So Much for Double Dog Dares

I'm not much of an expert on "Christian Radio". I know there are talk shows out there with a conservative Christian bent. I know there are "internet radio" sites that "broadcast" to who knows how many or how few people. I've put one offer out there to one show that I know about, and I got nothing. Not even a polite demur.

I say this in regard to my offer to debate Polygyny in a Christian framework, namely the aforementioned conservative Christian framework. I'm going to have to start beating the brush out there to see if I can find a venue willing to put me on and take me on. Suggestions are welcome.

Hugh More →

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The First Shot in the "New Crusades"?

Rush Limbaugh opened his show today with a statement I have never heard him make before. Since I don't listen to all of his programs all of the time, he could have made it before, I heard it today. I of course in my finite "wisdom" have said this before. You'd only have to interview my son, who is serving overseas to know this. IT'S A RELIGIOUS WAR. It's not a war on terrorism, it's not a war on Arabs, it's a RELIGIOUS WAR. Antagonists in a Religious war do not back down. They must be defeated, or they will come back over and over and over and over again attempting to enforce their religious point of view.

Fundamentalism governs all forms of religious expression. There is the core and originalist position in all religion. The Torah is God's law given directly by him to his People, Israel. Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, son of David, King forever, Messiah. There is only one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. These are core belief in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Those that do not subscribe to the core beliefs of each religion eventually fall away. To say for instance as theological "liberals" and the "neo orthodox" do in Christianity that MAYBE some of the core beliefs are not true may draw a large crowd, may draw the faithful away from the core doctrines and may get great play, but the denominations that subscribe to such modified views are not growing. People don't convert to the IDEA of Christ, they convert to following Christ. Likewise people follow Muhammad or the Law of God as given to and through Moses.

Let's look at the three religions and their "warlike natures". Christianity has been used as justification for "Holy War" but no requirement exists in the core beliefs of Christianity to go on Holy Wars. We are to obey our government and are told so and Paul goes so far as to tell us that Governments bear the sword (power of death for order) as ministers of God. That means they are put in place by him and if they are not religious in a way that satisfies us, so be it, God uses all men, good or evil for his purposes. We are to obey them insofar as it is possible while remaining moral. This does not give us the right to go about conquering and rebelling because of our religious beliefs. I'd be happy to discuss this in more detail with whomever.

Judaism has a "Promised Land", the portion of this earth, quite small as a matter of fact that God has declared to be his, and given to his people Israel to inhabit. They are given permission to be quite militant in their borders, but not outside them. Solomon's temple dedication presents a quite benign version of evangelism, with Israel setting an example, people seeing that example, and coming to God and worshipping as a result. This is not a violent world conquest religion.

Islam believes in Holy War. I know some of you say this is not so, but history shows the largest area and largest number of people subjected to military conquest in conjunction with evangelism at the point of the sword, were subjected to Islam. It's a fundamental belief of that religion. As long as that religion persists, it's most fervent adherents will believe that weaponized evangelism and preaching is the way to go. So if we are in a Religious War, and the opponent is Islam. How do we win as people not wanting to be Islamic? It is only by the DEFEAT of that religion because they will persist in trying to win through warfare. Not all of them of course, but enough of them. If our governments want to survive, they're going to have to go to war with a BELIEF. More →

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Polygamy & Polygyny, No One Left?

Since 2004 I have been engaged in a very public debate about Polygamy. As an extremely fundamentalist Christian I have come to understand that the western notion of Monogamy being marriage is incorrect. The form of marriage in the Bible included what we now call Polygyny and what we now call Monogamy to the extent that the concept of Monogamy didn't even exist in the Hebrew tongue.

Somewhere in the early to mid 90's it began to dawn on me that there was probably nothing wrong with the practice of having one or more wives as a man. The more scripture I read, the more convinced I became. In 2004 I began to "debug" my ideas in public debate and have become even more sure. I am now the leading "Internet Debater of Christian Polygyny in the English speaking world".

That's a highly qualified title. It leaves open the possibility that someone debates in public venues more so than I. It leaves open the possibility that there is a more spirited debate occurring in Korean or Spanish. It recognizes the real possibility that the Polygyny debate rages more in LDS circles or Islamic ones. As this blog title suggests, I love to phrase things in ways that pique interest and spark discussion. Thus this seemly large title I bestow on myself could be the equivalent of saying I'm the last small fish of an undiscovered species, and I will die in that obscurity with no one really noticing. I am of course, the leading authority in the world at any given time, on the subject of when I last had lunch.

Having conquered my obscure domain, "English Speaking Internet Debate of Polygyny", I'm ready to rumble with ANYBODY in the Christian establishment. I will confine myself to inviting those who operate from a conservative theological framework. I really wouldn't care to debate anyone who does not see the Bible as God's word. I absolutely double dog dare anyone to take me on in debate. I'm right on this topic, if you don't agree with me you're wrong.* How's that for starters? I am guessing that I'll get no takers. On that I am not quite as confident of my infallibility.

Hugh McBryde

*Another statement for piquing interest and sparking debate. By saying "I'm Right", I believe only that I have listened to God through his word and in doing so, I am right, because he has caused me to agree with him. More →

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How the invisible hand works.

A lot of information is snuggled into this picture. Other owners of Ford Super Duty Pickups know that they barely perceptible characters "RBO" and "Si" in the lefthand portion of the image mean I have a turbocharger and that's only available on a Diesel.

The next bit of info is that I'm cruising down the highway at a speed in excess of 50 MPH because you can't see any of the speedometer needle. Also, this is a fairly new pickup truck, there are only 6227 miles on it. I've just barely broken it in. I'm heading north and you can see a portion of my face reflected neatly in the image. The MPG average dates back to my last fill up in Bonner MT and is mostly based on highway miles. The last 300+ miles on my pickup truck have been back and forth between where I live on I90, a Sunday afternoon drive along SR 200 to Ovando, and a jaunt from there down to Avon. The balance of it has been back and forth from work to wherever I have business in Butte and has included me "standing on it" to merge into traffic a few times.

Diesel fuel in my area has topped $3.05 a gallon, and may have gone up a bit since my last fillup over the weekend. I hate spending money on fuel as much as any of you do so my behavior has changed. I have lowered my speed. I admit to occasionally drafting "Big Rigs" to lower the drag of my 4x4 high profile moving brick that I call a truck. I move sedately and serenely through life instead of applying all that horsepower and torque.

Something I noticed this morning on the way to work. I pulled away from the house (my RV) and a car rather quickly closed the gap between me and it, I got onto the Interstate and expected an impatient motorist to quickly whip over and pass me at the first available opportunity. You see, I've been driving like this for a while being the cheapo that I am. The car didn't pass me. In fact, I was lumbering along the rural stretch of I90 (most of the stretches of road in Montana are rural) and he continued to not pass me. In fact, there were a line of vehicles stretching out for about a mile behind both of us, not passing each other. Once in a while someone would whip by at 70-80 MPH, but there were at least as many or more vehicles lumbering along the I90 at the same speed I was traveling, 58 MPH.

Later I kicked it up to about 70, catching the occasional draft as I headed for work. By then the engine was warm, all the fluids up to operating temperature and I was in the optimum operating mode for my truck. It's still at 20 MPG. As long as there is a reasonable amount of fuel being distributed at "market prices" we really don't need to worry. For the bulk of us, the invisible hand of the free market economy alters our behavior to fit circumstance. The whole point of this post is just that. When it was under $2.00, I tended to drive a little faster, and "stand on it" more often and I didn't monitor my fuel economy quite like I do now. Problem? None really, not now, not yet. More →

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