dave dack

Just in case you ever wondered what the PC (U.S.A.)’s official “stance” on abortion is…

The church has a responsibility to provide public witness and to offer guidance, counsel, and support to those who make or interpret laws and public policies about abortion and problem pregnancies. Pastors have a duty to pray for and support those who face these choices, to offer support for women and families to help make unwanted pregnancies less likely to occur, and to provide practical support for those facing the birth of a child with medical anomalies, birth after rape or incest, or those who face health, economic, or other stresses.

The church also affirms the value of children and the importance of nurturing, protecting, and advocating their well-being. The church, therefore, appreciates the challenge each woman and family face when issues of personal well-being arise in the later stages of a pregnancy. In life and death, we belong to God. Life is a gift from God. We may not know exactly when human life begins, and have but an imperfect understanding of God as the giver of life and of our own human existence, yet we recognize that life is precious to God, and we should preserve and protect it. We derive our understanding of human life from Scripture and the Reformed Tradition in light of science, human experience, and reason guided by the Holy Spirit. Because we are made in the image of God, human beings are moral agents, endowed by the Creator with the capacity to make choices. Our Reformed Tradition recognizes that people do not always make moral choices, and forgiveness is central to our faith. In the Reformed Tradition, we affirm that God is the only Lord of conscience— not the state or the church. As a community, the church challenges the faithful to exercise their moral agency responsibly.

When an individual woman faces the decision whether to terminate a pregnancy, the issue is intensely personal, and may manifest itself in ways that do not reflect public rhetoric, or do not fit neatly into medical, legal, or policy guidelines. Humans are empowered by the spirit prayerfully to make significant moral choices, including the choice to continue or end a pregnancy. Human choices should not be made in a moral vacuum, but must be based on Scripture, faith, and Christian ethics. For any choice, we are accountable to God; however, even when we err, God offers to forgive us.

We affirm that the lives of viable unborn babies—those well-developed enough to survive outside the womb if delivered—ought to be preserved and cared for and not aborted. In cases where problems of life or health of the mother arise in a pregnancy, the church supports efforts to protect the life and health of both the mother and the baby. When late-term pregnancies must be terminated, we urge decisions intended to deliver the baby alive. We look to our churches to provide pastoral and tangible support to women in problem pregnancies and to surround these families with a community of care. We affirm adoption as a provision for women who deliver children they are not able to care for, and ask our churches to assist in seeking loving, Christian, adoptive families.” See Minutes, 217th General Assembly (2006) (pp.49-50).

So I’m trying to sell my car. I put it up on Craigslist and have had lots of calls and emails. Everyone seems really interested until they hear, “It has 211,600 miles on it.” I might as well say, “There’s a giant grizzly bear that lives in the trunk and you have to feed your children to it or it will explode and wipe out the entire western United States.”

Anyone want it? I’m asking $3,300 obo. There’s no nuclear bear in the trunk, I promise!

It’s the finger licking.  Have you ever noticed that while the dentist’s hands are in your mouth, your tongue sometimes starts automatically licking the tools and fingers?  It’s almost like a reflex - your tongue just has to know what these strange things are, what they feel like, what they taste like.  I don’t think I could tolerate my fingers being licked if I were a dentist.

New reviews from the PhenomeShawn here.

I’ve been redesigning the Dack family brand (as in a cattle brand - like a family crest) for the last couple of days, and ran a search on Google to see if the brand was anywhere online.  What I found was Dack’s Shoes For Men.  They’re based in Ontario, and I remember my grandma saying that she thought we had some distant relations up that way.

I really want a pair of their shoes.  I mean, c’mon, they’re Dack’s shoes!  I’m entitled to them.

I found out that Melody and I are tentatively scheduled to live on the third floor in one of the apartment buildings at Pittsburgh.  That’s right, the third floor.  Which sucks.  Why?  Because we own a couch.  Are there elevators in the apartment building?  No.  No elevators.  But definitely a big honkin’ couch.

*If anyone from Pittsburgh is reading this, don’t misunderstand me - I’m extremely grateful to get housing at the seminary.  I just don’t like moving couches up stairs.

Last week when the California Supreme Court declared laws banning same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, I posted some of my initial thoughts.  I quickly took the post down, though, because I was nervous about how people might react.  I decided to wait a few days.

It seems to me that the court made the right decision.  Some have said that the court overstepped its bounds by trying to set social policy.  Technically speaking, they didn’t set or approve anything; they simply declared existing laws banning gay marriage to be unconstitutional.  Others have said that the decision to allow or prohibit gay marriage is up to the people.  I agree, but again, the decision to declare a law as unconstitutional or not is up to the court.

Homosexual behavior and marriage goes against God’s word.  You can’t read the Bible and not be aware of that.  But let’s remember, the United States is not God’s chosen nation.  We’re not Israel.  And speaking strictly from an American standpoint, the government cannot tell people whom they are or are not allowed to marry, on any basis.  Same-sex marriage is a moral issue, and asking the government to ban it is asking the government to legislate morality.  It’s asking for a high level of government influence over private behavior.  If you put that on the conservative-liberal spectrum, it falls way over on the left (which is interesting, because it’s people on the right who are asking for the ban).

As a Christian, I don’t support same-sex marriage.  But I think the court’s decision was the right one from an American standpoint.  That doesn’t mean that I’m approaching this as an American first and as a Christian second.  It means that I expect the court to operate by America’s standards and not necessarily my Christian standards (which is exactly its job).  And I don’t see any precedent in scripture leading me to think that it’s my Christian duty to change our constitution (state or federal) and make it agree with Biblical morals and values.  Jesus never bothered to try and change Rome’s laws.  It just didn’t seem to be the top priority.

These are my thoughts, and they might be a bit sloppy - please, no angry comments.

Last night Melody and I were watching an episode of the West Wing. C.J. was speaking with the Chinese Ambassador, and at the end of their conversation the Ambassador said to her, “The American dream is financial, not ethical.” I thought it was a good line, and probably very true for many people.

This morning I bought a bluetooth headset. Partly it’s because I just wanted one, but mostly it’s because come July 1 the law will require me to use one if I want to talk on my phone in the car. Which I do sometimes. I’m not sure what the law is in Pennsylvania.

Don’t worry, I refuse to become one of those people walking around talking to myself pretending I’m in an episode of Star Trek.