Life’s Ratchet is a book I read about molecular machines. I have to admit a lot of the book was over my head, but I got a lot out of it. Basically the author (Peter Hoffmann) goes into gory detail about how molecular machines work. These machines work inside of cells, enabling cellular function. The book brought up some interesting points:

1.  The author describes how energy can come from decay (2nd law of thermodynamics) and how this energy could be the “fuel” for evolution. This was the author’s answer to the problem creationists like me have about evolution; that decay does not produce order. He describes in this book how this energy is used to create order. My humble opinion? He does not show how this energy is used by cell function to produce the order we see. He merely explains the existence of the energy and how it “could” have been the energy source for certain functions.
2. The author explains away “irreducible complexity” with an analogy of a car, while being irreducibly complex, it does contain parts that could come from different simpler machines. He says because all the parts could come from simpler machines than a car, like a generator or a wagon, then the car is no longer irreducibly complex. I would argue that all those parts didn’t just fall into a hole and a car drove out. It really all boils down to the reality that these scientists have not even come close to describing the mechanism of evolution, even at its simplest level, these molecular machines. As you drill down, these systems do not become simpler, they become more complex.
3. He also describes an encounter he had with a fellow scientist who accused him of being from Texas, because of a question he asked after listening to the guy’s lecture. The question concerned evolution in molecular machines. According to the fellow scientist, this is the type of question that creationists like me always ask. At first, I felt insulted, like what is wrong with being a creationist from Texas, but then, I realized that these guys really don’t have good answers for questions like this, and they are feeling rather insecure about it. Instead, they  insult anyone who would dare question their belief in evolution! Its the educated man’s way of saying “You’re wrong and ugly too!”

I just read Stealing America by Dinesh D’Souza. I highly recommend this book. Dinesh D’Souza had recently gotten out of prison for a campaign finance law infraction, when he wrote this book. Normally, someone who had violated the same law Dinesh did, would have gotten a fine and a suspended sentence, but because of his highly effective documentaries and books against Barak Obama, he was dealt with very severely. Other than some proof that the directive had come down from the Obama administration, there is little doubt in my mind that his extremely severe punishment was political retribution.

Dinesh seems to have the same judgement about progressives that I have, that they are really frustrated aristocrats trying to reclaim the power they once had under the feudalism that ran Europe for centuries before the creation of America, and the proclamation that “all men are created equal”. He calls progressives “thieves” because their policies all seem to be designed to take money away from the middle class and give it to the government where it will be distributed to the bureaucracy. You may at this point want to point out, that progressives always talk about taking money from the “rich”, but the reality is, that they seldom do. The rich have options, and when government bureaucrats come after their money, they exercise them, and the government usually doesn’t get much from them. The middle class, on the other hand, does not have options, and usually ends up getting robbed.

In prior posts to this site, I have pointed this out, and now, Dinesh has reached the same conclusion that I have, although from different directions. Dinesh is an excellent writer, and I have no doubt you will enjoy his book if you read it. His book does a better job than I can about explaining how America is being robbed. The reality about progressives is that they are the hidden aristocrats of America. The framers of the constitution understood that the aristocrats went underground after they lost power and certain protections have been built in to prevent them from gaining power back, like congress passing laws instead of the president. It should be no surprise then, that America’s most progressive president would be trying to get around the congress with executive orders instead of bills for congress to approve. If you study history, you will see that aristocrats are really just thieves stealing money and power from the people they are supposed to govern. This is why in the book of Samuel, God points this out when Israel asked for a king. This is just another amazing reason that the bible is applicable to today as much as it was back when it was written.

From Samuel chapter 8:11 – He (GOD) said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. 12He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

From Breakpoint: http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/30013

Forgiveness is not a option, unless you are without sin. Since I have committed many, I have to forgive people who have hurt me. The story in this article is inspiring. These women are my heroes. It is sad that our culture has corrupted the concept of a hero. A hero can include:

1. Fake comic characters, like Superman and Batman
2. Professional Athletes, who are basically millionaires playing kids games
3. Actors who have the “right” politics
4. People who stand up against others that they are in conflict with, but only those “others” who have the “wrong” politics
5. People who stop progress, NIMBYs
6. Scientists who come up with theories that bolster an anti Christian world view
7. Musicians who have the “right” politics

Another hero of mine is John McCain, who was a POW in Vietnam. He is currently a Senator. I don’t like his politics, nor some aspects of his private life, but I cannot ignore his heroism in Vietnam.

