Oh, Brave New World...

My sociology teacher daily cuts out magazine and newspaper articles to display on the front whiteboard for a variety of her classroom discussions. Usually they are about local issues such as the Harley Davidson strike or political issues such as elections. Last week, however, my senses were affronted with a glossy magazine article topped with a full color photo of a girl in her pajamas lying on a bed with a guy in a t-shirt and jeans sitting next to the bed on the floor. "What could this article be about?" I pondered to myself, but upon looking down at the title of the article itself, I was shocked to find it read something along the lines of: "College Freshmen Get Ready...For Coed Dorm Rooms."

You read that correctly -- not coed dorms, coed dorm rooms.

Our teacher did not read the entire article to us, but she ran through some of its main points. "Many" colleges and universities allegedly now offer these coed dorm rooms to students (the only one I can recall her mentioning by name was the University of Southern Maine). When completing housing registration for these universities, all one needs to do is check a box if he or she feels comfortable rooming with a member of the opposite sex. The students who were interviewed for the article were really thrilled with the "opportunity" provided to them, and the article painted the whole situation in a generally positive light.

My teacher's next step was to ask if anybody in the class would be okay with living in a coed dorm room. The classroom turned into a forest of raised hands. She then asked who would absolutely, one hundred percent not live in a coed dorm room. Only two hands went up other than my own. I was in a state of complete and total awe. There are probably somewhere around twenty six or twenty seven students in my sociology class, and only three took a stand against the article's content. Several other students who I have known to be Christians said that they would be absolutely okay with living in a coed dorm room. I was nearly experiencing trauma -- I had no clue that so many people had become so blinded and fooled by "progressive" thinking. I was called on to explain exactly why I felt the way I did on the issue, and all I could manage to blurt out was, "It's just wrong, it just is not right," before I reduced myself to fumbling around like an idiot.

Have we really allowed ourselves to be so poisoned by "free thinking" and liberalized ideas that we no longer even recognize some of the most basic wrongs in our world? Have we finally been conditioned into accepting such things that we now fail to recognize sin in our sexually charged environment? One Christian girl in my class argued against me, "It's not like it promotes having sex. If people want to do it, they'll find some way to do it anyway." That is such pathetic rationalization that it makes my stomach turn. It is brainwashing on behalf of the society in which we live. How can any intelligent, heterosexual person past puberty possibly argue that a college guy and a college girl living together does not help lead to sexual activity? Even if the two do not end up physically engaging in such activity, the mental aspect will most definitely still be there. The temptation will still be there as well (provided one's roommate is not highly unattractive). Why even put oneself in the position to be tempted in such a way?

All physical and sexual aspects of this debate aside, there is still something fundamentally wrong with a guy and a non-related girl living together outside of marriage. Even if the two students never remotely let their minds wander into sinful areas (which is impossible) and always refrain from such practices (which is highly unlikely), it still is not "okay." It just is not the way things are. Part of the joy and pleasure of marriage is being able to finally get to live with your spouse/a member of the opposite sex. That feeling -- that happiness -- would be much less fulfilling once one finally would get married. Think about it. Even if you raised your kids with the utmost moral decency, and you were absolutely sure they would never have sex before marriage, would you still allow your kid to live with a member of the opposite sex through college? I asked one girl who said she'd be okay with coed dorm rooms this very question, and her reply was basically, "It's not the same thing." She said her parents would not approve of her living with a guy in college, and she would not let her kids live in a coed dorm room, but for her it's just "different." Please...

If I only had my copy of Brave New World with me that day in class, I would have probably stood up and threw it at some body's head. Then I would have gone and picked it up and repeated the process until I threw it at every one's head. We are constantly being conditioned by society into thinking of women like "meat" (as Huxley frankly puts it). Women themselves are being conditioned into accepting it and thinking that if they do not succumb to acting like a piece of spare rib, they will not be accepted. Look around at all the people who get plastic surgery and breast implants. Look at all the girls who wear shirts and jeans so tight that no anatomical feature is left to mystery. Look at the skirts so short that -- well, we won't even go there. We are also conditioned to perceive sex as no big deal. It's all over TV. Not only in programs, but in advertisements. The Internet is just absolutely filled with it. Even if you don't go out searching for it, it often times comes looking for you in the way of spam. Sex saturates everything around us. They tell us we are just animals with "primal urges" that we cannot control. They say we can't help ourselves. That really is all that many people think we are: a line on a graph -- something you can measure and predict.

That is simply not the case, however. You can control your impulses and urges. Unfortunately, we believe them when they tell us that we cannot. I know I have gotten somewhat off topic here from my original subject, but the point is that some things are just fundamentally wrong. We do not realize they are sinful, though, because we have been conditioned into accepting them. In the world we live in, Christians do not only need to be careful about what they accept and what they don't accept -- Christians need to be actively fighting against what they know is wrong. I believe that God would agree -- the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

~Tribal

Against The Flow

My youth pastor recently started a blog for our youth group, Against The Flow. You can check it out here.

~Tribal

God - 1, Random Chance - 0

Sitting in physics class today, I was reminded of a concept learned in philosophy last year and on which a large part of the cosmological argument rests. Our physics teacher had us working on the infamous "interactive physics" packets, and we were running a computer program that simulated the orbits of three planets around a star. Our current unit of study deals with the theory of gravitation. In this computer simulation, it was necessary to adjust the distance of each planet from the sun and each planet's velocity (these being the two factors which affect gravity and the way a body orbits another). The usual result of our attempts to make the planets perfectly orbit the star was that they would either collide with the star and burn up or fly off into the vastness of space. No matter how many combinations we tried, we could not find the perfect one that would make all three planets perfectly orbit the star. Eventually the bell rang, and we needed to close the program and continue on with our school day.

So, no matter how many times we tried, we could not find the perfect combination of a.) distance from the star and b.) initial velocity of the planets to get them into orbit. We had problems getting three planets to rotate around one star without them either suffering a fiery death in the sun's flaming brilliance or freezing in the cold grandeur of space. There are nine planets in our solar system alone (ehh, well, give or take a few depending on which position you defend). I can tell you with much certainty, it would have taken us a very long time to figure out how to get nine of those things to orbit. There is certainly more than a single star that has planets rotating around it in our universe. Stars and planets removed, even stars and some galaxies orbit other celestial bodies. So pretty much there are probably billions and billions and billions of perfectly orbiting bodies in existence.

