UK Legal Ruling: Environmentalism is a religion.
This is certainly a fascinating ruling. From the article, it seems an employee of a firm was making himself a total pest related to company travel, etc., for which he was eventually fired. This went to court and the company lost - it was ruled that the firing was religious discrimination.
The main thing I ponder here is that environmentalists are vastly more judgmental and disruptive than Christians, since Mother Nature is a bit bad tempered and demanding as deities go. What happens if the guy in the shipping room sends a package of perishables that was needed and promised overnight by ground instead of air as he was instructed, and then thumbs his nose at management knowing they can't fire him because that would be a violation of religious freedom? Or the oil rig worker who deliberately leaves out a part knowing it will cause a month delay on getting the fossil fuel pumping back on line? My concern is that society will eventually be forced to curtail the religious freedom of everyone in order to reign in the abuses of the fringe.
It is tempting to rejoice at the correctness of the ruling, given that 90% of what is passed off as science is just leftist religious hooey, but be careful what you wish for!
Friday, November 06, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Why Looney blogs ...
This is intended to answer the question of "Do I need to read all of Looney's blog posts?", which I doubt anyone has ever asked!
The original purpose of setting up an online presence was to dialog with modernist professors and theologians. This in turn was so that I could be better informed when teaching youth at church and would know the ins and outs of anti-Christian polemics unfiltered and straight from the source. The dozens of high school kids at the church were heading off into the lion's lair going off to top universities here and there, while returning college students had many questions that weren't being answered. The leadership of the church which I formerly went to had a different idea. They went with the Purpose Driven Church model which emphasizes pre-packaged materials that are easy to digest and don't get into anything controversial or mentally engaging. I won't claim one is better than the other, but the result was that they went one way and I went another. Jesus inspires various people in different ways. I still passively follow some theology blogs, but have avoided the ones that are most incompatible with my beliefs to make it easier to sleep at night.
With the blog set up, the next thing was to accumulate some notes from my studies. I was one of those kids who never took notes in school, so organizing notes is quite a challenge. On the other hand, it is hard to remember various useful quotes from authors, so I started posting these online and gradually improved the referencing so that I could find them. The process of typing things in again helps reinforce the memory. This exercise was done in conjunction with reading a lot of classical literature - both Christian and non-Christian - in parallel with my Bible studies. Hopefully some of these will prove helpful to others.
From when I was a child, I would get out and about exploring and seeing all kinds of beautiful things that I wished I could share, but couldn't. From my home based in Knoxville, Tennessee, I had biked to North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky and back on Saturday's without informing my parents where I went or when I would be back. Then I was 15 years old. Decades later, I still wander all over the place, but now I can afford a camera and share the images. Thus, the photography has become a part of the blog, along with sharing some of the meditations that go through my mind.
The last aspect of this blog, and probably the most important, is to dialog with new friends from around the world. It seems harder and harder to connect with neighbors, while meeting people from elsewhere is getting easier and easier. The strange mix of my personality is that I am frequently an extreme loner, but on the other hand, I really like learning about other people and trying to get a glimpse of how they see the world.
Being a Christian, behind everything is Jesus, who is the source of purpose in my life.
This is intended to answer the question of "Do I need to read all of Looney's blog posts?", which I doubt anyone has ever asked!
The original purpose of setting up an online presence was to dialog with modernist professors and theologians. This in turn was so that I could be better informed when teaching youth at church and would know the ins and outs of anti-Christian polemics unfiltered and straight from the source. The dozens of high school kids at the church were heading off into the lion's lair going off to top universities here and there, while returning college students had many questions that weren't being answered. The leadership of the church which I formerly went to had a different idea. They went with the Purpose Driven Church model which emphasizes pre-packaged materials that are easy to digest and don't get into anything controversial or mentally engaging. I won't claim one is better than the other, but the result was that they went one way and I went another. Jesus inspires various people in different ways. I still passively follow some theology blogs, but have avoided the ones that are most incompatible with my beliefs to make it easier to sleep at night.
