Christian Thinker Brian Trapp has a lesson on hyperbole in response to the opening paragraphs of an article at Daylight Atheism and, ideologies notwithstanding, it's something everyone should read and ponder.  Read and watch Brian systematically dismantle an emotional rant with facts and sound reasoning as he exposes the writer for being guilty of the same sort of "wild-eyed rhetorical bombthrow[ing]" as those he targets. 

I don't post this to needle atheists nor, God forbid, in support of the religious right but rather as an example of how anyone can be so consumed with zeal for any ideology that s/he loses sight of reason and adopts a fundie mentality.  In this case, it just happens to be a Christian exposing the flawed fundie rhetoric of an atheist.  Far too often, imo, it's usually the other way around.  So, please, don't read Brian's article as a defense of Christianity (altho' I'm sure he intends it as such) but rather and a broad appeal to truth and reason no matter what ideology you embrace.

The history of liberty is a history of resistance.  The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it..

These are a couple of articles I found thanks to Victor Reppert at Dangerous Idea.  I haven't read them yet as what little focus I have is directed elsewhere this week, however, I am eager to have the time to sit down and read them thoughtfully.

Beauty, Providence and the Biophilia Hypothesis (aka Argument from Beauty) by Mark Wynn (75k pdf)
On the Truth of Beauty by Sonia Sikka (120k pdf)

These along with several other promising links are posted at the Calvin College Resource Library.

Posting here as a reminder to myself to read.

Take a few minutes and review all the photos in the page linked below.  You will be glad you did!

Breathtaking beauty (must see)

http://www.scribd...

This just defies further description.

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I'm excited about this new blog I just discovered.  I know there's a few other panentheists around here that might find it interesting so I'm sharing the link.  I don't know the person who owns the blog but I do identify with what s/he has written in the blog description.  It will be interesting to see where this blog goes.

Panentheism

http://thepanentheist.blogspot.com/

Nearly all major religions have a number of adherents who interpret their spirituality from a panentheistic point of view, and Christianity is no exception. I have a background in Christian evangelicalism, and while I have moved away from evangelicalism, I still see myself as some sort of Christian, albeit a heretical one in the view of many! The Bible cannot be said to be a panentheist’s handbook but it does provide some elements of panentheistic spirituality. One of my favourite examples of this is Psalm 139, which provides a song of praise to the God who hems us in - whose presence fills every corner of existence. It highlights a crucial difference between panentheism and pantheism – that being the potential for some sort of individual experience with God and that God has a self and has exert able power. Not all panentheists see God in this way; but the philosophy allows the possibility; and it is one that rings true for me.

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Dissent is Patriotic

The Andrew Meyer case has disturbed me greatly.  What disturbs me is the lack of perspective through which most people seem to be viewing what took place.  People who only saw an obnoxious person being disruptive and getting what he deserved have missed the point entirely.  Whatever Meyer's motives were, his actions were classic dissent. 

Dissent--the stuff that built the United States of America. 
Dissent--the quintessential act of patriotism. 
Dissent--freedom spreading its wings and demanding to fly. 

There was a time when people understood that dissent is the American way.  Unfortunately, now it's considered obnoxious, unpatriotic, and even treasonous in some quarters.  History has shown us that when government/authority turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the will of the people that dissent is how Americans demand change.  One only has to look as far back as the events leading up to the War for Independence to find the facts that bear this out.  Our culture is now conditioned to hold dissent in disdain and that will the undoing of our freedom. 

Oscar Wilde said "Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation."  When the voice of dissent is silenced because the speaker is deemed to be a disruption, we are sacrificing progress in exchange for the status quo.  We have become a nation of sheep.

In 2006, Timothy Sexton of Associated Content wrote Dissent Built America; Why is it Considered Un-American Now?  It was relevant then and is even more so today.  I strongly recommend it as a good read.

ACLU: we are fast approaching a genuine surveillance society in the United States

Related to the my previous post Papers Please: This Is A Free Country?, check out what the ACLU is now up to!

The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the launch of a new "Surveillance Society Clock" to symbolize the reality that we are fast approaching a genuine surveillance society in the United States. The clock is set at six minutes before the "midnight" of a dark end to privacy. Also being released is a new report summarizing the state of privacy today and the video of a new piece about surveillance by spoken-word artists Steve Connell & Sekou (tha misfit).

"We are rapidly moving toward a future where our every move, our every transaction, our every communication is tracked and may be used against us," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. "Too often that big picture is lost amid the stream of daily privacy stories. The Surveillance Clock is part of our efforts to keep people focused on that big picture and dramatize what’s happening to America."

Read more at ACLU.org