WIN OR LOSE IN THE PLAYOFFS, THE VIKINGS HAVE ALREADY EXCEEDED MY PRE-SEASON EXPECTATIONS! PRAISE THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE OF CHILDRESS AND TAVARIS FOR HANGING IN THERE!

Tues. 12-30-2008

I have lived in Minnesota all my life. And the sports crowd up here has changed over the last couple of decades. Today’s supposed fans are somewhat schizophrenic. It’s like Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hide.

WHEN THE VIKINGS ARE WINNING: “We’re going all the way to the Super Bowl this year!”

WHEN THE VIKINGS ARE LOSING: “The owner is an idiot! The offensive line is terrible! Get a new quarterback! Fire the coach! Move the team to Los Angeles!”

It is extremism. We are either extremely FOR the team, or we are extremely AGAINST the team. Both of the extremes in this bipolar fanbase are radical, unrealistic, and unhealthy.

Sometimes the fans’ disappointment in a team is justified, such as that with Kevin McHale and the Minnesota Timberwolves. That is an example of an organization that has been on a downward spiral all of my adult life. We had a future NBA Hall of Famer in Kevin Garnett, but we allowed him to squander the prime years of his playing ability on a team that was headed nowhere. Thank God he found his ring elsewhere, because he certainly wasn’t going to get it here in MN. Calling for the removal of the Timberwolves’ leadership in this instance is justified because of the length of time and the extraordinarily bad results that have been achieved with that time. McHale’s dismissal is coming, and will be a celebrated day in Minnesota history.

Sometimes the fans’ disappointment in a team is the result of having the mentality of a 6-year-old and is totally unwarranted. This has been the case with the Vikings. When fans don’t get instant gratification, sometimes they begin to whine and complain. They don’t look at the small gains that are made, or at the long-term, or at the big picture. They are like Janet Jackson and only ask, “What have you done for me lately?”.

The Twins and the Wild seem to be exempt from this for the most part. Gardenhire gets results out of what seems like nothing, and he has done it consistently for a long time. People are realistic with the Twins. They enter the season with low expectations. And when they win, it is like an unexpected bonus. And Jacques LeMire gets a free pass because so many people up here remember what it was like to have no hockey team at all. Although I was listening to an interview with Jacques and it was difficult. I was thinking how I’d rather be having dental surgery right now than listening to this dude try to cut an interview. He is a horrible speaker. Only a true fan with the highest sense of duty could suffer through it.

As a head coach, Brad Childress was 6-10 in year #1. He was 8-8 in year # 2. And in year # 3, he is 10-6. Do you know what we call that? Progress. It is tangible, demonstrable results. And in the NFL there are more than a dozen teams who would give anything for such visible progress. Many teams have been sent home. But we are in the playoffs! How many other teams would love to be playing in January? A lot of fans in other cities would appreciate having a team that has gotten itself among the elite few who get to enter into the post-season. We won our division! Only 6 teams out of the entire 32 can make the same claim for themselves.

So why do our fans whine so much? We don’t like progress? We don’t like the playoffs? We do. But we like it IN OUR TIMEFRAME. The illustration of the 6-year-old I used earlier works perfectly. We started the year 0-2, and all of the blogging idiots in the world hit up the internet saying “Fire Childress!” and “Get a new quarterback!” and “Move the team to Los Angeles! Good riddance!”. Why? Because the team was not a contender fast enough. Because Tavaris Jackson (who has the gift) was not developed instantly. They forgot that NFL quarterbacks need time to develop. In year #1 in Eli Manning’s career, did you hear the NY Giants’ fanbase calling for him to be benched? No. But we do.

All of this came from over-blown preseason expectations. Because we made a few off season signings of free agents, people started talking about the Super Bowl. Really? I guess because the Vikings are the only team that makes off season adjustments to their roster, right? Wrong. But people are stupid sometimes. I have lived in Minnesota all my life. And every August during training camp people always say, “We made such and such a change. We got a certain player. This year is the Super Bowl for sure!”. It never fails. People set their expectations higher than reality dictates. And the higher the expectation, the greater the fall.

When the unrealistic expectations that they have set do not materialize, it is somehow the coach’s fault. It is the owner’s fault. It is the quarterback’s fault. It’s the offensive line’s fault. The person who feels let down never blames themself for jumping to unwarranted conclusions and having Super Bowl fantasies without just cause to do so. There has to be somebody else to blame for their sadness and disappointment.

The culture in MN has always been weird. It is full of liberal people who lead with the emotions as opposed to the brain. You could tell somebody, “The sky is blue” and they will respond and say, “So what you’re really trying to tell me is that the sky is red”. No, dummy. I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. “But I’m getting the impression that you are basically saying that the sky is green”. Retards.

If you live and work here, you deal with beaming idiocy on a daily basis. You could tell someone, “Hello”. And they could go to people in authority, like the school principal or the boss at work, and somehow twist that “hello” into you harrassing and offending them. Next thing you know, you’re in trouble based on someone’s mental and emotional problems. Asking someone a question could result in them snapping on you. And their personality problem is somehow your fault. In their world, it cannot possibly be theirs.

You’re telling yourself that it cannot possibly be true. There cannot possibly be a place where that is the culture and the way of doing things. I have seen it on too many occasions to count. The term “Minnesota Nice” is the biggest myth I have ever heard. It was probably coined by someone wanting to attract tourists. But anyway, I have gotten off onto another unrelated tangent here. This is a topic for some other post.

There is a large segment of the population up here who are slaves to their emotions. They cannot function independently of them. This produces a culture where, if you don’t give them their way when they want it and how they want it, you will have to tolerate some whining, crying, and complaining.

Brad Childress has been a trooper through it all. Has he made decisions that I don’t agree with? Absolutely. Fining a guy for attending his grandmother’s funeral, calling certain players out publicly in front of the cameras, blaming the punter alone for Special Teams giving up punt return touchdowns, benching your quarterback of the future just because of 2 loses, etc. But to call for his job based solely on how he is doing according to my own personal agenda would be childish and stupid. When the smoke clears, are there results? Yes. So I must keep my mouth shut. The facts force me to. He is doing the job, and he is producing.

I admire the way he has suffered all of the nastiness and the criticism that comes with being a coach of a pro sports team in MN (except the Twins and the Wild). I admire how he has stuck to his game plan. When people called for his firing last year, I said that he had not been given sufficient time and it was too early to make such a judgment. But Childress supporters like myself were seemingly in the minority. My knowledge of the game of football as well as my devotion to my team were called into question by some because I was not critical enough of the coach. How backwards is that? I’m not talking enough trash about the team, therefore I must not be a true fan. People are stupid.

As we approach Sunday January 4th, the Vikings will be hosting a playoff game here in the Metro Dome against the Philadelphia Eagles. Vegas oddsmakers have the Eagles favored by 3 points. Philladelphia newspapers are talking like this is a game that they automatically expect to win. Oh, well. Keep on underestimating our team.

I say that win or lose, Brad Childress has made a case as to why he not only belongs as a head coach in the NFL, but he belongs as coach of the Vikings. Sure, anything short of a Super Bowl win will have our 6-year-old crying fanbase calling it a dissapointing season.

This is the same fanbase who whined and complained about one of the winningest coaches of all time (as well as one of my personal favorites), Dennis Green. This is the same fanbase that turned on Randy Moss, one of the greatest receivers of all time and also a charitable guy who did social good in the community, just because he showed a little bit of personality in his interviews. This is the same fanbase that did not even want to give Mike Tice a chance to coach the team. This is the same fanbase that turned their backs on Daunte Culpepper because he hurt his knee. This is the same fanbase that is now beginning to call for the benching of Adrian Peterson! Are they insane? Yes. They go too far. And this is the same fanbase that is led by the nose by our liberal local media, some of which are staffed by people from other towns who hate the Vikings.

Many people in MN do not think for themselves. They allow the media and the public school system to do it for them, and just accept the opinion communicated by those sources. It is kind of sad. But when the reporters decide to bury a once-loved athlete up here, you should see how the fans do a complete 180 on him and go from loving him to hating him. When you ask them the reason for their changed opinion, they say, “Didn’t you see the news?”.

