It Was My Graduation Too!

It was 1996, I was graduating from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I worked really hard to graduate. I was one of those people who worked while in school. I drove a box paper route after mid-night, and I worked in a store in the evenings. I took 18 hours of masters level education my last semester of my third and final year. I will always remember my graduation. It meant a lot to me and my family. It was too bad that a bunch of immature, theological liberals decided to make a mockery of it.

Southern Seminary was going through a transition while I was there. My class was probably the most liberal class the seminary ever had. The first year class was probably the most conservative class the school had in forty or fifty years. Dr. Al Mohler became President during my first year. He was empowered by the trustees to make massive changes at the Seminary. He fired several professors because of their heresies. Many of those professors were at the graduation to try to embarrass the Seminary one last time.

Dr. Mohler also saw it necessary to remove the social work school from the seminary. To be an accredited social work school you had to take an amoral stance on abortion and homosexuality. This was not in the frame work of historic Christianity. My graduation was also the last graduation of the Carver School of Social Work at Southern Seminary.

During the graduation, every school was mentioned, and then each name was called. I applauded equally for every school. I knew that every person worked hard in every school to graduate. However, I did not stand and applaud for any school. This was when I was first assaulted. When the Carver School of Social Work was called I applauded. However, I did not give a standing ovation. The man standing behind me saw me sitting and decided to clap as loud as he could on my ear. I sat there and took it. I knew and he knew that if I responded he would get what he wanted.

Later on when the Seminary pledge was being made, 2/3 of my class got up and walked out. On the way out, an upset student decided to strike me on the back of the head. I did not respond. He knew and I knew that if I responded he would have got what he wanted.

As the graduation closed, banners were dropped from the balcony that read about the destruction of the School. I saw one person rush towards Dr. Mohler outside, and thankfully the President of New Orleans Seminary, Dr. Church Kelly, is a big man, because he literally took the man and shoved him away.

Simply put, my graduation is easily remembered. I was assaulted twice. I watched people walk out. I watched people chant slogans. I watched people drop banners. I listened as students coughed on purpose during the sermon. It was something to behold.

This is what has always bothered me about the theological left. They claim to be Christians, but their actions do not show it. It is one thing to protest the school. I believe protest is an honorable way to act. However, when you protest a one time event you then interfere with the memories of everyone. I find it completely unchristian to protest weddings, to protest funerals, or any type of ceremony. Do you have the right to do it? Yes, our right to protest is protected. The question is should a Christian protest these things. I would say absolutely not. When you protest a one time event you have decided that your political and theological views are more important than anything and everything else that is going on in the world. Those students forgot that it was my graduation too. It was also the graduation of many others who deserved to be treated better by their fellow students.

Sorry, No Post This Week

I have several things on my plate right now that I normally do not have. I will be back next week with a new post. I appreciate all who take the time to read. See you next week.

Malaria And Aids

I just finished reading an article on the topic of malaria in Africa. It seems as if President Bush is doing something well. President Bush pushed a bill through congress a few years ago to deal with malaria. Malaria was killing more people in Africa than any other form of sickness. The death rate in children was alarming in certain parts of Africa.

As we all know, malaria is spread by mosquitoes. Our nation, along with the World Health Organization, has provided millions of bed nets to the people of Africa. These nets are draped over the bed at night. It keeps the bugs off you as you sleep.

However, the biggest help in this fight was the use of DDT. DDT is a pesticide that works wonders. As far as we can tell, there has never been a chemical that kills a mosquito any better. However, DDT was banned in the 1970's because a few environmental activist groups deemed it harmful to the environment. They said that in hard doses it hurts birds. In the mean time, millions of people have died of malaria.

The malaria problem got bad enough that the government and the WHO took the risk of making radical environmentalists upset. DDT was the pet cause for the environmentalists in the 1970's. To upset this group of people could cause major problems with certain governments in Europe. Nevertheless, the government and WHO decided that human life is more important than bird life. The death rate from Malaria in some areas of Africa has dropped over 80%.

The next major disease in Africa is Aids. I have heard estimates as high as 1 in 5 people in certain parts of Africa carry the HIV virus. Millions and millions of dollars has been pumped into the regions to provide condemns on demand. There has been a great deal of money spent on educating the people of Africa about safe sex. However, these dollars have not put a dent in the problem.

I wonder if the government and the WHO would take the radical step of introducing abstinence in Africa. It would alienate and anger the homosexual rights groups. It would infuriate the progressive secularist. However, we all know that we could end the scourge of aids in a few years if people waited until they are married to have sex.

I don't see it happening, but it is just a suggestion.

