Faith, Beer, and Other Things That Interest Geoff

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day I salute those who died to free others and secure us in Iraq (see below). I salute those who died in Vietnam to stop communism which was a horrendous evil.

Harpoon UFO

I had a Harpoon UFO today. It's out all year round, but I think it is especially suitable for late spring/summer. It is a German-style wheat beer. It has citrus flavors in it from God's gift to us, yeast. Try it out for a refreshing beer with some taste.

Don't Believe in Jesus and Go to Hell?

I think I have quick retort for people who raise such an objection. I would expect myself to go to hell without Jesus, let alone you.

What?!? You Mean Al Queda-Iraq Connections May Have Been Real?

Story here.

Apparently a new book details the connections between Al Queda and Iraq. I would only be truly shocked if I didn't pay attention to the run up to the war or had short-term memory or didn't believe the Clinton administration.

Evil in All of Us
The reservoir of evil in all of us is deeper than we know, and … barriers against its eruption are shockingly fragile.

Well said.

Lee Strobel Said Something Very Ironic

In his overall excellent talk about surviving a spiritual mismatch, Lee Strobel mentioned that God would not violate our free will and make us choose Him. Then, he thanked God he made the right choice. Lee, love your work, but why are you thanking God for something you say you did for yourself?

The Logical Outworking of Homosexual Marriage

People in support of homosexual marriage take offense when you wonder why they limit marriage to two people. Well, how about actually answering the question? If you remove a standard and you have no other standards to go by, you got to wonder. It is a logical exercise. If you attack my definition of marriage on what basis can you withstand an attack on your definition?

Why the "Lost Gospels" Lost Out

A lot of the Da Vinci Code stuff is based on an ignorance of history.

Moderate Beer Drinking is Good for You

God's gift once again shown to be good for you when you drink it the way God intends, moderately.

Kudos to Bill Cosby

Echoing what I blogged about yesterday, Bill Cosby understands the important problems in the African-American community.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Please Come to America

Is there any reason why we can't get the good stuff from Guinness. Aparently, the stuff they send to Belgium is incredible. I've had the version they send to the Caribean. It's incredible.

I know most Americans don't care for very good beer, but please send some of that over for those who do!

Brown vs. Board of Education, Part II

I present the following articles:
Brown vs. Board of Education Laid the Groundwork for Judicial Activism
Too Many People Are Trying to Grab Brown's Coattails

I am not willing to say that Brown vs. Board of Education was a wrong decision, but these articles do raise interesting points.

Sometimes the right outcome is pursued by the wrong means. The Confederacy was immoral in regards to slavery. But they may have been right that states could leave the Union. The South was wrong in segregation and racism, but they may have been right that the federal government had gone too far with trampeling states rights. Then, when legitimate people raise states rights argumentation (like Reagan), it is associated with those who used it for racist ends. The distinction I have raised is lost on many.

Yes, a scoundral can be correct. Except for what they are defending.

Brown vs. Board of Education, Part I

While we can all be glad that state-sponsered racism is a thing of the past, one wonders about all the lamenting about how people are still not integrated. Should we be much more worried about the rate of out-of-wedlock births and fatherless households in the African-American communit? It is devastating their community. And those rates are increasing outside of their communities as well. We must keep our eye on the ball. What is truly important? The concerns of the 50's may not be the most important thing to worry about today.

Goodbye to Yuengling

I love Yuengling Traditional Lager in an emotional way. It introduced me to good beer and taught me that I can like beer. If left to Bud, I would rather just skip having a beer. When I had my first Yuengling, I liked it immediately.

Since moving on to craft beers, my pallate has adjusted. And when I taste Yuengling now, all I can taste all that corn they put in as an adjunct.

Now don't get me wrong. For a macrobrew, Yuengling is still really good and reasonably priced. But I just can't drink it any more. I want to like it, but I can't get past the corn.

I wish them luck and success. May they spread better beer to the masses. May others like me find better beer through them.

Universal Health Care

I had a good time celebrating my graduation with a bunch of friends this weekend. One of my good liberal friends lamented the fact we don't have universal health care. Later, I thought, why the heck don't a bunch of people get together and donate time and money to give them health care? Why does it have to come through the government? There is nothing preventing anyone from giving out free health care on a massive scale.

That would be a great idea and I would be more than willing to help out. I just don't want the government to force us into such a system.

Are we so trained to have the government do something for us that we can't even help others out?

