Yearly Archives: 2012

Answering pro-abortion questions

January 23, 2012 – 12:55 pm

Richard Dawkins comments on Tim Tebow pro-life commercial.

_________________________

On the Arkansas Times Blog, a person with the username “November” posted:

You dont have the “choice” to kill and innocent child in the womb. No one gave the child a trial before killing it. The child is innocent, and the U S Constitution says you cant deprive someone of their life without due process. I always love it when someone has learned they are having a little one coming into their life….they dont say, “we are having a fetus!”…they say “we are having a BABY.!” because it is a child loooooong before it is born and you can see it. Thank God for Representative Griffin!!!!

A response came from username “Verla Sweere”:

I’m old enough to remember what it was like before Roe/v/Wade. And we’re heading down that road again. How sad, that women are willing to be treated like chattel. And why are anti-abortion people also against contraception, aid to women and children, public schools, etc.? Do they not see the connection? While they see abortion as the road to hell, they believe Gingrich has been redeemed. ?????

Later a response from username “Outlier”:

Me too, Verla. I asked Sam in the Romney thread where he would draw the abortion line—no response from him yet. Sam would allow abortion for a 12 year old rape victim with severe health problems. I posed some hypothetical situations for him and now I repeat them for November (I see his punctuation key is stuck again!!!!!). As some one once said, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”

“Sam, I would like to know where you draw the abortion line. It seems like you want it both ways, as long as you get to decide where the line should be
drawn. Is abortion okay if a woman is carrying an anencephalic (no brain except for a primitive brain stem) fetus which can only live a few hours or a day or two at most if carried to term? What if a woman is carrying conjoined twins with two heads and one torso and no hope of surgical separation? What about a woman who practiced birth control faithfully and had a failure? Keep in mind that most b.c. methods do not prevent conception; they merely prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall. How about a young widow with two kids already who can’t afford to take the time off from work, even if she is willing to put the baby up for adoption? How about a woman with mental illness or severe depression who is simply incapable of carrying a pregnancy to term?”

My response was as follows:

The issue is not the intelligence but the issue of personhood. Here is a great quote from J.P. Moreland:

“When do I become a full person? What is it about me that makes me only a potential person? The bad news is that for anything you say–for example, having rationality–it becomes real difficult not to say that real smart people are not more persons than uneducated people, because whatever criterion you use, if it’s quantifiable, it’s pretty tough to justify everyone having equal rights based on that. Maybe you could posit some threshold, or something. Joseph Fletcher says the minimum threshold rationality is 85 on an IQ test, I think it is. That’s enough to allow Down Syndrome to fall just below the line, I think, of personhood for him…

“What I’m trying to surface is, that if you’re of the view that there is such a thing as potential personhood–I’m not saying that everyone on the pro-choice side agrees with that; indeed they don’t–but if you think there is such a thing as potential personhood, so that personhood is the thing that, number one is what gives me value, and number two something I can have more or less of, then you do have to draw lines because that becomes a sliding scale that becomes terribly problematic. What you’ve got to do now is try to show why your view does not entail the idea that very self-aware, good, language-using people with a good self-concept aren’t more persons than plumbers that are out of touch with themselves and can’t speak very well.

“If this is your view–if you hold the potential person view–it becomes very difficult to justify abortion and not infanticide because the reasons that a person will give for justifying abortion will also apply to the two-week old child as well, and there are some philosophers that are in fact drawing that conclusion.”

dividerJ. P. Moreland, Ph.D. is Professor of Philosophy at Biola Unviersity.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Prolife | Comments (0)

Prolife March in Little Rock has 20 to 1 ratio more than abortion march of previous day

January 23, 2012 – 8:33 am
marchers-arrive-at-the-state-capitol-on-sunday-after-beginning-the-arkansas-march-for-life-in-downtown-little-rock

PHOTO BY STATON BREIDENTHAL

Marchers arrive at the state Capitol on Sunday after beginning the Arkansas March for Life in downtown Little Rock

As in the past, the pr0-life March in Little Rock had at least twenty times the people in attendance that the pr0-abortion march did the previous day. In fact, last year Channel 16 had a very distorted news story that tried to imply that both crowds were about the same size.

Below is the article from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

LITTLE ROCK — As an instrumental version of “Amazing Grace” blared over loudspeakers on the Capitol steps Sunday afternoon, a banner with the words, “America God is Watching” emerged from the fog, followed by a crowd of abortion opponents.

Despite the cold, misty weather, approximately 2,000 people gathered in downtown Little Rock for the 34th annual March for Life.

