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--- Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The Point of the Matter
Though I haven't been filling up much space lately, I assure you it's not because I haven't been busy! My time has largely been consumed by another new blog project: The Point, which is the new blog at BreakPoint.org. Check there to get some of my recent ramblings; and keep stopping by here, where we will fill up some more space soon, Lord willing.
--- Monday, September 11, 2006
Five Years in America
The images of destruction are engrained into my mind, an easily accessible reminder of the evil brought to American soil five years ago today. Every replay of the attacks on television or in the movies brings back a flood of other memories -- exploding planes, falling buildings, dying bodies.
Yet as vivid as those pictures are, others from that day have become somewhat faded and dull. As devastating as September 11 was, America's glory was revealed in her united and vigilant response. U.S. flags rose from the ashes of the World Trade Center, tattered and dusty, yet beautiful and strong. A nation that had become too enlightened to believe in a higher power suddenly found itself on its collective knees, seeking God's mercy against the hatred of our enemies.
But oh how quickly did that nation under God give way to familiar strife and moral confusion. The profound clarity brought so suddenly by 19 hijackers was almost as abruptly obscured by political correctness and, perhaps, a desire to return to "normal" life. If that September morning was a wake-up call, I fear that we've hit the snooze button.
We must remember -- not just the immense tragedy that we experienced on the 11th of September, 2001, but the need to stand for truth and to expose evil. And make no mistake, evil remains on the loose, seeking to strike at both the body of America, in the form of brutal and ruthless enemies, and the soul of America, by immorality and Godlessness.
Let this be a day to be reminded of that physical and spiritual battle, and let us renew a commitment to show resolve in the face of wickedness. Our great nation is truly at stake.
May God challenge, restore, and bless America.
Psalm 11:In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
--- Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Resistance is Fruitful
Mark Steyn has a fascinating column in the Washington Times in which he offers some hard words about media's -- and perhaps, concurrently, society's -- reluctance to stand firm against the evils of Islam.
One hundred and ten years later, for the Fox journalists and the Western media who reported their release, what's the big deal? Wear robes, change your name to Khaled, go on camera and drop Allah's name hither and yon: if that's your ticket out; seize it. Everyone'll know it's just a sham.
But that's not how the al-Jazeera audience sees it. If you're a Muslim, the video is anything but meaningless. Not even the dumbest jihadist believes these infidels are suddenly true believers. Rather, it confirms the central truth Osama and the mullahs have been peddling -- that the West is weak, that there's no core, no bedrock, nothing it's not willing to trade....
In the Muslim world, they watch the Centanni-Wiig video and see men so in love with the present, the now, that they will do or say anything to live in the moment. And they draw their own conclusions -- these men are easier to force into the car than that 16-year-old girl in Sydney was. It doesn't matter how "understandable" Mr. Centanni and Mr. Wiig's actions are to us, what the target audience understands is quite different: There is nothing we're willing to die for. And, to the Islamist mind, a society with nothing to die for is already dead. One hesitates to single out and rebuke the captives from Fox for bending to the wishes of their captors and producing a conversion (at least ceremonially) to Islam. After all, the act or threat of terrorism can break even the strongest will and lead people to do what they might otherwise consider unthinkable. And thank God for their safe return.
What Steyn seems to be lamenting, however, is that such a forced declaration need not be unthinkable to the modern Westerner. If spouting a few words on a cue card will keep us from pain or death, why not appease the gun-wielding madmen? Yet what, then, will we stand and fight for?
On a much broader scale, the West -- maybe America most of all -- is locked in a room with a Muslim enemy, daring us to rise up against him and demanding we accept the claims of Islam. Certainly, America is militarily stronger than any foe who would put a gun to our head. But if we become unwilling to expose, resist, and strike back against evil and appeal uncompromisingly to right and truth, then we can only hope to find the most empty of peace.
Or are our souls expendable in order to save or better our lives?
Immune from Reality?
Surely everyone has seen the informative public service announcements put out by Merck & Company to make sure all women know cervical cancer is caused by a virus. Interesting to me is the fact that we've known for years the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes over 99% of all cervical cancer cases, but only when Merck pharmaceutical company is coming out with a new vaccine that purportedly prevents cervical cancer do they care about making sure the public knows of this link between a "common virus" and cancer. And, they conveniently leave out the way the virus is transmitted is through sexual contact.
Unfortunately, the vaccine will not vaccinate a woman against "cervical cancer." It was not even developed to do so. It is a vaccination against four strains of HPV, 2 of which cause approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases. In other words, even if the vaccine was mandated, sexually active women could still get cervical cancer. The media is not picking up on this piece of news, though.
Washington Post has an interesting article about the difficulty for parents to decide whether or not to get their child vaccinated. The following quote was a little disheartening:
Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, an adolescent and internal medicine specialistat the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, says parents need to take those statistics seriously when deciding how to address the HPV vaccine.
"Cervical cancer is real. Sex is real - and even though we believe our kid is different and will never have sex until they are married, it is not reality," Rohr-Kirchgraber says.
Wow. Thanks for the encouragement. Actually, the reality is, according to the CDC the majority of teenagers are waiting to have sex. Statistics show over half of high school students are choosing not to be sexually active. Many companies who will profit immensely for this very expensive vaccine do not want you to know this fact, however, because the more hopeless they can paint the picture of the state of our teenagers the more money they can make.
They are also recommending vaccinating girls as young as nine, claiming they have to vaccinate them before they become sexually active. Another fact they aren't publicizing is that this vaccine has only been shown to work for five years before a booster shot would need to be given. So, despite the statistics the majority of high schoolers are not having sex, it is still being highly recommended for parents of girls as young as 9, 10 and 11 to seriously consider innoculating their daughters for a sexually transmitted disease. Do the math. I'm not into "chances," but if their rhetoric for why every girl needs this vaccine is because they will most likely have sex so it's better to be "safe", having a girl as young as 9 getting vaccinated would mean she would most likely need another vaccination before she even becomes sexually active (according to the stats from the CDC), which in turn means more money in the pocket of those manufacturing the vaccine who, by the way, may need the financial boost after their recent lawsuits over complaints about the drug Vioxx.
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