The journalistic peep show into the life of a murderer continues, as witnessed in this morning’s Denver Post:

The ultra-religious home-school curriculum that Matthew Murray ranted about in Web postings before he opened fire at two Christian centers forbids dating, rock music and “wrong clothes.” It advises young men and women to live at home until their parents release them and counsels parents to choose marriage partners for their offspring.

I suppose this information is interesting as far as it goes, but needs to be carefully qualified with three other vital insights, some of which are covered in the article:

1. The clearly misguided and inappropriate approach of the highlighted facets of this home-school curriculum represent the fringes both of evangelical Christianity and home-schooling. There are many serious believers in Scriptural inerrancy and other fundamental Christian doctrines who cannot be characterized this way.

2. Even so, this case is an isolated incident. It is not as though there is anything approaching an epidemic of Bill Gothard homeschoolers going on homicidal rampages.

3. While this information might be of tangible value if the young man had murdered members of his family, it tells us little or nothing (at least on a rational level) of why he chose to attack organizations that are in the mainstream of evangelical Christianity and detached from these specific teachings.

In the end, the clearly deranged murderer was who he was. There is no apparent rational connection of any sort between the fringe Christian home-schooling movement in which he was raised and the targets of his murderous rage.

But any inordinate attention received by this aspect of the killer’s background only feeds the ill-informed, biased opportunists who will distort reality to paint all evangelical Christians or homeschoolers with this broad brush. Just something for readers to be wary of.

Brought to you solely in the interest of heightening awareness of what kind of perverse hatred is out there…

El Presidente is keeping close tabs on the twin violent shooting incidents at Christian facilities today, including the murder of Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse. The first – and fatal – attack occurred within close proximity of my home, and thus elicits a strong reaction in itself.

Even so,most disgusting so far is the comment attached to El President’s post, a comment written by an obviously deranged and perverted coward who gives a whole new meaning to “freedom of religion”:

So the shooter killed only two and wounded two others. Too bad he didn’t have more time to get some more. Religious missionaries are very legitimate targets since they stick their noses into other people’s private religious affairs. America needs more shootings like this in the future to put the religious fanatics and loonies in their place.

What an idea: call for the murder of people with whom you disagree. (What, in the name of “tolerance”?) Sounds quite Stalinist to me.

Of course, this kind of rhetoric should be universally denounced by any decent person of any political or philosophical stripe – especially as it comes before the bodies of two young, innocent murder victims have been put in the ground.

Sick. Simply sick. I believe we all could use a little decency, sympathy, and tolerance here. Let’s hope that the perpetrator or perpetrators are brought to justice as soon as possible, and that rabidly homicidal commenters find the repentance we all need and the forgiveness none of us deserves.

Psalm 28:6-9

6 Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.

9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

May you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday, a time of growth in your gratitude to God and others.

In a story reminiscent of the Danish Mohammed cartoon protests, numerous American newspapers (at least 25, according to reports collected by Michelle Malkin) have refused to print this week’s edition of “Opus” because it’s potentially offensive to Muslims:

[Writers Group comics editor Amy] Lago said she flagged some of the syndicate’s newspaper clients for two reasons: because of the possibility that the jokes about Islam would be misconstrued and because of the sexual innuendo in the punchline.

“The strip came in and I knew we would have to send out an alert to all the newspapers,” Lago said. “I do that fairly regularly with materials that might pose issues for local areas. … We knew that because it was a sex joke, it could raise issues.

And there is another client that has issues with any Muslim depiction whatsoever.

A remarkable piece of self-censorship, especially when you consider the “Opus” cartoon that appeared exactly one week before:

The Aug. 19 “Opus” ended with a joke about the late Jerry Falwell. In that strip, Lola, fresh from a quest to become an Amish nudist, is doing yoga and talking to the penguin character Opus about who goes to heaven.

“Liberals? Evolutionists? Feminists? ACLU lawyers?” Opus asks incredulously. “Yep,” replies Lola.

“Kennedy Democrats? French people? Manly women who don’t shave … they’re all up there?” Opus wonders. “Yep,” Lola repeats.

“With Jerry Falwell?” asks Opus. “Yep,” Lola says again.

Opus looks up in an aha! sort of moment. “Goodness, must HE be annoyed!” the penguin exclaims.

“Eternally,” Lola replies.

Here’s the key section of the story:

Lago said she didn’t flag newspapers about that strip because she didn’t think readers would misunderstand the humor.“They’re not going to take it seriously,” she said.

But she did alert newspapers about the Muslim-themed cartoon because there was a question about whether Muslim readers would be offended.

