Happy New Year!

Another year rolls 'round, again. It's hard to believe how fast time flies--whether you're having fun, or not. It seems like such a short time ago that the new century had just begun.

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. ~Author Unknown

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

The above quotes address the lighter--or perhaps even cynical--side of the new year. But I really subscribe to the optimistic approach:

Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will. --Jonathan Edwards

If we endeavor in living for Christ in the new year, everything else will fall in place. It offers a tabula rasa for us to start anew and begin writing a fresh page of our personal histories. Of course, each day that God gives graces us with this gift, but none are so apparent as New Year's Day.

Even if all other resolutions fail--and they usually do--making Jesus an important part of life is a success. I say this humbly, and without clambering up on a high horse. I've met with plenty of failure in this department. Thank God that He judges us according to Jesus, and not ourselves. It's my prayer that each of us move closer to Him in the coming year.

I wish all of you blessings, good health, and happiness.

It's All America's Fault

Toronto Has Record Surge of Gun Violence:

A city that prides itself as one of the safest in North America is bewildered by a surge in violence that has produced a record number of shooting deaths this year, the latest a 15-year-old girl on a street filled with holiday shoppers. Canada's prime minister and Toronto's mayor blame weapons smuggled in illegally from the United States, but others point to a growing gang problem.

Whatever the cause, Canadians recoiled Tuesday after a gunbattle the previous day in Toronto left the teenage bystander lying dead and six other people wounded in a street near a popular shopping mall.

It was the 52nd death inflicted by a firearm this year in Canada's biggest city, which is nearly twice as many as last year and raised the overall homicide toll to 78 --not far below the record 88 homicides of 1991.

Martin (the Prime Minister) vowed earlier this month to ban handguns if his Liberal Party wins re-election in the Jan. 15 parliamentary elections. But ownership of such weapons is already severely restricted, and critics accused him of playing politics with the violence spree.

"The U.S. is exporting its problem of violence to the streets of Toronto," he complained.

That's the spirit, guys! Blame America First! Apparently, the whole world is afflicted with this disease. It couldn't be that your culture is morally decadent. Nah. Nor is it possible that your lax immigration and judicial systems have contributed to outbreaks of gang violence. 'Course not. The answer must be that the eeeeeeeevil Americans are at fault--either by omission, or commission. Yep, now that we know that those devils to the south are to blame, I'm sure all these problems will shimmer and vanish like a mirage.

Let's see: violence in other countries is America's fault. Check. World hunger and global warming is America's fault. Gotcha. Islamic expansion efforts are America's fault. OK. And the poor Martians who came to Earth to aid us with our population problems in War of the Worlds died horribly as a result of American meddling.

Now that we've established who is culpable, I suggest two solutions for you good folks in Toronto:

1. Tighten gun control laws. After all, if such laws are severely restrictive already--but have zero effect--the only reasonable answer is to make them more restrictive. Right?

2. Continue in the same vein of America-bashing. After all, look at the success and self-improvement it bestowed upon the people of Iran.

They Gotta Learn Sometime

Christmas Aftermath

I had a great time seeing the family, and making my rounds from house to house. Over the river and through the woods, and all that. My nephews and nieces received enough toys to supply every child in a small sub-Saharan country with Christmas gifts. Talkin' 'bout spoiled. My wife and I exchanged presents, and though My True Love didn't get me ten lords a'leaping, nine politicians lying, or eight jihadis exploding, she did buy me some nice stuff, which I appreciate.

Around this time every year, I learn anew just how much food a human can consume without bursting. For those of you who are unsure, it's measured in tonnage. The crane that transported me to and from my car attests to that.

I'm sure Richard Simmons is lying in a swoon somewhere from weighing the implications--no pun intended.