Now the question posed by all of this is that am I supposed to believe that all of these rotating bodies just happened to be the right distance away from the source of gravity pulling on them? They just all happened to be traveling at the exact speed needed so that they neither get sucked in by gravity or fly off again randomly into space? I think that takes a little more faith than I am willing to provide. If that is the result of random chance, I would sure hate to play poker with the universe.

There is a set of approximately 21 different numbers that govern the laws of the universe and that are so finely tuned that if they had been any different, either the universe would not exist or life in our universe would not exist (the anthropic principle). The atomic weight of the proton and the gravitational constant are just a couple examples of these highly important but often overlooked features of existence. The above example also illustrates this well. If earth were moving any slower than it is now, it would fall into the sun. If earth were moving any faster, it would fly off into space. Of course earth's distance from the sun plays a crucial role in this as well. Any closer to the sun and we would likely all burn up from heat (man, that would be what I call global warming). Any farther away and we would all likely freeze. Everything so perfectly exists as it does for no other reason than because it was made that way. The chance of the universe existing randomly and so it could be capable of supporting life at the same time is somewhere around the ballpark of one in ten billion...to the twenty-fourth power (now I really don't want to play the universe in poker). How anyone can claim to be a sound scientist and yet claim that existence exists by random chance is beyond my understanding. It takes more faith than I am capable of possessing.

The more rational and more factual understanding of the order of things must include some sort of intelligent designer. It is much more reasonable to believe in an omnipotent God whose ways and thinking are beyond our own than to claim that everything is an accident of near infinitely impossible proportions. So when it comes down to teaching faith versus science in school classrooms, I am pretty sure I know which side is which now. They need to stop teaching faith and start teaching some real science.

~Tribal

Searching For Charity

My girlfriend recently passed this site along to me, and I feel it worthwhile to share it with all of you as well. It is a search engine just like Google or Yahoo, only for each search you make on it, the website donates one cent to the charity of your designation. While that may not sound like too much of a deal at first, imagine all of the times you have used a search engine to find something -- in your entire life. Now imagine you telling all of your friends about it, and they all use it as well. What if they tell all of their friends about it? You get the picture. You can eventually raise some serious money for the charity of your choice just by using this website to make your internet searches. I personally recommend donating to the American Life League if you would like a suggestion, but the decision is yours. Please pass this along to as many people as you can.

www.goodsearch.com

~Tribal

Racial Profiling Quiz

A fellow groupmember on Facebook posted this website in our racial profiling forums. As funny as it is, it is the truth whether people like to hear it or not.

http://www.mideasttruth.com/profiling.html

~Tribal

Existential Angst

I have recently read The Stranger by Albert Camus, and in fact have even done an oral presentation about it for AP English. To aid in the presentation, I rummaged through my notes from last year's philosophy class to find everything I could about Existentialism. Most of you reading this are probably very aware of the main tenants of the worldview, so I won't really go into detail.

Up until tonight, I have never fully experienced the "absurdity of life" that so permeates the existential view. I now know what the absurdity of life is. The absurdity of life is the fact that everyday you wake up, you go to work or school, and you go to sleep. The absurdity of life is the fact that, at least for me personally, I strive to create meaningful relationships with other people, specifically members of the opposing gender, but cannot find them. They fail -- almost all the time. Absurdity in life is standing on the sidewalk in front of your house while one of your best friends walks down the hill out of view with a plastic bag of clothes as he runs away from an overbearingly sadistic home. The absurdity of life, for me at least today, is a depressingly sharp reality.

Why go on? Seriously, why should I go on? That is the question posed by Existentialism. The only reason I can see to go on is that life was created to be absurd. We are born, we live, we die. We follow the same daily routine for ninety percent of our lives. We get turned down again and again when seeking a relationship. The most absurd things happen to us and our few friends throughout the course of the grind of life. Why does all this happen?

This happens because our focus is not meant to be on this absurd life. Why are we born, we live a short life, and then we die? Because we are meant to be motivated by this fact into searching for some other life. Why do our, especially my, relationships fail? Because we are meant to search for some higher relationship. To be quite honest, that knowledge is the only thing that is keeping me going.

Perhaps Plato's World of Ideas aptly fits this situation. Everything in this life is just a shadow of something else in some other plain of existence.

I now realize, to a very large degree, that Plato is more of a genius than I ever imagined, and that Existentialism hits the nail on the head much more squarely than I thought. The only road that I take that both of the aforementioned schools do not is that I believe in God. God is the only thing keeping me going right now. This life is absurd. Things in this life are just a shadow of some other plain of existence -- but I know that plain of existence is paradise. The one who made life absurd is God -- He did it so that we would search for Him. Why would a happy, content man ever want to seek God? All it would do is add suffering and responsibility to his life. We must be made not content, so that eventually we can become happier than we could ever imagine. I've seen that more clearly this weekend than ever before in my life, and I'm hoping and praying that I indeed can get back on track and be content in God.

~Tribal

But...I AM right

"You think you're right and everybody else is wrong. You're so arrogant." -- these are the words that are spoken to me on an almost daily basis by a good classmate of mine. We often end up in lunch table discussions over political or philosophical issues (rarely started by me, might I add). It seems like the two of us have entirely different views on absolutely everything ranging from belief in God, to whether or not the school's hotdogs really are made out of green fungus. It also seems, however, that everytime I try to defend my views against his, the above quote gets thrown at me out of anger, often accompanied by some mild profanity or obscene gesture.

So, I think that I'm right and that everybody else is wrong? Well, quite frankly, "duh." I mean, if one did not believe that one's opinions were correct on an issue, why hold any opinion at all on an issue? My response to my friend's often angry semi-relativism often runs something along the lines of, "Well, you think that you're right too and that I'm wrong, otherwise we would not be here discussing this." It is true. If a person did not believe himself to be correct, why would he have a firm opinion on anything?

