Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

STATE-SPONSORED ANTI-SEMITISM IN CHAVEZ'S VENEZUELA

Scary things are happening in Venezuela.  Half of the Jewish population has already fled.  Gabe Ledeen titles her article, "Echoes of the '30s in Caracas."

The Jews of Venezuela are afraid, as well they should be. Walking their streets and visiting their homes and synagogues, I could feel the sense of foreboding that weighs heavier on them day by day. I could hear it in the urgency of their prayers during religious services, feel it in the embraces and handshakes I received when I introduced myself and my mission and see it in the eyes of the Hebraica high school students as I listened to their stories of frustrated youth. They are asking for our help, for our strength, and our voices. They cannot speak out; will we speak for them?       [more . . . ]

WANTED: THINKING CHRISTIANS

That's the headline of a short article by Kenneth Samples in the Reasons to Believe Newsletter.  He writes (my bolding):

. . . The United Negro College Fund's provocative motto is "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."  Christians could understand this as "A mind made in the image of an infinite, eternal, and personal God is all the more a terrible thing to waste.' 

According to Scripture, true wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are rooted in reverence for God and his revealed word (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7).  Intellectual virtues such as discernment, reflection, testing, analysis, and renewal of the mind are biblical mandates (Acts 17:11; Romans 12:2; I Corinthians 14:29; Colossians 2:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).  Therefore, Christians' overall devotion must include pursuing the life of the mind to the glory of God.  Using divinely given faculties to think clearly and carefully about the most important issues of life pleases our Creator.

JOHN BOLTON: THE LIBERAL VISION OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

John Bolton writes on "The Coming War on Sovereignty" in Commentary magazine [Emphases mine]. 

Barack Obama’s nascent presidency has brought forth the customary flood of policy proposals from the great and good, all hoping to influence his administration. One noteworthy offering is a short report with a distinguished provenance entitled A Plan for Action,1 which features a revealingly immodest subtitle: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond.

In presentation and tone, A Plan for Action is determinedly uncontroversial; indeed, it looks and reads more like a corporate brochure than a foreign-policy paper. The text is the work of three academics—Bruce Jones of NYU, Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, and Stephen John Stedman of Stanford. Its findings and recommendations, they claim, rose from a series of meetings

GEORGE F. WILL - "THE ILLEGAL STIMULUS: UNCONSTITUTIONAL POWERS GRANTED THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH BY CONGRESS

Click through for G.F. Will's article.  I hope this gets into the courts.  Our freedoms cannot survive when Congress abdicates its self-governing responsibilities in favor of creating a monster executive branch. 

PHOTOS FROM FARGO, ND

Click here.  Two samples:

UN PANEL PASSES THE RELIGIOUS-DEFAMATION RESOLUTION

- Update 4/5/09 - Robert Spencer has put up a valuable post, titled "The UN's Jihad Against Free Speech." Excerpt:

In other words, if the OIC and the drafters of the Durban declaration get their way, any honest examination of how jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to make recruits will be illegal. So not only does this herald the death of free speech, but it also leaves us mute and defenseless before the advancing global jihad.

- (Original Post) - Ed Morrissey over at HotAir reports:

The UN Human Rights Council has passed the resolution calling for an end to critcism of religion around  the world.  Actually, to be fair, that’s not entirely accurate.  They want an end to criticism of one  particular religion — and we all know which religion that will be:

The U.N.’s top human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations  Thursday  urging passage of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries — with  the backing of Belarus and Venezuela — had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

 A simple majority of 23 members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution. Eleven nations, mostly Western, opposed the resolution, and 13 countries abstained. …

KANSAS LATE-TERM ABORTIONIST GEORGE TILLER ACQUITTED

Tiller's acquittal came as no surprise to Denis Boyles.  Ahead of time he explained the likely verdict, writing in The Corner the following:

Justice-lite in Kansas

The trial of late-term abortion doc George Tiller should go to the jury sometime today in Wichita. For   Kansans who have read and heard about Tiller for years — and especially for pro-life conservatives, for whom Tiller has been the poster-boy not just of near-birth abortions but of political corruption as well — wrap of the case probably comes as a climax of sorts. Their hope is that a jury will finally put a stop to his barbaric practices.

The secondary complaint about Tiller has always been his ability to use political  connections to avoid the enforcement of state regulations governing late-term abortions (the fact that he does them at all is the primary gripe, of course). His direct and indirect financial support of Kathleen Sebelius, combined with a judicial selection process that is completely opaque and deeply political, bought him years of immunity and reduced the state's late-term abortion law to a statutory wink. The laws were there, but enforcing them was not an option.

