Yikes...
TV Guide.com reports that there is a remake of the movie Oh, God! in the works. Who better to replace venerable George Burns than...Ellen DeGeneres? Here are her qualifications...
"Ellen is a strong comedienne and she has always done material about God and questions about God," says producer Jerry Weintraub. "She will help us with the writing, and using her will allow us to do a proper 2005 view of Oh, God! that is hip and modern."
If by "hip and modern" you mean horrible, then you are right on.
Oh wait, I get it, they are portraying God as a woman. Ha ha ha!
Even better, as a woman who is best known as a mediocre comic who is a lesbian! Double har de har har!
I love the line, "a proper 2005 veiw of Oh, God! " In other words, a proper postmodern view of who God is. As if God must adapt to modern man's mores instead of the other way around. Good thing churches don't hold to that view. Oh wait...
I am not the Biblical expert I would like to be, but I am guessing there is something in the Word about it being a bad idea to mock God. The original movie was probably fairly inoffensive, but I can't see the remake as anything but a mockery of Him.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Another good article on National Review, this one on a victory for eminent domain opponents, a tactic used by governments to seize private property often to give to a private entity. The case he cites is a neighborhood in Michigan that was seized to make way for a new GM plant. I have no problem with tax incentives to lure business, but when people's homes are seized that is a different story. If GM wants a piece of land they should have to negotiate a buyout with every landowner, and pay fair market price.
Eminent domain abuse is rampant and we are starting to see more and more of it applied for "environmental" purposes. Government entities sieze or render useless property to preserve it and make it worthless to the land owner. Private ownership of property has long been one of th ehallmarks of American success, and the government has no business seizing private property.
Eminent domain abuse is rampant and we are starting to see more and more of it applied for "environmental" purposes. Government entities sieze or render useless property to preserve it and make it worthless to the land owner. Private ownership of property has long been one of th ehallmarks of American success, and the government has no business seizing private property.
A far more intelligent commentary on the Olympics, from Rudy Gersten on NationalReview.com. Gersten says what everyone should be thinking: the NBA players who are hiding from the Olympics are cowards. They claim security concerns are why they stay at home, which if true does make them cowards. The rest of the world and the other U.S. athletes are showing up, telling terrorists they will not be cowed. The reality is that these guys can't be bothered. The NBA does play a long season and for players like Shaq and Rasheed Wallace, they just finsihed their season not too long ago and start agin soon. They are more afraid of injury and losing their big paychecks that they are about terrorism and security.
Despite all of this, even the team that did bother to go to Athens is head and shoulders above any other team in the world, even those that sport one or two NBA players. Out ream has nothign BUT NBA players, and should nto lose even a siblge game. The worts part about it is that I don't think that most of these players even care that they are losing and shaming American basketball. It is time to go back to college players, send Duke or Kentucky or the NCAA champion to play. At least they know how to shoot the rock, pass the ball and play defense as a team.
Despite all of this, even the team that did bother to go to Athens is head and shoulders above any other team in the world, even those that sport one or two NBA players. Out ream has nothign BUT NBA players, and should nto lose even a siblge game. The worts part about it is that I don't think that most of these players even care that they are losing and shaming American basketball. It is time to go back to college players, send Duke or Kentucky or the NCAA champion to play. At least they know how to shoot the rock, pass the ball and play defense as a team.
Another quick point about Jim Caple's inane editorial...
In it he all but declares the U.S. to be the replacement of the old Soviet Union as the bad guy everyone roots against in the Olympic games...
You know how some American fans mourn the good old Olympic days when we could root against the Soviet Bloc teams and look down on their athletes as chemically enhanced, government-controlled ogres? Well, guess what. With the BALCO scandal, the untold millions of dollars invested in the team and our athletes' lucrative salaries and endorsement packages, that's exactly how we must look now to a lot of smaller, poorer countries. Which is to say, everyone.
The title of his editorial alone speaks volumes: "No one's cheering for Team USA" Hey Jimmie! I am still cheering for the US. I still get a little misty when our athletes stand on the podium and the Star Spangled Banner (a jingoistic, warmongering song if every there was one!) plays while they raise Old Glory. Wallow in your self-laothing all you like Jimmie boy, I still chant USA! USA! USA! and love my country. This is why no one is watching the Olympics, it has become an excuse for lttle pissant nations to wag a disapproving finger at America. Take your fencing, 20K womens walk and team table tennis and shove them. We kick around everyone in every sport we care about. If table tennis were big in America we would have the best team out there. We still have the best basketball team around, talent wise, even though they utterly lack motivation and discipline. That is undoubtedly President Bush's fault as well.
