Donald Sterling is not a Democrat and other reactions from the Twitter feed

By now, many people know that Los Angeles Clippers soon-be-former owner Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA due to his comments to his girlfriend berating her for hanging out with black people. He isn’t so great when it comes to how he treats women either but I don’t think that had any impact on his sanctions.
Some conservatives tried to paint Sterling as a Democrat. For instance, Conservative Chick tweeted:


American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer joined in:


However, according to the LA Times, he hasn’t donated to Dem pols in over a decade and is a registered Republican:


Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon congratulated NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for his leadership:


Dimemag.com has a collection of NBA tweets.
Alas, this tweeter said:


Andy Borowitz analyzes the situation:


On the Sterling is a Democrat thing, apparently Matt Drudge beat that drum but has now removed his tweet to that effect.

The Virtue of Distraction

Marten Scheffer, professor and scientist with appointments in The Netherlands and Uruguay, has a brief, but thought provoking, essay in today’s edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA)* on nurturing creative associations. Hopefully, you don’t have to subscribe to read it. Scheffer begins:

Although thinking is the core business of scientists, we rarely ponder how it thrives best; this is ironic, as there is abundant scientific insight to draw upon. For example, it is now known that thinking has two complementary modes: roughly, association versus reasoning (1). We systematically underestimate the role of the first (1), and the way our institutions, meetings, and teaching are organized heavily reflects this imbalance. By contrast, many of the greatest scientists systematically nurtured a balanced dual-thinking process. We should follow their example and reform scientific practice and education to catalyze the unusual combinations of knowledge that often turn out to have the highest impact.

How does Scheffer suggest we make progress toward more creative associations? Nap and goof around:

Recent experimental work confirms that our capacity to make novel associations is boosted by rapid eye-movement sleep (3) and by undemanding activities that allow the mind to wander (4). This finding suggests that it may be good in a daily routine to alternate our cognitive work with naps or activities conducive to mind wandering.

I’m in. In fact, I’ve been in for a long time.
Scheffer also suggests interdisciplinary pursuits (I’m there), walks (short ones I hope) and talks (with gluten free food and a tasty beverage):

The idea that taking walks, reading things unrelated to your research, and hanging out with strangers in a campus pub should be considered part of the serious process of thinking, but might well meet with skepticism in practice. Should we really set time and space apart for things that distract us from our jobs? Yes we should, because many of the breakthroughs in science were made by people who were distracted.

I knew there was virtue in distraction but now I can get busy being more distracted so I can finally get to the breakthroughs.
 
*Marten Scheffer, The forgotten half of scientific thinking. PNAS, April 29, 2014, vol. 111 no. 176119, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1404649111.
 

Glenn Beck Talks Mormon at Liberty University

I honestly have a hard time figuring out Liberty University.
After finding themselves in some hot water over Mitt Romney, and then more recently Benny Hinn and Ron Godwin’s past devotion to Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, you would think they would take more care about the speakers in their chapel. However, last Friday, LU featured Mormon enthusiast Glenn Beck in their chapel. Right there in front of their motto “Training Champions for Christ Since 1971,” Glenn Beck spoke from his Mormon theological base to young evangelicals.
Right Wing Watch had the story yesterday. Here is a clip where Beck refers to the Mormon doctrine of pre-existence (begin at 26:45)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYNjZ55nctE#t=1597[/youtube]
To the Liberty students, Beck refers to the Grand Councils which apparently is a reference to the pre-mortal meeting to decide the plan of salvation and other matters, according Mormon theology. I wonder how many classes the LU profs have to spend undoing what happens in chapel.
 
 

Pastor Mike Wilkerson Leaves Mars Hill Church

Until this past weekend, Mike Wilkerson was the Biblical Living Pastor (Pastoral Care) at Mars Hill. Widely respected, Wilkerson helped develop the Redemption group concept (website for Redemption Group Network) which is the Mars Hill effort to provide lay counseling. Here is the announcement:

From Pastor Scott Harris:
Mars Hill Family,

One of our long time friends and pastors, Mike Wilkerson, has decided to step down from eldership at Mars Hill.
Mike has been a part of Mars Hill for many years, and we are grateful for his leadership, particularly in helping us build our biblical counseling and Redemption ministries across all 15 churches. We love Mike and wish him well as he will continue to run The Redemption Group Network which exists to help churches develop their own Redemption Groups ministries.
In the meantime, Pastor Cliff Ellis from Mars Hill Church West Seattle will be assuming Mike’s responsibilities over Biblical Living ministries.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of praying over Mike and for his family at the 7pm service in Ballard. Since he just got back from Latvia and plans to move out of state this coming Saturday, this was the only time we had to do it but are thankful we got the opportunity. Please join me in praying for the Wilkersons as they pursue what God has planned next for them.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott

What seems unusual about this announcement is that the announcement came only a week before he plans to move. Given his level of leadership at Mars Hill (a ministry director – just under the executive elders) and his popularity at the church, it seems abrupt to announce one week and be gone the next. Given the church’s commitment to biblical counseling (nouthetic counseling), I wonder if Wilkerson’s departure will signal a greater involvement by Board of Advisors and Accountability member Paul Tripp, who is also a leader in the biblical counseling movement.
In any case, ongoing staff turnover must be of concern to MHC leaders. The 20 ex-pastors have been quiet recently but I understand that some discussions about mediation (although no actual mediation) have taken place. However, the only official answer to my inquiries about the matter is silence.

David Barton Continues to Spin The Jefferson Lies in Florida and Ohio

According to this Florida Today report, David Barton is slated to speak at the Space Coast Prayer Breakfast in Melbourne, FL this Thursday.
The reporter provided the details of the event and noted that Thomas Nelson pulled from publication Barton’s book The Jefferson Lies. Barton continues to spin the situation as being the result of “two professors.”

Barton’s most recent book, “The Jefferson Lie, Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed,” was withdrawn by publisher Thomas Nelson because of factual errors, but will return.
“Thomas Nelson withdrew the book after two professors criticized it. But it’s coming back out at some point. You can’t just get rid of history simply because you don’t like it.”

While Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President was used by Thomas Nelson as a resource, it is beyond dispute that The Jefferson Lies was widely criticized by academic historians, both Christian and otherwise.  The book was voted Least Credible History Book in Print by the readers of the History News Network and garnered many critical reviews from real historians. In prior posts, I debunked Barton’s “two professors” claim.
The real story is why Barton continues to be invited to speak about the founding era when he has been so widely discredited as an authority on the subject.
Tonight, Barton speaks at Urbana University in Ohio.