The Salty Peanut Gallery

Are you as confused as I am over the US economic crisis? Admittedly I am the world’s worst when it comes to understanding finances, but wrapping your mind around the complex issues that surround the current situation is a challenge for anyone. I’ve done a little research and in a nutshell here’s how I understand it.

For over a year now the US economy has been slowed by a reduction in the availability of credit. Two big issues are contributing to the problem. First is the decision by lenders to make risky subprime mortgages available to homebuyers under relaxed standards resulting in a record number of defaults. Second is the practice of bundling and trading bad loans along with good loans making it virtually impossible to know which loans are good and which are bad. Over time this has created widespread uncertainty which has frozen credit markets. Consequently it is becoming difficult for the economy to function since business needs credit. Now we are told that Big Brother must step in and save us.

Things get even more complicated when you factor in the effects of energy dependence. Then to make matters worse law makers are compelled to inject partisan spin into the process in hopes of scoring political points with their constituents. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers but no one is willing to claim any of the responsibility. And while throwing money at the problem may put a band aide on the bleeding, one wonders if anything meaningful will be done to address the heart of the problem.

Dr. Albert Mohler has written a great piece on A Christian View of the Economic Crisis. In it he explains:

…the current crisis sheds light on what happens when things get out of control, when various pressures distort the proper operation of the markets, and when irrational valuations entice investors to make poor investments. Dishonesty enters the picture at many levels, and the individual investor is too often left in the dark.

When these things happen the economy is threatened by a lack of trust, and trust is the most essential commodity of all when it comes to economic transactions. Without trust, the entire system collapses.

I’m reminded again of the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians where Paul compares the foolishness of this world to the wisdom of God. “We speak wisdom among those who are mature,” writes Paul, “yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing (1 Corinthians 2:6).” It seems to me that we are seeing these words being played out right before our eyes. Greed, dishonesty, questionable business practices are all part of the wisdom of this age and are utilized by the rulers of this age. Michael Spencer gives a sobering reminder of this all “coming to nothing.”

So how should Christians view this economic crisis? According to Dr. Mohler:

Christians should look at the economy as a test of our values. The Bible values honest labor and dedicated workers, and so should we. The Bible warns against dishonest business practices, and we must be watchful. False valuations are, in effect, lies. Dishonest accounting practices are just sophisticated forms of lying. Insider information is a form of theft.

The Bible honors investment and thrift, and Christians must be wary of the impulse for short-term gains and pressure for instant profit. Over the long-haul, the entire economy must prosper if the vast majority are to do well and realize a responsible gain.

Sometime yesterday our good friend, Byron, over at The No Kool Aid Zone had the misfortune of being hacked. Attempts to enter the site were met with the following message:

We have assumed control
We have assumed control
We have assumed control
We have assumed control
We have assumed control

Fortunately Webbie-Dude Paul was on top of it and was able to get things up and running in no time. Speculations as to “what the motivation of the lifeless loser(s) was who decided to create this mischief” have lead to various ideas, anything from being the work of a political left-winger to space aliens. As a public service we offer these insightful observations.

Top Ten Signs Your Co-Worker is a Computer Hacker

#10. You ticked him off once, and your next phone bill was for $20,000.

#9. He’s won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes 3 years running.

#8. When asked for his phone number, he gives it in hex.

#7. Seems strangely calm whenever the office computer network goes down.

#6. Somehow gets HBO on his PC at work.

#5. Mumbled, “Oh, puh-leeez” 95 times during the movie “The Net”.

#4. Massive 401k contribution made in half-cent increments.

#3. His video dating profile lists “public-key encryption” among hobbies.

#2. When his computer starts up, you hear, “Good Morning, Mr. President”.

And the #1 sign your co-worker is a computer hacker:

You hear him murmur, “Let’s see you use that Visa card now, Professor I-Don’t-Give-A’s-In-Computer-Science!”

The Contemporary Christian music world was shocked and saddened over the recent announcement that famous Christian vocalist, Ray Boltz, is gay. Best known for the song “Thank You” and a host of others, including “Watch the Lamb,” “The Anchor Holds,” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb,” Boltz granted an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade, a weekly newspaper to the Washington DC gay community. In it he shared his coming out journey. Boltz explains:

I’d denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, “I’m still gay. I know I am.” And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore.

A year after retiring from the music industry, he and his wife separated in the summer of 2005. Boltz moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where he could start fresh, live a low-key life and get to know himself. That Christmas while sitting around the kitchen table at his daughter’s house, he finally found the courage to share with the family what had been bothering him for so many years. From that point on continuing to pretend was no longer an option. Certainly it was difficult for the family, but Boltz explains, “I was offered support and love from each member of my family, including my wife.” Now divorced, He and his wife remain close.

On his website, Boltz explains that during the last few years he’s learned there are many people who feel the same way he did. He acknowledges one church in particular that has helped him in many ways, the Metropolitan Community Church founded forty years ago by Rev. Troy Perry in the Los Angeles area, catering to the LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community.

This is what it really comes down to. If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.

I feel for Ray Boltz and the turmoil he has endured. I really do. But what’s sad is that instead of finding victory over temptation through the power of Jesus Christ, he has chosen surrender to the enemy in order to gain a false sense of peace. And in these kinds of cases there are always false teachers who are willing to accommodate with their twisted doctrine those looking for answers. The Metropolitan Community Church, for example, provides several biblical reference articles on homosexuality available online. One article in particular by Rev. Dr. Mona West offers a full review of how to approach the subject of homosexuality in the Bible while staying connected to the cultural influences inherent in the text.

