A Few Lessons That I've Recently Learned and Relearned

• As the old saying goes, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is"; and if it's too true to be good, it probably is as well.
• On a similar note, if it looks too real to be fake, it probably is; and if it looks too fake to be real, it probably is.
• On another similar note, if it doesn't look like a joke or game, it probably isn't; and if it does look like a joke or a game, it probably is.
• Always know the what and why of what's going on and what you're doing. For example, "now their brethren among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of valor, listed by their genealogies, eighty-seven thousand in all." (1 Chronicles 7:5) And "of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command" (1 Chronicles 12:32). Be like bnei-Yissakhar in valor and understanding; for you don't want to be like bnei-Yissakhar when they weren't as valorous and understanding as they could have been-- and thus forewent the opportunity to have led kol bnei-Yisra'el in doing the right thing:

1. " So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, at the word of the Lord. " (2 Chronicles 30:10-12)
2. When they finally knew what was going on and why they were to obey: " ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord. ¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone ¹⁹ who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people. " (2 Chronicles 30:17-20)

• " “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. " (Isaiah 8:12) In other words, make sure to not get involved in believing or making conspiracy theories.

From bible-history.com

So the "Free Wood Post" May Be Satire, But...

They still took a real happening, Rick Santorum's admission of being addicted to pornography-- which my very own mom says that she once heard Senator Santorum make on "The Janet Parshall Show"-- and satirized it. The "Free Wood Post" claims:

Free Wood Post is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within FreeWoodPost.com are fiction, and presumably fake news.

Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction.

FreeWoodPost.com is intended for a mature, sophisticated, and discerning audience.

In Santorum's Confessiongate (or Pornogate or whatever you want to call it), they clearly didn't need to make up what happened-- that just came right to them. "Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction." And this wasn't a case of even a little "entirely in fiction". This was a " purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities" case.

And My Sister Ought To Read This Before She Ever Considers Catholicism Again

The emphasis is mine.


-----Original Message-----
From: Actionline
To: Nicole Czarnecki
Sent: Tue, Mar 20, 2012 10:15 am
Subject: Re: GOA Web Feedback - orthodox

Nicole,

First, please accept our apologies for a very tardy reply.

I am not sure that I understand your question, but I will do my best to respond. To begin, there is a difference between factual accuracy and truth. If I were to refer to a close friend as a brother, that is not factually accurate (he's not really my biological brother), but it does testify to a greater truth, which is that I love him and care for him as deeply as I would if he were my own brother. Likewise is many elements of our life in God, including the Bible. 
There are parts of the Bible that we can fully trust to be factually accurate, and some which are not (e.g. we don't maintain the creation was completed in an actual seven days). But, every part of the Bible, every word of it, testifies to the Truth of God. We are not so concerned with facts, but with Truth. 
The facts are that parts of Scripture are in-arguably redundant, contradictory, incomplete as a simple text. And if you regard it just as a simple text, you will be disappointed. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit lives and breaths through Scripture, and gives life to the Church and its people. The fact that it may be "errant", strictly speaking, makes no difference and takes nothing away. It indeed remains the Word of God.

In Christ,

SM


-----Original Message-----
From: "Nicole Czarnecki" <nickidewbear@aol.com>
Sent 9/16/2011 10:45:40 PM
To: actionline@mail.goarch.org
Subject: GOA Web Feedback - orthodox

Why doesn't the Orthodox Church believe in the inerrancy of the Word of G-d (the Bible)?

The Catholic (in this case, Byzantine Catholic) Church believes that fact is not necessarily truth, and vice versa. The Catholic Church also believes that facts are not important, thus that truth is actually not that important. They also believe that Jesus (Who is the Word), is "in-arguably redundant, contradictory, incomplete"; and that Jesus can't actually remain the Word of G-d.

On This, I Agree With Michael Reagan In A Way...

Rick Santorum strikes again! What a hypocrite! That's right, Senator Santorum; you don't want to at least give contraception to people who want to practice safe sex, even within marriage; but you held back that you were addicted to porn, and many porn stars need contraception so that more porn stars aren't born into this crazy-enough world! Oh man! 


Michael Reagan is right: "Somethings need to be left unsaid!!There was no need for this statement!" For, "[e]ven a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." (Proverbs 17:28) There's also a second alternative: admit your sins from the beginning before you start crusading against others' doings of what you did; but Senator Santorum obviously was too late on that count.


I'm not into porn myself, but "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still;" (Revelation 22:11a-b); and ""Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:1-2). We live in a country where "Congress shall respect no establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof." Not everyone is a Christian or a Vatican One Catholic (although, to be fair, that Vatican was notorious for sexual sin and hypocrisy).