I've said all that to say this: I hope everyone enjoyed time with family and friends as much as I did. If so, I know you had a good Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

This is the time of year in which we take a step back and remember that Christ came into the world not for His own aggrandizement, but to save our souls from hellfire. He was born in a lowly state, to a poor family. He suffered many of the same hardships that you and I weather today. He was reviled and cast out by His people, and ignored or mocked by others. As an adult, He traveled about the countryside, spreading his Gospel, healing the sick and afflicted, and bringing hope to the hopeless. After only a few short decades on this earth, He was imprisoned, tortured, and murdered in one of the most barbaric and excruciating methods devised by humankind. But His death--though awful beyond comprehension--was not in and of itself unique.

But something unprecedented happened. Dying, He took the burden of every man, woman, and child's sins--past, present, and future--upon His weary shoulders. In unblemished innocence, He became sin for the salvation of a people who were lost without Him. That is the novelty of His passing.

But that's not the end of the story.

The grave could not contain Him. In an event that has shaken the very foundations of the world, God the Father brought Him back to life eternal, to sit by His side in Heaven, thus proving His authority and power over that seemingly unconquerable enemy, death. Jesus assured us in His Gospel that we, too, can attain everlasting life, if we just accept Him as our Savior.

All of this began in a manger, in a stable. As the old saying goes: "Jesus is the reason for the season." Without Him, there is no Christmas. So as we gather with friends and family, share good food, and exchange gifts, let us remember and honor Him. For in His birth, we, too, gained Life.

Mery Christmas, and may God richly bless each and every one of you!

Christmas and Its Origins

This is an excerpt from the book Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization, by Alvin J. Schmidt. I offer it as food for thought and consideration:

Frequently one hears that Christmas Day, like Sunday, is a holiday that evolved out of the religious cult of Mithraism--namely, that the date of December 25 comes from the Roman emperor Aurelian's edict in A.D. 274 that established the festival of Natale Solis Invicti (Birth of the Unconquerable Sun) as he dedicated a new temple to the sun as near the Mausoleum of Augustus. The widely held belief that Christmas Day came about as a result of Christians having Christianized sun-god worship fails to consider the argument that Christians in some geographic areas--in northern Africa (primarily in Egypt), for example--were already observing Christmas Day as early as December 25, in A.D. 243, thirty years before Aurelian's edict. They associated Christ's birth with the Old Testament prophecy in Malachi 4:2, which calls the predicted Messiah "the sun of righteousness" (Natalis Solis Iustitiae in Latin). If the argument is true, then the Christians did not choose December 25 to Christianize Aurelian's decision, but rather the emperor, by establishing the Birth of the Unconquerable Sun, may have tried to paganize the Christian observance of the birth of Christ, the "sun of righteousness." The latter gains added plausibility when one recalls that Emperor Diocletian in the Great Persecution of 293-305 reinforced Aurelian's edict in order to "expunge Christianity."Moreover, also in the mid-fourth century, Christians considered March 25 "to be the actual date of both Christ's Passion and Resurrection and his conception [sic] so that December 25--exactly nine months later--was originally chosen from a computation based on the assumed date of Jesus' death, resurrection, and conception." Hence the attempt to link Christmas Day with Mithraism's sun god festival does not have unequivocable historical support.

Liberal Iconoclastic Pagan Solstice Anthem

Deck the halls with condom wrappers.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
See our jack-boots; ain't they dapper?
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
'Tis the season for unreason.
Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la!
Aiding hostiles sure ain't treason.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

Clap your hands for fruitcake marriage.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
Noble virtues we disparage.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
We adore social upheaval.
Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la!
Christian thought is so Medieval.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

Relish slander, smears, and libel.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
Kiss the Koran. Mock the Bible.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
We know Lenin would adore us.
Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la!
"Hill in '08!" is our chorus.
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!


--With apologies to the author of "Deck the Halls."

Washington D.C. Nativity Scene

I found this on the 'net; it cracked me up.

U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. this Christmas. This isn't for any religious reason though.They simply have not been able to find three wise men and a virginin the Nation's capitol. There was no problem, however, finding enough asses to fill the stable.

The 12 Days Of Christmas (For the Politically Correct)

I didn't write this, but I sure wish I had. I'd credit the author, if I knew who he/she/it (see, I'm all about inclusiveness) was:


On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:

TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,

ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note),

TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping,

NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,

EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans,

SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,

SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,

FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,

(NOTE after members of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid furtherAnimal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.)

