From Two of My Favorite Authors...

"Much of the social history of the Western world over the past [five] decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good."  Thomas Sowell, Is Reality Optional?  Modern liberalism is nothing but a utopia, a fantasy that denies nature, truth, history, and plain factual evidence, to be replaced solely by the "enlightened" visions of amoral elitists who think they can remake the world according to their own finite intelligence.

 

"With the decline of the USSR, communism has lost considerable respectability and is now repackaged as environmentalism and progressivism."  Walter Williams, "Our Fragile Planet".  How many times have I said in my blogs that the Marxists did not give up when the Soviet Union collapsed, they only changed colors? 

 

Progress?

Headline:  Archbishop Desmond Tutu's home robbed same day he attended memorial for Nelson Mandela

Reality

"Long live comrade Fidel Castro.  Cuban internationalists have done so much for African independence, African freedom, African justice.  We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of a vicious imperialist campaign designed to destroy the advances of the Cuban revolution….The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people." 

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America.  They don't care for human beings." 

"People of Asia and Africa have seen through the slanderous campaign conducted by the USA against the socialist countries.  They know that their independence is threatened not by any of the countries in the socialist camp, but by the USA, who has surrounded their continent with military bases.  The communist bogey is an American stunt to distract the attention of the people of Africa from the real issue facing them, namely American imperialism."

"There's one place where Fidel Castro's Cuba stands out head and shoulders above the rest, and that is in its love for human rights and liberty." 

Nelson Mandela

This is Disgusting and Outrageous, But It Is Obama and the Democratic Party

Here is a recent ad promoting Obamacare.  It pictures a young woman with an ecstatic expression on her face standing next to a (supposedly) handsome young man.  This is the text:

 "Got insurance?  Let's get physical.  OMG, he's hot.  Let's hope he's as easy to get as this birth control.  My health insurance covers the pill, which means all I have to worry about is getting him between the covers.  I got insurance. Now you can, too.  Thanks Obamacare!"

I do not have the words to express my utter disdain and revulsion for a political party that openly encourages promiscuous behavior.  "Obamacare" will pay for your birth control pills so that you can go have as much sex as you can succeed in getting.  There is absolutely no shame, no decency, not a scintilla of true moral virtue in the modern Democratic Party.  They absolutely make me want puke.  What kind of sick, hedonistic minds are running America now?  What kind of people would deliberately promote as much licentious behavior as possible? 

And what kind of people would support a political party that does?

Am I disgusted?  Only a heavenly language could express it.  Am I surprised?  No, not in the least, because America is not the first.  "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?  No!  They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush" (Jeremiah 6:15).   America is doing nothing that humans haven't done before, to their shame and ultimate misery.  The greatest tragedy is, Americans are refusing, willfully, deliberately refusing, to learn from history and acknowledge what they are doing. 

**********
I really don't like using insulting language, but there are some instances where it is called for, because there is really no nice way to say something.  Here's a recent headline in the Denver Post:  "Pot problems in Colorado schools increase with legalization".  Duhhhhh....Did the brainless dolts in that state (excuse me) actually believe that they could legalize a mind-bending drug, allow people to have access to it, and that there would be no consequences, no repercussions?  That people who are given little or no moral guidance by their leaders could make wise, intelligent, responsible decisions about a dangerous substance?  Are people REALLY that stupid? 

I'm afraid I know the answer to that.  Barack Obama was elected President of the United States--twice.  The Colorado situation is only further proof.

Obama Lied...What a Surprise....

Even NBC News has exposed the President’s blatant falsehood of "If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep it." Obama knew, three years ago, that such would not be the case, that stiff new regulations would prevent the grandfathering of old plans. It is amazing that the left-wing media is revealing it, but occasionally they are guilty of (in Rush Limbaugh’s phrase) "random acts of journalism."

Liberals lie. They have no reason not to, so that’s what they do whenever they feel it is necessary to promote and advance their vision of the world--and ram it down other people's throats. Since they do not believe in God, their morality is human, which, intrinsically, means it is subjective, conditional, and ever-evolving. So if liberals need to lie to cover up what they really intend, they will do so.

This still shocks many Americans, for there remains a residue of Christian morality in our culture; it usually takes generations to completely wipe out any trace of long-standing traditions and mores. Thus, the general view persists that good people don’t lie, at least not as blatantly and as obviously as Obama does. But for over 200 years now, the left has been exalting human wisdom above divine revelation. That means humans get to make the final decisions on right and wrong, good and bad, what is moral and what isn’t. Obama, and the hard left, are very consistent with that. He will tell the truth when that suits his purpose; but he also has absolutely no conscience about lying, if that is necessary to further his cause. And the government takeover of America’s health care system was a major goal of Barack Obama, worth any price, including repeatedly, flagrantly, and deliberately lying to the American people. That there is surprise and consternation about it only indicates how widespread is the ignorance of history and liberal doctrine. This is a ho-hum, folks. Liberals lie. Why not? If there is no God, then everything is permitted, depending upon location and circumstance. And humans get to decide that. Yet 6,000 years of human butchery, a butchery based solely on a continual rejection God’s eternal standard of holiness (even by those who claim to be following Him), has not been enough to convince most people of the utter folly and tragedy of a human-based moral system.  We still think we know better than God.  What fools men are.     

Liberals lie, but they will also kill—in the hundreds of millions—if that becomes necessary to build the world they want to build. Ask the people in the former Soviet Union and Mao Zedong’s China, as well as Nazi Germany, Cambodia, Cuba, and every other place human "wisdom" has tried to remake society. Not to mention the millions of unborn babies in America over the past generation. Men have always rejected God, and always will. But the consequences are manifest only to those who are willing to see them.
 

There Never Was Any Doubt

I haven’t bothered to comment on the recent government shutdown/debt limit "crisis" because there was no need to. Why comment when the outcome was inevitable? There was never any question what would happen—the Republicans would cave and give the Democrats almost everything they wanted. That is simply the template that is operative in American history right now, and it doesn’t appear that it will change any time soon. The whole thing was a farce anyway; there was no way the government could possibly default on its loans. The United States government pays approximately $18 billion every month in interest on its debt; it takes in over $200 billion in tax revenue each month. How could it possibly default, unless it simply refused to write a check?  So, once again, the major media and the Democrats lied to us, and the gutless Republicans were intimidated into giving in.

The people in Congress, and the national media—not to mention the current President of the United States—are utterly reprehensible. The United States government is destroying its own country with incompetence, immorality, and a lust for power—and the last is the key. There are simply things that government is incapable of effectively doing, but the bloated bureaucracy, the massive debt, irresponsible spending, and encouragement of moral degeneration all have one major effect—to center more power in the hands of government. It is a story told countless times in human history, to the ultimate devastation of the people. The Republicans—with the notable exception of great people like Ted Cruz, Mike Hill, Sarah Palin, and a few others—play the game, too. Brain-dead, senile old ninnies like John McCain and Mitch McConnell are worse than useless; they are pawns in the hands of Democratic tyrants who know how to control government and the media, and thus get the power they crave to rule, tax and spend, buy votes, and build their own selfish empire—all to the fracturing and ultimate disintegration of the country. As I have said countless times before, it is the very thing the American Founders ceaselessly warned against and tried to prevent, and sadly, without success. The majority of the American people just flat don’t care what happens in Washington, D.C. any more, as long as they get their food stamps and welfare checks. This is what America has become. A country is no greater than her people, a huge number of American people now are gutter garbage, and Washington, D.C., loves to have it so.  A remnant of decency remains, and it is the only thing that gives America any strength at all, but it is getting smaller and smaller, and increasingly irrelevant.  Just exactly what Obama, the media, the Democratic Party, and the entire Washington establish wants.  And the masses, educated in the foppish American public school system, haven't a clue what is happening.

