During the 2004 presidential debate, George Bush and John Kerry were asked about federal funding of embryonic stem research. Kerry responded with the "of course I would allow federal funding". But George Bush stated upfront this is an ethical question. Do we have the right to chose to destroy one life on the chance that another may be bettered? Hence, the reason federal funding of stem cells research that starts out with the destruction of an embryo was forbidden.
On March 9, 2009, President Obama reversed a long standing presidential order on the ban of using federal funding embryonic stem cell research. This administration has chosen to de-value human life at its earliest stages. This should be no surprise considering his voting record on abortion. This is a sad day for people that believe that human life is special and should be protected.
Obama said in speech, "that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology." and "our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values"
So, is Obama advocating scientific research with out regards to ethics or morality? This is the logic that the Third Reich used to justify their abuses of humanity. They did not see the value of all human life, just the value of their kind, the Aryans. So, they conducted their experiments for the search of scientific facts on humans that they were able to justify as less than human.
But, then in the same speech, he says "We will support it only when it is both scientifically worthy and responsibly conducted. We will develop strict guidelines, which we will rigorously enforce, because we cannot ever tolerate misuse or abuse."
This idea sounds very eloquent and may be great rhetoric but these guidelines should have answered this question first "Should we even be doing this?"
Stem cells hold lots of theoretical potential. Most scientists see them as the cellular building blocks of our bodies. Because a group of these stem cells go on to build a complete human being. This is potential here of cures and treatments but what is the cost of these treatments.
Embryos are not the only source of stem cells. Doctors have taken then from adult patients from various tissues. These ‘adult stem cells’ are the ones that have lead to the explosion of the treatments.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
We Surround Them Movement
Glenn Beck, conservative radio/TV talk show host, is the founder/promoter of this very simple movement. We the normal people out number all of the special interest groups.
See Glenn Beck's website for details
This movement wants to stop the fighting and get back to the core of what makes us as a people and a nation great. When we talk about policies, beliefs, and philosophies we get lost in arguments that both rational and irrational. But if we move to discussion back to fundamental principles and can agree on a starting framework to make decisions. All of these policy questions become much simpler. This idea of having a framework for make decisions is vital for making good decisions. Also, with a common framework.
Glenn puts if very directly and simple.. We should be live in 9 core principles and hold 12 values in high regard. This is the framework to make these policy and political decisions. Will we still have disagreements, YES. Will we have debates on how to proceed, YES. But maybe what we can cut down on is the outlandish personal attacks, smear campains, and corrupt power brokering that goes on now in the our governmental circles.
Glenn is asking that people that hold to these principles to send a digital photo of themselves to wesurroundthem@foxnews.com . Also, Glenn is asking that we the people, yes us, to get involved working with each other. He has endorsed MEETUP.COM as the means for us to gather together and meet each other and realize that we are not alone. Together we can make a difference.
On the meetup site you can found you local WE SURROUND THEM group and where they will be meeting. My wife and I have signed up for the Fort Worth meeting and we very excited about our first meeting. We want and need to know that we are not alone in our dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in our capitals and want to find some people that are willing to step up and start working on making those changes.
The Nine Principles
The Tweleve Values
See Glenn Beck's website for details
This movement wants to stop the fighting and get back to the core of what makes us as a people and a nation great. When we talk about policies, beliefs, and philosophies we get lost in arguments that both rational and irrational. But if we move to discussion back to fundamental principles and can agree on a starting framework to make decisions. All of these policy questions become much simpler. This idea of having a framework for make decisions is vital for making good decisions. Also, with a common framework.Glenn puts if very directly and simple.. We should be live in 9 core principles and hold 12 values in high regard. This is the framework to make these policy and political decisions. Will we still have disagreements, YES. Will we have debates on how to proceed, YES. But maybe what we can cut down on is the outlandish personal attacks, smear campains, and corrupt power brokering that goes on now in the our governmental circles.
Glenn is asking that people that hold to these principles to send a digital photo of themselves to wesurroundthem@foxnews.com . Also, Glenn is asking that we the people, yes us, to get involved working with each other. He has endorsed MEETUP.COM as the means for us to gather together and meet each other and realize that we are not alone. Together we can make a difference.
On the meetup site you can found you local WE SURROUND THEM group and where they will be meeting. My wife and I have signed up for the Fort Worth meeting and we very excited about our first meeting. We want and need to know that we are not alone in our dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in our capitals and want to find some people that are willing to step up and start working on making those changes.
The Nine Principles
- America is good.
- I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
- I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
- The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
- If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
- I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
- I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
- It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
- The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
The Tweleve Values
- Honesty
- Reverence
- Hope
- Thrift
- Humility
- Charity
- Sincerity
- Moderation
- Hard Work
- Courage
- Personal Responsibility
- Gratitude
Monday, March 9, 2009
Why I started this blog
Why do I want start a blog?
I need a place to share my ideas and this seemed like a good place to start.
I had a life changing encounter with the Holy Spirit several years ago. It renewed me in ways that are hard to describe. Since then I have been on different kind of journey. In the Gospels, we are told to become salt and light in our world. This was something that made a lot of sense to me and I need to show to the world that I am different because of my faith. But, just how was I going to do that. I did what normal people do. I got involved with some activies and charities that provide help to the needy but has offered the message of the Gospel as well.
