A Battle of Destinies...

In light of the previous post, I must needs present my opinions on a common debate. A war is going on with no neutral sides. No one may stand by the sidelines or try to ignore the fight. And the issue is this--Pirates or Ninjas?
Now though I cannot claim full neutrality, I shall try to present points for both sides in this post. I myself hold the Pirate side, but the Ninja side certainly has merit that cannot be ignored. Some points would seem to give automatic victory, but these exist on both sides, making the fight an endless stalemate.

Points for the Ninja side--

• Ninjas are stealthy--the Pirates wouldn't see them.
• Ninjas are quick--the Pirates couldn't hit them.
• Ninjas are masters of life and death--it takes great effort to kill them, and they still seem to show up afterwards.
• Ninjas can fight with anything around them--everything is a weapon.
• Ninjas often have supernatural abilities.

Points for the Pirate side--

• Pirates are shifty--you can't trust them.
• Pirates are seaworthy--no one can best them on the open sea.
• Pirates have guns. Enough said.
• Pirates hold to no code of honor--they will do anything to get what they want.
• Pirates have pirate songs. And rum.

But like a certain popular toy, there is more to this debate than meets the eye. Where did it come from? Why would Pirates and Ninjas fight, and why is the question so important? Probably the main source of the conflict is the similarity of the two groups. They fight because they are just like each other, in their respective cultures. Both are often motivated by greed and treacherous. Both can be used effectively as mercenaries. Both are popular at birthday parties.

Before one can go any further, one must recognize the vagueness of the terms "pirate" and "ninja". Pirates can be seafaring scalawags, or those who sell movies and songs illegally. Ninjas are even more diverse. The first ninjas were peasants who trained to fight the better armed armies of the samurai, at least according to Mythbusters. But we're talking about fictional ninjas here. Some are members of elite orders that train high up on mountains in an attempt to achiever perfection. Some are mercenaries, or rebels. Some are modern-day thieves (usually art thieves) or assassins who do not mind using modern weapons. In any case, there are certain traits that fictional pirates and ninjas must have.

Pirates--

• must be scalawags.
• must speak in pirate talk.
• must plunder, pillage, and raid.
• must be treacherous.
• must use swords (may also use guns and cannons)

Ninjas--

• must use unorthodox fighting techniques.
• must not be afraid to kill, even the defenseless and the unarmed.
• must use a variety of weapons.
• must be silent and unseen.
• must be Asian.

With these facts in mind, one can finally decide who wins in the conflict of Pirate vs. Ninja. And then he must wrestle with the next epic question--Vikings or Indians? Spartans or Mongols? Batman or Dr. Doom? . . .

Ask a Stealthy Ninja

Okay, I tried to put the video right into the post, but it cannot be done. Don't ask questions, just see the video here. This is making me reconsider my allegiance to pirates--this guy is hardcore.

Check out some of the other videos at the main site...and I thought Will It Blend would be a good time-waster!

Will it Offend? That is the Question...

If you haven't checked out Will it Blend (see link on right) yet, you really should. This site answers some questions that have been plaguing mankind for centuries, such as--what does a blender look like from the inside? And can an iPhone really do anything? And what do you do with that horrible singing plush you got last Valentine's Day?

Anyway, as interesting as that site is, it has absolutely nothing to do with this post, except the name. An issue for many Christians, especially those my age, is "What modern-day activities are prohibited by the Bible?" The Bible obviously doesn't say a word about what movies we should watch or what music we should listen to. So how do we know whether something is wrong or not?

Some things are clearly not appropriate. The Bible warns against lust, so movies that cause lust are not to be watched. But some things are not as clear. Is there a certain rating we can go by for what movies to watch? Are there certain types of music that are better than others?

Surprisingly, the Bible does speak of this. The Corinthians had a similar difficulty--the issue of meat offered to idols. A cultural anthropologist could explain this better, but to my understanding, many Greek and Romans temples sacrificed the blood of livestock, but not the meat, or at least not all of it. This left portions of meat in the possession of the pagan temples. They would then sell this leftover meat in the markets. Purchasing this meat was seen as a sign of supporting or condoning paganism.

Paul speaks of this issue in 1 Corinthians 8. He starts by saying that there is no such thing as an idol. False gods are just that--false. They have no power. Thus the meat is not defiled by being placed in front of a statue. However, not everyone is completely aware of this, Paul states. Some could not bring themselves to eat meat offered to idols. Paul explains that even if the reader is aware that eat offered to idols is no more unclean than any other meat, he should not offend his brothers who do not know that.

Romans 14-15 go into more depth. It explains that, on insignificant matters such as this, one can go by his own conscience. Each must examine himself, and see if he can eat this meat without feeling guilty. Romans 14:6 says, "he who eats, does so for the Lord...and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat." Each man, the one who eats meat, and the one who does not, does so because of personal convictions. Verse 3 explains that the two men are not to judge each other for what their consciences tell them.

So we see that the important issue as always, is our motives. If we can listen to Contemporary Christian Music and it means something spiritually to us, we can listen to it. If another Christian does not feel comfortable listening to it, he should not.

Is this the only guideline, then (at least in areas not outlined in the Bible)? No. Now we ask the immortal question--Will it Offend?

Paul continues in Romans 14-15 to say that we should never offend our Christian brothers and sisters. He says in 14:21 "It is not good to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles." Back in 1 Corinthians 8, in verse 13, he says "if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again..." If a brother was offended by the fact that Paul ate meat, Paul was willing to abstain from meat for his sake

In the same way, we must seek never to offend others. If someone in my church says that it is wrong to have long hair, it is wrong to have long hair in that person's presence. They do not determine what is right and wrong, but because long hair offends them, it is wrong.

Why should I change my lifestyle to accommodate for those who like to make up rules? Most of the things people find offensive are cultural, not biblical! But Paul said he was willing not to eat meat for the sake of his brothers. Surely we can refrain from modern music and certain movies if our brothers and sisters are offended by them.

When deciding if something is wrong, and there are no direct biblical guidelines, do not only ask if the action itself it wrong. Ask yourself, Will It Offend?