Superproblems

Parallels between the US and Russia are amusing to me. Not the social ones, those are just interesting. No it's the politics.

Both nations seem to find themselves suddenly at a loss in the international political realm. U.S. has lost a lot of its support not from 'Criminal Wars' like Iraq (as some would suggest) or 'being a bully' but because Communism fell. Communism is nothing more than a couple of dictatorships. That's what they really are now, China isn't communist, it's a dictatorship with semi-control over it's economy. So, the U.S. finds that it can't just say jump and see whole continents flying up in the air.

Similarly, Russia finds itself in an awkward place. After the fall of communism, Russia had a pretty little economic decline (read recession/collapse/currency explosion). Now they managed to right themselves with the help of soaring oil prices. Now they feel tough, and are trying to reassert their muscles against the west. The problem is, the ones they use to hold under their protective wing are now telling them to kiss off and mind their own business. They had a decade or two without to much russian oversight, and they're doing just fine thank you. But Russia doesn't like that, so they're using their new found economic and energy power to be a bully. Which is, of course, endearing their neighbors and the rest of the world to Russia.

Now throw things like Iran, terrorist-Islam, the EU as an almost coherent socio-economic entity, Iraq, rising oil prices, and Michael Moore* into the mix and you have a mess. The line isn't as simple anymore. There's less us versus them to clearly show the path, the waters are now muddy...and most of it's mud you'll sink waist deep into if you take a wrong step. Isn't life fun?

*I added the Michael Moore comment just for fun, he's not really more than an annoyance, no where near being a real problem.

Net Neutrality

You might notice I altered the blog a little and there's now a pertty little picture on the right. It's about Net Neutrality. Essentially, Net Neutrality is saying that Internet Service Providers must treat all the internet the same. They can't favor Google over Microsoft, my blog over PvP. There is currently legistlation that will provide legal backing to shut down net neutrality, allowing ISPs to charge a premium to websites if they want full service. If sites don't pay this fee, ISPs can slow down bandwith, even possibly shutting it down. Now, there's always the 'vote with you dollars' method. I.e. you can drop all the ISPs that offer 'premium' service to websites. But for some areas (for instance my parents') don't necessarily have that choice. And there's only some many choices out there anyway. For more information, here's a pretty good article about it: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.internet09may09,0,4559120.story

Now, what I did and what I'm encouraging others to do is 1) Call your congressmen 2) Click on the picture and send the petition to them. If the picture won't link you can go to http://www.savetheinternet.com

How about I plunge head first into a hot topic for once?

An editorial on the Moscow Times (see sidebar link) got me thinking on the issue of homosexuality and its rise into the spotlight. It's a complex issue, discussed and debated by people much smarter and better educated about it than me. However, I have the habit of sounding off on things way over my head, so why not this?

The first thing is I believe homosexuality is a sin. No if, ands, or buts. It's a sin. However, it's not any worse (or better) than being an alcoholic, having a temper, being a liar, or any other of the numerous sins. Sin, when it comes to a heavenly basis, is sin no matter the label given it. Some have more earthly consequences. Gluttony is bad, murdering is worse, but both separate you from God.

The real stickler comes in with the attitude that is being coupled with homosexuality. This attitude is a sort of "This is the way I am, accept it!" attitude. Change it from homosexuality to alcoholism, drug addiction, gluttony, or whatever, and it's called a justification and referred to as 'not facing up to' the problem. To quote an over quoted Alcoholics Anonymous step: "The first step is admitting you have a problem." Okay, some people are more inclined to struggle with homosexuality, so with greed, other's with food, other's with alcohol. That doesn't mean that's "just how I am." I believe it's how you are vulnerable. The modern movement with homosexuality has become defiant, stating it isn't a problem. Hence the clash in society.

The way I see it, we're all people and we all sin. I sin in my areas of weakness, you sin in your area of weakness. The reality that gives me hope is God loves me and sent an eternal sacrifice for my sins to redeem me. That means, however, that I have to admit my sins and come to the Father in meekness and repetence. This is usually a repeating thing for me, as I identify all to well with what Paul says in Romans. That, I think, is what alienates the homosexual movements, as well as the sexual liberation people, and a lot of others. We love you and you can come to God, but you have to admit you have a problem. You do NOT have to solve it. Think of God as a doctor. To go to a doctor, first you have to admit "Okay, I'm sick" and then go. You don't go if you don't admit you're sick, and you don't go after you're well...in fact you go because you can't get well by yourself. That's the way sin is. We are sick, and I mean really sick, and there's no possible way you can get better with the Doctor.