Letter to the Editor - Truncated!

A few days ago, I came across this post over at Agent Tim's Blog. It spoke about a letter to the editor that was published in the Daily Record on May 21. The writer of this letter, Jeffrey Huppert, claimed among other things that America was not a Christian nation and that most if not all the Founders were deists. Naturally, I had to set the record straight. I sent the following letter in to the Daily Record, but they truncated it quite a bit when it was actually published. Oh well! I got at least part of the word across.

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While surfing the blogosphere, I came across a link to a letter to the editor in the Daily Record titled "America not a Christian Nation". I would appreciate it if certain people would take the time to get their facts straight. The only accurate statement in the letter was the opening sentence: "A recent letter claimed that the United States was founded on Christian thought." Jeffrey H., the reader who penned (or typed) the letter, apparently believes that the thousands of quotes from the Founding Fathers expounding upon the attributes of Jesus Christ are somehow irrelevant to the question of whether any of the Founders were Christian. I suppose that these letters, treatises, and speeches are the result of a massive conspiracy by the incorrigible Republicans to fool all the innocent populace. Mr. H. states that "References to gods and religions are purposely left out of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as all amendments." This absence of direct reference to God in the articles of governmental arrangement obviously proves something. I'm just not sure what. I suppose that Mr. H. has never read the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States. It states expressly that the inalienable rights given to men by Creator God form the basis for all government - and especially the United States government! And it gets worse. "The founders wanted government to leave religions alone and equally wanted religions to leave government alone. [...] Neither Franklin, Washington nor Jefferson believed in a personal God." It is becoming increasingly obvious that fewer and fewer people know how to accurately examine source documents. In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for the public schools of Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the necessity of a public religion . . . and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern." Likewise, Washington claimed on May 12, 1779, that what children needed to learn "above all" was the "religion of Jesus Christ," and that to learn this would make them "greater and happier than they already are". During the winter of 1777 in Valley Forge he charged his soldiers at Valley Forge that "To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian". Jefferson was another Founder who supposedly lacked belief in God or Christianity. And yet he himself stated "I am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ." The very word "Christ" means Savior or Messiah. In the words of David Barton of Wallbuilders Ministries: "Perhaps critics should spend more time reading the writings of the Founders to discover their religious beliefs for themselves rather than making such sweeping accusations which are so easily disproven." Please get your facts straight. In Him, David S. MacMillan III

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You can view the truncated version here, but they left out most of the best part. Phooey. In Him, David S. MacMillan III

NewsFlash: TeenPact Primary Elections!

Breaking News Last night, the TeenPact primary election ballot for the 2006 National Convention opened up for absentee voting! If you have ever attended a TeenPact 4-day State class, you are eligible to vote. Here's how it works: Go to http://teenpact.com/elections/primary_parties.html and select your party. Each year, TeenPact chooses a hot political topic and creates several parties with different platforms in order to divide the candidates up. This year, the subject was illegal immigration, and the three parties were More Minute Men, Christian Amnesty, and Bush Guest Worker. The More Minute Men party is clearly the best choice. Why? Not only are all the cool candidates running in this party, but this is the only party that can include the proper response to the illegal immigration problem: snipers and land mines. Understand, I have no problem with immigration; our ancestors all came here as immigrants at one time or another. But I do have a big problem with illegal immigrants who seek to leach money out of our government without paying taxes. So, when you go to the elections, select the "More Minute Men" party. For the presidency, vote for Daniel Monplaisir and Anna Boyles. They are undoubtedly the best candidates for the presidency. For the Senate and House of Representatives, I can only suggest that you vote for Chip Cocks for Senate and Paul Martin for the House. They both staffed my TeenPact state class this last year and are really great guys. And Chip is awesome at Ultimate Frisbee, too. . . . So get out and VOTE! In Him, David S. MacMillan III

A Calm Reflection on the Da Vinci Code

A quick Google search for "combat, attack, unbiblical, or false Da Vinci Code" just turned up almost ten million hits. Organized religion has definitely come out in force against this particular "heresy". Yesterday marked the premier of the film production of Dan Brown's bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Today, millions more Americans went to see the action-packed thriller that has truly captivated the minds of everyone - whether they be for it or against it. According to a statistic from an article by Rod Martin, of the 45 million people who read the book, ninety-five percent state that it has not caused them to change any of their beliefs or religious perspectives because of the book’s content. In other words, this book will probably not have a terrific impact on the average person who already has some set religious ideas. Nevertheless, I joined the hype this afternnoon by placing 50 $10,000 bills in car windshield wipers at the local theater. These slightly oversized bills have an image of Mona Lisa on the front:This gospel tract in disguise is good because it does not attempt to go through and debunk each and every of the numerous factual errors in The Da Vinci Code. Rather, it takes what I would consider to be a more biblical approach; the back of the bill is as follows:

One of the most amazing claims of The Da Vinci Code is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and she then became the most important of the apostles. If this is true, then the New Testament cannot be trusted, and its entire inspiration is in question. Did you know that... [read more]

Read it. Rather that attacking the book and the movie, the tract affirms the authenticity of the Bible and challenges the person on the basis of their conscience. It closes by showing The Da Vinci Code for what it really is:

If you choose to ignore the Bible's warning, and instead believe the fantasies of The Da Vinci Code, then be aware that you have joined the "Elvis is Alive!" crowd. You've included yourself in the ranks of the wide-eyed and faithful tabloid customers. The choice, however, is yours. It's your eternity.