FOUR hours of recorded whale songs

THREE deconstructionist poets

TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses

AND a Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.

Full of It

Dover Area School Board members violated the Constitution when they ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said.

The plaintiffs challenging the policy argued that intelligent design amounts to a secular repackaging of creationism, which the courts have already ruled cannot be taught in public schools. The judge agreed.

"We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom," he wrote in his 139-page opinion.

This is just good old-fashioned stupidity dandied up in a black robe. Exactly what religion was espoused, here? The Religion of Possibilities? Intelligent Design advocates aren't even in synch on Who or What created the universe. Some believe in the God of the Bible; some believe highly advanced aliens got tired of counting quasars one day and fashioned the earth and its inhabitants like Da Vinci splashing paint across the canvas. The point is, if ID involves the promotion of religion, could someone be so bold as to explain which one? How rabidly secular, and how typically representative of what passes for atheist "tolerance." Even the mere conjecture of God's existence is now paramount to a theocratic coup.

Jones wrote that he wasn't saying the intelligent design concept shouldn't be studied and discussed, saying its advocates "have bona fide and deeply held beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors."

As opposed to Darwinistic evolutionists, who are utterly dispassionate and objective in their beliefs. Who's he kidding?

But, he wrote, "our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom."

And the basis of its unconstitutionality is a non-existent clause in the aforementioned document. If James Madison scrabbles out of his grave, lurches down to the Library of Congress with a fine-toothed comb and a magnifying glass, even he will have no luck locating the "separation of church and state," concept in the Constitution. A declaration of love and loyalty to King John, sealed with a kiss in the Magna Carta, is of greater likelihood.

Said the judge: "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."

Oh, yes, how dare they express religiosity in public, those witch-burning, Bible-thumping, freedom-stomping miscreants!

The real purpose of ID is the offering of an alternative to Darwinian dogma. I don't necessarily subscribe to specific intelligent design theories, but I appreciate what they're trying to do.

I'm a hard-core creationist. I wonder what Judge Clueless would think of me?

This judge's citation of the Constitution as the foundation of his argument is laughter-fit inducing. What a mockery of everything our Founders held dear. Not only is he uninformed, but he's proud and brazen in his ignorance. We've reached a pretty low state, when judges cannot decipher the simple language of the Constitution, while simultaneously--perhaps magically--finding whole concepts and clauses which are as phony as a North Korean's smile.

We've come a long way down, since 1776.

Not much left to do, but flush.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

It came upon a midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
'Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heaven's all-gracious King!
'The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled;
and still their heavenly music floats
o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.

But with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the angel strain have rolled
two thousands years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not
the love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
and hear the angels sing.

For, lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when with the ever-circling years,
comes round the age of gold,
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and the whole world give back the song
which now the angels sing.

Imagine: Variant Version

In honor of John Lennon's recent boneyard tour anniversary, I've written a tribute of sorts to this departed hippie.


Imagine there's no freedom;
It's easy if you try.
Hell all around us.
It makes you wanna cry.
Imagine all the people
In abject misery. . .

Imagine you've no country;
It isn't hard to do.
No borders around us.
English is taboo.
Imagine all the people
living on welfare. . .

You may say I'm a schemer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us;
Trampling liberty can be so fun.

Imagine one big commune.
It's simple as can be.
No food or health care.
Forget prosperity.
Imagine good ol' Big Brother
Scouring the bourgeoisie.

You may say I'm a traitor,
But I'm not the only one.
Someday soon you will join us,
By choice or at the barrel of a gun.

Southron Improvisation

"Stand still, Bertha. I'll make a ringer 'round yore pretty red neck. "

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Movie

Hey, everybody, I just wanted to let you all know that I just got back from seeing this film. Wow, what an experience! It's the best movie I've seen since The Return of the King, and one of the best I've seen, period. It's violent, but not graphic or gratuitous, so even the chillun can see it. The special effects are top-knotch. It also follows the book very well, and does not dilute the message presented. After having read the book and now having viewed this film, it's hard for me to understand how anyone can suggest that it has no Christian undertones.

