Today as I was ordering a Greek salad at Atlanta Bread Co., a late middle aged woman asked me if I was "still at St. Petersburg College." At first I was perplexed. I do not know this woman. I teach at St. Petersburg College, but something about the tone of her voice made me feel quite skeptical.
Then, upon refusing to answer, she re-stated the question. The truth of her intent then became known. This middle aged woman was asking me not if I taught at the local college, but was wondering if I was still a student at St. Petersburg College!
Upon her line of reasoning being unveiled, I looked at her and said, "Excuse me?" Then I stated somewhat intrepidly, "I have two master's degrees from Duke University and three years of Ph.D. studies."
I am still unsure whether or not this lady's query was an innocent mistake or whether or not she was trying to belittle a man nearing her age. I am, after all, thirty seven years old, not to mention having a full beard.
After sitting down with my Greek salad I was reminded of how in 1989, when I was only 17 years old, Tianamen Square in China pitted Chinese intelligentsia against the forces of communism. Egalite' so said the French Revolutionary! "All resources are to be controlled by the state" so did the Communist Chinese Revolutionary continue such false egalitarianism. But, in the end, "equality" is never quite equal, now is it?
"Equality" is often a thin veneer for toppling aristocracy.
"Equality" is also a "code" for denying "Equal Opportunity based upon merit!"
"Separate, but equal" proved to certainly be 'separate,' yet never quite equal.
And so, in the current trend towards socialist ways of the American populace, a new uprising will now occur. An uprising on behalf of Christianity. Yes, all men and women are created equal. But such equality (so the Jewish and Christian traditions embody) does not equal societal power independent of Virtue. Virtue, not the Chinese communist tank aimed at the solo protester, guides the founding of Republican political theory. Plato's key text on this issue, The Republic, serves as a foundation for all later Western political theory. It is by Virtue that a nation or city-state is to be led. Virtue such as courage guides the military. Virtue such as thrift guides the mercantile class. Virtue, intellectual virtue, such as prudence will guide the aristocratic political leadership class. But, and here is where the U.S. has made its "fatal error," Virtue had for a time vanished from political rule.
The woman who simply assumed that a man would be "barely finishing his associate's degree" at the age of 37 is in error. The scholar (Plato's "Philosopher-King") is to be re-instated, not by force, not by persuasion, but simply by social convention.
Harvard University Law School produced Barack Obama and now the White House is occupied by Plato's "Philosopher-King." Sadly, however, due to openly denying opportunity to persons of superior intellectual ability, the U.S. economy, rather than toppling itself will simply shift! Gone are the days of "good-ole boy G.O.P." networking in which a man like Karl Rove (who truly does not have an undergraduate degree) can ascend the ladder of political influence. In the New America, prosperity will reign. The salesperson, the under-educated man, will be forced to sell, sell, sell and sell, sell, sell she or he shall do. But, and as Plato's tri-partite view of the soul as a microcosm of society dictates, the salesperson shall serve the military and its interests, and the "top of the Pyramid" will no longer be a "bunch of good 'ole boys" who barely made it out of undergrad (if even that!), but instead the political top of the pyramid will be based upon merit. G.R.E. Scores. L.S.A.T.'s. Duke. Harvard. Yale. Princeton.
The "masses" will be the ones to now work at the bottom of the heap, hawking their wares.
The truly courageous will serve valiantly on distant shores as U.S. Military Personnel.
But, and as the 2008 election demonstrated, the "Top of the Pyramid" will be occupied by the scholar-activist. Barack. Harvard. VICTORY. McCain. Palin. Tragic flaw in G.O.P. reasoning. Barely passing the Naval Academy really ended up being no match for a Summa Cum Laude from Harvard Law School.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
The West's Decline and Coming Renaissance
I am somewhat in shock at how poorly the Barack Obama Presidency REALLY IS progressing. From making Federal tax money available to kill babies-in-utero to failing to present a balanced budget (1/2 of which is financed by debt-money) to now even re-instating the human rights abusers to power in our Nation's military, I am not sure how long this "Wave of Liberalism" can truly last.
Genocide is how Christian Historians label those regimes that practice abortion.
Those nation states that are "lenders" (e.g. China, the U.K., Japan) will now RULE OVER the Debt-Machine called the United States of American Federal Government. To be frank, it is SO BAD in the U.S. (from a Christian perspective!) that I just hope that as the U.S. continues its demise that the military does not somehow "fall into the wrong hands." I hope that TRUE Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews and others who support Christendom will somehow maintain control over the domestic-military MIGHT that is what remains of American world hegemony!
After all, our products are "second-rate" (e.g. Chrysler autos!). We have a "bad reputation" of IMPERIALISM. We have "burned bridges" with our National Allies in the E.U. (under the Bush Administration). Finally, we have turned Orthodox Christianity (Protestant, Catholic and Greek/Russian/etc. Orthodoxy) directly against the Executive Branch due to its "Culture of Death" stance--e.g. a Catholic Bishop, John D'Arcy calling for a "boycott" of Barack Obama's speech at the University of Notre Dame.
But, in spite of the decline of American hegemonic control (e.g. failed economy, ill-advised, protracted wars, etc.), in the future generations, the West itself shall survive, and I TRULY believe, the West WILL flourish. Music. Art. Pro-Christian Politics. Much should happen in the coming decade to reverse the trend towards nihilism that the Liberal side of the U.S. political spectrum represents. For example, when on tax day (April 15, 2009), tens of thousands assembled in re-enactments of the Boston Tea Party, then C-H-A-N-G-E is just around the corner! "Obama-mania" is OVER! "Cults of personality" are either the mark of Communism on the Left or of Fascism on the Right. "Cults of personality," however, are ALWAYS a B-A-D IDEA for truly democratic government!
So, what is a Christian to do for the next three and a half years?
Well, as for me, I listen to Classical Music (most of which was Christian!). I teach. I learn from history and its mistakes.
How about YOU?
All the very best in Christ, Robert J. King
Genocide is how Christian Historians label those regimes that practice abortion.
Those nation states that are "lenders" (e.g. China, the U.K., Japan) will now RULE OVER the Debt-Machine called the United States of American Federal Government. To be frank, it is SO BAD in the U.S. (from a Christian perspective!) that I just hope that as the U.S. continues its demise that the military does not somehow "fall into the wrong hands." I hope that TRUE Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews and others who support Christendom will somehow maintain control over the domestic-military MIGHT that is what remains of American world hegemony!
After all, our products are "second-rate" (e.g. Chrysler autos!). We have a "bad reputation" of IMPERIALISM. We have "burned bridges" with our National Allies in the E.U. (under the Bush Administration). Finally, we have turned Orthodox Christianity (Protestant, Catholic and Greek/Russian/etc. Orthodoxy) directly against the Executive Branch due to its "Culture of Death" stance--e.g. a Catholic Bishop, John D'Arcy calling for a "boycott" of Barack Obama's speech at the University of Notre Dame.
But, in spite of the decline of American hegemonic control (e.g. failed economy, ill-advised, protracted wars, etc.), in the future generations, the West itself shall survive, and I TRULY believe, the West WILL flourish. Music. Art. Pro-Christian Politics. Much should happen in the coming decade to reverse the trend towards nihilism that the Liberal side of the U.S. political spectrum represents. For example, when on tax day (April 15, 2009), tens of thousands assembled in re-enactments of the Boston Tea Party, then C-H-A-N-G-E is just around the corner! "Obama-mania" is OVER! "Cults of personality" are either the mark of Communism on the Left or of Fascism on the Right. "Cults of personality," however, are ALWAYS a B-A-D IDEA for truly democratic government!
So, what is a Christian to do for the next three and a half years?
Well, as for me, I listen to Classical Music (most of which was Christian!). I teach. I learn from history and its mistakes.
How about YOU?
All the very best in Christ, Robert J. King
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
My Soul Looks Back . . .
Way back in 1996, during a God-awful course in contemporary United Methodism (depressing subject if anyone knows the plight of mainline U.S. Protestantism! :-) I read a book by Black Liberation Theologian, James Cone. The book, entitled My Soul Looks Back, was Cone's personal memoirs concerning how he left the normal course of theological study and embarked upon a course of reflection for African American empowerment.
When I first read it, I must admit that I too was seeking an alternative to the quasi-Christianity that I had been increasingly experiencing in the new denomination of which I was a member, a seminarian and eventual clergyman serving within. I well remember the feelings of angst I would receive during this particular course, less owing to anything authentically Wesleyan, but more to a type of growing "gnostic" tendency whereby historical research increasingly replaced actual lived discipleship.
Eventually, through good Evangelical United Methodists such as Benji Kelly and humorous voices of dissent-against-boring-professors (e.g. Peter McGuire), I gained a bit of a following. Tear down the establishment! Elect Stanley Hauerwas (Ethics Professor/mentor) as "Pope of United Methodism" or something. Out with the old white guys and in with the "New Bucks!"
Well, now some thirteen years later and since returned to the Roman Catholic Faithful, I now realize how correct I was in my premature evaluations!
Stan Hauerwas was right! Methodism had long since "died on the vine!" Jesus Christ Himself once said, "I am the vine, you are the branches and apart from me you can do nothing." Well, given United Methodism's increasing theological and practical liberalism, anything that was historically orthodox or (God forbid!) charismatic/Pentecostal had long-since been ruled verboten by the Liberals who ran the show!
Well, although I myself am a liberal economically (as was Jesus Christ Himself! ;-) the types of morality associated with the Democratic Party (e.g. everything from endorsing homosexual unions to murdering babies through abortion) had largely infiltrated United Methodism that there was no choice but to pack my bags and return home to the Catholic Church of my boyhood.
