Author: William

Doom—The Movie

I have been a fan of the computer game Doom for well over a decade. I can remember listening to Amy Grant as the game sound track (instead of Nine Inch Nails) and blasting away with the BFG at anything that moved. I was glad that someone wanted to make a movie based on the game.

I was concerned that elements of the storyline were altered. The storyline in the game is that a portal to another dimension has been opened by a secret lab on a remote world. Unfortunately the portal opens a doorway to Hell not ET’s home world. Doom II introduces us to Hell on Earth. Doom III is basically a revisit of the first game with better storyline and graphics.

Several years ago, the story was novelized. Instead of a doorway to Hell, a race of aliens are using evil imagery to exploit our primal fears so they just look like demons but are just genetically engineered freaks.

In the movie, the whole Hell part has been dropped in favor of a secret genetic engineering experiment that went terribly wrong.


Starring in the film version of Doom are Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Carl Urban and Rosamund Pike. If you have played Doom III then you will recognize the general setting of the station on Mars and some of the types of creatures that will be fought in the film. The movie maintains many of the same features that can be found in the game. Game elements in the film include the BFG (which contrary to the movie doesn’t stand for Bio Force Gun) chain saws and lots of automatic weapons; sewers and mutant critters. The gamer tribute to John Romero of the Living Dead films is clearly present.

Granted that this is a niche marketed movie but if you ever enjoyed playing the game or like films like Alien v Predator then this is a must see film. It does have an ending but nothing would exclude a sequel.

The Basis of Global Peace

This week, my junior high school student came home with an assignment to draw a poster for a Peace Poster contest. The instructions were to draw a picture but use no text or writing of any kind in your design. This turns out to be a preliminary step in some international competition. This event is sponsored locally by the Lions Club.

We were surprised and concerned that our child received such an assignment. As a result, my wife and I had an hour long discussion with our child about what is peace? What is war? What about nations that are not at war but tyrannical?

Our child wanted to use primarily a symbol of a dove to represent peace. Ok so what does the dove represent? Our child did know that the dove (with olive branch) was from the biblical account of Noah and the ark. Our next question was where else in the Bible do you find a dove and what does it represent? Our child was clueless. We opened the New Testament and read the account of the baptism of Jesus. Mark 1: 9-11 From this story we learn that the dove often is related to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We also discussed the purpose and origin of government. As source material we used the Westminster Confession of Faith section XXIII on Civil Magistrates, the scope and limitation of government as viewed by our founders and the biblical covenant where God first established human government Gen 9.

What was shown was that God established human government as a means of protecting the innocent and punishing the wicked. God raises up human leaders and removes them at his pleasure. The government has a God-given role, the church also has a God-given role in society and each citizen has obligations to their government.

We also briefly mentioned a description of Christ on his throne ruling over the nations as described in the book of Revelation. We talked that normally war is only justified as a defensive measure. Government insures the safety of citizens from threats both internal and external.

Our child kept saying that harmony was a goal of nations. It was a typical Rodney King moment appealing to the why cant we just get along? sentiment. Ok. What does that mean?

Using the Global War on Terror as our example we explained that not everyone is interested in peace. Peace can often be confused for surrender. Just ask Cindy Sheehan. We asked our child what the United States could do to have a ceasefire with the Islamic fundamentalists. Who would we negotiate with? Who has authority to sign a treaty? What assurance would there be to compliance with the terms of peace? (These are the same questions that the Liberals are unable to answer.)

The War on Terror is a just war because it is a defensive measure necessary because of a clear and present danger to our nation.

Our child enjoys music and said that all the nations are a big orchestra and peace is defined as a harmony of all the parts. We then inquired as to why nations should be in harmony and to extend the analogy, what would they be playing?

My contention is that there can only be peace when every knee shall bow and tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Phil 2:11 To that end our song is Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! Rev 6:8b Only to the extent that nations are obedient to Christ and fulfilling their God ordained role can any nation truly know peace.

Question 1 of the Westminster Catechism asks, What is the chief and highest end of man?

Answer Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever .

One purpose of government is to maintain a society where man is free to worship his creator and live in peace.

Now that you understand all this, we told our child to go and make a poster about world peace.

Boo!

Every fall about this time we find an unexpected package on our doorstep. No its not another one like the Stork left of our doorstep last year about this same time, but a plastic pumpkin from the local Dollar Tree store full of candy and some signs made from cheap orange paper that say Boo!

