Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

Read the subject book by Mark A. Knoll for a Church book club. Very well done and somewhat surprising book. I grew up in a fairly far-out fundamentalist Baptist church that occasionally brought in people from Wheaton College in Chicago. Since that church was so fire-breathing anti-Catholic (the Catholic church was "the Harlot" of Revelation, "the woman that sits on seven hills") I expected something of that view here. Noll is a professor at Wheaton, but either Wheaton has changed, or Noll is quite the liberal for that school.

The biggest impression that hits me is the same one that happens every time I read about church history -- one has to be fairly "liberal minded" in one way relative to Christianity to NOT be a Catholic. The story of the Christian church for most of it's history is very much the story of the Catholic Church.

The biggest thing I learned about was "The Great Schism" in 1000 to 1100, where the Orthodox and Roman church split. The disaster of the 4th crusade of 1202 sacking Constantinople was also a revelation to me.

The "turning points" picked were the following:

1. The Fall of Jerusalem (70) -- the church pushed out of it's cradle.
2. The Council of Nicea (325) -- The origin of the creed most Christians agree with.
3. The Council of Chalcedon (451) -- Politics and the Church
4. Foundation of the Benedictines (530) -- The importanc e of monks to the church
5. The Coronation of Charlemagne (800) -- Church and State rule Europe
6. The Great Schism (1054) -- East and West divide.
7. The Diet of Worms (1521) -- Martin Luther and the Reformation
8. The English Church Splits (1534) -- The state splits from Rome
9. The Founding of the Jesuits (1540) -- The great Catholic missionary movement
10. The Conversion of the Wesleys (1738) -- Religion as personal piety
11. The French Revolution (1789) -- Secularism turns on religion
12. Edinburgh Missionary Conference (1910) -- Roots of ecumenicalism
13. Further turning points in the 20th century

I rather enjoyed the book, but it is one that most folks would find quite dense and overly detailed -- for "the masses" I would suggest something lighter, but then without all the detail, it is very hard to see the reality of the importance of the church to western civilization.

How Stimulating

Stimulus creates 650,000 jobs - White House says - Oct. 30, 2009

Love the CNN headline, even the BO administration only lies with "saved or created", but CNN has to trump it up to "CREATED"! NPR takes the highest figure stated "saved or created" a MILLION jobs and reports it as gospel.

Ah yes, I can remember after 9-11 when the economy had turned around but the MSM was trying to mute it -- it was ALWAYS called a "jobless recovery" and a typical headline would go "Job's Fall 20,000 Short" ... when you read the article you found out that 250K jobs had been "expected" by somebody (the guy writing the article?),  but ONLY 230K were actually created, so "The Bush policies had failed again". Those were the days!

Nice Noonan

Peggy Noonan: We're Governed by Callous Children - WSJ.com

The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.

It is a story in two parts. The first: "They do not think they can make it better.

I agree. I was around in '78-'82 and I think Peggy calls it perfectly:

I talked this week with a guy from Big Pharma, which we used to call "the drug companies" until we decided that didn't sound menacing enough. He is middle-aged, works in a significant position, and our conversation turned to the last great recession, in the late mid- to late 1970s and early '80s. We talked about how, in terms of numbers, that recession was in some ways worse than the one we're experiencing now. Interest rates were over 20%, and inflation and unemployment hit double digits. America was in what might be called a functional depression, yet there was still a prevalent feeling of hope. Here's why. Everyone thought they could figure a way through. We knew we could find a path through the mess. In 1982 there were people saying, "If only we get rid of this guy Reagan, we can make it better!" Others said, "If we follow Reagan, he'll squeeze out inflation and lower taxes and we'll be America again, we'll be acting like Americans again." Everyone had a path through.

I think I had a special seat, because I voted for Carter, listened to the "malaise", started reading about this thing called "conservatism" that my schooling had never exposed me to and then hoped that Reagan was right. I also got to watch while in '80-'82 the country was in worse shape than now and the majority of my college friends and even many of the people at were were "sure we had made a mistake with Reagan". BUT, BOTH the Republicans and the Democrats were "sure they had an answer that could return the country to prosperity". Now we don't. I really don't know anyone other than maybe BO himself that truly believes in BOnomics. We are going to borrow prosperity from the Chinese? Seems pretty doubtful to even the most optimistic.