But as for me, my preseason prediction of “lucky if we go 8-8″ has been surpassed. Winning the division was not on my radar. Being in the playoffs was not an expectation. I have to say that once they reached 9 wins, I told one of my pals, “Anthing that they do beyond this is gravy”. That is how we should see things. Not in the world we would like according to our own fantasies and wishes. But accoring to the world in which we actually and factually live.

Childress, well done. You have silenced the critics and led the team through adversity to a divison title. Without regard to future performance in the playoffs, as of today’s date I and several other fans out there agree that you deserve to be where you are. And we are glad to have you as coach. Keep doing what you are doing.

Tavaris, many of us out here see the gifting and the talent. We know what will be, and it excites us. Don’t let the excesses of nutcases get you down. You are NFL-caliber. And I look forward to the day when you make them all eat their words.

This is an article no media person in Minnesota has the guts to write. So I had to.

I love the Vikings. Win or lose, just give 100% and make a good showing in the playoffs!

 

 

bjshanley@hotmail.com

MSN Article On Rick Warren

Mon. 12-29-2008

 

http://www.slate.com/id/2207554/?GT1=38001

 

I am no fan of “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH” by Rick Warren, but my disagreement with a book the guy wrote does not blind my ability to see that he has just been targeted by extreme anti-Christian bigots in the press.  He needs the prayers and support of the Christian public.  He also needs the support of the non-Christian public that disagrees with such trashy articles somehow trying to pass themselves off as journalism.

I am no fan of Baraq Hussein Obama, but he is my president.  So he has my support.  And has my thumbs-up for having the inaugural prayer led by a Protestant Evangelical.  Way to go, sir.  I am one critic that is open to being proven wrong.  In this case, I would love it!

A Brief History of Reincarnation [By: DR. ROBERT MOREY]

Taken from www.faithdefenders.com and posted here: 

Wednes. 12-17-2008

The present popular Western concepts of reincarnation are actually refinements of the ancient theory of transmigration. This theory states that all human “souls” are involved in a cyclic series of rebirths in which the soul is eventually purged of evil by suffering, administered through the Law of Karma.

In the Indian Vedas, the word “Karma” originally meant “a sacrifice” or “a ritual act.” In the Upanishads it evolved into the concept that any act in this life will have an effect on one’s next life. Finally, in the Bhagavad Gita, Karma is viewed as a punishment in this life for evils done in the past life, with a prospect of purification for future lives.¹

According to the Law of Karma, one’s soul can be reborn into an insect, animal, or human body. For example, a gluttonous man could be reborn into a pig’s body as punishment.

The Law of Karma is the immutable law that a person pays for evil he does in this life by suffering for it in the next life. If he is reborn as a worm or as a blind girl, this is his Karma. No one can pay his Karmic debt for him. All the suffering he experiences in this life is his own fault.² The Law of Karma will always catch up with him. There is no escape.

A person’s soul, according to this doctrine, is eternal and is part of the “world soul” or “ultimate being” (sometimes called “God”). A person emanates out of this “cosmic energy” and passes through multiple cycles of rebirths until he is finally absorbed back into unconscious reality. One is “fallen” now because he is under the illusion of self-consciousness (I-am) and of subject-object relationships to the world (I-Thou and I-it). Through cyclic rebirths he will return to an impersonal nonconscious fusion with “ultimate reality.” In other words, the person was nothing, is now in trouble because he thinks he is something, but will return to being nothing through Karmic cyclic rebirth.

The theory of transmigration was disseminated into the Western world in the form of Orphic mysticism.³ Many Western pre-Socratic, and later Greek philosophers, held to Karmic transmigration in one form or the other. It became a firm Western as well as Eastern philosophic tenet.

With Eastern and Western philosophers embracing the theory of Karmic transmigration, it is remarkable that Judaism held to its revealed dogmas. Its doctrines of God, creation, sin, man, death, and salvation were contrary to the popular Eastern and Western philosophies. It is no wonder, therefore, that Judaism expended its main energy on survival and thus did not significantly influence the philosophic world.

