Animal Cruelty, Gain of Function Research, & the American Budget

Oh, Fauci, you're in trouble now!

Fauci has been, much to his own pleasure, ubiquitous over the last 18 months. One finds it difficult to turn on the TV or log into social media without seeing his likeness gracing the headlines, memes, etc., and the opinions regarding his character and effectiveness are rarely moderate--he's either a god or the devil incarnate. Personally, I'm confident he's just another member of America's ruling elite--what I like to call our unofficial aristocracy.

His latest scandal stems from research done in Tunisia that included, how can I summarize this neatly, sacrificing beagles to sandflies. Previously he faced stiff opposition when it was discovered that the origin of COVID-19 may be tied gain-of-function research in a Wuhan lab that the NIH funded under Fauci's leadership. Besides his general hypocrisy and vacillation, which should be enough to discredit him, these two scandals have convinced many that Fauci is more evil genius than benevolent savior.

I'd like to share three quick questions that occurred to me when I heard this story.

Firstly, is this their way of getting rid of Fauci without dealing with the Wuhan lab? In other words, is this a distraction? There's a thin, fine line between being an informed citizen and a conspiracy nut, and our government's endless corruption and misinformation has made it even more difficult to maintain this balance. The media normally runs point for them, so, whenever a scandal like this occurs, it's usually safe to assume that something even worse is being hidden (think Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky). Are they trying to make Fauci disappear so people will stop asking questions about Wuhan? I'm sure we'll never know.

Secondly, does anyone else find it equally amusing and depressing that animal cruelty is taken way more seriously than endangering the lives of billions of human beings? We've all heard it said that disaster relief drives bring in more money when showing images of distraught animals, and I think this story illustrates again our misplaced priorities in this nation. Fauci has proven to be a dangerous, incompetent political puppet, but it takes pictures of tortured dogs to evince a reaction from the average American. What a sad, backwards world it is.

Finally, why are we funding research in China and Tunisia? People are caught up in an uproar about the unethical uses of American tax dollars, but nobody seems to be asking the simplest question--why are we funding any research in other countries? As an American taxpayer I am as equally, or at least nearly as, upset about my money being used to fund any research as inhumane research. We have become so desensitized to imbalanced budgets and national deficits that we no longer even consider how absurd it is that our money funds foreign armies, foreign research, etc. Rand Paul, walking in his father's footsteps, is about the only politician who ever mentions fiscal responsibility anymore, and he does it simply to illustrate how ridiculous our spending has become. When we no longer question the elaborate spending practices of our Federal government, we've already lost the battle.

4 Reasons I Affirm Paedocommunion

If you have interacted with me on social media, you know that I have always been outspoken on the issue of Paedocommunion . It is a theological position and a liturgical practice about which I am passionate. Having been raised, and having raised my children, at the Table, I cannot imagine attending a church that didn't allow PC. I hope that when I am old and gray, I will still be an advocate for bringing little children to the Sacrament. Throughout the 12 years that I have had this blog, I have written scattered thoughts on the topic, but it appears that I have never written a concise summary of my reasons for affirming PC. I was thoroughly convinced that I had, but I can't seem to locate it, so I guess I never did. So, to rectify the omission, here are four reasons I hold to PC. 1) Paedocommunion is Biblical. Any discussion of the topic should start here, and I would hope that both sides of the debate would make this assertion. However, l...

The Real Presence & Paedocommunion: A Deeper Rift Between Reformed Churches

You're going back to Rome! Theological disagreements within the Reformed world, especially those of the last half century, often devolve into these sorts of accusations. As controversialists like Doug Wilson and Peter Leithart began to break away from the larger conservative Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, it became clear that the rift was deeper than semantics and systematic minutiae. Much like the Reformation four centuries before, the Table was a primary point of conflict. What does it mean? Who may partake? What do we call it? These questions, along with a few more, divided Reformed brethren as the physical elements of our religion reflected deeper conflicts. Good men began to understand that the problem wasn't just in our logos, but in our pathos and ethos, as well. Paedocommunion (hereafter PC) has been one of the hottest points of contention. PC has always been normal to me as I grew up with it. I underst...

Anglicanism, Paedocommunion, & Being Reformed

I consider myself Reformed. I was baptized as a baby in a PCA church. I grew up in a Reformed microdenomination that allowed its member churches to subscribe to any of the Reformed confessions (we subscribed to the Three Forms of Unity). In many ways, whether I like it or not, I still think and act like a Reformed Presbyterian. Some, however, would seek to deny me that label. I suspect there are many reasons for this, but paramount among them is that I hold to Paedocommunion (hereafter PC), which, for some reason, is absolutely the worst thing ever to these people. Some would go so far as to say that PC makes me a heretic, but they all agree that I am certainly not Reformed . My recent engagement with these opponents of PC has caused me to reflect on what it means to be Reformed and what it means to be a Christian. This online jousting has dovetailed well with some of my recent study, particularly An Apology of the Church...

Always Reforming

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