An excellent, excellent article about the cultural abandonment of the magic and merits of manual labor. Not knowing how to use your hands is bad. Period.

And not appreciating knowing how to use your hands is worse.

MercatorNet sends another one sailing out of the park - this time it's about Richard Dawkin's campaign against theism:

Dawkins confuses religion and the use of religion – I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt intellectually and assume he does so deliberately -- in order to promote his thesis that religion is evil. Religion itself is not evil – just as science is not evil – but it can be used for evil purposes, just as science can.

Using religion to convince the 9/11 terrorists to commit mass murder by knocking down the World Trade Towers was a profoundly evil use of religion. Using airplanes to carry out that evil was a profoundly evil use of aeronautical science. However, Dawkins looks only at the evil uses of religion – never the good it effects -- and only the good uses of science – never the harms it does. A balanced ethical approach requires us to recognise both the goods and harms of both religion and science, and to try to stop the evil uses and to promote the good ones of each.

Read the whole thing.

Having children in an anti-children culture:

In an era of sound bites in the battle of ideas, moms and dads are on the frontlines in defending the family in about 15 words or less.

Light book sale this morning, but I found some Dorothy Sayers, George MacDonald, and Albert Schweitzer. Also picked up a historical novel on St. Patrick, an imaginative literature textbook/anthology, and a philosophical work on Money and the Meaning of Life. Oh, and another copy of The Robe: I think I have three now.

Michael Yon has a good grassroots perspective on the intricacies of the Iraq war. His latest dispatch documents the quiet but dramatic arrest of a high-ranking Iraqi coalition official.

"Blink" or "Think": an article about making decisions.

Free markets mean open borders. Absolutely.

(HT: Instapundit)

After prayerfully considering some thoughtful concerns from a good friend, I have elected to drop the political component of this blog - indefinitely. I see nothing intrinsically wrong with paying attention to politics, but I see great danger in becoming overly entangled. So, with a last "good luck" to Ron, I'm stepping back to clarify my priorities and generally refresh my perspective.


There are two great lies that I've heard / The day you eat of the fruit of that tree / You will not surely die / and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class Republican / and if you want to be saved / you have to learn to be like Him....

My first allegiance is not to a flag / a country, or a man / my first allegiance is not to Democracy or blood / it's to a King and a Kingdom....

-Derek Webb

Here's an excellent essay on head coverings from one of WORLD Magazine's most thoughtful writers: Andree Seu.

I read in 1 Corinthians 11 that the woman's head is to be covered in worship. The modern Christian consensus tells me that is a relative and obsolete command, dealing with some first-century problem in the city of Corinth. My high-school literary skills tell me otherwise: The command is rooted in creation (verses 7-9) and in nature (verse 14). And if that weren't ironclad enough, I am to cover my head "because of the angels."

The angel detail is so cryptic, so off the wall, so without explanation, that it becomes the strongest argument of all. Where is the "cultural relativity" case now, where angels transcend all historical agitations?

Dan of Cerulean Sanctum posts a scathing but clearheaded critique of modern prophecy and includes a compelling story of a true "word of knowledge."

YEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron Paul: nowhere on Gallup, everywhere on youtube.

I hope there aren't a bunch of unethical supporters (or detractors!) distorting the stats.


Also, LVMI has just uploaded an economics book by Paul in PDF format.

Alcohol, ethics, and Christian liberty at the Evangelical Outpost.

Post-SC-Debate Ron Paul roundup:

• "Educating Rudy"
• Direct response to the Guiliani confrontation
• In this must-read article, LVMI explains and applauds Ron's conservative, common-sense stance on international relations

UPDATE: The Dallas Morning News comments:

In the heat of the moment, this former New Yorker wanted Mayor Giuliani to stalk across the stage and slap Mr. Paul silly. But on reflection, I grudgingly concede that Mr. Paul did us all a favor. He had the guts to suggest before a hostile audience that America needs to think harder about how projecting military power around the world in our customary manner creates blowback. As emotionally satisfying as Mr. Giuliani's response was, indignation is not an argument, and 'How dare you!' is not a response. Mr. Paul was substantially correct and deserved better.

VOM, Pakistan:

The Voice of the Martyrs sources in Pakistan report that Muslim radicals have introduced a law in Parliament that any Muslim who converts to Christianity should be killed. Although the details are sketchy, intercede for this situation and ask God to move so this law does not go into effect. Pray God encourages Christians in Pakistan to be a witness for Him in spite of persecution.

CHARSADDA – On May 7, 2007, Christians in the Charsadda District received letters warning them to shut their churches and convert to Islam. The letter that set a 10-day deadline said, "All Christians should convert to Islam within 10 days or leave Charsadda. We will execute all of you if you don't convert to Islam." Copies of the handwritten letter were delivered to two churches and several Christian homes in Charsadda. Even though the police have been alerted, Christians in the area are concerned for their safety. A similar letter was delivered to believers in Mardan district. Pray God gives Christians in Charsadda courage to stand for Him. Ask for protection and peace to surround them during these uncertain times.

Garrett officially launched his new tech tutorial site - www.tech-bites.com - today. Stop by and check out the first episode if you haven't already, and maybe drop him a line and let him know what you think.

Is the media muffling Ron Paul?

It is interesting that when a candidate comes out on top during these informal voting sessions everyone automatically concludes that their supporters are "clogging the polls." Either we're facing brazenly selective statistics, or else the whole thing is a gigantic waste of time.

Introducing the delightfully devious sniglet:

Accordionated (ah kor' de on ay tid) - adj. Being able to drive and refold a road map at the same time.

It's worth it to read the whole list. And for the technicompulsive...

Toyota is doing some creative - and rather impressive - advertising.

Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear. But so do several other things - ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity. It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we shall fear no longer; but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that stage, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out fear.

-C.S. Lewis

As part of my quest to take my entire computing life online and free myself completely from local apps, I recently switched to an online accounting register to keep track of my finances. Clearcheckbook.com looked the nicest and felt the fastest and most intuitive out of the top Google results. Check it out.

Deploring the insanity of gender quotas. (HT: Instapundit)

Some thoughts on evangelism from The Evangelical Outpost.

VOM, India:

• On April 22, Pastor Jayasheelan and eight other believers were beaten by more than 90 people at a prayer meeting in Rajankunte Village. After surrounding the house, the mob shouted slogans and threatened to burn it down if the Christians did not meet them outside. After Pastor Jayasheelan and the others came out of the house, they were beaten and kicked while the police looked on. The pastor was struck on his head, back and hip. The other believers were also injured. They were later jailed in the Central Jail and released after two days. The believers befriended the other prisoners while they were in jail and shared the gospel. Some of the 20 prisoners received Christ.
• On April 29, Pastor Walter Masih was attacked by Hindu extremists while returning home after Sunday worship. Two young men asked the pastor if he could tell them about Jesus and while the pastor was sharing with them, a group of more than 15 young men started beating Pastor Walter with sticks. This happened in front of Pastor Walter's 7-year-old daughter. While he was being beaten, Pastor Walter prayed loudly for the extremists and this further infuriated them.