Corrie Ten Boom is also my hero because she ended up meeting one of the prison guards who held her captive in Nazi Germany. Like these women in Rwanda, she forgave him.

Lastly, CS Lewis is a hero of mine. He was a man of his word, and took care of his friend’s mother until she died. He wrote the most wonderful stories, including The Screwtape Letters, which had a huge impact on my life.

PS – Jesus is much more than a hero to me. He is the one who’s forgiveness I need!

This is a comment I made after reading John StoneStreet’s opinion about the election. John is a man whose opinion I highly respect, although we may differ on this particular issue. See “http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/%2029981#comments”

This thread has answered a question that I have been pondering for a long time. Throughout my Christian life, I have experienced several Church splits. They all are similar in one fashion, people not liking a decision that was made, and stomping out of the Church angry. When you talk to these people later, they justify their walk out by saying, “I cannot be a part of something I think is going in the wrong direction”. Like these walk outs, people are reacting the same way to the Trump candidacy the same way. Trump did something disgusting, and they don’t want their names associated with his candidacy. What is not known is what they will do on Election Day. I suspect most will not vote, and the rest will vote for a third party.

The problem is this notion of not supporting something sinful because it would be supported “in my name”. There are 2 sides of this, the example I brought up about not supporting a gay marriage, and the example of supporting a misogynist like Donald Trump. These 2 cases, while seeming to be the same, are absolutely different. In the first case, the Christian is being asked to support something that is blatantly sinful by people in the world. If the Christian declines, there will be very real ramifications to the person declining. In the second case, the Christian is declining to be involved in something where a sin was involved, and the ramifications are being felt by people other than themselves. What I am saying is that like people stomping out of a church during a split, not voting for Trump is the same, in both cases the ramifications will be felt by others. In every case when I witnessed people stomping out of our church, I felt like I was being left in the lurch, and being insulted for supporting sin because I stayed. I feel the same way about Christians abandoning Trump, because I feel insulted as a person supporting sin, and left in the lurch. If Christians don’t vote, or vote for someone other than Trump, Hillary Clinton will win the election. In the same fashion, when I was left in the lurch in a church after a split, I was also left in a church with financial problems, members leaving, and general malaise. In this election, it will be similar; the country will be left with a government that is opposed to everything we are doing, being labeled as bigots, and being marginalized.

I would ask anyone who feels that they cannot vote for Trump to examine their hearts and ask themselves, am I doing this for selfish reasons? Am I just following the crowd? Am I afraid of what some people would think of me? If you are worried about your name being associated with sin, remember Romans 3:23 that “All have fallen short of the glory of God” and that your name is already associated with sins you have committed yourself. So it is not necessary to protect your name from sin, because you are already a sinner. I would encourage all who read this to vote to support the church, and what is good for it going forward. We may not want to be associated with the disgusting things Donald Trump has done, but in my case, my name isn’t worth protecting. What is worth protecting is the church’s ability to spread the Gospel, help the poor, and teach people the truth.

Another letter to the editor:

As much as I am disgusted by Trump’s “locker room talk”, I still feel that he is still the “lesser of two evils”. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of choices in this election. Despite 4 candidates, the 2 minor ones are both extremely unqualified and have distinguished themselves as such. The other choice is Hillary, who while being a very polished politician, is also the most corrupt person ever to run for President. During the recent debate, Trump said that if he was elected, that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary. There is ample evidence that Hillary or the people working for her deleted 30 thousand emails after a congressional subpoena was issued. This alone makes Hillary a much worse choice for President. This is called obstruction of justice, and is very illegal. One can only wonder why Hillary was willing to risk an obstruction charge to erase her emails. This is the evil of obstruction, not knowing what crime is being hidden. People need to ignore the media hype in this election. A lot of media people are very partisan, as the most recent wikileaks dump reveals. Actively helping Hillary defeat Trump is not good journalism. When you read or watch the news, you need to consider that the people presenting the information to you are editing it. You need to make up your own mind about who is the lesser of two evils, and not let a partisan newscaster make it for you.

In pop culture, pushing the envelope is always popular. Doing this enables a mediocre performer to rise above other performers. An example of this is “Lady Ga Ga” whose outrageous costumes and nudity have propelled her to stardom. At face value, Lady Ga Ga is not all that attractive, nor a top-notch singer, but her pushing the envelope has made her famous. The problem is, when do we ever stop pushing the envelope? When do we ever look at what would we have to do to push the envelope, and say “no”? The fact is, we never stop, because there is always another envelope to push, once we get free of the current one. This is how we end up with gay marriage and men in women’s bathrooms. These things, unthinkable years ago, are now being rabidly defended by activists. All this makes me think about the story of Noah.

Noah was asked by God to build an ark, specifically to save mankind from the destruction he was about to pour out on the earth. The reason he was destroying the earth, is because he was tired of the people of earth ignoring him, and doing what ever they wanted. The end result, was “violence”. God saw no way to fix this, and Noah’s preaching was ineffective. This is why, I think, that God decided to fix the problem with a flood that would kill everyone except those that were in Noah’s ark. I know God felt bad afterward, because he promised Noah never to cause another flood like the one that he had just used. I think that God had no choice, because people had pushed the envelope so many times during Noah’s time, that the end result was “violence”. I think that now, 6000 years later, we are headed in the same direction. What is the next step for today’s activists? I think that it is rape.

In time, you will see more and more rapes occurring, and it won’t just be women. The more sex crazed we get, the more people feel left out when they aren’t getting the sex they think they diserve. They will get angry, and rape will be their outlet. From straight men, to pedophiles to homosexual “tops”, they will roam the streets looking for victims. Gangs of these people will form, and no one will be safe on the streets. I think this is what God was calling “violence”. Thankfully, our culture hasn’t gotten here yet, but we are close. In Europe, however, these gangs have formed, and women are not safe in places like Sweden and Germany. Right now, these gangs are limited to heterosexual middle eastern men, but like the land of Canaan, it’s just a matter of time before the gangs expand to include other types of sexual offenders. This is the justification of the destruction of the Amalekites that God called the Israelites to perform. Until the Israelites moved into the land of Cannan, it was not possible to safely move through that area, because if you went into a town, you would probably get gang raped no matter what gender you were. And if you stayed outside, you would get robbed by gangs of thieves. God anointed the Israelites to fix this problem by killing the Amalekites. So the bible warns us of what happens over time if no morality is enforced. You end up with violence, and America is headed in this direction.

I voted for Cruz in the primary. Unlike most Cruz supporters and “never Tumpers”, I am sorry that I voted for him, after him not endorcing Trump at the convention. I am sorry, because of the possibility that Clinton will be making suprime court appointments, and she will increase immigration to the point where Democrats will win every election. These are HUGE issues, and I am disappointed with Cruz that he couldn’t see the greater good. People say that the “never Trumpers” are that way because they don’t see the damage the Obama admin has done to the nation, but I have a different view. I think they simply have too much invested in globalism to support Trump. They can talk about the way he talks, the gaffes, the insults, the lack of intelectuallism, but in the end, I really think its about globalism, which means money in their pockets. None of them admit it, but I think it is really true. People seem to vote their pocket books, and this election is no exception, even for me. You see, I am losing my job, to an offshore consultant. So, for me, there is no choice, I have to vote for Tump, because to not do so, is bringing about the impoverishing of the middle class in America.

On edit, this weekend, Ted Cruz endorsed Trump. I don’t know why it took him so long, but it is good that he finally became pragmatic about the election.

One other thing, that bothers me a lot about the Democratic party, and Hillary Clinton, is that they are exhibiting GROSS hypocracy when it comes to the LGBTQ agenda. One one hand, they support Muslims, and encourage Americans to treat them fairly (which I think is right) after a terroist attack, but then disparage Christians for not supporting the LGBTQ agenda. The hypocracy is that Muslims support capitol punishment for being gay, while Christians only say that gay sex is a sin, and it is up to the gay person to do something about it. So the Democrats are daemonizing Christians for not supporting the LGBTQ agenda, and on the other hand, are supporting people who avocate capitol punishment for being gay. I simply cannot support people who don’t see how utterly ridiculous this is…..

Also, I am angry that the globalists have no problem exporting my job to the 3rd world because the standard of living is cheaper there, and you need less money to live. So all the good high paying jobs are going away, and we are left with the low paying ones. And now, because of the concept of “open borders”, which Hillary Clinton supports, we have to compete with immigrants both legal and illegal for those jobs. I am angry because my government, that I have been supporting for almost 40 years is in the process of making me poor. Not only is this stupid because they are losing tax revenue and a HUGE market for goods and services, but also, it is an insult and a lack of respect for the work ethic I have modeled for almost 40 years.

It almost doesn’t matter who is running against Hillary Clinton, because I would vote for Micky Mouse to keep her and her globalist friends out of office.

I responded to an article about Robert(aka Alexis) Arquette who died reciently:

“I am sorry the guy died, but it is obvious to me, that he lived a very unhealthy lifestyle. There are many ways to commit slow suicide, from drugs and alcohol to risky sex, but helping this guy justify this behavior is not good, and now he is gone. The family didn’t help by accepting his risky behavior. There are reasons that his type of lifestyle has been taboo since the begining of time, because you end up dying young, spreading disease and hurting your friends and relatives. No amount of acceptance or justification will change that.”

The post recieved a very positive response with 15 thumbs up and only 4 thumbs down at the time I looked at it. This is despite my use of the pronoun “he” and my assertion that his death was the result of his own behavior.

For me, it is encouraging that many people are seeing people like Robert as tragic figures, who’s life choices may not have been in his own best interests. According to the article, Robert’s family accepted his choices, and I believe that this may have been a mistake, but not knowing Robert, or his family, it is impossible for me to know. I do know that family, out of love for a family member, will sometimes accept someones bad choices, not wanting to alienate that person from the family. I would speculate that the Arquette family was doing this, but in the present political climate, I doubt we will ever hear what they really thought about Roberts’s choices. This is a VERY difficult situation for a family to be in, because you alienate the family member one way, and justify bad choices the other way. So in a way, people feel like its a catch 22. When the family member dies, however, maybe we all need to see that acceptance is not the way to go. This lack of acceptance will cause the family member to harbor resentment against the family, but if later that family member dies, the family cannot blame themselves.

Today, (9/15/2016) I checked, and the article I responded to on yahoo news is gone. Maybe the majority of Americans don’t like transgender politics, but journalists being biased, use their power to cheat in the debate.

This letter is in responce to a “Hillary” comercial I saw on TV:

We’ve all seen the commercials on TV for Hillary, where she questions Trump’s ability to be commander and chief, by playing sound bites of Trump saying very un presidential things. Democrats and some Republicans want you to vote for Hillary, making this unproven claim that Trump will cause WW3 or bomb the wrong country or something, because he is bombastic and unstable. Some have even called him crazy.  The trouble with this is, since Trump has never been in government, we don’t really know how he will act. On the other hand, we do know how Hillary will act, as evidenced by her repeated lies, and careless handling of classified data on an unsecured email server. It’s sort of like the pot calling the kettle black, even though we’ve never actually seen the kettle. If you were going to buy a car, and someone said not to buy a particular car because it will break down and instead, tells you to buy a car that is known to have repeatedly broken down in the past, would you take that person’s advice? It’s time that Americans stop letting silly commercials make our voting decisions, and start thinking logically. The future of the middle class in America is at stake.

This is a post I responded with for an excelent article on BreakPoint (a website I highly recomend) about LGBT rights and Religious Freedom. Here is the URL for that article: http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/29787

“And one side, at least, sees it as a total war.” It is a war going on in America, and it is time we Christians start seeing it that way. While biblical references concerning war in the bible are about battling our own flesh, we are still American citizens, and letting a few gay activists run over us using fallacious arguments is not wise. Lech Walesa from Poland was a wise man. He got tired of the leftist government in Poland running over the workers, and organized a strike. That strike was the spark that ended communism in eastern Europe. Maybe its time we Christians in America start fighting back in the same way. If we just roll over and let the same type of leftists here in America persecute us the same way that leftists persecuted workers in Poland, we will lose the ability to “bring(ing) relief to the suffering” like the Baptist church did in Louisiana. I think it is time to call people like Gushee a Judas, and work to free ourselves from persecution by a few selfish and evil people, so that we can continue the good work of “educat(ing) the young, heal(ing) the sick, feed(ing) the hungry, preach(ing) the Gospel.” You don’t see Christians in the middle east doing that….because most of them are so severely persecuted that they are just able to thank God they are still alive.