I highly recommend it.

Open Season

Fifi had endured quite enough of Rover's meddling.

So Long, "Dookie"

The case became the state's highest-profile execution in decades. Hollywood stars and capital punishment foes argued that Williams' sentence should be commuted to life in prison because he had made amends by writing children's books about the dangers of gangs and violence.

Oh, yes, a few kiddie books just washes away all that pesky blood.

In the days leading up to the execution, state and federal courts refused to reopen his case. Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denied Williams' request for clemency, suggesting that his supposed change of heart was not genuine because he had not shown any real remorse for the countless killings committed by the Crips.

"Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise?" Schwarzenegger wrote. "Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

Williams' supporters stood at the back of the room and gave what looked like black power salutes several times, said the reporters. After he was declared dead, the supporters left and yelled in unison, "The state of California just killed an innocent man," said the reporters.

Williams was condemned in 1981 for gunning down convenience store clerk Albert Owens, 26, at a 7-Eleven in Whittier and killing Yen-I Yang, 76, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, 63, and the couple's daughter Yu-Chin Yang Lin, 43, at the Los Angeles motel they owned. Williams claimed he was innocent.

Witnesses at the trial said Williams boasted about the killings, stating "You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him." Williams then made a growling noise and laughed for five to six minutes, according to the transcript that the governor referenced in his denial of clemency.

What Conan the Governor said is right-on. Why in the world should he be given clemency, when he's not even repentant of these horrific acts? By all accounts that I've read, his guilt was unquestionable.

His supporters are nothing but vicious anti-white fools, for the most part.

The Left never ceases to amaze me with its callousness. These people wail and gnash their teeth over the plight of monsters, while the innocent murdered don't even warrant a footnote in their protests.

The Funeral and After

The funeral went well, yesterday evening. I'm not sure how many people showed up, but I'd say it was at least three hundred. If the number of people attending one's funeral is a testimony of love, then my grandfather was a well-loved man, indeed.

This morning, the burial service included an honor guard and twenty-one gun salute, preceded by a few words from a minister friend of the family. Quite a few people braved the cold weather, as well.

I just wanted to say thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes. They're very much appreciated. The family is sorrowful, as is expected, but we're all getting by.

"Arkansas Man Scales White House Fence. . ."

. . .When I first saw this heading on World Net Daily, I immediately thought: "Bill, give it up! You had your two terms in the Oval Brothel. It's over. Move on."

South of Heaven

The Devil's work is far from done. More than a third of Scotland's clergy still believe in the literal existence of Hell as a place, according to a new survey.

What interested me about this is that only just over a third believe? How does one rationalize non-belief in Hell after reading the Bible? Much of scripture makes no sense, if one assumes it's a fictional place. Take Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man, for example.

UPDATE

Erik pointed out to me that the link was broken. I failed in finding the original story, so I linked a different story that gave the same report. Sorry 'bout that, folks.

Rest in Peace, Granddad

At 11:00 PM EST, December 8, my grandfather went home to be with the Lord. He was just over eighty years old.

He'd endured a rare form of bone cancer over the past two-and-a-half to three years, going through ups and downs in his health and spirits during that time.

When the end came, it was in his own home, surrounded by family. He slipped into unconsciousness and became unresponsive, his breathing shallow. Shortly thereafter, he passed away peacefully and without suffering.

He was a wonderful man--perhaps the best man I've ever known. He would give the shirt off his back to help a person in need. He was self-made, too, with no formal education beyond the eighth grade; yet through hard, unrelenting work and perseverance, he achieved financial success and retired from his job at ALCOA Aluminum Company, debt-free and with a good pension.

But even more importantly, he was a success as a human being. Friends and acquaintances respected him. His family admired and loved him. He raised four children who grew into fine adults.

He saw heavy combat action in the Army in World War II, in the European theater. He witnessed the deaths of many friends in those days, and even in his later years, had difficulty speaking about those times. He went on to serve in the Air Force during the Korean War.

