I kid you not, it has only just now dawned on me that of course, Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (reviewed here and here) will not be seen by many in our reformed tradition. They will view the depiction of Christ as a breach of the 2nd commandment, forbidding the making of graven images to bow down to.

Extraordinary.

Sex with kids is ok, says...

NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association), among others. (I'm sure you all know how to search if you really want the link.) Mark Shea thinks quite strongly, here and here, that paedophilia will be the next great sexual tabboo to fall. He sees an exact application of the argument for homosexuality to consensual sex between adults and children. All that has to happen is that a child's right & ability to consent is recognised.

I'm inclined to agree with him. And I'm not inclined to think that the consent issue will hold back the tide, once the propaganda and rhetoric gets seriously cranked up. Children's 'right' to decide-for-themselves about entire frameworks for all of life (ie, all the various faiths, including atheism) is already well inculcated. Why leave sex out?

Nor will the cry of 'protect the children' suffice, as one of his readers points out. That's already been overthrown repeatedly, most notably in the case of divorce.

If anyone truly believes that we're very far off the pagan and decadent cultures of ancient Rome or Greece (and even they didn't kill the unborn), then think again. We're scarily close.

The statement "Jesus is God" only makes real sense in terms of Israel's story, and her 1st-century expectation that YHWH would visit her in love to restore her fortunes and bring about her destiny. Outside of that story, the claim that "Jesus is God" makes no sense, and has no importance, and has no impact on my faith. It is only a piece of systematic dogma, good for causing divisive arguments.

And, furthermore...

The irony is that so many Christians thank God that they are free to worship him in our western nations. At best, that's only a partially true prayer. Worship has been privatised, made small, and non-threatening. That's why it's tolerated. And we're fools for thinking that it's really worship.

But it won't even be that for much longer.

The Triumph of Deceit (and the stupidity of society)

Once again, I am appalled and disgusted at the hypocricsy of the pinko lefto lesso femmo elements of the so-called 'intelligentsia' in Our Stupid Society. Mel Gibson finances and writes a movie about the passion of Christ. He's an ultra-orthodox Catholic - doesn't believe that Vatican II was a good thing etc. His father's got odd opinions about the holocaust (or lack thereof, in his view). But worst of all, of course, Mel's movie dares to make claims about history, and *gasp* the history of the execution of Jesus of Nazereth.

What pisses me off - and I'm speaking deliberately - is that there are so many people all up-in-arms (ably amplified by that Great Whore, the media) about Gibson's private beliefs, and what's even worse, those of his father.

Now, the philosophical division between 'public' and 'private' beliefs is a product of the Enlightenment, and would be incomprehensible to most societies throughout the vast, vast majority of history. It's only our Stupid Western Tradition that's been hoodwinked by rhetoric, to the point that virtually everybody in Our Stupid Society thinks that 'faith', no matter of what variety, is a 'personal' matter, and should not be 'imposed' upon others in a public sense. Most of all, of course, the State should be 'secular' and neutral with respect to any given faith. Each person should be free to chose their own private beliefs - you all know the drill. So great is the inculcation of this idiocy that even Christians frequently speak like this!

But now, the lie is being exposed, yet again. The division between private and public is of course a complete sham. The liberal democratic, secular humanist philosophy that underpins the workings of the State is of course a faith - one among many. It is pure and utter nonsense to suggest that somehow, the State's secularity is not a religious position. All they've done is changed their gods, called the position of the new gods secular, and said that 'secular' means 'supporting no particular faith'. And like idiots, we all nod bligthly and say approvingly, "uh-huh. yeah. yeah, we live in a secular society, and that means that the state doesn't support any particular religion." BULLSHIT, people.

Try being intolerant. Try suggesting that blacks should have fewer rights, because, culturally, they aren't as capable of responsibly exercising liberties as whites. Point to our jails as proof. Advocate slavery for those that can't rule themselves. Try saying, publically, that homosexuality is evil. Try saying it in public schools. Try saying that the Jews are conspiring to take over the world and that the halocaust is a lie. Try suggesting that women should be paid less than men to discourage their entry into the workforce. After all, they're fit by nature to be mothers. Try holding that men are not born equal and that some are fit to rule; others to serve. That's why the vote should be restricted to men, who have headship, and wealthy men at that, becasue they've proved that they merit responsibility. Try teaching that some cultures are de-humanising, that colonisation was a good thing because it spread a better way of life to the uncivilised, and that there's a good deal more to be done in that area yet. Try calling the Secreatry-General of the Unitied Nations a cheeky darkie. Try saying that there's only one God, YHWH, and that all institutions everywhere should be fit to reflect that. Don't worry, you'll soon find that religious fundamentalism is alive and well, and it's in the public sphere near you.

Want more proof? Mel Gibon's so-called private beliefs, and those of his father, for pete's sake, are under the spotlight precisely because the distinction between private beliefs and public consequences is a complete sham. Though they mouth the rhetoric, Gibson's interrogators and critics do not believe it. They know that what the people believe in their hearts will dictate the shape of society.

That's exactly why their first and greatest commandment is, "Thou shalt love our god, called 'secular', with all thy heart, soul, strength and mind." And the second is like it, "Thou shalt tolerate thy neighbour like thyself". On these two commandments hang all the laws and the democracies.

If people can be made to parrot this drivel like fools, then the room left by their secular gods will not be enough to allow others a threatening counter-claim to public rule.

And that is the point.

If I could write so clearly and concisely, I would write this confession (via matt)

Catholics have something we Reformed folk don't - an obvious church heirarchy to scapegoat when things go wrong. But in this piece, Mark Shea outlines what he takes to be Pope John Paul II's thinking on 'bad bishops'. And it turns out that JPII considers the culture of the laity far more important that the offenses of particular clergy, and so works to deal with that, first and foremost. Now while this may sound like it's simply a reason not to deal with bad clergy, I think there's some very sound thinking behind it. According to Shea, JPII is acting just like a Dad who must let his children experience the bad consequences of their unhealthy actions, if they are to learn. Shea says that this is about going through, rather than around, the cross. It's interesting reading.

I suppose one thing for us to be thankful for is our tendency to focus on what 'we', the people, do, rather than scapegoating the elders for our own failings. Perhaps that's a happy outcome of not having an ostensibly powerful clergy.

Richard D. Bartlett on IMFilter:

there comes a point where... if a thing needs explaining its not worth talking about. if you need a dictionary to understand a word, it has no meaning

Finally, against the Declaration of Independence: a small reasoned rant (thanks for the link Chud)

Floods in the Hutt Valley (courtesy of Sam M.)

A major Flood in the Hutt Valley Region hit in the early hours of Sunday 15th February 2004.

Worst hit Area: Lower Hutt, Wellington. The Flood decimated the area causing approximately $30.00 worth of damage. Several priceless collections of mementos from the $2.00 Shop were damaged beyond repair. Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their benefit arrived.

More FM News (Radio Station) reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered, still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Lower Hutt.

One resident - Tracy Sharon Smith, a 15-year-old mother of 5 said "It was such a shock, my little Chardonnay Mercedes came running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Megan-Storm slept through it all. I was still shaking when I was watching Rikki Lake the next morning." Apparently though, looting, muggings and car crime did carry on as normal.

The New Zealand Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Raro to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the Flood damaged area and have found large quantities of personal belongings, which include benefit books, jewelry from Cash Convertors and Bone China from The Warehouse.