Now the road has not been easy. I have lost a "blossoming career" as a United Methodist clergy (M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D. ABD*). I even ended up losing my wife and children in the transition back into Catholicism--less the fault of anything Catholic, and more the pernicious effects of feminism on U.S. Higher Education. But, and an important but, when walks according to Jesus Christ, when one takes up one's cross and follows Christ daily, then one will be blessed! I have been absolutely blessed to teach full-time (On-Line and at St. Petersburg College) since 2005. Now I am seeking to finally finish that "full Ph.D." that had eluded my grasp! Jesus Christ is faithful.
May the LORD Christ guard your own steps!
<>< R. King
When I first read it, I must admit that I too was seeking an alternative to the quasi-Christianity that I had been increasingly experiencing in the new denomination of which I was a member, a seminarian and eventual clergyman serving within. I well remember the feelings of angst I would receive during this particular course, less owing to anything authentically Wesleyan, but more to a type of growing "gnostic" tendency whereby historical research increasingly replaced actual lived discipleship.
Eventually, through good Evangelical United Methodists such as Benji Kelly and humorous voices of dissent-against-boring-professors (e.g. Peter McGuire), I gained a bit of a following. Tear down the establishment! Elect Stanley Hauerwas (Ethics Professor/mentor) as "Pope of United Methodism" or something. Out with the old white guys and in with the "New Bucks!"
Well, now some thirteen years later and since returned to the Roman Catholic Faithful, I now realize how correct I was in my premature evaluations!
Stan Hauerwas was right! Methodism had long since "died on the vine!" Jesus Christ Himself once said, "I am the vine, you are the branches and apart from me you can do nothing." Well, given United Methodism's increasing theological and practical liberalism, anything that was historically orthodox or (God forbid!) charismatic/Pentecostal had long-since been ruled verboten by the Liberals who ran the show!
Well, although I myself am a liberal economically (as was Jesus Christ Himself! ;-) the types of morality associated with the Democratic Party (e.g. everything from endorsing homosexual unions to murdering babies through abortion) had largely infiltrated United Methodism that there was no choice but to pack my bags and return home to the Catholic Church of my boyhood.
Now the road has not been easy. I have lost a "blossoming career" as a United Methodist clergy (M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D. ABD*). I even ended up losing my wife and children in the transition back into Catholicism--less the fault of anything Catholic, and more the pernicious effects of feminism on U.S. Higher Education. But, and an important but, when walks according to Jesus Christ, when one takes up one's cross and follows Christ daily, then one will be blessed! I have been absolutely blessed to teach full-time (On-Line and at St. Petersburg College) since 2005. Now I am seeking to finally finish that "full Ph.D." that had eluded my grasp! Jesus Christ is faithful.
May the LORD Christ guard your own steps!
<>< R. King
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Money, sex, pleasure, and why the West was won by Catholicism!
We live in a "sex-crazed" age!
Whether it's cross-dressers seeking to defy their normal biological gender specificity or whether it is the homosexual agenda seeking to normalize their union by calling it "marriage," the 'politics-of-sex' is something that is recurrent in the West!
Take the ancient Greeks prior to becoming Christians for example.
In ancient Greece, homosexuality (male-male or female-female) was practiced, as was "man-boy" love.
Looking back on those times, one can see how whenever a type of sexual relationship was deemed as "acceptable" by the governing structures, then those very governing structures would somehow become immune from any external moral critique.
Now, in 2009, state-after-state (e.g. California and Florida) are seeking to ban same-sex marriage.
Granted the Christian moral grounding of such a grass-roots movement to preserve monogamous, heterosexual marriage has been on the decline ever since the 1960's "sexual revolution," but nonetheless, the latent natural law reasoning of even liberal states such as California is claiming that homosexuality is simply not a normal practice.
But, and an important point to note, whereas the homosexual movement (e.g. "gay rights") is contrary to both the natural law and the theological view of Christianity, the move towards even viewing sexuality as primarily rooted in "pleasure" is in itself an underlying cause of why homosexuality would ever even begin to claim maritial union for itself! To separate sex from procreation, something that can be supported ironically enough from the philosophical history of sex posed by Michel Foucault, is itself to move in the direction of creating a new view of what "romantic love" even is!
Romantic love is to be contained within the covenant of marriage, yes, marriage between husband and wife, and with the intended goal of family-creation. When this end-goal is removed from the sexual act, then yes, sex becomes only something that "feels good" and the homosexual movement would, of course, see nothing wrong with also claiming their types of behavior as a type of "romance."
In conclusion, although I applaud Protestant attempts to maintain the sanctity of marriage, it is truly only the teaching of the Catholic Church which inextricably links marriage to family-creation that makes any moral sense (systematically!) concerning issues of sex.
Whether it's cross-dressers seeking to defy their normal biological gender specificity or whether it is the homosexual agenda seeking to normalize their union by calling it "marriage," the 'politics-of-sex' is something that is recurrent in the West!
Take the ancient Greeks prior to becoming Christians for example.
In ancient Greece, homosexuality (male-male or female-female) was practiced, as was "man-boy" love.
Looking back on those times, one can see how whenever a type of sexual relationship was deemed as "acceptable" by the governing structures, then those very governing structures would somehow become immune from any external moral critique.
Now, in 2009, state-after-state (e.g. California and Florida) are seeking to ban same-sex marriage.
Granted the Christian moral grounding of such a grass-roots movement to preserve monogamous, heterosexual marriage has been on the decline ever since the 1960's "sexual revolution," but nonetheless, the latent natural law reasoning of even liberal states such as California is claiming that homosexuality is simply not a normal practice.
But, and an important point to note, whereas the homosexual movement (e.g. "gay rights") is contrary to both the natural law and the theological view of Christianity, the move towards even viewing sexuality as primarily rooted in "pleasure" is in itself an underlying cause of why homosexuality would ever even begin to claim maritial union for itself! To separate sex from procreation, something that can be supported ironically enough from the philosophical history of sex posed by Michel Foucault, is itself to move in the direction of creating a new view of what "romantic love" even is!
Romantic love is to be contained within the covenant of marriage, yes, marriage between husband and wife, and with the intended goal of family-creation. When this end-goal is removed from the sexual act, then yes, sex becomes only something that "feels good" and the homosexual movement would, of course, see nothing wrong with also claiming their types of behavior as a type of "romance."
In conclusion, although I applaud Protestant attempts to maintain the sanctity of marriage, it is truly only the teaching of the Catholic Church which inextricably links marriage to family-creation that makes any moral sense (systematically!) concerning issues of sex.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sex, Economy . . .
I recently received an e-mail from a prominent African-American Church leader who asked me to pray that her Dad's name would not be "pimped" by those who would distort her father's message of love, forgiveness, and non-violent Christian commitment!
When I first read it, I obviously PRAYED!!!
But, then after praying, I thought to myself how much "sex" is a type of 'transaction . . .'
According to the Judeo-Christian (and in a similar Abrahamic vein, the Islamic) monotheistic Tradition, sex is literally the joining together of husband and wife in holy matrimony. Sex is for pleasure to be sure, but more importantly, sex is for child-rearing!
In the Second Vatican Council's Dignitatis Humanae (1965) http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/v2relfre.htm, the right for Catholic Christians to raise their children in a spirit of religious freedom, and free from state control is intrinsic to human dignity itself.
But, unless one spends tons of money to send a child to private school, the state time and time again has over-stepped the boundaries of true religious freedom. Children are taught to use condoms. Children are required to accept homosexuality as a normative lifestyle. Children are even doped full of ritalin for an entire host of artificially-constructed "mental illnesses," mental illnesses that apparently never even existed until the late twentieth century and when the drug companies of the U.S. foresaw a HUGE financial pay-off!
Truly, as Catholic moral philosopher (at the University of Notre Dame), Alasdair MacIntyre prophetically highlighted at the end of his epic treatise After Virtue, the Dark Ages of post-modernity are well upon us and it will only be through morally coherent, robust Aristotelian centers of Virtue that the Church (or anyone else . . .) can survive the onslaught against human dignity!
Barack Obama's first week following the election was marked by his assault upon life-in-the-womb.
Genocide occurs in the Sudan, yet the Bush-Cheney era was more concerned about Sadaam's oil profits than they were TRUE human rights abuses!!
The only choice for Christians, whether we are Sojourners Liberal Evangelical-Catholics (like myself . . .) or hard-liners like Richard John Neuhaus (Editor of First Things . . .) is to both discover and highlight those communities of Natural Law Aristotelian Virtue that respect the human person, foster an independent spirit (i.e. free of state-totalitarian G.O.P. control!), and also welcome children!
I, thus pledge, along with folks like Jim Wallis, Neuhaus, Stanley Hauerwas, Mike Baxter, et al to embody a different Kingdom than the capitalistic, consumer-profit-at-all-costs of the Republikaaners, and also different from the self-mutilating "suicide/abortion cult" of the Demokraats, a political party that on the one hand saved the U.S.A. from its slide towards "torture-ridden fascist Ideology," but also sought refuge in the worn out cliches of the Political Left that equate true womanhood somehow with the supposed right to murder one's babies!!! No, Barack, Hillary and the rest of you infanticide-fanatics, True Womanhood is centered in Jesus the Messiah, and modelled upon his mother, the Divine Theotokos, the head of the communion of saints, Mary.
In the Name of Jesus the Messiah and through the most blessed intercession of His mother, the Virgin Mary! --Rob
When I first read it, I obviously PRAYED!!!
But, then after praying, I thought to myself how much "sex" is a type of 'transaction . . .'
According to the Judeo-Christian (and in a similar Abrahamic vein, the Islamic) monotheistic Tradition, sex is literally the joining together of husband and wife in holy matrimony. Sex is for pleasure to be sure, but more importantly, sex is for child-rearing!