That changed when an activist pro-life Attorney General, Phill Kline, was elected in Kansas in 2002. Conservatives almost never win statewide office in Kansas (Brownback is the only other); the state is run by a coalition of "moderate" (read center-left) Republicans and Democrats. In taking on Tiller, Kline took

NOTRE DAME'S INVITATION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

- Update 3/29/09 - Peter Kirsanow on what Notre Dame has to explain before conferring an honorary degree on President Obama.  Excellent short post.

(Original post) - William McGurn has written a brilliant article on the dishonorable descent of Catholics and Catholic politicians becoming boosters of abortion. 

Rush Limbaugh spoke today about "The Most Anti-Life President in US History to Speak at Notre Dame." He called attention to the giant mosaic of Jesus overlooking the football field.  Limbaugh includes the following links:

• AP: Criticism Over Obama Invite Mounts at Notre Dame • National Review: Why Obama Really Voted For Infanticide

OBAMA ON DEFICITS - "THEN" AND "NOW"

Byron York writes in the DC Examiner:

Barack Obama used to get very upset about federal budget deficits. Denouncing an "orgy of spending and enormous deficits," he turned to John McCain during their presidential debates last fall and said, "We have had, over the last eight years, the biggest increases in deficit spending and national debt in our history…Now we have a half-trillion deficit annually…and Sen. McCain voted for four out of five of those George Bush budgets."

That was then.  Now, President Obama is asking lawmakers to vote for a budget with a deficit three times the size of the one that so disturbed candidate Obama just a few months ago.  And Obama foresees, for years to come, deficits that dwarf those he felt so passionately about way, way back in 2008.  (more...)   [bolding mine]

Me:  I am thinking I need to create a new "category"for this blog.  Should I label it "Obama's Lies,"  "Shifty Obama," "Golden Tongue Lies,"  "Can't Believe Politicians," "Another Justification for Cynicism," or "To Hell with Liars" (which would be Biblical - cf. Revelation 21:8, 27 and Rev. 22:15)?   Any other suggestions?

U.N. 'Climate Change' Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy

Oh, brother.  As in World Big Brother controlling the world economy!  Click here for the Fox news report.  (HT: Drudge) Ed Morrissey offers analysis and commentary and concludes:

If one tried to get as many foolish ideas into one 16-page document as the UN does here, they’d be hard pressed to do so.  If Obama cooperates with this, we will have willingly traded American sovereignty for rule by thieves and knaves.  Republicans need to win some seats back in the Senate to ensure this treaty never gets ratified.

- Speaking of the UN, Another Day, Another Scandal

DO AMERICANS WANT THE UNITED STATES TO BE LIKE EUROPE?

Many do.  Clifford D. May objects (as well he should!), but he recognizes that Europeanization is the direction in which we are headed.  He quotes Charles Murray:

"It [the drift towards being like Europe] is going to be stopped only when we are all talking again about why America is exceptional, and why it is so important that America remain exceptional. That requires once again seeing the American project for what it is: a different way for people to live together, unique among the nations of the Earth, and immeasurably precious.”

May asks:

Do a sufficient number of Americans still believe that? Given the failures of America’s educational system, do most people even understand the choice that is about to be made? And, even if they do, how many are willing to fight to prevent such a counter-revolution? There may be no questions of greater consequence asked and answered over the years ahead.   (More . .  )

OBAMA'S EXPANDED AMERICORPS - REALLY CREEPY !!!!!

- Update 3/27/09 - RedState dissects the legislation: National Service - Soviet Style

- Update - Michelle Malkin posted an article on the GIVE Act (“Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act”) and was later  interviewed today (video) by Glen Beck.

(Original Post)  - This DC Examiner editorial really scares me!  In truth, it's not the editorial that scares me, but the legislation with all its authoritarian vibes that it exposes!  Talk about a threat to liberty!  Here's the Examiner's editorial (my emphases):

With almost no public attention, both chambers of Congress in the past week advanced an alarming expansion of the Americorps national service plan, with the number of federally funded community service job increasing from 75,000 to 250,000 at a cost of $5.7 billion. Lurking behind the feel-good rhetoric spouted by the measure’s advocates is a bill that on closer inspection reveals multiple provisions that together create a strong odor of creepy authoritarianism. The House passed the measure overwhelmingly, while only 14 senators had the sense and courage to vote against it on a key procedural motion. Every legislator who either voted for this bill or didn’t vote at all has some serious explaining to do.

Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama threw civil liberties to the wind when he proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military. The expanded Americorps is not quite so disturbing, but a number of provisions in the bill raise serious concerns.

 

To begin with, the legislation threatens the voluntary nature of Americorps by calling for consideration of “a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people.” It anticipates the possibility of requiring “all individuals in the United States” to perform such service – including elementary school students. The bill also summons up unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying  the new program should “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,” while establishing “campuses” that serve as “operational headquarters,” complete with “superintendents” and “uniforms” for all participants. It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And it calls for creation of “a permanent cadre” in a “National Community Civilian Corps.”

 

But that’s not all. The bill also calls for “youth engagement zones” in which “service learning” is “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.” This updated form of voluntary community service is also to be “integrated into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula” at all levels of schooling. Sounds like a government curriculum for government approved “service learning,” which is nothing less than indoctrination. Now, ask yourself if congressmen who voted for this monstrosity had a clue what they were voting for. If not, they’re guilty of dereliction of duty. If yes, the implications are truly frightening.

Me: This bill portends very difficult days ahead.  Liberty?  Is it becoming a thing of the past?

ISLAMIC HATE SPEECH GOES UNREPORTED IN THE WEST

Nonie Darwish collects quote after quote to make her case.  Example:

“The Jews are the Enemies of Muslims regardless of the occupation of Palestine; we will fight,  defeat and annihilate them until not a single Jew remains on the face of the earth.” (January 2009, Egyptian cleric Muhammad Ya’qoub).

On February 1, 2009, prominent sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, on Al Jazeera TV, called the holocaust "divine punishment" for the Jews and encouraged Muslims to do same by saying: "Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers [i.e. Muslims]." He then added that he would "shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews." 

She cites many additional quotes and concludes:

. . . Hate propaganda is the rule and not the exception in Muslim preaching. It must go hand in hand with demands for conquering other people, otherwise jihad will end.

Hate rhetoric comes into Muslim homes in America via satellite dishes directly from the horse’s mouth in the Muslim world. Is it any wonder that in recent Muslim demonstrations in Florida, demonstrators were telling Jews to “go back to the ovens”?

We must never underestimate the power of hate propaganda, because, quite simply, it works. Believe it or not, if you grow up hearing ‘holy’ cursing day in and day out, it can feel and sound

EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS REVISITED -- SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Yuval Levin reports:

Ten members of the President’s Council on Bioethics published a statement today at the Hastings Center Bioethics Forum expressing disappointment with President Obama’s remarks and policies on the funding of embryonic stem cell research. They take the president to task for mischaracterizing the nature of his predecessor’s policy, they highlight the emergence of alternative sources of pluripotent stem cells, and they criticize Obama for leaving open the door to human cloning even as he claims to close it. . .

What’s notable about this statement, though, is that rather than just express disagreement with the ethical views underlying Obama’s position on embryonic stem cell research, it criticizes Obama for mischaracterizing the plain facts of the matter, which unfortunately has been his consistent practice on this subject. On that front, too, last night offered a model of persistence.   (more . .)

PSALM 127 - "QUIVERFULL FAMILIES"

NPR published an even-handed account of large families, the parents of which (no surprise) shun birth control.   (HT: HotAir)  From the article:

. . . Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that's a lot of kids.  (More . . .) 

Me:  But there seems to be more to it than the NPR article indicates.  The article, to its credit, mentions two books:  Nancy Campbell, Be Fruitful and Multiply and  Kathryn Joyce, Quiverfull: Inside The Christian Patriarchy Movement.  The latter evaluates the evangelical patriarchy movement that remains under the radar screen of many, including probably most conservative Christians.  I didn't know of it until very recently.  I learned of it through a friend who encountered it in his small church.  Vyckie Bennett offers a major Amazon review of the latter book.  Her review mentions other books and authors associated with the movement.

THE REST OF THE STORY. . . MONTANA PRIVATE PLANE CRASH CLAIMED FAMILY MEMBERS OF NATION'S LARGEST PRIVATELY OWNED ABORTION CHAIN

The ChristianNewsWire headlines:    "Family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, Owner of the Nation's Largest Privately Owned Abortion Chain, Dies in Montana Plane Crash"

The story, written by Gingi Edmonds, also appears at her website:

. . . Family Planning Associates was purchased four years ago by Irving Moore "Bud" Feldkamp III, owner of Allcare and Hospitality Dental Associates and CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino. The 17 California Family Planning clinics perform more abortions in the state than any other abortion provider - Planned Parenthood included - and they perform abortions through the first five months of pregnancy.

