Dead Seal 2 and Dead Seal 3

 

Well, they proved popular last time…

These chaps were on Easthaven near Carnoustie.

On Podcasting LateDecember

A little while since the last post so let me tell you why…

I have finally got round to working on a podcast and getting it online. There’s quite a lot of work in putting it all together but it has been good fun and the feedback so far has been good.

Originally I started putting together a video Python podcast but I switched to a Christian theme as it more important/required at this time and I need a break from the techie world sometimes. I have been using basic tools such as Windows Movie Maker which can produce decent results even with my clumsy approach. Production quality is important so this will be continually worked on. At the moment it is a solo project but I am talking to people to get involved which should make it twice as fun!

So please visit and subscribe to LateDecember! Should another photo post on here soon.

New Believers and Old Laws

One of the recurring issues in the recent discussions is what should be the attitude New Testament follower of Christ to do with the Law of Moses that is recorded in the Old Testament. The point made is usually along the lines of “why don’t you follow rule X in Leviticus?” or accusations of picking and choosing according to personal preference.

This matter was thankfully covered already… in the Bible. During the time of the Apostles, the Church was challenged particularly by Gentiles joining the Church. Did they have to follow all the Law? This was more than just a ceremonial issue. It also had implications for the future of Israel during the Church age.

The 10 commandments are the Law in summary and all are repeated in the New Testament. The exception being the Sabbath (Saturday) which is dealt with specifically as the Christians practice was to celebrate on Sunday whilst having liberty to chose any day.

The dietary laws were revoked by a vision given to Peter in Acts and many other aspects of the Law are for government for a nation and Christians were not called to forge a new country.  However the moral principles still apply, for example using fair weights and measures. The practical still apply – shellfish in a desert country that had not invented the refrigerator yet?? I’ll pass on that one for a few centuries… Laws that tell us of our very nature, the family unit and child rearing have not passed away. We operate under their principles but not under the Law of an ancient nation.

In summary, the rules have changed due to the fulfilment of the types and shadows of the Old Testament by the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It is not picking and choosing to apply the Old Testament Law as the New Testament requires believers to. The 12 Apostles received the completion of revelation which has survived in Scripture through much attempted interference. So could things change again? Possibly – the church age is time limited. For now, we have 66 books by over 40 others with 1 message. With no more Apostles there is nothing to be added; only insights extracted.

The Law was the School Master to bring us to Christ. Break one Law once and you are guilty on Judgement day of breaking them all. How many lies have you ever told? Jesus said all liars will have their place in the lake of fire. That is just one commandment. What are you to do on the day of your inevitable death. You need God to save you.

Sun, Snails, Leaves, Flowers, Thistles and Spaniel

 

 

 

 

 

Barry Mill in the Spring

 

Brainwashed, Rinsed and Hung Out To Dry

Thanks for all the response to my previous post on brainwashing, particularly to those who left a comment. I was sent pointers to more resources which I have been reading and there is so much to cover and clarify.

I still hold to the original premise and conclusion – that I am was not brainwashed and it is not really possible. Hold on though what about cults, re-education and psychological torture? Time to cover them.

For the sake of this blog entry, we will go through 3 areas – brainwashing, mind control and influence of ideas.

1. Brainwashing

Serious brainwashing such as that carried out in warfare. This was largely carried out to subdue prisoners and not change minds. I largely covered this in the previous blog post so want to spend more time on mind control as that is what people often mean by brainwashing and is that practised most by religious cults.

2. Mind Control

Cults are real and do try to control people. Once famous work investigating this is Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China by Robert Jay Lifton. He describes 8 methods used to change the minds of individuals without their knowledge. They are listed on the page linked to above and I think you will be surprised as I was as to how general they are and applicable to many groups in your local neighbourhood secular and religious! So have they happened to me?

Milieu Control – control of information. Not at all – I have always had access to a wide range of material. Remember this techniques were often used in prisons.

Mystical Manipulation – sorry no mystical experiences to report!

Demand for Purity – This is to be expected of any group and ideology. Sticking to the founding commonality of worldview that lead to the founding of the group. The summary on Wikipedia perhaps misses the emphasis but from experience in the Church this is largely a personal matter between the individual a God other than gross public scandal.

Confession – Only widely practised by a the Roman Catholic Church which prides itself on it confidentiality and takes it beyond legal obligations.

Sacred Science – Christian’s debate all aspects of theology all the time.

Loading the Language  - Every group secular or religious has terminology. Christianity does to. Here’s the difference – Christianity is constantly (or should be!) explaining itself to the outside world. There are no secret layers of knowledge.

Doctrine over person – This one is hard to address from the context of the short summary and the generality. Admittedly Christianity does usually put doctrine above subjective personal experience but so does any ideology. For example, would a communist give up their views based on a generous action of a rich capitalist? Probably not.

Dispensing of existence – This summary is a little muddled due to brevity so I will address the murder and exclusivity points. There are the cult-like practises who just want to kill outsiders – they are few, on the extreme fringe and thankfully unsuccessful. This has definitely not happened to me. Christianity does has a exclusivity claim, Jesus said ‘no one comes to the father except through me’. However the outside world is embraced, dwelt in and often the benefit of charitable works.

3. Influence

Every part of our culture influences our thinking from advertising, cinema, poetry and music. If people gather in a collective group with shared philosophy and values then the influence is likely to be enhanced. This is why doctors, atheists, psychologists etc all have conferences, journals and study groups. This why people solve crosswords, Sudoku and so on. It interests them and improves their mind.

As discussed above, brainwashing and mind control are techniques only used by extreme groups, are largely ineffective and require huge resources and effort. Physical imprisonment helps too. But remember it wears off rather quickly. In court cases round the world, brain washing and mind control have been no defence and quite rightly. Individuals are still responsible for their actions.

