• /
    • Archives /
  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

Is Contemporary Christian Music not Christian?

February 18, 2017 — 3 Comments

There are some who take the view that things outside of the Church are able to be redeemed for God’s glory. So rather than condemning contemporary music, they believe we ought to redeem it for God. They use this reasoning in many areas where culture meets the Church from music, technology, movies, etc. There are others who feel contemporary music is only about the feelings and doesn’t uphold the tradition. To me this argument doesn’t hold as much water since if we are truly going to go by tradition why not go further back than hymns and masses? Furthermore if you look at Church music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods you often see the borrowing of melodies between secular music styles and Church music styles. Why? Because people knew the tunes and could participate. There are some who also view that all verses not directly quotable from the Bible and involving instrument accompaniment to not be true Church music.

Personally I think its a silly argument from a musical perspective because the Church has always been using the best composers at the time and latest forms of musical development from polyphony, four-part vocal harmony, key signatures, music forms like cantatas and oratios, etc. Its just a matter of when you want to say enough is enough by drawing the definitive line which differs between Churches and denominations. For me I prefer some good Palestrina or Monteverdi over contemporary Christian but I don’t view contemporary Christian as not Christian.

In Christianity, Personal Writings , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

A Response to the Drivel that is Occupy Democrats

January 15, 2017 — Leave a comment

I recently came across an article from Occupy Democrats which if you are not aware is a left leaning organization that makes lots of memes and images that get shared amongst the left. I typically just simply scroll on and ignore such partisan rubbish as I do with the right wing  Republican equivalent. However this time I figured I would address the overarching problems and cognitive dissonance on display within their movement. Rather than leave a comment and argue against a wall which typifies political discourse nowadays I will address all the points here:

1. Nothing, including an arcane, racist section of the constitution, can change the fact that 3 million more Americans voted for Hillary than for Trump. It’s either a democracy or it isn’t. If he had won by 3 million, I would sadly admit that Trump is the President the American people wanted. But that’s not what happened.

Firstly Michael lets cut out the disingenuous notion that because a person won the electoral college but not the popular vote they are illegitimate. Its funny how Democrats are so quick to point this fact out yet I would bet they would have said no such thing had John Kerry beat Bush back in 2004 which he came close to doing by electoral vote. Moore is being a partisan buffoon at this point. Furthermore he is putting on full display his inability to comprehend the basic civics that the US government’s foundation is built upon. The US government is not a democracy and has never been a democracy. The US constitution would have never been ratified back in 1788 if the plans for government called for mob rule. Back to the 2016 election though. If one were to look at the states one would see that Trump won 30 states to Clinton’s 20 states. If one were to look at the votes outside the states of California and New York,Trump carries the election by 1.8 million votes. So in other words its not that Trump doesn’t have the will of the people he simply doesn’t have the will of California. I think the other 48 states are okay with that especially the small states as shown in her crushing electoral defeat. The Republicans not only won the presidential election despite all major outlets predicting Trump’s chances in the single digits but they also won the senate and house majorities. That is a mandate.

2.  He is not well and needs help. He has a number of serious mental disorders that make him unfit to hold office — and they are on display every day in one cringe-worthy tweet after another. He is a full-blown malignant narcissist. He displays sociopathic tendencies. He will say one thing and 30 seconds later say the opposite. He is disconnected from the truth. And he has a stunning lack of human empathy. These behaviors make him a truly dangerous occupant of the Oval Office.

This is all conjecture and typical fear mongering that was prevalent throughout the election. If you want to say that Trump has an ego and is inconsistent in his principles that is fair game. But when you start saying ridiculous things like “truly dangerous” in hopes that people will swing to your view out of fear you lose credibility Mr. Moore.

