Everyone's Biased...Except Me and CNN

If you've read my previous post from a few days back, you'll already know that I'm not overly excited about any candidate this year. But, I am still following all the news as close as the next guy. I may be a pessimist, but I'm at least a well informed pessimist. I'm typically on the conservative side of political issues, and one thing that drives me nuts is the blatant bias shown by most of the media. The above was the picture for the headline story on cnn.com which read, "Wall Street ends one of its scariest months." Now, let me just make a few obvious observations. 1.This is the headline on a day in which the Dow Jones closed up over 144 points. 2.The election is just over three days away, and does anybody notice what button this dude happens to be wearing? I wonder if the people at CNN noticed and picked this picture for a reason.

This is an ongoing pattern for CNN. They use so much subtle manipulation in what they do that I can't imagine anyone being bamboozled by it, but of course they claim to be the "unbiased" media. I don't care if they are liberal....please just admit it and stop pretending to not have an agenda. Everybody has an agenda, just tell us clearly what we already know.

Just over a week ago, I laughed out loud when I read three different headlines for the day's main story. The first said "Gas Prices Drop 30 Cents." The second said "Largest Single Day Drop in the Price of Gas in History." CNN's headline said "Gas Prices Drop; Still Higher than Last Year." No agenda there....totally unbiased.

A Brisk Fall Walk

I'm getting excited for the time that Jovi can actually do more than crying, eating, sleeping, pooping, laughing, and the latest...rolling over (but only onto her belly, then she's stuck and begins to crying again). I try to do stuff with her all the time, but she never really seems to be to interested. So, I took her for a walk yesterday, and I think you can tell by the expression on her face that she was pretty excited about it. It's gotten much colder here the past week or two so we bundled up and hiked around for about 1.5 miles. She did pretty well. She didn't cry at all. She didn't do much of anything....just chilled with her daddy. One day I hope she enjoys it.

Victory in Defeat

I have a good friend in Minnesota who is a big sports fan and loves the Minnesota Vikings, but as a Vikings fan it hasn’t always been easy. A few years ago, the Vikings had the best record in the NFC and were highly favored over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. The winner would have to go on to face the Denver Broncos the previous year’s Super Bowl champs. My friend told me that he secretly wanted the Falcons to beat the Vikings, because he figured the Vikings were going to break his heart again if they made the Super Bowl, and he didn’t want them to become the first team in the NFL to lose 5 Super Bowls. Now, that my friends is true pessimism and cynicism. When he told me this, I laughed. How could any true fan secretly hope that their team loses the big game? Well…now I might understand.

My beloved Buckeyes have played in the past two National Title games and has lost them both. The media has been brutal on the Buckeyes. I’ve heard them referred to as the Buffalo Bills of college football, despite the fact that they won the National Title game back in 2002. Over the past 2 years they only lost 3 games, they just happen to be really big games. Anyway, Saturday, the Buckeyes lost a close game to Penn State, assuring that they have no chance of playing in this year’s title game. I cheered for them throughout the whole game, but at the end, I had to breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘at least we won’t lose three straight national titles.’ So, Tom, if you’re out there, I feel your pain, buddy.

War, what is it good for?…Destroying evil regimes and establishing human rights.

I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated and cynical as I follow politics this year. With the election only days away, I keep asking, are there any good options? I’m not so sure. I watch the debates and find myself screaming at the television, “Please, tell me what you really believe and stop clouding everything with your jargon! Let’s get rid of all the red herrings, straw men, and shallow appeals to emotion, and give me your clearly defined system of beliefs and plans for action.” Yeah, like that’s actually going to happen. I feel as if America is drifting into the abyss, and the political options we have aren’t really going to change anything other than the rate at which we travel to the abyss.

With that said, I’ve also been wondering if democracy is really as great as everybody in our country seems to think that it is. I know that doesn’t sound very P.C. or even very American, but hear me out. I’m not anti-democracy (or a democratic republic in our case). It does seem to be the best form of government in our modern political world. Freedom is intrinsically good, but without all the other virtues, the inherent value of freedom is quickly diminished. If the hearts of people become selfish, hateful, greedy, and evil, then it doesn’t really matter whether they are ruled by monarch, a dictator, or a freely elected corrupt government. Evil people within a democracy will produce evil and corrupt forms of government. We tend to think of Adolf Hitler as a classical case of dictator, but he rose to power in a Germany that held free elections. Just because a society has fair and free elections doesn’t guarantee that the people are going to make the right kinds of decisions. I suppose democracies are better than autocratic forms of government because if democracies become evil and corrupt, the people have nobody to blame but themselves.

