Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Evolution? Heil No!

I got a funny look followed by the comment, "You really don't believe in 
evolution?" I think the look accompanied the fall of my perceived intellect to the 
level of religious nutcase. To be precise, I do not believe materialistic 
naturalism, the underlying assumption of darwinistic evolution.
While working on my MA in film studies, I watched a classic film noted for 
it's powerful cinematography. Leni Reifenstahl's "Triumph of the Will", was then 
and is today breathtaking on many levels. It was the crown jewel of 
propaganda for Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party. 
Considering the Holocaust and World War II, "Triumph of the Will" is 
jaw-dropping. Those people literally worshipped Hitler with all of their heart, soul, 
mind and strength. Other film students remarked about the mise en scĂ©nes, 
camera angles, and so on, but I was bothered by the power of film as tool for 
propaganda, and pondered the meaning of the title, "Triumph of the Will". I 
vaguely remembered something about a German philosopher linked with the word "will". 
Whenever I visited a large library, I searched for information on the impact 
motion pictures had on the rise of the Nazi's in the German culture. Films 
like "Triumph of the Will" helped convince the German public they were taking 
part in the most momentous occasion in the history of mankind—the glorious 
inevitable progress of the favored race.
I was also interested in the role of the German church. What happened to the 
state run churches in Germany was easier to track. Enlightenment dizzy 
liberals gutted them. Many evolution-believing theologians jumped in bed with the 
Nazis like drunk prom dates and were rewarded by being put in charge of the 
churches and seminaries. Most clergy kept quiet, preaching feel good sermons to 
confused and dwindling flocks. The few who stood against the culture's insane 
momentum were ridiculed, ignored and martyred.
The enlightenment had set up the dominoes for Darwin's Theory of Evolution to 
start an avalanche that swept through the halls of academia, and nowhere was 
the victory swifter or more complete than in Germany. Prior to W.W.II, Germany 
was peerless in higher education. Any serious student of anything studied 
there. The confident boast of scientifically fixing mankind's problems and curing 
all social ills was made in almost every discipline, including economics, 
education and politics. 
Some nagging philosophical problems remained. If God was dead, what about 
ethics, morality, beauty, love, meaning and purpose. The "higher criticism" 
liberal theologians competed to invent the next "evolution" of religion, keeping 
whatever they wanted from Christianity, minus the miracles or those annoying 
absolutes. Formerly unthinkable ideologies like eugenics and pederasty 
flourished. Germany degenerated into an arrogant, godless, science-driven and 
increasingly pagan society. 
Those who claim Hitler was a Christian fail to understand (or ignore) that 
Hitler, like the liberal theologians of his day, used Christian terms common to 
Western culture. In fact, while most German theologians considered 
Christianity the highest evolved religion because of it's obvious role in building 
Western Civilization, Hitler preferred Nordic Mythology because it did a better job 
of justifying his desire to purify the Aryan race. 
About that film's title, "Triumph of the Will", I discovered it was indeed 
linked to the teaching of Friedrich Neitzche, an atheist German philosopher. It 
was Neitzche who wrote the famous lines, "God is dead. God remains dead. And 
we have killed him."
Educated Germans all knew another quote from Neitzche very well; "Every 
healthy aristocracy. . .will have to be the incarnated Will to Power.  It will 
endeavor to grow, to gain ground, and acquire ascendancy —not owing to any 
morality or immorality, but because it lives, and because life is precisely Will to 
Power."
The path from Darwin to Nietzche to Hitler and the rise of the Nazi party is a
lmost impossible to miss, yet I've met no one who was ever taught about the 
connections between Darwin and Hitler. I have run into many who parrot the 
silly notion that Hitler was a right wing Christian. Fancy that. 
World War II was primarily about Germany's attempt to ascend the evolutionary 
ladder because they were convinced evolution was settled science and they 
were leading the inevitable march of progress. The Nazis sacrificed the Jews, the 
youth of Germany and many other nations to prove the widely held but 
absolutely wrong idea of evolved racial superiority.
No, I really don't believe in Darwinian evolution. I know God exists, so a 
theory which defines reality so as to deny His existence is wasted on me, Time, 
Newsweek, and National Geographic's continuing public relations campaign 
notwithstanding. I get that defining life as the "will to power" is diametrically 
opposite the first commandment, no matter how cleverly adorned in academia, 
enshrined by the media or mindlessly assumed by pop culture. I also get that the 
claims of Jesus and materialistic naturalism are mutually inexclusive. I'm 
going with Jesus.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Best Place on Earth Part II

