So what's wrong with the truth? part 2

So how do we know what is true?

That is the question that I have been wrestling with for quite a while.

When people of differing view points come together, why do they "agree to disagree" rather than try to seek the truth?

"Agreeing to disagree" usually means one of several things: pity, apathy, arrogance, disdain, or a total lack of respect for the other person.

1. I think you are too stupid to understand my point of view so I will not bother to discuss it further.

2. I know the truth, but I am not going to bother to enlighten you - because you are not worthy of such knowledge.

3. I don't care about you enough to try to understand your point of view.

4. Your point of view is so dumb, that I am ending this conversation and leaving you in your ignorance.

5. You have not earned the right to have this discussion with me, because you are so unenlightened. These were pretty much the exact words of an evolutionary biologist I heard on the radio taking a call from an opponent (with a PhD in biology... no less).


So if we all just agree to disagree, what is the end result?

We all have our own views and we stumble around in the dark.

"The people perish for lack of knowledge" Proverbs

So what's wrong with the truth?

"Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless one loves the truth, he cannot know it." - Blaise Pascal

"What is truth?" Pilate

I am constantly astounded when I turn on the cable news networks to see how "journalists" have abandoned the pursuit of truth.

The "news" is who said what to whom and how did that person respond and what did the gallop polls say about what they said. THAT IS NOT THE NEWS!!

Here is a made up example:

Obama claims a full moon will rise in the eastern sky tonight.

CNN gets a reaction from the Republican leadership. "100% of Republicans are in opposition to Obama's claim."

CNBC reports that "Polisi, Reid, and the Unions are in full support of Obama's full moon initiative."

FOX news conducts a poll. 45% agree with Obama, 42% agree with the Republicans. The poll breaks on party lines. No big surprise there. Independents are divided but breaking slightly with republicans.

NO ONE bothers to check the freakin Farmer's Almanac to see if there is in fact a full moon rising in the eastern sky tonight.

Truth is irrelevant.

God help us all.

The pursuit of truth is weighing heavily on my mind lately. Not just in terms of cable news, but in terms of things that really matter. Things that we should all be teaching our children. Things that make a difference in this life and the next.

How do we know what is true and what is false?

Finally an academic like me

I went to one of those academic presentations today. These things are usually extremely boring with a heavy dose of esoteric statistical methods. My eyes usually glaze over about 15 to 20 minutes in.

Today's presenter, a Harvard man, presented evidence to support his theory that government spending is actually bad for the economy.

As a person that has written numerous letters to congress in opposition to stimulus spending and bailouts, I was intrigued.

His reasons were much better than anything that I have ever come up with. And his data... oh the data...lots of data and regressions...

Basically, what he showed is that when government spending increases in a state, the private sector (in aggregate) cuts capital spending, employment, R&D expenditures, etc.

Even if a few companies in the state do better because of the increased government spending, in aggregate, the state's economy is worse off than before because the private sector is crowded out of the market.


Here is a link to the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/cmalloy/pdffiles/envaloy.pdf

Google's ad sense

I don't know if this distracts from the blog or not, but I added ad sense today. I will see how it goes for a few days - remove it if its too intrusive.

Who's advice should I take?

Our family Bible reading this morning was from the Chronicles - right after Solomon died. His son, we called him "Bo," was in the process of establishing his kingdom.

A contingency from Israel who had served his father came to him and asked him to lighten their work load a bit. Bo asked his fathers advisers what he should do. They said that if you lighten their load, these people will be your grateful servants for as long as you reign.

Bo then asked his peers what he should do. They gave him the opposite advice. Make these people work harder and make their punishment even more severe.

Bo listened to his peers. The kingdom was soon divided and Bo only got to reign over a small fraction of the kingdom that his father had established.

Imagine that you are offered advice from the advisers to the "wisest man that ever lived." Lets just say that it is financial advice. Then you go out on the street, find a homeless man and ask his advice. Whose advice to you take?

Answer: You take the advice of the person that told you what you wanted to hear.

