The other day I reposted an article I wrote for CTLibrary.com titled, "Violence In, Violence Out." A couple responses provided sufficient motivation to write a lengthy response--which I summarily decided should be a blog entry instead. To follow the conversation, check out the original post.
Marc V. (also known under the blogonymn, "Spudlet") wrote:
I’m wrestling with the statement about people having “a God-given, hardwired aversion to killing another human being”. I think it falls more in the basic survival instinct: if I kill someone, then the same could happen to me.
Hi, Marc, thanks for the comment!
I'm not a student of psychology or Col. David Grossman's field, "Killology," but what he says rings true. I tend to believe the aversion to kill another human is a hardwired part of our natures ... after all, it's the ultimate insult to the imago dei within, and while "instinct" can be explained by evolution, this kind of hard-wiring
These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.
(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. 
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This is an important article examining the Islamic scriptures to find whether the violence is commanded or not. Read this article.
[tags]BlogRodent, canada, Christianity, Fiqh, Hadith, Islam, Muhammad, Muslim, peace, religion, Sira, violence[/tags]
My employer, Christianity Today, posted an interesting and important editorial: “Deadening the Heart: Killer video games are no 'safety valve'—quite the opposite.” Here’s an excerpt:
Good teachers know three things that contribute to effective learning: active participation, rehearsing behavioral sequences rather than discrete acts, and repetition, repetition, repetition. Video games employ all three. In addition, the vast majority of the gaming scenarios (like the random killing of prostitutes) fail to show the real-life consequences of violence. Perpetrators go unpunished. In short, violent games can deaden us to the horror of violence and stimulate our native sinfulness. It shouldn't surprise us that all media shape us, which is one reason Paul exhorts us to think on things that are true, honorable, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent (Phil. 4).
Some say these are just games, and that we shouldn't take them
There’s a flap heating up the newspapers and blogosphere about the winning design for the Flight 93 Memorial to be built near Shanksville, Pa. The skinny is that architect Paul Murdoch submitted a design, the “Crescent of Embrace,” which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Islamic red crescent as seen on the flag of Tunisia.
The designer says the crescent shape was mere coincidence. He, apparently, wanted a soft symbol of openness to symbolize acceptance and embrace. I contend he was wildly successful. What better way to signify openness toward Islamic ideas and faith than by using a common Islamic symbol?
Others have blogged pretty thoroughly on this. For more info, check out:
In the Paris News story about the Assembly of God church shooting in Sash, Texas, Debbie Wolfe is quoted, remembering the scene when Sash A/G pastor James Armstrong was killed by the gunman:
“Brother Armstrong’s wife crouched down beside their travel trailer, and I know the man walked back and forth several times shooting. The Lord protected her.”
Can I tell you I am bothered when folks say this?
Does Mrs. Wolfe really mean to imply that God was not protecting Rev. Armstrong? That God was not protecting the other three who were murdered this Sunday?
Not really, I really don’t think that’s what she means.
But the words say it, and people who aren’t native speakers of “church talk” hear a different message than she’s intending to send. (For my part, I think she and others like her simply mean, “The outcome should’ve been different, but God must have had a different purpose
I just learned about an Assembly of God church shooting in Sash, Texas, not far from where I went to Bible college:
The suspected gunman, A.P. Crenshaw, walked into a North Texas church and opened fire, police said. Two people were killed, including church member Ernest Wesley Brown, 61, and pastor James Armstrong, 42. A third person inside the church was also shot.
Crenshaw, who is believed to be in his 50s, then allegedly shot and killed Holly Love Brown, 50, and her unnamed passenger before taking the woman's car, officials said.
Please pray for the family, loved ones, and church members of this little community. As of now, there are no answers about why this happened, and the gunman killed himself after a standoff with SWAT.
Update: More details here. It started with words exchanged in the parking lot. Crenshaw returned, killed the man he was arguing
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