I talked with an executive this week with what we still call "the insurance companies" and will no doubt soon be calling Big Insura. (Take it away, Democratic National Committee.) He was thoughtful, reflective about the big picture. He talked about all the new proposed regulations on the industry. Rep. Barney Frank had just said on some cable show that the Democrats of the White House and Congress "are trying on every front to increase the role of government in the regulatory area." The executive said of Washington: "They don't understand that people can just stop, get out. I have friends and colleagues who've said to me 'I'm done.'" He spoke of his own increasing tax burden and said, "They don't understand that if they start to tax me so that I'm paying 60%, 55%, I'll stop."

He felt government doesn't understand that business in America is run by people, by human beings. Mr. Frank must believe America is populated by high-achieving robots who will obey whatever command he and his friends issue. But of course they're human, and they can become disheartened. They can pack it in, go elsewhere, quit what used to be called the rat race and might as well be called that again since the government seems to think they're all rats. (That would be you, Chamber of Commerce.)

Peggy doesn't know the half of it. The left could care less about any thoughts of "motivation", I believe that many more of them than anyone realizes would just as soon put the "tax cows" in big concentration work camps right now. Why can't the "disenfranchised" just be awarded what they want? Isn't it "selfish" of someone that studied hard, built skills and is marketable to not make as much money as possible so it can be handed to those that didn't develop any skills and have no intention of doing so?

Dismantling America

RealClearPolitics - Dismantling America

Sowell has another good one. Not that there was an awful lot of America left after Lincoln, TR, FDR and LBJ ... but it seems that BO may well apply the Coup De Grace.

We Were Warned

Works and Days » All Falling Down . . .

Not that anyone that isn't completely blind didn't see that BO was a disaster before he was ever elected, but it never hurts to look reality in the maw. I like his closing:

I hope I am wrong about all of the above, and that human nature really has magically changed in the era of Obama. So close your eyes, listen to the Messiah’s voice, and repeat: “Debts will be forgiven by creditors; inflation will not follow from massive borrowing; breakthroughs in solar and wind will power our cars and heat our homes; enemies will admire our compassion and join us to achieve world peace; and terrorists are either misunderstood or provoked needlessly by our bellicosity that alone stands in the way of peace.”

Believe all that and you can lay back and enjoy the age of Obama.

No Kidding

‘Jobs Created or Saved’ Is White House Fantasy: Caroline Baum - Bloomberg.com

Maybe some folks outside of the 40% of people that are conservative and Fox news will finally realize just how stupid a "created or saved" statistic is.

This is a nice little point not covered in the MSM that might make your stomach drop a bit if you know anything about business:

No wonder capital spending plans were at an all-time low in the third quarter, according to the NFIB monthly survey.

All-time low? Oh my god! It makes sense, it is just about as sobering as the two wars that are now falling apart under the mismanagement and dithering of his royal BOness.

Anyone for "Ism"?

Old cartoon, but it is a problem that never goes away. "Let me sell you something that is too good to be true" -- retirement without savings, "free" medical care, guaranteed wages, "freedom" from personal responsibility. The ranks of the gullible are always significant.

Atlas Hugged

Mark Sanford on Ayn Rand | Newsweek Books | Newsweek.com

Rather interesting little writeup on Ayn Rand by Mark Sanford, yes, THAT Mark Sanford. Interesting how Slick Willie was a far worse womanizer, and Teddy K even managed to kill his young lover, yet they are still just fine. My gut reaction to Mark Sanford is the same as it is to Slick and Teddy -- however I suspect that neither of them either are or would have been writing anything in praise of the ideals of Ayn.

Secret Polls

Conservatives Maintain Edge as Top Ideological Group



If one listens to the MSM, music, and watches movies, it seems that conservatism is some fringe viewpoint shared by only a very few folks of lower intelligence, lack of education and most likely "clinging to their guns and religion". How strange that Gallup has kept track, and since '92, self-identified conservatives are always around 40% of the population, and self-identified liberals are always around 20%.

Bachman

RealClearPolitics - GOP's New Lightning Rod

Hey, local woman makes good!

