*Theodicy - a vindication - Vindicate - to clear as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion or the like. a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil.
From Dark Matter and Energy To the Prince of Darkness
if you haven't taken a science course since high school or college decades ago, here's some news: we know a lot less now about the basic makeup of the universe than we thought we did then.
several decades ago scientists Knew the universe was expanding .
the believed the expansion had to slow down.
no astronomer had observed such slowing but it had to happen because
the universe is full of matter,
matter has gravity and
gravity pulls things together.
in 1998, though , the Hubble Space Telescope let us look at very distant stars.
it became apparent that the universe was expanding faster and faster, not slower.
Why? no one knew,
but it seemed that something else we couldn't see or measure had to be present.
theorists named the mystery stuff 'dark matter',
possibly made up of some subatomic particles
and 'dark energy', maybe made up of something else for which we have no name.
to explain the behavior of what we perceive through telescopes and other instruments,
scientists now guesstimate that 'dark energy' makes up 68% of the universe and
'dark matter' makes up 27%.
that adds up to 95%, which means we can see or measure only 5% of reality,
a humbling number indeed. again, we know of the dark stuff only because of its effect on visible matter. let's apply this to one of the hardest theological problems, theodicy,
which literally means 'justifiying God'.
Christian theodicy attempts to explain why an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God
allows evil to exist and even -as with Nazi and Communist butchers - expand.
theologians over the centuries have proposed many explanations.
the most popular hinge on man's free will: God could have made us like robots or Stepford wives,
only able to obey orders -
but how then would we be in the image of God?
he could have kept bad things from happening to us,
but it's often those things that make us realize how desperately we need His grace.
many people understand that some suffering is educational and tratgedies affecting other families may warn us. I remember as a whitewater rafter on the Nantahala River in North Carolina hearing that 3 people out of 14,000 going down the river had droned,
So If You Fall Out Of Your Boat Don't Try To Walk And Possibly Get Your Foot
Snagged On A Rock And Fall Facedown: Float Downstream,Feet First.
a California Newspaper editor ran a photo of a mourning family standing over the corpse of a child who entered a lake Against Parental Instructions and Drowned:
readers protested, but that alert may have saved other lives.
we might say what does not kill us makes us stronger, but
what about all those who die suddenly without the opportunity to learn lessons?
what about hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes that kill both innocent and guilty?
what about diseases that take the lives of children?
what about the scale of disaster?
6,000,000 Jews gassed or shot in the Holocaust, along with 6,000,000 others?
Tens of millions in China, the Soviet Union, Cambodia and elsewhere?
Tens of thousands year after year in Syria, Yemen and other venues of war.
Why so Lord?
dark energy and dark matter:
Scientists can't see or measure any of it,
but they believe it exists because of its effect on what they can see and measure.
the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus in the fourth century,
Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century and
John Milton in the 17th century also
had a name for what they could not see or measure,
except by its effect on the visible:
they wrote about Princeps Tenebrarum, the Prince of Darkness.
we don't tend to talk about Satan these days,
except in weak, semi-joking excuses ('the devil made me do it')
or Rolling Stones songs:
'Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith...
when the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank'.
yet , as Jeffrey Burton Russell writes in Satan,
'the depth and intensity (of evil) exceeds and transcends what could be expected in an individual human.
...No theodicy that does not take the Devil fully into consideration is likely to be persuasive'
Dark matter. Dark energy. Dark supernatural power.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
4.17.2019 OTHERS MAY , YOU CANNOT by G. D. Watson (www.BulletinInserts.org
'if anyone wishes to come after me. he must deny himself, and TAKE UP HIS CROSS and FOLLOW ME. for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16.24,5
IF God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit,
HE WILL DRAW YOU INTO A LIFE OF CRUCIFIXION AND HUMILITY. HE WILL PUT ON YOU SUCH DEMANDS OF OBEDIENCE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO FOLLOW OTHER CHRISTIANS. he seems to let other good people do things which he will not let you do.
others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot.
if you attempt it. IF YOU ATTEMPT IT, YOU WILL MEET WITH SUCH FAILURE AND REBUKE FROM THE LORD AS TO MAKE YOU SORELY PENITENT.
others can brag about themselves , their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such things.
others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money or having a legacy left to them or in having luxuries, but God my supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something FAR BETTER THAN GOLD, A HELPLESS DEPENDENCE ON HIM AND HIS UNSEEN TREASURY.
the LORD may let others be honored and put forward while KEEPing YOU HIDDEN IN OBSCURITY BECAUSE HE WATS TO PRODUCE SOME CHOICE, FRAGRANT FRUIT FOR HIS COMING GLORY WHICH CAN ONLY BE PRODUCED IN THE SHADE.
GOD MAY let others be great, but KEEP YOU SMALL. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but HE WILL MAKE YOU WORK AND TOIL WITHOUT KNOWING HOW MUCH YOU ARE DOING. then , to make your work still more precious, HE WILL LET OTHERS GET THE CREDIT FOR THE WORK WHICH YOU HAVE DONE ; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL PUT A STRICT WATCH ON YOU AND WITH A JEALOUS LOVE REBUKE YOU FOR CARELESS WORDS AND FEELINGS , OR FOR WASTING YOUR TIME, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
SO MAKE UP YOUR MIND THAT GOD IS AN INFINITE SOVEREIGN AND HAS A RIGHT TO DO AS HE PLEASES WITH HIS OWN , and that he may not explain to you 1000 things which may puzzle you r reason in his dealings with you.
GOD WILL TAKE YOU AT YOUR WORD.
IF YOU ABSOLUTELY SELL YOURSELF TO BE HIS SLAVE,
HE WILL WRAP YOU UP IN A JEALOUS LOVE
AND LET OTHER PEOPLE SAY AND DO MANY THINGS THAT YOU CANNOT.
SETTLE IT FOREVER,
YOU ARE TO DEAL DIRECTLY WIT THE HOLY SPIRIT,
HE IS TO HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF
TYING YOUR TONGUE OR
CHAINING YOUR HAND OR
CLOSING YOUR EYES
IN WAYS WHICH OTHERS ARE NOT DEALT WITH.
however, KNOW THIS GREAT SECRET OF THE KINGDOM:
WHEN YOU ARE SO COMPLETELY POSSESSED WITH THE LIVING GOD
THAT YOU ARE,
IN YOUR SECRET HEART,
PLEASE and
DELIGHTED OVER
THIS
PECULIAR,
PERSONAL,
PRIVATE,
JEALOUS
GUARDIANSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
OVER YOUR LIFE,
YOU WILL HAVE FOUND the vestibule of heaven,
THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD.
4.13.2019 NOT ENOUGH PLUNDER - Stephen Patton (World Magazine)
as April 15 , income tax day, approaches, Congressional Democrats are proposing significant increase in taxes to fund new programs. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, has proposed a 70% federal income tax on incomes above $10 million. other Democrats have proposed similar levies. proposals such as providing Medicare for all and the Green New Deal would require significant new expenditures and revenue to support them.
is it really possible to tax the rich to fund fully such new initiatives?
Many Democrats certainly think so. new York Mayor Bill de Blasio says. 'Here's the truth, brothers and sisters, there's plenty of money in the world. plenty of money in this city. It's just in the wrong hands! Ocasio-Cortez says, 'a system that allows billionaires to exist' is immoral. US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says, 'we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world - of course we can afford these investments'.
let's try some hypothetical exercises to test out the theory. the Trump administration has asked for $4.7 trillion in spending for fiscal year 2020. one way to raise this revenue in a progressive manner would be to confiscate all income, starting with the wealthiest Americans. based on the latest Social Security wage statistics tables from 2017, raising $4.7 trillion starting at the highest income levels would require all the taxable earnings of over 35 million Americans. the government would have to take away completely all taxable income of individuals earning over $65,000 in 2017 in order to cover the proposed spending for fiscal year 2020.
If, on the other hand, we were to 'outlaw billionaires', a good place to start would be the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. so what if we confiscate billionaires' money until we have funded the 202 federal budget? surely that would cover years of federal spending and leave plenty left over for new programs. or would it?
the budge proposal of $4.7 trillion annually represents $13 billion daily. if w star with Forbes billionaire No. 1, Jeff Bezos, with $160 billion in net worth, we can fund the federal government for 12 days. now who's next? Bill Gates and his $97 billion can take us about out to Jan. 27. this isn't going very well. we have reduced the 3 wealthiest Americans to food stamps and we are not even out of January yet!
it is obvious where this leads. take all the wealth of the Forbes 400 (a total of $2.9 trillion) and we can only fund the federal government for 225 days , or into the middle of August. now all those billionaires are a welfare expense to the government rather than a revenue source for the government. and we also have bankrupted state and local governments that are equally dependent on the success of these wealthy Americans.
progressives might protest and say corporations are not paying their fair share. when they lobby for tax loop-holes and then use those loopholes or when cronies in government give them preference over competitors, they deserve criticism. many reforms are worth discussing, but remember: Corporations provide the majority of the income to the working American s paying the individual income tax. the stocks and bonds of corporations are central parts of the pension, investment and college funds of many Americans. IMPAIRING OR CONFISCATING THOSE INVESTMENTS WILL ONLY INCREASE DEPENDENCE ON GOVERNMENT.
is it really possible to tax the rich to fund fully such new initiatives?