Although Feldkamp is not an abortionist, he reaps profits of blood money from the tens of thousands of babies that are killed through abortions performed every year at the clinics he owns. His business in the abortion industry was what enabled him to afford the private plane that was carrying his family to their week-long vacation at The Yellowstone Club, a millionaires-only ski resort.

The plane went down on Sunday, killing two of Feldkamp's daughters, two sons-in-law and five grandchildren along with the pilot and four family friends. . .  

In my time working for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, I helped organize and conduct a weekly campaign where youth activists stood outside of Feldkamp's mini-mansion in Redlands holding fetal

WHY LITERATURE?

Good question.  My mother is no fan of fiction.  "Fiction isn't true," she says, and therefore has little interest.  Christina Bieber Lake, author of The Incarnational Art of Flannery O'Connor (and Associate Professor of English at Wheaton College), looks at literature differently.  She discusses questions faced by technologically advanced nations and says  (p. 46 of the pdf):

. . . While some might say that our rapidly changing biotech culture proves that the study of literature can be only an ivory tower indulgence, I believe that problems like these prove that we cannot not afford to study literature.  Literature trains the moral imagination--that faculty that is uniquely able to challenge culture's cherished assumptions. . .

For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "The Birth-Mark" teaches us that behind the desire for beauty there may lurk a narcissism that is disdainful of real people.  Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" teaches us that

FLANNERY O'CONNOR REVISITED

Ralph C. Wood reminds us that O'Connor was born this day in 1925.  Though I blogged about her a month ago, Wood's article is so excellent that I need to blog about her once again.  Wood offers suggestions to first-time readers of O'Connor:

The best place to begin encountering O’Connor’s radically Christian work is not with her most famous story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Many people are left sleepless after reading it. I would recommend a later short story entitled “Revelation,” since it is perhaps the most redemptive of her works. One might then progress to other stories that don’t conclude with violent death, perhaps “The Enduring Chill” and “Parker’s Back.” Along the way, one would do well to take up O’Connor’s magnificent letters in The Habit of Being. Her lively correspondence with all sorts and conditions of letter-writers constitutes, by my reckoning, an

EU PRESIDENCY: US ECONOMIC PLANS A "WAY TO HELL"

The Associated Press reports:

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."  (more . . .)

SHAMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON

Consider (via Victor Davis Hanson):

Forget Halliburton, Enron, etc. — AIG is the metaphor of our new century. Let's get this straight: Our president takes over $100,000 from AIG in campaign donations. Then he signs into legislation a bill crafted by his own party, with input from his own Treasury secretary, giving mega-bonuses to the execs of this bankrupt, federally bailed-out company — and then goes on the stump to trash the culture of Wall Street as typified by . . . AIG, of course.

Not to be outdone, Senator Dodd denies he put the AIG bonus provision in the bill, then — in a now familiar Obama administration habit — coughs up the truth that he in fact did when the evidence no longer allows him to prevaricate as is his wont. He, like our president, then goes the demagogic

PALIN RIPS OBAMA FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS JOKE

I checked in over at the HotAir website and found the post I have headlined above.  What shocked me is that 1,216 people have logged comments (as of 9:30 PM)!  That's the most I've seen on any post at this website.  Must have hit a nerve...

COMMANDANTE OBAMA? IS THE U.S. ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING A BANANA REPUBLIC?

Peter Robinson reports on a conversation with experienced Latin Americans:

"But you don't understand," the Colombian said. "We've seen this before."

"He's right, my good friend," the Cuban said. "We Latin Americans know the pattern. Believe me we do."

The American tried to shrug off the Latin Americans' warning. To his consternation, he found that he couldn't. Peron, Fidel, now Chavez, they insisted. The emergence of misrule, corruption and economic stagnation in Latin American nations follows a particular sequence or progression. Now the sequence was unfolding in the United States.

"It starts with a cult of personality," the Cuban explained. "One man declares himself the "jefe", the "caudillo", the big leader."

Had Obama attempted to instigate something like a cult of personality? The American found the

WHAT FAILURE DOESN'T MEAN

From an email:

Failure doesn't mean - "You are a failure,"
It means - You have not succeeded.

Failure doesn't mean - "You accomplished nothing,"
It means - You have learned something.

Failure doesn't mean - "You have been a fool,"
It means - You had a lot of faith.

Failure doesn't mean - "You don't have it,"
It means - You were willing to try.

WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN ON "ONE SECOND AFTER"

John J. Miller of National Review Online conducted an audio interview with William R. Forstchen, author of the just-published  One Second After.   It's a novel depicting what would happen after an Electromagnetic pulse [EMP] attack on the United States.   Here's the  publishing blurb at Amazon:

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP).  A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.