There are some things that I know to be absolutely, one-hundred percent correct. For instance, I know that there is a God who created the world and created me, and has an ultimate plan for my life. I also know, though, that I have free will -- I have the ability to chose between right and wrong, following God's path or not following. I know that abortion destroys an innocent life, and is very comparable to the Jewish Holocaust. In addition to this, I also know that homosexuality is wrong -- it is not an "alternate lifestyle" and it is not how people are born. I know many more things that are absolutely correct as well, but this is just a small sampling of them.

So what's the point of all this? I think that the world is trying to tear down our beliefs and our moral foundations by throwing out labels like "arrogant" or "intolerant." They try to make us feel bad. If you say that it is wrong for gay people to be involved in a homosexual relationship, you are labeled a "hatemonger" -- "hate is NOT a family value" as one bumper sticker reads. In response to this, Christians tend to back away from such "controversial" issues because they want to be loved by everybody. Might I remind you that God's word tells us we will be hated for His namesake. It's not being "arrogant," it's merely recognizing the sin that is present in the world.

I do not exempt myself from any of this, however. I admit, at times I can come across as very overbearing. It is something I am trying to work on. However, we should not back away from what we know is right and wrong merely because some other human tells us he or she is offended at what we are saying. GOD says that homosexuality is wrong, not me -- I didn't make that rule, go read the Bible. If people are offended by the very things that God Himself says, why should we in any way attempt to appease their "hurt feelings" -- who are we to go out and apologize to them?

The band Demon Hunter has an amazing song off of their album The Triptych about this very subject. The title is "Relentless Intolerance." The name pretty much says it all. The song calls for Christians to stand firm for the things they believe in and not give in when "the foundations that we used to uphold" are "regarded as the madness of old." Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. Who are we to change that?

~Tribal

The Moron Files

Once there was a conservative (me) who got into an argument with a bunch of very liberal people who joined my facebook group "Non-racist Americans FOR racial profiling of Arabs" for no other reason than to harrass me. This is the bulk of that little back-and-forth. I post it here in it's entirety -- exactly the words that were said with the exception of editing out the obscenities. This is definentaly worth a read, as it illustrates the lunacy that has taken hold of some in America...an excellent example of liberal fallacy.



Pouria Almassi: oh yes, of course, this makes perfect sense, screen all the Arabs, because Arabs are always the ones who commit acts of terrorism, Oklahoma city? Thed Kaczynskiwait aka the "Unabomber" , wait a second, those were Americans!

Daniel Marchant (me): Absolutely correct, those were Americans! However, those were 2 isolated incidents. The attacks on September 11, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, and the numerous thwarted attempts by other Muslim Arab terrorists (shoe bomber, liquid bombs) were committed, as I said, by Muslim Arabs. Oh, that's not to mention all the groups fighting us in the Middle East in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and even that's not to mention all the extremist Islamic groups that hate us and want to see us dead...

Shawn Singh Tucker: racial profiling arabs will make the situation even worse. so many people already hate muslims because of us media, and making it ok to profile gives people more of an excuse and an incentive to commit hate crimes. also, muslims come in so different races-black, white, brown, yellow,red purple everything u can think of, so to racially profile people who "look" muslim makes no sense. to a majority of americans even i look muslim, even though i am not. we need to unite and be together rather than profile and segregate. last thing-if you support racial profiling, you ARE RACIST whether u realize it or not. sorry

and daniel...i think white people kill more people in the US than arabs do, don't you? why doesnt the police racially profile you on the streets if it's just?

Daniel Marchant: We're still dancing around the issue here. Sure, more murders probably result from white people than they do from Arabs, but that is not taking into account the fact that there are more white people in America than Arabs. However, the number of murders and attempted murders commited on airplanes by Muslim Arabs far outweighs the number that have been committed by white people. Turn on the TV lately and hear about the latest KKK airplane rampage? No. Turn on the TV lately and hear about another threat by Muslim extremists? Yes. The issue is merely that you do not hear about five year old kids hijacking jetliners, and you don't hear about 90 year old grandmas flying planes into buildings, so why waste time and resources screening such people? It is absolutely rediculous to overlook the fact that the one thing that connects every major terrorist threat against our country is religion and ethnicity.

...as far as being racist? If there comes a day when white male Christians start blowing up airliners and flying them into buildings, I would hope that I would be stopped at an airport and examined with extra security measures...

AB Omar: "religion and ethnicity" so now it's not just muslims, but also ethnicity meaning. . . . . all arab looking people? Daniel, since you're so blindly ignorant, let's go with your line of reasoning and see if you can justify the means. when you see on fox news that 'a muslim bombed .....' do you ever stop to ask yourself, i wonder what made him/her strap on a bomb and die? just for kicks? don't think so. so there had to be a catalyst? . . . . . ok you know what, i'll make it simple for you since you seem to be too logically challenged to follow any thoughtful argument:say someone, a complete stranger, came into your house and took everything you had and insulted your very existence upon robbing you and then slapped your little sister around for no reason, would you sit there with your hands and head stuck up your fat racist a** or would you actually try to resist? all this fighting and 'bombing' and blood shed is a resistnce mechanism. people are resisting being occupied.

all they want is what was theirs back. all they want is a normal life that was taken away from them. and then stupid, unaware and ignorant people like YOU are made to believe that phalestinians and muslims are the problem. SINCE WHEN DID THE OPPRESSOR BECOME THE VICTIM????

Daniel Marchant: I actually have stopped and asked myself why these people do what they do, and interestingly enough, the conflict runs far deeper than you think it does. Do you honestly believe that they strap bombs to themselves and blow up innocent men, women, and children because they are being "occupied?" If by occupation you mean a free, Democratic Iraq replacing a murderous, dictatorship, then of course they are being "occupied." But these extremists hate us because they believe GOD tells them to hate us. Why would you try making up your own little excuse and defense for their actions when they themselves are very forthright about it? "Great Satan," "Little Satan," "Infidel" -- ring any bells? They attack us because they believe their religion tells them to attack us, and that they will be rewarded in the afterlife for it. Bush propoganda? -- no, the truth -- listen to any terrorist speak about why he does what he does.

