Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Books

Murder Gets A New Dress: Finicking Over Esthetics

by Tim Lien

At your next get-together don’t mention that you’ve just read Crime and Punishment. It’s really not a good opener. I mean, what will people say? “That’s great…one of the classics, huh?”
(awkward pause)
“Hey, did I ever tell you the one about the nun, the mechanic, and Harry Potter….”
Since, we’ve all had 150 years to read it, I don’t think I’m providing a spoiler—but stop reading if you think you’ll get to it soon.

Quick Summary: A poor university student (Rhodia Raskolnikov) murders a mean, old, haggling woman who is a predatory pawn-broker. Her sister comes in unannounced (during the deed) and he kills her, too. A double axe-murder. The rest of the book details the guilt and anguish that torments Raskolnikov. The following quote is in the final pages of the novel. And, to me, it was worth reading the entire book for this single page:

“…By going to suffer, surely you wash away half your crime?” she cried pressing and hugging and kissing him. “Crime? What crime?” he suddenly shouted, in a kind of sudden rage. “Killing a foul, noxious louse! An old pawn-broker woman no good to anybody, who sucked the life juices of the poor—why, for killing her I’ll be forgiven forty sins! I don’t think about it, and I don’t think about washing it away. Why does everybody push ‘crime, crime!’ at me? Only now do I see clearly the full depth of my mean-spiritedness, now that I’ve already decided to accept this unnecessary shame! Just because I’m worthless and have no talent, maybe also for my own advantage,…” “Brother, what are you saying!” Dunia cried out in despair. “You have shed human blood.” “Which they all shed,” he interrupted, almost frantic. “Which cascades, and always has, down upon the earth like a waterfall, which they pour like champagne, and for which they are crowned on the Capitoline and called the benefactors for mankind. Look a little harder and you’ll see! My own intentions were good, as far as people were concerned. I would have done hundreds, thousands of good deeds, instead of this one stupidity—not even stupidity, just clumsiness. Because the whole idea wasn’t quite as stupid as it seems now that it’s failed…(Everything seems stupid when it fails!) Performing this stupidity, I wanted to make myself independent, to take the first step, to acquire the means; then everything would have been cancelled by the relatively immense good…I couldn’t even take the first step…Because I’m vile! That’s what it all comes to! Anyway, I refuse to look at it your way. If I had made it I would have been crowned, but now—off to jail!” “Brother, what are you saying! That isn’t so at all!” “Ah, not the right form! Esthetically, not such very good form! Well, I don’t understand why blasting people with bombs or a barrage is better form. Finicking over esthetics is the first sign of impotence!…I never, never felt stronger or more convinced than now!”

General Theology

Exporting Prosperity

by Tim Lien

“Tim, why do preach pain so much? Tim, why do your sermons seem so heavy on suffering?”

An email has lingered in my inbox for quite some time, containing a link to John Piper preaching in Birmingham. How does the Reformed Gospel differ from Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, Joel Osteen, Robert Tilton and every other charletan shyster? Listen to this. (It is precisely 3 minutes long.)

Culture Wars

Getting Naked to Save the Glaciers

by Clay Staggs

No, that wasn’t a typo. And, yes, this is going to be as blazingly stupid as the title suggests. In fact, when trying to categorize this entry, I was sorely tempted to create a new category called “Too Dumb to Believe.” Honestly, sometimes I read real news stories and wonder if I’ve accidentally clicked over to the Onion.

So earlier this month, a group of 600 (probably frozen) morons decided to get naked and have their picture taken on a melting Swiss glacier. It’s hard to say what’s the worst aspect of this whole spectacle. It could be the fact that the photographer, who’s done lots of shots of large groups of naked people in public places, seems to have a very weird obsession with what would ordinarily be considered indecent exposure. It could be the respect that the AFP writer pays to this highly questionable cause, referring to the photographees as “eco-conscious volunteers.” It could be the nauseating self-congratulatory do-gooder pose that the organizers of the event strike:

Volunteers for the Swiss photoshoot were asked to turn up by train and cable car, to avoid generating carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.

But, winning by a nose is the brain-numbing illogic of stripping naked on a glacier to “draw[] attention to melting Alpine glaciers, one clear sign of global warming and of man-made climate change… .” Can someone please explain this to me? Is there anyone that really and truly looks at this and thinks about global warming? I dare anyone to see this picture and think of anything except the fact that there are a bunch of naked doofuses on a sheet of ice. I think the local mayor’s quote pretty well sums it up: “There’s no need to get undressed, I can show you very nice pictures of the glacier.”

Oh, and I LOVE the agenda journalism - the melting glaciers are a “clear sign … of man-made climate change.” Note the immediate leap to the conclusion that because the glacier is melting (as glaciers have been since the last ice age), it’s man’s fault. BUT WAIT! According to researchers in Norway, moose flatulence produces more greenhouse gases than driving a car. So I guess those “eco-conscious volunteers” took the train for nothing.

All this is just so ridiculous. It’s like all semblance of logic has left public debate. The emperor, literally this time, has no clothes.

Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week August 23, 2007

by Jimmy Hopper

Below is the Quote of the Week. It is from C. S. Lewis and his book, God in the Dock. It has to do with religion and society; religion and man; and ultimately luke-warm, societal religion of the kind we’ve been accustomed to in the South.

Give us your thoughts in the comments!

The decline of “religion” is no doubt a bad thing for the “world.” By it all the things that made England a fairly happy country are, I suppose, endangered; the comparative purity of her public life, the comparative humanity of her police, and the possibility of some mutual respect and kindness between political opponents. But I am not clear that that it makes conversions to Christianity rarer or more difficult; rather the reverse. It makes the choice more unescapeable. When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Modred: middle things are gone.

Culture Wars

Emergency Clergy

by Tim Lien

A friend of mine (thanks Drew Kay) sent me these links:

Clergy Response Teams are being formed to help the government if martial law is declared. Read about it here and here.

Is there really a conspiracy or is this harmless? Did Tim LaHaye predict this?

Church and Worship

Last Sunday at Riverwood

by Jimmy Hopper

What a great, great day of worship last Sunday was at Riverwood! Pastor Lien’s sermon has been on my mind literally since he finished. He brought us yet again to the mighty Gospel of God, this time cutting through the cant of self glorifying religiousity to see it again. I had taught a series entitled “Jesus and the Pharisees” and actually taught a lesson on this passage (Matthew 15:1-20) and never made the connection that Tim did about how totally this “super-Spirituality” permeates our life today and how cleverly it subverts true spirituality. His points about how super-spirituality is used to hide evil, and how the Lord told His disciples (and us) never to follow leaders who are immersed in this; that they are blind and will lead you into a pit, are really stunning. And then the charge: “The realization of personal evil is the preeminent requirement to understanding that we need the mercy of God.”

How very often I’ve hidden behind “super” spirituality. Again I say, “I’ve done that. I’ve done even worse.” It is always “back to the Gospel.” If you weren’t at the service, go here to hear the sermon and here to view the sermon notes.

After worship, we returned in the evening to hear our own Sarah Doss Yarborugh speak of her summer internship in an inter-city ministry in Memphis, TN. in what is the fourth poorest zip code in America. She spoke wonderfully of how much she, a college student from an affluent family, had learned from serving the Lord there. Sarah’s testimony was so unaffected, so sweet, so personal, that it moved and inspired everyone.

Then we heard Chuck and Michelle Tarter speak of their wonderful Gospel Friendships Outreach ministry in Ireland. They spoke of the concept of their ministry and of their personal experiences in bringing the Gospel to the people there as well as their personal coming to and walk with God. It was a great, inspiring time and it certainly caused me to consider the power of God throughout the world given, as it always has been, through His grace and through His servants.

We are so blessed here.

General Theology

Carrie Nation Defeated in Athens

by Clay Staggs

At the risk of seeming obsessed with this topic, I just had to post this, for two reasons, really. First, it’s a defeat for prohibitionism, which I say is a good thing. Second, it’s too shining an example of works theology to leave alone.

On Tuesday of this week, the good folks in Athens, Alabama, held a referendum on whether to return the city to prohibition. Three or four years ago, Athens voted to go “wet.” Evidently, the “dry” forces got enough support to put the measure on the ballot again, hoping to undo the last vote.