All you liberals out there complaining about universal health care: go provide some!

What Needed to Be Said to Nick Berg's Father

Michael Smerconish wrote an opinion piece in today's Philadelphia Daily News which is a sensitive but needed response to Nick Berg's father.

Mr. bin Laden, Can You Pretty Please Tell Us What's Going On?

The NY Times is reporting that we have been a tad rough with senior level Al Queda detainees in order to get information. There is a fine line between torture and making sure these terrorist give us information. Where do we draw the line? I don't know.

Giving them to a third-party country may be a viable option. Get the info with plausible deniability. I don't know where the correct place to draw the line is. But the "stop before I say 'stop' again" mentality has got to go.

Al Queda Is All Sorts of Messed Up

When studying the holocaust, my friend, Barbara Ann, wrote a paper on Adolf Hitler's psychology. "Geoff, he was f***ed up." "Tell me something I don't know Barbara Ann." "No Geoff, you don't understand. He was f***ed up."

And you know what? That's how I feel about Al Queda. I heard the audio from the cold-blooded murder of Nicholas Berg. They killed him with a dull knife. I've visited Aushwitz, ok? I have a strong stomach for these things. I wasn't revolted so much as incredibly saddened.

And then it hit me. Islam is not true. And you know how we can tell? Jesus. They claim Jesus as a prophet but don't listen to a word he says.

Look, I'm not just talking about the radical types; I'm also talking about the Muslim peaceniks.

The New Testament is generally reliable (despite what later Muslims may say). Jesus promoted a path of peace. Jesus said he was the only way to heaven. Jesus mentioned he was going to die (which Islam denies). Jesus claimed He was God.

If Islam were to say Jesus was a liar, they may have had a more tenable story. But claiming Jesus as a prophet doesn't fly with the facts. Even if I believe the New Testament has been horribly corrupted (which it hasn't), there is enough historical evidence and early Christian writings to dismiss Islam out of hand.

Inadequacy of Secular Psychology

A psychologist was on Michael Smerconish's radio show this morning. They were mentioning studies about how people, under group pressure, go bad. And the psychologist said that prisoners were good people who did bad things. This is where secular psychologies fail.

They don't take the Fall into account. People aren't good. What we perceive as people being good is a thin veneer over our stinking, rotting fallenness. Being put in charge of a camp in WWII or prisoners in Iraq strips all that away, leaving the true self to shine (or stink).

We aren't sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

Taco Bell and the PC(USA)

The PC(USA), my denomination, has asking its members to boycott Taco Bell. I have no idea whether this is a good idea or not. It involves tomatoes. Taco Bell's supplier for tomatoes pays their migrant workers very little. If Taco Bell and the supplier paid more, the migrant workers would get more money and possibly a more decent living. This sounds like a good idea, but I'm boycotting the boycott.

I'm boycotting the boycott because my denomination has done very little to exercise church discipline. Countless ministers are destroying souls in my denomination. Many mutilate the gospel. Many condone what Scripture calls sin. The situation in my denomination is serious. Taco Bell, frankly, doesn't register on my radar.

Maybe I'll just ask for no tomatoes when I go to Taco Bell. Actually, why didn't they just ask us to do that?

And maybe the PC(USA) should try to provide a way to get those workers into other lines of work. Or maybe they should give the poor money and not expect Taco Bell and its suppliers to help the poor. While it would be great if Taco Bell did, God isn't going to hold Taco Bell accountable in the final judgment. But he will ask his covenant people what they did for the poor. Heck, I don't do nearly as much as I should, and to my shame. May God have mercy!

If Saddam Didn't Have WMDs...

Many times when I am trying to figure out the truth of something (be it theological, political or otherwise), I try to set a perimeter to my query. For example, when thinking about the Resurrection, I always keep in mind that the disciples died for their message. When I think about whether Jews need Jesus, I remember Paul and Peter performed Jewish evangelism. I do my best to always remember something which will act as a sanity check against my opinion and something we can be absolutely sure of.

So when people complain about attacking to Iraq and are completely sure there were no WMDs, I keep in mind that Saddam was not cooperating with the weapons inspectors. Why the heck would he do that? And if it turns out he didn't have WMDs, please don't blame Bush. Blame the person who gave every indication that he had WMDs. And who would that be? Yes, that's right...Saddam Hussein.