3. The Russians interfered with the election in order to get him elected. Even Trump now admits as much. That alone makes the election tainted and should be voided. We spend trillions on ridiculous weapons and ineffective police state-style homeland security measures to defend us against those who would “destroy our way of life” — but we are to remain silent when a foreign government is caught trying to get THEIR candidate elected as OUR president? AND they succeed! This is a joke of monstrous proportions — and the fact that conservatives, Republicans and patriotic good ol’ boys are actively defending this foreign aggression into our country confirms to me what I’ve feared all along: that they really hate our form of democracy, our Bill of Rights, our belief that “All men (sic) are created equal,” our one person-one vote system, that whoever scores the most points wins and that people of all religions are welcome here. They don’t believe that, and I’d respect them so much more if they would just simply admit it.

No such evidence has been presented to the public to show definitive Russian state sponsored hacking to get Trump elected. Does it not come off a bit strange that Russia would hack our documents and emails only to distribute them to the public untainted? Surely there would be some liberties taken with the material or tampering with the evidence so why did no such actions take place. Furthermore Moore does not seem to grasp even how Podesta was hacked in the first place. Podesta was hacked from a very rudimentary phishing email which he likely clicked on stupidly. A phishing email hardly sounds like the full power that the Russian SVR is capable of unleashing. Why are Democrats constantly harping on the Russian boogeyman without any substantiated evidence beyond conjectures? Why are Democrats so incapable from their failed candidate in Clinton to the DNC head organization of maintaining a secure and working computer network? Do Democrats not have IT people? Finally the extent of Russian interference could have played in the election has not been clearly defined and until it is defined this stance of Moore’s is pointless partisan harping.

4. The FBI clearly chose sides, and FBI Director Comey’s interference in the 10 days before the election most-definitely helped tipped the balance to the FBI’s preferred candidate, Donald J. Trump. That our own federal police would so brazenly attempt to throw the election to the person with the least votes is mind-boggling, frightening and must be stopped. Attorney General Lynch must immediately, today, appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate what to me appears to be a criminal offense. If this is true, I want to see FBI Director Comey in handcuffs and behind bars. Short of murder and a few other heinous acts, is there a worse crime in our democracy than the highest ranking cop in the land attempting to throw the election?

There is nothing to suggest that Comey “chose sides” throughout the election. He could have easily taken a side back in September when he publicly admonished but opted not to criminally prosecute Clinton for crimes that most public servants would have been prosecuted for. The whole reason they even had to trot Comey back out there for the press was due to Anthony Weiner and the investigation into his misdeeds. The idea that this is somehow just short of murder in Moore’s mind is completely baffling and shows he has clearly lost grips with reality. Moore also fails recall the fact the Lynch was compromised herself due to her interactions with the Clintons. Oh and see point #1 to explain why we are not a democracy.

5. Trump has nominated in Rex Tillerson the most powerful corporate CEO in the world as “our” Secretary of State. Why would the quarter-billionaire head of the world’s richest corporation want a “government job?” So that he, a personal friend of Putin’s, can get the US sanctions lifted off Russia so that his company, ExxonMobil, can get back to their exclusive oil deal with Russia — which will eventually net ExxonMobil three TRILLION dollars. This is nothing less than a bold, audacious robbery in broad daylight — and it says a lot about you and me that they think they can get away with it.

This is all theory and a bad conspiracy theory at that. I don’t agree with his pick but this sounds like something Alex Jones would say.

6. Trump has potentially committed a number of felonies — and a felon simply can’t sit in the Oval Office (I can’t believe I even have to state that). From his admitted sexual assaults to whatever he’s hiding in the tax returns, to possibly evading taxes, to his committing fraud with Trump U, to his long list of conflicts of interest — the chance of us having to suffer through his impeachment trial in the Senate is just too much to bear.