Hey Jim! If we were the same kind of repressive regime as the Soviet Union, you would be spending the next 20 years in a North Dakota gulag. People hated the USSR because they were a repressive, imperialist state. People hate the US because our model works better than theirs. No one tried to sneak into the USSR because of all the wonderful opportunities, they tried like the dickens to get OUT! America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave, all the mroe so because we tolerate morons like Jim Caple.
In it he all but declares the U.S. to be the replacement of the old Soviet Union as the bad guy everyone roots against in the Olympic games...
You know how some American fans mourn the good old Olympic days when we could root against the Soviet Bloc teams and look down on their athletes as chemically enhanced, government-controlled ogres? Well, guess what. With the BALCO scandal, the untold millions of dollars invested in the team and our athletes' lucrative salaries and endorsement packages, that's exactly how we must look now to a lot of smaller, poorer countries. Which is to say, everyone.
The title of his editorial alone speaks volumes: "No one's cheering for Team USA" Hey Jimmie! I am still cheering for the US. I still get a little misty when our athletes stand on the podium and the Star Spangled Banner (a jingoistic, warmongering song if every there was one!) plays while they raise Old Glory. Wallow in your self-laothing all you like Jimmie boy, I still chant USA! USA! USA! and love my country. This is why no one is watching the Olympics, it has become an excuse for lttle pissant nations to wag a disapproving finger at America. Take your fencing, 20K womens walk and team table tennis and shove them. We kick around everyone in every sport we care about. If table tennis were big in America we would have the best team out there. We still have the best basketball team around, talent wise, even though they utterly lack motivation and discipline. That is undoubtedly President Bush's fault as well.
Hey Jim! If we were the same kind of repressive regime as the Soviet Union, you would be spending the next 20 years in a North Dakota gulag. People hated the USSR because they were a repressive, imperialist state. People hate the US because our model works better than theirs. No one tried to sneak into the USSR because of all the wonderful opportunities, they tried like the dickens to get OUT! America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave, all the mroe so because we tolerate morons like Jim Caple.
This is why women shouldn't be sports commentators...
I don't care for Christine Brennan, a sports writer for USA Today, just in general. She is one of those shrill women in sports for whom it is always an us versus them mentality, in this case men versus women. She is especially inane in her commentary today.
American gymnist Paul Hamm was awarded a gold medal in the Olympics after a remarkable comeback. Now it turns out that a scoring error cost the Chinese gymnist the gold medal and Brennan is calling on Hamm to give the medal back. A couple of points. Do you suppose if the situation were reversed, would the Chinese gymnist give back the gold? Not bloody likely unless he wanted to face a few years in a re-education camp. Second, how many games and titles have been won and lost based on human error? I still seethe over a game (I think in 1990) between Michigan and Michigan State. Michigan was behind but driving towards the end zone. On fourth down, Desmond Howard beat his defender BADLY and was poised to catch the go-ahead touchdown pass. It was falling right into his hands and he NEVER dropped passes like that. The Spartan DB, who really had no choice, dragged him down by the jersey from behind. Blatant pass interference. Pass falls incomplete. RIGHT IN FRONT OF A REF!!! I mean literally the guy was right there. No flag. Michigan loses. You think the MSU coaches watched the film and offered to forfeit the game after the fact? Heck no! Nor should they. Human error is a part of the game. Even with instant replay calls still get messed up. Finally, gymnastics is all subjective anyway. A different panel of judges may have scored the event completely differently. It is like figure skating in that respect. In track, the guy who crosses the line first wins. In basketball the team who scores the most point wins. Who knows what the difference between winners and losers in gymanstics or figure skating.
I think this has a lot more to do with sports writers pretending to be deep thinkers and jumping on the journalistic bash America mentality. Jim Caple of ESPN.com takes a number of cheap shots at the Americans in his column today, praising the Iraqi soccer team at the expense of President Bush, even quoting one Iraqi who said he would be fighting the Americans if he weren't so darn busy playing soccer. What a patriot! You could just see Patrick Henry in his shoes "Give me liberty or give me death, as long as it doesn't interfere with my softball game!" What a blowhard. He wouldn't even be playing if we hadn't freed his country and as soon as they can reign in the terorrists we will be out of there.
Yes, as Caple points out, the NBA players on the USA Basketball team are playing shamefully but that is not an indictment of the US in general, rather the state of US basketball. As of this morning, the USA has 58 total medal, 10 more than second place China, of which 21 are gold, one fewer than the Chinese. We are doing great in these Olympics but all these pseudo-intellectual sports writers can do is bash America. Go back to writing pithy game recaps Jimmie boy, your political commentary betrays your utter ignorance.
I don't care for Christine Brennan, a sports writer for USA Today, just in general. She is one of those shrill women in sports for whom it is always an us versus them mentality, in this case men versus women. She is especially inane in her commentary today.
American gymnist Paul Hamm was awarded a gold medal in the Olympics after a remarkable comeback. Now it turns out that a scoring error cost the Chinese gymnist the gold medal and Brennan is calling on Hamm to give the medal back. A couple of points. Do you suppose if the situation were reversed, would the Chinese gymnist give back the gold? Not bloody likely unless he wanted to face a few years in a re-education camp. Second, how many games and titles have been won and lost based on human error? I still seethe over a game (I think in 1990) between Michigan and Michigan State. Michigan was behind but driving towards the end zone. On fourth down, Desmond Howard beat his defender BADLY and was poised to catch the go-ahead touchdown pass. It was falling right into his hands and he NEVER dropped passes like that. The Spartan DB, who really had no choice, dragged him down by the jersey from behind. Blatant pass interference. Pass falls incomplete. RIGHT IN FRONT OF A REF!!! I mean literally the guy was right there. No flag. Michigan loses. You think the MSU coaches watched the film and offered to forfeit the game after the fact? Heck no! Nor should they. Human error is a part of the game. Even with instant replay calls still get messed up. Finally, gymnastics is all subjective anyway. A different panel of judges may have scored the event completely differently. It is like figure skating in that respect. In track, the guy who crosses the line first wins. In basketball the team who scores the most point wins. Who knows what the difference between winners and losers in gymanstics or figure skating.
I think this has a lot more to do with sports writers pretending to be deep thinkers and jumping on the journalistic bash America mentality. Jim Caple of ESPN.com takes a number of cheap shots at the Americans in his column today, praising the Iraqi soccer team at the expense of President Bush, even quoting one Iraqi who said he would be fighting the Americans if he weren't so darn busy playing soccer. What a patriot! You could just see Patrick Henry in his shoes "Give me liberty or give me death, as long as it doesn't interfere with my softball game!" What a blowhard. He wouldn't even be playing if we hadn't freed his country and as soon as they can reign in the terorrists we will be out of there.
Yes, as Caple points out, the NBA players on the USA Basketball team are playing shamefully but that is not an indictment of the US in general, rather the state of US basketball. As of this morning, the USA has 58 total medal, 10 more than second place China, of which 21 are gold, one fewer than the Chinese. We are doing great in these Olympics but all these pseudo-intellectual sports writers can do is bash America. Go back to writing pithy game recaps Jimmie boy, your political commentary betrays your utter ignorance.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Legalism running amok...
This had to be one of the ugliest reports I have seen in a long time about Roman Catholicism and one that doesn't even involve priests molesting altar boys. The Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican have declared null and void a little girls first communion because the wafer she took for the host did not include any wheat. The reason it didn't was that the girl has an allergy to wheat gluten and even a little bit could kill her. As far as I can tell in the Bible, there isn't a mention of wheat in the last supper, yet the Diocese of Trenton refuses to allow this little girl to use a non-wheat wafer. The really infuriating thing is this:
Some Catholic churches allow no-gluten hosts, while others do not, said Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a California-based support group for sufferers.
So some diocese allow it and others don't? This is the kind of man-made rules we get from Rome that make no sense. Even if you buy into the unBiblical notion of transubstantiationism, the wafer is transformed into the body of Christ because of the priestly prayer not because of the ingredients.
Rome should worry more about setting it's own house in order rather than denying little girls communion because of an argument about wheat gluten.
This had to be one of the ugliest reports I have seen in a long time about Roman Catholicism and one that doesn't even involve priests molesting altar boys. The Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican have declared null and void a little girls first communion because the wafer she took for the host did not include any wheat. The reason it didn't was that the girl has an allergy to wheat gluten and even a little bit could kill her. As far as I can tell in the Bible, there isn't a mention of wheat in the last supper, yet the Diocese of Trenton refuses to allow this little girl to use a non-wheat wafer. The really infuriating thing is this:
Some Catholic churches allow no-gluten hosts, while others do not, said Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a California-based support group for sufferers.
