By Scott Tibbs, May 19, 2014
♣ - It is common in our culture for people to use their suffering to oppress others. Such is the case with this post rebuking churches for celebrating Mothers' Day. There is no end to the things we could not celebrate if we embraced this nonsense. Some women may not be able to be mothers, some may have lost their mothers at a young age, some may have grown up without a father, some people may have painful memories of Christmas, and so on. Celebrating Valentine's Day is out because some are single and lonely. This attitude is absurd, wicked, and faithless.
♣ - We had a major victory in the never-ending battle for civil liberties when Minnesota passed a law making it illegal for law enforcement to seize (steal) property unless someone is actually convicted of a crime. Civil asset forfeiture is a major nationwide scandal, and Minnesota should be praised for this small step in protecting private property rights. It should be pointed out that the Constitution does not make a distinction between criminal and civil proceedings when it says that people cannot be deprived of property without due process.
♣ - In all of the things we are told the church must do to "attract Millenials," everyone seems to be forgetting what the purpose of religion is supposed to be. The church is not a political party that seeks to win elections. The only purpose of the church is to glorify and honor God. It should be expected that such a goal will be unpopular and will "drive people away" from the church. The Bible is filled with admonitions (such as in John 15:18-20) to seek the approval of God rather than the approval of men.
♣ - With X-Men: Days of Future Past coming out later this week, I finally read the original comic story from 1980. It was an excellent story, and the thing I was most impressed with was how the finale was so open-ended. It will be interesting to see how the movie changes and adapts the story. There are a few major changes in the movie that are already obvious. There will be no expanded Marvel Universe (the Sentinels also exterminated the Avengers and Fantastic Four), Charles Xavier was dead and Magneto was crippled in the beginning of the story, and it was Kitty Pryde (not Wolverine) who was possessed by the mind of her future self.
♣ - As a reminder (because apparently some state legislators are ignorant of the law) assault and battery is already illegal in all 50 states. There is absolutely no reason to pass yet another law making it illegal twice. The hysteria over the "knockout game" is nothing more than a racial panic about "black thugs." It is shameful.
♣ - When I voted in the primary election, I found that the convention delegate candidates were missing from my ballot. I was told there were more spots than candidates, so everyone was going to win anyway. While I understand that, I strongly disagree with it. All candidates should always be on the ballot. And how are we supposed to know who the top vote-getters are if no one gets any votes at all?
