Butchers butchers butchers
OK. Enough.
They’re not insurgents anymore. They’re not rebels. They’re not freedom fighters. They’re not even terrorists. They’re not that good. They are butchers. Butchers. Butchers.
The blood of children is on their hands. Women are their victims. Men strolling on the street are their targets.
They have gone beyond the pale. They are no longer worthy of the term human.
This isn’t about the Iraq war right or wrong. If it means anything, I don’t think the war was a great idea in the first place, and the rationale for it was flawed from the outset. That said, once started, it held some potential for letting tinpot dictatorships know that they can’t act with impunity anymore.
But nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing justifies this wholesale slaughter … by people who supposedly believe in the same religion as their victims. By people who are mostly the countrymen of their victims.
May God have mercy on their souls, because most men won’t.
Michael Card concert and Pastor Elisha
Teresa and I (and the kids) just came back from a Michael Card concert.
It was sponsored by WorldServe, and featured Pastor Elisha, the leader of something like 2000 house churches in Vietnam.
It’s illegal to for Christians to evangelize in Vietnam, so Pastor Elisha has spent many years in prison - 4 prisons, actually - which has resulted in most of the prison population accepting Christ. It’s also the reason for the house churches. The Vietnam government closed down their church years ago, forcing Pastor Elisha to adopt a small-groups approach, which he actually based on how the apostle Paul evangelized in Asia Minor in the days of the early church.
Very enjoyable concert, and a fascinating evening. Eye-opening, too.
Many Christians are being persecuted in Vietnam, with beatings, imprisonment, and harrassment all common, even for children. Elisha told the story of a 12-year-old Christian girl being almost drowned by an army brute … but she refused to renounce Jesus, and was left for dead. The church members revived her, and she brought many others to God.
The church is exploding in Vietnam, with something like 1.2 million members - up from 55.000 in 1975, after the Vietnam War.
PS:
Pastor Elisha spoke through an interpreter - he does not speak any English.
When Aidan (our 2-year old) first heard him speak, he laughed loudly and said “silly man.” He’s probably never heard anyone speak quite like that before, and thought it was quite hilarious.
Leadership
Tonight I heard the one of the best definitions of leadership I’ve ever encountered:
“Leadership is the ability to achieve your goals through the efforts of others.”
- Pastor Elisha (a Vietnamese pastor)
It’s perhaps a bit one-sided … and you’d have to be careful that this kind of leadership wouldn’t deteriorate into manipulation, but it’s a pretty powerful way of thinking about what it means to lead.
Best is the “evil enemy” of good
I recently went through some Lean Transformation training provided by Simpler Consulting, and one of the facilitators said that “best is the evil enemy of good.”
I was a little surprised by that, because I’ve always thought that good is the enemy of best … people are satisfied with ‘good,’ and so they don’t put out the extra effort for ‘best.’
But Steve explained it this way:
We’re so mesmerized by the best system, the best process, the best solution that we often fixate on that and don’t even start. The ultimate solution is too far out there - it’s unattainable. So, because we don’t want to fail, we don’t go for the brass ring.
That rings true …. projects that I’ve delayed and delayed and delayed, because I knew we couldn’t get where we wanted to go.
But the point is, if you try, and you achieve 50% of what you tried to do, you’re still better off. And next year you can improve another 20%. And the following year another 15%.
The idea is continuous measured improvement, instead of staking everything on quantum leaps of improvement.
I kind of like that idea.
Simon Fraser University alumni reunion
Wow - it’s been 11 years since graducation.
Incredible.
SFU is holding an alumni celebration of 40 years of existence … staggeringly young for a university with 20-30 thousand students.
The oddest post (on Scientology)
I haven’t been blogging with quite the old pace, mostly due to being busy, but also due to taking some down time in the evenings that I haven’t taken for over 6 months.
But checking my blog, postings, comments, etc. tonight, I found the oddest post. (Visitors can post, but I have to review it before it goes live.)
In essence, it’s a Scientologist who has seen my latest posting on Scientology and my earlier post on Katie Holme’s brainwashing, and is replying.
The person - who claims to be a Scientology “clear” since 1979 - questions whether or not there is such a thing as brainwashing. He or she then launches into a long explanation of Scientology.
He or she is certainly sincere - I don’t doubt that. But the arguments fall into the classic cultic vein: believe, then we’ll give you the evidence. Then everything will be better.
Well, I’m sorry, but believing that all of today’s problems are caused by spirits of long-dead aliens who visited our planet 75 million years ago and died in some planetwide catastrophe, and further believing that a science fiction writer who stated that the best way to make a million dollars was to start a religion somehow discovered this, magically, and further believing that the way to ultimate health and wellbeing is just around the corner if only you pay some secretive and mystical organization gobs of cash while some charlatan with a gimmicked-up “e-meter” measures your thetans …. violates Occam’s razor on so many different levels we don’t even need to talk about the story after story after story of escapees from Scientology who reveal its flaws, and, frankly, evils.
In any case, here’s the post. It’s the fairly typical leap off a tower of speculation built on a foundation of imagination that you get from most “true believers” in cults. And includes the classic “you can become god” lie:
Rastin is smitten
Rastin is blogging, and it’s A Good Thingâ„¢.
At very least, you now have an outlet for those feelings of unrequited love, Rastin.
OK, maybe that’s overstating the case a little.
3 Generations of Koetsier Men
Teresa took this photo of me, Ethan, Aidan (the youngest) and my dad a month or so ago during Ethan’s 6th birthday party:
Recipe for success
Saw this nugget in a comment on Business Week:
Don’t forget the basic formula for success–first, best, or different.
If you’re launching a new product or service, those are good words to remember.
Boone is back
Dave is blogging again.
I guess once you’ve had your first hit, you’re hooked.
I see that, as of 30 minutes ago, he is not at home. Bad boy, cool app.
My only question, Dave, is: why Movable Type? Was it preinstalled or something? Wordpress is clearly superior (ok, I’m somewhat biased) and certainly much cooler.
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About
Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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