There is no way to stop it; well, there is, but it’s too far gone now to do so. "Her wounds are incurable," God said of the people of Israel 2700 years ago (Micah 1:9); there comes a point where healing becomes impossible. No one knows the future, of course, except God, but even non-Christian philosophers understood this point: "Study the past if you would define the future." (Confucius) The lust for power is blinding America’s "leaders". Individual excellence can only be had by self-control. Plato said the greatest victory a man can have is to conquer himself. Very few people in history have the ability to control whatever temptation overwhelms them; that’s why virtue and excellence must continually, unendingly, be put before them as the proper examples of how to live.   Virtue and Excellence do not need government, which is exactly why the Democratic Party is the direct antithesis of everything good, wholesome, uplifting, decent, and moral.  The Founders of America understood the importance of a virtuous citizenship and government, but also how difficult it is to achieve, especially in the latter.  That is a major reason they didn’t want to give anybody in government very much power—power destroys human character. There is certainly absolutely no evidence that such ability--self-control--exists, except in very few cases, in Washington, D. C. today. And Democracy, in its folly, has given such people excessive authority over the nation. 

The next thing these fools are going to do is give citizenship to millions of people who are breaking America’s laws.   Habla usted Espanol?   If you are under 30, you’d better learn.
 

Just a Little Wrong.....

In 2007, Al Gore said that the North Pole could be "ice-free by 2013."  This year, the earth gained a record amount of sea ice, adding the equivalent of 19,000 Manhattan Islands of ice.  Gore only missed it by 920,000 square miles. 

Thanks, Pope, I Needed That

As many of my readers know, I’ve been fighting depression for a number of years. It’s gotten somewhat better the last few years, but there are still some mornings, especially, when I feel pretty low and have trouble getting started. That was the case this morning. And then I read the following headline and literally burst out laughing:

"Pope: You don’t have to believe in God to get to heaven."

A good laugh is always the best cure for depression. A man who doesn’t read the Bible certainly has no clue what is in it, and thus should really keep his mouth shut about matters concerning which he knows nothing. If this current pope lives long enough, he’s liable to rival Barack Obama for number of inane things said.

Putin To The Rescue

Is Barack Obama going to be saved by a man he despises (and who has no respect for him), an ex-KGB agent who is probably amused by the whole sordid, almost hilarious, Syrian scenario?  For some peculiar reason that I really can't put a finger on, I like Vladimir Putin.  He's a Russian, a communist, he can't be trusted as far as you could throw him.  But he does seem to have a gravitas and intelligence that is wholly lacking in the American President.  Peggy Noonan has this interesting quote in her recent article, "Making Sense of Syria": 

"A serious foreign-policy intellectual said recently that Putin’s problem is that he’s a Russian leader in search of a Nixon, a U.S. president he can really negotiate with, a stone player who can talk grand strategy and the needs of his nation, someone with whom he can thrash it through and work it out. Instead he has Obama, a self-besotted charismatic who can’t tell the difference between showbiz and strategy, and who enjoys unburdening himself of moral insights to his peers."

Obama is grasping at straws with his consideration of the idea that Assad will give up his chemical weapons for international oversight.  Even Obama should be intelligent enough to realize Assad is never going to do that in the middle of a life-or-death civil war struggle.  But Assad can say that he gave up his weapons to the Russians, or whoever, and then he can use them again (if he actually did use them the first time) and blame the U.S.-supported rebels!  "Hey, I gave up my chemical weapons!  It's not me that is using them, it must be the rebels!"  This is farce gone to seed, all thanks to Obama.

And, now, Assad has started bombing the rebels again with "conventional" weapons.  Killing people with bombs and bullets is ok; killing them with "chemical weapons" invites an Obama attack.  Even most American voters are scratching their heads trying to figure that one out. 

And guess what the American "mainstream media" is saying?  "Just a fantastic end result for the president!"  "If this works, it is genius!"  "Diplomatic, national security win for the US, right? The president would have to deserve a lot of credit."  An admitted gaffe by Secretary of State John Kerry becomes American policy, and to the Obama sycophants, it's genius. 

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. 

"Oh, no, Obama might lose the vote...."

A lot of the talk, right now, is that Obama might lose the vote over Syria next week in the House of Representatives (and maybe even in the Senate).  "Obama Faces Defeat In House" one major headline blared.  Don't buy it.  He's not going to lose the vote.  It might be a close vote in the House (it won't be close in the Senate), but he will get the authorization he needs to use American military force in Syria.

What is going on now is just posturing.  Obama is currently at the G20 Summit in Russia.  When he returns, he will start "lobbying" Congressmen to vote for his plan.  Enough will swing behind him to give him victory, and the media will crow about Obama's great "political skills" and "leadership ability."  Never forget--this whole venture is about Obama, making him look good, casting him as a strong, competent leader of America.  That's all this has ever been about.  And that's how it will be played after the vote happens.

I will grant there is one scenario where he might lose the vote in the House; indeed, where he might want to lose and has been planning so all along.  A loss gives him the opportunity to bash Republicans mercilessly; he can blame them for the continued war and "slaughter" in Syria.  The Republicans are, indeed, stupid enough to fall for this trick.  It is important to realize that, to liberals, the real enemy is not Assad, or the Muslim Brotherhood, or Vladimir Putin, or anybody outside of America.  The real enemy is the Republican Party, more to the point, those who believe in limited government, personal responsibility, and a virtuous, godly lifestyle (those people only exist on the "right", i.e., conservatives, and most align themselves with the Republican Party).  It is certainly within the realm of possibility that Obama really does want to lose the House vote; destroying godliness is certainly more important to him that punishing Assad. 

But a loss in the House would be an embarrassing loss to him, and I expect Obama doesn't want that.  There will be other opportunities to bash Republicans, so my best guess is still that Congress gives Obama the votes he needs.

The Arabs Are Going to Pay for the War???

Secretary of State John Kerry has informed the world that a coalition of Arab states is willing to pay for America’s war on Syria.  The Obama administration is ranging beyond absurdity here.  Since when did the United States military become Allah’s mercenaries??   If the Arab states want Assad out of power so badly that they are willing to pay for it, then why not let them use their own military to do it and not risk American lives?   This is embarrassing, and if it wasn’t so serious, would be laughable. If the supposed use of these chemical weapons were so almighty important, let the Chinese take care of Assad. They have a bigger army than we do. This is nothing but theater, a show, Obama and his minions trying to prove what good "leaders of the free world" that they are. 

And yet, the majority of Americans don’t want anything to do with this.

I said five years ago, before Obama was ever elected, and have been saying it ever since, that he is an incompetent bungler, totally unqualified for the office he holds. And he is proving it. AND surrounding himself with equally incompetent people. But worse, what does this say about the American people who—TWICE!!—elected that man to the Presidency?

The United States may—may—survive Barack Obama’s administration, but it cannot long survive the quality of people who would put him in the office in the first place. The next President, likely to be Hillary Clinton, would easily be as bad, if not worse, than Obama. The only two things certain about the upcoming military strike against Syria is that an equally incompetent Congress will approve of it, and the lapdog American media will praise it as a great success for Obama, a demonstration of his wisdom and strong leadership abilities. The world won't buy it, will hate America even more, and most Americans won't care as long as they continue to get their food stamps and welfare checks.  The people of the United States have turned truth, righteousness, common sense, and decency totally upside down, polar opposites, and that is one of the greatest tragedies in history. It is also inexcusable for a country that was largely founded on Biblical principles, and has now almost totally rejected them.

