The Killing of Abortion doctors

Jury Reaches Guilty Verdict in Murder of Abortion Doctor

I'm torn by this article. The question is this: "Is it wrong to murder a murderer?"

Some would say the "murderer" in this scenario (an Abortion Doctor) isn't a murderer... but if you believe the Dr. is committing murder, is it then murder or simply killing to take their life?

That's a hard question to answer. We have a fundamental obligation to protect those that can't protect themselves. The case linked above is interesting, because the Judge wanted the case to not be about abortion... which is precisely what it is about.

We have Murder charges... but we also have man-slaughter charges too... specifically for the purpose of punishing "poor" decisions, vs. "evil" decisions (at least, that's how I see it).

So, in this case, isn't that exactly the point?

If you believe Mr. Roeder at all (regardless of your view on Abortion rights), then according to his motives... isn't it technically a "poor" decision? His motives were, after all, to protect those he believed were defenseless. That's not exactly "evil" is it?

I think about Osama Bin Laden. I've thought about killing him multiple times. I've premeditated it for years. For me, the thing that holds me back is my inability to accomplish the task... but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it for years - and given the opportunity to kill him, I'd do it. So, is premeditation the standard by which we judge murder? If so, then if I ever see Osama Bin Laden, I guess I'm going to jail forever.

The Dr. was doing something within the law... there's no argument there. but does that absolve someone from their responsibility to protect others? (even if that responsibility is only perceived?)

I'm torn by this case.

Birthday tunes from iTunes... the list

So, not only was my 30th a super amazing evening, but the gifts I got were totally awesome, and totally ME!

Anyway, one "type" of gift I got was iTunes gift cards, and I got a bunch! That's really good news, because I've had a bunch of albums lined-up that I've wanted to purchase, and now I had the chance to do so.

I still have more credit left to buy another album or two, but here's what I've gotten so far (note: these are all full albums):

Christian

Church Music - David Crowder Band

A Collision (I already own B Collision) - David Crowder Band

Can You Hear Us? - David Crowder Band

Closer (EP) - Jars of Clay

Never Going Back to OK - The Afters

33 Miles - 33Miles

One Life - 33Miles

Pages Special Edition - Shane Barnard & Shane Everett (aka Shane & Shane)

Kingdom of Comfort - Delirious?

Wake Me - Tal & Acacia

What to Do With Daylight - Brooke Fraser

Albertine - Brooke Fraser

Secular

A Good Day - Priscilla Ahn

The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs - Various Artists (in the same vein of, and including, Priscilla Ahn, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson)

*Brooke Fraser falls in with the secular group of women at the end of the list as well... however, she is a Christian artist that blends in with both sides (and toured with the Hotel Cafe group for a bit).

I highly recommend all the albums above... they are all so awesome.

Call to Worship

It's been a long time... a very long time since I've had an evening of lengthy, intimate worship with God.

I'm not simply talking about a church service of worship, where the # of choruses are pre-planned, and God isn't given any room to move, except within the confines of the "planned evening".

What I'm talking about is the deep, meaningful, intimate worship that comes with people gathering together to sing songs and let God join them and move them the direction He wants.

Most of you who read my blog are familiar with the "First Sunday Night of the Month Worship Service" that used to occur at Emmanuel EV Free Church in Burbank. I miss that.

During my one year at APU, Nathan Duke and myself started to meet at the firepit near the small chapel outside our dorm, and play music. By the end of the year, it grew into a weekly Tues. Night event with multiple musicians, and that over 70 people (on avg.) would attend. We'd just play what we felt, or someone would mention a song and we'd play that until we were lead to another song. If we didn't know the song, we'd pass along our instruments to others that did know it. It was awesome, and I still look back at that with thankfulness that I was able to be an intrigal part of that event.

I want that again. I miss that type of communion with God.

I want to plan an evening next month (or maybe the first weekend of March) to get together with others and just praise God for who He is. Not just another venue to have a church service with someone to preach to me. No, I simply want a time to glorify God with music.

I'm still figuring this all out, but I know what I'm after, and I'm willing to make sure it happens. My hope is that friends tell friends who tell more friends, until it's a group of people I both know and don't know, but who are interested in spending an evening together glorifying God.

My idea is one similar to that which we started at APU: People show up with their voices... and with instruments if they have them. This isn't a "i'll stand on stage and lead you" type of thing. This is a "we get in a group and everyone has something to offer" type of thing.

Have a guitar? Bring it. Have more than one? Bring em all so others can play too. Bongos? Sure. Egg Shakers? You bet. Just your voice? Perfect. A heart focused on Christ? An absolute must.

I miss it. I miss it a lot. Don't you?

