North Korea

NOTE: Something happened when I tried to save this brief a while ago, and it is now missing quite a few pages. I was able to print off a copy of the previous version, minus some pro/con arguments, but I haven't found the time to update this brief just yet.

North Korea:

Sample Resolutions:

THBT Western Liberal Democracies should increase diplomatic relations with N. Korea.

THW impose economic sanctions on N. Korea until they re-sign the NNPT.

THW invade North Korea.

Historical Background:

Korea is a peninsula on the south-eastern border of China, and is split into two nations, Communist North Korea, and democratic South Korea. In the late 1800’s, the monarchy of Korea was undermined by the fact that there were mostly child kings who were unable to maintain strong control. In 1864, Taewon’gun took power from his son Kojong and began instituting isolationist policies. Eventually, he was forced to step down, and Japan pressured Korea to open up ports. This brought about large scale Japanese influence, which caused political unrest, and a schism between two groups: the moderates and the radicals. China sent in troops after a failed coup attempt, and then created a trade agreement with Korea. Then the US, UK, France, Germany, and Russia all signed trade agreements with Korea. A coup attempt happened in 1884, but Chinese troops put it down, and then Japan and China signed an agreement to maintain order there after.

When Japan and Russia went to war in 1904, Korea declared neutrality, but Japan forced them to allow Japan to use Korea as a base. Korean guerilla fighters sprung up to fight the Japanese after Japan named Korea as a protectorate and occupied Korea. Japan then put in a proxy government, severely limited freedom of speech, press, assembly, and traditional Korean language. The Japanese ran the education system, and taught Japanese history in their schools. There was a demonstration of 2 million people in 1919, but the Japanese government brutally put it down. Then in Dec 1941 (same month as attack on Pearl Harbor), the traditional Korean gov’t that had moved into China declared war on Japan and joined the Allied forces.

In the conference at Cairo in 1943, China, The US, and Britain all promised Korean independence, but at the end of WWII, Korea was divided into two. Initially, a four-way power sharing deal had been proposed by China, US, Britain, and Russia, but to force the Japanese surrender in 1945, The USSR held the North Portion, and The US held the Southern portion. The USSR implemented a communist provisional gov’t led by Kim Il Sung. Growing tensions between the US and USSR caused trade to stop between North and South. In 1947, a UN committee was put together to oversee reunification of North and South, but USSR wouldn’t let them in the borders to oversee an election. In 1948, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Pyongyang as capitol) was established officially with Kim Il Sung as the leader. In 1950, a war (Korean War) broke out between North and South as USSR and US troops left the areas, and a UN force led by US’s General MacArthur entered South Korea and pushed back North Korean forces. Then China sent 1.2 M troops to help out N. Korea. Negotiations began in 1951, and by 1953, a new int’l boundary and demilitarized zone was established. S. Korea received financial support from the US and signed a mutual security pact. The war left 4m people dead or injured.

After the war, Kim Il Sung set about to further establish his role as leader, and began purging his political rivals, he also introduced his philosophy of Juche, which is an isolationist view that states that N. Korea can make it on its own, with no outside help in development. By the late 70’s NK had fallen behind SK in terms of economic development and NK hit a period of economic stagnation. Kim kept relations with China and Soviets, but waivered back and forth, but when Soviet Russia fell, NK hit an economic crisis, and experienced widespread famine. Kim then attempted to increase relations with SK, but failed because of the allegations of Nuclear facilities in NK. In ’94, Kim died and passed the mantle to Kim Jong Il, also well known for his civil rights abuses.

Kim Jong Il ran the economy into economic subsistence, while spending on Military remained high. In 2000, Jong Il accepted SK president Kim Dae-jung as relations between NK and SK appeared to be getting better, when they got together they both agreed that reunification of the Koreas is the ultimate goal for both countries. However, in ’02, a naval battle broke out which killed 4 SK soldiers and about 30 NK sailors. Jong Il blamed the US and SK for the attacks, and SK president Dae-jung suspended all rice shipments to NK until he apologized. US and NK relations got a lot worse when Bush accused NK or forming the “Axis of Evil” with Iraq and Iran, to which NK responded by reactivating a nuclear power plant and demanded the withdrawal of inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). NK officials claimed that they had to reopen it in response to US plans for a pre-emptive nuclear attack. Observers have suggested this was a ploy to force US into direct talks for signing a peace agreement, however, this obviously has yet to work. The reinstatement of nuclear facilities has scared the surrounding nations of NK, obviously, which has resulted in unrest between SK, Japan, and NK. In Feb 2005, NK admitted for the first time that they have nuclear weapons, and on October 9, 2006, NK tested its first nuclear weapon underground. In 2007, in a joint effort between SK, Japan, Russia, China, and the US, North Korea agreed to close its chief nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid. In oct ’07 agreed to further close three installations and the surrender of its nuclear stockpile was scheduled in 2008. They missed a deadline in Dec ’07.

Change and some old problems

It’s been a while since I last posted a blog, so I figure it’s about time! I’ve got some Andy Mckee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsD6uEZsIsU) going on in the background, so I’m set for getting this busted out. Life has been fairly interesting since my last post.

A lot has gone on, for instance, I’ve moved down to California, and am selling Pest Control contracts for a company called Dewey Pest control. I basically go door to door, which everyone seems to love door to door salesmen, and I try to persuade people to buy from me. So, for any of you who may doubt man’s inherent sinfulness, I beg you, try cold-call sales, you’ll change your mind quite soon. But selling is not too difficult in Fresno, California, because let’s face it… a lot of bugs are out here. That also means, however, that there are a plethora of other companies to choose from, which makes things a bit more difficult. Cause then you run into customers who already have a service, and when you mention the fact that you can save them money, give them a much better service, and really good customer support, they get all sorts of defensive, clam up, and you are then looking at the wrong side of their door. With all that being said, I’ve made much better money than I ever have in my life, and I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a great opportunity. I work hard, but it’s good work, and it’s such a blessing from God to have a job right now when so many folks are out of work right now (I run into far too many people out of work out here). This job is also pretty sweet cause I’ve gotten a lot of sermon illustrations out of it!