Problem: No matter what type of lifestyle you want to lead, no matter what choices you make with your time, money, resources, relationships, etc... you can always find someone to affirm your choices. A quick read through the ads in Atlanta's "Creative Loafing" confirms that you can find a support group for ANYTHING. I mean Anything.


I believe that every generation is guilty of Bo's folly. We ignore the advice of our elders and seek counsel from our peers or from people who tell us what we have already decided is right. What do we do with this baby? Do you ask your grandmother? Or do you ask your friend with the 2 month old?

Should I marry this person? You find the ONE friend that affirms you and you tune out the 20 that say no.

So what is the wise thing to do?

Somewhere else in the Bible it says that if you walk with the wise, you will become wise. The next sentence says that a companion of fools will be destroyed.

In Bo's case, he chose to be the companion of fools and his kingdom was nearly obliterated.

So, what is our challenge?

I think that our challenge is to identify the wise people in our lives. People, like Solomon's advisers, who have the "fruit on the tree" to prove their wisdom. People who care about us and do not have a "stake" in the decision.

The harder challenge is to put aside our biases and to somehow make ourselves receptive to advice that is the opposite of what we want to hear.

The even harder challenge is follow the advice of the wise, even when all of your peers are doing just the opposite.

Its been over a year

Blogging was such good therapy after the loss of our little Grace. I appreciate the few readers that came this way!

When we found out that Evelyn was pregnant again, I quit blogging for a while.

Now Abigail is almost 7 months old!

So why blog now?

I was reading back over my posts and I have forgotten so many little things that happened with our family.

This blog is for me...to help me remember. You are welcome to come along for the ride.

Here we go again

We went to the doctor yesterday and we were surprised to find out that Evelyn is 13 weeks pregnant.

We were not surprised that she was pregnant. Just that she was that far along.

For those of you that are bad at month math, that is about 3 months and it puts the due date in the middle of March.

The baby is an expert swimmer and has all its fingers and toes.

Another high-tech photo session is scheduled in 7 weeks so that we can give him/her a good look over.

At this point there were no problems apparent. Everything looks normal.

Evelyn cried.

Is this the kind of nanny that you want?

Here is story in today's news about Barak Obama's lost brother.
Barak Obama's 'lost' brother found in Kenya

George Hussein Onyango Obama, Obama's half brother, was found living in a shanty in Keyna.

Something about the brother of a very successful and wealthy senator living in abject poverty struck me as very wrong.

I am sure that there are unknown facts that would give a more balanced perspective to this story, but even so, the man's 26 year old brother is getting by on a dollar a month. He has to "take what he needs" to survive. He has been living this way for at least 10 years. That means that he was homeless and destitute at 16. A very different fate than his "American" brother.

A couple of bible verses immediately come to mind:

1 Timothy 5:8 "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world."

This story bothers me because it speaks of Obama's character, but it also bothers me because it speaks to his core beliefs.

As the leftist darling, he is running for the position of "nanny-in-chief." He will be expected to use the resources of the federal government to make sure that every person's need (womb to tomb) is taken care of by the state. This is a noble endeavor for sure, but what kind of nanny is Obama going to be if he will not even take care of his own brother?

If history is any indication, I think we all know who Obama is going to take care of.

More inconvenient truths

This article compares Algores house to Dubya's house.

Guess which one is the most environmentally friendly - by a HUGE margin.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

I think that this is interesting because it highlights the fact that the leftist environmentalists have an agenda that (judging by how they live their lives) is very far removed from an actual concern for the environment.

I think that the agenda has more to do with crippling capitalism that it does about protecting the environment. For example, if you read the Green Party platform it is pretty much just a communist manifesto.

Things and people are not what they seem to be... are they?

Detox update

Day 9: No Starbucks yet, but I did have 1 medium glass if iced tea (no refills) for lunch - my reward for a week off. Feeling better all the time. I am sleeping better than I have in months.

Day 10: Nothing.

Day 11: A glass of tea for lunch. Feeling good. My pants feel loose.

Day 12 (Friday): I had a small glass of tea for breakfast. No refill. I am feeling good and sleeping good. I have spent a whole week staring at Starbucks. I go in - get a "venti" ice water...smell the coffee... and leave. I have done that every day this week. No cravings. No shakes.