I think a discussion on democracy is particularly relevant when we think about the war in Iraq and any other wars in which we end up occupying a country for a long period of time. I’m certainly not one of these “anti-war” people. I have no problem with our country defending ourselves and our national interests. But, I do have one question. I have heard over and over again that our goal is to establish democracies all around the world. The popular myth seems to be that if we simply establish fair and free elections all over the world, the world will become a utopia of freedom. Not only does this goal seem impossible to truly accomplish, it seems to me that even if it were accomplished, it would not bring about the results that we desire. For example, if we were able to overthrow a dictator in a country where the majority of people have a worldview based on radical Islam…simply giving them fair and free elections wouldn’t really do much good. If the vast majority of people in a society believe it is virtues to murder infidels in suicide bombings, to enslave minority groups, and to oppress women, then a democracy will produce no better results than a dictator.

What needs to happen for our military to be successful is not simply the establishment of a democracy, but the conquering of destructive worldviews and the enforcement of inalienable human rights. Freedom is great, but freedom without virtue is hollow. Evil dictators need to be defeated, but they must be replaced by governments that have a better worldview than the dictator they are replacing.

Pipsqueak Update

Jovi had her 4 month checkup today. She weighed in at a whopping 11.05 pounds, which places her in the skinniest 5% of babies. Jill attributes this to her skinny Borland legs. Just before getting weighed, she spit up a bunch…kind of like my high school wrestling friends who spit in a bottle all day trying to shave a few more ounces.
She also got her series of immunization shots, so she’s a sad little girl today. If it’s anything like the last time, she’ll be pretty sad all day…I’m glad I’m busy working.

Seasons of Life

I am a Midwesterner, raised in Ohio, spent three years in Minnesota, and now reside in Michigan. I never realized how much of a Midwesterner I was until I spent six months in Brazil. Up until that point the Midwest weather, lifestyle, and change of seasons were all I ever knew, and when I lived in Brazil I missed that reality. I remember how depressing it was being in a tropical climate in October. Sure, the beaches were breathtaking and the sunshine was beautiful, but I’ll take a crisp breeze and some falling leaves any day of the week. I love the fall.

I was thinking about seasons and how much they affect my spirit, and I realized that my natural cycle of life doesn’t have four seasons. It only has two: football season and movie season. Jill and I were talking the other day, and we couldn’t remember the last time we watched a movie, and we love to watch movies. I figured out that the reason we hadn’t was because it’s football season…no time for movies. But, as fall turns to winter, as the college bowl season winds down and the NFL playoffs come to an end, my season will change from ESPN to Netflix, from Beanie Wells and Ben Roethlisberger to Russell Crowe and Steven Spielberg.

The Amazing Jovi

I don’t really want to be that dad. You know who I’m talking about…the guy that thinks that everything his kid does is exciting and thinks that his kid is infinitely better than every other kid in the world. The guy that goes on and on about his kid and will never shut up about her.

With that said, I think I have the most gifted daughter in the world. Watch her…she’ amazing. She was thinking, “I want to play with that darn parrot, but I can’t reach it.” So, what’s she do? She grabs it with her feet, and pulls it to her hands. Unbelievable!!! I bet no other 4 month old could've figured that out.

More Jovi Videos for Family

Rookie Mistake

So far I’ve done two weddings since being in Eagle and will be doing a third soon. I’ve really enjoyed this aspect of ministry. I didn’t know any of the couples before they came to me and asked me to do their weddings, but I require that each of them go through at least six pre-marital counseling sessions before the wedding, and I’ve gotten to know all of them through the counseling time. Even though most people my age don’t go to church, they still want to get married in a church for whatever reason. So, I see weddings as a great opportunity to witness to and influence young couples who are beginning their lives together and I sense that God has used the times of couseling to help them spiritually and to help them prepare for marriage.
With that said, I made a big-time rookie mistake as a pastor. I set my wedding calendar long before I checked my football calendar. I have a wedding on October 18th at 3pm. We live about 15 miles from East Lansing, the home of the Michigan State Spartans. My beloved Ohio State Buckeyes will visit East Lansing an average of once every three years, and guess what….they’re here October 18th at 3:30pm and I have tickets to the game!!! I’m still trying to convince the couple that they really don’t want to get married….but, it hasn’t worked. Would it be wrong if I conducted a two minute ceremony in my Buckeye's jersey to try to make the game?

Jesus is My Friend

My brother has been sending me links to some seriously cheesy Christian music. I don't know if you'll be inspired, but you'll certainly be entertained:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUU6jTqB6k