Selfish Sabbath

How are we to spend the Sabbath? Often we spend it at home, resting, reading, or participating in “lay activities.” Lot’s of questions come up in this vein. Especially focused on how we can keep kids from getting bored.

One questions that comes up frequently among the older set is “can we go out to eat on Sabbath?” It’s frequent appearance suggests it is a question we have trouble answering. We know we aren’t to work, and since we are not cooking or cleaning it is often suggested to be okay. But the repeated asking suggests an unease with this answer.

When I’m asked this question by our youth I ask what the fourth commandment says. Surprisingly, they have trouble answering this question. Most recall “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” and can add a little more about resting or not working. But when pressed they can’t give the details of the command. But it is in these details we find an answer to our question.

“In it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.”

We see the sabbath is not just for us. Not only are we to rest from work, but all under our influence are to rest from work also. Going out to eat violates this by hiring servants to work for us on the sabbath.

The bigger principle is the sabbath is not only for us, but a time to invite others into that rest. We see Jesus demonstrating this in His life. Often the claims is made that the Pharisees were right, that Jesus violated the sabbath. But the reality is that by His activities He lived out this principle of the sabbath. As He taught how to fully keep the other commandments through the sermon on the mount, His activities demonstrated how incompletely the sabbath was kept.

What Jesus demonstrated already had basis in the scriptures, outlined in Isaiah 58. The people had turned Holy activities into selfish indulgences. The Lord called them to “turn thy foot away from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my Holy day” (v13). Instead of their pleasures God called the people to “loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke” (v6). Along with this imagery of freeing from oppression is a call “to deal thy bread to the hungry, … bring the poor … to thy house … cover [the naked]” (v7).

This is how Jesus lived. On the sabbath Jesus healed the cripple by the pool of Bethesda, freeing him from his burden of infirmity (John 5). And on the sabbath He freed a woman from the bonds of Satan (Luke 13, see v16). We even see hints of feeding the hungry when the disciples plucked grain from the fields (Matthew 12). The Pharisees condemned the hungry for doing what was necessary to eat. But had they understood “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (v7) shouldn’t they have dealt their already prepared bread to the hungry freeing them of their work?

The fourth commandment teaches us we are not to free ourselves from the burden of work by burdening others with that work. Jesus teaches that the sabbath is not a call to isolation and inactivity. We are to engage with others for the purpose of easing their burdens. As the Israelites were called to release others from their work in remembrance of God freeing them from slavery, we are called to free others from their burdens, their hunger, their need, their slavery to sin as we remember how God redeemed us from our sin.

And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?

Mark 3:4.

Yes, the sabbath rest is for us. But we are also called to do good. Have we considered how we can be active on the sabbath? Yes, we can sit back and enjoy good messages that teach us about God. But do we also share that message with others who are desperate for the gospel? We can spend time in recreation, enjoying the wonders that God has made. But do we help others see all the good things God has provided for them? We can enjoy a fellowship meal with others. But do we share our food with those who are going hungry?

At times it may even seem that freeing others from their burdens infringes upon our rest. But we should follow the example of Jesus, the one who sacrificed all the joys of heaven for our redemption: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17).

Wordle & Disinformation

I recently dabbled in the on-line craze, Wordle. Not by playing the game, mind you. Instead I looked under the cover to see what I could learn. I found the answers for the game are right there, plain to see. And not just today’s answer, but every answer for years to come. I even made a calendar for upcoming answers.

It just so happens my Wordle exploration came right before the New York Times started putting their stamp on their newly purchased property. It was interesting to see the reactions. A common refrain was the NYT was making the game harder. The words were becoming more obscure. Or there were too many similar words to get the right answer in six guesses. They were deliberately ruining the game for the common man and making it the domain for the literary elite.

But were they?

A quick look at the modified source code shows they hadn’t. They had removed a few words from the list of valid guesses and upcoming answers¹. “We are updating the word list over time to remove obscure words to keep the puzzle accessible to more people, as well as insensitive or offensive words.” But the list of upcoming answers was still mostly unchanged. My calendar still has the answers, but just two days late as of today. But none the less the accusations came that the NYT had made Wordle harder or had just flat out ruined the game.