Hillary is not done

Prediction:

Hillary Clinton will win the Democrat presidential nomination.

I don't know how. This is just a hunch, but she seems to be circling like a buzzard, waiting for Obama to make a mistake.

I would not be surprised if her people already have that "mistake" in the works.

I would not be surprised if Obama was suddenly too ill (or worse) to accept the nomination.

She did not give up her delegates.
She (nor her husband) have done much to support the Obama campaign.

She won a concession to have her name on the ballot at the convention.

She has asked her delegates to vote for her on the first vote - as a show of respect for all of their efforts - they want to be heard. The normal (gracious) thing to do in these circumstances is to ask your delegates to support the candidate that beat you.

I'll bet her minions are still trying to woo Obama delegates and super delegates into her camp.

She, her husband, and her daughter are all speaking at the convention. Why do the Clintons get more air time than the Obamas?

Hillary will try (is trying) to wrestle the nomination away from Obama.

That's my prediction.

What do you think?

The New Enemy

Mommy is wrestling with how to do school this year. One option involves a Friday afternoon program that focuses on American history. The teacher is always in costume. They go on camping trips in covered wagons. They learn vocabulary, writing, history, geography, etc - everything except math and science. Lots of homework, lots of public speaking, etc. It has a reputation for excellence. Everyone in the community that has done it just gushes on and on about it. I think it would challenge the boy genius. His younger brother is probably too young.

Mommy is telling the children about it. She is going over all the wonderful things that they will learn. Then she throws in, "Benjamin (a boy from their Sunday School class) is going to do it."

Andrew (8 - who would ALWAYS rather be fishing): "I don't care if every single person in Sunday School is doing it. I'm not going.

"School is the enemy!"

Jonathan (10 - a man of few words): "Ditto."

Honesty is the best policy

My five year old is so yummy. You just want to snatch him up and give him a big squeeze. He has an infectious laugh and a little dimple that is so cute when he smiles his little mischievous smile. Everything is a big adventure. And he's so kind to his little sister - a great big brother.

Matthew is full of fun and mischief, but he has his limits on what he will take.

The other day, Mommy was in the process of disciplining him and she was trying to get the order of events straight. "now when you said ..... she said... then you did this and she did that....then she said and you said... etc." You know how it goes. You are trying to get to the root problem of the conflict.

Finally Matthew was DONE with the inquisition - he had had his limit of "he said, she said, she did, he did, then what happened..." A little brain can only take so much.

"I've had enough of this foolishness," he exclaimed - and he walks off.

Mommy is sitting there in stunned silence. It took her a second to realize that the "foolishness" that he was referring to was HER inquisition.

When she finally got her wits back, she tracked him down and confronted him.

"Were you talking about what *I* was saying," she asks?

His standard defense mechanism kicks in -

"I do not want to tell you."

When he is confronted with his bad behavior, he never lies - he just pleads the 5th.

"I do not want to tell you."

No admission of guilt, no untruth to worry about covering up later. A totally clear conscience.

No wonder he sleeps so good at night.

Day 6, 7, 8

I don't know what to do with my hands.

I usually have a glass or a cup of something going.

I thought the caffeine detox was just about a chemical dependence, but I am realizing that its a whole lifestyle. The pleasure of boiling the tea bags, stirring in just the right amount of cream and sugar, lingering over the smell, or just plain carrying the coffee cup around.

It is kind of awkward to just let the coffee cup hand just dangle in mid air with nothing to do.

Day 6: Our drive home. I was nodding at the wheel. I had to let Evelyn drive part of the way. I crashed hard for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. A little irritable (Evelyn said no more than usual).

Day 7: Church day - my MUST HAVE COFFEE day. I didn't. I fell asleep in church. How embarrassing. Long nap after church. A little foggy, but mostly ok.

Day 8: (Monday) First day back to work. This should be interesting. I feel GOOD this morning. Let's see if I can figure out what to do with my hands. I hope I can stay awake all day.