HOW CAN YOU HELP


This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing, parcels for those unfortunate to be caught up in this disaster. Clothing is most sought after, items most needed include: Body Glove or Warehouse own baseball caps Kappa tracksuit tops (his and hers) Shell suits (female) White sport socks Rockport boots and any other items usually sold in K Mart. Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same. Required foodstuffs include Microwave meals, tins of baked beans, ice cream and cans of Lion Red or Speights. 22c buys a pen for filling in the compensation forms, $2.00 buys chips, crisps and blue fizzy drinks for a family of 9, $10.00 will pay for a packet of Holiday Ciggies and a lighter to calm the nerves of those affected. Please do not send tents for shelter, as the sight of posh housing is unfair on the population of neighbouring areas of Silverstream, Naenae and Avalon.

A Catholic speaks:

Taking back the culture, easily

If the heart is of darkness
Then the body is of light:

Come, o body,
Envelop my darkness

Over the years I am gaining a great appreciation for the confession of one to another.

Twenty Commandments for Culture-Changers: worth a read

Thanks to Chud & Daniel & Andrea & others. Last night was very pleasant; I woke up feeling warmed by the memory.

Fascinating discussion on praying to the righteous dead on Daniel Silliman's blog. The comments are worthwhile reading.

one for the euthenasia debate - woman wakes from coma (courtesy of Mark Shea)

Made it. We're Official Residents of Creative HQ.

Awesome.

Now we've got to meet the revenue projections we made today, in bi-monthly reviews. *gulp*

The nightmare is over

And we've done our presentation to the Board. We don't know the result yet, but I'm feeling good about it. When a board member sits there and tells you how much potential you've got, and gives applications you haven't mentioned, it's a pretty sure thing that you've captured his imagination.

*phew!*

Knowledge

Here's a proposition: Knowledge is contained in stories, not propositions. Read.

With all due respect to other opinions blah blah blah

Peter Leithart cuts through the crap and tells us what the ideas "kingdom of God" and "salvation" really mean.

And he's right.

Frustration

Since September 1999, I have tried to build a business from an idea. When I first had it, I imagined that the business would exist by Christmas 1999. In fact, we earned nothing until December 2001.

But ok, we were earning money. And, I'd done something few people ever do. What's more, 2 years later and 4 years after the original idea, we're still around. sirlochlin, my company, pays my salary.

But since December 2001, I have tried to develop a visual business. I want to get to the point where the talk about ideas is over and I can point to the fruition of dreams. I want to see specific tools we've made, cool applications, great "oooo-ahhhh" processes. Then I can say any of the following:

"See? THIS is it. Now how many did you say you wanted?"
"Here's what it does. As you can see, there's plenty of scope to fits with your functionality, so integration between us would work very well. A 50-50 budget would give us 100 grand to start with. Shall we?"
"And here, ladies and gentlemen, you can see a comparison between the solutions along two criteria: usability and results. This is why we've been so successful in entering this market."

And finally, when we have more money....

"Hey [insert name of programmer], can you spend today building the first cut of the interface we whiteboarded yesterday? Cheers. I want to see if it works as we think it will."

But here we are, in February 2004, and all this never-ending talk of ideas and in-the-future stuff is enough to send me to pot. And in 6 days we have to convince the Board (of Directors) of Creative HQ, the business incubator of which we are a (provisional) part and in which we have our offices, that we are worth keeping around. They require that we are earning $500,000 per annum by the 24th month of our residency. And we have to convince them that we can, largely on the basis of stinking, waffly, stupid IDEAS!!!

GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Richard writes movingly

Happiness is...

Finding a $50 check issued to me 27/11/02 that, in the turmoil of the time, I lost track of.

That's at LEAST 3 dozen beer!

Tribute to Dad

The older I get, the prouder I get of my father. He is hardworking, loving, has a keen mind, and he left us room to grow into ourselves. And, he does not stand still, but grows all the time too.

To Dad.

A very good article on manliness among us

Wisdom

Seems either
A matter too weighty
For me to lift

Or maybe it's just
One self assured answer
Steeped in

Arrogance

Sometimes I get the feeling that sexual boundaries are being deconstructed right in front of me. Most of the time I think it's a reliable feeling. And at least half the time I find myself with no firm view about it, merely questions.

Odd times we live in.