fine. An abortion has been induced through violence and this is not considered harmful. Abortion, then, is not a capital offense or a violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Does anyone know where in the Bible a prophet of God calls upon God to induce abortions in the wives of his enemies? Let’s look at Hosea 9:14.
Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb (an abortion) and dry breasts.
And later,
…yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
Hosea 9:16
In this case God causes abortions, the prophet prays that these women will abort. If these are truly innocent children, how could God do this? But they are not, they are “miscarrying wombs,” “unperfect substances” and God will prevent them from becoming human souls that will grow up to oppress his people.
What if Mary had Decided to Abort Jesus?
Many people are surprised to learn that God gave Mary a choice concerning her pregnancy with the future Savior. In the gospel of Luke the angel came to her announcing what the will of God was for her life. In verse 1:38 Mary replies, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Mary gives her assent. To believe that Mary had no voice in the process is unthinkable, for that would mean that God forced Himself on (raped) an unwed, teenaged virgin. Mary chose to be the mother of our Savior. God honored her ability to make that choice.
Conclusion
Abortion is not a sin, though blasphemy and idolatry are. To say that human copulation (which the Bible calls unclean) has the power to bestow life is blasphemy. No mere act of man can negate the fact that only God bestows life, by giving the fully formed body, breath. Asserting that human life begins at conception is counter to the claims of the word of God and is a sin. It is doubly a sin because this debased belief leads others to sin. Those that kill clinic workers, harass clients and attempt to legislate this wayward belief lead innocent believers down a road to murder and depravity.
Follow the example of Jesus, let those that want Christ come to you. Do not force the grace of God on anyone. God has the power, not only to give life, but to save. As Paul says in Galatians 2:21,
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Of course, a large portion of that entry by MonkeyHock was plagiarized from http://www.postfun.com/pfp/blasphemy.html
Wind power is responsible for a LOT of CO2 emissions!
The Brits have a goal of getting 30% of their electricity from the wind in 12 years. But the wind is not reliable. A backup will be needed. Which led to a study headed by James Oswald, an engineering consultant and former head of research and development at Rolls Royce Turbines.
He said: “Wind power does not obviate the need for fossil fuel plants, which will continue to be indispensable. The problem is that wind power volatility requires fossil fuel plant to be switched on and off, which damages them and means that even more plants will have to be built. Carbon savings will be less than expected, because cheaper, less efficient plant will be used to support these wind power fluctuations. Neither these extra costs nor the increased carbon production are being taken into account in the government figures for wind power.”
Lewis Page of the Register interviewed Oswald. Page wrote: “The trouble is, according to Oswald, that human demand variance is predictable and smooth compared to wind output variance. Coping with the sudden ups and downs of wind is going to mean a lot more gas turbines - ones which will be thrashed especially hard as wind output surges up and down, and which will be fired up for less of the time.”
Every generation wants to save the world from some calamity, usually depicted as karma for man’s sin. The nature of the sin varies - Sodom and Gomorrah had no SUVs - but the call is the same: Repent and sin no more and save the world.
Hank — Please do some further research…
The speed of the wind does not determine the output of the wind turbines… They turn at the same rate of speed, regardless of the wind speed… Wind is always moving somewhere, even at low speeds… And those great gentle giants always turn at their appointed speed…
The latest models supposedly can start at about 5 miles per hour wind speed, but most start at around 8 miles per hour, though it is debatable whether a really useful amount of energy can be generated at these low speeds.
The turbines also need a very large electrical ‘kick-start’ from the National Grid to get them into action, and a large amount of power is also required to brake them when the wind speed hits around 50-55 miles per hour, which is their upper safety limit.
Wiki Answers
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_minimum_wind_speed_to_turn_the_blades_of_a_wind_turbine
So it appears that the speed of wind is important to wind turbines.
We may never exhaust our need for fossil fuels… But, we can sure as shootin cut WAY back on our dependency level… WIND power is but one alternative… And it WILL happen!! And it wont take 10+ years to get it online!!
Chas, Chas, Chas!
I am very knowledgeable about power generation. Do you really want to start with me?
Wind turbines cannot exist without a power grid that has a source of regulated power. The reason that wind turbines turn at the same speed regardless of wind velocity is because they are syncronized with the grid.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5
———–
40 million babies plus aborted in this country. Holocaust.
MonkeyHawk is, of course, very wrong. His words,(or as Regular points out, actually the words he plagiarized) are deceptive twistings of God’s word. To take the advice of someone like him, to whom political ends justify any and all means is perilous.
Many, many mothers who have chosen to abort have gone on to regret deeply their decision. Because they know in their hearts and through God’s word, as shown above, the truth about the humanity of the precious life they are carrying in their body.
Oh gonna rile em up early are you MH?
Regular you are correct. That is why they are only able to produce power about 30% of the time.
How many people would like to have electric only 30% of the time?
“Millions of years just to lose eyes…” — Regular.
It only took a few generations, Regular, for some of you to lose the use of your brains.
#
beber
Posted July 29, 2008 at 7:21 am | Permalink
“Millions of years just to lose eyes…” — Regular.
It only took a few generations, Regular, for some of you to lose the use of your brains.
———————————–
I wasn’t aware I had more than one brain.
I’ll check into the matter though.
As usual, Regular misses the point, errrr, attempts to poison the well….
The point is not how much wind it takes to turn the turbines… very minimal…. The point is that the turbines do not increase their speed regardless of whether the wind is 5 mph, or 45 mph…
And why would the grid turn them off??? Well, because peak usage drops for such things as night use… and other factors…
Duhhh….
