Sunspots 857

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

others*:

The Arts: (and Christianity and Computing) I am not making this up. Relevant reports on a computer-generated gospel music singer.

Christianity: (and politics) Relevant reports that about 60% of white evangelicals say that they believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. (31% of Americans, as a whole, hold this belief.)

Health: (and politics) Republican politicians are pushing ivermectin as a treatment for COVID.

Humor: (and Science) NPR reports that astronauts returning from the International Space Station will be wearing (and, presumably, using) diapers during their return journey to earth. There are problems with the plumbing.

Politics: NPR reports on Tucker Carlson, of Fox news, who is spreading disinformation about the January 6th insurrection.

NPR reports that membership in the Oath Keepers includes members of the military and police.

Science: Science.org shows a video of pigs using tools.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

On Republican response to the Presidential election

A recent poll indicates that less than 25% of Republican respondents believe that the 2020 Presidential election was fair.

When our emotions guide our beliefs, it takes more than facts to change our minds. Most Republicans want to believe that the election was rigged. It's no wonder, when the head Republican warned everyone about this months and months ago, and hasn't stopped yet. He is a fount of misinformation, but his followers don't seem to realize this, or care. Mr. Trump, for example, said that, after November 3rd, the COVID pandemic would drop out of the news, implying that coverage of the pandemic was some sort of plot against him. I wish it had been. News about it has increased, not gone away.

But consider some facts: 1) Lawsuits from Trump's followers, and his legal team, have mostly been lost. And the judges involved have been, quite often, Trump appointees.

2) William Barr, attorney general, and head of the US Justice Department, has said that his Department has found no evidence of rigging, etc., during the election and vote counting. Other officials, national and state, many of them, like Barr, Republicans, have said the same thing. One of them was fired because he said that.

3) The Democrats lost seats in the US House (although they still have a majority), and they probably will not have the same number of Senators as the Republicans (meaning that Vice President Harris can break ties). What kind of conspiracy would diminish votes for Trump, while at the same time hurting Democrats?

4) All the complaints about the election have been that somehow Democrats got more votes than they should have, and/or Republicans got less votes than they should have. Again, it seems preposterous to suppose that there was massive fraud, all committed by Democrats. If they changed, say, 8,000,000 votes, wouldn't it be reasonable to suppose that a comparable number of Democratic votes were changed. Surely, if there was cheating, there would have been some on both sides.

I doubt that the number of Republicans who believe that the election was fair is going down much in the foreseeable future. That means that a significat fraction of the electorates won't believe in the process, and they may turn to some sort of coup, or to violence against Democrats. I hope not. 

Most Republicans don't want to believe that the election was fair.

Why is President Trump continuing to fight a losing battle? I can only speculate. Perhaps he really believes that he won the election. Perhaps he is just raising money for a run in 2024. Only time will tell. God help us all.

Thanks for reading.

Some thoughts on the upcoming election

A couple of thoughts on the upcoming Presidential election, from thinkers of times past:

There is joy in heaven, we are told, over the conversions that take place on earth. In Luke xv, 7, we read: “I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance.” When an election for president of the United States is approaching, there is tremendous excitement – a great commotion. Probably most newspapers from Maine to California would have something on nearly every page about the candidate. The whole country is excited, but I doubt it would be noticed in heaven. – Heaven: The Place We Long For, by D. L. Moody (public domain)

Psalm 118:9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes. (World English Bible, public domain) 

Thanks for reading.

What if Trump, Biden, or Pelosi refuses to acknowledge the results of the election, or what if there isn't a clear winner?

 

Whatever you may think of Al Gore, he deserves credit for at least one thing. He ran for President, and the results were hotly contested for some time, but he conceded. I don't like to think about what would have happened if he hadn't done so.

It looks like the Presidential election of 2020 may end up in a similar situation. Note the above graphic -- God either wants whatever wil happen, or will allow it.

FiveThirtyEight reports on the work of the Transition Integrity Project. FiveThirtyEight summarize it, and have posted a thorough discussion of possible results, which summary and discussion is entitled "What if Trump Loses and Won't Leave?" They emphasize Trump's possible actions for at least two reasons. First, he has been casting doubt on the election results, in advance, for months. Second, he's the President, and can take a number of actions that Biden can't. FiveThirtyEight discusses some of these actions, and those that Biden might take. It might even be possible for Speaker Pelosi to declare herself President.

But whatever happens, up to even a bloody civil war between partisans, God either allowed it, or wanted it.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 775

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity: (and Finance) NPR reports that the government will pay pastor's salaries, treating churches as small businesses hit by orders to close.

Computing: Gizmo reports on security problems and nuisance attacks on Zoom meetings.

Health: FiveThirtyEight, which is really good at crunching data, explains why it's really difficult to model COVID-19.