With the blog set up, the next thing was to accumulate some notes from my studies. I was one of those kids who never took notes in school, so organizing notes is quite a challenge. On the other hand, it is hard to remember various useful quotes from authors, so I started posting these online and gradually improved the referencing so that I could find them. The process of typing things in again helps reinforce the memory. This exercise was done in conjunction with reading a lot of classical literature - both Christian and non-Christian - in parallel with my Bible studies. Hopefully some of these will prove helpful to others.
From when I was a child, I would get out and about exploring and seeing all kinds of beautiful things that I wished I could share, but couldn't. From my home based in Knoxville, Tennessee, I had biked to North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky and back on Saturday's without informing my parents where I went or when I would be back. Then I was 15 years old. Decades later, I still wander all over the place, but now I can afford a camera and share the images. Thus, the photography has become a part of the blog, along with sharing some of the meditations that go through my mind.
The last aspect of this blog, and probably the most important, is to dialog with new friends from around the world. It seems harder and harder to connect with neighbors, while meeting people from elsewhere is getting easier and easier. The strange mix of my personality is that I am frequently an extreme loner, but on the other hand, I really like learning about other people and trying to get a glimpse of how they see the world.
Being a Christian, behind everything is Jesus, who is the source of purpose in my life.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Why God Became Man, by Anselm (1033-1109AD)
"For it can happen that one and the same thing is, from different points of view, both just and unjust, and for this reason, is judged by people who are not considering the matter with care, to be entirely just of entirely unjust."
Or to put it another way, someone might unjustly punish me, while at the same time I am almost certainly deserving of the punishment! Sadly Anselm didn't write much regarding justice and ethics - only what was needed to explain Christ's work on the cross. Eventually I would like to compare modernist style justice to traditional Christian notions. The main thing I notice is that it is very difficult to separate justice from reason. Traditional Christianity operates largely out of the classical reason framework shared by Plato and the New Testament writers along with Seneca, Cicero, Augustine, and just about everyone else covering a period of more than 2,000 years. This is entirely distinct from modern notions of justice that are understood through post-modern mental processes if I use Yoder or Hauerwas as typical examples. This has me wondering if there is any possibility of a shared sense of justice between those who operate from the classical Western mindset and the modernist mindset, even when both practitioners profess the Bible as a standard for judging things.
"For it can happen that one and the same thing is, from different points of view, both just and unjust, and for this reason, is judged by people who are not considering the matter with care, to be entirely just of entirely unjust."
Or to put it another way, someone might unjustly punish me, while at the same time I am almost certainly deserving of the punishment! Sadly Anselm didn't write much regarding justice and ethics - only what was needed to explain Christ's work on the cross. Eventually I would like to compare modernist style justice to traditional Christian notions. The main thing I notice is that it is very difficult to separate justice from reason. Traditional Christianity operates largely out of the classical reason framework shared by Plato and the New Testament writers along with Seneca, Cicero, Augustine, and just about everyone else covering a period of more than 2,000 years. This is entirely distinct from modern notions of justice that are understood through post-modern mental processes if I use Yoder or Hauerwas as typical examples. This has me wondering if there is any possibility of a shared sense of justice between those who operate from the classical Western mindset and the modernist mindset, even when both practitioners profess the Bible as a standard for judging things.
Subversive Gardening.
A few of us visited a neighborhood public school today to discuss renovating a neglected garden. My impression is that there shouldn't be too much trouble organizing the community to do all of the work, but the big challenge is overcoming the union rules.
The first headache is that there are no power tools permitted on the school grounds without the union's permission. Thus, as we cut pipe for irrigation or saw and drill boards, we must first measure, then go off site somewhere to do the work, and return to see if we got things correct. There were also some noises about unions limiting the number of community work days to perhaps only two per year. It is quite a challenge to keep up a garden with only two days of work in a year!
What I find most amusing about this effort is that I am gradually ending up with the same occupation as our president - a community organizer!
Our current plan is to gather a group around midnight during the new moon dressed entirely in black. We will black out our faces and use night vision goggles. Next, we shoot out the street lights, jump over the fence into the garden, and rapidly pull all the weeds, making our escape before any union officials can find out. A diversion still needs to be worked out so that police won't be alerted by the saws and drills when we do the bits of construction work.
