Watermelon, watermelon

Why we don’t fear the ’rona: a tale that is tall but true

The story you are about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, the iniquitous, and the indifferent. In fact, there are no names.

Picture a family, a rural Southern family. They surround the table and cut in half a large red meat watermelon. There is no watermelon distancing. No heretical slicing. No tedious cubing. Just two halves inviting a whole family. Needed, forks. Optional, salt. All consume together, sensibly spitting the seeds back into the remaining rind, so that the soon scrapping to the stock will be simple, short and sweet. They are not finished yet. Cut a V in the top edge of the rind and drink the juice. Waste not, want not.

Who will testify?

Time will tell

The silence of white leaders on the issue of black deaths when the matter is not a hashtag on the nightly news betrays our real racial indifference...

As the black community, you have survived mistreatment on both sides of the Atlantic, from both dark and light-skinned men alike. Your community has survived capture by West African warlords and survived a trans-Atlantic slave trade by the Dutch. Your community has survived antebellum slavery and post-war systemic racism through Jim Crow laws. Your community survived the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century and emerged strong, vibrant, and victorious. Through all of these tumults, troubles, and tribulations, your families, churches, and communities remained dignified and intact.

However, time will tell if your community can survive the damage done by pandering white people who betray their bigotry by thinking little of you and expecting even less.

J. D. Hall

Droll definitions

Paramonyms: words that sound similar and have similar meanings. Example:

Incongruous \
In Congress  /

Definition: Out of keeping or out of place; inappropriate; unbecoming; not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts.

The American Press, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Chapter 10: Deliberating The Arguments -- “...we should also embrace the biblical promises from God concerning preservation, thereby approaching the issue both scripturally and scholastically.”
• DA: Pregnant woman, boyfriend fatally stabbed woman after social distancing argument -- “He says Price-Green may have gotten too close to Toran when she stepped back, leading to the verbal altercation.”
• DOJ Has Been on an Indictment Spree Against Violent Anarchists -- “Since late May and early June, violence has erupted in leftist cities around the country and the Department of Justice has wasted no time indicting and arresting violent rioters.”
• How fast food got caught in the crossfire of viral social debates -- “Welp. It’s unfortunate that thanking a customer for a compliment back in 2012 would be viewed as political. Guess that’s 2020 for ya.”
• LGBT Rights Supreme Court Ruling Is a Power Play by Gorsuch -- “The ground on which Gorsuch is fighting is the theory of statutory interpretation known as “textualism.” The basic idea is that...the overwhelming focus of statutory interpretation should be the words of the law itself: the text.”
• Macron says France won’t remove statues, erase history -- “I will be very clear tonight, compatriots: the Republic won’t erase any name from its history. It will forget none of its artworks, it won’t take down statues.”
• Missing Tallahassee activist, 19, and woman, 75, found dead, police say -- “On June 6, she tweeted that she was molested by a black man in his mid-40s who offered to give her a ride to find a place to sleep. That was the last day Salau was seen alive.”
• Muhammad Ali’s son said his dad wouldn’t have supported Black Lives Matter movement or protests over George Floyd’s death -- “In 2016, Ali’s most famous child, television personality and retired boxer Laila Ali, made similar statement, saying, ‘All lives matter’.”
• Small Beginnings: C. H. Spurgeon at Waterbeach -- “Before he was the pastor of the largest of church in London...C. H. Spurgeon pastored a small Baptist church in the village of Waterbeach...”
• The American Press Is Destroying Itself -- “Today no one with a salary will stand up for colleagues like Lee Fang. Our brave truth-tellers make great shows of shaking fists at our parody president, but not one of them will talk honestly about the fear running through their own newsrooms.”
• The 5 weirdest rules unveiled for MLB's shortened 2020 season -- “In the name of reducing playtime and person-to-person exposure, teams playing extra innings this season will start with a runner on second base.”
• The 7 Largest Cemeteries in the World -- “The largest cemetery in the world spans nearly 1500 acres.”
• Trolling Is a Terrible Way to Write Laws -- “There are many different angles here, some of which involve larger debates about the role of courts, how to read law, and what socially conservative voters expect from conservative judges.”
• UK’s Sunak sees ‘enormous difference’ after social distance review -- “Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who announced the review a week ago, has said he will do everything he can to get the country back to normal as soon as possible without risking lives.”
• 4 Reasons Pastors Ought to Be Gentle -- “...gentleness is not only godlike in general, but Christlike in specific.”

