Did Tavis Loose His Mind Or Just Go Crazy?

Special thanks to gcmwatch, I was able to secure a longer version of the interview.  Update 6/4/2010: See Tavis's defence below. Special thanks to Paul.

???WHAT???

Some things are just so unbelievable. This has to be a joke...right?

First Al Sharpton...now this!

Blessed!

Tavis's Defense:

Here’s Smiley’s Statement

“Since some members of the public have responded to excerpts from my conversation with the author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, I would like to clarify my point of view and the context in which that conversation took place."

“Ms. Hirsi Ali and I were talking about violence perpetrated in the name of religion or by people who claim to be religious. We agreed that there is extremism in Christianity just as there is in Islam and other faiths. We agreed that people have always found ways to use religion to justify heinous acts. Where we disagreed was that followers of any one religion are predisposed to violence. Unfortunately, history has shown us that believers of all stripes have been misguided.
“As a follower of that first-century Palestinian Jew named Jesus, I abhor violence in the name of religion. It is intolerable under any circumstances. I have always been very open about being a Christian and, indeed, for every program of my career, on both television and radio, I have always signed off with the biblical admonition to ‘keep the faith.’

“I have faith that the American public will continue to support diversity, pluralism, and tolerance, rather than finding artificial ways to divide us.”

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Public School Condom Distribution, Does This Disturb Us Anymore?

Washington DC and New York City, NY are the only 2 cities in the United States that allow condom distribution directly to students within the public education system. A May 2010 Washington Post blog story on DC's condom practices stated that the primary complaints from students regarding the condom distribution program was that state sponsored condoms were either "not large enough" or that getting them  from grannies and older individuals was problematic.

On one hand we are faced with the fact that young people are having sex and teen  pregnancy and diseases continue to proliferate. On the other hand we know the harmful effects of premarital sexual activity as well as the negative results and psychological effects of sexual experimentation.

It begins for many with disease and the resultant fallout from disease. In DC it is estimated that out of 600,000 residents  3% or 18,000 have HIV or AIDS. I have spoken on the real costs associated with HIV/AIDS in particular in my post "HIV/AIDS & Health Care Reform, What Do We Really Know?"

Here are some further facts:

• In Washington DC 57% of students are sexually active and not taking advantage of school condoms 
• DC Health Dept. distributed 3.2 million condoms in 2009 including 15,000 to students in schools
•  For 2010 about 2.5 million condoms distributed to the general public so far (pace of 4 million by year end) We can expect school distribution to follow suit accordingly. 
• 2009 city cost for condom distribution:  $165,000
• Estimated 2010 cost: $228,000 to $276,000 (depending on brand and size).
• In 2010 teachers will be able to distribute condoms directly to students however a teacher must complete ongoing education and  a "WrapMC" or Master Of Condoms certification. 

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The Black Church Is Dead ~ A Response To Eddie Glaude Jr. Ph.D.

The Needs Of The Black Community

vs

The Needs Of The Black Church

In an article entitled 'The Black Church Is Dead', Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr., the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, proclaimed that the black church, although yet well attended, has lost it's ability to speak to and shape the social and moral conscious of the community in which it has primarily and traditionally existed. Dr. Glaude Jr. suggested, in part, that this mortification is due to the increasing sophistication and mobility of individuals within the church's traditional target audience and the lack of what he calls the church's prophetic vision for the community.

The church must admit that it is competing for the time and the attention of its target audience like never before. There are various sources of information and those sources have their own vision and agenda for the community and sometimes special interests which cannot be overlooked. I would like to point out however, that if the influence of the black church is dead, that death has occurred because of what the church has both allowed, promoted and refused to commit itself to.

Interestingly, before the most recent economic recession took hold, many churches were expanding and experiencing almost unprecedented growth in both attendance and profitability. At the same time the community was suffering from a seeming total breakdown of the economic welfare of both individuals and families within the proximal locations in which many churches existed. The black community faced and yet faces record unemployment, increased violence and violent activities within many neighborhoods. There was and yet is a failed educational process leading to the under-education of our children, a broken penile system leading to higher than normal incarceration rates in many traditionally black communities where these churches operate.

