Martha Stewart On Lying

Martha Stewart sold 3,928 shares of ImClone stock December 27, 2001. June 4, 2003, she was indited on nine federal counts. It was alleged she lied to the Grand Jury. One count was later dropped. March 5, 2004, Martha Stewart was convicted on all counts. The verdict in essence said she lied. There has never been a more classic example of the poetic proclamation by Sir Walter Scott: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive.” Our nation has been on a slippery slope since our first president allegedly said, “I cannot tell a lie,” till we had a president who lied under two oaths.

As a child I was told by an old man, “One lie is the pappy of another.” He meant when a person tells a lie they have to tell others to cover it. The imperative is not to tell the first one and thus avoid the entangling web. Many people have become so accustomed to lying they are depicted as having the conscience seared, meaning insensitized. Of Saddam Hussein, Porter Goss, House Intelligence Chair, said, “He is good at denial and deception. I am not sure he even knows what truth is anymore. I think he has been surrounded by yes-me and sycophants.” Such persons can lie and convince themselves it is true and that they have convinced the hearer it is true. They can so lie to themselves they can pass a lie detector test.

Socrates spoke of “…taking good care that in my zeal I do not deceive both myself and you, and like a bee depart, leaving my sting behind.” A House subcommittee estimated that 1 out of every 3 working Americans is hired with educational or career credentials that have been altered. We are suffering from an epidemic of lying. John Gardner, founder of Common Cause notes, “Duplicity and deception, in public and private life, are very substantially greater than they have been in the past.” Lying is a virus that has infected our society.

Under two oaths our former president lied. It became a noticeable thread in the fabric of his life. Even worse several man-on-the-street interviews were filled with people saying in various ways, “It’s no big deal.” If we each had a Pinocchio tendency for our nose to grow every time we told a lie extreme make over would be needed frequently. Or, if we were stricken like the character in the movie “Liar, Liar” who could not lie our social order would be changed. Lying is a big deal. It destroys truth and consequently the ability to trust. The loss of trust results in suspicion, and insecurity, while it impairs relationships. Truth is an absolute.

Where there are no absolutes there is no basis for these imperative traits. “Spin” is a method of twisting a fact to make it appear as something it isn’t. It is the most clever way of lying. Spinology offers graduate degrees. Had George Washington been a graduate of this school of thought he likely would have said, “No, I didn’t chop down the cherry tree” while holding the mental reserve of “I cut it down.” Liars redefine words in their minds while allowing others to consider what is being said in light of accepted understanding of the words. Our society has bought into relativism so fully most persons high school age and above don’t believe there are absolutes. That is, no absolutes of right and wrong. To them truth is relative to time, place, and who is telling it. That is an ideal seed bed in which lies can proliferate.

However, ask a person who professes not to believe in absolutes if they are sure there are no absolutes and they will likely say, “Absolutely.” William Penn, founding father of the state of Pennsylvania, said, “Right is right though all me be against it and wrong is wrong though all be for it.” When truth breaks down in society trust and confidence are lost. Standards of right and wrong are forfeited. Culture becomes cheated of an essential virtue. Truth has such significance that without it as a basic level of societal morality breaks down.

No form of government or personal relationships can survive without it. The disintegration of society is inevitable without truth as a core value. Truth is the eye of reason. Without it we are blind. A lie is a form of theft. In robbing others of the truth we take from them the capacity to make right choices. A lie has to be shrouded unlike naked truth. There are few areas of life in which the Golden Rule is more needed: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” No one likes to be the victim of a lie. Therefore, we should not make others subject to lies. Many seemingly agree with the little boy who said, “A lie is a very present help in the time of trouble.”

In giving legal testimony the witness swears “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Persons have become adept at twisting truth, fabricating facts, and finagling figures to the point purgery is more often overlooked. This oath calls for integrity. The word “integrity” comes from the root integer which means “whole.” In math an integer is a whole number. A person of integrity is a whole person given to honesty and devoid of duplicity. When the court ruled Martha Stewart lied it was saying in that instance she was acting without integrity. She got caught in the entangling web of deception.

In response to Martha’s actions the public has strong opinion. Some want her to get the maximum jail time. Her status as a celebrity makes her more culpable in their thinking. Others want her let off without jail time. This may be explained by the principle of you approve my sin and I will applaud yours. It is an indication of having done what she did and not wanting it considered wrong. In teaching us it doesn’t pay to lie Martha is paying a price greater than her significant wealth. There is a canyon of consequences between a lie and the truth. Be certain to be on the right side.

We need to keep posted on the marque of our minds the ninth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness….” (Exodus 20:16). This is expanded in Leviticus 19: 11, “You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie to one another.” Feed your conscience on the fact, “There are six things which the Lord hates,” and one of them is “a lying tongue” (Proverbs 6:16, 17). Resolve, “I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth…” (II Corinthians 12: 6).

March Madness

Appropriately this month is called “March Madness.” It must be because there are so many basketball games on TV. The NCAA National Tournament starts with 64 teams and whittles it down over several weeks. I think the month gets its name because it drives many spouses mad.

