Tandem Vincitur

copyright 1996, Dean Isaacson

“Have a good day.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Well, I want you to enjoy the day.”

“That’s ridiculous! I never heard of such a thing!” The old lady was emphatic as she squinted her eyes and glared at me from her wheelchair. I knew we were not on the same frequency but I tried to make her feel comfortable nonetheless.

The entire morning, my son and I worked in a convalescent center helping the elderly do church. You just got to love some of these people. Take Henry, for instance. Every time the preacher paused, he was quick to let everyone know that he gave his heart to God. “He’s the One and Only,” he would add every other time he declared his faith. As I walked him to his room after the service, he talked over and over of Christ coming back, living with Him and seeing his earthly father again. He loved his father and missed him; talked about him like he was still a kid. (more…)

This is a reprint from Tandem Vincitur, April 1995:

“We’ve found that pigs find even mild sorts of human behavior offensive.”

I happened upon that quote while reading the February edition of the World Press Review. This is good ammunition for the animal rights people. Now pigs can determine where people should live and what they should do.

If you substituted the word “pigs” with “government bureaucrats,” this quote explains their regulatory mindset - they think they must control every level of human activity. We live in a world that is increasingly calling for ‘tolerance in diversity.’ Yet, we find these proponents of toleration to be the promoters of hyper-regulation. They are intolerant of opposing viewpoints, especially if it elicits from deeply held convictions, or God forbid, religion.

One can hardly pick up the paper to read of some reporter’s account of outrage or intolerance on the part of another individual or group. Where do we get this notion that we all have to agree and those who disagree are intolerant? Humanist philosophy believes that the heart of man is basically good, therefore, we should love what is basically good in all men. That is, if we look for the good in people, if we would listen to each other, we would live in accord.

The Bible debunks this notion on two counts. (more…)