We live in a world of rampant disinformation. The Internet has made it easy to spread ideas and this has given power to those who would use it to spread lies for their own gain. Whether it is to grab attention and sales, manipulate the stock market, or sow dissent in a foreign nation the cost to spreading lies has never been lower. But the thing is the claim that the NYT was ruining Wordle didn’t came from these places². There’s little to gain from this idea that the NYT is maliciously making the game harder, or at least mismanaging it through incompetence.

No, these accusations were organic. They were the genuine reactions of players to their actual experiences. The reality is that though at times disinformation is carefully crafted with a nefarious objective, conspiracies can just as easily arise out of the human heart. It is no wonder. They are a convenient strategy to avoid self-reflection or blame. It is much more emotionally appealing to blame the NYT for ruining your game then to accept maybe your strategy isn’t the best. Or that the game you love is just inherently prone to hard and easy words due to being played with the English language.

This provides a lesson for evaluating the flood of information we receive on-line. It is easy to accept those things that resonate with us. But what resonates with us is not a good measure for truth. For some the idea of meddling by the NYT was so appealing they came up with it on their own. For others who didn’t go that far by themselves, hearing the idea was enough to accept it without further analysis.

The reality is the truth in this case was not that hard to uncover. There are numerous reports of just what exactly the NYT has done with Wordle. And it takes very little effort to confirm their veracity and see that the change was to remove some words and not that more challenging answers added. We must be careful what we accept as true and put the effort into discovering what is in reality true.

This doesn’t only apply to the onslaught of information we receive on-line, but also in our personal lives. How often do we assign malicious intent to those around us? A boss is clearly assigning us a certain project because they have it out for us. A friend or family member didn’t really forget, they just don’t care about us anymore. These motivations may feel very true, but are they? Are we accepting them because they are true or simply because they resonate with some dark chord within us?

We owe it to ourselves and to others to investigate the truth of the matter. To hear the other side before we accept these ideas and let them shape how we live our lives.

Footnotes

1. They did also temporarily make it so that not every player had the same answer on the same day, breaking a major part of the experience, though not making the game harder. This stems from the game allowing you to play off-line, and so the word list didn’t update until you refreshed your browser.
2. Well, you’ll always have your trolls. People who think a good use of time is stirring the pot and watching people rage in the comments. I’m sure they’re jumping on this idea, but I don’t believe they started it. Don’t feed the trolls people!

The Reward of Friendship

Why do Christians witness? I found an answer in one verse I misunderstood on the first few readings:

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

2 John 1:8

At first this verse puzzled me and even troubled me. It sounds very selfish in contradiction to John’s consistent emphasis on love. I took it to mean “Don’t mess things up for me so I get my benefit.” It seemed there was a desire for others to protect his personal gain with little thought of the benefit of others.

But what was that reward John was desiring and concerned about losing? It must be the same thing he called on others to look after: themselves. Johns desire was not selfish, but encouraging others to take care for themselves. In this, others being saved and not lost John saw his reward.

We gain better understanding on this when we consider John’s perspective on things. In vision he had seen a vast multitude gathered on the heavenly shores. A great company to be joined together for eternity. In this John found a reward. His work was to see others redeemed to an abundant and eternal life. A result of this was that he would gain new companions, new friends with whom he could enjoy their company, learning about them, and sharing eternity with.

How greatly should this mindset affect how we witness. So many see sharing the gospel as only an obligation. Something they are required to do for their own salvation. And so many make witnessing an attack of condemnation and offensive toward others. Little thought is given to whether it is effective or if it is of benefit or harm to those receiving it. But what if we saw outreach as the beginning of a friendship? How differently would we treat those encounters? And in the aftermath would we strive to grow and nurture that relationship? These relationships are intended to last for eternity. Aren’t they worth investing in?

