Messianic Christians and Jews

Messianic believers are Christians–at least by the biblical definition–whether they like that label or not. Of course, the modern Western usage of the term "Christian" carries a lot of baggage that doesn’t apply to Messianics. I understand a certain amount of resistance to the term (I prefer "believer" myself.), but to flat out deny that a Messianic believer is a Christian is very nearly a denial of Christ.

• Messianic Jews held the "Christian" title before any gentile did.
• "Christian" means "little Christ," which is what we are supposed to be. We are to live as the Messiah lived, therefore we are to be like little Messiahs.
• Although many people think of Catholic Mass, televangelists, or religious tyranny when they hear the word "Christian," so do many people think of pornography, lesbians, and feminazis when they hear the word "woman." Does that mean women should disclaim that label in favor of "double-x person," or "non-man?"

It all strikes me as a little silly and a lot of choking over gnats. If you don’t like the term, don’t use it, but don’t insist that Messianic believers in Yeshua are absolutely not Christians.

Nanny-Future

From J Storrs Hall’s Nanofuture:

Molecular synthesis will be able to make foods that are considerably closer to natural ones than current processed products. You can eat meats no animals were killed to obtain and crops no wildlife habitat was displaced to grow. No release of genetically modified organisms into the environment will be necessary to include as much of whatever vitamins and nutrients you need into whatever you like to eat. And the foods will be synthesized fresh just before being cooked or eaten, with no need even for a refrigerator. Indeed they could simply be synthesized cooked, with no need for a stove.

The dishes could be synthesized along with the food, and then simply dropped dirty into the recycler. Of course, with nanotechnology, you could mkae solid diamond plates that would come clean with the merest wave under the faucet, but the long-term trends are clear: manufactured items get cheaper, and space gets more exppensive (on Earth, anyway). So the typical domestic arrangements will tend toward making things when and where they are needed, and recycling rather than storage.

Some of my own predictions (not prophecies):

• Some people will still insist on eating naturally grown food. Real meat will probably be outlawed in California first. New York second.
• “Naturalism” will either become something of a popular religion or else people will become even more lazy and sedate than they are already. Why bother planning or saving when anything can be had at the moment you need it? The latter seems much more likely, but what use will the machines have for their eloi? Almost certainly not battery power.
• The distinguishing characteristic of the wealthy will no longer be the possession of more, bigger, or better-made stuff, (at least not so much as today) but more beautifully or more naturally made stuff. Food as an art form will no longer be the near-exclusive domain of expensive restaurants, but of digital artists and their patrons.
• Can you imagine the insanity of a fashion industry driven by the imagination and whim of the minute-to-minute consumer? You would be able to wear virtually anything that you could describe in sufficient detail.

What else can we look forward to as true nanotechnology becomes a reality over the next century?

And God Said...

The heavens vanish.
You fold them up like a cloth.
Your Word never ends.

Losing by Winning

This is an interesting phenomenon of history, politics, & culture. If you want to introduce large portions of a completely foreign culture into your own, start a war.

After the Greeks conquered Judah, Jews scattered all over the Greek-ruled territories carrying their culture and learning with them.

After the Romans persecuted Christians, the empire became Christian.

After Europeans began conquering and colonizing the rest of the world, they learned about tea, coffee, chocolate, tobacco, maize, and turkey. Then all the Pakistanis became London cab drivers.

After fighting over large portions of North Africa, killing lots of people, and then running away, the French experienced a huge wave of immigration and cultural importation from Africa.

After pounding Vietnam half way to oblivion, killing lots of people, and then running away, the United States experienced a huge wave of immigration and cultural importation from Southeast Asia.

After invading several Middle-Eastern countries, killing lots of people, and then threatening to run away, the United States is experiencing a huge wave of immigration and cultural importation from the Middle East.

Not overhauling the culture fast enough? Just send more troops!

It’s almost like there’s a pattern.

Random 2 AM Thoughts on Poetry

Poetry takes a massive amount of energy compared to prose or just plain ranting. I can jot off a couple of paragraphs on my latest pet peeve with no plan and hardly a thought. A poem that I wouldn't mind letting the rest of the world see is a totally different kind of beast. I'll agonize over every other word, sometimes spending 15 or 20 minutes on each. Some of my poems that I feel best about took me months to write. One of them took over a year.

I don't know whether my poetry is all that great or not. I know other people sometimes tell me it is, but that doesn't really do it for me. I like hearing praises of just about anything I do, but I don't have a lot of confidence in them. I always have a suspicion that my head is being patted and my cheeks pinched. "How cute! He made a poum."

It's such a huge release to write a poem that you can feel really good about. You struggle to pull this alien thing up and out of your throat or from under your fingernails or your scalp, and when you do, you feel so pleased and proud like it's your newest baby. But if someone asks what it all means, do you really want to tell them? It's almost like they just asked about your favorite technique between the sheets. You might throw out a tip or two, but it seems crude and dirty to pick it all apart for public consumption. Having given birth, should you now tell all the gory details of how baby was made and then serve him up on a snack tray?

When you write a poem, do you start with something to say or do you just let it all come out? Do you start with a scheme of rhyme, rhythm, and meter, and force the words to fit? Or do you write it all down and then arrange the mechanics around the words? Or do you just ignore all the rules in a fit of laissez faire poenomics?

So, yeah. This was one of those rants that just belches out now and then. Pebble Chaser recently wrote about how night writing is different than day writing. I'm thinking she was right.

Keep Moving

Satisfaction with stagnation is repugnant and eventually fatal. We are land sharks of a sort. We die if we stop moving forward for too long. The same happens in our relationships. Everyone is always moving in some direction, even when they appear to be set in concrete. If two people in a relationship stop moving forward, they stop being real people and start becoming topsoil. If one stops while the other does not, the first becomes an anchor whose cable often isn’t strong enough to hold them together. Likewise, if they begin moving in opposite directions, the relationship can’t last for long. It’s work together, always moving forward, or die.