What Will Congress Do?

There is absolutely no doubt what Congress will do--it will vote to give President Obama the right to use military force against Syria.  The Democrats must support their President, and the Republicans--who couldn't block anything in the Senate anyway--are too gutless to take a stand against Obama.  Congress hasn't done anything right in....I can't remember when....and there is no reason to believe they will start now.

What I'm chuckling at is all the "progressives", who voted for Obama, of course, who are loudly and vociferously denouncing any military action here.  They actually believed in Obama (some of them still do) and never saw him for what he really is--a politically clever, but wholly unqualified, incompetent, narcissistic elitist who doesn't care what anybody thinks, but who will buy enough to votes to enable himself to remain in office as long as possible so that he can force his warped, debased vision of the world on as much of humanity as possible.  It's about power, not compassion or doing the right thing.  And these poor little ignorant "progressives," with no knowledge of history, human nature, or God and His Word, have been like sheep being led to the slaughter.  Much of their world view, and moral turpitude, is in line with Obama's, but that's only because they are all godless leftists.  But, what most of humanity has never understood--but our Founding Fathers fully comprehended--to almost every politician, power trumps anything else.  Obama opened his mouth, said some stupid things (not unusual for him), and was trapped by his own words into a course of action that a huge majority of Americans oppose.  But, to save face, he's got to kill some people and waste taxpayers' money.  And those are the two things that every government in human history has been best at.  "Progressives", blinded by "gay marriage" and abortion, are clueless as to the philosophy that is truly behind the actions of liberal elitists. 

It was the "progressives" who were the first ones to be shot in Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China.  And, make no mistake about it, Obama would shoot his little cadre of "progressives," too, if he needed to, and if he could.  Because that is what the left has done best--kill people--since the French Revolution.  So why should we be surprised if Obama wants to kill a few in Syria, too?  Government in the hands of godless, liberal elites--well, actually, government in the hands of anybody, but especially godless, liberal elites--is the most frightening and dangerous thing in the world.

Why?

The Obama administration, in its bewildering incompetence, has let the entire world know it plans military action against Syria, and even what the targets will be.  As of this writing, that attack has not yet taken place.  What is the purpose of it?  Why kill some Syrians and risk the lives of Americans if there is no intention of punishing the man who is truly to blame for the tragedy in Syria?  Once again Obama is a farce wrapped in an embarrassment surrounded by a disgrace.

This whole "military action" against Syria (if it occurs) is designed for one reason, and one reason only--to make Barack Obama look "tough," so he and his media boot-lickers can crow how "strong" a leader he is, willing to take "decisive" action when necessary.  It also, of course, distracts from the failure of Obama's domestic policies and the increasing polarization and fracturing of American society, caused in large part, by Obama's policies.  Make no mistake about it, this is not about Syria, it's all about Obama.  Everything in his administration is about Obama and making this narcissistic bungler look good.  That isn't unusual in American politics, but it does seem Obama takes it to an extreme, and in this case, to a dangerous and utterly unnecessary one.

Syria has done nothing to the United States; they provide us no resources we can't live without.  That country does not threaten our national interests in the slightest.  What is going on in Syria is, indeed, a tragedy, but anyone with a modicum of historical knowledge knows that that region of the world has been fighting for thousands of years and will continue to do so.  America cannot change that.  The Arab peoples rejected Christianity, the religion of peace and individual freedom, for Islam, a militant, hierarchical religion where war and one man rule is exalted.  As long as that is the basis of Arabic society, those people are going to fight.  It is sad, but people reap what they sow.  And America cannot, and will never, change that. 

Whether Obama understands that or not is irrelevant, because the only thing important to him is his own reputation.  His sycophants in the media will praise him, whatever happens in Syria.  And the civil war in that country will continue.  But if Obama can look "tough"...then he has accomplished what he set out to do.  It doesn't matter how many people lose their lives in the process or any residual hatred it brings to the United States or danger to its citizens around the world.  Obama must look good!   It is the only reason for his existence.

America Has a People Problem

Once again, some savages, claiming they were "bored," used a gun to kill an innocent person, this time a teenager visiting from Australia.  And, once again, the liberals mouths are screaming for more gun control.  High profile gun killings get the same knee-jerk reactions from the left, and always will.

But America doesn't have a gun problem, America has a people problem.  And this problem originated from the same philosophy that spawned these liberals who are accusing inanimate objects of being guilty of mass murder.  It is much easier to blame the gun than to re-examine the heinous doctrine that is the actual culprit in these crimes.

You see, modern, 20th-21st century liberalism plants much of its roots in Darwinian mythology, a crass, God-denying hypothesis that teaches that man is nothing more than a descendant from lower forms of animals, hence, an animal himself.  Having largely succeeded in grafting this horrifically degrading philosophy onto the minds of most Americans, and thus debasing the exalted spiritual nature of man that comes from a holy, eternal God, countless people today are...bored...or, to explain it another way, have meaningless lives, wandering, purposeless, looking for something, and not finding it because it only exists in realizing that humans are created in God's image with the ultimate purpose of being reunited with Him.  But to Darwinists, man is nothing more than an animal.........That is supposed to elevate humanity to nobler, more excellent attributes and deeds?  Are we really the fools these elitists think we are?  Apparently plenty of people are.  Liberals revel in this destruction of a God-founded society, because that gives them the power they crave to remake society in their own image.  And, of course, their image, not surprisingly, is Detroit, Philadelphia, California, urban America, millions of abortions, etc.  That's what man produces in his own wisdom, without God.  That...and bored youths who kill for the fun of it.

Teaching that humans are nothing more than animals, liberals profess shock when those humans act like it.  Maybe liberals are shocked when "bored" young people kill others.  I'm not the least bit surprised, because even with God, too much of mankind has been brutal, tyrannical, cruel, and wretched.  Without God, mankind is intolerable and without restraint.  I.e., America 21st century. 

Let Them Be Heard Again-V

From Noah Webster (yes, of Webster's Dictionary fame), who lived in the late 18th-early 19th centuries:

"Education is useless without the Bible."

"God's Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct."

Government is to "discipline our youth in early life in sound maxims of moral, political, and religious duties." 

"Select passages of [Scripture]...may be read in schools, to great advantage.  In some countries the common people are not permitted to read the Bible at all.  In ours, it is as common as a newspaper...My wish is not to see the Bible excluded from schools but to see it used as a system of religion and morality." 

Obviously, Mr. Webster's enlightened wish has been dispensed with in America. 

On the face of it, one wonders why America would eliminate Bible reading and teaching from school curriculum.  To teach people not to kill, steal, commit adultery, lie, covet, be greedy, selfish, or self-centered; to teach them to "love thy neighbor," be responsible, patient, kind, longsuffering, gentle, virtuous, trustworthy, peaceful, disciplined, etc. etc. would seem to be something that all people would recognize as a great benefit to societal order.  The Bible provides the highest moral standard in the world.  It uplifts and elevates man whenever it is faithfully followed.  Certainly, teaching our youth these magnificent moral precepts would help them, not just in body and mind, but in spirit and morality, and would be an exceedingly wise thing to do.

Wouldn't it?

