Elder Harvey Burnett has written a very interesting blog posting pointing out a backlash of criticism of the picture on the left. Given the following paragraph:
In response to a high abortion rate in New York city which touts over the 17,000 black babies murdered at the hands of abortion providers in 2010. That's almost 50 abortions per day by black women in New York City alone. Then there's the statistic that although Blacks only comprise 13% of the US population, they are over 36% of abortions annually. Pointing out that dismal statistic is an antiabortionist group called Thatsabortion.com. Building on solid statistical data they have undertaken to place another add bringing attention to what can only be considered to be a genocide occurring within the black community.
I find it amazing that pro-Abortion organizations and Planned Parenthood would be crying foul. They don't deny the fact that in America Black people make up a small part of the population but make up more the 1/3 of abortions. I highly recommend, Elder Burnett's post because he traces the fact the genocide against Black people and poor people has always been the aim of the Planned Parenthood. No, y'all, getting rid of Hitler did not get rid of Eugenics. Am I offended by the poster? Nope. But I am offended by people pretending they ain't trying to kill us while pretending to do us a favor - advocating disobeying God all for the sake of convenience. No one can tell me that even 90% of those abortions was because of rape.
My last post on the Christian university and worldview had a similar line of thinking. Are we, as Christians, learning doctrines as somewhat intangible, lofty ideals or are we taking into consideration what each doctrine entails for our individual lives and our lives within the human community? Are we working through how these doctrines effect our daily lives? Let me state it one more way: If Christianity is true, what effect does its truthfulness have on our lives? I believe that if Christianity is true then a lack of understanding of the doctrines and themes of the Christian faith would leave us with a distorted view of reality. What do you think?
Image by CoolB047 via Flickr
At Comics Alliance, David Brothers has written a great article on the work of Dwayne McDuffie. I'm going to miss McDuffie's genius. I have always enjoyed his work and it's always great to see someone who share a similar cultural background to mine being successful in industries that people of color don't usually have opportunities to thrive in. I echo, Brothers' words where he wrote about Dwayne McDuffie:
The man was a visionary, and I'm extraordinarily thankful for the work he gave us before he died.
One of the things that Brothers describes is McDuffie's ability to really craft character-driven stories that were just plain fun and action packed. He included a page from a Fantastic Four issue he wrote. It's very poignantly illustrates how well he understood the characters he wrote. It was true regardless of if it were Batman, Superman, Thor, Captain America, Static, Black Panther, Storm, or Ben 10!
Brian Auten has posted a debate between John Lennox and Peter Atkins on science and the existence of God. You can get to the audio at the following link and I have embedded the video below. They discuss just what science can and cannot tell us about God.
This is exactly one of those arguments that shouldn't make sense to the person making it but it seems that John Loftus actually thinks that either no Christian has ever given a good answer to this objection or that this argument is actually a huge problem.
I consider the evidential case against a good God from naturally caused suffering to be the most significant problem for believers.
Can anyone tell me why God did not do a perpetual miracle by averting that earthquake? If God was concerned about remaining hidden then no one would suspect he did anything if he averted it, because it would not have taken place. Anyone? Anyone?
No one can say why God did not miraculously stop the earthquake. I live on and near several fault lines in California. I can't explain why God allowed a huge earthquake in New Zealand but thus far today has spared me, my family, friends, and neighbors the same fate or worse. Jesus dealt with this question. And he dealt with it by pointing out that in asking the question we are looking in the wrong spot and asking the wrong question.
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” - Luke 13:1-5
His disciples were wondering why did God allow Pilate to abuse Jewish people in such a horrible way. Jesus takes their question and gets them to think in a way that we don't typically think. We usually wonder, what did a person do to deserve such horror when they suffer. Jesus points out that just because you are spared it doesn't make you better or more righteous than the ones who suffer. This isn't just regarding evil we perpetrate on each other but natural disasters and accidents - like the earthquake in New Zealand and the fall of the tower of Siloam.
So why do bad things happen to people who don't seem to deserve it? Wrong question. Why do good things happen to us? Answer: God's mercy. As for how to deal with the problems of life, I have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the promises of God on which to stand.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. - Romans 8:28-29
What have you got when the rubber meets the road and your life seems to fall apart and things happen that you could not have possibly foreseen. Without Jesus, what is the point? None.
Is God good? All the time!!!! Even in the midst of a deadly Earthquake. It could have been far worse. God continued to provide mercy for the people living there. Best take Jesus' words to heart and repent because our time of suffering is coming if not here already.
