Aimee Allen for Ron Paul

No matter how hard you try, you can't get the emotionally gripping yet ideologically shallow, "Yes We Can" pro-Obama song produced by Will.I.Am out of your head. Maybe this will help.

This gem, which I came across via Apoloblogology, was put together by Aimee Allen in support of presidential hopeful and extreme under dog, Ron Paul. For all my readers in Springfield, MO, Paul will be speaking Friday the 30th in Branson. If I still lived there, I'd be there.

Another Blog Post on Evolution and Robots

To be honest I am quite fatigued from the endless bantering within the Christian community regarding the "E" word. The hardcore and exacting conservatives maintaining their literal interpretation of the Genesis count have wore me out, and the more liberal and enlightened faction with their esoteric and at times haughty disdain for anything traditional have equally worn me out with their esoteric apology for evolution's compatibility with scripture. I am just sick of hearing it all, sick of reading post after post on blog after blog, and sick of yet another embarrassing and public contribution to divisive notoriety of the Church.

Everyone has an opinion, including myself. Some lean one way yet have not made up their minds, including myself. Some attempt to remain aloof, including myself.

I am less hesitant to maintain a stolid outlook when robots, in all their finite wisdom, conclude and convince the idea that God himself is yet another creative byproduct of evolution. According to the article linked to above, religion can be explained two ways that are as polarized of opinions as the Creationism and Evolution in the Christian community (pardon the convenience; I am not suggesting all scientists are not Christians). One camp believes that religion is a remaining by-product of an area of the brain that developed for purposes other than religion. The purpose no longer exists, but the byproduct remains. Others view that religion itself was the adaptation itself and was necessary for the benefit of our forefathers.

James Dow, a evolutionary anthropologist, wrote a computer program, which is free for download, to compute whether God could possibly fit as an evolutionary process in and of itself. Dow plugged the idea of proselytizing into the program with the assumption that it is a genetic trait. Under normal circumstances, a desire to communicate the unreal would lead to the doom of a race, but when Dow plugged in an assumption that non-believers would be attracted to the pathological communicants of the imaginary.

I am left wondering whether Dow would view me, a believer, as evolutionary enhancement, or a dysfunctional anomaly? As a believer I cannot accept this theory regardless of where I fall on the spectrum that has Evolution and Creationism as either end. If, according my world view, God and the grace He offers is necessary for the eternal salvation of His creation, men who had not yet evolved to an understanding of His existence were unjustly doomed to perdition.

It's an interesting theory despite the fact that a man was dependent upon his computerized creation to arrive at it. What do you think?

*This post's information was obtained from Religion Is A Product of Evolution, Software Suggests from www.newscientist.com

The United Methodist Genreal Conference and the Next Christendom

In his 2004 work, The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins compellingly argued that while God may not be dead, as Nietzsche said, he is moving on. Number crunching statistics that are far more obvious than they are mathematical, Jenkins noted the decline and liberalization of Christianity in northern more occidental nations, notably the U.K. and less notably the U.S., and the growth of a more orthodox/conservative brand of Christianity in the South.

Agree with Jenkins or not, based off the recent General Conference of the United Methodist, Edgar Cayce might as well have penned The Next Christendom.

The United methodists are rapidly becoming less American, if they ever were. Slightly under 8 million members of the UM reside in the US, while 3.5 million and growing live overseas. In fact, 1 million members call the Democratic Republic of Congo home, all faithful Sunday attenders, nearly matching Sunday attendance of American adherents.

At this year's UM General Conference, 30% of the delegates were from outside of the US, many from Africa, up 10% from just four years ago. While in forty years, the UM has lost over 3 milion members in the US, membership is growing exponentially in the Southern Hemisphere. And how do they vote?

Just a couple of weeks ago the United Methodist General Conference voted against the practice of homosexuality as a practice incompatible with the teachings of Christianity 517 to 416, a narrow margin in light of tradition. Without the outspokenly conservative presence of 192 African delegates the United Methodist may have made the headlines just a few days ago.

