Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CHARLES COLSON - "STAND UP AGAINST THE HIJACKING OF OUR CULTURE!"

Chuck Colson writes eloquently (via email) of the need to break "the Spiral of Silence."    Christians and social conservatives need to speak up.  Read on... (Bolding is Colson's)

German sociologist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the phrase "the Spiral of Silence" after witnessing Hitler and his ilk intimidate citizens until they were afraid to speak out against the most horrible evils imaginable: the mass slaughter of human beings.

Noelle-Neumann said that a society falls into this fearful state, the Spiral of Silence, when it allows a tiny majority of the population to control the conversation. Most people are by nature reluctant to go against the tide of public opinion. Others are frightened, so the majority is silenced.

Have we succumbed to the Spiral of Silence? Have we remained silent while our culture is hijacked by philosophies hostile to God's created order?

Sadly, we too often have. In fact, Christians have been cowed into silence over our most fundamental issues! Proponents of traditional marriage, religious freedom, and the sanctity of human life are labeled "ignorant," "bigoted," "out-of-touch," and "intolerant." 

Yet 40 percent of Americans identify themselves as born again. How are Christian values in retreat?  Why are we allowing a handful of angry voices to control the public conversation?

What frustrates me the most is that in any rational examination of the issues, the biblical worldview triumphs. It makes more sense for society, for example, to build healthy marriages than to allow them to be destroyed. The real problem I see is our failure to speak out against the lies, against injustice, and present our case in a winsome way. I think if we will do this, we will begin to break the Spiral of Silence, and the cultural debate will begin to shift. This is what we are called to do, and I believe it is our most urgent task.

POVERTY TODAY

Michael Shermer reviewed Abundance by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler in the Wall Street Journal.  What especially stood out to me were the following statements, and especially the last which I have highlighted:

Given all the talk nowadays about income inequality, the authors' discussion of poverty is especially instructive. The number of people in the world living in absolute poverty has fallen by more than half since the 1950s. At the current rate of decline it will reach zero by around 2035. Groceries today cost 13 times less than 150 years ago in inflation-adjusted dollars. In short, the standard of living has improved: 95% of Americans now living below the poverty line have not only electricity and running water but also Internet access, a refrigerator and a television—luxuries that Andrew Carnegie's millions couldn't have bought at any price a century ago.

QUICK TAKES

Items:

 - New paper in medical ethics journal argues for infanticide  - ( and it's not the first)  Memo: beware of "Bioethics" and "Medical ethics."  Contrary to expectations, quite often such forums employ high-flown rhetoric to justify the horrific.  Update:  Journal defends its publication of an article advocating "after-birth abortion"

- William J. Broad in NY Times - Yoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise Here  Broad writes:  

The wholesome image of  yoga took a hit in the past few weeks as a rising star of the discipline came tumbling back to earth. After accusations of sexual impropriety with female students, John Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world’s fastest-growing styles, told followers that he was stepping down for an indefinite period of “self-reflection, therapy and personal retreat.”  Seems he had a penchant for women. 

Read the article for a summary of former high-fliers in the yoga world who have crashed.

            - Did Obama ignore plea for help from Iranian opposition in 2009?  Final sentence:

Obama had no hesitation in demanding the ouster of nominal ally Hosni Mubarak just eight days after protests erupted in Egypt.  He still hasn’t demanded the ouster of the mullahs of Iran.

- Wyoming House advances doomsday bill  (Update 2/29/12) - Doomsday bill killed by legislators

TEXAS JUMPS ON THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD BANNED WAGON

From the Family Research Council:

Texas is going ahead with its secession plan--from Planned Parenthood. Late last year, the state quit its partnership with the abortion tycoons, dropping Planned Parenthood from its lucrative contract under Texas's Women's Health Program. Attorney General Greg Abbott and state legislators were adamant that health providers who offered abortions had no business participating in the program. With $16 million up for grabs, leaders passed an outright ban on Planned Parenthood, ending its eligibility for the state's Medicaid funding. That didn't sit well with the Obama administration, which swooped into Texas and demanded the state reconsider. When it wouldn't, officials with Health and Human Services (HHS) threatened to cut off federal Medicaid funding completely.

But Texas didn't blink. Last Thursday, state Commissioner Tom Suehs signed the rule into law--calling HHS's bluff and putting Planned Parenthood clinics on the road to extinction in the Lone Star State.

VIDEO: THE CON ARTIST

Ed Morrissey explains:

Last night, as expected, the Academy Award went to The Artist, a modern silent film that had gotten plenty of Oscar buzz from the moment it hit the screens.  Raising Red, a conservative group, showed great prescience and demonstrates an acerbic wit in their parody The Con Artist, which features the broken promises of a political leading man who broke hearts around the country when he failed to deliver:

 

INTERNATIONAL PRAYER ALERT: PRAY FOR 30 NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES IN DANGER OF EXECUTION -- URGENT

The following is of upmost importance.  I am sorry to be a few days late but I just learned of the crisis.  It was posted by China Aid, a reputable organization both for news and for rendering aid to those suffering persecution.

**

International Prayer Connect  February 23, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For the last two weeks, China has been threatening to repatriate 30 North Korean refugees. These are people who escaped the brutal oppression and starvation of their land, hoping to get a better life, and to go to South Korea eventually. They and three generations of their families (men, women and children too), potentially hundreds of people, will be sentenced to execution as an example by the Pyongyang government or at least to slave labor in one of the Nazi-style death camps in North Korea if China repatriates them as it says it will do.

The South Korean government has appealed to China to no avail so far and is now pressing the United Nations Human Rights Council. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that "South Korean diplomats are expected to call for the safety and humane treatment of North Korean refugees living in hiding in China." (See the whole article at www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world/asia/seoul-urges-china-to-not-return-north-korean-refugees.html)

With this important issue finally before the world in such glaring manner, this could be a kairos time to see China's inhumane policy on refugees changed so that those suffering in the hell-hole of North Korea can freely escape. Please pray for the following and let's trust God together for this mountain to be moved (Matthew 17:20):

1. That the North Korean refugees and their families still inside North Korea will be protected from harm.
2. That China's government will be embarrassed and ashamed of their policies regarding North Korean refugees and allow refugees to come across the border to find asylum there or to go on to South Korea to live.
3. That China which supplies 80% of the resources to prop up the evil regime in Pyonyang will be moved to cut off those resources unless North Korea respects human rights and shuts down the Nazi-style prison camps in which hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are incarcerated. (In those camps, they are worked to death with little or no food and in terrible conditions or used for the testing of biological and chemical weapons.)
4. That the United Nations will take up this issue aggressively and that the international community will strongly pressure China and North Korea to respect the rights of the North Korean people and reform their policies concerning them.

Thanks for your persevering prayers of faith. The Lord will use them to shape history and bring His deliverance to North Korea!

Yours in Christ,

John Robb

Chairman, IPC

AYAAN HIRSI ALI - "THE GLOBAL WAR ON CHRISTIANS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD"

That this front-page Newsweek article was published is nothing short of amazing.  It does a very good job describing the atrocities occurring daily in the Muslim world against Christians.   Islam expert Robert Spencer says,

It is good to see Newsweek, which has been an energetically dhimmi publication, finally taking notice of the rampant worldwide Muslim persecution of Christians. It's also quite surprising, given that in the past, Newsweek has denied the existence of the stealth jihad; billowed fogs of deception about the pro-Sharia Ground Zero mosque imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as a "moderate"; dismissed concerns about the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a "conspiracy theory"; dismissed concerns about Eurabia, i.e., the Islamization of Europe, as "false fears"; and even called for a general surrender of the West to the global jihad.

