The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamofascist Plan-of-Action

Update (05/11/06): Be sure to read my article on this topic published by FrontPageMag.com, The Muslim Brotherhood "Project": The Radical Islamist Plan to Conquer the West - and the World, as well as Scott Burgess' English translation of "The Project" that accompanies my article.

NOTE: This is one of the more important posts I've prepared since starting this blog. I've tried to keep it short, but please read the whole thing and follow the links at the bottom of the page for additional information on Islamofascism's strategy to impose worldwide Jihadist domination.

In light of the successes of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's recent elections, I posted last month some comments on Sayyid Qutb, the MB propagandist that was executed by Nasser, and his role in developing the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. In October I posted on the role of French Social Darwinist Alexis Carrel in developing Qutb's Islamofascist ideology, and also provided some links to readings on Qutb and the contribution of Western Revolutionary ideology to jihadist thought. Qutb's brother, Muhammed Qutb, was one of Osama bin Laden's primary mentors in college, along with Abdullah Azzam, founder of Al-Qaeda, who also was also a disciple of Sayyid Qutb.

What makes this information so important is that Egypt is one of America's closest allies in the Middle East (receiving more U.S. financial aid than any other country, including Israel), and that the Muslim Brotherhood - a banned terrorist group that still calls for acts of violence against Israel and America - is now the leading opposition party in Egypt.

Even more important, over the past few months European journalists and bloggers have been writing on a document prepared in1982 by the Muslim Brotherhood that Swiss authorities recently recovered that outlines their plans for "establishing the reign of God everywhere in the world." This is the blueprint for Jihadist world domination. And as we saw on 9/11, they are deadly serious about their aims, and death and destruction are part of their playbook. Swiss journalist Sylvain Besson published an article in the Swiss daily, Le Temps, about this 14-page blueprint for worldwide Jihad back in October, and The Daily Ablution has done a fantastic job of covering this story since then. TDA provides a link to an English translation of Besson's story here.

Since the Daily Ablution began posting on this, it has regularly provided translated portions of the 14-page Muslim Brotherhood document entitled, The Project. They now have the complete translation of this document online. It is required reading for anyone interested in the strategies and methods of America's Islamofascist enemies.

Washington National Cathedral #3

In talking with Eric today, I mentioned that I used to take my lunch hours at the Washington National Cathedral when I lived and worked in DC. I've also taken a lot of pictures there, and I've posted two previous installments here and here.

The picture above was taken in February 2004 on a beautiful cloudless day, which resulted in some great light-and-stone shots. This is in the Wilson bay overlooking the tomb of President Woodrow Wilson (Jeopardy clue - he's the only president buried in DC) looking to the north side of the nave.

Otto Von Simson says this of the use of light in the Gothic style:

"To the medieval thinker beauty was not a value independent of others, but rather the radiance of truth, the splendor of ontological perfection, and that quality of things which reflects their origin in God. Light and luminous objects, no less than musical consonance, conveyed an insight into the perfection of the cosmos, and a divination of the Creator." (The Gothic Cathedral, p. 51)

Christmas Consumer Orgy, Part 2

Last week I posted some thoughts on the commercialization of the Christmas holiday and how Christians in particular are responsible for the secularization of the Christmas celebration. I mentioned that some churches had decided to cancel Sunday worship on Christmas Day to give congregants "more family time." I had one reader email me (why do folks email me instead of leaving comments?) challenging me to provide evidence: here it is. This article describes how some of America's largest evangelical churches, including the largest - Willow Creek Community Church - are cancelling their Christmas Day services. This is absolutely pathetic.

This is yet more evidence for my contention that our cultural problems are not driven by the culture at large; they are driven by the utter abandonment of cultural leadership by the Church. If we want to change the cultural debate in America, it is going to have to begin in the Church. That's where judgment starts.

Also, check out Gene Veith's current article in WORLD on the myth that Christians inherited Christmas from pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. It seems it was the other way around.

UPDATE: I just re-read the article I linked to about cancelling church services on Christmas Day. Here's one quote:

"The unchurched are more reachable on Dec. 24, said Schneiders, who leads a church with average weekend attendance of 1,900 people."

This quote betrays the problem of the modern evangelical mind. How does some schmuck on staff with some megachurch know how reachable people are on what particular days? Isn't that the work of God? May Charles Finney burn in Hell! And how is it that unchurched people are more reachable by limiting, rather than increasing, the number of Christmas services? Again proving my thesis about the church, we are being led by the world rather than witnessing to the world through our worship and work. We are more devoted to our ever-paganizing culture than to Christ.

I also noticed another problem in the Worldmagblog discussion on this same article. Read comment #24, which says:

"...the church is perhaps the only organization in the world which exists for those who are not currently members of it."

Is this what passes for "evangelical Christianity" these days? What a bunch of hooey. Jesus in the Great Commission does not call us to create converts, but disciples! Conversion is His work. What does he tell Peter? "Feed my sheep." Is there no room for the Christian life and the Body of Christ anymore? Is evangelicalism nothing more than giving people the warm Jesus fuzzies in some odd, non-defined way? Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy!

Worldview movies

Over the weekend, someone asked me about the "Worldview Movies" series I led at our church two summers ago and what movies we watched. I've been asked this question a couple of times recently, so I thought I might put together a short list of favs.

1) Seven - Starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, this movie is an interpretation of Dante's Inferno. As police investigators chasing a seriel killer in a modern-day city that kills his victims according to the seven deadly sins, Freeman is the proverbial Renaissance Man to Pitt's Postmodern Man. While Freeman spends his night hours combing through the city's libraries looking for clues, Pitt resorts to Cliff's Notes. Kevin Spacey does an incredible job as the killer. The most important scene in the movie is towards the end when all three are in a car together and the killer explains his crimes and his critique of society. The final scene in the "Wasteland" was masterful. You will never expect the ending, but once you've seen it, you would agree that it couldn't have ended any other way. Keep track of the weather and scenery. Watch the credits at the end and figure out what they're trying to say by the direction the text moves. I saw this in the theater when it first came out - by myself. It scared the hell out of me, and I missed most of what was being said. Years later I read a review by Jean Bethke Elshtain that convinced me to see the movie again and reevaluate its meaning. Warning: this one doesn't end happily ever after. Not one for the kids.

2) The Addiction - How many movies quote R.C. Sproul by name? Abel Ferrara (director) and Nicholas St. John (screenwriter) team up on this movie investigating the relation of evil and humanity. An anthropology grad student, Kathleen Conklin (Lili Taylor), is bitten by a vampire (Annabella Sciorra) and seeks to satisfy her new lust. The philosophic discussions throughout the movie are provocative and get to the root of the problem of man's addiction - to sin. The pivotal figure, Peina, is played by Christopher Walken, who appears in the middle of the movie to tell Kathleen about her true nature. Also stars Edie Falco (The Sopranos) and Kathryn Erbe (Law and Order: Criminal Intent). The last 25 minutes of the movie are absolutely the most powerful and meaningful statements on the Augustinian view of man I have ever seen on film. Ferrara and St. John teamed up on another excellent film, The Funeral, which I highly recommend.

3) Magnolia - I'm no fan of his work, but this is the movie that Tom Cruise should have won the Oscar for. He flat-out steals the show. A series of random scenes in L.A. finally comes together in a tapestry of nine broken lives grappling with regret and redemption. Note the references to Exodus 6:3 throughout the movie, which foreshadows the suprising, biblical ending. The theme repeated several times throughout the movie is: "We might be through with the past, but the past isn't through with us."

4) Unforgiven - This Clint Eastwood-directed/starred film won the Best Picture Oscar. Law, order, death and the nature of man set in the Wild West. Eastwood stars as a "reformed" killer and thief that had been "tamed" by his now-dead wife that travels with two friends to take vengeance on two cowboys who viciously slashed a prostitute, but had been released by the sheriff (Gene Hackman). The stripping of Eastwood's character back down to his true self results in a final violent confrontation between Eastwood and Hackman. Note the discussion the two have in the closing moments of the film.

5) Apocalypse Now Redux - I saw this when it first came out, but I was too young to understand it. The next time I saw it was three years ago on a rainy spring day in St. Andrews, Scotland at a theater that was showing the re-released Redux version. Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and starring Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando, this is a tale of disenchantment with "civilization". But what does Brando's Kurtz find when he "goes native", and what does he teach the man sent to kill him? Somewhere I have an essay examining the New England Calvinist ideas behind the movie, with a little bit of The Golden Bough thrown in at the end of the movie by Coppola. One of the best movies of all time. "The horror...the horror."

