Who Is Lying? – A congressional staff analysis has found that many abstinence programs targetted at teens, 9 out of the 11 examined, give false and misleading information. They apparently overblow the danger of the AIDS virus, especially amongst gay males, and teach that 10% of women who undergo abortions become sterile because of it. “I have no objection talking about abstinence as a surefire way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases,” Waxman [a Democratic critic] said. “I don’t think we ought to lie to our children about science. Something is seriously wrong when federal tax dollars are being used to mislead kids about basic health facts.” You can read the article here.
Mom Would Be Proud – How’s this for a job? McRorie is a crazy Canadian one-man band who seems to perpetually live in the 80’s. Clicking on that link will open his site which has a rather loud but funny video right on the main page, so turn down your speakers if you are at work! There are some awfully talented people in this world doing some awfully strange things!
What Is Translation – I found the following quote at Wycliffe Bible Translator’s site. “What is translation? Translation is re-telling, as exactly as possible, the meaning of the original message in a way that is natural in the language into which the translation is being made.” (Bible Translation, Katharine Barnwell, 1986, p. 8.) As I’ve discussed in the ongoing series about translating and translations, one has to wonder how the translator can be certain that he has understood the meaning of the original message. Couldn’t he just stick to translating the words and let the meaning come through the words? How can we seperate meaning from words?
If Evangelicals Elected A Pope… – The New York Times has an article entitled Who Is John Stott? where the author says “as Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center notes, if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose.” He quotes Stott as saying “It is not because we are ultra-conservative, or obscurantist, or reactionary or the other horrid things which we are sometimes said to be. It is rather because we love Jesus Christ, and because we are determined, God helping us, to bear witness to his unique glory and absolute sufficiency. In Christ and in the biblical witness to Christ God’s revelation is complete; to add any words of our own to his finished work is derogatory to Christ.” Whatever happened to pope Rick? I would hate to see a big power struggle between Stott and Warren! But hey, evangelicals could do a lot worse than Stott, couldn’t they?
And Finally… – It’s my birthday today. I’m such a kid that I have no intention of allowing my wife to wait until dinner to give me my presents. I know that somewhere in this house is a stack of books that rightfully belongs to me and I intend to get my hands on them forthwith. So it is time for me to go wake everyone up and see what I will be reading for the next few days.