So, according to Jenkins, within 40 years, the roles may be reversed, and with The UM General Conference as a case study he may be right. Perhaps when I am 68 an African United Methodist Missionary for Christ may be imposing his world view upon my apostate neighborhood, much to the disdain of southern anthropologists.

What do you think?

A Political Moment with Lil Wayne and John Hagee

From the June 2008 issue of Blender Magazine, an interview with Lil Wayne:

BLENDER: Who do you want to take the White House?

LIL WAYNE: Barack, I guess, but I can't made a real opinion. I ain't watching no debates. I just want my people to understand that Hillary and Barack are not running for president--they running to be able to run for president. There's a Republican party, too--we ain't about to win fool! A woman or a black man versus and old white dude? F**k no! They gonna be like, This black **s n***a trying to come in my Oval Office? F*****k no. The world about to end in 2012 anyway. 'Cause the Mayans made calendars, and they stop at 2012. I got encyclopedias on the bus. The world is gonna end as we know it. you can see it already. A planet doesn't exist: There's no more Pluto. Planes flying into buildings--and not just the Twin Towers, but dudes who play baseball are flying planes into buildings. Mosquitoes bite you and you die. And a black man and a woman are running for president!

Wow. Awesome. Articulate.

Zionist/Dispensational mega-church pastor John Hagee has been in the news recently too as he has been forced to apologize for anti Catholic remarks. In a recent rebuttal to public criticism, Hagee states:

“In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholics and Protestant relations with the Jews,” Hagee wrote. “In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not.” -The Kansas City Star

Nice save. As McCain's primary endorsement from the Religious Right, is it possible that Hagee realizes his weighty words could turn Catholic voters away from pro-war McCain? Or is he sincere?

Or, is Hagee's endorsement more of an eschatological tactic and less of a patriotic commitment? Says Hagee:

"If we can get 50 million evangelicals in America to join hands with five million of the Jewish people in the United States of America, it will be a marriage made in heaven." -VOA

A match made in heaven indeed, when Hagee's outlook on things apocalyptic requires Israel's possession of the entire biblical land of Palestine in order for the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ to take place, as he feels is according scriptural prophecy. McCain's involvement in the Middle East and helpful hand to Israel just might speed things along in Hagee's mind.

Two men, both comical at times, both with strong convictions that the end is near, both with strong political affiliations (however polarized they might be), both utter words that influence many, and both in one blog post, perhaps for the very first time).

Car Wreck Ghost

More often than not, the consonant consumer faces an unfortunate dilemma as they approach the vast expanse of oratory media. The polarization between music that titillates the ear but is lyrically shallow and melodies that ought not to have ever existed yet satisfies the mind is farther than the east is from the west. However, my eighteen year old brother in law has bridged the chasm.

It would be well worth any curious connoisseur's time to swing by his MySpace site and check out his creation, Car Wreck Ghost. There are two versions, both are fantastic. I am partial to the acoustic, but only slightly. It has it all...harmonies, hooks, and intelligence.

The Housing Bill...House Endorsed, Ivan Execrated

There are actually two bills floating around the bureaucratic epicenter of the United States. One of the measures is a $300 billion doozy aimed at the extrication of the housing slump (rescue those facing foreclosure), the other is a $15 billion beautification measure; property owners can apply for grants/loans to fix up unsightly properties. While both bills found favor in the House, a Bush veto looms.

I know the market is less than favorable right now--I myself have an under priced house on the market that has generated little interest as there are fewer shoppers than a few years ago. The liberal lending bonanza is over. No more sub prime, zero down, instant credit, variable rate frivolity.

But these bills are bogus.

What is the role of government? Is it to offer handouts to those who could not manage the first handout? If someone is unable to manage their resources to the point of forfeiting their home, how will they mange a few billion shekels they did not work for in the first place?

I am not completely unsympathetic. I bought my first home zero down. But I bought a house within my means. I did not take a loan that I could no longer afford if I suddenly had to start paying twice as much for groceries and gasoline. I bought a house that was a bargain...an ugly bargain...but I still own it.