We aren’t sure which family started this game—although we have it narrowed down to two houses but the rules are simple. Place a Boo! on a neighbors doorstep without getting caught. Then they are supposed to place a Boo! sign on their front door and then do likewise to someone lacking a Boo! sign on their door.

Its much more fun than a chain letter and will end at midnight on October 31st. Try it and see if you spread a little good cheer in your neighborhood.

Thoughts on Hariet Miers

There has always been a coalition that makes-up the Conservatives within the Republican Party. On one end are the religious Conservatives whose primary interest is to reign-in the assault on traditional faith and morality and on the other end are those whose primary concerns are fiscal Conservatism. These folks have advocated less government and lower taxes.

Since Ronald Reagan was president, both of these groups and those who cling to one degree or another to both viewpoints have been moving in the same direction. However, this single nomination by President Bush has broken these groups into their component pieces. Frankly, this is a fascinating to watch.

The Democrats have dutifully circled the wagons and braced for major combat but they can’t decide what their target should be. They are furiously spinning in circles waiting for orders from their special interest groups. The Democrats are willing to fight any nominee because their side needs the fundraising opportunity that a Supreme Court vacancy can generate.

Both sides want a knockdown, drag-out fight to vanquish their enemies in the public arena. This fight would be the political spectacle of the 21st Century. The stakes are for the heart and soul of the Republic. The outcome would be the fourth Constitutional period of our country. (1789 to Civil War; then Civil War to New Deal, then New Deal to Bush Court.)

Instead, President Bush has taken a page from Bill Clinton and triangulated a third option. Not since Solomon decreed that each mother should get half of the baby has something so out of the box of conventional wisdom been tried. Look at the early results. We know from the public record that Harriet Miers is a church going lawyer that has a unique skill set to offer to the position. She teaches Sunday school at a conservative church where she has attended since becoming a born again Christian about 25 years ago. She has managed a law firm of 400 partners—getting that many lawyers to agree is a really big deal. She also has had her turn in trail settings. Plus she has been with George Bush for many years.

Don’t you wonder why the Religious Right is giving each other high fives for this nomination? There is a private record that will never see the light of day but some on the Christian Right have dropped enough hints to read between the lines. There are code words from these pundits that hint at why they are really upbeat. My conclusion after hearing several of the folks in this camp interviewed is that Harriet Miers will be very pro-life, supportive of traditional marriage, and a solid conservative. She may end-up as one of the most conservative jurists on the Court.

The fiscally Conservative folks in the Republican ranks are clueless about these hints that have been offered for our comfort. Since the whole Christian thing is not as important to them, they miss the subtlety of this pick. They want raw meat in the public square and not Bush’s political triangulation. They are not happy. A polite “trust me” from the President is of little comfort to them.

Since almost anything would be an upgrade from the disappointing legacy of Sandra Day O’Connor, they might not opposed Miers but there is no enthusiasm for this pick.

The Democrats are just beginning to realize that Bush skunked them really good with this pick. Again they have no paper trail to use against the nominee. No paper trail means that it will be difficult to mount a unified opposition and there is nothing for their interest groups to use for fundraising except that she is a Christian. Bashing Miers on that score will cause the Democrats to risk dividing their own people. They will lose many—especially the racial minorities —if they push religion too hard. Plus they risk confronting the Constitutional prohibition on test oaths. Not that they care much for the Constitution but this is new ground to desecrate even for them. They still have an institutional memory of JFK and the Catholic issue. They can’t afford to loose the gray-haired New Deal Democrats in the rest homes.

Worse news for the Democrats will be that both of these confirmations (Roberts & Miers) will force them to concede that they are in the minority for the foreseeable future. All they had left was the threat of the filibuster and Bush has found a strategy to take that from them. He turned their tactic for getting Clinton’s judges back on them; “I sorry but that case might come before the Court so I can’t answer that question.”

The next vacancy will occur after the 2006 elections if the nine in black robes (weren’t they the bad guys in Lord of the Rings-fallen greedy kings of men) remain in good health. Why because the Republicans will pickup two or three seats in the Senate and the liberal Northeastern Republicans will cease to be the power brokers (spoilers) in the Senate. At that point it will be game over for the Democrats and then a justice or two will throw in the towel and retire. Bush could
end-up with four picks before the end of his second term.

Yeah, I want “red meat” in the public square too but this might be a far sighted gamble with a better payoff at the end.

They say the Lord works in mysterious ways, well folks this is one of those instances

Bill Bennett & Abortion

There is currently a big flap about some comments by Bill Bennett that were lifted out of context. This is my initial reaction to this controversy.


If you think Bill Bennett said any of the following would you be right or wrong?