There are two reasons why the Bible has been booted out of our public school system, and neither of them have anything to do with the First Amendment to the Constitution or because Scripture has been proven to be of human origin.  The first reason, as Jesus so perceptively noted, "Men love darkness rather than light...everyone practicing evil hates the light" (John 3:19-20).  People who want to sin don't want the Bible being applied to their lives, of course.  As America has becoming increasingly corrupt morally, with fornication, adultery, homosexuality, abortion, sloth, covetousness, greed, lying, etc. rampant and rising, the last thing such miscreants want is their wickedness exposed.  Jesus Himself, of course, was killed because He wouldn't shut up about exposing men's sins.  When faced with their own wickedness, humans have two options:  they can either repent, or they can try to silence the preacher.  Most people, down through history, have chosen the latter option, and that is exactly what is happening in America today.

The second reason relates to modern leftism.  The last thing liberals want is for the masses to obey the Bible.  Virtuous people take care of themselves and have only minimal need for government.  Indeed, as James Madison said, if all men were angels, we wouldn't need government at all.  Government is only necessary when evil people infringe on the rights of others; government exists to control that abuse.  So, the less evil, the less need for government.  Or, to put it another way, the more people who obey the Bible, the less government needed to control the wicked.

That, of course, is exactly opposite what modern liberalism wants.  Their power comes from government.  They are, in their own minds, the elite who know better than the rest of us how to run our own lives--they certainly want no challenge on that score from God--and if we refuse, voluntarily, to heed them, then they will use the force of government to try to control our behavior.  And they, of course, get to define what "proper" behavior is (more on that in a moment).  Any institution, like the church or family, or any book (especially the Bible) which teaches self-dependence and taking care of ones' own, is the greatest enemy of modern liberalism.  It is essential to understand modern liberalism that it requires as much deviant, base, immoral behavior as possible, because that is what makes government necessary.  If we don't need government, we don't need busy-body liberals, do we. 

So they have kicked the Bible out of America's schools and replaced it, morally, with their own liberal philosophy.  That is also a pivotal, crucial point--the modern liberal defines morality for the rest of us!  They tell us what is "right" and "wrong," a morality, much of which, obviously, is vile, squalid, and Biblically condemned--thus, the necessity for more government!  And anybody who doesn't measure up to that "morality," who doesn't conform to it, or who opposes it, is subject to frequent, often severe, intimidation, attack, slander, abuse, or other manner of personal destruction.  That's in America.  When these people were in power in Revolutionary France, the Soviet Union, Mao's China, etc., they simply killed massive numbers of people who refused to go along with their ideology.  They make the rules, there is no god but themselves, they determine who lives and who dies.  Now, in the United States, except for unborn babies, they haven't been able to kill people (yet); maybe we should thank the National Rifle Association for that.  But ideologically, philosophically, the historical tradition that produced Joseph Stalin is the same historical tradition that produced Barack Obama; they have emerged from the identical leftist philosophic convention.  And while the American left has not (again, YET) gone to the extremes of Stalin's USSR or Mao's China (except in their murder of the unborn), the sympathy that America's left has for the former Soviet Union, Mao, Castro, Ho Chin Minh, and the other left-wing butchers is well documented.  Oh, our "noble" leftists might bemoan the "extreme measures" taken by "Uncle Joe" Stalin, et al.  But Ronald Reagan was the enemy, not Mikhail Gorbachev.  And Reagan was the enemy because he stood for traditional America, an America where people believed, along with Noah Webster and other great early men, "education is useless without the Bible." 

But the left controls the education system in America today, and has for over a generation now.  The results of that control are obvious.  Detroit.  Hollywood rot.  "Gay" marriage.  Abortion.  75% black children born out of wedlock.  Growing welfare state.  "Obamacare."  Feminism.  Bill Clinton. Barney Frank.  Barack Obama....the cancer is deep and too widespread now.  There are very few healthy places left in the American body politic any more.  And it is because of one thing, and one thing only.  We didn't pay attention to Noah Webster when he said...."education is useless without the Bible."

Folks, that is the battle going on in America today.  It's much deeper than "how much money the government is going to spend and on what."  It's a battle between two very different, divergent, yea, totally opposite visions of the world.  One view exalts God and His wisdom as He so graciously gave us in His holy book.  The other exalts humanity, and it's "wisdom," above that which has been divinely revealed.  To compromise--from both perspectives--is to compromise with evil.  There can only be compromise if there exists a basic agreement of philosophy.  Tolerance is ok, and necessary--to a point.  But a point is reached where tolerance becomes indistinguishable from connivance.  To compromise truth is to surrender to evil.  And good men will simply not do that.

And, as is increasingly clear in America today, evil men won't do it, either.  Hence, the battle lines are drawn, and, if history is our guide here, those lines will probably, eventually, be drawn to the point of blood.

Let Them Be Heard Again--IV

It has been awhile since I have posted an article in this series, but I have not forgotten it, and will, from time to time, make relevant additions.

Edmund Burke was not one of America's Founding Fathers, but he could have been.  He was an English philosopher/politician who lived during the era of our Founders, authoring several books, including a brilliant one entitled Reflections on the Revolution in France.  In this 1790 book, written a year after the French Revolution broke out, Burke correctly predicted the course of that revolution.  For example, he accurately forecast the assassination of the king, the brutal Reign of Terror, the rise of dictatorship, and other significant events of the French Revolution.  Burke could make these accurate predictions because he knew history, he knew men, and he knew what men would do without God directing them, which is the course the French Revolution took.

But, in this essay, I want to provide a quote from Burke, also prophetic, regarding liberty and the necessary elements of it.  I will quote Burke, then make some germane comments on his thoughts.

"What is liberty without wisdom and without virtue?  It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without restraint.

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites; in proportion as they are disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in preference to the flattery of knaves.

Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.

It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free.  Their passions forge their fetters." 

What Burke is saying, of course, is that freedom must have limitations.  "Freedom" does not mean that people can do anything they want.  Freedom ultimately comes from God; everything does, and thus, men, to have true liberty, must respect God and His eternal decrees.  Otherwise, they will not only violate the freedoms of others, but also destroy themselves by not curbing their own passions and desires.  Let's look a little more closely as some of the things Burke said.

"What is liberty without wisdom and without virtue?..."  Freedom without wisdom--which comes from God and a knowledge of history--and without a virtuous people....is what?

''...the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without restraint."  Again, freedom does not mean we can do anything we want to do.  This should be self-evident; we cannot allow murderers and rapists to have the "freedom" to murder and rape; such would obviously violate the freedom of others.  Thus, there must be some restrictions put on liberty.  Otherwise, people will end up committing all kinds of foolishness ("folly"), wickedness ("vice"), and incomparable stupidity because they put no restraints on what they think, either ("madness").  There must be some boundaries to freedom somewhere!  Now, the question is, who draws those boundaries?  Are we going to let men do it?  Given the violent, corrupt, vile, tyrannical history of humanity, who would be foolish enough to say that man has the wisdom and good judgment to inerrantly direct his own steps?  Have we indeed learned nothing from history?  For if the pages of the past teach us anything, it is that man, left to himself, will descend into cruelty, barbarity, and every imaginable villainy and treachery.  No, since God is the Author of all, the Eternal Creator of man, it is essential, for true human freedom, that we let Him put the restraints on that liberty.  For pure wisdom and pure virtue are taught from above.  And, yea, when we look at America today, an America that has rejected its god-fearing foundations, a "freedom" without God--we see...what?  "Folly, vice, and madness, without restraint." 

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their appetites..."  Men can be "free" only if they restrain themselves.  Because, "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere."  Too much "freedom" is anarchy, not civilization.  If people are allowed to do anything they want, then obviously civilization ceases, and barbarism results.  And, again, the crucial question is, from whence should come the limits upon freedom?  Well, "the less of it there is within"--the less people restrain themselves--"the more there must be without"--if people don't restrain themselves, government will step in and do it for them.  (Indeed, history abundantly teaches that government is more than happy to do so.)   Because there must be order in society for civilization to exist, men can either do the right thing from within--virtue--or they will be forced to do it by government--tyranny.  And, Burke was right--"It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things"--a neat phrase for the eternal Will of God--"that men of intemperate minds (i.e., those who refuse to restrain themselves) cannot be free.  Their passions forge their fetters."  Since they refuse to live virtuously on their own, then some outside entity--and it can only be government--will step in and force them to do it.  And, when people are forced to do something they would not do of their voluntary will, that's not freedom.  Freedom and individual virtue go hand-in-hand, they are indispensable partners.  Edmund Burke, and America's Founding Fathers, understood that.  Barack Obama, and the modern leftist elite, do, too.  But, because these leftists love power and control in their own hands, true freedom, based upon God's will, is the last thing they want.  They want as much immorality--ungodly behavior--as possible, because immorality will ultimately demand government control. 

The truly sad thing is, when the heavy hand of government steps in, as it must when people refuse to control themselves, then that government tyrannizes the bad and the good.  Those who do live virtuously, who don't need government to control them, are punished and tyrannized because of the actions of the decadent miscreants who refuse to submit to the dictates of virtue on their own.  Crying out for "freedom", these immoral degenerates create oppression for all.  People want the "freedom" to commit fornication; but then they have babies out of wedlock, get on welfare, and decent, virtuous people are forced, by government, to pay taxes to support these depraved activities.  Homosexuals want the "freedom" to practice their lewd, shameful behavior, but they spread their horrible diseases, and taxpayers are required to pay for them.  Businessmen who buy politicians--crony capitalism--usually produce inferior products at unreasonable prices, or, as in the case of Solyndra, goods that the people don't want in the first place.  So, once again, it is the virtuous who are hurt by having higher taxes extracted from them or having inferior products shoved upon them by a virtually uncontrollable despotism.  When God's Will is ignored, everybody suffers.    And even when fornicators or homosexuals escape any immediate consequences of their immoral actions, they create in themselves a mindset of rebellion against God--and a seamless passion that will eventually "forge their fetters."   There is no escape from God.

As I have written many times in my blogs, it is of no surprise to anyone who knows history and the revealed will of God (the Bible)--and that number is very, very small--that, the farther America has gotten away from God and His Word, the larger and more intrusive government has become.  The less people have controlled themselves, the more the outside force has had to intervene and do it.  It is exactly what Edmund Burke said over 200 years ago.  It is exactly what we should expect, given "the eternal constitution of things"--the will of God--and the lessons of history that such wisdom teaches.  And men today have no excuse for not knowing these lessons.

Brief Weather Report

In the last week, 1,122 locations in the United States either tied or set a record for the lowest temperature on that date.  Chigaco saw its coldest weekend in decades (including record low temperatures) before this week's Al Gore Climate Training meeting.  Haven't heard that reported in the "mainstream media", have you....

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July 29 saw the 7th Daily Record in 8 Days for Antarctic Sea Ice Extent, 185,000 sq km higher than the previous record which occurred in 2010. And it was 870,000 sq km higher than the 30 year mean.

More evidence of global warming, of course.

Why I Am Not, and Never Will Be, a Catholic

Recently, Pope Francis was in his home country of Brazil and had some startling things to say about homosexuals, startling from the perspective that he is supposed to be the leader of the Christian world, and the spokesman for God on earth.  Here is what he said:

"We shouldn't marginalize people for this [homosexuality]. They must be integrated into society...If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" 

Yea, Pope Francis, in one sense, you don't have to judge them, because God already has; He has made it easy for you, all you have to do is say what He said.  Jehovah has made it very plain, in His Book, that homosexuality is "vile," "against nature," and "shameful" (Romans 1:26-27).  Homosexuals and sodomites will not "inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:10-11).  Jesus condemned fornication (Mark 7:21), which is a general term for any sexual sin committed outside of marriage.  Indeed, marriage, "from the beginning" was between "male and female" (Matthew 19:4).  If someone is "gay" and "searches for the Lord," that person will repent of that sin, if he/she wants to please God--and I certainly hope and pray every homosexual will do just that.  With his statements, Francis has done at least two things--one, absolutely ignore the Word of the God he claims to represent, and two, open the door for homosexuals to continue in their abominable, unnatural, soul-damning practices.  No Christian could ever support what the Pope said, or the Catholic Church in general for that matter, for no such institution exists anywhere in the pages of Holy Writ.

The major problem with the Catholic Church is, of course, its rejection of the Bible as the final, only, and authoritative word of God.  Ever since it evolved into existence, the Catholic Church has made up its doctrine as it went along, accepting or rejecting the Bible on grounds of human expediency.  The words of man have, to Catholics, become more authoritative than the words of God.  That's very dangerous, and actually, is the identical doctrine of modern leftism.  And, not surprisingly, when the Catholic Church had political power in Medieval Europe (and beyond), it used that power to kill masses of people who didn't agree with it--just like the left did in the 20th century.  From a philosophic standpoint, there is no difference between the Catholic Church and modern leftism; they both exalt human "wisdom" above divine revelation, and history has proven that such an exaltation has, as noted, led to mass murders by whoever had the power to enforce that philosophy. 

When you leave the foundation of the Word of God, which is the only true standard of righteousness and holiness, then there is no place to stop, nothing beyond human opinion.  And one human's opinion is just as good any other's.

A Great Tweet

Somebody posted this yesterday on Tweeter:

"If Obama had a city, it would look like Detroit."

Yeah.  Detroit has suffered through decades of black, Democratic, liberal rule.  It looks like a Third World African country because that is the leadership it has had.  Cities like Detroit, Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and all of the state of California, are microcosms (or larger) of liberalism.  And because liberalism controls the American education system, the products of that system are too ignorant and mal-educated to realize it.  We've had over a generation of that sort of education now, and that's why someone so incompetent and unqualified as Barack Obama can get elected in the first place. 

Detroit is Barack Obama's America.  And that's where he, and liberals, want to take the rest of the country. 

Maybe It's Time to Move to Kenya

William Ruto is the Deputy President of Kenya.  He had a few choice words for Barack Obama, who has recently been in Africa, pushing his decadent American morality.  Mr. Ruto did not appreciate Obama's debauched, licentious hedonism.  He said that while Kenya was ready to work with other "sovereign and God-fearing" nations, "no one should have any worry about Kenya’s stand as a God-fearing nation. President Obama is a powerful man but we trust in God as it is written in the Bible that cursed is the man who puts trust in another man."

The President of Kenya lecturing the President of the United States on morality and decency.  Sickening and saddening. 

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I don't know who said this, but it's a good quote:  "Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a closer look at the American Indian."

My Only Surprise....

....is that the Supreme Court got the decision regarding the Voting Rights Act correct.  It is the first correct thing the Court has done in a long time.  I would have been utterly shocked if they had made the proper decision on "gay" marriage.

I have almost no interest, any more, in living in the United States.  Why would I want to live in a country where the people, and especially, the leadership is so stupid that it no longer knows what marriage is?  And further, why would I want to live in a country where the people and leadership are so wicked, immoral, and perverted that they would spit in God's face and glorify such putrid, disgusting behavior as homosexuality?  I have had no confidence in American leadership for a long time; this most recent action only further confirms and solidifies that total lack of confidence.  There is absolutely no concern in Washington, D.C., any more with doing the right thing, based upon the eternal truths of God's Word.  And things aren't any better on the state level.