Me:  It sounds to me like a book very much worth reading.

AIDS, AFRICA, CONDOMS, AND POPE BENEDICT XVI

Travis Kavulla defends the Pope's position on condoms and AIDS in his article, "Benedict Has It Right."    Me: I find Kavulla's points weighty.  Kathryn Jean Lopez offers useful commentary as well.

OBAMA SECRETLY ENDS PROGRAM THAT LETS PILOTS CARRY GUNS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM HIJACKERS

The One is giving us "change" all right.  Here's the Washington Times editorial  via Michelle Malkin:

 After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.   [more . . .]

VIDEO: TWO PHOENIX PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINICS COVER UP STATUTORY RAPE

"These are the fourth and fifth Planned Parenthood clinics implicated.  Employees deliberately neglect their legal obligations to report statutory rape, and instead offer secret abortions."  - Click here for story and video.

PROF. BEN WITHERINGTON POSES FIVE QUESTIONS TO BISHOP N.T. WRIGHT ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE

Ben Witherington begins his interview saying:

N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope has been called an instant classic, and now with two years of positive reviews under its belt, it was time to sit down with the Bishop and ask some follow up questions which arise from some of the things he has said in the book and some of the responses he has gotten.    More. . .

Me:  This is an exceptionally excellent interview!  It is brief, to the point, and illuminating.  Note: I posted a picture of N.T. Wright at his desk earlier.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PRAYER PARTNERS

Ben Witherington provided the link to the New York Times article.  On Jim Wallis, you might want to consult the bio published by Discover the Networks.

REVIEW OF PETER HARRISON, "THE FALL OF MAN AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE"

Douglas Groothuis notes that Jedd McFatter has written a fine review of Peter Harrison, The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 313 pages with index. £50.00, hardback. Groothuis says, "This sheds much light on the history and historiography of modern science and challenges some secular assumptions."

Me:  I read the review and found it fascinating.  It makes me want to go and see if there is any correlation with Rodney Stark's treatment in For the Glory of God.  I suspect that Harrison's book plows new ground.

THE STORY BEHIND THOMAS A. DORSEY'S "PRECIOUS LORD, TAKE MY HAND"

 A friend sent me this story.  It's well worth reading.  It first appeared in Christianity Today a few years ago.  The gospel song has been translated into over 32 languages.

Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

ROBERT P. GEORGE - STUDENTS AVERSE TO THE "HOOK-UP CULTURE" NEED COLLEGE CAMPUS SUPPORT

Students who want to resist the "new norm" on college campuses --  the "hookup culture" -- need centers on campus offering support.  So contend Robert P. George and John B. Londregan in their article surveying the need.

Me:  The fact that promiscuous sex reigns as the "new norm" is utterly saddening, providing as it does, yet another indication of the extraordinary moral deterioration of America.  

OBAMA'S STUPID FOREIGN POLICY

"Stupid" is my description, but that's how I felt when I read Amir Tahiri article, "Producing Panic in America's Allies."  It looks like Obama's foreign policy is already on the way to producing disaster around the wrold.  It makes me angry that American voters could have been so  foolish as to entrust the well-being of nations to this novice.   Read Amir Tahiri's article and see if you don't agree.

MY IMAM FATHER CAME AFTER ME WITH AN AXE

I'm actually amazed a British newspaper would publish this story.  Maybe things are changing in England, though publishing the story is a small step at best.  I strongly urge you to click through and read this story.  (HT: HotAir)

SHELBY STEELE - "WHY THE GOP CAN'T WIN WITH MINORITIES"

To my mind, Shelby Steele has written an article with extraordinary explanatory power.

SCIENCE, ETHICS, AND PUBLIC POLICY - WHO DECIDES?

Update 3/21/09 -  Dr. David Prentice and Clarke Forsythe, Wasting Tax Dollars on the Wrong Research Dr. Prentice is one of the foremost experts on stem cell research. 

- Update - Charles Krauthammer compares the stem cell addresses of President Bush ("Bush's nationally televised stem cell speech was the most morally serious address on medical ethics ever given by an American president") with that of President Obama ("Obama's address was morally unserious in the extreme. It was populated, as his didactic discourses always are, with a forest of straw men.")

- (Original Post)I am grateful to Yuval Levin for the following post at the National Review Corner:

The surrender of political authority to scientists evident in Barack Obama’s stem cell executive order and remarks last Monday seems to have hit a bit of a nerve. I wrote about the subject in the Washington Post last week, but over this weekend several voices on Obama’s side of the stem cell question have made the same point: that whatever your view, you’ve got to articulate and defend it as a moral, social, and political matter, not defer to scientists on a non-scientific question.