OR as an alternative to Google,
Try: http://www.cuil.com
Chas
Posted July 29, 2008 at 6:55 am | Permalink
Hank — Please do some further research…
The speed of the wind does not determine the output of the wind turbines
—————————–
I didn’t miss the point Chas, I added information that wind speed is indeed important.
Apologizing for your lack of clarity again Chas. You appear to do that a lot.
Still you continue to miss the point….
Wind speed is NOT important as to the turning of the Turbines… Their speed remains the same, regardless of wind speed!!
Can you comprehend the difference??? Geez!! You are off to an early start!!
I don’t know much about wind power but I do know enough to know that Chas and Regular know even less than I do.
#
Chas
Posted July 29, 2008 at 7:38 am | Permalink
Still you continue to miss the point….
Wind speed is NOT important as to the turning of the Turbines… Their speed remains the same, regardless of wind speed!!
Can you comprehend the difference??? Geez!! You are off to an early start!!
———————-
Evidently wind speed is important to wind turbines as they have a minimum and maximum speed.
As indicated in the term “Wind” Turbine, the transfer of energy potential is dependent on available wind and the requirement to meet min and max wind conditions.
Building a wind turbine on a plateau near a mountain range may not be a good idea if there are continual gusts of greater than 50 mph.
Face it Chas, you have a ability to try to dispute what other posters post, because you cannot stand being left on the sidelines with the other Liberal airheads picking their collective noses.
And you would allegedly know what, beber??
Progressives in Virginia Not High on Gov. Tim Kaine: Top Obama Veep Prospect
Several reports are circulating that Gov. Kaine (is) ‘very, very high’ on VP shortlist. This makes some sense. Kaine is a moderate to liberal Catholic from an important swing state, he speaks Spanish and was a civil rights lawyer. But we haven’t heard much about him as a Governor.
So we checked in with our old friends at Raising Kaine to see what his former progressive backers thought of the Governor they helped to elect. We found this, not very encouraging post,: We Won’t Get ‘Kained’ Again
Three years into the Kaine Administration, Virginia Progressives stand aghast at what it has become. From his repeal of the estate tax to his abandoned plan for universal Pre-K, to his opposition to embryonic stem cells, from his failed transportation plans to cozy relationship to Dominion Power and his reprehensible support of the Wise Coal Plant, the Kaine administration has fulfilled our every early fear and never failed to disappoint progressive Virginia.
In order to become the powerful and vital leading force for Democratic politics in the 21st century, the backbone of an enduring Democratic majority, Progressivism needs leaders who are regularly willing to take a critical, principled stand. This is why the RK community never fails to denounce the failed positions of even our most dogged champions.
Personally, I’d still prefer a known national player like Sen. Joe Biden–but it is Sen. Obama’s call.
http://faithfulprogressive.blogspot.com/2008/07/progressives-in-virginia-not-high-on.html
“Evidently wind speed is important to wind turbines as they have a minimum and maximum speed.”
THAT is the very point I am arguing with you on… The wind turbines turn at the same speed regardless of WIND speed… Well, with the exception of going from stopped, to moving… Once turning, their speed is a constant… Please dont start nit picking so damned early…
I’m not nit picking Chas. I just stated some facts.
You are the one wallowing in your own mud of confusion.
“Building a wind turbine on a plateau near a mountain range may not be a good idea if there are continual gusts of greater than 50 mph.” [Regular]
THAT is a total moot point… total nonsense… no company would put a wind generator in such a location… Your illogical crap might work in some places… but not here… So, just stop trying to build up something that you can tear down, when it isnt an issue to start with!!
Then don’t read it Chas, no one is forcing you.
Trying out for the position of Blog Monitor or are you just being your usual anal self?
(chortles)
Anybody here ever been to visit a “company” town?? Company store… Company businesses… Company housing… Company schools… Company everything… Miners who hardly have a pot to pee in, and barely a window to throw it out of… Horrid living and working conditions… Families who have 4 and 5 generations of miners in one family… Fierce loyalty… Even to the company that OWNS them, lock, stock, and barrel!!
And they live in constant fear and danger of hearing the awful sound of the mine whistle, signaling a collapsed shaft…
It is a sight I have no desire to re-visit anytime soon… However, such is what it takes to produce the coal, for the hundreds of coal fired power plants… to provide power to our nation…
Thousands of people, living in dead end towns, owned by the Company, working in dead end jobs, all headed for the same grave yard… some earlier than others…
We have new and better alternatives to such living/working conditions… All we need do is reach out, and run with it!!
With your mentally ill fellow travelers deciding to kill the “liberal” straw men your side of the aisle has created… perhaps it is time to cool your dehumanizing of people you disagree with.
Please stop whipping up your hatred and insults of “liberals.” It is so unbecoming and cheap. It hurts America.
Hey, David…you might want to read some of Capn (I HATE) America’s posts before you start accusing one side of spreading hatred…..
“And you would allegedly know what, beber??” — Chas.
How to look stuff up on the web, and the basic education to understand it without filtering everything through an ideological lens.
Company town? — Healey, Kansas.
T. Boone Pickens will bring his new energy plan to a town hall meeting in Topeka tomorrow.
It will be interesting to see how his proposed wind energy plan can put Kansans in the position of helping break our dependency on imported oil.
This is a national security issue, as well as a quality of life issue.
“It will be interesting to see how his proposed wind energy plan can put Kansans in the position of helping break our dependency on imported oil.” — David B
America’s electrical system does not run on imported oil.