Hello, my name is Barry and I'm an addict

The past year has been kind of stressful for a number of reasons: new job, new city, new house, new mortgage (I don't like debt), and the death of a child. Throw in a mid-life crisis and you have a recipe for disaster.

How does one cope? In our over-medicated society there are so many options. I talked to one friend that was on three anti-depressants - full dose. Very tempting, but he has a lot of medical problems that (he says) are unrelated to his drug addiction. I was skeptical. I had to find another path.

The path to addiction was only three stories below my office.

For the longest time, I just "didn't get" the whole Starbucks thing (what are those people thinking!?), but this past year I tried a cup. It was so convenient - just three stories down. It was great exercise to walk down the stairs, get a cup of coffee, and walk back up. How invigorating! How convenient (and how socially acceptable!).

In the past I have been a Sunday-only drinker. I had to have my cup of java as a part of my Sunday morning ritual. I was very cranky and not a very good worshiper in church if I was denied. Any other day of the week, my old standby - sweet tea - was sufficient.

Recently though, my Starbucks exercise program had become more and more expensive. I had been exercising twice a day some days - but only walking down. Now that I had graduated from "venti" to "grande" to "tall", I did not want to spill a single precious drop on the way up. The elevator was the only safe alternative.

All of this Starbucks was in addition to the large big gulp sweet tea (with a refill) that I would have with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.

I have never been to an AA meeting, but I came to see my real self in the past few weeks and, as they always say on TV, "My name is Barry and I am an addict."

My doctor told me about a year ago that my sweet tea habit was the source of all my (minor) medical problems. I cut the sugar for a while and all my problems cleared up, but I never cut the caffeine. Over the course of the year, I have phased back in the sweet tea, and some of my old friends have returned to haunt (or itch) me again.

It is time for a change. I am a caffeine/sugar addict. I don't know which is worse. They are both killers. You can read for yourself the ill effects of either drug. Both are poisons to the system. I know that. I want my poison. I am an addict.

Here is a picture of two spider webs. The top one is the drug free spider. The bottom one is hyped up on caffeine. The bottom web looks like my life. I want my life to be orderly like the top web.



So....

This week my family is in Destin, FL for a little rest and relaxation.

I am in Destin to detox.

Day 0: Leave home.
Last huge glass of sweet tea - for the road.
No sugar or caffeine the rest of the day.
Mild headaches late afternoon, early evening.


Day 1: No sugar no caffeine
Sleep until 10:00
I am violently ill.
Much diarrhea and vomiting.
Unbelievable headaches.
Mental fog.
Head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds.
Watch "Hanna Montana" for the first time.

Day 2:
sleep until 11:00
just vomiting (this may have been exasperated by the deep sea fishing trip)
still in a mental fog - very disoriented on the whole trip - zero fish caught.
go to sleep on boat
go to condo
go back to sleep
play
second episode of "Hanna Montana." Ok.. I get it... its a cute show. Two episodes down and nothing too objectionable.

Day 3:
sleep until lunch
feeling OK
must go back to sleep.
I cheat: a shot glass full of sweet tea - OH the ecstasy!!
nap
I take the family out for ice cream - I have to get a single scoop my self - not nearly the same ecstatic pleasure as the shot of tea.
"Phineas and Ferb" is hilarious.

Day 4:
sleep until lunch
feeling good, but foggy and sleepy.
another shot glass of sweet tea - THIS must be what Heaven must be like! So incredible.
nap
play - get stung by a school of jelly fish, but I am feeling no pain....
nap
Still loving "Phineas and Ferb"

Day 5:
Get up around 8:30
feeling good except that my head feels kind of floaty and full
Water is starting to actually taste good.
Cravings are subsiding.
Pass out in front of some mindless Disney Channel pre-teen brain candy (do kids actually LIKE this stuff?)
Play on the beach - feeling good - no sunburn (not because I have good sunscreen technique - but because I have been inside in bed most of the trip).

Tomorrow is our last day.

I think I can make it, but Starbucks is waiting... only three floors down.

Church is boring

I was reading an article in Homelife by a guy that was in my college/youth group and he was talking about how men are leaving the church in throngs. His basic premise was that men are bored.