The Rev. Dr. offers some colorful misinterpretations of scripture in an attempt to refute the idea that homosexual relations is a sin. For example the story of Sodom in Genesis 19 is not a condemnation of homosexuality, but a story about rape and inhospitality. When God said in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 that if a man has carnal knowledge with another man “it is an abomination,” these verses are referring to an ancient Mediterranean culture in which sexual acts were a form of expressing or gaining social and political dominance. They “in no way prohibit, nor do they even speak, to loving, caring sexual relationships between people of the same gender.” In the New Testament when Paul listed male prostitutes and sodomites among the list of wrongdoers in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11, he was referring to abusive relationships where young boys were being exploited, not mutually loving and caring relationships between people of the same sex. And again in Romans 1:26-27 “Paul’s reference to natural and unnatural sexual acts must be taken in light of Mediterranean sexuality. He is not attempting to give an ethical teaching concerning homosexuality.”

Now in case these gross perversions of scripture aren’t convincing enough, the Rev. Dr. has this to say:

When dealing with matters of biblical interpretation one always needs to keep in mind the role of the authority of the Bible in matters of faith and practice. While the Bible is an important witness to the relationship between God and humanity, it is not the ultimate revelation of God—Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, is. We must guard against what some scholars have called bibliolatry—making an idol out of scripture.

Making an idol out of scripture? That’s your argument? So essentially what this means is we shouldn’t take the Bible too seriously. It’s just a book. It’s fallible. It needs philosophical and rational thought to balance it out. Bottom line is this: The Bible can’t be trusted as the authoritative written Word of God.

Well I’m sorry Rev. Dr. Mona, but I beg to differ. Science and philosophy are constantly changing, but God’s Word never changes. When people like Ray Boltz who experience same sex attraction try to say God made me this way, scientifically we now know that this is false. In March of last year, the director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins, definitively announced that there is no gay gene. There is no genetic cause for homosexuality. The cause isn’t biological. The cause is spiritual.

Paul writes in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Each of us are born with an attraction to sin. We battle with it our entire lives. Some would say that pointing this out justifies hatred, condemnation and exclusion. You tell me. Is it more loving to justify behavior that ends in destruction or to point out the way of escape?

In an interview with The Associated Press Matt Damon shared his concerns over Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate. To Damon it seems the thought of Governor Palin being a heartbeat away from the presidency is “scary”, “a disaster”, “absurd”, “terrifying” and “crazy”.

Let’s look closer at what he had to say.

I think there is a really good chance that Sarah Palin could be president. And I think that’s a really scary thing because I don’t know anything about her. I don’t think in eight weeks I’m going to know anything about her. I know that she was a mayor of a really, really small town. And she’s governor of Alaska for less than two years. I just don’t understand… I think the pick was made for political purposes but in terms of governance it’s a disaster.

I see, so when it comes to governance, being a mayor of a really, really small town and being a state governor for less than two years is a disaster, but being a community organizer and being a junior senator is perfectly fine. Picking Senator Obama wasn’t at all for political purposes, but picking Governor Palin was. Thank you so much for clearing that up for us, Matt.

You do the actuary tables and there’s a one out of three chance, if not more, that McCain doesn’t survive his first term and it will be President Palin. And it really…we were talking about it earlier…it’s like a really bad Disney movie. The hockey mom. “I’m just a hockey mom from Alaska.” And she’s the president. And it’s like she’s facing down Vladimir Putin and using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink. It’s absurd. It’s totally absurd. And I don’t understand why more people aren’t talking about how absurd it is. It’s a really terrifying possibility. The fact that we’ve gotten this far and we’re that close to this being a reality is crazy, crazy.

According to Damon, Senator McCain apparently has one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel. This is the part that really makes my blood boil. The hypocrisy and the double standard here is absolutely mind blowing. Here he is denigrating the Governor for being a hockey mom. Are you kidding me? How much more sexist can you be? What ever happened to equality for women? I thought liberals were supposed to be for women’s rights. So it would seem that equal rights for women and minorities only apply to liberal woman and liberal minorities. Conservatives may not be afforded such rights. This would explain the elite media’s fawning over Obama as though he were the anointed one, while falling all over themselves in an effort to dig up new dirt each day on Sarah Palin.

I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago, that’s an important…I want to know that. I really do. Because she’s going to have the nuclear codes. I want to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago. Or if she banned books or tried to ban books. We can’t have that.

For the record the Governor has acknowledge her belief in a Creator and has supported allowing creation to be discussed in the classroom. While it’s true many creationists believe in a relatively young earth, Sarah Palin has never said when she thinks dinosaurs were here. So why is this even an issue? I’ll tell you why. Have you notice how there seems to be a concerted effort among the liberal elites these days to paint Christians as being out of touch with reality? Being a Christian automatically disqualifies you from running for public office because it is proof positive that you are out of the mainstream in society and therefore incapable of making rational decisions.

This is not the first time we’ve heard this. You may recall an article I posted back in January over outrages statements made by Dr. Gilbert Omenn, professor of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Public Health at the University of Michigan. Omenn expressed worry over “a president who didn’t believe in the evolution arguments” suggesting that “this is a way of leading our country to ruin.” Never mind the fact that this country was founded by men who believed that “all men are created…”

So it would seem the battle lines have been drawn. If recent polling data is any indication, though, it appears there may be a backlash from all the Sarah bashing going on in the media. Things aren’t looking quite as certain in the Obama camp as they once were. Stay tuned, it should get interesting.