The only inaccurate part is the unfortunate use of Vivaldi to represent the Dutch:
[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrq8WhnfNCU&]
Don't Panic, DHS Is In Charge
Reply
Haiti: an act of Devil
It seems to me that there are three major revelations that are accessible to man. They are:
God exists; Jesus is God; the Devil exists.
The third is a sticking point for many; this is odd, since evidence for the Devil’s existence is both prolific and conspicuous. Theodore Dalrymple, oddly enough a non-believer says it this way:
The news from Haiti is always terrible; when there is no Haitian news, it does not so much suggest that the news is good as that the long, slow catastrophe that is Haitian history is merely continuing as usual. But this week’s apocalyptic earthquake makes Haiti’s recent past seem almost like a golden age.
No one who has been to Haiti ever loses his interest in the country. It is one of those places that, because of its history, because of its culture, because of its torments, captures the imagination and never lets it go. You respond to it not with tough, but appalled love. The American writer, Herbert Gold, summarized the country in the title of his wonderful memoir of his experiences there: The Best Nightmare on Earth.
By now it is a commonplace, a piece of received wisdom in every country, that the devastating consequences of the Haitian earthquake are not those of a natural disaster alone, but of a natural event interacting with extreme poverty. The causes of the poverty itself are a matter of deep ideological contention. What is beyond dispute is that so many buildings collapsed because they were so flimsily constructed in the first place.
That Haiti was a slow-moving disaster even before the earthquake was visible—obvious, in fact—from a height of 35,000 feet. When you flew from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince, the border was as clearly visible as on any map, a straight line drawn on the earth’s surface: on the Dominican side, verdant, on the Haitian side, brown, bare as a desert. It’s difficult to imagine now, but Haiti was once deeply forested; but 98 percent of the tree cover is gone, leaving eroded hillsides with gullies down which the rain torrentially washes whatever soil is left.
Perhaps this explains why one of the themes of Haitian naïve painting (one of the glories of Haitian culture) is lush forests inhabited by sleek African animals and exotic birds. The inheritance spent, the painters indulge in reverie, romanticizing the past, retreating into what Jung would call the collective unconscious. Writers have responded differently. The increasing desperation of Haiti is traceable in its twentieth-century literature. Gone is the gentle satire, the bourgeois refinement and gentility of the works of Fernand Hibbert; the situation calls for holy rage, savage denunciation.
A Nigerian journalist once said of his country, “No known system of government works in Nigeria.” This is even truer of Haiti. It’s often claimed that Haiti’s desperate situation is the consequence of outside interference—principally American, of course—plus recurrent, often bizarre, dictatorship. But Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has suffered similar disadvantages; yet it prospers. Moreover, descriptions of Haiti after the American occupation of 1915 make clear that the country received many benefits from it, whatever the attendant humiliations. As with other forms of external help, however, the occupation’s benefits proved temporary and ultimately fruitless.
Nor does voluntary assistance seem to do much better. It’s estimated that 10,000 voluntary organizations operate in Haiti—one for every 800 residents—but the effect, globally speaking, has been minimal, whatever good work each organization does individually. The whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Disaster relief is, of course, something completely different. No one can remain unmoved by the pictures of Port-au-Prince after the earthquake (the situation outside the capital remains unknown, but one can imagine). Everything that can be done should be done: the financial resources necessary are, comparatively speaking, tiny.
But because of the very problems that contributed so much to the disaster in the first place—appalling infrastructure, absent administration—such relief will be difficult to provide efficiently, without the absurdities of supplies accumulating where they are not useful, and not reaching the places where they’re desperately needed. Terrible as the Haitian army was, and often harmful as its role was, its deliberate and total dissolution in 1994 may now be a severe handicap, an unintended consequence of a good intention.
And after the immediate crisis has passed, what? International administration? Restoration of national sovereignty under a government incapable of governing? More aid that results in little but corruption and infighting? Laissez-faire? The mind reels.
Alpha backlash
Ruth Gledhill reports on an article about Alpha written by a 16 year old schoolgirl. The full article is here:
I know I am not alone when I say the posters, business cards and general publicity boom of the Alpha course around school is alarming. Posters stating “Is this it? (tick the appropriate box)” give off an image suggesting open discussion, not full on evangelism, which is in reality, what the Alpha Course is really about.
I am not stating that the Alpha course in the school is a 10 week quick conversion recipe, yet my one experience certainly confirms that, though many regular attendees have told me it is not so, but this is definitely the case outside school: A quarter of a million agnostics have “found God” through the course in England, with 2 million people having attended in the UK and 13 million worldwide across 112 countries. Figures like these bring to my attention, not the happy, warm informal “discussion” group, but the very well organised evangelical goal of the course.
The Alpha course started in the 1970s as a small Christian discussion group but took off worldwide in the 90s under Nick Gumbel. By the time Nick Gumbel was done with it, it was run like a major corporation, using advertising, and a whole range of well-known psychological tactics. The course is run with military precision, and is finely targeted. There are courses for children, soldiers, prisoners, adults etc. so that every group is exposed to what works best for them.
The cost of advertising alone must run into millions. Besides the posters we see around school, there are banners on the sides of buses, big displays in the underground, and many billboards, some quite enormous ones like the one on the Hammersmith flyover in London! So one can only conclude that this is not about a simple “discussion” group. Firstly this is very much about aggressively promoting the Christian faith, and secondly about promoting an image and tone which the course does not fulfil, in fact does the complete opposite.
The running of the course, how liberal/extreme it is, is up to the people running it. However one thing the courses do have in common are the well-known psychological tools used: people are split off into small groups, easier to control and creating a sense of a close-knit family, and are expected to talk about quite personal aspects of their lives which has the effect of creating an increased sense of trust in the group. The discussion groups are often structured like a traditional family with a man and a woman as ‘leaders’. Free food is provided generating the association of comfort with religion. Music is frequently used, as sounds are a well- known stimulus for mood change. Each course contains enough devoted Christians dispersed amongst the agnostics that when half the room starts to do something, many of the rest will do the same, for example praying.
Then the best tactic comes around week 7 or 8 of the 10 week course : the weekend away, I assume the trip to Iona at Easter is this part of the course. Take a bunch of people away for a weekend where they will be trapped, a totally captive audience, with little to do other than what you organise for them. It sounds cynical, but the trip to Iona will be a “pilgrimage” as advertised, with increasing pressure on the agnostics to do as the Christians do, which is praising the Lord.
There is also a cult element in the course, as at some point, participants are urged to allow the holy spirit to fill them up by speaking in tongues (glossolalia) and one woman claimed to have “dropped to the ground making grunting animal noises”.
I feel an institution like the Alpha Course has no place in a school, especially its advertising. So next Friday, before you go to the course, just think about what the course represents. You are supporting an institution that has a “90% success rate of conversion”, largely due to sophisticated psychological techniques designed to manipulate you.
I’ve been involved in Alpha courses for some years, so I have found recent negative responses to Alpha such as the series in the Guardian and now this one from a schoolgirl instructive. Some observations about this article:
Posters stating “Is this it? (tick the appropriate box)” give off an image suggesting open discussion, not full on evangelism, which is in reality, what the Alpha Course is really about.
It is true that Alpha is about evangelism; it is also true that it encourages open discussion. Discussion takes place after the Nicky Gumbel talk and one thing that is drummed into the group leaders is that they must let discussion between the participants take its own course; this can be intensely frustrating for opinionated leaders, since their job is to keep quiet and encourage others to speak.
A quarter of a million agnostics have “found God” through the course in England, with 2 million people having attended in the UK and 13 million worldwide across 112 countries. Figures like these bring to my attention, not the happy, warm informal “discussion” group, but the very well organised evangelical goal of the course.
Alpha is well-organised and part of the organisation is “warm informal “discussion” group[s]”. The surprising part is, letting people find out for themselves whether the Gospel is true or not often leads them to the conclusion that it is.
By the time Nick Gumbel was done with it, it was run like a major corporation, using advertising, and a whole range of well-known psychological tactics.
There are some aspects of the national Alpha organisations that make it appear a little like a major corporation and this is something that I do not find endearing either. However, having as a callow youth been sucked into Amway presentations a few times, I am persuaded that, in comparison, psychological tactics are almost entirely absent from Alpha.
The course is run with military precision.
If the young lady lived near Toronto I would dispel this impression by inviting her to a course run at St. Hilda’s.
However one thing the courses do have in common are the well-known psychological tools used: people are split off into small groups, easier to control and creating a sense of a close-knit family
The small groups are formed to allow each person to have his or her say. As I mentioned above, the leader exerts very little control over the discussion.
Music is frequently used, as sounds are a well- known stimulus for mood change.
I often supply live music at our Alpha course; the mood does sometimes change – people may throw food, for example.
Then the best tactic comes around week 7 or 8 of the 10 week course : the weekend away….. where they will be trapped
We normally have our weekend away in the church hall; even if we did go away, people would not have to hand in their car keys and cell phones on arrival; the notion of an Anglican derived course trapping people is rather laughable.
There is also a cult element in the course, as at some point, participants are urged to allow the holy spirit to fill them up by speaking in tongues
The very same “cult element” that jump-started the early church.
Something one would not glean from this 16 year-old’s article is that the main appeal of Alpha is to reason, not emotion; that is one of the things that I find so satisfying about it. By the time I was a teenager I had realised there were a few nagging questions which really needed an answer: does existence have a purpose; why am I here; what happens when I die. Alpha seeks to provide answers – I may not have listened when I was a teenager, but I wish I had had the option of listening.
Fred Hiltz the prophet
The Anglican Church of Canada wants to make Fred a prophet:
The task force will also recommend that it be part of the primate’s ministry to “speak and write prophetically” to the Anglican Church of Canada, and on behalf of the church, to the world, and that this be done in consultation with other leaders and governing bodies of the church.
“There’s a strong sense that the church wants to empower the primate to write and speak prophetically rather than just exercise pastoral leadership” in the church, said Bishop Ingham. This was in response to questions raised by the task force as to what sort of leadership is needed to enable the mission of the church.
The only problem is, the church can’t “empower” someone to be a prophet; God appoints prophets:
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 1 Cor 12:28
The ACoC has done a convincing job of “empowering” false prophets, though.
The Welsh are not used to snow
You tell from this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouQg6drRYPc]
The longest burning light bulb in history
Has been lit for 109 years.
The improved incandescent lamp, invented by Adolphe A. Chaillet, was made by the Shelby Electric Company. It is a handblown bulb with carbon filament. Approximate wattage-4 watts. Left burning continuously in firehouse as a nightlight over the fire trucks. For some research test results on a sister bulb at Annapolis follow this link.
The upper limit of the lifespan of one of these:
is 15,000 hours or, if left on, around 1.71 years; it would take 63 fluorescent bulbs to provide light for as long as the Shelby Bulb has – and it is still going.
So the question is, over 100 years, does it take more energy to make and light one Shelby Bulb or make and light 63 fluorescent bulbs and safely dispose of 62 of them?
I suspect the answer is 63 fluorescent bulbs although, admittedly, at 4 watts, the Shelby Bulb would be a little dim.
Anglican Think Tank helps Anglicans think more clearly about their faith
It does, really; it says so here:
For 15 years the Primate’s Theological Commission (PTC) has helped Canadian Anglicans think more clearly about their faith. The current team of 12 theologians will hold their last meeting from Jan. 20 to 23 in Niagara Falls, Ont. After that, the commission will be on hiatus as the Primate discerns how best to approach future theological work.
The PTC’s past work has been influential. Since 1995 it has served as a kind of think tank, offering theological insights for the Anglican Church of Canada to mull over-on sex, culture, nature, and even farming.
It all began with the Book of Alternative Services. As theologians and liturgists were putting together this material in the early 1990s, they realized that important questions kept arising, such as, “how is God feminine?” and “what does it mean to have an Indigenous theology?”
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate, offered these thoughts: “We sometimes pray that the church will never be destitute of scholars and people who spend a lifetime reading, learning, reflecting, writing and sharing their wealth of experience and expertise with the church for the good of the church. That’s what the Primate’s Theological Commission has done,” he said.
If it hadn’t been for the lifetime of learning of these 12 theologians, the question, “how is God feminine?” may never have come up and then where would we be?
Pat Robertson in trouble again
This time, because on his TV show he tells us that Haiti is cursed due to a pact they made with the devil.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ4dA6kZsEs&f]
This hasn’t been particularly popular either in the mainstream media, blog-land or, in fact, anywhere at all. The National Post, for example, call the remarks “distasteful comments”, and according to Keith Olberman, Robertson has revealed himself to be the devil.
Robertson’s organisation, CBN has attempted to settle things down by pointing out:
Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath. If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson’s compassion for the people of Haiti is clear. He called for prayer for them. His humanitarian arm has been working to help thousands of people in Haiti over the last year, and they are currently launching a major relief and recovery effort to help the victims of this disaster. They have sent a shipment of millions of dollars worth of medications that is now in Haiti, and their disaster team leaders are expected to arrive tomorrow and begin operations to ease the suffering.
And has links to Operation Blessing which is collecting for disaster relief.
The almost universal – by Christians and non-Christians – condemnation of Robertson’s comments, seems to be fuelled by the following undeclared ideas:
- The devil doesn’t exist; Robertson is a fool to believe he does, let alone that a nation could make a pact with him.
- People are not responsible for their own condition; Robertson is implying it’s the fault of the people of Haiti and they only have themselves – or their ancestors – to blame.
- Even if Haiti did make a pact with the devil, God would not punish them because even if the devil exists, God’s wrath doesn’t. God would also not allow the devil to punish them.
- Spiritual forces are not at work in the world; an apparent evil that befalls a nation is the result of a natural accident (which means it isn’t evil, of course, just – accidental).
None of the above points are particularly consistent with a Christian view of reality, so they should not evoke an outpouring of high-minded indignation from Christians. For materialists, atheists and Darwinians, a disaster killing hundreds of thousands of people is nature culling excess numbers of a species that has over-reproduced – neither good nor evil, but possibly beneficial to the species in the long run.
So why is everyone so upset at Robertson? Perhaps because he was tactless.
Question 14264 from Canada
h/t Blazing Cat Fur
Every so often, usually when I am feeling particularly pessimistic about the imminent overthrow of Christendom by Islam, I come across something like this and it cheers me up immensely:
1. Is it true that if you sleep on your stomach the devil will sodomize you. 2. Is Harry Potter permissable and if it isn’t will everyonw who reads them go to hell.
Answer:
1. It is Makrooh (disliked) to sleep on one?s stomach. It is not true that the Shaytaan will sodomise a person who is sleeping on his stomach.
2. Harry Potter is not a good read for Muslims.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
How about if you fall asleep on your stomach while reading Harry Potter?
Google the Good
Google has made an announcement about its operations in China:
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
All large companies like to display a veneer of honesty and self-sacrificing largesse, but it is almost always lip-service: when it comes to a choice between principle and profit, principle is the loser. So it is heartening to see a company make a decision that places principle above profit. Now if Google could just fix its Islam “bug”.