6) The Truman Show - Existentialism and Nihilism, starring Jim Carrey. When we showed this film on one of our movie nights, most everyone had seen the movie when it came out and thought it nothing more than a funny comedy. But no one had picked up on what they show was actually saying. I started off giving a quick 2 minute introduction to late 19th Century philosophy and epistemology (yes, it really did only take 2 minutes). Like those one paragraph summaries of Shakespeare that were featured last week on Worldmagblog.com. The movie is about a man who rejects God's governance of the world and opts to leave the world entirely.

7) Rollerball - I'm talking about the 1975 version starring James Caan, not the recent butchering of the movie. Directed by Norman Jewison, this is a story of man against the system. The year is 2018, and the nation-states of the world have collapsed, with the corporations taking over. The world is rid of crime, war, famine, etc. Rollerball is a violent game designed to thwart individual human achievement, and Jonathan E (Caan) is its greatest practitioner. And that's precisely the problem. Life in "corporate" society must advance the "common good" (think of the "general will" a la Jean Jacques Rousseau), and the visibility and success of Jonathan E threatens the whole system. The beginning and end of the soundtrack features Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (think Phantom of the Opera). What is a bit anachronistic is the use of punchcard computers throughout the movie.

8) To End All Wars - Bushido versus Scotch Presbyterianism set in Bridge Over the River Kwai. A true story from World War Two, screenwritten by Brian Godawa and starring a pre-24 Kiefer Sutherland. Self-consciously Christian. Examines the nature of forgiveness and compassion. How do you respond to brutality? The running discussion of Plato's allegory of the Cave (The Republic, Book 6) is helpful. This DVD is usually available at Wal-Mart. Buy it and own it.

9) Crimes & Misdeameanors - This Woody Allen film examines the implications of a world without God, where murder goes unpunished and the righteous are forced to commit suicide. My friend Andrew Southwell showed this to our singles group at Southwood Pres (Huntsville, AL) many years ago, which was the first time that anyone had challenged me to think about what movies really mean.

10) Leaving Las Vegas - Intended for mature audiences only! This movie got Nicholas Cage an Oscar, and also stars Elizabeth Shue (all of Elizabeth Shue, if you get my meaning). Cage plays a character hell-bent on killing himself with alcohol after his addiction cost him his wife, his family, his home, and his job. He moves to Las Vegas to drink himself into the grave. Along the way he encounters Sara (Shue), a prostitute dealing with her own demons. The two quickly fall in love and try to establish a normal life together - except for the fact that he's on the sauce, and she is still turning tricks. But they still try to make love work. The light jazz songs on the soundtrack by Sting are fantastic. Warning: if you get squeemish about on-screen nudity (which there really isn't much of), or sexual situations, this movie is not for you. You've been duly warned.

Also rans:

11) My Dinner with Andre - This is a nod to my friend, Bill Heid. Two men have a dinner discussion about Andre's dropping out of New York society and traveling the world and what he's seen. A long dialogue movie, so be prepared.

12) Pleasantville - Toby McGuire and Reese Witherspoon are translated into a 1950s black-and-white TV show. A defense of relativism and cultural anarchy.

13) Gattaca - A futuristic thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman in a Brave New World theme. Hawke tries to live as an "In-valid" in a society obsessed with genetic perfection.

14) Crimson Tide - Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman deal with authority and legitimacy on an American nuclear submarine as they decide whether to launch their weapons and start a nuclear war.

15) Dangerous Beauty - A little-noticed movie set in Renaissance-era Venice. Catherine McCormack (of Braveheart fame) plays a courtesan (based on a real-life character) shut out of the world power, politics, and love. She writes her own rules and sleeps her way to the top of society. But the plague and the Inquisition threaten to derail her plans. This movie glorifies the ideals of the Italian Renaissance, and in the end, the courageous stand against religious authority is the best that Renaissance Humanism can muster. Some nudity, but not much more than what you saw in Braveheart.

16) Grand Canyon - Friends in 1990s L.A. experience a series of events that force them to deal with the transcendent world. Note the use of helicopters as a vehicle to communicate God's constant presence in the world.

This would be a good point to direct everyone to Brian Godawa's movie blog, where he reviews current releases. If you have any additional suggestion, feel free to leave a comment.

St. Paul's and the Defiance of Christianity

G-squared has a post today commemorating the dedication of St. Paul's Cathedral (London) in 1697. During the couple of months I lived in London, St. Paul's was a weekly stop, where I would take in the lunch-time communion service in the choir. Evensong was an even better treat.

Perhaps the best image I've seen of St. Paul's in the one to the right. This photo, taken during the Blitz, for me stands for the defiance of the Church against the onslaught of the world. What is particularly striking for me is that this picture is taken looking at the Western front of the cathedral. Author Robert Barron in his book, Heaven in Stone and Glass, calls the Western front of cathedrals "the fighting face of Christianity." As is well-known, cathedrals point east to Jerusalem in expectation of the return of the Lord. But the west front was almost always dedicated to the Last Judgment (except in the case of Washington National Cathedral, which features Frederick Hart's magnificent sculpture's of the Creation; check out Thomas Wolfe's article on Hart), and worshipers would have to pass through the Last Judgment to enter into the visible representation of heaven within the cathedral. But for the unbelievers outside, all they could see was Christ sitting in judgment against them. In the case of Wells Cathedal, the doors to enter into the cathedral are tiny, reminding the worshipper of entering in through the narrow gate. And Wells is an excellent example of the symbolism I'm identifying; the whole West front was filled with more than 400 sculptures of kings, queens, warriors, priests and saints manning the battlements of the church - the fighting face of Christianity, indeed!

Of the great cathedrals in Europe, St. Paul's is a bit of a novelty due to its colossal dome. The dramatic documentary, Wren, the Man Who Built Britain, talks the symbolism that Wren intended the architecture to show. Rather than a steple pressing heaven-ward, like Old St. Paul's (burned down in the Great Fire), the dome of Wren's St. Paul's reflected the sentiments of the Restoration, with the dome symbolizing the Divine Right of Kings, with the King standing between heaven and earth, and giving society its order. Remember too that in England the King proclaimed himself head of the Church. The sentiments behind Wren's St. Paul's is profoundly different from the medieval/Augustinian revival that fueled the Gothic era of cathedral building. For the theology behind the Gothic era, read Otto von Simpson's The Gothic Catherdal. For the history of St. Paul's see the recent book (and expensive!) St. Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London, 604-2004 and Lisa Jardine's masterful biography of Wren, On a Grander Scale: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Sir Christoper Wren. One other interesting architectual note about St. Paul's is that the windows inside do not actually look outside. On both the north and south sides of the cathedral, the buttresses are concealed by a false wall - a feature that can only be seen by walking up to one of the dome's observatory levels (quite a steep walk, I can tell you).

Perhaps what I love the most about St. Paul's and the story of Wren can be found in the crypt. Wren is buried in an obscure back corner of the crypt with a simple black granite tomb cover and the epitaph to Wren found on the wall above his tomb, "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice" (Reader, if it's a monument you seek, look around you). What better epitaph could one have in this life than to have the lasting memory of one's work constantly in view for dozens of generations.

Truly, St. Paul's is one of the great cathedrals of the world, and one of the architectural wonders of humanity. If you're in London, take a whole day to experience St. Paul's: from early morning matins to evensong. Check out the nooks and crannies where England's heroes are buried. Of particular interest to Americans will be the tombs of those officers killed fighting against American independence, such as the captain killed at the Battle of New Orleans who has a grand tomb in the south transcept (right near the crypt entrance). One of my favorites is the tomb of Gen. Charles "Chinese" Gordon, a Victorian hero and outspoken evangelical killed defending Khartoum against the forces of the Mahdi. His life was made into a major motion picture, Khartoum, with Charleton Heston playing Gordon. Of course, England's greatest heroes - Nelson and Wellington - are buried prominently in the cathedral.

Listening to: Yat Kha, Tuva Rock. Mix Asian Tuvan throat singers with some rock music, and you have some very interesting listening. I was turned on to Tuvan singers, who come from the central steppes of Asia, in college in my World Music class. It really is fascinating stuff. Watch the documentary, Genghis Blues, for an in-depth look at this ancient art form.

The Christmas Consumer Orgy

The past few days I've noted a number of commentators and bloggers rending their verbal garments about the removal of Christ from Christmas, accusing secularists of waging a cultural jihad against Christianity. Honestly, I don't buy it. Christians, as the guardians of interpretation of what Christmas really means, have had the upper hand in its reinterpretation and secularization. The American experience of Christmas is not about devotion to Christ and celebrating his Incarnation and Nativity. It is about consumerism, the American civic religion. And I want to make this as clear as I can: Christians are the chief practitioners of this cult.

