Sunspots 933

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

Environment:  FiveThirtyEight reports on attempts to undo steps to reduce global warming.

Gizmodo reports that the US Supreme Court has become interested in the deception practiced by oil companies.

Politics: A Conversation writer compares the visions of Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

Some Tennessee state officials are trying to remove mention of slavery from the history of the Civil War, according to a Conversation writer.

Science: Gizmodo reports that scientists are turning dead bird carcasses (including feathers) into drones.

Gizmodo (and other outlets) report on a massive study of the DNA of many types of mammals.

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

Thanks for reading.

 

Jesus and politics, 2020 edition

Sometimes, we think that the way to fix the world is through politics. Jesus didn’t try that. There were lots of poor people, but He didn’t campaign for higher taxes on the rich to help them. The illegal aliens were running the country, but He didn’t try to get rid of them. Abortion may have been practiced in Israel, and perhaps infanticide was, too -- it seems to have been common among the Greeks and Romans. There's not a Biblical record of Jesus mentioning either of these practices. There weren’t any Muslims yet, but there were Samaritans, and He got one of them to be an evangelist to her village, and told a story, to a Jewish audience, about the goodness of another Samaritan. The Romans had open carry, but the Jews didn’t. There was slavery, and women were second-class citizens. He didn’t try a political solution for any of these things. He helped individuals that He came across, lived a sinless life, and died and rose for our sins. That, plus training the disciples, was His way of attacking the problems around Him.

Note: Apparently, sometimes God calls a person to become politically active. Wilberforce’s crusade against slavery seems to have been a case of this.

John 18:36a Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.” (World English Bible, public domain)

Thanks for reading!

 

Not turning in an escaped slave? Deuteronomy 23:15-16

Deuteronomy 23:15 You shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to you: 16 he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him. (World English Bible, public domain.)

I was just using my read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year plan, and came across these two verses. I don't recall ever paying attention to them before, but the Bible is like that (or we are). This seems to be saying that an escaped slave, or servant, should not be returned to their master, but should be protected. All the English Bible translations, in the Blue Letter Bible, agreed with this. However, Jamieson's commentary on this passage indicates that it is speaking of Canaanite, not Israeli, slaves. Matthew Henry says that this is talking about slaves from foreign lands. Perhaps. But it's interesting, in any case. The passage doesn't seem to give any support for hunting escaped slaves with dogs and whips.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 477

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

My usual categories don't exactly hold several of the things I've spotted this week.

Computing: (sort of) More than you want to know, but you should know, about sex trafficking.
Health: (and, unfortunately, rape) The BBC on the difficulties Indian woman experience in going to the toilet, or in getting along without such a facility.
Politics: (sort of) "What gives a dollar bill its value?" a YouTube video, less than 4 minutes in length.
(sort of) A Fox News commentator on the sudden influx of children from Central America. Public Radio International reports on the same matter.
National Public Radio reports on how much it takes to finance a terrorist attack. Not very much.
NPR also reports on how government grants to local police have made it more likely that SWAT teams will be used inappropriately, and they have been so used, unfortunately.
Science: Wired reports on harp sponges, a really strange primitive animal.
  Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 366

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

Science: PC World reports that the state of Nevada has regulations which grant licenses to cars with no active human driver. Google has such cars on the road in Nevada now.

Politics:  NPR reports on how thinking about some good experience we have had might make us more willing to accept facts that are contrary to our political biases.

Rachel Held Evans says that political campaigns against homosexual marriage are alienating a generation from Christianity.

  

Christianity: (or Politics) Weekend Fisher has done a thorough study of the question of slavery in the Bible.

Image source (public domain)

"Amazing Grace"

May I add my small voice to those praising the film, "Amazing Grace," now showing in theaters?

The film is a biography of William Wilberforce, servant of God and politician, who led the fight to overthrow the slave trade in the British empire. He was, in the film, and in reality, inspired partly by John Newton, who wrote "Amazing Grace." Newton had been a slave trader himself, but had a spiritual awakening. All of us are wretches, without the grace of God, but Newton apparently felt himself more so because of his past.

In the film, Wilberforce must decide whether to serve God by withdrawing from society, or by trying to change society as a Member of Parliament. Wise Christians urge him to stay in the public arena.

The film has excellent acting, and is well done, and, above all, inspiring. I'd call it a must-see.

Thanks for reading.

Update, March 3, 2006: I just saw the author of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, Eric Metaxas, interviewed on C-SPAN2. This is the book that the movie was based on. The most remarkable thing that Metaxas said was that Wilberforce loved his enemies -- and he had some who wanted, not just to defeat him, but to kill him.

Update, October 23, 2015: I added the link, in the paragraph above, to the Wikipedia article on Mr. Metaxas. I also added his name as a tag, and enlarged the font size for the entire post. Here is a link to a recent post, by me, on some writing, by Mr. Metaxas, on another subject. He is not an expert in that subject.

Thanks for reading!