In other words, Simon Pure and puredee

• amour fou, noun. Uncontrollable or obsessive passion or infatuation, esp. as a theme of drama or literature; an instance of this.
• Barney’s bull, noun. Used in various proverbial expressions and similes, as a type of someone or something in a very bad state or condition.
• bibliognost, noun. A well-read individual; a person with wide knowledge of books; one that has comprehensive knowledge of books and bibliography.
• cow-tongued, adjective. Having a tongue like a cow, smooth one way and rough the other; and hence, one who gives fair or foul language as may suit his purpose.
• delenda, noun (with plural agreement). Words, sentences, etc., which are to be deleted from a text; (also) such deletions in the form of a list printed with a text.
• hench, adjective. Of a person: having a powerful, muscular physique; fit, strong.
• imperturbable, adjective. Not capable of being, or not liable to be, mentally perturbed or agitated; unexcitable; calm, composed.
• johndarm, noun (British). A police officer (a borrowing from French gendarme).
• mondegreen, noun. A word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of another word or phrase, especially in a song or poem.
• nipe, verb, intransitive. To bow the head; to bow down, bend, droop; to descend, sink low.
• oronym, noun. Phrases that differ in meaning and spelling, yet share a similar pronunciation (for example, “ice cream” and “I scream”).
• puredee, adjective. Thoroughgoing, out-and-out, complete, real, the real thing. (Also as adverb: very, totally, completely.)
• quank, verb, intransitive. Of a bird or animal: to utter a harsh croaking or honking cry.
• shivviness, noun. The uncomfortable rough feeling caused by the wearing of new underwear.
• Simon Pure, noun and adjective. A person resembling or reminiscent of the fictional character Simon Pure (the name of a Quaker character in Susanna Centlivre’s comedy “A Bold Stroke for a Wife”); esp. (a) a person of irreproachable virtue or integrity; (b) a person of uncompromising (esp. religious or political) principles, a zealot, a diehard.
• summum jus, noun. The highest law or right; the utmost rigour or strictness of the law; extreme severity.
• uliginous, adjective. Growing in wet or swampy ground.

Common snakes, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Common Snakes of Texas -- “The copperhead is a small, beautifully colored and patterned snake found mostly in yards and wooded areas of East Texas but also Central Texas.”
• Crawfish, Oysters, Crab and More -- “Chef Maggie Perkins, a food writer and former farmer, frequently uses Texas seafood in demos at farmers markets and in cooking classes.”
• Dershowitz On Statues: Liberals Are Doing What Stalin Did, “Erasing History” -- “But the idea of willy-nilly going through and doing what Stalin did: just erasing history and re-writing it to serve current purposes, does pose a danger...”
• Experts Disgraced Themselves By Prioritizing Woke Politics Over Public Health -- “The coronavirus will hopefully not be the worst pandemic, but it’s surely shaping up to be wokest pandemic.”
• Following In His Footsteps -- “John learned to cobble as a child by watching his father, Evelio “Bill” “Richard” Fernandez Jr. work.”
• Former co-worker of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin claims they ‘bumped heads’ in the past -- “George Floyd’s brother Philonise said...he believed it was personal, and he’s not the only one who sees it that way.”
• I’m a conservative Christian. I’ve got a problem with the flag. -- “So, when a church erects flagpoles outside its building and hoists the American flag and the Christian flag, that church immediately puts itself in an unwinnable situation. By law, the church cannot fly the Christian flag above the U.S. flag, and the U.S. flag must be at the center. Yet by scripture, the church cannot put country equal to or above Jesus Christ. By raising the U.S. flag over the Christian flag and making it the center of attention, the church near my house appears to put country over Christ.”
• Nancy Pelosi Silent on Own Father Who Oversaw Dedication of Confederate Statue -- “...her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., oversaw the dedication of such a statue in Baltimore’s Wyman Park — the Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument — as mayor of the city in 1948....Pelosi’s brother, while serving as Baltimore’s mayor in the 1960s, specifically requested then-Gov. Spiro Agnew call in the National Guard to quell the unrest during the riots of 1968.”
• New CDC Considerations for Events and Gatherings -- “Organizers should continue to assess, based on current conditions, whether to postpone, cancel, or significantly reduce the number of attendees for gatherings.”
• Resisting the Spectacle and Restoring Life -- “To compel each other to watch Black death runs the risk of moving from bearing witness to entertaining spectacle.”
• Sharpening My Knowledge -- “On Route 66, about 75 miles east of Amarillo, I discovered the perfect place to stop and stretch my legs while simultaneously pondering the weird and wonderful: the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean.”
• Social Justice: Not What You Think It Is -- “In this way, the common good becomes an excuse for total state control.”
• Surely Minneapolis, Of All Places, Must Have Cured Racism By Now -- “Progressives and Democrats are the people who never tire of accusing their political adversaries of racism, or maybe even of ‘white supremacism.’  Elect us, the message is, and we will do away with these evils for good.”
• Texas was Ranked as the State with the BEST Food in the Entire Nation -- “A Survey ranked Texas as the Number One State for Food out of the entire United States.”
• The Canaanites Were Image-Bearers -- “Christians have embraced leftist politics and humanist ethics under the auspices of ‘human dignity,’ which is supposedly grounded in mankind being created in God’s image and likeness.”
• The Hmong American community, power, privilege and a place in Asian America -- “The actions of Thao, who is Hmong American, have propelled the community into the contentious discussion involving the relationship between the Asian American and the black communities.”
• What was the deal with Arkansans’ fondness for Queen Wilhelmina? -- “If, like me, you grew up here imagining that your state parks include one named after her because primordial or preliminary Arkansas was settled by the Dutch, or because once upon a time she came here or she wanted to come but couldn't ... nope.”

A matter of black lives that matter

Terrence Floyd, younger brother of George Floyd, said, “I know my brother would not want violence. Let’s do this peacefully, please.”

In protests of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police, highlighting the fact that the lives of black persons are important was intended to be front and center. Nevertheless, even more black lives did not seem to matter in the wake of the protests, which disproportionately took the lives of blacks – most at the hands of protesters. Up until today (June 8), I have found records of up to thirteen dead. The following persons are identified as black except Italia Kelly (identified as biracial) and the three that remain unnamed/unidentified. It appears that all, with the possible exception of one, died in incidents related one way or another to the George Floyd protests. It is alleged that much of the violence is perpetrated by “outside agitators” – folks with Left-wing or Right-wing agendas, or both – rather than the initial protesters, who did so peacefully.

• May 27, 2020: Calvin L. Horton Jr., 43, Minneapolis, Minnesota was shot by a pawnshop owner during protests.
• May 29, 2020: 53-year-old Dave Patrick Underwood, 53, on-duty federal security officer, was shot and killed during riots in Oakland, California.
• May 29, 2020: Javar Harrell, 21, during protests in Detroit, Michigan, was shot and killed – apparently specifically targeted, and it is not clear whether his death is directly related to the protests. (But his life still matters.)
• May 30, 2020: Barry Perkins, 29, in St. Louis, Missouri was caught by the truck’s tire, pulled under and ran over. Guns were pointed at the driver, he sounded his horn and drove off, catching Perkins and running over him with his trailer. Attorney for the Perkins family and witnesses say that Barry Perkins was not involved in looting the truck and was an accidental victim.
• May 30, 2020: James Scurlock, 22, in Omaha, Nebraska during protests was shot as a result of a violent encounter with a bar owner. It is at least tentatively determined that the bar owner acted in self-defense.
• May 30, 2020: Chris Beaty, 38, real estate broker and former Indiana University football player, was shot and killed in Indianapolis, Indiana, by rioters on a robbing spree.
• May 31, 2020: Dorian Murrell, 18, Indianapolis, Indiana was fatally shot by 29-year-old Tyler Newby. Newby claims there was an altercation before the shooting and a friend of Murrell claims there was not one.
• May 31, 2020: Italia Marie Kelly, 22, a protest attendee in Davenport, Iowa was shot by a “protester” when she was leaving the protest. Another person was also shot and killed, but was not named last I saw.
• June 1, 2020: David McAtee, 53, shot and killed in Louisville, Kentucky during riots. Law enforcement heard gunshots and returned fire. McAtee was hit by one of the bullets and died.
• June 1, 2020: Two unnamed people killed in Cicero, Illinois (a Chicago suburb).  Their race or the circumstances of their death has not been reported, so far as I have seen – other than that “outside agitators” shot into a crowd.
• June 2, 2020: David Dorn, 77, retired St. Louis City police captain, was shot and killed by looters at a pawnshop in St. Louis, Missouri.

[Note: this information was collected a few weeks ago, and more names could be added to this list, but I will leave it as it is.]

The purpose of government, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify when possible.)

“The purpose of government is not to protect our health. The purpose of government is to protect our constitutional rights and liberties.” -- Steven F. Hotze, M.D.

“The Left are organized and committed to shutting down debate, silencing speech, and destroying their opponents’ reputations and livelihoods.” -- Timothy Gordon

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” -- D. Elton Trueblood, The Life We Prize, 1951, p. 58; Often restated as: “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

“We are not seeing terrible things in our culture because we vote the wrong way. We are seeing terrible things in our culture because men love darkness rather than light.” -- Voddie Baucham

“War is a rich man’s game played by poor people.” -- Unknown

“The silence of white leaders on the issue of black deaths when the matter is not a hashtag on the nightly news betrays our real racial indifference.” -- J. D. Hall

“The best we can do in terms of success is to say we were faithful.” -- Jemar Tisby

“Getting old is not for sissies.” -- usually attributed to Bette Davis, but apparently originating as “Old age sure ain’t for sissies.” by Ruth S. Hain in the April 1968 Reader’s Digest

“All speech is inflammatory to someone. If you ban some speech for being inflammatory, then no speech is free.” -- Unknown

“Seeing should be a purposeful action, not passive consumption.” -- Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt

“Loving every human being is not the same as loving every human doing.” -- Ryan Bomberger

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -- (Shakespeare)

“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” -- V. Raymond Edman (In fact, never doubt what God told you; but be sure God told you.)

“Everybody has asked the question, ‘What shall we do with the Negro?’ I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us.” -- Frederick Douglass

Things people do not say

Things American people do not say: “Wonderful! There is a missionary at the door.”

Things the Texas Highway Department will never say: “There is currently now NO construction on State Highway 21.”

Visit me with thy salvation

“Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation.” Psalm 106:4
How is a man brought and taught to want to be “visited with” God’s salvation? He must know something first of condemnation. Salvation only suits the condemned. “The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost;” and therefore salvation only suits the lost. A man must be lost—utterly lost—before he can prize God’s salvation. And how is he lost? By losing all his religion, losing all his righteousness, losing all his strength, losing all his confidence, losing all his hopes, losing all that is of the flesh; losing it by its being taken from him, and stripped away by the hand of God. A man who is brought into this state of utter beggary and complete bankruptcy—to be nothing, to have nothing, to know nothing—he is the man, who in the midnight watches, in his lonely hours, by his fireside, and at times, well-nigh night and day, is crying, groaning, begging, suing, seeking, and praying after the manifestation of God’s salvation to his soul. “O visit me with thy salvation.”
He wants a visit from God; he wants God to come and dwell with him, take up his abode in his heart, discover himself to him, manifest and reveal himself, sit down with him, eat with him, walk with him, and dwell in him as his God. And a living soul can be satisfied with nothing short of this. He must have a visit. It profits him little to read in the word of God what God did to his saints of old; he wants something for himself, something that shall do his soul good; he wants something that shall cheer, refresh, comfort, bless, and profit him, remove his burdens, and settle his soul into peace. And therefore he wants a visitation—that the presence and power, the mercy and the love of God should visit his soul.

Joseph Charles Philpot (1802-1869)

Charles Wesley (1707–1788):

Jesus thou art all compassion,

Pure, unbounded love thou art;

Visit us with thy salvation;

Enter every trembling heart.

Psalm 139, Watts

Isaac Watts, hymn on Psalm 139

1. ‘Twas from thy hand, my God, I came,
A work of such a curious frame
In me thy fearful wonders shine,
And each proclaims thy skill divine.

2. Thine eyes did all my limbs survey,
Which yet in dark confusion lay;
Thou saw’st the daily growth they took,
Formed by the model of thy book.

3. By thee my growing parts were named,
And what thy sovereign counsels framed-
The breathing lungs, the beating heart-
Was copied with unerring art.

4. At last, to show my Maker’s name,
God stamped his image on my frame,
And in some unknown moment joined
The finished members to the mind.

5. There the young seeds of thought began,
And all the passions of the man:
Great God, our infant nature pays
Immortal tribute to thy praise.

