Got Milk?

This week in Spokane, Washington and San Luis Obispo County, California there were  traces of radioactive iodine 131 found in milk. It sounds dangerous but according to the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency the amount of iodine 131 found in the samples are 5,000 times below the level of action or concern. Earlier this month Japan experienced an earthquake that caused a horrific tsunami that not only caused destruction of towns and lives but has caused a Japan power plant to leak radiation. It seems that very diluted levels of Iodine 131 entered the air and landed on the grass, hay, feed that the cows in the west are consuming. The primary risk of high exposure to iodine 131 is radiogenic thyroid cancer later on in life. 

This man has a case of Iodine 131 Cancer.

People should have no worries about the current level of iodine 131 in milk. Iodine 131 has a half-life of eight day, pretty much every 8 days it loses  half it's strength, it was been through at least 2 half lives since the Fukushima reactors in Japan shut down.  Washington Governor Christine Gregoire said "both the EPA and the FDA confirmed that these levels are minuscule and are far below levels of public health concern, including for infants and children," All in all The FDA and EPA are confident that the levels of iodine 131 found in milk levels are consumable without any harm. They will continue to monitor  radiation in milk, precipitation, drinking water, and other outlets. These are the times when it is great to live in a country with regulation in food and with an agency designed to protect us and our environment.   There is now a ban by he FDA on food, vegetable, and dairy imports from area near Fukushima nuclear plant.The FDA and our government is doing a good job keeping the American people informed and secure about what is and isn't safe for us to consume. 

They love Him, they love Him NOT...

I wanted to find a blog that sparked my interest, had a clear position in its topic and came from an educated source. Amazingly I found exactly that, in my bio I stated I was a Christian, which is a fairly new statement I've begun to make. I call myself a Christian because I believe in God's word, and I want to follow His ways. I'm not perfect, the world is extremely tempting and its a difficult walk, I have and will step off the path but will always try to stay on and get back on. That being said, "Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus" is the blog that caught my eye.  

Evangelicals share the gospel, are followers of the bible and don't "hate Jesus." But the author makes points that are hard to argue. Phil Zuckerman co authored this article, he is an associate professor of sociology at Pitzer College in California, his blog is found in The Hufftington Post's religion section. 

In the article his reasons that Evangelicals hate Jesus are because their political positions contradict the teachings of Jesus and the bible, he comes to this conclusions based on a poll published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Life, Mr. Zuckerman says Jesus teaches on forgiveness and mercy (true) yet Evangelicals are most supportive of death penalty, government torture and draconian sentencing. He says Jesus teaches on peacefulness (true) and Evangelicals support easy access to weapons and no regulation of hand guns. He also says Jesus was very clear of the pursuit of wealth was inimical to the Kingdom of God, and that Evangelicals oppose food stamps and support corporate greed. Zuckerman's theory to how Evangelicals who love Jesus, hate Him, is that they love Him is because He gets them into heaven. They are only thanking Him and ignoring His teachings and commandments by picking and choosing what suits their secular needs.

So as I read this I was in a sense confused by his logic and by the teachings I've received in church. Do my beliefs contradict his logic? I don't think so, yet I don't think Evangelicals "hate" Jesus or completely love Him. If you love Jesus you follow His ways, because you love Him not so He can love you. In Christ or out of Christ we are humans and will never be perfect. Evangelicals are human too but if they believe in all these political policies that do contradict the doctrine of Jesus, then they should stop calling themselves Evangelicals. The goal of spreading the gospel is to draw people to Jesus so they can follow Him and His ways. But when their political views are opposite of the word of God, they are doing the exact opposite.  

Zuckerman ends by stating this "Of course, conservative Americans have every right to support corporate greed, militarism, gun possession, and the death penalty, and to oppose welfare, food stamps, health care for those in need, etc. -- it is just strange and contradictory when they claim these positions as somehow "Christian." They aren't." 

Agreed. Don't label these positions Christians or yourself an Evangelical when they and you are far from.