First, a little history lesson. The modern experience of Christmas as a time of exchanging gifts is exactly that - modern. It dates from the late 19th Century in Britain. During the last half of the 20th Century, Americans, flush with cash from the post-war economic boom, turned Christmas into the consumer orgy that it is today. And not a peep was heard during that time from the Church, except for the fundamentalist kooks and cranks who complained that Christmas was too religious, i.e. a Papist conversion of an ancient pagan holiday.

What is most troubling to me about how Christians celebrate Christmas is how it is so centered around getting, rather than giving. A number of years ago I had a relative get upset at me because I didn't give gifts to the right people, and it severely damaged our relationship. It didn't matter that at the time (as is true at most times) I was flat broke. Tosh! The Christmas snub could not be ingnored and the established slighting protocal had to be enforced. Of course, that I had violated the Christmas code wasn't relayed to me by the offender, either. They told my parents, who told me months after the fact. After that experience, I asked my family to stop buying me gifts for Christmas, and I told them that my gift-giving was going to be dramatically reduced. My parents by-and-large ignored my repeated request, but that is their prerogative.

What also troubles me is that sound family financial practices go right out the window during this time. I know families that spend thousands of dollars on their children each Christmas, some of whom can't afford it. Let me make a moral judgment: if you go in to debt at all for Christmas, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. You're crazy, on top of that. But I will readily admit that the social pressures to revel in the consumer orgy are immense.

And the Christmas consumer orgy is self-perpetuating. Those children this year getting their 40gig or Nano Ipods (as stocking-stuffers), the $400 Xbox 360, a $2000 digital video and computer editing system, a $1500 electric guitar, etc. in 25 years are going to have even higher giving standards for their children, because in good, old American fashion, they are compelled to outdo their parents. What are we teaching our children by how we celebrate Christmas? Will they be surprised as adults to learn that they just can't afford, let alone surpass, the Christmas spending expectations their parents established for them? Will their parents ever tell them that they really can't afford their Christmas giving right now? I have to say in all honesty that most evangelical Christian families I know personally are getting their children punch-drunk on the no-end-in-sight consumerism that drives the American economy and culture. The kids really don't stand a chance.

If you doubt my theory, I propose this challenge: without notice, give your children nothing more this holiday season than a personalized Christmas card filled with encouraging thoughts and heart-warming words. Tell them what you've not told them for a while. If that's too cold turkey for you, tell them that the money you were going to spend on buying them gifts, you've deposited into their college savings account. Or you donated to charity, so other underprivileged children around the world could enjoy Christmas. What response can you anticipate? Will they be filled with excitement, or disappointment? You know the answer. But it isn't their fault - it's your fault. That's how you trained them and those are the expectations that you've established.

Let me make a prediction: since Christmas falls on Sunday this year, I fully expect that worship services across this country on that day will be little more than an exhibition of all the toys, clothes, gadgets, jewelry, computers, cars and other miscellaneous crap that everyone got when they opened their gifts earlier that morning. Yes, that might be judgmental of me, but I don't think that I'm far from the mark. I've even heard of several cases of churches cancelling worship services on Christmas this year so that congregants can "be home with family."


I realize that I've gotten this far talking about Christmas, and you have followed right along with me, and Jesus really hasn't figured into the discussion at all. And that's precisely my point. It is strikingly easy for us as Christians to discuss Christmas without ever mentioning Christ. Should we really be surprised by public officials lighting "Holiday" trees? Children getting school off at the end of December for "Winter Break"? The "After Winter Solstice Sale"? Who is really to blame for taking Christ out of Christmas?

If you want to be truly revolutionary and counter-cultural - striking a blow against cultural secularism - reexamine over the next few weeks what the Advent season, Christmas, and Epiphany is all about. Take some time to understand what the Church has understood these holy days to mean in the life of the Christian and in the life of the Church. And in the personal searchings of your own heart, consider how you and your family can strip away all of the consumerist trappings that have obscured the true meaning of Christmas.

Here are some suggestions for breaking the power of Christmas consumerism: Invite a family (or two, or three, or four) from church over to spend the day feasting, fellowshipping, and making merry; have a single person join your family for the day; volunteer as a family to help organizations, like Justice Fellowship's Angel Tree ministry or the Marine's Toys for Tots program, distribute gifts to poor children, or serve food in the homeless shelter; ask your church officers if there is a family in the church that you can financially help anonymously; or as a family, visit a widow or widower from your the church. And be sure to invite your unchurched neighbors and friends to worship with you on Christmas morning.

Yes, Virginia, Jesus really is the reason for the season.

Nip/Tuck as the new Pilgrim's Progress?

I'm going to make this short today. Someone emailed me last night and asked me to slow the pace a bit so they could catch up on my posts from the past week. So granted. I might post a picture later tonight.

If you haven't seen the F/X Network's drama, Nip/Tuck, now in it's third season, you really should. The overall narrative and the individual episodes grapple with some of the most important issues in our culture. I am arguing that this show is the honest successor to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progess. If Bunyan were alive today, he would be a writer for this show (and I doubt he would still be a Baptist).

Now I know what you're about to say: isn't this the same writer that last week was bemoaning the hyper-sexualization of culture? (See my post, Teenage Pop Sluts) Well, yes, and if you read my follow up post, Teenage Pop Slus, Part 2, you'll see that my intent in making those comments was to identify what was happening in our culture SO THAT Christians cannot only respond to the challenge in positive ways (unlike the ham-handed condemnations by Dobson, et al.), but also prepare the next generation to understand and overcome the challenges that present cultural trends create by becoming culturally savvy and self-aware (epistemological self-conscious for those Van Tilians among us).

But back to Nip/Tuck. The overall narrative presents one of the best critiques of the cult of perfection in our culture. The quest for perfection leads to the paradoxical result of self-loathing. The story centers around the two partners of a plastic surgery practice, longtime friends, set in Miami. I think the most important character of the series is that of Christian Troy. Yes, his name is Christian (get the Bunyan connection?). A notorious womanizer and one of Miami's most sought-after bachelors, he actively struggles with his desires that push him farther away from what he really seeks - relational intimacy with a woman. He constantly finds that his lifestyle directly conflicts with his dreams. And he constantly struggles to do the right thing and sometime succeeds.

His partner, Sean McNamara, is a man constantly struggling with the Sturm und Drang of cultural forces that are tearing his family apart. The moral conscience of the show, he finds that he is unable to keep his family together, and yet he courageously tries in vain to salvage his marriage and his relationship with his children because he realizes that family is the only thing that matters. He rages against the dying of the light.

For Christians, I think one of the most important themes found in the series is the pervasive effects of sin. And this is not karma; it is the biblical view of sin. Virtually every adult character in the show suffers from the direct consequences of their sin, sometimes decades subsequent. I don't know how many times I have found myself watching the show, and saying to myself, "That is me." Rarely do I see an episode where I don't start to cry in sympathy with these characters. The end of the program last night, when Christian brings himself to tears as he sees how he treats others savagely to cover the rage of his own wounded heart, I could feel his pain, because I've been there to. And how they handled the issue of hate last night was masterful.

Now be warned that this is not a family program; certainly not one to let the kids stay up and watch. Sexual themes and adult situations are presented in stark detail. But they're always presented truthfully. The present pleasure of sin invariably leads to the bitterness of despair. This material could easily have been lifted from St. Augustine's Confessions of City of God. Love of God, or love of self.

Nip/Tuck is on F/X on Tuesday evenings at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and replayed immediately afterward at 11 p.m. Episodes are also rebroadcast on F/X throughout the week.

Pale Blue Dot or Privileged Planet?

This photo was taken by Voyager 1 on February 15, 1990. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, in the middle of the picture, in the uppermost yellowish light band, you will see a small bright speck. That's us. That's Earth. It is the most distant picture of Earth ever taken (4 billion miles). The picture, taken as Voyager was leaving the solar system, was the result of the advocacy of Carl Sagan, noted atheist and astronomer. Just before his death in 1996, Sagan delivered a commencement address to Cornell University, where he reflected on the meaning of this "Pale Blue Dot" and the meaninglessness of human existence and effort. At best, man must make his own meaning. How tragic.

But is man left without any meaning other than what he can create for himself? If you're interested in an alternative view to Sagan's meaning, or lack of meaning, to human existence, check out the recent documentary film and book, The Privileged Planet, by Iowa State astronomy professor Guillermo Gonzalez and Discovery Institute philosopher, Jay Richards. The authors recently defended the scientific basis for Intelligent Design in an oped in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

I just viewed The Privileged Planet this morning. This is a superb production. Narrated by John Rhys-Davies (of Lord of the Rings fame), it discusses how rare human life is in the universe, and presents a direct challenge to Sagan's beloved Drake's Equation about the possibility of life elsewhere in the galaxy. The whole SETI project is based directly on Drake's unprovable (and therefore, unscientific) thesis.

