Offensive Christians

A prayer to remember:
“Lord our Heavenly Father, High and Mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent on Thee, to Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. all this we ask In the Name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.

Pastor Rick Warren made an interesting point before welcoming Senators Obama and McCain to the Saddleback Civil Forum: “We believe in the separation of church and state, but we do not believe in the separation of faith and politics because faith is just a world view and it’s important to know what they are.” I may be in the minority. Fifty percent of conservatives think churches and other places of worship should stay out of social and political matters according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Why did I begin this post with a prayer? This prayer was from September 7th, 1774 as the first prayer in Congress. Can you imagine hearing this prayer in Congress today? Do you think our elected officials and next President of the United States should talk about faith or live/vote/lead by faith?

OOC

The Florida Academic Freedom bill (the one that says its ok to mention any other origin theory than Darwinism) made it through one hurdle today.  The Florida Citizens for Science are none too happy but they know this is a long fight. We need to understand that as well. Check out their website and realize these folks are in it for the long haul. Don’t rest. Don’t Relax. We need you to make those phone calls again and again until this bill makes it all the way through. This a chance to let public schooled kids hear that Darwinism is not the only origin science that’s out there and that some thinking people have concerns.

Don’t let up now! This is a little battle in the long war. Be ready for setbacks and be ready to show support when we need it most.

OC

Florida American Civil Liberties Union executive director Howard Simon offered in an AP article dated March 12th, to defend teachers and students disciplined for questioning Darwin. The article read:

“He [Simon] said there’s no evidence anyone has been disciplined for that reason [disputing evolution] and if they were the ACLU would defend teachers and students under a higher law - the First Amendment.”

Any students or teachers willing to wait for ACLU support in questioning Darwin? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

No, didn’t think so.

This offer comes from the same Florida ACLU that had such a problem with Shannon Spaulding’s 2007 valedictorian address. Their brief in Dover makes it clear they equate Intelligent Design with religion. If you’re going to question macroevolution in school, I’d suggest getting your own lawyer.

OC

Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science was quoted on March 12th in an AP News story  as saying that “evolution  is as widely accepted as the law of gravity in the scientific world.”

Joe - I’m sick of effectively being lumped in with flat-earthers because I’m incredulous about some aspects of Darwinism. True, I have reasons to disbelieve as a Christian, but my dissent has nothing to do with my religious beliefs and I don’t want religion taught in public schools. You say that evolution is on the same footing as gravity in scientific circles - find me 100 scientists that will go on record with reservations about gravity. Let me give you a link to a list of scientists  from such places as MIT, Stanford, and Yale that signed following statement:

A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism
“We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”

This canard about Intelligent Design being nonscientific is a ruse. Please stop telling people they are idiots if they question Darwin. Censorship of skepticism is nonscientific - That’s about as widely accepted as gravity.

OC