And FiveThirtyEight discusses the effects of handwashing.

Politics: Gizmodo asks whether the President could cancel the November Presidential election.

Science: The Scientist reports that mice have facial expressions.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

God's Sovereignty, the US Presidential election, and more important matters

 

The poster above was created to remind me that God is sovereign -- things are as they are either because God wanted them that way, or because He allowed them. That's true whether Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump, or someone else, wins the Presidential election that is supposed to end a too-long campaign season tomorrow. It's true no matter who wins the US Senate, or any other offices, local and state-wide. It's true no matter how various referendums may turn out.

From the Project Gutenberg 1913 Webster's Dictionary, public domain, the following definition: "...The quality or state of being sovereign, or of being a sovereign; the exercise of, or right to exercise, supreme power; dominion; sway; supremacy; independence ..."

For me, the bottom line is not about the election, or who will win the Super Bowl, or any of millions of other things that I cannot influence at all, or cannot influence very much (I did vote). The important question is "what am I doing, in service to God and others, with the situation I am in?" See Esther 4:14b, which says "Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (World English Bible, public domain)

I posted this to my Flickr photostream (The poster above is a link to a larger version, there) yesterday. A fellow user commented, to the effect that "Didn't God give us free will?" A good question.

I believe He did. I don't consider myself adequate to explain free will, but at least part of the reason many Christians believe that there is such a thing is that John 3:16 says that whosoever will may believe in Him. Another reason is that our intuition tells us that we have free choice, at least in some matters. But, as the Wikipedia article on "Free will" puts it, "The notions of free will and predestination are heavily debated among Christians." I believe in both free will and God's sovereignty.

For more on God's sovereignty, see here. This excellent post points out seven scriptural references that indicate God's sovereignty. It does not include any reference to Psalm 104, which indicates that God controls the supplies of the needs of the natural world. No doubt there are other passages that could have been included.

Thanks for reading. Do what you can, in your situation.

God and political victory

David Brat recently beat U. S. House majority leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in Virginia. Brat, at his victory celebration, made no secret of his belief that God made this possible. See here for an audio of less than a minute of his speech, backed by photo. If you want to see more of that speech, search for something like "Brat victory speech video" or "Brat victory God video," and there will be plenty of choices, including some mocking Brat, and perhaps, some mocking God -- I haven't seen them all!

Mr. Brat was right to thank God. If there is an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God in the universe (or outside the universe) then He either directed this election result, or allowed it. 

But did God direct this election result, because it's a critical part of His purpose for the US, or the world at large, or did He just allow it? We don't know, but it was probably the latter.

Why say that? I live in South Carolina. There were a number of candidates for office, in the Republican primary that was held on the same day as the Virginia primary, that seem to have held political views very much like those of Mr. Brat. These candidates also made clear that they believed in God during their campaigns. But they didn't win. It would seem that God is not very interested in helping Tea Party politicians win. He's probably no more interested in doing that than, say, in helping politicians who are strong supporters of labor unions, or than helping Mr. Cantor to win. He is much more interested in making you and me, and Mr. Brat, and Mr. Cantor, more like Christ:

Christ says "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours." C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity: What One Must Believe to Be a Christian. New York: Macmillan, 1952. p. 167.

Bad things happen to good people. The book of Job reminds us of that. Job was a good man -- God said so. But he lost his children, his possessions, most of his servants, and his good health. This was not because he had sinned, even though his comforters spent several chapters trying to convince Job that it was. It was a demonstration of God's power and love, and of Job's faithfulness under severe trial. (The Bible doesn't actually say that God ever explained that he was a demonstration of this type to Job, by the way.)

There's also Hebrews 11, which describes the heroes and heroines of faith:
35b Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. (World English Bible, public domain) People can follow God, and have things go horribly wrong, as the world measures success and happiness. Most of the people in the verses above probably didn't get back their possessions, and have replacement children, as Job did. They just suffered and died.

Good people lose elections. Good people win elections, or gain power by other means, and turn bad, yielding to various temptations of power and adulation. Bad people also win elections, or take over by other means. Sometimes, no doubt, God advances certain political leaders (Maybe not always those of good character!). He did that in the case of King David. Perhaps He did it in the case of President Washington, or President Lincoln, or, for all we know, in the original election of Eric Cantor, or even in the primary victory of David Brat or in the election of Brat's Democratic opponent. But most of the time, God has more important plans. Win or lose, God is good, and we should thank Him for His love and care.

It must be really painful to spend your time, your money, and your emotions, trying to win an election, and to end up losing, and, perhaps, have had your character publicly condemned by your opponent(s), and your family's privacy violated. We should be grateful for politicians willing to run, whether they win or lose, whether we agree with their views or not.

Thanks for reading.