Rami Shapiro should stick to talking about prophets -- not panentheism

Sometimes I feel that I am still living off of the intellectual capital of my undergraduate education; that is, I'm still living off of the inspiration I once received by taking a "Prophets of Israel" course. This book reminds me of where my sense of justice and love of the rule of law all started.

But am I really living off the same capital of my undergraduate education? Or are new deposits of intellectual capital in formation? I think it's the latter.

Panentheism aside, this is a good book, specifically because it reminds us what it means to be a Hebrew, or biblical, prophet. If you started reading from the background chapter on the prophets, you would have no clue it's a panentheist book, at least in the early parts of the book.

Rami Shapiro's "The Hebrew Prophets" is very good when it sticks to talking about the Prophets. Where he talks about panentheism, the fall, it is confusing.

Here is a gem from page 2:

"The prophet is often reluctant to speak, knowing that the message will bring the messenger much pain. But in the end the prophet has no choice, and is compelled to speak by a blazing sense of God's presence and urgency. This is what it is to be a prophet: to risk a life of derision and torment because your love of God and humanity is so great that you cannot but do otherwise."

Conceived from Rape

These three women were at the 2015 March for Life rally in DC.

The black woman was pro-choice in high school, and was amidst scribbling a pro-choice essay when her mother revealed to her that she was conceived in rape. She changed her mind a result.

The white woman on the right had a daughter who was conceived in rape and loves her daughter. 

The white woman on the left was conceived in rape and had a schizophrenic mother.

These are the images you don't see.

Lil Wayne Trashes the Bible on "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape;Uses "Lord" 30 Times

"Find out where your parents stay tell my goons to go straight to your momma room

What's in your pockets? What's in your pocketbook?

We think the bible's a comic book"

"Hollyweezy," Lil Wayne, Sorry 4 The Wait 2

New Orleans MC Lil Wayne trashed the Holy Bible on his new "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape, calling it a "comic

book."

It wasn't the only religious reference in the song "Hollyweezy." He says "Lord" twice later in the song, rapping "Lord please don't let this car break down / H-Town! Lord, I've done went from Hollygrove to H-Town."

He also uses the word "Lord" at least 30 times on the entire mixtape. For example, he says the word five times in the last track "Dreams & Nightmares," and six times -- the most in one song -- on "Selsun Blue."

The lyrics are courtesy of AZLyrics. The picture is a screenshot of a recent MTV2 article.

Lil Wayne Disses President Obama on "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape

"These crooked a** cops still winning

Black man family still mourning

Black president ain't do nothing

Need a real n*gga up in that office"

"Trap House" Lil Wayne, Sorry 4 The Wait 2

New Orleans MC Lil Wayne rapped the above lyrics in a song off of his new "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape. The song "Trap House" is the second track.

The lyrics were a shot at President Obama for not doing enough in response to the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and countless other black men, teens and boys who were killed at the hands of police officers in the United States.

President Obama briefly referenced the issue of police brutality directed towards African-Americans as "the events of Ferguson and New York" in his 2015 State of the Union address Monday night.

See: http://rt.com/usa/224615-obama-sotu-glossed-ferguson/

Additionally, last December the president proposed a $263 million spending package that will "increase the use of body-worn cameras, expand training for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), add more resources for police department reform, and multiply the number of cities where DOJ facilitates community and local LEA engagement," according to a White House press release.

Critics are skeptical that body cameras will work, citing the non-indictment of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put 43-year old Eric Garner in a chokehold on camera.

Lil Wayne released the mixtape Tuesday. The screenshot above is from an MTV2 article.

WWJD about North Korea and the Sony Hack

WWJD (What would Jesus do) about the U.S. deciding to retaliate against North Korea for its alleged hacking of Sony? While the "just war" tradition is helpful, there's a quicker way to get to the point.

Here's a deductive syllogism from the Bible.

A) Jesus believed that the Torah was authoritative (The Torah is the Five Books of the Bible), per Matthew 5:17-19.

B) The Torah says "thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16)

C) The U.S. government manufactured evidence of North Korean culpability.

D) Manufacturing evidence is bearing false witness (false testimony) against your neighbor.

E) Conclusion: Jesus would not have supported retaliation against North Korea.

