atheists sue over crosses for fallen highway patrol officers

[ABC 4]

The fate of more than a dozen crosses honoring fallen UHP troopers was left in the hands of a federal court judge on Tuesday. The issue was taken to court after a group of atheists sued the state claiming the crosses violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The group is now asking the Utah Highway Patrol Association to remove the 12 foot-crosses because they denote the death of Jesus Christ. However, the state and UHP troopers say they are memorials to brave public servants and not religious in nature.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Why would this bother someone? The officers are dead. The only way I would agree with one coming down is if a specific officer was an atheist. Most of them were probably Mormons anyway. I surely don’t agree with their false doctrine but I wouldn’t have a cow over honoring their service to the local government. Why do people feel the need to cause pain for grieving families. Who does this hurt?

What do you think?

mother of newborn twins dies after refusing a blood transfusion

[The Sun]

A woman whose life could have been saved after complications set in – ticked a form before the birth insisting she should not be given blood.  Medics begged her husband and other members of family to overrule her after she suffered severe blood loss and began slipping away.

Blood ban … a legal notice, quoting the Bible, spelling out Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition to life-saving transfusions. But because Jehovah’s Witnesses are barred from having transfusions they refused – insisting the young mom would not want to betray her principles.

“What makes it even more sad is Emma had time to hold and start to bond with her twins before the complications set in.”

Read about it here and here.

[From me]

It is sad that someone could distort the Bible to allow someone to have adequate medical treatment.  The passage in Acts 15 isn’t talking about blood transfusions.  It is about drinking blood from animal sacrifices.  Now twins have no mother.  Sad.  That isn’t the God that I know.

What do you think?

I’m still not over it 20 years later…

I’ve shared the darkest moment in my life in September 1987. I was delivering newspapers in Birmingham, AL when a man committed suicide on my car. You can read about it here.

Last night I watched a new TV show on my favorite network ESPN. The show is called E-60. I don’t normally review TV shows and especially sports shows but this is excellent and is like 60 Minutes for sports.

I wasn’t prepared for the emotions that ran through me last night. I sat in silence for the first half of a story about Jason Ray who was the mascot for the University of North Carolina. Jason was a strong follower of Christ. He led Bible Studies and obviously had a huge impact on others. But during the NCAA Basketball Tourney last year he left his motel room in NJ and walked along a busy road to get something to eat. But he never made it to his destination. He was hit by a car and that’s where the story hits too close to home for me.

I was on the other side of a car accident 20 years ago last month. As I continued to watch E-60 I began to shake. Then my wife walked downstairs and she watched the rest of the story with me.

It turned out that Jason was brain dead and his parents had a difficult decision to make. Jason decided he would give his organs away if he died but his parents could have chosen not to. But they wanted to abide by his wishes. As I watched his parents talk I was starting to get emotional. Then they showed the people who received the organs and I really was losing it.

When they showed those who received the organs meeting Jason’s family Cassandra knew I was struggling and she came over to hug me. It was then that emotions I haven’t shown in 20 years came pouring out.

You can watch and read about Jason here. You need read and to watch the story.

I wonder why we never get over tragedies and the emotions they bring? God used my tragedy to change my life. Jason’s has touched so many more.

What do you think?

Is this how you want people remembering you?

[CNN]

Leona Helmsley, who ran her empire of luxurious Manhattan hotels with an iron fist and went to prison for tax fraud, has died, her publicist said Monday. Helmsley, who was reviled as the “queen of mean,” was 87.

Read about it here.

Leona Helmsley’s decision to leave $12 million to her dog so it could live out its life in luxury proved once and for all that she was not one of the little people. A growing number of people, not all wealthy, have been setting up trust funds or adjusting their wills to ensure that their pets are well cared for if they die, according to attorneys and animal welfare groups.

States have rushed to make such gifts easier. At the close of the 1990s, only a handful recognized so-called “pet trusts.” Now, 39 states plus Washington, D.C., have enacted laws dealing with such gifts.

Read about it here.

[From me]

This woman died and was obviously at odds with her own family. She left a dog $12 million! Just think of what could be done with that money to reach people who are dying and going to hell. Think of how many hungry people that could feed. Think of how many Habitat homes could be built. Good grief! Is that how you would want people remembering you?

Acts 4:36-37 says:

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Imagine having your name changed to “ENCOURAGEMENT!” That is what I would like to be remembered for.

Is Religion behind Texas execution tally?

[From Yahoo]

Texas will almost certainly hit the grim total of 400 executions this month, far ahead of any other state, testament to the influence of the state’s conservative evangelical Christians and its cultural mix of Old South and Wild West.

Texas Governor Perry is a devout Christian and that is key factor in Texas’ enthusiasm for the death penalty that many outsiders find puzzling — the support it gets from conservative evangelical churches.

This is in line with their emphasis on individuals taking responsibility for their own salvation, and they also find justification in scripture.

“A lot of evangelical Protestants not only believe that capital punishment is permissible but that it is demanded by God. And they see sanction for that in the Old Testament especially,” said Matthew Wilson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Read about it here.

[From me]

This disturbs me for some reason.  Do believers really want to tie our relationship with God and the Bible to killing people no matter how bad or evil they are?  Over the last few years my views on capital punishment have changed.  I couldn’t put anyone to death because I have hope for their soul.  Shouldn’t we as believers be trying to save people from death not sentencing them to hell?

What do you think?

Reflections on Tammy Faye…

I’ll admit that I used to laugh at the PTL Club and all of the antics of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker during the 1970′s and into the 1980′s. I couldn’t understand how anyone could give money for a Christian Amusement Park, water slide and all of that make-up.

I had a paper route while I was in high school and during football season the Sunday papers got out very late in the morning. I would arrive back home about 5:00 AM and I couldn’t go back to sleep. Now back then our cable only had 10-11 channels. There wasn’t a lot to watch and I would occasionally watch the PTL Club. On this morning Tammy Faye was singing a song called “We’re Blest” in which the lyrics were, “we’re blest” over and over and over. Now I had heard her sing this song about 5 times and I began to laugh. Then she offered her album “We’re Blest” for anyone who gave a donation. She said the album cover was for the children! Yeah!

Anyway I was laughing hysterically by this point and my mom came down to see what I was laughing about. We both enjoyed watching Tammy Faye sing that song over and over for another half-hour. Needless to say I wasn’t a fan of the PTL Club.

There was a guy in my high school named Buddy. Buddy got his driver’s license before anyone else and living in Tuscaloosa, AL, the party capital of all colleges.  Buddy partook in the Frat parties as much as he could. He became a teenage drunk. One night Buddy was at the mall and he had way too much to drink. He drove out of McFarland Mall and hit 7 or 8 cars on the way out. He panicked and drove to Birmingham to sober up. The next day he turned himself in to the police.

Well a few months later I started hearing rumors that Buddy had found “religion.” So I befriened Buddy and invited him to Campus Life and my church. One day I asked Buddy how he became a follower of Jesus. He told me after his accident he was grounded for life. So there wasn’t much for him to do at home so he watched a lot of TV. He said he began watching this show called THE PTL CLUB. (I looked at him in bewilderment) He proceeded to tell me how he got convicted of his sins and called the number on the TV screen and he prayed to receive Christ that night!

Now I may not be happy about all of the people whose money was wasted at Heritage USA, the air conditioned dog houses and gold plated bathroom fixtures, but I know of at least one life that was changed by the PTL Club so I rejoice.

Philippians 1:15-18 says:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

So many times the “Church Police” are out to find out all of the wrong in every church. Paul said who cares as long as Christ is preached. We have too much work to do then to worry about what everyone is preaching. As long as Christ is being preached, I rejoice.

What do you think?

If you can’t say anything nice…

I was taught as a young person if I couldn’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all. Yesterday, our nation and the church lost an icon, Dr. Jerry Falwell. I didn’t post anything on it because I’m not a newspaper and didn’t feel I had anything to add. But I was interested in reading about his passing because I respected his ministry. Now I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Falwell did but every Liberty graduate I have met has been top notch. I truly believe Dr. Falwell is up in heaven and he served God well.

But what bothered me was reading and watching CNN, FOX, and blogs about Dr. Falwell. I couldn’t believe reading and seeing all of the ugly things said about this man. Even on so-called Christian sites there were ugly comments made about Dr. Falwell. I don’t get it. The man is dead and people are jumping all over him. He has a family that is grieving and people are trashing him after he is gone. I’m not linking any of the stories because I don’t think it is worth seeing all of the ugliness.

Here in Charlotte we had a local television personality who died of cancer a few weeks back. She was well loved and had a new baby. One of the local newspaper reporters wrote a story about her including the fact that she became pregnant before she was married. Why? I didn’t need to know that about her. Why bring that up after she has passed away?

I’m not a fan of lot of religious and political personalities views. But I will never be glad when they pass away. I won’t trash people when their families are grieving. I don’t get it.

Maybe I’m naive but I believe we can talk theology, science, politics and sports and argue and fuss all we want about the issues. But in the end we should love and respect each other. I may disagree with many of you who read but I promise I respect and care about you. You may or may not believe in God . I don’t care about your race, education level or sexual orientation either. I value people. Why? Because God does! It may be an old saying, but if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

What do you think?