So why is a thoroughly compromised publication like Newsweek suddenly noticing the worldwide jihad against Christians? Your guess is as good as mine, but in any case it is a welcome development to see the mainstream media finally waking up to this phenomenon, which we have been tracking here at Jihad Watch for years. Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written a fine piece for them. Because she is an ex-Muslim and an African woman, she is allowed to say things in Newsweek that Newsweek would charge me with "racism," "bigotry" and "Islamophobia" for saying.

THE LIFE OF FLOWERS (VIDEO) - MUST SEE!

This is undoubtedly the most beautiful video of flowers "opening"  that I've ever seen.  The YouTube uploader of the video cited Ps. 98:1 - "Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things!" and John 1:3 - "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."  You can't view this video without thinking of God's transcendent glory and His delight in beauty.

 

TED SCHROEDER - GOD'S SUFFERING AND OURS

Ted Schroeder, in a devotional piece for Lent titled "The Tears of God," explores the profound mystery of God suffering on the cross, which reality sustains and inspires us in coming to terms with our own suffering.  Schroeder writes:

During Lent I am going to reflect on portions of the four Psalms that Handel uses in Messiah. Psalm 22:7,8 is used to describe the religious leaders' ridicule of Jesus during his agony on the Cross as quoted in the Gospels.

"All they that see him laugh him to scorn: they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying: 'He trusted in God that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he delights in him.'"

"Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God.' In the same way the chief priests and teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 'He saved others,' they said, 'but he cannot save himself. He's the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" (Matt.27:39-44)

They saw suffering and God as incompatible. If Jesus were God he would not be suffering an ignominious death. His claims to be the divine Son are shown to be false by his crucifixion. Is this true? It provokes us to consider the relationship between Christian faith and suffering.

As a teenager Ted Turner was religious and decided he was going to become a missionary. His twelve year old sister contracted systemic lupus. Ted tried to comfort her and prayed for her recovery. After years of misery she succumbed to the disease. Ted lost his faith. "I was taught that God was love and God was powerful, and I couldn't understand how someone so innocent should be made or allowed to suffer so." (Ken Auletta, The New Yorker, 23 April, 2001)

TWO REVIEWS (ED MORRISSEY & KEVIN MCCULLOUGH) OF NEW FILM, "ACT OF VALOR"

Ed Morrissey, whose opinion I respect, says,

Americans love military and action films, as box office returns show. But what if filmmakers eschewed ridiculous plot lines for actual missions fought by American commandos, along with realistic depictions of terrorism, violence, and weapons fire?  And what if most of the actors on screen aren’t actors at all, but actual Navy SEALs?  Act of Valor tells those stories and uses those fighting men — and the result is an excellent action movie that keeps viewers riveted to the action until the very end.  [more . .]

 

Kevin McCullough, in his review, "Ignore the Haters... Act of Valor is a great piece of film making," said "the film is a breathtaking action movie, the likes of which comes along once in a generation," and "the story has more heart than any movie made about our military in the last twenty years."

McCullough said the "primary motivation for making this apolitical movie about the life of Navy Seals was primarily to pay honor and tribute to the sacrifice these extraordinary individuals make in order for all the rest of us to walk around free."    Further:  "It is difficult to put into words how important this film is. It is even harder to put into words how GOOD this film is.

QUICK TAKES

Andrew c. McCarthy - The Sharia Court of Pennsylvania 

A state judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed an assault and harrassment case against a Muslim defendant who admitted attacking the victim. Magistrate Judge Mark Martin, a veteran of the war in Iraq and a convert to Islam, ruled that Talag Elbayomy’s sharia defense — what he claimed was his obligation to strike out against any insult against the prophet Mohammed — trumped the First Amendment free speech rights of the victim.

If you want a little more privacy, you might want to delete your Google browsing history because

As of March 1, Google’s new, “shorter and easier to read” privacy policy will go into effect. At that time, the search giant that also includes products such as YouTube, Gmail and Calendar will begin “[treating] you as a single user across all [of its] products.”   Click here to find out to reduce Google's information about you.

CHUCK COLSON WARY OF WESTERN INTERVENTION IN SYRIA

- (Update 2/25/12 - Daniel Pipes, Middle East expert, expresses a similar take in his short commentary, "Syria: Arguing for U.S. Inaction."

- (Original post) - Why?  Because of the liklihood of the "unintended consequence" of a horrific civil war.  Colson writes:

While it may be good politics to want to go after the bad guy, but folks are acting as if the past decade never happened. Set aside the fact that arming the rebels will only prolong the killing. Once again, our leaders and opinion elites are urging the use of military force without thinking about what happens after the “bad guy” is gone.

Syria is a divided nation. The Alawites, who rule the country, are a minority. The majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. There are also substantial Christian and Kurdish minorities.

Sound familiar? Actually, there are differences between Syria and Iraq: Many Sunnis don’t consider the Alawites to be Muslims at all, and they resent them for the way the Assad regime has treated Sunnis. Because of this, one human-rights activist predicts that a Syrian civil war would be “more destructive in terms of human lives, losses and regional instability” than the Iraqi civil war.   [more..]

MYSTERY: WAS AN EARTHQUAKE (ON 2/23/12) IN NC-SC-FL CENSORED FROM THE RECORDS?

I don't know what to make of the following report that was e-mailed to me this morning.  Decide for yourself.  Here's the website and YouTube report.  Dutchsinse writes:

Reports of a censored earthquake came to me today — from a few different viewers who saw the USGS knock a Virginia / West Virginia earthquake off the map.

With a little sleuth work , and some LUCK that the other feed wasn’t yet censored — I was able to track down the approximate epicenter of this quake based upon the helicorder signatures at each ANSS backbone station.

Heaviest shaking occurred in Florida, South/North Carolina!

Here is the link to use.. pull the charts before THEY TOO are gone for good ! http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/anss/

 

A DEBATE ON THE CONTINUATION OF PROPHECY

I found listening to the debate (below) that Justin Taylor posted a great accompaniment to doing a pile of dishes.   It's an "intramural" discussion between two Christian men on whether, or to what extent, "prophecy" continues among Christians and within Christian churches today. Taylor introduced the video as following:

Below is an hour-long debate/discussion between Ian Hamilton (Cambridge Presbyterian Church; Cambridge, England) and Wayne Grudem (Phoenix Seminary, Arizona) on the role and continuation of prophecy in the church today. Adrian Reynolds moderated the discussion, which took place at Proclamation Trust‘s 2010 Evangelical Ministry Assembly (EMA).

EMA 2010: discussion about prophecy from The Proclamation Trust on Vimeo.

Me: Though I see all kinds of dangers, and potential for abuse, yet I think Dr. Wayne Grudem has the firmer argument when he speaks in favor of a continuation of prophecy, narrowly defined, and with the Scriptural safeguards he expounds.   My personal experience has been in churches which shy away from such practice.  I'm wondering if believers engaged in more regular and earnest prayer, the practice would be different.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH - NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR MARRIAGE

From the Family Research Council:

[...] Even the most powerful politicians in the world are no match for the Author and Creator of marriage. As the Left pushes Americans to go weak in the knees, we should be driven to them--in prayer. This Sunday, February 26, groups like FRC and the Alliance Defense Fund are calling for a National Day to Pray for Marriage in the face of severe attacks from the Department of Justice to the Ninth Circuit Court. As we speak, at least eight states (Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia) are moving quickly to either strengthen marriage or abolish it. In the courts, lawsuits are striking simultaneously at the heart of DOMA, Proposition 8, and even polygamy bans. And you heard what's happening in our military, as the administration goes for the jugular in one of the country's strongest moral communities.