In the world in which Christianity arose, most of the first-century Greek mystery religions, such as Gnosticism, held to various theories of Karmic transmigration. Christianity eventually displaced Karmic transmigration with its doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary atonement in which He paid all of our “Karmic debt” through His own suffering. He had no Karma of His own, but He suffered and died for our sins.⁴

In the late 1800s, secularism, liberalism, and humanism began to displace Christianity through a rationalistic denial of supernaturalism. As Christianity was stripped of the miraculous and the supernatural, a spiritual vacuum was created in the hearts of many people. A revival of the occult religions, such as spiritism, thus ensued. Because secularization had stripped Christianity of its supernatural character, people began to return to the old forms of paganism.

Occult practices and theories grew because they satisfied the desire for the miraculous and the supernatural. Thus, witchcraft, astrology and spiritism began to gain acceptance.⁵ The early part of the 20th century also witnessed a growth of occult groups which espoused reincarnation.

At present, many secularized “Christians” are gradually moving into the world of the occult. Since liberalism and neoorthodoxy have fostered the secularization of Christianity in the mainline Protestant denominations, more nominal Christians will be drawn into the occult. Liberal theology creates the vacuum which the occult fills.

The theory of Karmic transmigration has been modified to suit the Western Christian mentality. Since a “Christian” would not accept rebirth into a bug or animal, the concept was redefined so that rebirth always took place in a human body.⁶ This westernized form of transmigration was first expounded by occult groups such as Theosophy, and later by many of the Indian Hindu gurus who came to the United States. It was eventually adopted by such psychics as Jeane Dixon and Edgar Cayce.

Cayce, sometimes called “the sleeping prophet” because he gave his medical readings and prophecies while in a sleeplike trance, has done much to popularize this Western view of reincarnation. Cayce claimed to be a “Christian” who believed in reincarnation; but occult practices blended hand-in-glove with his reincarnation beliefs. He also accepted the basic metaphysical beliefs which formed the philosophic basis of reincarnation. Thus he was “Christian” in name but Hindu in belief.

The Western version of transmigration is, therefore, a “hybrid” of distinctly opposite religious philosophies, borrowing just enough of Christian doctrine to make it palatable to western minds. Because transmigrational thought infiltrated our society so gradually, few have noted what an inconsistent mixture it really is.

Dr. Robert A. Morey

 

SHANLEY’S SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY OF THIS TOPIC:

http://shop.faithdefenders.com/Horoscopes_Reincarnation_and_Christianity_p/books-colon-horoscopesreincarnation.htm

 

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/New-Age-Cult/Walter-Ralston-Martin/e/9781556610776/?itm=1

 

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Yoga-and-the-Body-of-Christ/Dave-Hunt/e/9781928660484/?itm=2

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1418516449

 

 

 

ECOMOMY IS BAD; EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, PRICE OF AUDIO CD’s WILL BE REDUCED

In light of the tough economic times that everybody is facing, effective immediately we are cutting the price of the audio CD’s available for purchase through this ministry.

Audio CD singles were $10.00 each.  Until further notice, they will be reduced to $5.00 each.

The last thing we want to see happen is to see something like money become a road block for someone who is legitimately seeking to either search for the truth or to grow in an already-existing Christian faith.

This price reduction should have been done a long time ago.

CALLED BY GOD, RECOGNIZED BY MOREY, AND LICENSED BY FCC: NO ADDITIONAL OR REPLACEMENT LICENSE NEEDED OR ACCEPTED

I am aware of controversy at Faith Community Church in Irvine, CA. I am aware of issues raised by some regarding Dr. Robert Morey and Faith Defenders.

Because I was licensed to preach the Gospel by Faith Community Church in Irvine, CA, I have been called upon by more than 4 religious leaders in the Midwest to seek other licensure. As one of them put it, “You need papers that don’t have so much heat on them”. Three denominations have offered me licenses to replace the one I got from FCC.