Huh? There are a lot of things you could read into this double standard. Does she think Muslims are less intelligent and sophisticated? Does she think conservative Christians have a higher tolerance level? Or most likely, there is fear of potential violent repercussions from one group but not the other. This episode will make great fodder for the sequel to Mark Steyn’s America Alone.

For the record, I am opposed to government-imposed censorship – and in this case the need for censorship at all. (Tastelessness alone is not sufficient grounds for removal. As for “Opus,” I lost interest in its content & flavor years ago.) But such “dhimm” judgment and pathetic rationalization only helps to clarify why MSM newspapers are in demise. I just hope the application can’t be extended to all of Western Civilization.

Readers of my blog, you may consider sending a sympathy card (or e-card) to SquareState’s Luis and his Lefty friends. As he tells us, they’ve had a rough week. The immigration amnesty bill died (and still he blames Bush!), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination, and a Colorado court refused to overrule the parental consent requirement for minor abortions.

Hey, look, in the rough-and-tumble world of politics and public policy, any of us can have a bad week from time to time. Last November was particularly unpleasant for those of us of a more conservative persuasion. So please consider, in the spirit of graciousness and magnanimity, letting a liberal near you know that the weekend is here and that next week is certain not to be so devastating.

There’s no reason to make serious political differences a justification for deep personal animosity. Quite the opposite. Go out of your way to do something good and kind to them.

Once again, the Post‘s David Harsanyi brings an important case to light. In today’s column, he highlights the case of Phil Mitchell, a veteran instructor at the University of Colorado who was recently fired. For having views or professional practices like Ward Churchill? Hardly. Mitchell is a conservative Christian who claims he was set up. (Disclosure: Though I’ve never met Mitchell, we have mutual friends.)

To his credit, Harsanyi presents the case in a fair and balanced manner:

Mitchell can relay stories of the nasty anti-Christian bigotry he’s experienced on campus. I suspect that bias is very real. But those are the hard knocks of free speech. The question is: Do those incidents mean there is a conspiracy to remove him from CU? It may be convenient for conservatives to say yes. But we don’t really know.

Brown, a trusted figure in this state, however, can investigate this case and answer that question.

If he fails to do so, questions about the seriousness of CU’s diversity effort will again linger.

I don’t know nearly enough about the particulars to suggest whether or not there may have been a conspiracy. But the track record of how conservatives have been treated in American public universities suggests CU would be much better off giving Mitchell’s case thorough, careful public treatment than trying to quietly sweep everything under the rug.

Rex Forrest Johnson. An Afternoon with Cody. Sioux Falls, SD: Pine Hills Press, 2006.

Rating: 2 out of 5

“I am sandwiched between a seventy something woman and an even older looking man with a headset on listening to some very loud music. I can feel the vibrations of the tune as I stood next to the old geezer. Imagine what it is doing to his brain! Can we say, ‘mush brain?’ He is just bobbing his head up and down, back and forth, having a good old time…. He is oblivious to what is gong on until I tap him on the shoulder and point to my seat between them. I sat down between them and thought to myself that if this trip is 1400 miles, it is going to feel like 2800. The old man started tapping on both of his knees with open hands as if he was playing drums. The old woman and I looked at each other and smiled. I could not resist. I had to know to whom he was listening to. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, ‘Who are you listening to?’ He responded with a shout ‘Def Leppard.’ I thought to myself, ‘Who in the world is Def Leppard?’ I just nodded my head and smiled. I thought, okay dude, whatever.”

In Rex Forrest Johnson’s new Christian novella An Afternoon with Cody, the narrator and central character Walter Withers grows to learn and appreciate the strange old man with the headphones. Yet this reviewer’s journey into the book’s fictional future made the 112 pages seem more like 224 or so.

The book’s theme is primarily evangelistic, using the changed life of 72-year-old title character Cody Brill to testify the loving power of Christ to a New York sportswriter 50 years his junior. Woven inside the tale of their summertime encounter at the Sioux Falls airport is Cody’s retelling of his life story, primarily his days as a martial-arts competitor and the conflict to be overcome with his family life.

Easily the most compelling and most interesting substance of An Afternoon with Cody is the background of the aged, eccentric character. Whatever genuine emotional and spiritual gravity is to be found in the story lies therein. It’s what kept the pages turning. I would have loved to see this part of the story developed more.

Elements of the title character appear to have been inspired by the author’s own life, a longtime martial-arts instructor, husband and father who recently moved from Pennsylvania to Dell Rapids, South Dakota. Following the production of two “Christ centered screenplays,” An Afternoon with Cody is Johnson’s first novel.