Jessica Warner: So this "normal life" you're referring to....Your're criticizing Americans, claiming that we CAUSED the terrorism on our nation by going into other nations.Might I point out that we went into their nations in order to help them dispose of a tyrannical dictator who was killing, torturing, and mutilating their people?And, by the way, if you disagree with the group, DON'T JOIN IT! Joining a group for the sole purpose of dissing it is childish at best and (since you brought up this word) ignorant in all actuality. So either leave the blasted group or stop insulting those who are willing to diplomatically and legitimately stand up for their views.

AB Omar: Jessica, let me remind you because you seem to have conveniently forgotten the facts, WE the United States of America MADE Osama who he is now. US made Saddam Hussein who he turned into. So before you point the blame finger, stop and recount the facts. That's the least you can do. And Daniel, you speak of "Democracy". If you knew anything about history, you'd realize that the same form of government does NOT work all over the world. We tried it in Vietnam. Secondly, what's the difference between Saddam's regime and FORCING democracy on Iraq? They share a common denominator. They're both forced and unwanted. Let the people of Iraq decide what kind of government they want instead of shoving your politics down their throat. For both of you, if you honestly believe that the US's presence in the middle east is solely to 'liberate an oppressed people', look at the projected map of the gas pipleline and the current position of US troops in the middle east. too good to be true?

Daniel Marchant: Vietnam? Please...Democracy failed in Vietnam because the NORTH VIETNAMESE wanted it to fail, and the United States did not have the stomach for a fight. They "cut and run" as the saying goes, and left a fledgling government to fend off a much more powerful Communist force. Democracy will work in Iraq as well as long as we do not cut and run and leave them to face the terrorists alone just yet. It worked fine in Israel. In addition, what about all the elections Iraq has had since the removal of Saddam? Have you seen their voter turn out? It puts the United States to shame, so it looks like they love their democracy over there even more than some Americans do over here. Maybe I'm not the one who must examine the facts.

Hmm, U.S. troop deployments around gas pipelines in Iraq...go figure. I seem to remember that in the Gulf War, Saddam tried to burn the oil fields...American troops are there to guard the pipelines against such another action by the terrorists. Oil is the biggest player in the Iraqi economy -- if the oil and gas burns, so does Iraq's economy and democracy. Drive a car? Buy any gas lately? Realize that gas prices are higher than they were before the war? If we went into Iraq for oil and if we really wanted to take their oil, why is there still a shortage and why are we still paying insane amounts?

AB Omar: hahahaha. Daniel, please tell me you didn't just make those arguments? especially the one about oil? Please tell me you aren't THAT dumb?

Daniel Marchant: Well I'm glad no one here has resorted to the elementary school "I've run out of things to say therefore I am only going to hurl insults" -- I was worried there for a second that I was actually debating against somebody with nothing factual to say...

Jessica Warner: Okay, may I suggest that the fact that you are no longer reporting FACTS (as Dan happens to be.....) probably means that you're out of legitimate arguments? Sorry, AB, I think you're done on this one. Better luck next time!

AB Omar: try this one for facts
http://www.rense.com/general70/deathmde.htm

by the way Daniel and Jessica, i would like to see some of your FACTS? something credible. meaning FOX News doesn't count. i'm honestly interested in finding out what your source of information is.

here is an independent research for you. see for yourself. http://www.umrc.net/pdf/quantitative_analysis_afghanistan.pdfgoogle the paper if the full text doesn't pop up. that is you're interested in FACTS.

Shawn Singh Tucker: seriously...this group is just here to make people mad. why are people terrorists in the 1st place? bc they are upset abt something. by creating this group ur not helping anybody, just making things worse.seriously, think abt things before u do them. and if u think ur right in this group, express your views face to face to a muslim, arab, even another minority and then ull get a real responsealso, this group means jack s***. just cuz u made a group that has 20 members--half of which are here to help you realize how ignorant u are--doesnt mean that ur stupidity will become a reality. racial profiling goes against everything this country was founded for. i bet yall dont even give a d****cuz u think im an arab or a muslim. sayin that "oh i believe they are equal, but they should be searched" is b*******. dont force people to be treated as second rate citizens and separated and then say, "yea, they are equal." f***** nazis. im outta this lame a** group

Sunny Mummaneni: i joined this group not to criticize it in any way but to inform a few uninformed people, i am not a muslim but to say that Islam is telling these people to act out these horrible terroristic acts is completely ludacris, if you would just take a couple of weeks and read the Koran you would learn that Islam is probably one of the most peaceful religions in its true PURE form, these people that yell out Jihad and enact these terrible deeds are misinterpreting the religion completely and in all reality thats not their fault, a lot of them aren't educated enough to comprehend or they were forced to believe that is the true Islam since the day they can comprehend anything. We as Americans shouldn't put these people down, moreover we should embrace them and if we really wanted to help then help them learn the true meaning of their own religion, not convert them to the majorities belief. We as American are very lucky to have a good education system (no matter how awful some people think...

... it is) we are definately luckier than they are over there and for that we should be thankful and not full of hate for another religon, what ever happened to freedom of religion? seriously people i can't walk down the street without someone talking about "those damned muslims", alright there is a few groups of misinformed extremists, but in reality every religion has those groups of people. Hinduism is supposed to be peaceful but in India there are mosques getting burned down by Hindu extremist, during slavery Christians used to hold slaves and beat them (sometimes to death) in the name of their god, all these people were misinformed, and there are still some that are...now we shouldn't be arguing here or hating on all muslim arabs but we should be trying to figure out a DIPLOMATIC way to help these people because they are suffering from the worst disease that man knows of and thats HATE because of IGNORANCE..don't join them by saying arabs should be the only ones looked out for..

Daniel Marchant: Hmm, try this one for facts? Ironic that a few babies are born horribly deformed, and the blame automaticaly falls on the United States. Of course the small amount of uranium that is contained within these weapons so horribly used by U.S. troops would be enough to deform entire bodies such as those shown in the pictures *sarcasm*. As far as your other source, I think you conviently overlooked the last sentance of the paper..."The cause of our findings is currently being evaluated as part of our ongoing research." Sounds awfully conclusive to me.

