Life and Death

There are some in the world who claim that it is inconsistent to be "pro-life" while also being in favor of the death penalty for crimes such as premeditated murder. The reality is that this argument is specious. It erroneously attempts to find a contradiction where none exists.

It's really this simple: it's the difference between punishing you for your own bad choices and punishing you for someone else's.

The ironic reality is that the only contradiction is in opposing accountability for one's own actions while legalizing and supporting the death of the truly innocent. It is an argument as old as time: In ancient times, slaves were considered "property" and could be treated as inhumanely as their owners saw fit. So too the modern equivalent that innocent embryos are somehow not "life" but only little more than property. The results are awful and terrifying. Such behavior reminds me that whenever people can be persuaded to do evil and to call good evil that "the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice".

Where are the warning labels?

Many places in the US have regulations and taxes on the purchase or consumption of various items, especially if someone deems them dangerous. For example, you may not be able to purchase Tobacco or alcohol without showing proof of minimum age. Due to pressure by the Federal Government, Tobacco products now carry labels on the product packaging and in the advertising warning of the dangers associated with their use. Advertisements for alcoholic products (apparently voluntarily) include warnings about "responsibly" using their products. You cannot purchase a firearm without showing not just proof of age, but also undergoing a background check and, in some places, passing a basic proficiency test. California even recently passed legislation to require a thumbprint for purchasing ammunition, something not even required for alcohol. For alcohol and Tobacco, on top of the warning labels, we also impose "sin" taxes. But what if there were a product that was far more harmful and addictive than Tobacco or alcohol? Now suppose it carried no warning labels, didn't have any "sin" taxes applied to it, and its distribution network was far more extensive than that used by alcohol and Tobacco?

That product is pornography. Its use is widespread, and its use is found among all age groups. It is highly addictive and some estimates put it at over $100B a year in worldwide revenue. Nowhere does it carry warning labels, and it is available in every household with a computer. The trail of carnage left by pornography range from failed marriages to self-esteem issues among both men and women. It evokes only lust, the same thing that led King David in the Old Testament to commit adultery with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his most faithful soldiers, whom he later had murdered as he tried to avoid the consequences of his actions. Not something to be taken lightly.

The Grass is Always Greener

As the old saying goes, the grass always seems greener on the other side. What if it's because the other side simply has more manure?

Tolerance includes religious views

Richard John Neuhaus: "In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being 'religious' than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb."

Professor Dinesh D’Souza: "The attempt to ground respect for equality on a purely secular basis ignores the vital contribution by Christianity to its spread. It is folly to believe that it could survive without the continuing aid of religious belief."

Link to a good article discussing these and other quotes:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom

What Differentiates Man from the Animals

Charles Jefferson, author of The Character of Jesus:

"The only thing which places a man above the beasts of the field is his possession of the spiritual gifts. … Man’s earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, and his soul upon the things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical instincts and passions, or whether he will make as his life's end and purpose the acquisition of spiritual qualities."

Another thought: "I don't doubt His wisdom; only my understanding of it."

Climate Change Falls Further Apart

An LA Times reports that scientists have determined that sunspots have far greater effect on our climate than they realized. Other articles point out that termites emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide, with some articles reporting they emit as much as ten times what humans do.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-goldberg1-2009sep01,0,2797425.column

"What does it say that the modeling that guaranteed disastrous increases in global temperatures never predicted the halt in planetary warming since the late 1990s? (MIT's Richard Lindzen says that "there has been no warming since 1997 and no statistically significant warming since 1995.") What does it say that the modelers have only just now discovered how sunspots make the Earth warmer?"

http://ilovecarbondioxide.com/2009/04/termites-emit-ten-times-more-co2-than.html
Claims termites emit more CO2 than humans.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061104084951.htm
Claims natural sources, including termites, emit 40% of the CO2.

Quotes on Fear

He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson

The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety. ~Henry Louis Mencken

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear. ~George S. Patton