This was it. This is the one that had all sort of commotion surrounding it. This was the one that 51% of American’s felt was okay to air during Superbowl. This:
This was it? I mean, whew. I’m outrageously outraged!! A mom, talking about the difficulties of giving birth to her son? In fact, in some ways, this was a pro-choice ad! Think about it. A mom, talking about the choice she made to have her son even when doctors told her it would kill her. This is what the pro-choice people wanted to censor? A woman talking about choice?
Well, thankfully, the pro-choice (or would they be non choice-choice?) have the perfect spin on such a horrendously offensive commercial:
The Women’s Media Center, which had objected to Focus on the Family advertising in the Super Bowl, said it was expecting a “benign” ad but not the humor. But the group’s president, Jehmu Greene, said the tackle showed an undercurrent of violence against women.
“I think they’re attempting to use humor as another tactic of hiding their message and fooling the American people,” she said.
Nice. Stay classy non-choice choice people.
And, on a side note, if people want to talk about not “politicizing” the Superbowl, let’s talk about this travesty:
Here are the major ways I’ve found that people interpret “No Woman, No Cry”. (I apologize for the continuous use of double negatives in the following sentences)
(1) No woman, no cry. This is usually the standard way of understanding it within an American context. This is how I first heard about the song. Bob is reminding men that when we don’t have a woman we don’t have to worry about the pain, tears, and sweat that comes with it. It’s the fight song for all single men on Valentines Day.
(2) No, woman; no cry. The lyrics of the song remind this “woman” to remember a government town in Trenchtown and reminds her that “everything is going to be alright”. Bob in emphatically telling his “woman” to remember everything is going to be alright; don’t cry!!
(3) No woman no cry. This interpretation means that there is no woman on this whole entire planet who does not cry. This is usually believed by those who say Bob used double negatives to cancel each other out. Women cry.
(4) No woman nuh cry. I am no expert in Jamaican/English dialect but this is the first lyric to the song and would seem to back up interpretation number two. Bob is telling her not to forget her past but remember her future. Take the tears away.
I usually hear this song the most around Valentines Day because many guys believe it to be a song praising singleness. I don’t know how this is true because there are plenty of things to cry about without having a woman in your life (mainly crying that you do not have a woman in your life) but popular opinion is hard to ignore.
I would say that this song is not a jaded, single man’s fight song for Valentines Day but a song to the ladies to remember to press on. No matter the hardship you’re facing, everything is going to be alright. No, woman; no cry! Maybe it is a fight song for the single ladies on Valentines Day? What do you think?
On a side note, guys – if you want a good fight song, here you go:
My video response to Pat Robertson has been on YouTube now for 5 days and is by far the most viewed video I’ve ever posted. I’m sure if facebook kept track of hits that number would probably be higher. I’m grateful for the encouraging words I’ve received from many on the video and even more excited about some interesting criticism I’ve received. The latter is best captured in the following posting from the comments:
You really didn’t say anything much different from Pat Robertson. Both blaming people’s sins for natural disasters.
Another witty critic stated:
Pat Robertson is an offensive idiot. Granted.
But you are way more depressing. You attempt to distance yourself (and your ‘fairy story savior’) from Pat, then go on to reinforce the notion that we live in a violent Truman Show style experiment, with “sin” causing the tectonic plates to crush us.
There are a ton of agencies and volunteers who claim no religion working there right now too. Try to deal with reality – it makes things much less complex, and a usually a little less offensive.
Ouch. Glad i’m just “depressing” and not an idiot.
I thought about these comments for a little bit because I actually understand what they are saying. Am I not being like Pat by stating that “the fall” plays some part in explaining the state of the world today? Are sins by a “fairy story” couple to blame? Fascinating.
First, I think both commentors are not necessarily arguing against my point. Mainly that the fall is a reason that natural disasters take place. What they are reacting against is by what authority do I make such a claim. That is the problem with what Pat Robertson said. His statement was based on legends and stories. If he had truly heard the voice of the Lord than that would make everything about this situation different.
Unlike Pat, I did not make my claim about the fall based on legend and rumor. I based it on countless Scripture passages found in Holy Scripture that state the world is the way it is because of “sin”. That is where the problem really lies for both of my objectors — did God really say and are those really the Scriptures?
Second, it is very easy for anyone to challenge a worldview and then present nothing in return. In my video I stated that because of the fall, mankind and the cosmos were dramatically changed. Yet, I did not stop there. I think both of my commenters would agree that the world is a messed up place. My worldview acknowledges the problem, attempts to explain one cause of the problem, and, most importantly of all, offers a solution; Jesus Christ. Most other worldviews do not offer a solution and those that do do not have any solid footing for any of the three points I just made. Christians are liable for explaining our worldview and how it relates to human suffering but, so are those who want to challenge the Christian worldview. It goes both ways.