I agree with him to some degree. It is boring because it has become too feminine.

Do you ever watch kids play? What are the girls playing? In general they are practicing to be nurturing adults. They play house or they play with dolls. They want to be beautiful.

What do the boys play? All war games all the time. They want to be dangerous. They want to be brave. They live for blood and glory.

Church has become girly.

It is so uncomfortable (for a guy like me) to be in a worship service where some breathful sensitive guy is leading you to sing stuff like:
"I'm desperate for you.. I'm lost without you... you are the air I breathe"
"I love you with an undying love"
"I want to hear your voice, know you more, touch you, see your face"
"I neeeeeeed you"
"Jesus o Jesus you are beautiful"

I could go on and on.

Warriors do not say these kinds of things to their commanding officer.
Worship leaders are expecting warriors to become gushing girlies when they come to church... "OOOO Jesus.. you are sooo wonderful.. you are soooo beautiful."
This is not appropriate. (would Warf on StarTrek EVER tell his captain how beautiful he looks in that crisp red uniform?)

Guys are made to be warriors.
"As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free...His truth is marching on"
"Onward Christian soldiers.. marching as to war..."
"A mighty fortress is our God.....and He will win the battle... one little word shall fail him (the devil)...."
"There is power in the blood..."
"Victory in Jesus..."

If I understand the story correctly, Jesus is coming back soon.

He is not coming back to cuddle or to listen to us tell him how wonderful and beautiful He is.

He is coming back as a conquering king.

There is going to be blood, sweat, gore, fighting, glory, honor. Extreme good versus extreme evil. An epic battle. A battle in which men will gladly lay down their lives.

There is going to be victory - and rewards.

Let's get past this mushy girly idea of who Jesus is and see him for what he claims to be.

Swords coming out of mouth and slaying thousands. A conqueror of death and hell.

A leader that is worthy to be followed into battle.

A conquering hero.

Lord of lords.

King of kings.

When the battle is over, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is the victor - the Lord of all.

The time that we spend on this earth is a battle. Its not a love in.

When the church realizes this truth and begins to equip warriors for battle (rather than asking them to tell another warrior how beautiful he is), the men will return.

New Blog

I created a new blog yesterday 'RCJAM Devotions' about the stuff we tell our kids about God.

I wanted to keep the good stuff all in one place - rather than intersperse it with my political rants and stupid stories.

Here is the link: RCJAM Devotions

My goal is to post 3 to 5 times a week.

Shotgun Healthcare

I just suffered the agony of paying some pretty hefty health care bills last month.

Fortunately, I have pretty good insurance, so the bulk was paid by the insurance company.

Interestingly, the amount of insurance premiums paid jointly by me and my employer is MORE than my total medical expenses for the past 12 months.

It occurred to me today that health insurance is really just a savings account - a savings account that loses money. Your statistics rich insurance company knows (on average) how much it is going to cost them to pay your bills. Double it, divide by 12, collect the monthly premium, and you have a business model.

If my employer would just pay me extra money instead of paying my health insurance premium I think we would both be better off. I could get some really cheap "major catastrophe" insurance and pocket the difference. When medical needs arise, I could either pay for or finance the costs - just like financing a car purchase (not that you should ever finance a car... but thats another subject). Having a baby? $150 per month for 36 months. Heart bypass? $450 per month for 60 months. If you don't pay, we repossess your heart (ok.. the system has a kink or two).

Charities and churches should handle the people that "fall through the cracks." I think it was Jesus himself who said something about "true religion" being taking care of widows and orphans.

What if I decide that I do not want to have health insurance AND I do not want to pay for my own medical bills? I have another alternative.

I could go to my nice neighbors and force them at gunpoint to "contribute" to my medical bills. I want them to feel like they are making a voluntary contribution rather than being robbed at gunpoint. Therefore, the choice of weapon is very important. What says "you are making a voluntary contribution" better? A cute little "Saturday night special" or a double barrel sawed off shotgun? Automatic weapons are definitely too bullyish... want to keep it simple. I just don't know... I am still working on this part of the theory.