We agree with ADF that a day of unified, focused prayer for marriage can and will have a powerful impact on the future of marriage nationwide. Please join us, and spread the word to your friends, neighbors, and pastors. For a special guide with specific prayer requests and praise points, check out ADF's website. In the meantime, we encourage you to lift up our nation's military, its judges, chaplains, pastors, and politicians in prayer. . . .

SANTORUM: SATAN IS SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYING AMERICA

- (Update 2/22/12) - Santorum: "I'll Defend Everything I say."  Links from the Drudge Report:

- Santorum: 'I'll defend everything I say'...

- Calls DRUDGE report 'absurd'...

- 'A JOKE'...

- Compares Self To Reagan...

- Palin: Media Getting 'Wee-Weed' Up Over Satan Remark...

Palin: "And for these lame-stream media characters to get all wee-weed up about that, first you have to ask yourself, 'Have they ever attended a Sunday school class even? Have they never heard of this terminology before?" And that's why they got so, you know, just whacked out about the speech," Sarah Palin told Sean Hannity on FOX News tonight.

Me: Excellent point!  No, they probably haven't ever attended a Sunday School class.  Instead, they've (media people) imbibed the milk of radical secularism and consequently look on Christians as weird and a danger to society.  Which illustrates Santorum's point.  America is involved in a spiritual contest.  It's original assumption of transcendent morality based on a faith in God (see the Declaration of Independence) is being scrapped for radical secularism and atheism with its attendant consequences. 

- (Original Post) Rick Santorum's 2008 speech at Ave Maria University has surfaced in which he said that Satan is destroying academia, politics, and the Protestant Church.   I listened to it and agree with everything Santorum said.  Pundits, of course, think (and hope) this tape will damage or destroy Santorum's presidential aspirations.   It's only four minutes long.  Listen and see what you think.  I've posted Rush Limbaugh's response below.

 

Here is Rush Limbaugh's response: "Satan Will Have to Answer on Satan."

RUSH: I mentioned earlier in the program that Santorum, people have dug deep and they found a speech that he gave back in 2008 in Ave Maria, Florida, at Ave Maria University. Drudge has this plastered up. The Democrats have found it. It's all over the place. Think Progress and whatever leftist think tanks have dug this up, and it's part of the predictable attempt to impugn Santorum as an absolute religious nut and wacko. But he did say these things and he'll to have an answer for these things when queried. Let's play these sound bites. We have three of them. This is where Santorum has said that Satan as set his sights on America. Again, this is at Ave Maria University, August of 2008, in Ave Maria, Florida.

SANTORUM: The Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies, Satan, would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country -- the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age? There is no one else to go after other than the United States, and that's been the case for now almost 200 years, once America's preeminence was sown by our great Founding Fathers.

RUSH: Okay, so he said it. Can we take you back to the United Nations? What was it, 2000... I don't know, three or four or five or six. Hugo Chavez shows up, he speaks either the afternoon Bush spoke earlier or the next day, but he gets to the microphone at the United Nations and the General Assembly and starts sniffing around. (Sniffing) He says, "I can still smell the sulfur. The Devil was here," and he had accused Bush of being the Devil. And the assembled monsters that look like they're out of Star Wars bar scene that made up the UN General Assembly all started laughing. So we're back to the double standard. Hugo Chavez can show up and call George W. Bush Satan. "Hey, hey! You know what, that's right! That's great. Let's laugh about it. Let's applaud it." Santorum gives a speech in Ave Maria, Florida, back in 2008. "Oh, my God, we're dealing with a nutcase! Oh, wow, what a fanatic weirdo. What are we gonna get next, an exorcism?" So the double standard does exist. Here's more from the same speech from Santorum.

GLENN BECK - "WE'RE ALL CATHOLICS NOW"

Beck is absolutely right.  And the issue is huge.  He writes in today's Washington Post, "Why we are all Catholics now":

[..] The the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic.

Today, the Catholic Church is defending a historic American freedom. We tend to forget that many of America’s earliest European settlers were religious refugees. Europe was not a kind place to the faithful if the state didn’t approve: Jews in Spain, Puritans in England, Protestants in France and so on. You were cast out, or worse.

Our Founding Fathers remembered this. They knew if you can’t serve God as you choose, you are not free. And so they enshrined that right in the First Amendment of the Constitution: The state “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

This is why Americans are offended by the ruling from the White House that would force church-run institutions to pay for birth control and morning-after pills, which are tantamount to abortion. The so-called compromise is no compromise – under government-approved health insurance plans that the church pays for, abortifacients would be covered. Sin by proxy – that’s the compromise.

This isn’t a fight over abortion or birth control. This is about whether the state can force someone to pay to have their religious beliefs violated.

GLENN BECK - "WE'RE ALL CATHOLICS NOW"

Beck is absolutely right.  And the issue is huge.  He writes in today's Washington Post, "Why we are all Catholics now":

[..] The the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic.

Today, the Catholic Church is defending a historic American freedom. We tend to forget that many of America’s earliest European settlers were religious refugees. Europe was not a kind place to the faithful if the state didn’t approve: Jews in Spain, Puritans in England, Protestants in France and so on. You were cast out, or worse.

Our Founding Fathers remembered this. They knew if you can’t serve God as you choose, you are not free. And so they enshrined that right in the First Amendment of the Constitution: The state “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

This is why Americans are offended by the ruling from the White House that would force church-run institutions to pay for birth control and morning-after pills, which are tantamount to abortion. The so-called compromise is no compromise – under government-approved health insurance plans that the church pays for, abortifacients would be covered. Sin by proxy – that’s the compromise.

This isn’t a fight over abortion or birth control. This is about whether the state can force someone to pay to have their religious beliefs violated.

WAS SANTORUM WRONG TO QUESTION OBAMA'S THEOLOGY?

At first glance, one might think so.  Ed Morrissey, one of the shrewdest political observers on the scene, and a Roman Catholic, sees it differently.  He writes:

Normally, I would advise presidential candidates to avoid getting caught in arguments over the relative merits of the faith of their opponents.  Americans typically don’t respond well to politicians claiming that they have a superior theology, especially when it comes to translating that into public policy.  In this case, though, Rick Santorum didn’t start that fight yesterday in Ohio:

   Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama’s Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a “different theology.”

   A devout Roman Catholic who has risen to the top of Republican polls in recent days, Santorum said the Obama administration had failed to prevent gas prices rising and was using “political science” in the debate about climate change.

   Obama’s agenda is “not about you. It’s not about your quality of life. It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology,” Santorum told supporters of the conservative Tea Party movement at a Columbus hotel.

Santorum’s attack didn’t just come out of the blue.  And it wasn’t Santorum who proclaimed his theology in support of his own policy choices, either.  That honor goes to Barack Obama — twice.  Let’s not forget this moment from earlier this month at a prayer-breakfast event, when Obama told the nation that Christian theology calls for him to confiscate more from higher-income earners:

   And when I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income, or young people with student loans, or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone.  And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.

   But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.”  It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.

On top of that, we have the new spectacle of Obama telling churches through the new HHS mandate that his interpretation of religious theology is that faith only takes place in “houses of worship,” and that works are mere businesses under federal jurisdiction for the purpose of forcing churches to pay for contraception and abortifacients that violate their religious doctrine.  That is the “different theology” to which Santorum refers, and his remarks are clearly in response to Obama’s own efforts to justify his policy decisions under the cloak of a strange and self-serving interpretation of Christian teachings.

Is this wise politics?  Perhaps not; most people don’t care to get religion mixed up in their politics, and Obama took some heat for his tax-hike rationalizations on the basis of Christianity for that reason.  Santorum’s well-known affiliation with religious conservatives risks him being pigeonholed even further in a debate like this.  But Obama started this argument twice in the past three weeks, and to blame Santorum for pushing back seems a little odd.

Update: Commenter Reliapundit notes that there are some arguments, though true, that should be made through surrogates and not by the candidates themselves — and that this is one of those.  It’s not a bad point, perhaps especially for Santorum.  Also, some argue that this is a distraction from the main economic issues of the campaign, but as it applies to Obama’s “theology” on taxes and ObamaCare mandates, that’s not entirely true.  And if the economy heats up a little bit between now and the election, we will need the Republican nominee to be arguing on both how both represent an unconscionable power grab, and not merely how they both damage the economy.

PAT BUCHANAN BLACKLISTED FROM MSNBC

The blacklisting of Pat Buchanan from MSNBC represents another case of the uber left refusing to entertain viewpoints counter to the "orthodoxies" they espouse.  I certainly don't agree with everything Buchanan says, but on the other hand, he says a lot of things worthy of serious reflection and debate.

Naturally the gay and lesbian crowd went after him when he had the temerity to say "I believe homosexual acts to be 'unnatural and immoral.'"  The Human Rights Campaign (America's leading voice for lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgendered people) said that Buchanan's "extremist ideas are incredibly harmful to millions of LBGT people around the world."   Buchanan's response is simple:  "That homosexual acts are unnatural and immoral has been doctrine in the Catholic Church for 2,000 years." 

In his response to being let go, "Blacklisted, But Not Beaten," Buchanan discusses the accusations hurled at him of being not only a homophobe, but a racist and an anti-semite as well.

The Family Research Council offers its own take on Buchanan's dismissal:

Fired Fighter

After 10 years of commentating on MSNBC, Pat Buchanan is out of a job. The network decided to "part ways" with the former presidential candidate after intense pressure from rabid activists, who whined that Buchanan's new book, Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2015? hurt their feelings. His views on homosexuality and the decline of Christian America triggered the rage of the Left and resulted in a massive campaign of corporate bullying. As usual, liberals bombard the media with cries of "discrimination" and "intolerance" until the networks relent and agree to a one-sided debate. In his "Blacklisted, But Not Beaten" column, Pat exposes the strategy of the liberals who are too afraid to dialogue.

[Buchanan writes:] The modus operandi of these thought police... is to prattle about their love of dissent and devotion to the First Amendment, [while] they seek systematically to silence and censor dissent. Without a hearing, they smear and stigmatize as racist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic any who contradict what George Orwell once called their 'smelly little orthodoxies.' They then demand that the heretic recant, grovel, apologize, and pledge to go forth and sin no more. Defy them, and they will go after the network where you work, the newspapers that carry your column, the conventions that invite you to speak. If all else fails, they go after the advertisers. I know these blacklisters. They operate behind closed doors, with phone calls, mailed threats, and off-the-record meetings. They work in the dark because, as Al Smith said, nothing un-American can live in the sunlight.

"Let error be tolerated," Pat quoted Thomas Jefferson, "so long as reason is free to combat it." The media, and in fact our entire society, was built on a foundation of civil debate. Like Pat, radical liberals work hard to keep FRC off TV and radio. I'm thankful that MSNBC and other networks have allowed several of my FRC teammates and me to represent your values in many recent debates.

Me:  In his article defending himself, Buchanan wrote:

Documented in the 488 pages and 1,500 footnotes of Suicide of a Superpower is my thesis that America is Balkanizing, breaking down along the lines of religion, race, ethnicity, culture, and ideology and that Western peoples are facing demographic death by century’s end. Are such subjects taboo? Are they unfit for national debate?

So it would seem. MSNBC President Phil Griffin told reporters, “I don’t think the ideas that [Buchanan] put forth [in his book] are appropriate for the national dialogue, much less on MSNBC.”

I think such subjects are eminently worthy of serious discussion.  That a TV station thinks differently illustrates the mentality that is fueling the "suicide of a superpower."

MUST READ - "CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER ON PRESIDENTIAL DECREE #1"

Read it here.  I hope to get back to the article to put up excerpts, but meanwhile, read it for yourself.  It's that important.  It's truly unbelievable what is happening to this nation; how so many swallow the flimsiest of justifications.  We are a nation devoid of clarity and logic.  Time to look up from our diversionary technological devices and begin THINKING.  

Here's HotAir's summary:

Consider the constitutional wreckage left by Obamacare:

First, the assault on the free exercise of religion. Only churches themselves are left alone. Beyond the churchyard gate, religious autonomy disappears. Every other religious institution must bow to the state because, by this administration’s regulatory definition, church schools, hospitals and charities are not “religious” and thus have no right to the free exercise of religion — no protection from being forced into doctrinal violations commanded by the state.

Second, the assault on free enterprise. To solve his own political problem, the president presumes to order a private company to enter into a contract for the provision of certain services — all of which must be without charge. And yet, this breathtaking arrogation of power is simply the logical extension of Washington’s takeover of the private system of medical care — a system Obama farcically pretends to be maintaining. …

Third, the assault on individual autonomy. Every citizen without insurance is ordered to buy it, again under penalty of law. This so-called individual mandate is now before the Supreme Court — because never before has the already hypertrophied Commerce Clause been used to compel a citizen to enter into a private contract with a private company by mere fact of his existence.

OUTSTANDING ARTICLES FROM THE PRO-FAMILY "SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW" DATED FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Every two weeks I post the latest collection of articles pubished by the Family Research Council via their "Social Conservative Review."  Here is the latest collection.  For previous collections of articles (a boon for students, writers, researchers and anyone interested in current events), click here.  I have divided the current list below into two pages.   At the bottom of the post click "Continue reading.."

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "Education a la Carte," Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• "HSLDA to Appeal Criminal Conviction for Homeschool Family," Home School Legal Defense Association

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "Why we shouldn't oversell the benefit of having more students in 'advanced' classes," Frederick M. Hess, The American
• "Universities are bringing Occupy into the classroom," Natalie DiBlasio, USA Today
• "Ariz. Bill to Help Conservative College Professors in Hiring Process," Napp Nazworth, The Christian Post
• "Technology May Reform Education After All," Naomi Decter, Commentary Magazine
• "Court Upholds Indiana School Choice Program," Gregory S. Baylor, Alliance Defense Fund
• "Obama's War on School Vouchers," Jason L. Riley, The Wall Street Journal
• "Schools Attach 'Fat Monitors' to Students," Emily Johnston, The Heartlander

Government Reform
Regulation

• "Red Tape and Pink Slips: Obama's Imaginary Regulatory Reform," Henry I. Miller, The American
• "Global Evidence on Taxes and Economic Growth: Payroll Taxes Have No Effect," William McBride, The Tax Foundation
• "The Heartland Tax Rebellion," The Wall Street Journal
• "It's Working in Walker's Wisconsin," Christian Schneider, City Journal

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "The Amazing Obama Budget," Opinion, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Do-Nothing Senate," William McGurn, The Wall Street Journal

Health Care
Abstinence

• "A Different Take on Valentine's Day: Would you Die for Her?," Pat Fagan and Julia Kiewit, Townhall
• "Sex-Maniac Nation," Lisa Fabrizio, The American Spectator

