NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Indecency Doesn’t Diminish Cause

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Jesse Jackson is the kind of man that many people love to hate and he thrives on it. He is a bigger than life personality (a nuisance to some) who will not go away or be silenced. Even his failures, and they have mounted up in recent years, haven’t stopped his train, although they have slowed him down a bit.

Born in the deep south to a single mother when race relations were very poor (1941) there wasn’t a lot of impetus to catapult Jesse into international recognition. To say he was suppressed would be an understatement. In those days he couldn’t even choose which part of the bus to ride on. Water fountains, loos and restaurants were constant reminders that he was black and therefore scorned by the white culture that surrounded him.

Not one to be kowtowed or brow beaten Jesse fought back and he is one tenacious fellow. Naturally endowed with a strong sense of confidence, he never comfortably wore the “Uncle Tom” suit and he didn’t get along very well with those who could. He has a long history of gravitating to social injustice, particularly of the racial kind, bulldozing anyone who happens to be in the way and making lots of noise until everyone takes notice. Jesse epitomizes the old adage, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It is not a pleasant job but he seems well suited for it and, as they say, someone has to do it. [Read more…] about Indecency Doesn’t Diminish Cause

FIFA – Sport Diplomats Of The World

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I grew up in the States so Soccer (football) was something I knew little about. Kick ball was the closest I got to soccer and it was more like a foot version of baseball. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned about FIFA’s World Cup.

The most popular sporting events for American kids are national championships of various kinds: football, baseball, basketball, all of which happen on pro (private franchises) and college levels and are played on American soil.

Teams from other countries, however, often play internationally and are national not private. Competitors are developed through clubs and begin aspiring at a young age to represent their local and national governments playing sport. This marks a huge difference in the way sporting structures are organized between the US and other countries.

US competitors are developed through a collegiate system and are channeled into private sport franchises. As a rule they don’t grow up aspiring to represent their nation in athletic competition. That may be one reason the Ryder Cup boys haven’t faired so well in recent years. Americans aren’t as motivated to “play” for national pride as Europeans. Why else would Colin Montgomerie perform so well during the RC? Only in recent years have Americans begun to take nation-based competition seriously and we’re still trying to master the mindset.

Interestingly, it wasn’t until the European Ryder Cup teams began beating the slap out of the US that American spectators started paying attention. Living in the largest sporting bubble on planet earth produced a sense of invincibility which the Ryder Cup experience proved was more imagined than real. The RC helped open the eyes of a sleeping giant that had previously been unaware of international possibilities.

[Read more…] about FIFA – Sport Diplomats Of The World

Evangelism – Nation to Nation

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Answering An Atheist

Original arguments are found in the post “Top Ten Worst Bible Stories”
On the web site “Not A Potted Plant” (NAPP)
Author – Transplanted Lawyer (TL)

This post is number four in a continuing discussion on the conflict between Israel and Moab/Midian as recorded in the Book of Numbers, chapters 22-25 and 31. The original observations – complaints – regarding this event are made by TL which can be read here (number one on his list of ten). My first response is here and his first counter is here.

Because TL is widely read and has an exceptionally quick mind I consider it a privilege to have him as a sparring partner. No doubt his abilities will suit him well for the bench should his aspirations in that regard be realized. His quick thinking has made me sharpen my game.

The discussion with him is incisive without insult and firm but in a respectful way. I know you will enjoy the read also.

Suffice it to say that the event under discussion seems particularly gruesome. It was war and war is never nice even under the best of circumstances. As TL and countless others have pointed out, a certain number of deaths are expected but in the case of Midian it seems a bit extreme. The entire community was destroyed, even young boys, with the exception of virgin girls. I can’t imagine anyone not being disturbed by it.

Obviously, because God was involved in this situation – He ordered the counter attack in the first place – it is easy to assume that everything Moses ordered was exactly God’s plan. I don’t presume to understand everything God does but I do believe there are reasons He should not be implicated every time difficulties arise. He is a third party, sometimes silently so, and we must at least try to see where the fault lines lay before assuming His guilt. Previously I have suggested that Moses acted in the extreme and went beyond God’s original intent.