A few of us visited a neighborhood public school today to discuss renovating a neglected garden. My impression is that there shouldn't be too much trouble organizing the community to do all of the work, but the big challenge is overcoming the union rules.The first headache is that there are no power tools permitted on the school grounds without the union's permission. Thus, as we cut pipe for irrigation or saw and drill boards, we must first measure, then go off site somewhere to do the work, and return to see if we got things correct. There were also some noises about unions limiting the number of community work days to perhaps only two per year. It is quite a challenge to keep up a garden with only two days of work in a year!
What I find most amusing about this effort is that I am gradually ending up with the same occupation as our president - a community organizer!
Our current plan is to gather a group around midnight during the new moon dressed entirely in black. We will black out our faces and use night vision goggles. Next, we shoot out the street lights, jump over the fence into the garden, and rapidly pull all the weeds, making our escape before any union officials can find out. A diversion still needs to be worked out so that police won't be alerted by the saws and drills when we do the bits of construction work.
Another article regarding the evolution of morality.
The basic problem here is the same as always: The conscience is something that is universally acknowledged as a restraint on corrupt behavior which benefits society in the whole. The claims of evolution enthusiasts, however, are that the unknowable mechanisms of biology are limited to the individual. Being older, I have seen countless times how those who were ethically and morally challenged lorded it over the rest and produced more offspring who were nurtured by the spoils. Survival of the fittest would seem to eliminate the conscience from the human makeup after a few hundred years, yet it still keeps reasserting itself. As I see it, this is the strongest proof that mankind isn't more than several thousand years old.
The solution for the Darwinists was to dispense with classical reason and employ post-modern techniques instead. In post-modern thought processes, definitions are always changing while one sub-argument of a larger proof can employ presuppositions which conflict with another sub-argument. In this instance, the intellectual asserts that we need to look at the survival of the gene, rather than the individual and then proceeds to claim that there is no longer a problem. The fact is that this has done exactly nothing to overcome the original objection to evolution, in that a gene which produced less of a conscience in an individual would result in the behaviors that gave it an increased chance of survival compared to the gene which did produce more of a conscience. No doubt the Darwinists can come up with an infinite amount of rhetoric asserting that saying the exact same thing with different words results in a major paradigm shift.
The basic problem here is the same as always: The conscience is something that is universally acknowledged as a restraint on corrupt behavior which benefits society in the whole. The claims of evolution enthusiasts, however, are that the unknowable mechanisms of biology are limited to the individual. Being older, I have seen countless times how those who were ethically and morally challenged lorded it over the rest and produced more offspring who were nurtured by the spoils. Survival of the fittest would seem to eliminate the conscience from the human makeup after a few hundred years, yet it still keeps reasserting itself. As I see it, this is the strongest proof that mankind isn't more than several thousand years old.
The solution for the Darwinists was to dispense with classical reason and employ post-modern techniques instead. In post-modern thought processes, definitions are always changing while one sub-argument of a larger proof can employ presuppositions which conflict with another sub-argument. In this instance, the intellectual asserts that we need to look at the survival of the gene, rather than the individual and then proceeds to claim that there is no longer a problem. The fact is that this has done exactly nothing to overcome the original objection to evolution, in that a gene which produced less of a conscience in an individual would result in the behaviors that gave it an increased chance of survival compared to the gene which did produce more of a conscience. No doubt the Darwinists can come up with an infinite amount of rhetoric asserting that saying the exact same thing with different words results in a major paradigm shift.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Senility: I was just pondering the times that I don't read someone else's post carefully, and post a response that is truly worthy of my adopted name. Does anyone else do that?
Monday, November 02, 2009
Scientists: Increase in obesity is the result of evolution. Now you know.
I was going to post about voting fraud in New Jersey, but decided to horse around a bit more instead. Democracies start and democracies end. No big deal. Polybius described the pattern more than 2,000 years ago. Better to relax and enjoy God's creation.
California Meltdown Watch: Firefighting "Brown Out" leads to house being Blacked Out.