This job also has its difficulties though. Apart from often working 10-12 hour days, 7-8 hours of which are spent in 100 degree + weather, I am essentially on an island. I am a very gregarious person. Anybody who knows me knows that I’m nothing short of a full blown extravert, and so relationships are very important to me, and this job is completely void of relationships. At the very most I talk to somebody for 45 minutes, however most folks I talk to for about 30 seconds. I do have a few co-workers, but they both have families, and are best friends with each other, and they’re both in their 30’s, so it’s a little difficult to relate to them. All of my friends are back in Washington, and my girlfriend is in North Carolina, which makes things that much more difficult. So my life lately has consisted of work, and when I’m not working, I’m mostly making food, or doing laundry, or going grocery shopping. I do get to chat with Julia and some friends online, and talk on the phone when I get the chance, but I need some real face time. So that has been one of the biggest struggles for me.

I have had a few breaks though, which has been good. I was able to attend my sister’s graduation in June, and that was great! It was really cool to see my sister come to that accomplishment. She has always been a very intellectual girl, but she slacked off pretty bad her first few years of highschool, so she had to work extra hard to do well towards the end, and she really worked hard, so it was cool to see that. Plus it was nice cause all of my family was together (which has only happened once in times past… my graduation) and they all got to meet Julia, which was a cool experience. However, I think they may like her more than they like me now… okay, maybe they like us equally. Anywho, Brianna, my youngest sister attached to Julia like a leech, and really took to her. It was really really good to catch up with my mom too. I haven’t lived with my mom for over ten years, and I’ve only seen her 3 times in that ten years, so it was really really good to see her again, and get to spend some good time with her. She’s disabled as well, and doesn’t really have a guy around, so I was able to get some work done around the house, which Julia helped out a lot with, and was really fun.

Then towards the end of June, I was able to go to North Carolina to visit Julia and meet her family. It was a lot of fun. Nerve wracking, but fun nonetheless. It was really good to see Julia again, and I always love being around her. She’s so amazing, and I am soooo blessed to have her in my life, and so it was nice to meet her family who have helped shape her into the woman she is today. Her family was very hospitable, and easy going, which was a big relief… I just hope I didn’t shock them all too much with my crazy antics. I take getting used to, and they are all introverted, and I’m wildly extraverted, so I hope I didn’t mess anything up too bad! ;) Anywho, they are a very nice family. Julia’s parents were full time missionaries to Papua New Guinea, and now they work at an organization called JAARS, which if I remember stands for Jungle Aviation and Radio Services, but don’t quote me on that. Anywho, it’s affiliated with Wycliffe Bible translators, which is a pretty sweet organization, since they translate God’s Word into so many obscure languages. Julia’s dad is an airplane mechanic there, and her mom is going back to school to be a nurse, and they are both very hard working, good people. I feel like I got along with her parents pretty well, it was easy to talk to her dad especially about cars and such, since I’m a fairly mechanically inclined guy. Her mom is fun, and I can definitely see a lot of resemblances between her daughter and her. They share many of the same idiosyncrasies, so it’s cool to watch them interact with each other. Julia’s brother Luke is a cool guy, who is one of the most tech savvy guys I’ve ever met, perhaps only second to a Mr. Mike Lovely. He’s a really laid back guy, and introverted like the rest of the family and he’s a genius at finding deals. We went out for a pretty sweet bike ride in the woods that Luke led, and I have to say, it’s rekindled my love for biking, but I broke my flip-flops while riding, so it wasn’t a casualty free adventure. :( Anywho, I really like her family, and hope they feel the same about me, it’ll be cool to get to know them more in the future, and I hope I get the chance to talk more with them next time I visit.

So, now for the part you’ve all been waiting for! My crazy inflections about where my life is headed, and things that are going on in my life. Okay, you are welcome to skip over this part… if you’ve even made it this far… but I have had some things happen in my life recently, mostly internal, that I am really happy about, and some that I’m not so happy about and this is where you can read all about them! So, for the bad first. I feel like I have drifted way too far away from God lately. I hate it. I haven’t read my Bible nearly enough, which is ridiculous, since I should have no problem finding the time to do so. I have had a difficult time finding a decent church here, although I did finally find a good one. Northpointe Community Church! It’s a reformed church, which is a bit of a change for me in personal attendance, I do follow Mark Driscoll and John Piper fairly closely, and have multiple podcasts from each, so I listen to some reformed sermons, but this is the first time I’ve attended a reformed church. But still, I feel like I’ve relied too heavily upon being fed at a church, instead of feeding myself. I really enjoy reading the Bible, and I really enjoy studying it, but I haven’t felt the passion or drive to read as much lately, and I really need to work on that. I do pray every day, but I still don’t feel as close to God as I should. I feel like I’ve let too many other things occupy my time recently. This is going to change. My relationship with God needs to be my primary focus. In one of our little meetings we have for this job, my team leader Greg (he’s Mormon) said today that we need to prioritize. The first thing in our lives should be our relationship with God, to which I say amen, then second, our relationship with significant others, then our jobs. He’s exactly right. I don’t feel like that has been my list of priorities lately. I feel like it’s been, job, girlfriend, then God, although this past week, more like girlfriend, job, God, cause I’ve been missing Julia pretty bad. This needs to change though. I’ve got to start taking time for God, and so please hold me accountable to that.

I also haven’t been paying as much attention to my debate preparation as I should be. I intended for this summer to be the most intense preparation for debate ever, since it’s my goal to make it to the final round of the National tournament next year, and to break into the semi-finals of the world tournament, but I haven’t focused nearly enough on that. I know exactly why too. The computer. It’s a two-edged sword. On one hand, it helps me keep up to date on current events, on the other, it distracts me with its delicious glow. I am addicted to this screen, and it kills me sometimes. Part of it is because it’s one of the only ways that I still feel connected to the real world, since Facebook allows me to keep in touch with all of my friends, and a good portion of my communication with Julia is via chat messengers, since cell signal is sparse out at her house. Seriously though, I really should be reading more. I have a whole slew of great books with me that I should be almost done with by now, but I haven’t barely started them. It’s terrible. In fact, just writing this blog post isn’t really helping, but I feel that this is a more worthwhile investment than just lolly-gagging around on Facebook.

Also… my drumming skills have gone down the toilet. It’s killing me. I used to be a more than average drummer, and now I feel like I may be a better guitarist than drummer, which is not okay. That’s honestly my biggest complaint about Northwest. Every other instrument has the space to practice. There are a ridiculous amount of piano rooms, which anyone can sign up for, yet there isn’t a single drum room. If you do want to use the joke of a drum kit that the Jazz band uses, you either have to be in drum lessons, or you have to be a music major. It’ ridiculous. I can’t use my drumset in the dorms, because it’s too loud… I can barely use the electric drumset that Robert Otto brought with him last year, because all the guys downstairs complained all the time. It’s one of the most disheartening things ever. I seriously have watched my drumming skills fade before my eyes, and it really hurts. Drumming has been one of my biggest passions since I first picked up a pair of sticks in the fifth grade. Then when I got a drumset my sophomore year of highschool, it got crazy. I practiced a lot, and got good really quickly. Now I can’t do anything compared to what I could. My hands and feet won’t do what my brain tells them too… it’s frustrating to say the least. I think my friend J.D. also experienced this problem… he wasn’t able to drum for about a year, but he just jumped back into it, and has been fine since, so maybe there is still hope for me. I just wish I could work something out with the school… I think a petition is in order.

Anywho, now on to some good things! Well, I think I finally cemented my political stance. I am now officially calling myself a Libertarian. I know it’s not a perfect system to describe what I believe, but I think it’s the best ideology for me. The hardest thing is dealing with some of the personal issues which naturally come with being a Christian, but honestly I think that those are all things which society ought to be dictating. I don’t think the federal government should have much of a say in anything you do. If you want to smoke pot, then go for it. If you want to do stupid things, you should be allowed to do so. The government only has certain roles, the likes of which are spelled out fairly clearly in the constitution. I am a fan of Madisonian thought. I think the FDR approach to constitutional interpretation is nothing short of abhorrent. For instance, this healthcare bill is killing me. I don’t see how anyone can justify FORCING a person to engage into a monetary agreement with a third party. Ever. I’ve heard it all too, interstate commerce (which is terrible… I can get into that later if anyone wants…), I’ve also heard the classic: well they make us have car insurance! This one’s my favorite. Of course they make us have car insurance. 1.) We don’t have to drive a car…. We kinda have to live. 2.) You have car insurance so if you drive like an idiot and hit somebody else, you can pay for the damage you caused to them, health insurance is around so if YOU get sick YOU can go to the doctor. I could go on, but I don’t want to take up all of your time reading my blog. So, anywho, back to role of government. The government is only designed to protect sovereign states from foreign threats, and… from itself. That’s why there are checks and balances in our government, to make sure no particular branch gets too powerful and begins to become tyrannical. I will save the rest for another post, but I would gladly talk about this with anyone, if they like. :)

So that’s most of what’s gone on in my life since my last post. I’m really excited to get back to school, I really miss classes and my friends, and I’m really excited to start debate again. Pray for me that I can stay motivated out here, since it’s getting harder and harder with each day, and pray for me that I can find the love for God’s word again. Thanks for reading all of this if you have! Keep in touch, and feel free to comment if you have any concerns, questions, exhortations, or rude remarks!

Shalom!

Max

Life in the head of Maxwell

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this blog. Frankly, I’ve been too busy, or too lazy, so I apologize to all 2 of you who may regularly check out my blog (I’m being optimistic here). A lot has been going on in my life lately. I don’t really know how to describe all of it, nor will I for all of the interwebz to see, but I’ll try to go through a little bit of it.

I have been experiencing one of the age-old problems that comes with attending college: not know what the heck you believe. This ranges from politics, to social issues, to religious doctrine, and heck, it feels like the only thing I do know for sure is that God is good. Maybe that’s enough, but for my mind, I need some sense of intellectual assurance, so this has been a very difficult time for me. I have been getting more and more into Debate, which I love, but it causes me to look at so many issues, and makes me realize just how little I actually know. I want to know what to believe, to have a firm understanding of everything and make an educated decision based upon that knowledge, but I am coming more and more to the realization that it will never happen. It’s a scary thing for me. For my whole life, I have relied upon my brain to get me what I need, to help me understand something, and act upon that understanding. For most of my life, I have acted upon reason, and the few times I’ve acted upon emotion, they have quite frankly, left me for dead. So this whole not knowing business is frightening for me. I don’t know if I should be a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian (what I’m leaning towards), Socialist, or a Communist. There are really good arguments for all of them, and I don’t feel I have enough information to choose, and I feel that I won’t ever. Winston Churchill once wrote, “If a man isn’t Liberal when he’s 20, he doesn’t have a heart. If he isn’t Conservative by the time he’s 40, he doesn’t have a brain.” (Courtesy of Russ Elliott) I’m sure that’s true, since that’s the general trend I see for people, but I don’t want it to be true. It implies that experience is the only thing necessary to really bring about a formulation of opinions in these situations. I don’t want experience to have to teach me here, I want to learn from other’s mistakes, and make a rational decision. My heart (isn’t this problematic?) tells me I’m just going to have to go through the experience though.

