Twelve Drummers Drumming... (Preface)

My mother issued me a challenge last year, one which I had every intention of completing and yet, in my typical spirit of procrastination, neglected until it was already long past.  Thankfully, though, this is an annual event, and thus I have a new opportunity to take up the challenge and wield my keyboard in more of a focused effort.

The challenge, as posted on her Facebook page:
"Fellow Bloggers! It's almost that time of year again! The 12 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge! The rules are simple:
(1) Post a new blog entry every day from December 25 through January 5.
(2) The title of each post should come from a Christmas song.
That's it! The posts don't have to be long, profound, or polished -- it's all just in fun! And it's really fun to read one another's posts during the Christmas season. (Plus it's the only time of the year that I actually blog consistently, if at all!) Who's in?"
(You can read her blog post corresponding to the first day of Christmas here.)

And so I issue to you an invitation to take a peek into the mind of 'ding2 this Christmas season.  Twelve posts, twelve tunes, twelve drums drumming a tale of Christmas cheer...  Enjoy!

Kinda Neat

So I got on the computer this morning, and the Firefox homepage was staring me in the face.  It was a friendly stare, sure, but a stare nonetheless, one that said: "Watch this video."  So I did.

It's a pretty video, is it not?  It has a sort of wistful quality that I like.  But the thing that most intrigued me about it was the fact that it started with a grey, joyless man and added colour to his life.  A message of hope?  Very interesting for this to be a part of an ad campaign...

Take a moment to think about the power of the hope of the Gospel in your life, and then think about how you would feel without that hope...  Does it not make you pause?  You don't have to be an evangelist to tell people about Jesus.  You don't have to be well-versed in Scripture, or an excellent speaker.  You just need to be passionate about your faith and have a real desire to keep those you love from a life without hope.

That's my challenge to you.  Be bold.  If you are met with disdain, get back up and try again.  Be winsome.  Don't get heated.  Be real with who you are.  Try it!  You might find you actually enjoy it.

Application of Postmodernist Ethics: Redistribution of Wealth

It is a source of contention in modern America whether the “redistribution of wealth” is an acceptable government activity.  Those who approve the notion feel that they are in some ways modern Robin Hoods, liberating the money from capitalist pigs and providing it to those who have been oppressed and so do not have as much.  Those who oppose the notion feel that it is merely an offshoot of laziness, something designed to give those without work ethic or motivation the legal ability to mooch off of those who work diligently to earn their own way.  The language and ideas held by the two sides is evidence of what the argument comes down to: the concept of fairness.  Since fairness is a word closely related to right and wrong, this issue is not only an economic argument, but also an ethical one.

The main rule that applies in this situation when looking at it through the eyes of Postmodernism is, of course, cultural relativism.  All morality is defined by the community in which you live, and so the situation must be looked at in two specific cultures.

First is the culture of the impoverished.  Much of this community lives in the inner city, and the vast majority is on government entitlement programs.  To them, welfare is a generational habit, something that is deeply ingrained into the fabric of their families and society.  It is not just accepted that the government will write them a check, it is expected.  To them, the redistribution of wealth is a way to liberate them from the bondage of those who pull themselves up the economic ladder by pushing others down.  Those who oppose it are evil and must be stopped before they further harm those less fortunate.  Interestingly enough, this closely echoes Marxist-Leninist ideals of universal proletarianism, in which all class boundaries created by economic differences must be erased.

Second is the culture of the more successful.  More successful, of course, because many are just struggling to make ends meet.  They must watch their bank accounts closely in order to provide for their families’ well-being.  They do not receive government help because they are above the poverty level, and so they rely on their own skills and hard work to feed, clothe, and house themselves.  To this community, the government’s act of taking their money, which they need, and providing it to those who do not work, is atrocious and wrong.  They view it as nothing more than forcible theft, and would welcome any chance to stop it.

Do you see the issue?  Two different cultures, coexisting together in the same nation, the same state, typically even the same city, are diametrically opposed to each other.  The two must be civil to each other, must interact, must carry on business transactions, and yet according to Postmodernism, they each have an entirely different, equally right set of moral standards.  A world where it is impossible to judge between two opposite standards of right and wrong is a world that will tear itself apart.  It makes no difference whether there are a million different moralities or just two: the world will still exist in chaos, which is why Postmodernist ethics do not work.

Introduction to Worldview

This year at my homeschool co-op, I'm taking a class called "Worldview Analysis."  The purpose of this class is to equip students to formulate a Christian worldview and be able to understand and confront the many different worldviews that set up false truth claims against the Word of God.  As part of the class, I have the opportunity to write a large number of papers on the different aspects of six major worldviews: Christianity, Islam, Secular Humanism, Marxism-Leninism, Cosmic Humanism, and Postmodernism.  Since I have such a wealth of written information on topics that are important to our life today, I decided that I will occasionally post certain papers I have written on this blog, to perhaps enhance your understanding of today's issues and what we as Christians face in the area of religious opposition (for all worldviews, including those claiming to be neutral, are actually religious--they all start with a claim about the existence or nonexistence of a deity).  I would welcome discussion: post a comment, and I will respond to it!
                           ~ 'ding2