In a previous column I offered that the primary solution for making Kansas 
the best place on earth to raise a child would be to encourage stay at home 
mothers. During a conversation about that column I was asked to address the 
problem of absentee fathers and told that I was not living in the real world. Fair 
enough, the following ideas are for men, and they don't require legislation or 
tax increases.
There is a word that describes you men who have sired children just to leave 
them fatherless and unprotected. No matter how much free time you have, how 
less complicated your life is as you forge ahead without your kids, the word for 
you is. . . loser. I don't mean the term as a pejorative, I mean it 
literally. Contrary to the beer ads, life is not about sex, money and motor vehicles. 
Deprived of a relationship with their dad, your children will be scarred for 
life. Statistically you have left them at a higher risk for teen pregnancy, drug 
use, prison and suicide. 
Let me put this in language you should understand.
We salute you, Mr. Left-your-kids-to-live-your-own-life, for missing out on 
the true meaning of life. We salute you, Mr. Left-your-kids-with-a-single-mom, 
for dumping your share of the load like a spineless coward. We salute you, Mr. 
Left-your-kids-with-their-grandparents, for avoiding one of God's primary 
means for teaching you about Himself, and about yourself. We salute you, Mr. 
Left-your-kids-but-they'll-get-over-it, for squandering away the unconditional 
love of your own children, blowing off the future benefits of responsibility, and 
forfeiting the rewards of strong family relationships. Whatever the evil one 
whispered to you when you decided to take off and leave your family, you lost, 
big time, and are still losing. 
As for you men who haven't left physically, but have checked out of your 
children's lives, wake up guys, you won't get this time back. Turn off, or better 
yet, throw out your television. If your kids must see a movie, watch it with 
them. Make sure they understand the many levels of information they are being 
bombarded with so they aren't sucked in by cleverly hidden messages or seduced 
by the inane and false images of pop culture. Play catch, ride bikes, go 
fishing, or read a classic. Visit a park, you'll have the place to yourselves. Kids 
do not require much. They just want to be with you. Here's a little secret 
guys. You need to be with them.
Don't even think about divorce. In grade school not one of my classmates had 
divorced parents. In high school I physically prevented a friend from climbing 
a water tower and jumping the day his parents announced they were getting a 
divorce. Divorce is now so common it's hard to imagine it was once rare, but 
the wounds to children are no less severe. At the very least we should stop 
screwing around with marriage and take it seriously as a vow to God between one 
man and one woman with a purpose higher than meeting our own needs. This also 
means to stop screwing around, period. 
Fathers, take responsibility for your children's education and values. Do not 
leave it to the school system. Do you know your child's teachers? Do you know 
if they are cheating on their spouse, belong to a cult, or think getting kids 
to reject their parents values is an important part of their job? Where you 
live such things might be rare. I have lived where they were not, yet most 
fathers know almost nothing about the people they entrust their children to the 
better part of each day. This is insane. You would not treat your car this way. 
Good teachers appreciate involved parents, bad teachers don't. News flash: 
There are bad teachers. The school district isn't going to tell you who they are, 
and your kids probably won't either. Remember Jr. High and High School when 
we thought teachers who told dirty jokes were cool and those who made us work 
were bad? Your children's education is your responsibility dad. You will live 
with the results.
Raising kids requires. . . love. The word love gets a lot of air time, but 
our culture teaches us to pretend love comes and goes against our will. That is 
so not true. According to Scripture love is a choice, and a commandment. We 
may have to live in the real world, but with God's help we can choose to live 
according to the rules of heaven, and that, my brother, is the best way on earth 
to raise a child, in any state.

