And the Winner is…

Wow, what a primary season this has been so far. Okay, well this is the only primary that I have ever cared about! (haha)… just to get it all out on the table, I am most likely voting democrat this election, hopefully for Obama. I don’t care to go into the details since political convictions are about as intense as religious ones. let’s just say I was unsatisfied with the results of my republican vote in 2004.

But I tell you what, I remember just this past December watching the news. Barack and Hillary were 1 and 1 … and Edwards was sounding good too! Everything was so close and the analysts predicted that we would have to wait until SUPER TUESDAY to see who the winner of the democratic primary was…

“February!?” I said to myself. “That’s ForEVER from now!”

Well, low and behold, we are likely going to have to wait even longer. Super Tuesday has come and gone and we know nothing new (except that the news stations do a horrible job making predictions). It comes down to two major states, Texas and Ohio.

So, I believe that Hillary will win Texas because of the Latino vote. However, that could potentially be hindered (but probably not) because she just fired her Latino campaign manager. My belief is that Ohio is going to be a HUGE state for both campaigns, especially Barack. He needs it big time.

My guess is that he’ll ride his victories from the Patoimic states and the choice other few for while, but his steam may die down before the Texas and Ohio primaries.

Unfortunately this will probably be decided by Super Delegates – which will be the topic of my next post. Let me give you a hint: I don’t like them.

Until then.

So You Think God Exists? How Do You Really Know?!

Well I must admit, this post is my attempt at self-promotion. I have brought up news regarding my book for a while, but now I have some really exciting news. I found out the book has been given a release date and is now available for pre-order from the publisher’s website. Also, feel free to visit my author website! On a side note, the book has sold out of the first batch of copies sent by the publisher   (official release date is May 6, 2008).

Here is the cover:

Obama Could WIn New York City!

By BENJAMIN SARLIN
Special to the Sun

Although a statewide win in New York appears unlikely for Senator Obama, he could score a symbolic victory in the February 5 presidential primary by carrying New York City, where recent polls show him to be competitive.

At a rally yesterday in front of City Hall, elected officials and labor leaders pledged their support for the Illinois senator and promised a hard-fought campaign on Senator Clinton’s home turf. State senators Bill Perkins, John Sampson, Kevin Parker, and Eric Adams; Assembly members Hakeem Jeffries and Karim Camara, and Council Member Albert Vann rallied for Mr. Obama, as did a former congressman, Major Owens, and two former council members, Ronnie Eldridge and Wendell Foster.

Mr. Obama faces an uphill battle to win the New York State primary. Mrs. Clinton has won two elections here by large margins, and she commands the support of many prominent elected officials, including Governor Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and all four New York members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Partly because of the state’s image as a stronghold for Mrs. Clinton, a win for Mr. Obama in America’s most populous city could be a badge of honor as the two compete for votes beyond the February 5 primaries. Because New York’s Democratic primary divides its delegates proportionally rather than through a winner-take-all system, a strong showing not only would help Mr. Obama in the spin room, but also it would give him a number of delegates.

A WNBC/Marist poll released last week found that although Mrs. Clinton had a 47% to 31% lead over Mr. Obama among likely New York State voters, he was far closer in New York City, drawing 39% of likely voters versus 43% for Senator Clinton. In recent weeks, Mr. Obama’s support has been surging among black voters, a demographic he won 4 to 1 in South Carolina, according to exit polls, and whose turnout and support would likely be crucial in New York City.

Addressing a crowd of hundreds of Obama supporters, speakers yesterday emphasized Mr. Obama’s ability to unite.

“It’s about hope,” Mr. Perkins said. “It’s about believing change can happen despite the establishment’s hold on the process.” He praised the Illinois senator for bringing people who normally do not participate in elections, such as young voters, to the polls.

Mr. Jeffries described the candidate’s South Carolina victory as “a mighty mighty beatdown,” drawing cheers from the audience, who frequently chanted Mr. Obama’s campaign slogan “Yes we can!” in English and Spanish.

Mr. Obama can “absolutely” win the city, Mr. Jeffries said.

