Wild Jew, please go easy with your broad brush regarding Rushdoony and home shcool. Most parents who teach their children at home have never heard of Rushdoony , much less use his curricullum. His materials are not the mainstay of the evangelical home school movement, thank goodness!

"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering towards slaughter.
If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not He who weighs the heart
perceive it?"
Proverbs 24:10-12

Thank you. Free speech may be painful at times, but there is even more pain without it. As for "JesusChristSuperCop" and his avatar, they are blasphemous, a mockery of the God whom I love, revere and worship. (Strange how I have no need to take to the streets, fly into a rage, sue someone, kill anyone, call for blasphemy laws to be enacted or throw insults at people.) God's command is to not take His name in vain, and this poster will answer to God someday, not to me. Praying for him is certainly something I will be doing. Thanks for the reminder.

ameshkin67:
You have no understanding of historical and cultural context, nor can you distinguish between a historical account and a direct command from God. (I think you need a course in hermaneutics!) May God bless your mind and heart with the strength and power of light and love and relieve you of your darkness and hate. (Wouldn't it be a relief not to hate?)
Joy O.

DDA, You make me smile at the thought! And got me to thinking about transporting the misunderstanders to a large cathedral with a large pipe organ. Have the organist play Bach's "Toccatta and Fugue" and have the choir sing "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." The musicians could just stick with Bach for a couple of day's "therapy" for the prisoners. Who knows what might happen.

ChickCartoonist,Thanks for your observations. Regarding the brain size and intelligence of whales (and any other animal species, for that matter) my thoughts are those of awe. What we humans do not know about the animal life surrounding us is no doubt more than we can imagine. I readily agree with you that human limitations are very great when it comes to perceiving the vast extent of nature. And it is true that the human ear is trained to respond to music styles. It is not racist to state that different cultures have their ears trained to differing organizations of pitches and rhythms and harmonies. It's just a fact.

My point was the uniqueness of the gift given to humans to express music the way they do: the use of the vocal chords in an amazing range of sounds, the prolific composing of music (the vast quantity of Western music alone is remarkable,) the designing of "machines" to increase the variety of music and the ability to play these "machines."

To stifle the beauty of music by banning it goes against the nature of a being who has been given the gift of music and has a propensity to produce music of some kind. (Just 2 days ago I observed a 15 mo. old baby keeping perfect time to a song and humming along with it! That was fun!)

Mohammad banned music. He was forcing his HATRED for that wonderful, God-given gift onto his followers, in a sense forcing them to unmake themselves. Music gives people a way to express themselves, express their inner beings, but Mohammad objected to people doing that. I guess it was his was of dominating others, subjecting them to his agenda in the name of a Mohammad-invented religion.

Regarding the wolves singing, I say that God has gifted them and you are fortunate to have been there to hear them. I am jealous. Although, I did hear 2 mother mountain lions and cubs orchestrating in my back yard for several nights. That was a concert! Best wishes on you novel.

Life without joy and beauty? Life without creativity and freedom? Life without art and music? Amazing concept! This idea is a stifling and choking out of what God has put in the human heart. Birds sing and dolphins chirp, but humans are the only ones who compose music, design and manufacture musical instruments on which to play the music. God is the Great Creative Genius and He has made humans in His Image, beings who thrive on being creative.

The God of the Bible is the God of music. It is He who has given the gift of music to the human soul, when words are just not enough. There are over 600 references to music in the Bible. Those who oppose music oppose the Creator of music. Is it possible that Mohammad was afraid of music?

Abdullah, You compare apples and oranges. Why are you speaking of fair treatment, good manners and consideration when Jesus sets the standard of ***loving*** your enemy? That has nothing to do with fair treatment. It has to do with the description of true and pure love which transcends the idea of "fair treatment." The true test of love is continuing to love the one who insults and offends you. Jesus Himself set the example with the greatest of clarity. Read His biography. Kinds regards, Joy O.

Rosie, This horror of great darkness is like a tsunami poised to sweep us away. The darkness is real, but the end of the story is brilliant light! Try this: Listen to Handel's "Messiah," a few choruses a day (the entire work is about 2 hrs.), preferably using the score to follow along.
Joy O.