6. Lord, since in my advancing age
I’ve acted on life’s busy stage,
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.

7. I could survey the ocean o’er,
And count each sand that makes the shore,
Before my swiftest thoughts could trace
The num’rous wonders of thy grace.

8. These on my heart are still impressed,
With these I give my eyes to rest;
And at my waking hour I find
God and his love possess my mind.

Behaves So Strangely, and other music links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Behaves So Strangely -- “For those of us who have trouble staying in tune when we sing, Deutsch has some exciting news.”
• Comment: It is time to sing again -- “What has happened, in the midst of the tragedy and uncertainty of recent weeks, is a classic case of correlation being mistaken for causation...”
• Imperfect Singers Find Community In Sacred Harp Singing -- “We aren’t trained voices, this is community singing.”
• Place and Pluralism: The “Georgia Harmonies” Traveling Exhibition -- “Sommers’ account demonstrates how associating a community-based music with place creates openings for individuals who fall outside the group previously associated with the music to participate.”
• Our History: His Honor and the Sacred Harp -- “He helped to organize the United Sacred Harp Musical Association in 1904.”
• Singing in choirs and making music with wind instruments ‒ Is that safe during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic? -- “The experiments clearly show that air is only set in motion in the immediate vicinity of the mouth when singing.”
• Singing Across the Color Line: Reflections on The Colored Sacred Harp -- “Diverse populations across a wide swath of the southern United States have sung from The Sacred Harp for well over a century.”
• Speedy Beet -- “There are few musical moments more well-worn than the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.”
• The Folk Scholarship Roots and Geopolitical Boundaries of Sacred Harp’s Global Twenty-first Century -- “The state of Sacred Harp in 2018 would have been scarcely imaginable to those like folklorist George Pullen Jackson and singer and English scholar Buell Cobb, who questioned in the 1940s and 1970s, respectively, whether the style would survive past the year 2000.”
• The Moravian heritage of community musicking -- “...in this article the authors use the term, ‘musicking’ to describe the musical activity from composing to performing to listening-in-audience to singing.”
• The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality) -- “It wasn’t enough to just read music. You would need to sight read...”
• To Avoid Problems With Lyric Slides, Innovative Church Prints Out Songs And Compiles Them Into Book -- “Then it hit me like the chorus of ‘10,000 Reasons’: why not put them on paper, slap them all in a book, and pass them out?”
• 9 Recordings of Christian Harmony Singings -- “Camp Doremi and other recordings”

Comparing some numbers

…whatever they mean

The United States Population as of June 13, 2020, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data was 330,906,997.

All Covid-19 deaths in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control, as of June 12, 2020 were 98,695.

• Deaths in week ending 2/1/2020 1 (initial death)
• Deaths in week ending 4/18/2020 16,207 (highest point)
• Deaths in week ending 6/6/2020 851 (most recent data)

The U. S. population in 1968 was 205,805,755.

The 1968 influenza A (H3N2) virus killed about 100,000 in the United States.

The U. S. population in 1958 was 180,788,387.

The 1957-1958 influenza A (H2N2) virus killed about 116,000 in the United States.


[Note: by the time this posts, the most recent data that I used will be slightly outdated.]

Juneteenth

Reading from 4 years ago

“Juneteenth” in Texas was the first emancipation celebration that officially achieved state recognition.

