Today is Simply Beautiful. The sky is clear and blue. The humidity is only 28%, which is very low for us. The wind is mild and northerly. It is currently about 72°F. 
Yesterday was much the same and tomorrow looks to be nice as well. Sunday we go back to cloudy and increasing chances of much needed rain. In the meantime, we get this wonderful respite.
China bans Buddhist monks from reincarnating without permission.
Here is an excellent perspective on God’s Warriors.
As for me, I can only view it with dismay. The media as a whole seeks to portray anyone who professes belief as a crackpot. Murderers get more balanced coverage than people of any religion, and Christians are viewed with more suspicion than most. They seem to think we are all just waiting for a divine command to seize power. 
Poll copied from Larry King’s page @CNN.com:
The Question: Which religion do you associate with?
The responses:
| Christianity |
17% |
4,650 |
| Judiasm |
3% |
900 |
| Islam |
1% |
384 |
| Buddhism |
1% |
164 |
| Hinduism |
0% |
109 |
| Jehovah’s Witnesses |
1% |
213 |
| Atheism |
68% |
18,843 |
| Agnostic |
4% |
1,034 |
| I am spiritual, but of no religion |
4% |
1,030 |
| Mine’s not listed |
1% |
402 |
| Total Votes |
27,729 |
I’ll be interested to see what conclusions others draw from this … I’ll tell you mine later.
updated to current results 8.24.07
CNN is airing a 3-part special “God’s Warriors” this week. Tonight focuses on Jews, tomorrow on Islam and Thursday Christianity will be in the flawed spotlight. Last night Larry King had Christiane Amanpour on his show with John MacArthur, Barry W. Lynn (of Americans United for Separation of Church and State fame) plus a Jewish rabbi and a Muslin Imman. (Sorry, I don’t know their names and couldn’t find them on the site for Larry King Live)
It could have been an interesting show, except that Larry King cut everyone off when they were trying to make their point. The only reason for having Barry Lynn on the panel (remotely) was to stir the pot. He had nothing constructive to offer to the conversation, except to try to cut down MacArthur.
Having MacArthur on the panel could have been great, had Larry let him finish a thought. MacArthur represents what most evangelicals believe and he is the author of a book I have mentioned before, Why Government Can’t Save You. He pastors a huge congregation in California, has an effective radio and web ministry and is the writer of many books and studies. Yet he didn’t merit mention in the 3-part series (at least according to their early teasers). Why? He’s not divisive or political. Not good for sensational journalism, in other words.
I would have liked to hear more from MacArthur and more from the Jewish and Muslim guests. I wish CNN would do a better job with such interviews. Larry King usually doesn’t ask this kind of question, but he asked the Imman why we never hear the moderate POV, only the radical, fundamental ones. The Imman didn’t back down. He told Larry it was because the media does not ask. He said his LK appearance was only the second time anyone from the media had asked him what a moderate Muslin thought. Like MacArthur, he probably won’t appear in the series. Too bad. If CNN did such a piece, it would be a public service, but who am I kidding?
11:30 PM: I found the names of the other two guests on a transcript of the show.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
Dr. Maher Hathout, a Muslim scholar and senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council
I didn’t post anything about my reading list at the end of the month, but I guess I was preoccupied. Nothing new added to the list except a book Steve gave me, because I am making myself read everything I have on hand before buying anything new. The only exception will be the books for 2 Corinthians if I get to that study before I finish my Reading List. I did read some good stuff last month and made good progress on my 1 Corinthians study. I can’t find any fiction that I want to read. But I keep looking.
I’m so fed up with politics that I don’t know what to do. It’s inescapable and we have 15 months to go before the election. Bleh!
I’m swearing off TV news for a while. They’re too much like vultures for my liking. We need to know what is going on in the world, but I’ll get my news from print media for the time being. I’m going cold turkey on CNN.
I’ve had reason this week to reflect on human nature and have seen it at it’s best (first responders and civilians who rushed to help at the bridge) and it’s worst (won’t detail that here). I’ll just say the contrast made me look at some things in a new light.
On a more pleasant note, we got to spend time with Asher this week. He’s walking all over the place and has developed some mannerisms that made us laugh. There’s nothing like being with a child to give a fresh appreciation of life.
Urg! I am beyond annoyed. CNN is here with a full complement of muckrakers. I got annoyed yesterday when I realized that someone had provided a video to CNN that he had no authority to release to anyone. Perhaps trying to turn a fast buck? But the capstone was when Anderson Cooper showed up.
I guess events like this are the reason for CNN’s existence, but I protest. I don’t think they are doing a service to anyone. Quite the contrary. By the time they get done, no one will care why the bridge fell. We will be so heartily sick of it we will just want the subject to go away. And we need to remember in a good way.
“Bridges in America should not fall down,” is what Amy Klobuchar said. And for the hundreds of bridges built under the same method, we need to know what happened and how to fix it. The last thing we need is for CNN to make us so sick of the subject that nothing more is done after they get done milking the situation for every bit of TV ratings they can get.
We’ve talked with everyone in our immediate family and all are accounted for. We live about 10 minutes from the bridge that collapsed, but got our news of the event like everyone else … on television. They are saying it appears to be a structural collapse, which seems strange but is much preferred over the possibility of sabotage. Homeland Security is on site, as are numerous state and federal agencies.