And he loved Jesus. He provided a fine Christian example to all who knew him, and served as a deacon in his local church for about twenty years. He was never ashamed of that name above names.

I know now that he rests in the bosom of our Savior, and theirein is no suffering or sorrow any more. He is far, far better off than you or I, and that is the one consolation I've gained from his passing. He is in the presence of the Father, and one day, I'll see him again.

It's difficult for me to write these words, but I wanted to share with my readers a brief glimpse of this extraordinary man's life, to honor him with these few feeble sentences strung together with memories. I also wanted to share that blessed assurance we each have in Christ. He does not discriminate against those who search him out earnestly. Seek, and you shall find Him. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Now my grandmother must pick up the pieces of her life and figure out how to cope with losing her husband of fifty-three years. She, too, has Christ in her heart. I'm sure He'll carry her through her grief. I don't often make prayer requests, but I humbly ask that those who are willing, pray for her strengthening and recovery from this awful loss. And remember the family in your prayers. I would appreciate that more than words can say.

Sometimes death is seen coming, far down the road, giving us time for preparations. Others, it swoops in upon us suddenly, without notice. Yesterday in the early evening, there was no indication that this was my grandfather's final day on earth. And yet he is gone from us, now.

Hold your children and grandchildren and siblings and spouses and parents close. If you haven't said "I love you" lately, say it now. There may not be a chance tomorrow.

I love you Granddad. I'm glad you're home. The rest of us will be on in a little while.

"Kill Me! I Dare You!"

Saddam Hussein told the judge at his trial Monday that "I am not afraid of execution" during an unruly session in which the first witness took the stand and testified that the former president's agents carried out random arrests, torture and killings.

Of course he's not afraid. He has lots of experience with execution.

Remember Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941.

God bless those Americans who died that day, in their nation's service.

God bless their families.

And may God bless and keep those who survived that harrowing ordeal.

Amen.

China Is No One's Friend

Remember our red, rotund friend in the east? You know, the one with most favored nation trading status; the one that loathes Christianity and hates with a passion every ideal that we take for granted? The one that revels in stamping out liberty in size fifteen steel-toed boots?

Yep, that one. Well, here's what's going on in good ol' China, these days:

The communist Chinese government bulldozed a Catholic Church building in Xi'an city, wounding 16 nuns.

The U.S.-based China Aid Association, citing "reliable sources," said about 30 uniformed young men rushed into the church with wooden sticks in their hands at about 6 p.m. Nov. 22.

Two hours later, a bulldozer started tearing down the place of worship.

China Aid said officials from the government's religious affairs bureau came to the site, and the destruction was halted until the next evening.

Then, about 40 uniformed young men armed with sticks started beating the nuns, who were defending the church building, China Aid said.

Sixteen nuns suffered severe wounds, including eye injuries and broken legs.

China Aid described the attackers as "government-hired gangsters."

All Protestant and Catholic churches in China are required to be under control of the government, and groups that do not register – the vast majority – are labeled "illegal cults."

If that's not enough, here's some more:

A United Nations rights investigator has said that torture was still widespread in China and accused authorities of trying to obstruct his work on a historic 12-day fact-finding mission.

Torture methods cited in a press release at the end of his trip included use of electric shock batons, cigarette burns, submersion in pits of water or sewage and exposure to conditions of extreme heat or cold.

Some techniques were apparently so widespread that they had generated a special terminology, such as "exhausting an eagle", where prisoners are forced to stand on a tall stool and beaten to the point of exhaustion.

Police in Tibet and Xinjiang have engaged in long-standing crackdowns on separatists, and human rights groups regularly report widespread abuse of detainees there.

Consider this: If the UN--perhaps the most corrupt and inefficient organization on planet earth--has made this determination and is concerned about these abuses, how deep and pervasive must the problem actually be?

Keep these stories in mind, the next time you hear someone imply that China is our friend. If we are known by the company we keep, the United States should distance itself from this wretched hellhole as much as possible.

