In case you've forgotten

There are some things about the Bush presidency which should please anyone who claims to love freedom and human rights. Here's one.

China and Russia last night thwarted a year-long diplomatic drive by Britain to impose United Nations sanctions on the perpetrators in of the violence in the Darfur province of Sudan ... The United States, which backed the British initiative, reacted angrily by threatening to call a public vote of the 15-nation Security Council that would force Russia and China into making a formal veto. Source: The London Times

Who's our ambassador to the UN? John Bolton. He's the guy President Bush appointed last year during Senate recess because his nomination was opposed by just about everyone to the left of -- well, the President, actually.

There was no shortage of detractors in the media at the time, either. In the Senate, at least, one mind is being changed:

"John Bolton at this point is a changed man," Voinovich told reporters. "I want reform of the United Nations, so I've worked with John and stayed on top of John to make sure he takes this wonderful opportunity."...Bolton's appointment expires next January. If Bush reappoints him, Voinovich said he "might not take the same position as last time." Source: AP

Tags: politics, UN

Happy Easter!

Sure, it's late in the day (today) but I figure people have been celebrating for 2000 years. So what's 12 hours here or there, right?

Ariel's got a great Easter post up at Bittersweet Blue.
LaShawn also has a great read here.

If you haven't read already, stop by and check them out!

Q&A, part one

It seems like the first thing major media does whenever stories like this or this come out is assume they are of equal or greater merit than the Bible. Doesn't it seem like the thing that a responsible journalist should do is to be skeptical and investigate? But who's got time for that, right?

A friend once insisted to me that the entire Bible was an elaborate deception fabricated centuries ago out of whole cloth. How or why someone would carry out such a complicated ruse, he could never explain to my satisfaction. So in light of recent news items, I submit some answers to my own questions.

Would people go to the trouble of creating false gods? Indeed, the Bible itself is full of people who worshipped false idols. Roughly all of the peoples in the promised land (before the Israelites moved in) were idolaters. Moses and Aaron challenged Pharoah's sorcerers in Egypt, and Elijah had the faith to stand up to the followers of Baal. (1 Kings 18. Read it!) And idolatry isn't limited to the Old Testament. The New Testament letters of Paul and Peter are replete with references to idols, and our lives are filled with the idols we've created: job, money, politics, status, pride, television, food, fitness, family, blog...

Wait a minute, you say, those aren't idols. They might be distractions, or personal weakness, but they're not gods. Some of them aren't even bad things! Fitness? Family?? And the blog? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Are you sure? Has one of those things (or something else that isn't God) become the center of your life? There's no shame in admitting it. I certainly have a hard time making Him the center of my life, though I'm asking Him to work on me.

Well, this post was going a totally different direction when I started, but this seems like a good place to stop. I'll try to continue back in that direction later in subsequent posts.

Tags: faith, Q&A