Conscience Protection

• "Tony Perkins Responds to Pseudo-Compromise of Conscience Rights Mandate," FRC Press Office
• "Contraception Mandate a Profound Violation of Religious Freedom," Jeanne Monahan, U.S. News and World Report
• "Obamacare vs the Catholic Bishops," Kishore Jayabalan, The Acton Institute
• "Failing to Connect the Dots on Contraception," Howard P. Kainz, First Things
• "It's Not Only About the Bishops," Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• "Morals and Mandates," Sherif Girgis and Robert P. George, The Public Discourse
• "The Gospel According to Obama," Charles Krauthammer, National Review Online
• "Obama imposes will in contraception compromise," Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "Is U.S. Health Spending on Another Planet?," Christopher J. Conover, The American
• "Report: Economic experts blast revised HHS mandate," John Couretas, The Acton Institute
• "Primary concerns," Lynde Langdon, WORLD Magazine
• "Obamacare: Brussels Here We Come!," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• "Why Obamacare is Unconstitutional, and What Conservatives Should Do About It," Grace-Marie Turner, The Heartlander
• "Single Payer Advocates Who Want the Individual Mandate to be Struck Down," Ilya Somin, The Volokh Conspiracy

Homosexuality

• "Ninth Circuit Marriage Decision: "Take This Joke-Please."," Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council
• "The Reversal of Proposition 8: A Dangerous Precedent," Hunter Baker, The Acton Institute
• "The Ninth Circuit's Desperate Targeting of Justice Kennedy," Matthew J. Franck, The Public Discourse
• "Appeals Court ruled ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, scolding Californians," Bold Report
• "Washington gov signs gay marriage bill into law," Rachel La Corte, Associated Press
• "Will NJ Gay Marriage Battle Come Down to Christie's Veto, Senate's Override?," Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "A Tip of the Hat to Planned Parenthood," Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing
• "Did Early Christians Practice Birth Control?," Will Oremus, Slate
• "On Komen controversy, media told half the story," Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, CNN
• "A Muslim View on Respecting Life," Suzy Ismail, The Public Discourse
• "Planned Parenthood's Hostages," Robert P. George and O. Carter Snead, The Wall Street Journal
• "WA House OKs bill tying abortion to maternity care," The Olympian
• "Va House GOP muscles abortion restrictions to passage over passionate Democratic protests," Associated Press
• "UNESCO official calls for national registry of doctors who object to abortion: Spain," Jeanne Smits, LifeSiteNews
• "Justice Ginsburg Questions Timing of Roe v. Wade," Justin Shubow, FedSoc Blog
• "Va. House passes "personhood" abortion bill," CBS News
• "Abortions available through vending machine," Bold Report
• "Orchestrated uproar:A Planned Parenthood 'win' carries the seeds of its own destruction," Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• "Cutting through the pink fog," Barbara Curtis, WORLD Magazine

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Creationism Bill Dies in Indiana House," Paul Stanley, The Christian Post

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "When Life is Intolerable," Damiano Rondelli, The Catholic Thing
• "Archbishop Decries Possible Legalization of Euthanasia in UK," Clara Morris, The Christian Post

Stem Cell Research

To read about the latest advances in ethical adult stem cell research, keep up with leading-edge reports from FRC's Dr. David Prentice, click here.

• "Barry's Blessing," Stem Cell Research Facts
• "Stem cells could potentially fix 'broken hearts'," John Roberts, Fox News
• "Study aims to see if stem cells could aid stroke recovery," Tom Corwin, The Augusta Chronicle

RECENT EARTHQUAKE ACTIVITY VISUALIZED (VIDE0)

A friend's email brought a link to this remarkable visualization of recent earthquake activity around the globe.  Look out!  We are definitely living in dangerous times.

 

TOTALITARIANISM IN THE SCHOOL LUNCH ROOM: NORTH CAROLINA MOM'S LUNCH FOR PRE-SCHOOLER REJECTED BY GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR

I'd say the child's mom packed quite a good lunch!  The story sounds wacky, except it really happened.  Welcome to the world of totalitarian governmental intrusion.  It should make us very, very angry.  From FRC:

There may be no such thing as a free lunch--but there should be freedom in packing one! Unfortunately for a four-year-old in North Carolina, freedom isn't on this administration's menu. After an inspector rummaged around her lunch, they decided it was too "unhealthy" and seized it! The agent insisted that the "turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, apple juice, and potato chips" her mom had packed didn't meet USDA guidelines because it was missing milk and a vegetable. So what wholesome meal did they replace it with? Chicken nuggets! Not only did the little girl barely touch them, but the school sent a note home billing the family for the meal.

Where does the federal government get the power to charge this family because it doesn't like what it's eating? I suppose if the government can force you to buy health insurance, and it can force you to pay for contraception, then a vegetable mandate is small potatoes. According to a spokesman for West Hoke Elementary, the regulations were put in place by the Division of Child Development and Early Education at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (naturally!). The rule states, "When [preschoolers] bring their own food for meals and snacks to the center, if the food does not meet the specified nutritional requirements, the center must provide additional food necessary to meet those requirements." Notice that it doesn't say to confiscate the food and fine the family. It says to supplement the meal. (And I doubt fried chicken was the replacement the USDA had in mind!)

The mom was so irate about the government's brown bag check that she contacted the local newspaper and her congressman. "What got me so mad is, number one, don't tell my kid I'm not packing her lunch box properly," she told the Carolina Journal. "I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of vegetables. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn't really care for vegetables," she said. The inspector wouldn't know that. Nor would he know about the little girl's allergies or health issues. But, like a true government bureaucrat, he still insisted that he knew better. "We as a nation are ceding our responsibilities to care for our children every day," writes Julie Gunlock. "Even the most basic tasks--like packing simple lunches--are being turned over to our government overlords..."

This is exactly what Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) meant in November when she said that she looks forward to "doing for child care what we did for health care." The Left's goal is not just to control you. The goal is to control your children. And the more authority it can siphon away from parents, the better its chances are. As it stands, more power is being centralized in HHS than almost every other agency combined. Under ObamaCare, it can dictate the doctors you see, what treatments you can afford, what values you violate, and now, what lunches you pack. What's next? Will inspectors patrol the gyms to see who's exercising or chaperone date night to make sure you order low-cal? If anything, this incident at West Hoke Elementary should show Americans exactly what's at stake this November. This isn't about lunches--it's about liberty. And if Americans aren't careful, they'll lose the battle for both.

JEREMY LIN, NBA BASKETBALL STAR OUT OF NOWHERE, SAYS FAITH IN GOD HIS SUPPORT

Update 2/17/12 - Here's a great interview with Lin's pastor, Stephen Cheng, who has known Lin since he was 13.  The interview is titled, "Faith, Sin, and Jeremy Lin."

(Original post) - I don't much follow professional basketball, but after hearing about Jeremy Lin's incredible playing ability, I think the world (and I) will be watching more of the New York Knicks in the same way we began watching the Denver Broncos because of Tim Tebow.  The two have a lot in common, including their Christian faith. 

From NBC Bay Area TV:

The Palo Alto native whose success with the New York Knicks over the last week has catapulted him to international acclaim credits his Christian faith with carrying him to where he is today, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

A faith in God, kindled at Chinese Church in Christ in Mountain View, has carried Lin through the NBA's Development League, to three teams just this season alone, through his bench-warming days when he slept on couches because his contract wasn't guaranteed, to today, when his jersey is the NBA's best-seller and when folks in Taiwan and China stay up late to watch Knicks broadcasts.

"I've surrendered [needing to prove himself] to God," he told the newspaper. "I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore."

Lin was known to study the Bible and hang out with his family following high school games on Friday nights. He confided in his pastor after being waived by the Warriors and then the Rockets, home in the Bay Area at Christmas this year instead of on an NBA roster.

He repeated a Bible verse to himself: And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28.

Here's an example of Lin's prowess:

And watch this next brief video.  Have you ever seen anyone more cool under pressure? 

 

Lin is the first Asian-American in the NBA since 1947 and his success fuels pride not only in the Asian-American community, but also overseas in Taiwan and China as well.  I find that news spectacular and wonderful.