China's leadership, of course, is certainly far from perfect, being tyrannical and oppressive.  But that is China's history and I can understand it.  America has no excuse, because the United States was founded upon Christian principles, with its people, at least theoretically, accepting the Bible and Judeo-Christian morality as its guiding light.  The majority of Americans--at least its leadership--has completely, deliberately, and willfully rejected that standard for a self-centered, responsibility-rejecting, pleasure-seeking, "anything (politically correct) goes" ethical base.  It is certainly not new in history; almost 3500 years ago, in Israel, the morality was "every man did that which was right in his own eyes."  It would be nice if people would learn from history, but they don't; as Hegel said, "history teaches us that men learn nothing from history," and destruction always results.  Men have frequently called evil good, and good evil.  I can't be surprised at it, but, at the same time, as someone who loves God and mankind, I can't help but be sad and frustrated.  But there isn't a thing in the world I can do about it, either.  Well, I can continue to try to teach the truth, but I've been doing that for 40 years and the downhill slide of America has continued on greased wheels.  And, with Obama and the Democrats in full control of the throttle now, that degeneration is accelerating.  Saving a few is all that's left.

And, indeed, "few there be who find it," Jesus said.  How few is increasingly manifest.  But the light is in our hands; it has been for 2,000 years now.  We have no one to blame but ourselves for our own destruction.

Power Corrupts

Lord Acton's axiom, "power corrupts and absolutely power corrupts absolutely," is once again being evidenced in the current IRS and Benghazi scandals within the Obama administration.  As James Madison said, nobody should be trusted with very much power.  It takes an extraordinary person not to succumb to the temptations that power puts into the hands of human beings.  It is one of the most intoxicating diseases humanity has ever been plagued with.  Men like Adolf Hitler cared little for money, but he was overwhelmed by his lust to control others.  And, of course, it cost millions of lives.

As I said, it takes a special type individual to be able to handle power, and there are very few people like that (Madison understood that).  Certainly mediocre incompetents like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, etc. are terrifying with power in their hands; the death of four Americans in Libya and the tyrannizing abuse of--how many?--by the Internal Revenue Service are full indications of this.  Never has the United States had such unqualified, yet arrogant, narcissistic, and immoral leadership.  "Little people" in the IRS are given certain decision-making, but very important, powers over others, and these are powers that most of them, as is now obvious, have absolutely no business wielding.  Again, it's democracy--you give mediocrity power, and this is the kind of corruption a country ends up with.  Because mediocrity certainly has no business ruling anybody.

Power should only be in the hands of virtue, self-control, and self-discipline, people who know what is right and what is wrong, who understand their own limitations, and so importantly, who know the incredibly corrupting nature of power.  There aren't many people in the world like that, which is exactly why government should be kept as limited as possible.  Certainly none of that comes even close to describing anybody in the current administration in Washington, D.C.

But, as I noted in my last post, there will be nothing come of this.  The Democrats and their media allies will circle the wagons around Obama and Clinton and the tyrannical circus will continue until the whole tent comes crashing down.  It's...history.  The American Founders warned about it, but Americans are too self-centered, pleasure-seeking, and morally base to pay attention any more.  We get exactly the kind of leadership we deserve--power-hungry inept bunglers--because we fail to listen to God and the lessons history has repeatedly taught us.

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I do intend to return, as time permits, to my series on "Let Them Be Heard."  The school year has been especially busy this spring, thus hindering my writing time.  But I have more to publish on that series, and the wise will see just how...wise...our Founders were.  They exposed Barack Obama 250 years in advance.

The Republicans Are Wasting the Taxpayers' Money

The Benghazi hearings.....

It does not matter what they find out.  It makes no difference how incompetent, evil, bungling, or anti-American Obama and Clinton are exposed to be (something wise Americans already know, by the way)....the mainstream media and the Democratic Party will do everything they can to protect those two.  I've noticed that much of the "media" is ignoring the hearings.  What a surprise.  I wonder how they would cover it if George W. Bush were President.

A waste of time and money.  But then, most things government does nowadays are a waste of time and money.

China Up, America Down

A recent leader to a story from a news source in China:

"China's cabinet announced detailed plans on Monday to deepen economic reform, cutting government interventions that hinder robust growth."

And America, under Obama, is doing exactly the opposite....It's why China is growing economically and America is sinking. 

But Obama is too busy asking God to bless baby murderers, praising queers who come out of the closet, and endorsing 15 year-olds having sex to truly help his people.

Media Sadness

Before the Boston bomber(s) were (apparently) identified, one could perceive a major theme running through the hopes and desires of the "mainstream", i.e., liberal, media:  "Oh, please, please, please, dear State"-- for that's the god they pray to, of course--"please let the bomber(s) be a white, male, evangelical Christian, pro-life, anti-queer marriage, NRA and Tea Party member, who listens to Rush Limbaugh and reads Ann Coulter, who voted a straight Republican ticket, who hates Obama and government, and who has written reams and reams praising Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush and wants tax cuts and less government spending..."

And the disappointment was equally manifest as it has been revealed that the bombers (apparently) are Islamic fanatics, who are simply doing what the founder of that religion did, i.e., kill people.

Meanwhile, there is this enlightening headline that tells us exactly the kind of people leftists are:  "Philly Abortion Horror:  Baby Born Alive in Toilet, 'Swimming,' 'Trying to Get Out'...."

The left kills people, folks.  That's the thing they do best.  The Jacobins, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, the Kims in North Korea--hundreds of millions of people.  They can't do that in America because Americans have guns and can shoot back, which is, of course, why the left in the United States is obsessed with taking them away.  So, for the moment, the only people these godless heathen can kill--legally--is innocent babies.  And they've certainly done their share of that.

No God, no respect for human life.  And hope, hope, hope to pin atrocities on your enemies to utterly destroy any influence they might have.  Because you can't kill them--yet.  But keep the pressure on to get their guns.  When you finally have all their guns, then...you can do what Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. did.

And, you can also, at the moment, bemoan the fact that the latest mass murderer in America was another Islamic terrorist, not a Tea Party, Christian, Republican.

Let Them Be Heard Again—III

Here is another quote from Thomas Jefferson, in our series on the foundation principles of America:

“The Bible is the cornerstone of liberty.  A student’s perusal of the sacred volume will make him a better citizen, a better father, a better husband.”

In other place, almost the same thought:

“I have always said, I always will say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make him a better citizen, a better father, a better husband.”

This is so blindingly obvious that, if I didn’t know history and understand human nature (as revealed in history and the Bible), I would be shocked that people don’t understand it.  How could any rational human being deny what Jefferson writes here?  Christianity, with its high, holy, righteous moral teaching will elevate any human who endeavors to follow its principles.  No citizen, who follows the doctrines of Jesus, would violate the rights and freedoms of others.  Those who adhere to Christianity live, in family and society, as responsible, virtuous, moderate, concerned, and caring individuals.  What Christian father would abandon his children—or have children out of wedlock and leave the mother, in shame, to live off others?  Where is the Christian husband who beats his wife, or fails to train his children in ways that would uplift their behavior in society once they leave his charge, promoting and advancing that which is good and beneficial to society, rather than contributing to its moral debasement?  How can anybody, with an ounce of brains, attribute the immoral rot infesting the United States to any part or portion of the Christian religion, as taught by Jesus and His disciples?  Is it Christianity which is destroying the American family—or a philosophy which is diametrically opposed to it? 

As Jefferson said in another place, “I hold the precepts of Jesus…to be the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been preached to man.”  No society—or individual—will perfectly observe all the precepts of the Son of God.  But the farther we, individually or collectively, remove ourselves from them, the more depraved our behavior becomes.  And because men love the pleasures of sin, they hate Christianity.  And as a result, America is currently floundering, directionless, with no moral compass, and overwhelmed within a decadent stench of her own doing.  And therein lies the real problem—men love sin, so they hate Christianity.  And because of that, they will find any excuse they can to reject the Christian religion.   

Don’t blame Jesus or those who follow His teachings for the putrefaction stinking up America today.  Don’t you dare blame Jesus or those who follow His teachings.

One more quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their ONLY FIRM BASIS, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

As noted in my last post, the second in this series, Jefferson and other early Americans, argued that liberty's foundation comes from God--the foundation principles of America are rooted in an eternal God.  We have the freedom to do what is right, according to the eternal moral nature and laws of Jehovah; we do not have the freedom to do what is wrong.  When we violate God’s laws, we trample on freedom, we hurt ourselves and/or others, and this is a defilement of the second greatest commandment, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”  Freedom comes from God; all our blessings do.  When we deny that, as the “intelligentsia,” the “progressive” in America today so obviously does, then we have nothing left to fall back on but public opinion, of man making his own rules—“every man does that which is right in his own eyes.”  That is a disaster in progress, as is so clear in the United States today.  Did Christianity destroy Detroit—or did modern, anti-Christian “progressive” liberalism do it?  Are the political leaders in Washington, D.C., exalting the virtues of Christianity as the guide for the nation today, which would promote excellence in citizens' behavior, frugality in governmental economics, and moderation and respect for other countries in the realm of foreign affairs, or does an elitist arrogance exist, on both sides of the aisle, that believes it knows better than God how to guide the welfare of mankind?  Is the American government growing today because of Christianity—or because we have rejected it, individually, economically, and collectively, as a guide in moral policy? 

Who is the liberal’s “god”—Jehovah or the state?

In one sense, it is not the government's fault; government only becomes necessary when people refuse to discipline themselves and act civilized.  But government leaders are at fault when they don't lead; and the greatest acts of leadership point the people to a virtuous, self-disciplined, responsible, righteous, humble life--in other words, towards Christ and Christianity--and freedom--not to an atheistic self-indulgence, which can only lead to more bondage--enslaved first to one's own carnal appetites, and then eventually enslaved to a government who will have to force obedience so that a civilized order can exist in society.  For there will be order in society, one way or another.  People can either do it voluntarily--i.e., freedom--or they will be forced to do it by government.  And again, if someone is forced to do something they would not do of their own voluntary will, it might be a good thing--but don't call it freedom.  And the righteous will suffer, too, because government tyranny is rarely selective.

 

But what do Obama and the liberals want--more Christianity, more righteousness as revealed from the Creator of heaven and earth?  Or more government which they can control, and thus control as many people as possible?

 

Whom do you trust, dear reader, God or Obama?

And if you don't believe if God, and Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and American politicians are your hope, I truly feel sorry for you.

Yea, indeed, how long will God’s justice sleep?
 

Let Them Be Heard Again—II

What are the founding principles of the United States, that upon which the country was built, principles that are now being destroyed by an elitist, egotistical, atheistic left with no sense of history or ability at rational thinking?  The men who founded America, and who lived in her earliest generations, are the ones who can clearly tell us what they were doing—and why.  Let us hear them again.

Before I begin, I want to add one caveat.  Anything quoted here is not to affirm that these men always lived consistently—or taught consistently.  They were imperfect human beings.  Their words are what they are, but they come from men who knew history and understood that an eternal moral law exists. 

I will start first with some quotes from Thomas Jefferson (all the capital letter emphases in these quotes will be mine):

“The Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they [false teachers] have invested it, and brought to the original purity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to LIBERTY, SCIENCE, and THE FREEST EXPANSION OF THE HUMAN MIND.”

Jefferson, and all of America’s founders, understood that freedom, true freedom, comes from God, who is also the Author of all true science, philosophy, morality, indeed, of everything that is “truth.”  Freedom is not a license to do anything we want; obviously, we cannot give murderers, thieves, rapists, et al, the freedom to commit their atrocious crimes, because this would violate other people’s freedoms.  And thus freedom has restraints, called “law” (more on this in a later post), and those restraints are inherent within the very nature of freedom.

Since freedom comes from God, it is based on what is right and wrong, the knowledge of which also comes from the Eternal Deity (much of it is “self-evident,” but not all).  God has given us the freedom to do what is “right,” but not the freedom to do what is “wrong” (“Thou shalt not kill…steal…commit adultery…covet”, etc.).  And those who would argue, “well, as long as I’m not hurting anybody else, I can do what I want,” argue falsely, because when I do evil (violate any of God’s laws), even if only to myself, I hurt myself, I slowly destroy my conscience, I lower my moral inhibitions, I make myself a viler, more depraved individual, and a person like that will, eventually, violate the freedoms of others. Such people will ultimately need government to step in and defend their “freedoms” (e.g., pay for their abortions, provide money for their children born out of wedlock, subsidize research to cure diseases caused by immoral sexual activity) and by doing so, infringe upon the liberties of those who try to live virtuously (I am forced, by government, to pay taxes to support these immoral deeds.  And when someone is forced to do something, that’s not freedom).  God has given us no freedom to do any evil, but only the freedom to do good; that’s crucial to understanding the thinking of the men who founded America.  If all men would do only good, and never evil, we wouldn’t need government; if all men were angels, James Madison wrote, government would be unnecessary.  But because men do violate the laws of God and harm others, government becomes essential in order to restrain those who will not be restrained without force or the threat thereof.  People who harm others, or themselves, are violating true freedom.  When we freely choose to do the right thing, then we will have the most possible freedom of all, because we will need less government confining us, and we will be using freedom in the way God intended it to be used—for the betterment of mankind, not for personal pleasure or glory, the latter which almost always leads to violations of individual or collective liberty.

As Jefferson wisely understood, pure Christianity—that which was taught by Jesus—is the purest, and I would add final, expression of the mind of God.  Since freedom, science (true science, not Darwinian mythology), and the creative mind come from God, then, as Jefferson noted, Christianity provides the greatest access to all of these things.  Again, it is critical to understand that, to America’s founders, we are NOT free to do evil—of any kind.  Obviously, the immoral masses in America today, especially on the left, want as much “freedom” as possible, mainly for sexually licentious behavior, but also to promote a vile welfare state that keeps them in power.  For such people, who have gained control of Hollywood, the media, much of the government, it is easy to understand why Christianity is their greatest enemy.  But in truth, Christianity is the greatest supporter of individual liberty—the liberty to do the right thing, to benefit society, to not harm ourselves and others, to build and create a worthy civilization, not to destroy it—a destruction that is so evident in America today, because we have turned our backs on the foundation principles of the country. 

The more Christianity we have, the less government we need.  The less Christianity, the more government.  Which way has America gone in the last generation?  It isn’t Christianity that needs more government.  It isn’t Christianity that is infringing upon people’s freedom to do good.  It isn’t Christianity that is destroying the United States of America in 2013.

Let Them Be Heard Again-I

The most important part of any building is the foundation.  It must be strong, firm, and capable of lasting a long time.  When the foundation crumbles and or is willingly destroyed, the building obviously collapses into a heap of rubble, dust, and carnage.  The greater the building, the mightier the destruction.

This analogy is true for nations, too.  There is a reason why Rome became a long-lasting republic and empire and the Girgashites didn’t.  And much of that is to be found in the foundations Rome was built upon.  The Romans were far from perfect, of course, and could be brutally cruel and barbaric.  But they understood character and moral worth, the value of family, law, and tradition, and they survived 1,000 years because of it.

