Ain’t got no hymns
Sweden’s Sanity
self appointed "cardinal" Carlos Bebeacua
Apparently there remains some sanity left in our world or at least one part of it. Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court just upheld a decision of the Court of Appeal’s rejection of an application presented for the establishment of the Madonna of Orgasm Church.
The church’s founder, artist Carlos Bebeacua who resides in Lövestad in southern Sweden, has been fighting a lengthy legal battle in his bid to have the Madonna of Orgasm Church registered as a faith community in Sweden. Needless to say, Bebeacua was disappointed by the Court’s decision.
Founded by Bebeacua in the early 1990s, the Madonna of Orgasm Church is centered on a similarly named painting by Bebeacua which sparked protests during the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville, Spain.
According to Bebeacua the self-proclaimed cardinal of the church, “The orgasm is God, the orgasm should be worshiped as a higher being.” But the judges in Sweden disagree and banned the Bebacua’s group from being given the same legal status as other faiths.
The primary reason for the Court’s rejection was that it would upset Christians and the word ‘Madonna’ was understood to refer to the Virgin Mary. According to judges, the name would, “cause offense not only in the broad groups of the population that have Christian roots, but also in a society as a whole.”
I feel like I want to write more about this whole deal….but….I just don’t even know where to begin. In some ways, such nonsense speaks for itself.
in case you were wondering
In an essay he wrote entitled Society and Solitude, Emerson concluded, “A man must be clothed with society, or we shall feel a certain bareness and poverty.” Another way to put it -- “It is not good for man to be alone.”
For anyone who really cares…here’s an indie band I just started listening to on the recommendation of my favorite and most beloved son and trusted music aficionado. Thanks C!
Le Loup – Morning Song. 
Tempations
What is it that tempts you? First of all, we probably should define temptation as something that allures, excites, and seduces someone to action which then often results in regret and/or negative consequences.
So, what is it? Well, according to a study recently reported in USA Today, men and women in America confess to the following tempations:
Sex: Men [50%] Women [22%]
Food: Men [29%] Women [56%]
Money: Men [14%] Women [15%]
Alcohol: Men [7%] Women [2%]
Power: Men [2%] Women [7%]
The Rage Against God
British subtitle: Why Faith is the Foundation of Civilization
Here’s a brief update…I’m taking my time reading this book by Peter Hitchens in order to absorb and process what he is saying. One of his obvious goals in writing is to assist his readers in understanding the history and causes of the diminishing of religious faith in Britain, Germany and Russia/Soviet Union, particularly between WW1 and WW2. He reviews the devastating affects this has had on these nations and the world up to the present. Being a former socialist and atheist himself, he asserts that atheism, not theism, has proven to be the more deadly poison.
It’s interesting, the British version of the book carries the subtitle Why Faith is the Foundation of Civilization. Too bad the American version didn’t keep it but instead chose How Atheism Led Me to Faith. Why? Because in terms of faith, America is headed down the same path of Europe.
laying here thinking
After only my second official day of vacation, I’m laying flat on my back which I somehow injured yesterday while busy working around the house. Back spasms are the worst. The doctor said to rest so that’s what I’m doing.
With a lot of time to do nothing, I’ve read the paper, listened to radio and watched television news. Wow – not a particularly encouraging and mood lifting endeavor. It’s just constant reports of violence, thievery, liable, dishonesty, etc. I heard of how yet another one of our elected government officials is being charged with cheating and failure to pay taxes. Apparently, Congressman Charlie Rangel of NY who has helped write tax law, doesn’t necessarily see himself as being subject to it. But why is this or any of the other reports of moral and ethical failure matter?
Why are we charging and convicting politicians, top executives of financial institutions and/or average citizens for their relativism when for decades now we’ve been instructing our students in high schools, colleges, universities, including the Ivy League, that ultimately there are no moral absolutes. Why do we insist on passing judgment on people according to absolutes when as a culture we believe everything is relative and there are no absolutes? Is this not a fair question? I’m amazed and confused by our inconsistency — of how it is acceptable and trendy in our culture to ridicule and dismiss those who hold to absolutes, yet we quickly turn on anyone who lives by the implications of the denial of those same absolutes. Go figure. OK, that’s enough –typing hurts my back.
two brothers, two views
Most of us have probably heard of atheist Christopher Hitchens’ book, God is not Great. It was helpful to read and understand the thinking of those in 
his camp of what has been termed ‘new atheism.’ Well, I’m about to read Peter Hitchens’ book which offers a completely opposite view from that of his brother Christopher. The Rage Against God is Peter’s description of his intellectual and spiritual journey from militant atheism to Christianity and why he argues that this brother’s verdict on God and religion is misguided. I’m wondering if Peter’s book will get as much press as Christopher’s? We’ll see if it deserves it…but talk about sibling rivalry – I wonder what family get-togethers are like with these two guys.
Fourth of July
On 4th of July, 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr 
had this to say about what has been the core belief of our nation and the basis of western civilization’s notion of “universal human rights.”
“You see, the founding fathers were really influenced by the Bible. The whole concept of the imago dei – is the idea that all men have something w/in them that God injected. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And we must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a base black is significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God…Are we really taking this seriously? It means that every man who lives in a slum today is just as significant as any other rich man who doesn’t.”
As we celebrate our independence, let us also keep in mind where our culture’s notion of moral good, freedom and human rights originates. How quickly we forget. It comes from the belief that all human beings are created in the image of God. Today, we have people in our nation who are rabid proponents of human rights and caring for poor,etc. but who reject biblical Christianity — which is the very basis of the morality and rights they readily stand up and defend. How incredible and sadly ironic.
Lately, I’ve been wrestling with the mystery or problem of moral evil — just some light thinking.
Frankly, evil is a problem for all of us not merely in terms of experience but explanation. But why? Why is violence, deceit, thievery, unfaithfulness, etc. even a concern? How do I know something is 
morally/ethically evil? I think it is. I feel it is — but why? If I were a proponent of secular evolution I’d simply chalk it up to survival of the species. Natural selection is dependent upon death, destruction, and violence of the strong against the weak. That process should be considered perfectly natural. There is no right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust — merely survival. Yet, as humans it doesn’t seem or feel natural. A part of us knows something is missing. By labeling something as evil we must have a concept of what is good to measure it against. Otherwise, on what basis am I outraged at moral evil? It seem there is a problem of good as well.
Philosopher Dr. Alvin Plantinga poses this question:
Could there really be a such thing as horrifying wickedness if there were no God and we just evolved? I don’t see how. There can be such a thing only if there is a way that rational creatures are supposed to live, obliged to live… A [secular] way of looking at the world has no place for genuine moral obligation of any sort…and thus no way to say there is such a thing as genuine and appalling wickedness [evil]. Accordingly, if you think there really is such a thing as horrifying as wickedness…then you have a powerful argument for the reality of God.
I’m still thinking…
Husband. Father. Senior Pastor of 