This film is powerful. To gauge how powerful it is, know that the New York Times and Washington Post screamed headlines earlier this year about a June showing of the film at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. sponsored by the Discovery Institute. Young Earth creationists take over the Smithsonian! Religion hijacks science! A return to the Dark Ages! Bullshit. The movie says nothing about evolution, but discusses cosmology. It certainly doesn't help the Darwinians and naturalists make their case, but hey, they have plenty of help from the materialist academic establishment as it is. Needless to say, after the media hoopla, the Smithsonian publicly denounced the movie. Critics said that the philosophical ruminations at the end of the film made the movie about metaphysics, not science. Uh, anyone ever heard of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, noting it's avowedly atheistic creed stated at the beginning of the first episode? How many decades has the Smithsonian been showing and promoting Cosmos?

You have to see this this video, and make sure all of your friends see it. The movie is an hour long. You can purchase the video; or, if you recklessly ignore copyright laws and have Emule or some other P2P program, you can download the program (289mb) by doing a video search in your P2P program. Of course, I would encourage everyone to purchase the video to help support more productions like this, and I would never recommend violating the law. Just helpful info for the heathen among us.

Teenage Pop Sluts, Part 2

I've received some emails about my recent post, Teenage Pop Sluts, and wanted to respond. The comments seemed to run one of two ways: 1) You're absolutely right about the trend, and the church needs to wake up and respond to how culture is shaping our children; or 2) You are overstating the case and have no idea what you're talking about.

I remember a conversation I had with a good friend a few years ago. We were talking about his teenage son, who was attending a "classical Christian" school in the area, and I made the comment that his son's primary cultural influences were no longer his parents or his family. My friend loudly protested, even pulling out Bible verses (such as "train up a child in the way he should go...") to make his case that his son was on the straight and narrow and that nothing would pull him off. He and his wife had done all the right things! Home school, Christian school, monitoring their TV viewing, limiting their use of the Internet, etc. To his credit, a few days later my friend came back to me and admitted that I was right: his son was profoundly influenced by his peers. And just because he went to a "classical Christian" school didn't mean that the influences were all positive. Quite the contrary. The discussions, the music, the movies, etc. that his son was privy to - outside the hearing and direction of his parents - were quite corrosive.

So why have I even raised this issue? An excellent question. My concern is not really about the culture at large, other than to observe what's happening. My concern is with the church and the hordes of parents therein that have no idea what their children are exposed to, let alone teaching their children how to deal with it and identifying the dangers. But no one should mistake me for saying that we all need to become Amish. As an aside, in the state of Ohio, where I'm at, the Amish have the highest rate of illegitimacy of any demographic group in the state; the culture of isolation doesn't work. I think that Christians should be raising culturally savvy children, children who are actively engaging and critiquing the culture, who understand what's going on. The problem isn't with the children. The problem is with the parents.

I remember showing the Merchants of Cool video I referenced in my earlier post to a group of parents in our church. After the viewing the video, it was immediately clear that most of the parents didn't think that it really applied to their children. And when I think of the families that were of that mind, and where their children have headed in the years since, I have to shake my head in disbelief. I think the fundamental problem today is that parents forget that their children are being raised in a vastly different culture than they were raised in. The cultural starting point our children are born to was radically different than our own. The slippery cultural slope means that changes occur much more rapidly today than when we were growing up. As the Merchants of Cool video demonstrates, most of the cultural shift is directed at teens today. And that culture shifts rapidly. We see throw-away trends, when as soon as something is popular, it is no longer cool. The cool kids are then chasing some other trend. This is the downward death spiral of culture that increases speed the further you fall.

When will the church finally get it? The simple answer is, when our church leaders finally get it and begin to do something about it. Honestly, I'm not holding my breath. In many cases, it is our church leaders who are the most insulated and clueless among us. I remember many years ago having a youth pastor tell me that the youth ministry would be doing much better if it weren't for the pastor's kids. How many of us can relate?

I also think one of the other major problems is that many parents in the church have been taught that parents are autonomous and are free from any outside criticism. The homeschool cult has helped engender this kind of thinking. But in fact, when a child is baptized, the congregation is asked to make a covenantal vow to help the parents raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. My experience has been, however, that when any mention is made to a parent in the church about the bad behavior of the children, the response is consistently, "mind your own damn business." Any honest observer would have to agree with me. I can't remember ever hearing of a case of a church officer being removed for the conduct of his family, which is of course one of the qualifications for deacon or elder. Preach that from your pulpit sometime and see what kind of response you get.

In closing, for those who are still skeptical about my outlook on culture, take a look at this AP report from this morning's wires: Teen Abducted Children for Demonic Ritual. Maybe you think that these incidents are extremely rare. Could be, but the police detectives that track this stuff are seeing an exponential rise in these kind of cases. But I think what is important in the report, at least for the purposes of this post, is the reaction of the indicted teen's grandfather:

His grandfather, Julian Rodriguez, called the accusations "ridiculous." He said his grandson was a "good kid."

This is a classic example of the "head-in-the-hole" parenting I'm talking about, but it also a great example of the relativism in our culture. Now this teen was intending to cut a pentagram into the chest of this young girl. And yet he is still a "good kid". Do you think your children are "good kids" and wouldn't do anything like this? We should all be more mindful of the implications of the doctrine of radical depravity. Every parent whose child has committed acts of unspeakable brutality probably thought their children couldn't do it either. Think Littleton. Think Jonesboro. To think otherwise is foolish and potentially deadly. Parents must begin to understand cultural trends and how their children are driven by them. The future success of the Gospel in the next generation depends on such.

Teenage Pop Sluts

Catchy title, isn't it? I'm stating the blatantly obvious when I say that our culture is rapidly becoming hyper-sexualized. But the manner in which it is becoming so, or the manifestation of it, is troubling all the more. What prompted this thought: I was watching TV the other night, and a commercial for the cable channel (AMC) came on with this snappy tune by The Veronicas as the soundtrack. The song was 4Ever. I finally heard the song in its entirety the following day, and the lyrics were startling. Maybe I'm just getting too old, but the song is about a girl asking a boy to have sex. I would say sleep with her, but the song just didn't even try to hide its message behind the slightest veneer. Gone are the days of voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soi.

This same thought occured to me a few months ago when I saw the video for Ashlee Simpson's song, La La. The video was her hanging out with her friends, playing video games, being a brat and causing general teenage mayhem. But that's not what the song is about. Here's the chorus:

You make me want to la la,
In the kitchen, on the floor,
I'll be your French maid
When I greet you at the door,
I'm like an alley cat,
Drink the milk up, I want more
You make me wanna, you make me wanna, scream.

The rest of the song is packed with sexual innuendos. But even that isn't accurate. They're not even innuendos. The song is little more than, "hey baby, want to f**k?".

Now, those who know me know that I'm no prude or Victorian. Quite the contrary. I'm a fairly modern man when it comes to these things, and having traveled around the world, I've seen some strange things in my time. E.g. this past Saturday, when I went to go hear my friend Clay "The Dog" Biggs play a gig downtown, I didn't bat an eye at the 7' tall transvestite I passed on the way into the club (which was next door to the lesbian sports bar the transvestite was going to). With the culture the way it is, it really is hard to be too judgmental. That's just the way things are. Take a look at the Kaiser Family Foundation report released earlier this month that found that sexual images on TV have doubled since 1998. That's seven years. They found that 70% of all shows have sexual content, with an average of 5 sexual scenes per hour. And we really shouldn't pretend that the church is somehow immune from all of this.

Let's get to the point. If you want a good, but dated, cultural analysis of teen culture, watch the 2001 PBS Frontline program, Merchants of Cool. You can see the whole program by following that link. Understand that Frontline is hardly some right-wing, fundamentalist program funded by Paul Crouch of TBN. But even secularists are growing alarmed at what they see happening in culture.

What concerns me about the state of youth culture is how gender roles are developing, and Merchants of Cool identifies the trend. For young girls, the image that they are fed is the prematurely sexual tigress. Now, if you're a young teenage boy, you certainly don't have any problem with that. But if you're a father, you should. The message that's underlying this image is that female empowerment is primarily sexual. (Isn't this what feminism was trying to defeat?) That's an identity problem in and of itself.

