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<\/a><\/p>\nDropping the \u201cAnti-Weaponization\u201d fund & other GOP pushbacks.\u00a0\u00a0Forging ahead with an experiment that could destroy the universe.\u00a0 And\u00a0Christian energy drinks.<\/p>\n
Dropping the \u201cAnti-Weaponization\u201d Fund & Other GOP Pushbacks<\/h4>\n
As President Trump\u2019s approval rating keeps going down (35% approve; 60% disapprove; and 5% aren\u2019t sure), he is getting some pushback from Republicans.<\/p>\n
Four Republicans joined House Democrats in passing a bill that would halt military operations in Iran <\/a>without Congressional approval.\u00a0 (That vote, however, is largely symbolic since it would also need Senate approval and the president could veto it anyway.)\u00a0 Senate Republicans removed $1 billion<\/a> for the president\u2019s ballroom project in order to advance a bill to fund immigration enforcement,<\/a> a $70 billion measure that eventually passed.\u00a0 (A federal judge has put the ballroom on \u201cpause,\u201d<\/a> in response to a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.)<\/p>\n The administration is reportedly dropping its plans for the \u201cAnti-Weaponization\u201d fund<\/a>, the $1.8 billion settlement from the president\u2019s suit with the IRS that would compensate victims of prosecutor misconduct that we blogged about<\/a> recently.\u00a0 This was in response to overwhelming criticism of the concept, including from Trump supporters.<\/p>\n But the settlement\u2019s grant of immunity still stands.\u00a0\u00a0Jacob Sullum<\/a>, writing for the Libertarian magazine Reason<\/em>, points out that the immunity agreement that the Department of Justice is signing on to goes beyond IRS claims to\u00a0include protection against ALL agencies:<\/p>\n The addendum extends beyond the IRS. It says \u201cthe United States\u201d is \u201cFOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED\u201d from pursuing \u201cany and all claims\u201d against Trump or his family regarding \u201cany matters currently pending or that could be pending\u201d before the IRS, the Treasury Department, or \u201cother agencies or departments.\u201d In a May 27\u00a0motion<\/a>\u00a0urging U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to reopen\u00a0Trump v. IRS<\/em><\/a>, 35 former federal judges noted the implications of that restriction: \u201cThe plain language of this extremely broad provision sweeps in [IRS] audits of Plaintiffs\u2019 tax returns and all other claims the United States might have against Plaintiffs\u2014extraordinary benefits for which no consideration was provided to the government.\u201d<\/p>\n The addendum, in short, resembles a self-pardon, except that it extends even further, encompassing civil violations as well as criminal offenses.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A judge has halted disbursement<\/a> of any funds for the settlement.\u00a0 Lawsuits and congressional inquiry will continue.<\/p>\n To be sure, President Trump still exerts enormous control over the Republican party.\u00a0 All but one of the candidates he endorsed<\/a> in the recent primary elections for state, local, and national offices won their races, giving him a record of 118-1.\u00a0 The sole exception<\/a> was Zach Lahn\u2019s victory over the Trump-endorsed Randy Feenstra\u00a0 in the Iowa governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n By endorsing their victorious opponents, President Trump ousted his Republican critics<\/a> Sen. John Cornyn (TX), Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (KY).<\/p>\n Republicans are now worried that while a Trump connection is vital in party primaries, it may prove toxic in the general election.<\/p>\n If our universe were in this false vacuum state, researchers fret that a strange chain reaction could trigger what\u2019s called a \u201cfalse vacuum decay\u201d event, which could result in the abrupt and sudden end of the entire universe around us \u2014 a \u201cdoomsday\u201d-level threat some physicists claim is entirely possible,\u00a0albeit exceedingly unlikely<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, as detailed in a\u00a0paper<\/a>\u00a0published in the journal\u00a0Physical Review Letters<\/em>, physicists in China claim to have simulated false vacuum decay using a lab-based \u201ctabletop\u201d experiment, laying the groundwork for future investigations into whether the universe could be wiped out in an instant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n First of all, the universe is not going to be wiped out by a scientific experiment.