Many Democrats certainly think so. new York Mayor Bill de Blasio says. 'Here's the truth, brothers and sisters, there's plenty of money in the world. plenty of money in this city. It's just in the wrong hands! Ocasio-Cortez says, 'a system that allows billionaires to exist' is immoral. US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says, 'we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world - of course we can afford these investments'.
let's try some hypothetical exercises to test out the theory. the Trump administration has asked for $4.7 trillion in spending for fiscal year 2020. one way to raise this revenue in a progressive manner would be to confiscate all income, starting with the wealthiest Americans. based on the latest Social Security wage statistics tables from 2017, raising $4.7 trillion starting at the highest income levels would require all the taxable earnings of over 35 million Americans. the government would have to take away completely all taxable income of individuals earning over $65,000 in 2017 in order to cover the proposed spending for fiscal year 2020.
If, on the other hand, we were to 'outlaw billionaires', a good place to start would be the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. so what if we confiscate billionaires' money until we have funded the 202 federal budget? surely that would cover years of federal spending and leave plenty left over for new programs. or would it?
the budge proposal of $4.7 trillion annually represents $13 billion daily. if w star with Forbes billionaire No. 1, Jeff Bezos, with $160 billion in net worth, we can fund the federal government for 12 days. now who's next? Bill Gates and his $97 billion can take us about out to Jan. 27. this isn't going very well. we have reduced the 3 wealthiest Americans to food stamps and we are not even out of January yet!
it is obvious where this leads. take all the wealth of the Forbes 400 (a total of $2.9 trillion) and we can only fund the federal government for 225 days , or into the middle of August. now all those billionaires are a welfare expense to the government rather than a revenue source for the government. and we also have bankrupted state and local governments that are equally dependent on the success of these wealthy Americans.
progressives might protest and say corporations are not paying their fair share. when they lobby for tax loop-holes and then use those loopholes or when cronies in government give them preference over competitors, they deserve criticism. many reforms are worth discussing, but remember: Corporations provide the majority of the income to the working American s paying the individual income tax. the stocks and bonds of corporations are central parts of the pension, investment and college funds of many Americans. IMPAIRING OR CONFISCATING THOSE INVESTMENTS WILL ONLY INCREASE DEPENDENCE ON GOVERNMENT.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
4.2.2019 EAT WELL, GET WELL, STAY WELL by Carlton Fredericks, PhD.
CHAPTER 10 - THE CONVENTIONAL LOW-CALORIE REDUCING DIET
*134 this diet will safely reduce a normal person at a rate of not over 2 pounds each week, it is a system of constructive reduction which creates no deficiency, save in calories. the diet is balanced in protein intake and contains enough fat and carbohydrate to keep body function unimpaired. by the code system employed and the lists of foods, the need of set menus is eliminated and there is no need for counting calories.
every effort has been made to keep vitamin-mineral intake as high as possible. however, a diet below 2,400 calories is very likely to be deficient in vitamins and minerals - a risk inherent in reducing the gross intake of food. it is recommended therefore that this diet be supplemented. this will not interfere with weight reduction but will help to avoid deficiencies of the type which have made reduction hazardous in the past.
a good way to die young is to reduce too quickly. on this diet, which permits much more generous meals than most, a normal person should lose about 6 pounds a month. on it, some of the author's readers and radio listeners have lost a much as 150 pounds - safely, sanely and without discomfort.
*135 Breakfast
1 serving of fruit
1 egg or egg substitute
.5 slice (thin)whole wheat toast with .5 level tsp. butter
or
1 glass of skimmed milk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)
Eggs and Egg Substitutes
Prepare your egg in one of the following ways:
Plain omelet
Poached
Soft-boiled
hard-boiled
Raw
Substitutes for 1 egg:
Cottage Cheese (4 Tbs)
Lamb chop (1 small, lean
Lamb chop (1 small, lean)
Lamb kidney(10
Calves Liver (2OZ)
Mutton Chop (1 small, lean)
Buttermik (1 glass)
Skimmed milk (1 glass)
Lunch
1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl or meat substitute
1 vegetable from Vegetable List A
1 salad (from salad list
1 serving of fruit or dessert
1 glass of skim milk or buttermilk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)
*136 Meat Substitutes
Cottage cheese (2/3 cup)
1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl, or meat substitute
2 vegetables from Vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable list B
OR
1 vegetable from vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable List B
PLUS
1 helping of salad (Salad List)
1 portion of fruit or dessert
Coffee or tea (no sugar, cream or milk)
Soup List
Consomme
Clear vegetable soup
Beef broth
Chicken, mutton broth
other clear soups
note: no creamed soups, none with milk or containing vegetables, meat or cereals.
*137 Fruit List
orange (small)
Grapefruit (1/2 medium)
Apple (1 small)
Pineapple (2 average slices)
Peach (1)
Cantaloupe (1/2 medium)
Melons (2 in. section of avverage-size melon)
Tangerines (1 large)
Berries (1/2 cup)
Apricots (2 medium)
Grapes (12)
Cherries(10)
Pear(1 medium)
Plums(2)
Nectarines(3)
Persimmon(1/2 small)
Fruit Juices: Grapefruit, Orange (unsweetened; 6 oz or 3/4 of water glass)
Vegetable list A
Asparagus (fresh or canned; 8)
Stringbeans(1/2 cup)
Wax beans (1/2 cup
Beet greens (2 heaping Tbs.)
Broccoli (1 5" stalk)
Brussels sprouts (1.2 cup)
Cabbage, cooked (1/2 cup)
Cabbage, raw (3/4 cup, shredded)
Cauliflower (1/2 cup)
Celery (5 stalks)
Chard (1/2 cup)
*138 Chicory (1/2 cup)
Eggplant (1/2 cup)
Endive(10 medium stalks)
Green pepper (1 medium)
Kohlrabi (2 heaping Tbs)
Leeks, chopped (1/3 cup)
Lettuce (10 leaves)
Radishes (5 medium)
Sauerkraut (1/2 cup)
Spinach (1/2 cup)
Tomatoes, fresh (1)
Tomatoes, canned (1/2 cup)
Tomato juice (4 oz.; 1/2 cup)
Watercress (10 pieces)
Vegetable B
Beets (2 heaping Tbs.)
Carrots (e heaping Tbs.)
Chives (6)
Dandelion greens (3 heaping Tbs)
Kale (2 heaping Tbs.)
Onion (1 , small size)
Parsnips (2 heaping Tbs.)
peas (2 heaping Tbs.)
pumpkin (3 heaping Tbs.)
Rutabaga (2 heaping Tbs.)
Squash (2 heaping Tbs.)
Turnips (2 heaping Tbs.)
Meat List
Lean beefsteak (1/4lb., about 1' thick, 2.5', square)
Roast beef (2 slices, about 3' square, 1/4' thick)
Beef liver ((1 slice, 3' square, 1/2 ' thick)
*139 Beef tongue (2 average slices)
Beef kidney (1/4 lb.)
Hamburger (1/4 lb.)
Calf's liver (1/4 lb.)
Lamb kidney (2, average size)
Lamb chop (2, medium size)
Roast lamb (1 slice, 3 1/2' square, 1/4' thick
Mutton chop (2 medium size)
Boiled mutton (1 slice, 4' square, 1/2' thick)
Roast Veal (1 slice, 3'x2', 1/4' thick
Veal cutlet (1 average size)
Veal kidney (2, average size)
Chicken, white meat ( 2 slices, 4' square, cut very thin)
Chicken, broiler (1/2 medium size)
Chicken gizzards (2, average size)
(def - either the inner area of an animal that is involved in digestion of food or, more generally referring to innards)
Chicken livers (2 whole medium size)
Fish List
Sea bass (1/4 lb)
Bluefish "
Cod, fresh or salt (1/4 lb. to 1/2 lb. )
Flounder (")
Haddock (")
Halibut (1/4 lb)
Kingfish ('')
Pike (")
Porgy )")
Red snapper (")
Scallops (2/3 cup, raw measurement)
Shrimp (")
Smelt (1/4 lb)
Weakfish (")
Clams, round (10-12)
Crabmeat (1 crab or 3/4 cup flakes)
Lobster (1/2 small lobster or 1 cup flakes)
*140 Mussels (4 large or 8 small)
Oysters (12 large)
Salads
Tossed greens Watercress, lettuce, tomato
Radish and watercress
Chef's salad
Pimento and greens
baked stuffed tomato, with cottage cheese and chopped celery
if butter is omitted from vegetables at lunch, 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of salad dressing may be used, divide dressing between lunch and dinner salads. two daily are a good idea, for they increase your feeling of satiety.
Deserts
other than low-carbohydrate fruits such as strawberries and most of the melons, there is no such thing as a low-calorie dessert which a nutritionist with a conscience can recommend. (I'm not about to feed you on gelatin, colored with coal-tar dyes, artificially flavored and sweetened). whole gelatin, with added low-carbohydrate fruits, may occasionally be used. if you wish to chance occasional use of saccharin, you will find that low-calorie gingerale added to nonfat mild powder will help slake the sweet tooth. but if you must use artificially sweetened desserts and drinks, do it with discretion, for abuse of saccharin, in the light of all the evidence, is gambling, particularly for me. if temptation is the only thing you can't resist, some of the following devices for controlling appetite should help you.
*141 Hunger Halters
there are nutritional techniques to cope with the yen for sweets and there are effective behavior modifiers which help to keep you from overeating. in the heath food stores, you will find unsweetened protein powders and tablets. you will note that I did Not mention the protein liquids. the omission is thoughtful. many (I think virtually all) of these are 'collagen' - which is a fancy disguise for gelatin. gelatin is not a complete protein and doesn't really slake appetite. (if it did, the French Revolution might have been averted, for they tried to satisfy the starving public with gelatin and necessarily failed.)
the protein concentrates are sometimes 'sweetened' with vanilla flavor . this does give the illusion of sweetness, if you must have that . a small amount of the powder in water or, better yet, the Chewing of a few protein tablets between meals will do double duty in controlling appetite, for it satisfies the urge to snake non something and tends to keep the blood sugar from sagging - which is the trigger for appetite in many people.
another nutritional aid is bran. 500 mg of bran in a tablet - again, chewed - yields a surprising satiety effect and adds the dividend of avoiding the constipation which sometimes occurs when food intake is sharply reduced. See 'Diet versus Constipation in appendix C for explicit instructions on using bran, for other supplements see chapter 12.
a technique of major benefit to dieters is behavior modification. certain characteristics of overeaters make reduction of food intake difficult for them. they don't chew enough ; they gulp; they don't really taste food; they tend to read or watch TV or listen to radio when they eat. CHEW THOROUGHLY AND SLOWLY. direct your attention to what you're doing, which means bypassing TV and other diversions while eating. COUNT 10 BEFORE YOU MOVE YOUR FORK FROM PLATE TO MOUTH, AND CHEW EACH MOUTHFUL 10 TIMES. really concentrate on tasting what you're eating. as simple as these measures are , they help.
finally, Don't use the appetite-depressant drugs. I don't want to write a whole chapter, which would be required, to give you
*142 all the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the note that a good part of the action of these dangerous medications comes from their depressing effect on the sense of smell. (when your sense of smell is acute, you're more inclined to overeat.) if you must interfere with that, use an inhaler containing one of the amphetamine-type drugs. there is not point in upsetting the whole body when your target is your nose alone.
CHAPTER 11 - THE LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIET
lesson #1: a low carbohydrate diet is a real economic threat to bakers of bread and processors of sugar, cereals. and grains. when you read hysterical descriptions of such diets as being radical or dangerous, be sure to ascertain the credentials of the critics. you'll find many of them associated, directly or indirectly, with manufacturers of high-carbohydrate foods ranging from cornflakes to soda pop and candy. a conventional 1,200-calorie reducing diet contains 150 grams of carbohydrate. a low carbohydrate diet contains about 60 grams. that difference doesn't license hysteria.
Lesson #2: your first step is to provide yourself with a handbook listing the carbohydrate values of foods. I've published one and there are many others available, most of them in inexpensive paperback form. you need this for the break-in period when you are learning to hold your carbohydrate intake down. i know you think you're are hidden traps in today's marketplace. few would suspect the high sugar content of ketchup or the presence of sugar in canned green peas or the fact that Shake 'n Bake is about 50% sugar. most people are astonished to learn that the nondairy 'creamers' are 65% sugar and
*144 that there is sugar added to some brands of salt. take nothing for granted, for what you miss will surface on your hips. get the handbook.
Lesson#3: count your carbohydrate grams before each meal, your objective is to stay within range of 60 grams of carbohydrate a day. that isn't as easy as it sounds, util you begin to learn and can select foods 'by reflex'. early you will discover that a glass of pineapple and other fruits which are astonishingly high in sugar, you will learn to eat open-faced sandwiches, thereby avoiding one slice of bread and doubling up on the protein - the cheese, meat, fish, fowl, or whatever constitutes the 'filling' of the sandwich. and 'filling' is a well-chosen word, for adequate protein intake, rarely provide by ordinary sandwiches, does 'stick to the ribs'. (Would you accept the ham in a ham sandwich as a portion, say for lunch, if it were served without bread?) you will learn to reach for a bit of cheese instead of a cookie and you will drop breakfast cereals in favor of protein foods at breakfast.
the 60 gram figure isn't critical; it's a starting point and reflects my conservative approach. some people thrive on less; some grow weak and irritable when intake goes down to 20 or 40 grams, and some require more than 60.
the diet specifies 5 teaspoons of vegetable oil daily. some people take it like medicine, by the spoonful and some try to use capsules, though that will call for an inordinate number of doses. most find the vegetable oil enjoyable in it normal habitat - on salads. this intake is a Must, for reasons I've already explained. don't use the oil fro frying. while there is nothing wrong with properly fried food as such, the heat may change the oil chemically, depriving you of the property for which it is being recommended: that of expediting weight loss and directing the loss toward the problem areas.
this diet is for healthy people. it isn't intended for those whose physicians have ordered low-fat menus. it is divided into 6 meals for the good reason that this helps weight loss and weight control,
*145 and aids in normalizing the body's handling of both sugar and fats. it is also a formidable help for those who can resist anything but temptation, for there is little incentive to cheat when you are never fare away in time from a snack or a meal.
when first i experimented with the low-carbohydrate diet about 15 years ago, i specified margarine as a spread since it's made from vegetable oil. however, my good friend Dr. Richard Passwater has pointed out that there is an abnormal concentration of an abnormal type of fat in modern margarine which actually harms rather than protects the arteries. if you elect to use margarine, I'd prefer that you confine yourself to 1 teaspoonful daily, using vegetable oil to make up the rest of the 5-teaspoon-quota. when you buy vegetable oil, be sure it is free of BHA, BHT and other additives. while there is no essential difference in supermarket versus health food store oils (they are all over-processed, those in the heath food stores usually are additive-free.
the typical low-carbohydrate menu which follows can be adapted to your own habits, so long as you stay within its limitations. this is to say that you can substitute any protein for any protein, but you can't replace a protein with a fat or sugar or starch. you can substitute one vegetable oil for another and you can substitute one starch for another. (this doesn't contradict what i wrote before about different physiological effects of the same amounts of different starches. those differences are in your chemistry more than in the foods. ) you cant't use sugar as a substitute for starch and that includes any type of sugar. there is no form of that much abused food which isn't dangerous in high dosage and that includes white, yellow, brown, raw and turbinado sugars, as well as honey, fructose molasses and maple syrup. sugar is sugar.
in adapting the menu to your own life-style, keep in mind that limitation of gross carbohydrate intake is the active principle in this diet. 10 grams more or less of carbohydrate daily will not prove crucial, but grater deviations from the 60 gram level may be significant, speeding weight loss if lower and retarding it if higher. your subjective feeling of well-being may vary with such
*146 changes. how you feel and the verdict on your scale will be the ultimate arbiters of the correctness of the diet for you.
consistency in using the diet is crucial. consistency in weight loss Isn't crucial. weigh yourself once a week, lest daily fluctuations unnecessarily plunge you into euphoria or depression.
Sample Low-Carbohydrate Menu
Breakfast
small orange or half grapefruit
poached egg with sausages (2; no BHT, BHA, or other preservatives) 1/2 slice of whole-wheat or other whole-grain bread, with 1/2 tsp. of margarine or if preferred, 1 level tsp. mayonnaise
beverage of choice - coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herb or regular tea. cream if desired; no sugar.
Morning Snack
I cup skimmed milk
1/4 cup creamed cottage cheese If bran is being used, 1 tsp. coarse bran may be stirred into cheese.
Lunch
Clear soup (optional)\Chicken or tunafish salad. use 4 oz. protein food, 1 tsp. mayonnaise, romaine or bibb lettuce, chicory or escarole (unlimited amounts) plus chopped scallion, slice tomato.
any vegetable from approved list.
brown rice crackers (..equivalent to 1 slice bread) if you did not use margarine at breakfast, 1/2 tsp. can be used, in lieu of this, any nut butter can be used, 1/2 tsp. don't overdo -nuts are high in protein and polyunsaturated fat, but contain considerable carbohydrate.
beverage of choice
Afternoon Booster
1/2 cup plain yogurt. if not using bran tablets, coarse bran may be stirred in.
cheese, natural, not processed, not cheese spread, 1 oz. on 1 small whole-wheat cracker
Dinner
Clear soup (optional)
4oz. tomato juice
steak or chops or hambuger or fish (1/4 lb. cooked weight)
approved vegetable
tossed salad, vinegar and oil dressing.
Strawberries, with Half & Half if desired
Beverage of choice
Evening Snack
1/2 cup skimmed milk or plain yogurt (bran addition optional in yogurt)
1 oz. any leftover chicken, cheese, met, fish or 1 tsp. peanut of other nut butter on 2 brown crackers.
Approved Vegetables
Vegetables marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C, often rich in other nutritional values and should be emphasized if they please your palate. of course, the vitamins in your multiple vitamin supplement will protect you even if you're determined not to eat anything that's good for you.
asparagus, avocado, *beet greens, *broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, *chard', chicory, *collards, cucumbers , *dandelion, eggplant, endive, escarole, green pepper, green or wax beans, *kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, *mustard, radishes, sauerkraut, *spinach, string beans, summer squash, tomatoes, tomato juice, *turnip greens, watercress.