...and actually, umm, if FOX News is the only one who reported the attacks of September 11, the bombings of the U.S.S. Cole, as well as the endless wave of terrorist violence committed by extremists in the Middle East, then sure FOX News is my source...but it's kind of shocking to me that you actually NEED to see some sort of proof for all of this. Have you been living completely out of touch with the world for the past, oh, 30 years? I don't care if you think this group is "jack s***" or not, I honestly do not care what anyone thinks about my group or my opinions. It's called having a backbone and not giving a crap what other people think of you. If all you are going to do is criticize the group, why join?

Sunny, I agree completely with your view on Islam. It is a peaceful religion, and Muslims are generaly peace loving people. However, those who have commited and want to commit terrorist attacks against the United States are very bold in their wrongful proclomation that God wants them to do this. Don't believe me? Turn on any TV channel or read any newspaper the next time a terrorist releases a propoganda tape. They are doing it in the name of their religion, even though their religion does not teach that. I do not hate muslims, I do not hate Arabs, but I do hate acts of terrorism committed in the name of God. Those are the people I do not like. Oh, and P.S., yes, since Christians are still beating slaves to death I think we should change this group's name to "Non-racist Americans FOR racial profiling of Arabs and Christians."

AB Omar: Sunny, i appreciate your point of view. however, i think you have been misinformed. you said that 'muslims are suffering from the worst disease ...." i don't think you're seeing the whole picture. if you look at one of my earlier posts, i posed the following scenario to Daniel and got no response. so here it is again:say a complete stranger came into your house, uninvited, and took everything you had. he/she insulted your very existence upon robbing you IN YOUR OWN HOUSE and slapped around your little sister for no reason, would you sit there and watch them absue everything you have and you are or would you at least try to resist? for one minute, let's forget about our biases as westerners and look at it from a humanistic point of view. Look at the progression of the map of Israel from 1946 to now. What was almost entirely Palestine once has now been reduced to little dots on the map. and none of this land was voluntarily given to Israel by the Palestinian people.

Israel has taken the palestinians homes away from them. when everything one has has been stolen from him/her, he/she has nothing more to lose, so death by means of straping ona bomb is a natural progression in order to retaliate. so you see, while killing other people can never be justified no matter what the reason, scrutinizing the facts can help better explain these actions.

Daniel Marchant: Interestingly enough I've directly responded to your post all along, apparently you just never were able to figure it out. If you think that is the reason why the extremists are doing what they are doing, then you really are out of touch with reality. The extremists themselves do not say "well I'm doing this because people came into my land" they say "Allah be praised, kill the infidel, kill the great satan." Excluding Western bias as you said, that land does rightfully belong to Israel. The Kingdom of Israel once ruled an area of land much larger than what is there for them now...look on any ancient history maps.

AB Omar: Daniel, how many ways do I need to say it so it'll ring a bell in that empty head of yours. Read my post again about your sources of information. The government IS the media. So they give you what's on their agenda, not what's actually happening. Think about this, all the reporters that went to Iraq to cover the war, they stayed with US military, they wore US military apparel, they ate with US troops, they were protected by the US troops and they were transported in US humvies and they reported mostly from US bases. Have you heard ANYTHING from a reporter that stayed with the Iraqi troops, ate with Iraqi troops, was transporterd around by Iraqi military, and reported from Iraqi bases? didn't think so. come back when you have something worthwile to say.

Jessica Warner: C'mon, Dan.....Every time a civilized person is wronged, the immediate, natural reaction is to blow oneself up. Everyone knows this, Dan.What's your problem?

AB Omar: oh and your reply to Sunny's comment, saying that you don't hate arabs or muslims..... if that's so then why did you create this group? i mean look at the first sentence in the intro to this group, "This group is for every American who supports racial profiling against Muslim Arabs. "you really have no clue what you're talking about do you?

Daniel Marchant: LOL, this is really rather comical. Obviously the Republican controlled government (soley controlled by Bush of course, that ultra evil conservative) is secretly behind the incredibly liberal news media controlled almost exclusively by very vocal Democrats. How can you not acknowledge that? Turn on any news channel and you hear "Bush is a failure, Bush got us into a quagmire, impeach Bush." Yeah, government propoganda...o-kay. I like how news reporters being protected by troops and staying with troops is conclusive proof of your position lol. Of course, if the troops would not have protected them, you'd be outraged over that and condemn the military for not regarding innocent life. I can't believe you are still here arguing. Everything that you are saying is making you look worse and worse in the eyes of the intelligent people of this group.

Umm, Omar, look at the very FIRST part of the TITLE of this group...



I will continue to post this all as it unfolds further.

~Tribal~

Call for Prayer

I'm coming to you guys in desperation. A good friend of mine here at school has decided it is his duty to "convert" everyone he can to athiesm. I don't understand his motivation because there is nothing to gain from it, other then damning the souls of Followers of Christ. His goal is not merely to destroy individuals, but to tear down religion itself. My friend is very intelligent, and I fear for a great many Christians who may not be extra strong in their faith, or in their knowledge of the Word. Friends, I'm sure many of you think of angels and demons and things of the spiritual world as something that belongs in the Old Testemant and not in todays world. Whether you want to accept it or not, there is a spiritual domain in this physical world, where angels and demons battle over souls in vast array. Satin's hand is in this, I know this for certain. I am asking for you to join me in prayer. Pray for my friend's soul, because he needs it, desperately. Pray for me and my fellow Christians here that we might break through his delusions. Pray for all those who have, are, and will come in contact with this friend of mine that he will not be a stumbling block in their path, that they instead be a stumbling block to his misguided ignorance. Pray that God show himself in a very real and powerful way to him. Thanks, and God bless.

