The Prince of Peace

I've resisted writing anything about Michael Jackson up until now. On Sunday I bemoaned the fact that it was "all Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson all the time." But when I read a piece on CNN.com, I needed to weigh in.

The mayor of Gary, Indiana (Jackson's home town) wants to have a memorial service there, and have Jackson "lie in state." He called Jackson, "the prince of peace."

CNN reports

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay has been in contact with the Jackson family, hoping to make that happen, spokeswoman Lalosa Burns said Tuesday.

Clay told Chicago radio station WGN that he expects that Jackson's body will, at the least, be taken to Gary for a memorial service he is planning next week.

"I believe that his body will lie in state in Gary, Indiana," Clay said Tuesday. "Now, it may not happen, but I believe it will."

The Jackson memorial service is set for July 10 at U.S. Steel Works ballpark in Gary, Burns said.

It would be "a memorial that's fit for the prince of peace and a memorial that's fit for Gary, Indiana's favorite son, the greatest entertainer that ever lived," Clay said.

Much has been said about Michael Jackson. Some call him "Prince Michael"; others "Wacko Jacko." But this is the first time I've heard him called, "The Prince of Peace"! It is not often that popular culture so clearly displays its idolatry but when a burned out performer is given names reserved for Jesus Christ, it really makes one wonder!

Moreover, lying in state usually only applies when the bodies of government officials or royalty are displayed in the principal government building of a country or city. I suppose the Mayor of Gary wants to cash in on some tourism dollars!

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Adam and Eve: Primitive Parents?

Over at Reformed Academic there is a discussion about origins. Dr. J. Vandermeer of Redeemer University College is suggesting that Adam and Eve had primitive parents and are in some way common offspring from a forebear who also was ancestor to contemporary chimpanzees.

Pastor George van Popta responds to this succinctly on his blog. He presents three cogent arguments why Dr. Vandermeer's ideas should be soundly rejected by Reformed confessors.

Pastor George writes in his introduction:

This response makes three points: Dr. Van der Meer concludes more than he should; his conclusions call for a new way of reading scripture; his conclusions are beyond the pale of the Reformed confessions.

Point your browser over here to read the rest of Pastor George's response.

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Demographic Winter

I watched an interesting documentary this weekend. It's an hour long discussion about the decline of the "human family". Because of declining birth rates around the world, population numbers are dropping all over. Russia, for one, has a decline in population of 700,000 people per year. Most of Europe and the Americas have below replacement birth rates. Latvia, for example is headed for extinction. Only immigration is increasing the populations of the Americas. However, even cities like Detroit have imploding population numbers. One of the most startling declines, however, is Japan. Their failing economy is directly related to its aging population and its policy of "no immigration."

You can visit this website to view some of the info. One of the remarkable conclusions that the documentary came to was that "people of faith" especially those "of the book", Jews, Christians and Muslims have higher than replacement birth rates.

The documentary explores family policy, economics, and tax policy issues. It concludes that affluence, the rise of the middle class and the entrance of women into the workforce creates conditions in which birth rates will decline. Add to that, the breakdown of traditional family structures and easy access birth control and the stage is set for demographic winter. One startling omission in the data was any mention of abortion of unwanted babies and of gender selection (by abortion or in vitro).

This documentary would be an interesting addition to church libraries or high school social study curricula.