My primary arguments are:

  • Israel was not the aggressor.
  • The intentions of Moab/Midian were clearly violent but their strategy was cleverly deceptive. They tried to divine a curse on Israel and when that failed they used wile, enticing them with their sexually oriented religion, to demoralize them. The second plan worked but not sufficiently enough to destroy Israel’s or God’s resolve.
  • God ordered the attack on Midian but did not specify the extent to which it should be executed.
  • The women who were destroyed were frontline soldiers or spies, not collateral damage or the subjects of a genocidal frenzy. Without them the ruse would not have been effective. His order to execute them, therefore, is not completely without justification.
  • I have argued that the order to destroy every male came from Moses not God. This is the real issue.

Everyone is very quick to take the Midianite side and speak of their anguish but not fair minded enough to spread that love around, ascribing to Israel (and God) a venomous nature. The truth is, Israelites were just as human as any and “rising above” was sometimes out of reach for them as well. Israel had very good reason to be hurting from this event and it doesn’t take a degree in psychology to figure it out.

It was only because Midianites were distant relatives of Moses and because Israel’s first encounter with a Midianite (Jethro – Moses’ father-in-law) was positive that the ruse was as effective as it was.

It is not unreasonable to see this was personal for Moses and it isn’t strange that his response would be so vengeful.

As mentioned previously, his worst characteristic was his anger and it had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. He also had a tendency to take action impulsively and God pronounced a final judgment on Moses as recent as Numbers 20. He was to die before entering the promised land and Joshua would take his place.

Even as God gave the order to counter Midian aggression He reminded Moses that he would be removed from the scene following the battle. I’m sure that reminder laid heavily on his mind. It doesn’t justify his actions but it does explain it.

In his rebuttal TL makes additional suggestions which I would like to answer here: [Read more…] about Evangelism – Nation to Nation

Moses Massacres Midian

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Answering An Atheist

Original arguments are found in the post “Top Ten Worst Bible Stories”
On the web site “Not A Potted Plant” (NAPP)
Author – Transplanted Lawyer (TL)

There are two absolute No-No’s when reading the Bible. One is never wear rose-tinted glasses (Christians do this) and the other is don’t precondition the text with modern perspectives (critics do this). Christians tend to extract from the text sentiments that aren’t there. Critics do just the opposite, imposing on the text preconceived ideas. Both start with an assumption and then proceed to draw it out or weave it into the text. Both approaches narrow the mind and have the same affect, distortion. Neither is really honest.

Take Abraham for example. He fathered his first child by Hagar, his wife’s handmaid – polygamous. According to cultural practices of the day this was acceptable but according to biblical teachings it was not.

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It is fair to be forgiving. Abraham and Sara were faced with difficult and unusual circumstances. But justifying polygamy as anything other than adultery is going a little too far and that is what believers tend to do.

Non-believers, particularly atheists, are quick to pounce on that.  Polygamy, or any other form of sexual divergence, may or may not be a problem for them but they are clever enough to see the contradiction between what the Bible teaches in one place and what believers say it teaches in another. [Read more…] about Moses Massacres Midian

Who’s The Terrorist God or Pharaoh

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Answering An Atheist

Original arguments are found in the post “Top Ten Worst Bible Stories”
On the web site “Not A Potted Plant” (NAPP)

In a previous post I began responding to an atheist’s (TL) criticisms of certain Bible stories and the first one focused on Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and Herodians when they queried him about Roman taxation. TL suggested Romans were the enemy and Jesus’ response was collaboration. You can read his arguments here and my response here.

Since atheists are not believers and usually judged as indifferent by those who are, some might wonder why I bother responding. It might seem like a waste of time.  But, the truth is, an atheist will often ask openly what believers only wonder about quietly. And these questions need to be explored.

It is only the fearful and insecure that react defensively and run.  So, we should be thankful the criticisms are made and diligent in our efforts to think through them.

The next criticism (number 2 on his list) involves God’s handling of the Egyptians during the Exodus, particularly in the matter of the Passover. You are probably familiar with the story.

At midnight on the evening of the Passover any family who failed to comply with the ceremony (evidenced by no blood on the door post) suffered the death of their firstborn child as well as the first born of all cattle.

Cattle were included because the bull was the Egyptian symbol of deity and owning cows was a symbol of status. In response, TL accuses God of terrorism. His words…

Terrorism is good if God says it is

In developing his argument he makes several observations some of which are misaligned with the facts and others just plain miscalculated. The arguments are: [Read more…] about Who’s The Terrorist God or Pharaoh