Donald Trump is, as John Lewis said, NOT a legitimate president. He is unfit, unstable and was elected with help from the Russian government. John Lewis has announced he will not attend the Inauguration, and eight other members of Congress today have joined him. Call (202-225-3121) or write your Congressperson and insist he or she not attend the swearing in of an illegitimate president. It’s the least you can do short of standing in front of this runaway train. — Michael Moore

There is nothing to suggest that Trump has committed a felony. This idea that Trump is not “legitimate” is a ridiculous one and shows the idiotic mind gymnastics the left is currently doing to undermine the will of the American people. They assumed Clinton would win but she lost and now everyone under the sun is to blame except for themselves and their out of touch party. John Lewis can be an American hero of the civil rights movement and yet be completely and utterly wrong on this front. Him calling Trump illegitimate calls into question who he believes to be legitimate in the first place. Is any president who Mr. Lewis dislikes suddenly illegitimate? If you don’t want to attend the inauguration then simply don’t attend. However if you are going to open your mouth and say ridiculously partisan nonsense and spout Democratic talking points which are not corroborated by hard evidence then perhaps Mr. Lewis is unfit to serve in the US government any further.

 

In Personal Writings, politics , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Be Proactive Not Passive In Your Learning

January 8, 2017 — Leave a comment

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shouldnt-have-learn-history-movie_us_586e80dce4b099cdb0fbdda5?gvyrobp9ww1ocrf6r

 

I normally don’t comment on such articles because they tend to be the equivalent of picking low hanging fruit but this one needed a rebuttal. The author is completely clueless to not only her own history but of the history being taught in the American education system. Firstly the fact that the author had no knowledge that the school district she attended was segregated is a testament to her own failings. Any person who truly loves history especially local history would know these things. The fact that your school was white-only for a period of time should not have to be spoon fed to you. This is the overarching message of the author though: spoon feeding history.

Its true that history often omits people and events because the classes in school are only able to cover certain amounts of material effectively.This is why students typically learn local history, national history, along with courses on American government. The idea that black or “poc” individuals are being left out on purpose for nefarious reasons is preposterous. Take the women in this movie for example. They provide an interesting and but largely behind the scenes part of the history of the space program. In schools they will not likely be talked about unless there’s being a concerted effort to include black stories just for the sake of including black stories. Did you learn any of the people in the programs name during history classes besides John Glenn? I would bet you didn’t.

The author’s main problem is that she does not love history for histories sake but instead simply wants the history she prefers spoon fed to her and others through the education system. This does not take into account the intense pressure to cover the basic materials pertinent for individuals who seek higher education in the US. Furthermore it can’t be expected that the school courses will cover all aspects that you desire. I for example love to study particular periods that are hardly covered especially in American history classes such as the Crusades, Ancient Chinese dynasties, Ancient Rome, etc.

Finally I feel the author is simply being disingenuous and seeing only from her narrow perspective. She claims that her school did not mention such icons like Nat Turner and Fredrick Douglass which is absurd unless she paid zero attention during her elementary history classes which were largely geared toward the Virginia SOL test. Nat Turner’s rebellion took place in Virginia so of course its mentioned in the curriculum and as someone who has taken the courses myself I can attest to his rebellion being mentioned.

What the author fails to realize is that not everyone will get their name in the history books, even those deserving. Not everyone can be mentioned because there’s simply not enough time. However, you are more than welcome to indulge in your fascination of the obscure historical happenings at your leisure like every other lover of history does.

In history, Personal Writings , , , , ,
permalink

Is The Young Pope Any Good?

January 6, 2017 — Leave a comment

In short the answer is no. The Young Pope is a miniseries set in modern times in Vatican City. A young American named Belardo is entrusted post-conclave with the new leadership of the Catholic Church. The ensuing episodes display his reign as the youngest and first American Pope. So why is the show poor you might be wondering? For starters the story and writing is quite poor. The motivations of the various players within the Vatican are made pretty clear from the start rather than slowly revealed over time. Furthermore those motivations are not very strong nor provide any serious conflict between the various characters.