“They’re humans, and people are always talking about murdering children, and it’s the same thing,” said 11-year-old Noah Harrison of Pine Bluff, who marched with his mother, Sandy Harrison, and two of his six siblings.

The event drew prominent religious leaders, such as Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, and Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, state Rep. Donna Hutchinson of Benton and state Sen. Eddie Joe Williams of Lonoke.

The walk stretched about 13 blocks and ended at the state Capitol. The Rev. Paul Roberts, pastor of East Union Missionary Baptist Church in Hensley, was among those who spoke. “We pray today would be the beginning of change … we recognize the importance of protecting the most innocent.”

Keynote speakers for the event were Griffin and Benton resident Jean Garton, author of the book, Who Broke the Baby? What the Abortion Slogans Really Mean. Garton, who has spoken against abortion since the 1970s, quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: “There is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet.”

“Abortion is an inhumane, barbaric attack against a human being,” Garton said to the crowd. “The right to choose is a politically correct way to cover up torture, violence and death.”

Garton emphasized that life begins at conception. “Every guy who’s ever bought a package of condoms knows when life begins,” she quipped.

The annual march took place on the 39-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Arkansas’ second abortion-rights Rally for Reproductive Justice on Saturday drew about 100 people. At the rally, speaker Loretta Ross had several comments for antiabortion protesters.

“I mean, will these people get a life and stop trying to take over mine?” she said.

Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life – which sponsored Sunday’s march – said, “What about the life of the unborn child?”

“We don’t say women don’t have a right to their reproductive decisions … adoption is a loving option,” Mimms said. “Rape and incest, they always bring those up, and those are tragic, tragic situations, but that child has to pay for it with his life. The child is totally innocent … there’s no justice in abortion.”

No protesters were present at Sunday’s event, and police reported no disturbances.

John Emmons of Hot Springs Village, whose sign said, in part, “Save our children!!! Stop Abortion Now,” said he has participated in the march for about 10 to 12 years.

“I would hope it would wake more people up to what’s occurring and the [legislators] that are not on board with life to get on board with life … and listen to what the people are saying,” Emmons said.

In 2013, Arkansas Right to Life aims to cut off public funding for abortions, ban the use of telemedicine abortions and ban abortions on unborn children capable of feeling pain, which begins at 20 weeks, Mimms said.

The year-long petitions for these causes were available to sign at Sunday’s march.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health’s website – healthy.arkansas.gov – there were 4,532 induced abortions in Arkansas in 2010, 48 less than in 2009.

“We don’t want our tax dollars used for something we’re totally opposed to,” said Bob Fines Sr., who attended the march for the first time.

The message on signs that dotted the crowd included one that said “Stop Unborn Pain” and another was a coffin-shaped box on a pole with the words “Product of Planned Parenthood.”

Mimms said she hopes supporters of abortion rights “understand life is precious” and “they were wrong.”

“I pray every day that that will happen,” Mimms said, “that they’ll have a change of heart.”

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/23/2012

Print Headline: 2,000 rally against abortion

Related posts:

Prolife March in Little Rock has 20 to 1 ratio more than abortion march of previous day

PHOTO BY STATON BREIDENTHAL Marchers arrive at the state Capitol on Sunday after beginning the Arkansas March for Life in downtown Little Rock As in the past, the pr0-life March in Little Rock had at least twenty times the people in attendance that the pr0-abortion march did the previous day. In fact, last year Channel […]

Loretta Ross’ son: A case for pro-life position

Superbowl commercial with Tim Tebow and Mom. In Little Rock on January 21, 2012 in front of 100 pro-choice advocates met next to the Capitol to hear Loretta Ross speak. In that talk she pointed out something about her own experience. (Below is from another speech in which she recounts some of the same details.) […]

A man of pro-life convictions: Bernard Nathanson (part4)

ABORTION – THE SILENT SCREAM 1 / Extended, High-Resolution Version (with permission from APF). Republished with Permission from Roy Tidwell of American Portrait Films as long as the following credits are shown: VHS/DVDs Available American Portrait Films Call 1-800-736-4567 http://www.amport.com The Hand of God-Selected Quotes from Bernard N. Nathanson, M.D., Unjust laws exist. Shall we […]

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Prolife | Comments (0)

“Music Monday”:Coldplay’s best songs of all time (Part 20)

January 23, 2012 – 8:31 am

Coldplay

This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference:

My son Hunter Hatcher’s 1st favorite Coldplay song is   “Yellow.”

Hunter observed, “First Coldplay song I ever heard. Loved it from the start and it never gets old. I used to look at the stars in iraq and hum this tune in my head.”

