American diplomats typically discount religious belief and come across as rather condescending. So many are so steeped in their own secular world views that it is hard for them to conceive that others take their religion so seriously. America ends up coming across to many countries as an arrogant bully refusing to take into account the belief systems and world views of others. Ignoring them rather than engaging in an exchange of ideas.

For instance, when religious leaders of a country like Iran say that they are waiting for the 12th Imam to return and that they want to usher in a new Islamic caliphate in preparation and utterly destroy Israel in the process. American diplomats and political leaders find it hard to accept that anyone would actually believe that stuff and would rather think that it is all some kind of elaborate hoax used to control their own population or at best a negotiating ploy. There is a total disconnect and what is clearly being said is not taken at face value but ends up being discounted or marginalized (like I just did).

Here’s an excellent article on this problem by John Mark Reynolds, Professor of Philosophy at Biola University: “Let’s argue the truth of our ideas”

Here’s a couple of good teaser quotes from the article:

“American foreign policy treats religion as if it were a matter of opinion, the equivalent of rooting for the Packers or Manchester United. That is not how religious believers think of religion.

Of course, arguing against a bad religious idea requires knowing something about it, and American schools are shy about mentioning any religious ideas. We assume religion is a matter of mere "belief" and are casually taught that "faith" believes despite the evidence.”     …

“We irritate with our condescension as we suggest that the other cultures keep their beliefs to themselves and simply adopt secular ones.”     …

“An effective negotiator will begin by learning what his opposite believes, why he believes it, and consider whether his foe might be right. Having decided he is wrong, he must attempt to persuade and negotiate so that two groups that disagree may still live in peace.”

-Hat Tip: Apologetics Central               *Top

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• Religion as a Foreign Concept (omnipotentpoobah.com)

Lately it has become fashionable to question whether the Biblical accounts of a strong kingdom ruled by David and Solomon could have even existed in the 10 century BC (BCE). Many scholars consider the accounts to be rather mythical in nature. Now a recent archeological finding lends strong support to the Biblical record.

Eilat Mazar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that her find of an ancient wall dating back to 10th century BC (BCE) goes a long ways in showing that a strong government probably did exist in the time frame of Solomon and the ‘First Temple’:

“It’s the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel.”

“It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction.”

“The city wall that has been uncovered testifies to a ruling presence. Its strength and form of construction indicate a high level of engineering, and the city wall is at the eastern end of the Ophel area in a high, strategic location atop the western slope of the Kidron Valley.

“A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate, with a great degree of assurance, that the wall that has been revealed is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the tenth century BCE.

“This is the first time that a structure from that time has been found that may correlate with written descriptions of Solomon’s building in Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that Solomon built – with the assistance of the Phoenicians, who were outstanding builders – the Temple and his new palace and surrounded them with a city, most probably connected to the more ancient wall of the City of David.”

Response: It is ‘politically correct’ in Europe and on most University campuses around the world to question the Jewish historical ties to Jerusalem. Since it is the Biblical record that supports their claims to the land many European scholars have questioned the historicity of the Biblical accounts themselves.

Add to that the fact that ‘oil money’ from Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia is supporting many of the European scholars along with their research and archeological digs. The result is that some of the prevailing archeological theories are actually agenda driven.

This find is significant in over-turning some of these PC driven notions, but also as a historical support for the Biblical record itself.             *Top

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• Hebrew University archaeologist discovers Jerusalem city wall from tenth century B.C.E. (scienceblog.com)
• In ancient wall, scholar sees proof for Bible (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• King Solomon era relics found in Jerusalem dig (tech.bl0x.info)
• Ancient Jerusalem Wall Provides Proof For Bible Stories, Archaeologist Says (huffingtonpost.com)

Last Summer when the Codex Sinaiticus was put online, the media trotted out all sorts of ‘experts’ regarding the origins of the New Testament using the Codex ‘coming out party’ as an excuse to talk about the latest ‘Da Vinci Code’/Bart Ehrman type theories.

All of which question the authority and early development of the Christian scriptures.

Here’s a good summary article about the Codex addressing some these ‘media driven’ issues from the Stand to Reason blog:

“Codex Sinaiticus: The Facts vs. Hype”                *Top

In spite of all of the reported secularization of the American culture, church membership in the United States actually increased in the last year. US church membership reported in the National Council of Churches 2010 Yearbook was up 0.49 percent over 2009 with 147,383,631 members.

However, the mainline more liberal protestant denominations including the United Methodists, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Episcopal Church, American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., and the United Church of Christ, continued to decline. Also, the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the 2nd straight year along with the conservative Lutheran Church– Missouri Synod.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, and the pentecostal Assemblies of God, and Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) denominations continued to grow along with unorthodox groups like the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

An interesting take from the report is the study on The New Immigrant Church. According to the NCC, a lot of the US church membership increase is actually due to an influx of immigrants that are substantially Christian. The new immigrants to the US have particularly bolstered the Catholic Church and many of the Pentecostal groups.

Response: For several decades it was easy to predict which churches would decline each year and which ones would show an increase. The Liberal/Conservative divide use to make that exceedingly simple: Liberal mainline churches down and Conservative Bible churches up. Now other factors seem to be involved when you view the recent declines among the Southern Baptists and the Missouri Synod Lutherans. 

The liberal/conservative divide is still obviously a major factor but with the continual growth of the Pentecostal denominations and along with the independent Charismatic churches that continue to show considerable growth then maybe there is also an unreported ‘Spiritual gifts’ factor being played out in current church growth statistics.