Approved Fruits
take 2 servings of fruit daily, in amounts listed. those marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C. fresh, canned, cooked, or frozen fruits may be used, if they're free of added sugar - artificially sweetened fruit is okay, though. don't peel fresh fruit - peels are fiber sources.
apple (small), applesauce (1/2 cup), apricots, fresh ( 2 medium), Apricots, dried (4 halves)
banana (1/2 small), blackberries(1/2 cup), blueberries (2/3 cup), *cantaloupe (1/4 of 6 in. melon),
cherries (10 large), cranberries (1 cup), dates (2), figs, fresh (2 large), figs, dried (1 small), *grapefruit (1/2 small), *grapefruit juice (1/2 cup), grapes (12 large), grape juice (1/4 cup), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), mango (1 small), Nectarine (1 medium), *orange (1 small), *orange juice (1/2 cup), papaya (1/3 medium), peach (1 medium), pear (1 small), persimmon (1/2 small), pineapple((1/2 cup), pineapple juice (1/3 cup), plums (2 medium), prunes (2 medium), raspberries (1 cup), rhubarb (1 cup), *strawberries (1 cup), tangerine (1 cup), watermelon (1 cup)
all fruits and vegetables, whether served uncooked or cooked, peeled or unpeeled, should be thoroughly washed before consumption. pesticide residues help no one and can be reduced significantly by washing.
protein substitutions may be made as follows. a quarter of a cup of creamed or uncreamed cottage cheese, farmer cheese or pot cheese may be substituted for 1 ounce of meat. approximately 2 ounces of meat, raw weight, may be replaced with 1 egg. an ounce of cheddar or other American-type cheese, or the equivalent
*150 in other types, can replace about 2 ounces of meat, raw weight. peanut butter is a good source of protein, but it is also a good source of carbohydrate,and the commercial varieties contain saturated fat. even if it'[s one of your favorite snackfoods, eat no more than one tablespoon of peanut butter weekly.
CHAPTER 12 - SUPPLEMENTS TO REDUCING DIETS.
*151 multiple-vitamin-mineral supplements, frequently combined in the same capsule or tablet, are widely available from many manufacturers.
megavitamin potencies are not necessary, for our objective is to protect you against deficiency. with such supplements, it is desirable to use an additional Vitamin B Complex concentrate. desiccated liver is good choice. the carbohydrate content of brewer's yeast makes this ordinarily excellent supplement, undesirable with a low-carbohydrate or restricted calorie diet a Vitamin B Complex capsule or tablet will be a helpful addition...
Bran is more effective i the coarse rather than the finely ground form. either form may be obtained in tablets as well as 'loose'. a detailed description of the way in which to introduce bran (see p174...Brewer's Yeast, which I employ as a source of Vitamin B Complex, is available in powder and in tablet and capsule form. be sure that what you buy Is brewer's yeast and not the Torula type. if the label doesn't tell you, write to the manufacturer. the distinction is important, for the Torula type doesn't supply selenium, which Is in brewer's yeast. Selenium is regarded as a very effective preventive agent for may types of cancer. so much so that higher levels of human cancer in areas have been found where soil selenium values are low...
*134 this diet will safely reduce a normal person at a rate of not over 2 pounds each week, it is a system of constructive reduction which creates no deficiency, save in calories. the diet is balanced in protein intake and contains enough fat and carbohydrate to keep body function unimpaired. by the code system employed and the lists of foods, the need of set menus is eliminated and there is no need for counting calories.
every effort has been made to keep vitamin-mineral intake as high as possible. however, a diet below 2,400 calories is very likely to be deficient in vitamins and minerals - a risk inherent in reducing the gross intake of food. it is recommended therefore that this diet be supplemented. this will not interfere with weight reduction but will help to avoid deficiencies of the type which have made reduction hazardous in the past.
a good way to die young is to reduce too quickly. on this diet, which permits much more generous meals than most, a normal person should lose about 6 pounds a month. on it, some of the author's readers and radio listeners have lost a much as 150 pounds - safely, sanely and without discomfort.
*135 Breakfast
1 serving of fruit
1 egg or egg substitute
.5 slice (thin)whole wheat toast with .5 level tsp. butter
or
1 glass of skimmed milk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)
Eggs and Egg Substitutes
Prepare your egg in one of the following ways:
Plain omelet
Poached
Soft-boiled
hard-boiled
Raw
Substitutes for 1 egg:
Cottage Cheese (4 Tbs)
Lamb chop (1 small, lean
Lamb chop (1 small, lean)
Lamb kidney(10
Calves Liver (2OZ)
Mutton Chop (1 small, lean)
Buttermik (1 glass)
Skimmed milk (1 glass)
Lunch
1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl or meat substitute
1 vegetable from Vegetable List A
1 salad (from salad list
1 serving of fruit or dessert
1 glass of skim milk or buttermilk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)
*136 Meat Substitutes
Cottage cheese (2/3 cup)
1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl, or meat substitute
2 vegetables from Vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable list B
OR
1 vegetable from vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable List B
PLUS
1 helping of salad (Salad List)
1 portion of fruit or dessert
Coffee or tea (no sugar, cream or milk)
Soup List
Consomme
Clear vegetable soup
Beef broth
Chicken, mutton broth
other clear soups
note: no creamed soups, none with milk or containing vegetables, meat or cereals.
*137 Fruit List
orange (small)
Grapefruit (1/2 medium)
Apple (1 small)
Pineapple (2 average slices)
Peach (1)
Cantaloupe (1/2 medium)
Melons (2 in. section of avverage-size melon)
Tangerines (1 large)
Berries (1/2 cup)
Apricots (2 medium)
Grapes (12)
Cherries(10)
Pear(1 medium)
Plums(2)
Nectarines(3)
Persimmon(1/2 small)
Fruit Juices: Grapefruit, Orange (unsweetened; 6 oz or 3/4 of water glass)
Vegetable list A
Asparagus (fresh or canned; 8)
Stringbeans(1/2 cup)
Wax beans (1/2 cup
Beet greens (2 heaping Tbs.)
Broccoli (1 5" stalk)
Brussels sprouts (1.2 cup)
Cabbage, cooked (1/2 cup)
Cabbage, raw (3/4 cup, shredded)
Cauliflower (1/2 cup)
Celery (5 stalks)
Chard (1/2 cup)
*138 Chicory (1/2 cup)
Eggplant (1/2 cup)
Endive(10 medium stalks)
Green pepper (1 medium)
Kohlrabi (2 heaping Tbs)
Leeks, chopped (1/3 cup)
Lettuce (10 leaves)
Radishes (5 medium)
Sauerkraut (1/2 cup)
Spinach (1/2 cup)
Tomatoes, fresh (1)
Tomatoes, canned (1/2 cup)
Tomato juice (4 oz.; 1/2 cup)
Watercress (10 pieces)
Vegetable B
Beets (2 heaping Tbs.)
Carrots (e heaping Tbs.)
Chives (6)
Dandelion greens (3 heaping Tbs)
Kale (2 heaping Tbs.)
Onion (1 , small size)
Parsnips (2 heaping Tbs.)
peas (2 heaping Tbs.)
pumpkin (3 heaping Tbs.)
Rutabaga (2 heaping Tbs.)
Squash (2 heaping Tbs.)
Turnips (2 heaping Tbs.)
Meat List
Lean beefsteak (1/4lb., about 1' thick, 2.5', square)
Roast beef (2 slices, about 3' square, 1/4' thick)
Beef liver ((1 slice, 3' square, 1/2 ' thick)
*139 Beef tongue (2 average slices)
Beef kidney (1/4 lb.)
Hamburger (1/4 lb.)
Calf's liver (1/4 lb.)
Lamb kidney (2, average size)
Lamb chop (2, medium size)
Roast lamb (1 slice, 3 1/2' square, 1/4' thick
Mutton chop (2 medium size)
Boiled mutton (1 slice, 4' square, 1/2' thick)
Roast Veal (1 slice, 3'x2', 1/4' thick
Veal cutlet (1 average size)
Veal kidney (2, average size)
Chicken, white meat ( 2 slices, 4' square, cut very thin)
Chicken, broiler (1/2 medium size)
Chicken gizzards (2, average size)
(def - either the inner area of an animal that is involved in digestion of food or, more generally referring to innards)
Chicken livers (2 whole medium size)
Fish List
Sea bass (1/4 lb)
Bluefish "
Cod, fresh or salt (1/4 lb. to 1/2 lb. )
Flounder (")
Haddock (")
Halibut (1/4 lb)
Kingfish ('')
Pike (")
Porgy )")
Red snapper (")
Scallops (2/3 cup, raw measurement)
Shrimp (")
Smelt (1/4 lb)
Weakfish (")
Clams, round (10-12)
Crabmeat (1 crab or 3/4 cup flakes)
Lobster (1/2 small lobster or 1 cup flakes)
*140 Mussels (4 large or 8 small)
Oysters (12 large)
Salads
Tossed greens Watercress, lettuce, tomato
Radish and watercress
Chef's salad
Pimento and greens
baked stuffed tomato, with cottage cheese and chopped celery
if butter is omitted from vegetables at lunch, 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of salad dressing may be used, divide dressing between lunch and dinner salads. two daily are a good idea, for they increase your feeling of satiety.
Deserts
other than low-carbohydrate fruits such as strawberries and most of the melons, there is no such thing as a low-calorie dessert which a nutritionist with a conscience can recommend. (I'm not about to feed you on gelatin, colored with coal-tar dyes, artificially flavored and sweetened). whole gelatin, with added low-carbohydrate fruits, may occasionally be used. if you wish to chance occasional use of saccharin, you will find that low-calorie gingerale added to nonfat mild powder will help slake the sweet tooth. but if you must use artificially sweetened desserts and drinks, do it with discretion, for abuse of saccharin, in the light of all the evidence, is gambling, particularly for me. if temptation is the only thing you can't resist, some of the following devices for controlling appetite should help you.
