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Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Sunspots 550

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:


Christianity: (and politics) Ken Schenck has a fine post (and it's not long) on "God calls us to respect our governments," based on what the Bible says about that topic.

Relevant has a thought-provoking post on the question of whether there really is a "War on Christmas," and, in the process, looks hard at how our culture handles Christmas. Not well.

Computing: A short introduction to how to use Twitter.

Education: The difference between "have" and "have been."

The Environment: Wired reports that quite a few climate scientists have come to realize that the scientific findings don't matter. It's the money.

Politics: Leonard Pitts, jr., on the recent activity of Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and those who are enthused by this activity: "Keeping the customer satisfied, giving the people what they want, is the fundament of sound business. More effectively than anyone in recent memory, Trump has transferred that principle to politics. Problem is, it turns out that what a large portion of the Republican faithful wants is racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, the validation of unrealistic fears and the promise of quick fixes to complex problems."

Jerry Falwell, jr., recently urged the students at Liberty University to carry concealed weapons, and be prepared to use them on terrorists. Relevant analyzes what he said, and the reaction from the students, and says: the point that ought to concern all Christians is the joyous tone being struck here. Falwell speaks for the largest Christian university in the United States, and publicly calls for death to thunderous applause. Even if we allow for the distinctly unlikely possibility that Falwell or one of his students would ever have the opportunity to shoot and kill radicalized Islamic terrorists, ought the response really be one of—there's really no other way to put it—celebration? Shouldn't our reaction to violence elicit a slightly different response than a Monday night touchdown? Indeed.

Science: FiveThirty-Eight discusses the Paris Climate talks.


Image source (public domain)

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