The Washington Post has an editorial making that case today, and yesterday the Post ran an op-ed from former Harvard stem cell scientist David Shaywitz reminding us of the limits and weaknesses (as well as the great strengths) of the academic scientific enterprise.

Meanwhile, Scott Gottlieb’s Wall Street Journal op-ed highlights a different irony of the stem cell policy: the way in which many of the most forthright champions of embryo research simultaneously favor putting up serious obstacles to private sector medical innovation.

And if you want more on science and politics, there’s this book I could mention too.  [Me: Levin is referring, of course, to his Oct. 2008 book, Imagining the Future: Science and Americanm Democracy].

C. S. LEWIS READ DOROTHY L. SAYERS' "THE MAN BORN TO BE KING" EVERY YEAR DURING HOLY WEEK

A year ago I put up the following post.  I think it is worth re-posting for those who might be interested:

For any who have not yet been introduced to Dorothy L. Sayers' wonderful dramatic sketches of the life of Christ (originally produced for BBC radio in 1943) titled The Man Born to Be King, this might be a good year to indulge yourself.  C. S. Lewis himself said, "I have re-read it in every Holy Week since it first appeared, and never re-read it without being deeply moved."

An Amazon.com reader wrote the following:

After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again. . .  I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say that this book changed my life. If you have questions or doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, please give it a try.

C. S. Lewis's comments on The Man Born to be King are part of his panegyric for Sayers which he concluded saying,

"For all she did and was, for delight and instruction, for her militant loyalty as a friend, for courage and honesty, for the richly feminine qualities which showed through a port and manner superficially masculine and even gleefully ogreish--let us thank the Author who invented her."

(For those bibliographically inclined, Lewis's comments on Dorothy L. Sayers can be found in C. S. Lewis On Stories and Other Essays on Literature edited by Walter Hooper.)

** Note:  There's a preview of The Man Born to Be King available online from Google Books.

A year ago I put up the following post.  I think it is worth re-posting for those who might be interested:

For any who have not yet been introduced to Dorothy L. Sayers' wonderful dramatic sketches of the life of Christ (originally produced for BBC radio in 1943) titled The Man Born to Be King, this might be a good year to indulge yourself.  C. S. Lewis himself said, "I have re-read it in every Holy Week since it first appeared, and never re-read it without being deeply moved."

An Amazon.com reader wrote the following:

After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again. . .  I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say that this book changed my life. If you have questions or doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, please give it a try.

C. S. Lewis's comments on The Man Born to be King are part of his panegyric for Sayers which he concluded saying,

"For all she did and was, for delight and instruction, for her militant loyalty as a friend, for courage and honesty, for the richly feminine qualities which showed through a port and manner superficially masculine and even gleefully ogreish--let us thank the Author who invented her."

(For those bibliographically inclined, Lewis's comments on Dorothy L. Sayers can be found in C. S. Lewis On Stories and Other Essays on Literature edited by Walter Hooper.)

** Note:  There's a preview of The Man Born to Be King available online from Google Books.

UNBELIEVABLE: BILL CLINTON DOESN'T KNOW WHAT AN EMBRYO IS!

Bill Clinton doesn't realize that an embryo is an egg that has already been fertilized!  You don't believe me?  Check out this site providing the video and transcript of Dr. Gupta's CNN interview with Clinton (March 11, 2009). This is truly unbelievable!  What do the so-called bright and powerful people in Washington actually know?   These are people to whom we entrust decision-making powers?  Really, really scary.

(Aside: What if Sarah Palin had given such an answer?  Imagine.... just imagine...!)

MELANIE PHILLIPS EXPLAINS THE MOTIVES FOR TARRING ISRAEL A "NAZI STATE"

Melanie Phillips explains Europe's motives in affixing the damning label -

It is used for very specific political purposes. Since Nazism is totally beyond the pale – and since the Israel-haters believe, falsely, that Israel’s legitimacy rests upon the Holocaust – tarring it as a Nazi state delegitimises it and thus advances the agenda of its destruction. . .

She says further:

I would also make a further point . . .  Calling Israel a Nazi state retrospectively sanitises the Holocaust and lets complicit Europe off the hook – Britain too. After all, Britain was partly responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews to whom it refused entry to Palestine -- in order to appease the Arabs of Palestine who were in league with the Nazis – and who perished in the Holocaust as a result. If the Jews have become Nazis, then their victimisation at the hands of the Nazis stops being the crime of crimes.

