SOME CHRISTIAN CHARITIES FOR TSUNAMI DONATIONS

Here are some good Christian Charities to use for your donations for Tsunami Relief. (Don't give to charities that are new or not familiar to you. The New York Times is already reporting on several scam "charities" that have sprung up suddenly to take tsumani donations for their own personal enrichment.) The charities below are experienced Christian groups with good reputations and long histories.

1. Salvation Army (one of the very best for overseas disaster relief) here.

2. World Vision (already there) here.

3. Campus Crusade (already giving aid there) here.

LOOK AT THIS TREASURE FOR THE NATION

Click here, and save it somewhere for your children. They may have never seen anything like it, unfortunately. And they need to know.

(And save the URL for future use. It is:
http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/forsakenroots.html.)

SCIENTIST WARNS OF ATLANTIC TIDAL WAVE

On the Drudge Report tonight, this article about a future Atlantic tital wave "for a future president" when a volcano in the Canary Islands finishes collapsing into the Atlantic.

But good news - asteroid collision possibilities have now been downgraded!

DOES THE U.S. GIVE LESS FOREIGN AID THAN OTHERS?

Some in the MSM (Main Stream Media) have been belittling the U.S. recently for not giving as much foreign aid as other countries. Their claims are misleading, however, made only to put the U.S. in a bad light. What are the actual facts?

To see, visit my economic/political blog, www.highwindow.blogspot.com.

CHRIST IS BORN!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men." Luke 2:14

THOUGHTFUL ON CHRISTMAS EVE

Like New Year's, Christmas Eve is a good time for contemplating our lives and role in God's universe. Below are three writers whose recent articles bring good food for thought this night.

1. Marvin Olasky, Journalism Professor, editor of World Magazine and one of the treasures of today's world of Christians, has a top-flight article on how journalism should be corrected and practiced today here. (HT Hugh Hewitt.) Core below:

"After all, if the Bible is God's Word, can any other words trump His? Since only God knows the true, objective nature of things, doesn't His book, the Bible, present the only completely objective and accurate view of the world? Shouldn't our goal be to see the world as much in biblical terms as our fallen and sinful natures allow?"

Marvin's article sets a benchmark for good journalism in the future. It deserves to be read in full. (In it he also shows how anyone can read two of his major books on journalism, but for free, on line. Not many writers give their books away free!)

2. More from Michael Novak's fine article quoted below in yesterday's blog, this time on how our freedoms arise from the very nature of God. (Read whole article here.) Today's featured exerpts:

"Jesus Christ taught humans to give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. ...The very idea of everything belonging to Caesar is false in principle. The modern idea of democracy follows in the wake of this teaching of Christ.

"...Jesus Christ introduced into modern Europe the idea of the dignity of every single individual, especially the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable...To come to the aid of the poor is an essential idea of modern democracy.

"There are other ideas key to democracy embedded in the Christmas drama...One of the most important of these other ideas is the inalienable liberty of individual persons.

"This God, as William Penn of the Society of Friends explained, created the world so as to place within it women and men to whom He could offer His friendship. They would be free to accept or reject his friendship, since He wished not slavish friendship but the friendship of the free...Since He made the universe for friendship, the Creator had to make it free. Freedom lies at the heart of things."

3. Finally, a touching account of how two atheists changed course this year. See Andrew Klavan's story in the Wall Street Journal today, exerpted below:

"Antony Flew and I found God this year. We had different reactions to the discovery.

"Mr. Flew, an 81-year-old professor of philosophy in Britain, had been a leading champion of atheism for the past half-century. He has now hesitantly accepted a version of what's called the argument from design...What's more, on the secularist Web site www.infidels.org, writer Richard Carrier says he has contacted Prof. Flew and reassures his fellow atheists that the professor is proposing only a "tentative, mechanistic Deism" and continues to deny the possibility of an afterlife.

"So that's how Prof. Flew responded to his encounter with the Divinity. Me, I got baptized.

"...Perhaps the argument for nonbelief most identified with the professor was what he called 'the presumption of atheism.' Here, atheism is understood in its negative sense: The atheist doesn't assert that there is no God; he simply doesn't accept that a legitimate and meaningful concept of God exists. For such an atheist, the burden of proof lies, as it does in law, with those who make the positive assertion--that is, for those who believe.

"The presumption of atheism seems to me to be at the heart of all scientific reasoning about religion. And as I'm someone who loves and believes in science, it was a major stumbling block for me most of my life. After all, why would anyone believe without proof in that for which there is no evidence in the first place?

"...When Prof. Flew looks to DNA and the mysteries of creation for God, I propose that he's looking in the wrong direction. Let him, rather, talk to a recovering alcoholic in whom God stands surety for the diseased will, or visit a Salvation Army shelter where God has taught a despairing soul its worth. Let the professor--in the name of experiment--sit in solitude and give silent thanks and feel the almost instantaneous repayment in the coin of vitality and joy. In such situations, I refuse to acknowledge that there is a legitimate and meaningful concept of there being no God. The burden of proof is all on atheism.

"Like an art critic who proclaims the genius of a blank canvas and then stands sneering as the millions pass it by for yet another look at the Sistine Chapel, scientific atheism seeks to proceed from nothing when human experience is the only reasonable place to start. This world of pleasure and suffering will be as it is either way, and we may each of us face it as we choose. But as one can legitimately see design in the chaos of evolution and recognize providence behind the mask of history, so God undeniably may be known to live in the experience of being human.

"God alive in the experience of being human. What a concept.

"Merry Christmas, Prof. Flew."

Yes! And Merry Christmas to you all!

SOME OF OUR FINEST REPLY TO ATTACKS ON CHRISTMAS

It is becoming clearer by the day that Christians – and some atheists – have finally had enough of attacks on Christmas. An earthquake of a paradigm-shift may be rolling in! Dr. Ronald May says in part (read the whole thing:)

"Just what are some of the things opposed by those who would eliminate our Judeo-Christian heritage?

"For one, we can’t have honesty. If the left’s ideas were honestly stated, the left would become an endangered species...

"We can’t have self-reliance, as people are too stupid to take care of themselves and take responsibility for their own actions, especially conservatives...

"We can’t have joy since the liberals and terrorists always are angry about something...

"We can’t have patriotism either. We might offend our enemies. We also shouldn’t defend ourselves as we might insult some thugs and dictators...

"A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight!"

The prize-winning genius of Michael Novak is at its best ever. In part, he says:

"In any case, knowing that this really is a wonderful life, in which implausible dreams can come true, I have been dreaming that one Christmas soon some atheist will start a movement of "Atheists for Christmas." The purpose would not be to declare that such atheists are Christians. Rather, they or others similarly placed are in a position to state, without partisanship, the positive contributions that Christmas dramatizes for the understanding of freedom and virtue in our time...

"Therefore, those of us who are Christians ought to launch a reciprocal campaign of 'Christians in Gratitude to Atheists,' to honor the contributions of nonbelievers to our free institutions. Let us give credit to all who helped add to natural rights, the free institutions that support them, and the consent of the governed, due process, and the separation of powers.

"The defenders of liberty in this coming century may be not too many but too few, and all of us will surely need one another before this century is done. We will also need Christmas, and all that it strengthens in us, and reminds us of."

It is beginning to look like Christmas may be on its way back! Merry Christmas, one and all!

(See some great comments on the attacks on Rumsfeld at www.highwindow.blogspot.com.)

SORRY - CELL PHONE NEWS WAS URBAN MYTH

Apparently the cell phone story was an urban myth. Sorry folks.

PROTECT CELL PHONES BY 12/14 OR TELEMARKETERS CAN CALL

Starting January 1, 2005, all cell phone numbers will be made public to telemarketing firms. So as of January 1, your cell phone may start ringing off the hook with telemarketers. Unlike on your homephone, most of you pay for your incoming calls. These telemarketers will eat up your free minutes and cost you money.

According to the National Do Not Call List, you have until December 15, 2004 to get on the national "Do not call list" for cell phones. Call 1-888-382-1222 from the cell phone that you wish to have put onthe "do not call list." Or register online at www.donotcall.gov . Registering only takes one minute - literally - and is in effect for 5 years.

THE MEDIA'S CHRISTMAS-DEBUNKING COMPULSION

Like any obsessive-compulsive, twice a year the media yields to an overpowering impulse. As the winter solstice nears, the media’s urge to debunk Christmas becomes uncontrollable. Then three months later as the spring equinox nears, the twitching begins again and a spasm of Easter debunking erupts right on time.

What can account for these pre-scheduled urges to debunk? What spreads them across the media from news-magazine featured stories to special TV productions on programs like A&E and the History Channel?

Popular demand cannot account for it. True, Americans like coverage of Christmas and Easter. But they hardly want them debunked. As Newsweek’s last poll showed, 79% of Americans believe that Christ was born of a virgin, without a human father, and 67% believe that every detail of the Biblical description of the birth of Christ – the first Christmas – is historically accurate. Even 55% believe that every word of the Bible is literally true. The majority of Americans, then, is not eagerly hoping that the media will disabuse them of their beliefs, least of all on the occasion of their holiest seasons.

So what is the motive for these semi-annual media debunking eruptions? Obviously, they must hope to change the minds of these hapless believers, setting them free to be more like the enlightened, intelligent, non-stupid writers and producers. It is reverse proselytizing, of course. But why?

No doubt the media are convinced that they simply want to get the “real story” on the record (twice every year.) But the “real story” they describe is no better documented, nor proven, than the Biblical story it purports to replace. These crack reporters are all too easily impressed by the pseudo-science and speculation that passes for scholarship at most seminaries.

Most seminaries, like most colleges and universities now, are bastions of liberal thought, which is too often poorly tested, rarely rigorous, and self-indulgently generous in treating speculation as established fact. These liberal fortresses of unreason remain so by being diligent gatekeepers, limiting hiring, Ph.D’s and good grades to those who meet their liberal standards. It follows then, that the majority or consensus of “most scholars” will predictably support whatever the liberal position is on almost any issue or scholarly subject. This proves nothing – except that liberals have long been in control, and that most effective opposition was weeded out long ago. In fact, opposition ideas are more often confronted on campus by sneering and put-downs than by addressing the issues on the merits. (In seminaries, opposing ideas are not usually debated, but typically dismissed as what “the fundies” believe.)