The Chronicles of Narnia's Christian Foundation

From an AP article in my local newspaper:

But many regard them as Christian allegories and the heroic lion, Aslan, as a symbol of Jesus. . .Douglas Gresham (C.S. Lewis' stepson), wanting no part of America's culture wars, says some characters and events could be interpreted as Christian symbols. But Lewis didn't regard The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a Christian book, though his beliefs influenced the story--as they did everything he wrote.

From The Sunday Times Online (Britain):

An unpublished letter from the novelist C S Lewis has provided conclusive proof of the Christian message in his Narnia children’s books.

In the letter, sent to a child fan in 1961, Lewis writes: “The whole Narnian story is about Christ.” It has been found by Walter Hooper, literary adviser to the Lewis estate.

Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson, said recently: “Churches in Britain and America are promoting the film as a Christian film, but it’s not . . . and the Narnia books aren’t Christian novels.”

The letter, written from Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Lewis was a don, contradicts this. “Supposing there really was a world like Narnia . . . and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?” he wrote.

“The stories are my answer. Since Narnia is a world of talking beasts, I thought he would become a talking beast there as he became a man here. I pictured him becoming a lion there because a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; b) Christ is called ‘the lion of Judah’ in the Bible.”

I'm sure this is old hat for all you Narnia fans. Isn't it astounding, though, that secularists will go to such lengths and depths to deny Christ, even in a book of fiction? I love the AP article quote: "But many regard them as Christian allegories. . ." The word "regard" implies that it's debatable; it's not. All one has to do is read the books--particularly the final novel--and the answer is irrefutable. Suggesting otherwise simply is a lie.

And Gresham; what a class-act he is: He honors his stepfather's memory by planting seeds of doubt about the intentions behind the books, when there is no doubt at all. The AP article mentions as an aside that he once had a "spiritual epiphany," and now works with his wife in an ecumenical ministry. Of course, his epiphany is not defined in the article. For all we know, he believes Irish potatoes have devine qualities, and should be objects of adoration and worship. Or perhaps he practices Druidic rites, naked under a full moon.

This is just a bit of extrapolation on my part, but I suspect that he didn't share Lewis' religious views, so admitting the overt Christian message behind the books irks him to no end. So just as with Tolkien's works, we have people scrambling out of the woodwork in droves, denying or questioning the Christian principles behind the stories. After all, we can't designate two of the greatest creations in modern literature as Christian in their origins. The mere thought is horrible beyond words.

What's next? Maybe Quo Vadis? and Ben-Hur had no relation to Christianity, either?

I know the Bible isn't fiction, but it is the world's bestselling book. Pretty soon we'll have folks smiling and shaking their heads in condescension, informing us in all their wisdom that scripture isn't Christian; it was a great book of adventure written by rabid secularists.

Rear View

When the Amish take to technological innovation, they do so reluctantly.

A whole car is only fifty years away.

Californy Ain't No Paradise

Recently released crime statistics show the homicide rate in California is 265 percent higher than the death rate suffered by U.S. and British military personnel in Iraq.

According to the report "Crime in California 2004," compiled by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, there were 2,394 reported homicides in the Golden State last year. That compares with 905 deaths of coalition forces in Iraq, chiefly Americans and Brits, during the same time period.

Such comparisons have been made by defenders of the action in Iraq, who say the number of casualties for a war of this length are extraordinarily low.

This is a fair point that helps us keep things in their proper perspective. I wonder why folks like Red Kennedy, Lurch Kerry, and I, Gorebot aren't calling for a withdrawal from the west coast? With two-and-a-half times as many deaths in the Golden state as in Iraq within the same time-frame, it's pretty obvious that the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Democrat Party over the Iraq War is just heavy-handed politics. Nothing more.

Makeover

"You'll be a brand-new man, when we're done with you."

Too Offensive

"Each year, we gather here to celebrate the season of hope and joy – and to remember the story of one humble life that lifted the sights of humanity. Santa, thanks for coming. Glad you made it. I know you've got a lot of commitments this time of year. By the way, we have a lot of chimneys at the White House if you're looking for something to do." --George W. Bush, joking at the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, December 1.