The Best Coldplay Songs Of All Time – And Why?

No one can argue that Coldplay is one of the best bands of today. Their music has been spread across the globe from the US to Canada, Australia to New Zealand, England to France and many more. Personally, I’m a huge Coldplay fan and when the question of “what are the best Coldplay songs of all time” came up amongst a few friends of mine while playing Rock Band it got the cogs in mind thinking…

I decided that there were too many great Coldplay songs so I narrowed it down to just five. Here’s what I came up with…

Trouble

Trouble is the song that made me fall in love with the band. A great starting piano tune that not only delivers an excellent chorus but then tops that with a remarkable ending. Not too many songs these days change total direction at the end and give their listeners something more at the finale. A gorgeous video combining stop-motion and digital effects. If you’re unfamiliar with Coldplay’s music then this is a great place to start.

Speed of Sound

Great beat. Great lyrics. Again, you have a beautiful piano part starting the song off. Where “Trouble” is a steady horse from start to end, Speed of Sound is more like a gallop that increases as the song progresses. Just when you think they’ve drawn you in with the ultimate hook they continue to deliver hook after hook in this song. And not just in the vocals. The guitars and piano are all throwing in their cool little hooky riffs. Its kinda like one of those russian dolls that you keep opening up to more and more cute little dolls. This song is guaranteed to fill your musical palette over and over again.

In My Place

In My Place starts with a rockin drum line with kick, snare and hi-hat by the ever-talented “Will Champion”. Then a beautiful guitar line comes in with Jonny Buckland leading us through the whole song. This is the first hook we hear in the song, played in the upper registers of the guitar with a combination of arpeggios and melodic note choices. I always find it funny to hear instruments in a song that don’t show up in the video. If you listen closely you’ll hear a gentle organ playing its way through the verse but in the video it’s not featured. And once again Chris does an amazing job coming up with the best hooks in the chorus providing not only a great Pop/Rock tune but a memorable song that will last through the times.

Clocks

I don’t think any piano line has been played more than the one from Clocks. You’ll not only hear this song in every romantic movie out there but the piano hook itself has been dissected from the song just to be featured by itself in many movies and tv shows. The song is a basic 4/4 form but what’s great is how they divide the meter. A constant division of 3-3-2 driving you throughout the entirety of the song. It provides not only a great rock feel but with such a rhythm it’s guaranteed you’ll find yourself alone in your room dancing like a freak until your mum walks in on you embarrassing you in the process.

The Scientist

No other song by Coldplay gives me goosebumps like The Scientist. A sweet and nostalgic tune that enjoys a long intro with Chris Martin on vocals and piano. It’s not until the 1:38 mark does the full band finally come in. That’s a big no no in the Pop world. You see, by Pop standards you’re supposed to hit the full chorus by at least the first 30 seconds. But that’s perhaps what I love about this song. They manage to go outside that box and provide a moving a wonderful musical tale. In the July 14th, 2005 edition of Rolling Stone magazine, Chris Martin is quoted as saying:”On the second album I was thinking there was something missing. I was in this really dark room in Liverpool, and there was a piano so old and out of tune. I really wanted to try and work out the George Harrison song ‘Isn’t It A Pity,’ but I couldn’t. Then this song came out at once. I said, ‘Can you turn on the recorder?’ The first time I sung it is what’s out there.”

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Loretta Ross’ son: A case for pro-life position

January 23, 2012 – 7:32 am

Superbowl commercial with Tim Tebow and Mom.

In Little Rock on January 21, 2012 in front of 100 pro-choice advocates met next to the Capitol to hear Loretta Ross speak. In that talk she pointed out something about her own experience. (Below is from another speech in which she recounts some of the same details.)

Loretta Ross: Frankly, I’m a woman who at 14, became pregnant through incest. It was not voluntary at all, OK? At the time my son was born, and I had to carry that pregnancy to term, because it was pre-Roe. 1969. I had the option of giving my child up for adoption. I found I couldn’t do it. I took one look at his face and I couldn’t do it. So I ended up parenting that kid and I’m glad I had him. I’m glad I parented him. but at the same time, anyone who acts like it’s just so easy to carry a child to term, give birth and them just hand the baby over to somebody else obviously has never done it. And the women I’ve talked to who have done it, often regret having done it. Even more so than the so-called women who regret having abortions. So it’s a scheme designed to make black women feel guilty, it builds on the fantasy of adoption being easy and it ignores the fact that something like 4 out of 5 children in adoption agencies that are hard to place are African-American.