This desire, this reward was not just in the heart of John, but it also lives within God’s heart.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Revelation 21:3

God too, John knew, is desiring to spend eternity with His people. He first began that relationship in Eden before sin forced separation. Yet God pursued the restoration of that relationship. Through the tabernacle God sought to dwell with His people. Most importantly Jesus came to live with us and to save us from sin and death. We are told that “…for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus tells us He did this not to maintain a hold on subject, but for His friends. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends… I call you not servants… but I have called you friends…” (John 15:13,15) “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2,3)

Jesus’ great desire is friendship with you. For time and eternity. His great mission has been to free you from that which would rob you of that friendship and of a joyful eternity.

This too is the calling and sacrifice of the Christian:

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1 John 3:16

Be a Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37

In the story of the good Samaritan we find a lawyer who is asking a question he knows the answer to. Jesus draws out the answer, to have eternal life we are told in the law to “love the Lord” with our entire being, & to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I think the lawyer must have understood how deep this is. This is not the silver rule where we refrain from doing things we wouldn’t like to others. It is active & deeply so. We are to love as we love ourselves. Even though self loathing is so prominent today, anyone would still make sure they have food to eat. The would not let much get in the way of that need. So we should also do this for others. If we had no place to stay, we would search for someone who can house us. So we should also do this for others.

I think because the lawyer knew how deep this responsibility is we find him trying to justify himself. Trying to limit who his neighbor is by asking “who is my neighbor?” He creates an identification problem. That though the love should not be limited, the scope of who it should apply to is.

In His response Jesus turns the question around. After the now familiar story of the good Samaritan He asks “Which… was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?” That is, who made himself a neighbor to him? The lawyer wondered how far the identity of neighbor applied to those around him. Jesus asked how far the lawyer was going to let the responsibility of being a neighbor apply to him.

In the story we see how far Jesus saw this responsibility should apply. In contrast to those who neglected the beaten man, the one who helped him would have been hated by him in other circumstances. It would be like a black man stopping to help a man in blood stained KKK robes. Or a Jew helping someone despite seeing a tattered swastika arm band.

Not only did the good Samaritan help someone who would not have done the same for him, but he did so as if it were himself lying on the ground.

Luke 10:34-35 – And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

We think of this as going above & beyond, but isn’t this what the Samaritan would wish was done for him? He was simply living up to the command to love his neighbor as himself.

Luke 6:31

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

This is a clear explanation on what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. What do you want? What do you wish others would do for you? We all inherently know the answer to this question, despite our level of learning. Despite our familiarity with the scriptures. We don’t even need to walk a mile in their shoes. Just take a moment to think what we would want. A question we are all very good at answering.

We don’t need to wait until we encounter a situation like the Samaritan. We already have things we wish others were doing for us that we could be doing for them. I wish my old friends or family would call me up sometime. I wish my coworkers would be more friendly to me. I wish others would be more patient with me.

1 John 3:16-18

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

This is something we as Christians should take very seriously. We may not always see someone beaten up on the side of the road. But are never far from someone who does not know the love of Christ. If we truly have something that is good in this world than we are called to share it with others. This applies to both the physical & the spiritual.

James 2:16 – And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

The physical needs are often more glaring & guilt inducing, but how often have you seen someone who needs a friend & not been one to them?

We’re all in this together

In the story the one thing that is a sticking point is that the one person who helped the man in need should have been his enemy. That wounded man would have hated & despised him & by all means he should have done the same. As Christians we should learn from this we have no room for enemies, despite who might try to make themselves one to us.

In the world we often see the idea that we are better than others. That our group has a right to look down on those around us. Unfortunately, in the church we are not immune to this. There are many Christian supremacists. But this should not be.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

1 Corinthians 6:11 – And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

The reality is we are all in the same boat. All that we have as Christians is not inherent to us. It was given. Anything we could look down at others for we could have held against ourselves not long ago, and in reality even still.

We are all in this together. When we look at others and are tempted to despise them we should see ourselves. All that we have that they do not is Christ’s. And if we are unwilling to share that and show them love then we do not even have that.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

1 John 4:19-20 – We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Our privilege is our responsibility. Our calling and command is to love. Christ has invited us to live with Him in His heavenly kingdom. To be His neighbor. And we are to seek out others and invite them to be our neighbors.

Please won’t you be my neighbor?

