Calvin L. Smith

Hey John Glad to see your comment. Dad always thou...

2010-03-09T19:16:12.264Z

Hey John
Glad to see your comment.
Dad always thought very highly of you. And I know you were a blessing to him. Regards: Chris.

By the way I have nothing to do with this blog. I'm Calvin's Dad. (Just an interfering Oldbusybody!)

I came to this blog from the newly created Stanley...

2010-03-09T13:34:49.519Z

I came to this blog from the newly created Stanley Smith website. It's good to see that his delight in all things gastronomic has been preserved two generations down the family line. (I was at the Full Gospel Church, Fleetwood, where he was pastor, from the mid-sixties onwards.)

Calvin, I'm ashamed that I have a BBC licence. Wh...

2010-03-08T22:02:00.421Z

Calvin,
I'm ashamed that I have a BBC licence.
What can we do?
Write us a form letter that all faithful Christian believers can use as a template and encourage them to use it. Those of us who have websites should stand with you and publish it.
Perhaps even those who are opposed to us on unimportant doctrinal grands will stand with us on this one.
Haven't we turned the cheek more than once? Even Jesus - the great cheek-turner - took a whip and cleansed the Temple.
The BBC is ours. We pay for it. We are responsible for it. We will be judged for it!

I am wondering if the Americans will one day bring...

2010-03-08T07:31:49.885Z

I am wondering if the Americans will one day bring "JUST" to the UK. So we can try a steak soaked in it! If anyone out there wants to buy my franchise idea, how about the name "JUST a minute"!

You say: "I opted for the boneless prime rib roas...

2010-03-08T07:22:23.964Z

You say: "I opted for the boneless prime rib roast, all twenty ounces. When it came it was fully 1.5 inches thick at the deepest part and soaked in just."
I've travelled a lot but I've never had anything before soaked in "just". What is just? Sounds delicious!

I've just dribbled all over myself reading that......

2010-03-08T07:02:47.893Z

I've just dribbled all over myself reading that....

Yes encouraging words indeed and I shall also take...

2010-03-07T21:47:02.169Z

Yes encouraging words indeed and I shall also take heart from them.

Interesting. BTW, I presume this comment is for th...

2010-03-07T19:33:54.300Z

Interesting. BTW, I presume this comment is for the post before this one, at http://www.calvinlsmith.com/2010/03/blog-from-america-14-wrapping-up.html.

I'm so sorry Calvin, I meant to post the above com...

2010-03-07T19:33:42.572Z

I'm so sorry Calvin, I meant to post the above comment on your last post.

Sorry.

By the way, cross-posted this post.....yet again!

I worked briefly at Aldgate East in London on beha...

2010-03-07T19:28:46.155Z

I worked briefly at Aldgate East in London on behalf of P&O Containers. The streets were rough and yet there was a labyrinth under the streets, with beautiful and plush shopping areas.

Very strange to see the rich underground and the poor on the streets. I preferred the streets.

Also, I share your fear of highrises. I went to Essex University to study the Social Sciences in the school of mathmatics and computer sciences, and lived in one of the tower blocks for a year. These things were built as temporary accomodation whilst other buildings were built, and were inadequate in terms of the depth of foundations.

This was thrity years after they were first built to fulfil their temporary duty. I used to get seasick as the towers would sway violently at the mildest wind.

Thank you, Your Grace, for your wise and encouragi...

2010-03-07T18:47:26.539Z

Thank you, Your Grace, for your wise and encouraging words.

You can dream, and you must. You may never know t...

2010-03-07T18:43:45.447Z

You can dream, and you must.

You may never know this side of Glory whom you affect and what you may change.

Ah, this was the post in which I first came across...

2010-03-07T17:00:40.562Z

Ah, this was the post in which I first came across and learnt the word "fisk". Now I'm seeing everywhere.....

Hi Calvin. Very interesting posts, and I broadly a...

2010-03-07T13:05:31.222Z

Hi Calvin. Very interesting posts, and I broadly agree ;o) The division of left and right in politics seems to be a division between the left which preaches social responsibility, and the right which preaches personal responsibility, although today this division is less obvious. As Christians I believe we should balance personal and social responsibility together - as you say we should be idealists for Christ. This secular division though is quite artificial as both left and right are influenced by Platonism - unsuprising as the Greek Classics are required reading for many of the elite in Eton and Ox-bridge. So politicians of all shades tend to see themselves as philosopher kings with the masses either turned into productive units to pay taxes for social programmes, or to be almost slaves to big business.
Some of the worst aspects of Greek philosophy is that it has less respect for the traditional family unit as understood in the Bible, therefore children are seen as the property of the state, which then demands more control over their lives than their parents. The traditional family unit is broken up, and education for the majority is dumbed down.
The city state of Polis also needs a high class armed force loyal to the rulers i.e. a Polis force.