The Pope rather than coming across as the complex character torn between the desire to be loved and the desire to be self reliant comes across as simply a petulant child with parent issues due to abandonment. He seems hellbent on destroying the foundations of the Church while placing himself in a place of absolute control. Belardo seems content with going on and on about some conceived plan but having witnessed half of the first season thus far I have yet to understand any semblance of a plan being formed. He appears to like the idea of being mysterious though which he presumes will give him more control and cement his authority over the Church. The show could be summed up in the following dialogue breakdown of essentially various Cardinals stating particular tasks that need to be attended to with Belardo declaring that it will be taken care of later.

I was pretty excited for the prospect of the show. The camera work and dialogue are actually pretty well written. The fact that it takes place in Vatican City which brings back my own memories of my time living in Rome around the corner from the Basilica is a wonderful treat. But questions and dogmatic discourse are essentially not even being covered which is deeply disappointing and in my opinion its a missed opportunity. Would people really rather see a random naked woman praying in her room than address the questions of faith, salvation, and Catholicism today? I find that hard to believe.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the lack of a decent story. The dynamics of the main characters and behavior of Belardo could easily be substituted into another setting and the show renamed The Young CEO or something.

In Personal Writings , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Thoughts on the Klinsmann Sacking

November 24, 2016 — Leave a comment

So with the recent firing of United States Mens National Team head coach and technical director I thought I might share my thoughts on the matter. Firstly I’d like to say that I am not the most jingoistic of people and thus I am not an avid follower of the US team as I am not a fan of the USSF at an institutional level. However, I am a passionate fan of football the game itself so that is the place from which I will be coming from. Furthermore I do wish to see the US footballing standards improve and become competitive on the global stage.

 

Lets first begin by establishing that Klinsmann for years has been known to not be the most tactical of coaches and that has been his Achilles heel. Having a penchant for playing players out of their preferred positions at club level, Klinsmann desired to play an attractive attacking style without the sum of the parts to perform such a style. From all intents and purposes he had appeared to lose the locker room and in a sport like football that can largely make or break a team. Those things being said I still don’t fault Klinsmann for the job he was essentially given which was to transform the US football system from the ground up while simultaneously transitioning the old 2002 guard and establishing a new identity and direction. In this way I felt he was successful. Would another manager be capable of opening up opportunities for American players to trial and train abroad as well as bring in much needed talent with dual citizenship? I don’t believe so. What Klinsmann and many American sportswriters failed to grasp is that America for better or worse is in need of a serious reforming of how it goes about player development. In the past this was mitigated by the best American players simply using connections to travel to Europe and abroad in search of top flight training and footballing opportunities. This has not changed and in large part is not on Klinsmann but the USSF. Klinsmann often lamented the lack of passion of drive expressed in the American suburbanite footballers who seemed content on simply getting to the top leagues or rather coming back to play domestically in lieu of a more challenging opportunity.

 

And now for the state of US football in general. I find it appalling that nothing has really changed on the player development side. Essentially if a player is lucky enough to gain a EU passport their best bet would be to leave the US to train elsewhere. The American youth system is large but ridiculously poor quality. Some will lay the excuses down of the lack of quality training down to disinterest caused by being the current 5th popular sport in the American sports paradigm but that is simply not good enough in my book. When you have a country with as many registered players as we do that simply is not a viable excuse for mediocrity. Furthermore the US system like most American sports is pay to play which means that it essentially can price itself out of the market. Just in my area to play legitimate football against good competition as far as American standards are concerned it would cost  around $2400 a year plus travel expenses. Multiply that by 5 and that is roughly $12000 just in team fees plus the travel expenses and occasional camps during a lifetime of youth football. Not many people have that kind of money to spend on a recreational activity that won’t potentially pay dividends in the future. So until clubs are able to reap the benefits of investing in players development like in the European model I do not foresee the US cultivating talent it is capable of.