But the "cash value" problem I see is that teenage girls are told that they are more sexually mature than what they really are, they get into very mature situations that they are simply unable to handle. Think I'm kidding? Watch the news any week. Ever hear of Natalee Holloway? Irrespective of what actually happened to her, it is clear that she got in a situation way over her head. Did you see the 14-year old PA girl last week that ran away with her adult boyfriend that had just murdered her parents? Did you know that most teenage pregnancies involve a man 18 and over? And the culture feeds this image through virtually ever cultural medium out there. Music, TV, advertisements, et al.

On the flipside of this trend, teenage boys become permanently adolescent. We now have a nation of 40-year old teenage boys. Check out this Joseph Epstein article to see what I mean. Teenage boys today are never taught how to be men. Think I'm exagerating? Ever see "The Man Show"? Here the two conflicting images are presented side by side: the aggressively sexual female, and the permanently adolescent male. Both images are profoundly degrading, and you don't even need to buy into the cultural image to be impacted by it.

Here's something to think about: There is little difference between The Veronicas and the Taliban. Both share the exact same view of women: women are primarily sexual objects and both believe that female empowerment is sexual. One view exploits the image, the other surpresses it, but despite their different responses, their view of women is exactly the same. The view of men is exactly the same as well. More on that later.

What's the solution? It certainly isn't more of the same. And I don't think that the problem is primarily a female one. The problem is men. Strong, confident women should have nothing to fear from strong, masculine men. Strong, confident men shouldn't have anything to fear from female sexuality, either. Male and female sexuality in their proper boundaries should be something promoted and embraced. However, all men and women should fear the adolescent male. If there's a culturally destructive force in America today, that's it. Not the ACLU. Not gay marriage. Think on that.

English Country Churchyard

Taunton, Somerset, England. April 2002. Thanks to the fan who asked for more pictures. Nice to know someone's watching.

Cathedral (1): Ulm Minster, Germany

(Note to readers: From time to time I'll be posting excerpts from an unfinished devotional book (aren't they all?) I've started using cathedrals as allegories of the Christian life. This is the first in that series.)


Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are! (Job 22:12)

The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! (Psalm 113:4)

The first time you enter into a Gothic cathedral is a powerful and defining experience. Entering the nave from the narthex, your natural inclination is to crane your head back to fully take in the stretching heights soaring above you. At that moment, your perspective is cast by moving over the religious threshold that you have just crossed. It is quite an experience, but even the word “experience” is too egocentric to accurately describe what is transpiring: a proper word would be “encounter”. Because of the permanence, perspective and purpose of this place, you quickly understand that this encounter is about more than just you. The enormity of the structure dwarfs you, and the stones themselves seem to cry, “Look higher!”

Though I have visited and studied several dozens cathedrals in the past 15 years, my knees still shake when I come into these sacred spaces. What overwhelms me is how the building surrounds me and towers over me. All of my haughty pretensions that allow me to overstate my perspective and problems in the world are immediately confronted by something much larger, much older, and higher than I. As we get caught up in the vagaries of life and measuring our experiences by our own yardsticks, approaching something so extraordinary, so immense, that we are simultaneously diminished, yet defined, can provide us with a viewpoint that truly speaks to our human condition. The only encounter I have been able to compare it to has been standing on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and feeling the miles of space yawning around and engulfing me. It is something that defines your place in the world.

It is this characteristic of God – His transcendence – that the cathedral builders wanted the worshipper to understand; but not just by knowing, but by feeling and sensing with our whole being. Cathedrals had an intentional design and purpose – to get us to look outside and beyond ourselves and to turn our thoughts to God. As our eyes fix on the lofty elevation of the cathedral walls and vaults above, we are reminded that while we have a place in the world, our significance can only rightly be found in relation to our infinite Creator and His people, the Church.

In the Medieval world, Christians had as much of a problem as us moderns in wanting to bring God down to our level. Whether it is through vain rituals or self-indulgent prayers, we want to conform God to our plans and our purposes based solely on a range of sight that ends at the tip of our nose. Those that built the Gothic cathedrals across Europe had a remedy for that.

A spectacular example of the vertical dimensions incorporated into the Gothic style can be found at Ulm Minster in Germany. Begun in 1377, construction was not complete until 1890. From earlier on, the cathedral planners in Ulm intended to raise its lone spire higher than any other church in Europe, a plan that was followed meticulously from the 14th Century manuscripts by those who finished the cathedral at the end of the 19th Century.

To stand in the shadow of Ulm Minster, the tallest cathedral in the world rising to 528 feet, is an impressive sight even in our time. But to the traveler in the Middle Ages traversing the Rhine River through Ulm, the unfinished spire must have been staggering in its proportions. In fact, we have a written account of one visitor, Brother Felix Fabri, who visited Ulm in 1488, and wrote:

“It did rise, the structure, under the work of their hands and in 111 years, namely from its foundation in 1377 until now 1488, there appeared a church which will inspire all peoples and times to amazement and wonder. Nay, even more than the wondrously huge structure itself, the observer will wonder at the nobility and audacity of them who conceived it. For in this small town they have dared – without seeking support from outside, without help or the need to beg – to erect a building whose incredibly tall bell tower riseth this very day to the honor and glory of the majesty of God, as though it seeketh to reach heaven.”

Brother Felix was struck in awe of the immensity of such an undertaking and his relation to it. Being firmly rooted in the medieval worldview, he knew that the building of Ulm Minster was not intended as a statement to the glory of those who began the project, for in fact, they were all dead and buried within the unfinished church; but rather, the towering tribute was a testament to the soaring majesty of God. That is what struck him.

These structures were intended to mark the medieval mind as indelibly as they marked the city landscape. They were intended to dominate the city skyline, as wood engravings and drawings of cities of the time clearly show. To the pilgrim coming in from the countryside, they were invariably the first thing that could be seen, letting them know that their sojourn was soon at an end. Not only were the cathedrals the tallest buildings in the medieval city, they were usually built at the tallest point in town. Even today in our nation’s capital, the tallest point in the city is not the Washington Monument or the U.S. Capitol, but the Washington National Cathedral, which oversees a whole city dedicated to American political power and the achievements of man.
It is probably the most striking feature of the Gothic cathedral that it was not built to the limited proportions of man, but to that of God. Only such a structure could capture for us the essence of God’s transcendence, as the Psalmist testifies:

He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever. (Psalm 78:69)

These sculptured mountains of sacred stone proclaim the infinite and unrivalled majesty of God. It is fitting that they are constructed to such an extent, though only in human terms, that fits the dimensions of His holy habitation.

Gazing upward beyond ourselves to the vaults and spires appropriately directs our attention to the true scope and scale of our lives. The vertical spaces of the cathedral, both internally and externally, were designed to let us know that the space above us was important; not just warranting our attention, but orienting us directly to the perspective of heavenly reality. Our temporary problems are dwarfed by God’s purpose and plans for us. It is especially difficult to understand how deliberately He has chosen our proscribed path in life. It is from His vantage point surveying and providentially directing the course of history that He guides the flow and ebb of our existence. It is this truth that should encourage us as Christians.

This was demonstrated to me when I visited Salisbury Cathedral in Southwestern England. The cathedral was the first thing I recognized as I walked out from the train station. Fixing my gaze on the spire, which stands at 404 feet (the fifth tallest cathedral in the world), I could wind my way through the narrow streets to my destination. After a lot of twists and turns through the ancient alleys of Salisbury, I passed through the gates and onto the grounds of the cathedral close. The green grass and leafy trees of the English Spring contrasted against the deep blue sky to create an incredible frame for the magnificent edifice of the cathedral. The building loomed so large in this scene that it was difficult for me to fit it all in the viewfinder of my camera.

But it wasn’t until I climbed the stairs to the observation point in the spire that I could trace the circuitous route I had taken to get here. With the town spread out like a mosaic before me, I realized that had the cathedral not been constantly in my view as I walked through town, I have no doubt the time of my trip would have doubled and required me to ask for detailed directions. I was walking through unknown territory. But ultimately, it really didn’t matter what street I was on, because I could see where I was going. The same is true of the Christian. We know our heavenly destination, and we can be confident that by fixing our gaze on Christ, the Captain of our salvation will surely lead us on the right path home.

Of course, there are few times when the Lord makes things are so clear to us as this. The reason for many of our trials and travails will remain hidden from us this side of heaven. And God’s purpose may be just as unclear. The Lord, speaking through Isaiah, makes this very point:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

I am reminded of King David and his cry, “[F]rom the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2) Feeling overwhelmed can be frightening, but knowing that God stands high above our daily circumstances is precisely what we need to recall when the storms of life blow our way.

Sayyid Qutb and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

Sorry that it has been a few days since I last posted. The flu hit me over the weekend, and I'm just starting to get my feet under me.

In recent news, the Muslim Brotherhood has won at least 20 percent of the seats in the Egyptian parliamentary elections that took place on Tuesday. Though still an illegal group, they are tolerated and appear to be the strongest rival party to the ruling regime.