This whole politics thing is very challenging, because I know my faith affects my political standpoint, but I really don’t know how. I can’t decide if there is a certain political stance that Christians ought to take over others. Libertarianism is probably not the best one in the sense that many Libertarians support things I morally and ethically oppose (prostitution, anyone?) but at the same time, so do Republicans, Democrats, Commies, Nazis and basically every other group out there. I’ve heard so many arguments that Christians should support Socialism, because Socialism is what Jesus taught. Help others besides yourself, etc. But my head tells me that it’s not analogous to say that Jesus supports socialism… for instance, Jesus supports helping others over yourself. True. I don’t doubt that at all. How is it that I can help somebody if a huge amount of money is being spent by the government on things I don’t necessarily support? So maybe the best way I can live out my Christian life is to go the capitalism route. Then you get people who say, “Capitalism is the most self-centered, materialistic ideology out there!” Well, yes, for many people it is, but it seems from experience (stupid experience coming back to bite me again) that Capitalism is the best producer of wealth, and so there is more for people to give back, but just because people have money doesn’t mean they won’t use it for good. Look at Bill Gates… that guy gives me 10 grand a year to go to school… I think that’s pretty cool. Capitalism worked for him. But then there are those who like to extort people, and take advantage of the disenfranchised within Capitalism, so it’s evil. But people sit on their duffs, watching T.V. and getting fat (sloth, gluttony, a few other of the 7) when you have a welfare state, cause other people are paying for it… so which one produces less evil? These are questions I have… every single day.

Also, this whole Doctrine thing that’s going on in my head. I really don’t know what to believe anymore. After reading Romans 9 I kinda feel like an idiot for bashing on Calvinism so much. Paul gives a straight up Apologetic for Calvinist thought. I can’t deny that. All the studying I’ve done on it agrees. But I still don’t think the Reformers had it all right. I don’t think Arminians have it right either. My gut (see, these dang emotions again) tells me it’s some kind of hybrid that my feeble little brain cannot comprehend. That somehow, God has entire Sovereignty, and I have entire free will. Both arguments are found in Scripture… which means… both are true. But if you talk to any Calvinist, they will tell you free will isn’t found with consistent exegesis (which I think is the most bull-crap sorry excuse I’ve ever heard, my apologies Rich) and you talk to any Arminian and they will tell you that Romans 9 is in regards to an entire nation of people, especially in regards to the Jacob vs Esau comparison used by Paul (I think this is also a cop-out). What’s the right answer? I don’t know. I think though, that I don’t need to know, and that’s probably why God has smacked me with it. I have tried to wed the two ideas, but they simply cannot be wed with my limited human understanding, but that won’t stop me from trying to at least hammer out more what I believe. I had a talk with my Philosophy prof, Jack Wisemore, and I think he stands about the same place I do, which is: they’re both right… but both wrong, but that doesn’t mean that he knows what is right. The only thing that I know, and I’m sure Jack is on the same page, is that God is good. It’s still an interesting thought though. I was expressing some of my thoughts to my girlfriend the other day, explaining one of my hypotheses, that maybe God predestines some people, but allows others the choice (this would allow for Romans 9 to be true, as well as showing God’s desire that all shall be saved… not saying it’s right… it has a lot of flaws, but it is something I’ve kinda tossed around) and she ran into the same problem we all do. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s stupid. God has to be one way or the other. He has to choose, or he has to let us choose. Can’t be both, and it can’t be part of either, it has to be fully one, or fully the other. She got rather frustrated with me at the time, because I have really been going insane. Not know what to believe, or who’s word to take. (Yes I know I need to take God’s word, but that’s the freakin problem! He says both… o.O) Do you understand what it’s like to run into something like this? The very being that I worship, and serve, and am studying, has put this nice, fat intellectual barrier between me and him. Or, I have, rather. My good friend Randy once told me something, and since Randy is quite possibly the most intelligent man I’ve ever known, I’m sure it applies to me as well. He told me that once God spoke to him at the alter, and told him to bask in His simplicity, and marvel in His mystery. He just told me that in passing once, but it has stuck with me ever since. I find myself reminding me of his experience over and over again. It’s true. I need to stop trying to put God in my little intellectual box, because just by trying to put God to where he can be comprehended, it detracts from His glory. I just can’t help the fact that I’m a very rational person.

Lacking knowledge has also been a problem for me. In the debate circuit, people have been studying politics since the 9^th grade, they know every little thing that’s happened all over the world. I feel like a bumbling idiot sometimes. Wait, what happened in Somalia in 1921? What about Watergate? I don’t know so much of this stuff… it’s a rather humbling experience. I am looking forward to learning more about these topics, and I hope to one day be at the level of some of these debaters (hopefully next year!), but I have this feeling, that the more I get to know, the more I’ll know about how little I really know. I think that’s a Chinese Parable or something. I am going to be doing a lot of reading this summer. Any suggestions as far as politics go? And no, I won’t be reading Glenn Beck… Machiavelli is on my list, as well as Locke and Rousseau. Which brings me to another thing.

I am going to be working down in California this summer. This is a pretty big deal for me, as I’m hoping to make a good deal of money down there, and be able to really get a lot of studying and exercise done. I am still unsure of exactly what it’s going to look like for me, but I am trusting that God’s plan will be worked through it, as the circumstances in which the job came to me appear to be rather divine. This should be a cool experience, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m ready for the difficulty that will come with it, but it will be worth it.