 

 

In Personal Writings, sports , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Some Quick Updates

November 21, 2016 — Leave a comment

Due to an ever increasing schedule in conjunction with the upcoming holiday season my personal blogging has taken to stagnating the past several days. I intend to continue to post interesting links and materials I come across in the meantime. And with that let the updates commence:

Literature/History: I have recently reached the over halfway point in the Tom Holland book Dynasty about the early Roman Empire and line of Caesars. Its definitely well written and I like the smatterings of culture that give the facts a certain liveliness. The book reads more like a retelling of a story as opposed to the textbook nature of many history books that lack the human elements. I finished reading Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose as well. He too like Holland has taken historical information and shaped it into an addictive narrative bringing out the different players humanity while explaining the finite details of the past. I definitely feel such good books ought to be required reading in schools today rather than the drivel they have forced upon them now.

 

Movies: Saw the movie Loving  about the interracial couple who successfully removed the miscegenation laws from across the US. The movie was well acted and definitely would not be surprised to see it in the awards for the year. Only issue I had was the lack of litigation shown in the film which they kind of gloss over.

 

Games: I haven’t yet but plan to get Ultimate General Civil War. Was holding out to see some others test the waters before investing in an early access title.

In Personal Writings , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink
capture1 capture2 capture3 capture5
In Personal Writings, photos , , ,
permalink Leave a comment

Alea Iacta Est

November 9, 2016 — Leave a comment

Election 2016 has now concluded and the president is now Donald Trump. I am pretty satisfied with the results and glad that it happened in the way that it did. Trump was not supposed to win. Trump was confronted at every turn by the establishment elite, media, polling, entertainment industry, financial industry, etc. and yet still prevailed against their wishes. Why did this happen and why did Trump win?

Trump had a message that resonates. Trump was masterful at getting people enthusiastic to vote for him. Furthermore the growing movement of authoritarian progressivism is largely to blame. People have lost patience with the political correct movement and social justice with their selective justice. People are tired of political issues (terrorism, illegal immigration, trade, etc.) not being addressed and having establishment politicians tell you with their infinite wisdom how you ought to feel about said political issues. People are tired of not being able to discuss racial issues or gender issues without being labeled and lambasted. What essentially happened was a complete shift in the parties which was unprecedented. Who would have thought that the Republican party would run a populist versus a Democratic corporate candidate.

Where do we go from here? That is unknown but I think we have a good idea that something is going to happen given Republican control of all major branches. The Republican party is in a conflicted state with establishment Republicans at odds with the newly risen alt-right. The Democrats are a broken party with no real leader also divided between liberals and progressives. We could see major changes in the next 4 years from both parties. It would be wise though for Democrats to not choose a candidate among themselves instead of allowing the democratic processes to take place.

But I will end on a positive note. The world is still alive and the Sun came up. Markets will rebound as they always do. Life will continue on as God wills it.

In Personal Writings, politics , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Still Undecided

November 6, 2016 — Leave a comment

So I am still undecided as to the best course of action despite the impending election on Nov. 8th. I am still torn between voting for Trump or voting for a 3rd party candidate. Perhaps I will write in somebody at this point. That being said I will not however be voting for Hillary Clinton on the grounds that she does not posses the proper judgement  to hold the office of president. I thought I would quickly jot down a few takeaways from this past cycle before Nov. 8th.