In the Second Vatican Council's Dignitatis Humanae (1965) http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/v2relfre.htm, the right for Catholic Christians to raise their children in a spirit of religious freedom, and free from state control is intrinsic to human dignity itself.
But, unless one spends tons of money to send a child to private school, the state time and time again has over-stepped the boundaries of true religious freedom. Children are taught to use condoms. Children are required to accept homosexuality as a normative lifestyle. Children are even doped full of ritalin for an entire host of artificially-constructed "mental illnesses," mental illnesses that apparently never even existed until the late twentieth century and when the drug companies of the U.S. foresaw a HUGE financial pay-off!
Truly, as Catholic moral philosopher (at the University of Notre Dame), Alasdair MacIntyre prophetically highlighted at the end of his epic treatise After Virtue, the Dark Ages of post-modernity are well upon us and it will only be through morally coherent, robust Aristotelian centers of Virtue that the Church (or anyone else . . .) can survive the onslaught against human dignity!
Barack Obama's first week following the election was marked by his assault upon life-in-the-womb.
Genocide occurs in the Sudan, yet the Bush-Cheney era was more concerned about Sadaam's oil profits than they were TRUE human rights abuses!!
The only choice for Christians, whether we are Sojourners Liberal Evangelical-Catholics (like myself . . .) or hard-liners like Richard John Neuhaus (Editor of First Things . . .) is to both discover and highlight those communities of Natural Law Aristotelian Virtue that respect the human person, foster an independent spirit (i.e. free of state-totalitarian G.O.P. control!), and also welcome children!
I, thus pledge, along with folks like Jim Wallis, Neuhaus, Stanley Hauerwas, Mike Baxter, et al to embody a different Kingdom than the capitalistic, consumer-profit-at-all-costs of the Republikaaners, and also different from the self-mutilating "suicide/abortion cult" of the Demokraats, a political party that on the one hand saved the U.S.A. from its slide towards "torture-ridden fascist Ideology," but also sought refuge in the worn out cliches of the Political Left that equate true womanhood somehow with the supposed right to murder one's babies!!! No, Barack, Hillary and the rest of you infanticide-fanatics, True Womanhood is centered in Jesus the Messiah, and modelled upon his mother, the Divine Theotokos, the head of the communion of saints, Mary.
In the Name of Jesus the Messiah and through the most blessed intercession of His mother, the Virgin Mary! --Rob
Friday, November 21, 2008
Making the M-O-S-T of LIFE!
I was recently sent a nice e-mail, encouraging me in my "growth as a Leader" (sent by a fellow Shorecrest High grad, class of '91). This successful businessman (real estate) told me that "in order to climb the ladder of success, that we can't have our hands in our pockets!" (paraphrase)
How true this is!
Often life will send set-backs.
Mortgage foreclosures. Sickness. Job insecurity.
You name it and 2008 is a pretty awful year for the U.S.A.
But, however tempting it might be to blame Bush, blame Cheney (although I like blaming Cheney! :-), it is still the lot in life that we receive by Divine Providence, and as a "test of faith!"
Joseph, the early Hebrew patriarch was betrayed by his very own brothers (thrown in a well; sold into slavery in Egypt!).
Joseph could have cried "woa is me!" Joseph could have "kept his hands in his pockets . . ."
INSTEAD, however, Joseph just kept being faithful to God. God directed his path, and lo and behold, at the end of Joseph's life he became the second most-powerful political leader (next to Pharaoh!) in the Ancient World!!
So, when life throws us lemons, MAKE LEMONADE!
God will test us, but in the end, we shall be refined as silver or gold tested in the flames of Christ's holiness!
Blessings in Jesus' Name,
Rob J. King (What I am doing Academically, by the way . . . :-)http://it.spcollege.edu/course_info/inquiry.cfm?number=1162)
How true this is!
Often life will send set-backs.
Mortgage foreclosures. Sickness. Job insecurity.
You name it and 2008 is a pretty awful year for the U.S.A.
But, however tempting it might be to blame Bush, blame Cheney (although I like blaming Cheney! :-), it is still the lot in life that we receive by Divine Providence, and as a "test of faith!"
Joseph, the early Hebrew patriarch was betrayed by his very own brothers (thrown in a well; sold into slavery in Egypt!).
Joseph could have cried "woa is me!" Joseph could have "kept his hands in his pockets . . ."
INSTEAD, however, Joseph just kept being faithful to God. God directed his path, and lo and behold, at the end of Joseph's life he became the second most-powerful political leader (next to Pharaoh!) in the Ancient World!!
So, when life throws us lemons, MAKE LEMONADE!
God will test us, but in the end, we shall be refined as silver or gold tested in the flames of Christ's holiness!
Blessings in Jesus' Name,
Rob J. King (What I am doing Academically, by the way . . . :-)http://it.spcollege.edu/course_info/inquiry.cfm?number=1162)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Defending the "Culture of Life . . ."
AN OPEN-LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT, BARACK OBAMA!
I just read today how you, Barack Obama, want to overturn 200 Executive Orders by George W. Bush! Included in these orders are National Security measures designed to protect the lives of the innocent--i.e. orders designed to limit abortion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_development); orders to keep babies from being harvested for their organs, etc.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???
As a Father of two children, why would you support the old, old Democratic Party's position of the 1970's - 1990's that promotes "death-on-demand?" Why do some of your fellow Democrats enjoy killing the defenseless?
This is completely INSANE!
Even the pre-Christian grandfather of Western Medical Theory, Hippocrates, outlawed abortion as something that physicians simply should never do! Hippocratic Ethics means that the physician seeks to safeguard LIFE! Now, in 1973 - 2008 in the U.S., even the pre-Christian Greek Pagans were MUCH MORE ETHICAL than the majority of the U.S. that supported you, Barack Obama and your anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-LIFE policies!!
Why not 'fix the economy' rather than neutering men and spading women of their TRUE reproductive rights? Why not focus on ending bloodshed in the Middle East rather than promoting it in the wombs of American women and in the sinister petri-dishes of the "mad scientists" who wrongly insist that babies must be murdered (cattle style!) in order to produce the most succulent stem-cells? (i.e. stem-cells that can be equally obtained from umbilical cord blood!)
Why are you set on death? Death of the innocent, death of the defenseless?
Well, my friend, unless you repent, truly turn your life over to Jesus Christ in a REAL-church (not that excuse for a dying, pro-death denomination called the U.C.C.!), then you my dear friend, Mr. Obama will have the blood of millions of innocent children on your hands!
Sincerely in Christ Jesus,
Rob J. King, PRO-LIFE, NON-VIOLENT, SUPPORTER-OF-HUMANAE VITAE
I just read today how you, Barack Obama, want to overturn 200 Executive Orders by George W. Bush! Included in these orders are National Security measures designed to protect the lives of the innocent--i.e. orders designed to limit abortion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_development); orders to keep babies from being harvested for their organs, etc.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???
As a Father of two children, why would you support the old, old Democratic Party's position of the 1970's - 1990's that promotes "death-on-demand?" Why do some of your fellow Democrats enjoy killing the defenseless?
This is completely INSANE!
Even the pre-Christian grandfather of Western Medical Theory, Hippocrates, outlawed abortion as something that physicians simply should never do! Hippocratic Ethics means that the physician seeks to safeguard LIFE! Now, in 1973 - 2008 in the U.S., even the pre-Christian Greek Pagans were MUCH MORE ETHICAL than the majority of the U.S. that supported you, Barack Obama and your anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-LIFE policies!!
Why not 'fix the economy' rather than neutering men and spading women of their TRUE reproductive rights? Why not focus on ending bloodshed in the Middle East rather than promoting it in the wombs of American women and in the sinister petri-dishes of the "mad scientists" who wrongly insist that babies must be murdered (cattle style!) in order to produce the most succulent stem-cells? (i.e. stem-cells that can be equally obtained from umbilical cord blood!)
Why are you set on death? Death of the innocent, death of the defenseless?
Well, my friend, unless you repent, truly turn your life over to Jesus Christ in a REAL-church (not that excuse for a dying, pro-death denomination called the U.C.C.!), then you my dear friend, Mr. Obama will have the blood of millions of innocent children on your hands!
Sincerely in Christ Jesus,
Rob J. King, PRO-LIFE, NON-VIOLENT, SUPPORTER-OF-HUMANAE VITAE
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Money, Stuff, the Apocalypse . . .
Do you believe that the end of the world is upon us? Well, if your primary source of income is the Stock Market, then 2008 might very well be the Apocalypse!
Just imagine if you had been living off of the return on your investment, and suddenly that investment not only does not produce wealth, but now even the initial investment is rapidly vanishing before your/our collective eyes! Right . . . let's blame Bush, let's blame Cheney, let's blame former Federal Reserve Chair Greenspan.
But, in each case of the economy heading south, can we not blame ourselves?
How many times have we each desired to have tons of cash without actually putting in the sweat, time, resourcefulness, etc. to achieve the status that results in wealth?
Tiger Woods diligently practices his golf swing, and thus earns millions! Michael Jordan relentlessly pursued perfection in the intra-team and individual skill sets to make him the single most successful pro athlete in history! These men and women (e.g. Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice, former Provost at Stanford) deserve their income, status, etc.
But what of the rest of us?
We really do want something for nothing. I like receiving perks, accolades, and to be frank, well, just not putting in quite the effort necessary. But, and this I owe to my staunch Catholic upbringing, from the time I was five and starting kindergarten, I worked hard, and thus through such hard work was a three year starting offensive lineman for Davidson College, boasted G.P.A.'s of 3.6, 3.6, 3.9 and 3.7 at Davidson, Duke, Duke and Notre Dame resp.