Lin’s stunning success with the Knicks over the last week and a half has captured the imagination of the Chinese, from Communist Party bosses to the often-persecuted Christian minority. He has been particularly popular here in northern Zhejiang province, from which his maternal grandmother fled to Taiwan in the last days of China’s civil war in the late 1940s.

Lin is commonly described in the United States as Taiwanese-American because his parents grew up in Taiwan before moving to the United States, where Lin was born. But mainland China is already starting to claim him as its own, part of an incessant rivalry across the Taiwan Strait.

CHA SUN CHONG AND HER TEAM OF LITTLE VIRTUOSO GUITARISTS

These talented youngsters are from North Korea, the elite of the land.  While others starve, they thrive.  But I do not wish to take anything away from their amazing musicality!  Enjoy and be amazed, especially if you are a mediocre guitar player (at best) like myself.

 

 

CHARLES COLSON - WHAT'S REALLY AT STAKE IS WHETHER WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FREE COUNTRY

Colson's is a veteran's voice especially needed during this crisis in American history - for that is what it is, a crisis.  Who would have thought that government would overreach and violate the Constitution so brazenly.  Months ago I saw President Obama and his henchmen (and women) as subversive to the American state.  That is daily being born out.  The crisis hour is upon us.  Below is Colson's take:  [my bolding]

"Leviathan's Appetite: Abortion inducing drugs, the Catholic Church, government mandates. What's all this really about?"

Listen Now | Download

Make no mistake. The raging controversy over the Obama Administration’s refusal to exempt religious organizations from onerous health care mandates is a big deal. A very big deal.

But why? What’s really at issue here?

Despite what the media and the Obama Administration are telling you, it’s not just a battle between the so-called “archaic beliefs” of the Catholic Church on the one hand and advocates of women’s health on the other. It’s not just about access to abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, bad as that is.

And it’s even more than a battle over religious freedom. I have to say, the Obama Administration’s move boggles the mind. What part of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” does the administration not understand?

There is no way this outrage would survive if it has to get to the courts. And I’m grateful to see lawmakers in Congress on both sides working together to reverse the decision. Let’s hope they can succeed.

I’m even more gratified to see people of faith rallying against this violation of religious liberty. I’ve heard from ministers, rabbis, even Muslims, outraged at this threat.

That’s a point that Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C., Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik of Yeshiva University, and I make together in today’s Wall Street Journal. As we say in our opinion piece, a Catholic, a Protestant, and a Jew can all agree that “under no circumstances should people of faith violate their consciences and discard their most cherished religious beliefs in order to comply with a gravely unjust law.” Come to BreakPoint.org, and we’ll link you to our Wall Street Journal article.

So why in the world would the Administration brushoff at the Bill of Rights and antagonize people of faith — maybe 80 percent of the U.S. population?

Because what’s really at stake here is whether or not there is any limit to government power.

That’s the point made by Daniel Henninger in his excellent piece yesterday, also in the Wall Street Journal.  “The American Catholic Church,” he writes, “is now being handed a lesson in the hierarchy of raw political authority.”

But the question for all of us, Henninger writes, “is whether anyone can remain free of a U.S. government determined to do what it wants to do, at whatever cost.”

Friends, the answer to that question depends on whether we the people, and especially we Christians and people of all faiths will rise up and say, “Enough! You may not intrude on our religious beliefs, you may not prohibit us from living out our faith.”

So today, as I have earlier this week, I am asking you to take action. Go to ManhattanDeclration.org, sign our petition to the President to reverse the HHS decision. Thousands of people have already done so. And then sign the Manhattan Declaration itself and get your friends to do the same thing.

I have said before, now is the time to speak out—and to remain vigilant in the face of the government’s enormous appetite for power over the lives and liberties of its citizens.

What’s really at stake is whether we will continue to be a free country.

** Further Reading and Information

United We Stand for Religious Freedom
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Charles Colson, Meir Soloveichik | Wall Street Journal | February 10, 2012

Transformers
Daniel Henninger | Wall Street Journal | February 9, 2012

The Time Is Now
Chuck Colson | Two-Minute Warning | February 8, 2012

First They Came for the Catholics
Timothy George & Charles Colson | Christianity Today | February 9, 2012

Decision unchanged on HHS exemptions
David A. Zubik | Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh | January 2012

An Urgent Call to Defend Our Religious Liberty
James Dobson | Family Talk Radio | February 9, 2012

Petition to the President
ManhattanDeclaration.org

Manhattan Declaration
ManhattanDeclaration.org

ANDREW BREITBART TELLS CPAC (VIDEO): "I have videos of Obama in college and they’ll come out during the election"

Wow.  Vintage Breitbart.  Breitbart's 16 minute speech is called by Allahpundit "easily the most entertaining speech you'll see at CPAC."  Click through for video of Breitbart's speech.  Update: Video below.

 

REPUBLICAN RISING STAR - REP. RENEE ELLERS (NC)

Jim Loft over at Gateway Pundit titles his post, "Freshman Rep. Ellmers Schools Henry Waxman in Committee (Video)" 

FROM THE VIDEO: Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), took on Henry Waxman (D-CA) in spectacular fashion today in a joint House-Senate hearing on the payroll tax cut extension.

Me: I think we'll be hearing a lot more from Rep. Ellmers.  Especially if she continues to do her homework and speak as boldly and articulately as she did here.  Hooray for her.  May her tribe increase a hundredfold and more.

Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, February 9, 2012, 8:41 AM

 

 

Freshman Representative and rising star Renee Ellmers (R-NC) schooled far left darling Henry Waxman in committee.
This was great–

From the video: Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), took on Henry Waxman (D-CA) in spectacular fashion today in a joint House-Senate hearing on the payroll tax cut extension.

JAY NORDLINGER - SUPER BOWL HALFTIME OBSERVATION

Nordlinger observes:

At the end of the halftime show, they displayed the words “World Peace.” They never, ever say “World Freedom,” do they? Never.

In a different vein, Nordlinger notes the music used in Super Bowl commercials:

1) I wish Beethoven could know they were using his music to sell Coca-Cola during the Super Bowl. (“Coca-Cola? Super Bowl?”) (The music was from his Fifth Symphony.)

2) There was a hint of Wagner in a Lexus commercial. (A motif from The Ring.)

3) There was Verdi in a Doritos commercial. (“La donna è mobile,” from Rigoletto.)

4) There was Bach in a Time-Warner Cable commercial. (C-major prelude from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier.)

MARK TOOLEY - "CULTURE WAR AND THE GLOBAL CHURCH"

Mark Tooley, President of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), offers many insightful statistics and observations in the following article. As most readers probably know, Christianity is growing rapidly around the world, excepting America and Europe.

Culture War and the Global Church

Liberal Protestant denominations are increasingly no match for their conservative brethren worldwide.

Global Christianity is thriving, with one out of every 3 people on earth professing Christian faith, according to a Pew study released last month. But Christianity is shifting south. Two percent of global Christians 100 years ago lived in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, nearly a quarter do, equal to Europe's percentage, and soon surely to surpass it.

Insulated secular elites in the U.S. remain largely clueless about thriving religion even in America, much less globally. To the extent they notice domestic religion, it is often the echoing voices of liberal Protestant elites who preside over increasingly empty churches.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Episcopal Church, both of which are now likely below 2 million members, will have their governing conventions this summer. They will probably solidify their liberal trends, especially in deconstructing traditional marriage. United Methodism, unique among the major liberal Mainline denominations for having not compromised its sexual teaching, will convene its General Conference in late April in Tampa. Its U.S. membership of 7.6 million is shrinking, while is overseas membership of 4.5 million, mostly in Africa, is surging.

