Monthly Archives: November 2006

Tuesday, David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, hosted a conference dedicated to the breaking down of religious barriers among world religions. There was a Muslim leader and a Jewish leader, along with Lipscomb professor Lee Camp.

Sadly, when reading the report from the Tennessean (Nashville’s newspaper), it becomes clear that the “Christian” is trying to downplay the fact that Jesus is THE way (John 14:6).

The article, written by Anita Wadhwati, follows:

To live peacefully with Muslims and Jews, Christians must put aside the notion that their faith requires the creation of a Christian kingdom on Earth, a Lipscomb University theologian told an interfaith gathering at the university.

“We are not going to get very far in our relationship with Jews or Muslims if we do not let go of this idea,” Lipscomb professor Lee Camp said at Tuesday’s conference.

The unusual gathering of several dozen clergy and lay people was devoted to resolving religious conflict in Nashville and around the world.

“We need to forsake the Christendom model,” Camp said. “The most basic Christian commitment … is that we say we believe in the Lordship of Jesus. But, if we claim that, how can a Muslim or Jew trust us, if we say Jesus is the Lord of all Lords?”

Co-sponsored by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, the daylong conference was prompted by a desire to begin a dialogue about global religious conflict.

After five years of rising gas prices, disturbing privacy issues that followed the Sept. 11 attacks and the fear of terrorism, it became apparent that everyday life in Nashville is directly affected by religious conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, conference organizers said.

“We felt like the larger community is calling for this,” said Larry Bridgesmith, executive director of Lipscomb’s newly established Institute for Conflict Management.

Panelists representing different faiths presented their own views on how to begin to bridge the religious divide.

For Kahled Sakalla, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Nashville, some of the answers lie in better education about Islam in the non-Muslim world.

Allah, the God Muslims worship, is the same God Christians and Jews worship, and the Quran recounts the same biblical stories of Mary and Jesus, he said.

“Yes, we have differences, but it’s important to focus on commonalities,” said Sakalla, one of four panelists representing different faiths who addressed the Lipscomb
conference.

Mark Schiftan, rabbi of the Temple in Belle Meade, said he also believes people of faith must begin to look for common ground.

“If all of us believe we were created in God’s image, then we have to believe that everyone else is also created in God’s image,” Schiftan said.

Charles McGowan, president of the Christian group Operation Andrew said: “It’s important to us in Nashville that we be proactive. Religious leaders must engage one another if we are going to experience in this city the peace and calm we all desire.”

But the issues that have divided the world’s religions for millennia are so deep and fundamental — ranging from the question of whether the land of Israel rightfully belongs to the Jews and whether there is one way to salvation — that tackling them will require both dialogue with other faiths and a more introspective look at one’s own beliefs, panelists said.

Some liberal theologians have suggested that different faiths are all variations on one another and that beliefs are all basically the same, a position with which Camp deeply disagrees.

Instead, he believes, Christians must not back away from their beliefs but further examine them and their own history.

First, Christians must examine their “sins of omission,” he said — such as not taking the time to learn about other religions. Then they must look at their “sins of commission.”

“We have such short historical (memory) spans as white Christians,” he said. “There is a history of anti-Semitism, the violence and bloodshed of the crusades and cultural
imperialism. We have to deal with the reality of what Christians have done, which in some cases has been to kill people.”

Camp described himself as a conservative Christian but conceded his opinions may be viewed as “radical” by other evangelical Christians.

Christians must shed the idea that they need to promulgate a worldwide Christianity, he said.

“If I hold to a model of Jesus … what I’ve committed to in my baptism is loving my enemy,” Lee said. “I’m committed to not killing you, but to serving and honoring you. It’s an exclusive commitment to the way of Christ, not to the exclusive authority of
Christ.”

Sakalla said there may never be reconciliation on the fundamental theological divisions.

“Every religion has different teachings,” he said. “For Muslims, it’s: Do you believe in one God and that Muhammad” is his prophet? “I don’t think we can teach individuals that the way you go to heaven in other religions is OK. You have to teach differences.”

The article sparked an outcry from both sides in the form of comments. Over 250 comments regarding the story were left on the website. You may read them by clicking here.

DLU has a long and storied history, but also has a reputation of moving away from conservative Christian values. I hope and pray that they will “buck the trend” and come back to the values that David Lipscomb himself stood for.

For generations, children have wanted parents to be more “hip,” and not hang on to the “same old” rules and regulations. Sadly, many parents have changed and tried to be a “friend” to their children instead of being a parent. We who are parents need to realize that our children will come to respect us more when we draw lines and hold to them.