Not to boast, and in all that I do, my only boasting is in Christ, but hard work does succeed in the end.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore. I had to overcome the death of my own mother to cancer, yet in the end, the Grace of God as it empowered me, did, indeed lead to success!
So, perhaps, like chicken little, the Sky really is falling! But in the wake of such financial disaster (and like the Fall of Rome!) the end result could be beautiful. Like the book How the Irish Saved Civilization, perhaps the New Era is to be marked by societal decline for the lazy, the selfish, the corrupt, but societal regeneration for the Just.
Blessings in Christ! Rob J. King
Just imagine if you had been living off of the return on your investment, and suddenly that investment not only does not produce wealth, but now even the initial investment is rapidly vanishing before your/our collective eyes! Right . . . let's blame Bush, let's blame Cheney, let's blame former Federal Reserve Chair Greenspan.
But, in each case of the economy heading south, can we not blame ourselves?
How many times have we each desired to have tons of cash without actually putting in the sweat, time, resourcefulness, etc. to achieve the status that results in wealth?
Tiger Woods diligently practices his golf swing, and thus earns millions! Michael Jordan relentlessly pursued perfection in the intra-team and individual skill sets to make him the single most successful pro athlete in history! These men and women (e.g. Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice, former Provost at Stanford) deserve their income, status, etc.
But what of the rest of us?
We really do want something for nothing. I like receiving perks, accolades, and to be frank, well, just not putting in quite the effort necessary. But, and this I owe to my staunch Catholic upbringing, from the time I was five and starting kindergarten, I worked hard, and thus through such hard work was a three year starting offensive lineman for Davidson College, boasted G.P.A.'s of 3.6, 3.6, 3.9 and 3.7 at Davidson, Duke, Duke and Notre Dame resp.
Not to boast, and in all that I do, my only boasting is in Christ, but hard work does succeed in the end.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore. I had to overcome the death of my own mother to cancer, yet in the end, the Grace of God as it empowered me, did, indeed lead to success!
So, perhaps, like chicken little, the Sky really is falling! But in the wake of such financial disaster (and like the Fall of Rome!) the end result could be beautiful. Like the book How the Irish Saved Civilization, perhaps the New Era is to be marked by societal decline for the lazy, the selfish, the corrupt, but societal regeneration for the Just.
Blessings in Christ! Rob J. King
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Why the U.S.A. Will Now Collapse!
The other day I received an invitation to participate in (possibly present a paper at!) an Academic Conference at Oxford.
Sadly, when I read the cost of attending ($2,940 + Air Fare), I was utterly amazed at how 'dirt-poor' the U.S.A. is becoming, at least when compared to the European Union!
I will diligently try to save my own, hard-earned dollars to actually attend this conference (e.g. with degrees from places like Davidson College and Duke University, this is where I should be . . . :-), but sadly, as an Instructor at a publicly-funded college in St. Petersburg, Florida (U.S.A.), the people who 'run the show' are pernicious in excluding the best & brightest (Yale, Duke, etc.) and politically "rewarding" each other for their own lack of academic achievement . . . So, Oxford University comes calling and sadly, the poor, run-down public school system (St. Petersburg College!) is left to wallow in its own misery! After all, as The St. Petersburg Times newspaper has been diligently reporting, when people with only bachelor's degrees (and from agricultural institutes no less!) are "rewarded" for their political loyalty (i.e. by the President of the College!) and paid $60,000+ for their mediocre academic level (and again, over institutions of higher learning such as Duke, Yale, Notre Dame, etc.!), then the end result is a disloyalty, distrust even of the entire publicly-funded higher educational system!
The St. Petersburg Times alerted the public to this malfeasance, but in the wake of a Trustee's audit of its own hiring practices, sadly, the damage is already done. I must now apply outside of my hometown, work every alumni connection that I know, and possibly simply take a job outside of Higher Education.
But, Oxford University is still there!
Notre Dame, Duke and Davidson are all top-tier colleges and universities (i.e. Top 20!), and thus, the WORLD FINANCIAL ELITE will now capitalize on the illegal, discriminatory hiring practices of St. Petersburg College and other institutions built on cronyism, insider status, etc.
So, if anyone wants to help "fund my way" to Oxford, please remit any checks or money orders as follows: Rob J. King, c/o Jesus the Messiah-Christ, 12 Apostolic Drive, New Heavens and New Earth, 219 7th Ave., N. Apt. 2, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. (the second part of the address is my real mailing address!)
Blessings & Love in Jesus Christ,
Rob
Sadly, when I read the cost of attending ($2,940 + Air Fare), I was utterly amazed at how 'dirt-poor' the U.S.A. is becoming, at least when compared to the European Union!
I will diligently try to save my own, hard-earned dollars to actually attend this conference (e.g. with degrees from places like Davidson College and Duke University, this is where I should be . . . :-), but sadly, as an Instructor at a publicly-funded college in St. Petersburg, Florida (U.S.A.), the people who 'run the show' are pernicious in excluding the best & brightest (Yale, Duke, etc.) and politically "rewarding" each other for their own lack of academic achievement . . . So, Oxford University comes calling and sadly, the poor, run-down public school system (St. Petersburg College!) is left to wallow in its own misery! After all, as The St. Petersburg Times newspaper has been diligently reporting, when people with only bachelor's degrees (and from agricultural institutes no less!) are "rewarded" for their political loyalty (i.e. by the President of the College!) and paid $60,000+ for their mediocre academic level (and again, over institutions of higher learning such as Duke, Yale, Notre Dame, etc.!), then the end result is a disloyalty, distrust even of the entire publicly-funded higher educational system!
The St. Petersburg Times alerted the public to this malfeasance, but in the wake of a Trustee's audit of its own hiring practices, sadly, the damage is already done. I must now apply outside of my hometown, work every alumni connection that I know, and possibly simply take a job outside of Higher Education.
But, Oxford University is still there!
Notre Dame, Duke and Davidson are all top-tier colleges and universities (i.e. Top 20!), and thus, the WORLD FINANCIAL ELITE will now capitalize on the illegal, discriminatory hiring practices of St. Petersburg College and other institutions built on cronyism, insider status, etc.
So, if anyone wants to help "fund my way" to Oxford, please remit any checks or money orders as follows: Rob J. King, c/o Jesus the Messiah-Christ, 12 Apostolic Drive, New Heavens and New Earth, 219 7th Ave., N. Apt. 2, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. (the second part of the address is my real mailing address!)
Blessings & Love in Jesus Christ,
Rob
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Economic Justice!
While studying in the Ph.D. program at the University of Notre Dame, one of the seminars I was blessed to have taken was a course called "Christianity and the Living Wage." This course outlined the Catholic Church's recent social teaching on economic justice.
Yes, the Catholic Church is firmly Pro-Life. And yes, the "liberal" side of the Political Spectrum is not too fond of Catholic Teaching.
But, the Church is also the primary voice for true and lasting economic reform!
Secular thought usually drifts between socialism (Marxism even!) on the Left and unbridled laissez-faire capitalism on the Right!
But, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ founded by the Apostles, teaches that both private property is to be affirmed, but also that workers (which are all of us!) deserve fair and just economic compensation for our labor!
In fact, John Ryan was an early 20th century reforming priest who helped the U.S. rise out of its quagmire of economic degradation through petitioning the government for a fair wage (minimum wage legislation), anti-child labor laws, and the 40 hour work week.
But, whether it is the corporate elite who siphon millions, even billions of dollars off of us, while we hard-working Americans struggle living "paycheck to paycheck," or whether it is the socialist governmental dynamics of local, state and federal bureaucracies that shield what little tax revenue that comes in for the hiring of their cronies, the Catholic Church offers an alternative!
So, fellow Catholics (and Protestants!) let us join together and hold Wall Street accountable for its financial malfeasance! Hold them, and not we the tax-paying public, responsible for the debt-machine called capitalism! Also, although laissez-faire capitalism is unethical, let us also hold the Political Left accountable! Welfare really does produce squalor, not urban redevelopment. Communism and Marxism really are idealistic in theory, yet pernicious in practice leading to human rights abuse after human rights abuse.
In the end, Jesus Christ will return, and His People will Reign! Wall Street will be a greased slide to hell itself. The federal government will be no more (replaced by Jesus' bodily REIGN on earth!). Finally, every tear will be wiped away, and no pain will exist. This final "City of God" (to quote St. Augustine) is what we as Christians live for, but as we await Christ Jesus' physical return, let us at least make sure that the billionaire boys club and the nanny-socialist state called the Democratic Party are held accountable to CHRISTIAN LAW!
Amen and amen! Come LORD JESUS, come.
Love in Jesus the Messiah-Christ, Rob
Yes, the Catholic Church is firmly Pro-Life. And yes, the "liberal" side of the Political Spectrum is not too fond of Catholic Teaching.
But, the Church is also the primary voice for true and lasting economic reform!
Secular thought usually drifts between socialism (Marxism even!) on the Left and unbridled laissez-faire capitalism on the Right!
But, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ founded by the Apostles, teaches that both private property is to be affirmed, but also that workers (which are all of us!) deserve fair and just economic compensation for our labor!
In fact, John Ryan was an early 20th century reforming priest who helped the U.S. rise out of its quagmire of economic degradation through petitioning the government for a fair wage (minimum wage legislation), anti-child labor laws, and the 40 hour work week.
But, whether it is the corporate elite who siphon millions, even billions of dollars off of us, while we hard-working Americans struggle living "paycheck to paycheck," or whether it is the socialist governmental dynamics of local, state and federal bureaucracies that shield what little tax revenue that comes in for the hiring of their cronies, the Catholic Church offers an alternative!