Notice her words: “I took one look at his face and I couldn’t do it. So I ended up parenting that kid and I’m glad I had him. I’m glad I parented him.” In other words, it was not a blob but a baby!!!

Let me share a similar story. I used to write letters to the editor a whole lot back in the 1990’s.  I am pro-life and many times my letters would discuss current political debates, and I got to know several names of people that would often write in response letters to my published letters. One of those individuals was a Dr. William F. Harrison from Fayetteville. Later I found out from reading an article by David Sanders that Dr. Harrison was an abortionist. Dr Harrison died from leukemia on September 24, 2010. Here is a post from Jason Tolbert from July of 2010:

KFSM in Fayetteville is reporting that abortist William Harrison is closing the doors to his abortion clinic in nothwest Arkansas for health reasons. In an ABC News story a few year ago, Harrison said he had performed over 10,000 abortions and was comfortable with the taking of life.

I now write a column for Stephen Media in a spot once held by conservative David J. Sanders who is currently running for the Arkansas House of Representatives.  Sanders shadowed Harrison in his abortion clinic and wrote of series of columns on the experience.  I think these are prehaps Sanders’ best work…

Harrison is sure that what he does is right, but he confessed to the enormous costs that come in his line of work. There were threats against his wife and children and staff. He commented that if he “had known” everything – the threats, the risks – that would take place over the years, he might not have decided to provide abortions.

Some years ago, a 16-year-old daughter of a close friend of the family had gotten pregnant. “Their Baptist minister had advised her parents that she shouldn’t have an abortion and that (if she did) she would regret it the rest of her life. But had I had the choice, at the time, I would have advised (the mother of the teenager) to have that child aborted,” he said as he stared at his desktop.

“Well, she had her baby. She’s as smart as a whip,” he said. Now, years later, that baby is grown and about to finish her doctorate at the University of California at San Francisco.

I asked him if that sent chills up his spine. His response: “Absolutely.”

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Prolife | Comments (0)

Keith Green Story (Part 3)

January 23, 2012 – 12:27 am

The Keith Green Story pt 4/7

 

Keith Green had a major impact on me back in 1978 when I first heard him. Here is his story below:

Last Days Ministries

In 1978, Last Days Ministries (LDM) began publishing the Last Days Newsletter. Originally printed on a few pages of loose paper, the newsletter grew in content to eventually become a “small, colorful magazine,” and was renamed in mid-1985 as Last Days Magazine. The magazine featured articles by Green and his wife as well as contemporary Christian authors David Wilkerson, Leonard Ravenhill, and Winkie Pratney, all of whom lived in the area. The publication also later included the reprinted works of classic Christian authors such as Charles Finney, John Wesley, and William Booth and his wife Catherine. Most of the articles were reprinted as tracts. At the peak of its popularity, the Last Days Magazine was sent out to over 300,000 people worldwide.

 

In 1979, the ministry relocated from the San Fernando Valley to a 40-acre (160,000 m2) plot of land in Garden Valley, Texas, a crossroads community about nine miles (14 km) west of Lindale, Texas. Within a few years, Last Days purchased additional land, bringing the total to 140 acres (0.6 km2).

 

Plane crash

Gravesite at Garden Valley Cemetery

Along with eleven others, Keith Green died on , 1982, when the Cessna 414 leased by Last Days Ministries crashed after takeoff from the private airstrip located on the LDM property. The small two-engine plane was carrying eleven passengers and the pilot, Don Burmeister, for an aerial tour of the LDM property and the surrounding area. Green and two of his children, three year old Josiah, and two year old Bethany, were on board the plane, along with visiting missionaries John and Dede Smalley and their six children.

 

Among several causes, the NTSB determined that the crash was largely due to aircraft gross weight overload. It was determined that the pilot, should have refused to take five more passengers than there were seats on the plane. As Burmaster was a former United States Marine Corps aviator, the NTSB concluded that since military requirements put weight and balance responsibilities on the loadmaster of the flight and not the pilot, the pilot may have neglected this responsibility by former habit. With eleven passengers on board, the aircraft was overloaded by nearly 450 pounds (202 kg) and laden center of gravity was located 4.5 inches (110 mm) past the maximum aft limit. Also considered in the final ruling was the fact that operator and pilot did not satisfy insurance requirements for aircraft familiarization for operation, and pilot’s failure of several checkrides, leading to the revocation of Burmaster’s license shortly before the accident.

 

Keith, Josiah, and Bethany Green are interred at Garden Valley Cemetery behind the Garden Valley Baptist Church, less than a half-mile from the LDM property. He was survived by his wife and two daughters, the youngest of whom was born after Green’s death.

