Sunspots 868

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity:  (and other religions) Christianity Today points out recent advances in religious freedom in five countries.

Relevant reports that women are more accepted as pastors than they used to be.

Finances: Relevant reports on a study finding that the children of women who are given money have more  vigorous brain development.

Health: The Scientist reports that some mild cases of what seems to be COVID are actually a placebo effect, in reverse.

NPR has information on how to pick a good mask, where to buy them, if you aren't using one from the government, and how (or not) to re-use them.

Science: The Scientist reports on beetle larvae that can jump.

Gizmodo reports on a disease that is usually fatal to rabbits. It's spreading.

Gizmodo also reports on a study indicating that some microorganisms can live well at 250 degrees F.

Sports: NPR reports that the first woman drafted by the NBA (she chose not to sign), who was also the first woman to score points in Olympic basketball, has died.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 842

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the origin of the phrase "tossing and turning."

Environment: NPR on recycling plastic -- what really helps, and what doesn't.

Gizmodo on why TV news does such a bad job at reporting on climate change.

Gizmodo also reports that poor neighborhoods, all over the USA, suffer more from heat waves.

And Gizmodo reports on how wild hogs are having a serious effect on climate.

Gizmodo also reports on the environmental costs of shipping goods into North America.

Ethics: (and Science) Gizmodo reports on guidelines for human genetic engineering, produced by a World Health Organization group. In summary, the group is not ready to approve such procedures.

Science: (or something) Relevant reports on a survey that indicates that most couples become romantically involved after months or years as friends, rather than falling in love the first time they see each other.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 744

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

Christianity: Michael Gerson says that white evangelicalism is dying rapidly, and its leaders don't seem aware of this, or to care. Most of the offspring of older white evangelicals don't consider themselves evangelical, or even religious.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses usage of "mens," and "men's," and related matters.

Food: Listverse has an article on things you probably didn't know about chocolate.

Health: (or something) Listverse tells us how to be more attractive.

NPR examines the effect of high summer heat on people's health, and finds that the poor, in large cities, are exposed to more heat than those of us who are better off.

Humor: Relevant on the importance of having fun.


Politics: NPR has outlined the Trump administration's many actions, and attempted actions, on immigration. The goal is clear - keep people out, or send them back, as often as possible.

Science: Listverse shows us 10 cases of animal mimicry.

Sports: NPR reports on a 103-year-old female athlete from India.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.
 
Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 715

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

 
Christianity: Unfortunately, there are many allegations of sexual abuse by ministers from the Southern Baptist church.

Environment: NPR tells us what's what about plastic waste and recycling (or not).

Health: NPR reports that many people in metropolitan areas around the Great Lakes can't afford to have water in their homes.

Catherine Rampell tells us that people are taking better care of their hearts than they used to, and that's saving us money.

Politics: Scientific American asks if a woman can sound presidential.

National Public Radio reports that the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is continuing to remove regulations aimed at protecting people who get loans from payday lenders.

FiveThirtyEight compares former Presidential candidates by previous office (not many mayors have been elected, for example).


Science: Listverse reports on 10 different animals (all but one of them mammals) that humans have tried to domesticate, but failed to do so.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 61

Watson continues to urge his readers to be contented with what they have. In particular, he warns of some dangers of being prosperous:
2. In a prosperous condition there is more danger; and that two ways: First, in respect of a man’s self. The rich man’s table is oft his snare; he is ready to ingulf himself too deep in these sweet waters. In this sense it is hard to know how to abound. It must be a strong brain that bears heady wine; he had need have much wisdom and grace, that knows how to bear an high condition; either he is ready to kill himself with care, or to surfeit himself with luscious delights. O the hazard of honour, the damage of dignity! Pride, security, rebellion, are the three worms that breed of plenty. (De. 32. 15) The pastures of prosperity are rank and surfeiting. How soon are we broken upon the soft pillow of ease? 

Prosperity is often a trumpet that sounds a retreat, it calls men off from the pursuit of religion. The sun of prosperity oft dulls and puts out the fire of zeal; how many souls hath the pleurisy of abundance killed? They that “will be rich, fall into snares.” (1 Ti. 6. 9) The world is birdlime at our feet, it is full of golden sands, but they are quick-sands. Prosperity, like smooth Jacob, will supplant and betray; a great estate, without much vigilancy, will be a thief to rob us of heaven; such as are upon the pinnacle of honour are in most danger of falling. A lower estate is less hazardous; the little pinnacle rides safe by the shore, when the gallant ship advancing with its mast and top-sail, is cast away. Adam in paradise was overcome, when Job on the dung-hill was a conqueror. Samson fell asleep in Delilah’s lap: some have fallen so fast asleep on the lap of ease and plenty, that they have never awaked till they have been in hell. The world’s fawning is worse than its frowning, and it is more to be feared when it smiles than when it thunders.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.) 