Grapefruit Highball, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Actor Dean Cain on Celebrities Signing Letter to Defund Police: ‘Hollywood, Thy Name Is Hypocrisy’ -- “...Hollywood celebrities typically hire either former officers, or private security firms, so they’re covered and they have their security, and now they’re calling for defunding the police for everyone else.”
• An Alternate Reality -- “...author John Howard Griffi...used medication to temporarily darken his skin and then traveled through the South as a black man for more than a month.”
• An experience with the San Augustine Grapefruit Highball -- “Since 1928, the drink is one of the most asked-for drinks at the soda fountain.”
• Another Culture -- “The cedar choppers were descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who had migrated from the hills of Appalachia after the Civil War.”
• China Unquarantined -- “COVID-19 shows the dangers that the Western world ignored when it embraced the CCP imperial dynasty.
• Cory Bahr Shares His Grandma’s Fried Chicken Recipe -- “If I could choose a final meal on this earth, it would without a doubt be my grandmother’s fried chicken.”
• Lancet, NEJM Retract Surgisphere Studies on COVID-19 Patients -- “Two controversial studies of COVID-19 patients have been retracted after the authors failed to demonstrate that the data were reliable.”
• Michigan Supreme Court Rebukes Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Unanimously Sides with 77-Year-Old Barber -- “This is a huge victory for Manke, for other small business owners in the state and a slap in the face of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.”
• Minneapolis Manufacturing Company Will Leave City after Plant Burned in Riots -- “A Minneapolis manufacturing company whose plant was set on fire by rioters plans to leave the city, saying that city officials afforded them no assistance in handling the destruction.”
• Norway Scientist Claims Report Proves Coronavirus Was Lab-Made -- “The study from Sørensen and British professor Angus Dalgleish show that the coronavirus’s spike protein contains sequences that appear to be artificially inserted.”
• One of the most unique syrups you’ll ever taste comes from small-town Alabama -- “To achieve that personal touch and hometown feel, each bottle of syrup is still hand-fastened by a local employee in the downtown Fayette facility.”
• The Legend of Old Rip -- “Old Rip now lies in state in a velvet casket and may be viewed at any time in the lobby of the Eastland Courthouse.”
• The Lizard Brigade -- “Experts around the state of Texas are trying to revive populations of the beloved and threatened horny toad.”
• The San Augustine Drug Store -- “While mixing up soda drinks, Jones came up with the Grapefruit Highball, a delightful mixture of ingredients that have remained secret to this day.”
• There Are No Good Narratives on Race -- “...it’s not enough to reject the racial gnosticism of The Narrative. You need a positive replacement, a story that’s sufficiently broad to include everyone but sufficiently narrow to make inclusion seem worth it.”

In other words, things we’re talking about

• bullying, noun. The abuse and mistreatment of someone vulnerable by someone stronger, more powerful, etc.
• critical race theory, noun. The view that the law and legal institutions are inherently racist and that race itself is socially construct and used by white people to further their economic and political interests at the expense of people of color.
• cuckservative, noun. A political conservative who buys into the key premises of the Left, and sympathizes with liberal values (combining the words cuckold & conservative).
• gibsmedat, noun. (Slang) Goods, services, or material given predominately to minorities; a derogatory term for social welfare programs.
• identity politics, noun. Political activity or movements based on or catering to the cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, religious, or social interests that characterize a group identity.
• intersectionality, noun. The cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.
• microaggression, noun. A statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority.
• photo op, noun. An arranged opportunity to take photographs of politicians, celebrities, or other important people (short for photograph opportunity).
• racism, noun. Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority; the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities that distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
• social justice, noun. Uniform state distribution of society’s advantages and disadvantages.
• virtue signalling, noun. Sharing of one’s point of view, often on social media, in order to garner praise or acknowledgment of one’s righteousness, or to passively rebuke those who do not share the view.
• white privilege, noun. In critical race theory, a way of conceptualizing racial inequalities that focuses as much on the advantages that white people accrue from society as on the disadvantages that non-white people experience.
• woke, adjective. Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice); the act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue.

Lynching and Crucifixion

On June 3, 2020, Chance the Rapper Tweeted: “Jesus was lynched.” I did not spend a lot of time reading replies, but it appears he got fairly “mixed reviews.” A fellow member called attention to it in a Facebook group, and the statement received mixed reviews there as well (more in favour, it seems).

Perhaps the “shock value” of such a statement will cause us to “stop, look, and listen,” and learn. We can learn from the statement, even though I think Chance the Rapper is technically incorrect. We will find lynching and crucifixion merge and diverge at particular points. First, consider the definitions of “lynch” and “crucifixion.”

• Lynch, verb (used with object). To put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority.
• Crucify, verb (used with object). To put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross (and in this discussion, specifically the putting to death of Jesus by nailing him to and hanging him on a cross).