It also allows people safely to hate the Jews once again. As I was told to my face by a prominent man of impeccable liberal views, the enormity of the Holocaust had meant that it was no longer possible to disdain or loathe the Jews as before, at least not in public. But with Israel painted as a Nazi state, it can be open season on the Jews once again.   (More. . .)

THE SENATE SHOULD VOTE "NO" ON THE CONFIRMATION OF DAVID OGDEN AS DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL

The Family Research Council explains why:

"No one who has devoted a career advocating for the 'right' of individuals including pedophiles to purchase and possess child pornography can be trusted with the responsibility of protecting children and families or prosecuting criminals generally.  Yet President Obama has made that choice in nominating David Ogden.

"Incredibly, Ogden has argued in court that requiring producers of pornographic materials to personally verify that models were over age 18 at the time the photographs were made would 'burden too heavily and infringe too deeply on the right to produce First Amendment protected material.'

OBAMA'S RELENTLESS ATTACK ON THE UNBORN

- Update: Kathleen Parker writes a good article on Obama flubbing the stem cell issue.  She titles it, Why Is the President Ignoring a Scientific Gift?"

(Original Post) - Michael Gerson understands the situation well when he writes:

There is a common thread running through President Obama's pro-choice agenda: the coercion of those who disagree with it.

How has he done that?

Obama has begun providing federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. He has moved to weaken conscience protections for health-care professionals. And he has chosen the most radical possible option on the use of embryonic stem cells -- a free license for researchers, with boundaries set only by the National Institutes of Health. 

What may we expect?

Now, taxpayers are likely to fund not only research on the "spare" embryos from in vitro fertilization but also on human lives produced and ended for the sole purpose of scientific exploitation. Biotechnicians have been freed from the vulgar moralism of the masses, so they can operate according to the vulgar utilitarianism of their own social clique -- the belief that some human lives can be planted, plucked and processed for the benefit of others.

It is the incurable itch of pro-choice activists to compel everyone's complicity in their agenda. Somehow, getting "politics out of science" translates into taxpayer funding for embryo experimentation. "Choice" becomes a demand on doctors and nurses to violate their deepest beliefs or face discrimination.

BEN WITHERINGTON ON JESUS' ALLEGED TOLERATION OF HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE - "THE ARGUMENT FROM SILENCE"

Dr. Witherington, New Testament professor at Asbury Seminary, says in a critique of Rob Bell's position, 

. . . Rob then makes an argument from silence which is in fact misleading. The argument is this--- "Jesus never said anything about homosexuality". This is not quite true. Jesus took all sorts of sexual sin very seriously, even adultery of the heart, as Rob admits, and so it is no surprise then  that we find Jesus telling his disciples in Mt. 19 that they have only two legitimate options: 1) marital fidelity (with marriage being defined as a relationship between one man and one woman joined together by God which leads to a one flesh union), or 2) being a eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom.

The term 'eunuch' here whether taken literally (as in a castrated person who is incapable of normal sexual intercourse), or simply morally (as in a person who never engages in sexual intercourse, remaining celibate in singleness, though he or she is capable of such an act), makes very evident that for single persons, any single persons, celibacy in singleness is the standard Jesus holds up for the unmarried.

Nor, in view of the way Jesus talks about marriage in the context with the discussion of the original Genesis story about the creation order-- the creation of woman for man (and their interdependency), could one ever imagine Jesus redefining marriage to include same-sex sexual

SHOULD ENGLAND HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF AMERICANS?

You bet!  But an Obama official says "no."   Or, to quote the unnamed official more completely, "There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment."

Opposed to that sentiment stands Jonah Goldberg (with whom I emphatically agree), who wrote:

. . . If you think the country that gave us our system of laws, our democratic tradition, our dominant culture, much of our greatest literature and even our language is no more special than any backwater country which immiserates or brutalizes its people, then you must not think very much of America's culture, traditions etc either.

THE POOR QUALITY OF STEM-CELL POLLING

Update  3/11/09:  - Yuval Levin offers more insight

(Original Post) - Ramesh Ponnuru - [bolding mine]

It would be hard enough to get an accurate read of public opinion on policy questions involving stem cells if the only difficulty were that most people don't know much about the subject.  But the fact that pollsters have almost invariably worded the questions badly has not made it any easier. Over at Polling Report, the latest numbers cited are from a Gallup poll taken in February. The question is whether the current "very limited funding" should be kept or expanded "to allow more stem-cell research." Your typical respondent is going to think that the question concerns whether to spend less or more money.