But why is the Muslim Brotherhood important? You might remember several posts last month where I discussed Sayyid Qutb and his ideological descendents, including Osama bin Laden (who was mentored in college by Qutb's brother, Mohammed) and the founders of the Palestinian terror group, Islamic Jihad. Qutb was the chief propagandist for the Muslim Brotherhood until his execution by Nasser in 1966, and one of the leading contributors to contemporary Islamist ideology.

Rooting his ideology in the monist monotheism of Islam, the singularity of God (tawhid) demands the singularity of the universe. In the examination of the ancient question of the one and the many, Qutb's answer is clear: one. There is no room for the individual in the Islamic universe. The primacy of the one (embodied in a universal Islamic state) outweighs any competing claims of legitimacy. Qutb is also responsible for several ideas that lay at the bedrock of Islamist terrorism:

1) In his book Milestones, he applies the Islamic idea of jahiliyya (pagan barbarism) to non-Islamic societies AND Islamic nations not governed by sharia. This gives justification for the Al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq to launch murderous suicide attacks in Jordan just last week. Since Jordan is not governed by sharia, it is just as guilty as the U.S., and subject to terrorist activity.

2) Drawing from Enlightenment revolutionary thought, the catalyst for social action to reinstitute God's sovereignty on earth is a revolutionary vanguard: "How must the Islamic resurrection begin? A vanguard must resolve to set it in motion in the midst of jahiliyya that now reigns over the earth. That vanguard must be able to decide when to withdraw from and when to seek contact with the jahiliyya that surrounds it." But who appoints this revolutionary vanguard? The vanguard itself. This is why Osama bin Laden can issue fatwas, religious legal opinions, to authorize terrorism against al Qaeda's enemies, even though OBL has no status as a religious authority and is no part of the ulema. As head of the vanguard, he is his own authority. An Islamic Robespierre.

3) As I noted in a previous post, Qutb draws on his idea of jahiliyya explictly from French Social Darwinist, Alexis Carrel, who he quotes more than any other author.

Even though the Muslim Brotherhood has not been as violent since when it was under Qutb's ideological leadership, it is becoming clear that it is the lightning rod for radicalism in Egypt. Expect it to get more radical as it gains power and is able to exercise its ideology more consistently. If you want more info on Qutb, read Paul Berman's lengthy New York Times Magazine article, The Philosopher of Islamic Terror.

Wolters' Creation Regained

I can hardly recommend any higher Al Wolters' Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview, which will be available next month in a new reprinting. This short book rocked my world several years ago. The impact on my thinking wasn't so much presenting new material or concepts, but helping me fit it all together. The worst thing about the book I found is that the margins are too small to fit all of my notes in, and I broke my binding. If you are serious about Christian worldview and consider yourself cut from the Kuyperian mold, this is required reading.

With just five chapters (though densely packed), he begins with "What is a Worldview?" Briefly examining what a worldview is, the important element I found about the chapter is its plea to recognize the comprehensive nature of the Christian faith. Our Christian worldview must be distinctly Christian and permeate all aspects of our thought and life (theory and praxis).

The second chapter, "Creation", begins by identifying the biblical theme of the Creator/creature distinction, and stresses the importance of this doctrine, and the doctrine of creation in general, for Christian thought and for advancing the Christian's cultural mission (the Cultural Mandate).

The third Chapter, "Fall", explores the critical Kuyperian theme of the Antithesis. The opposition to the Christian's cultural mission is not fundamentally natural, but spiritual.

The fourth chapter, "Redemption", closes with this zinger:

"The horizon of creation is at the same time the horizon of sin and of salvation. To conceive of either the fall or Christ's deliverance as encompassing less that (sic) the whole of creation is to compromise the biblical teaching of the radical nature of the fall and the cosmic scope of redemption." (p. 71)

The work of Christ on the Cross must extend not just to personal salvation, but to the whole of the cosmos. The vast expanse of creation is now the open frontier for pressing the comprehensive claims of Christ. This is the view of the ancient church, who emphasized Christus Victor (see Gustav Aulen's book of the same name, or Robert Webber's Ancient-Future Faith).

Finally, the fifth chapter, "Discerning Structure and Direction", was of tremendous importance to me. In light of the Antithesis, how do we as Christians utilize those aspects of creation that are used by pagan humanity in contravention of the gospel and the created ends of things. The doctrine of common grace always baffled me until I read this chapter. He also covers the Kuyperian doctrine of sphere sovereignty here, which opposes the pagan inevitability of totalitarianism (in whatever: politics, money, sex, etc.). Pagan revolution is opposed by Christian reformation. He applies his approach to various issues, including sexuality and dance.

One closing quote to give you an idea of where he's heading:

"In a certain sense the plea being made here for a biblical worldview is simply an appeal to the believer to take the Bible and its teaching seriously for the totality of our civilization right now and not to relegate it to some optional area called 'religion'." (pp. 7-8)

THIS IS SIMPLY A MUST-READ!!

Also be sure to check out this recent lecture (Oct. 2005) by Dr. Wolters entitled: "What is to be done...toward a neocalvinist agenda." He states quite honestly that the Kuyperian heirs are few in number in Christian circles, but the clarity of vision and the call to advance the comprehensive claims of Christ in all areas of life are elements that the entire Church needs to hear to be effective in the world today. He closes the article with a few paragraphs from his 1980 essay, "The Centre and the Circumference", which ought to be read in its entirety.

More crankin' music

Many of you know Randy Thomas from Butterfly Kisses, Allies and the Sweet Comfort Band. He now has a new CD of worship music available for purchase, Grace Songs. I heard these songs as they were being developed at Grace Fellowship (PCA). Do yourself a favor and buy a copy. Ask for it at your local Jesus junk shop, or you can buy it online at Christiandiscs.com. The bass on Most Holy absolutely cranks. The only drawback to the album is that it doesn't have Randy's arrangement of the classic Samuel Davies hymn, Great God of Wonders. Maybe the next album, Randy?

MSM Coverage of the French Intifada

Edward Morrissey has a concise article at the Weekly Standard on the MSM coverage of the French intifada. Two things that he notes:

1) The major US papers (NYT, WP, LAT) refuse to make the connection between the French rioting and the fact that the rioters are Muslim.

2) The Post's own coverage at least a week before the present riots started indicates that Islamic terror groups had identified France as the next target. Specifically, the Algerian terrorist group GSPC issued a communique that described France as "enemy number one."

The second point is stunning. If it is true that the Islamic terror internationale is behind the rioting, France is dealing with a much larger problem than they seem to understand or admit.

In other news regarding the "Religion of Peace", two Indonesian teenage Christian schoolgirls were shot in the head yesterday in the same town where three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded last week. Yes, this is manhood in Islam: attacking women, girls at that. Attack the weak to show you're strong. It is sad to see that Islamic terrorists are using strategy devised on a primary school playground. Isn't it about time that the adults step in and end the bullying?

An open question that I admit I don't have an answer to (but I do have an opinion): is there a time coming in which Christians internationally are going to have to form some sort of roving militia to protect other Christians undergoing persecution? Are there any biblical prohibitions from taking up the sword? Are the Crusades going to be re-fought? What do you think?

Listen to the future...

If you want to check out some excellent tunes by one of the hottest up-and-comers in the music scene (yes, I know I'm an old fogey, but this ROCKS!!!), check out Travis Jerome's site. I stayed at their house Monday night, where he played me a couple new tracks which are posted at MySpace. They absolutely rock! Be sure to catch Travis at The End in Nashville on Nov. 22nd.

Radcliffe Camera

Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, May 2002. Though the winters are dismal in England, the spring is absolutely spectacular, as seen in this shot. Overall, I wasn't impressed as much with Oxford as I was with Cambridge (though I had been to Oxford almost 20 years before). Then again, having an excellent guide like Jack Beckman to take me through Cambridge made a significant difference. This particular trip was also soured by BritRail, which closed the Oxford station unannounced, which required us to get off several stops before, queue up for an hour, then catch a bus to the Oxford train station, in order to get to the hollowed halls traversed by the dons. The other great part about this day trip was finding a short bio of Kuyper that I had never seen in the US in a bookstore for half off - 2 pounds. What a deal!

Arizona Sky

One of the things I miss about the West. You could get a view like this almost any evening in AZ. A great job of backlighting if I do say so myself.

Agincourt anniversary

Today is the 590th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. G-squared has a short post on it today. The battle was made famous by Shakespere's "St. Crispin's Day" speech in Henry V, but the battle itself was stunning in its consequences. A vastly outnumbered English force decimated the French forces and slaughtered the flower of the French nobility. It would take a century for France to recover from such a blow. How were the English able to defeat a larger, better-equipped force? The English long-bow, which revolutionized late medieval warfare.