In 2006, I was working on a contract job in Florida for FEMA. So, I was spending a lot of time traveling between the job sites (Orlando and Washington D.C) and home (Fort Worth). I would pass the time reading not just the tech things I needed for my job but lots of other stuff as well. One of the books I picked up was Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly. Mr. O'Reilly galvanized many of the things that I have thought and felt for many years. Specifically, how the secular progressives (his term but a good one) are tearing down the traditional values that I hold dear as well as many of the people that I know. We see our culture and way of life changing in ways that we do not like nor really understand. When I finished reading that book, I felt like I had been called into service to become a Culture Warrior.
Since then I been working on preparing myself to to become a culture warrior. I had always been very aware of current events: locally, nationally, and internationally. However, I started taking more notice of the analysis and commentaries of these events from various places. At the same time, I took up self-study study of ethics, philosophy, politics, and biblical studies. I went back and re-read many of the books that I had studied when I was younger with a renewed purpose and different point of view. Eventually, I began to see that my self-study was not enough and a more formal education was needed. So, started looking for education programs that were of this type of thinking. I finally enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in the Master of Arts in Theology (M.A.T.H.). This program for people wanting a formal education in theology and the biblical studies while at the same time not wanting to become a pastor in a church. The program is biblically based and flexible enough allow a deeper study and understanding in ethics and philosophy from a Christian perspective.
Another big inducement for me to start this blog came from my church. We did the Truth Project from the Focus on the Family Institute. Dr. Del Tackett takes elements of our culture (science, law, philosophy, psychology, history, and politics) and systematically shows how they all point to God and the glory of His Creation. But, he also points out how our knowledge is being misused to deny and distort the image and glory of God. At the very first lecture, Dr. Tackett said that this course would challenge us to think about what we believed and if we hung on for the entire journey we would come out with a fuller understanding of the Christian Worldview. It as a 12-week series set up as a one-hour lecture on DVD from Dr. Tackett and then a break out session for small group discussion. Much of the information presented in the Truth Project was not new. However, some of his conclusions and examples were amazingly vivid and thought provoking.
I have come to believe that as a people we need to engage our brains and think. We need to understand what we believe and why we believe it. Then be able to step up and defend those beliefs. Then as issues/problems come along then we can deal with them and not get lost in emotional, feeling arguments that get us no where.
So this is how I got to the point. I hope that others will start reading and commenting on my new place.
I need a place to share my ideas and this seemed like a good place to start.
I had a life changing encounter with the Holy Spirit several years ago. It renewed me in ways that are hard to describe. Since then I have been on different kind of journey. In the Gospels, we are told to become salt and light in our world. This was something that made a lot of sense to me and I need to show to the world that I am different because of my faith. But, just how was I going to do that. I did what normal people do. I got involved with some activies and charities that provide help to the needy but has offered the message of the Gospel as well.
In 2006, I was working on a contract job in Florida for FEMA. So, I was spending a lot of time traveling between the job sites (Orlando and Washington D.C) and home (Fort Worth). I would pass the time reading not just the tech things I needed for my job but lots of other stuff as well. One of the books I picked up was Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly. Mr. O'Reilly galvanized many of the things that I have thought and felt for many years. Specifically, how the secular progressives (his term but a good one) are tearing down the traditional values that I hold dear as well as many of the people that I know. We see our culture and way of life changing in ways that we do not like nor really understand. When I finished reading that book, I felt like I had been called into service to become a Culture Warrior.
Since then I been working on preparing myself to to become a culture warrior. I had always been very aware of current events: locally, nationally, and internationally. However, I started taking more notice of the analysis and commentaries of these events from various places. At the same time, I took up self-study study of ethics, philosophy, politics, and biblical studies. I went back and re-read many of the books that I had studied when I was younger with a renewed purpose and different point of view. Eventually, I began to see that my self-study was not enough and a more formal education was needed. So, started looking for education programs that were of this type of thinking. I finally enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in the Master of Arts in Theology (M.A.T.H.). This program for people wanting a formal education in theology and the biblical studies while at the same time not wanting to become a pastor in a church. The program is biblically based and flexible enough allow a deeper study and understanding in ethics and philosophy from a Christian perspective.
Another big inducement for me to start this blog came from my church. We did the Truth Project from the Focus on the Family Institute. Dr. Del Tackett takes elements of our culture (science, law, philosophy, psychology, history, and politics) and systematically shows how they all point to God and the glory of His Creation. But, he also points out how our knowledge is being misused to deny and distort the image and glory of God. At the very first lecture, Dr. Tackett said that this course would challenge us to think about what we believed and if we hung on for the entire journey we would come out with a fuller understanding of the Christian Worldview. It as a 12-week series set up as a one-hour lecture on DVD from Dr. Tackett and then a break out session for small group discussion. Much of the information presented in the Truth Project was not new. However, some of his conclusions and examples were amazingly vivid and thought provoking.
I have come to believe that as a people we need to engage our brains and think. We need to understand what we believe and why we believe it. Then be able to step up and defend those beliefs. Then as issues/problems come along then we can deal with them and not get lost in emotional, feeling arguments that get us no where.
So this is how I got to the point. I hope that others will start reading and commenting on my new place.
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