America’s electrical system does not run on imported oil.
On a scale of zing factor, that was about an 8.5.
Here you go guys. Read it and get back to me later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine_design
You’ll see that generalizations about wind turbines are difficult to make.
change of pace…little tongue in cheek humor….
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country — if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who is running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
11. The Wichita Eagle is read by people who recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it.
Bebe is correct, of course. Less than 2% of US electricity is from burning oil. It used to be much greater, but it was replaced by coal. Coal! Now there’s a hightech solution!
The wind energy plan is just part of a comprehensive energy strategy to help free America from the many problems that fossil fuels are creating.
Pickens points out that 70% of the oil goes to transportation. He wants to convert much of the American fleet to run on compressed natural gas. The natural gas is now largely used for generating electricity. A conversion to wind generated electrical power will free you that natural gas to use in transportation.
I had not realized the point here was scoring zings. Now I better understand this blog’s psychology.
I had not realized the point here was scoring zings. Now I better understand this blog’s psychology.
——————————
Don’t make ignorant statements then.
DavidB
Does Pickens have a problem with nuclear energy?
Chas.,
With all due respect, I’m not sure you’re smart enough to talk about wind turbines.
Wind is very important. Wind Turbine. Wind. I answered the constant speed question, it has nothing to do with the wind, everything to do with the frequency on the grid.
It takes a minimum amount of wind to turn the turbine. The minimum amount to make the turbine economically feasible is even more. It is based on two things, minimum velocity and the percentage time of the day and season that the minimum velocity is available.
The energy available in the wind that can be turned into power increases exponentialy with an increase in velocity. The amount of power generated is exponentially proportional to the velocity of the wind.
The maximum velocity of the wind the turbine can handle is based, not only, on the mechanical limits of the turbine, but also, on the maximun electrical power output the generator can handle.
Wind turbines have to sync with the grid. The grid has to be able to handle a power source that is highly variable and unreliable as the wind turbines are. Wind turbines will never be able to reliably provide more than a very small percentage of the power needed on the grid.
The problem with nuclear is that the storage of waste is still an unresolved issue. The lead time on building the plants is also formidable.
I have always liked the concept of nuclear electrical generation, but ever since the Three Mile Island Plant began to meltdown… well…
The economics of nuclear plants have not favorable, either. But five applications to build US plants were filed in 2007… so this may be changing.
Here’s a link to a nuclear energy information page: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/nuclear-faq.html
DavidB or anyone else
If you took all of the waste from nuke plants in the U.S. and put it in one cube how big would it be?
Something tells me the waste storage arguement is overblown but its hard to say without knowing how much there really is.
God I’m no expert on all the wind stuff, and once i start reading into the real nuts and bolts on the matter, my eyes gloss over.
I think …if i’m not mistaken, that energy by wind is produced by the friction of the metal and magnets spinning around each other. Now, once it is energy, how is it that we cannot store it as we do now with other energy?
I would also think that a series of cogs designed to spin smaller and mroe rapidly (such as the way a watch moves) would be able to increase the output even at a slow turbine speed.
Perhaps that’s something we need to look at…something that relies on natural physics to drive the turbine around and around when there is no wind…think of those ball thingies that when you start one…they go on indefinately…or like how a wind watch powers itself throughout the day.
Remember, I’m absolutely ignorant of this…so if I said something really stupid, please dont hurt me too bad.
Hey Heckler,
The nuclear waste problem is political, not technical. You need to define what you mean by waste. Most of the waste is currently being stored ant the individual power plants because a central location is such a political football.
The highly radioactive spent fuel can be safely processed and stored at a central facility with little or no risk. The other waste, materials left over from maintenace, etc. can be safely disposed of almost anywhere.
Hey P-Mom,
All you need to know about wind turbines is that they are subsidized by tthe government. With out government subsidies they would not be attractive to business men like Mr. Pickins.
Nice try Hank, No donut.
Nuclear waste management is both technical and political. There is a rather small total amount of very hot high-level waste and a large abount of low-level. Remember, things like contaminated clothing can be considered low-level waste.
All that said I remain pro-nuclear with my ‘twists’ to the idea. Use decommissioned warheads (already classified as waste) as a fuel source. Back-mix with depleted U-238 (also waste) to render useless as weapons grade. This approach would be at least close to “zero net new nuclear waste”.
I’d like to see some reaesrch done in incinerating rags etc with capture of the ash. This could turn a large volume of very low-level material into a smaller volume of high-level. Then make “synthetic obsidian” to contain the radioactive isotopes.
p-mama - storage of electricity - whether from wind or nuclear - can be done but is somewhat limited by battery technology.
pmom
A limited number of sites use wind generated electricity to pump water into holding damns to “store” energy. The hydroelectric generators then run as needed to generate electicity using the stored water.
The number of sites where this is practical and efficient are very limited.
My opinion is that electric cars and home based solar system with the accompanying storage are the way to store wind power. Charge the batteries when wind power is available. Discharge them when wind is not available. That’s years away, of course. Who knows what will happen in the future, but the path now is to go broke and walk.
Theodore Roszak:
The importance of the massive environmental crisis for the future of our culture is that it forces upon all of us in urban-industrialized society a terrible, inescapable awareness of how intolerably high the price is of our Baconian power-knowledge. At the very least, all of us must suffer the immediate discomforts of “development blight” (quaint phrase!), the noise, the foul smells, the corrosive anguish of the eyes and throat, the devastation of amenities.