I am refusing to do that. I am licensed to preach by Faith Community Church, signed by Dr. Robert Morey. And since I have not yet seen any evidence that this ministry has fallen into doctrinal, moral, or practical apostasy, my view of this license is that I am grateful and honored to have it. And I will continue to keep it and function as a minister using it.

As far as making a public comment regarding the specific issues there, I am still chewing on it. Many have called. Many have emailed. But I do not have any comment on it at this time.

In the future, I will be speaking on the record and making my stand very clear. But at this early stage in my investigation, it would be irresponsible of me to do so right now.

Here are some related links regarding the issues involved:

http://faithdefenders.com/morey-renounces-his-fire-membership/

http://thechristianthinker.org/moreyinterview.html

www.moreylinks.blogspot.com

http://truefaithdefended.blogspot.com/2008/11/robert-moreys-story-on-church-sale.html

http://www.cchighland.org

www.bobmorey.com

I would like to make it clear that the fact that I am putting these links here in no way endorses my agreement with the views communicated in them. I am just including them so that when my post writes about “controversies” and “issues” at the church, my readers will have some idea of what is being discussed out there. Nothing more.

bjshanley@hotmail.com
612-867-0699

Police: Abuse Of Authority, Abuse Of Power

I face a tough problem. And that problem is one in which I attempt to pass onto my children the values of respecting authority. My attempt to teach my children that the police are heroes is ruined by one thing – the police. My kids HEAR ME saying one thing, but with their own eyes they are SEEING FOR THEMSELVES something else. What are children more likely to believe? Words or actions? They believe the actions.

The police had my support. But they threw it into the trash can. After the things my children have seen regarding the police, any attempt to teach them that police are the good guys will be viewed as a fairy tale. It will be viewed as the opposite of reality. Why? Because such a teaching has not been born out in the kids’ everyday lives. It has not been affirmed by their own experience. It has not been confirmed by their own observations. All of the evidence that they have ever seen has militated against the police.

Last night in my Twin Cities neighborhood, a car alarm went off. I looked out my window. It was a neighbor of mine, trying to fix the family car. He had accidentally set off the car alarm. I cannot disclose the exact side of town I live on. But I can tell you that it is in the heart of one of the most violent areas in this part of the country. Guns, drugs, prostitution, etc. are everyday occurences. How did the police find the time to come after this guy?

The police pulled up on the gentleman. It is Minnesota in December. So it was cold out!

Rather than offering the guy a helping hand, they treated him like he was a car thief! It was HIS CAR! They threw him up against the police car. They searched him. Any attempt he made to explain the situation was countered with the nastiness and condescention of someone with a superiority complex: “I have a bade, therefore I am superior. You do not have the right to contradict me, no matter how wrong I am.” They asked him if he had drugs on him. He was insulted. They said he had no right to feel insulted by their questions. They pulled out their tasers and put it up against his neck, threatening to zap him.

The gentleman’s father was surprised to see his son in the back seat of a squad car. He did what any other father would do. He began to walk over in the attempt to find out what was going on.

How did the police, whose salaries are paid by his tax dollars, respond to him? By shining their lights at him and pulling their tazers out! Amazing that this passes for police work nowadays! They were on HIS property! They had HIS son in the back of a squad car! When he asked for an explanation, they said he did not deserve one, and he had better go back into the house. The basic message was: “Don’t interfere or we will taze you!” This was an old man. They were in the car, on the mega phone, ordering the man back into his house.

The man was visibly upset by being treated in this way. His rights were being trampled on, and so were his son’s. Any human being created in the image and likeness of a just Creator hates acts of injustice. I was upset watching all of this helplessly, and it was not happening to me. I can only imagine the emotions running through him at the time.

The police did their best to find dirt on this young man. They searched the man’s background for warrants and such – anything that would get them off the hook and make all of their behavior seem justified. If it could end in an arrest for a wanted man, then they would have an end that would justify this means. They ran into one problem: the young man’s record was clean. He had no warrants. The car checked out. It belonged to the family. He was not stealing it.

They let him out of the car as though they were doing him a favor. No apology. Just yelling back and forth with the man’s father as they got into the car. Nasty to the end. They drove away.