“If you look at the fact that Jesse Jackson in 1988 won New York City with a coalition of diverse supporters that is not as diverse as we think Senator Obama would be able to put together, I think he has a very good chance of winning New York City,” he said. “New York City, with a population of 8 million people, has a tremendous amount of delegates, more than many states. Winning New York City is the equivalent of winning several rural or southern states combined, and so the importance of a victory in the five boroughs cannot be overstated.”

read more | digg story

Santa Delivers 37,000+ Copies of Constitution to Bush

December 20, 2007, Washington, DC – This morning, Santa Claus (in the person of noted constitutional lawyer Bill Goodman) drove his sleigh to the White House to deliver thousands of copies of the U.S. Constitution to President Bush.

Americans from all over the country – more than 37,000 of them – asked that a copy of the Constitution be delivered to the President in their name and cordially requested that he make time in his busy schedule to read it.  read more

Huckabee: women’s role in marriage is to “graciously submit”

Huckabee’s opinion on gay marriage is out there, but we should also be publicizing Huckabee’s opinions on heterosexual marriage. Specifically, what he believes about a women’s role in a marriage.

In August of 1998, Huckabee was one of 131 signatories to a full page USA Today Ad which declared: “I affirm the statement on the family issued by the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention.” What was in the family statement from the SBC? “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.”

The ad wasn’t just a blanket, “we support the SBC statement,” but rather highlighted details. The ad Huckabee signed specifically said of the SBC family statement: “You are right because you called wives to graciously submit to their husband’s sacrificial leadership.”

Add “graciously submit” to his “Take back the nation for Christ” statement, and if the media does its job, he’s well on his way to being toast.

[original article]

Evolution and Creation: are we missing the point?

Nice article I came across – enjoy!

In the Beginning
By Royce Logan

Why are our eyes at the front of our head instead of at the bottom of our feet? Why do we have two eyes instead of just one? Why do we have eyes? Oh, “natural selection”. The organisms in our body have evolved into this magnificent creature we’ve become because of the intelligence of nature.

What? Nature has intelligence? If nature has intelligence then nature must also have consciousness. Why? Because consciousness is required to have a will and a will must have a desire and the desire must be to choose the more favorable traits of the organism over the lesser traits of the organism and then the organism must have the ability to sever itself from the lesser traits.

So, how can nature choose the more favorable traits of the organism unless it has the consciousness, the will and the desire to make that choice and then the ability to discard those lesser traits into the ash bin of its useless self?

Pretty crazy, huh? I agree.

There is no intelligence in nature, no consciousness, no will, no desire and certainly no abilities in nature to evolve into a better organism and then intervene into that evolution process to give a body of organisms something that is not even of its own realm: a consciousness. No, the only abilities in nature to evolve are those abilities set into motion by an intelligent designer who also has the ability to intervene into that process of evolution to unite the natural realm with a realm of awareness and of consciousness: the realm of our spiritual existence.

And you say, “Prove it!” And I say, “Prove me wrong!”

Where did the first slimy organism come from? Out of nothingness? Out of no thing? No matter, no energy, no light, no life, no nothing. Emptiness. But the very existence of nature is dependant upon the reality of itself: the truth that nature must contain substance, matter, even energy to exist, to be reality, and to be truth.

Nature can procreate itself, but it can not create itself. Big difference! We weren’t evolved from some slimy mess under a rock. If you still think we were then you have to answer the question, “Where did the slimy mess come from?”

Where does thought come from? Can a creature consume certain elements of nature to create thought? Sure, food nourishes the body to provide the fuel to generate thought, but food, by itself can’t create anything.

Having the ability to choose, having a will and a desire can only be manifested in a physical creature when a physical body has been combined with life; when the experience of nature has been integrated with a spiritual experience.

Nature alone is only substance and matter. Evolution requires something beyond what nature can offer. Evolution requires life.

Creation versus evolution. We’re missing the point.

Creation is evolution.

Royce Logan. http://www.AgapeSolutions.org

Giuliani and Robertson…what a JOKE!

Here we go again.  Fanatic TV personality Pat Robertson has come out to announce his support for Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.   This blatent attempt to persuade the Christian right is just plain sickening.  Yes, we all know Giuliani is less than perfect (heck, if he is elected, he’ll be the first divorced man in the White House)  I laughed when I read the headline to this story…literally.  Here is the first paragraph from it:

Pat Robertson, the television evangelist and Christian Coalition founder, endorsed Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani for president when the two men appeared together at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday.