~AndyJams~

Voting Party Lines

Well, the Democrats won. Worse than that, Nancy Pelosi is now third in line for the presidency (pray very hard that Bush and Cheney don't decide to die in the next 2 years). Hey at least I got to go party at Heritage Hills with Todd Platts! One thing that annoys me almost more than anything regarding the election, however, is the deal that people are making over voting "party lines." Everywhere I go and hear people talk about the election, I hear someone being criticized for voting a "straight ticket" (hey, it's better than a gay ticket). I even had a teacher in school today talk about his mother always voting straight up Republican. He said he asked his mother one time who she would vote for if God ran as a Democrat and Satan ran as a Republican. Her response, obviously, was that God would never run as a Democrat -- and this teacher criticized his mother for saying that. But I submit to you, what is wrong with what she said? What is wrong with voting for only one party?

People often talk about voting for "the best man for the job." But why would anyone with any form of a backbone on any issue at all vote on anything BUT the issues? As a general rule, Republicans are pro-life, pro-war, and pro-tax cuts. Democrats are typically pro-abortion, anti-war, and for repealing the tax cuts and imposing higher taxes on the wealthy. Gee, do you think they're a member of the party they are a part of because they share common views on the issues? Therefore, if when you voted, you were mostly concerned about the war in Iraq, why would you not vote straight Republican? What is wrong with voting straight Republican? Now I can see why someone would not vote straight lines if a candidate differed from their party's views on an issue, but come on people -- if you're going to criticize someone for voting the way they did, it's almost more accurate to criticize those who did NOT vote straight lines. NOT voting straight party lines shows that you really do not care about the issues (unless of course, as I said, the candidate differs from his or her party). Grow a backbone! Take a stand!

~Tribal

John Kerry's View Of Our Fighting Men And Women

''You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.''

-- Sen. John Kerry

~Tribal

Iraq: The Real Story

Glenn Beck created an interesting video that details some of the more overlooked victories in Iraq. With the terms "Vietnam" and "quagmire" still being thrown around, I think it's worth a minute to see what else has been accomplished (as if destroying a murderous regime that tortured thousands of its citizens and then tossed their corpses into mass graves is not enough of a victory for some). Here's the link for the video. In addition to this, a while back Fox News had posted a series of articles regarding Saddam and his possible terror links. These are also worth a look for those who continue to be "nay sayers" (I won't even get into the Sarin nerve gas shells that troops found, but you didn't hear about that one in the Tokyo Rose media either). The links for these articles are as follows: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

~Tribal

One Nation Under God

Many people in America today do not realize the moral and religious foundations that their country was built upon. They blindly insist that our founding fathers intended for such things to exist as "separation of church and state." My personal favorite is "Oh, well the founding fathers would have meant for same sex marraige to be legal." In Brad Stine's words, "Yup. That was their master plan!" Citizens today have absolutely no concept of what the founding fathers believed in, and the majority of them won't even listen to the historical facts. It does not take much research to break through the swarm of BS that surrounds this situation. That is the purpose of this post: to tell all of our readers out there what it is the founding fathers believed...using their own words. To begin with, however, I would like to refute some pretty popular claims concerning the founders. Most people I talk to on a regular basis believe that the founding fathers were all either deists or masons...but yet no one can conclusively tell me what either one of those is. Classical deism holds that God created the world but takes no active part in its day to day operations -- He essentialy made creation and then stepped back to let it take its course. Freemasonry is, despite some wild claims, not an anti-religious group. It is, in fact, very closely tied to religious belief. They do not force their members to accept a certain set of religious principles, and the organization itself states that freemasonry is not a replacement for religion. Whether one agrees with freemasonry or not, one cannot coherently argue that freemasonry was or is anti-religious. While a certain number of founding fathers were definentaly involved with freemasonry, only a small percentage truly believed in deism. To much of the relief of many reading this, I am now going to shut up and let the founding fathers speak for themselves on the issue. These quotations can all be found here and here. Enjoy...

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John Adams

“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell."

"It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation's humble acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence."

Samuel Adams

“He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.”

“Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.”

Benjamin Franklin (wow this sounds like one hardcore deist)

“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."

In 1787 when Franklin helped found Benjamin Franklin University, it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great: (1) Christianity (2) a Constitution formed under Christianity. “The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”

On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

John Hancock

“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations."

Patrick Henry (my personal favorite)

"This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains."

Thomas Jefferson

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

“ The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

James Madison

“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart.”

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

In 1812, President Madison signed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible.

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22.

Noah Webster

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook in all fields.”

“Education is useless without the Bible”

George Washington

"...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."

“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.”

During his inauguration, Washington took the oath as prescribed by the Constitution but added several religious components to that official ceremony. Before taking his oath of office, he summoned a Bible on which to take the oath, added the words “So help me God!” to the end of the oath, then leaned over and kissed the Bible.

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This is just a sample of the fully documented information that can be found here. Please take a look at all of it and stop being stupid about "separation of church and state." It was meant to protect the church from the state's involvement (i.e. Church of England). I may post more about this topic sometime down the road.

~Tribal~

"Army Recommends Death Penalty for 4 Soldiers Accused of Murder"

Stories like this really eat at me. I personally have not heard too much about this individual case, but I have heard the details in other cases similar to this, and for the most part these are attempts to dishonor our soldiers and disrupt the war in Iraq. It is sickening. How can we expect our soldiers to win the war on terror when we keep trying them and jailing them for killing? Isn't that their job? If these soldiers really were told that the raid was on an al-Qaida base, of course they would have shot at people who were attacking them. That's what you do when you're in the Army and you get attacked! You attack back! What gets me with this particular story is that they're actually accusing the one soldier of stabbing another to make it look like they were attacked by the "civilians." If that actually is the case, these are some very mentally ill soldiers. Have we forgotten the enemy we are fighting? We are fighting against enemies that disguise themselves and walk around like civilians! If these soldiers were told before they went in that this was a terrorist base, and they were attacked by these men once they got there, how can anyone say with certainty that they were not terrorists? So why are we putting them on trial for the freaking death penalty??? Is this how America treats our soldiers, by telling them to do a job and then executing them for it? This story is absolutely outrageous. If I hear anything more about it, I will keep you all updated as to what is going on. If you have anymore information about this story other than what is in the link above, please leave a comment.