Let's not follow the GLBT parade

It was Halloween. I'd finished working on a commercial in a studio in the 
Village area of New York City. As I was walking home, I ran into a Gay, Lesbian, 
Bi-sexual and Transgendered (GLBT) community parade. Men wearing only what 
appeared to be diapers were marching chained together by their nipple rings. Men 
in drag marched next to crew-cut women dressed as masculine as possible. A 
float was pulled by men with dog collars and leashes held by a leather-clad 
woman(?) with a whip. There were topless women(?) and others too obscene to 
describe. People were drinking, kissing, and having a raucous party as they marched 
by.
In West Hollywood, a self-described GLBT community, the annual Halloween 
Parade is even bigger than New York City's. Year round the West Hollywood store 
front windows pretty much mirror these parades. The prevalent theme is group 
sex, and terms like lusty, sinful, kinky, and taboo are incorporated into the 
names of the stores. I understand this is true of other GLBT districts in most 
large cities.
Those in the news media help create the zeitgeist and know instinctively they 
gain peer approval by carrying water for GLBT activists. Many are GLBT 
activists. Editorials applaud our governor's executive order to add GLBT to the 
state's anti-discrimination policy. Dear Abby calmly teaches us that a 
transgendered person is someone who has been born in a body of the wrong sex. Recent 
Columns by a gay Iranian and the ex-governor of New Jersey poignantly portray 
suffering under the shame of being closeted, but both admit to the practice of 
meeting with men for sex, starting in high school. A recent AP story about 
"Freaky Parades" was essentially a free advertisement for GLBT Halloween 
celebrations like the one I witnessed in New York City. It even suggested that readers 
check out the "Drag Race & Pageant, which does not refer to race cars." I guess 
that would include the many school children who read the newspaper.
Gay people do not all live in a constant state of bacchanal partying, but to 
ignore the reality of normative and accepted behavior in predominantly gay 
communities and the publicly stated goals of GLBT activists is to be a naive 
victim of an ongoing propaganda campaign.
Ideas have consequences. Freedom of sexual expression, rejecting traditional 
morality and changing societal norms and are the ideas being promoted. While 
the issue of same sex marriage dominates the discussion, the activism does not 
stop there. Efforts to influence laws, elections, public schools, libraries, 
and universities are all easily confirmed, but the postmodern media heartily 
approves of all such efforts.
Politicians, news reporters and educators who aren't actively promoting 
tolerance are often "homophobic" in a different way. That is, they are afraid to 
show the slightest disapproval of the GLBT community, and for good reason. Many 
GLBT activists do not play by any established rules. The "greater good" of 
moving society toward "progress" justifies anything. The only postmodern absolute 
wrong is intolerance.
If greed alone ruled Hollywood, all the movies would be G-rated. In the 
entertainment industry GLBT activists dominate the culture, and have for quite some 
time. The sex, violence, and inane garbage being marketed incessantly to our 
children indicates such open-mindedness has not produced responsible conduct. 
The acceptance of alternate lifestyles and the increase in sexually explicit 
and formerly unthinkable content in entertainment fuel each other. Where does 
this end?
As a recipient of God's amazing grace, I do not hate those I must strongly 
disagree with, including "straight" people who are obsessed with sex. I would 
argue there are thoughts, fantasies and activities we are all clearly not 
supposed to nurture and follow, whatever our genetic and/or environmental issues 
are. Some paths are much harder to turn back from than others, for individuals 
and societies. Saint Paul warns us to flee from sexual immorality, but our 
society marches on defiantly, away from God and toward debauchery.
Christianity teaches that God forgives, but God's demand of complete 
surrender is for our own good. We have the freedom to say yes to God's call, but we 
are in no position to negotiate or place conditions upon our Creator. Our 
conditions only protect that which we need set free from.
Christianity is about the chance to start life over and walk through the 
struggles and temptations of life following Jesus, on His terms, with His help. 
Following Jesus is certainly no parade, but it leads to better things for us and 
our children.

Trojan Donkey

   One crisp November morning Common Sense and his pal Notso Dumb headed out 
to go fishing. At the edge of town was a massive wooden statue of a donkey on 
wheels.
   "Whoa C.S., What is that?" asked Notso.
   "I don't know N.D., lets look at the inscription. It says this is a 
Trojan Donkey, a gift from the Kansas Democratic State Committee. It says this big 
donkey will bring more funding for education AND hold the line on taxes. It 
will even bring down the cost of health care.
   "That sounds great, let's get some help and haul this big donkey into 
town!" yelled N.D.
   "More funding AND less taxes? I don't think so N.D.," Common Sense 
pointed out. "Look underneath the belly of the donkey, there's a catch. Let's see 
what's inside this thing."
   They climbed up and knocked. A hatch opened and a voice whispered, "You 
guys are late, get in here."
   C.S. motioned for N.D. to keep quiet and they climbed inside.
   "Welcome aboard, I'm Ed Funding, here's my partner N.E.A. Meet my pals 
A.C.L.U. and W. Hater. On the right are, oh, there's no one there. Well, on the 
left over there is Protect Abortion, there are Mr. Gay, Ms. Lesbian, and, uh, 
I'm not sure if Transgender is a Mr., Mrs. or Ms. today.
   The three jumped to their feet.
   "I meant no offense! I have friends that are gay and it's okay!" Ed 
quickly added. He whispered to C.S. and N.D., "They take offense easy, but they are 
tireless workers for our side."
   "What do they want?" asked N.D.  
   "Tolerance training in schools. The marriage thing."
   "Tolerance of what?" C.S. asked
   Ed clasped a hand on C.S.'s mouth. "You do not want these guys mad at 
you, they have enormous influence over the press and practically own the 
entertainment industry. Let's keep em mad at the Christians."
   "You mean those few Christians who insist God prohibits sex outside of 
marriage?"
   "Exactly!" Ed chuckled, "Self-righteous fanatics!  Who are they to say 
what is right and wrong.  Just ask A.C.L.U. over there. It's all relative. We 
all have our own path to truth."
   "So everyone is right, EXCEPT those Christians who believe there is such 
a thing as absolute right and wrong?" asked Common Sense.
   "Hey," Ed insisted, "I was raised, you know, a Christian and all that, 
but I'm no conservative. We need to keep conservative Christians out of the 
government!"
   "Let me get this straight, said Common Sense, "You say you're a 
Christian, but you're in this big donkey working hand in hand with the A.C.L.U who 
threatens schools if they let children whisper a prayer. You hang with the N.E.A. 
whose newsletters to teachers are filled with shameless propaganda, and even 
Abortion Providers who kill babies that would survive a C-section. You don't 
object to the Gay/Lesbian/Transgendered groups blatant efforts to influence 
early education . . ."
   "Hey!" Interrupted Atheist Science Standards, "Imagine what would happen 
if the government were run by committed Christians?
   "It's not hard to imagine," C.S. replied, "It happened once and the 
result was The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of 
Rights. . . you know, pretty much the United States of America."
   "Women couldn't vote!" screamed Militant Feminist.
   "They were evil slave owners!" shouted NAACP.
   Everyone began shouting, "They were fur trappers and whale killers! "They 
believed men were created equal! Thanks to Darwin we now know better! 
Creation is mythology! The Founding Fathers believed men were depraved and needed a 
self-limiting form of government with constitutional checks and balances! We 
know humans are essentially good if you can get to them early enough!  They 
thought men's rights were inalienable and endowed by their Creator, we know rights 
come from the State! We will educate our way to world peace and harmony once 
we liberals have control! More power to the State! We need human cloning! 
Science will design the next leap in our collective evolution! So what if we use 
deception and propaganda, the ends will justify our means!"
   C. S. looked hard at Ed Funding. "Hey, I just want more money." Ed said 
sheepishly.
   "Come on N.D. Let's get out of here."
   Common Sense and N.D. climbed down.
   "We must warn the townspeople about what's inside this Trojan Donkey!" 
Common Sense insisted.
   Nah," N.D replied, "I don't want those guys upset with me. I'm going 
fishing.  I told Who Cares and Too busy I'd meet em at Lake Headinsand today. 