Robertson said he decided to endorse Giuliani because he was “a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans.”

If that is the only reason Robertson is supporting Giuliani, then that is enough reason to support about 70% of the candidates.  What sickens me is that Robertson didn’t just come out of the woodwork to support his “pal” Giuliani.  He was sought out, and brought to the front so all the world could see that a, GASP, fundamentalist Christian supports this man.

and heck, if Robertson supports him…he MUST be good right?  HA!

Sadly, all the “Robertsonites” will blindly follow their leader’s word.  I mean, this makes sense after contributing thousands of dollars to his ministry wealth.

As I have said, religion and politics are arguably impossible to separate.  Especially when politicians seek campaign help from attention seeking millionaire “preachers”.

The Forgotten Art

Tolerance seems to override modern evangelism in today’s society. Many people wonder what it means to “evangelize” to a person or crowd. No, evangelism does not mean threatening others with a horrible afterlife. Let’s face it; this is hardly the “good news” that Paul and the first ‘Christians’ emphasized during their ministry. Unfortunately, many fundamentalist Christian sects will preach fire and brimstone as oppose to the true Good News. But what is the true good news?

The true Good News is that Jesus has risen from the dead and saved everyone from the pain and guilt of sin and death!

We can’t forget the roots of which we Christians have come. Consider the wise words of Paul:

“For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” (Romans 5:12-20, NIV)

The Good News goes beyond the silly tracts and saying contemporary Christians have developed over the years. The Good News is Freedom. We need to start evangelizing Freedom instead of guilt. What good does a guilty conscience do for humanity? God does not want “fearful” converts. God wants a sincere heart that is eager to seek His love. Evangelism entails freeing the heart and soul of the individual – this is what the early Christians in antiquity preached. There was no “hell” talk, only rhetoric regarding the grace, truth, love, and freedom of Christ our Lord. There was only preaching about His eternal sacrifice (out of Love) for humanity. It is time we look beyond the man-made institutions of “worthiness”, and focus instead on Godlike forgiveness.

Baptism: The Soul of Christianity

The baby is in hand, the water is set, and loving family members dab tears of joy. Yes, it’s time for another Christian Baptism! This has become a common scene on Sunday morning for all Christians. Baptisms give us the opportunity to share in the love of Christ through His Heavenly ritual. However, there is a baptism that we as Christians often forget about, one that the early Church preached with great zeal and compassion. Today we baptize by water (and of course there is nothing wrong with this), but first century advocates of Christianity also taught baptism by death.

As Christians, we are all baptized in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul makes this abundantly clear in his letter to the Romans:

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. (Romans 6:3-9, NIV)

Paul’s description of baptism unmistakably demonstrates the immense importance of baptism in death to the Christian community. Our baptism in death releases our burden of sin and frees our spirit – calling this “Good News” appears to be quite the understatement! It is because of our baptism in Christ’s death (dying with Him) that we become purified (like Him) and thus become conquerors of Hades (like Him). No more should Christians overlook the immense importance of baptism; it is far more than a Sunday morning ritual. True Christian baptism reaches beyond the water from the preacher’s hand, it permeates the very soul of Christianity.

Why Are Humans the only ones who can Sin?

I was thinking…why are human beings the only species who can sin?! Animals can’t ever sin. Or can they? I guess I don’t know, but honestly, why is human kind blessed with the curse (the curse of sin that is)? Is it because we are made in God’s image? (which is love). So if we’re made in God’s image of love, does that make us liable to sin? The animals of this planet also live in the fallen nature the Bible describes…so does that mean that they sin, but just unknowingly?

It’s kind of frustrating really. How come the animals are free of sin but human kind is not? Man, the animals have it EASY! What’s worse, according to contemporary Christian theology, people who sin will suffer forever. Kind of makes you want to be an animal doesn’t it? Sure, you won’t have a glorified heaven, but you won’t have a (pagan) hell either. Not to mention you’d have some pretty awesome abilities (like running 50mph when chasing a gazelle!).

This post is meant to be light hearted, but it some of the questions I raise are very real. For now, I can only try to be as least bad as I can (that’s what Christians are trying to do anyway…they don’t try to be good, but rather they try to not be bad).