PRESIDENT OBAMA INVOKES THE BIBLE WHEN IT SUITS HIM

And he uses his own narrow ideological lens in doing so.  The Family Research Council nails the issue (and President Obama) in writing the following:  [my bolding]

Cause God Blessed Taxes with His Own Hand...

President Obama isn't selling the bracelets, but he is asking the question: WWJT? What Would Jesus Tax? Speaking at yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast, the President invoked everyone from Jesus to Mohammed to push his universal welfare state. "It's hard for me to ask [people]... who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. And I think to myself, if I'm willing to give something up as somebody who's been extraordinarily blessed and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that's going to make some economic sense... For me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus's teaching that to whom much is given, much shall be required. It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who've been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration of others. It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who've been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others."

How ironic. Liberals accuse us of trying to create a theocracy, when they're the ones trying to attach biblical significance to big government! The Left engages God when it's convenient, and draws a line between church and state when it isn't. Unfortunately, that's the reality of an a la carte belief system. God can easily conform to public opinion. And this isn't the first time the White House has recruited Jesus to support its policies. Back in November, President Obama said God "wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work." "Isn't it a bit much to bring God into the jobs debate?" a reporter asked? Press Secretary Jay Carney fired back, "I believe that the phrase from the Bible is, 'The Lord helps those who help themselves.'" Only that phrase wasn't from the Bible. It's usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin (and I doubt he'd support the legislation either!)

The problem here is not that the President references Scripture. The problem is that he's interpreting it through a narrow ideological lens that isn't aligned with the Truth. Sure, Jesus hung out with the tax collectors, but no serious student of the Bible would construe Luke 12:48 as a call for big government. The Bible is clear that we should care for the less fortunate, but not once does it imply that it's government's job to do so. When Jesus wanted to help the orphaned or widowed, he didn't hire bureaucrats. He called on His followers, the Church. We can ask ourselves What Would Jesus Tax? but without taking Scripture wildly out of context, we may never know. What we do know is that the same God who supposedly "supports" Obama's tax hikes is the One who condemns abortion, sexual immorality, and religious persecution.

SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO PRO-FAMILY NEWS," FEBRUARY 2, 2012

In the past it has been my practice to list the articles in "Social Conservative Review" on "page 2" of my blog posts.  Today I decided to put the articles and links "up front," on page one.  I've only had a chance to read a couple of these articles so far, but I'm glad to have them available for reference and perusing.  For previous "Social Conservative Review" posts, click here.  Here's the latest:

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "Why Urban, Educated Parents Are Turning to DIY Education," Linda Perlstein, Newsweek
• "'Tim Tebow homeschool law' gains momentum in Virginia," Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post
• "Catholic Homeschool Group's Appeal will be Argued Before the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC)," Christian NewsWire

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "College Debt and 2012," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "The State of Education," Chester E. Finn, Jr., National Review Online
• "Why You Should Postpone College," Brett Nelson, Forbes
• "Jindal's Education Moon Shot," The Wall Street Journal
• "Golden Missed Opportunity," Larry Sand, City Journal
• "Redeeming Higher Education," James R. Stoner, Jr., Claremont Review of Books
• "Our Inequality," Peter David Gross, The Examined Life

Government Reform
Regulation

• "Geithner Says 'Basic Elements' of Finance Reform Done This Year," Ian Katz, Bloomberg
• "Obama Comes Around on U.N. Reform," Brett Schaefer, National Review Online
• "Trust-Busting and Trusting in the Administrative State," Michael Fragoso, The Public Discourse
• "It's Working in Walker's Wisconsin," Christian Schneider, City Journal

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "Average federal pay matches Microsoft," Andrew Biggs, The Enterprise Blog
• "The Debt Trap, Part (1)," Michael S. Greve, Library of Law and Liberty
• "Is President Obama Creating A Nation Of Dependents?," John Merline, Investor's Business Daily
• "Dining with Vultures: Rent-to-Own, the Feds, and the Housing Sector," Jay Weiser, The American

Health Care
Abstinence

• "Abortion-contraception arguments are really about teen sex," Sarah S. Brown, The Washington Post
• "New sex education standards released," Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press
• "'Safe sex' is a myth, & CDC stats prove it," Kelly Boggs, Baptist Press

Conscience Protection

• "ObamaCare and Religious Freedom," Timothy M. Dolan, The Wall Street Journal
• "Respecting religious exemptions," Editorial, The Washington Post
• "An Unconscionable Threat to Conscience," Donald P. Condit, The Acton Institute
• "Ruling on Contraception Draws Battle Lines at Catholic Colleges," Denise Grady, New York Times

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "The Wyden-Ryan proposal-a foundation for realistic Medicare reform," Joseph Antos, The New England Journal of Medicine
• "If we knew then what we know now about healthcare reform," Andrew Biggs, The Enterprise Blog
• "The HHS Contraception Mandate vs. the Religious Freedom Restoration Act," Ed Whelan, National Review Online
• "Free Birth Control vs. Freedom of Religion," Wesley J. Smith, National Review Online
• "The Obama Mandate to Catholics: "To Hell With You?"," Paul G. Kengor, The Center for Vision and Values

Homosexuality

• "Gay marriage gaining momentum in WA Legislature," Rachel La Corte, Associated Press
• "Catholic Conference chides same-sex marriage supporters," John Wagner, The Washington Post
• "The Same-Sex "Marriage" Proposal is Unjust Discrimination," Patrick Lee, The Public Discourse
• "Reclaiming the Rhetoric of 'Family': 3 Reasons Why Same-Sex Marriage Recognition in the Military Matters," Katie Miller, The Huffington Post
• "UN Secretary General Tells African Nations to Stop Discriminating Against Homosexuals," Stefano Gennarini, J.D., Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Vulgarity and Vengeance," Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "Feathers Ruffled at Greater DC Girl Scout Council," Cathy Ruse, Family Research Council
• "A New Study Finds Abortion Safer than Giving Birth," Krystle Weeks, Family Research Council
• "Roe v. Wade: A Constitutional and Moral Tragedy," Sen. Orrin Hatch
• "The mental toll of abortion," Jeanne Monahan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• "Roe v. Wade and Equal Opportunity," Ken Thomas, The Ashbrook Center
• "The Mounting Tragedy of Missing Baby Girls," Matt Ridley, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Vision of a Pro-Life Generation," Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online
• " Pro-Life Is Prettier: Beauty in the Pro-Life Movement," Katrina Fernandez, Patheos
• "The Unbearable Wrongness of Roe," Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Public Discourse
• "Two Cheers for Pro-Life Europe," Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing
• "Focusing on the fetus changes abortion debate," Margaret Somerville, The National Post

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Archbishop Chaput Blasts Growing Eugenics in Fetal Medicine," Gerard Nadal, LifeNews.com

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "Is it morally wrong to take a life? Not really, say bioethicists," Michael Cook, BioEdge
• "'Incompatible with Life' is a judgment not a diagnosis," Nancy Mayer-Whittington, LifeSiteNews.com

Stem Cell Research

To read about the latest advances in ethical adult stem cell research, keep up with leading-edge reports from FRC's Dr. David Prentice, click here.