  • Called blacks “human weeds”
  • Said blacks were “menace to civilization.”
  • Believed that “social regeneration” would only be possible as the “sinister forces of the hordes of irresponsibility and imbecility” were repulsed.
  • Regard organized charity to ethnic minorities and the poor as a “symptom of a malignant social disease” because it encouraged the prolificacy of “defectives, delinquents, and dependents.”
  • When the “choking human undergrowth” of “morons and imbeciles” would be “segregated” and “sterilized.”
  • Goal was “to create a race of thoroughbreds” by encouraging “more children from the fit, and less from the unfit.”

All the above were the views of Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood


My view of this controversy is summed-up as follows:
“A text without a context is a pretext; usually for error.” Dr. Walter Martin

Google Calls President Bush Failure

George Fincke is a Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church. He sent me the following:

My daughter called from CA, asking me to go online to Google.

She asked me to type the word FAILURE. Then, hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button. What you get is the bio of George W. Bush.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html

Added 11-10-05
Since posting this I have learned that there is a technique for manipulating results from Google. This is called a “Google Bomb” The above is an example of this in action.

Feinstein: Stuck on Stupid

Today, our wonderful, socialist, NIMBY, Liberal United States Senator was on the radio because she was grandstanding for the media by daring to lecture the petroleum industry about the price of gasoline.

Thou hypocrite! It is the fault of Senator Feinstein and her ilk that we are not an energy independent county. If she would allow new domestic drilling and exploration and a few new refineries to be built plus some new nuke plants, we would not need the tyrants of the Middle East.

Our Senator is stuck on Stupid.

For a brief history of Stuck on Stupid see The Roughstock Journal or Hugh Hewitt.

Thanks Eric

From the middle of my junior year of high school until the end of my second year in college I lived in the South, mostly in Mississippi. My first year there, they had over 144 inches (twelve feet) of rain! The lifestyle and climate in the part of the country is very different from ours here in the Sacramento Valley.

The contrast between Mississippi and Louisiana has grown since my time there. Louisiana has not changed; it is still an area of graft, corruption and political cronyism. Mississippi was just starting to become a Republican area. It is proof the competitive elections will result in better government for citizens.

 

I think Eric Hogue deserves a broadcasting award for his excellent coverage of the hurricane damage this week. He has made a far away tragedy into a personal experience for us all. See SactoDan”s review of the coverage.

Besides the debris, the smell and the devastation that we hear about in the news coverage, there are a number of unpleasant critters in that part of the country that are living among the rubble. Three are at least three species of poisonous snakes and plus alligators that call Mississippi and Louisiana home.

My heart goes out to the folks there.

Local Parish Wins More from Diocese of Los Angeles

This is follow-up story to a previous post that I made.

Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles must pay legal fees to Newport’s St. James, judge says. By Lauren Vane Daily Pilot September 16, 2005 An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles must pay more than $81,000 in legal fees to St. James Church, the Newport Beach congregation that split from the diocese over a dispute about church doctrine. The same judge, David Velasquez, ruled Aug. 15 to dismiss a lawsuit against St. James Church’s congregation that claimed the Newport Beach breakaway church’s property and assets belong to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Velasquez ruled that efforts by the national church to retain the property of the seceding St. James congregation was an attempt to tread upon the congregation’s freedom of speech. Praveen Bunyan, pastor of St. James, said the awarding of legal fees is another affirmation that the St. James Church was right from the beginning. “This is a reiteration saying that the lawsuit was wrongfully brought against us,” Bunyan said. Representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles did not return phone calls Friday. Financially, Judge Velasquez’s ruling Thursday means that the church can apply funds toward “God’s mission,” Bunyan said. “We’re glad that we can continue to concentrate on the mission that we believe as a church we are called to do,” Bunyan said. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles filed suit against St. James in September 2004 after the Newport Beach church and two other Southern California congregations broke away from the diocese and the Episcopal Church of the United States in protest of the national church’s positions. After leaving the national church, St. James affiliated with the Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican province of Uganda, Africa. The Los Angeles diocese’s lawsuit alleged St. James’ property belongs to the national church, not to the congregation. Although St. James Church is pleased with the awarding of legal fees, the church remains skeptical that the diocese will pay the legal fees without first appealing the decision, said St. James attorney Eric Sohlgren, in a statement released Thursday. “I don’t know whether they will appeal,” Bunyan said. “Of course, we’ll continue to fight for what is ours.”

http://www.dailypilot.com/religion/story/24626p-35178c.html