Unfortunately, the book as a whole falls well short in the chronological setting. While the book is advertised as being set in the year 2020, there is very little painted in the text to convey a sense of what makes the near future at all different from 2006.

I was left wanting more, so much more of a sense of what had changed with the times. In Johnson’s future, terrorism is commonplace but seemingly trivial. America appears to be ethnically and culturally monochrome. Virtually no new technologies are introduced to spur the imagination. Instead the reader is left to believe the scarcely realistic notion that America’s secular scientific community has foisted Intelligent Design on all public school students to distract their attention from the Creator. One is left to wonder whether the author has studied the basic contours of the origins debate at all.

Johnson’s vision of a society driven deeper into moral deterioriation almost seems trite by today’s standards. While it is good that the author is conscious of a family audience and steers clear from the gratuitous, it seems there would be a way to convey deeper symptoms of alienation and depravity than the assertion that by 2020 God’s name has been removed from U.S. currency. Even so, how did American evangelicals allow their elite institutions to strip God from the public square?

The author suggests that the surviving churches in American cities circa 2020 are mere remnants of a dried-up formalism. While the gospel is a remedy for cold hearts, Cody goes too far to dumb down the Trinity to “the three amigos.” Likewise, Withers’ appellation of “Buddy Jesus” demonstrates a too shallow conception of the Savior’s majesty. But shallow theology only follows naturally from an apparently shallow conversion experience.

Before making an unexpected layover in Sioux Falls, the young sportswriter has walked through life with no serious understanding of religious or spiritual ideas and no familiarity with biblical language, truths, or stories. Yet despite no serious trauma or crisis, one mere afternoon’s conversation with the unusual sage appears destined to drastically reorient his faith, reshape his life, and develop a love for Def Leppard.

The text also is littered with technical mistakes that detract from the flow of the story. As exemplified in the passage above, an abundance of typographical errors, inconsistent verb tenses, and dangling prepositions – along with the claim that King David’s story is located in the book of Acts – belie the acknowledgment that the novella had at least five different proofreaders.

After another round of careful editing, An Afternoon with Cody could better be condensed into a gospel tract booklet or expanded into a full-length novel with a richer setting and deeper character development. Otherwise the best this reviewer could say is: “Okay dude, whatever.”

Ben DeGrow, M.A., Husband, Father, Church Leader, Student of Scripture

Thanks to Stacy Harp at Active Christian Media for the opportunity to read and comment on this book. No remuneration was paid for this review.

John 1:14 (NASB) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Wrote Charles Wesley:

Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail th’Incarnate Deity -
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.
Hark the herald, angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!

Merry Christmas to all!

As usual, Cal Thomas puts things into perspective:

For a messiah figure to succeed, he must be matched to the real, not perceived, needs of his disciples. Are those needs economic and political, or are they moral and spiritual? If the former, by all means, vote for the best “deliverer.” If the latter, I can only give you what the angel Gabriel told Joseph about that Messiah: “He will save his people from their sins.”

That’s a real need no political messiah can meet. But the authentic Messiah can.

As always, whenever this important holiday time arrives, there are many things to be thankful for: the grace of God, a loving and faithful wife, a healthy and beautiful baby daughter, the freedoms we hold dear in the United States, creature comforts & blessings beyond number, Jim is back home from the hospital … I could go on and on.

But just two important passages to quote for reflection on the eve of Thanksgiving Day 2006. First, a psalm of David from the Scriptures:

Psalm 103:1-5 (NASB)

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;

3 Who pardons all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;

4 Who redeems your life from the pit; who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

And Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation that set aside the holiday we still observe today. Let’s not forget its intended purpose:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. [emphases added]

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thousands of Coloradans have already cast ballots through the early and absentee voting process. And a new 9NEWS poll shows that the voters are giving a thumbs-up to Amendment 43 (55-38), which would enshrine traditional marriage in the state constitution. At the same time, Referendum I’s “counterfeit marriage” scheme has dipped dangerously below the 50-percent mark (48-44). Support has slipped much more for the latter since initial polling was done.

A purely political explanation for the trend is the quality and extent of advertising. Opponents of Amendment 43 launched the lame ad with an actor portraying President Bush that never came around to give voters a real reason to oppose it. On the other hand, opponents of Referendum I have upgraded their arsenal recently with an ad highlighting the measure’s potentially costly fiscal effects, a smart move politically.

One week out from Election Day, my prediction for Amendment 43 is passage with 57 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Referendum I has moved from “narrowly pass” to “too close to call.” I don’t see it getting more than 51 percent either for or against. At this moment, my other ballot measure predictions remain unchanged.

