Love

Hello Everyone!


Well, as you probably know, yesterday was Valentine's Day.


And some of you, like me, my not have a lover of any kind to receive valentines from or give valentines to.


And some of you, like me, may only be receiving valentines from your doting family members.


And some of you may not have anyone to receive valentines from at all.


Well, dear readers, my heart goes out to you. I wish I could give you all a valentine! But since I can't quite do that (though I'd like to do something special; I have to post it later, though, sorry), remember that you are not alone, and there is One who loves you eternally, whose love exceeds all others: God. He loved you so much, he sent His Son to die for you. And his Son loved you so much, he agreed to do it! To take upon himself all the sins of the world. To die on the cross for us.


I pray that you know that you, my readers, are loved very, very much, and this Holiday season, though you might feel left out of the festivities, you are never left out in God's Kingdom.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (NIV)

1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  (NIV)

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)


John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

The Day that Wikipedia Went Dark

Hello everyone!

Well, very early today, just after midnight, I attempted to look up Marilyn vs Savant, one of the most intelligent people in the world on wikipedia, and this is the image which enveloped my screen.

"Oh." I said to myself. "That's right. Today is blackout day."

Today, as many of you probably know, wikipedia blacked out their site in a bold effort to protest against SOPA and PIPA, two bills the government has been considering for a while.

Now I can't claim to know all that much about this. I haven't been following the debates and all the controversy surrounding these two bills. I barely knew of them until a day or two ago. And  can't claim to know enough facts to really declare an opinion about them.

However, today, in honor of the blackout, I have searched around a bit for some information, and found a post (on Boing Boing, ironically) that was most helpful.

Now I'm not sure how much of this is accurate or objective. I can vouch for it because it's on Boing Boing, but only so far.

But...

I must say it affected me. Not everybody uses the Internet in a way that glorifies God, or is good or proper, or even with good stewardship and vigilance, but I also don't believe in the government foolishly attempting to solve every social ill in the U.S. through our finite and very flawed human means. Yes, evil and wrong should be fought and brought to justice. But obstructing good things, sacrificing what you seek to protect (in this case, the prosperity and security of individuals on the Internet) is very wrong. Controlling the voices and freedom of people by gaining almost complete reign over any site, people's personal property and platforms of speech, with almost no reasonable cause (especially considering that the Internet is very inter connected, which is both one of its merits as well as its downfalls, but no less its nature )  is not only unconstitutional, but self-defeating. If the information I have been given is truth, then this law is very troubling indeed, and I find myself taking a strong stance against it.

However, I do believe that more information is warranted; not everything on the Internet should be taken at face value (of course, then again, neither should most bills). But something i do stand for is Freedom of speech and Public access to information and connection. These are all very precious, valuable things, things which are to be treasured and protected, and never to tossed aside with abandon.