Thinking to Believe

Government’s primary purpose is to protect our natural rights. The right to life is the most important right because all other rights depend on it. Any candidate/party who uses their political power to allow some mothers to legally murder their own children in utero is not fit for public office and should never receive our vote. As a form of murder, abortion is the greatest injustice possible, and to vote for a candidate/party who has told you in advance that they will use their political power to ensure that this injustice continues and expands, is morally unconscionable.

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Japanese researchers have successfully taken adult mice skin cells, reverted them to stem cells, and then turned those skin cells into an egg.  That alone would be a huge technological achievement, but they didn’t stop there.  They fertilized and implanted those eggs, resulting in 11 live births (which reflects less than 1% of all attempts, so while the process was inefficient, it is a proof-of-concept).

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Wesley J. Smith reports that the Dutch government is drafting a law that would legalize euthanasia for the perfectly healthy who feel that they have “completed life” and want to die.  This is not surprising given the logic of the pro-suicide position.  The two prongs on which it hangs are self-autonomy and ending suffering.

I’ve long thought that these two rationales would be decoupled, such that justifiable suicide would no longer require that both requirements be met.  In this case, self-autonomy alone is the justification for suicide.  A perfectly medically and mentally healthy person just wants to die.  No more justification is needed.

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The prophet Isaiah records YHWH as saying:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,  so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Is 55:8-9)

This verse is quoted to make a variety of points.  Some quote it to make the point that God is unknowable.  Others use it to argue that we can’t understand God’s will and way of thinking.  My favorite use of this verse, however, is in a debate when someone’s position is being challenged and they don’t know how to respond.  When all else fails, just claim that your point of view is too lofty to understand because it comes directly from God!

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When it comes to voting, policies matter more than personalities. We are not voting for outstanding moral person of the year. We are voting for the person whose political ideas/policies will result in the most good. When forced to choose between candidates of poor personal characters, we cast our vote for the person who has the best policies, given our options.

Some people look at the deficiencies in character or policy or both, however, and conclude that they cannot cast their vote for any candidate in good conscience, or that they must vote for a third party candidate who has better policies than the major party candidates.  I think both responses are a mistake.  If our goal in voting is to make a moral difference in the world rather than just a moral statement, then we shouldn’t stay home or vote for an unelectable third-party candidate.  Let me explain.

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How many times have you heard the worship leader say something like, “Jesus said ‘If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me,’ so let’s worship Jesus and allow him to draw us nearer”?  Sometimes it is implied that our worship of Jesus will even result in Jesus bringing sinners to salvation.

A simple reading of the context reveals that it is being both misquoted and taken out of context.  Jesus didn’t say “If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me,” but rather “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me.”  The addition of the bolded words alone make it clear that the worship leader’s interpretation is wrong.  The context makes it even more obvious: (more…)

Everyone wants to be understood properly – even God.  In communication, a proper understanding can only be achieved when a clear message is properly interpreted.  If the sender does not clearly convey his message, or if the receiver does not properly interpret the sender’s message, miscommunication and misunderstanding results.  This happens all the time with the Bible.  We often misunderstand it because we fail to interpret God’s words properly.

Interpreting the Bible is more difficult than interpreting a modern text or conversation because it reflects a different era, geography, language, worldview, culture, literary genres, and idioms.  Oddly enough, the vast majority of Christians are never trained in Biblical interpretation.  Given this circumstance, it’s no wonder the Bible is misinterpreted and misapplied so much.

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Two new books have been published reporting on the discovery of 25 Hebrew Bible texts, at least some of which may be part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  There have been ~70 such texts that have appeared on the antiquities market since 2002.

The provenance of these manuscripts is uncertain since they were found on the antiquities market, but they may have come from the Qumran caves. They are believed to be ~2000 years old.

Nehemiah was the only book that was not found among the original Dead Sea Scrolls. This new cache of manuscripts, however, contains portions of Nehemiah (2:13-16), as well as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Samuel, Ruth, Kings, Micah, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Joshua, Judges, Proverbs, Numbers, Psalms, Ezekiel, and Jonah. Given the unknown provenance, however, the manuscript may not be part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, even if it dates from the same period of time.

Work is currently underway to investigate the manuscripts to make sure they are not forgeries.

News articles:

Live Science

History

Update 3/16/20: The Museum of the Bible held 16 of these ~70 post 2002 fragments. They were recently discovered to be forgeries, casting doubt on the other ~55 as well. See the National Geographic’s “Exclusive: ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries“

Wesley J. Smith writes about the strange ethics afoot in the medical world today. While more and more doctors and bioethicists are advocating the repeal of conscience rights for doctors, insisting that they participate in euthanasia and abortion because the patient’s desires are autonomous and trump the doctor’s conscience.  Ironically, however, many in this crowd also support futile care laws which allow a hospital to determine that due to your quality of life, the healthcare desired by the patient is not worth the cost and can be denied.  Smith ends by saying, “Autonomy rules if you want to die–even over medical conscience. But doctor/bioethicists values rule if you want to live.”  Clearly, this is not about patient autonomy.  It’s about strong-arming an anti-human view on the medical field, forcing everyone who values life out of the business.

An Australian girl who was raised by lesbians and supports both same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting is raising her voice for the children of same-sex couples. She believes the same-sex couple should not be able to deprive the child from knowing their other biological parent.  She describes her own longing to know her father and the deep sense of missing something in her life.

The needs of children should trump the desires of adults. Kids deeply long to be in relationship with both of their biological parents, and do best in that environment. They need the influence of both genders.

Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe to be a toilet in a pagan shrine in Lachish. We know the practice of installing a toilet to desecrate a shrine was practiced from an account of King Jehu doing so in 2 Kings 10:27. The toilet in question, however, dates to the time of Hezekiah. While there is no Biblical record of Hezekiah doing the same, 2 Kings 18:4 tells us that he destroyed pagan sacred places. It would not be unexpected that he also desecrated pagan sacred sites by installing toilets. Tests indicate the toilet in question was never used, and just had a symbolic purpose.

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Wesley J. Smith notes how prominent “bioethicists” are increasingly advocating that all doctors be required to participate in euthanasia and abortion.  The left is all about coercion, and we are seeing a steady march toward the death of conscience rights and freedom of religion.  If we value freedom, we must speak against this tide.