Next up is a Time poll. It stacks the deck in three ways. It highlights the potential benefits of the research in a misleading way — for example, it claims that stem cells could be used to "treat or cure" Alzheimer's disease, something actual researchers, even those supportive of the research, have long considered a fairy tale. It says that the human embryos used in the research have been "discarded from fertility clinics." And it doesn't mention that the research destroys the embryos.

And on and on it goes down the page. I'm sure I wouldn't be happy about the news contained in an accurate, well-worded poll, but I'd still like to see one.

Adam Keiper adds significant information:

Before signing his executive order overturning President Bush’s stem-cell policy, President Obama today delivered a speech explaining his decision. The implications of the policy will be widely debated here and

OBAMA IS A GREAT PRETENDER

Robert J. Samuelson writes in the Washington Post:

. . . Obama is a great pretender. He repeatedly says he is doing things that he isn't, trusting his  powerful rhetoric to obscure the difference. He has made "responsibility" a personal theme; the budget's cover line is "A New Era of Responsibility." He says the budget begins "making the tough choices necessary to restore fiscal discipline." It doesn't. . .

Obama thinks he can ignore these blatant inconsistencies [read the article]. Like many smart people, he believes he can talk his way around problems. Maybe. He's helped by much of the media, which seem so enthralled with him that they don't see glaring contradictions. . .

ISLAM SHOULD PROVE IT'S A RELIGION OF PEACE

So says Tawfik Hamid who writes:

The film "Fitna" by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders has created an uproar around the world because it links violence committed by Islamists to Islam.

Many commentators and politicians -- including the British government, which denied him entry to the country last month -- reflexively accused Mr. Wilders of inciting hatred. The question, however, is whether the blame is with Mr. Wilders, who simply exposed Islamic radicalism, or with those who promote and engage in this religious extremism. In other words, shall we fault Mr. Wilders for raising issues like the stoning of women, or shall we fault those who actually promote and practice this crime?

Many Muslims seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion -- while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as a religion of peace, love and harmony.

POLITICIANS NEED A SPEECH CODE WHEN CONFRONTED BY TAXPAYERS: THE CASE OF CHARLIE RANGEL AND CHICAGO ALDERMAN RICARDO MUNOZ

Warning, the following YouTube "interviews" contain profanity and gutter language.  Viewer discretion advised.  The first is Charlie Rangel addressing" a citizen who questioned Rangel's tax cheating ethics.  The second is Chicago 22nd Ward alderman Ricardo Munoz throwing a constituent out of his office.

The era of YouTube video is upon us!  Politicians better beware -- or better yet, clean up their act!

DAVID WILKERSON, "TEEN CHALLENGE" FOUNDER AND AUTHOR OF "THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE," PREDICTS IMMINENT CATASTROPHE

 - One can go straight to Rev. David Wilkerson's blog post here.

- The Drudge Report carries the headline Famed pastor predicts imminent catastrophe; 'Earth-shattering calamity about to happen'...   The linked news story reads:

A respected pastor, best-selling author and founder of a major ministry to teens predicts an imminent "an earth-shattering calamity" centered in New York City that will spread to major urban areas across the country and around the world – part of what he sees as a judgment from God.

David Wilkerson, author of "The Cross and the Switchblade," a book about his ministry to troubled New York street kids that was later made into a movie starring Pat Boone, tells readers of his blog this weekend that he is "compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message" about his prediction.

"An earth-shattering calamity is about to happen," he writes. "It is going to be so frightening, we are all going to tremble – even the godliest among us."

Wilkerson's vision is of fires raging through New York City.

RWANDA MASSACRE SURVIVOR TELLS HER STORY

This morning I caught an extraordinary interview with Immaculee Ilibagiza on the "Hour of Power" TV program.  Ilibagiza survived the 1994 Rwanda genocide where one million people were slaughtered.  You will not hear a more riveting story ever.  She, and seven others, were hidden in a 3' x 4' bathroom for three months!  She has written a book, Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of Rwanda Genocide.  She now works at the United Nations in New York City and has a foundation called "Left to Tell Charitable Fund" that supports Rwandan orphans.

Click through to the Crystal Cathedral home page and look for the interview (second video from the left).  A transcript is available, but for maximum impact, do take the time to view the video.  The miracle of her life is that she was given grace to forgive, and that has lifted her whole life to a whole new plane of living.  It shows in her face.  Watch it!

TED TRIPP - BIBLICAL PARENTING CONFERENCE (VIDEOS & MP3s)

Andy Naselli offers videos and mp3s of all 5 sessions.