Unintended Consequences

Many people in the Middle East equate the American government with Christianity. When they see Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other prominent American Christians speak out against Islam, they do not separate that from any official positions of the US government. Keep in mind that in many countries in the Middle East, the church and state are not separate as they are in the US. And when the US military occupies Muslim homelands, Muslims in the Middle East will naturally equate that with Christianity.

Why do Islamic extremists target America? It is not for who we are, but for what we do. It is not a tenet of Islam to hate America. Keep in mind that Islam has been around a lot longer than the United States. It is not because we are free, and allow women to drive, and vote. It is not that our culture is immoral and we allow teenagers to talk back to their parents, and girls to dress immodestly. Yes, these things are opposed by many strict Muslims, but that is not why they attack us. Switzerland has all these same issues, yet are not being attacked by the Islamic terrorists. No, it is our foreign policy and our continued meddling in the Middle East that causes the radicals to hate and attack us. People like Osama bin Laden have used this sentiment, and tied it together with religion, to sway the public against us.

When the President of the United States refers to the War on Terror as a "crusade," as President George W. Bush did on September 11th, 2001, the Muslim world sees that as an extension of the long, violent history between Christianity and Islam.

Our history of interference in the Middle East comes from well before September 11th, 2001, and even prior to the first Gulf War. In 1953, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by US and British intelligence agencies. In 1979, Americans began working with anti-communist rebels in Afghanistan in their conflict with the Soviet Union. These same rebels used our training and weapons years later against us. It has been argued that our drone strikes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia have inadvertently killed more civilians than the terrorists we are targeting.

The unintended consequences of our interventionist American foreign policy, is that millions upon millions of Arab and Persian Muslims have a negative view of Christianity. It is very difficult to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who believe that Christians want to invade and occupy Muslim homelands and kill Muslims. It has been claimed that Islam is the fasting growing religion in the world. Depending on how you define that, and how you look at the statistics, it could very well be true. As a Christian, I want more people to come to Christ, including Muslims.

Some interesting facts.
1. Christianity is legal in Iran, and in fact there is a requirement that Christians have representation in the Iranian Parliament.
2. Arabic speaking Christians use the word "Allah" for God.
3. Apostasy is illegal in many Muslim countries. It is illegal for a Christian in these countries to convert to Islam, and vice versa.

I ask you to pray for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Muslim people. I ask that you support politicians and candidates who will help change our destructive foreign policy which makes the spread of the Gospel that much more difficult to achieve. And give thanks to God, that even though we continue to sabotage ourselves in this manner, that He is powerful and loving and wise. He will continue to change people's hearts and bring them to Him.

The convergence of J. I. Packer and Aaron Sorkin... Knowing God in The West Wing

In our Monday night men's Bible study group, we have recently started going through the book Knowing God, by J. I. Packer. It is an excellent book so far, and we just did the third chapter this week. A particular passage stood out to me while I read it:

Imagine, now, that we are going to be introduced to someone whom we feel to be "above" us-whether in rank, or intellectual distinction, or professional skill, or personal sanctity, or in some other respect. The more conscious we are of our own inferiority, the more we shall feel that our part is simply to attend to this person respectfully and let him take the initiative in the conversation. (Think of meeting the queen of England, or the president of the United States.) We would like to get to know this exalted person, but we fully realize that this is a matter for him to decide, not us. If he confines himself to courteous formalities with us, we may be disappointed, but we do not feel able to complain; after all, we had no claim on his friendship.

But if instead he starts at once to take us into his confidence, and tells us frankly what is in his mind on matters of common concern, and if he goes on to invite us to join him in particular undertakings he has planned, and asks us to make ourselves permanently available for this kind of collaboration whenever he needs us, then we shall feel enormously privileged, and it will make a world of difference to our general outlook. If life seemed unimportant and dreary hitherto, it will not seem so any more, now that the great man has enrolled us among his personal assistants. Here is something to write home about-and something to live up to!

It reminded me of a recent episode that I had seen of The West Wing. I am currently enjoying this show for the first time, and am only in the second season thus far.

There is a character named Ainsley Hayes, who is a political analyst and lawyer. Sounds like she would fit right in with the West Wing crew? Perhaps, except one thing. She is a Republican. And the current occupant of said West Wing is a Democrat, and not a moderate one. She is completely opposed to the President's policies. However, because she is intelligent, President Bartlett offered her a job in the White House Counsel's office. She wasn't going to take it at first, but then realized something. The President of the United States of America was asking her, personally, to put aside whatever she wanted, and serve her country. So, she agreed to do her civic duty. She became a valuable part of that team.

The parallels between what I had recently watched and what I was reading hit me very profoundly. God, much like Jed Bartlett, chooses who He wants to be on His team. We, like Ainsley Hayes, must agree to do so, since it is our duty. In the television show, the two characters don't see eye to eye on most issues. Contrast that to us and God. Our hearts should be tuned to His, along with our will. We should desire the same things our He desires. How much more enthusiastically will we work for God? Just something to think about.

Great Speech about Faith & Freedom

I am working on a longer blog post about how libertarianism and Christianity are not at odds with each other, as many seem to think. In the meantime, a small taste of that topic is in the following video. Dr. Ron Paul spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition 2011 conference this past week. Please watch and let me know what you think.

On tipping...

I try to defy stereotypes. I believe there is a stereotype that younger people don't tip well. So. here is my personal philosophy on tipping.

1. 15% is a bare minimum. If I tip 15% I probably am talking to your manager or sending a complaint letter or email to your corporate office.
2. Normal, non-bad service will get between 18%-22%.
3. Normal, good service usually between 25-30% tip.
4. Amazing service, never having to ask for refills, everything is prompt, polite, and friendly? Especially if you are very busy? 33%-35% is not unheard of.
5. But, if you decide to charge a gratuity of 15% or 18% or whatever...that is all you will get. Especially if it is optional.

The thing is, I realize the following:
1. Servers are human, and have good days and bad days too.
2. Sometimes, servers are new at their job.
3. Often, servers have to payout their hostesses and bartenders in their tip totals.
4. Servers make WAY less than minimum wage.
5. When my wife was a server, she would have to put that she got at least a 10% tip into the register...even if the guest completely stiffed her.
6. If I become a regular customer, perhaps the server would recognize us, realize we tip well, and give us even better service in the future.
7. A lot of people think 15% is a maximum, and go down from there...
8. A tip is expected, and should be included when you budget for your meal. If you can't afford the tip, you shouldn't be eating out.

How do you choose to tip? Why?

On non-interventionism...

In the 2000 Presidential race, George W. Bush espoused a non-interventionist foreign policy. A couple weeks ago, Sarah Palin got rid of her neo-conservative advisors and gave a speech in Colorado where she laid out her own non-interventionist foreign policy. Ron Paul has been a non-interventionist for YEARS, (you know, kind of like many of our Founders), yet the media continues to refer to him as an "isolationist." This is simply not accurate. I urge everyone to watch this video to get a simplified overview of a non-interventionist foreign policy. It also delves a little bit into the Federal Reserve. I have not and will not endorse a candidate for any partisan office, but I do want people to understand the facts and choose to support the candidate of their choice. I urge you to read some of Michael Schuerer's books about the "War on Terror" if you want to get a little deeper into that topic. He was a CIA analyst for 22 years and was on the Osama bin Laden task force for that organization. He also makes frequent appearances on the Fox News Channel. Oh yeah, and he was one of Ron Paul's foreign policy advisers in his 2008 campaign.

Ron Paul's Foreign Policy Simplified

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