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Callin' Out Da Pastors & Churches

On my favorite radio station WVON AM 1690 Chicago, IL. Mrs. Monique Caradine skillfully used her 2 hour boradcast to call out the church and Pastoral community for its stark silence and amazing absence in taking the lead in tackling Chicago's crime and violence head on.

Mrs. Caradine I personally say THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU! It's time for the church leaders to wake up and do the work of HIM that has called us!

The backdrop is this:

Wed. May 19th former Iraqi war veteran and off duty police officer Thomas Wortham IV (30) was visiting his parents in Chatham, IL., the neighborhood in which he grew up. As he was leaving his parents home he was confronted by 4 young people who were acting upon a "dare". The "dare" was to rob somone at gunpoint. The target was a mortorcycle that Officer Wortham owned. Short of the long, the incident left officer Wortham dead, one of the criminals dead, another wounded and in critical condition and two more fleeing for their lives. One of those two eventually turned himself in and the other was apprehended in an unrelated incident.

Officer Wortham was a good man interested in helping the community and doing the right thing. He was ready and willing to what he could do to bring his community back from the destruction that it seemed headed toward. Here are some of his statements regardng crime a short time ago to the Chicago Tribune:

"It's starting to feel like it's expected in this community,"..."When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they think violence. In Chatham, that's not what we see. It's happened. And we're going to fix it, so it doesn't happen again." ~ Officer Thomas Wortham IV

Officer Wortham's death was the most recent in over 145 homicides in Chicago this year. This is after a 2009 total of 458 murders and a declaration that Chicago was the murder capital of the Unied States. An additional part of the problem is that many of the deaths have occurred among them that are 30 and younger. From what we've been able to gather, the murder rate of CPS (Chicago Public School) students and injury rates are at all time highs also. Some reports say that as many as 200 children have been injured either en route or coming home from school by individuals committing street violence.

The Gospel Is The Right Tool For The Job

Romans 1:16 ~ "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

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Hate That Only Loves Itself

This blog will not be used to spread hate, dissidence or any other dogma antithetical to a healthy society, community and church.

I thought that I should make that message clear based on information that I recently received. We do not agree with ongoing antagonistic efforts against any individual or person. We challenge, debate and speak of societal issues strongly. We gladly point out problematic doctrine and identify personalities and practices that take advantage of people, society and do the church harm. We continue to identify dogmas and teachings both secular and religious which we feel are detrimental to the growth and the long term sustainability of our families, churches and community, but we decry all forms of hate speech, methodology and public or private violence and dissidence. 

Secular/Religious Ideals & Politics

The Dunamis Word gladly points out political policies which we feel are damaging on any number of levels, but once a case is made, we do not and will not continue to revisit the issues and will not attack personalities in an undue fashion. We do not promote anarchy whether that is public or in the church. Leadership is essential to any community and our purpose is to present ideas that will not only challenge leadership, but also make leaders accountable and ultimately make communities better. We will not be a part of unfounded personal rhetoric or attacks beyond the issues at hand and demand that accusations be accurate, pertinent to the subject and rooted by certain supports such as reasonable logic, or physical proofs.

Our Presidency

Since the election and installation of President Obama there has been an upturn of what is described as religious and political conservatism. This type of conservatism is nothing new, but it has taken a serious turn and become more radical akin to some brands of religious extremism. Recently we received information that was no shorter than hate speech filled with physical threats toward many of our governmental and political leaders. We notified authorities immediately and have placed such information in the proper hands. We decry the proliferation of such sentiments even if they are based on religious dogma and more specifically Christian dogmas or biblical scriptures. The message is clear, neither this blog, nor this author lends his time to destroying our country by wishing evil on it's political and secular leadership. With that said, there are a few things that I would like to address as I have observed what seems to be a circus of activity since the country elected it's first Black President.

Faulty Assumptions:

I: The Myth Of A Christian Nation

The problem is that many religious political conservatives mistakenly assume that America is or was a Christian nation. While there is a ring of truth to that statement we should know that there is not neither has there ever been a Christian nation. A truly Christian nation would never have built itself on the backs of slaves, broken land trusts and undermined hopes. That same Christian nation would not have driven Geronimo's and Cochise's children into Mexico and Canada and then create laws to keep them out when they wish to come back home.

Click HERE for Gregory A. Boyd's book.

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Is The Nature Of God Created By Our Own Understanding?