Lynching and crucifixion are both methods of execution, though the first is clearly without legal authority to do so – specifically in the U.S. it is without due process, without a trial. Crucifixion was once a preferred method of execution in the Roman Empire, and generally carried out under the authority of Roman officials.[i]

Similarities

• Lynching and the crucifixion of Jesus share the element of hanging. Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
• Lynching and the crucifixion of Jesus share the element of the bloodlust of a mob. Mark 15:14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
• Lynching and the crucifixion of Jesus are murderous acts derived from deceitful and desperately wicked hearts. Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Differences

• A lynching is illegal and unlawful, whether or not the person lynched is innocent or guilty. The crucifixion of Jesus was carried out under legal authority, but the person convicted was innocent. Mark 14:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
• Lynching breaks the laws of state, but Jesus’s crucifixion fulfilled the law of God. Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: Romans 3:25 whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God
• The death of the lynched perpetuates anger, guilt, and sin. The crucifixion of Jesus makes peace by the blood of the cross. Colossians 1:20 and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

By comparing the death of Jesus to other deaths, including lynching, we learn. We hear notes that touch chords in our hearts. Yet, in the end, the death of Jesus Christ the Son of God is unlike any other.

• It is an offering made by free eternal determination, rather than by forced human intervention. Acts 4:27-28 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. John 10:17-18 I lay down my life...No man taketh it from me...
• It is the making of a sin offering by one who never sinned. 1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
• It is the offering of the just in the place of the unjust. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God... Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• It is a one-time sufficient sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 9:26 ...but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Our sins are many, God’s mercy is more; He’s wash’d and cleans’d us, for this we adore.

As on the cross the Savior hung,

And wept, and bled, and died;

He poured salvation on a wretch,

That languished at His side. (Samuel Stennett)

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride. (Isaac Watts)

---

[i] Experts differ on the legality of the trial of Jesus. José María Ribas Alba, one of the top modern scholars on Roman law, has concluded from his years of study that the trial of Jesus was perfectly legal [For example, Jesús es condenado a muerte: reflexiones sobre el contexto histórico y jurídico de la Pasión de Cristo (Jesus is sentenced to death. Reflections on the historical and legal context of the Passion of Christ), José María Ribas Alba, Mergablum, 2013]. On the other hand, in The Trial of Christ: From a Legal and Scriptural Viewpoint, David K. Breed argues that many legal errors were made. Many Christian scholars focus on the legality or illegality of the proceedings of the Sandhedrin.

Hate has a taste all its own, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify when possible.)

“Hate has a taste all its own, that fills your throat and chokes you.” -- Cheated-on spouse on Perry Mason

“I never knew whether to pity or congratulate a man on coming to his senses.” --
William Makepeace Thackeray

“Our government is in place in order to protect our liberty – not make life easier for politicians.” -- Michael Cloud

“What man is is more important than what he has.” -- Merrill C. Tenney

“The problem is sin, not skin. The answer is grace, not race.” -- Unknown

“There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.” -- G. K. Chesterton

“There is no place in the Constitution where it says your right to free speech is valid only as long as folks are not coming down with the flu.” -- Bryan Fischer

“I suggest not to rely on Facebook as it mostly spreads ignorance, lies and is becoming a problem with our social discourse.” -- Steve Newhouse

“Let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves.” -- Former President Barack Obama

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -- Henry Stanley Haskins

“In a world where you can be anything, just be kind!” -- Martha Ivey-Underwood

He that is down need fear no fall,
He that is low, no pride.
He that is humble ever shall
Have GOD to be his guide.
John Bunyan

Truth must be preached

Many people who profess to be Christian do not care about doctrinal purity. They have created an all-inclusive form of Christianity that allows one to follow their own twisted beliefs without correction. The Bible is no longer a lantern to guide, but is more of a church decoration. Everything is becoming emotion and feeling driven. However, the truth must be preached. 

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A Superior Shelter

Our favored old English hymn writer Isaac Watts wrote “Death and Immediate Glory,” based on 2 Corinthians 5:1, 5-8:

1. There is a house not made with hands,
Eternal and on high;
And here my spirit waiting stands,
Till God shall bid it fly.

2. Shortly this prison of my clay
Must be dissolved and fall,
Then, O my soul! with joy obey
Thy Heavenly Father’s call.

3. ’Tis He, by His almighty grace,
That forms thee fit for heaven,
And as an earnest of the place,
Has his own Spirit given.

4. We walk by faith of joys to come,
Faith lives upon his word;
But while the body is our home,
We’re absent from the Lord.

5. ’Tis pleasant to believe thy grace,
But we would rather see;
We would be absent from the flesh,
And present, Lord, with thee.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

We humans dwell in a tent, a temporary shelter designed for our earthly pilgrimage. As Christians mature they should progressively turn their gaze more and more away from the temporal (the things which are seen) to the eternal (the things which are not seen). See 2 Corinthians 4:18. We learn there is a shelter superior to the body in which we dwell. In location, it is heavenly rather than earthly. In style, it is a building rather than a tabernacle (tent). In origin, it is not made with hands (by God, born of God) rather than born of man. In duration it is eternal rather than temporal (dissolves). It is life versus mortality. It is present with God versus at home in the body.

Baking with Dessert Darling, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• An Ugly and Complex Story: Norma McCorvey from Roe v. Wade Said She Was Paid to Change Her Views on Abortion -- “This reminds us of a logical and moral quandary that is as old as ancient Greece…If it is true that all Cretans are liars, then can you trust a Cretan when you are told that he or she is lying?”
• Baking with Dessert Darling Dolester Miles -- “Earlier this year, Dolester Miles took home gold at the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards, where she was named the most Outstanding Pastry Chef in the country.”
• Black Lives Matter leader declares war on police -- “...we want the immediate end of government sanctioned murder by the police. And we prepare to stop these government sanctioned murders by any means necessary.”
• Blexit -- “The Blexit movement aims to uplift and empower minorities to realize the American Dream.”
• Civil rights veteran: ‘Guilty white people and angry, rich, entitled blacks who continue to play the race card’ are destroying our country -- “And now, after 50 years of liberal Democrats running the inner cities, where we have all of these inequities that we have, race is being used as a ruse, as a means of deflecting attention away from critical questions such as why are poor blacks failing in systems ran by their own people if race was the issue, even the criminal justice system?”
• Damaged Gravestones -- “If you are photographing a gravestone that is partially unreadable due to cracking, look for family members on nearby gravestones and then link the data together.”
• History of the Woodson Center -- “...the Woodson Center has worked to bring recognition, training, and funding to community-based leaders and organizations to strengthen their efforts to uplift their neighborhoods...”
• Hot Chicken, Indian Style -- “My first impression of the iconic Nashville hot chicken is a memory I will never forget as it was filled with both laughter and tears...”
• Liberty University, once accused of being reckless for reopening during pandemic, finishes semester — with 0 coronavirus cases -- “In March, the Christian university came under heavy fire for its decision to resume classes.”
• Racial Reconciliation, the Gospel, and the Church -- “...diversity is not the same as gospel-centered racial reconciliation and the goal of gospel-centered racial reconciliation is not simply diversity.”
• Rand Paul Appears to Be Right about School Closures -- “Writing at Mother Jones, a left-leaning American magazine, Kevin Drum said an abundance of research supports Paul’s assertion that school closures are an ineffective way to contain the spread of COVID-19, and may actually increase deaths.”
• Riding the Cemetery Railroad -- “By placing the cemetery so far from the city with the railroad as the only means of transport, the LNC hoped to lock down a monopoly on London’s funeral business.”
• Shame on Justice John Roberts -- “One pastor whose church was forbidden even to meet at all demonstrated the absurdity of the restriction by taking his entire church to Wal-Mart, where his parishioners, all of them, were freely able to meet and mingle.”
• SHAPIRO: 11 Leftist Myths About Criminal Justice -- “In an effort to explain away continuing wealth and lifestyle differentials between racial groups, the Left has hit on a new narrative: the criminal justice system is to blame.”
• The Moral Authority of the Lockdown Fetishists Is Gone. Thank the Protestors and Rioters -- “Politicians like Kamala Harris have even joined the protestors in the streets, doing what she demanded others avoid just a few weeks earlier.”
• The Most Important Coronavirus Statistic: 43% Of U.S. Deaths Are From 0.6% Of The Population -- “Among states reporting their death totals, 42% of COVID deaths have taken place in long-term care facilities; we estimate the share as 43% for the full U.S. population, based on incorporating the demographics of the non-reporting states.”
• Top 10 Reasons I Won’t Support the #BlackLivesMatter Movement -- “You can’t talk about the sins of the past and expect to move forward if there is no intention of forgiveness. I’m tired of the deeply prejudiced oppressed/oppressor critical race theory paradigm. It’s not Gospel-centered.”

The Appointment in Samarra

(Narrated by Death)

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, “Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.  She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate.  I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.”  The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.  Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, “Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?”  “That was not a threatening gesture,” I said. “It was only a start of surprise.  I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

The Appointment in Samarra, as told by W. Somerset Maugham