So, fellow Catholics (and Protestants!) let us join together and hold Wall Street accountable for its financial malfeasance! Hold them, and not we the tax-paying public, responsible for the debt-machine called capitalism! Also, although laissez-faire capitalism is unethical, let us also hold the Political Left accountable! Welfare really does produce squalor, not urban redevelopment. Communism and Marxism really are idealistic in theory, yet pernicious in practice leading to human rights abuse after human rights abuse.
In the end, Jesus Christ will return, and His People will Reign! Wall Street will be a greased slide to hell itself. The federal government will be no more (replaced by Jesus' bodily REIGN on earth!). Finally, every tear will be wiped away, and no pain will exist. This final "City of God" (to quote St. Augustine) is what we as Christians live for, but as we await Christ Jesus' physical return, let us at least make sure that the billionaire boys club and the nanny-socialist state called the Democratic Party are held accountable to CHRISTIAN LAW!
Amen and amen! Come LORD JESUS, come.
Love in Jesus the Messiah-Christ, Rob
Monday, October 6, 2008
Fidelity, Abortion, and Why the West can now move ahead!
Barack Obama is starting to get annoying! Here is a man who claims to be a Christian, yet his voting record on the abortion issue has been almost genocidal. That's right, abortion, the intentional killing of a baby in the mother's womb is a barbaric act that had been successfully outlawed in the Western world since Emperor Constantine all of the way through the twentieth century.
1600 years of Pro-Life legislation and judicial enforcement, ALL gone in the twentieth century. That vile era that produced nazi racist paranoia, anti-semitism, euthanasia of the "unfit" and the birth and proliferation of "mental illness" as a category (Carl Jung, noted psychological theorist was also a white, Aryan anti-semitic bigot who postulated that the "Aryan" psyche, whatever that is, was 'superior' to the Jewish!) is now drawing to a close.
So, now we have Barack Obama, supposedly a born-again Christian, and his running mate, Joe Biden, supposedly Catholic, supporting infant-killing!
And so, the Catholic Church, the true Church of Jesus Christ (i.e. that which is loyal to the Bible and the episcopacy established by Christ!) is picketing abortion clinics.
I myself stood bravely in front of one for 40 minutes one Wednesday afternoon. No, contrary to media stereotypes we do not "harass" people. We, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were simply peacefully protesting with signs, rosaries and a picket line!
So, Barack, since you will likely be the next President of the United States, get ready for the picket lines!
We will march, like the black community from which you are siphoning off cheap support, and engage in Civil rights for the unborn! Those who are the most defenseless, the children, have been brutalized by people like you Barack Obama! It will now end. The Catholic Church has declared it so. Bishop Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL is the "villain" who started the PROTEST against all murder! Pope Benedict XVI, friend of George W. Bush, is also the "culprit!"
So, when you see thousands upon thousands of Latino, Anglo, and oh yes, AFRICAN CATHOLICS and PROTESTANTS descend upon Washington, D.C., you will know what happened! You are "Bull Conner" (racist police-chief of the Civil Rights era . . .) and WE are Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
IN CHRIST, PAX CHRISTI, EX CORDE ECCLESIA, Rob J. King, Gandi-M.L. King promoter of a non-violent ethic in support of the defenseless babies murdered by mommies
1600 years of Pro-Life legislation and judicial enforcement, ALL gone in the twentieth century. That vile era that produced nazi racist paranoia, anti-semitism, euthanasia of the "unfit" and the birth and proliferation of "mental illness" as a category (Carl Jung, noted psychological theorist was also a white, Aryan anti-semitic bigot who postulated that the "Aryan" psyche, whatever that is, was 'superior' to the Jewish!) is now drawing to a close.
So, now we have Barack Obama, supposedly a born-again Christian, and his running mate, Joe Biden, supposedly Catholic, supporting infant-killing!
And so, the Catholic Church, the true Church of Jesus Christ (i.e. that which is loyal to the Bible and the episcopacy established by Christ!) is picketing abortion clinics.
I myself stood bravely in front of one for 40 minutes one Wednesday afternoon. No, contrary to media stereotypes we do not "harass" people. We, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were simply peacefully protesting with signs, rosaries and a picket line!
So, Barack, since you will likely be the next President of the United States, get ready for the picket lines!
We will march, like the black community from which you are siphoning off cheap support, and engage in Civil rights for the unborn! Those who are the most defenseless, the children, have been brutalized by people like you Barack Obama! It will now end. The Catholic Church has declared it so. Bishop Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL is the "villain" who started the PROTEST against all murder! Pope Benedict XVI, friend of George W. Bush, is also the "culprit!"
So, when you see thousands upon thousands of Latino, Anglo, and oh yes, AFRICAN CATHOLICS and PROTESTANTS descend upon Washington, D.C., you will know what happened! You are "Bull Conner" (racist police-chief of the Civil Rights era . . .) and WE are Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
IN CHRIST, PAX CHRISTI, EX CORDE ECCLESIA, Rob J. King, Gandi-M.L. King promoter of a non-violent ethic in support of the defenseless babies murdered by mommies
Monday, September 29, 2008
The War Against Christians . . .
Sometimes I wonder if there is a "secret-war" against Christianity. Take the movies for example. Murder, violence, homosexuality and anything that is gratuitous in sin is what the movies glorify. Yes, yes, there are good movies, but from the blockbuster Titanic which seeks to glorify the 'myth of romantic love' as more important than eternal salvation to the Dark Knight in which complex moral dilemmas allow the Batman character to become more and more "compromised" in his belief structure (only to be lauded!), we are seeing an all-out, subtle and sometimes overt attack on Judeo-Christianity!
Now, rather than homosexual practice being classified a crime (i.e. the crime of sodomy!), homosexuality, a moral vice, is seeking to impose its standards of elicit behavior on all of society!
Abortion, the murder of a newly conceived child, continues unabated.
War, rather than avoided, is increasingly utilized as Foreign Policy!
What ever happened to Jesus' Teaching? Doesn't forgiveness, rather than 'pre-emptive strike' signal the outburst that Christians should side with? BUT, no, the Evangelical Right sided with the Political Right, and like Nazi Germany, a state-enforced terrorist action called the War in Iraq is the result!
Yes, yes, people may say, "VOTE OBAMA!" BUT, in voting against one set of evils, a vote cast for Obama is WORSE! Killing babies is MUCH worse than the injustice of the War in Iraq!
And so, again, the Christian Right will likely side with McCain, Palin and the "New Political Right!" Luckily, for ALL U.S. citizens, a vote for McCain-Palin will not only be a vote for a Pro-Life Political Party, but also through McCain's historic voting record against use-of-torture, a vote for helping to clean up a military machine that is marked by deception, fraud, and cover-up.
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE! VOTE JESUS the CHRIST!
Rob J. King (Democrat, FULLY-PRO-LIFE, and a sworn servant of YHWH, revealed ONLY through Jesus Christ the SON for Eternal Salvation!)
Now, rather than homosexual practice being classified a crime (i.e. the crime of sodomy!), homosexuality, a moral vice, is seeking to impose its standards of elicit behavior on all of society!
Abortion, the murder of a newly conceived child, continues unabated.
War, rather than avoided, is increasingly utilized as Foreign Policy!
What ever happened to Jesus' Teaching? Doesn't forgiveness, rather than 'pre-emptive strike' signal the outburst that Christians should side with? BUT, no, the Evangelical Right sided with the Political Right, and like Nazi Germany, a state-enforced terrorist action called the War in Iraq is the result!
Yes, yes, people may say, "VOTE OBAMA!" BUT, in voting against one set of evils, a vote cast for Obama is WORSE! Killing babies is MUCH worse than the injustice of the War in Iraq!
And so, again, the Christian Right will likely side with McCain, Palin and the "New Political Right!" Luckily, for ALL U.S. citizens, a vote for McCain-Palin will not only be a vote for a Pro-Life Political Party, but also through McCain's historic voting record against use-of-torture, a vote for helping to clean up a military machine that is marked by deception, fraud, and cover-up.
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE! VOTE JESUS the CHRIST!
Rob J. King (Democrat, FULLY-PRO-LIFE, and a sworn servant of YHWH, revealed ONLY through Jesus Christ the SON for Eternal Salvation!)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
It's the End of the World as We Know it . . . (but I feel fine!)
That old, old R.E.M. song, "It's the End of the World as We Know It" is as apropos today as any day!
Barack Obama, a first-term Senator, may be the next-President!
V.P. Candidate, a Pentecostal-turned Lutheran from Alaska, Sarah Palin might just rise from utter anonymity (& mothering several kids!) to become "2nd mommy in charge!"
So, when gas prices are as much as school lunches per gallon, when the Tampa Bay Rays might actually win the World Series, when Libya's President is cooing to the new American Leadership of African-American Sec. of State, Condoleeza Rice, and when the stock market needs to be "bought" at face-value ticket-price by the Federal Government in order to avoid the Next Great Depression, we know that life in 2008 A.D. is quite STRANGE . . .
BUT, as the old, old R.E.M. song goes, "but I feel fine!"
Give me that old, old timey Catholic ecclesiology complete with an authoritarian Pope who bans the heretics, unites with the Greek Orthodox and saves the day!
Give me that nice cold Icehouse beer and a Tampa Bay Rays game (yes, I am a "band-wagon" baseball fan and PROUD of it! I even now own a corporate-sponsored Rays baseball cap! ;-)
Give me Christ and nothing but Christ!
Who know, 400 years from now, Tampa Bay may be the next New York City?!
Blessings in Jesus Christ, Rob J. King, Trinitarian, Catholic, Evangelical and awaiting Christ's bodily Return to Earth!