~Tribal~

The World Hates Christians and Americans - Part 2

Well now that the fury over me supporting Mel Gibson has died down, I think it's high time I publicly support another popular recipient of the world's hate: Tour de France champion Floyd Landis! I won't say much about this topic, I will let Floyd speak for himself. I fully believe that Floyd is innocent of the doping charges, and this is why:

"In the past week, I have gone from the 'Top of the World' to the depths of scandal. I have been thrust into the international spotlight and am being asked to defend myself against something that I did not do, for reasons that I do not understand. Although this has been a hard time for my family and me, we are confident that I will be vindicated. I am innocent of any wrongdoing and want to take an opportunity to clear up some misconceptions that exist regarding the situation.

It is widely known that the test in question, given as a urine sample after my victorious ride on stage 17 of the Tour de France, returned an abnormal T/E ratio from the 'A' sample. I want to be entirely clear about one point of the test that has not been fairly reported in the press or expressed in any statements made by international or national governing bodies; the T value returned has been determined to be in the normal range. The E value returned was LOW, thus causing the skewed ratio. This evidence supports my assertion that I did not use testosterone to improve my performance. I emphatically deny any claims that I used testosterone to improve my performance.

Much has been speculated about the presence of exogenous testosterone in the 'A' sample. Together with some of the leading medical and scientific experts in the world, we are reviewing the documentation about the 'carbon isotope ratio test.' All I can say at this time is that I did not take testosterone, so there must be another reason for the result, as leaked by the UCI.
Beyond the specifics of the testing, however, I am particularly troubled by the actions of the UCI. Information about an 'adverse analytical finding' was prematurely released by the UCI in order 'to avoid a known leak' within the lab. A direct statement followed from UCI President Pat McQuaid that left little to infer as to whose test was in question.

I was notified of the 'A' sample results while attending post-Tour criteriums in Europe. As a result of these breeches in protocol, confidentiality and disregard for due process, I view this as a clear violation of my rights as a professional racer licensed by the UCI.

I became the center of media attention with little time to understand the nature of the 'A' sample results, possible causes or explanations. As I tried to come to terms with the situation, my statement and attempts to understand the results were interpreted as 'excuses' before I had time to fully grasp the facts of the case. The inappropriate actions of the UCI has caused undue, and potentially irreparable, harm to my reputation and character. I feel I am being prosecuted without regard to my basic rights.

It is now my goal to fight to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve. I am a fighter. I did not give up during the Tour and I won’t give up now, no matter what the results of the 'B' sample are.

Keep the Faith,
Floyd "

Our prayers go out to Floyd and his family as they put up with all this crap. The world just cannot stand Americans winning, and they will do everything they can to see us lose. The same accusations were brought against Lance Armstrong multiple times, but multiple times he was able to prove that he fairly beat the competition. When will it end?

~Tribal~

Wallace! Wallace! Wallace!

Over the past few days I have grown very sick of hearing about Mel Gibson's DUI and "anti-semitism." Flipping through the channels on TV last night alone (a full two or three days after Gibson's incident) I passed three separate channels talking about nothing but Mel Gibson. One channel I passed had some Hollywood hotshot going on about how he would never work with Gibson again over this terrible outrage. In fact, many in Hollywood are saying just that. Ironic, because many of these actors have probably been charged with DUI themselves. Dr. Phil is probably the only person so far that I've heard support Mel. It's just ridiculous. You go on any news website and there's half a dozen stories about Mel Gibson. The world loves to hate Christians when they slip up and fall.

I have been a Mel Gibson fan for a good bit of my life. Braveheart is probably my favorite movie of all time next to the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings films. The Patriot and The Passion also would make an appearance in my top 10 list if I indeed made a top 10 list. The point is, I am not going to stop watching these films because of this one DUI incident. Mel's actions that night were deplorable, but I still support Mel. I will continue to go see his films, and I accept the many apologies he publicly issued. I hope he faces the same punishment as everyone else in his situation would face, and I hope he overcomes his alcoholism. But that really is the only issue here to deal with. Despite what Mel may have said that night, he is not an anti-semite.

Like Dr. Phil said, you can't judge a man by what he says in a drunken stupor on the side of the road. Now granted the man is still in a drunken stupor, but for that see the above paragraph. Many like to point out how Mel's father reportedly said things about the Holocaust never happening. They then like to draw the connection that since Mel's father may have been anti-semitic, that obviously means Mel must be. Personally, I find any argument accusing Gibson of anti-semitism rather baffling. If Gibson "hated the Jews," why would he make a film about Jesus Christ, the most famous Jew in history? Why would he be working on a tv mini-series about the horrors of the Holocaust? Why would he himself repeatedly say that he does not hate Jews? Here's a bit of interesting information many of you may not have known: Mel's bodyguard is a Jew! Mel's publicist is even Jewish! Let me tell you, that is one hardcore anti-semite. I wish people would just shut up and let this man get on with his life of making great movies. I also wish that someone would videotape some of these people bashing Mel when those people are drunk -- it probably happens many more times and with harsher things being said.

~Tribal~

Congratulations Steve!

It is my pleasure to announce that Steve is finally going to graduate Army Boot Camp. It has been a rough road for him at times, but our best wishes and prayers go out to him and his family as he begins his career. I do not have any other information at this time, but keep him in your prayers as he graduates and progresses to his next stage of training. Congratulations Steve, and thank you for your service.

~Tribal~

Jungle Jump Off

Since last Sunday I have been on a journey..."A Journey to the Center of Christ's Heart." Every two years our church sends a group of youth to the Wycliffe/JAARS center in Waxhol, North Carolina, for a program that is known as Jungle Jump Off. For those of you who don't know a thing about Wycliffe or JAARS (a good bit of you), Wycliffe is a Bible translation organization comprised of missionaries from around the country. JAARS originally was an acronym for "Jungle And Aviation Radio Services," and was/is an essential support group to translators overseas in difficult areas. Jungle Jump Off itself is run by JAARS and is pretty much a week long simulation of missionary camp life, culminating in a realistic experience that spans from receiving the call to actually beginning translation for a foreign people group. Along the way, we had an opportunity to explore the different aspects of missions, the different roles of missions, the support that missionaries need, and we all grew closer as a youth group as well.