Also, this whole growing up business. I have been a rather independent young man for a while. I have been able to decide for myself what I want to do, where I want to go, what I want to spend my money on, all of those things. I feel like I lived the “college life” in high school. I really appreciate that, and I think God had(s) a purpose in making it so, but it still puts me at an awkward position. Many of my friends are in their 20’s. The guys I have lived with during my senior year are all over 21, my girlfriend is a couple months off of being 21, and I’m 19. What scares me the most, is when I stop to think, then realize my dad was only 2 years older than I am now when I was born. This really scares the crap out of me. My dad isn’t even super young for my age, so I am really starting to realize that I am grown up. Many “adults” look at me, and still think I’m just a kid, and to them, maybe I am. But I am not anymore, and I don’t think I have been for a couple of years. But my body is now starting to catch up a bit with where my experience has been. I am getting that urge to start settling down. I find myself going to the Men’s section of clothing instead of the Young Men’s… I buy mostly dress shirts now. I find myself wanting to get an apartment so I can cook for myself, so I can have a cat or a dog, so I can start buying furniture. I look at some friends Facebook profiles and when I see their adorable kids running around, or their new family, or their new home, that I am really excited for when I can do that. It’s an interesting experience to have my body pushing me around again.

I really need to grow up in some areas though. I haven’t been doing my school work like the man that I am. It’s really been bothering me. I have been half-assing almost everything lately. I just sit on Facebook like a fool, doing nothing at all. Or I play guitar (which is a good thing, since practicing is never bad, but I really ought to find a designated time to do so) instead of doing my homework. I feel like this little black box that I am writing on now has consumed my life. I think I am going to take a laptop fast this summer, in so far as it doesn’t affect my job, or my studies. But I really have been sucked into it’s electric glow, the pixels that pop off the screen, and it really is no way to live. I really haven’t even taken the time to read anything of substance. All I really read, besides the news, is Facebook. What good does that really do me? None. None at all. I just need to pick up a good book, mostly political theory this summer, and read it. I also need to read my Bible more, considering it’s my field of study, and I’ve still never read fully through it. So I shall be doing that as well. So this rant is some of what I’ve been going through lately. I could use prayer, as this next little chapter of my life will be an interesting one, but I’m really curious to see what God does. Thanks for reading, if you have. This is just me, writing about crap that goes on in my head. If you have anything you wish to say, or feel like I ought to know, drop a comment. God is good!

Shalom!

Max

Life in my head.

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this blog. Frankly, I’ve been too busy, or too lazy, so I apologize to all 2 of you who may regularly check out my blog (I’m being optimistic here). A lot has been going on in my life lately. I don’t really know how to describe all of it, nor will I for all of the interwebz to see, but I’ll try to go through a little bit of it.

I have been experiencing one of the age-old problems that comes with attending college: not know what the heck you believe. This ranges from politics, to social issues, to religious doctrine, and heck, it feels like the only thing I do know for sure is that God is good. Maybe that’s enough, but for my mind, I need some sense of intellectual assurance, so this has been a very difficult time for me. I have been getting more and more into Debate, which I love, but it causes me to look at so many issues, and makes me realize just how little I actually know. I want to know what to believe, to have a firm understanding of everything and make an educated decision based upon that knowledge, but I am coming more and more to the realization that it will never happen. It’s a scary thing for me. For my whole life, I have relied upon my brain to get me what I need, to help me understand something, and act upon that understanding. For most of my life, I have acted upon reason, and the few times I’ve acted upon emotion, they have quite frankly, left me for dead. So this whole not knowing business is frightening for me. I don’t know if I should be a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian (what I’m leaning towards), Socialist, or a Communist. There are really good arguments for all of them, and I don’t feel I have enough information to choose, and I feel that I won’t ever. Winston Churchill once wrote, “If a man isn’t Liberal when he’s 20, he doesn’t have a heart. If he isn’t Conservative by the time he’s 40, he doesn’t have a brain.” (Courtesy of Russ Elliott) I’m sure that’s true, since that’s the general trend I see for people, but I don’t want it to be true. It implies that experience is the only thing necessary to really bring about a formulation of opinions in these situations. I don’t want experience to have to teach me here, I want to learn from other’s mistakes, and make a rational decision. My heart (isn’t this problematic?) tells me I’m just going to have to go through the experience though.

This whole politics thing is very challenging, because I know my faith affects my political standpoint, but I really don’t know how. I can’t decide if there is a certain political stance that Christians ought to take over others. Libertarianism is probably not the best one in the sense that many Libertarians support things I morally and ethically oppose (prostitution, anyone?) but at the same time, so do Republicans, Democrats, Commies, Nazis and basically every other group out there. I’ve heard so many arguments that Christians should support Socialism, because Socialism is what Jesus taught. Help others besides yourself, etc. But my head tells me that it’s not analogous to say that Jesus supports socialism… for instance, Jesus supports helping others over yourself. True. I don’t doubt that at all. How is it that I can help somebody if a huge amount of money is being spent by the government on things I don’t necessarily support? So maybe the best way I can live out my Christian life is to go the capitalism route. Then you get people who say, “Capitalism is the most self-centered, materialistic ideology out there!” Well, yes, for many people it is, but it seems from experience (stupid experience coming back to bite me again) that Capitalism is the best producer of wealth, and so there is more for people to give back, but just because people have money doesn’t mean they won’t use it for good. Look at Bill Gates… that guy gives me 10 grand a year to go to school… I think that’s pretty cool. Capitalism worked for him. But then there are those who like to extort people, and take advantage of the disenfranchised within Capitalism, so it’s evil. But people sit on their duffs, watching T.V. and getting fat (sloth, gluttony, a few other of the 7) when you have a welfare state, cause other people are paying for it… so which one produces less evil? These are questions I have… every single day.