Finally, I do not claim to understand sin or how it has plagued mankind. How could you ever understand a negative? I also would like to point out to my objectors that “sin” is never given an origin story in Scriptures. Mankind sinned but “sin” was around before then. I believe Scripture never gives us a full origin story because God is very clear in the book of Genesis that man was never supposed to have knowledge of both “good and evil”. I made my claim in the video based on this fact. Which gets us back to point number 1 — did God really say?
Therefore, the accusation that I’m saying the same thing as Pat Robertson does not seem to stand. I am stating that the same Scriptures that offer a reason for the state of the world (sin) also offer a solution (Jesus Christ). I do not understand the former but I love gaining understanding about the latter. It is that I’m more interested in because it is that person who can offer true hope and comfort to Haiti.
First, I first want to say my heart is so torn for the people of Haiti. I know everyone is saying that now but I truly, truly mean it. I cannot imagine. I just cannot.
I know it is at these times that we question the goodness of God. I know I did. Yet, I find that those of us in the West who are not there and are struggling with God’s goodness are doing so in the comfort of our homes. It’s very easy for us to condemn God but we aren’t being affected by it. What are the people in Haiti saying? This was in a news story yesterday:
“It’s 8:44 p.m. and we’re still getting aftershocks! Can hear people gathered in the distance singing prayers,” wrote Richard Morse, hotel manager at the Oloffson Hotel in the capital, Port-au-Prince.”
Just amazing. How sweet that sound must have been to God. I am convinced He will be quick to reply.
That brings me to a video I posted on YouTube in response to Pat Robertson.
It just continues to break my heart to see the differences between these two news stories. First, you have people singing hymns and prayers while pulling dead people out of the rubble. Then you have a man of God stating that what happened was because of a pact they made with the devil. You could not have two polar opposites.
One thing that has just fascinated me about this whole ordeal has been the reaction to Pat Robertson. Al Gore in 2004-5 claimed that Hurricane Katrina was the fault of Co2 levels and that the United States is the number one reason that Co2 was so high. He blamed it on Americans. President Barack Obama pastor said after 9/11 that America got what it deserved that day for its treatment of blacks. Jerry Falwell blamed gays for 9/11 & Pat Robertson said what he did about Haiti. Which of these stories are ingrained in your mind? In mine, each is equally offensive but based on which one gets you angry first will probably tell you a lot about your own political biases. We react to those we don’t like.
Speaking of political biases I knew something was up when I saw multiple friends feeds on facebook denouncing Rush Limbaugh. I also knew right away that I was 99% sure that their sources were more than likely misquoting him. Heck, even Roger Ebert has a blog denouncing him.
Over what? Here is the transcript of Rush responding to a critic today:
RUSH: What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a blockhead. What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a closed-minded bigot who is ill-informed. I am being patient and tolerant and I’m trying to explain this to you, and you’re totally closed to it. I’m hitting you with piercing, penetrating logic, and it escapes you — and it is irritating people like you that I revel in. I absolutely revel in it. I’ve got 19 sound bites here today, April, of media people going bat manure yesterday over what they think I said. They didn’t hear me say it, either. They got it from the Huffington Post or they got it from Media Matters or they got it from someplace else. I did not say don’t donate. I did say Obama will use this to help burnish his credentials, ’cause there’s no question he will. I’ll tell you something else I said, April: It took him three days to go out and talk about the Christmas Day Underwear Bomber. It took him less than 18 hours to get out there and start rallying people about this earthquake.
I’ll tell you something else, April. I’m going to make prediction to you, and I’m gonna be right about this. Before the week is out we’re going to have to be stories in the Huffington Post and other places that you read pointing out how fast Obama moved into action versus Bush during Hurricane Katrina. To accuse me of politicizing everything is to be ignorant about what I do on this program. I simply react to the left. They’re the ones that politicize virtually everything that’s happening from health care to terrorism, and I love illustrating absurdity by being absurd. And if you had listened to this program for a modicum of time you would know it. But instead you’re a blockhead. You’re mind is totally closed. You have tampons in your ears. Nothing is getting through other than the biased crap that you read. So I’ve had enjoyment here talking to you and illustrating that it’s impossible to deal in the truth with you. I appreciate your calling and I appreciate your holding on. I grew up not far from Paducah. If I’d known you were there, I might have stayed.
Rush stated the day before that the White House making people go to their website first was absurd because they had to read through all of this crap to get to the donations part. He stated that President Obama would try to paint himself as the anti-Bush. Not responding late. Being involved. Being the hero. And, lo and behold, when I typed red cross into google what did my eyes find:
This is the top story on google. It is not “Obama’s” program. He linked to it (which is awesome) but it is not “his” program. It seems to me that this proves Rush’s point.