John Kerry Has Chutzpah

John Kerry Brings Up Iraqi Prisoner Abuse in Fundraising

He would demand accountability when he's president. This is the man who claimed that war crimes and atrocities were widespread in Vietnam and he participated in them. I can forgive such foolishness if he owned up to it and apologized, which he has (sort of).

But given his past statements, this is a tad much. Esp. since it is politicization of a real problem.

Before You Start Making Fun of Left Behind

I am not a fan of the Left Behind series. I have left my pre-trib, pre-mil position of my youth (was there anything else?). But every time I want to dismiss out of hand their way-too-detailed perspective of future events, I stop and think.

Many in the world, especially on the left, are looking to the U.N. to be some sort of one-world government. The people in America who want to drop our sovreignity in deference to world (read "leftist") opinion are downright scary.

So when stuff like that happens, it really makes you stop and wonder. Now, it doesn't make me change my eschatology. But those in the pre-trib, pre-mil Left Behind camp don't seem to be full of bunk. Do I think there interpretations have errors? Yes. But the U.N. cronies are trying to make a fool out of me.

The Democrat Myth of 1993

Here is the myth: Clinton tax increases reduced the budget deficits and led to economic growth. However, here's the problem: this isn't the case. Fortunately, I remember the politics of the era. In January of 1995 Clinton proposed a budget that reduced but never eliminated the deficit. The new Republican Congress held their feet to the fire and before you know it a little bit of discipline and strong economic growth got rid of deficits. While I give Clinton some credit (Clinton and a Republican Congress did well economically speaking), let's be honest. The 1993 proposal has very little impact.

Far Be It From Me to Defend the Roman Catholic Church

but people equating abortion and the death penalty has gone on long enough. Yes, the current hierarchy doesn't like the death penalty. It is not official dogma.

Abortion has been considered a sin since anyone can remember. Read the Didache (a very early extra-biblical writing) if you don't believe me.

The death penalty was commanded by God in Genesis for capital offenses. When Mosaic law was instituted, it was extended to other offenses. While I believe the Roman Catholic Church has made incorrect theological positions, they generally don't make stuff up out of thin air. There are extra-biblical traditions and strains in church tradition which they have developed, and which I believe goes against biblical teaching and shouldn't be binding on believers.

But for them to believe the death penalty is inherently immoral is for them to believe God is immoral. They aren't going to do that. The Roman Catholic Church may be a compromised church, but they aren't completely wacky.

Ommegang Releasing Belgian Witte

Ommegang, a brewery from Cooperstown, NY, is releasing their Beligian-style wheat beer. I can't wait to try it. They do Belgian styles well. In fact, that's all they do.

CBS Did Stop And Think

They delayed 2 weeks. Good for them.

I do see some elements doing their utmost to use this to undermine the war effort. Let's get to the bottom of everything first.

Contrast Europe/Arab/liberal moral outrage of American abuse with Saddam's confirmed abuses.

If Clinton Started the Iraq War...

would any liberals have any problem with it?

Did CBS stop and think?

I seriously wonder if CBS News stopped and thought about the consequences of their actions when they released those Iraqi abuse pictures. Obviously, the people to blaim are the soldiers who did those acts. And I'm no fan of the "Arab street." Either due to lack of freedom or whatever, the Arab street often seems downright insane. They were obviously going to be upset at this, as we all should be.

People could die because of CBS' decision. Do they absolutely know the pictures are genuine? No. They should have allowed the U.S. and Great Britain to investigate first. If they were dragging their collective feet or burying the story, then release the photos or at least mention the story.

Generally, the media has no sense of duty or right and wrong. I just hope CBS actually thought about this. I hope their decision wasn't based on their general hatred of this war. Which leads me to another thought...

Finished Critiquing Argument

I have finished an article against the teachings of Presbyterians Concerned About Jewish Christian Relations. I'mnow attempting to get a major Internet publication to publish it. What's it about? The Bible supports the fact that Jews need to believe in Jesus. I think I did a good job in proving my case, but I can't claim that I'm hot stuff. It is so plainly the case of Scripture, and the opponents of this view so misguided, that I cannot get puffed up with intellectual pride. I cannot claim superiority. And I don't believe the opponents are stupid. They may be using Scripture dishonestly or they may just be led astray by their emotions.

Summer and Beer

For your summer parties, please give good craft beer a chance. Need suggestions? Come ask the community at BeerAdvocate.

The Hidden U.N. Scandal

Why isn't anyone covering the massive U.N. scandal involving Iraq and the oil-for-food/program? That's a darn good question.