 

Legacy

 

Two full albums of original Green songs were released posthumously: The Prodigal Son (1983) and Jesus Commands Us to Go! (1984). Another release, I Only Want to See You There (1983) contained mostly previously released material. A complete volume of his work, The Ministry Years, was released in 1987 and 1988, including a few more previously unreleased songs.

 

Another unreleased Christian song known to have been recorded by Green was “Born Again,” which was finally released in 1999, 17 years after his death, on the First Love compilation video and CD. Both feature a two-song tribute to Green by other Christian artists.

 

In 2008, Last Days Ministries and Sparrow Records partnered together and released The Live Experience – Special Edition, a CD+DVD combination of 16 live recordings and 4 hours of DVD footage including video of live performances as well as details regarding Green’s life and his passing.  A “Greatest Hits” album was also released at the same time, including 17 of Green’s most popular songs and one more previously unreleased Christian song, “Your Love Came Over Me”.  

 

A prolific personal journalist, Green’s writings were published as excerpts in the books A Cry In The Wilderness (Sparrow, 1993), If You Love the Lord (Harvest House, 2000), and Make My Life a Prayer (Harvest House, 2001).

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 131)

January 23, 2012 – 12:25 am

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:

Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to this above address and I got this email back from Senator Pryor’s office:

Please note, this is not a monitored email account. Due to the sheer volume of correspondence I receive, I ask that constituents please contact me via my website with any responses or additional concerns. If you would like a specific reply to your message, please visit http://pryor.senate.gov/contact. This system ensures that I will continue to keep Arkansas First by allowing me to better organize the thousands of emails I get from Arkansans each week and ensuring that I have all the information I need to respond to your particular communication in timely manner.  I appreciate you writing. I always welcome your input and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you in the future.

Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself:

GUIDELINE #3: Privatize activities that could be performed better by the private sector.
Over the past two decades, nations across the globe have reaped the benefits of privatization, which empowers the private sector to carry out functions that had been performed by government. In the 1980s, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher saved taxpayers billions of dollars and improved the British economy by privatizing utilities, telecommunications, and airports. More recently, the former Soviet republics and China have seen the promise of privatization. The United States, however, has been uncharacteristically timid in recent years.
There is little economic justification for the government to run businesses that the private sector can run itself. Even when there is a compelling reason for government to regulate or subsidize businesses, it can do so without seizing ownership of them. Government failures are often larger than market failures, and anyone who has dealt with the post office, lived in public housing, or visited a local department of motor vehicles understands how wasteful, inefficient, and unresponsive government can be.
Furthermore, government ownership crowds out private companies and encourages protected entities to take unnecessary risks. After promising profits, government-owned businesses frequently lose billions of dollars, leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill.
Entrenched opposition to privatization, which comes mostly from interest groups representing government monopolies, has been overcome elsewhere by (1) working with government unions and relevant interest groups to design privatization proposals, (2) offering low-cost stock options to current employees, and (3) ensuring a transparent, open bidding process.
Candidates for privatization are numerous.4 Congress should:
  • Sell the remaining Power Marketing Administrations through a stock offering (2004 spending: $155 million, discretionary);5
  • Require that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting fund itself as all other television networks do ($437 million, discretionary);
  • Privatize the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation ($14 million, discretionary);
  • Allow government agencies to accept bids on government printing jobs instead of having to use the Government Printing Office (GPO) ($130 million, discretionary);
  • Shift the National Agricultural Statistics Service to the private sector ($124 million, discretionary);
  • Sell Amtrak through a stock offering ($1,334 million, discretionary);
  • Privatize the next-generation high-speed rail program ($27 million, discretionary);
  • Turn over the foreign market development program to the assisted industries ($24 million, mandatory);
  • Privatize ineffective applied research programs for energy conversation research, fossil fuels, and solar and renewable energy ($1,640 million, discretionary);
  • Sell many of the federal government’s 1,200 civilian aircraft and 380,000 non-tactical, non-postal vehicles;
  • Shift the Energy Information Agency’s duties to the private sector ($78 million, discretionary);
  • Privatize the Architect of the Capitol ($534 million, discretionary); and
  • Privatize-commercialize air traffic control operations and fully fund with user fees.
Government-owned enterprises are not the only candidates for privatization. In 2003, taxpayers were on the hook for the federal government’s $249 billion in outstanding direct loans and $1,184 billion in outstanding guaranteed loans. Government loans typically undercut the financial services industry, which has sufficient resources to provide loans to businesses and
individuals.
Even worse, government often serves as a lender of last resort to organizations that private banks do not consider qualified for loans, and the low-cost nature of government loans encourages recipients to take unnecessary risks with their federal dollars. Consequently, a high percentage of federal loans are in default, and taxpayers were saddled with $17 billion in direct loan write-offs and guaranteed loan terminations in 2003.6
Therefore, Congress should:
  • Begin selling government direct loan programs and create new agency loan guarantees such as those of the Rural Utilities Service, Small Business Administration, Export-Import Bank, and Rural Housing Service.
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Comments (0)