Sadly, I expect nothing better than this from our president. He found the time and opportunity for mentioning Santa and making a joke, but just as there was no room in the inn, there was no room for an overt mention of Jesus in his remarks. I suppose that might've offended some wild-eyed jihadi lurking on the fringes of his audience.

We wouldn't want that.

Tear it All Down with a Ho Ho Ho!

The secularizers are gearing up for another year of kicking baby Jesus out into the cold, dark streets. Even as I type this, I see a Rambo-like montage playing in my head: of atheists and their fellow travellers donning their Che Guevara sweatshirts, pulling on their Santa suits, gripping their baseball bats tightly, and using photos of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and other zealots of the "Christian Right" as target practice. Then these thugs and enemies of religious freedom goose-step into the back alleys and steal their way down Main Street, U.S.A., breaking crosses, smashing creches, and wishing everyone "Happy Holidays!" at the tops of their whiny voices. The red Santa coats are fit for the occasion, since the color represents that of their ideological ancestors, those whom they adore. And when they have finished leeching every conceivable drop of joy or relevance from this time of year, they dust off their hands and return to their communes and the rocks from under which they crawled, happy in the knowledge that they've been about the good work of dismantling liberty, never wondering what will rear its head in the New World Order displacing the old.

Just today, I heard a story from Florida, in which a mayor allowed a menorah on public property, while refusing the installation of a nativity scene.

They're just getting warmed up.

I realize some of my godly readers don't celebrate Christmas, and I respect that. I think the Redeemed can have honest, amicable disagreements on this issue. But make no mistake; the war on Christmas simply is one front in a wider conflict: the all-out assault on religious freedom, and Christianity in particular. We should take this seriously; our evil enemy certainly does.

I love the old rabid leftist canard: "We won't allow manger scenes, because we're afraid they might offend someone." Of course, this is patent nonsense, and it doesn't take much candle power to see through the lie. First, no one has a right not to be offended. How would one even begin securing such an intangible? Second--and more importantly--if minimizing offense really was the goal in these situations, these people would behave in a fashion diametrically opposite their current reaction. We live in a country in which 85% of the population is either Christian, or associates itself with Christianity. For any arithmetically-challenged atheists who've accidentally stumbled on this website in abject horror, that's well over three-fourths of Americans. So where does the likelihood of offense lie? In the aforementioned 85%, or in the remaining 15%, which consists all other religions; i.e., Judaism, Killslam, etc. The short of it is that far more people are outraged by this behavior than otherwise would be if a baby Jesus was swaddled on the front lawn of every public building in the nation, 365 days a year.

Though the ultimate end of all this is the eradication of free religious expression, they're zeroing in on Christianity first. The reasoning is simple: they hate American ideals; Christianity is interwoven in this nation's founding and history; therefore, there is a connection between the two in reality and in the minds of the destroyers. Damaging one helps undermine the other. Their sappers are hard at work burrowing under our fortifications.

And Satan himself is their general, watching over the battlefield with a smirk.

Big McTrouble

"Officers, I don't care what Ringling Brothers told you! Their treatment of clowns is abominable and barbaric! I just had to bring that big-top down!"

A Miracle?

A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors, a policeman said Tuesday.

The girl, missing for a week, had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them, said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo, speaking by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, about 350 miles southwest of Addis Ababa.

She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said. "They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said.

"If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.

Kidnapping young girls has long been part of the marriage custom in Ethiopia. The United Nations estimates that more than 70 percent of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practiced in rural areas where most of the country's 71 million people live.

I know this report is from a few months back, but I'm just now hearing about it, and I couldn't pass up saying a few words. I often hear Christians lament that miracles don't happen anymore. "Why doesn't God perform miraculous acts, today, like He did in biblical times?" I've been asked this question on several occasions, to which I usually respond:

"Who says He doesn't?"

I'm not suggesting rock-solid certainty that this story exemplifies divine intervention; but who am I to say that it's not an act of God?