The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 16

If men are poor, they learn to be envious; they malign those that are above them. Another’s prosperity is an eye-sore. When God’s candle shines upon their neighbour’s tabernacle, this light offends them. In the midst of wants, men can, in this sense, abound, namely, in envy and malice; an envious eye is an evil eye. They learn to be querulous, still complaining, as if God had dealt hardly with them; they are ever telling their wants, they want this and that comfort, whereas their greatest want is a contented spirit. Those that are well enough content with their sin, yet are not content with their condition.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays. My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.)

Sunspots 628

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

Christianity: A Sojourners writer says that white evangelicals have been far too silent about high-profile African-American deaths.

Relevant says that Christians are too apathetic about sexual abuse.

Relevant also has a good article on being called to some sort of ministry.


Computing: Wired tells us that the .GIF graphics format has been around for 30 years, and is still widely used.

Listverse points out 10 disturbing facts about Facebook.

Education: FiveThirtyEight tells us why the National Spelling Bee is so difficult, and points out the most common types of spelling errors from previous contests.

Health: National Public Radio reports on a study of how accurate fitness tracker devices are.

Undark reports that, under "Trumpcare," as presently envisioned, it is likely that victims of domestic abuse will be denied reimbursement for injuries suffered from an abusive spouse, and, possibly, denied coverage for any problem, if there has been a history of domestic abuse.


Politics: The Wall Street Journal tells us that rural America is the new "inner city."

Science: Listverse tells us 10 interesting facts about eagles.

Listverse also tells us that pink is not really a color, and then goes on to describe 10 "Pink Wonders of the Natural World."

Scientific American reports that some cicadas, which were expected to emerge as adults in 2021, have emerged this year.

Sports: National Public Radio reports on shooting free throws underhanded, as NBA great Rick Barry did. So does his son, a collegiate player.


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 591

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

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey explains how God can change His mind (there are several examples in the Bible) and still be unchanging.

Relevant discusses the meaning of "lukewarm."

A Christianity Today columnist discusses the church's indifference to the working, white, poor in the US.



Health: Scientific American on why leisure, naps, sabbaticals and vacations are so important.

Politics: (or something) FiveThirtyEight examines the so-called "skills gap" -- companies claiming that they can't find workers with the proper skills -- and finds that it's mostly imaginary.

Science: FiveThirtyEight on why it's so hard to find other planets like the earth.

ListVerse on amazing facts about babies.


FiveThirtyEight on earthquakes in Oklahoma, and the oil and gas industries.

Scientific American and other sources report that there is not one, but four different species of giraffe (and several subspecies) according to recent DNA analysis. Most of these are endangered.

Scientific American also reports on a study that shows that children raised by permissive parents, or harsh parents, are more likely to be bullies than children raised by parents who are neither.

An animated guide to breathing, in humans, birds, and insects.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 582

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

The Arts: This year is the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch, who produced perhaps the strangest paintings ever painted. Here's a link to his most famous one, The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Christianity: A report that thousands of Tibetans, including some Buddhist monks, have come to belief in Christ, mainly because of the unselfish work of Christians after a disaster.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware points to an article on how to use your Windows computer as a wireless hotspot.

Finance: FiveThirtyEight says that poor kids need summer jobs, but well-off kids are more likely to get them.

Science: Listverse reports on 10 very large one-celled organisms.

Listverse also presents 10 interesting facts about the planet Jupiter.

A writer in Wired considers the idea that we are not only making many species extinct, but are also doing things that make new species possible, and there have been some new species which have appeared recently because of what we have done in the environment.

Wired reports on the contents of sunscreen.

Sports:


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 554

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



Christianity: (And the Arts) A fine essay, in Christianity Today, about pop culture, especially Mad Men (which, I confess, I have never seen.)

Another essay in Christianity Today, on how and why it's so easy to ignore poverty in others.

Relevant tells us that the future looks good, and why it does.