We do know from other surveys that currently around the World that on nearly every continent the fasting growing Christian churches are mostly Pentecostal and Charismatic in nature. Particularly in the third world where even mainline churches and Baptist missions tend to be far more ‘charismatic’ then their US brethren.           *Top

In the video, Bill O’Reilly interviews Jehmu Greene, President of the Women’s Media Center, on his TV show and ends up asking her the question:

“Are you offended that Tim Tebow is alive?”

Ms. Greene does not respond.

So-called women’s rights groups are up in arms trying to block a 30-second Superbowl ad sponsored by Focus on the Family and featuring Tim Tebow, the University of Florida’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, and his mother telling their story.

<<Read the rest of the article on the AFTF main page>>              *Top 

Last Thursday Gallup released the results of a recent ‘World Religion Survey’ showing that 53% of Americans had at the very least a ‘not too favorable’ view of Islam.

In a separate question American were asked to express how much prejudice they had against 4 major world religions- Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity. 43% of Americans said that they had at least ‘a little’ prejudice against Muslims. Far higher than the other three religions in the survey.

Nearly every article that I read claimed that the major problem was American ignorance of Islam. Several articles pointed out that at least 63% of the country knew ‘only a little’ or ‘nothing at all’ about the Muslim religion.

In my experience, ignorance is not necessarily the cause of an unfavorable view of Islam. Also, greater knowledge doesn’t necessarily bring with it a better view. Actually it could result in an even worse opinion.

I will say this—when all I knew was only a little bit about Islam my view of the religion was far more positive. No, an ‘unfavorable view of Islam’ can also be the result of knowing too much.  <<Read the whole article on the AFTF main page>>           *Top

I hear a lot of my Christian friends talking about what a great movie ‘Avatar’ is. However, I won’t be seeing it anytime soon even though I’m an avid Sci-Fi fan and would no doubt love the movie.  …

Why? Because of what James Cameron might do with all that money in the future. Remember the documentary hoax –”The Tomb of Jesus”? Bought, paid for, and produced by Cameron.

<<Read the rest of what I have to say about it on my main page>>            *Top

(Image-University of Haifa)

An Israeli Scholar recently concluded that parts of the Bible were probably written far earlier than most modern scholars thought. Professor Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa came to that conclusion after translating an inscription on a 3,000 year old piece of pottery.

The message contained reflected social teachings and a use of Hebrew writing which is far earlier than most scholars thought was possible. The discovery means that parts of the Hebrew Scriptures (Bible -Old Testament) could have been written hundreds of years earlier than most scholars have thought possible.

Up to this point, most Hebrew scholars were of the opinion that the Bible could not have been written before the 6th century BC (B.C.E.) because they didn’t believe that Hebrew writing existed before then.

Response: For many conservative folks this really doesn’t change a thing. Modern liberal scholars are always surprised when the Biblical record is confirmed or shown to be written earlier than they ever supposed.

However it should be noted that most Bible scholars believe that the Book of Job reflects a much earlier culture and was probably written before the rest and also most would contend that the Book of Genesis reflects a far earlier culture than the 6th century BC (B.C.E.) or even the 1,000 BC (B.C.E.) date that this discovery seems to confirm.            *Top

According to the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission the following are the Top Ten Anti-Christian Acts of 2009 in the US:

10. Pro-life Pastor Reverend Walter Hoye of Oakland, CA was jailed for exercising peaceful, pro-life speech.

9. Rev. Fred Winters was murdered while preaching in his pulpit in Maryville, Illinois.

8. HBO’s program “Curb Your Enthusiasm” aired an episode where the main actor urinates on painting of Jesus. When confronted HBO would not apologize.

7. The overt homosexual participation in Obama’s presidential inaugural events by “Bishop” Vickie Eugene Robinson, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D. C., and a homosexual marching band.

6. Police called to East Jessamine Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky to stop 8th graders from praying during their lunch break for a student whose mother was tragically killed.

5. Pro-life activist Jim Pullion was murdered in front of his granddaughter’s high school for showing the truth about abortion.

4. An activist judge ordered a home school mom in New Hampshire to stop home schooling her daughter because the little girl “reflected too strongly” her mother’s Christian faith.

3. The Federal Department of Homeland Security issued a report entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate” that labeled conservative Christians extremists and potential terrorists.

2. President Obama’s appointment of radical anti-Christians like homosexual activist Kevin Jennings as the “safe school czar;” pro-abortion advocate Kathleen Seblius made Secretary of Human and Health Services, and Chai Feldblum, pro-homosexual and anti-religious liberty judge nominated for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

1. The Federal Hate Crimes Bill that attacks religious liberty and freedom of speech. For the first time in our history ministers are vulnerable to investigation and prosecution for telling the truth about homosexuality.

Response: I can think of a few that were worse just here in California. Code officers from the City of San Diego tried to close down a home Bible study for instance.

Another thought—is an event where homosexuals participate necessarily an ‘anti-Christian act’? It may be promoting a lifestyle which is antithetical to Biblical Christianity but is it really directly ‘anti-Christian’? I don’t think so.

What do you think?

Happy New Year!  2010 has finally arrived and just in the nick of time, 2009 had surely worn out its welcome.

What I’m Looking Forward To

1. Revival

2. End of The Recession

What I am Not Looking Forward To

1. A New World Currency and Government

2. A Nuclear Iran

3. The Rise of Turkey –A New Islamic Caliphate

<<Read what I have to say about each on my Main Page>>             *Top