Unselfish

There is a popular idea that there is no such thing as an unselfish act. If you do something to help someone else you end up feeling good, benefiting yourself. And this is called selfish.

My answer to that is a story: Two high-school students have each spent the last year saving up to buy a good bicycle. They’ve given away their free time to work and do odd-jobs, all so they can save up for these bikes. On the way to the store, each with cash in hand, they talk with excitement about how great it will be to race through the town, and out into the country on their new rides.

On the way they run into a classmate. He’s a bit down, as he has been for some time. They ask him what is up. The classmate begins to spill what has been happening. His dad lost his job sometime ago. Their savings is running out. Now they have to make a decision between food and rent. He is on the verge of tears, uncertain what the future holds.

The two friends decide to do something drastic. They give their classmate their hard earned money. The problem may not be solved, but for this month, at least, their classmate’s family can eat without ending up on the street.

As the two friends change their course from the bike shop to home, one of them is overjoyed. He can’t stop thinking about how surprised the classmate’s family will be when they see the money. How overjoyed they will be that someone cared! He is beaming.

The other friend is beside himself. He can’t stop thinking about the bike he doesn’t have. All that work for nothing. Why’d that dad have to lose his job? It’s his fault his family has no money. And now he doesn’t have a bike. His wishes he could take his money back.

Now which one of these two friends is the selfish one? The claim was that feeling good about a selfless act is evidence of selfishness. But in reality, feeling good about doing something for the benefit of others is evidence the act came unselfishly. True selfishness would despise such an act.

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I have come to realize this answer is too simple. Though I believe it is true, it is only part of the picture. In reality, doing something selflessly often does not feel good. A perfect example of this is trying to help someone with addiction. You give of your time, energy, love, and self to help them overcome their habit, only to find they’ve carelessly taken it up again. When you invest yourself in them, they turn against you, lashing out at you as if you were the problem, trying to take away something good.

It can be tempting to give up when the object of your care doesn’t even seem to care and returns your love with hatred. To see the results of unselfishness requires perseverance through undeserved abuse. If you do finally get there, to the turning point where help is received and cherished, that good feeling may be numbed through constant betrayals.

This is the shortcoming of my original response, and of the idea there is no such thing as an unselfish act. It limits the “unselfish” to small acts with an immediate good feeling. Giving some cash to a homeless person, giving up your spot to someone else. Little things that require no deep investment of self. It confuses feelings with unselfishness. Really the measure of unselfishness is the giving of yourself.

We need to have a deeper understanding of unselfishness. We can easily recognize it in others, but for ourselves, we often consider mere trifles the full depth of unselfishness. We need more people who are willing to suffer unselfishness. The really problems of this world are not solved by throwing some change in a cup, or prescribing a few pills. The root of the problem requires a service that may at times be unappreciated or unwanted, but is unrelenting and unselfish.

Hate to Hate

Sometime ago while trying to solve one of the numerous frustrations with my computer, I had a rather embarrassing and eye-opening incident. Looking through forums I found a thread that was addressing my issue. Reading through the thread I found one person who was having the same problem as me, and was quite frustrated himself. In kind, I vented my frustration to him and all the internet, thinking we were on the same page. However, I got an unexpected response.

The poster with the problem took my venting as to be an attack against him, and he was fed up. He was done with these forums, and people like me who attacked and belittled when he was just trying to find solutions. He vowed never to return.

Thankfully, I was able to get a hold of him, apologize, and explain I had not intended to attack him. He responded, not doubt somewhat embarrassed as I was. Though I was glad to have my apology accepted, it left me thinking about what I had done to make him angry.

It would be easy to dismiss them as another person overreacting on the internet, but I couldn’t brush it aside. I may not have been angry at this person, but I was expressing hatred for someone none the less. Some unknown developer out there whose mistakes were causing me problems. And my hatred, my anger and frustration had planted the seed of anger in someone else.

We like to think we are different. We are not hateful people. We’re not racists (well actually…). But then we excuse our cherished hatred while despising others. It’s okay to hate someone of differing political views. It’s okay to hate those who we find to be oppressive, or making life difficult for others. It is even okay to hate those who are inconveniencing us, or failing to meet our standards.