America is changing, and I would argue, given history, headed for either utter ruin, or worldly irrelevancy, like modern England.  Remember, 100 years ago, it was the British Empire that ruled the globe.  The Germans had a lot to do with destroying that, but so did the quality and character of the British people.  Read the great British novels of the late 19^th century—20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, the Sherlock Holmes novels, etc.—and you see a completely different people than today.  You see a religious people, a nation with character, strength, duty, moral values, and earthly perception—no egalitarian nonsense.  Today England has sacrificed itself on the altar of political correctness, and it is a bankrupt country in all the ways that matter.  And, as I noted, largely irrelevant in world affairs.  Who fears the British today?

The United States was not founded by perfect men, of course; there are no such creatures.  But they were, by far, the most perceptive and perspicacious men who ever established a country.  They founded America on Christian principles—and they made no bones about it.  Christianity was the substance upon which America was established.  And Christianity is, of course, the mortal enemy of today’s “progressive,” the thing he hates with the greatest vilification, the one element of society he wants to destroy more than anything else.
 
And he is succeeding, right now, almost beyond his wildest dreams.

And with it, he is destroying America, because he is abolishing that upon which the country was founded.  Destroy the foundation…and the building disintegrates.

Nobody will listen because it is too late, but we need to hear—again—the men who founded the United States.  So I propose to write, over the coming weeks, a series of articles quoting the great, far-sighted, historically-brilliant architects of the United States.  Oh, yes, they knew history, they knew it well.  And they built the greatest national structure in the totality of mankind’s existence.  The only thing they couldn’t do—try though they did—was protect it from wicked, power-hungry human beings.  Abraham Lincoln destroyed the governmental foundation—and today’s liberals are using what Lincoln put in place to destroy the moral one.  No nation can survive that.

History doesn’t work fast—or I perhaps should say, God moves at His own pace.  It was right after the fall of man that He announced a Savior would come (Genesis 3:15); it was 1,000s of years later before He sent Him (Galatians 4:4).  Isaiah predicted the destruction of Babylon almost 200 years in advance of the event (Isaiah 13).  Hosea uttered Israel’s downfall a full generation before it happened (Hosea 1).  We cannot rush the Almighty, for His purposes are as far above ours as heaven is above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9).  All we can be assured of is that He will not acquit the wicked (Nahum 1:3).  But He will do it in His own time.

America’s founders pointed the way.  We will see what they said.  And the wise will discern why America is in the forlorn condition she now finds herself.  The foolish will discern nothing.

Tea Party Republican, Right?

Here's a quote for you.  See if you can guess who said it: 

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest [the republic] become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

Who said it?  Sarah Palin, right?  Nope.  Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter?  Uh-uh.  Ted Cruz?  Rand Paul?  Ron Paul?  Wrong again.  Mark Lewis????  Closer, but only because of the name....

No, none of those right-wing nutcases enunciated (or wrote) those words.  They were indeed spoken before the Senate, though.  However, it was the Roman Senate, in 55 B.C.  By Marcus Tullius Cicero. 

28 years before the fall of the Roman Republic. 

More from Cicero soon on why the Roman Republic fell.  And how America, recklessly, foolishly, sadly--stupidly--is trotting right along behind.

They Really Can't Find Anything to Cut?

Quite frankly, it is very, very difficult not to have to strong feelings of animosity and loathing towards Barack Obama and the Democrats especially, along with the Democrats’ liberal allies in the media, and to a lesser degree, Republicans in Congress. The recent…discussion?...over the sequester indicates the utter contempt Obama has for the American people and their intelligence (to be honest, some of his contempt is, I suppose, justified, because the people re-elected the guy). To say that the sequester would bring automatic cuts that would harm the people, that would take away necessary services, that would create pain and hardship is cynical to the "nth" degree. Well, "cynical" is a nice word. It’s a downright lie, is what it is, and how can anybody have respect for liars?

Here is a small list—a very small list—of things Congress has wasted American tax dollars on in recent years. You tell me these things are "essential"??  This can’t be cut without doing permanent, irreparable damage to the United States of America?   Read and weep, and in some cases, laugh, and try to rein in your temper:

--$60,000 for Belgian endive research for the University of Massachusetts;
--$107,000 to study the sex life of Japanese quail;
--$4.3 million for a privately owned museum in Johnstown, PA;
--$3.1 million to convert a ferry boat into a crab restaurant in Baltimore;
--$11 million for a private pleasure boat harbor in Cleveland;
--$150,000 to study the Hatfield-McCoy feud;
--$320,000 to purchase President McKinley’s mother-in-law’s home;
--$84,000 to find out why people fall in love;
--$1 million to study why people don’t ride bikes to work;
--$19 million to examine gas emissions from cow flatulence;
--$144,000 to see if pigeons follow human economic laws….

I’m not making this up, folks. Your tax dollars at work. Here are some more:

--$219,000 to teach college students how to watch television;
--$500,000 to build a replica of the Great Pyramid of Egypt in Indiana;
--$2 million to construct an ancient Hawaiian canoe;
--$350,000 to renovate the House Beauty Salon;
--$20 million for a demonstration project to build wooden bridges;
--$6 million to upgrade the two-block long Senate subway;
--$160,000 to study if you can hex an opponent by drawing an "X" on his chest;
--$800,000 for a restroom on Mt. McKinley;
--$100,000 to study how to avoid falling spacecraft;
--$16,000 to study the operation of the komungo, a Korean stringed instrument;
--$6,000 for a document on Worcestershire sauce;
--$1 million to preserve a Trenton, New Jersey, sewer as a historic monument;
--$10,000 to study the effect of naval communications on a bull’s potency;

And here is one of my favorites: $57,000 spent by the Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards on Air Force Two…$57,000 of taxpayer money for a deck of cards for the Vice-President!! (To be fair, I believe this was spent under a Republican administration.)

Every bit of that, of course, can be found in Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution, the powers given to Congress…….(I’m being sarcastic, just in case there are Obama voters reading this….)

19 million dollars to study cow farts…….but there is no place to cut the budget.

In his own day, Thomas Jefferson complained of federal politicians who seemed "at a loss for objects whereon to throw away the supposed fathomless funds of the treasury." It obviously hasn’t gotten any better in 200 years, even worse, because much of this money is borrowed and will have to be paid back—or defaulted on—by the next generation of American taxpayers.

Loathing? Obama and his liberal, big government, anti-god allies really, really test my Christianity. My brother and wife tell me I should just ignore them because I can’t do anything about it, and they are right. It’s not worth losing my soul over.

But, I’m a teacher and an educator, so I guess my nature is to do something, regardless of how futile.

To end this, here is another great quote from Thomas Sowell, in his most recent article, "Budget Politics":

"Back in my teaching days…one of the things I liked to ask the class to consider was this: Imagine a government agency with only two tasks: (1) building statues of Benedict Arnold and (2) providing life-saving medications to children. If this agency's budget were cut, what would it do?

The answer, of course, is that it would cut back on the medications for children. Why? Because that would be what was most likely to get the budget cuts restored. If they cut back on building statues of Benedict Arnold, people might ask why they were building statues of Benedict Arnold in the first place."

To Obama, the purpose of "sequestration" was not to cut the government budget and help the American people, but to create panic and expand government spending. As Sowell says later in the article, "Democrats prefer to get the political benefits from handing out goodies, while Republicans can be blamed for not subsequently raising enough taxes to pay for the Democrats' spending spree."   He is exactly right.

And that is why "loathing" is perhaps too gentle a word…