For most people, ecological politicking still seems to reach no further than such issues,
taken up piecemeal as necessity dictates and always with the hope that minor adjustments will serve—like building the airport or freeway somewhere else. But even this superficial sense of the problem can be enough to raise bothersome doubts about the meaning of industrial progress. For once real issues are joined and the easy ecological platitudes evaporate, are not the government and the corporate spokesmen quick to castigate the comfort-and-amenity-conscious citizenry for being Luddites and to warn them that the clock must not be turned back? Suddenly, it becomes a subversion of progress to assert the commonsensible principle that communities exist for the health and enjoyment of those who live in them, not for the convenience of those who drive through them, fly over them, or exploit their real estate for profit. After all, the argument runs, the factories, freeways, and airports must be built somewhere, must they not? The economy depends on them. And so it does. Given the lifestyle demanded by the artificial environment, the economy is bound to
be anti-environmental.
I used to be a heavy supporter of hydrogen powered cars. The caveat I see is this; the GW alarmists complain about CO2 emissions as a green house gas. Water vapor is a much more significant green house gas. If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?
Solar power. They have solar panels that double as roof shingles. Think about all the barns you see outside the city limits. Panel their roofs with solar power and dump the electricity back into the grid.
=================
ABORTION IS A SIN
=================
The personhood of the unborn. The Scriptures regularly treat the unborn child as a person under the care of God.
1. The Bible recognizes that a woman is with child even in the first stages of pregnancy. When the virgin Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, an angel made this announcement to her: “[Y]ou will conceive in your womb and bear a son (huios)” (Luke 1:31, NASB). The angel then informed Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child (huios, “son”) in her old age” (Luke 1:36). Scripture makes it clear that in the prenatal phase both Jesus and John the Baptist were recognized as males well before the time of delivery. Moreover, John before birth is recognized as a “baby” (brephos) (Luke 1:41, 44). This translates a Greek word used for children both before and after birth (cf. Acts 7:19). The Bible always recognizes the prenatal phase of life as that of a child and not a mere appendage to the mother’s body to be aborted at will.
Even when pregnancy in Bible times was due to an illicit relationship, the sanctity and value of that life was not questioned. The daughters of Lot willfully became pregnant by incestuous relationships (Genesis 19:36), and Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon after an adulterous relationship initiated by King David (2 Samuel 11:5). In none of these cases are the lives of the unborn considered to be unworthy and requiring an abortion.
2. The Bible recognizes that God is active in the creative process of forming new life. Concerning Leah, the wife of Jacob, Scripture says, “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb…. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son” (Genesis 29:31, 32). When Job compared himself to his servants, he asked, “Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?” (Job 31:15). In pointing out God’s impartiality, Job said He ” ‘shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands’ ” (Job 34:19).
God spoke through Isaiah: ” ‘This is what the Lord says–he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant’ ” (Isaiah 44:2). And again, ” ‘This is what the Lord says–your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things’ ” (v. 24).
David summed it up, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16).
3. The Bible recognizes that God has plans for the unborn child. Only He knows the potential of this new life. When God called Jeremiah to his prophetic ministry, He indicated the ordination was prenatal when He said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). When Zechariah the priest was ministering at the altar of incense, an angel announced that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a son who should be called John. Then it was revealed that God had definite plans for this child. He was to be a forerunner of Jesus (Luke 1:11-17).
4. The Bible recognizes that God is sovereign in all things, including the quality of life of the unborn child. When people reject God, eventually they cheapen human life and make it relative. Some are considered worthy to live; others are considered expendable. Who but God knows whether someone destroyed in the holocaust might not have discovered a cure for cancer. Who but God knows what blessing millions of children killed before birth might have brought to improve the quality of life. When people set themselves up as God to determine if a life is worth living–whether before or after birth–they are usurping the sovereignty of the Creator.
There are also things finite humans cannot understand. God’s ways are above human ways. While today’s medical technology frequently makes it possible to know when impairment exists in unborn children, it is important to remember they are still in God’s love and care (Matthew 19:14-15).
The killing of innocent persons. God’s Word is very explicit concerning the taking of innocent human life. “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) is not only one of the Ten Commandments, but also a moral imperative that recurs throughout Scripture (cf. Matthew 19:18; Romans 13:9).
God inspired Moses to include in the Scriptures a law that brings the sanctity of the lives of unborn children into focus. “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Exodus 21:22-24).
It should be noted that the value of the life of both the mother and the child is such that even if there is no critical and lasting harm to either, the responsible party must be fined. However, if either the mother or the premature child is seriously injured or dies, then the severe penalties of the law are to be applied, possibly in this case those having to do with manslaughter (Exodus 21:13; Numbers 35:22-25). It is clear that the life of the unborn child is precious, and even a non-premeditated injury inflicted on the unborn is a serious crime.
God’s attitude toward the killing of innocents is clear. No one is guiltless who takes the life of another, with the possible scriptural exceptions of capital punishment administered by a system of justice (Genesis 9:6; Numbers 35:12), unintended killing in self-defense (Exodus 22:2), or deaths occasioned by duly constituted police and war powers (Romans 13:4-5).
John Calvin expressed the horror of abortion in commenting on Exodus 21:22,23: “The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of his mother, is already a human being, and it is a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light.”3
http://www.ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_4196_sanctity_human_life.cfm
John Calvin” –
“…it is a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun
Though I am sure they are very rare, this story is a reminder that there are some dangerous hate-filled nutjobs out there:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/07/a_whole_lotta_ugly_in_church_s.html
MonkeyHawk,
Finish the sentence.