So some diocese allow it and others don't? This is the kind of man-made rules we get from Rome that make no sense. Even if you buy into the unBiblical notion of transubstantiationism, the wafer is transformed into the body of Christ because of the priestly prayer not because of the ingredients.
Rome should worry more about setting it's own house in order rather than denying little girls communion because of an argument about wheat gluten.
This may seem like a cheap shot on my part, but it has an important message...
USA Today reports that police are investigating a suspected gang rape of a teen-age girl at Brigham Young University by football players. The girl was 17 and was in the school sponsored apartment that athletes stay in, alcohol was involved. Later in the story it also mentions several other BYU football players that are suspended:
Football players Marcus Whalen and Breyon Jones were suspended and are facing criminal charges that they assaulted and robbed an acquaintance in April.
An off-campus party involving alcohol and sex in January resulted in one football player being kicked off the team, three being suspended until at least spring 2005 and two players placed on probation.
The point here isn't to claim that the mormon run school is a den of iniquity (although it is a den of false doctrine). The point is that mormons act like they have a superior culture to everyday America (seen in the pride that BYU is listed as the most stone cold sober college in a ranking of party schools). The reality is that despite the commercials, mormons are sinners just like everyone else. They are not especially worthy, despite claiming to be worthy in temple recommend reviews. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That includes them. When they wake up to that reality, that they are sinners in need of salvation rather than gods in waiting, they might be able to see the true Gospel for what it is and really understand that grace means unmerited favor.
USA Today reports that police are investigating a suspected gang rape of a teen-age girl at Brigham Young University by football players. The girl was 17 and was in the school sponsored apartment that athletes stay in, alcohol was involved. Later in the story it also mentions several other BYU football players that are suspended:
Football players Marcus Whalen and Breyon Jones were suspended and are facing criminal charges that they assaulted and robbed an acquaintance in April.
An off-campus party involving alcohol and sex in January resulted in one football player being kicked off the team, three being suspended until at least spring 2005 and two players placed on probation.
The point here isn't to claim that the mormon run school is a den of iniquity (although it is a den of false doctrine). The point is that mormons act like they have a superior culture to everyday America (seen in the pride that BYU is listed as the most stone cold sober college in a ranking of party schools). The reality is that despite the commercials, mormons are sinners just like everyone else. They are not especially worthy, despite claiming to be worthy in temple recommend reviews. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That includes them. When they wake up to that reality, that they are sinners in need of salvation rather than gods in waiting, they might be able to see the true Gospel for what it is and really understand that grace means unmerited favor.
How bad an idea is this?
Fox News reports on a new wave of pastors using pop culture films to portray a Christian message. Some of the examples cited include:
The films analyzed on the Movieministry site include everything from “Princess Diaries 2” (“God exalts the humble”) and “Anchorman” (“What is love?”) to “Spider-Man 2” (“Confession is the first step of forgiveness”) and “The Notebook” (“God can step in where science cannot”).
There is nothing wrong with these movies as entertainment (although I haven't seen any of them except Spider Man 2), but why the need to dumb down the church to make a point? Many of those who are involved in this "ministry" are in california, and thus think those who are not keen on Hollywood are ignorant louts...
David Bruce, who runs HollywoodJesus.com and has a background in network television, said it’s foolish for the church to shun show biz.
“The church at its worst has been rock-throwing,” he said. “Hollywood is the easy whipping boy.”
Hollywood has made itself the whipping boy by churning out films full of vile language, soft core pornography and graphic violence. Worse, the overwhelming majority of films that address religious issues at all tend to mock and denigrate Christianity and revere eastern religions. How odd that we would not embrace this culture!
Hey, rather than movies how about we use a book to make our point. I know one that has a good Christian message. It is called the Bible!
Fox News reports on a new wave of pastors using pop culture films to portray a Christian message. Some of the examples cited include:
The films analyzed on the Movieministry site include everything from “Princess Diaries 2” (“God exalts the humble”) and “Anchorman” (“What is love?”) to “Spider-Man 2” (“Confession is the first step of forgiveness”) and “The Notebook” (“God can step in where science cannot”).
There is nothing wrong with these movies as entertainment (although I haven't seen any of them except Spider Man 2), but why the need to dumb down the church to make a point? Many of those who are involved in this "ministry" are in california, and thus think those who are not keen on Hollywood are ignorant louts...
David Bruce, who runs HollywoodJesus.com and has a background in network television, said it’s foolish for the church to shun show biz.