\u00a0 God preserves His creation.<\/p>\n What interests me here is that some scientists think the university might<\/em> be wiped out by what they are playing around with.\u00a0 And they are forging ahead anyway!<\/em><\/p>\n This is emblematic of the indifference on the part of scientists and engineers to the effects of the Pandora\u2019s boxes that they keep opening.<\/p>\n The UK Guardian<\/em> published an article by Lydia Bugg entitled\u00a0What would Jesus drink? Welcome to the age of Christian energy beverages<\/a>.<\/p>\n It tells about four different American brands of Christian-branded caffeinated drinks:\u00a0 Praise Energy, Agape, 4GVN [\u201cforgiven\u201d], and Yahweh.<\/p>\n The Yahweh drink has a picture of Jesus with a crown of thorns on every can.\u00a0 The article quotes the entrepreneur behind the product:\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cGod put it on our hearts to specifically preach the gospel through an energy drink.\u201d<\/p>\n Think about this.\u00a0 Preaching the gospel not through God\u2019s Word but through an energy drink. Some may reply, \u201cBut this can break through to the secularists who don\u2019t go to church!\u201d\u00a0 But, judging from reporter Lydia Bugg\u2019s commentary, secularists are mocking the whole project.<\/p>\n And think of the implications:\u00a0 setting up a silver can and calling it \u201cYahweh.\u201d Is this any different from setting up a golden calf and calling it \u201cYahweh\u201d?\u00a0 After Aaron makes the calf, he says, \u201c\u201cThis is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!\u201d (NKJV).<\/p>\n Some translations<\/a> say \u201cthese are your gods,\u201d plural, implying that this is a different deity than the YHWH revealed on Sinai. Others use the singular, so that the calf was thought of as a golden image of YHWH.\u00a0 At least one translation notes that the language could be taken either way.\u00a0 See this article<\/a>, by the Jewish Bible scholar Joel Baden, who argues for the singular and notes that Aaron in the next verse says of the festival to worship the calf, \u201cTomorrow shall be a feast to the\u00a0LORD.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0 That is how all translations render it, that last word in Hebrew being YHWH.<\/p>\n Whether or not the Yahweh energy drink violates the First Commandment and the prohibition of graven images, it surely violates the commandment against taking the name of the Lord in vain:\u00a0 \u201cYou shall not take the name of the\u00a0LORD<\/span>\u00a0your God in vain, for the\u00a0LORD<\/span> will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain\u201d (Exodus 20:7).\u00a0 \u201cLORD\u201d in all caps is always the rendition of the tetragrammaton, the sacred YHWH.<\/p>\n The Hebrews dared not even pronounce that sacred name for fear of taking it in vain.\u00a0 To this day, when Jews read from the Hebrew Bible, when they come to YHWH, they do not try to speculate on a pronunciation but render it as Adonai; that is, \u201cLord,\u201d printed in all caps, a convention followed in the leading Christian translations.<\/p>\n At any rate, the Hebrew says, \u201cYou shall not take the name of Yahweh in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.\u201d\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t marketing a Yahweh energy drink qualify?<\/p>\n But maybe we Christians should not take such a narrow Jewish taboo so seriously, as I was once admonished when I had qualms about using \u201cYahweh\u201d in some curriculum I was editing.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s take a Christian understanding of what it means to take God\u2019s name in vain.\u00a0 Here is how Luther\u2019s Small Catechism explains it: \u201cWe should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n OK, someone selling the Yahweh brand might say, we might use a little deception in marketing this product, implying that consuming this drink has some spiritual benefit, but we aren\u2019t doing the really bad stuff.<\/p>\nForging Ahead with an Experiment That Could Destroy the Universe<\/h4>\n
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Christian Energy Drinks<\/h4>\n