…which it has not yet begun TO ENJOY.
Talk about what an intellectual fraud you are.
I can post for you over a dozen church shootings this year easily.
Why is it this one is such big news?
I think I know why, but I’ll leave it to you to answer the question for yourself.
“Nathaniel” –
Which means, Boy, one doesn’t enjoy life in the womb.
Life begins with breath.
‘Til then, it is a potential human life.
MonkeyHawk,
So the difference is the mere technicality of taking a first breath?
How absurd.
So a 9 month old child in the womb is not alive until it has been pushed out and taken it’s first breath 5 minutes later after birth?
The logic (or lack of) people like you use in these discussions is sad.
Heh HEH!
On all fronts. In every way every DAY, the cons are losing!
The nuclear waste issue is largely a matter of the Not In My Backyard complaint. The designated Yucca Mountain site was approved for go ahead by Bush Senior in 2002. But safety questions remain.
http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ym_repository/index.shtml
This is a worldwide problem. No one has satisfactorily solved the issue of safely storing material that will be dangerous for thousands of years. Ground water likes to seep everywhere and carry off contamination.
Even the Europeans still store waste in above ground “temporary” storage sites.
This is not an insignificant problem.
With wind available, why open this can of worms?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not offer guidance on long term nuclear storage.
“Unfortunately, the Bible does not offer guidance on long term nuclear storage.” — David B
You’re kidding; Cons LOVE nuclear power.
Let there be nuclear light.
God himself said it.
It’s in the King James version.
“Nathaniel” –
Go back and read the 6:42 AM post.
You don’t have an argument with me. Your problem is with God.
“If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?”
NO. The dynamics of the water cycle are vastly different from those of the carbon cycle. My big problem with “hydrogen power” is where to get the hydrogen. It is like electricity - a medium for energy rather than a source. That said; it could be interesting in conjunction with wind or nuclear.
“40 million babies plus aborted in this country. Holocaust.”
Abortion is a part of nature. It exists when the mothers life is in danger or when the mother does not have the natural resources to care for an or another offspring.
I fully expect to see Outlander and others advocating for more economic and social welfare. Until then? Their opposition to a womans right to choose is hypocrisy.
Face it. Church Shooter Jim Adkisson is a right-wing jihadist. His holy books: “The O’Reilly Factor,” by Bill O’Reilly; “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder,” by Michael Savage; and “Let Freedom Ring,” by Sean Hannity.
“I think I know why, but I’ll leave it to you to answer the question for yourself.”
Sorry for the repeat of the link. I think the answer should be pretty obvious even to non-abstract thinkers.
Off to work.
SolDevVB
Posted July 29, 2008 at 10:52 am | Permalink
Solar power. They have solar panels that double as roof shingles. Think about all the barns you see outside the city limits. Panel their roofs with solar power and dump the electricity back into the grid.
I like it. Add in roofs inside the city and perhaps even my car (plug-in hybrid).
With some ingenuity we could ‘nickle-dime’ the energy situation down to size.
“Abortion is a part of nature”
—
So is cyanide, but that doesn’t mean we should eat it.
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder
“I used to be a heavy supporter of hydrogen powered cars. The caveat I see is this; the GW alarmists complain about CO2 emissions as a green house gas. Water vapor is a much more significant green house gas. If we start pumping tons of water vapor into the air, won’t that be worse than CO2?” — Sol
Now that’s a hard one. If the hydrogen comes from water, it’s a wash. If it comes from methane, then you’d gain water but lose methane but add co2 (probably?) Don’t worry about it. The fuel would at least burn clean, and no nitrogen or sulfur compounds would be added to the atmosphere.
Now what about solar panels intercepting God’s good sun, and triggering a new ice age?
My big problem with “hydrogen power” is where to get the hydrogen.
I’ve seen on the net a solar powered generator. Takes tap water and extracts the hydrogen.
like it. Add in roofs inside the city and perhaps even my car
Kid from Michigan won the solar powered car ‘race’
Sure, in the Army, we had trickle charge panels on the trucks. Not much juice, but it was old tech and small.
Huh… Bullet proof solar paneling on our tanks. :-b
The Agitator:
President Bush inherited a $100 billion budget surplus upon taking office. He’ll leave his successor with a $480 billion deficit. The latter figure doe not include funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, which are tabulated “off the books.”
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/earth/29clim.html
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/earth/29clim.html
LOL - I found this timely quote just moments ago..
“Morris Ward, the editor of the Yale effort (yaleclimatemediaforum.org), says that it will be up to the public to choose to be better informed on momentous issues that do not fit the normal template for news or clash with their ingrained worldviews.
“At some point,” he said, “the public at large has to step up to the plate in terms of scientific and policy literacy, in terms of commitment to education and strong and effective political leadership, and in terms of their own general self-improvement.” AMEN!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/earth/29clim.html
Grr.. hate those multiple postings… dunno wahapppned.
America’s Shooting Gallery 7.28
* TN: Angry over not finding a job and hatred for the liberal movement, Jim Adkisson, 58, used a shotgun he purchased at a pawn shop, and walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church where he shot and killed two adults, and wounded seven others before being tackled by church members.
* IL: Two men were killed in a drive-by shooting on Chicago’s Northwest Side early Monday morning.
* MN: Two men were shot to death in a bloody weekend in north Minneapolis, one as the result of a fatal encounter outside a bar that has seen two other killings in the past year and a half.