Barack Obama, a first-term Senator, may be the next-President!
V.P. Candidate, a Pentecostal-turned Lutheran from Alaska, Sarah Palin might just rise from utter anonymity (& mothering several kids!) to become "2nd mommy in charge!"
So, when gas prices are as much as school lunches per gallon, when the Tampa Bay Rays might actually win the World Series, when Libya's President is cooing to the new American Leadership of African-American Sec. of State, Condoleeza Rice, and when the stock market needs to be "bought" at face-value ticket-price by the Federal Government in order to avoid the Next Great Depression, we know that life in 2008 A.D. is quite STRANGE . . .
BUT, as the old, old R.E.M. song goes, "but I feel fine!"
Give me that old, old timey Catholic ecclesiology complete with an authoritarian Pope who bans the heretics, unites with the Greek Orthodox and saves the day!
Give me that nice cold Icehouse beer and a Tampa Bay Rays game (yes, I am a "band-wagon" baseball fan and PROUD of it! I even now own a corporate-sponsored Rays baseball cap! ;-)
Give me Christ and nothing but Christ!
Who know, 400 years from now, Tampa Bay may be the next New York City?!
Blessings in Jesus Christ, Rob J. King, Trinitarian, Catholic, Evangelical and awaiting Christ's bodily Return to Earth!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Stealing
Today I am a victim of crime!
Unlike "accidental" incidents that might seem like stealing (e.g. someone in the office uses your coffee mug!), I was recently the victim of REAL CRIME!
On 9-18, 7 days after Patriot Day, I woke up, left for teaching (Tarpon Springs/Clearwater campuses of St. Petersburg College) and noticed that someone had actually stolen the celtic cross that sits near my front porch!
How could anyone steal a cross of Christ?
Well, short of feeling a little bit like the Bishop in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (the one who had valuable silver utensils, etc. stolen from him!), I was quite unnerved!
Was this a "hate-crime?"
Was I being "targeted" just for being a Christian?! Will the cross turn up in some dumpster after a satanic ceremony had been performed on it? (the Tampa Bay Times, a free local newspaper had recently reported a series of animal cruelty cases in which dead cats were found, decapitated heads only, in front of newspaper stands!). After all, I even know of one incident in S. Korea in which a satanic cult had been broken up. The perpetrators? Practicing satanists in the U.S. Army! (their battalion commander, a staunch Catholic, had made sure that religious-hate acts would not exist under her reign!)
OR, was this just a petty crime?
Did someone really just want the cross to decorate his/her yard with?
(the price of the actual cross was only $10 or so and bought near the Lawn care section of a St. Petersburg, FL-area Lowe's Home Improvement store--in 2007! I guess the stealing of a cross is something that a fellow U.S. citizen could somehow "justify" to himself/herself, perhaps as a symbolic act, a hate-crime maybe? More than likely, just someone who likes to steal for the pleasure of doing something wrong! St. Augustine, prior to his conversion, apparently delighted in simply stealing fruit!)
Well, whether it was a satanic hate crime, a local drunk bar-hopper returning from a Tampa Bay Rays-Boston Red Sox game, or just someone who likes to steal, I am still QUITE unsettled!
First the cross stolen, and then what should I expect next? Hate crimes are anonymous, and yes, I have been a victim before (e.g. receiving racially-motivated graffiti in college on my dorm room marker wipe-board due to my strong racially-progressive and affirmative action viewpoints!).
CHRIST-FOR-ALL! Rob J. King (victim of Christian discrimination or just a Red Sox fan annoyed that the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place? By the way, if you read this, please return the cross and it will likely reduce your time in purgatory! I just prayed a Hail Mary for your eternal salvation . . . :-)
Unlike "accidental" incidents that might seem like stealing (e.g. someone in the office uses your coffee mug!), I was recently the victim of REAL CRIME!
On 9-18, 7 days after Patriot Day, I woke up, left for teaching (Tarpon Springs/Clearwater campuses of St. Petersburg College) and noticed that someone had actually stolen the celtic cross that sits near my front porch!
How could anyone steal a cross of Christ?
Well, short of feeling a little bit like the Bishop in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (the one who had valuable silver utensils, etc. stolen from him!), I was quite unnerved!
Was this a "hate-crime?"
Was I being "targeted" just for being a Christian?! Will the cross turn up in some dumpster after a satanic ceremony had been performed on it? (the Tampa Bay Times, a free local newspaper had recently reported a series of animal cruelty cases in which dead cats were found, decapitated heads only, in front of newspaper stands!). After all, I even know of one incident in S. Korea in which a satanic cult had been broken up. The perpetrators? Practicing satanists in the U.S. Army! (their battalion commander, a staunch Catholic, had made sure that religious-hate acts would not exist under her reign!)
OR, was this just a petty crime?
Did someone really just want the cross to decorate his/her yard with?
(the price of the actual cross was only $10 or so and bought near the Lawn care section of a St. Petersburg, FL-area Lowe's Home Improvement store--in 2007! I guess the stealing of a cross is something that a fellow U.S. citizen could somehow "justify" to himself/herself, perhaps as a symbolic act, a hate-crime maybe? More than likely, just someone who likes to steal for the pleasure of doing something wrong! St. Augustine, prior to his conversion, apparently delighted in simply stealing fruit!)
Well, whether it was a satanic hate crime, a local drunk bar-hopper returning from a Tampa Bay Rays-Boston Red Sox game, or just someone who likes to steal, I am still QUITE unsettled!
First the cross stolen, and then what should I expect next? Hate crimes are anonymous, and yes, I have been a victim before (e.g. receiving racially-motivated graffiti in college on my dorm room marker wipe-board due to my strong racially-progressive and affirmative action viewpoints!).
CHRIST-FOR-ALL! Rob J. King (victim of Christian discrimination or just a Red Sox fan annoyed that the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place? By the way, if you read this, please return the cross and it will likely reduce your time in purgatory! I just prayed a Hail Mary for your eternal salvation . . . :-)
Monday, September 15, 2008
Barack, BIG OIL and newborn life!
I am really at a loss as how to explain, much less vote, in this Presidential Election. One the one hand, Barack Obama has impressed me with his poise, his intelligence, his generally good read of the economy, etc. BUT, through supporting Roe v. Wade any Christian should not vote for him! Since 1973, when Roe v. Wade overturned state law after state law barring abortions (judicial usurpation of democratic process as noted by Fr. Richard Neuhaus and others!), over 1 million children per year (40 million plus!) have been brutally and grotesquely murdered by their mommies.
Then in steps Presidential candidate John McCain, an "old, old timer" who has been a staunch advocate against military abuse (i.e. opposition to various torture bills!), is not in support of abortion, and sensing how far the Evangelical and Catholic Right had drifted from supporting the Giuliani-G.O.P., selected a staunch "family values" candidate in the Pro-Life governor from Alaska Sarah Palin.
But, an easy vote for the G.O.P. I am still reticent about . . .
The same Sarah Palin who rightly opposes child-murder (e.g. abortion!) is also the same Governor Palin who abused her position as an elected official to settle a family score in trying to get her ex-brother-in-law (a state trooper in Alaska!) fired due to a messy divorce proceedings! Should we not call her "Governor Stalin?" Sarah Stalin the new voice of women's liberation.
Okay, here the concerned Catholic (and Islamic, Jewish and Protestant) voter is left in a moral quandary.
A vote for Obama is a vote for killing babies.
A vote for McCain-Palin is a vote for dictatorial abuse of power.
In my camp lie the religious voter, the secularist who can actually think (i.e. a baby has unique D.N.A. at the moment of conception, brain waves and a heart beat, limbs, etc. in the FIRST TRIMESTER!) and it seems any and all who really care about people, rather than just cheap votes.
So, although a minority voice, once again, my support can be found neither among the Democrats nor the Republicans.
Alan Keyes, a staunch Pro-Life advocate, an African American Leader with a Ph.D. from Harvard and a moral exemplar is who will receive my vote.
Am I wasting a vote?
Well, only time will tell!
VOTE PRO-LIFE.
Love in Jesus the Christ,
Rob J. King
Then in steps Presidential candidate John McCain, an "old, old timer" who has been a staunch advocate against military abuse (i.e. opposition to various torture bills!), is not in support of abortion, and sensing how far the Evangelical and Catholic Right had drifted from supporting the Giuliani-G.O.P., selected a staunch "family values" candidate in the Pro-Life governor from Alaska Sarah Palin.
But, an easy vote for the G.O.P. I am still reticent about . . .
The same Sarah Palin who rightly opposes child-murder (e.g. abortion!) is also the same Governor Palin who abused her position as an elected official to settle a family score in trying to get her ex-brother-in-law (a state trooper in Alaska!) fired due to a messy divorce proceedings! Should we not call her "Governor Stalin?" Sarah Stalin the new voice of women's liberation.
Okay, here the concerned Catholic (and Islamic, Jewish and Protestant) voter is left in a moral quandary.
A vote for Obama is a vote for killing babies.
A vote for McCain-Palin is a vote for dictatorial abuse of power.
In my camp lie the religious voter, the secularist who can actually think (i.e. a baby has unique D.N.A. at the moment of conception, brain waves and a heart beat, limbs, etc. in the FIRST TRIMESTER!) and it seems any and all who really care about people, rather than just cheap votes.
So, although a minority voice, once again, my support can be found neither among the Democrats nor the Republicans.
Alan Keyes, a staunch Pro-Life advocate, an African American Leader with a Ph.D. from Harvard and a moral exemplar is who will receive my vote.
Am I wasting a vote?
Well, only time will tell!
VOTE PRO-LIFE.