The history and intent of the game is interested. In the winter of 1891-92, Dr. James Naismith was a young “physical education instructor” at Springfield College. To relieve his students of boredom he set about to devise a winter time indoor game that would be as interesting as football in the fall and baseball in the spring. That is the PC version of the origin of the game.

In old photos of Naismith there is in the background a sign over the entrance to a building: “School of Christina Workers.” It was there the game began. It was the “International YMCA Training School,” the forerunner of Springfield College.

Naismith was an ordained Presbyterian minister whose job was not to relieve boredom but to train leaders for the rapidly growing Sunday School movement and the YMCA. Both movements had as their common objective to teach Christian principles and build character.

The first basketball league consisted of YMCA teams playing each other. Y leaders first opened gyms to provide an alternative to saloons. In 1895, the dominant holistic concept of a balanced life was symbolized by the Y in the form of a red triangle representing three sides of human nature: physical, spiritual, and mental.

The diverse Sunday School movement continues to train persons in the Word of God. Unfortunately the meaning of the “C” in YMCA has virtually been forgotten.

God has raise up a young man who has revived the purpose for which basketball was begun. Caz McCaslin, a young man I pastored through out his youth, has developed an ever expanding program called “Upward Basketball.” He is the modern day Naismith.

Laughter Is Good For Your Health

Health is no laughing matter, but it does help if you laugh.
In proverbial wisdom even God is depicted as laughing, “He who sits in the heavens laughs.” If you doubt that look in the mirror. If He laughs so ought we who are created in His image.

The book of “American Averages” notes the average American laughs 15 times a day. Are you up to average?

Laughter is good medicine; it is therapeutic. Clinical studies confirms this. Laughter releases tension and enables persons to better face life.

Stress-sensitive persons as well as somber persons daily release a flush of biochemicals comparable to those released during a major threat. These chemicals suppress the immune system to infectious diseases, according to psychological research.

Laughter is nature’s doctor. A positive jovial spirit releases health inducing pain killers and “feel good” endorphins and enkephalins into the system. These morphine-like substances caused by the brain to be secreted act as a natural anesthesia and relaxant. Persons feel at their highest state of well-being when they are at work. They provide a natural high.

Four hundred years ago, in his “Anatomy of Melancholy,” Robert Burton cited authorities who said, “humor purges the blood, making the body lively and fit for any manner or employment.”

Dr. William Fry of Stanford University wrote, “Laughter causes the muscles in the abdomen, chest, and shoulders to contract, the heart rate and pulse to increase, and you have stationary jogging.”

Immanual Kant (1724-1804) was sensitive to this as evidenced by his comment of laughter, “It is a good way to jog internally without going outdoors.” Kant also concluded he had never known a person who “possessed the gift of hearty laughter to be burdened with constipation.”

Dr. Henri de Mondeville, a great medieval professor of surgery, was ahead of his time when he suggested in the 13th century that post-surgery recovery should include relatives and friends cheering the patient and having someone tell jokes.

Solomon the wise clued us in to this a long time ago when he wrote, “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” Are you taking your medicine? Are you helping others take theirs?

Work at creating a healthy humorous environment. Look for it. Remember the wisdom of Dr. Seuss: “from there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.”

As a test of your funny bone consider this. A couple that had a reputation for harmony and happiness were privately often at war with one another. Not wanting to ruin their public image the wife said, “Since we don’t believe in divorce let’s just pray one of us will die — and I will go live with my sister.”

In this and every way I want to be more like the God “who sits in the heavens and laughs.”

The Koran On Jesus

The topic is what does the Koran teach about Jesus and those who follow Him. It is not what do Muslims believe about the subjects. That is too subjective. This is an objective review of what the Muslim holy book teaches on the topics.
Muslims believe the angel Gabriel revealed the Koran, meaning a recitation, to Mohammed starting around 610 AD and ending with his death in 632 AD.

The Koran, or is often spelled Qur’an, is divided into segments known as Surahs. Surah 5 is the source for most of these insights: Surah 5: v. 5, vv. 44-86. Herein contrasts are made between the Bible and the Qur’an, Jews and Christians with Muslims, and Jesus with Muhammad. The Bible, Jews and Christians, and the Christian view of Jesus are debunked and the Qur’an, Muslims, and Muhammad are elevated.

Muslims profess the Qur’an contains the ultimate truth and is protected by God from error.

It forbids Muslims from being friends with Christians (v. 54) and states only those Christians who covert to Islam can be trusted (vv. 52-56). Those who reject Islam and the Qur’an are akin to those who experience the wrath of God (v. 60). Those who experience this wrath of God are turned into apes and pigs by God (v. 63).

THE DENIAL OF THE TRINITY – Surah 5: 72 – 77
The Qur’an is a bit confusing regarding the members of the Trinity but clearly implies the members are the Father, Mother (Mary), and Son. It is recorded those who believe in the Trinity will experience great torture if they do not reject such blasphemy (vv. 73b-74).