*141 Hunger Halters
there are nutritional techniques to cope with the yen for sweets and there are effective behavior modifiers which help to keep you from overeating. in the heath food stores, you will find unsweetened protein powders and tablets. you will note that I did Not mention the protein liquids. the omission is thoughtful. many (I think virtually all) of these are 'collagen' - which is a fancy disguise for gelatin. gelatin is not a complete protein and doesn't really slake appetite. (if it did, the French Revolution might have been averted, for they tried to satisfy the starving public with gelatin and necessarily failed.)
the protein concentrates are sometimes 'sweetened' with vanilla flavor . this does give the illusion of sweetness, if you must have that . a small amount of the powder in water or, better yet, the Chewing of a few protein tablets between meals will do double duty in controlling appetite, for it satisfies the urge to snake non something and tends to keep the blood sugar from sagging - which is the trigger for appetite in many people.
another nutritional aid is bran. 500 mg of bran in a tablet - again, chewed - yields a surprising satiety effect and adds the dividend of avoiding the constipation which sometimes occurs when food intake is sharply reduced. See 'Diet versus Constipation in appendix C for explicit instructions on using bran, for other supplements see chapter 12.
a technique of major benefit to dieters is behavior modification. certain characteristics of overeaters make reduction of food intake difficult for them. they don't chew enough ; they gulp; they don't really taste food; they tend to read or watch TV or listen to radio when they eat. CHEW THOROUGHLY AND SLOWLY. direct your attention to what you're doing, which means bypassing TV and other diversions while eating. COUNT 10 BEFORE YOU MOVE YOUR FORK FROM PLATE TO MOUTH, AND CHEW EACH MOUTHFUL 10 TIMES. really concentrate on tasting what you're eating. as simple as these measures are , they help.
finally, Don't use the appetite-depressant drugs. I don't want to write a whole chapter, which would be required, to give you
*142 all the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the note that a good part of the action of these dangerous medications comes from their depressing effect on the sense of smell. (when your sense of smell is acute, you're more inclined to overeat.) if you must interfere with that, use an inhaler containing one of the amphetamine-type drugs. there is not point in upsetting the whole body when your target is your nose alone.
CHAPTER 11 - THE LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIET
lesson #1: a low carbohydrate diet is a real economic threat to bakers of bread and processors of sugar, cereals. and grains. when you read hysterical descriptions of such diets as being radical or dangerous, be sure to ascertain the credentials of the critics. you'll find many of them associated, directly or indirectly, with manufacturers of high-carbohydrate foods ranging from cornflakes to soda pop and candy. a conventional 1,200-calorie reducing diet contains 150 grams of carbohydrate. a low carbohydrate diet contains about 60 grams. that difference doesn't license hysteria.
Lesson #2: your first step is to provide yourself with a handbook listing the carbohydrate values of foods. I've published one and there are many others available, most of them in inexpensive paperback form. you need this for the break-in period when you are learning to hold your carbohydrate intake down. i know you think you're are hidden traps in today's marketplace. few would suspect the high sugar content of ketchup or the presence of sugar in canned green peas or the fact that Shake 'n Bake is about 50% sugar. most people are astonished to learn that the nondairy 'creamers' are 65% sugar and
*144 that there is sugar added to some brands of salt. take nothing for granted, for what you miss will surface on your hips. get the handbook.
Lesson#3: count your carbohydrate grams before each meal, your objective is to stay within range of 60 grams of carbohydrate a day. that isn't as easy as it sounds, util you begin to learn and can select foods 'by reflex'. early you will discover that a glass of pineapple and other fruits which are astonishingly high in sugar, you will learn to eat open-faced sandwiches, thereby avoiding one slice of bread and doubling up on the protein - the cheese, meat, fish, fowl, or whatever constitutes the 'filling' of the sandwich. and 'filling' is a well-chosen word, for adequate protein intake, rarely provide by ordinary sandwiches, does 'stick to the ribs'. (Would you accept the ham in a ham sandwich as a portion, say for lunch, if it were served without bread?) you will learn to reach for a bit of cheese instead of a cookie and you will drop breakfast cereals in favor of protein foods at breakfast.
the 60 gram figure isn't critical; it's a starting point and reflects my conservative approach. some people thrive on less; some grow weak and irritable when intake goes down to 20 or 40 grams, and some require more than 60.
the diet specifies 5 teaspoons of vegetable oil daily. some people take it like medicine, by the spoonful and some try to use capsules, though that will call for an inordinate number of doses. most find the vegetable oil enjoyable in it normal habitat - on salads. this intake is a Must, for reasons I've already explained. don't use the oil fro frying. while there is nothing wrong with properly fried food as such, the heat may change the oil chemically, depriving you of the property for which it is being recommended: that of expediting weight loss and directing the loss toward the problem areas.
this diet is for healthy people. it isn't intended for those whose physicians have ordered low-fat menus. it is divided into 6 meals for the good reason that this helps weight loss and weight control,
*145 and aids in normalizing the body's handling of both sugar and fats. it is also a formidable help for those who can resist anything but temptation, for there is little incentive to cheat when you are never fare away in time from a snack or a meal.
when first i experimented with the low-carbohydrate diet about 15 years ago, i specified margarine as a spread since it's made from vegetable oil. however, my good friend Dr. Richard Passwater has pointed out that there is an abnormal concentration of an abnormal type of fat in modern margarine which actually harms rather than protects the arteries. if you elect to use margarine, I'd prefer that you confine yourself to 1 teaspoonful daily, using vegetable oil to make up the rest of the 5-teaspoon-quota. when you buy vegetable oil, be sure it is free of BHA, BHT and other additives. while there is no essential difference in supermarket versus health food store oils (they are all over-processed, those in the heath food stores usually are additive-free.
the typical low-carbohydrate menu which follows can be adapted to your own habits, so long as you stay within its limitations. this is to say that you can substitute any protein for any protein, but you can't replace a protein with a fat or sugar or starch. you can substitute one vegetable oil for another and you can substitute one starch for another. (this doesn't contradict what i wrote before about different physiological effects of the same amounts of different starches. those differences are in your chemistry more than in the foods. ) you cant't use sugar as a substitute for starch and that includes any type of sugar. there is no form of that much abused food which isn't dangerous in high dosage and that includes white, yellow, brown, raw and turbinado sugars, as well as honey, fructose molasses and maple syrup. sugar is sugar.
in adapting the menu to your own life-style, keep in mind that limitation of gross carbohydrate intake is the active principle in this diet. 10 grams more or less of carbohydrate daily will not prove crucial, but grater deviations from the 60 gram level may be significant, speeding weight loss if lower and retarding it if higher. your subjective feeling of well-being may vary with such
*146 changes. how you feel and the verdict on your scale will be the ultimate arbiters of the correctness of the diet for you.
consistency in using the diet is crucial. consistency in weight loss Isn't crucial. weigh yourself once a week, lest daily fluctuations unnecessarily plunge you into euphoria or depression.
Sample Low-Carbohydrate Menu
Breakfast
small orange or half grapefruit
poached egg with sausages (2; no BHT, BHA, or other preservatives) 1/2 slice of whole-wheat or other whole-grain bread, with 1/2 tsp. of margarine or if preferred, 1 level tsp. mayonnaise
beverage of choice - coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herb or regular tea. cream if desired; no sugar.
Morning Snack
I cup skimmed milk
1/4 cup creamed cottage cheese If bran is being used, 1 tsp. coarse bran may be stirred into cheese.
Lunch
Clear soup (optional)\Chicken or tunafish salad. use 4 oz. protein food, 1 tsp. mayonnaise, romaine or bibb lettuce, chicory or escarole (unlimited amounts) plus chopped scallion, slice tomato.
any vegetable from approved list.
brown rice crackers (..equivalent to 1 slice bread) if you did not use margarine at breakfast, 1/2 tsp. can be used, in lieu of this, any nut butter can be used, 1/2 tsp. don't overdo -nuts are high in protein and polyunsaturated fat, but contain considerable carbohydrate.
beverage of choice
Afternoon Booster
1/2 cup plain yogurt. if not using bran tablets, coarse bran may be stirred in.
cheese, natural, not processed, not cheese spread, 1 oz. on 1 small whole-wheat cracker
Dinner
Clear soup (optional)
4oz. tomato juice
steak or chops or hambuger or fish (1/4 lb. cooked weight)
approved vegetable
tossed salad, vinegar and oil dressing.
Strawberries, with Half & Half if desired
Beverage of choice
Evening Snack
1/2 cup skimmed milk or plain yogurt (bran addition optional in yogurt)
1 oz. any leftover chicken, cheese, met, fish or 1 tsp. peanut of other nut butter on 2 brown crackers.
Approved Vegetables
Vegetables marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C, often rich in other nutritional values and should be emphasized if they please your palate. of course, the vitamins in your multiple vitamin supplement will protect you even if you're determined not to eat anything that's good for you.
asparagus, avocado, *beet greens, *broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, *chard', chicory, *collards, cucumbers , *dandelion, eggplant, endive, escarole, green pepper, green or wax beans, *kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, *mustard, radishes, sauerkraut, *spinach, string beans, summer squash, tomatoes, tomato juice, *turnip greens, watercress.