But hatred is not safe. As I found on that forum, hatred inspires hatred in others. It’s acts of cruelty or violence, both physical and verbal so easily inspire others to do the same. And it moves us to go further. We may think we are safe in our thoughts or gossip, but where do hateful acts spring from? Anger does not grow out of pity, nor oppression out of charity, nor murder out of love.

In reality there are only two sides. When some murdered cops, claiming retribution for those murdered by cops, they really stood side by side with those murderers. One had killed fathers and sons of a different race, and so did the other. They claimed to be defending the innocent, but soon found the innocent distancing themselves from them. Likewise, if we cherish our hatred, we’ll soon find ourselves far from where we considered ourselves to be, and drawing closer to those we’ve loathed.

Love Letters

When reading a book in the Bible it can be easy for me to think of it as a collection of theological points. Recently re-reading 1 Thessalonians I was stuck by its true character. It is, quite obviously, a love letter. Paul is pouring out his affection for the people he once met with. A people he is, at the time of writing, hindered from returning to. From the beginning he is doting on them praises and affection, celebrating the joy his “brethren beloved” bring to him. Like a loving father, or an awestruck lover, he can’t help but share the beauty he sees in them that they may not see.

Like a father who has sent out his child to make his way in the world, he has heard how cruel the world has been to him. It has caused his son to doubt his worth, and perhaps believe the hateful slurs thrown at him. And so the father reminds him of the honor he was shown his child. He reminds him of his victories in times past. And most of all, he reminds him of how he cares for him, and that as his child, he has infinite worth to the father.

He mourns and comforts them in their trials. But he also celebrates with them in their triumphs, reminding them they are not without reasons to celebrate. There are theological points in there (not to say love is outside theology). However, reading it in the light of Paul’s love makes it hard to come away thinking it is just a dry recital of  religious facts for intellectual education. Rather, these facts are shared because they are meaningful to the hearers. Knowing them gives them hope. They are shared out of the same love and concern for them as the words encouraging them not to forget how precious they are to Paul. Every word is shared in love, to remind, encourage, warn, and bring joy.

So you’ve been hacked

I’ve noticed a lot of friends have been getting hacked lately. A number on twitter, and even worse, in g-mail. This post is to give you a bit of information on why securing your accounts is important, and how to do it. It’s a bit long, but I think worthwhile. I’ve bolded the most important points for those short on time and don’t care to see the importance behind some of these practices.

Now you may not think you’re at risk for some cracking into your account. You’re not important enough for some ex-KGB or Al Qaedi operative to discover your secrets. But hackers today aren’t usually concerned about breaking into one persons account. They are trying to break hundreds and thousands of accounts and make lots of money by stealing a little bit from everyone. At best they’ll send out embarrassing spam e-mails and tweets to all your friends, family, and co-workers. At worst they’ll convince grandma to wire thousands of dollars overseas to save you from a faked emergency. And frankly it would be bad enough to just lose access to all your e-mails, even for a few days.

Different passwords

Now it’s nice to think we can trust all these technology companies with smart employees to keep our information secure. But the sad reality is they are not good at it. And even if the important ones, the ones hosting your e-mail, or access to your financial information are secure, there is probably one fun little website you have an account on that isn’t secure.

But who cares if someone gets access to that account, right? You barely even use it. But are you using the same password for that account and all your other important accounts? And did you register all those accounts with the same e-mail address? If so, the hacker has both the password for all those accounts, knows your e-mail, and can probably get into your e-mail. From there it’s not too hard to find the rest of your on-line accounts. The security hazards from multiple accounts can get even more complicated as this Wired writer found out.

The first step you can take to prevent this is start using different passwords for all your different accounts. Or at least using different passwords for all your important accounts. Now, you’re probably thinking “How am I going to remember all those passwords?” The good news is you don’t have to.