David Calhoun discusses his time with Francis Schaeffer

January 22, 2012 – 12:06 am

The Schaeffer Legacy Project – An Interview With Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Theological Seminary

Uploaded by on Nov 11, 2011

The Schaeffer Legacy Project – An Interview With Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Theological Seminary about his friend Francis Schaeffer.

___________________________

Francis Schaeffer was the best. Above is a great interview with Dr. David Calhoun about his time with Francis Schaeffer.

How Did the Church Disconnect from Truth? — Francis Schaeffer

 
Posted by Israel Wayne on May 20, 2011 in Commentary, Videos | 1 comment
Francis Schaeffer

Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a brilliant Christian philosopher who died in 1984, gives great insight to the Postmodern crisis we are experiencing within the church today. He explains how Thomas Aquinas opened the door for an Epistemological compromise between the Bible as an authority on one hand and Aristotelian philosophy being an equal viewpoint on the other hand. This mixture, known as Syncretism,  led to Christians questioning whether the Bible was needed at all.

This is something we are struggling with in our day. Is the Bible merely “a” source of truth, or is it “the” authoritative source for all moral truth? Is the Bible “a” truth (i.e. Relative Truth), or are there real absolutes that relate to all of life and reality?

If you have never read Dr. Shaeffer’s works, you need to rediscover this man’s amazing contribution to the Christian community. It may change your life, as it did mine nearly 20 years ago.

Related posts:

  1. Can We Trust the New Testament? — Bart Erhman critiqued by William Lane Craig
  2. William Lane Craig & Sam Harris debate at Notre Dame University / Does Good Come From God?
  3. The Authority of the Word of God — David Quine’s Personal Journey
  4. Truth Brings Both Peace and War — Blaise Pascall
  5. Psalm 1 and the Government Schools
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer | Comments (0)

Tebow and 316

January 21, 2012 – 11:09 am

Mike Masterson is opinion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition and in the paper today he noted:

His favorite number.

To my colleagues in the media who apparently have no concept of why Denver quarterback Tim Tebow takes a knee in brief prayer when he makes an outstanding play on the field, let me assure you he is not thanking his creator for divine intervention for one act, or the outcome of the game. Tebow has never once said or even alluded to that.

God taking sides in a football game? Hard for me to believe even biased commentators would even put that one out there. It sounds like the reasoning of third-graders just to type this.

Instead, it’s evident to me that Tebow, who has prayed and openly expressed his devotion across his high school and All-American, Heisman Trophy college career, is simply expressing appreciation and gratitude to his maker for giving him the ability to perform at all.

The skeptics, naysayers and generally dissatisfied will disagree. Some will claim Tebow’s just hot-dogging or calling attention to himself. They have every right to believe that.

For me, Tebow represents a young man who is living his dream and doing what Christian scripture says is expected: To continually glorify God’s name and creation. He also has for years expressed his innermost self on the football field by wearing those black smudges beneath each eye containing the inscription John 3:16.

And here are some numbers bound to drive Tebow’s critics and nonbelievers (inside and outside the mainstream media) up a goalpost. You may have already seen these widely reported statistics.

In the Broncos’ overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks back, Tebow averaged 31.6 yards per completion. He also threw for 316 yards. And the overtime television audience rating was 31.6. Pittsburgh’s time of possession? Why, 31 minutes, 6 seconds.

Make of this what you will. Some, of course, will shout coincidence. Perhaps. But that’s a Cowboys Stadium full of coincidences in my book. However, I do believe I can guess with certainty Tebow’s three luckiest numbers.