Approved Fruits
take 2 servings of fruit daily, in amounts listed. those marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C. fresh, canned, cooked, or frozen fruits may be used, if they're free of added sugar - artificially sweetened fruit is okay, though. don't peel fresh fruit - peels are fiber sources.
apple (small), applesauce (1/2 cup), apricots, fresh ( 2 medium), Apricots, dried (4 halves)
banana (1/2 small), blackberries(1/2 cup), blueberries (2/3 cup), *cantaloupe (1/4 of 6 in. melon),
cherries (10 large), cranberries (1 cup), dates (2), figs, fresh (2 large), figs, dried (1 small), *grapefruit (1/2 small), *grapefruit juice (1/2 cup), grapes (12 large), grape juice (1/4 cup), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), mango (1 small), Nectarine (1 medium), *orange (1 small), *orange juice (1/2 cup), papaya (1/3 medium), peach (1 medium), pear (1 small), persimmon (1/2 small), pineapple((1/2 cup), pineapple juice (1/3 cup), plums (2 medium), prunes (2 medium), raspberries (1 cup), rhubarb (1 cup), *strawberries (1 cup), tangerine (1 cup), watermelon (1 cup)
all fruits and vegetables, whether served uncooked or cooked, peeled or unpeeled, should be thoroughly washed before consumption. pesticide residues help no one and can be reduced significantly by washing.
protein substitutions may be made as follows. a quarter of a cup of creamed or uncreamed cottage cheese, farmer cheese or pot cheese may be substituted for 1 ounce of meat. approximately 2 ounces of meat, raw weight, may be replaced with 1 egg. an ounce of cheddar or other American-type cheese, or the equivalent
*150 in other types, can replace about 2 ounces of meat, raw weight. peanut butter is a good source of protein, but it is also a good source of carbohydrate,and the commercial varieties contain saturated fat. even if it'[s one of your favorite snackfoods, eat no more than one tablespoon of peanut butter weekly.
CHAPTER 12 - SUPPLEMENTS TO REDUCING DIETS.
*151 multiple-vitamin-mineral supplements, frequently combined in the same capsule or tablet, are widely available from many manufacturers.
megavitamin potencies are not necessary, for our objective is to protect you against deficiency. with such supplements, it is desirable to use an additional Vitamin B Complex concentrate. desiccated liver is good choice. the carbohydrate content of brewer's yeast makes this ordinarily excellent supplement, undesirable with a low-carbohydrate or restricted calorie diet a Vitamin B Complex capsule or tablet will be a helpful addition...
Bran is more effective i the coarse rather than the finely ground form. either form may be obtained in tablets as well as 'loose'. a detailed description of the way in which to introduce bran (see p174...Brewer's Yeast, which I employ as a source of Vitamin B Complex, is available in powder and in tablet and capsule form. be sure that what you buy Is brewer's yeast and not the Torula type. if the label doesn't tell you, write to the manufacturer. the distinction is important, for the Torula type doesn't supply selenium, which Is in brewer's yeast. Selenium is regarded as a very effective preventive agent for may types of cancer. so much so that higher levels of human cancer in areas have been found where soil selenium values are low...
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
3.26.2019 POSTMODERN TIMES: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture by Gene Edward Veith, Jr. 1994
*16 according to a recent poll, 66%of Americans believe that 'there is no such thing as absolute truth'.
*33 ..the age of reason, scientific discovery and human autonomy is termed the Enlightenment. its thinkers embraced classicism with its order and rationality (although their version of classicism neglected the supernaturalism of Plato and Aristotle.) however they lumped Christianity together with paganism as out dated superstitions. reason alone, so they thought, may now replace the reliance on the supernatural born out of the ignorance of 'unenlightened' times...
soon people began to answer ethical questions in terms of the closed system and a new approach to moral issues - utilitarianism - emerged. Utilitarians decided moral issues, not by appealing to transcendent absolutes, but by studying the effect of an action upon the system. stealing is wrong, not because the Ten Commandments say so, but because stealing interferes with the economic functioning of society. something is good if it makes the system run more smoothly. something is evil if it interferes with the
*34 cogs of the vast machine. practicality becomes the sole moral criterion. if it works, it must be good.
Utilitarianism is the view that justified slavery, exploitive child labor and the starvation of the poor, all in the name of economic efficiency. today this enlightenment ethic is the view that favors abortion because it reduces the welfare rolls and sanctions euthanasia because it reduces hospital bills. Utilitarianism is a way of facing moral issues without God.
as Enlightenment science continued to gather momenturm into the 19th century, the final tie to god dissolved. the Deists taught that while god is not, strictly speaking, necessary to everyday life, he Was necessary to get everything started. Charles Darwin , however, argued that god was not even necessary to explain the creation. in describing 'the origin of species' in terms of the closed natural system of cause and effect, Darwin removed the need for any kind of creator. nature became completely self-contained. science could now explain everything.
eventually, thinkers discarded even Enlightenment classicism. the rationalism that had its roots in Plato and Aristotle assumed universal absolutes and nonmaterial truths. in the 19th century, however, the empirical supplanted the rational. according to 19th century materialism, only what we can observe is real, the physical universe, as apprehended by our senses and as studied by the scientific method, is the Only reality.
the philosophers known as the Logical Positivists went so far as to say that any statement that could not be verified empirically (such as theological, metaphysical, aesthetic and moral statements) are meaningless. you cannot show me 'God' or 'justice'; therefore, they do not exist. abstract philospphy is nothing more than a game of language. (It did not seem to mater to the Logical positivists that their own criterion of meaning is also nonempirical and this by their own standards must be meaningless.)
the heritage of the Enlightenment blossomed in diverse ways. methodologies designed to dissect natural objects began to be applied to human beings. the 'social sciences' were invented. sociology purported to explain human institutions; psychology sought o explain the inner life of human beings, all in terms of a closed natural system accessible by empirical scientific methods.
societies and economies wee re-thought and re-engineered.
*35 the American Constitution and free enterprise economics, like the natural sciences, had their origin in a Biblical worldview, though they dovetailed with Enlightenment theories. the social theories that excluded God went much further.under the assumption that all problems could be solved by human planning, various schemes of socialism succeeded the noble ideals and brutal practices of the of the French Revolution. the most thoroughgoing attempt to remake society and human planning, various schemes of socialism succeeded the noble ideals and brutal practices of the French Revolution. the most thoroughgoingattempt to remake society and human beings according to a rationalistic therory came through the imposition of Marx's dialectical materialism on a vast percentage of teh world's population. Marxism eradicated private property, sought to liquidate religion, suppressed natie cultures and tried to abolish individualism i favor of a vast collective community.
*33 ..the age of reason, scientific discovery and human autonomy is termed the Enlightenment. its thinkers embraced classicism with its order and rationality (although their version of classicism neglected the supernaturalism of Plato and Aristotle.) however they lumped Christianity together with paganism as out dated superstitions. reason alone, so they thought, may now replace the reliance on the supernatural born out of the ignorance of 'unenlightened' times...
soon people began to answer ethical questions in terms of the closed system and a new approach to moral issues - utilitarianism - emerged. Utilitarians decided moral issues, not by appealing to transcendent absolutes, but by studying the effect of an action upon the system. stealing is wrong, not because the Ten Commandments say so, but because stealing interferes with the economic functioning of society. something is good if it makes the system run more smoothly. something is evil if it interferes with the
*34 cogs of the vast machine. practicality becomes the sole moral criterion. if it works, it must be good.
Utilitarianism is the view that justified slavery, exploitive child labor and the starvation of the poor, all in the name of economic efficiency. today this enlightenment ethic is the view that favors abortion because it reduces the welfare rolls and sanctions euthanasia because it reduces hospital bills. Utilitarianism is a way of facing moral issues without God.
as Enlightenment science continued to gather momenturm into the 19th century, the final tie to god dissolved. the Deists taught that while god is not, strictly speaking, necessary to everyday life, he Was necessary to get everything started. Charles Darwin , however, argued that god was not even necessary to explain the creation. in describing 'the origin of species' in terms of the closed natural system of cause and effect, Darwin removed the need for any kind of creator. nature became completely self-contained. science could now explain everything.
eventually, thinkers discarded even Enlightenment classicism. the rationalism that had its roots in Plato and Aristotle assumed universal absolutes and nonmaterial truths. in the 19th century, however, the empirical supplanted the rational. according to 19th century materialism, only what we can observe is real, the physical universe, as apprehended by our senses and as studied by the scientific method, is the Only reality.
the philosophers known as the Logical Positivists went so far as to say that any statement that could not be verified empirically (such as theological, metaphysical, aesthetic and moral statements) are meaningless. you cannot show me 'God' or 'justice'; therefore, they do not exist. abstract philospphy is nothing more than a game of language. (It did not seem to mater to the Logical positivists that their own criterion of meaning is also nonempirical and this by their own standards must be meaningless.)
the heritage of the Enlightenment blossomed in diverse ways. methodologies designed to dissect natural objects began to be applied to human beings. the 'social sciences' were invented. sociology purported to explain human institutions; psychology sought o explain the inner life of human beings, all in terms of a closed natural system accessible by empirical scientific methods.
societies and economies wee re-thought and re-engineered.