A year ago California's budget was melting down faster than the polar ice caps, but congress stepped in with non-greenhouse gas generating virtual money to prop things up. The result has been a slow meltdown of the budget situation with little cuts everywhere. One of the bigger ones that was about to happen was a cut of regular in-home care services to 130,000 people. A federal judge stopped the cuts reasoning that those who would be denied the services they formerly received didn't have sufficient time to sue the government. Since this kind of litigation can take a decade or more, and the state government can't print money, it means more cuts elsewhere.
One clever budget fixer just went into effect involving tax withholdings. The actual tax rates haven't changed, but there is a separate set of rules regarding how much tax must be paid throughout the year (withholding rates) with the final over/under payment being resolved once the tax year is over. By changing the withholding rate, taxpayers can be compelled to pay more money to the government than they owe in taxes, although this is supposed to be corrected with a refund later. If the budget situation isn't too bad, the government can simply use the extra money to ease cash flow issues while forcing the taxpayer to give them a loan. When the situation gets really bad, they simply don't offer refund checks so that tax payers are paying more taxes even though there never was a tax increase. Gotcha!
As we are all selfishly focused on the cuts that effect us most, my mind is still on the California State Park closures.
A year ago California's budget was melting down faster than the polar ice caps, but congress stepped in with non-greenhouse gas generating virtual money to prop things up. The result has been a slow meltdown of the budget situation with little cuts everywhere. One of the bigger ones that was about to happen was a cut of regular in-home care services to 130,000 people. A federal judge stopped the cuts reasoning that those who would be denied the services they formerly received didn't have sufficient time to sue the government. Since this kind of litigation can take a decade or more, and the state government can't print money, it means more cuts elsewhere.
One clever budget fixer just went into effect involving tax withholdings. The actual tax rates haven't changed, but there is a separate set of rules regarding how much tax must be paid throughout the year (withholding rates) with the final over/under payment being resolved once the tax year is over. By changing the withholding rate, taxpayers can be compelled to pay more money to the government than they owe in taxes, although this is supposed to be corrected with a refund later. If the budget situation isn't too bad, the government can simply use the extra money to ease cash flow issues while forcing the taxpayer to give them a loan. When the situation gets really bad, they simply don't offer refund checks so that tax payers are paying more taxes even though there never was a tax increase. Gotcha!
As we are all selfishly focused on the cuts that effect us most, my mind is still on the California State Park closures.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Horse of the Apocalypse.
'When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" ' - Revelation 6:5-6
Given my previous adventures, none of you should be too surprised at what happened to me today.
There she was, surveying Silicon Valley which lay sleeping and unsuspecting far below. Is it any wonder that she has chosen here to prepare?
"Looney, I will accompany you for awhile and we will talk of things to come."
And so we jogged together for a few miles. I was initially surprised to find that she knew all my secret paths on the mountain, but Psalm 23 says, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake". My paths were known to God already and shared with His servants.
She shared many things with me, but I am not permitted to pass them on. Only to note that we may rejoice in evil today, but there is a judgment to come.
Finally as we neared the summit of Rose Peak, she told me that she was not permitted to go any further and we said our good byes. I gave her a hug and thanked her for all she told me. Later I came back the same way to see if she was still there, but she was gone. Off on another mission.
'When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" ' - Revelation 6:5-6
Given my previous adventures, none of you should be too surprised at what happened to me today.
There she was, surveying Silicon Valley which lay sleeping and unsuspecting far below. Is it any wonder that she has chosen here to prepare?
"Looney, I will accompany you for awhile and we will talk of things to come."
And so we jogged together for a few miles. I was initially surprised to find that she knew all my secret paths on the mountain, but Psalm 23 says, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake". My paths were known to God already and shared with His servants.
She shared many things with me, but I am not permitted to pass them on. Only to note that we may rejoice in evil today, but there is a judgment to come.
Finally as we neared the summit of Rose Peak, she told me that she was not permitted to go any further and we said our good byes. I gave her a hug and thanked her for all she told me. Later I came back the same way to see if she was still there, but she was gone. Off on another mission.
"Obama to lift HIV entry ban soon."
Yikes. I should note that I am all for charity. Jesus freed people from demon possession, and we really don't want to know how people even became demon possessed, so the fact is that Christians are called to care for people regardless of how they got into their mess(es). On the other hand, we are called to care in a comprehensive way, which is something government can never do and largely precludes with the social welfare safety net.