A couple different thoughts

1) I'm the only proclaimed Christian in my office. Today, my co-worker, Beyhan, approached me and she asked me a "religious" question - one which I believe I answered honestly, but also told her that I wanted to look into it further to make sure I didn't give an answer from ignorance. It was a great question:

"What does the Bible say are OK and "proper" reasons that a person should get married?



This was followed with, "Does the Bible say it is OK to not get married?"

Now the second one I answered easily... yes, it is OK to not get married. Paul even encourages it if possible in Corinthians.

But the first was interesting. It's not, "What does the Bible say about marriage?" but rather, about the reasons that good and appropriate to choose to get married.

My answer? As far as I know, the Bible doesn't say anything about what should be a persons reasons behind getting married, but instead simply talks at length about the marriage bond itself (and given those rules, one can deduce if their choice for marriage will be honoring in the long-term). I said I'd come back to her though. Anyone with any additional thoughts?

2) I read 3 articles today about the Massachusetts Senate race. Not one contributed the Democrat loss to policy decisions. Instead, they only blamed Democrats for falling asleep at the wheel during the campaign. Additionally, they all still found a way to through in a "Bush's fault" in their articles. These were from NY Times, ABC News, and Washington Post. Pathetic.


3) Following my #2 above, I'm really pissed that somehow "Health-care Reform" has become synonymous with "Public Health-care". Why can't we simply fix the problems of our system, without destroying the private industry? Furthermore, why doesn't someone point this out VERY VERY LOUDLY?

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, said he was skeptical of suggestions to scale back health care legislation and pass some incremental changes as part of a stripped-down bill.

“That’s probably not so wise,” Mr. Rockefeller said. “That could become another long process.”

One idea is to pass a bill that focuses on tough federal regulation of health insurance markets. But Mr. Rockefeller asked, “Does that cover 35 million Americans?”

Does this guy not get it... that many people who don't have health-care don't have it because they simply can't afford it?... but that if we can reduce the costs of health-care itself with reform (such as reduce lawsuit liability, and price gouging), then the costs will drop and then people might be able to afford it? Why is it so necessary for the Government to create a system that kills the Private Sector?

Fact, the health-care that is received here in the U.S.A. is the best in the world. Why destroy a system that has so much good in it? Why not simply fix the problems of the current system?

Another example of this stupid thinking: Illegal Immigrants and Border Security. Can we not pass legislation to fix our borders that focuses simply on the border problem, without needing to muddy the waters with a COMPLETELY SEPARATE ISSUE: "What do we do with the illegal aliens here today?"

Singing in the Rain!

Singing... because otherwise I'd be cursing! I was at lunch, across the street from my office. Sitting in the Coffee bean & Tea Leaf shop as my lunch nears its end, suddenly the skies open up and simply becomes water. I'm not sure you can call it rain when it is so thick. Instead it's simply "sky ocean".

Anyway, so I waited to go back across the street because I had my laptop with me, and frankly I didn't want to be soaked. While sitting in the coffee shop, I watched quite a few people pull out their umbrellas and attempt to traverse the sky ocean. The problem? The wind was so strong that the rain was literally traveling side-ways. There were about 10 of us that stayed in the shop watching these people and laughing. Umbrellas? They might as well have used fishnets for all the help they were.

So finally, it lightens up to the point where you might venture outside, but certainly wouldn't want to not have an umbrella. I figured it was my chance! I packed up, threw on my raincoat hood, put my laptop bag inside my coat, and went outside.

I'm standing anxiously at the stoplight (because I just missed my turn), waiting for the chance to walk across, with my head down, and my hood on. While standing there, I was taking into account the 4-ft wide "river" in front of me, and was contemplating exactly where was thinnest so I could jump across when the light changed. Still with my head down, the roar of the approaching traffic gets louder, and I check to make sure my laptop bag is not being exposed to the wet underneath my coat. I never bother to look up and down the street to watch the traffic. Head still down, I decide that, wanting to stand in the rain for as short a period as possible, I should prepare myself for my turn to go, and since the river was very thick, taking up most of the lane nearest me, and my laptop bag was heavy, I should be as far forward on the curb as possible so that I could more easily jump the water.

Have I painted a good enough picture for you here? Yup... it was straight out of a movie.

A very large white raised GMC truck goes flying by in the lane closest to me... the very same lane that currently was acting as the bed for a 4-ft wide river. I never did look up. The first I noticed the wave was as it obscured my view of my legs.

I looked up in shock, and over to the cars that were also waiting for the light to change. I saw a grin on every face.

Staring at them I took a step backward, only to be hit again as a second truck (goldish-tan this time I think) threw a wave at me. Now my audience wasn't just grinning... they were laughing.