I use KeePassX (a clone of KeePass for Mac and Linux). I only have to keep track of one password that gets me into KeePass, and KeePass keeps track of the rest of my passwords. They are encrypted and stored on my computer and not on the cloud, unless I choose to put it there. Though there is the extra step of opening KeePass to login, it has handy shortcuts to speed things up. Ctrl+U opens the selected account’s website. Ctrl + V copies and pastes your username and password into the website and logs in. Not only do you not have to remember your password, you don’t even have to type it (see the KeePass Tutorial to get you started). There is also MiniKeePass and KeePassDroid for iPhone and Android if you log in to a lot of accounts through your phone. I keep my passwords on my phone in sync with my computer with SpiderOak (also encrypted) so I don’t have to worry about keeping them in sync.

Smart passwords

Using different passwords isn’t enough. You also need to use smart passwords. Let’s do a quick math lesson. We’ll start by restricting ourselves to a two character long password, and look at how adding more choices for each character increases the possible number of passwords. We start with numbers, add letters, uppercase letters, then some punctuation.

Characters and options per character	Possible passwords
00-99 numbers only (2 characters, 10 options)	100 passwords
00-zz add letters (2 char’s, 36 opt’s)	1296
00-ZZ add uppercase (2 char’s, 62 opt’s)	3844
add common punctuation (2 char’s, 80 opt’s)	6400

Now obviously a two character password is a bad idea. Even low powered modern computers could churn through those options in moments. But hopefully it illustrates that point that more options per character are better. Now let’s just look at increasing password length using numbers only.

Characters and options per character	Possible passwords
00-99 (2 characters, 10 options)	100 passwords
000-999 (3 char’s, 10 opt’s)	1000
0000-9999 (4 char’s, 10 opt’s)	10000
00000000-99999999 (8 char’s, 10 opt’s)	108

Here the increase in possible passwords is more dramatic. And it’s even better when we have more options for characters.

Characters and options per character	Possible passwords
6 characters, 80 options	2.62144000000×1011
8 characters, 80 options	1.6777216×1015
12 characters, 80 options	6.871947674×1022
15 characters, 80 options	3.518437209×1028

These are some ridiculously large numbers. Passwords from the first two tables take seconds to days to crack. At the bottom of the last table it starts taking years to centuries. Now you understand why some sites require a long password with some numbers and characters in them. It’s not just to make your life difficult.

Unfortunately most people are lazy in their passwords and hamstring the effect of longer passwords with more characters. And because a lot of people are lazy this gives hackers the advantage. If you want the gory details, check out Why passwords have never been weaker—and crackers have never been stronger. In summary, hackers have been able to break a large number of passwords, and they now know the types of passwords people use.

Typically, to meet tough password requirements but make something they can remember people will make something like this: HappyDuck96! This seems like a good password. It’s twelve characters long, using numbers, lower and uppercase letters, and punctuation! That means hackers have to go through 6.87×10²² passwords to crack it, right?

Wrong. This password follows a common pattern to make it easy to remember. Two common words, each starting with an uppercase letter, followed by a number, ending with a punctuation. If hackers only try to break passwords that follow this combination they only need to try around 5.88×10¹³ (171,476² ×10² × 20) passwords. This stills seems like a lot, but this number is about one billion times smaller than the first number, with about one billion fewer passwords hackers need to cycle through. The key lesson is don’t use words in the dictionary (or even common misspellings), and mix in the capital letters, numbers, and punctuation.

How will you ever remember a password like that? There are two solutions. First is using something like KeePass which I’ve mentioned above. It can even generate strong passwords for you so you don’t have to struggle to come up with a new one. But there may be some sites where you don’t want to be dependent on KeePass, and need a strong password that you can remember. Here’s where the second option comes in.

To come up with your password, first think up a phrase. Then take the first letter of each word in the phrase, mix in some capitals, numbers and punctuation. For example, we get “bgw0Mhgb4!” from “boldly go where no(0) man has gone before(4)!” The phrase behind it makes it easy for you to remember. But it’s difficult to guess as the phrase behind it is not obvious. There are a couple of caveats. One, don’t use common phrases (like in our example) but just make up a phrase on the spot. Then only you’ll know the phrase. Two, don’t always stick punctuation at the end. Predictable patterns are always a benefit to hackers. Three, make sure you memorize that phrase, and what tweaks you’ve made to it. Do you remember which letter you capitalized? Which letter you swapped for a number? For this reason, it’s always good to store the password in something like KeePass just in case memory fails you.