“The church at its worst has been rock-throwing,” he said. “Hollywood is the easy whipping boy.”
Hollywood has made itself the whipping boy by churning out films full of vile language, soft core pornography and graphic violence. Worse, the overwhelming majority of films that address religious issues at all tend to mock and denigrate Christianity and revere eastern religions. How odd that we would not embrace this culture!
Hey, rather than movies how about we use a book to make our point. I know one that has a good Christian message. It is called the Bible!
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Ok, this is weird...
Alan Keyes, who I love as a commentator and who I think is entertaining to listen to, has suggested a form of reparations for slavery? Front Page reports that Keyes said:
In a craven attempt to boost his faltering (read: hopeless) Senate campaign, Keyes said Monday that he would support exempting blacks from all taxation in order to repay the debt America owed them for enslaving their ancestors. Blacks would pay only Social Security taxes under his plan. The Chicago Tribune reported that Keyes justified his position with an appeal to ancient history, “When a city had been devastated (in the Roman empire), for a certain length of time – a generation or two – they exempted the damaged city from taxation.” Keyes, usually no fan of the morés of the later Roman Empire, said this would “compensate for all those years when your labor was being exploited.”
How weird is that from him? I need to look into this further, as it sounds a bit suspicious.
By the way, why should I pay reparations out of my pocket to slaves that are dead and that my poor grandparent's families never owned anyway?
Alan Keyes, who I love as a commentator and who I think is entertaining to listen to, has suggested a form of reparations for slavery? Front Page reports that Keyes said:
In a craven attempt to boost his faltering (read: hopeless) Senate campaign, Keyes said Monday that he would support exempting blacks from all taxation in order to repay the debt America owed them for enslaving their ancestors. Blacks would pay only Social Security taxes under his plan. The Chicago Tribune reported that Keyes justified his position with an appeal to ancient history, “When a city had been devastated (in the Roman empire), for a certain length of time – a generation or two – they exempted the damaged city from taxation.” Keyes, usually no fan of the morés of the later Roman Empire, said this would “compensate for all those years when your labor was being exploited.”
How weird is that from him? I need to look into this further, as it sounds a bit suspicious.
By the way, why should I pay reparations out of my pocket to slaves that are dead and that my poor grandparent's families never owned anyway?
Dr. Mohler presents a frightening review of a new book by one Sam Harris, entitled The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. What is truly scary is not that Harris is an atheist. Rather it was the militant anti-religion that he espouses. No freedom of religion for Harris, everything about faith is bad and everything bad that has ever happened came from people of faith. Perhaps an overstatement, but this book sounds scary and captures a growing mindset amongst the secularist crowd. No longer are they content to marginalize Christians, now they seek to outright eliminate us. This is a spiritual war where no Christian can sit on the sidelines and be content to be left alone.
I am just wiped out after a bunch of late nights in a row. Monday I got at in 1:30 AM after a Kentucky Baptist convention "understanding other beliefs" conference in Bowling Green, KY. Tuesday night I got home at midnight after the same thing in Elizabethtown. I still haven't recovered and tonight is Meet the Teachers night, which means we have 5 different classrooms to visit with the monkeys. Yikes!
Good for Alaska!
According to Fox News, Alaska governor Murkowski has decided to try to find oil next to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Since the tree huggers (or caribou huggers in this case) are styming efforts to drill in ANWR and help ease America's dependence on foreign oil, Murkowski figures he will drill on state land next to ANWR and see what they find. With luck they will hit a huge oil reserve and there will be nothing Greenpeace can do about it. 99% of Americans couldn't find ANWR on a map and will never see it. Yet eco-wackjobs in Manhattan and L.A. have decreed it off limits to drilling. It could fall off the face of the earth tomorrow and nobody would ever know. Unfortunately the same can't be said for L.A.
According to Fox News, Alaska governor Murkowski has decided to try to find oil next to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Since the tree huggers (or caribou huggers in this case) are styming efforts to drill in ANWR and help ease America's dependence on foreign oil, Murkowski figures he will drill on state land next to ANWR and see what they find. With luck they will hit a huge oil reserve and there will be nothing Greenpeace can do about it. 99% of Americans couldn't find ANWR on a map and will never see it. Yet eco-wackjobs in Manhattan and L.A. have decreed it off limits to drilling. It could fall off the face of the earth tomorrow and nobody would ever know. Unfortunately the same can't be said for L.A.
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