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The Difference between a “Good Christian” and a “Great Saint”…

Posted: February 11, 2024 by datechguy in catholic
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Boimler: When I first arrived, I brought expectations of each of you from the future. And not only was that dangerous, it denied the reality of who you are right now. So, I’d like to apologize to you all with a limerick.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Those old Scientists 2023

A little theology theory today.

There are two things that I have been all my life.

One is a Catholic. At various times I’ve been a better Catholic than at other times but I’ve been consistently Catholic all my life and my study of history, the various Protestant sects and my own lived experience has convinced me of the truth of the faith beyond any doubt.

The second is completely fascinated with human beings. I find ordinary people incredibly interesting. Even the most seemingly dull person has lived a life full of twists and turns that has shaped them for good or ill and simply observing people in their daily lives can give you a real appreciation of what a gift life is. That’s what makes history so interesting to me.

And it’s what we do with that life that makes all the difference.

Applying these observations to Christianity, particularly in the study of history I’ve developed a theory concerning the difference between a good Christian and the great saints. The clue to this is from one of the most standard representatives of Christ and of a Bishop is that of a Shephard who protects his sheep. As Christ himself says:

I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:11-15

Most good Christians are content to be the sheep. They do their best to follow Christ and take correction when they start to go astray. They enjoy the protection of God. This varies from the avoidance of some of the things that the world throws at them to the ability to cope with what can’t be avoided. (old age, death etc) It is often those things that get us over the hump to where we need to be. 

Some Christians however aspire to be more, they aspire to be Sheepdogs, who help the shepherd protect the rest of the flock. They are the ones who eschew the protection that God offers to the sheep and instead take up the sufferings and crosses to help keep the sheep safe. This is what is known as “redemptive suffering”. To use a less ancient example they are the people who ride shotgun and thus risk and endure the bullets and arrows of the world to keep their passengers safe. They also see their own faults more clearly which is why the holiest of people tend to confess more because they see themselves in the light of God’s truth.

Most are not cut out to be sheepdogs, as James says in his letter: 

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly,

James 3:1

Some rise to this occasion and some do not. Those who don’t flee when the world applies pressure. Those are the hired help, that Christ tells of. Those who take position for the sake of position rather than to serve the people of God. James again:

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.

James 3:13-18

There is nothing wrong with being content to be shepherded by Christ and those in the church who has been designated for this work. If you aspire to more, that’s fine but be ready to leave the security of the flock and face the fangs of the wolves out to devour it. You will have to endure the world as it is and if you do so at the call of Christ you will achieve greatness. If you do so at the call of power and position you will not. I’ll give Jesus the last word on it:

Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’

Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.

The Biden Reality Dementia is Already Baked In

Posted: February 10, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024
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While it can be a lot of fun watching the cringe of Democrats trying to spin away the special council declaration in writing that Biden is not mentally competent to be taken to trial I think a lot of people on my side of the aisle who are celebrating are getting ahead of themselves.

The most obvious objection is the real possibility that Biden will not be the Democrat candidate. Any Democrat with sense is very much hoping that this is the case as he is at best the 2nd least popular democrat in the country, of course the fact that his VP is the least popular Democrat doesn’t help matters.

But this dodges a very important point and it’s related to some degree to a fact about Donald Trump.

There are many people, even among those who support or plan on voting for Trump who have an issue with his personality but to those people that’s already factored in to their decision to vote for him. His success as president, particularly in comparison to the state of the country now make him the only possible choice for conservatives who actually want to advance conservative ideas.

And that brings us to Joe Biden. There are plenty of leftists online who are having hissy fits when even the slightest hint is given of Joe Biden’s mental acumen and condition. The calls for firing Katy Tur who like most of the media would pay any price, bear any burden and abase themselves in any way possible to prevent a 2nd Trump term are missing a basic fact.

They are assuming that there are a significant number of voters who aren’t aware of Biden’s mental state, I submit and suggest that simply isn’t so.

I think that for most American’s Biden mental health or lack thereof is baked into their decision making process and I have a horrible feeling that the sight of Biden in his pajamas dribbling from the mouth will have no affect on their vote.

I think they are assuming that somebody else is running the show already and the fact is to the Biden voter that hates Trump that fact doesn’t bother them one bit.

I think that anyone who believes Biden’s lack of mental health will cost him votes among dems is deluding themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, the economy and illegal immigration have a real potential to give Trump a lead beyond the margin of fraud but when it comes down to it anyone who think’s Biden’s age is going to cost him this election is deluding themselves, that factor is already baked in

The Whole Case Before the Supreme Court and Trump Should Have Been Killed by One Point

Posted: February 9, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, politics, the courts
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I listened to the arguments before the Supreme Court concerning Colorado excluding Donald Trump from the ballot in election 2024.