To go off on a tangent, I am currently re-reading the Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. At the time of starting the book, Lee is an atheist and a well known legal investigative journalist. He decides to investigate Christianity, chooses experts in various fields (archaeology, medicine etc) to interview and interview them. Points to note are that it was an independent investigation, he was part of no group guiding him, he consulted a range of individuals and thought it through for himself to see where the evidence led. Not to spoil it for you but by the end of the book he is a Christian. It a is well written and accessible volume.

So in conclusion, if professional level of independent research reaches same conclusion (namely that Christianity is true) and that case can be clearly and easily communicated - why go to the intensive and ineffective effort of brainwashing or mind control? There is a strong rational case with an array of every kind of evidence.

Back to the original charge. Throwing the ‘brainwashed’ accusation at the average Christian has no evidence and is not credible. If what you mean is ‘I still don’t understand why you hold that view or have that influence in your life’, then please go ahead and do so.

After all, I don’t want to control what you say, think and do.

Thanks to Kevin Dooley for the Creative Commons photo.

Technorati Tags: brainwash,brainwashed,Christian,cult,religion,atheist,psychology,Lee Strobel,mind control

Was Davy Brainwashed?

 

Brainwashed. That a common accusation for anyone involved in some of the debates on the Internet and the offline world. Most often from the sites I read (such as Ray Comfort) it originates from Atheists against religious belief, intelligent design and also creationism. I am sure the converse has been true on occasion.

What is brainwashing? After all if it has happened to me I may not remember so time to have a peek online for some answers. The more I read the more I see it is ineffective. Unless the brainwasher has the individuals imprisoned, sleep deprived and has 100% control of information they subject flips back quickly to their non-washed state.

So it is a baseless accusation of a technique which even if Christian’s used would not work. Let’s take a step back and look at the debating and reasoning technique of these individuals:

1. Knowingly make false accusations of brainwashing. Some of this could be hyperbole or frustration in debate.
2. Evidence of brainwashing other that a few fringe criminal cults is non-existent shows a persistence in unproven ideas and accusations. Again this could partially be those who are just there for a fight.
3. Modern psychologists suggest criticisms of others often reflect our own faults. Very commonly in evolution debates they openly claim they want 100% control of information supplied on origins. Even a footnote of Creationism or ID in a textbook is unacceptable. Christians on the other hand write, debate and generally communicate regularly on the topic and study scientific publications. This discounts wilful self-brainwashing of Christians.
4. Despite the strong observable and verifiable falling Church attendance and increasing diversity of views inside congregations (have you been following the Church of Scotland gay minister story for example?), the brainwashed argument is still given in an increasingly vocal manner by those claiming to be ‘rational’ and ‘evidence based’.

So stick to the facts please, you have no evidence of brainwashing and does not account for people holding their views. Yes,  in quick fire heated debates can be very very frustrating so a few vocabulary slips now and again are forgivable. We just disagree and that is okay and fine in discussion. I can tolerate that without ad hominem.

Please do not throw ‘brainwashing’ lightly when Christian's (or whomever) spend hours, day and lifetimes pouring over the arguments and agonising over the answers. Follow the evidence where it leads: Davy was not brainwashed.

Thanks to Gaetan Lee for the CC Image.

Technorati Tags: evolution,intelligent design,debate,athiest,atheism,darwin,darwinism,ray comfort

Good Morning!

 

Thanks to Dandy for ‘inviting’ me to watch the sunrise yesterday morning.

Spring Is Here!

 

Spring is here and Dandy and I had a great time at Shanwell which is bursting with daffodils!

Fruit and Veg

 

Video Podcasting You Tube to the iPhone / iPod Touch

 

Earlier this year I bought and iPod Touch for podcasts, music and web. I have been happy with it as a gadget and it is a big step up from my HP iPaq. One of the things I wanted to do was more video podcasts. Whilst doing a little googling I stumbled across and interesting site called RssHandler which neatly turns URLs such as a YouTube Users page into a video podcast. Best of all it is free and higher quality than most of the YouTube applications that are bundled with mobile devices.

Ok to take you through an example, say I want to subscribe to

http://www.youtube.com/user/fishwithtrish

I would go to this page and paste the link into the Channel URL box, pick a format (MP4 probably best) and hit the Generate button.

This will give you a long link which you can paste into your Podcast software such as iTunes:

http://www.rsshandler.com/flvrss.rss?feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Frss%2Fuser%2Ffishwithtrish%2Fvideos.rss&format=18

And that is it – enjoy your YouTube on the move!!

And be sure to visit the Fish With Trish blog too.

Balmarino Abbey, Fife

 

 

 

 

Dead Seal Skeleton

 

Photos Of Blogs Past

Photo catchup from my old blog...

FDBlogPhotos

Dandy In A Blur

 

Dog photography is often tricky – maybe I should use the ‘Action’ shot settings more!!

Starting the Year with a Twitch

Imagine the scene, you are on the beach with your trusty spaniel at your side, enjoying the bracing 2009 icy air and the space. Just like this pic:

Anyway, I scoop up Dandy’s well loved tennis ball and give it a good chuck down past the burn toward the sea birds on the shore line. I then spin round to see an unexpected site of a gaggle of Twitchers completed with serious anoraks, telescopes and lenses that a tabloid photographer would be proud of. I hope the doggy antics did not spoil their 1 chance in 25 years viewing of the Less Spotted Hog Snout. (Okay I made that up – a good google did not give me any good twitching news site revealing the target of the spying. They probably do it all by carrier pigeon instead).

As I walked off the beach and past the Twitchers, not a single hardback thumbed copy of ‘2008 Birds of Britain’ was hurled in my direction so I think we were okay.

Happy New Year to you and I hope you find what you want to spot this year!