2005-10-24

Spog Blotting

Here are some blogs that I have noticed during the week:

Godly Christian Blogs

Tim Challies (about whom Centuri0n says In the end, it is hard to stay mad at Challies. I just can't find it in me) wrote a great essay arguing that unity must be through theology, not through an organisational structure. This is something that I have been arguing for years.

Tom Hinkle has offered his formal resignation from the Boar's Head Tavern, partly due to reasons which I will describe below.

Steve McCoy has posted very little that has interested me. More on alcohol Steve!

Hugh Hewitt is strangely quiet. Perhaps, in his heart of hearts, he has worked out that Harriet Miers is not going to get confirmed in SCOTUS. Maybe he's also considering the chances of Dick and Dubya being Impeached. Either that of he is working very hard behind the scenes to get Harriet nominated (which is probably more likely).

Al Mohler complains that chaplains at the US Air Force Acadamy are being prevented from evangelising students and is horrified... horrified I tells ya! His article makes no mention whatsoever of the ongoing reports of religious discrimination against non-Christians by Christian chaplains and superior officers.

Michael Spencer writes a heart-revealing piece about his experiences with his sick mother over the past week (she has moved in with the Spencers to live).

Paul Whiting changes his website's name to... Paul Whiting. He has also posted his continuing thoughts about the theology of Charles Finney and how it relates to practices by YWAM.

Pyromaniac has returned and is still fighting a war against pacifism.

Confessing Evangelical in England smirks about Aussie politics - and rightly so.

The Boars Head Tavern is in theological meltdown. A public brawl has broken out between Michael "I'm not like you" Spencer and Josh "OSO can't think of any epithet to describe him" Strodtbeck. The issue is over The Sacraments and it appears as though Josh is being accused of being a "Fundamentalist Lutheran" for an apparent outright refusal to share the Lord's Supper with anyone outside the Lutheran fold - something which eventually pushed Tom Hinkle over the edge and gave him enough reason to leave BHT. Josh appears to be the one in the wrong, and Michael Spencer appears to be in the right, but I have had issues with Michael and his style of argument before. I have decided against reading through the arguments since I don't have time to work out the traditional Lutheran view of the Sacraments and compare them with the traditional Baptist view. The upshot is that I don't know who's wrong but the "vibe" seems to be that Josh is the main aggressor and may be thrown out the tavern door permanently for this one.

Tom Ascol, one of those rare Reformed Baptists within the SBC, is madly preparing for Hurricane WIlma and has evacuated. A rare piece of insight from his congregation is as follows:
After Charley, we learned to pray more humbly about our desire for protection. To pray for the Lord to change the path of a storm headed toward us is, in effect, to pray that it will hit others. We no longer pray like that at our church. Instead, we try to remember to pray that the Lord will direct the storm into the exact path that will bring Him the greatest glory. If that means directly over us, then so be it. What matters is that our Lord be glorified in and through the storm.

Fide-O's posts have been lacking quality and quantity lately, probably because one of them has become a father. Mind you, I totally disagree with his assertion that his newborn daughter is "the most beautiful girl in the world". Where is his proof of this? Are there any journal articles or newspaper reports to back up this assertion? As everyone knows, since it has been reported widely all over the world by all sorts of reputable newspapers, and the New York Times, the most beautiful girl in the world is my own daughter, Lillian. This has been proved by rigorous scientific and empirical testing. So there.

James Spurgeon continues his work exposing the follies of Longview Baptist Temple in Eastern Texas.

Alex and Brett Harris, the glimmer twins from The Rebelution, have now moved to Alabama where they are now working for Judge Tom Parker. Here is a rather disturbing photo of the twins having their shoes shined. I know the guy shining their shoes is paid for his effort, but there is something, well, pre-1865 about such an image. The image just looks bad - that's all I'm saying.

Godless Liberal Blogs

Patrick Fitzgerald, some American guy who is involved in some law thingy, now has his own website.

The Harriet Miers fiasco is still making waves in the liberal blogosphere, but, given the rapid approach of "Fitzmas", Harriet is essentially an amusing back-up story. Liberals are highly amused at the apparent break-up of the Republican party into two warring factions on this issue, highlighted by the comments of George Will and Charles Krauthammer - two leading Conservatives - who have slammed the Miers nomination. Much of the liberal Blogosphere has focused on the Plame affair/Fitzmas, Judy Miller and her "relationships" with other New York Times journalists, Harriet Miers, and, finally, Tom DeLay's alleged money laundering. Bill Frist's alleged insider trading has been all but forgotten.

Athenae at First Draft wrote a wonderful article that sums up everything I believe regarding the Iraq War and the Bush administration.

Steve at the News Blog does an interesting analysis of Maureen Dowd's ("MoDo") article about Judy Miller. Dowd is a fellow journalist at The New York Times and the level of bile being directed in Miller's direction by Dowd's article is probably unique in the history of journalism.

Billmon at the Whiskey Bar manages to "discover" Harriet Miers' answers to the Senate Questionaire. Here is an example of one "answer":
Q: Please describe the importance of the U.S. Constitution in our system of government.
A: The Constitution is a very important document which plays a very important role in our system of government. The importance of the Constitution cannot be overstated, because the role it plays is so important. I am certain that as an Associate Justice -- and I plan to be the best ever! -- I will have many opportunities to consider the very important role that the Constitution plays in our system of government. However, as I am still reading the document, I feel it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.
Cabdrollery continues her output of quality articles that hit me where it matters. Seriously, go to her site and check it out over a week and you'll find she writes well. One recent article about the Plame affair spent less time discussing the issues involved, and more time lamenting the fact that these events have actually occurred. I always enjoy an opinion article, obviously written from a biased viewpoint (as all opinion articles are), that transcends its own bias and looks at events from a more realistic perspective. In this case, the Plame affair is a massive political defeat for the Conservatives which may affect their standing amongst ordinary people for some time, but, while Liberals will be happy about this, the fact is that thousands have died in Iraq because of this issue.

Christopher Allbrittan from Back to Iraq posted an article where he admitted that the stress of reporting from Iraq has resulted in panic attacks and an unreasonable anger towards Iraqis. He also hinted that he is taking Zoloft. And this is just a reporter. Imagine the stress that US soldiers and ordinary Iraqis go through - a point he reinforces at the end of the article.

Tbogg posts about FEMA's Michael Brown finding it difficult to find a seat in a restaurant while people defecated on the floor at the Superdome. The LA Times reported on this too.

Rose Siding at the Democratic Underground points out that identical pro-Bush newspaper editorials appeared on the same day in four different newspapers. Not all these papers are owned by the same parent company, it is revealed.

Angrybear continues to amaze and astound as he reveals that some Conservative economic pundits see continual budget deficits and continual tax cuts for the rich being part of the economic fabric and good for the economy. I suppose it explains why Americans generally see the Democrats as being better managers of the economy these days.

Steve M at No More Mister Nice Blog, says the following from a recent post:
(The) #1 enemy of modern American right-wingers is American liberalism, not any foreign foe. The American right rails against the Clintons and Ted Kennedy and leftist college professors and supporters of gay marriage far more than it does toward the perpetrators of the 9/11 atrocities.
© 2005 Neil McKenzie Cameron, http://one-salient-oversight.blogspot.com/


Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

No comments: