Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CHRIS RUFO - "THE REAL STORY BEHIND DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR"

Here's a 10 minute video full of insight and history.  Definitely worth your time.

https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1750177876778143972

WHO IS BEING BRAINWASHED?

Victor Davis Hanson - The Urban-Rural Divide in America

**  Victor Davis Hanson - On the urban/rural divide in the United States.

Excerpts:

. . . . The media figures who report on the election are urban denizens. Few have any idea of why half the country votes as it does. So they just assume that pollsters, like themselves, are better educated, smarter, and of greater value to society than those whom they often to fail to find in their surveys. . . 

That fact of the rural/urban dichotomy is underappreciated, but it remains at the heart of the Constitution — to the continuing chagrin of our globalist coastal elite who wish to wipe it out. The Electoral College and the quite antithetical makeup of the Senate and the House keep a Montana, Utah, or Wyoming from being politically neutered by California and New York. The idea, deemed outrageously “unfair” by academics and the media, is that a Wyoming rancher might have as much of a say in the direction of the country as thousands of more redundant city dwellers. Yet the classical idea of federal republicanism was to save democracy by not allowing 51 percent (of an increasingly urban population) to create laws on any given day at any given hour.

So the originalist theories of the Founders — nursed on classical tropes found in bucolic, pastoral, and agrarian romance, and on the skepticism of human nature conveyed throughout classical political philosophy — was that in a republic, real diversity is needed to offset sheer numbers. That is, rural voices, always to be in a minority, provided checks on the exuberance and occasional danger of the volatile cities, prone to fads that could devolve into hysteria and worse.

ERIC METAXAS INTERVIEWS DR. OS GUINNESS ON THE CULTURAL MOMENT UPON US

This interview starts out talking about Os Guinness' 1973 book, The Dust of Death: The Sixties Counterculture and How it Changed America Forever which IVP has just reissued in its "Signature Collection series.  Guinness goes on to discuss with insight and clarity our cultural historical moment today.  An article summarizing Guinness' points may be found in this Washington Times piece published just two days ago. 

 

"VERDICT WITH TED CRUZ" - ERIC METAXAS INTERVIEWS SEN. TED CRUZ & MICHAEL KNOWLES

I found this interview vastly entertaining.  It's a great introduction to the Cruz/Knowles podcast.  It lasts only 17 minutes.    

"Verdict with Ted Cruz" on YouTube

THE PATH TO TOTALITARIAN AMERICA - WE ARE WELL ON THE WAY

Rod Dreher has been doing yeoman work tracing the conditions that gave rise to the totalitarian Communist and Nazi regimes.  He is studying the social and ideological conditions that incubated and fostered these movements.  In September Dreher will publish the results of his research in a new book, Live Not By Lies.  [Note:  Many will recall Dreher's 2018 book that stirred great interest, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.]

In a current blog post, Dreher writes:  Last year, I spoke to a Soviet-born scholar who teaches in an American public university. . . .   This morning, she sent me this e-mail, which I reproduce here with her permission:  [my emphases]

I know from your blog that the work on your new book is going well and I’m glad because, boy, it’s so needed. I’m observing some disturbing developments on my campus, and we are really not one of those wokester schools for spoiled brats one normally associates with this kind of thing.

 

This academic year I’ve had an opportunity to work with some early-career academics. These are newly-minted PhDs that are in their first year on the tenure-track. What’s really scary is that they sincerely believe all the woke dogma. Older people – those in their forties, fifties or sixties – might parrot the woke mantras because it’s what everybody in academia does and you have to survive. But the younger generation actually believes it all. Transwomen are women, black students fail calculus because there are no calc profs who “look like them,” ‘whiteness’ is the most oppressive thing in the world, the US is the most evil country in history, anybody who votes Republican is a racist, everybody who goes to church is a bigot but the hijab is deeply liberating. I gently mocked some of this stuff (like we normally do among older academics), and two of the younger academics in the group I supervise actually cried. Because they believe all this so deeply, and I’d even say fanatically, that they couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t taking it seriously.

 

The fanatical glimmer in their eyes really scared me.

ROD DREHER AND THE STATE OF OUR TIMES

It's important to keep reading Rod Dreher.  I do not have time to offer additional or better comments on the three posts listed below, but perhaps I can do so at a later time.  Each is important reading.

 --  Here is a post on Trump's evangelical support and it's pervasive pessimism -- which reflects my own thinking.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/evangelicals-trump-shield-2020/

--  See also this on the religion of the New York Times:  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/new-york-times-editorial-staff-meeting-racism-oberlin-faculty-senate/

And this on progressive education in California - https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/california-to-become-yugoslavia-ethnic-studies/

SCHOOL IMPERIALISM: ORANGE COUNTY, CA. REFUSES TO ALLOW PARENTS TO OPT THEIR CHILDREN OUT OF LGBT INDOCTRINATION SESSIONS

I find this unbelievable. Parents of children in Orange County, CA have been refused permission to exempt their children from LGBT indoctrination classes.  Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council  writes:

It's every parent's worst nightmare: someone exposes your kids to something harmful -- and you can't stop them. That's exactly the situation in Orange County, California, where the school district has decided that LGBT lessons are too important to let families opt out.

In a story that almost has to be read to be believed, Fox News's Todd Starnes reprints the policy in black and white. "Parents who disagree with the instructional materials related to gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation may not excuse their children from this instruction," the memo from the Orange County Board of Education warns.

Todd couldn't believe his eyes, so he called a district spokesman who confirmed that kids would be forced to attend the schools' LGBT indoctrination sessions. Then, in what was supposed to offer some reassurance, he went on to say that while parents may have no authority over what their kids learn in class, they had the district's approval to rebut the materials at home. "Parents are free to advise their children that they disagree with some or all of the information presented in the instructional program and express their views on these subjects to their children." You mean you'll let us make the decisions when our kids are home? How thoughtful.

JONAH GOLDBERG'S NEW BOOK: "SUICIDE OF THE WEST: HOW THE REBIRTH OF TRIBALISM, POPULISM, NATIONALISM, AND IDENTITY POLITICS IS DESTROYING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY"

Update 6/11/18 - Ben Shapiro posted a major, one-hour video interview with Jonah Goldberg yesterday.

Original article:

Goldberg launched his new book, Suicide of the West, today.  Goldberg is a syndicated columnist and author (I thought his book Liberal Fascism extraordinary), Senior Editor of National Review, and weekly opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times.  Of his new book, Goldberg, not very modestly, writes:

The book has been called “epic and debate shifting” (David Brooks, NYT), “... ambitious, engrossing, and provocative ... splendid ...”  (Commentary), ... a “fascinating” book (Russ Roberts) that is  “... an important exploration of why we’re giving up the philosophy that built the modern West” (Ben Shapiro) that “will be one of the most important books of the year” (Stephen Hayes) ...

Goldberg writes further,

Anyway, if you’ve already bought it: thank you. If you plan on getting it, today is a good day for that kind of thing. If you want to hear or read more about it, you can hear me discuss it with Russ Roberts on EconTalk here, with Bill Kristol here, with John Miller here, or Matt Lewis here. I also talked to NPR’s Steve Inskeep about it yesterday. And here’s is the excerpt adapted from the introduction from the current issue of National Review. And here’s MBD’s thoughtful essay on it.

If you, like me, have creaking book shelves and find yourself short on time and money, it can be pleasurable to watch the interviews and read the excerpt Goldberg supplies.

KEEPING TABS ON CAMPUS RAGE

Bari Weiss offers an insightful interview with Jonathan Haidt of New York University.  I read the interview in the Wall Street Journal and wish I could post the whole thing but since it is probably behind a paywall, I would suggest reading excerpts provided by Rod Dreher in a recent blog post.  

In addition to Dreher's excellent excerpts I'll add a couple of my own.

“Now there are no more conservative voices on the faculty or administration,” he [Haidt] says, exaggerating only a little. Heterodox Academy cites research showing that the ratio of left to right professors in 1995 was 2 to 1. Now it is 5 to 1.

The left, meanwhile, has undergone an ideological transformation. A generation ago, social justice was understood as equality of treatment and opportunity. . .  Today justice means equal outcomes. “There are two ideas now in the academic left that weren’t there 10 years ago,” he says. “One is that everyone is racist because of unconscious bias, and the other is that everything is racist because of systemic racism.” That makes justice impossible to achieve: “When you cross that line into insisting if there’s not equal outcomes then some people and some institutions and some systems are racist, sexist, then you’re setting yourself up for eternal conflict and injustice.”

QUICK TAKES

Daniel Greenfield - The Internalized Racism of White Leftists

Walter Williams - Culture and Social Pathology

Cal Thomas - China's Big Hack Attack

Raymond Ibrahim - Islam's Jihad on Churches

David French - S.C. Suspect Caught and the Politicization begins  (* Especially important)

            Question - Was Dylann Storm Roof taking anti-depressant drugs?  Update: Apparently YES!

ROD DREHER - "THE BENEDICT OPTION" - REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTIAN LIVING IN A HOSTILE CULTURE

How are Christians to live in a culture becoming more and more hostile to Christian faith and morals?  Rod Dreher, an important contemporary thinker and writer, talks with John Stonestreet of "Breakpoint" and offers "a realistic look at what being the church means in a post-Christian culture."  Here's the audio:  (It's about 28 minutes.)

LISTEN NOW | DOWNLOAD   

Here's an article summation from Breakpoint:

 The culture of our nation is moving further and further away from biblical morality. And it sometimes feels as though we're powerless to do anything about it. But during this week's broadcast, John Stonestreet welcomes blogger, author, and columnist Rod Dreher, who explains what he's dubbed "the Benedict Option," a developing plan for Christians to weather the cultural storm ahead. 

The speed at which the sexual revolution has rewritten right and wrong in America is breathtaking. But we've by no means seen the end of our culture's decline. And commentators like Rod Dreher, an author and columnist at “The American Conservative,” say things will likely get worse before they get better. For several years now, Dreher has been sounding that alarm. He thinks what we're witnessing isn't a mere moral slip, but a fundamental and long-term shift away from Christian “cosmology,” or ultimate meaning. In response, he's proposed what he calls “the Benedict Option,” “a kind of deliberate, strategic retreat so that we can tend our own gardens...and cultivate the deep roots that our kids and their kids, and their kids’ kids will need to hold on to the faith through the dark times ahead.” 

JEB BUSH'S 2015 COMMENCEMENT SPEECH AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

I thought it a terrific speech.  So did National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez whose summary and comments follow below.  Update 5/15/15:  Peter Wehner at Commentary offered a thoughtful appreciation, summed up to some extent in this paragraph:

When you read the speech in whole, what stands out, I think, is that Governor Bush is articulating his understanding of the Christian faith in a way that is principled but not harsh, in a manner that is persuasive rather than aggressive, unapologetic and not offensive. He cares very much about the state of the culture, but he’s no culture warrior. This speech was his effort to unwind some fairly widespread caricatures, to represent his faith in a way that invites understanding rather than promotes division and distrust.

 

Lopez writes:

It can be a touchy subject,” Jeb Bush said during his commencement speech at Liberty University this weekend. “I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith.” “Whenever I hear this,” the former governor of Florida, said, “I know what they want me to say.”

“Whenever I hear this,” the former governor of Florida, said, “I know what they want me to say.”

We of faith do know; we hear it increasingly said and see the idea behind it increasingly enforced. In many ways it’s what people have been saying since John F. Kennedy’s (in)famous speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960. Indeed, since Kennedy, Catholics have led the way on this question for better or worse, first in seeking a place at the table of American civil society, then in diluting our contribution to it by privatizing and relegating to Sundays some of the best we have to offer.

This is not true of all Christians, thanks be to God. But it has been a scandal in our public witness and has allowed for the manipulation and marginalization of religious people that we see today.

Back to Jeb. When asked about if his Christian faith would influence his politics in any real way, he said:

 The simple and safe reply is, ‘No. Never. Of course not.’ If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a certain kind of politician we’ve all heard before — the guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal, that he refuses even to impose them on himself. 

Yes, that’s the game. And playing that way gets us to the point where we see Christianity making less of a difference in American political and cultural life. It’s a difference that, from our earliest days, we’ve relied on, that we’ve needed. It’s one that has been a corrective and a conscience.

And so Bush continued, knowing where we are, and assuming he was speaking to an audience poised to work to turn things around in whatever fields they go into, as Christians in environments — and a country — increasingly hostile to public, robust religious engagement beyond worship services or comfort or nostalgia: “The mistake is to confuse points of theology with moral principles that are knowable to reason as well as by faith. And this confusion is all part of a false narrative that casts religious Americans as intolerant scolds, running around trying to impose their views on everyone.”

BRITAIN'S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (NHS)TO FUND SPERM BANK TO "MEET INCREASING DEMAND FROM LESBIAN AND SINGLE WOMEN"

News like this makes one's stomach turn.    Christian Concern reports:

The first NHS-funded sperm bank is set to be launched in Britain to enable lesbian couples and single women to have children at less than half the cost of a private clinic.

The initiative, which will be funded by taxpayers’ money, will enable women to search an online database and select a donor based on various factors including ethnicity, height, profession and even hobbies.

The bank will then send that donor’s sperm to a clinic chosen by the client for use in trying for a baby.

The Department of Health said that the initiative would “meet increasing demand from lesbians and single women who wish to start a family without having a relationship with a man.”

The bank, which is set to open in October, will charge £300 for the service - considerably less than the private sector. 

DINESH D'SOUZA'S RECENT TV AND RADIO INTERVIEWS

Dinesh D'Souza's book, America: Imagine A World Without Her, is #1 on the next New York Times best seller list.   This week he dialoged with Richard Dreyfus on the Huckabee show (video), and debated leftist David Corn on NPR Radio (audio).  He was with Glen Beck on a  TV interview, in which D'Souza said, "I explained what it was like to sit down with some of the country's most infamous leftists (such as Bill Ayers, Noam Chomsky, and Ward Churchill) in America the movie."  

The next morning D'Souza joined Glenn, Pat, and Stu on TheBlaze Radio to tell them why he was not giving up on America.  In an email he said, "We're in a fight for survival. Listen to the interview and find out why I think America is worth fighting for."

Review of America, the movie.  

BuzzPo radio interview together with an article giving good backround on D'Souza's earlier books and projects.

Update:  Frontpage Magazine posted a 36 minute video interview with Dinesh D'Souza:

 

DAVID LIMBAUGH - A GREAT DARKNESS ENVELOPS US

Those paying attention are aware of a great darkness descending upon our nation.  David Limbaugh gives three current examples.  In case you may have missed them, he writes in his article "The World is Upside Down" the following:

What right-minded person can deny the current uncanny applicability of the admonition by the Prophet Isaiah, uttered some 2,700 years ago, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness"?

Increasingly today, what is undeniably evil is depicted as good and what most traditionalists, at least, used to agree is good passes often for evil.

What's striking to me is that many aren't merely rationalizing evil in an attempt to excuse their indefensible actions. They have systematically turned our entire moral code upside down. They have attacked the very basis for that code and declared that belief in its divine author itself is evil -- and dangerous.

Many deny that there is an affirmative war against Christianity and Judeo-Christian values, but they apparently haven't heard or read the words of some of the New Atheists -- or anti-theists, as some call themselves -- who conflate all religions and blame them all for most of the evil and war in the world.

Others scoff at the notion that Christianity and Christian values are being assaulted, arguing that it's absurd to believe a majority belief system could be under attack.

Let me share just three disturbing stories that caught my attention the past few days. 

During an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training briefing on extremism, evangelical Christianity, Catholicism and Islamophobia were listed along with al-Qaida, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan and other groups as examples of religious extremism.

An Army spokesman confirmed that this occurred but told Fox News that this was an "isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army."

Well, that's good to know, but it doesn't change the fact that we see this kind of wrongheaded insanity with ever-greater frequency in our culture. The idea that evangelical Christianity and Catholicism can be listed as extremist organizations by anyone is troubling enough -- but even more so in a publication paid for by taxpayer dollars. This episode may be isolated as far as the Army is concerned, but the thought process giving rise to this twisted perspective is anything but unique, as those paying attention can attest.

Next, we turn to the Florida Statehouse, where legislators were considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion -- the same type of bill President Obama opposed as an Illinois state senator.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE DEFUNDS BOY SCOUTS IN SUPPORT OF LGBT

The Family Research Council is taking it's business elsewhere.   Makes total sense.  FRC writes:

In this busy shipping season, UPS will have at least one less customer to worry about: FRC. After 11 years as our official carrier, FRC is suspending its contract with UPS for openly discriminating against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). In November, company executives announced that they would no longer support organizations that refuse to bow to their politically correct view of homosexuality. Although Vice President Kristen Patrella insisted UPS's decision didn't specifically target the Scouts, theirs was the only group affected. UPS promised to end its charitable donations to the Scouts "until gay Scout leaders are welcome within the organization."

According to most reports, the shipping giant altered its policy after an online petition drive at the liberal website, change.org, encouraged companies to end their BSA partnerships. But in the end, the 83,000 signatures it collected is a drop in the ocean compared to the 1,074,775 Americans who volunteered with a troop last year -- or the 2.7 million boys who were actual members of the Boy Scouts. Yet they, the overwhelming majority, are the ones for whom UPS has shown the greatest contempt -- and whose valuable activities will suffer as a result.

FRC tried to resolve the matter behind the scenes, even contacting Chairman and CEO Scott Davis with a letter of protest -- to which UPS promptly replied. Unfortunately, the company only reiterated its position that until the BSA puts a greater priority on the political agenda of LGBT activists than the protection of Scouts, they are not entitled to the same equality UPS claims to endorse. Apparently, the company isn't interested in true diversity but in strong-arming anyone who disagrees with their extreme agenda -- including a century-old youth development program, whose only crime is instilling character into millions of American boys. As for their longstanding policy on homosexuality, the Boy Scouts are doing what every parent would want them to: putting children's safety first.

Meanwhile, it seems UPS is not only anti-freedom, but anti-religion as well. Last week, the federal government sued the company for firing a Jehovah's Witness driver over a scheduling request. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) argues that the shipping giant violated America's anti-discrimination laws when it refused to modify the employee's hours so that he could attend a special church service. "When the employee refused to compromise his religious beliefs and attended instead of reporting for work, UPS fired him. UPS also assigned him a 'do not hire' status and refused to hire him when he applied for a different position at UPS's Staten Island facility," the EEOC press release explains .

If UPS wants to cater to the intolerant crowd, that's their business. But from now on, it won't be ours. FRC is taking its shipping needs elsewhere.

**  On the subject of speaking up in the culture wars, Bill O'Reilly yesterday interviewed Rev. Robert Jeffrees, the outspoken pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas. 

 

FIVE WAYS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA TIPPED THE SCALES IN FAVOR OF OBAMA

See Rich Noyes' accurate analysis.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLATFORM

Parts of it are absolutely awful, as pointed out by the Family Research Council:

What the Platform Doesn't Say Does Hurt It

Sometimes it's not in what you say, but what you don't that matters most. Reading the Democratic platform is one of those moments. Compared to its Republican counterpart, the official agenda of the Democratic Party is deafeningly silent on the sanctity of life, the importance of traditional marriage, and the granting of meaningful protections to religious liberty--showing just where their priorities lay (or don't lay) in their incomplete vision for America. The Democratic platform calls for "unequivocal" support of Roe v. Wade and unfettered "access" to abortion on demand, ignoring an awakening understanding--both legally and medically--on the beginning of life issues. Nuanced and emerging matters such as fetal pain, embryo destruction, and sex-selective abortion are all conspicuously missing, just as end-of-life issues (assisted suicide, both active and passive euthanasia).

The GOP platform opposes all abortion funding, both here and abroad, a position consistently held by a majority of Americans, whereas the Democratic platform supports abortion "regardless of ability to pay." According to The Weekly Standard's John McCormack, "That last part-'regardless of ability to pay' is an endorsement of taxpayer-funded abortions, a policy that President Obama has personally endorsed. Obama wants Medicaid to pay directly for elective abortions, and Obamacare will allow beneficiaries to use federal subsidies to purchase health care plans that cover elective abortions." Talk about being out of touch with Americans! Seventy-two percent of Americans oppose "using any public money in the health care overhaul to pay for abortions," Quinnipiac University found.

And life is not the only issue where the Democratic Party breaks Left. The big news is the Democratic platform now supports same-sex "marriage," "the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law"--a stance that opposes all federal and state initiatives to the contrary. Of course, the irony is this news is being delivered from Charlotte, in the state that just voted overwhelmingly in favor of a marriage protection amendment. State's rights are an afterthought in the platform, unless of course you're talking about the District of Columbia statehood.

And the Democratic platform would not be complete without deflecting charges that ObamaCare's "contraceptive mandate" that requires all people of faith to pay for abortion drugs, contraception, and sterilization violates rights of conscience. "The Affordable Care Act ensures that women have access to contraception in their health insurance plans, and the President has respected the principle of religious liberty." Of course, just saying there's respect for the principle of religious liberty doesn't make it so. For an election that is supposed to be about jobs and the economy, it's the radical social issues that seem to be at the forefront of the Democratic convention. The evidence of that is obvious--not just in the Party's platform--but in the speaker line-up as well: Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, Nancy Keenan, President of National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Georgetown law student, Sandra Fluke.

DENNIS PRAGER - HOW ROMNEY COULD HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE CHICK-FIL-A CONTROVERSY

I think Prager's idea brilliant:  Romney should have eaten a Chick-fil-A sandwich in one hand and Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the other.  Read on to see how advantageous that would have been.   Prager writes:

The Democratic mayors of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. gave Mitt Romney and the Republican Party the greatest gift possible. They provided the American people with as clear an example of the unbridgeable differences between left and right, between Democrat and Republican, as could be hoped for.

And it was largely wasted.

The Democratic mayors of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. announced that Chick-fil-A is not welcome in their cities because the owner/founder of Chick-fil-A supports preserving the man-woman definition of marriage.

Aside from free speech issues, the mayors did something dangerously un-American: they declared their cities open only to businesses whose ownership holds political positions they approve of.

And by extension, these mayors declared that anyone -- not just a business -- who believes that the man-woman definition of marriage should not be changed is not welcome in their cities.

What we have here is, first, the current policy of the mainstream left and the Democratic Party to destroy ideological opponents -- to destroy their reputations and to destroy them economically. The left tried to do this to those who supported California's Proposition 8 campaign to amend the state constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Prop. 8 was smearingly re-named "Prop. Hate," and all those who wish to maintain that definition of marriage were, and are, declared haters. The left is actually incapable of regarding ideological opponents as well-meaning.

What should Mitt Romney have done with this gift?

He should have used the Chick-fil-A controversy to illuminate the most important aspect of this November's election: the difference between the left and the rest of the country.

EFFORTS TO STRIP CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN THE U.S. MILITARY CONTINUE TO SUCCEED

From the Family Research Council:

The greatest threat to national security isn't global terrorism or Iran's nuclear program. No, according to one organization, one of America's biggest threats is the Word of God. That's what Mikey Weinstein is telling the U.S. military as part of his push to ban Bibles from base exchanges. And not just any Bibles--but military-themed editions. Fox News's Todd Starnes broke the story, which started when the Military Freedom from Religion Foundation complained that LifeWay publishers was selling Army-, Navy-, Air Force-, and Marine-specific Bibles to troops.

Apparently, it's irrelevant that the Bibles were sold at no cost to the government, and service members voluntarily purchased them. At no point were military members coerced or encouraged to buy the books. Yet Weinstein insists that their mere presence in base shelves constitutes a religious endorsement by the Department of Defense. "If their logos are being placed on a particular version of Christianity... when we are engaged in a war with fundamentalist Muslims--it's a security threat."

When Starnes called LifeWay, a spokesman said the government contacted them last year and said they were no longer authorized to use the branches' insignias. The Pentagon was quick to call it a "trademark issue" that had nothing to do with religion. I'll bet. Just like the Walter Reed Bible ban had nothing to do with the Bibles.

This is all part of the progression that started exactly 50 years ago in schools--when society started purging God from the classroom. Just consider how far we've fallen. Months before the start of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt actually wrote the prologue to the Gideon Bibles given to the Armed Forces, encouraging them to draw courage from its contents. "As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength, and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul."

Now, the march of humanism is at our military's doorstep. And once it falls, the rest of America is vulnerable. When Jesus instructed us to pray in our closet (Matthew 6:6), who knew it might be all we'd have left?

Previous post:

A General Lost His Job for Opposing Changing "Don't Ask, don't Tell"

See also: Army Tries Camouflaging Its Agenda on Marriage

UP-TO-DATE INFO FROM THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE

Brian S. Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), sent the following e-mail to traditional marriage supporters today.  I'm impressed with the effectiveness of this organization as it continues to fight battles on many fronts.  Click through to the "Continue reading..." or read the whole thing conveniently here.  I do urge you to read the entire letter as it is very informative. 

 

 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Scandal is building over the release of one of NOM's confidential tax documents. The release of this document is due to either an IRS employee leak, someone hacking into IRS systems, or someone illegally impersonating a NOM official to obtain this confidential information—information then retailed to the public by the Human Rights Campaign and the Huffington Post.

Let me reiterate the main point: The organization headed by President Obama's campaign co-chair knowingly retailed illegally-obtained information from the IRS—that's a felony. They did so in order to try to punish a political opponent. That's an outrage.

As I write, the Huffington Post has yet to acknowledge their potential civil and criminal liability in retailing illegally-obtained and federally-protected IRS information.

HRC acknowledged the seriousness of the situation by scrubbing every mention of the illegally-obtained 990 from its website, after NOM's lawyers demanded it do so. It's now claiming another source for the non-story it released about Gov. Romney's 2008 donation to NOM, which had already been reported in the press at the time.

But we have the evidence of what they actually said and did.

TRAGIC NEWS: ANDREW BREITBART DEAD AT 43

I'll be posting more as details unfold.  Breitbart was the courageous "in your face conservative" who stirred the pot in a powerful way. He broke the Acorn corruption story.  

It's shocking news.  He died of natural causes shortly after midnight.   Announcement here.  More from The Cutline:  (HT: Drudge)

"He was one of the most fearless people I ever knew," a shaken Jonah Goldberg, founding editor of the National Review Online, said on Fox News. "One of his favorite pasttimes was to retweet all of the hate that people threw at him, because he considered it a badge of honor. It was his Wheaties."

Goldberg added: "He was the modern conservative's iteration of a 1960s radical. He loved the fight."

"The conservative movement has lost a powerful voice in the fight to protect our freedom," Ned Ryun, president of the American Majority and one of Breitbart's friends, said. "Andrew was a pioneer in using social media and digital technology to bring a courageous conservative message to America's grassroots. He did something many in the conservative movement are afraid to do--go right at the left and not back down. He served as an example to the rest of the conservative movement of how to fight for our values without apology or compromise."

Breitbart worked for the Huffington Post and Drudge Report--serving as Matt Drudge's deputy--before launching his own cache of right-wing websites, including Breitbart.com, Breitbart.TV, Big Government, Big Hollywood, Big Journalism and Big Peace.

And in the hothouse world of online political media, they broke some big news. Breitbart--who once told Slate his "entire business model is to go on offense"--was credited with breaking a series of undercover videos showing alleged malfeasance at the offices of community-organizing group ACORN.

Last June, Breitbart's BigGovernment.com broke the original story of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner's lewd Twitter photo, which Weiner initially denied was his, then a cache of photos on Monday that forced Weiner's hand. At Weiner's infamous second press conference to confess to his improprieties, Breitbart pre-empted Weiner, grabbing the microphone.

"I'm here for some vindication," Breitbart barked. "The media says, 'Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies.' Give me one provable lie."   [more...]

In Addition: Tributes and memorials are pouring forth.  I appreciated some words Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote:

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.

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. . . .

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.

 

FEAR OF BEING CALLED A "BIGOT" SEALS OUR LIPS FROM SPEAKING THE TRUTH

Chuck Colson is right.  Because of our fear of being labeled a "bigot", we keep silent, even though truth is on our side and the majority of people privately agree with us.   It poses a danger to our culture to keep silent.  Colson speaks out below about our need to overcome this "spiral of silence."  

 

And here he speaks again:

Very powerful.  This speaks to me.

JOB LOSSES FOR BEING PRO-TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE REQUIRE THE "MARRIAGE ANTI-DEFAMATION ALLIANCE"

Cisco and Bank of America fired Frank Turek for being pro-traditional marriage.  Watch the video and then peruse Kathryn Jean Lopez's MUST-READ interview with Maggie Gallagher below.

 

Kathry Jean Lopez introduces the interview saying:

Maggie Gallagher is heading up a new effort to protect and defend those whose livelihoods are threatened by their speaking up in defense of traditional marriage: the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance. She chats about the problem it seeks to address, as well as the state of the marriage debate:

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Who is Frank Turek and why should every American care to know him?

MAGGIE GALLAGHER: Frank Turek is a man whose contract was terminated by a major corporation when human resources found out he had written a book opposing same-sex marriage. He is on the front lines of an emerging trend we are hearing about: people losing jobs or other economic opportunities because they have written, spoken, donated, or otherwise peacefully exercised their core civil rights on behalf of marriage as the union of husband and wife.

Frank’s day job is leadership seminars for Fortune 500 companies. He also runs a ministry and has written a book against same-sex marriage titled Correct, Not Politically Correct: How Same-sex Marriage Hurts Everyone.

For many years Frank Turek has done seminars for Cisco, among many other companies. A student who attended his class Googled his name, found out he opposed same-sex marriage and said “I’m going to get Frank fired because he doesn’t represent Cisco values.” And this student succeeded.

A few weeks later Frank Turek was told by a Bank of America executive that his book opposing gay marriage meant he would not be asked to do a seminar again at Bank of America. 

As Frank says, this is un-American — to say you have to have a certain view on gay marriage to be treated equally in the workforce.

Frank’s story is told the first of a series of videos NOM’s new Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance is releasing, to show the face of the people who’s jobs, property, economic livelihood, or good name have been threatened by those who believe only one side is worthy of respect in the gay marriage debate.

LOPEZ: What exactly is the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance? And how much of a need is there for it anyway? How many Tureks could there be out there?

GALLAGHER: Marriage ADA’s goal is an America where people on all sides of the gay marriage debate feel free to participate peacefully in the democratic process without fear of threats, harassment, or retaliation. I know that Frank is not the only one, because I’m getting e-mails from others who’ve faced similar threats. The goal of too many gay marriage advocates is to isolate, intimidate, and silence Americans who believe that marriage is the union of husband and wife, because children need their mom and dad. Marriage ADA is a response to these tactics of branding civil, thoughtful participation in democracy as hatred and bigotry.

I hope, by creating community, to inspire more Americans to stand up for their rights to preach, teach, and live the idea that to make a marriage you need a husband and a wife. There are too many of us to stigmatize if we stand together.

LOPEZ: Is this fight about marriage or conscience or religious liberty?

GALLAGHER: Religious liberty or conscience protection is a broad umbrella term that covers many important things. The core belief behind MarriageADA.com is that it is absurd that any American should be afraid to speak, to donate, to organize, or otherwise peacefully exercise core civil rights on behalf of an idea as good — as commonsense — as that, to make a marriage, you need a husband and a wife. 

LOPEZ: Could there ever be a scenario where same-sex marriage is legal but religious liberty is firmly protected?

PARENTS: BEWARE THE LEFTIST ASSAULT ON YOUR CHILDREN

Marybeth Hicks has written a book that seems "Must-reading" for parents.  It's titled, Don't Let the Kids Drink the Kool Aid:  Confronting the Left's Assault on Our Families, Faith, and Freedom.  I saw her interviewed on the 700 club yesterday.  

 

Her book receives praise from people I highly respect:

“Fellow moms and dads: It’s time to unite and reclaim the hearts, minds, and souls of our children from socialist indoctrinators! In shocking detail and with investigative zeal, Marybeth Hicks exposes the Left’s cradle-to-grave campaign to undermine religion, the traditional family, and free market capitalism. The best defense against this corrosive culture of entitlement and grievance is a good offense. Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid provides an invaluable playbook for parents who reject the Nanny State.”
—MICHELLE MALKIN, nationally syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times bestseller Culture of Corruption

“This is a tremendously important and timely book about the greatest disaster that could befall our country. No, it’s not economic—as bad as the economy is—it’s cultural, with a generation growing up utterly divorced from traditional American ideals. As Marybeth says, if we want to perpetuate America we need Americans, but our culture is rapidly undermining our children’s commitment to faith and freedom. Reading Marybeth Hicks’s Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid might be the most patriotic thing you do this year. If you care you about this country, please buy it, please read it, and please spread the word.”
—ERIC METAXAS, the New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery

“As important as it is to win the political battles, as Marybeth Hicks shows in her stunning new book Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid, if we don’t win the cultural battle for our children’s minds and hearts, we’ll have no future at all. Too many of us dismiss the propaganda of the liberal media, the public schools, and popular culture as harmless, but as Marybeth shows, it has demonstrably changed the way the next generation of Americans is thinking. Buy this book, be warned, and better yet—follow my friend Marybeth’s advice and take action.”
—DAVID LIMBAUGH, nationally syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Liberty

Her columns for the Washington Times can be found here.  Previous books include Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World and The Perfect World Inside My Minivan -- One mom's journey through the streets of suburbia.

CHARLES COLSON - AMERICANS ARE IN GREATER AGREEMENT WITH EACH OTHER THAN COMMONLY THOUGHT

This is an encouraging word.  It's the elites who are "out of step" with the rest of America.  Colson writes:

Rivalries make good news headlines. Football rivalries, gang rivalries, or political rivalries spice up the evening news and, presumably, draw an audience.

So the talking heads remind us every day that Americans are in a fight. Partisanship rules. We’re Red or Blue, pro-choice or pro-life, supporters or opponents of same-sex “marriage.” There is no consensus. Or is there?

In his new book, Beyond a House Divided: The Moral Consensus Ignored by Washington, Wall Street, and the Media, Carl Anderson examines a mountain of polling statistics and has some surprising news. Anderson writes, “In dealing with many high profile issues, we have found consensus where conventional wisdom would have us believe it is most unlikely: on the issues of religion in public life, abortion, marriage, and the role of government, among others.”

THE LATEST "SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW"

These compilations of articles from a variety of sources by the Family Research Council are a gold mine.  The latest, dated Nov. 5th is below.  You will find there a wealth of information not readily found elsewhere!  Dozens deserve to be highlighted on blogs everywhere.  For previous reviews, click here.

MALLARD FILLMORE MAKES A POINT

THE SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW - SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Herewith the latest selection of articles from sources far and wide collated by the Family Research Council.  Themes include educational freedom, environmental issues, faith and policy, health care, homosexuality in the military, judiciary, family economics, marriage and family, religious liberty, and sanctity of human life.  Previous collections of articles can be found here.

J. RICHARD PEARCEY - "HOW THE NEW RESISTANCE CAN WIN THE CULTURE WAR"

This article has good things to say.  I like the phrase "new resistance."  What's happening in Washington needs resistance.  We need to embrace the movement, join up. and get active.  Pearcey opens by saying:

Despite what has been reported in the formerly mainstream media, the New Resistance in America -- the tea parties, the town halls, protests on Capitol Hill and so on -- is to be welcomed and not cast aside as "extreme." The "angry mobs" and "unruly crowds" are actually signs of health, sanity and hope.

What these uppity folk are telling us is that, despite years of miseducation and inattention, millions of ordinary people have not forgotten who they are as Americans. Even more, this resistance suggests that significant numbers of Americans may be on a path to rediscovering something rather exceptional.

By "exceptional" is meant not just who they are in their national identity, but who they are as creatures of resistance, hardwired that way by the Creator himself. . .

Keep reading . . .

FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL (FRC) COLLATES VALUABLE ESSAYS AND ARTICLES

The Family Research Council is launching The Social Conservative Review.  An e-mail states it will constitute

"a unique summary of news of interest to social conservatives. The focus of this comprehensive collation of stories, journal articles, and op-eds is the intersection of moral  concern and public life, the issues that reflect and shape not only events and legislation, but the nation's very soul.

FRC will send the Review out twice monthly.

It will feature important pieces from the country's leading newspapers, magazines, journals and conservative Web sites. FRC's goal is to help keep you informed -- and ready to act -- about the policies and proposals, research and reports that bear directly on life, liberty, family and Christian faith.

Me: I have reproduced the e-mail below, complete with links.  It looks to me like a fabulous service.

---

The Social Conservative Review: The Insider's Guide to Pro-Family News

April 29, 2010

Educational Freedom and Reform

• "The ACLU: Unwelcome Schoolyard Bully?"
  Cynthia Hill, Family Research Council
• 2010 April School Reform News (full text pdf)
  Edited by Ben Boychuk, The Heartland Institute
• "Making Men without Chests: The Intellectual Life and Moral Imagination"
  R. J. Snell, First Principles Journal
• "Are There Harms of Home Schooling?"
  Christopher O. Tollefsen, The Witherspoon Institute
• "Expulsion may await campus pro-lifers"
  Bill Bumpas, OneNewsNow
• "Teach Social Justice-Or Else"
  Mark Bauerlein, Students For Academic Freedom
• "Education Spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Stimulating the Status Quo"
  Lindsey Burke, The Heritage Foundation

Environmental Issues

• "How a Climate Change Treaty Threatens You, Your Nation and Your Church"
  Dr. Cal Beisner, FRC Family Policy Lecture
• "My Tribute to Earth Day"
  Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Titles You Can't Make Up: Cleaner Air Could Speed Global Warming"
  Tom McClusky, Family Research Council Action
• "Creation and Man"
  Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
• "Getting Into Hot Water: Evangelicals and Global Warming"
  Benjamin B. Phillips, Acton Institute, Journal of Markets and Morality
• "Polls on the Environment and Global Warming"
  Karlyn Bowman, Andrew Rugg, American Enterprise Institute
• "Celebrate Earth's Best Friend"
  James M. Taylor, Heartland Institute
• "The Green Shepherd: The White House Wants Churches To Advance It's Climate Change Agenda"
  Meghan Clyne, The Weekly Standard
• "Environmentalism is now a religion, and being overtaken by extremism"
  Robert H. Nelson, The Catholic Thing

Faith and Policy

• "Fiscal Conservatism Is Not Enough: What Social Conservatives Offer the Party of Lincoln"
  Robert W. Patterson, The Family in America Journal
• "Prophet Jim Wallis and the Ecclesia of Economic Ignorance"
  John Couretas, The Acton Institute
• "Living Under God"
  Ken Blackwell, Family Research Council

Health Care

• "States Face Their First ObamaCare Test"
  Grace-Marie Turner, The Wall Street Journal
• "Hospital Visit Horrors? Here's the Rest of the Story"
  Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council
• "Ten Ways Consumer-Driven Health Care Is a Proven Success"
  Greg Scandlen, The Heartland Institute
• "The Separation of Health and State: What happens when all medical decisions are political"
  Opinion, Wall Street Journal
• "Krugman Admits Rationing (Death Panels) From Obamacare"
  Wesley J. Smith, First Things
• "The Tea Party Spirit and Lawless Health Care Reform"
  Charles R. Kesler, Claremont Review of Books
• "Bad Medicine: The Public Square"
  Joseph Bottum, First Things
• "US Is Turning Into Dependency Society"
  Lee Edwards, Ph.D., The Heritage Foundation
• "Where's the Administration's Cost Estimate?"
  James C. Capretta, National Review

Homosexuals in the Military

• "FRC's Tony Perkins Condemns Franklin Graham's Rescinded Invitation" to participate in Pentagon prayer event.
  FRC Press Release
• "Sex Matters in the Military"
  Peter Sprigg, The Washington Times
• "Homosexuals in the Military"
  Mackubin Thomas Owens, The Ashbrook Center
• "The Real Anti-Christian Bigotry"
  Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice

Judiciary

• The Judicial Review
  Family Research Council Action's Constitutional and Legal Commentary
• "The Coming Constitutional Debate"
  Judge Stephen Markham, Imprimis
• "Koh Fails the Democracy Test"
  John Fonte, Hudson Institute
• "Delegitimizing the Roberts Court"
  David Marion, The Ashbrook Institute
• "ADF on striking down the National Day of Prayer Statute"
  Alliance Defense Fund
• "More Prayer than Protests"
  Tobin Grant, Christianity Today

Marriage and Family

Family Economics

• "The Family GDP: How Marriage and Fertility Drive the Economy"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "The Economics of the Family Household"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council Family Policy Lecture
• "Family Policy Lecture: The Crushing Burden of Student Loans on Family Formation for Generation X+"
  Dr. Allan Carlson, The Howard Center, Family Research Council Family Policy Lecture
• "Obamacare Update: About That Only Tax the Rich Thing . . ."
  Tom McClusky, Family Research Council Action
• "The VAT's in the Fire"
  Ken Blackwell, The Patriot Post

Marriage

• "Facing the Bad News (on out-of-wedlock births)"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., The Catholic Thing
• "Culture Clash: Monogamy vs. Polyandry"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council

Pornography

• "The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "Standing for Truth"
  Daniel Weiss, Citizen Magazine
• "Pornography and the Muslim World"
  Carson Holloway, The Public Discourse
• "Public urged to take action to prevent .xxx web domain"
  Erin Roach, Baptist Press

Religious Liberty

• "Wall of Separation Between Church and State: Myth, Reality, Results"
  Dr. Kenyn M. Cureton, FRC Lecture
• "High Court Says Mojave Cross in California Can Stay"
  Robert Barnes, The Washington Post
• "Supreme Court Protects War Memorial Cross"
  Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice
• "Texas students see religious bias with 'year of Our Lord'"
  Casey Curlin, The Washington Times
• "Homeless in Binghamton"
  Faith J.H. McDonnell, Front Page Magazine
• "Western Civilization on Trial"
  Paul Marshall and Nina Shea, National Review Online Symposium
• "Hastings Case Tests Religious Freedom on Campus"
  By Newt Gingrich, Jim Garlow, The Washington Post

Sanctity of Life

Abortion

• "Post-Abortion Suffering: A Psychiatrist Looks at the Effects of Abortion"
  Dr. Martha Shuping and Chris Gacek, J.D., Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "Virginia Cuts Funding of Abortions"
  Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Abortion Isn't Painless"
  Editorial, The Washington Times
• Oklahoma Senate overrides governor's vetoes to pass abortion laws
  Joe Sterling, CNN
• Legal status of induced abortions around the globe
  CBC News

Adoption

• "A Passion to Serve, A Vision for Life"
  Family Research Council Publication
• "Louisiana Senate panel rejects gay adoption expansion"
  Bill Barrow, Times-Picayune
• "Visits to mission result in adoption"
  Rob Hedelt, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

Cloning

• "UK Scientists Clone 3-Parent Embryos"
  Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Bioethics

• "Obama Administration Eyes a More Active Role in Genomics"
  Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, BNET
• "Panel to take broad view of bioethics: President Obama appoints commission to advise on stem cells, clinical trials and more"
  Brendan Borrell, Nature
• "The First Christian Voices Against Euthanasia"
  David W.T. Brattston, The Weekly Standard
• "Euthanasia Bill turned away, but work goes on"
  Charlie Butts, One News Now

Stem Cell Research

• Family Research Council's major adult stem cell initiative, "Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life" ("Stem Cell Research Facts") features compelling video stories of persons whose lives have been transformed through adult stem cell implantation. The site also contains leading-edge information on this dynamic, transformative and entirely ethical type of stem cell treatment.
• "Vatican Funds Adult Stem Cell Research"
  Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Other Articles of Note for Social Conservatives

• "Apologist in chief"
  Ken Blackwell, World Magazine
• "A Crisis Republicans Should Not Waste"
  Hadley Arkes, Weekly Standard
• "After Virtue: Localism and the Restoration of Character and Community"
  Austin Lipari, First Principles Journal
• "How America became a 'secular-socialist machine'"
  Newt Gingrich, The Washington Post
• "Schumer: Obama's 'counter-productive' Israel policy 'has to stop'"
  Ben Smith, The Politico
• "The Foreign Policy of Self-Abasement"
  Mona Charen, National Review
• "When Free Speech Wins"
  Eric Giunta, Front Page Magazine

QUOTE OF THE DAY

From Dr. Zero:

The great intellectual obsession of the early 20^th century was the belief that scientific methods could be used to design a superior society. This is, without question, the most deadly and tragic falsehood the human race has ever talked itself into believing. Untold poverty, tyranny, murder, and warfare have resulted from it. From the perspective of the next century, it’s not hard to see why. After a society is designed, it must be constructed, and human beings suffer beneath the application of hammers and nails. [more . . .]

JONAH GOLDBERG - "WE AIN'T EUROPE"

- Update 2/23/10 - Victor Davis Hanson offers additional thoughts on American exceptionalism.

- Update #2 - Jonah Goldberg calls attention to what he calls the "Cliffs Notes" on his book, Liberal Fascism, mentioned (and linked) below.

- (Original Post) - I agree with Goldberg when he says that the uniqueness of America versus Europe "is probably where the intellectual debate is going."  It was the substance of his remarks on a CPAC panel last weekend [begin at the 4 minute video spot].

Goldberg says, 

It's been percolating for a good long while, obviously.  Charles Murray's fantastic Kristol Award speech and Jim Manzi's widely discussed America's edge essay were both recent harbingers of what's to come.  I've always been deeply interested in the subject of American exceptionalism and the left's attempt to "Europeanize America."  Some may recall that it's a major sub-theme of my book.  [Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning]

Anyway, I bring this up because the best primer on the subject of American exceptionalism and conservatism can be found in the Rich and Ramesh's cover story of the latest issue. It's really just a great piece of work and very much worth reading for the arguments to come.

Me:  I posted this primarily because of the links.  I remember reading Charles Murray's speech when it was first published.  It is full of unusual insight and needs to be bookmarked.   It may be I'll need to bookmark the other readings as well.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - MEN MARRYING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROVIDING SOCIAL SERVICES FOR THE NEEDY

Family Research Council:   [emphases mine]

D.C.'s same-sex "marriage" law may still be under congressional review, but the city's children are already feeling its effects. After 80 years in the District, D.C.'s Catholic Charities has been forced to close its doors on a popular foster care program after an ugly confrontation with the City Council about placing kids with same-sex couples. Late last year, officials with the city issued an ultimatum: ignore the Church's core teachings or wave goodbye to $2 million in foster care funding. Susan Gibbs, a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said Catholic Charities really had no choice. "The city is saying that in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

In negotiations with the District, Catholic Charities had asked members to compromise by adding a religious exemption to its gay "marriage" bill. The city refused, leaving people to wonder about the fate of the 63 other

POPULAR MUSIC: GATEWAY TO DEBAUCHERY

Two days ago I bumped into an article on the kind of music that kids listen to these days.  I knew it was bad, but the article jolted me into still greater awareness.  Even if we prove able to defeat the very bad ideas of the current administration (and I certainly hope we can), the culture still does so much bottom feeding that only the power of God can turn the culture around.  And it is the culture, fully as much as the politics, that needs reformation.  That hit me in a new and fresh way after reading the article.

If that weren't enough, I decided I would further my education by going over to YouTube to check out the "most visited" music videos.   Here one finds music videos that have been viewed over 80 and 90 million times!  The culture is drowning in sensuous, salacious stuff.  Truly disheartening.  As a friend wrote me, "no wonder we have an abortion culture."

But good news!  Last night I came across a powerful antidote, the music and bell-like voice of the young Kiwi singer, Hayley Westenra.  Here are two links that will add an uplift to your day, almost a touch of heavenly transcendence.

The first link is to Hayley singing "Amazing Grace" at the Opening of the "World Games" in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on July 16, 2009.  The second link is her singing "Whispering Hope" at Truro Cathedral with the Cornwall Male Voice Choir on Nov. 2, 2008   Enjoy!!

GROWING LIST OF SPONSORS BOYCOTT GLEN BECK PROGRAM

Update 8/19/09 - Ed Morrissey suggests an "unintended consequences" result.  Many sponsors (e.g. Wal-Mart) are backing away from news commentary shows in general  - which could mean devastation for lower-ranked MS-NBC shows.  CVS and Best Buy never advertised on Beck in the first place.  Same with P&G

(Original Post) - HotAir reports that Wal-Mart, CVS, and Best Buy have joined the boycott of the Glen Beck Program, thus adding their companies to ConAgra, GEICO, Lawyers.com, Men’s Wearhouse, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack, Roche, SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, and State Farm Insurance.

My first reaction is:  What's the deal???   I don't like this!  I may not be a totally sold-out aficiando of Glen Beck, but I think he says a lot of important things that need saying.  So why the big boycott?  WorldNetDaily does the necessary investigative reporting and fills in the blanks.  I think you will be surprised.  Read the report here.  Read also how fans are fighting back. 

TACTICS OF THE LEFT: PREFERRING STIGMA TO RATIONAL ARGUMENT

I found David French's post devastatingly accurate, drawing as he does on an astute observation by Ravi Zacharias.  French wrote (my bolding):

Late yesterday afternoon, I happened to catch a short-but-insightful lecture by one of my favorite Christian apologists, Ravi Zacharias. In the midst of an interesting discussion about the allure of Eastern mysticism in Western culture, he made a fascinating statement (I'm paraphrasing): In the battle of ideas, stigma always beats dogma. In other words, through stigmatization, one can defeat a set of ideas or principles without ever "winning" an argument on the merits.

I was instantly reminded of not just my own experiences in secular higher education, but also the experiences I see and hear every day while defending the rights of students and professors. Why convince when you can browbeat? Why dialogue when you can read entire philosophies out of polite society? That's not to say there aren't intense debates on

GIANNA JESSEN - ABORTION SURVIVOR; COMPELLING SPEAKER!

This morning our pastor weaved into his sermon a portion of the speech (available on YouTube) that Gianna Jessen delivered in Sept. 2008 at Queen's Hall, Parliament House, Victoria, Australia.  Gianna is an abortion survivor.  What a compelling speech!  You don't understand abortion, until you've heard Gianna speak.  (See here for part two of her speech).

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 . .  )

HOW THE UNITED STATES HAS CHANGED WITH RESPECT TO CHRISTIANITY IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

Dr. James C. Dobson notes, "How different was the world when President Harry Truman addressed the American people from the lawn of the White House on the occasion of the lighting of the National Community Christmas Tree":

""Through Jesus Christ the world will yet be a better and a fairer place. This faith sustains us today as it has sustained mankind for centuries past. This is why the Christmas story, with the bright stars shining and the angels singing, moves us to wonder and stirs our hearts to praise. Now, my fellow countrymen, I wish for all of you a Christmas filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and many years of future happiness with the peace of God reigning upon this earth."

Rod Dreher on the Continuing Culture Wars

 Dreher writes (excerpt):

The source of our culture war is conflicting visions of what it means to be free and what it means to be an American - and even what it means to be fully human. More concretely, as Princeton's Robert George has written, they have to do mainly "with sexuality, the transmitting and taking of human life, and the place of religion and religiously informed moral judgment in public life."

Because the cultural left and cultural right hold to irreconcilable orthodoxies on these questions, we find scant cultural consensus. That's life in America. Unless we become a homogenous country, we will continue to struggle to live together, staying true to our deepest beliefs while respecting the liberty of others to stay true to their own. . . 

What irritates conservatives is the liberals' groundless conceit that they fight from a values-neutral position, while the right seeks to impose its norms on others. Nonsense. Marriage was a settled issue until liberals began using courts to impose their moral vision on (so far) an unwilling majority. Who fired the first shot there? . .   [more . . .]

David Horowitz Turns 70 and Muses . . .

On January 10th,  David Horowitz turned 70.  He writes:

. . . The older a person gets, and the more he knows, the worse things can look. And so it has  been over the course of my lifetime. One thing I have learned is that apart from scientific and technological advances people -- taken in the aggregate -- do not learn from their experience or from history's crimes and mistakes. The greatest delusion of mankind is the idea of human progress -- again not counting scientific and technological progress. If slavery were economic, for example, it would still be an institution universally accepted. Of this I have no doubt. We are in the midst of the fourth world conflict in 100 years -- with several hundred million already dead. Yet huge numbers of supposedly progressive individuals and organizations and governments in the West are extending sympathies and support to our enemies -- a fanatical religious cult, intolerant, bigoted, barbarian and genocidal, as though World War II and the Cold War had never taken place. . .  [my emphases]

Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)

- Update 1/23/09 - Kathryn Jean Lopez published an outstanding interview with Robert P. George of Princeton, on the life and legacy of Neuhaus.  When asked what he would recommend to Neuhaus newcomers, George said:

I would suggest beginning with some of his great essays, such as “A New Order of Religious Freedom,” “The Idea of Moral Progress,” “ ‘Salvation is from the Jews,’ ” “How I Became the Catholic I Was,” and “We Shall Not Weary, We Shall Not Rest.”

- Update 1/22/09 - Chuck Colson remembers Neuhaus and offers comments on "Evangelicals and Catholics Together."  A valuable bibliography appears at the end of his remembrance.  1/23/09 - Christianity Today engaged Colson in an insightful interview on Neuhaus and the future of "Evangelicals and Catholics Together."

- Update 1/13/09 - Three minute video of Neuhaus on manliness and marriage

- (Original Post) Richard John Neuhaus has passed away.  I feel bereft.  The world has become an emptier place, and a certain sadness fills my soul.  The world has lost a towering figure, a penetrating thinker, a noble man -- not to mention an elegant writer.  Yes, he was a Roman Catholic, but we Protestants benefited enormously from his perspectives on the world, and he understood  us as well, since he had been a Lutheran.  He was a pioneer in "Evangelicals and Catholics Together."  See the National Review editorial for a fine summation (albeit with a few minor inaccuracies) of Neuhaus' contribution to the world.

John Podhoretz in his tribute called Neuhaus

"perhaps the most important and influential religious intellectual in the United States since the passing of Reinhold Niebuhr. . ."  In 1984, he wrote the book for which he will be remembered, "The Naked Public Square" — a concise masterpiece about the role of religion

PAUL WEYRICH, MORAL MAJORITY CO-FOUNDER, HAS PASSED AWAY

Update: 12/21/08 - Terry Mattingly analyzes the obituary coverage and notes the total absence of coverage of  Weyrich's religious affiliation - an ordained permanent deacon in the Catholic Church.

 (Original post) National Review offered Weyrich appropriate editorial tribute.  I recall that in 1999 Paul Weyrich write a memorable article that shocked me at the time.   I was reminded of it today when Christianity Today provided a link to it on its website.  Weyrich said back in 1999 that the cultural war had been lost.

The culture is becoming an ever-wider sewer. We are caught up in a cultural collapse of historic proportions, a collapse so great that it simply overwhelms politics. . .

The ideology of Political Correctness, which openly calls for the destruction of our traditional culture, has so gripped the body politic, has so gripped our institutions, that it is even affecting the church. It has completely taken over the academic community. It is now pervasive in the entertainment industry, and it threatens to control every aspect of our lives.

I find it one of the most jarring articles -- in the sense of "awakening" one to the current state of our nation -- that I can recall reading.  Remember, he wrote it in 1999.  Who would have thought that those who define marriage as the union of  a man and a woman would find themselves more and more on the defensive?   Weyrich probably saw it coming.  Read the whole article.

PREDICTION REGARDING OBAMA AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

- Update:  Here's a major, wide-ranging video interview with Rick Warren  that many readers will find interesting.

(Original post) A lot of ink has been spilled over the vociferous opposition voiced by homosexual same-sex marriage activists over Obama's selection of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to offer the invocation at Obama's inauguration.  In my judgement, Ed Whelan has called it exactly right :

Defenders of marriage shouldn’t be conned by President-elect Obama’s selection of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Although Obama claims to be against same-sex marriage, his opposition to California’s Proposition 8—which overturned the California supreme court’s invention of a state constitutional right to same-sex marriage—shows that he is content to acquiesce in judicial imposition of same-sex marriage. Further, it’s a safe bet that Obama’s appointees to the Supreme Court will support the invention of a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. (As illustrations, consider the records of two of the leading contenders for appointment, Harold Koh and Deval Patrick.)

 

So Obama isn’t against same-sex marriage. Rather, he’s against incurring the political costs of being candid about his support for same-sex marriage.  On marriage as on many other issues, Obama, as an ardent supporter of liberal judicial activism, will look for his judicial appointees to impose illegitimately the policy preferences of the Left that he doesn’t have the courage (or foolhardiness) to pursue through the proper channels of representative government.  [my emphases]

WHAT'S WITH POLITICAL PUNDIT TONY BLANKLEY, SOME KIND OF CHRISTIAN OR SOMETHING?

Well, I must admit, Blankley's current column took me by surprise.  Here is a political columnist [and TV talking head) of considerable stature, Tony Blankley, writing a column and quoting the hymns "The Old Rugged Cross" and "The Sweet by and By" with affection, rather than disdain or mockery.  He even refers to "our fallen nature" (do politicians know what that means?).  I've always liked Tony's columns, sensing in them a uniquely perceptive sensibility.  And now I have a clue to the groundedness of Blankley's view of life and reality.  Thank you, Tony, for flying your colors, at least to some extent.  You'll get your share of bricks flying at you (shoes, too?) by Washington sophisticates, but hold steady.  By the way, I appreciated your book, The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?  I see you have another one coming out in January, 2009 - American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.   (Note: A previous post referring to Blankley can be found here.)