* NY: Shawn R. Wolf, 19, shot and killed Kari A. Gorman, 18, his girlfriend of eight months then drove to a Youngstown cemetery where his father is buried and shot himself.
* IA: Lacrissa Davis, 27, was shot and killed at the convenience store where she worked; her boyfriend said he would kill her if she went to work. A police shootout and a high speed chase where the suspect stole a squad car resulted in the man fatally shooting himself.
* TN: Nearly six weeks have passed since Alicia Garcia’s estranged husband walked into an Old Hickory salon and shot her five times before using the final bullet to kill himself. The couple was in the midst of a divorce after a rocky five-year marriage, and Alicia Garcia already had a court order to protect herself and their two sons, Michael, 5, and Gabriel, 3.
* FL: Levi Dixon Jr., 17, was shot to death at a friend’s house in Tampa. He was alone at a friend’s housewhen someone kicked in the door and shot him.
* TX: Christopher Lee Heck, 21, fatally shot his mother’s boyfriend during his own birthday party and is in jail. A fight started when Donald Lee Cates, 36, punched Heck in the mouth, breaking one of his teeth. Mr. Heck took a pistol from inside the house, confronted Mr. Cates and shot him multiple times in the chest and head.
* NY: Joscelyn Francis, 27, and the father of three children, went to a barbecue and asked “the wrong” girl to dance. After some kind of an encounter he left the party when an angry gunman shot Francis execution-style in the head.
* AZ: A 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg and a man lost his hand after two parties in south Phoenix parties became violent on Saturday night.
Ha HA!
Alas CON Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted!
I can’t wait to see that old codger do the frog march!
Great interview on Glenn Beck
http://libertymaven.com/audio/rp-glennbeck-07292008.mp3
This is the hate speech I was talking about yesterday–the kind that leads to terrorism like we recently saw.
“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals.
Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.” — Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95.
See Nathan, your post earlier is combining logic with bible. you can’t do that. What the bible says…what the translation said…what one believes currently…and the differences between the religions are all separate things. you can’t move between logical discussion on abortion and biblical discussion on abortion because the two do not mix. So since you posted that long post, I’ll address you biblical belief that abortion is wrong…which you’re certainly entitled to that opinion but remember it is a RELIGIOUS opinion not based upon fact.
And the difference between this shooting and the other Church shootings….this time the guy wasn’t a fundy shooting up other fundies as it usually is. That’ll be a good comparison for when one asks why there is so much black on black crime….why is there so much Christian Fundy on Christian Fundy crime.
Anywho…
1. Nathan….”is going to have a child ”
in other words…WILL have, is not currently.
Luke 1 refers the quickening..and for a good many years the Christians believed that was when a fetus became ‘life’ if you recall. Acts discusses casting out babes…children. Not preborn. Note that in both of those citations, the actual words weren’t written…just believe that the writer’s interpretation is true.
The second paragraph is disturbing…he calls the relationship ‘illicit’…it was incest. And lets be honest..anyone drunk enough to pass out isn’t going to be able to have sex with his daughters. That was acceptable to God, but oh dear, the rest of the town was to be destroyed? There is so much wrong with how the story of Lot comes about- thats enough right there to make one question the entire validity of the bible. The girls ‘rape’ their father (I bet it was quite the other way around..but hey this was the stone age nearly) and yet Lots wife gets turned to salt for looking back at the city. Yeah right. Evilbible.com.
2. Job was speaking…not god.
And yeah, so we have another immaculate conception with Leah then. Tell me dear, who do you know that just gets pregnant without having sex? So if God plays a role in who gets pregnant, how come no good virgins are getting pregnant today? Tell that to the devout Christians today who beg and plead to become pregnant and it doesn’t happen.
‘who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things’ GOod to know that its God’s fault when the miscarriages happen, and deformed babies, and stillbirths. At least he’s owning up and not trying to scapegoat the responsibility on that Satan guy.
“When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. ” Wow now that’s new…babies can incubate in the earth. Who would have thunk it.
I wonder if anyone ever told him how babies came to be.
3.”He said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5)”
So he’s appointing from the womb one’s destiny…and yet, that scumbag who just blew away two innocent people …whose doing was that? Tell me do you think that God designed hte guys who flew the airplane into the World Trade Center too? That he designed them to do just that? If God puts the design for the human being in when conception occurs, why do you suppose he does that knowing that the woman is so distraught that she finds it important to have an abortion? Why does he allow a raped woman to get pregnant in the first place?
Evilbible.com
4. The Bible recognizes that God is sovereign in all things- There are thousands of incidences of slaying, killings, rapes, and all sorts of bad stuff going on in the bible. So God is responsible for the death and destruction of Millions..but ONE woman decides that she’s not ready to be a mother and she’s suddenly burdened with the world’s morality? I don’t think so.
5.
“There are also things finite humans cannot understand. God’s ways are above human ways. While today’s medical technology frequently makes it possible to know when impairment exists in unborn children, it is important to remember they are still in God’s love and care (Matthew 19:14-15).”
Yeah but you get pretty darn mad at those who say they’re killing on behalf of God….now how do you know they’re not? If they’re in the care of God, then by golly he’s to blame for the pain they endure. How many people commit suicide every YEAR?
“The killing of innocent persons. God’s Word is very explicit concerning the taking of innocent human life. “You shall not murder” ” Unless of course, God commands it of you.