In a Monday May 17th article in USA Today, Dr. James McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair of New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. expounded on the cultural perception of the character and nature of God. Exploring the differences between Eastern and Western religion, Dr. McGrath suggests that evolving cultural perceptions of God may be the reason that Americans are split as to the character and nature of God or what God is like.

Within Society, Who Gets The Credit For Good & Evil?

Using the the hit series Lost,  Dr. McGrath expounds on the conflict between good and evil in Taoism and its concept of yin and yang, as as contrasted to Judeo Christian monotheism's concept of separate, purely good and purely evil sources. Dr. McGrath claims that the latter type of understanding may be the culprit for many of our changing attitudes about the source of good and evil. He says this:

"In Judaism and Christianity, monotheism raises issues on how to account for evil in the world. As evil comes increasingly to be blamed on subordinate malevolent figures such as the devil, we find actions that were once attributed to God later being attributed to Satan. In the Bible, for instance, compare 2 Samuel 24, where the Lord incites David to carry out a census, with the later 1 Chronicles 21, which says that Satan was responsible."

Truly speaking, the Judeo Christian concept of God, good and evil are decidedly different from Buddhism and it's sibling Taoism as we've discussed in The New Enlightenment Pt. 6. There we examined Tiger Woods and his reversion to Buddhism as his source of attempting to overcome evil. More in depth discussion on Yin and Yang and the problems of Buddhist understanding of good and evil is available in that post.

Is Scripture In Conflict?

According to Dr. McGrath our understanding of the nature of God is evolving and has evolved over the years even leaving some scriptural evidence as proof. The issue I would like to undertake in this post centers around the biblical difficulty that Dr. McGrath presented. There are 3 conflicts I would like to address:

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The Miracle Of Life After Death

Against miracles Philosopher David Hume stated; " “…a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm  unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined”…."nothing is esteemed a miracle if it never happened in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man seemingly in good health should die on a sudden: because such a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to happen. But it is a miracle that a dead man should come to life; because that has never been observed in any age or country. There must therefore be a uniform experience Against every miraculous event, otherwise that event would not merit that appellation. And as a uniform experience amounts to a proof, there is here a direct and full proof, from the nature of the fact, against the existence of any miracle, nor can such a proof be destroyed, or the miracle rendered credible, but only an opposite proof which is superior.” (Emphasis mine) [David Hume “Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals 3rd. Edition”, Oxford, Clarendon Press 1992, pg. 144-146 & 148]

In my 2 posts on antisupernaturalism and miracles, found HERE and HERE, I discuss Hume's assertions that miracles don't exist. Although some interpret that he left the door open to miracles, for all practical purposes Hume defines miracles out of existence. Those arguments and his assertions have been thoroughly dealt with and handled throughout the years, but many of his concepts of radical metaphysical naturalism are popular among academics, college campuses and most any atheist internet web site. It is the assertions of Hume that fuel sentiments against miracles as "violations" of natural law.

Dead For 15 Minutes

John King: "You're a miracle, you're a miracle in many ways"

On Thursday May 13th on CNN's John King USA Capt. Joshua A. Mantz gave his story of life, death and life again.

Capt. Mantz, a proud Army Soldier, was serving in Iraq doing his duty when both he and Staff Sgt. Marlon Harper  were suddenly stuck with a sniper's bullet. The attack happened so suddenly that Captain Mantz recalls that he only had time to act on instinct and impulse. The shot had taken Sgt. Harper's life almost instantly but had sent shrapnel with force into his leg severing his femoral artery and causing a serious bleed out. Capt. Mantz grabbed his fellow soldier of 275 lbs under an adrenaline rush, hauling him to safety as the medic was called into action. Having to decide who to save, the medic began trying to work on Captain Mantz but he would eventually go on to experience death for 15 minutes as documented in Army records.

Hear Capt. Mantz for himself in the following video:

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Inheritance, Buffett/Gates, Distinguishing Myth From Fact

New, New, New ~ The Burnett Ontological Argument ~ New, New , New 

Proverbs 13:22 ~ A good [man] leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner [is] laid up for the just.