• "The Stem Cell Debates," The New Atlantis
• "The End of Embryonic Stem Cell Research?," Nathaniel Peters, First Things
• "Stacking the deck on the stem-cell program," Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
• "Politics obscure science of stem-cell debate," David Baugher, The St. Louis Beacon

Human Trafficking

• "The Human Face Of Modern Slavery," Corban Addison, The Huffington Post
• "Human trafficking: Hunting the predator," Elizabeth Prann, Fox News
• "'All I Was Good for Was Sex'," Nathan Clarke, Christianity Today

Women's Health

• "When the State Took Away My Life: North Carolina Grapples with Sterilization Practice," Karen Swallow Prior, Christianity Today
• "How the CDC is overstating sexual violence in the US," Christina Hoff Sommers, American Enterprise Institute
• "The Vitrification Fertility Option," Rebecca Dana, Newsweek

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• "The Joy of Pretty Things," Nancy French, National Review Online
• "Va. legislators to consider gay adoption issue," Zinie Chen Sampson, Associated Press
• "'Too old to keep baby'," Linda Fort, Get Reading
• "Utah adoption bill aims to give unwed fathers more protections," Brooke Adams, The Salt Lake Tribune

Family Economics

• "The Keystone Pipeline, Energy, and Family Economics," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "The Tax Rate Scandal," Mark W. Hendrickson, The Center for Vision and Values
• "Beyond Blue Part One: The Crisis of the American Dream," Walter Russell Mead, Via Meadia
• "The "Immobile Class": On College and Work in the New America," Owen Strachan

Family Structure

• "The New American Divide," Charles Murray, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Untapped Potential of the At-Home Mom," Suanne Camfield, Christianity Today
• "Child's Play," Carrie Lukas, National Review Online

Media
Pornography

• "House of Lies' and Mainstream Pornography," Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic
• "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act: 5 Things to Know About H.R. 1981," Connor Adams Sheets, International Business Times
• "Should I Marry a Man with Pornography Struggles? My Response," Russell D. Moore, Moore to the Point

Internet

• "SOPA Pro and Con," Justin Shubow, FedSoc Blog

Media

• "Nudity on the Rise in Broadcast TV," Parents Television Council
• "Damsels in Undress," Sean Daly, New York Post

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• "Christians Say Obama is Trampling Religious Liberty," Todd Starnes, Fox News
• "On Religious Freedom, Years of Battles Ahead," David Skeel, The Wall Street Journal
• "Parochial Schools And Peyote: How Illegal Drugs And Christian School Teachers Are Related," Kevin Theriot, Alliance Defense Fund
• "Vanderbilt Univ. Christian Group Says It's Being Forced Off Campus," Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post
• "Religious Liberty and Civil Society," Yuval Levin, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Religion in America

• "John 3:16: Tim Tebow's Verse?," Robert Morrison, Family Research Council
• "What Will It Take To Transform The Mountains Of Culture?," Chris Robertson, The Acton Institute
• "What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism," Aryeh Spero, The Wall Street Journal
• "Anger, Bad-And Good?," Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing

Secularism

• "Stubborn Amish and Stubborn Atheists," Peter Berger, The American Interest

International
Israel

• "Column One: The Zionist imperative," Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post
• "Israel's future: Risks or opportunities?," Uri Dromi, The Miami Herald

International Economy and Family

• "The (Almost) Triumph of Offshore Balancing," Christopher Layne, The National Interest
• "Why Growth Matters More than Debt," Steve Conover, The American
• "Will German Politicians Wreck Europe To Save Their Own Skins?," Walter Russell Mead, Via Meadia

Religious Persecution

• "Responding to Islamism and Persecution of the Church," Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• "The Muslim-American Muddle: Where Do Muslims Fit in American Society?," Lecture, American Enterprise Institute
• "The Church Persecuted - 2011," George J. Marlin, The Catholic Thing

Sharia law -- U.S., foreign

• "Aquinas on Islam," Matthew Hanley, The Catholic Thing
• "Slaughterhouse Rules," Elli Fischer, Jewish Daily Ideas
• "Opposition mounts to growing use of sharia law in Britain," Barnabas Aid

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• "Wagner's cautionary tale of latest example of political bias," Chris Gacek, The Cedar Rapids Gazette
• "Liberty Forum on the Constitutional Amendment Process," Mike Rappaport, Library of Law and Liberty
• "Beyond Originalism: Conservative Declarationism and Constitutional Redemption," Ken I. Kersch, Maryland Law Review

Other News of Note

• "The King's Summit," Robert Morrison, Human Events
• "Social Justice, Institutions, and Communities," Adam J. MacLeod, The Public Discourse
• "Patrick Henry, Patriot," Gary S. Smith, The Center for Vision and Values

Book reviews

• "Trials and Tribulations of Girl Land," Krystle Weeks, Family Research Council
• "Talking About REAL Marriage," Susan Wise Bauer, Christianity Today
• "Eden's Bridge: the Marketplace in God's Kingdom, a Partner Spotlight," Elise Hilton, PovertyCure
• "The Humanity of Christ Matters," Russell D. Moore, Moore to the Point

CELEBRATING FRANCIS SCHAEFFER'S LIFE

Francis Schaeffer would have been 100 years old yesterday.  Chuck Colson describes the life and influence of this remarkable man in the short clip below. I count myself as one of many deeply affected by Schaeffer.  In college I heard him deliver a series of lectures that formed the basis for his book, "The God Who Is There."  He powerfully impressed me with his obvious passion and deep concern for "Speaking Historic Christianity into the 20th Century."  Like many others, I found his grasp of the ramifications of Christian faith for the whole of life and culture foundational and formative to my thinking.

 

In the clip above, Chuck Colson sounds a call for Christians to "get out of the pew and engage culture!" and urges people to sign the Manhattan Declaration.

Recommendations of T.A. Moore at the Colson Center:

Bing Davis, “Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer”
Barry Hankins, “Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelicals” (podcast)
Peggy J. Haslar, “Francis Schaeffer’s Double-edged Ethic”
Todd Kappelman, “The Need to Read: Francis Schaeffer”
Fred Sanders, “Come, Christian Triune God Who Lives”

Links from the "Colson Library" include:

Ranald Macauley - Learning from Francis Schaeffer: The Legacy and Relevance of His Vision

Francis Schaeffer, the founder of L’Abri Fellowship, espoused two main concepts in his vision for genuine and effective Christian living: “true truth” and “true spirituality.” The idea of “true truth” came out of Schaeffer’s love for Scripture, which forms a lens through which all other reality makes sense. He encouraged others to recognize the falseness of all worldviews other than a biblically Christian one from his home in Switzerland, which he called L’Abri (or, “the Shelter” in French). The ministry of Francis and his wife Edith slowly grew to become the first of eight communities and study centers that now exist around the world. The idea of “true spirituality” was implemented at L’Abri by substituting organization and programs with prayer in an effort to emphasize the importance of experiencing and imitating Christ. Though influential both in Europe and America, parts of Schaffer’s message were either misunderstood or ignored. However, his concerns are still relevant today, nearly fifty years later, in light of the condition of modern society.

Barry Hankins - Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelicals

Timothy George interviews Barry Hankins about his biography Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America.  Although initially an ardent separatist-fundamentalist, Schaeffer became one of the most influential components of evangelical cultural engagement.

Peggy J. Haslar Francis Schaeffer's Double-Edged Ethic (Fall 1989)

The life of Francis Schaeffer stands as a testament to how to live an uncompromising Christian life while expressing genuine love for others, both Christian and non-Christian. Even when caught up in controversy, as is unavoidable when living a life guided by orthodoxy, Schaeffer unceasingly loved those with whom he disagreed.

As for me, I think one of the foremost contemporary thinkers in the Schaeffer tradition would be Nancy Pearcey.   Her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity is extremely helpful.  I'm delinquent in not having yet read her latest book, Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning.   David Limbaughs says of her:

Nancy is scholarly. A great thinker and a great writer. She grasps worldview issues as much or more than anybody writing on them today. I consider her the modern-day successor to Francis Schaeffer. As a student of his, and as someone carrying on his work, she brings to the discussion a knowledge of theology, as well as a knowledge of politics and social issues. I think she is the whole package.”

For a valuable review of Saving Leonardo click here.