“22And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow; he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine”
THAT is the actual Exodus scripture…that’s a far cry from what the author is trying to say totally. Matter of fact it is completely OPPOSITE of what the writer is trying to portray and supports the belief that the preborn aren’t as valuable. And do we really want to talk about the warm fuzzies coming from that Exodus chapter to begin with?
MH…what is the purpose of posting those out of context incidents? How many of those are gang related shootings, using stolen guns? How many of those are criminals using guns that were illegally smuggled into this country? How many of the involved parties are in this country illegally? How many are already illegally possessing weapons due to prior crimes? How many of these weapons were acquired illegally?
Seems that the postings of these snippets with minimal background information are simply inflammatory, one sided and very poor attempt to indict “something”…tho I am not quite sure what. Are you advocating more gun laws? Like that would stop those who already are breaking the law?
Steve Sills, a Knoxville Police Officer wrote in his report: “Adkisson targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country’s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets.”
Wow. He’s Hank Price and about half a dozen other CON posters here.
I guess the best thing to do then…is you can have whatever biblical belief that you wish to have. If you believe that abortion is wrong..don’t have one.
Leave everyone else alone.
Thanks, P-Mom, but I long ago learned that arguing with Nathan about Biblical matters was entirely futile.
How can you convince someone of anything when he is certain he knows what God thinks?
Impossible.
And capn (I HATE) America is the poster boy of tolerance, forgiveness and brotherly love…
Yep Capn.,
There’s been an unbelievable 13 year string of right-wing terrorists attacks ever since that quote in the Denver Post!
Who to blame? The never ending stream of right-wing radicals or the Denver Post for getting the quote wrong?
nitwit
You ought to try actually posting something sometime, Raptor, instead of just following me around and taking cheap shots.
CapnAmerica
Posted July 29, 2008 at 1:49 pm | Permalink
This is the hate speech I was talking about yesterday–the kind that leads to terrorism like we recently saw.
“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals.
Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.” — Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95.
——
Post more Capn’A!! That’s hilarious…Oh and why not post some Bill Mahr(sp?) hate quotes…you know, for equal time.
Interesting you mention Denver, Hank.
That’s where liberal talk-show host David Berg was gunned down by right-wing hate group, The Order.
Correction– ALAN Berg.
It’s apparently much safer to be a right-wing talk-show host than a left-winger.
Air America host Randi Rhodes, who was not carrying a purse or money, was badly beaten (teeth knocked out) while walking her dog.
Sorry, capn…I don’t take orders from you. I will post when/what I please..regardless of your desires.
Cheap shots? An accusation of cheap shots from the king of cheap shots? Man..that is either a compliment or the ultimate case of the pot calling the kettle black..not sure which one.
Anti–
When you post some actual content, I’ll try to comment on it.
Simply saying, “that’s ridiculous” is not actual refutation.
Apparently, you don’t know that.
LOL!
“Air America host Randi Rhodes, who was not carrying a purse or money, was badly beaten (teeth knocked out) while walking her dog.”
Turns out she was drunk and fell down!
Why do you have to lie, if us fundies are so bad?
nitwit
CapnAmerica
Posted July 29, 2008 at 2:21 pm | Permalink
Anti–
When you post some actual content, I’ll try to comment on it.
Simply saying, “that’s ridiculous” is not actual refutation.
——
Actually I said:
That’s hilarious…Oh and why not post some Bill Mahr(sp?) hate quotes…you know, for equal time.
Tool.
Alan Berg!
Dammit Capn.! I was in the Navy when he was killed! That’s way before Rush Limbaugh! We going to blame MLK on poor ol’ Rush too?
nitwit
Attacks on liberal talk radio stations and their hosts are not a new thing. …a gunman fired a shot through a window at the studios of KPFT, Houston’s, Pacifica station narrowly missing a DJ who was hosting music show at the time.
This is not the first politically motivated attack on KPFT. More than 35 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan blew up the station’s transmitters twice within the Houston station’s first year on the air.
Also, shortly after AAR morning talk show host Thom Hartmann, started doing talk radio (about four years ago), he was told by auto mechanic that there were several bullet holes in his car.
“To this day I don’t know if somebody shot out my car as kids joyriding with a pistol or rifle… or was a warning or statement of displeasure about my radio show,” Hartmann told TR.
Talk show host, Tom Leykis, who known to express liberal views on his daily “hot talk show” was assaulted outside a Seattle bar three years ago by agitated radio listeners.
…Stephanie Miller received a death threat from a nut case in Ohio named “Sock” Sokolowski. Here’s what the letter said in part.
“As with Cindy Sheehan the best thing that could happen to you would be seeing some WONDERFUL activist sticking an AK-47 up your Glory Holes and sending you into eternity” —
From: talkingradio.blogspot.com/2007/10/randi-rhodes-is-victim-of-violent.html
Attacks on liberal talk radio stations and their hosts are not a new thing
—-
They must really suck to piss people off that bad.
I want to make a special plea to you who live here in Wichita, specifically USD259 school district. I attended the school board meeting last night so I could hear the actual words spoken instead of the interpretation of the newspaper.
I am so disappointed! All of us should be. And, it has to do with a culture that is being encouraged more than the fact they want us to approve a bond issue to spend $350 million on our schools.
This culture has to do with our public schools generating specifically skilled workers. Test scores are down and maybe that fosters an attitude of, “we may as well train them for the workforce, they don’t know much else.” They seem to have given up on providing a well-rounded high school education that would prepare people for whatever they may choose to do after that — technical training, college, job… The mentality of our educational leaders seems to be heading toward mass mediocrity.