Ken Schenck on the Christian's view of war.

Education: National Public Radio reports that some pediatricians are questioning our handling of Attention Deficit Disorder.

Health: (And Economics) The New York Times on why drug companies concentrate on treating cancer, rather than preventing it.

NPR on normal aging and forgetting, versus dementia.

NPR on the relationship between sleep disorders and Alzheimer's.

Politics: The New York Times on the probable effects of a flat tax (such as has been suggested by some Presidential candidates).


Image source (public domain)

Red or blue? Right or left? They're both wrong.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. (Scripture quotations from the World English Bible, public domain)

It's dangerous to read too much into a Bible passage, but this one seems to be saying that there is really only one source of truth, one shepherd. Others may speak, or write, but what they say should be measured against Christ's character and His teachings.

It is unfortunately true that one of the results of the multiplication of media outlets is that people can pick some that match their biases and predispositions, or their religion or race, and never even see or hear from other sources that may disagree. This was illustrated by a recent report in Wired. The author decided to "like" everything he saw in Facebook, including things that he definitely didn't like, to see what would happen. He reports "As day one rolled into day two, I began dreading going to Facebook. It had become a temple of provocation. Just as my News Feed had drifted further and further right, so too did it drift further and further left." In other words, what he saw matched what Facebook thought he really did like. In this case, the author was seeing bias in both directions, but most Facebook users, perhaps unconsciously, have their information and opinion sources tilted in only one direction. We tend to watch, read and listen to news sources that agree with our previous opinions.

So who is right? Whoops! Who is correct?

Both the right and the left, the red and the blue, are wrong.

A few years ago, this blog noted that abortion seemed to have suddenly ceased being the most important political issue for conservative Christians, and had been replaced by immigration concerns. Why? The influence of Lou Dobbs and other TV commentators. But the most important source of the political inspiration of Christians should be the Bible, not media personalities.

Both the left and the right, the red and the blue, are wrong. How?

* The right tends to ignore the plight of the poor, minorities, and otherwise less powerful people, including immigrants. For the Christian, there should be sympathy for immigrants, illegal or not, and concern for their spiritual and economic welfare. The Old Testament speaks about being kind to strangers. So does the New. Leviticus 19:33 "If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God." Injustice and racism are wrong. Psalm 72 speaks of the role of government (in that case, King David, who was the government) in helping and protecting the poor.
* The right tends to believe that the way to solve many problems is to send in troops, or to use bombs, or to use, sell or give away more weapons and ammunition. It seems to forget that Christ didn't say "stand your ground," but "turn the other cheek." How much violence in other countries would never have happened without US military aid? How many repressive dictatorships has such aid propped up? Too many.
* The right believes that the most important political and economic solutions are to cut taxes, if possible to zero, and to let the free enterprise system have unregulated license to act in the best interests of the stockholders. The free enterprise system has its place, but it has led to pollution and other problems. It bears at least some of the blame for the recent recession, where the US economy declined by about a third in the space of a year of so. Taxes are needed for roads and other infrastructure, for funding regulatory agencies, for public schools, for paying police, firefighters, and troops, (and politicians -- including those who want to cut taxes!) and for other things.

* The left seems to want to ignore Biblical teachings on sex and marriage. Homosexual activity is wrong. (See here). Many Christians, and others, believe that abortion is murder. (See here.)
* The left seems to want to ignore property rights. Although the New Testament says very little about property, the Old Testament indicates that it was very important to the Jews, and taking someone's property without just compensation is just as wrong as denying someone a job because of their ethnic background.
* The left seems to believe that the most important political and economic solutions are to increase government size and the amount of government regulation. Government agencies have their place -- I'm grateful for the Social Security Administration, for example -- but they also tend to get mired down in red tape, and submit to the wishes of special interests, rather than doing what they were originally supposed to do. And government does cost money, lots of it.

God help me to take a Biblical position, if I need to take a political position at all. The left and right are both partly wrong, in serious ways. Thanks for reading.

Added January 8, 2015: I have analyzed what's wrong with the political left and right, in considerably more depth.

Sunspots 442

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

Christianity: Fancy horse on teaching a two year old about sacrificial giving.
Health: National Public Radio reports on a scientific study of whether adding bacon to recipes really makes them more appealing.
Politics: NPR also reports on whether just giving money to poor people helps them or not.
Science: I am not making this up. There is an animal, known as the demon mole rat, which, unlike the naked mole rat, which is highly social, is solitary. They bang their heads against their tunnels to tell nearby animals to stay away. (reported in Wired.)
Sports: Various outlets, including ESPN, report that a football game last weekend was to have been officiated by a crew which included four females.