Other predictions? While it may be true that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has an “unscientific” feeling about his own momentum, it just isn’t going to be enough. A lot of pundits and observers will be surprised at how close the final results are in this race – Bill Ritter by 4 or 5 points, I say. While Beauprez may not get his own campaign across the finish line, any help he gives to the GOP’s late Get Out The Vote effort will be crucial to other races.

Hence, a few other predictions to share in the final 7 days of Colorado’s campaign 2006: All the other Republican statewide nominees will win but by varying degrees. Attorney General John Suthers has the easiest time, netting 58 percent of the vote. Mike Coffman will become Secretary of State by a 54-to-46 margin. Mark Hillman will be able to drop the word “interim” from his resume to become the next treasurer, but the margin will be too close for comfort (51-49).

Democrats pick up a net gain of one seat in the state senate for a 19-16 edge, while Republicans find a ray of hope by gaining three seats and narrowly retaking the state house, 33-32.

Neal McCluskey at the Cato Institute Blog has a must-read post on how universal vouchers or tax credits could be used to end the high-stakes political creation-evolution debates. This is an argument I’ve made before, and I’m glad to see it “up in lights,” so to speak:

Of course, the creationism conflict in Kansas – and, indeed, across America – isn’t a prize fight. It’s a battle between the deeply held values of regular people, and unlike Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, Kansas children, parents, and other citizens aren’t being richly compensated for the punishment they’re taking. They’re fighting because they have to. They all have to support one system of public education, and they all, rightfully, want their beliefs and morals respected.

And so the fight goes on, into rounds we lost count of long ago.

Thankfully, there is a way to end this death match, but it will require that both combatants do something that so far they’ve seemed unwilling to consider. Rather than exchanging blows in perpetuity, they could agree to let each other have what they want. They could cease forcing all people to support a single system of government-created and government-run schools, and implement school choice, giving parents control over their children’s education by letting them pick schools that share their values.

It just makes so much sense to me. It’s a short post (I clipped a little more than half of it) – go ahead and read it all.

The Washington Post strongly suggests that President Bush’s veto of expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research is a political loser for Republicans. If so, it may have something to do with the conflation and misinformation with which the story is frequently purveyed on mass media outlets.
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James L. Garlow. The Da Vinci Codebreaker. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2006.

“In one sense, The Da Vinci Code has done Christianity and the Bible a great favor, sparking questions believers should have been asking and answering long before reading about ‘the code.’ If people will seriously examine the historical data, they will know what they believe and why they believe it.”

So writes Dr. James Garlow in the preface of his concise and easy-to-use new reference tool, The Da Vinci Codebreaker.

As American evangelical Christianity continues to broaden and stretch, the need for solid depth in a biblical foundation becomes more apparent. That some Christian believers would shrink in doubt and embarrassment before the dubious conspiratorial rantings of a best-selling novel is the latest and clearest example.
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I may be considered anathema among many fellow Christians and social conservatives, but I agree wholeheartedly with fellow RMA blogger Michael (second time I’ve linked and quoted him in one week…wow!):

I believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman. I believe marriage is a Sacrament, instituted by God, affirmed by Jesus, and not particularly subject to the whim of judges in the state of Massachusetts or any other state.

However, the Constitution has granted the right and duty to decide licensing details to the several states. And it is in that forum that such decisions should be made–not Congress.

If the Senate were really interested in this issue, it would dedicate this week to passing a long slate of judges out of committee, to the floor, and through confirmation, rather than alter the Constitution to deal with this one, limited issue.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which is destined to fail anyway (getting a simple majority of support in the Senate will be very difficult, and 67 votes are needed for passage), is an unnecessary and wasteful step to take, in my opinion.

On the other hand, supporters of traditional families in Colorado should look to sign the Colorado Marriage Amendment (CMA). I share the convictions of Dennis Prager but believe that the FMA is an imprudent tactic, since such a provision is not suited for the United States Constitution. The Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996 is entirely appropriate and most effective to prevent any state from having to recognize a “same-sex marriage” performed in another state.

For those who are unconvinced, here are some more in-depth sources to investigate. Begin by reading LaShawn Barber’s “The Nationalization of Marriage” from July 2004, which has plenty of links. Lest you doubt her strong Christian moral credentials and wonder how she can balance them with opposition to the idea of an FMA, also read her latest post.

You may also want to check out Dale Carpenter’s policy paper for the Cato Institute or – if you don’t have time to read – listen to him discuss the FMA on a brief podcast.