The consensus of those who heard the arguments is as MSNBC of all places put it “a very bad hearing for Colorado” that being not the citizens but those making the case for the state before the court.

While the arguments were interesting and I do suggest listening to them not just for the merits of the case but so you can see how Supreme Court arguments work there is one bottom line that really should be the driving force behind this decision.

The left is relying on the 14th amendment and is claiming that Trump in a “insurrectionist” and if you listen to the folks arguing for Colorado their favorite word in their presentation is “insurrection” or “Insurrectionist”.

The real problem for Colorado doing so is that Donald Trump has never been convicted let alone charged with insurrection. In fact to my knowledge no person who has been charged with crimes concerning the events of January 6th has been charged with insurrection.

It seems to me that if you’re excluding someone from the ballot based on their being an insurrectionist you would actually have to have a declaration that an insurrection took place and that a person is charged by the government with taking part in an insurrection.

This alone should have killed Colorado’s entire argument, and any person on the left should understand that if you can decide to deny a person of their rights without due process, no charge or nor conviction then you can exclude someone based on opinion, political or cultural.

That frankly is the basis for Jim Crow and that the current left is so obsessed with keeping Trump off the ballot that they don’t see the precedent are trying to set….is incredible to me.

I’m hoping that the various opinions are right and SCOTUS shoots this down (from what I heard of the arguments I’m guessing it will be anywhere from 9-0 to 7-2, I’m betting 8-1 with Sotomayor in dissent) but that it even has reached this point frankly is shameful.

But frankly the left’s entire treatment of Donald Trump from the time her won the GOP nomination in 2016 is very shameful and there is no reason to suggest they would change their stripes.

The Same Old Grift And Dance

Posted: February 8, 2024 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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Curley: [stops Moe and Larry] Hey! What’s this stuff [Brighto] for anyway?

Larry: Why, it’s a cleaner, ya chump!

Curley: I know, it’s auto polish.

Moe: You boys really wanna know what it’s for?

Larry & Curly [In unison] Yeah!

Moe: It’s for sale, now get busy selling it.

The Three Stooges, Dizzy Doctors 1937

When you’ve been blogging for as long as I have (15 years here plus 3 or 4 as a tech blogger for Hiwired) you tend to cover a lot of things. Sometimes you forget that while you might remember an argument you made in 2013 that ten years later most people haven’t seen it.

So when in the news today you see Stephen Cruiser ask about Karine Jean-Pierre understanding the state of Biden’s mental acumen or Ibram X Kendi pooh poohing a statement of fact as “White Savior syndrome” or Even sports talk people going on about Bill Belichick not having a job when they spent a year calling him to be fired one must remember a key fact.

This isn’t about a cause or an argument, it’s about a living. Their sources of income demand such a response because any other type of response risks losing said income.

I pointed this out a while back:

But what happens if your goal is achieved?

What happens if it turns out the water is, in fact clean, cleaner that it has been for decades?  What happens if the Polar Bear population and deer population are boom?  What happens if every 16 year old in the country has the right to declare themselves whatever sex they want on any given day?  What happens if the US pulls every single soldier out of Afghanistan?  What happens if pipelines are declared illegal or scientists develops a leak proof material able to even stand up to earthquakes?

Or worse,  what happens if science proves your fears unfounded, that the world isn’t warming?  What happens when January 27th 2016 come along and we’re all still here?  What happens if  statistics show your “oppressed” group is voting in greater numbers than ever before?

Do you bask in the glory of your victory?  Do you celebrate that all your hard work has been successful?  Do you breathe a sigh of relief that your children and grandchildren are not going to die a horrible death in a parched poisoned earth?

Hell NO!

You’ve achieved status, you’ve achieved power, you’re living comfortably.  You’re invited to the right parties, feted over by stars who think your cause is SO important and pols on the local, state and federal level care what you say and act accordingly.

So you find a different crisis, it doesn’t matter if water is clean, it isn’t clean enough, it doesn’t matter if the polar bears have recovered, they haven’t recovered enough, sure 16 year olds can declare themselves whatever sex they want, but what about 7 year olds?  Yeah we’re out of Afghanistan but what about Europe?  Yeah we stopped the pipelines, but the trucks are dangerous too?  Do we really trust those figures that say the world isn’t going to end?  We need a 50 year study of our own to be sure.

The really scary thing about that quote from 2013 is that the business about 7 year olds deciding their sex has come true.

So please remember when you see people talking nonsense about the border, or gender or oppression, remember that their goal isn’t to solve an actual problem, their goal is to maintain their wealth, income, social position or status.

Keep that in mind and you’ll get it.

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