Also, this whole Doctrine thing that’s going on in my head. I really don’t know what to believe anymore. After reading Romans 9 I kinda feel like an idiot for bashing on Calvinism so much. Paul gives a straight up Apologetic for Calvinist thought. I can’t deny that. All the studying I’ve done on it agrees. But I still don’t think the Reformers had it all right. I don’t think Arminians have it right either. My gut (see, these dang emotions again) tells me it’s some kind of hybrid that my feeble little brain cannot comprehend. That somehow, God has entire Sovereignty, and I have entire free will. Both arguments are found in Scripture… which means… both are true. But if you talk to any Calvinist, they will tell you free will isn’t found with consistent exegesis (which I think is the most bull-crap sorry excuse I’ve ever heard, my apologies Rich) and you talk to any Arminian and they will tell you that Romans 9 is in regards to an entire nation of people, especially in regards to the Jacob vs Esau comparison used by Paul (I think this is also a cop-out). What’s the right answer? I don’t know. I think though, that I don’t need to know, and that’s probably why God has smacked me with it. I have tried to wed the two ideas, but they simply cannot be wed with my limited human understanding, but that won’t stop me from trying to at least hammer out more what I believe. I had a talk with my Philosophy prof, Jack Wisemore, and I think he stands about the same place I do, which is: they’re both right… but both wrong, but that doesn’t mean that he knows what is right. The only thing that I know, and I’m sure Jack is on the same page, is that God is good. It’s still an interesting thought though. I was expressing some of my thoughts to my girlfriend the other day, explaining one of my hypotheses, that maybe God predestines some people, but allows others the choice (this would allow for Romans 9 to be true, as well as showing God’s desire that all shall be saved… not saying it’s right… it has a lot of flaws, but it is something I’ve kinda tossed around) and she ran into the same problem we all do. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s stupid. God has to be one way or the other. He has to choose, or he has to let us choose. Can’t be both, and it can’t be part of either, it has to be fully one, or fully the other. She got rather frustrated with me at the time, because I have really been going insane. Not know what to believe, or who’s word to take. (Yes I know I need to take God’s word, but that’s the freakin problem! He says both… o.O) Do you understand what it’s like to run into something like this? The very being that I worship, and serve, and am studying, has put this nice, fat intellectual barrier between me and him. Or, I have, rather. My good friend Randy once told me something, and since Randy is quite possibly the most intelligent man I’ve ever known, I’m sure it applies to me as well. He told me that once God spoke to him at the alter, and told him to bask in His simplicity, and marvel in His mystery. He just told me that in passing once, but it has stuck with me ever since. I find myself reminding me of his experience over and over again. It’s true. I need to stop trying to put God in my little intellectual box, because just by trying to put God to where he can be comprehended, it detracts from His glory. I just can’t help the fact that I’m a very rational person.

Lacking knowledge has also been a problem for me. In the debate circuit, people have been studying politics since the 9^th grade, they know every little thing that’s happened all over the world. I feel like a bumbling idiot sometimes. Wait, what happened in Somalia in 1921? What about Watergate? I don’t know so much of this stuff… it’s a rather humbling experience. I am looking forward to learning more about these topics, and I hope to one day be at the level of some of these debaters (hopefully next year!), but I have this feeling, that the more I get to know, the more I’ll know about how little I really know. I think that’s a Chinese Parable or something. I am going to be doing a lot of reading this summer. Any suggestions as far as politics go? And no, I won’t be reading Glenn Beck… Machiavelli is on my list, as well as Locke and Rousseau. Which brings me to another thing.

I am going to be working down in California this summer. This is a pretty big deal for me, as I’m hoping to make a good deal of money down there, and be able to really get a lot of studying and exercise done. I am still unsure of exactly what it’s going to look like for me, but I am trusting that God’s plan will be worked through it, as the circumstances in which the job came to me appear to be rather divine. This should be a cool experience, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m ready for the difficulty that will come with it, but it will be worth it.

Also, this whole growing up business. I have been a rather independent young man for a while. I have been able to decide for myself what I want to do, where I want to go, what I want to spend my money on, all of those things. I feel like I lived the “college life” in high school. I really appreciate that, and I think God had(s) a purpose in making it so, but it still puts me at an awkward position. Many of my friends are in their 20’s. The guys I have lived with during my senior year are all over 21, my girlfriend is a couple months off of being 21, and I’m 19. What scares me the most, is when I stop to think, then realize my dad was only 2 years older than I am now when I was born. This really scares the crap out of me. My dad isn’t even super young for my age, so I am really starting to realize that I am grown up. Many “adults” look at me, and still think I’m just a kid, and to them, maybe I am. But I am not anymore, and I don’t think I have been for a couple of years. But my body is now starting to catch up a bit with where my experience has been. I am getting that urge to start settling down. I find myself going to the Men’s section of clothing instead of the Young Men’s… I buy mostly dress shirts now. I find myself wanting to get an apartment so I can cook for myself, so I can have a cat or a dog, so I can start buying furniture. I look at some friends Facebook profiles and when I see their adorable kids running around, or their new family, or their new home, that I am really excited for when I can do that. It’s an interesting experience to have my body pushing me around again.

I really need to grow up in some areas though. I haven’t been doing my school work like the man that I am. It’s really been bothering me. I have been half-assing almost everything lately. I just sit on Facebook like a fool, doing nothing at all. Or I play guitar (which is a good thing, since practicing is never bad, but I really ought to find a designated time to do so) instead of doing my homework. I feel like this little black box that I am writing on now has consumed my life. I think I am going to take a laptop fast this summer, in so far as it doesn’t affect my job, or my studies. But I really have been sucked into it’s electric glow, the pixels that pop off the screen, and it really is no way to live. I really haven’t even taken the time to read anything of substance. All I really read, besides the news, is Facebook. What good does that really do me? None. None at all. I just need to pick up a good book, mostly political theory this summer, and read it. I also need to read my Bible more, considering it’s my field of study, and I’ve still never read fully through it. So I shall be doing that as well. So this rant is some of what I’ve been going through lately. I could use prayer, as this next little chapter of my life will be an interesting one, but I’m really curious to see what God does. Thanks for reading, if you have. This is just me, writing about crap that goes on in my head. If you have anything you wish to say, or feel like I ought to know, drop a comment. God is good!

