Thursday, June 30, 2005

The Left's battle to restore chaos: Judeo-Christian values: Part X

by Dennis Prager

It is difficult to overstate the depth of the differences between the Judeo-Christian view of the world and that of its opponents, most particularly the Left. For example, it involves the very question of whether there is order to the world.


Basic to the biblical worldview is the proposition that God made order out of chaos -- order expressed largely through separation and differences. God separated light from dark and created day and night; separated the waters and created land; and so on.

Differences reflect the divine order, while attempts to abolish those differences represent a denial of that order and a yearning for primeval chaos, moral and otherwise.

Here are some of the differences that are central to the Judeo-Christian worldview that are under attack today:...
Link to rest here.

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Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Hair Splitting At The Court

by George Will

June 28, 2005


WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday rendered two more hairsplitting, migraine-inducing decisions about when religious displays on public property do and do not violate the First Amendment protection against ``establishment'' of religion. In a case from Texas, where a Ten Commandments monument stands outside the state Capitol, the court, splintered six ways from Sunday, said: We find no constitutional violation. The second case came from Kentucky, where the Commandments displayed in several courthouses are surrounded by historical symbols and documents -- e.g., copies of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Star Spangled Banner -- to comply with the ``reindeer rule,'' more about which anon. On Monday the court recoiled from Kentucky's displays, saying, they are unconstitutionally motivated by a ``predominately religious purpose.'' Not enough reindeer? Link to rest here.

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Monday, June 27, 2005

Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX

As readers of this blog have no doubt noticed, I've been providing a lot of links to Dennis Prager's The Case for Judeo-Christian values series. I will continue to do so. (For those that want to cut to the chase and read Dennis's articles in quick succession you can find them all right here: Prager Articles.)

As a Christian I don't suscribe to all of Dennis' Biblical exegesis. Christians believe the Old testament, including the Torah, should be interpreted by the New testament, and that the entire Biblical record is meant to point to and glorify God's intended Messiah for mankind - Jesus Christ. Mr. Prager, an observant Jew, does not believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. That's a critical dividing line, but not a big surprise. For I think it is safe to say that while there are a great many "Messianic Jews" who do worship Yeshua (Jesus), most observant Jews are still awaiting the revealing of the (second) coming Messiah. Yet I believe, becuase the Scriptures predict it, that the majority of the Jewish nation will, in time, acknowledge the Lordship of Christ and his role as the promised One.

Until that time, "gentile" Christians are called to recognize that we have been grafted into the "Olive Tree" that is spiritual Israel, and that only by the mercies of God. It was to the Jews that the oracles of God were given - not to the gentiles. And when Jesus, a Jew by the flesh, began His public ministry it was to the household of the Jews first. So, we remember our place and as the opportunity affords we humbly share with our Jewish friends the veracity of Christ as the "annointed one".

Yet as Dennis so ably demonstrates, among Jews and Christians there is a timeless bond. More than any two tribes of people on earth we share a faith in the same transcendent God and that unites us as nothing else can. In my lifetime I have witnessed a remarkable thing, a closer bond between Jews and Christians than perhaps at any other time in history. It is a thing to behold. And I pray that this bridge grow ever stronger until the "day dawns and the morning star" rises in our hearts, Jews and Christians alike!

I encourage you, therefore, to read, meditate on, and benefit from Dennis Prager's "case for Judeo-Christian values".


Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX

by Dennis Prager


There are good people on both sides of the Terri Schiavo tragedy, but chances are that if you affirm Judeo-Christian values, you have opposed pulling the feeding tubes from the severely brain damaged woman's body.

Why? Because if there is anything that Judeo-Christian values stand for, it is choosing life and rejecting death. As the Torah puts it, "I have put before you today life and death, and you shall choose life."
Link to rest here.

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Thursday, June 23, 2005

Part VIII: Judeo-Christian values are larger than Judaism or Christianity

by Dennis Prager (archive)


Some Jews and Christians object to the term “Judeo-Christian.” How can there be Judeo-Christian values, they argue, when Judaism and Christianity differ? In a previous column, I explained that one should not confuse theology with values. Theological differences are not the same as value differences.

Nevertheless there are some value differences between the religions.
Link to rest here.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Hate evil: Case for Judeo-Christian values, part VII

by Dennis Prager (archive)



Do you hate evil?

Much of humanity doesn't. But if you embrace Judeo-Christian values, you must.

A core value of the Bible is hatred of evil. Indeed, it is the only thing the Bible instructs its followers to hate -- so much so that love of God is equated with hatred of evil. "Those who love God -- you must hate evil," the Psalms tell us.

The notion of hating evil was and remains revolutionary.

The vast majority of ancients didn't give thought to evil. Societies were cruel, and their gods were cruel.

Nor did higher religions place hating evil at the center of their worldviews. In Eastern philosophy and religion, the highest goal was the attainment of enlightenment (Nirvana) through effacing the ego, not through combating or hating evil. Evil and unjust suffering were regarded as part of life, and it was best to escape life, not morally transform it.
Link to rest here.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Intelligent Design and converting to Christianity

A Phycisist's Perspective

by David Mobley

One of the accusations commonly levied against Intelligent Design (ID) is that it is stealth Christianity, and is just an attempt by creationists to impose their religion on people. I don't really intend to deal with that objection here, as it's been answered frequently before. But it does raise an interesting question: If one admits (becomes convinced) that a supernatural being created the universe -- or even that the God of the Bible created the universe -- does this necessarily lead one to convert to Christianity? Link to rest here

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Sunday, June 05, 2005

Fear and Rejection

By DAVID BROOKS


Forgive me for making a blunt and obvious point, but events in Western Europe are slowly discrediting large swaths of American liberalism.

Most of the policy ideas advocated by American liberals have already been enacted in Europe: generous welfare measures, ample labor protections, highly progressive tax rates, single-payer health care systems, zoning restrictions to limit big retailers, and cradle-to-grave middle-class subsidies supporting everything from child care to pension security. And yet far from thriving, continental Europe has endured a lost decade of relative decline.
Link to rest here

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