  1. The media has lost all semblance of credibility. Long gone are the days of traditionally astute journalists who have been replaced by people obsessed with ratings and clicks. Sites like Huffington Post are so far up their political bubble that they have ceased to deal with the reality of this election as demonstrated by their giving Clinton’s chances a whopping 98%. This cycle has seen the media brazenly morph into the propaganda wing of the Democratic Party. The amusing thing is that in doing so they seem confused as to why their industry is dying and public trust is in the single percentiles.
  2. Politicians are not to be trusted ever. In light of the recent revelations through Wikileaks, one has been given a glimpse into the inner working and thoughts of a major political party. Lets just say  those inner thoughts have not been pretty. I’m not of the mindset that its exclusively a Democratic phenomena either. Both parties appear to be strangely out of touch with their future voting base at the behest of pacifying their older cohorts of voters. This has increased the likelihood of  discontent within the party and thus threatened their survival.
  3. People are tired of the status quo. Whether its the Bernie Sanders supporters or the Trump ones it is easy to spot the discontent people have with the current systems output. If Hillary is elected and does as she is predicted to do which is cater to her backers then I suspect those sentiments to continue to grow to a boiling point over the next 4 years.
  4. The Democratic Party is not democratic. The irony is strong here but at least their practices are finally being exposed for what they are. Using tactics like super delegates, the DNC anointing Clinton back in 2011, and the consistent demonizing of its progressive wing has left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Unfortunately many of the people spurned by the Democratic party this election cycle are not willing to seek retribution out of fear from Trump which is largely hyperbolic in nature.

Anyway those are a few takeaways I have from this crazy 2016 election cycle. With the current trend as is I would not be surprised to see Trump take it given the roughly 60-40 odds. New Hampshire is the key.

In Personal Writings
permalink

Unrest

November 6, 2016 — Leave a comment

In light of my recent post on the 2016 election I feel compelled to clarify my position as I was asked the poignant question: do you want unrest? To this I would answer no but that’s far too simple a response and doesn’t take into the account the nuance of the situation. For one can be content with outward expressions of unrest without condoning violence. In turn civil unrest can manifest itself with both positive and negative effects on a society. Personally irregardless of the election results I don’t foresee there being much unrest in the forms of violence. However, the sentiments of those discontent with the current direction of the country and world  are going to grow exponentially so long as the establishment continues to ignore them.

Firstly I will point to how Christianity has influenced my perspective on unrest. I am of the belief that God ultimately has a plan for the world and that He is far more wiser than me as can be seen in verses Isaiah 28:29, Ephesians 1:11, 2 Timothy 1:9, etc. So for me ultimately who wins the election won’t effect my outlook on the world or cause my heart to tremble because if its God will who am I to oppose it. Furthermore we are called not to look upon the government or other people to protect our mind and bodies. Christianity calls for Christians to both respect those in authority  as well as use judgement in order to keep in accordance with God’s thelēma (Romans 12:2). When there is a clash of wills unrest will occur.

Secondly from a more historical perspective one can look at ancient Rome and the rise of the Populares faction in response to growing unrest between the plebeians and rich elites. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus were a pair of plebeian tribunes  during the 2nd Century BC , who sought to introduce land reforms and other populist legislations in ancient Rome. Naturally the wealthy senators and land owners were not keen on acknowledging the troubles of the poor plebeians which were being championed by the Gracchus brothers. The elites used all their power and influence to depose of them however the seeds were sown  and the Senate would later come to find an even more formidable foe 60 years later in the form of one, Julius Caesar. In the same way that elites squashed the reforms of the Gracchus brothers, I fear that the American political establishment is sending the US down a similar path. Sure they may win the battle, i.e. the 2016 election, but it remains to be seen if they will in fact win the war or lose to an even more deadlier creation.

Finally a short look at what one of the minds of the enlightenment thought  in regards to government and unrest. John Locke who largely influenced the American founding fathers viewed unrest as a legitimate reaction to a government which overstepped its boundaries. Locke declared that under natural law, all people have the right to life, liberty, and estate; under the social contract, the people could instigate a revolution against the government when it acted against the interests of citizens, to replace the government with one that served the interests of citizens. In such cases Locke argued that it was a moral imperative to replace the government by any means. His works influenced the English Civil War, American Revolution, and French Revolution.

So that is why I am not particularly bothered by the idea that a disruption in the status quo would see civil unrest. As long as people are still fallible and governments continue to ignore their constituents there will be the need from time to time for conflicts to take place.

In Personal Writings, politics
permalink