What I have a problem with here is that the ban on entry is a ban related to communicable diseases, of which HIV is one. No, HIV is not like cancer. Certainly getting rid of the ban will allow a lot of good to be done, but it will also eliminate a barrier to all of those monogamous gays who are in loving, committed relationships and have no idea how they got HIV in the first place. Certainly it was an act of God!
The biggest issue, however, is things like the Ryan White Act where those who are infected by HIV get special treatment courtesy of the US tax payer compared to other diseases. By eliminating the ban, we can bring HIV infected people who are chronically ill into the US and give them the same treatment as they would have gotten in their home country, but with a cost multiplier of 10 to 100. Why spend $1,000 when you can spend $100,000?
Yikes. I should note that I am all for charity. Jesus freed people from demon possession, and we really don't want to know how people even became demon possessed, so the fact is that Christians are called to care for people regardless of how they got into their mess(es). On the other hand, we are called to care in a comprehensive way, which is something government can never do and largely precludes with the social welfare safety net.
What I have a problem with here is that the ban on entry is a ban related to communicable diseases, of which HIV is one. No, HIV is not like cancer. Certainly getting rid of the ban will allow a lot of good to be done, but it will also eliminate a barrier to all of those monogamous gays who are in loving, committed relationships and have no idea how they got HIV in the first place. Certainly it was an act of God!
The biggest issue, however, is things like the Ryan White Act where those who are infected by HIV get special treatment courtesy of the US tax payer compared to other diseases. By eliminating the ban, we can bring HIV infected people who are chronically ill into the US and give them the same treatment as they would have gotten in their home country, but with a cost multiplier of 10 to 100. Why spend $1,000 when you can spend $100,000?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Crises Crisis.
"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. The grace off our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." - 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18.
Yes, the number of crises in the world is multiplying. An under-reported one that concerns me is the banana crisis and there were my earlier worries regarding Dogwood Anthracnose. But what should we do when there are so many crises that there aren't enough pundits to pontificate about them, nor is there enough room on the internet to store all the news? The real crisis now seems to be that there are too many crises to keep track of. Someone who is Pragmaticly Hysterical might try to restrict herself to only panicking about the most important few crises, but how do we know which crises are the most critical and stay focused on them exclusively as our friends and neighbors all panic over secondary crises?
The above verse and many like it are good to go back to periodically.
"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. The grace off our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." - 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18.
Yes, the number of crises in the world is multiplying. An under-reported one that concerns me is the banana crisis and there were my earlier worries regarding Dogwood Anthracnose. But what should we do when there are so many crises that there aren't enough pundits to pontificate about them, nor is there enough room on the internet to store all the news? The real crisis now seems to be that there are too many crises to keep track of. Someone who is Pragmaticly Hysterical might try to restrict herself to only panicking about the most important few crises, but how do we know which crises are the most critical and stay focused on them exclusively as our friends and neighbors all panic over secondary crises?
The above verse and many like it are good to go back to periodically.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Third World Driving Patterns In San Francisco ...
The first bit of excitement is the collapse of a temporary structure on the Bay Bridge resulting in a shutdown of the busiest bridge in the Bay Area. You can get the news here. This is all part of the most expensive bridge retrofit in world history. For those of you interested in bridge construction costs, the current expected final cost for this retrofit is $6.2 billion.
The second is a rule change to allow unlicensed drivers a free pass in San Francisco. Under the old rules, those who were caught driving without a license had their car impounded for 30 days. This was deemed mean and discriminatory towards illegal immigrants, thus, the rule was scrapped. Be sure and look twice when crossing the road when you visit San Francisco. Not everyone knows what the word STOP means, nor do they get the meaning of red colored lights hanging above intersections.
UPDATE: Looks like there is a monster commute problem this morning due to the Bay Bridge closure. Hopefully Caltrans can get things back in operation.
The first bit of excitement is the collapse of a temporary structure on the Bay Bridge resulting in a shutdown of the busiest bridge in the Bay Area. You can get the news here. This is all part of the most expensive bridge retrofit in world history. For those of you interested in bridge construction costs, the current expected final cost for this retrofit is $6.2 billion.
