13 Tishri 5769: International Moment of Frustration Scream Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day:

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “The Certainty Bias: A Potentially Dangerous Mental Flaw”: Those who are dead certain about their beliefs can be dead wrong. It pays to never forget this in religion because irrational uncertainty can easily lead to heresy and sinful behavior. This sort of thing is dealt with a lot in Ḥafeṣ Ḥayyim (One Who Desires Life), a classic Jewish work on the laws of impermissible kinds of speech; in it is discussed how misinterpretation of other people’s actions and speech can lead to bad feelings, slander, and improper action against said people.
   
2. “Nicaragua's Ortega says crisis is God punishing U.S.”: Thus is it written:

   Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega, a U.S. foe since the Cold War, said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries.

   And how does Daniel Ortega know this? Is it written in some prophetic text? Is Ortega himself a prophet? What makes him think he knows the Will of God?
   
3. “Holy war strikes in India: 35 Christians killed and 50,000 forced from their homes”: Not all the religious violence happening these days involves Islam. This unfolding story deals with Hindu-Christian conflict in India.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “DNA fingerprinting could reveal your surname”
  
• “Strong-arm robber in Mich. ends up $30 in the hole”
  
• “Sultry to Scorching: Rising Temps May Be Too Hot for Tropical Species”
  
• “Meet Sarah Palin's radical right-wing pals” (This is worrying.)
  
• “Wine on tap blamed on plumbing error” (This sounds like something out of a Mork and Mindy episode.)
  
• “Virgin shark got pregnant in Virginia aquarium”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Hip Hop Violin - Paul Dateh and inka one”, which you can blame Barry for.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

9 ’Elul 5768: Wonderful Weirdos Day/National Grandparent’s Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Set the Rules to End Overfishing”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:  “What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick” and “Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview”: There is a lot of worrying material in these articles, largely centering on knowing God’s will.  God is not part of our universe, so mundane methods of observation cannot be applied to Him.  All the information one can have about Him ultimately must derive from prophecy.  Sarah Palin and Ed Kalnins, however, seem to be skipping a step.  They believe that God wants things like Alaskans to build a natural gas pipeline and America to fight the war in Iraq.  However, why they believe these are God’s will is not made clear.  If they believe these things are in the Hebrew Bible or New Testament, they fail to source where they believe such matters are dealt with.  And if they believe they are prophets themselves—which seems to be correct for Kalnins, at least—then one has to ask on what basis they believe this.

Keep in mind that the Hebrew Bible demands we not blindly follow those who claim to be prophets.  Deuteronomy 13:2-6 gives the death penalty for anyone prophesying to worship gods other than YHWH.  Deuteronomy 18:20-22 gives rules for false prophecy, that false prophets are to be put to death and that those who deliberately prophesy anything other than what YHWH commanded them or whose predictions turn out to be incorrect are false prophets.  And ahead of his time was the prophet Gidh‘on (Gideon), who in Judges 6:36-40 empirically tested his own prophecy twice to make sure he had actually prophesied.  And if one wants to make the claim that Christians should not be worried about such strictures, note that Jesus in Matthew 7:15 also worries about false prophecy as well:  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.”

Think about the fruits of following a false prophet.  Kalnins may threaten those who vote Democrat with damnation, but following a false prophet—something YHWH clearly does not approve of—is an even better way to ask to go to Hell.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Taba Gaza (1988)”
  
• “Arrests Mark Last Anti-War March Of Convention” and “Crowd control at the RNC: Fifty million unanswered questions”
  
• This Modern World 2008-09-08
  
• “Comets Disguised as Asteroids ”
  
• “Ten things you don’t know about the Earth”
  
• “Startling NASA/Griffin Email Leaked”
  
• “Creature Survives Naked in Space”

Today’s weird thing is “Tunnel to the Other Side of the Earth”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron