Another Factor Connected to the Worker Shortage

When considering the worker shortage that seems so evident when one is out and about interacting with the US economy, the various explanations seem dominated by partisan interests. Some argue there are too many benefits, from unemployment to welfare, these deter and discourage work and thus many simply stay home and feed off the system.

A Broken Back to the Glory of God (II)

The point in all this is to say – that at some point his employers may conclude that he has no future there (or no near future) and they may decide to drop him. That will mean a loss of medical coverage. Once again, it's tragic that in the flawed American system one's access to health care has all too often been tied to employment. This has made people vulnerable and in some cases it has effectively enslaved people to their employers as they live in fear of losing coverage. This is all the more true in the case of those that have chronic conditions and need regular care or rely on expensive medications. One can safely say the whole system is a mess and yet the primary driving factor of that mess – is the profit system. It's all the more egregious in the context of human health and suffering as it preys on fear and desperation.

A Broken Back to the Glory of God (I)

As I reported a few days back my son (who is in his early twenties) recently broke his back in a bicycle accident. He came very close to losing his life and had a very close shave with paralysis. Even now, he's not entirely out of the woods but the remaining risk is low.

Secular Psychology and the Denial of Scriptural Authority

https://www.christianpost.com/news/churches-address-mental-health-stigma-in-the-pews.html

In some respects it's surprising that this article is even appearing at this point. This debate over whether or not Christians should embrace psychology and its assumptions is effectively over. The ship has sailed as they say. I remember the contentions over this point in the 1990's and by the early 2000's it was clear there had been a fundamental shift. We moved from hearing psychology condemned from the pulpit to pastors on Christian radio telling the audience to leave their church if psychology is called into question – because at that time there will still churches challenging this paradigm.

Chimeric Experimentation and the Bioethics of the Pro-Life Movement (II)

Returning again to the chimeric experimenters, they're tinkering with things that are beyond them. We're not materialists. There's more to life and reality than that which is merely empirical. The reality of the materialists is a reductionism of true reality and Christians shouldn't think in those terms or operate under the ethics that flow from such thinking.

Chimeric Experimentation and the Bioethics of the Pro-Life Movement (I)

https://evangelicalfocus.com/science/15001/christian-doctors-see-no-ethical-problem-in-genetically-modified-pig-heart-transplant-to-human

The current Evangelical world is rife with scepticism regarding modern medicine and yet some will remember a time in which the attitude that long dominated the movement was very much pro-medicine and pro-technological development. Whether right, wrong, or indifferent, the shift is interesting and more should be done in examining the reasons behind it.

The Dissemination of Vigano's Warning – A Warning to all New Testament Christians (II)

As stated before, there are plenty of reasons to doubt the government and the Covid episode is no exception. Over many years the government and media have destroyed their own credibility and so in some respects they have brought this on themselves. And yet as also stated, conspiracies (to be judged as viable) have to make some kind of sense and they have to operate within the framework of reality. Many of the conspiracies floated by today's Right are divorced from reality and in other cases indicate a pervasive unfamiliarity with basic concepts, how institutions work, history and the like.

The Dissemination of Vigano's Warning – A Warning to all New Testament Christians (I)

https://theaquilareport.com/archbishop-viganos-startling-warning-to-the-american-people/

The fact that the Calvinist-affiliated Aquila Report published this piece by Roman Catholic Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is both interesting and informative in and of itself. That a publication such as 'American Thinker' found Vigano's comments profound is not too surprising.

Revelation 18: The Merchant Princes of Babylon, Their Sorceries, Mammon and Medicine

Revelation 18.23 refers to the sorceries of fallen Babylon. It could be a reference to Babylon in general or more specifically to the merchants of Babylon. Ultimately it doesn't matter as the mercantile-mammon driven activity of its 'great men' are part and parcel representative of the Babylonian system as a whole along with its larger list of deceptions and evil.

Anti-Masking, 9/11 and Nero (Part 2)

In the grand scheme of things we can say this – wearing a mask is a small price to pay, a small inconvenience especially if it helps to prevent spread and potentially save lives.

But even if it's a large price to pay – as Christians we can say the following with confidence –

Wearing a mask is not sinful. Therefore if it's the law, we're compelled to do it – at least outside the gathering of the church and outside the home. Whether they are worn in the church or home is for the leaders of those domains to decide in a Christ-honouring Biblically reasoned fashion.

Anti-Masking, 9/11 and Nero (Part 1)

After 9/11, it was the Right-wing and the political Conservatives who supported the suspending of rights. They supported the curtailing of speech and censorship. Privacy was eliminated as was due process – not to mention cruel and unusual punishment. State prerogatives were superseded by the new Federal juggernaut. To many scholars and principled liberals, the Constitution had been eviscerated and in particular the key planks found within the Bill of Rights.