Sigh* At least somebody was enjoying the cold, wet rain. I guess that's Karma for laughing at those who tried to leave the coffee shop.




The pic below doesn't do it justice. My pants are still soaking wet. The dark parts of the pants are simply the "wettest" of the wet.

To Speak or not to Speak...

First off, sorry Carrie. I know you like pictures, but this topic really doesn't have any pictures to associate with. However, I don't want to leave you hanging, so I've added some gratuitous photos below.




Ok, so I've previously mentioned how I don't feel I contribute much to conversation any more. Sure, I talk - but much of what I say is of little interest, is word vomit (gossip, etc.), or is redundant.

Don't get me wrong, I do have intelligent conversation at times. It's just that most of the time I feel is wasted speech. I didn't use to feel this way. I use to feel like I was a healthy contibutor to conversation. Now, I feel like I don't have much input that people care for.

I feel like many of my friendships have become more shallow than in the past, and I largely feel like I'm to blame. Do I really only have old memories and stories to rehash over and over and over? Is that really the sum of my personality?

I'm not "totally down on myself" or anything. I know I'm a good person, and I can be fun to be around. However, reflecting on this past year, I don't feel like I've had much worth saying... and truthfully, often I simply sat in a group and said nothing. Comfortable silences have become uncomfortable.

My blog is called "The Long Winded" and it's often been a running joke that I am, indeed, Long-winded. This has never ever bothered me. I am long-winded. However, once again reflecting on the past year, I've noticed how much I tend to get interrupted. This used to bother me because I felt an injustice was being done. With it's frequency though, I've come to realize that it largely is not about those interrupting me, but rather because what I've had to say really does have little importance. Where being "long-winded" was once a joke to me, I've now begun to see it as a fault.

Truthfully, I'll always be long-winded. I inherited it from my mother. I tell so many details, most of which don't "really" matter to the story. That's in my nature... and it's not what I'm discussing here. What I'm talking about here is running my mouth... what Proverbs calls being a fool.

I feel like somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the important things in people's lives. What makes you interesting (and valuable) to others is in fact how invested you are in the other person - not how much you know (or believe you know), or how funny you are (or believe you are), or how cool your job or things are. I truly love my friends, but somewhere I stopped investing in them. At some point I began to be shallow.

As a result, what I have to say is less interesting.

This leads me to my personal self-improvement New Year's Resolution for 2010. Do I speak more, or do I speak less?

Certainly, when I say "speak more", I don't mean adding more lousy content. Rather I mean speak-up more, ask more questions, inquire into people's lives. This may not add more "David" to the conversation, but it may add more "value".

On the other hand, maybe I should take a vow of silence. Not in the "traditional" sense, but in the "don't speak unless it is important" sense. Maybe what I do say should be limited to words that have value - words that are wise, encouraging, and loving. Simply leave out the filler.

How important is "filler" anyway? The life of the party is often the loudest. They can also quickly get annoying, but they certainly are the life of the party for a little bit. Is there an importance to a certain amount of word vomit?

I'm still not sure which direction to go this year. Whatever the case, 2009 was a great year for me learning, but was a piss-poor year of me contributing. I hope to make 2010 much different.

I'm not a Christian

US evangelist says quake-hit Haiti made 'devil' pact


After reading the above article, I've decided not to label myself as a Christian. Instead, I simply believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Sick.

I should be working but...

I should be working right now. But all i can think about is the country of Haiti. As more and more images and videos emerge I can't help but stare at the devastation. It's kinda sick actually... I'm drawn to the images. Truthfully though, I'm not drawn like some are to stare at wreaked cars on the 405 Fwy, or homes on fire in Malibu.

No, this is different entirely. I just can't stop thinking that this is the sort of thing God made us for to support one another and show His love and mercy through. That's looking at the bright-side, but I'm not looking at this with the attempts to see the glass half-full. Rather, it simply is this tug at my center... something that keeps saying, "You want to help, because you're supposed to... it's why I made you."

Perhaps it's because I just saw "Blind Side" in the theater last week. That certainly got me thinking about the people I ignore who are in need. Maybe I'm now just ultra-sensitive because my minds been on it.

Whatever the case, I feel like I should be doing something. Using my skills for something. I can give money - and perhaps I should - but that feels... distant... like it misses the point entirely.

I feel like there's a call to action that shouldn't be ignored. I spoke before about my desires to do something great... to build computers for ministries, or use the application from my current work to support charities (how cool would that be at this given time). Maybe I should put more of my heart and time into those things so I'm not caught empty-handed in the future.

As for right now though... those things, while nice, don't help the people I keep staring at in the images on the computer and TV.