Related posts:

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is the best. Take a look at this article below: I believe in Tim Tebow Email Print By Rick Reilly ESPN.com Archive   Tim Tebow FoundationTim Tebow with Jacob Rainey, one of the many people dealing with health problems Tebow hosted at Broncos games this season.   I’ve come to believe in Tim […]

The debate continues on Tim Tebow

Another good article I found on Tebow: JANUARY 12, 2012 Does God Care Who Wins Football Games? After a moment of devotion, our team would all shout in unison, ‘Now let’s go kill those S.O.B.’s!’ By FRAN TARKENTON On Sunday, when Denver Bronco wide receiver Demaryius Thomas caught a pass from Tim Tebow on the […]

Atheists discuss Tim Tebow and Rodin’s “The Thinker”

(In this clip above there is an argument concerning who Rodin married, but sorry it is in French.) Interesting article I wanted to pass on. I have written about Rodin’s “The Thinker” myself in the past. It’s official: Everyone on the planet has an opinion on Tim Tebow. By now we’ve heard from everyone from […]

“Tim Tebow’s Fire” by John Parr

With almost 300,000 hits on youtube: Uploaded by KDVRDenver on Jan 9, 2012 John Parr has updated his 1985 #1 hit “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” to honor Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Download song at http://www.johnparramerica.com. Lyrics here: http://bit.ly/xHZqvW. Bill Maher is the one who brought Hitler into this. Related posts: Tim Tebow […]

Dr. William F. Harrison : “I would have advised her to have an abortion…Now, years later, that baby is grown and about to finish her doctorate..”

Superbowl commercial with Tim Tebow and Mom. I used to write letters to the editor a whole lot back in the 1990′s.  I am pro-life and many times my letters would discuss current political debates, and I got to know several names of people that would often write in response letters to my published letters. […]

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

The best soccer goal of the year in 2011? “Soccer Saturday”

January 21, 2012 – 12:31 am

Yahoo Sports reported:

The rivalry between the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps goes back to their days in the old NASL in the 1970s, but the final 10 minutes of their first MLS match against each other on Saturday night might have been the best yet. The Sounders’ Mauro Rosales pulled the score even at 1-1 with a goal in the 81st minute and Osvaldo Alonso put them up 2-1 in the 84th. Just one minute later, Vancoucer’s Eric Hassli equalized with his second goal of the night and it just might prove to be the goal of the season in MLS.

Hassli chipped the ball over the defender and ran around him to volley it into the far side of the net from the edge of the box. The match would end 2-2 and showed exactly why Vancouver made the largely unknown Frenchman their highest paid player.

With six goals and three red cards in 10 matches so far, Hassli has had a strange yet productive season that, to this point, has been highlighted by the fact that he was sent off after celebrating a goal by removing his jersey to reveal the exact same jersey. Now it’s highlighted by that and a pretty great goal.

Other posts on soccer:

The best soccer goal of the year in 2011?

Yahoo Sports reported: The rivalry between the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps goes back to their days in the old NASL in the 1970s, but the final 10 minutes of their first MLS match against each other on Saturday night might have been the best yet. The Sounders’ Mauro Rosales pulled the score even […]

Escobar killed as a result of this game, Top 10 most Controversial World Cup Games (W. Hatcher v. E. Hatcher, Part 4)

Today we are discussing the 7th most controversial game. Everette Hatcher’s choice: I have chosen this game partly because it was a game that the USA won. Sadly Escobar was killed in a bar back in Columbia when he got home. Two of my sons were learning soccer at the time and they were 7 […]

Top 10 most Controversial World Cup Games (W. Hatcher v. E. Hatcher, Part 3)

Today we are discussing the 8th most controversial game. Everette Hatcher picks the Germany v. USA game in 2002. 2002 World Cup Quarter Finals: Germany vs United States Close call on hand-ball: In the 49th minute of Friday’s Germany-United States World Cup quarterfinal, a shot by American Gregg Berhalter bounced off German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and […]

Gold Cup defense more difficult after 5 Mexican players fail test

Uploaded by TubeCentary on Jun 7, 2011 Goals from the GOLD CUP match. Dempsey and Altidore with the goals. Hilarious American commentary to go with it. The Associated Press reported: Five Mexican players fail test Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Five players on Mexico’s soccer team, including goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and defender Francisco Rodriguez, have […]

 

Top Ten List of greatest soccer players: E. Hatcher’s list v. W. Hatcher’s list (Part 10)

Today we are discussing the best player of all time. Everette Hatcher picks Pele. Pele The Great videosport.jumptv.com – A tribute to history’s greatest soccer player of all time. Wilson Hatcher’s pick: Lionel Messi Lionel Messi 2009 – Top 10 Goals *NEW* This list is based on talent not influence. For Pele would easily be […]

 
By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Christopher Hitchens’ debate with Douglas Wilson (Part 9)

January 21, 2012 – 12:27 am

Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson Debate at Westminster Theological Seminary, Part 9 of 12

PART 4 

5/18/2007 03:30 PM

Christopher Hitchens

Here is the reason why I lay so much stress in my book on the importance of William of Ockham and his justly celebrated razor. Why on earth—if you excuse the impression—do the faithful spend so much time creating a mystery where none exists? And why do they insist on inserting unwarrantable assumptions?