Gonna cross-post this one.

2010-03-07T10:31:13.593Z

Gonna cross-post this one.

Yes Gabi, it is a paradox. We seem to have the mos...

2010-03-07T08:59:29.017Z

Yes Gabi, it is a paradox. We seem to have the most illiberal liberal government ever.....

I'm not sure that you can hold a son responsible f...

2010-03-07T08:45:52.152Z

I'm not sure that you can hold a son responsible for what his father does...

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're arguing for. Are you saying that you oppose universal jurisdiction laws in general? Or simply when they are used against Israelis and not against others? That is, if this law were applied, in your words, without favouritism, would you support the arrest and trial of Israeli leaders for war crimes?

I agree with you. As a Christian (let alone with a...

2010-03-07T08:33:37.728Z

I agree with you. As a Christian (let alone with a political hat on) I cannot identify entirely with one political party.

On the issue of how and why academics lean leftwards, Robert Nozick had a very interesting piece on the subject, here.

And I may as well put my cards on the table, but Hayek had some great things to say about this in 'The Fatal Conceit': basically smart people think they can understand and plan things better, so they will tend towards supporting central planning.

What is this country coming to? This may seem slig...

2010-03-07T00:22:18.320Z

What is this country coming to?
This may seem slightly pessimistic but it looks like things are about to get worse and worse for Christians. Especially since now all the guys in charge are secularists who don't want to offend anyone who is a majority and will make them unpopular.

Rather than being truly liberal and allowing us all the right to free speech it seems that communism is becoming too tempting for out ‘liberal’ government.

We mustn't forget that much of this has been broug...

2010-03-06T15:55:41.232Z

We mustn't forget that much of this has been brought about by so called "religious" groups:-

Quakers call for law change on same-sex weddings

Bearing this in mind, one of the best comments I have come across is this one:-

If the Quakers and the Unitarians want to register civil partnerships in their places of worship, then that is a matter for them, and not for the state. Traditional Christians will be horrified at such things happening, but their horror should be directed not at the state for permitting these things, but at the Quakers and Unitarians for wishing to do them. If traditional Christians want freedom to proclaim that homosexual activity is wrong, and to exclude practising homosexuals from their membership, then they should be willing to allow freedom to religious bodies which think otherwise.

But we don't hear about politically-motivated camp...

2010-03-05T23:19:45.171Z

But we don't hear about politically-motivated campaigns to get them through the Magistrates' courts, do we?

No, it is not favouritism, it is correcting an abuse (though I agree with Stuart, looks like it won't happen anyway).

I loved this article. I really didn't think that I...

2010-03-05T22:24:30.417Z

I loved this article. I really didn't think that I would since it seems the ultimate goal to be able to change society (which has become so blind that I can't understand it). But if you get so eaten up with anger that things won't change it can destroy you.

That article really re-introduced the 'turn the other cheek' verse for me. It is good to try and make a difference since we are lights of the world however we must face facts that there are many things where we must deal with persecution and Frank Skinner illustrates this with the greatest example of all "Surely the central image of Christianity is someone who can shoot fireballs out of his fingertips allowing himself to be nailed to a wooden cross"

Thanks for this, it has given me a lot to think about.

Hi Calvin. There are many who would like to hold c...

2010-03-05T08:28:30.802Z

Hi Calvin. There are many who would like to hold certain leaders to account for Iraq especially, and would wish 'our' side would get out of Afghanistan. The claim that we need to train a country used to fighting how to form an army is weak.

Some would wish the leaders of Saudi Arabia etc. were to be detained for abuse of power. What about those Christians who challenged BAe for selling planes to another country for abusing power? Or the calls for recognition of the Armenian genocide? So I don't think the Israeli state is being singled out.

The government could have changed the law at the time of the Pinochet arrest, but the call to change British laws to suit one country does look like favouritism.

Philip, we'll have to disagree on this one. My poi...

2010-03-05T01:36:22.852Z

Philip, we'll have to disagree on this one. My point is there have been various mass deaths of civilians as a result of Allied action in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but we've never dream of holding visiting officials from America on the basis of a politically-driven representation to a Magistrates' court. Indeed, we don't arrest some of the real "baddies" who visit the UK. Meanwhile, there'd be uproar if one of the Assads visiting the UK were held because of the massacre at Hama.

No, these representations to UK courts are quite simply politically-driven, and I'm rather surprised by your comment for one who seeks to be pragmatic. It is ridiculous Tzipi Livni, as official leader of the Israeli Opposition, couldn't come to the UK as she had no formal diplomatic status.

According to Melanie Phillips our pleasure at this...

2010-03-04T20:39:45.123Z

According to Melanie Phillips our pleasure at this news might be a little premature.

Gordon Brown says that he will change the law to prevent the abuse of ‘universal jurisdiction’ through threats to arrest visiting Israeli dignatories for ‘war crimes’