zenpundit.com

[ by Charles Cameron — in which a couple hundred people mimic our society at large ]
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There were reports of some people shouting “white power!” while others were shouting “black power!” at rival protests outside the South Carolina State House today — but that just means that opposing views were expressed. The report that really caught my attention was this one, from The Hill:

The media outlet’s coverage documented protesters from both rallies shouting obscenities, racial slurs and slogans at one another.

It’s not so much the simple symmetry of opposing slogans that troubles me, it’s the symmetry of obscenities and racial slurs that’s so depressing.

[ by Charles Cameron — simply stunned — although I suppose i shouldn’t be too surprised ]
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Westboro Baptist reportedly planning to protest funerals of slain Chattanooga servicemen — http://t.co/3xCJr3LdbW pic.twitter.com/kcPZsej1pp

— Mike Walker (@New_Narrative) July 18, 2015

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There are plenty of other reasons to question the theology and behavior of the Westboro Baptist Church, and I don’t need to go into them here — but the placard on the left reading FAGS CAN’T REPENT may just be the weirdest piece of alleged theology I have ever seen. Even when Christians believe homosexual acts are an abomination, which some do and some don’t, they are still bound by Christ’s words in Luke 5.31-32:

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Not to mention Romans 3.23:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

[ by Charles Cameron — Chattanooga — when a gun free zone is no longer gun free, aka words are not the deeds they describe ]
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Two sides of the same Chattanooga coin?

Chattanooga: Assault Weapons a Security Problem for U.S. (Cole @ Truthdig) – http://t.co/bfG9wNTe3O pic.twitter.com/ZmHIrwrlMN

— Juan Cole (@jricole) July 17, 2015

and:

.@megynkelly: "Look at at the bullet-riddled storefront. You can see a sign circled in red… It reads: 'No guns.'" pic.twitter.com/ixXdhBbAA4

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 17, 2015

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We mostly understand that Juan Cole and Megyn Kelly represent opposite sides in the broad strokes liberal vs conservative divide, but on this occasion their two views are not necessarily opposed so much as oblique, maybe even orthogonal.

Cole’s point is about his desire to keep guns out of the hands of criminals / fanatics / terrorists, while Kelly is talking about her desire to allow trained military personnel to carry arms on duty.

But how easily we elide the nuance into simple opposition.

[by Mark Safranski, a.k.a. “zen“]

The Break it Down Show hosted two guests of interest to the ZP readership recently, both authors.

The first is LTC Michael G. Waltz, a fellow at the New America Foundation and former DoD and NSC official in the second Bush and the Obama administrations as well as a twice deployed Green Beret (res.) commander in Afghanistan. An expert in counterterrorism, counternarcotics policy and unconventional warfare, Waltz is the author of Warrior Diplomat ( see my review here at Pragati Magazine). Jon and Pete discuss COIN and where Afghanistan is headed with Michael Waltz below.

The second guest, returning for his second appearance, is a longtime friend of ZP blog, Lieutenant Fred Leland of Walpole, Massachusetts Police Department.  Leland is the founder of the highly regarded Law Enforcement & Security Consulting blog, a contributor to PoliceOne.com, a nationally known trainer in tactical decision making and co-author (with Don Vandergriff) of  the excellent Adaptive Leadership Handbook – Law Enforcement & Security.  Fred discusses police training and law enforcement and public perception with Jon and Pete below.

[ by Charles Cameron — good news, whether in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic or English ]
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Today’s DoubleTweet:

U.S. Jewish groups join recovery effort after Israeli church arson attack http://t.co/XsRlSneiCu via @RNS

— WWRN (@wwrn) July 17, 2015

Muslim fundraiser for burned black churches close to $100,000 goal http://t.co/ciwZwIW65i

— Al Jazeera America (@ajam) July 16, 2015

Duly noted, duly grateful.