Mojave Madness

I'm not sure, but I think there is an endurance motor race through the Mojave Desert called Mojave Madness. The madness of a bunch of bikers looking for some extreme fun is nothing compared to the supreme court battle raging over a memorial cross erected by and for war veterans in a national park.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6266291/Mojave-Cross-memorial-to-WWI-dead-violates-first-amendment

Some "bright spark" is suing for the removal of the cross because it is offensive to war veterans of other faiths and it violates the separation of church and state. As a result, the cross has been boxed like an IKEA flat-pack until the court case is over and a decision is made. Hah! This is what made America great!

I understand the first amendment. I think it is a critical part of making America's the best form of government on the planet. By the way, being better than other methods of government does not mean we have a perfect system of government!

Nevertheless, I think that many right wing conservative Christians are wasting their breath trying to argue for a Christian State and Christianity as the state sponsored religion, (or is it Church sponsored State? I dunno.) The fact is, every national population will consist of a percentage of people that don't believe that Jesus is Lord and Saviour. Those people must be governed with justice and be given their human and civil rights to prevent human authorities from inevitably exploiting the weak and limiting the liberty of the ignorant or the minorities.

Having said that, I have seen crosses across the South African landscape. They are serene, sometimes stirring reminders of the pioneering spirit that established a form of civilization in the wilderness. They are expressions of the devotion, trust and dependence on God that enabled some of our predecessors to endure hardship.

It is important to note that these crosses, just like the one in the Mojave desert, are not critical to the mission of the church or the advancement of the Christian cause. One can again argue whether the cross is the best symbol to serve the message of God's love. If Jesus had been hanged instead of crucified, would we be arguing about a "gallows and noose" on a rocky outcrop?

My point is that I think that the agenda to strip this nation of all physical reminders of an undeniable Christian heritage is pathetic. I can only imagine how a traveller or a tourist would ridicule at the current sight of what must look like a confused apology for the passionate determination of a God-fearing veteran who wanted to remember and celebrate the faith of his peers that endured the fire of war.

So the Buddhist couldn't erect their own monument nearby? Hey, as religions go, I think Buddhism is a very virtuous, peace-loving faith system. But was America built on it's principles? Did countless American soldiers find comfort and strength in Buddha as they shivered in the trenches of war? Do Buddhists even believe in war? C'mon people! Get real.

Having said all that, I think we can either leave the cross alone or sadly, take it down. Whatever satisfies the wisdom of the court. But will someone PLEASE get rid of the IKEA lollipop!

Worth fighting for

I have become aware of a prevailing attitude amongst locals during our first year in Massachusetts. When people learn that we have stayed here for some time, they cynically ask "So what do you think?' It's as if they expect us to burst out sobbing and say, "It's terrible here, we hate it! It's so cold and miserable!" The few people who know anything about Cape Town say: "You left that...for this?"

Yes, it is insanely cold in winter, but how about the dozens of South African professionals that continue to move to Canada? Talk about cold! Do they get asked the same questions?

For now, the snow has a mysterious charm for us, and the foliage of spring, summer and fall is spectacular. I have enjoyed opening my car window as I drive through the tree-lined suburbs of Boston. There is a similar tree-lined avenue near our previous home in Cape Town. I often took visitors to our area along that route, just for the scenic value. In Norwood, MA , nearly every street looks like that!

Having studied some of the revolutionary history of Boston, the natural beauty of New England has spurred me on to conclude that "It was worth fighting for."

If a bunch of colonial fat cats back on their damp island were seeking to dominate and extract tribute from my bountiful new world, I might have been willing to grab my musket in the name of freedom if no other reasonable recourse were possible.

I feel a kindred spirit with the patriots in my reason for being here. I felt a call to this part of the world because a new fight for freedom is raging.

The revival fires of the Great Awakening which stirred up the appetite of independence and freedom from an exploitive and spiritually compromised British Empire created an America with freedoms that are still unique in our world today. Unfortunately, the steamroller of secular thought and the successful discrediting of Christian leadership is creating communities without a sustainable upliftment dynamic. If we don't fight for the soul of the emerging generation, America will descend in world influence and make way for the dominance of other cultures who may not have a Christian foundation.

Fortunately, many leaders and churches are fighting the good fight, reaching this generation with contemporary methods. However, Massachusetts and the East Coast needs more prevailing churches to secure freedom for this densely populated, beautiful part of the world.

A Dragon in the Daffodils

Philosophers want to understand the meaning of life-to prevent useless pursuits and to make sure our limited time on earth is well spent. They desire to strip back the layers of reality to reveal the essence and core of existence. Despite their best intentions and excavations, empirical evidence cannot provide an adequate foundation for thought. As a result, every philosopher, every theorist, relies on presuppositions. Flaky, unprovable theories that undergird some of the most powerful arguments raging in the forums of contemporary society.

A dominant humanist anthropological presupposition is that human beings are inherently virtuous. It is a contagious optimism about the nature of people that argues that the deviant or criminal behaviour that ruins our societies is as a result of circumstantial pressures on an innocent human disposition. This theory disregards the account of the disobedience and resultant corruption of the human nature of our progenitors in Eden.

According to humanism, people do wrong when they are subject to poverty, poor parenting, hunger, disease, lack of recognition or lack of opportunities to thrive. Social saviors set about remedying these ills and believe for the possibility of a perfect earth in which all these evils are gone.

This theory has had a huge impact on the philosophy of education. Rather than leading a child to redemption, educating them into a biblical worldview, all while catering for the sinful nature through discipline, the humanist view believes in the innate goodness within a child. Each child is seen as a seed in the garden of goodness, simply needing the right conditions to grow. The seed is pure, so every child is encouraged to express themselves with only socially acceptable behavior as a limiting guide.

Unfortunately this garden of human virtue has a terrible occupant. The daffodils are being trampled and chewed on by an untamed dragon called the "sinful nature". It is present in every child, even in the majority that manage social acceptability. On the other hand, the delinquents present a curious challenge to humanism While humanists struggle to categorize and remedy "bad seeds" their failure to acknowledge the dragon in the daffodils will guarantee the failure of any humanistic effort to create a new world.