It would seem that the media are guilty, first, of not doing their job. These eruptions are not examples of good investigative reporting.

Second, the media is once again guilty of arrogance. That is the kind of arrogance that believes, because they write well and have contact with newsmakers, that they know more than they actually do. It is also the kind of arrogance that assumes that those who have different beliefs are simply wrong. That nobody intelligent could disagree with them. And that therefore the great majority of Americans are ignorant, superstitious and stupid.

What is really remarkable is the media’s drive to rub the noses of the majority of Americans in what the media assumes to be their inferiority. What else could motivate Newsweek to commission a poll demonstrating that the great majority of Americans believe the basic tenents of their religion to be literally true, then to spend the next fifteen pages trying to undermine those very beliefs?

Are they trying to be helpful, in a rather twisted way? Or is there perhaps just a little residual resentment this time, a wish to stick a finger in the eye of these believing Americans who helped elect a man generally loathed by the media to the presidency?

Whatever the reason, debunking efforts are a singularly ugly and abusive way to observe the landmark religious holidays of the great majority of Americans. The media should find a cure for its semi-annual obsessive-compulsive urges to debunk Christmas and Easter. Think Grinch. Think Scrooge.

REMEMBER TO CHECK MY HIGHWINDOW BLOG

Don't forget to keep checking my political/economic blog at www.highwindow.blogspot.com from time to time.

GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ

Soldiers and civilians freshly returned from Iraq are always saying that the situation in Iraq is so far from being like what we see on our TV screens that they hardly recognize it. A good corrective is weekly articles on the good things happening in Iraq - and sometimes, in Afganistan - by Australian blogger Arthur Chrenkoff. Click here for his weekly article in the Wall Street Journal, and here for his excellent blog.

Things are going so much better, in spite of the violence, than we would ever imagine, if we went solely by what our media report. Read Chrenkoff to get an idea.

METHODIST JURY DEFROCKS LESBIAN MINISTER

In the follow-up to yesterday's action convicting lesbian United Methodist Minister Irene Elizabeth Stroud of breaking the ban on self-acknowledged homosexual clergy, a United Methodist jury today defrocked her, requiring her to give up her ordination credentials. See UPI story here.

The gist of the story:

The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud was ordered to surrender her ministerial license Thursday for "engaging in practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings" because she is a practicing lesbian.

Her fellow clergy voted 7-6 to defrock Stroud, who had been associate minister at First United Methodist Church of Germantown.

An estimated two-thirds of the world's United Methodists support their denomination's ban on gay clergy, though there is an active, vocal dissident camp.

Stroud, who asked for and received a trial that was open to the public, brought on the proceeding when she used a sermon last year to disclose her "covenant relationship" with another woman.

Although the jury, composed of United Methodist fellow clergy, voted overwhelmingly yesterday 12-1 to convict her, the vote today to defrock her was narrow, only 7-6.

While this may only come from a reluctance to be harsh with a fellow cleric, it may also simply reflect the fact that United Methodist clergy tend to be much more liberal than most United Methodists. As the article noted, 2/3 of United Methodists support the denomination's ban on gay clergy. Yet these clergy barely voted, by only one vote, to enforce it.

This story describes another step in the ongoing struggle to work out, in the democratic way required by the rules of the denomination, the clash between the orthodox, traditionalist beliefs of a majority of United Methodists and those of a minority, mostly liberal clergy and hierarchy, which still dominates the daily affairs of the United Methodist Church.

METHODIST JURY CONVICTS LESBIAN MINISTER

Richard Ostling of the AP reports today on the outcome of the trial of a self-declared lesbian United Methodist minister, which has been pending for over a year.

The big news - this is the first time that a self-proclaimed homosexual minister has lost such a trial since 1987. This is even though the General Conference, which makes church law for the United Methodists, has always voted that self-declared homosexuals may not be ordained ministers in the United Methodist Church. So it is a true landmark case.

The gist of the article:

PUGHTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A jury made up of United Methodist Church clergy convicted a lesbian minister Thursday of violating church law by openly living with her partner in a committed relationship.

The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud could be defrocked as a result of the ruling, which came on the second day of her church trial. The same 13-member jury was set to meet Thursday afternoon to decide her penalty.

Methodist law bars "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" from ministry. Nine votes were necessary for a conviction and the jury voted 12-1 to find Stroud guilty.

The last time the 8.3 million-member denomination convicted an openly gay cleric was in 1987, when a New Hampshire church court defrocked the Rev. Rose Mary Denman.

Last March, a Methodist court in Washington state acquitted the Rev. Karen Dammann, who lives with a same-sex partner, citing an ambiguity in church law that the Methodist supreme court has since eliminated.

Stroud, associate pastor at Philadelphia's First United Methodist Church of Germantown, set the case in motion last year when she announced to her bishop and congregation that she was living in a committed relationship with her partner, Chris Paige.