Plagiarisms Apparent Double Standard

I commented right away on my FB on Melania Trump’s speech being lifted off of Michelle Obama. Here is that commentary:

★ MELANIA ★

from a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise. that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

★ MICHELLE ★
and Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation.Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

[….]

There are some good side-by-side videos there as well. I don’t see this as a problem. We know Michelle Obama and her husband… their entire career saddled up with Marxists and radicals/racists didn’t mean what they said in the campaign. I bet as well that Melania has been proud of these United States plenty of times prior to Trump running. In other words, I doubt you will EVER hear Melania say something like this:

➤ “[F]or the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction…” — Michelle Obama

So the two speeches (if Trump wins) are a great petri-dish experiment. Both said the same thing… let us see who actually does it. Although, Obama’s word IS his bond, and he DID SAY he wanted to fundamentally change the country.

However, for many days afterword the nets went ape-shit over it (so I heard… I do not have TV). Why haven’t they done the same for their messiah in times past?

Marrs Hill Church Digging a Deeper Hole ~ Warren Smith

This update to an ongoing [apparently] issue[s] at Mars Hill comes way of Warren Smith at World Magazine:

Mars Hill Church, the Seattle megachurch pastored by Mark Driscoll, has moved to destroy all staff emails more than three months old. According to the church’s new email retention policy, announced this week, the email deletions would reduce technology costs. But a group of former staff, elders, and members say the new policy is a deliberate attempt to destroy documents that might be used in litigation against the church.

WORLD obtained an email from the church announcing the new policy, scheduled to go into effect by the close of business today. “We are now shifting to a new email retention policy, which will automatically retain emails only from the last 90 days on our machines, servers, and backups,” the email read.

Reaction to the new policy was immediate, with some former staff members and elders saying that even though Driscoll issued a lengthy statement confessing to and repenting of behavior that has led to recent controversies, this action is not consistent with that statement.

“Mars Hill leaders say they are ‘repenting,’ yet their actions scream cover up and damage control,” said former church staff member and elder Kyle Firstenberg “Sin that is repented of declares the glory of the gospel of Jesus. Sin that is covered up declares self-preservation and a lack of understanding of the gospel. Why don’t their words and actions agree?”

…read more…

To be honest, his infractions are not that great in my minds eye. A pastor shouldn’t participate in this “worldly ploy” maybe, but getting a christian based relational type book on the best seller list for people to see is a worthy goal. Plagiarism is a big deal… if not cited in his writings (as the audio at the top makes the point of)… there are dissenting opinions on this however.

But alas, there are better ways in which a pastor is suppose to act, as Sola Sisters make clear. Issues lightly touched upon in that post by SS that are more pertinent than buying books.

Favorite Quote in a While~Obama and Plagiarism

From NewsBusters:

“President Obama’s second State of the Union address contained enough recycled ideas and lines lifted from speeches of others to make historians wince,” quipped Felzenberg, himself a former presidential speechwriter. “Had the president submitted the text of his second State of the Union Address in the form of a college term paper, he would have been sent forthwith to the nearest academic dean.”