Thursday, July 31, 2014

Seeing Gallifrey from my House

It's actually hilarious.  Frustrating, but hilarious.  I remember in the 2008 election when Sarah Palin ran for Vice President and gave me so much hope because her running mate is such a RINO.  The media couldn't stand a beautiful, popular woman who is feminist and also ragingly pro-life and against Oblabla.  People began to hate her because they believe everything NBC says without question.

That's not the point.  One time, Tina Fey portrayed her on SNL.  She was great, and Palin loved her portrayal.  Tina's most famous moment was when someone asked her about foreign policy.  Playing Palin, Tina said, "I can see Russia from my house!"

I loved that skit.  However, people on Facebook kept saying that Palin said she could see Russia from her house, so she thought she was good at foreign policy.  They would say, "I can see the moon from my house but I shouldn't work for NASA."  Facepalm.  Sarah never said that.  Tina said that in portrayal of Sarah.  You actually can see Russia from parts of Alaska and swim there.  But that's not the point.  That was just a clever SNL joke.

Changing the subject sort of: I grew up in a household where at least my mom and I loved cats.  I love my cats and have gone great lengths for them.  But Mom and Dad both told me that animals do not have souls and will likely not end up in heaven.  Recently Dad brought that up again at dinner, and I just had to disagree.

The thing is, animals are not as valuable as humans.  Humans are made in God's image and he sent Jesus to redeem them.  But I'm telling you, I think of Rachel, Leah, and cats from the past such as Stan and Pogo the rare male calico and think, no they'll be in heaven.  They have souls.  Why?  My love for them gives them souls.

Genesis 1:28 is where God told his new humans to multiply greatly over the earth and subdue it.  When they sinned, it damned all creation, not just the humans.  Before that, carnivorous dinosaurs at only plants and so did we.  Nothing died.  Now all creation groans, dies, suffers, and bleeds until Christ's return.

Revelation 21 also speaks of a new heaven and a new earth.  We're made in Jesus's image and he died for just our salvations, but no, if we are saved, our pets and animals will be in heaven, too.  God's kingdom will be here on earth one day and all will be as before yet without sin or dying.

So, here comes the absurd notion started by Bill Maher and that guy who hosts that Cosmos show.  Bless their hearts, they're spreading the rumor that Ken Ham believes aliens are going to hell so we should not witness to them.

They have greatly misrepresented him and made a "Russia from my house" statement for Ham that will last until Christ comes back.  Fine.  People spread lies about other people.  Other people believe them.  That's life and Ken will just have to live with the fact that he know what he said and there's nothing wrong with him.  I've been there too.  It's totally alright.

But I can see how Bill and Degrassi What's-his-face could glean from Ken's writings such a conclusion, and this is a point I've never quite come eye-to-eye with Ken on myself.  Believe me the guy is brilliant and if people would pull their fingers out of their ears, stop saying "la-la-la I can't hear you" and listen to him, there really is no reason to scientifically believe in evolution.  In fact, science confirms God, Creation, Jesus, the Flood, and a young earth.

But it is true that Ken does not believe in aliens because God created humans in his image, Adam's descendants, us, are the reasons why the universe is in such pain, and Jesus graciously died for Adam's people - you and me - and not for any other species.  He did not die for the angels.  If angels are damned then they have no chance at salvation.  But he had mercy on us for whatever reason.

So according to Ken, if there is alien life out there, then it's not biologically descended from Adam and Eve, and therefore Christ did not die to save them.  It would not be much use to try to seek them out, much less witness to them.

Now, I love sci-fi.  I love Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars and the rest.  I don't actually believe in extraterrestrial life except for maybe God himself and his angels.  But I don't see why sentient beings outside of this planet cannot be redeemed along with us.  If my cats are going to be in heaven because I love them, then beings from other planets will be there, too.  Actually, not heaven, but God's kingdom on earth.  Let's get away from the heaven idea, because eternal life is going to be right here in God's New Creation.  Heaven is for now, but will not always be invisible.

When Christopher Columbus stumbled upon America, he met the Native Americans.  True human beings with souls for whom Christ died.  We had not seen them since the world broke up at the tower of Babel and some of Jephthah's descendants became maritime people and sailed away into the great unknown.  But lo and behold, the Native Americans are our relatives too.

I think one of the Church's biggest embarrassments is not seeing people who are different from us as full humans.  This is why we've had tragedies such as slavery, abortion, the Holocaust, and the murder of American Indians for their land by the American government.  If Meghan New, a Caucasian female in Georgia, could look at black people, Asian people, Latinos, autistic people, poor people, people who do not listen no matter how much you want to help them, and everyone else as human beings equal to us and not less valuable, maybe MLK's dream could finally come true.  All people have problems.  I have problems.  They are not the same as other people's problems, but they are still problems.  I may be able to talk and hold a job while my autistic brother can't live independently and needs 24-hour supervision, it does not render my brother the one with the problem.  He has problems, I have different problems.  I may have ASD tendencies, but people who don't have them also have problems.  We all stink.  We are all rotten.  We all need God's grace.

And guess what.  I'm not descended from Abraham.  I'm not biologically a Jew, but by Christ's blood, I'm a member of his Church.  I am descended from Adam and related to you, but my cats are not.  Yet they are still members of my household and have dignity as members of the New family.  And people who do not have origins on earth may not be related to us any more than a cat or dog, but they can come under the umbrella of Christ's redemption. 

So are there aliens?  Who cares?  All I know is that Christ will renew all creation, therefore all its denizens will have a representation in his Kingdom.

The end.

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