Love in Jesus the Christ,
Rob J. King
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Artificial Reality, the 'Net and David Wilmington! :-)
The other day I received one of those Facebook application e-mails that "compares and contrasts" my different friends. The category was, of all things, who was the "most influential!"
Some names, such as Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National Party made sense! (Actually, he was considered the "most influential" of my "Facebook friends," many of whom are medical doctors, Duke University Professors, et al.).
BUT, the second most influential person was that ALL-time famous independent movie producer (and soccer coach, dad, Ph.D. student at Baylor University!), David Wilmington!
The Pope (also a Facebook friend!) apparently is not quite the "Mover & Shaker" that David Wilmington is (e.g. David, as an independent film producer, is on the Google search and thus MUST BE more influential than the POPE! ;-).
Well, as much as David Wilmington is a lifelong friend (M.T.S. from Duke; Ph.D. student in Theology at Baylor University!), due to the dynamics of Internet "search engines," etc. the "artificial reality" as created by the mass media is exactly THAT--namely, ARTIFICIAL!
BUT, and here is both the potentially interesting and also somewhat frustrating point, due to the ever-pervasive "star-producing" quality of the mass media, LEADERS can literally be FORMED OVER NIGHT (e.g. Sarah Palin, a soccer mom turned Alaska Governor turned V.P. Candidate ALL-IN-LESS-THAN 3 years!).
So, whether it is first-term Senator Barack Obama becoming "Mr. President" (or V.P. "Barracuda Palin" the point guard with a B.A. in Journalism . . .), 2008 A.D. is now the era of "mass production of fame . . . "
So, Mr. Wilmington, now that you are LITERALLY more influential than the POPE (Benedict XVI is losing his touch! :-) will you now become the next Shakespeare?!
FAME, Artificial Reality! :-)
Love in Jesus Christ, Rob J. King (Roman Catholic and still a Vatican-loyal CATHOLIC! :-)
Some names, such as Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National Party made sense! (Actually, he was considered the "most influential" of my "Facebook friends," many of whom are medical doctors, Duke University Professors, et al.).
BUT, the second most influential person was that ALL-time famous independent movie producer (and soccer coach, dad, Ph.D. student at Baylor University!), David Wilmington!
The Pope (also a Facebook friend!) apparently is not quite the "Mover & Shaker" that David Wilmington is (e.g. David, as an independent film producer, is on the Google search and thus MUST BE more influential than the POPE! ;-).
Well, as much as David Wilmington is a lifelong friend (M.T.S. from Duke; Ph.D. student in Theology at Baylor University!), due to the dynamics of Internet "search engines," etc. the "artificial reality" as created by the mass media is exactly THAT--namely, ARTIFICIAL!
BUT, and here is both the potentially interesting and also somewhat frustrating point, due to the ever-pervasive "star-producing" quality of the mass media, LEADERS can literally be FORMED OVER NIGHT (e.g. Sarah Palin, a soccer mom turned Alaska Governor turned V.P. Candidate ALL-IN-LESS-THAN 3 years!).
So, whether it is first-term Senator Barack Obama becoming "Mr. President" (or V.P. "Barracuda Palin" the point guard with a B.A. in Journalism . . .), 2008 A.D. is now the era of "mass production of fame . . . "
So, Mr. Wilmington, now that you are LITERALLY more influential than the POPE (Benedict XVI is losing his touch! :-) will you now become the next Shakespeare?!
FAME, Artificial Reality! :-)
Love in Jesus Christ, Rob J. King (Roman Catholic and still a Vatican-loyal CATHOLIC! :-)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Christian Warfare
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
--Ephesians 6:10 - 15 N.I.V.
Many "trials & tribulations" beset the true follower of Christ!
Whether it was Karl Barth, the Swiss-German Protestant (Calvinist) Theologian who resisted Hitler or whether it was the Methodist-trained Nelson Mandela, the first democratically-elected President of S. Africa, when one follows Christ, one will be persecuted, exiled, killed even for the Faith of Christ!
Take for example the recent round of high-profile "trials" in which Christians were (thanks be to God!) vindicated! First, the wife of TV Evangelist Joel Olsteen had been dragged into court on false charges of assault. A stewardess who had been aboard the flight that the Olsteens were travelling on had attempted to "con" Ms. Olsteen out of several hundred thousand dollars due to "emotional distress" because she had claimed that Ms. Olsteen attacked her while on flight.
The verdict?
A unanimous jury decision was on behalf of the TV Evangelist-Olsteen family . . .
Similarly, in a rancorous Tampa Bay-area divorce trial, a trial in which the former Mrs. Hulk Hogan sought to imprison him on "contempt of court" charges for not buying a several million dollar condo in Las Vegas (the Hulkster claimed it was a bad business decision and had that court order amended!), the quietly Christian Hulk Hogan was relieved of any penalty and the couple split all assets more or less "50/50." At the end of The St. Petersburg Times article (p. A2, August 15, 2008), the reporter briefly mentioned how the Hulkster prays nightly with his family, and how the tattoo on his wrist is to help him remember that "The Spirit of Christ is in him." (paraphrase)
So, whether it was Karl Barth resisting the Nazis or the Hulkster resisting his money-hungry former wife the truth is that JUSTICE is done!
The Nazis were (eventually . . .) conquered and tried for War Crimes.
The Hulkster can now live in peace.
The Olsteen family can now return to ministering for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Remember, however, FELLOW CHRISTIAN, the struggle against evil is not just physical (legal), but is always conducted in the heavenly realms . . .
ALL THE BEST IN CHRIST,
Rob J. King
--Ephesians 6:10 - 15 N.I.V.
Many "trials & tribulations" beset the true follower of Christ!
Whether it was Karl Barth, the Swiss-German Protestant (Calvinist) Theologian who resisted Hitler or whether it was the Methodist-trained Nelson Mandela, the first democratically-elected President of S. Africa, when one follows Christ, one will be persecuted, exiled, killed even for the Faith of Christ!
Take for example the recent round of high-profile "trials" in which Christians were (thanks be to God!) vindicated! First, the wife of TV Evangelist Joel Olsteen had been dragged into court on false charges of assault. A stewardess who had been aboard the flight that the Olsteens were travelling on had attempted to "con" Ms. Olsteen out of several hundred thousand dollars due to "emotional distress" because she had claimed that Ms. Olsteen attacked her while on flight.
The verdict?
A unanimous jury decision was on behalf of the TV Evangelist-Olsteen family . . .
Similarly, in a rancorous Tampa Bay-area divorce trial, a trial in which the former Mrs. Hulk Hogan sought to imprison him on "contempt of court" charges for not buying a several million dollar condo in Las Vegas (the Hulkster claimed it was a bad business decision and had that court order amended!), the quietly Christian Hulk Hogan was relieved of any penalty and the couple split all assets more or less "50/50." At the end of The St. Petersburg Times article (p. A2, August 15, 2008), the reporter briefly mentioned how the Hulkster prays nightly with his family, and how the tattoo on his wrist is to help him remember that "The Spirit of Christ is in him." (paraphrase)
So, whether it was Karl Barth resisting the Nazis or the Hulkster resisting his money-hungry former wife the truth is that JUSTICE is done!
The Nazis were (eventually . . .) conquered and tried for War Crimes.
The Hulkster can now live in peace.
The Olsteen family can now return to ministering for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Remember, however, FELLOW CHRISTIAN, the struggle against evil is not just physical (legal), but is always conducted in the heavenly realms . . .
ALL THE BEST IN CHRIST,
Rob J. King
Friday, August 8, 2008
Do Plants 'Hate' Each Other . . .
In Michel Foucault's The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, the French philosophical genius describes the "birth" of modern scientific disciplines such as botany, biology, etc.
In perhaps the most humorous part of the book (I am about half-way through it), Foucault describes the pre-modern view of botany in which plants were thought to have almost human and/or animal-like dispositions. Although a modern botanist would explain how certain plants do not grow well next to each other due to chemical conditions of the soil, differences in root structure, etc., due to a view of similitude in which all aspects of nature were somehow intertwined, the pre-modern mind would think of plants as actually "hating" each other in the way that human neighbors may have disagreements or in the way that different animals might get into territorial squabbles (e.g. local stray cats fighting each other). Quoting the 1656 work De la subtilite by J. Cardan, Foucault describes this non-sensical scene thusly, "It is fairly widely known that the plants have hatreds between themselves . . . it is said that the olive and the vine hate the cabbage; the cucumber flies from the olive . . ." (p. 24).
What nonsense so it seems to the 'modern era.'
But is this the case?
Plants are indeed living creatures, granted lacking rationality, but in spite of a lack of cognition plants do respond better to conditions that are not simply reducible to chemicals. Granted, plants may lack the anthropomorphicized "emotional" qualities that we humans often ascribe to dogs, cats, etc., but nonetheless as the Jewish teaching on soil conservation shows (e.g. allowing fields to lie fallow in order to "rest"), perhaps the living aspect of creation (i.e. plants, animals, humans, microorganisms) are not simply the network of electro-magnetic energy, chemical interdependencies, etc. Perhaps creation is just that, the living, breathing (plants aspirate!) handiwork of God Himself!
Okay, so do plants "hate" each other? Well this question would be difficult to gauge. Plants do not speak. Thus, like the amoeba all that we can do is to live according to "stimulus-response." Thus, if your flowers seem to "perk up" in direct sunlight, then let them grow there! If they seem to wither in direct sunlight then place your potted plants in a cooler, less sunny place.