The Iraq Military Action

I watched the President's speech last night, and I figured it was time to write about Iraq. I haven't written on this subject; because it is not really what this blog is about. I certainly have an opinion, and I believe it is time to express it. I would rather write about religious things, but Iraq has been the most important thing going on for a few years now. So here is my take.

First, the reason we are in a mess is due to the fact that we didn't fight a war. Deep down inside, I am a neo-con. I believe that we can successfully change the world by using force. However, I do not believe that it should be done without a full declaration of war. This war should have been voted on by both chambers of the U.S. government. We have not done this since WWII. Politicians do not like to vote on wars because it forces them to play their cards.

Second, when you fight a war you fight it to defeat an enemy. I thought we learned this lesson in Korea and Viet Nam. An unconditional surrender must be made at the end of a war, or you did not win. We toppled Saddam, but who cares. If you want the Sunnis to get along with the Shiites, you needed to make both sides to surrender. Iraq was not defeated, it was over thrown. Thus, there is rebel fighting. I didn't here Al Sadr way uncle. We needed to continue to bomb.

Third, 20,000 troops is not enough. We need to send 100,000 more.

Fourth, I hope the President is right. I disagreed with how we fought the war. Nevertheless, we need to win the war. I believe this plan is the last plan. I am willing to give it one more shot to win. However, this is the last shot.

Fifth, Iran and Syria should be told that they will be toppled without any hope of U.S. rebuilding. Now that we are in this mess, the way you end the mess is by messing up the messer. If we tell Iran and Syria that we are going to overthrow their governments unless they stop their trouble making; and assure them that we will not rebuild their countries or help their countries out afterwards; it would help our cause. I am OK with a little chaos going on in Syria. If we destroy their government and let the radicals fight about who is in control over there, we will have time to fix the mess in Iraq.

Finally, the press should not be able to go to war with us any more. If they want to go to war, they shouldn't be protected by U.S. soldiers. They should go in on their own. War is about killing and breaking things. The press is about finding stories to cause controversy. Killing and breaking things will bring about these kind of stories. When a soldier shoots a man that might kill him, and the press finds out that the man was unarmed, a federal case is made. This should never happen. The press should report on who won not on individual circumstances. I believe in the freedom of the press. However, I do not believe this means they are to be protected by U.S. soldiers. If they want to cover the war let them. However, don't get in the way.

So there you have it. I believe that if I was King, this war would have not been a mess. However, there are no kings. The U.S. must remember what it means to fight a war. Nation building comes when your enemy is completely defeated. You make them say Uncle. Iraq is an example of a mercy war. There is no mercy in war.

"Sometimes I Miss."

The Reverend Pat Robertson made news again this week by saying that God told him that millions of Americans will die in a terrorist attack this year. He said the terrorist will not necessarily use nuclear weapons, but it will be something like that. It will hit several U.S. cities. It will be a true disaster.

For those of you out there that believes in modern prophesy you need to write this down in the margins of your Bible. If God told Pat this, then it is just as valid as Scripture. Thankfully for me, I believe the cannon is closed. I believe that God has spoken, and the Bible is God's final and complete revelation to man. By believing this, I can call Pat Robertson a heretic and leave it at that.

Over the years, Pat has made some interesting prediction. Now remember, Pat said that God told him these things. God told Pat that he would be President back in 1988. God was obviously wrong. At the start of 2006, Pat said God told him that the U.S. coast will be lashed by storms. Of course, we had one of the softest hurricane seasons ever this year. God was wrong again. He said that a Tsunami would hit the North West Coast this year. Once again, God was wrong. In 2004, he said God told him that President Bush would win easily over Kerry. God was right on the win, he was wrong on the easy part. He said God told him that President Bush would pass Social Security reform. God was wrong on that one.

An AP reporter asked Pat about all of the prophesies that he made that were wrong. Pat said, and I quote, "I have a good track record, but sometimes I miss." You know I don't remember the prophets of the Bible missing. I don't recall Elisha telling people that sometimes he misunderstands what God says. I don't remember Jeremiah saying that. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that we are to stone false prophets. By the way, false prophets are the ones that sometimes miss.

Now I am not purposing that we Christians take Pat out and stone him. We don't live in a theocracy anymore. Simply put, that is what God would have had ancient Israel to do. You do not speak on God's behalf incorrectly.

I want to make myself clear. The biggest problem I have with all of this is the blatant disregard for Scripture. Either the Bible is God's final revelation to man or it is not. It is either what God wanted us to know or it is not. If it is not, then we should not have closed the canon. We should continue to add books to the Bible. I am sure the Church would think hard before they put the book of Pat in the Bible; because sometimes he misses.