China's New Legal Eagles

China's New Legal Eagles - Christianity Today Magazine: "'We pray that a Chinese Martin Luther King will arise from the church in China,' say Christian leaders of the new Human Rights Protection Movement (HRPM)."

What's the Matter with Liberals?

This article points out the bias of liberals.

They don't like the marketplace decisions people make when they have economic freedom, so liberals want to force everyone to make the right decisions with their money. On the other hand, which he doesn't mention, they hate constraints on moral issues. They don't want anyone saying what is right and wrong for others regarding morality.

Conservatives, on the other hand, don't like people making immoral decisions. But they hate anyone telling them what to do with their money.

In either case, it comes down to control, doesn't it? We want to control others' behavior to come in line with our values, but we resist others making us do what they want.

Christians shouldn't fall into either of these camps. Our leader taught us the values we follow:

"You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first should be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."

From Will:

"Their campaign [against Wal-Mart] is liberalism as condescension. It is a philosophic repugnance toward markets.... Liberals, aghast, see the choices Americans make with their dollars and their ballots, and announce -- yes, announce -- that Americans are sorely in need of more supervision by ... liberals.

Before they went on their bender of indignation about Wal-Mart (customers per week: 127 million), liberals had drummed McDonald's (customers per week: 175 million) out of civilized society because it is making us fat, or something. So, what next? Which preferences of ordinary Americans will liberals, in their role as national scolds, next disapprove? Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?

No. The current issue of The American Prospect, an impeccably progressive magazine, carries a full-page advertisement denouncing something responsible for ``lies, deception, immorality, corruption, and widespread labor, human rights and environmental abuses'' and of having brought ``great hardship and despair to people and communities throughout the world.''

What is this focus of evil in the modern world? North Korea? The Bush administration? Fox News Channel? No, it is Coca-Cola (number of servings to Americans of the company's products each week: 2.5 billion).

When liberals' presidential nominees consistently fail to carry Kansas, liberals do not rush to read a book titled ``What's the Matter With Liberals' Nominees?'' No, the book they turned into a best-seller is titled ``What's the Matter With Kansas?'' Notice a pattern here?"

Building a Religion That Spreads

From Seth Godin's blog on Sept 6:

"We can learn an important lesson about ideaviruses from religions, because they are in many ways the original (and longest-lasting) examples of the genre.

If you want to build a religion that spreads, here are some things to build into it:

* Bias for evangelism
* Sharp distinction between insiders and outsiders
* Presumption that insiders are 'right' or 'blessed' or 'advantaged'
* Proscription against intermarriage without conversion
* Forbid one gender to work outside the home
* Central hierarchy that maintains the faith and settles disputes
* Offer significant (very) long-term benefits to believers

Very few organizations have the ability to deliver on all of these opportunities, but in the secular world, many brands do most of them. This works for Harley-Davidson (and certainly the Hells Angels). It works for the latest teenage trends. It works for some politicians. It even works for some computer operating systems and languages."

How Much Are Your Beliefs Worth?

Is there anything you believe in that you are willing to die for?

Most Westerners see the forced conversion of the Fox journalists in the Middle East as despicable because it violates human rights we believe in - individual freedom, including freedom of choice.

However, Mark Steyn comments below that most Easterners are not looking at the violation of the individual. They see the conversion as a sign of the moral bankruptcy of the West, that individuals don't have anything they believe in strongly enough they are willing to die for. Are they correct?

"...for the Fox journalists and the Western media who reported their release, what's the big deal? Wear robes, change your name to Khaled, go on camera and drop Allah's name hither and yon: If that's your ticket out, seize it. Everyone'll know it's just a sham.

But that's not how the al-Jazeera audience sees it. If you're a Muslim, the video is anything but meaningless. Not even the dumbest jihadist believes these infidels are suddenly true believers. Rather, it confirms the central truth Osama and the mullahs have been peddling -- that the West is weak, that there's nothing -- no core, no bedrock -- nothing it's not willing to trade."

Banned Chinese director to defy orders

Listen to the defiance in this statement. He is appealing to his personal rights, which will become a stronger and stronger motivator in modern China.

Is it artists that will lead the way in pushing for more individual freedom? They will probably give voice to it, but I think it is swelling up in the hearts and minds and stomachs of all this generation of China's pampered only children.

By the way, this also seems like a good way to guarantee his movie is a hit in the DVD shops around China! It seems like a little controversy helps in every culture, and maybe especially in one that is strongly controlled.

"'I won't stop making films. I will definitely continue to make films,' he told The Associated Press by phone.

'The ban is unreasonable. This is my personal right. As the film regulator for a region, you can ban my film from being shown in that area, but you don't have the right to stop a certain director from working. That is ridiculous,' Lou said."

Americans on Religion and Politics

Americans are strongly religious, and deeply engaged in political discussion. Most of the time, they don't know how to reconcile these two.

"Large majorities of Republicans (87%), independents (65%) and Democrats (60%) denounced efforts by liberals to minimize religious influence in the public square, including 70% of conservative and moderate Democrats. Just 38% of liberal Democrats expressed this view.

The survey also found that two in three respondents (67%) characterize the United States as a Christian country. A decade ago, 60% so described the nation.

Most of those surveyed (78%) also view the Bible as the word of God. But only 35% believe it should be taken literally."