Claims that the loss at Agincourt is what made the French cheese-eating surrender monkeys cannot be verified.

Housekeeping/New Videos

You might have noticed some new links to the right. Of particular note is the freshly-posted Part 2 of my "Christian Worldview and Changing Culture" series presently appearing in October edition of Christianity & Society (published by the Kuyper Foundation in England). This new posting includes the section on "Worldview as Worship" that is one of the more insightful pieces I think I've authored. My hope is to complete the last 6 chapters before the end of the year (not likely, really) and eventually have the whole thing published after the final installment, Part 3, appears in the Spring 2006 edition.

On another note, today I received from the library the first two video tapes of Lord Kenneth Clark's series, Civilisation. Recommended by my esteemed friend and colleague, Clay "The Dog" Biggs, this 13-part series aired on the Beeb in 1969 and covers the whole history of Western Civilization. I have no doubt that it provided a working model for Francis Schaeffer's How Then Shall We Live? series in the mid-70s. It is not probably legal, but I'm going to digitize them this week for my future personal use (just like I did the Schaeffer series, which unfortunately is not available in DVD format; yes, I did buy the videos, and it is legal to make one backup copy for yourself).

With that said, let me also announce that Malcolm Muggeridge's The Third Testament is now available as a free ebook. The video is impossible to get ahold of, so the book might have suffice. Mr. Biggs informs me that the book is the narrative from the video (again, just like Schaeffer did with How Then). In this sweeping survey, he covers Augustine, Blake, Pascal, Tolstoy, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Dostoevsky. WOW!! What more do I have to say, other than read it today!

Finally, for those of you who have asked, yes I am going to continue my series on the Western roots of Islamic terrorism. I've submitted an outline of the projected book to a publisher, so I should have a summary complete this week sometime. I'll be sure to post it, along with some more photos.

Lord Nelson Day Bicentennial

It was two hundred years ago today that the greatest naval battle in history, the Battle of Trafalgar, occurred just miles off the southern coast of Spain. On that day, Lord Horatio Nelson and the British fleet – vastly outnumbered and outgunned – took on the allied French-Spanish fleet that was preparing to lead Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces in an invasion of England. The consequences of Nelson’s stunning and decisive victory would continue to shape events for the next century and allowed Britain to expand their influence to create the greatest national empire in history.

Horatio Nelson took to the sea early in life, rising to captain by the time he was twenty years-old. The key to his success was that he was a leader that inspired both the men he commanded and the country he served. In a remarkable recovery after losing his right arm and the sight in his right eye, due in no small part to the care given by his wife, Fannie, he returned to the sea despite the odds to become the Hero of the Battle of the Nile. But as with all great men, he had great flaws. His affair with the wife of the British ambassador to Naples, Emma Hamilton, was quite public, and brought great shame to his devoted wife.

Despite his moral flaws, he regularly exhibited extraordinary physical courage. Serving as Vice Admiral at the Battle of Copenhagen, where the British defeated the Danish fleet, he defied a recall order given in the middle of the fight by the Admiral by placing his scope to his blind eye and telling his subordinates, “I see no such signal,” and pressed the battle to victory.

Nelson’s actions surrounding the great victory at Trafalgar demonstrated his profound leadership abilities. Realizing that the morale of the men who served on his ships was key to his success, he took great care of his men, providing for their needs. The men returned the favor in kind as Nelson trained his men for the battle he knew was ahead. While the French-Spanish fleet sat in harbor, his men would train daily. It is reported that the average British cannon crew could fire at a rate up to ten times that of the enemy, making Nelson’s fleet a lethal weapon.

To his immediate subordinates, he discussed his plans openly and freely to solicit their advice and plan for every contingency. This allowed Nelson to clearly communicate his overall strategy, so that when the enemy was engaged, the captains could adjust as circumstances dictated and support each other and the overall battle plan without instruction or orders.

His strategic genius would be displayed as he stalked the enemy fleet as it slipped out of the port of Cadiz headed to the Mediterranean. In a bold stroke, he departed from accepted naval tactics of lining his ships up parallel with the enemy for battle. Instead, he divided his force into two columns that would bisect the French-Spanish line of battle from the side, effectively severing one-third of the enemy ships from the battle as they were then required to turn their ships around in order to engage the British columns. This would even out the odds. But this didn’t come without risk: as the columns headed towards the enemy, they would be unable to fire their broadside cannons until they were within the enemy battle line, but would be completely exposed until that point. It was a risk, but a calculated one.

Luck favored Nelson at Trafalgar, but great leaders make their own luck by preparing for the opportunity. Before Nelson closed in on the enemy, the French Admiral Villeneuve decided to turn his fleet around to head back to Cadiz. As the British ships sailed towards the enemy line of ships, the enemy was in great disarray. Seeing the strategic advantage he had gained, he relayed a message to his men that is remembered as one of the great military statements of all time: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” The men would cheer successively as the message was relayed along both columns ship-to-ship. The second message put the lethal British fleet into action: “Engage the enemy more closely.”

Unlike many commanders of his day, Nelson understood the importance of leading from the front. As the enemy fleet grew closer, he was asked if he should transfer his flag further to the rear – a request he quickly declined. There was nowhere to escape the carnage, and he knew his place was to lead from the front. His ship, the HMS Victory, would lead one of the columns into battle. As the men prepared on board the Victory, Nelson walked the deck in full military regalia, making him an obvious target, shouting encouragements to his men.

As the British engaged the enemy, the HMS Victory was heavily damaged. In close contact with the enemy – so close that the Victory’s sails were entangled with those of a French ship – Nelson prepared the men to fend off the French boarders organizing themselves on the nearby deck. At that moment, 1:15pm, a shot from a French sniper rang out. A bullet entered Nelson’s side, traveled through his lung and severed his spine. Moments later as men carried Nelson below, another British ship would rake the French ship with shot from the opposite side, killing most of the French troops preparing to board the Victory.

As the battle raged that afternoon, the British fleet would eventually win the day, capturing or burning 23 ships, including that of the French admiral, Villeneuve. More than 20,000 French and Spanish sailors and soldiers were taken prisoner. British casualties, numbered at 440, dwarfed the 4000+ men killed on the French and Spanish ships.

Nelson’s victory was decisive. Any plans by Napoleon to invade England were hopelessly dashed. The British now commanded the seas, naval supremacy that allowed the English in the years ahead to extend their influence to the furthest reaches of the globe.

The news that reached England would be both triumphant and tragic: the victory had come with a terrible price – the death of Lord Admiral Nelson, who had died at 4:30pm the afternoon of the battle on the HMS Victory. Though dying at the age of forty-seven, Nelson died at the exact moment of his greatest triumph, making him an unquestioned national hero.

In January, a state funeral would be held in London for Britannia’s great hero, with an entombment in a marvelous black marble monument in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Each year on October 21st, a commemoration service is held on all British ships all around the world to honor the courage and life of a great naval strategist, a great leader of men, and a great warrior – Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson – who is greatly honored today on this 200th anniversary of his great victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Alexis Carrel and Sayyid Qutb

A follow-up from yesterday's post on Radical Islam and the Western Mind. A correspondent asked me for some references regarding the use of Nobel Prize-prize winning French Darwinist eugenicist, Alexis Carrel, by the "brains behind bin Laden," Egyptian Brotherhood propagandist Sayyid Qutb (Qutb's brother was bin Laden's intellectual mentors at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, along with Abdullah Azzam).

The best source I've found is a 2003 article published by Die Zeit (in German, of course) by Frankfurt historian, Rudolph Walther, entitled "The Strange Teachings of Doctor Carrel: How a French Catholic doctor became a spiritual forefather of the radical Islamists."

Here are some excerpts:

The superficial commonalities between Carrel and Qutb are plain: we meet the medical man's elite in a "scientific monastery" as Qutb's "avant garde," and the Carrel's "biological classes" are Qutb's "belief classes." Whether "civilization" (Carrel) or "barbarism" (Qutb) -- neither are "worthy of us," because they contradict "our true nature" (Carrel) or Qutb's "good, healthy nature." Both are quite in agreement in their goal to reconcile knowledge and belief.

The decisive affinities lie deeper, though. Qutb cites no author aside from the Koran as often and as extensively as Carrel. What fascinated Qutb about Carrel was, as Islamic Studies scholar Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi wrote in his 1996 book "Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence," first of all his view of humanity "which he relies on more than the Koran." Second, Qutb follows Carrel's method. The pious doctor complains that "man, this whole," this unique, complex being, is being subdivided and torn apart by social reality and science... The exclusive concentration on the material nature of man had the effect of repressing his spiritual side. [...]