Shalom!

Max

THW remove all troops from Afghanistan Brief:

Pros:

1. Would drastically reduce costs-

a. Costs are already estimated at 1.3-3 Trillion.

b. 4,000 deaths already, and 33,000 injured.

c. To have any effect we would have to have a surge of an extra 35,000 troops…. At least.

2. We have no objective in Afghanistan.

a. They’ve got a 27% literacy rate, 40% unemployment, and 80 something political parties… they aren’t even stabilized. The only thing uniting them is hatred of the U.S.

3. Would allow Afghanistan’s people to start becoming stable on their own, with a little help of course! But we feel that we have no right to tell these people how to live their lives.

4. Implement a plan that imposes policies:

a. allowing opium to be produced in Afghanistan, but only to where they can sell to Pharmaceutical companies (there is an morphine shortage worldwide) … this would ease tensions in tribal Afghanistan, cause they could produce their biggest cash crop, but it would keep it out of the Taliban’s hands, so they couldn’t sell it off as illegal narcotics. This plan has been modeled and shown to be effective off the Nixon-Kissinger program implemented in Turkey.

b. Sending in Strike teams to combat the Taliban/Al Qaeda instead of having ground based troops… which is far more costly to maintain.

i. This would ease tensions with our allies over troop commitments.

c. Recognizing this is not a nation-building effort, but an effort to support the people of Afghanistan to build their own nation…

Cons:

1. We need to stay in Afghanistan! We need to show that as Americans we are willing to stick something through to the end. However, we need to take action quickly as is suggested by Obama’s own General McChrystal… If we continue to wait, the Taliban will continue to gather even more momentum.

2. They’ve got a 27% literacy rate, 40% unemployment, and 80 something political parties… they aren’t even stabilized. We can bring stabilization! By bringing in a decidedly pro-Western gov’t, the divided tribal Afghans would unite under a solid gov’t that would remove the Taliban from power, and start to increase their literacy and unemployment rates, and would start to unify these 80 political parties.

3. We don’t want another Vietnam, so we oppose and say we will stay, and we will win! We will set particular goals, specifically, to decrease the presence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, to increase literacy rates and employment rates by at least 100% of their current rates, and to raise up a pro-western gov’t to unite the people by doing said things above.

Pentecostalism: saved by speaking in Tongues?

Recently, I have had a lot of trepidation and internal agony over a doctrine that I have always kind of taken as truth, but looking at it now, with more clarification, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I have been attending and Assemblies of God (AG) church for the last 2 ½ years and this denomination is considered a Pentecostal denomination. First, I would like to define what separates Pentecostalism from other systems of the Christian faith, for lack of a better term. This is where some of my confusion and turmoil comes in. Previously, I always assumed that for one to believe in the speaking of tongues (contrary to many theologies that deny the Spirit's active role in modern day), but now I realize my previous understanding was false. For one to believe in the active role of the Spirit it would make them Charismatic. Now this is interesting, because I am familiar with most of the Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God, and the specific one that causes issue is the 7th one. Below is taken directly from the AG website.

7. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.

• Luke 24:49 [KJV/NIV]
• Acts 1:4 [KJV/NIV]
• Acts 1:8 [KJV/NIV]
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 [KJV/NIV]

This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.

• Acts 8:12-17 [KJV/NIV]
• Acts 10:44-46 [KJV/NIV]
• Acts 11:14-16 [KJV/NIV]
• Acts 15:7-9 [KJV/NIV]

With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as:

• an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, John 7:37-39 [KJV/NIV], Acts 4:8 [KJV/NIV]
• a deepened reverence for God, Acts 2:43 [KJV/NIV], Hebrews 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
• an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts 2:42 [KJV/NIV]
• and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark 16:20 [KJV/NIV]

Having attended an AG church for 2/3 of my time as a Christian, I have never had much disagreement with anything taught by AG, but this very thing which gives the AG its identity as a Pentecostal church is causing friction in my life. I've looked at scripture, and I am fully convinced that the Spirit is still moving within the world today, and that speaking in tongues is an evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Personally, I do speak in tongues, but I do not think it is something given to everyone. It is a gift, and different gifts are given to different people. Every member of the body has a different purpose, 1 Corinthians 12 deals with this quite clearly (I think it's funny that this is used as a supporting scripture in the 7 fundamental truth) and so I think it's a false statement to say that every believer is entitled to speaking in tongues, let alone saying they should expect it. It isn't something that God throws into the deal when you follow him. It's not like he says, hey, here's my gift of eternal life, given freely to all people and for choosing me today (unless you are of a Reformed persuasion, but that's another discussion! ;)), I'll throw in the gift of tongues at no extra cost! God isn't Billy Mays *RIP* trying to entice us by throwing in free stuff; He gives gifts as just that, gifts. They are not for everyone. They are each for different parts of the body. The mouth doesn't have the same job as the feet. What good would feet have of speaking in tongues?

The 8^th statement of faith says:

The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.

• Acts 2:4 [KJV/NIV]

The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use.

• 1 Corinthians 12:4-10 [KJV/NIV]
• 1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]

I believe fully in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I don't believe that the initial (pseudonym for ONLY) evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Speaking in Tongues nor do I believe that it is the initial Physical evidence. Physical evidence isn’t a requirement of being baptized by the Holy Spirit. To me, this says, you aren’t a true believer if you haven’t spoken in tongues. Where does it say this in Scripture? Sola Scriptura- scripture as the highest authority, if you can prove to me that it's there, please do, I wish it was! I would love for AG to be proven correct... I feel I could be fully devoted then, but I'm not sure if I can even be ordained until I subscribe to all 16 of these beliefs, so I won't be able to teach in an AG church.

