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Earning Gifts from Santa

The way I've always understood it, a gift is something that is freely given. If you work to receive something, it is not a gift, but earned like wages or something. Children in many parts of the world are told about a being known by many names, including Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus (see the pattern on the last three names?), and others. Credit: RGBStock / LUSI Way back yonder, Nicholas was a godly man who was also a giver of gifts. Legends built up, and today we have a recluse who lives at the North Pole, flying around the world with in a sleigh drawn by reindeer and giving gifts to all the good little girls and boys. Probably defies the laws of physics, as this internet legend indicates . Like many others, I believed in Santa Claus, but as I grew older, I realized that the storyline was impossible. The myth was shattered when I walked past my parents' bedroom, the door was wide open and a big box of unwrapped gifts was in the middle of

The Mythical British Isles

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Every once in a while, talk around the campfire turns away from strategies for riding herd and so forth to mythology. Some cowboys feel that they've talked wendigo or other scary native legends out, so they move on to myths of history. One that gets brought up every once in a while is the story of Great Britain. Amazingly, a few cowpokes actually believe it existed. Some self-styled intellectuals speculate that England (a part of the British Isles) exists in a parallel universe. The story goes that the British Isles (a few big ones and about six thousand smaller islands) were a popular place for commerce and some amount of science. Sadly, the Brits rejected the true God and indulged in paganism, especially evolutionism. Their paganism, surrender to Moslem influences, atheism, and unjustified intellectual arrogance led to the utter destruction of Britain. Yep, the whole shootin' match sank beneath the waves of the Atlantic, never to be seen again.

Blamestorming and Leftist Morality

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Several things converged in my consciousness over the past several days, and I felt compelled to write about them. Someone made a post long ago suggesting new words for the times, one of which was blamestorming. (Apparently it was added to the dictionary in later years.) Essentially, blamestorming is where people try to find a way to assign blame instead of solving a problem. I believe that some jaspers will simply place blame for its own sake, often for the purpose of ridicule, and to build up their own egos at the expense of other people or concepts with which they disagree — often labeling them evil. Ships of Columbus , Ivan Aivazovsky, 1880 Blaming Christopher Columbus Relevant for today is the outrage from social justice warriors about Columbus Day. One particularly risible statement on the web is along the lines of, "You can celebrate Columbus Day by going to someone else's house and saying that you live there now". Some areas eve

Using Irony for Effect

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited 9-18-2017 After I get this here article done, I am going to submit it to the Irony Board for approval. Unfortunately, the words irony, ironic and related words are greatly overused, and often incorrectly. I've been confused myself because of seeing many instances of, "This is ironic..." that may or may not have been used correctly. Seems that quite a few people are uncertain about the proper usage, and there is a site where someone can ask if something is ironic . What is the real meaning? The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as , "a situation in which something which was intended to have a particular result has the opposite or a very different result". But irony has several meanings and applications, which includes using it as a literary device. Using this picture of iron in an article about irony is a play on words, it is not ironic. Credit: Pixabay / ptdh . I've been accused of unintended irony against myself on

Rejected — and Accepted

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Heard a message by Dr. Charles Stanley about rejection. I don't cotton to stuff about building up your self-esteem since those are usually humanistic platitudes, and there's not a great deal of truth there. While most of us deal with some form of it every day, rejection can cut to a person's core. Worse, people will use rejection to manipulate people. Depending on the impact of the rejection (a child by parents, former spouses or romantic interests, a powerful boss, and so on), scars can last a lifetime, and people try to earn some kind of acceptance in the aftermath. Some are so programmed for defeat, they set themselves up for failure and say, "See? I'm no good". What do I have to offer? What makes me successful? Not a hatful. A poorly-paying job that cheats me out of my wages, no books published, no riches or fame, reasonably bright but not a genius. Certain atheists and evolutionists hate me with a passion because of my activ

Dangers in Same-Sex "Marriage"

Marriage has been defined as something between a man and a woman for millennia, and original basis was defined by God back in Genesis. Different religions formalize the union in their own way, but still indirectly acknowledge our Creator's design. Cakes with toppers, throwing bouquets, varieties of ceremonies, a passel of superstitions — yeah, we made those, and they're optional. Morguefile / earl53 Over the years, there has been an increasing cry to normalize same-sex unions, and eventually to redefine marriage itself under the pretense of "love". It's not about love, it's about sex, and the desire to destroy both marriage and the family unit itself. The floodgates have been opened (though people said it would not happen), and various unions have been called marriage: man-man, woman-woman, man-woman-woman, woman-tree, and other combinations. After that, the pedophiles and bestiality weirdos wanted "rights". Then there are the transsexual scie