The AP ran a story on this. You can read it here. It would seem that some of the local churches were behind the “dry” campaign. Get this:

The Rev. Eddie Gooch feels good about the chances of ending alcohol sales in Athens, but he isn’t taking any chances. A leader of the petition drive, Gooch urged members of his United Methodist Church to pray and fast on election day and the two days leading up to it. Church volunteers have sent thousands of letters and made phone calls encouraging people to vote “dry.”

Of all the things that a church could spend three days praying and fasting about! Reckon there’s been such prayer and fasting for the soldiers dying overseas or their families? How about the miners out in Utah who (apparently) died in the cave-in and their families? How about their fellow Christians in Sudan being murdered and enslaved by the Muslims? The persecution of Christians in China? Maybe they did, but somehow, I doubt it.

Confronted with the possible loss of an upscale restaurant that moved to Athens from a neighboring dry city so that they could sell alcohol, and the loss of tax revenue:

Gooch isn’t worried about the city losing businesses or tax revenues if alcohol sales are banned. Normal economic growth and God will make up any difference if residents dump the bottle, he said. “We believe that God will honor and bless our city,” Gooch said.

If there was ever a better example of viewing God as a vending machine, I’d like to see it. This would be bad theology even if the activity being shunned was sinful. Rev. Gooch seems to think that if we behave, God will respond by bestowing blessing. I’d like to see Rev. Gooch explain Job’s plight in light of Job 1:1:

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Now see, since Job was upright and shunned evil (I’m sure, in Rev. Gooch’s world, Job would have voted dry), Rev. Gooch might expect Job to have been “honor[ed] and bless[ed]” by God. Yet it didn’t quite work out that way, did it?

I might add that several astute commenters on the AP story linked above also noted more than a bit of hypocrisy on the church’s part, citing Jesus turning the water to wine and the use of wine in the last supper.

Now, unlike my previous Carrie Nation posts, this one has an ending a bit more to my liking. Carrie went down at the ballot box in Athens, 68/32. So that’s good news.

However, I think the high profile of the churches involved here and the religious overtones they brought to this political matter has done much to reinforce the stereotype of hypocritical Christianity. Here’s commenter GunOwnerDan:

Why are so many “crhistians” [sic] such total hypocrites? Jesus, their “lord and savior” was a wine-maker. According to the Bible, Jesus actually turned water into WINE!

Dan doesn’t seem like a believer, but it’s hard to fault his analysis.

So one step forward on the political side, but two steps back for the church.

Politics

Carrie Nation in California

by Clay Staggs

I’d probably better stop posting on this topic, lest I be accused of being a lush, but it just burns me up.

According to sources quoted on Don Surber’s blog, the California Council on Alcohol Policy will be using federal grant money to convene at some posh resort in Mission Bay, CA, to educate other tax-exempt groups on how to lobby the California Legislature to increase taxes on beer and decrease its availability.

I don’t know what enrages me more, that they’re picking on beer or that they’re doing it with my federal tax money. Why is beer all of a sudden the whipping boy? I personally think that it’s because it’s something that the politician/bureaucrat types that propose this sort of nonsense don’t drink. I don’t hear any calls - especially in wine producing California - for doing the same with wine. Also, I doubt any politicians will be lining up to limit the availability of bourbon or scotch.

Would anyone care to wager whether this event will be dry? And if it is officially, I’m betting the attendees belly up to the bar after the seminar presentations are over. (And when they do, probably nobody is ordering Bud Light.)

Finally, the federal agency kicking in the sponsorship money is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Why is it that so many government agencies who appear to have a genuine mission end up spending money on junkets like this, and advocating tax increases? Am I the only one who sees the obvious contradiction here? Yeesh.

The neo-prohibitionists inch forward…….

Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week - August 10, 2007

by Jimmy Hopper

While thinking about the previous post about worship, old and new, and the condition of the evangelical church in general, I thought of the following quote by Francis Schaeffer from The God Who is There back in the seventies. Here it is so give us your thoughts about it:

At first acquaintance, this concept, “I do not ask for answers; I just believe,” gives the feeling of spirituality and it deceives many fine people. These are often young men and women who are not content only to repeat the phrases of the intellectual or spiritual status quo. They have become rightly dissatisfied with a dull, dusty, introverted orthodoxy given only to pounding out a few well known clichés. The new theology sounds spiritual and vibrant and they are trapped. But the price they pay for what seems to be spiritual is high, for to operate in the upper story using undefined religious terms is to fail to know and function on the level of the whole man. The answer is not to ask these people to return to the poorness of the status quo, but to a living orthodoxy which is concerned with the whole man; including the rational and intellectual, in his relationship to God.

On worship…old, new or everlasting

by Jimmy Hopper

Yesterday I ran across a new Christian-themed Blog, InternetMonk.com, that I will enjoy reading occasionally. The article that led me to it was this one. The article was very interesting to me and the many responses are both interesting and all over the map. The article speaks to the state of worship in America today, both mainline churches with “traditional” services and evangelical churches with “contemporary” services. The author finds both wanting and yearns for a church that holds to the truth of the faith and worships with piety, devotion, sacrements, the preaching of the Word, confession, and a sense of the holiness of God. Looking at the website, I suspect that he would also appreciate a church that wasn’t afraid to question and interact with the culture.

I wonder where the author could find such a church??????

Relationships

Why Nice Guys Finish Last

by Tim Lien

This one’s for all my single Christian brothers out there:

A few days ago I was talking to a pretty, twenty-something, Reformed, non-promiscuous, thoughtful, and highly intelligent female. And she started out by saying something to me that caught my attention. She said, “Nice Christian guys are always doing something very inappropriate to me.” Naturally, the hook was set. “Go on,” I mumbled.

She went on to describe how her friends (and she) preferred to go out with “bad boys,” instead of the doting, kind, respectful, thoughtful, and caring nice guys. Her desiring the “rebel” didn’t necessarily stem from wanting “excitement” or a “thrill.” She said it was simply that the alternative was almost impossible, because of the “inappropriate actions of many Christian males.” “Let me explain,” she said.

“It all comes down to an understanding of the Gospel,” she continued. “If they do not understand the Gospel, then they certainly don’t believe that I am depraved and capable of all matters of sin. Sure, it looks different from their sin, but it is sin nonetheless. And if they don’t believe that I am really a sinful creature, then this weird idealization of me starts to creep in. Emphasis on ‘creep.’ Sure, they can agree that I have flaws, but they refuse to see them, because they are too busy building an ivory tower for me. But it gets weirder, too; if they believe that I am an idealized person, then they think that they cannot show any of their flaws around this ‘perfect’ girl. So the Gospel gets destroyed for two people. And this is why my friends and I like the bad boy for a temporary alternative. At least he understands his imperfections, and they realize that I have mine, as well. We just want a bad boy who understands the other half of the Gospel, too. For us and for him. Yeah, I guess we want a Christian bad boy.”

Politics

How To Make Better Soldiers

by Clay Staggs

I know that Ron Paul says equally kooky things on the GOP side, and that the minor candidates in a presidential nomination are really cheap shots, but I just couldn’t resist this.

Citing the ancient Spartans, Mike Gravel has some ideas about making our military men more effective fighters by not only allowing, but in fact encouraging homosexuality in the military.

I’m not making this up. Go here and watch the video.

For once in my life, I’m speechless.

Culture Wars

Celebrities

by Jimmy Hopper

Last night I discovered the perfect answer to the celebrity idea that they, because they are famous, attractive and rich, have all the answers to all political and social ills. The answer lies in two words: CELEBRITY JEOPARDY. Despite the softballs lobbed up and categories designed for their specialties (i.e. Movie History); the questions they can’t answer and the dumb answers they give is really pitiful.

Movies

Movie Commentary - Becket

by Jimmy Hopper

As noted in the bulletin this morning, we are providing a forum on the Riverblog to discuss our current Movie Night movie, Becket. The suggestions below are just that, suggestions, and everyone is free to discuss any ideas as comments. Please join in with your thoughts on the important issues raised by this movie.

One of the great questions of medieval Europe was that of the power of the church as opposed to the power of the throne. There was never a question of which was predominate in spiritual matters, but as the Church increased in secular power, essentially being the biggest landowner and capitalist in England; this conflict between church and state became more pronounced and nuanced.

As a way to improve his odds in this game, Henry II gave Thomas Becket, his friend and already Chancellor of the Land, the role of Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the English Church. Becket, to Henry’s surprise and even shock, took his position as Archbishop most seriously, and precipitated the dramatic events portrayed in this film.