Don’t let the word “technical” fool you! The technical upgrades at seven high schools and the magnet high school tech ed program means aircraft worker. Our educational leaders are allowing business to rule the roost and they are allowing themselves to appease that master.
We deserve better, our students who are our tomorrow deserve better — we should demand more. But as long as we’re ignorant of what happens to our money, we blissfully stay busy doing other things.
BlueJay
Posted July 29, 2008 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
Ha HA!
Alas CON Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted!
I can’t wait to see that old codger do the frog march!
———–
Don’t hold your breath BJ. We are still waiting for the same from William ‘cold cash’ Jefferson. He was re-elected by the democrat party. Shows you how they view corruption. Or how they view corruption by their own.
Linda I think for once I totally agree with you on something. Throwing money at a problem won’t solve what is wrong with our schools in Wichita.
You are right in thinking that college bound students are being sent to the back of the line. We are catering to the lowest common denominator. Before they get our tax money they need to come up with a plan to decrease the dropout rate and increase the number of students seeking further education after leaving high school.
Hang in there. I think you will have plenty of company if what I heard from others this morning is representative of the voting public.
“Raptor” asks –
“…what is the purpose of posting those out of context incidents? How many of those are gang related shootings, using stolen guns? How many of those are criminals using guns that were illegally smuggled into this country? How many of the involved parties are in this country illegally? How many are already illegally possessing weapons due to prior crimes? How many of these weapons were acquired illegally?
“Seems that the postings of these snippets with minimal background information are simply inflammatory, one sided and very poor attempt to indict “something”…tho I am not quite sure what. Are you advocating more gun laws? Like that would stop those who already are breaking the law?”
Fair question.
My cut-and-post of “Americas Shooting Gallery” is just to show how insidious guns are ingrained in American culure.
And, as always, if you want the original reporting of any of those “out-of-context incidents,” I can provide them. Which gun crime are you interested in, “Raptor?”
Well, I invited Ms. Siddall to come on my show again… anyone holding my breath until she finds the intestinal fortitude to face our viewers?
Well, I invited Ms. Siddall to come on my show again… anyone holding their breath until she finds the intestinal fortitude to face our viewers?
84-year-old man wounds intruder
Warning shot sends 20-year-old suspect to two hospitals
http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/711027.html
“HANCOCK COUNTY –An 84-year-old man, who repeatedly held off an alleged intruder Sunday when the man tried to break into his home, finally got a gun in desperation and shot through a door, wounding the intruder in the leg.”
Listen to the CONs.
When the madrassas preach hate and violence against the West, they are “fanning the flames of terrorism.”
But when right-wingers do the same to liberals, hey, it just sucks to be us.
The one funny thing was that when the hate-filled terrorist started shooting, all those lily-livered, Frenchified, gay-loving, Latte drinking liberals quickly tackled him and took away his gun.
They should have let the Unitarians take care of the pedophile-rapist David Koresh instead of the wimpy ATF . . .
“He was re-elected by the democrat party” — Oknoxious
I wasn’t aware the Democratic Party voted in Congressional elections. I believe the people re-elected him, although in that particular election, few of them voted.
“Before they get our tax money they need to come up with a plan to decrease the dropout rate and increase the number of students seeking further education after leaving high school.”
This is just another poor excuse to NOT invest in our schools. It wouldn’t matter if there was a “plan” to your liking as you state (there are actually numerous plans to do exactly what you seek) , you still wouldn’t vote for the bond issue.
Face it okobserver, you just plain hate children and our community schools.
“Madam Speaker, I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America . The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days–growing more frequent all the time–when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur. These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed. ”
More at link
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2008/cr070908h.htm
Oops… I knew I should have had another cup of coffee before posting
CapnAmerica,
“quickly tackled him??”
He had a 12 gauge shotgun and was able to shoot 9 people.
7 wounded and 2 dead.
Sounds like they got him when he was reloading. Figuring that most shot guns can only hold up to 8 rounds he got off 9!
Oh yeah, I commend them for taking action and stopping the crazy killer. The ones who did were heroic. It is far better than just lining up and letting him kill even more.
But to try to say they quickly stopped him?
Sounds like they got lucky that he only brought the shotgun and had to stop and reload.
BlueJay
Posted July 29, 2008 at 11:14 am | Permalink
Heh HEH!
On all fronts. In every way every DAY, the cons are losing!
———–
BJ you scare me much more than that shooter in Tennessee because you live in my town. Some of your ranting if read by outsiders would scare people to death and you would no doubt be on someones watch list.
Who lost what?
Ok…”MH” guns are ingrained in American culture. So are cars. Shall we start posting snippets of the 40,000 people per year killed in car accidents?
Again, I ask..what is your point of this listing? Are you advocating changing the constitution to ban ownership of guns? Are you posting an indictment of every person on that list without any of the background?
That’s not fair Apophis. It was me who criticized and she only agreed.
I know for sure I don’t hate children and don’t have words to tell you how important I think education is. If I could give my portion of the money (was it 11 cents a day?) directly to the teachers I would do it. I don’t trust the MULTIPLE LEVELS above building principal. If I had some assurances our teachers would be trusted to be the professionals they are and do the job they prepared and trained for during their years of higher education, I might vote yes. I don’t see that being possible.
And without our teachers being allowed to do their jobs we’re rushing our students to mediocrity instead of inspiring them to be their best.
Exactly Linda,
I’m all for paying teachers what they deserve! I wonder if Apophis could handle the pay cut?
HEHEHEHEHE