Among the things we did while there, we actually served JAARS itself by doing various tasks around the compound. We also had class room sessions about Bible translation and missionaries, and we watched numerous movies. One such movie we saw was called something like "Ee-Taow: The Next Chapter." It chronicled the life of a native people group before missionaries arrived. It then traced the evolution and development of the Word of God written in this group's native tongue. When the translation was complete and the people received their Bibles, the response was overwhelming to watch. The entire village of thousands repented of their ways and turned to Christ. Celebration broke out in the streets, and for hours the natives sang, jumped, ran around, and praised God. It soon gave way to hysterical weeping, however, as the people realized that everyone from their village who already passed away were living in a dark, Christless eternity. About an hour later, the celebration resumed as the people would not let the new hope they had found be smothered. Keep in mind that this was not an acted out movie. This entire film was shot by camera men as these events actually unfolded. Nothing was scripted. Later on, the missionary was teaching these people out of God's word, and they were all sitting under their grass huts. The missionary got to a part in his Scripture reading about God sending a great earthquake as a sign, and the entire village was actually suddenly hit with an earthquake. The missionary ran around in a panic trying to get people away from the huts, but the people remained as motionless as statues without a shred of fear on their faces. The earthquake soon subsided, and the natives never flinched once. They knew it was their God showing Himself to them, and they knew they had nothing at all to fear.

Now I could tell you hundreds of stories from this week, either things I experienced or things missionaries told me in conversations, but I chose this specific story for a purpose. I think we have alot that we need to learn from these people groups. I am not trying to bash that missionary and I am not trying to criticize the church in more developed countries like America, but how come in America there isn't mass celebrating when people get saved? How come we don't cry for those who have died without Christ? How come the natives had the faith to remain calm and see the earthquake as a sign of God while the American missionary feared for the lives of those he was teaching to? It's just kind of heartbreaking I think to see these people who have never heard about God until just recently have such a strong faith and such excitement and dedication while we really couldn't care less in most circumstances. I'm not excluding myself from anything I'm saying here, I would probably have run during the earthquake and I really don't get as excited as I should when people get saved. It's just kind of ironic that sometimes the ones we go to teach can teach us more than anyone thought. We're so comfortable where we live that we really don't need God or faith...at least that's how it seems to us. We have an abundance of food everyday, we have electric, we have running water -- most of these tribes have to find their food to survive everyday, they have no modern conveniences, and most of their water sources are contaminated and unfit for consumption. Like C.S. Lewis says in The Problem of Pain, it's not when we're comfortable and content that we seek God -- it's when we're hurting, lost, and miserable. These natives have lived in constant fear of witchcraft, evil spirits, starvation, dehydration, and natural disasters all their lives (all of these things do exist). Our culture naturally makes us closed to God's Word, and it's time that we took a stand for God and for the Bibless people groups in the world.

~Tribal~

Love

I've been absent for quite a while, and there's been quite a lot on my plate, but I thought I'd throw this up there....love is a funny thing. I'd even say that love is a many splendid thing. Why, love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is love! Alright, so I didn't come up with that, and anyone who knows anything about any good music should know that. Hmm...but love's complicated and confusing...can bring you extreme happyness and extreme sadness. It drives people to do crazy things. Some people take their lives, others take others' lives. Love doesn't always drive people to murder though, cause if it did the world would be a pretty sucky place. Love can drive someone to work harder, to become better at whatever it is they do. Afterall, girls like guys with skills, right? That's my experience at least. So what's this all about? The mistake people make is they devote they're all and everything to another person. I can understand it. I've made that mistake before. Well, maybe mistake's a bad word for it...but whatever you want to call it, I've certainly been guilty of making a girl the most important thing in my life. Don't get me wrong, love is wonderful, and I for one am in favor of it. I'm a hopeless romantic, and there's no two ways about it. Whenever it is I finally am able to find that one girl who makes me sigh like listening to the Great Gates of Kiev (if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's an absolutely amazing piece of music that, well, makes me sigh because it's so beautiful), she's going to be the most important thing to me here on Earth. The point is, that out of this amazing love I keep dancing around, Jesus let Himself be slaughtered for us. He loves us more than I could possibly ever love a girl, and you know what? Jesus gets to have the number one spot. He's got to. There's just really no way around it. If He's not, then what's all the rest of this stuff worth? I don't know if any of this makes sense. Just something I thought about this evening while I was running.

Flag Burning and Free Speech

A few years ago when credit card commercials of the same format were popular on television, my uncle told me a joke:

"Lighter: $2. American Flag: $10. A**hole catching his shirt on fire while trying to burn the American flag: priceless."

I honestly can not understand why this whole flag burning issue is even an issue to begin with. I can't believe the amendment banning the burning of the American flag didn't pass, and I fail to recognize its controversy. In what way would such an amendment be a restriction of free speech? How is speech even related to the physical, non-vocal action of burning a national symbol? In case you all forgot what exactly our flag is, here's a refresher. Our flag is not made out of a piece of fabric with some artificial dyes that probably come from China. Our flag is made of the blood of every soldier who died while defending this country since its birth. Our flag is made of human lives -- hundreds of thousands of human lives to be more specific. Burning the American flag is not merely destroying a rectangular piece of cloth, it is desecrating the memory of hundreds of thousands of dead American soldiers. No man has the right to do that, no matter how much he think he does. Not only is the flag made out of blood, but the flag represents American freedom -- it is the definitive symbol of liberty. When one burns the flag, he essentially burns the symbol of his freedom -- he burns and desecrates his own rights to free speech, free press, etc. If someone wants to burn up the symbol of their own freedom, why should they be given any of the freedoms associated with the symbol? It makes no sense. One can think of it as a contract. Burning an American flag is essentially equal to rejecting America and America's freedom -- therefore one rejects his freedoms when he burns a flag, so lock him up and throw away the key! This is a sickening debate that shames our soldiers living and dead, and I pray that the government will stop toying around with the issue and do something.

~Tribal~