No wonder "An awkward silence fell over the crowd as Santorum went on to say, “The devil pulled me into lust. I would stare at screens, magazines, my hand…but now I’m free. I’m free of the devil’s grip.”" People don't like to be hoodwinked and unnecessarily shocked and surprised.


The problem is less the sin, and more the self-righteous hypocrisy. 

Necesito Refrescar Mi Espanol...

I need to brush up on my Spanish. Being a Jewish Marylander descended from a Spaniard (perhaps a Sefardic Jew, which we'll never know for sure until we find out who "John McCoy" really was besides the Spain-born man who he tried to hide), I need to get back into learning Spanish. Yo estoy en acuerdo con Geraldo Rivera que necesitamos una nacion bilingue en Ingles y Espanol. Despues de todos, los indios estuvieron aqui primero y hablaron espanol desde los 1500s. By the way, I'm using Google Translate to help me refresh what Spanish I cannot remember and learn what Spanish I don't know-- though I could quit being perezosa and use mi diccionario de espanol y ingles.

Darn Right That I'm Estranged From Much Of My Dad's Family...

And I, unlike some of them, make no secret or even falsehood about it. If you want me to lie about my family; you're asking me to be like my dad and his parents (among others), and I'm not going to do that. Unlike them, I'm going to be honest about our family history. The funny (strange and ironic) thing, meanwhile, is that they probably don't think that I check my blog stats. They can guess again:

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More Political Cartooning, And More On My Facebook Page

For more, "Like" my Facebook page.

 

Hispanic Romney Criticizes Justice Sonia Sotomayor, And...

This Jew (I), meanwhile, herself plenty of Jews to criticize. By the way, as a Hispanic, no me gusta Juez Sonia Sotomayor. Porque? Es muy liberal y una 'mujer Latina y sabia' autoproclamada-- I don't like arrogant people. As for some Jews who I highly criticize:

1. Natalie Portman-- has no respect for Jewish values (which I've blogged about)
2. Sean Stone
3. Sean Penn (though I was close to respecting him after one time in which he seemed to have changed)
4. Alex Jones
5. Mark Levin
6. Adam Gadahn
7. David Cameron
8. George Soros
9. Abraham Foxman
10. Shmuely Boteach
11. Benjamin Netanyahu
12. Avigdor Lieberman
13. Tracey Rich
14. Barbra Streisand

I could go on, but you get the point. 

How To Make Peace With the Palestinians And Gain the Temple Mount-- and the Rest of All of Israel-- Back

What we need to do is pray and be a good, diplomatic example for the Palestinians instead of bombing them-- though self defense is okay. How are we going to make peace with the Palestinians if we are no better than them? Taking the higher ground means that we'll gain ground. 


As "Ha'Aretz" and its readers point out, following Benjamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, and the late Meir Kahane is not going to help-- it's like blocking the drain when it's time to get out of the bathtub. What's being in the dirty water of Jewish Supremacy and racist sentiment against Palestinians and Arabs going to do? After all, Jewish Supremacy is actually Self-Hating Jewishness.


So, Skeen, get out of the bathtub and get into the mikveh, for:

¹³ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and bereave your nationof children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore,” says the Lord God. ¹⁵ “Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore,” says the LordGod.’”

¹⁶ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. ¹⁸ Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. ¹⁹ So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. ²⁰ When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord,and yet they have gone out of His land.’ ²¹ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. ²³ And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. ²⁴ For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols....

³³ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. ³⁵ So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined citiesare now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

Why Swami B.G. Narasingha Is Dead Wrong About Magen David (or Magen Sikkut)

This guy is dead wrong about what he calls "Sat-kona". Firstly, he disparages the historical and Tanakh account of David HaMelekh ben Yishai:

"The Biblical [Old Testament/Torah] myth of King David begins when David as a simple Shepard boy slays the Philistine giant, Goliath. David fell Goliath with a stone from his sling and then cut off the giant's head. David was promoted to commander of the armies of King Saul and married into the king's family. Later Saul was killed in battle and David became King and the myth says that God shielded David during his many battles. The Sat-kona has been adopted by Jews to represent the protection or shield that God provided for David."


Secondly, he uses Darwinian (carbon dating-based, poor, Darwinian Evolution-proselytizing) archaeology:


"12) LEBANON
A ring was found in the Lebanese city of Sidon with the shape of Sat-kona, which was dated from the 7th Century BCE. Sidon was one of the most important Phoenician cities and may well have been the oldest." 

The Earth is not even 7,000 years old. On the Jewish calendar, it is 5771 (P'rushi 5772) with some 164-165 years unaccounted for-- so we may be in 5935-5936 at maximum. Thirdly-- and this was discussed before-- Magen David is Magen Sikkut v'Ki'yun for the Non-Messianic Jew, whether or not he or she intends for it to be.