Qutb follows Carrel in making "human nature" the condition and measure of all thought and action. Because "human nature" is simultaneously posited as God-given, both immunize "human nature" against criticism, because God answers queries as little as "nature" does objections. The core of Qutb's supposed Middle Eastern Islamism is formed by a naturalistic logical error that is deeply rooted in European philosophy... Carrel writes: "The goal of life is to follow the laws of life. We decipher these laws from our bodies and our souls, not from philosophical systems and concepts." Thus ethical norms ("laws of life") are derived directly from biological facts and psychological diagnoses. Translated to Qutb's language, human freedom and thus a free, varied society are not possible, only obedience to the law of God. [...]

What Qutb calls "the Islamic method," the integration of education, ethics, economics and politics to a unified system of "divine uniqueness," matches Carrel's "unification of all capabilities and their coordination to a single belief," the "super-science" in every detail ...*** [emphasis added]

Walther notes Abu-Rabi's Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence as a source, but I've also found reference to the connection in Youssef Choueiri's Islamic Fundamentalism, pp. 142-149.

Hope this helps.

Radical Islam and the Western Mind

Following up on a recent post, a few inquirers have emailed me about my ongoing studies related to radical Islam and its Western intellectual roots and requested some sources. Here's are six good, accessible articles for the layperson to get you going:

Ladan Boroumand and Roya Boroumand, "Terror, Islam and Democracy" Journal of Democracy 13/2 (April 2002)

Waller R. Newell, "Postmodern Jihad," Weekly Standard (November 26, 2001)

Paul Berman, "The Philosopher of Islamic Terror," New York Times Magazine (March 23, 2004) - requires free registration

Daniel Pipes, "The Western Mind of Radical Islam," First Things (December 1995)

Wesley Yang, "The Philosopher and the Ayatollah," Boston Globe (June 12, 2005)

As for books, here's a short list:

Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam
David Pryce-Jones, The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs
Ali Rahnema, ed., Pioneers of Islamic Revival
Malise Ruthven, A Fury for God
Daniel Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini
Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeinism

That should keep you busy for at least the next week...

As for my studies, I'm looking at the topic from a pointed worldview/history of ideas perspective: how did these guys get to where they are? What is in their "footnotes"? Why do many of the themes in their ideology so closely mirror those in Western revolutionary thought? While I would agree that the ideology of Islamism is relatively new, and somewhat of a departure from classical Islam, what is it in the Islamic worldview that allows itself to be coopted in the manner that it has been?

At this point, the teachings of classical Islam are becoming increasingly irrelevent, because the Muslim world is solidifying around Islamist ideology. It is my position that the criticism that Islamism is a form of "fundamentalism" (e.g. Karen Armstong, et al.) is really uninformed and the result of poor presuppositions. Most of the individuals making this criticism are secular fundamentalists themselves. I reject the use of the Western right/left categories generally, because they are so subjective and are rarely good explanations in any discussion, but they are particularly poor when discussing Islamic radicalism, which is usually ascribed as a movement from the right. But in fact, the brains behind bin Laden were committed Leftists. From those sources, many of whom studied in the West (Qutb, Shariati, Aflaq), Islamists picked up concepts from Marxist, Existentialist, and Darwinian thought and "dressed them up in Islamic clothes" (to use a phrase from the Boroumand sisters).

One of the fascinating themes I've been studying this week is how Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian thinker that synthesized many of these Western themes and made them accessible to the Islamic world (his brother was one of bin Laden's mentors and university professors), pinched the cultural idea of the West as "barbarism" from a French Social Darwinist, Alexis Carrel, to create his seminal idea of the non-Islamic world as "jahiliyyah" (paganism). (For a good, detailed analyisis of Qutb's importance, see the Berman article cited above; another good source is this short paper by Luke Loboda).

Another theme I'm working on relates to the ideological father of the Iranian Revolution, Ali Shariati. In an essay I'm reading today, he makes the case that Islamic thought doesn't regard everyone as "human", or that we're not all human in the same way, i.e. we're not all created in God's image. He makes a pretty convincing case from his exegesis of the Quran. This allows Islamists to justify killing non-Muslims and ignorant Muslims (Muslims that don't agree with them and are therefore not "enlightened") -- all proceeding from their Islamic worldview.

Worldview matters, folks. While many writers have examined the ideology behind Islamism, no one has yet approached the topic from a strictly "worldview" analysis. I hope my continuing studies can rectify that and promote some further thinking and discussion in this vein.

Listening to today: Nina Simone, The Essential Nina Simone, Vol. 2; Nickel Creek, Nickel Creek
(I have to admit I still haven't recovered from the Alanis Morissette cover of Seal's Crazy. It will take some time, I'm sure, but in the meantime, I've listened to his first Seal album [he names all of his albums after himself] a couple of times since.)

Say it isn't so...

Just saw a new music video of Alanis Morissette covering Seal's Crazy. Is nothing sacred anymore!? And to turn it into a lesbian lovers spat. Oh, the humanity!!

Trafalgar Square Lion

In honor of the upcoming 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar this week, here's a shot of the Nelson Monument, London, March 2002.

Mississippi River Sunset

It has been a while since I posted a picture, so here's a shot I took of the sunset over the Mississippi River taken from Thompson, IL looking over to Clinton, IA. August 7, 2003.

Self-Indulgent Blogging

Rachel had short quip the other day about blogging and self-indulgence. Why do we blog? Do we so yearn for recognition of our individuality that we have to be like everyone else? Why is it that while looking at my blog today and noticing that it had been more than a week since my last post, I felt compelled to put something up? Any diagnoses?

On another note, I got up early this morning and went down to the Lima Company homecoming here in Columbus. This Marine Reserve unit was returning from Iraq and had 24 fatalities in the seven months they were there - one of the highest casualty rates of any unit so far. It took the buses more than an hour to drive the 13 miles from the airport to their post because the whole route was thronged with well-wishers. The entire town turned out. The Columbus Dispatch printed "welcome home" signs in this morning's paper. At a number of points, the buses couldn't get through the crowd, despite a massive police escort, because of the crowds spilling over into the road. Schools along the route allowed the students to come out in support, and marching bands greeted them along the way. My Dad was with his VFW Honor Guard, one of several in attendance, where two firetrucks had raised their ladders and hung a giant flag over the street for the buses to drive under. As the buses came by at the end of the route by their post (where I was), the Marines were still shouting, hooting, and waving to the crowd. In my old age, I'm much more sentimental, but I have to admit that the entire scene - everyone wearing ponchos to keep the rain and the cold away - was profoundly moving. Not a dry eye to be found. It gave me hope for America. God bless the Marines of Lima Company and all who are serving to protect our freedom. A special shout-out to my cousin, Rob, who is presently serving at Camp Anaconda just outside Baghdad.

Another year closer...

...to the end. Sad to say that today is my birthday. Even sadder to admit that I'm 37. Tempus fugit. I wish I had something really witty to say, but I don't.

Spent the day at the local public library continuing my research for the next book on the worldview of Islamic terrorists. Reading some fascinating material right now. The bombshell of my thesis is that the thinkers who developed the groundwork for Islamic fundamentalism were Western-educated Marxists and socialists who synthesized the revolutionary worldview with Islam (Mawdudi, Qutb, Shariati, et al.). Yet the worldview of Islam lends itself to being synthesized in this way. Osama bin Laden even studied under Qutb's brother at King Azziz University in Jeddah. I would like to float a book proposal around sometime next month to a couple of publishers to see if any of them bite.

Ramblin on

Just like the Led Zeppelin song, I'm rambling on yet again. Looking at options in Washington D.C., Arizona, and Illinois. Working on a project I've waited my whole life for, and praying that it comes together this time. Life is too short to do anything else but swing for the fences. I have to say that recent events in my life have confirmed that most people settle for mediocrity and compromise. I'm convinced that is what I've done the past 3 1/2 years. During a conversation recently with someone very close to me, they admonished me for trying to swing for the fences and that I should set my sights much lower (much lower to my station, I think they were saying). I replied: "Why would I want to devote myself to anything less than changing the world? I only have to hit it over the fence once to make a difference in this life. Even if I'm not successful, isn't the effort itself worth the risk?" I was thinking of men like William Carey, who went to India and never saw much ministry "success", but started the whole missions movement that has the gospel raging across the globe.

So let me ask you, gentle reader: why are you settling for less than changing the world? Are the trappings of this world really worth it? Do they deliver on their promises?

Sorry to be a little preachy. I'm preaching as much to myself as anyone else, but it is a message I think we all need to be reminded of.