This syllogism avoids questions of "what kind of force is appropriate," "are sanctions appropriate," as the very premises of the government's arguments are undermined.  "Who would Jesus bomb" is irrelevant here.

Why?

The accused are not guilty.

Jesus' coming in judgment (Part 1)

In "Is Jesus Coming Soon," Gary Demar writes:

How is it possible that Jesus "came in A.D. 70? We must allow Scripture to interpret Scripture and evaluate what "coming" means in parallel passages.  Throughout the Old Testament, God "came" in judgment (Gen 11:5; Ex. 3:8; 19:9; 34:5, Psalm 18:6-17; 72:6; 104:3; Isa. 19:1-4; 31:4; Micah 1:3-5: Mal. 3:5).

As anyone can see Demar is not short on scriptural support. But he continues:

In addition, the New Testament speaks of Jesus' coming in judgment (Matt 10:23; 16:27-28; 26:27-28; 26:64; Mark 14:61-62). Notice how many times Jesus threatens to judge the churches of Asia Minor by His coming (Rev. 2:5, 16; 3:3).

At that point I had to write "good point" in the margin of my copy. But here is why:

 It makes no sense if the coming referred to in these verses is a distant coming. The threatened comings are local and particular to a certain period of time and place.

Sean Hannity interviews Muslim Imam, calls him "Evil S.O.B."

Sean Hannity, who claims to be a brother in the faith, calls a Muslim an "evil S.O.B" -- because burning bridges through the arson of insults is precisely how to "win the Mooslems over to Jesus."

Both sides make good points. The Muslim understands that law -- Sharia or not -- and ultimately authority are inescapable. It's either your law, or our law, but there will be a law.

Hannity does a good job of teasing out this Muslim's worldview, although there were many cringeworthy moments.

The 27 Books I read in 2014

The Challenge of a Changing World

"God's Word does not change.  God's world, however, changes in every generation. These changes, in addition to new findings by scholars and a new variety of challenges to the gospel message, call for the church in each generation to interpret and apply God's Word for God's people." The Editors of The New American Commentary: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

Similar things are said in N.T. Wright's foreword to "The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited." 

Wright says that "[p]art of the genius of genuine Christianity is that each generation has to think it through afresh. Precisely because (so Christians believe) God wants every single Christian to grow up in understanding as well as trust, the Christian faith has never been something that one generation can sort out in such a way as to leave their successors with no work to do."

He continued: "Like a young man inheriting a vast fortune, such a legacy could just make you lazy. All you'd have to do would be to look up things in the book, or to remember how it was when your favourite pastor used to do it, and that would be it. No room for character. No room for full human maturity--never mind full Christian maturity."

Lupe Fiasco Lists his Top Lyricists in 2014

In June, Lupe Fiasco appeared on Hot 97 to discuss WeAreOnAMission.org. But when asked who he thought were the best lyricists in the rap world, he listed 5 MCs.

1. MF Doom

2. King Los

3. Logic (over Kendrick)

4. Cassidy

5. Hollow Da Don

He also mentioned that he was feeling Young Thug and Big K.R.I.T.

The Reason I Voted Third Party in 2008 and Independent in 2012

The reason I voted third party for president in 2008, and voted independent for president in 2012 was I expected another grueling recession--a recession that doesn't have to end. For example, Japan was in a recession for 20 years and is now in a recession again.

I repeat, it doesn't have to end, in the same way that police violence doesn't have to end if nothing changes.

Deleterious, recession-exacerbating policies aren't automatically obliterated once a new president has been sworn in; and hardly are they repealed by that president. 

In fact, the next guy--in the name of saving the economy--can implement something worse and keep us down for many years.

For those reasons I couldn't vote for Obama, Romney, or McCain. Where were the differences in terms of economics and foreign policy? Civil liberties? The differences were marginal.

Libertarian economists long have believed that the worst has yet to come.

But we need the right person to alleviate the worst that has yet to come and to implement policies that will actually engender recovery -- versus someone like Obama who merely provided the illusion of saving the economy and bringing about a real recovery.

Senator Rand Paul might be that guy, and by definition he would be on the big ticket if he became the GOP nominee, so there would be less of a need to vote third party, if any. But he needs to tweak a few things; he's not as an easy pick for President as his father was. 

But that is a later post.

So is the reason why I expected "another grueling recession." But that can be summed up in a few words: "raising interest rates."