Finally, make sure you do something to help Haiti. A simple text message from a cell phone to 90999 with the word Haiti donates $10.
You can also go directly to the following sites for more info:
Shame on the West. Shame on every single world leader. Shame on those whose public service it is to protect freedom and stand up for those who don’t have it. I remember when people used to laugh at religious folk for using tactics like “turn or burn” to scare people into believing. Turn or burn is now public policy, not of the religious, but of the United States government.
Shame on these hypocrites for burning more fossil fuels to get to Copenhagen then some of these countries who went to this ridiculous conference use in a year. Shame on them for rebuking their people for keeping their houses or apartments at seventy-two degrees while their lush meeting is being kept warm by fossil fuels in the middle of a blizzard. Shame on them for uttering such rambling nonsense like “the science is settled”. How can science ever be “settled”? I seem to remember that the earth being flat was settled science. The earth being the center of the universe was settled science. Of course, those historical nuggets are convenient when silencing religious folks who dare question the all-knowing scientist. Too bad those scientists don’t remember that history repeats itself and now they are the scientific Vatican, silencing dissent. Unlike the Vatican though these inquisitors have something way more destructive. Fawning media.
Shame on the West for empowering thugs and dictators with the intellectual means to punish their people, steal from the poor, and enslave thousands all under some guise to save the whole of humanity. Shame on the West for demanding more from countries who can’t even give their people fresh water. Shame on the West for setting up a system which will make the poor poorer and the rich richer. Shame on the West for even thinking that abortion/population control is a legitimate solution to a fake problem. Shame on the West for bailing out banks, businesses, and the housing market then two weeks later saying those same industries should not even function because they are destroying the planet. Shame on the West for stating that Co2 is a pollutant. We exhale Co2. Has no one told them this? Shame on the West for realizing building a tower to the heavens is so 3rd century BC. Who needs to do that when we can claim that we know what the Earth’s normal temperature can be and that we have the power to fix it. A scientific Babel if you will.
Before you go any further read about the story HERE
From the mouth (or pens) of babes. Awesome. I know many people who believe that we should “put prayer back in school” and I can understand their sentiment but it is stories like this that make me say absolutely not! We live in a society that has not intellectual understanding of religious doctrines outside of stereotypes portrayed on Family Guy and the Colbert Report. To put religious teaching in the hands of public school teachers gives me nightmares. Heck, it’s a scary prospect to put religious teaching in the hands of the religious (aka people who killed Jesus).
The irony of this story is that they are completely right about the image the boy drew. It is violent. It was violent. To send the boy off for psychological analysis is extreme, especially since other types of violence/sexual deviance are continuously paraded to kids the same age as “art”, but seriously, do we really expect anything less?
It does raise some interesting questions. For instance, if kids wear the crucifix on their necks should they be suspect of violence? Is this the beginning of the “offense of the cross” becoming that again? Our society is so inundated with that image that we forget how gruesome it was. And finally, this kid understood that Christmas was about the cross and about the Godman who died. Kudos to the parents for making that connection and showing him the true meaning of Christmas. That was impressive.
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. Galatians 5:11
It always comes this time of year. The inevitable Christmas Holiday Wars. Perhaps the funniest example of this (at least this year anyway) was at my work last week. In an effort to not alienate anyone they had a “holiday” lunch for the entire site. It was an excellent meal (my job usually is great at this) and, hey, it was free so whose going to complain, right? Well, funny thing, part of this “holiday” meal was pork. Um, so there goes Jews and Muslims. Oops.
I usually shy away from fighting over the main holiday battles. I just kind of enjoy watching the fights (I know that sounds bad). Due to my non-combatant status I have narrowed the main battles down to the following:
(1) Saying Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays
(2) Xmas vs. Christmas
(3) Wise men in the Nativity scene
(4) December 25th vs. the Pagan Sun ritual on the same day
I might have missed one or two but usually the first two are the biggest ones. Now, in many of my discussions concerning these battles I have come to the realization that some people who are making arguments for either side are just making really bad arguments. It is these arguments that I wish to address because we would all be better off if both sides knocked off the silliness.
(a) I don’t mind if someone disagrees with me about a view on holiday (Holy Day) /christmas (Christ Mass) but I do mind when they forcibly implement those beliefs while claiming not to forcibly implement those beliefs. Just like they wouldn’t like it if I did the same thing to them. Or, even worse, they then take the “higher road” card and say “well it’s just silly to argue over this” right after they made an argument that disagrees with yours. If you are going to have a discussion about the “holiday” wars at least hear the other side before acting all high-and-mighty.
(b) Xmas. I have just been fascinated with this one. I always have been. I am not so much interested in the appearance of sacrilege because there are no such things as “holy” words (at least at face value anyway). What I am interested in are those who would say that the “X” is representing the Greek CHI and asking, honestly, how anyone can make this argument with a straight face.