I take the plain meaning of the passage in Luke (in a section that is clotted with stories about the casting out of devils and other embarrassing sorceries) to be the duty to others in distress. Surely it loses much of its force if the lesson is about discrepant ethnicities of which we cannot in any case be certain? Nothing can “invert” the message to emulate the Samaritan and to go “and do thou likewise.”

You dilute the purity of this—which is morally intelligible to any atheist or humanist—by saying that there is a millennium and a half delay between the “revelation” of this simple act of charity and its anecdotal fulfillment. You also appear to find no distinction between the intelligible injunction to “love thy neighbor” and the impossible order to love another “as thyself.” We are not so made as to love others as ourselves: This may admittedly be a fault in our “design,” but in such a case the irony would be at your expense. The Golden Rule is to be found in the Analects of Confucius and in the motto of the Babylonian Rabbi Hillel, who long predate the Christian era and who sanely state that one should not do to others anything that would be repulsive if done to oneself. (Even this strikes me as either contradictory or tautologous, since surely we agree that sociopaths and psychopaths actually deserve to be treated in ways that would be objectionable to a morally normal person.) When you say that men have never known nor yet understood the essential principle, however, you speak absurdly. Ordinary morality is innate in my view. But if, in yours, it is still not known, then centuries of divine admonition have also gone to waste. You are trapped in a net of your own making. Take a look at the list of actual or potential crimes that you mention. Genocide is not condemned by the Old Testament and neither (as you well know and have  lsewhere conceded) is slavery. Rather, these two horrors are often positively recommended by holy writ.

Abortion is denounced in the Oath of Hippocrates, which long predates Christianity. As for capital punishment and unjust war, the secular and the religious are alike at odds on the very definitions that underpin any condemnation. (When you include “stem-cell research,” by the way, I assume that you unintentionally omitted the word “embryonic.”)

To your needlessly convoluted subsequent question: Atheists are by no means “coy” on the question of evil or on the possibility of non-supernatural derivation of ethics. We are simply reluctant to say that, if religious faith falls—as we believe it must and to some extent already has—then the undergirding of decency falls also. And we do not fail to notice that a corollary is in play: The manner in which religion makes people behave worse than they might  therwise have done. Take a look at today’s paper if you do not believe me: See what the parties of God are doing in Iraq. Or notice the sordid yet pious tradesmanship of Ralph Reed, Jack Abramoff, and the late Jerry Falwell. The latter’s bedside is the one at which you should be asking your question—do you dare to say that a follower of Albert Einstein or Bertrand Russell would be gloating in the same way at their last hour? In either case—an atheist boaster and braggart or a hypocritical religious one—I trust that both of us would know enough to be quite “judgmental.” I would differ from you only in not requiring any supernatural sanction or in claiming to be smug enough to possess such a power.

I am sorry to see that you sarcastically refer to Thomas Jefferson as “my” beloved. Do you not respect him also? And why can you not summon enough charity to believe that a non-believer can give blood, say, for no return, out of the sheer satisfaction of doing a service that involves only a benefit and no loss? According to you, my doing this is pointless unless I accept the incredible idea that, after hundreds of thousands of years of human life and suffering, God chose a moment a few thousand years ago to finally mount an intervention. You will have to accept sooner or later that a good person can be born who cannot force his mind to believe such a fantastic thing. At that point, you will see that your strenuous conditions are surplus to requirements.

In closing, I reply to your clumsy observation about my motor vehicle by citing Heine, who said: In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind old men as guides.

The argument that you have been making was over long before either of us was born. There is no need for revelation to enforce morality, and the idea that good conduct needs a heavenly reward, or that bad conduct merits a hellish punishment, is a degradation of our right and duty to choose for ourselves.

* * *

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Christopher Hitchens’ view on abortion may surprise you

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DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 07 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death:   Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust   DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 08 Author and […]

Evangelicals react to Christopher Hitchens’ death plus video clips of Hitchens debate (part 2)

DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 04 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 05 Author and speaker Christopher […]

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DEBATE William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens Does God Exist 01 Below are some reactions of evangelical leaders to the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death: Christian leaders react to Hitchens’ death Posted on Dec 16, 2011 | by Michael Foust Author and speaker Christopher Hitchens, a leader of an aggressive form of atheism that eventually […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Atheists Confronted, Current Events | Comments (0)