Brian Thomas of ICR Visits Ark Encounter

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This post may put some creation science ministries on the prod, but I reckon that people expect me to be a straight shooter. My problem is that I perceive some ministries are acting like competitors instead of co-laborers. Y'all probably heard that Answers in Genesis has a replica of Noah's Ark called Ark Encounter that was built as close to biblical specifications as they could manage, but was not meant to float (the regulations involved for that aspect would be prohibitive, I expect). Eric Hovind of Creation Today was involved, but other prominent ministries have been largely silent about it. Shouldn't they be offering congratulations? Creation Ministries International has mentioned it as a side note in an article about Ark reconstructions . It will have been open for one year on July 7. Image courtesy of Answers In Genesis One reason that I believe other Christians and creationists should take a stand with Answers in Genesis is the attac

Was it a Miracle?

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Here's a story I told a few people and wanted to share with y'all. When my father died, I received some money from a trust fund or something. I put it toward a 2003 Hyundai Accent and considered it his last material gift to me. It was a good car for about eight years. Click for larger One day, it wouldn't start. I called the AAA service and they sent someone out. (Couldn't get it to my usual mechanic.) "No, it's not a dead battery, the starter went bad", or words to that effect. It was towed, starter replaced, I paid a lot of money. A few months later, it acted up again, and it was towed to the same service facility. A wire fell off, and I had to pay for that as well. Then a third time, same problem, but they didn't charge me for the repair that time. At this point, the owner of the facility told me there was a problem in the frame. Essentially, it was rotting out from the inside, and he said flat out that he wanted t

Of Primary Importance

There are many denominations, doctrines, dogmas, opinions, notions, and more under the broad heading of Christianity. Some believe that baptism by sprinkling is okay, others insist on full immersion (and a few hold to the false doctrine of baptismal regeneration ). Do we baptise infants or only adults? There are some heterodox beliefs that are mixed in as well. Credit: Cadetgray / Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) There are people who claim that creation is an unimportant side issue, but that is not the case. While belief in biblical creation is not a requirement for salvation, it is important because all major Christian doctrines have their foundations in Genesis . The apostle Paul referred to creation and Genesis many times. Of interest here is when he referred to Adam and to Jesus as "the last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:22, 45). Nevertheless, Paul went to the most important point of all: the Crucifixion and bodily Resurrection of Jesus. They are of first importance, the

Graven Images of Jesus?

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Something that puts a burr under my saddle is when people who have limited knowledge of what the Bible actually teaches will try to use it against Christians. Early on, I had a picture of Jesus that appeared on each post on a certain weblog. Someone was on the prod because I said something against one of his pet heterodox doctrines, so he threw down on me in the comments and added that because I had that picture, it was a graven image and I was an idolator. That'll be the day! We expect that kind of nonsense from atheopaths, but it's distressing when it comes from professing Christians who are ignorant of the Bible that they claim to believe. These are the same jaspers who falsely claim that Jeremiah 10:1-5 (written hundreds of years before Christ) means we cannot have Christmas trees in our homes. (Hint: try reading Scripture for understanding, pilgrim.) If images of Jesus are idols, it would mean that many art masterpieces throug

Secular Science Lingo and Question Evolution Day

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Question Evolution Day has several purposes, not the least of which is to prompt people to take a stand for freedoms, including speech, intellectual, and academic . Further, we hope to encourage people to examine what they've been taught about minerals-to-microbiologist evolution. They are likely to see that evolutionary dogma is saturated with opinions stated as scientific facts and just-so stories, but very little actual evidence. Image furnished by Why?Outreach incorporating some graphics by R. Bennett Darwin's Cheerleaders™ often use propaganda tricks with word definitions, especially conflating evolution with science (such as saying that biblical creationists "hate science" because we deny common ancestor evolution). The reality is that many creationist scientists are fully credentialed, appreciating science and working in their fields. Another conflation is conflating any sort of change with Darwin's concepts and calling i

Pondering My Legacy

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen We keep hearing about a "legacy" in these parts, especially when a president is ending, or has ended, a term in office. I don't rightly recollect hearing the word used until recent years, maybe with President Bill Clinton. What is a legacy? The first definition that Merriam-Webster gives involves bequeathed money or property, but that's clearly not what's being discussed. The second definition is: "something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past". That's where we want to be. Image credit: Morguefile / genieslot Nobody is going to become wealthy from my financial legacy.  In the bigger scheme of things, a legacy would be something substantial that was left behind, hopefully to benefit subsequent generations. That's the key to this article. Perhaps when someone's name is mentioned, it brings to mind that certain beneficial something. Unfortunately, people have left legaci