The second is a rule change to allow unlicensed drivers a free pass in San Francisco. Under the old rules, those who were caught driving without a license had their car impounded for 30 days. This was deemed mean and discriminatory towards illegal immigrants, thus, the rule was scrapped. Be sure and look twice when crossing the road when you visit San Francisco. Not everyone knows what the word STOP means, nor do they get the meaning of red colored lights hanging above intersections.
UPDATE: Looks like there is a monster commute problem this morning due to the Bay Bridge closure. Hopefully Caltrans can get things back in operation.
Yum.
The line right below "Whopper" says that it is a limited time offering of a new product. The line below that informs the reader that this is an "American size". I wonder why we can't get them here in the US.
The line right below "Whopper" says that it is a limited time offering of a new product. The line below that informs the reader that this is an "American size". I wonder why we can't get them here in the US.
Monday, October 26, 2009
More evidence for presidential deity?
It is a popular sport these days to make observations and claims regarding this subject. Far be it from me to make any accusations! My job is merely to present the evidence and document sources for the benefit of others.
First, let us consider the Biblical text:
'"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds."' - John 8:58-59
"I am" is actually the name God used for Himself, so the Jews understood Jesus to be saying that he is God and has always existed. The original reference is from the story in the Exodus (~1,400BC) where Moses is spoken to by God out of the burning bush and wants to know what name he should use to refer to God when he returns to Egypt:
'God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "' - Exodus 3:14.
Now let us consider the ending of this Boston Globe article:
'"A couple months later," Biden said, Obama repeated the offer in a hotel room in Minneapolis. The senator looked at Obama and said, "Are you really committed to changing the course of this country?"
"He reached out, shook my hand and said, ‘I AM.’ "'
Just the facts. Looney reports, you decide.
It is a popular sport these days to make observations and claims regarding this subject. Far be it from me to make any accusations! My job is merely to present the evidence and document sources for the benefit of others.
First, let us consider the Biblical text:
'"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds."' - John 8:58-59
"I am" is actually the name God used for Himself, so the Jews understood Jesus to be saying that he is God and has always existed. The original reference is from the story in the Exodus (~1,400BC) where Moses is spoken to by God out of the burning bush and wants to know what name he should use to refer to God when he returns to Egypt:
'God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "' - Exodus 3:14.
Now let us consider the ending of this Boston Globe article:
'"A couple months later," Biden said, Obama repeated the offer in a hotel room in Minneapolis. The senator looked at Obama and said, "Are you really committed to changing the course of this country?"
"He reached out, shook my hand and said, ‘I AM.’ "'
Just the facts. Looney reports, you decide.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Rrrrriiiiinnnnggggg!
"Hello."
"Hello? Is Mr. Looney there?"
"Yes, this is he or she."
"My name is Helpful. The City of Fremont told me to call you about the project you are doing for Make A Difference Day. Do you need more help? My child needs service learning hours."
"We would be delighted to have you, but I am a rogue volunteer for Compassion Network, not the City of Fremont ..."
"No problem as long as we can get involved ..."
And so things proceeded as I passively assembled a team starting about a day before the project, because that was when I first learned for sure that the dumpster would be delivered. Much of the credit goes to the school policy of requiring children to get service learning hours to graduate. Thankfully, the ACLU hasn't stepped in to stop the morally corrosive effects of Christians teaching and directing children in the process of caring for the elderly. Another aspect is the perpetual preaching that Christians need to be actively seeking out people to help, rather than simply dealing with those we come across in daily life like the Good Samaritan did. The pattern should be more like Jesus forcing his disciples to row across the Sea of Galilee just so he could heal one demon possessed madman in the tombs, followed by rowing all the way back. Fitness and charity certainly go together.
The curious result is that we seem to have a shortage of needy elderly compared to the people who actually are willing to help. At least this is the way things appear on the surface. Once a whiff of the project got out, people were looking to get involved. On another level, the vast majority of work still isn't being done. We hear stories of lonely and fearful elderly people shut in their houses with spouses and relatives long gone. How to reach out to them?