As a  Christian, Wealth Transfer Strategist and provider of financial services I have often heard that the wealthiest agnostics in the country are giving away their fortunes but not to their families. Surprisingly, both the Gate's and the Buffet's children will continue to be wealthy and live from the wealth accumulated by Bill and Warren for generations to come. 

Myth: Bill Gates & Warren Buffet aren't giving any of their money to their children. This is FALSE.

As a financial advisor, I can do nothing but applaud the financial and business acumen and moves that these wealthy individuals have made and will make to assure that the money they have earned continues to impact the world according to their plans even after their death. I will conclude this article by sharing their strategy with you and briefly explaining why they are using this particular strategy and it's financial impacts and results in favor of their family.  I will also encourage you to do similar plans and take similar steps in securing the financial future of both your family, community and ministry. First let's take a brief look at the individuals involved:

The World's 2 Most Wealthy Men

Bill Gates: Estimated Salary $902,000 plus dividend income $175.6 Million, Net worth 2010 estimated at $50,000,000,000 United States dollars.  Belief system: Agnostic/ Humanist Believes in biblical style encouragements for morality has no need for the church under the current context.

How The Gates Financial Fortune Is Handled:

"Bill Gates: Well, the first thing was the decision that it probably wouldn't be good for my kids, for it to go to them, and so then the question of--

G. Stephanopoulos: Will they get nothing?

Gates: They'll get something, but not a substantial percentage. Then, the question is how to give it back to society to have the best impact. And so my wife Melinda and I talked about what was the focus in the United States that we think could have the biggest impact? And then we picked education and scholarships. And then on a global basis, what was the greatest inequity? And as we learned about these health issues, we realized that that's where you can make a huge change and that has such a positive effect on all the other things. ~ 'Why Bill Gates Is Giving Away His Fortune' 11/2005 ABC News This Week

Gifts:

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Ho Rules & The Woman With No Conscience Or Brain

This article is dedicated to all those in the church who are caught or contemplating some sort of extramarital relationship. I know there are many, so don't try to front. There are some principles of whoredom that are consistent. I call them Ho Rules. They are designed to let you know that no matter how things may appear to serve you right now, sexual immorality has an immense cost and toll on a person for a number of years. In some cases it may never be overcome. The aim of this post is to help you avoid the predictable pitfalls of sexual immorality, especially in the church. There is some humor, but please don't miss the message. 

Note: to the GODLY WOMEN, some of you may have been what I point out here, but because of Jesus you are no longer what you were. Thank God and we honor that and let you know that you are precious, valuable and needed now like never before! Teach these men how to identify these things because too many of us really don't know. (I sorry but I placed her picture on the other side of the page, it was too close to mine) Let's proceed: 

Proverbs 6:26

"For by means of a WHORISH WOMAN [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life."

Thursday April 29th, Queen Oprah presented the the story of Rielle "The Psychopath" Hunter, who was, for a time, the mistress of Senator, and then Presidential Candidate, John Edwards.

"I'm conservative that way. I believe in truth. You must live a life of integrity and get all your ducts in a row before you step out."

"I'm a person very much committed to the truth"

On a show that was revealing and personal, I couldn't help but think to myself, "This woman is CRAZY as 2 left shoes on a double clubbed right foot" Rielle tried to paint the picture of her normalcy, her humanity, her realness, her values, her conservatism as IF they were anything close to reality. She tried to explain her sex tape with a married man that she intended to be found...she tried to explain her bond with another woman's husband, which she has no regrets about hurting. Believe me John is in no way exempt and is much worse than this psychologically messed up woman in my opinion, but she the one doing the talking and blaming everyone but herself.  

What she did successfully was reveal that she is suffering from deep psychological problems, an intimate fixation and the whole nine, which from all evidence, she suffered from before she met former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards. Rielle suffers from more than an overdose of overt selfishness, and sleepy, calculating stupidity that will bite and sting for life if one is caught in her site.

Ho Rule 1: The ho always wants others to believe that she is a good person and a person who wouldn't hurt or damage anything or anyone.

This is a sham and the ho knows it is a sham. It is a lie to make her feel better about herself and her actions which she knows she wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of. Proverbs 4 and 5 are clear. The ho is destructive and ready to destroy on every hand. Her intents are no good and she will take you to hell. Her words are good and smooth, just like Rielle's, but they are full of deceit. If you didn't know, now you know!

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