The family was not intimidated. They continued trying to get that car working. The alarm went off a few more times. This time, no cops. Thank God.

Some people might say that I am a bad father for allowing my children to know about this kind of activity. But I know that there are others out there who share my opinion. This happened a few feet from their doorstep. This happened in their neighborhood. They have to live in it. They have the right to see and know about what is going on.

My oldest daughter has seen more than her share of police behavior like this, in more than one city. I do not want her to hate police. Police have been there for us before. I would like her to focus more on those times. But it is hard, because the vast majority of contact she has had with the police has been negative.

Words that do not correspond to reality end up seeming like a fantasy or a story. My words about the police being civil servants who want to serve and protect the community, about them being heroes who put their lives on the line, are made to seem like a wild tale. They seem like a piece of fiction.

Because in the world she lives in, she sees people who have emotional problems. She sees people who have mental problems. She sees people who have hatred and prejudices. She sees control freaks. She sees people who think they are superior, and all who are not like them are inferior. She sees people who abuse power. She sees people who commit injustices. She sees dishonesty, as police are willing to lie and manipulate evidence in order to deliver to the D.A. the tightest case possible. She has seen police intimidate witnesses and force them to make damning statements that are untrue or go to jail themselves! She has seen police talk to people in a smart-mouthed disrespectful tone with absolutely no justification for doing so.

But since the person bringing all of this into the community has a badge, the behavior has apparently been stamped with the approval of the city! And since the person with all of these characteristics has a gun, a tazer, and a baton, the citizens (to some degree) are in a certain amount of danger.

I have given the police the benefit of the doubt. They have had the freedom to portray themselves however they would like. They have had the right to send off whatever communication they wanted to about themselves. I actually was even seeking to bias my children in the police’s favor! I wanted them to have a high view of the police. And it was working for a while. But the police themselves have messed that up pretty badly.

Sometimes I am watching the news. I see the police on there appealing to the community. I see them needing the assistance of the people in order to help solve a crime. They want to know if the people have seen something. They want to know if the people on the streets know anything. They always wonder why nobody comes forward to help them. They always wonder why they get no cooperation. It is because of the relationship that they have built with the people – one in which the people do not like them. The very people you once threatened to taze for no reason, now all of a sudden you need their help? How willing do you think they are going to be to help you out? What have you done for them?

The abuse of power I witnessed last night, literally feet from my doorstep, reminded me of a number of things I have went through in my own personal experience. I have had more police contact than the average bear. I am often in the wrong place, at the wrong time. I have seen a lot of nastiness and filth in their conduct, their communication, and their overall job performance as it relates to the community.

But I have had good experiences with police. I have witnessed cops saving lives. I have witnessed cops standing up for truth and for justice. I have seen police putting the good of the community first. I have had cops give me a break on speeding tickets here and there. I have had cops show genuine concern about the people in the neighborhood. I have seen state troopers want to make the highways safer. Good cops exist. I know this.

But my problem is, I want my kids to know this as well. Maybe good cops are a dying breed. But I hope not. To my children, good police men / women are like UFO’s – they might exist, but we’ve never seen them.

If I had owned a camcorder and I had it going last night, I would have had the most damning footage of police conduct that people had seen in a long time.

I am just very glad that today’s blog entry is not one about me having witnessed an old man being shot down like a dog on his own porch in the middle of a Minnesota winter for committing the sin of trying to find out why his son (who was attempting to fix their car) was being harrassed. Police do not like to be called into question. A narcissistic superiority complex that could have costed an innocent man the ultimate price.

The situation could have played out much worse. And at times I was really afraid that it was headed that direction. But thank God that it did not.

I will say one thing, though. When the police arrived, most of the people who were outside at the time ran like the wind. But a number of us stayed and watched the situation go down. Once the police became hip to the fact that they were being watched by myself and others, their demeanor calmed down a little bit. So I believe that the people in the community still have some influence and some power. But that can only be used if we stick together.

May good police officers not be corrupted by bad police officers. May they still stand up for all that makes America great. And may the community unite against those police who abuse their power.

 

 

BJS

612-867-0699

bjshanley@hotmail.com