"Hello."
"Hello? Is Mr. Looney there?"
"Yes, this is he or she."
"My name is Helpful. The City of Fremont told me to call you about the project you are doing for Make A Difference Day. Do you need more help? My child needs service learning hours."
"We would be delighted to have you, but I am a rogue volunteer for Compassion Network, not the City of Fremont ..."
"No problem as long as we can get involved ..."
And so things proceeded as I passively assembled a team starting about a day before the project, because that was when I first learned for sure that the dumpster would be delivered. Much of the credit goes to the school policy of requiring children to get service learning hours to graduate. Thankfully, the ACLU hasn't stepped in to stop the morally corrosive effects of Christians teaching and directing children in the process of caring for the elderly. Another aspect is the perpetual preaching that Christians need to be actively seeking out people to help, rather than simply dealing with those we come across in daily life like the Good Samaritan did. The pattern should be more like Jesus forcing his disciples to row across the Sea of Galilee just so he could heal one demon possessed madman in the tombs, followed by rowing all the way back. Fitness and charity certainly go together.
The curious result is that we seem to have a shortage of needy elderly compared to the people who actually are willing to help. At least this is the way things appear on the surface. Once a whiff of the project got out, people were looking to get involved. On another level, the vast majority of work still isn't being done. We hear stories of lonely and fearful elderly people shut in their houses with spouses and relatives long gone. How to reach out to them?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Charity job complete ...
It has been a long day, so I will post something and neglect the rest of blogdom. We destroyed and removed an old rotting shed along with many other chores. This resulted in a lot of newly homeless lizards. The heart of one young man melted as we came across this adorable little one, so he decided to adopt it.
Most of the time you simply can't get in and out of a project and go back to your old life without any changes. New relationships are established which simply must be furthered, either in the case of the widow whose yard we have decided to clean up, or the poor homeless lizard. Each volunteer sees or knows something that the others don't, so we endlessly learn from one another. The projects are invariably as much of a benefit to the volunteers who give their time and resources as for the recipients.
It has been a long day, so I will post something and neglect the rest of blogdom. We destroyed and removed an old rotting shed along with many other chores. This resulted in a lot of newly homeless lizards. The heart of one young man melted as we came across this adorable little one, so he decided to adopt it.Most of the time you simply can't get in and out of a project and go back to your old life without any changes. New relationships are established which simply must be furthered, either in the case of the widow whose yard we have decided to clean up, or the poor homeless lizard. Each volunteer sees or knows something that the others don't, so we endlessly learn from one another. The projects are invariably as much of a benefit to the volunteers who give their time and resources as for the recipients.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Charity and Liability.
' "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.' - Matthew 6:1-4
I am coordinating a charity project and an announcement is mandatory which lists me as the person to contact. That means I don't get a heavenly reward, but at least I can rejoice that others who help out will have an opportunity to get their reward. What is really on my mind in these events isn't so much the heavenly reward as the potential earthly punishment if something goes wrong. Yes, we have liability waivers, but that is no restraint to a lawyer. What if someone gets hurt? Then there are those time delay things. Someone might get leukemia a year later, than go back and find out that we had used weed killer or paint or ... for the project. If I were poor and homeless, none of that would matter. The truth is that I am wealthy and like my lifestyle, which is the reason that I would be a tempting target for a lawyer anyway. Should fear of lawyers be affecting our decisions regarding helping others?
' "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.' - Matthew 6:1-4
I am coordinating a charity project and an announcement is mandatory which lists me as the person to contact. That means I don't get a heavenly reward, but at least I can rejoice that others who help out will have an opportunity to get their reward. What is really on my mind in these events isn't so much the heavenly reward as the potential earthly punishment if something goes wrong. Yes, we have liability waivers, but that is no restraint to a lawyer. What if someone gets hurt? Then there are those time delay things. Someone might get leukemia a year later, than go back and find out that we had used weed killer or paint or ... for the project. If I were poor and homeless, none of that would matter. The truth is that I am wealthy and like my lifestyle, which is the reason that I would be a tempting target for a lawyer anyway. Should fear of lawyers be affecting our decisions regarding helping others?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