In care of God's Green Earth in Christ, Rob
In perhaps the most humorous part of the book (I am about half-way through it), Foucault describes the pre-modern view of botany in which plants were thought to have almost human and/or animal-like dispositions. Although a modern botanist would explain how certain plants do not grow well next to each other due to chemical conditions of the soil, differences in root structure, etc., due to a view of similitude in which all aspects of nature were somehow intertwined, the pre-modern mind would think of plants as actually "hating" each other in the way that human neighbors may have disagreements or in the way that different animals might get into territorial squabbles (e.g. local stray cats fighting each other). Quoting the 1656 work De la subtilite by J. Cardan, Foucault describes this non-sensical scene thusly, "It is fairly widely known that the plants have hatreds between themselves . . . it is said that the olive and the vine hate the cabbage; the cucumber flies from the olive . . ." (p. 24).
What nonsense so it seems to the 'modern era.'
But is this the case?
Plants are indeed living creatures, granted lacking rationality, but in spite of a lack of cognition plants do respond better to conditions that are not simply reducible to chemicals. Granted, plants may lack the anthropomorphicized "emotional" qualities that we humans often ascribe to dogs, cats, etc., but nonetheless as the Jewish teaching on soil conservation shows (e.g. allowing fields to lie fallow in order to "rest"), perhaps the living aspect of creation (i.e. plants, animals, humans, microorganisms) are not simply the network of electro-magnetic energy, chemical interdependencies, etc. Perhaps creation is just that, the living, breathing (plants aspirate!) handiwork of God Himself!
Okay, so do plants "hate" each other? Well this question would be difficult to gauge. Plants do not speak. Thus, like the amoeba all that we can do is to live according to "stimulus-response." Thus, if your flowers seem to "perk up" in direct sunlight, then let them grow there! If they seem to wither in direct sunlight then place your potted plants in a cooler, less sunny place.
In care of God's Green Earth in Christ, Rob
Friday, July 25, 2008
Why the U.S. is in such economic upheaval . . .
In the former country of Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) the ruling elite (white Europeans) had been brutal in their economic exploitation of the indigenous African people. Once Zimbabwe was liberated, however, the draconian dictator Robert Mugabe espousing Marxism (Mugabe is a lapsed Catholic) then, in "good Stalinist-style," sought to reallocate land away from white Europeans and to the African ruling elite of his country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe).
So how does this apply to the United States of America?
Well, like the colonized nations of Africa and Latin America, like it or not, the U.S.A. has been built up first on the backs of black African slaves, then on the hard-fought sweat labor of Poles, Irish, Mexican and other ethnic Catholic enclaves, and now finally, on the sweaty brow of the white European-descended middle class.
Our C.E.O.'s enslave us, and rather than unifying around the name of Jesus Christ (i.e. the first economic reform movement leading to minimum wage law, anti-child labor law, etc.) now the only options left are meek compliance with the Oil Barons, the C.E.O.'s and the Bankers OR to elect Barack Obama.
Barack Obama, an eloquent orator, Harvard-Law trained, and the son of a Kenyan father and American mother could very well become the next President of the United States of America!
Sadly, due to racist, jingoist rhetoric on the right, whether the new President is named Obama or named McCain, the sad state of the U.S.A. will be an increasingly divided Nation State--divided racially, divided ethnically, divided financially!
Thanks Mitt Romney and fellow racists in the G.O.P.!
Your earlier anti-Hispanic paranoia has led to the impoverishment of the Nation!
As Jesus Christ Himself once said, "a house divided will not stand!"
And so, in seeking an alternative to being further enslaved by Republicans catering to BIG BUSINESS, we will now welcome in an untested president (Barack Obama), a man who had to accept abortion-on-demand and homosexual marriage to get himself elected, and now, sad to see, also a DIVIDED NATION!
But, like St. Augustine wrote in his City of God concerning the collapse of Rome, so also must the true blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ not despair!
Yes, yes, the U.S.A. will be 'dirt poor' for a while, barely able to afford food, gas and electricity, but as St. Augustine wrote concerning our true citizenship, our home and thus our ONLY true political allegiance is in Heaven with Jesus Christ!
A DIVIDED NATION, A UNIFIED HEAVEN
IN JESUS CHRIST'S NAME, Rob J. King
So how does this apply to the United States of America?
Well, like the colonized nations of Africa and Latin America, like it or not, the U.S.A. has been built up first on the backs of black African slaves, then on the hard-fought sweat labor of Poles, Irish, Mexican and other ethnic Catholic enclaves, and now finally, on the sweaty brow of the white European-descended middle class.
Our C.E.O.'s enslave us, and rather than unifying around the name of Jesus Christ (i.e. the first economic reform movement leading to minimum wage law, anti-child labor law, etc.) now the only options left are meek compliance with the Oil Barons, the C.E.O.'s and the Bankers OR to elect Barack Obama.
Barack Obama, an eloquent orator, Harvard-Law trained, and the son of a Kenyan father and American mother could very well become the next President of the United States of America!
Sadly, due to racist, jingoist rhetoric on the right, whether the new President is named Obama or named McCain, the sad state of the U.S.A. will be an increasingly divided Nation State--divided racially, divided ethnically, divided financially!
Thanks Mitt Romney and fellow racists in the G.O.P.!
Your earlier anti-Hispanic paranoia has led to the impoverishment of the Nation!
As Jesus Christ Himself once said, "a house divided will not stand!"
And so, in seeking an alternative to being further enslaved by Republicans catering to BIG BUSINESS, we will now welcome in an untested president (Barack Obama), a man who had to accept abortion-on-demand and homosexual marriage to get himself elected, and now, sad to see, also a DIVIDED NATION!
But, like St. Augustine wrote in his City of God concerning the collapse of Rome, so also must the true blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ not despair!
Yes, yes, the U.S.A. will be 'dirt poor' for a while, barely able to afford food, gas and electricity, but as St. Augustine wrote concerning our true citizenship, our home and thus our ONLY true political allegiance is in Heaven with Jesus Christ!
A DIVIDED NATION, A UNIFIED HEAVEN
IN JESUS CHRIST'S NAME, Rob J. King
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Matrix
One of my all-time favorite movie series are the Matrix movies. In the Matrix trilogy, in addition to the standard 'critique of technological sophistication at expense of human personhood,' are also some quite adroit Christian Trinitarian Theological Themes . . .
The main character (played by Keanu Reaves) is this Messiah name Neo whose love relationship with Trinity is a corporeal, flesh-&-blood, and passionate love between the two characters. Yes, yes, the passion borders on an eroticism that is not in keeping with Christian understanding of the filial love between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, yet as I would watch these movies, I could not help but reflect upon St. Augustine's view that the Holy Spirit was somehow, mysteriously, the love between God the Father and God the Son.
Again, filial love is quite different from what the movie portrays, but nonetheless, as Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical showed (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html), it is the LOVE of God that is at the heart of Christian witness, life and discipleship!
Perhaps this is why "love" is so easily misinterpreted in this world.
On one side are those who have exchanged love for the Creator for love of the creature, and as St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans (chp. 1), either male-on-male homosexuality OR female-on-female lesbian homosexuality is the end-result.
Similarly, on the 'far right' socially and religiously are those groups that wish to constrain ALL signs of affection.
No, love is not to be misdirected to "self." No, love is not to even be directed to 'things' such as art, sculptured bodies, music, etc. Each of these "loves" directed toward the creature instead of the Creator result in distorted sexual patternings.
But, in confronting libertinism on one side (i.e. homosexuality as the result of loving the creature), so also is it a mistake to forgo love at all!
In some cultures (e.g. Italian, Romanian, etc.) such love is well-pronounced as a "kiss" on the cheek is the norm, and a hand-shake, well, is rather cold! I was friends with one such European, a Romanian Orthodox priest who would literally "bear hug" me each time we would meet! Nothing other than fraternal love as brothers-in-Christ Jesus!
So, maybe the Matrix is on to something! Maybe, rather than the cold, lifeless love that often is felt in many churches, something passionate is needed to re-invigorate our faith! After all, it is the LOVE that God has for us that transcends ALL!
Love in Jesus Christ!
Rob J. King
The main character (played by Keanu Reaves) is this Messiah name Neo whose love relationship with Trinity is a corporeal, flesh-&-blood, and passionate love between the two characters. Yes, yes, the passion borders on an eroticism that is not in keeping with Christian understanding of the filial love between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, yet as I would watch these movies, I could not help but reflect upon St. Augustine's view that the Holy Spirit was somehow, mysteriously, the love between God the Father and God the Son.
Again, filial love is quite different from what the movie portrays, but nonetheless, as Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical showed (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html), it is the LOVE of God that is at the heart of Christian witness, life and discipleship!
Perhaps this is why "love" is so easily misinterpreted in this world.
On one side are those who have exchanged love for the Creator for love of the creature, and as St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans (chp. 1), either male-on-male homosexuality OR female-on-female lesbian homosexuality is the end-result.
Similarly, on the 'far right' socially and religiously are those groups that wish to constrain ALL signs of affection.
No, love is not to be misdirected to "self." No, love is not to even be directed to 'things' such as art, sculptured bodies, music, etc. Each of these "loves" directed toward the creature instead of the Creator result in distorted sexual patternings.
But, in confronting libertinism on one side (i.e. homosexuality as the result of loving the creature), so also is it a mistake to forgo love at all!
In some cultures (e.g. Italian, Romanian, etc.) such love is well-pronounced as a "kiss" on the cheek is the norm, and a hand-shake, well, is rather cold! I was friends with one such European, a Romanian Orthodox priest who would literally "bear hug" me each time we would meet! Nothing other than fraternal love as brothers-in-Christ Jesus!
So, maybe the Matrix is on to something! Maybe, rather than the cold, lifeless love that often is felt in many churches, something passionate is needed to re-invigorate our faith! After all, it is the LOVE that God has for us that transcends ALL!
Love in Jesus Christ!
Rob J. King
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