With that in mind, allow me to share two items that will make me seem very old-fashioned.

The first is about a Christmas carol. I like Christmas (just not until after Thanksgiving!). I enjoy hearing carols on the radio and in malls…when I have to be in a mall. Most of them are wonderful and cheery. There is one, however, that I have wondered about for a long time. The classic, “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” made most famous by Burl Ives, is sung by people everywhere, including Christians. However, the last line of that song contains the famous lyric, “By golly, have a holly jolly Christmas this year.” Is “golly” really a word we should be singing? It is, simply, a replacement for God and is, therefore, a vain use of His holy Name. Let’s be careful about what we sing.

The other news item concerns a recent study about video games. As I have said before on this blog, I have no problem with video games as a general rule (just ask me how many times I played Super Mario Brothers!). I believe they are fun and can be educational, to some degree. However, just because a video game is available does not mean it should be played. For example, take violent games. For years, “gamers” have said that playing violent games does not change the behavior of the participant. A recent study, however, may prove differently. Please take the time to read the following Reuters release, written by Susan Kelly:

Teens who play violent video games show increased activity in areas of the brain linked to emotional arousal and decreased responses in regions that govern self-control, a study released on Tuesday found.

The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to record tiny metabolic changes in brain activity in 44 adolescents who were asked to perform a series of tasks after playing either a violent or nonviolent video game for 30 minutes.

The children, with no history of behavior problems, ranged in age from 13 to 17. Half played a T-rated first-person shooter game called “Medal of Honor: Frontline,” involving military combat, while the other group played a nonviolent game called “Need for Speed: Underground.”

Those who played the violent video game showed more activation in the amygdala, which is involved in emotional arousal, and less activation in the prefrontal portions of the brain associated with control, focus and concentration than the teens who played the nonviolent game.

“Our study suggests that playing a certain type of violent video game may have different short-term effects on brain function than playing a nonviolent, but exciting, game,” said Dr. Vincent Mathews, a professor of radiology at Indiana University school of Medicine in Indianapolis and the study’s author.

After playing the games, the children completed tasks requiring concentration and processing of emotional stimuli while their brain activity was scanned. Alterations in brain function reflecting changes in blood flow appeared as brightly colored areas on
the magnetic resonance images.

“What we showed is there is an increase in emotional arousal. The fight or flight response is activated after playing a violent video game,” Mathews said.

The findings were presented at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

The $13 billion U.S. video game industry, with revenue rivaling Hollywood box office sales, is at the center of a cultural battle over violent content. Lawmakers’ various attempts to ban the sale of violent video games to children have been blocked by courts in Louisiana, Illinois, California. Michigan and Minnesota.

Video games with a T-rating (for Teen) are considered suitable for ages 13 and older. They may contain violent content, strong language or suggestive themes.

Numerous behavioral and cognitive studies have linked exposure to violent media and aggressive behavior. Now, researchers are using advanced imaging technology to scan the brain for clues to whether violent video games cause increases in aggression.

Mathews said he hopes to conduct additional studies on the long-term effects on brain function of exposure to violent video games.

I know these items make me look old-fashioned, but sometimes we need to “seek the old paths.”

Maintaining this blog requires quite a bit of work, but it is also fun. We hope you continue to find it helpful and interesting.

Every once in a while, though, we try to do something just for fun. We’ve added another feature that will be some fun to monitor in the coming days and weeks. On the right-hand side of the screen (about half-way down), you will find these words: “I’m a __ in the TTLB ecosystem.” “TTLB” stands for “The Truth Laid Bear.” It is a website devoted to tracking traffic on blogs, and monitors almost 60,000 web logs daily.

I don’t like the “ratings” system, which uses evolutionary language (the most-hit blogs are “higher beings,” and they are followed by “mortal humans,” “playful primates,” etc.; all the way down to “insignificant microbes”), but it will be interesting to see just how we “rank” in the blogosphere.

ALSO,

We have noticed another company that tracks blogs. It is Technorati. That company tracks over 55million blogs worldwide. As of today, we rank 1,422,325th in the world. We don’t think that’s too bad!

By the way, the same company has Drew Kizer’s “Truth and Repose” ranked at 321,424th in the world. Way to go, Drew!

Keep coming back and please keep telling people about our blog. We want to use this forum to continue to share Bible-based information with the world…and have some fun doing it, too!