Darwin's Ten Suggestions

The "moderate" State School Board has saved Kansas from ridicule! With 
Darwinistic Evolution reinstated as the only way to do science in Kansas public 
schools, I offer this replacement of the Ten Commandments to commemorate the 
occasion:

The Ten Suggestions of Naturalistic Evolution:

Thou shall have no other theory.  Evolution answers every question. Evolution 
cannot be questioned.

Thou shall bow down to. . . whatever. Money is popular. Be thine own god, but 
be thou not surprised if thy will is dominated by the State.

Thou shall misuse the name of you-know-who. It's meaningless. Wear it on your 
shirt, stick it on your car, what you say shows who you are.

Sabbath day of rest? Forgetest thou about it! Work, work, work for commoners! 
No need of rest for aristocrats.

Forgeteth parents, honor thy teachers. Parenting will fully phase out when 
all are selectively bred in labs. The State will employ trained, certified 
specialists to educate/test/classify the potential humans. "Love" is an illusion, a 
chemical reaction. No time for parenting—get to work!

Kill. It's a survival instinct. Survivors get to breed. This is what "natural 
selection" means. Abortion, infanticide, euthanasia; all natural selection.

Commit adultery. It's a survival instinct. Have sex with men, women, animals, 
whatever. Taboos are remnants of religious mythology.

Steal. It's a survival instinct. Resources are limited, life is short. Get 
OPM. Natural selection means if they can't hang onto it, they don't deserve it. 

Lie. It's a survival instinct. Put your hand on the Bible and say whatever 
gets you out of trouble, or keeps you in office.

Covet. It's a survival instinct. Why should you have less than your neighbor? 
Coveting makes you work more hours so you can buy more stuff and pay more 
taxes. Coveting is good for the economy.

The Biblical Ten Commandments were considered the very foundation of justice, 
law and order in Western Civilization. Do you think they should be kept and 
taught to our children? Are you serious? Does anyone know the Ten Commandments? 
Do you? 
By defining science according to a theory which pre-supposes no possibility 
of supernatural intervention, the "scientific community" rules out the 
possibility of rational belief in the claims of Jesus. Not by reason, but by 
definition. All who question this are portrayed by the media as close-minded. The 
general public isn't told that most of the revered members of the "scientific 
community" hold extreme moral and political positions that are completely at odds 
with the principles of our own Constitution. If we aren't created, we can't be 
created equal. If right and wrong are not established by the transcendent God 
who judges all men as our forefathers believed, who makes the rules? As the 
State becomes the ultimate authority, kiss "consent of the governed" good-bye.
Ridicule may sway, but it isn't an argument, it's evasion.

Russell Steen