A great tract. Like I said, the entire parking lot was peppered with them - while the film was showing. So when everyone came out they had $10,000 with Mona Lisa on the front under their windshield wipers. Hee hee hee. When we were about eighty percent done, one of the employees (who happened to be an old friend of mine) came out and asked us if we had a permit to do what we were doing. I told him that since we weren't trying to sell anything, we didn't need a permit - and gave him a copy for the road. He read through the whole thing and went back into the theater and showed it to the other employees. What do you think a good response is to this phenomenon? In Him, David S. MacMillan III

God is Not a Christian!

"God intended us to live in harmony with God, with one another, with the rest of God's creation. God's dream was shattered by sin. The alienation just got worse, reaching a kind of climax in the scattering of the peoples in the story of the Tower of Babel when human community became impossible because humans could no longer communicate in a common language. "Jesus, it appears, was quite serious when he said that God was our father and that we belonged all to one family, because in this family all, not some, are insiders. None is an outsider – black and white, yellow and red, rich and poor, educated and not educated, beautiful and not so beautiful, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, all belong, all are held in a divine embrace that will not let us go – all, for God has no enemies. "I have said that God is not a Christian. Some people chewed me up for saying that, but I believe it. Some like to think that we Christians have the duty of protecting God. But I wish these people could meet the Dalai Lama. He is a holy person, incredible. We are the ones who keep trying to put limits on God, but God gives the incredible gift of grace."

"Bishop" Desmond Tutu has made a very - obvious - point. Of course God is not a Christian. God is Christ. Apparently, when man sinned, God was tearing His hair out trying to figure out what to do. It crushed His dream! No, the Bible says that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. The plan of redemption was God's plan from the beginning because it would result in the maximum glory to Him. And apparently God has no enemies. I suppose, then, that these verses don't mean anything:

"May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may His foes flee before him." (Psalm 68:1) " 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' " (Matthew 22:44)

I am not the one who is saying this. God's Word is the defining factor here. Where does the Bible say that "Buddhists, Hindus, [and] atheists" are held in God's "embrace"? The Bible says that if you have not called on the name of Christ, you are condemned already! God's Word tells us that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is one name given under heaven by which men can be saved." (Acts 4:12) This is not about my opinion. The fact is, by trying to "not condemn" people (a philosophy that I am sure Mr. Tutu would adhere to), we are in faccondemningng them to Hell. If we are too chicken to tell people what God's Word says, then we are sending them to Hell in a handbasket. So do you think I am being too harsh and this guy is pretty close to the truth? You tell me. In Him, David S. MacMillan III

Two Sides to Every Story?

One of the first things that lawyers and paralegals are taught is to look at "both sides" of each and every story. It is too easy for us to concentrate on the first story we hear and miss important details later on that change the entire scope of the debate. But in fact, there are thousands of sides to every story, not just two. Everyone has their own interpretation of the facts, and everyone is at least partially convinced that they are correct. It is in the nature of man to draw his own conclusions about each and every controversy. What are the facts? In That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis says, "There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one." This quote (which I found in Alex King's email signature) is really an eye-opener. I used to think about my faith in this manner: there is the Truth (God's Word), and then there is the Lie (everything else). Either people were on my side, or they were on the side of you-know-who.

But it is really not this way. Everyone has their own concept of truth. Witnessing to people just a few times a week will show you how variegated and often strange the beliefs of the "average American" really are. But the fact is that we know the truth. When we approach people, we have to remember that there is only one truth and only one Way! It isn't a case of Our side versus their side; we simply have to explain the Truth to them so that they will leave their particular falsehood behind.

There are an infinite number of sides until you know the Truth. Then, there is just One.

Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6

You know the truth. Get out there and share it! In Him, David S. MacMillan III

The Momma of All Tests

Yes, that is right. Tomorrow morning, early, I will be taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (otherwise known as the S.A.T.) along with millions of other teenagers across America. My palms are sweaty, and I am starting to feel light-headed. . . . In Fall of 2005, I scored in the National Merit range for the PSAT. I won't know until September whether I actually am a National Merit Scholar, but my score did help me to guess how I will do on the SAT. Of course, the SAT has much more advanced math than the PSAT, so who knows how I will do this time. So, keep me in your prayers tomorrow. Pray that I my mind will be clear and that I will be able to recall everything I have ever learned about test-taking! On a lighter note. . . . As soon as I get a chance, I will be switching over from Blogger to the Momma-Of-All-BlogTools, WordPress! The new website will have a different theme and different layout, but it will be the same In Rejection of Mediocrity; with WordPress you can automatically import all your past posts and comments! Today I made a couple of headers for the new blog. I have uploaded them here so you guys can take a look and tell me what you think! Unfortunately none of the images uploaded full-size, but you can get a pretty good look at them with this size. So which one is better? In Him, David S. MacMillan III

Design vs. Science?

Recently I have had quite a bit of discussion on the concept of design and science. Specifically, the concept of Intelligent Design. I have the RSS feed for Jamie Kiley's Blog and this morning I noticed the following headline: Design Is Not A "Science-Stopper". Naturally, I had to check it out. Jamie wrote an excellent article on why the concept of design in nature is not contrary to science. In fact, it is only in the area of origin science that most scientists frown on factoring in intelligence and design. An except from her article:

"Critics perceive that the idea of design is a "science-stopper" that puts an end to scientific investigation. The appeal to design, in other words, is an indicator that people are throwing in the towel and invoking God to account for whatever they don’t understand. This automatic explanation It is reminiscent of tribal cultures in which God is the end-all explanation for all natural phenomena including rain patterns, flooding, and any natural disasters. But ... that is hardly a fair characterization of design theory. In fact, the process of detecting design is an empirical process that is already a part of many sciences."

I encourage all my readers to go over and check it out! In Him, David S. MacMillan III