2-step verification

This is probably the easiest solution to use, but it’s not always available. Many websites now are offering two-step verification. It works like this. Any time you log in from a new computer you’ll be asked for a verification code. This code will either have been texted to your phone, or generated by a special program on your phone. To access your account you need this second code. This means even if a hacker discovers your password, they also need your phone to log in to your account. Pretty unlikely since most hackers have no idea who they are even hacking. Of course, you’ll want to confirm that this system works. If you don’t get the text messages, you may find yourself unable to access your account.

There can be a bit of setup to this, and problems like losing your phone. If you can’t  But there is a great walk through for two-step verification for g-mail that makes it pretty easy, and shows where some of the challenges come in. And there are a lot of other sites that use 2-step verification. If there’s a web site that stores a lot of important information for you, and it’s not using two step verification, why not request they start?

Unsecure sites

Another key thing to do to keep yourself secure is recognizing sites that are blatantly unsecure. The most obvious sign is if a website ever sends you your password in plain text. This isn’t your initial password that was automatically created which you are supposed to change immediately. Of course you need them to send you this. But if you’ve created your own unique password and forgotten it, if they then send an e-mail with that password in it, that means they are storing your password in an easy to read file.

Most servers store passwords in an encrypted state. They don’t know what your password is. The way you can log in is once you enter your password, they encrypt it and check it against the encrypted version. But if a website sends you your password in plain text, it means a hacker only needs to break into their server, and they have your password. You should stop using this website immediately and let them know why.

Recognizing hacked friends

It is usually pretty easy to recognize friends that have been hacked. They start sending out short e-mails with links and not much explanation, or posting racy videos on facebook that are out of character for them. It’s important to recognize this for two reasons. One, you can be a good friend and let them know. They need to change their password immediately and the sooner they know the better. Two, you don’t want to click on that link. Often there are security flaws where clicking on a link can allow someone to log into your account. These aren’t too common, but it’s best not to click on the link anyways.

In the more serious case you won’t be getting sent a link trying to sell you something. Instead you’ll be getting an e-mail with a horror story of what happened to your friend and pleas for money to help them out. The first thing you should do is call this person. Call even if they claim to have lost their phone. You owe it to them to check.

Second, see if there’s a way you can help them let people know they are alright. If you can see the people the e-mail was sent to, e-mail them once you’ve talked with your friend to let them know everything is all right. And make sure the people who are least Internet savvy, and who are most likely to be sympathetic to their plight, like close family members, are contacted quickly.

Finally, if things are really bad, help them through getting their account back. Usually they just need to log in and change their passwords. But it the worst cases you’ll need to be in touch with the company the hacked account is with. They’ll need someone who is calm to help them through the process of finding who to contact and what to do.

Wrap up

Getting hacked is one of the downsides of the technology age. I hope this educated you on what steps you can take to protect yourself on-line, and now you can be a digital citizen with more confidence. If you have any questions please ask in the comments. And if you’re a tech savvy friend who has spotted an error, or has recommendations, please comment.

Freedom of Religion, Just Not Here

I did a little more reading on one particular issue mentioned in my earlier post on the Separation of Church and State: the birth control mandate from HHS (Health and Human Services).

Accommodating Religious Objections presents a solution on how an agreement could be reached that allows the government to continue to enforce the law it sees being for the public good, while allowing religious groups their freedom. Certainly the government should be allowed to create and enforce laws even in the face of religious objections, but allow for exclusions for decisions of conscience. Though I think the solution presented to allow the religious groups to act according to their conscience feels a bit like money laundering for morals, and not all that different from the solution the President proposed. “As a condition for receiving an exemption from the HHS contraceptive services mandate, religious organizations should agree to dedicate whatever funds they save from not having to provide the otherwise-required contraception coverage to some other public service, identified by the government, that is consistent with their beliefs.” This type of solution has long been accepted, for instance regarding service of conscientious objectors, though whether it allows one to follow their morals is another discussion.