References in the Bible to the Holy Spirit are said to refer to Gabriel or to purity from sin; the spirit of the holy.

THE DEITY OF JESUS – Surah 5: 75 & 77
Mary is depicted as a righteous woman whose son was only an apostle in a series of apostles.

Jesus as the Incarnate God is said to be an impossible evil.

The Deity of Jesus is completely rejected (Surah 5: 116-120). Grace as revealed by the redemptive work of Christ is discredited.

In contradiction of this the Bible says of Christ “in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

The position of “in Christ” in the sentence is emphatic meaning in Christ alone the fullness dwells. It is present tense denoting continuous action.

In Christ the “fullness,” PLEROMA, permanently dwells. The fullness of the Godhead, THEOTETOS, Divinity, dwells in Christ. Theotetos means not just divine attributes but the very essence of God, the totality of who God is, His supreme Nature. Bottom line: Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, God incarnate. His eternal pre-creation God Nature was manifested “bodily.”

II Corinthians 4:4 records: “Christ, who is the image of God…”
With reference to His relationship with God the Father it is said, “…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” (Hebrews 1:3.)

ISLAM – Surah 5: 3
Islam is said to be the only true religion and the only one approved by God. Muhammad is said to be the last prophet and the revealer of the ultimate untainted truth.

Surah 3: 85 asserts, “if anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

THE BIBLE
It is said the true Bible which reveals the message of the Qur’an does not exist today and the present version has been corrupted by Jews and Christians. The corruptions are said to have been corrected by the Qur’an.

All prophets before Muhammad are said to have preached Islam and were Muslims: Abraham and Ishmael (22:78), the twelve tribes of Israel (2:133), the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac ( 2:128), the prophets between Moses and Jesus (5:44), Jesus Himself (3:52), and His disciples (5:108).

THE DESTINY OF NON-MUSLIMS – Surah 4: 150-152
“Those who deny Allah and His messengers, saying, “We believe in some but reject others’: and (those who) wish to take a course midway — they are in truth (equally) unbelievers; and We have prepared for unbelievers a humiliating punishment.”

To reach such beliefs Islam has to deny the reality of history and rewrite it to support their premises.

Islam is a religion of works that has no tolerance for the idea of grace. It revolves around works and human merit. People are accountable for constantly having to endeavor to please Allah in their own energy. Those who do not are to be severely punished in eternity. Even some who do strive to earn and merit the favor of Allah are rejected.

RELATED TOPICS:
Under “Price Tags” read “The Deity of Jesus Christ”

There are several additional articles on Islam, the Quar’an, and Jihad under “Price Tags.”

The Koran

Mohammed Ali has said there are 3,333 errors in the Bible. I have studied form criticism, textual criticism, and higher criticism and have not found those errors. I have found alleged errors but no actual errors. Some people like to take the more difficult parts which they do not understand and call them errors.

The point is the Bible has been subjected to every form of criticism and survived. It has been the best seller for over 300 years and has been translated into 2,123 dialects. Nine out of every ten Americans own a Bible.

Have you ever heard of a scholarly objective analysis of the Koran? If Christians are to have their Holy Book questioned surely no Muslim would oppose having the Koran investigated.

However, John Wansbrough of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London said that subjecting the Koran to “instruments and techniques of Biblical criticism are virtually unknown.”

The Angel Gabriel is said to have told Muhammad: “This book is not to be questioned.” Recently “The New York Times” raised questions about the veil of obscurity related to the Koran. Questioning it hasn’t been a popular thing to do. The Arab scholar, Suliman Bashear, argued that Islam developed over time as a religion rather than emerging suddenly. His students in the University of Nablus threw him out the window as a result. Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” resulted in a fatwa because it was thought to mock Muhammad. Naguib Mahfouz was stabbed because his works were said to be irreligious.

Writing under a pseudo-name, Christopher Luxenberg, a scholar of ancient Semitic languages argues the Koran has been mistranslated and misread. His work involving the analysis of the earliest copies of the Koran led him to the conclusion that parts of the Koran came from preexisting Aramaic texts. These he states were misinterpreted by later Islamic scholars who composed the Koran now circulated.

The classic example of this relates to the virgins supposedly awaiting loyal Muslim martyrs. Rather than maidens he observes the original text said they are “white raisins” of crystal clarity.

Semitic scholars agree there was no evidence of the Koran until 691 AD, 59 years after the death of Muhammad. Much of what is known of Muhammad is based on texts that were written 300 years after his death. Wansbrough asserts the text of the Koran now used appears to have been a composite of different texts complied over perhaps hundreds of years. It appears to academicians to have continued to evolve until the last of the seventh century.

There are numerous volumes addressing alleged discrepancies in the Holy Bible. Persons with questions regarding such would benefit from visiting a bookstore and invest in a good one.

Of the Bible George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible.”

Andrew Jackson observed, “That Book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”

If it is so fundamental to our society we would do well to read it. 135 million Americans say they are occasional readers of the Bible.