'Gurl power' : aggrieved

You go gurl!

There are a lot of disaffected democrat voters in Denver. However, we at the Natural Exponent are cautious; we do not think that these people will necessarily vote for McCain.

For some Democrat women, many of them are very, very unhappy. On the other hand, if you add to this the aggrieved women who may simply stay home, Obama might have a problem in November.

But today, it's a long time until November. Indeed, maybe Hillary will pull a Samson and tear down Obama's paper-mache pillars. Bill will presumably already have provided the jawbone of the ass.

They saddled-up at Saddleback Church

A LOT HAS TO BE MADE of last Saturday's Q&A forum at Saddleback Church down in southern California—with McCain and Obama—I had a feeling that McCain would come away the winner. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback, moderated the forum.

It really comes down to something fundamental: Can a candidate give straight-up answers to questions about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America is tired of big speeches at big stadiums with teleprompters.

With that benchmark McCain scored, Obama did not.

McCain the former Naval aviator and prisoner-of-war was far more informed. When asked which leaders he would consult as president, he first mentioned General David Petraeus, the architect of the very successful American surge in Iraq. Contrast Obama who would seek out his grandmother and his wife Michelle for advice.With his answer McCain definitely signals he is ready to be commander-in-chief. McCain is thinking of America in time of war. We Christians must understand that the long-term terror war that America is engaged in must continually be in the thought life of our next president. If America fails in this, nothing else really matters.

Then regarding spiritual matters Pas. Warren asked, "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" McCain answered: At the moment of conception. Obama put it this way:

Whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is, you know, above my pay grade.

When Mrs. O and I are ghostwriting, we are very, very careful with metaphors. That was a spectacularly clumsy metaphor and it will haunt Obama.

There isn't a job on the planet above the pay grade of President of the United States. A president is not supposed to be a theologian or a scientist — but you cannot be unsure about the most defining moral issue in America today. Obama was very unsure of this and botched his answer, but it helps me better understand his moral world-view. If I had to guess I don't believe that Obama will make any new inroads with evangelicals. Anyone could see by all the answers given Saturday night that McCain beat Obama easily on substance, but Obama even lost on style, his "strong suit," probably because no teleprompters were allowed. Maybe Obama will increase his style quotient later during the debates, but he's certainly gotta get up to speed on the issues: At Saddleback he repeated the false claim that abortions haven't declined under President Bush; —wait,

G.W. Bush? the culture-of-life President Bush? abortions haven't declined? I wondered why Rick Warren didn't call him on this. Perhaps he doesn't know either. *Sigh*

Obama's outreach to evangelical voters was obviously sincere, but he doesn't actually agree with us on much.

Of course, the one way that McCain can blow his Saturday performance is if he picks a pro-abortion VP candidate.

I think the lowest point at Saddleback was Obama's insulting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. There's really nothing bold about attacking Clarence Thomas, the Left has virtually made a hobby out of it for the last 20 years since his hard-won nomination. Obama said that when he was nominated, the black Supreme Court nominee for the United States Supreme Court didn't have enough experience, and wasn't smart enough to serve on the Court. The irony was incredible...

After all was said and done one of these two candidates must have left Saddleback Church, saddle-sore.

College students --Concealed Carry on Campus

THREE WEEKS AGO, after I returned home from Jubilee, I turned on C-Span (Mrs. O finds C-Span insufferably boring) and found the most amazing program on: the first convention of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus --aka, SCCC.

It was held in Washington, DC. I didn't know, but the SCCC was formed on April 17, 2007, the next day following the Virginia Tech shooting. Remember?--32 students were killed by classmate Cho Seung. Virginia and I attended our church's prayer vigil a week after the shooting.

The first speaker I heard on C-span was John Lott; this guy always has a reputation for doing his homework. He is author of The Bias Against Guns, and, More Guns, Less Crime. And, surprisingly, SCCC invited Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

John Lott reasoned for about an hour that creating a safe zone (like Virginia Tech’s so-called “gun-free zone”) ends up doing nothing more than creating safe zones for criminals. In fact, that was Virginia Tech's experience, they created a safe-zone for Cho Seung to kill law-abiding citizens.

Afterwards, Paul Helmke resorted to condescension.

Helmke argued that college students often engage in risky behavior that should preclude them from having guns: “When I look back on my college days, most of my fraternity brothers didn’t have criminal records—not yet. Most of them, even those who were in ROTC and hunters—the behaviors they exhibited weren’t the kind of behaviors that gave me confidence that packing guns in their lockers or in their rooms would make me safer.”

Naturally, not everyone should pack heat. Considering Helmke’s total lack of knowledge about firearms, Natural Exponent believes citizens like him should not be carrying guns until they are better educated.

Here's the delio: I'm thinking about my nephew Mikey Trejo who is a college freshman. Mikey is a straight arrow. I'm also thinking of my little niece Amber Tango, a student, and former Element Leader in Air Force J-ROTC, so...

Why would Helmke paint all students with such a broad brush? Only responsible students would take steps necessary to obtain a concealed carry license. Criminals don't have to bother.

And as for Helmke’s obvious insult to ROTC and hunters, well, that is the pathology of the Left. I must commend Students for Concealed Carry on Campus for being willing to listen to the other side of the debate.

I've seen the other side in action: History teaches that Leftist student organizations are not so open-minded.

God visits man

There are different ways God visits man. The most common way God visits man is through people!

Inside the smaller ecosystem of Jubilee Vietnam Church, our young people regard the example of their elders.

In addition, some of our young people are recipients of great dreams and even fantastic unexplained visions. Does God visit man in these? Yes.

Here in the JVC sanctuary Virginia gives time to inquiries from Caleb, Andrew and Tuan (behind Andrew). This too is where God is found, in illumination. Remember, one's spiritual ecosystem is a reliable place to encounter God.

There are various and sundry ways God visits man, the pity is that we do not recognize God in people but instead prefer God in fantastic and sparkling packages. In seeing God as He isn't, we err.

Academic farewell

Silicon Valley's Jubilee Vietnam Church, although small, is nevertheless teeming with life and gusto.

Recently, following the JVC church service the Jubilee Deaconess Virginia Obregon gives an academic farewell to three of our Vietnam youth: Kelly, Kristie & Lilie are headed to ORU to study in the universtiy's Nursing Program.

Virginia and I will sorely miss them, just as we missed Tim and Joshua Bui who were away at school last year in Redding, CA. As mentioned in a Jubilee blog post, the idea of maintaining your ecosystem's health is found in its happy content members...

Do you want to rejuvenate your ecosystem? Cultivate your Youth!