Listed below are some potential discussion questions relating to the movie. We welcome your discussion and comments.

• Henry and Thomas Becket were, in history as well as in this film, great friends and companions if not perhaps great carousers together. In fact, Becket has been described as a “buddy movie gone bad.” Is Henry’s despair, anger and remorse believable as portrayed? Does Becket display any of the same emotions, or is his new allegiance total?

• There is a secondary plot of racism in the Saxon-Norman conflict in the movie. This was not a part of the historical story of Becket since he was, in actuality, a middle class Norman instead of a Saxon peasant. Does this side plot add to the movie? Does it detract from it? Is it even a factor in either Becket’s decision, Henry’s anger, or in the resulting events of the “rebellion?”

• The principle that was behind the Church/state feud was investiture, the right of the church to appoint their own officials and make the rules that the Church will operate under. The criminal punishment case was only a manifestation of this principle. Is there any lingering examples of this type of argument today, both from the secular and sacred side? Consider tax codes and church property rights as well as the as Christian education, vouchers, etc.

• Paul writes that “The king does not bear the sword for nothing.” Becket held clergy to a different standard than the King’s justice. Is there any sense in which this discrepancy could ever be a viable option? Was it then?

• Peter’s statement to the Sanhedrin was that “he must obey God rather than man” when he was told to stop speaking the truth about Christ. Martin Luther would make the same type of statement some four centuries later. Is this the ground Becket stakes out to make his stand, or are other factors involved?

• Church involvement is state affairs is a big issue in America today. Does Becket address this in any way or are the issues too different. Are there areas in which the Church should have more than an individual involvement in state affairs?

• There is a historical question as to whether Henry intended the “murder in the cathedral.” What do you think based strictly on the movie?

Quotes of the Week

Quote of the Week: August 3, 2007

by Jimmy Hopper

Below you will find the quote of the week. This quote is from a favorite author of many of us, Francis Schaeffer, whose L’Abri Fellowship was the first ministry I remember that sought to engage the culture. This is from Dr. Schaeffer’s book, Death in the City. It speaks to an essential fact of our existence, that we, despite our fallenness, are made in the image of God. Give us your comments and discussion about this topic.

I am convinced that one of the great weaknesses in evangelicalism is that we have lost sight of the biblical fact that man is wonderful. We have seen the unbiblical humanism that surrounds us, and, to resist this in our emphasis on man’s lostness, we have tended to reduce man to a zero. Man is indeed lost, but this does not mean that he is nothing. We must resist humanism, but to make man a zero is neither the right way nor the best way to resist it. You can emphasize that man is totally lost and still have the biblical answer that man is really great. In fact, only the biblical position produces a real and proper humanism. Naturalistic humanism leads to a diminishing of man and eventually to a zeroing of man. But the Christian position is that man is made in the image of God and, even though he is now a sinner, he can do those things that are tremendous – he can influence history for this life and the life to come, for himself and for others.

Let us hear from you.

General Theology

Deaths in our Family

by Jimmy Hopper

I have had our Pastor’s sermon last Sunday on death and resurrection for the Christian very much on my mind. I tend to think about death more (I am almost 70!) but I’m not sure that’s the real reason. Its inevitability is such a part of life and you consciously avoid it for much of your life so at some point, you intellectually almost have to consider it. Anyway, Tim’s great sermon was based on 1st. Thessalonians 4:13 and following and spoke of how the Christian was not to be ignorant of what would happen but was to understand and be comforted and encouraged.

As sometimes happens, I was reading a book about death in its human ramifications and a particular passage spoke to the idea of the non-believer as he looks at the existence of God in the face of human death. The book is A Death in the Family by James Agee. It is a deeply moving novel about a family in Knoxville, TN in which the husband and father of two small children is killed in an automobile accident in 1915. I want to quote a portion of it but I’ll have to set the scene so bear with me.