Image source (public domain)

Being poor can be a blessing

Things come to the poor that can't get in at the door of the rich. Their money somehow blocks it up. It is a great privilege to be poor, Peter - one that no man ever coveted, and but a very few have sought to retain, but one that yet many have learned to prize. You must not mistake, however, and imagine it a virtue; it is but a privilege, and one also that, like other privileges, may be terribly misused. Had you been rich, my Peter, you would not have been so good as some rich men I know.

The Princess and Curdie, 1883, Public Domain, Chapter 7. (Available from Project Gutenberg)
The Princess and Curdie is a pretty good story, as story, but MacDonald's writing is also full of gems like the above, which stand alone.

Thanks for reading. Read MacDonald.

Jubilee Economics

One of my daughters suggested, a few years ago, that I should read The Biblical Jubilee and the Struggle for Life, by Ross Kinsler and Gloria Kinsler (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1999). (Ross Kinsler is the author of an article proposing ideas similar to those in the book) While I was still an active university professor, I ordered the book for the university library, but had not read it yet. Now I have.

Christians often seem to take property rights and supposed laissez-faire economics as if they were as important as the gospel, or as if they were rooted in the gospel. This is not the place for a dissertation on economics, nor am I an economist, but Christians should at least consider other ideas. This book by the Kinslers is a good place to start. Their chapter 7 questions free-market economics explicitly. (Others, here and here -- see Mr. Friedman's comments, near the end) have also recently questioned it, for non-theological reasons.)

The authors start right out by questioning a common interpretation of a fundamental bible passage:
In our Western culture this [fourth] commandment took on a primarily religious significance. The assumption was that no work should be done on the Sabbath Day so that people could go to church, meditate on God, and engage in religious or spiritually uplifting exercises. On rereading the text, it becomes evident that this commandment is really concerned about rest and the de-absolutization of work--that is, with breaking the cycle of work on a regular, weekly basis so that people and animals, including slaves and aliens, might rest. This is therefore a concern for the health and well-being of the entire household, which might otherwise be exploited to the point of exhaustion. The theological foundation of this commandment is here stated as the creation, for even God rested the seventh day and therefore blessed the Sabbath Day and consecrated it. (pp. 10-11)

They emphasize the Jubilee, which was established by a God-given set of rules that tied property not to wealth, but to family ownership.

The authors oppose our culture, with its emphasis on accumulation:
Israel was to live in an economy of enough for all and reject the economy of excess accumulation for some and hunger for others. Israel was to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt, so as never to repeat that experience in their new life in the Promised Land. For Egypt and Canaan, then Assyria and Babylon (and later Rome) all practiced socioeconomic systems of wealth accumulation and centralized power and of resultant poverty and marginalization. Israel's later rulers fell into the same evil pattern again and again. To remember the Lord and the Lord's deliverance from Egypt was necessarily to practice justice, to care for the needy and vulnerable, to make sure that all God's people had enough. Israel's vocation was to create an alternative social possibility. (pp. 38-39)

The authors argue (pp. 93-5) that there are economic justice overtones in healing of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12), and in plucking grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28). They claim that parable of the talents is about exposing the harshness of the rich master. (Matt 25:14-30, pp. 102-3) They also claim that the central theme of Christ's message, in his first sermon in Luke 4:16-30, is at least partly economic justice. (pp. 103-6)

Perhaps this quotation summarizes Kinsler and Kinsler best:
Jesus' identification with tax collectors and sinners/debtors, the transformation of Levi and Zacchaeus, and their subsequent actions were all subversive of the dominant customs and structures of oppression. They were manifestations of Sabbath economics, Jubilee spirituality, and liberty for all God's people. (p. 120)

It seems to me that the authors are on to something, and something that much of the Christian church doesn't want to hear. It makes me uncomfortable, too. On the other hand, they are clearly biased in one direction, and have left out some passages of Scripture, or some interpretations, that don't make their case. At least one example is in Acts 6, where the 12 Apostles clearly thought that the message of salvation had a higher priority for them, as leaders, than taking care of the needs of the poor. (The church did take care of those needs, but the Apostles don't seem to have.)