So, basically, I'm looking for someone to prove me wrong on this... haha... but I've seen people lose faith because they haven't spoken in tongues, because it's so stressed in a Pentecostal church. It honestly disgusts me that we put so much emphasis on only one of the Gifts, God has a lot more out there for everyone... ;) Plus the gifts so often are abused, because it's expected that everyone speak in tongues, I guarantee that a substantial portion of the church fakes it to fit in... I've known quite a few people who have admitted to this. There is this emphasis on tongues that says, the evidence for the Baptism of the Spirit--basically the recognition of one's salvation--is initially the speaking in tongues.(I say they might as well change it to only, because you can't have any evidence without the initial being taken care of; aka, unless the initial evidence is there, the rest of the evidence is basically useless... so if you don't speak in tongues, you can't genuinely have any of the other gifts, which is most definitely not talked about in 1 Corinthians 12) Maybe *hopefully* I'm just completely misinterpreting the meaning behind these fundamental beliefs, but I know that one can't be ordained without having spoken in tongues. I think the only reason that is, is because AG doesn’t believe one to be a true believer unless they have spoken in tongues. So. Thoughts, comments, slander (just kidding), disagreements, poking fun at my terrible sentence structure, either way, post it up. Thanks for taking time to read this. I do sincerely appreciate any comments or discussion left to me. (:

Darwin Day: an effort to support freedom of inquiry, or an effort to push anti-religion ideals?

In recent days, a debate has sprung up about establishing a National Holiday, centered on Charles Darwin. As most know, Darwin was a biologist, who established what we now know as biological evolution. There is an effort to make a national holiday (which means paid time off, and national recognition, obviously), mostly based on the premise that Darwin was an intellectual giant who threw off the chains of intellectual bondage, and thought outside the accepted realm. Supporters claim that making this a holiday would support academic freedom and the search for something different out there. Different from what? Well as any educated person could tell you, Darwin has caused a severe amount of friction with not only the religious establishments, but with a Theistic worldview at all. The entire premise of evolutionary theory is this: the origins of the species come from one central ancestor. I.E. All forms of life come from one specific species. Through a series of multiple evolutionary mutations, this original species has spawned all we know today, every organic organism on the planet comes from one thing. The logical conclusion to this theory of macro evolution is this, if life comes from one point, so does everything. This has severe implications that follow right along with this theory. Existence becomes merely chance, and supposedly with enough time, the lining up of all the necessary elements to spontaneously produce organic life from in-organic substances is possible, and evolutionists would like us to believe that it is entirely probable. Now flaws with the theory aside, I will focus on why it is less than intelligent to try and push to make this a national holiday.

The implications of naming this holiday Darwin day would imply that the government supports Darwin and the theories that come along with Darwin. Some supporters would say it is merely celebration of a brilliant man who fought against the religious stranglehold on the academic community. I say poppy-cock. Many many many men before him have fought against the religious establishment, even Martin Luther… We don’t have a Luther day, or an Einstein day, or an Aristotle day, or a Pascal Day, or a Russell day, so why should we have a Darwin day? I’ll tell you why, it’s the atheistic community pushing to get their piece in… It would be more than foolish for the government to buy into this. Because of the title of Darwin day, certain implications come with it, and for the government to support Darwin day would be to support the overthrow of religion, which implicitly destroys the first amendment. This holiday would not support freedom of religion, but freedom from religion, which forces people to celebrate the overthrow of religion, specifically Christianity… which clearly breaks the First Amendment. The majority of American’s claim Christianity as their religion, and so this would cause even more dissension with our government, which I’m sure they don’t want any more of. Not to mention that we need more of the government overstepping their bounds, and pushing things on us. And, quite frankly, the thought of MY tax dollars going to support a holiday centered around a figure-head of the pseudo-academic community in an effort to demean my Faith appalls me!

Now, if a day supporting academic freedom and technological advance were to be suggested, I would gladly vote for that. I think academics ought to be supported, and revolutionary minds praised, but not a specific mind, namely Darwin’s. Last time I checked, many scientists’ works have done just as much for humanity, if not more than Darwin. Mendel, Newton, Einstein, Tesla, and a whole slew of others, not to mention philosophers, psychologists, engineers, and a multitude of other academics, who deserve a day to recognize their efforts just as much as Darwin. But you don’t see a group of people lobbying to have a Newton day, and you know why? Newton had no effect on one’s specific worldview, that’s why. These atheist lobbyists have an agenda to destroy the faith of people, even though it is academically legitimate as science, if not more. Last time I checked, people have adhered to the same basic beliefs and understanding of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam since their introduction. Science is ever evolving. In fact one of the only clear cases of evolution is in science. Christianity still stands to the scrutiny of every faith hating group on the planet, for over 2000 years, not including Jewish roots. This is a thorn in the side of the pseudo-intellectual world. So they have made an effort to establish a day nationally to support and recognize their prophet, Darwin. The group of anti-religion atheist’s is just as vehement as the group of fanatical Christians in their onslaught against religion. What does this say? Not that every atheist is out to destroy religion, but that humanity, in general, is full of many fanatics who are too blind to see past their own views.

So I would urge you, if given the chance, vote against the petition to enlist a national holiday named after Darwin, because that is restricting academic freedom just as much as religion ever did. Now, however, it’s saying, don’t believe in a god of any sort, because only fools and stupid people believe in a deity, instead of reversed as it was for so long. I stand for freedom: my freedom to choose what I believe, and to choose not to support that which I don’t believe. Support freedom, don’t allow this to be voted in.