*35 the American Constitution and free enterprise economics, like the natural sciences, had their origin in a Biblical worldview, though they dovetailed with Enlightenment theories. the social theories that excluded God went much further.under the assumption that all problems could be solved by human planning, various schemes of socialism succeeded the noble ideals and brutal practices of the of the French Revolution. the most thoroughgoing attempt to remake society and human planning, various schemes of socialism succeeded the noble ideals and brutal practices of the French Revolution. the most thoroughgoingattempt to remake society and human beings according to a rationalistic therory came through the imposition of Marx's dialectical materialism on a vast percentage of teh world's population. Marxism eradicated private property, sought to liquidate religion, suppressed natie cultures and tried to abolish individualism i favor of a vast collective community.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
3.12.2019 MAN OF PEACE (From Every Side Syria's Democratic Opposition Has Been Sidelined) by Mindy Belz
QAMESHLI, Syria - Gabriel Moshe is the sort of gentleman whose coat and tie look morning-fresh though it's nearing midnight and we are talking by the last light and heat before the electricity shuts down. rationing the power grid is just one routine part of life in a war zone.
Moshe's dignified profile shouldn't fool anyone:
He's actually an enemy of the state.
president Bashar al-Assad's regime arrested him in 2013 and held him for 2.5 years, a man of peace caught in the politics of war.
Moshe heads the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), a prominent party founded in the 1950s. ADO draws support from Syriac, Chaldean and Assyrian Christians who dream of a day when they will have truly representative government and equal rights under the law. his stature - and threat to the state - grew as the plight of Christians and other minorities in Syria worsened.
the 56 year old in many ways is a an without a country. born in Quameshli and arrested by its state security bureau, Moshe returned to live here. he grew up among Arabs and Kurds in this city with churches on nearly every corner. his father owned a shop in the Jewish quarter.
such diversity served Moshe in building a wide political base, though today Qameshli is divided, with war driving out perhaps half its population. in an uneasy truce, the Syrian army controls some sectors and opposition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) others. offices for anti-Assad groups like ADO and the Syriac Military Council actually sit inside a government controlled area.
Moshe operates now on the periphery and under the watchful eye of the state. though a long-standing partner in the opposition, Moshe's QADO opposes taking up arms, making it an uneasy ally with militias governing northeast Syria.
if that's not enough, he and other Christians find themselves at odds with their Christian brethren. the patriarchs and most leaders in Syria's established churches continue to support Assad, seeing him as despotic enough to control jihadists and other enemies of the church.
it was a political disagreement with Barnabas that sent the apostle Paul back to Syria, so we shouldn't be surprised that 8 years into the Syrian War, Christians find themselves divided. yet the breach has consequences, especially as Assad retakes most of the country an appears stronger than ever.
a long record of injustices starting with Hafez al-Assad, Basha's father who ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, has taught Moshe and democracy advocates like him to yearn for something altogether new.
he and others formed the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change in 2006 as a secular coalition calling for gradual and peaceful transition. when 2011 Arab Spring protests ignited in Syria, the coalition evolved into the leading voice for political changed - democratic, non-Islamist change - all the while struggling to win deserved recognition and support from the west. the jihadist armies that hijacked Syria's anti-Assad revolt confined the democrats' gains to this enclave east of the Euphrates.
Moshe endured setbacks from the Assads and from the terrorists. like many in the opposition, he thinks the 2 are linked.
with war underway in 2011, Assad without explanation released Islamist fighters from Sednaya Prison. many went on to head the al-Qaeda-linked forces fighting in Syria - raising speculation released islamist fighters fro Senaya prison. many sent on to head the al-Qaeda-linked forces fighting in Syria -raising speculation that Assad actually contrived to use jihadist groups as justification for all out attacks, which have included chemical weapons and barrel bombs. all opposition groups became 'terrorists', justifying Assad calling in Hezbollah and beckoning Russian intervention.
the Assad regime has notoriously not protected some Christian populations in the war. that includes Damascus and Aleppo with their loyal church bases, where church leaders were kidnapped under government -held areas, raising suspicions. but in historically Christian Hasakah, the region that includes Qameshli, populations that also opposed Assad were left particularly vulnerable to attack by jihadists.
US strategists have been slow to understand the complex battle field , allowing Russian and Assad to gain the upper hand, perhaps only putting off a coming cataclysm for people who most deserve support. 'it's the peaceful people who are attacked and suffer most her, he said.
Moshe's dignified profile shouldn't fool anyone:
He's actually an enemy of the state.
president Bashar al-Assad's regime arrested him in 2013 and held him for 2.5 years, a man of peace caught in the politics of war.
Moshe heads the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), a prominent party founded in the 1950s. ADO draws support from Syriac, Chaldean and Assyrian Christians who dream of a day when they will have truly representative government and equal rights under the law. his stature - and threat to the state - grew as the plight of Christians and other minorities in Syria worsened.
the 56 year old in many ways is a an without a country. born in Quameshli and arrested by its state security bureau, Moshe returned to live here. he grew up among Arabs and Kurds in this city with churches on nearly every corner. his father owned a shop in the Jewish quarter.
such diversity served Moshe in building a wide political base, though today Qameshli is divided, with war driving out perhaps half its population. in an uneasy truce, the Syrian army controls some sectors and opposition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) others. offices for anti-Assad groups like ADO and the Syriac Military Council actually sit inside a government controlled area.
Moshe operates now on the periphery and under the watchful eye of the state. though a long-standing partner in the opposition, Moshe's QADO opposes taking up arms, making it an uneasy ally with militias governing northeast Syria.
if that's not enough, he and other Christians find themselves at odds with their Christian brethren. the patriarchs and most leaders in Syria's established churches continue to support Assad, seeing him as despotic enough to control jihadists and other enemies of the church.
it was a political disagreement with Barnabas that sent the apostle Paul back to Syria, so we shouldn't be surprised that 8 years into the Syrian War, Christians find themselves divided. yet the breach has consequences, especially as Assad retakes most of the country an appears stronger than ever.
a long record of injustices starting with Hafez al-Assad, Basha's father who ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, has taught Moshe and democracy advocates like him to yearn for something altogether new.
he and others formed the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change in 2006 as a secular coalition calling for gradual and peaceful transition. when 2011 Arab Spring protests ignited in Syria, the coalition evolved into the leading voice for political changed - democratic, non-Islamist change - all the while struggling to win deserved recognition and support from the west. the jihadist armies that hijacked Syria's anti-Assad revolt confined the democrats' gains to this enclave east of the Euphrates.
Moshe endured setbacks from the Assads and from the terrorists. like many in the opposition, he thinks the 2 are linked.
with war underway in 2011, Assad without explanation released Islamist fighters from Sednaya Prison. many went on to head the al-Qaeda-linked forces fighting in Syria - raising speculation released islamist fighters fro Senaya prison. many sent on to head the al-Qaeda-linked forces fighting in Syria -raising speculation that Assad actually contrived to use jihadist groups as justification for all out attacks, which have included chemical weapons and barrel bombs. all opposition groups became 'terrorists', justifying Assad calling in Hezbollah and beckoning Russian intervention.
the Assad regime has notoriously not protected some Christian populations in the war. that includes Damascus and Aleppo with their loyal church bases, where church leaders were kidnapped under government -held areas, raising suspicions. but in historically Christian Hasakah, the region that includes Qameshli, populations that also opposed Assad were left particularly vulnerable to attack by jihadists.
US strategists have been slow to understand the complex battle field , allowing Russian and Assad to gain the upper hand, perhaps only putting off a coming cataclysm for people who most deserve support. 'it's the peaceful people who are attacked and suffer most her, he said.
3.12.2019 ASSESSING THE INTERACTION OF ADULTERY, NO-FAULT DIVORCE, LGBTQ, TRENDS, POVERTY AND CHURCH SURRENDER (World Magazine 3.16.2019)
Marvin Olasky interview with Patrick Henry College professor Stephen Baskerville ..the author of Not Peace but a Sword: The Political Theology of the English Revolution. his most recent book, The New politics of Sex: The Sexual Revolution, Civil Liberties and the Growth of Governmental Power, brings a sword to some current debates. here are edited excerpts of our interview.
should we mourn the abandonment of that old-fashioned word, Fornication? (def sex between a male and female who are not married)?
many churches are deserting their posts an language is an indication. even from the pulpit today, let alone in public policy, we don't hear words like fornication, adultery, cohabitation, even sin. we hear words like Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual Harassment. we've substituted legal jargon for Christian morality and have allowed political ideology to replace Christian sexual morality. instead of emphasizing families, pastors, churches and local communities - moral pressure - we're bringing in police, judges and lawyers, the instruments of the coercive state to enforce a new kind of sexual morality dictated by the government.
as Christians and non-Christians approach the elephant, does one group fixate on the long trunk and the other on its massive legs?
Christians deal with homosexuality and transgenderism. non-Christians emphasize issues like campus rape, Harvey Weinstein, allegations. Christians tend to stay away from those. they often don't talk to each other and don't see the bigger picture of what's going on.in The New Politics of Sex (most recent) you connect the dots.
In The New Politics of Sex you connect the dots.
our multifaceted sexual revolution has had a huge impact on our society, but scholars, journalists, Christians and our clergy have not shown the interconnections.
Cohabitation didn't come purely from the culture. it also came from public policy changes like the creation of the welfare state that offered a very clear financial incentive to have children our of wedlock.
It's almost 50 years since no-fault divorce began in California with a bill signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. how did that eventually lead to changing ideas about same-sex marriage?
it abolished marriage as a legally enforceable contract. the state was saying it can dissolve your marriage over your objections without you having done anything wrong. from then on marriage retained its moral power but was no longer legally enforceable.
that also had an effect on the homosexuality debate?
same-sex marriage activist said, 'If you want to go back to the monogamous, legally enforceable marriage of the 1950s, go ahead and we'll stay out of it'. only when marriage became serial monogamy, something you could get out of easily, did it fit the promiscuous lifestyle of many homosexuals.