Mandate Tests Faith looks specifically at the scope of the exemption the government has provided for “religious organizations,” being defined as groups where:

(1) its purpose is the inculcation of religious values,
(2) it employs “primarily” persons who share its religious tenets;
(3) it serves “primarily” persons who share its religious tenets; and also
(4) it qualifies under the IRS code as a church or religious order and has more than 50 employees.

This narrow view of what is a “religious organization” is very troubling as it restricts what is considered protected religious practice to a very limited scope. Restricting to organizations solely focused on “inculcation of religious values” then places the practice of many organizations outside of legal protections. Once a religious group begins to care for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, and others in need, according to their beliefs, it is now safe to say they can no longer adhere to other components of their faith without retribution. One shudders to think how much higher the government’s healthcare expenditures would be if all religious groups felt that they must close their hospitals in order to avoid violating their conscience. Let alone what would occur if they also closed their homeless shelters and rehabilitation programs. And they are hit on two counts here as these groups serve so many people outside of their faith.

This loss of protections does not just apply to faith-based organizations like hospitals, but also to those who would uphold their religious beliefs in their business like the owners of Hobby Lobby. Essentially this policy is saying that individuals are not free to practice their religion outside of their private life. Once you enter the public domain or the world of business you can no longer be a person of faith. As already seen with charitable organizations this is not possible for the person of faith. Looking to my beliefs, if I were to start a business and the government were to impose a law in regard to keeping businesses open on Saturday for economic reasons, I would personally be free to keep the Sabbath. But as an employer I would not be allowed to keep the fourth commandment in its entirety by giving all my employees the Sabbath off simply because this is outside what the government considers to be the religious realm.

My religion, as are others, is inherently communal, not just concerned with evangelism, but with benefiting others regardless of their relationship to, or their view of my religion. Any law that forces religion to keep to itself or presumes it can define what constitutes true religious practice is a violation of the first amendment protection that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” I must conclude that this particular policy in regard to the HHS mandate is unconstitutional. Just as we should stand up against the government trying to inject others religions into the private lives of individuals, we should oppose attempts to restrict the practice of religion in the public domain.

Comforting Lies?

An accusation made against Christianity is that it is a comforting lie. Those who claim it is not true say that this belief system has managed to stick around for so long in the face of reality because  it allows its adherents to avoid facing up to death. The idea of God giving us eternal life is just to ease the minds of those who are too weak to deal with the idea of there being nothing after this life. Instead they’ll get to live on without having to deal with all the people they don’t like and who they consider to live objectionable lives. The only other people that will be there are their loved ones.

But  Christianity does not always provide easy comfort. I just finished reading Death in the Family by Clifford Goldstein. It’s a short reflection on the loss of his father. “He shot his wife in the head, crawled into bed next to her, put the gun in his mouth, and shot himself.” This is a tragic and difficult situation for anyone to go through, and also for the Christian. For this, Christianity provides no simple, ignorance is bliss, escape from this reality. In fact, our beliefs may add extra challenges to the situation. There are times when it seems we have lost loved ones, not just for this life until we experience the release of death, but we have lost them in the life to come and for eternity.

But for the committed Christian who deeply pursues a Christ-like life, this challenge is not limited to our loved ones. For those it is not enough to take comfort that friends and family will be with them in the life to come.  Nor is it enough to hope for a change of heart in those who are casually dismissive of the gospel. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” – {Matthew 5:44 KJV}

The Christ-like Christian does not reserve their compassion and hope only for those who love them, but for those who hate them. They will not be content with only those close to them entering into everlasting life and eternal joy. They also long to see those who are cruel to them reconciled to Christ that they may be friends in heaven. For the very ones who call them fools for what they hold dearest, the Christian holds out hope that they may call them brother or sister. Even for those that take the lives of those they hold dearest, and even when facing their own murderers they pray “Father, forgive them” with hope that this one won’t be lost for all eternity.

This, I believe, is why when Revelation 21 speaks of the new earth and the beginning of eternal life it says “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” The first thing the mind of the Christian will turn to is not themself and the eternity that waits before them. Rather their mind will turn to others who could have been there with them, and mourn for them. There is still comfort for them, but it is not an easy or vain one. It is not one that can brush aside tragedy without confronting it.