Maybe a better idea is to appeal to my government. If I could only get congress and a willing McBama** to forcibly extract my neighbor's income under the threat of imprisonment... that would certainly feel more like a voluntary contribution than an armed robbery. Problem solved! None of my neighbors have to look down the barrel of a gun (unless they don't pay -but even then its a government gun and not my gun).

We can vote to take involuntary "contributions" from one American and then give the money that is "collected" to another (more deserving) American. Of course we can't present this idea as one group of Americans stealing from another group of Americans. We have to be a little less truthful than that. We have to make it sound more appealing.

How about "universal health care." That has a nice ring to it.





** President McBama - two candidates- two liberals - just different shades of brown.

Change you can believe in.

Have you ever been to Disney? I love Disney, but I get so sick of the "you have to believe in the dream" thing. The Magic Kingdom Princess show, the electric light parade... you just have to believe! I have never been real clear on what exactly you were supposed to believe in, but I know that you are supposed to believe with all your heart and your dream will come true. Just believe. Thats the gospel of Disney.

There is another character that is asking us to "just believe."

Believe in what?

Believe in change.

Believe what can be.

What will you change?

We're going to change the country.

I feel like I am going to pull my hair out listening to this guy. A great orator - but no substance. Just believe in the change!

I have no idea what he stands for or what kind of change he is advocating.

All change is not good.

This character seems to have a lot of Marxist (communist) friends and ties. Is THAT the change we are in for? He has the most liberal voting record in the senate - to the left of Ted Kennedy. Will his election be like Christmas morning for the extreme left socialists? I just don't know.

I must do some research. Find a tangible position.

From his web site:

"Obama believes the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated."

Finally, a change that I can believe in. Something of substance.... or should I say something involving a controlled substance....

I need to do some more research...

We are so proud

I heard that the "Atlanta Pride" festival was to be held at the AtlantaCivic center. There are so many things that Atlantans have to be proud of, I was sure this was going to be a huge event. There's the Braves, Georgia Tech, Coca Cola, Martin Luther King Junior, historic epics, architectural marvels, the arts, the theater, culinary delights, etc. It is a pretty long list.

As it turns out, this festival was about none of that.

What are we proud of? We are proud of what we do with our genitalia. Isn't that special?

We are so proud that there are people in our community that have sexual desires and sexual fantasies. We are so proud that there are people in our community that copulate without the bondage of a marriage contract. We are so proud that there are men in our community that put on dresses. We are proud that there are women in our community that look and act like men. We are very proud that there are people in our community that have had relations with both men and women. We are proud that we have men in our community that want everyone to know what they like to do with their genitalia. We are proud that these men have "come out" in the open to reveal to a breathless public what they do behind closed doors.

If I described to ANYone (except Lea Marshall) what I did with my wife this weekend, they would call me a pervert for talking about it public. We didn't even read Song of Solomon - I'm just talking about normal husband/wife relations. I would probably be fired from my job if I even joked about it with my students. If I talk about it in mixed company its harassment - and rightly so. No human should have to endure another human flaunting their sexuality.

Sexuality is a private thing between private people. It is right that most people keep it that way. When a person makes their sexuality a public spectacle, people are uncomfortable - they are harassed.

I felt extremely harassed for having to endure a week's worth of "pride" signage and imagery that is about nothing - except what people do with their private parts. I feel harassed for having to endure a week's worth images and language that are about nothing - except a person's sexual desires.

I felt harassed for being forced to view people in terms of their sexuality rather than in terms of their contributions to society. He's not just a scientist that cured cancer - he's GAY! Like the decisions he makes about what goes on in his underwear is the most important thing we should know about this person.

If you are LGBTorQ, I really don't want to hear about it. The only person that needs to know about your sexuality is your lover. My knowing where you like to put your private parts adds nothing to our relationship. I just want a good decorator. I really don't care what goes on in your bedroom. I just want to know that you know your way around a color wheel.

Then there was the parade. Let's march around downtown and let all our neighbors have a little peek inside our bedroom. Look neighbors! We're going to parade around in our underwear and tell you what we like to do with our private parts.

Isn't that special?

Aren't we so proud?