I hear all the time how we need to make the Bible more “relevant” to people and take away the “Thee’s and the Thou’s”. Then, I see these same people, come Christmas time, defending their use of Xmas because of the Greek. These same people during the rest of the year bash the King James Bible and then for Christmas bust out the Greek? Huh?
Next, we hear all the time how people are completely ignorant of Scripture but then we expect them to know that the first letter in Christ in the Greek is X?
Also, early Christians used “X & Xian” because they were being persecuted for using “Christ” because of the socio-political implications that came with it. It was not because they were getting tired while writing Grandmas Christmas card and just wanted the easy way out.
Finally, when John Lennon wrote “Happy Xmas (war is over)” do we really think he did it because the first letter of Christ is X? Just saying.
(c) It’s a pagan holiday/Jesus was not born on the 25th/etc. All of these things are true……….and what?
(d) And finally, if you get offended at someone wishing you a “Happy Holiday” look on the bright side. When they say Happy New Year you know their wishing you a happy 2010-ish years since Christ Birth. And, don’t forget, it’s a federal holiday still
Devastating. Really there are no other words to describe this debacle. The modern day Michael Jordan has now had a Herculean fall. And, while a part of me wants to say that our culture honors marriage so much that it is obvious why people are acting so offended, I know that is not the reason. We enjoy building people, idolizing them and then enjoy watching them fall to the ground. I remember Maximus turning to the crowd and asking, “are you not entertained?” Are we?
There are many different thoughts on this subject. First, you have the regular racebaiters who want to scold Tiger for going after white, “barbie” women. Nevermind the woman whose heart is broken, their two children, or that lust conquered race. This is to good a story for the racial concierges to ignore.
Next, you have the incredibly inciteful “Ray-J” who stated:
“Let Tiger Woods be a man. Sometimes you’re a man and you have a bad night. Let that man be a man,”
Yes, let’s go to the either side of the spectrum. He’s just a man after all. It’s normal for a man to abandon his family, sleep with many different women. Perfect.
When I first heard about the Tiger story the first thing that came to my mind was Bebo Norma’s excellent song “Britney”. He wrote it after Britney went off the deep end and it was perhaps the most Christ like thing I’ve heard in a very long time. It goes like this:
Britney im sorry for the lies we told
we took you into our arms and then left you cold
Britney im sorry for this cruel cruel world
we sell the beauty but destroy the girl
Britney im sorry for your broken heart
we stood aside and watched you fall apart
im sorry we told you fame would fill you up
and money moves the man so drink the cup.
As a Christian, I echo these thoughts. Christ made the best example in John 8 when the woman who was caught in the act of adultery was thrown at his feet. He acknowledged she sinned, He acknowledged they were right, but turned to her accusers and asked if they were truly worthy of throwing the stones. They realized they were not. Christ turned to her and said:
John 8:10-11 “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said,“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”"
May those around Tiger Woods have the courage to be like Christ to him. God only knows the rest of the world has the stones ready. And these are the worse kind of stones. One thrown for our entertainment.
If there is one thing I appreciate about my alma mater (Zion Bible College) it is that once you go there you are instantly part of a family. A big family. Even after three years of separation there are many I keep in touch with. Then there are those who I might not keep in touch with often but when we do cross we pick up like no time had passed since our last conversation. Richard Roy was the latter. I talked with him about a month ago about a ministry opportunity that had opened up. We then talked about our next greatest love — the Red Sox. He loved the Red Sox. Little did I know that these would be the last spoken words I’d ever have with him.
Richard was a very good basketball player and I remember getting elbowed by him on more then one occasion. He always kept a cool head though (most of the time lol) and he usually apologized after the hits. I didn’t mind the elbow because I knew that following weekend I’d be kicking his butt on the xbox and Halo 2. It was during the Halo battles that I got to know him the most. I can still remember him saying, “dude, okay seriously” like it was yesterday. ha.
When I first got the news from Rich’s pastor my heart broke. I had just talked with Rich? We were going to go to Fenway park. So random? So…strange? How fleeting this life is. How meaningful is every conversation. Every posting. Every status update. Every tweet. Not because of those things themselves but because of the life behind the hands that are doing them.
The loss of all of these things are death’s sting. The world lost a servant of God today. Tragically. And it does not make any sense. Yet, I am reminded that Rich made it his goal in this world to serve others. To tell them the good news of Jesus Christ. He loved Jesus more then anything else in this world. He wanted people to know Christ. He lived this life for Christ. You don’t become a youth pastor because you want money. You do it because you love kids. And that is why I am grateful for knowing Rich Roy. He used the time he had to serve others. He did it well. He has finished his race. He is in glory. He is seeing Jesus. Well done, good and faithful servant. It might not have been a long time serving in our mind but it was well done.