Were churches sleeping when no-fault divorce emerged?
some churches did raise heir voices, but much of their attention was diverted at the time by Vietnam and civil rights. there was very little debate, very little discussion. no-fault divorce, the welfare state and the cohabitation explosion were all usurpations of the church's role by the state . governmental power was inserted into a realm of private life that had been the realm of the churches.
the churches withdrew from private life?
and the state moved in. what had been the role of pastors and priests became the role of lawyers, judges and social workers. the church has never tried to reclaim its turf and has been a major contributor of secularization, of people feeling the church is not part of their life when it's no enforcing the marriage contract.
What can be done now?
the church has got to step in. much of the history of the Christian church has been brave churchmen speaking out when the state overreaches its authority. this whole area of sexual morality is, frankly, our turf and God's turf. the state has a role but is overstepping.
pastors sometimes do counselling.
it's common when there's a divorce case that the man often loses access to his children. he goes to the pastor and says, 'Look, you married us. don't you have something to say about this? and the pastor says, 'I'll certainly pray for you and I can help you find a lawyer'. that's about it.
Why do many Christians talk more about the effects of homosexuality than the effects of single-parent homes?
the most destructive trend in our society is raising children without fathers, yet it's being promoted as a good thing...the consequences of single-parent homes and unwed child-bearing are much more severe than the problems caused by homosexuality. most of our domestic budget goes to solving problems created by the fatherless.
How many people promote single-parenting as a good thing?
look at an organization called Single Mothers by Choice, or the spate of books with titles like Raising boys Without Men. promoting single parenthood as an empowering move is destructive and the next logical step is raising children by homosexual couples. these different aspects of the sexual revolution feed upon and exacerbate one another.
What ideology are churches up against?
the first claim is for unlimited freedom, but there's also a corollary to that - and we're starting to see now the authoritarian side to it. Civil liberty violations in the name of sexual freedom, both feminist and homosexualist , are growing. this is much more than just a problem for Christians. it's a problem, a crisis, for our society as a whole.
Churches and pastors feel enormous pressure.
there's a feeling that the churches have only 2 choices, either to present a dogmatic Biblical view or to surrender. churches should combine compassion with biblical principles and find ways to show homosexuals that God loves them and the church loves them, but at the same time they're embarked on a very destructive lifestyle and our society is also making destructive choices. we need to be assertive on both of those courts.
Can we apply some lesson from history and sociology?
the Puritans emphasized family and that led to periods of enormous prosperity, political freedom and social stability. truncated relationships open the child to hyper-masculinity and gangs. we have an epidemic of fatherliness in our society: How many of those children are developing same-sex attractions because they don't have healthy male to identify with?
you also point out the poverty-fighting aspect of this.
churches have always preached relief for the poor. it's an absolute Christian imperative. virtually all the poverty in democratic countries is the result of family structure. we don't have starving children walking around with distended bellies: the people we call the poor in American are poor mostly because of family structure - single-parent homes, for the most part. Christian missionaries fed the poor, but they also taught them morality, including sexual morality: have children when you're married and stay married. many churches now emphasize relieving the poor but not building strong family structure.
the puritans emphasized both.
the purity in Puritanism was not just sexual purity but purity in things like alcohol, drugs, lust, evil thoughts. (note-really?) purity is the beginning of what make us free. in the English-speaking world, it's what makes us citizens, with purity the rite of passage to be an active citizen: when you're wallowing in sin and license, you're literally enslaved, in hock to the devil. you're only truly free when you have control of yourself.
We need to recapture that understanding?
Our rivals in the Islamic world understand this keenly. I obviously don't agree with their answer to the problem, but they understand that dialectic between purity and freedom, and they're playing on it. in contending with radical Islamists we need to recapture that element of our political history and our political culture.
should we mourn the abandonment of that old-fashioned word, Fornication? (def sex between a male and female who are not married)?
many churches are deserting their posts an language is an indication. even from the pulpit today, let alone in public policy, we don't hear words like fornication, adultery, cohabitation, even sin. we hear words like Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual Harassment. we've substituted legal jargon for Christian morality and have allowed political ideology to replace Christian sexual morality. instead of emphasizing families, pastors, churches and local communities - moral pressure - we're bringing in police, judges and lawyers, the instruments of the coercive state to enforce a new kind of sexual morality dictated by the government.
as Christians and non-Christians approach the elephant, does one group fixate on the long trunk and the other on its massive legs?
Christians deal with homosexuality and transgenderism. non-Christians emphasize issues like campus rape, Harvey Weinstein, allegations. Christians tend to stay away from those. they often don't talk to each other and don't see the bigger picture of what's going on.in The New Politics of Sex (most recent) you connect the dots.
In The New Politics of Sex you connect the dots.
our multifaceted sexual revolution has had a huge impact on our society, but scholars, journalists, Christians and our clergy have not shown the interconnections.
Cohabitation didn't come purely from the culture. it also came from public policy changes like the creation of the welfare state that offered a very clear financial incentive to have children our of wedlock.
It's almost 50 years since no-fault divorce began in California with a bill signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. how did that eventually lead to changing ideas about same-sex marriage?
it abolished marriage as a legally enforceable contract. the state was saying it can dissolve your marriage over your objections without you having done anything wrong. from then on marriage retained its moral power but was no longer legally enforceable.
that also had an effect on the homosexuality debate?
same-sex marriage activist said, 'If you want to go back to the monogamous, legally enforceable marriage of the 1950s, go ahead and we'll stay out of it'. only when marriage became serial monogamy, something you could get out of easily, did it fit the promiscuous lifestyle of many homosexuals.
Were churches sleeping when no-fault divorce emerged?
some churches did raise heir voices, but much of their attention was diverted at the time by Vietnam and civil rights. there was very little debate, very little discussion. no-fault divorce, the welfare state and the cohabitation explosion were all usurpations of the church's role by the state . governmental power was inserted into a realm of private life that had been the realm of the churches.
the churches withdrew from private life?
and the state moved in. what had been the role of pastors and priests became the role of lawyers, judges and social workers. the church has never tried to reclaim its turf and has been a major contributor of secularization, of people feeling the church is not part of their life when it's no enforcing the marriage contract.
What can be done now?
the church has got to step in. much of the history of the Christian church has been brave churchmen speaking out when the state overreaches its authority. this whole area of sexual morality is, frankly, our turf and God's turf. the state has a role but is overstepping.
pastors sometimes do counselling.
it's common when there's a divorce case that the man often loses access to his children. he goes to the pastor and says, 'Look, you married us. don't you have something to say about this? and the pastor says, 'I'll certainly pray for you and I can help you find a lawyer'. that's about it.
Why do many Christians talk more about the effects of homosexuality than the effects of single-parent homes?
the most destructive trend in our society is raising children without fathers, yet it's being promoted as a good thing...the consequences of single-parent homes and unwed child-bearing are much more severe than the problems caused by homosexuality. most of our domestic budget goes to solving problems created by the fatherless.
How many people promote single-parenting as a good thing?
look at an organization called Single Mothers by Choice, or the spate of books with titles like Raising boys Without Men. promoting single parenthood as an empowering move is destructive and the next logical step is raising children by homosexual couples. these different aspects of the sexual revolution feed upon and exacerbate one another.
What ideology are churches up against?
the first claim is for unlimited freedom, but there's also a corollary to that - and we're starting to see now the authoritarian side to it. Civil liberty violations in the name of sexual freedom, both feminist and homosexualist , are growing. this is much more than just a problem for Christians. it's a problem, a crisis, for our society as a whole.
Churches and pastors feel enormous pressure.
there's a feeling that the churches have only 2 choices, either to present a dogmatic Biblical view or to surrender. churches should combine compassion with biblical principles and find ways to show homosexuals that God loves them and the church loves them, but at the same time they're embarked on a very destructive lifestyle and our society is also making destructive choices. we need to be assertive on both of those courts.
Can we apply some lesson from history and sociology?
the Puritans emphasized family and that led to periods of enormous prosperity, political freedom and social stability. truncated relationships open the child to hyper-masculinity and gangs. we have an epidemic of fatherliness in our society: How many of those children are developing same-sex attractions because they don't have healthy male to identify with?
you also point out the poverty-fighting aspect of this.
churches have always preached relief for the poor. it's an absolute Christian imperative. virtually all the poverty in democratic countries is the result of family structure. we don't have starving children walking around with distended bellies: the people we call the poor in American are poor mostly because of family structure - single-parent homes, for the most part. Christian missionaries fed the poor, but they also taught them morality, including sexual morality: have children when you're married and stay married. many churches now emphasize relieving the poor but not building strong family structure.
the puritans emphasized both.
the purity in Puritanism was not just sexual purity but purity in things like alcohol, drugs, lust, evil thoughts. (note-really?) purity is the beginning of what make us free. in the English-speaking world, it's what makes us citizens, with purity the rite of passage to be an active citizen: when you're wallowing in sin and license, you're literally enslaved, in hock to the devil. you're only truly free when you have control of yourself.
We need to recapture that understanding?
Our rivals in the Islamic world understand this keenly. I obviously don't agree with their answer to the problem, but they understand that dialectic between purity and freedom, and they're playing on it. in contending with radical Islamists we need to recapture that element of our political history and our political culture.
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