The Left View of BO Fox Attack

Fox News - Salon.com

I like to read both sides. The defense is essentially:

• Fox news really IS biased -- with a list of folks that work there that have connections to Republicans. What isn't mentioned is that in poll after poll 90+ % of the mass media are Democrats and many people in the current MSM once worked for Democrats. Whose kettle is the most black? It is very hard to tell, but since Fox stands pretty much alone on the conservative side other than talk radio, it isn't hard to see how they may have some degree of a "bunker mentality".
• Nixon was a lot worse than BO. Probably true -- I really think Hitler was a lot worse than W as well, but that didn't stop a lot of people from trying to make the association. I'd like to think that given the CONTEXT, where Nixon had essentially zero media friends and BO has a bunch, Nixon had very little party power in congress and BO has a bunch, Nixon inherited a war in which 10's of thousands had died and we had 500K in the field, while BO inherited 2 wars which we were winning, and are still winning on one of them --- etc, etc. The point is, Nixon had it just a teeny weeny bit tougher than BO. I don't recall multiple assassinations and riots last year as I do from '68. Watergate and the enemies list also didn't occurr in Nixon's first year of his first term -- BO is in a different time when I think we all thought that anything like the Fox attacks was past us, he has near absolute media power, wanting to get to absolute power ought given any thinking person pause and last I recall, Nixon didn't run as "the messiah of openness and light". Given CONTEXT, I find the BO-Nixon comparison to have far more merit as something to consider relative to a "dangerous direction"  than W-Hitler. Hey, Bush didn't even had a symbol -- BO does. The swastika wasn't bad prior to Hitler -- what might the future of the "rainbow O" be?
  

It is interesting to watch a far left outlet rise up in defense of attacks on a free press. When your guy is in power and your ethics are all situational by design, the world looks MUCH different.

Nothing to Trickle

RealClearMarkets - Paul Krugman, and the Middle-Class Champion Myth

Since the '80s, the left has howled in anger and laughter at "trickle down economics" -- the idea that "a rising tide lifts all boats". They have worked hard statistically and rhetorically to claim the the rich have gotten richer, but the poor are no better off. Much like thinking of global warming while the snow piles up in MN on the 23rd of October, they have managed to do this while the "poor" have cell phones, flat panel tvs, high speed internet and their most prevalent health problem is obesity.

Shrinking the "wealth gap" by making everyone worse off is a cynical way to "champion the middle class".

To some, Paul Krugman is a champion of the middle and lower classes given his desire to shrink the gap between those with and without money. But for his views on the dollar alone, it's apparent that his reputation lacks merit.

Krugman's support of weak currency policies erode the earnings of those who can afford it least, reduce the investment necessary to create jobs and wages, and drive down the very investment returns necessary to lift the fortunes of those seeking to increase their wealth. Far from a champion of the middle and lower classes, Krugman's views correlate with wealth destruction, and if implemented, his ideas will only shrink the wealth gap insofar as all of us will become worse off.

I Applaud the MSM!!!

RealClearPolitics - White House Tactics Go Too Far

No cynicism, apparently even the MSM has a limit:

At first, there was little reaction from other media. Then on Thursday, the administration tried to make them complicit in an actual boycott of Fox. The Treasury Department made available Ken Feinberg, the executive pay czar, for interviews with the White House "pool" news organizations -- except Fox. The other networks admirably refused, saying they would not interview Feinberg unless Fox was permitted to as well. The administration backed down.

As Charles does a great job of pointing out, this administration is going where none has gone before with heavy handed authoritarianism. Sure, Nixon had his "enemies list", but since it was published and laughed at, it is clear that it had no real meaning. This is different. BO and company is singling out and making direct attempts to destroy Fox news. It is time for Americans to start to get the message that there are plenty of issues that go beyond politics, because if we don't, we will all be towing the line to one view "or else". Where "or else" means people that dissent being investigated, taxed, regulated and boycotted -- BY THE GOVERNMENT! Wake up and smell the BO!

The signal to corporations is equally clear: You might have dealings with a federal behemoth that not only disburses more than $3 trillion every year but is extending its reach ever deeper into private industry -- finance, autos, soon health care and energy. Think twice before you run an ad on Fox.

Supporting BO for a Million?

The Associated Press: Analysis: Courting doctors in health care battle

So 250K doctors and med students split up $250 Billion in money?

Would you support BOcare for a MILLION DOLLARS??? So BO and the Democrats are bribing Doctors a million bucks EACH to support BOcare!! How does that grab you for corruption?

Now the bill's supporters are making a play to lock in the American Medical Association, the organization that says it represents 250,000 doctors and medical students in every state and congressional district. The principal enticement, a $247 billion measure making its way to the Senate floor, aims to wipe out a scheduled 21 percent rate cut for doctors treating Medicare patients and replace it with a permanent, predictable system for future fee increases.

Smaller Government, Yes or No?

American Thinker: Divide and conquer

This is worth a read for folks that have trouble supporting Republicans because "they are far from perfect". I maintain that anyone that STILL doesn't understand that the primary choice here is ALWAYS "lesser of two evils" and there is NO DOUBT that Democrats are for MUCH larger Government than Republicans!