In this scene, the wife’s family is gathered at her house after the news came. There are several members of the family there but the ones who speak in this scene are as follows: the wife is Mary, known as “Poll” to her father, Joel. Her aunt, Hannah, is there and she is Joel’s sister. Mary and Hannah are devout Catholic Christians. Joel is an agnostic. It is very late, around three AM. As this conversation begins, the Christians in the room have just had a very strong premonition that the husband’s spirit was there for a few minutes. All had the premonition seperately, without telling each other. Even Mary’s mother, who is almost deaf, felt it. They have investigated and now it has passed and they are speaking of the premonition and the supernatural:

Again they were thoughfully silent, and into this silence Joel spoke quietly, “I…don’t….know. I….just….don’t….know. Every bit of gumption I’ve got tells me it’s impossible, but if this kind of thing is so, it isn’t with gumption that you see it is. I….just….don’t….know. If you’re right, and I’m wrong, then chances are you’re right about the whole business, God, and the whole crew. And in that case, I’m just a plain damned fool. But if I can’t trust my common sense—I know it’s nothing much, Poll, but it’s all I’ve got. If I can’t trust that, what in hell can I trust! God, you’n Hannnah would say. Far as I’m concerned, it’s out of the question.”

“Why, Joel?” Hannah asked.

“II doesn’t seem to embarrass your idea of common sense, or Poll’s, and for that matter I’m making no reflections. You’re got plenty of gumption. But how can you reconcile the two, I can’t see.”

“It takes faith, Papa,” Mary said gently.

“That’s the word. That’s the one that makes a mess of everything, for’s I’m concerned. Bounces up like a jack-in-the-box. Solves everything. Well, it doesn’t solve anything for me, for I haven’t got any.Wouldn’t hurt it if I had. Don’t believe in it.. Not for me. I’m not exactly an atheist, you know. Least I don’t suppose I am. Seems as unfounded to me to say there isn’t a God as to say there is. You can’t prove it either way. But that’s it: I’ve got to have proof. All I can say is, I hope you’re wrong but I just don’t know.”

Joel can go to no door in Knoxville and knock and God will come out to meet him, giving him the “proof” that he thinks he needs and in that sense, we are bound by faith. But it is not a faith that is without reason. Paul wrote the words to the Thessalonians knowing, as an eyewitness and knowing hundreds of other eyewitnesses that Jesus had been crucified and was resurrected. Paul, and thousands of others gave up everything; even to dying a terrible death, because they knew the truth. Paul’s writings, and the Gospels, are historical documents, written by men who would have found it much easier to deny and walk around in a fog about the whole matter. The existence of God can’t be proven empirically, but our faith isn’t a jack-in-a-box that we pop up when the questions get hard either. Joel’s “I hope it isn’t true” is one of the saddest statements a man can make.

Which brings me back to the Christian and death. He knows it is all true and as Tim preached so wonderfully and so fervantly last Snday; because it is true, nothing else matters. Death doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter even a little bit, neither the dying nor the state of death, not as much as my Mother would have said, “a hill of beans.” To the Christian, secure and triumphant in the resurrection of our Lord, He is all that matters. Deaths in our family, the family of God, are vastly different from other deaths.

Not Ready for Prime Time?

by Clay Staggs

I’ve recently been debating the candidacy of Barack Obama for President with a friend, whose identity I’ll leave anonymous unless he sees this and elects to comment.

The latest flare up has been over Obama’s statement about the use of nuclear weapons. When asked by an reporter whether as President he’d ever use nuclear weapons, Obama responded:

“I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance,” Obama said, with a pause, “involving civilians.” Then he quickly added, “Let me scratch that. There’s been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That’s not on the table.”

My view is that holding such an opinion about the non-use of nuclear weapons is sufficient to disqualify one from being president. I find it to be naive in the extreme, especially with the qualifier about civilians, because, given the blast radius of a nuke, they all, by definition, involve civilians. Moreover, if any of this country’s enemies (e.g., al Qaeda) ever got a nuke, with Obama in the oval office, they’d know with certainty that they could use them on us without fear of any response in kind.

My correspondent did not necessarily believe this veiwpoint regarding nukes to be a disqualifier from being president.

Interestingly, if not predictably, the Senator’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, wasted no time in responding:

“Presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use or nonuse of nuclear weapons,” Clinton said. “Presidents since the Cold War have used nuclear deterrence to keep the peace. And I don’t believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or nonuse of nuclear weapons.”

I’d be curious to hear any thoughts anyone has on this issue. Does Obama’s statement on this issue show him to be not ready for prime time?