Still enjoying the afterglow from his speech that, according to the New York Times, “lofted him into the conservative firmament as its newest star,” Dr. Benjamin Carson sat down with Times writer Trip Gabriel last week to expand on his beliefs and his political future. When asked directly about that future, Carson said
Category Archives: Religion
“Now is the Time for All Good Men to Come to the Aid of their Country.”
- Monday, 18 February 2013 11:00
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This phrase, first uttered by Patrick Henry as “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party,” could easily have replaced the title of Joseph Loconte’s article for the Centennial Institute’s February issue of their Centennial Review. Loconte holds a PhD. from the University of London and is an associate professor of history at King’s College in New York City. He’s also a Believer, and his message is spot on:
Today is Ronald Reagan’s birthday
- Thursday, 07 February 2013 11:00
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He would be 102 today. In 1981 he made a speech to members of the International Monetary Fund in which he outlined his free market philosophy:
Sunday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Funny the media ignored it.
- Monday, 28 January 2013 11:00
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I did find this, however, from the AP which was picked up by Yahoo! News, from Warsaw, Poland:
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Holocaust survivors, politicians, religious leaders and others marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday with solemn prayers and the now oft-repeated warnings to never let such horrors happen again.
Events took place at sites including
A Word of Encouragement from a Friend
- Thursday, 24 January 2013 06:17
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American Flag on the Fourth of July (Photo credit: mrsdkrebs)
Sterling Lacy is an ordained minister of the Gospel and has been involved in the freedom fight for more than 50 years. He wrote about discouragement in The New American yesterday and he said some things that I think needed to be said.
His opening remarks echo the thoughts of many of us:
What patriot is not disappointed with the recent election results? The prospect of four more years of the same old, same old is enough to dampen the spirit of even the brightest-eyed optimist. Any constitutionalist has to wonder just how far outside the boundaries of the written law and moral truth we can wander before something finally snaps. Historians tell us no nation has ever slid this deep into collectivism and amorality and pulled out. Prophets of doom are claiming we are already past the point of no return.
I disagree with his perception about our “wandering” outside the boundaries. I prefer, and think it’s more accurate historically to say “pushed,”, but he fairly states what most people think about our
Pro-Gun Rallies Attended by Thousands at State Capitols
- Monday, 21 January 2013 19:00
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Small Gun Rally (Photo credit: JAYRNIV)
An estimated 20,000 pro-gun enthusiasts braved cold weather and a national media blackout on Saturday to support their rights to own guns, according to the Daily Mail, a British tabloid. This was a grass-roots movement, called Guns Across America, that began, according to the tabloid, when Eric Reed, an airline captain in Houston, decided that a response to the threats to the Second Amendment coming from the Obama administration was demanded. He started a group on Facebook called “More Gun Control = More Crime,” which as of this writing has more than 19,000 “likes.” Most of them kept their promise to show up at state capitols on Saturday.
What Reed wanted to do was to send “a very, very strong message to Congress and to our president that we the people are against any more gun control.” He added,
Pro-Life Movement Gaining Momentum
- Friday, 11 January 2013 14:58
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When Trevin Wax wrote in Baptist Press News back in July 2011 that “the pro-life movement is winning,” he likely had no idea that Time magazine would one day agree with him.
With the cover of its current issue declaring that “40 Years Ago, Abortion Rights Activists Won an Epic Victory with Roe v. Wade, They’ve Been Losing Ever Since,” Kate Pickert backs up the claim by noting that 24 states have adopted more than 90 new restrictions on abortions just since 2010, and then adds,
George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation
- Wednesday, 21 November 2012 15:00
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April 30: George Washington becomes the first President of the United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Everyone knows that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln on October 3rd, 1863. The Pilgrims were the first to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1621. But it is President George Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation issued on October 3rd, 1789, that I’d like to look at as we prepare for tomorrow’s festivities.
First, he acknowledges God, and our duties:
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…
Congress [has]…requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
And then Washington reminds us of His beneficent Hand in
The Changing Demographics of Election 2012
- Friday, 16 November 2012 11:23
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(Photo credit: Cle0patra)
On Sunday before Election Day, the Pew Research Center released its final prediction on the outcome of the election: President Obama would win, beating Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney, 50% to 47%. When all votes were tallied, Obama beat Romney, 50.6% to 47.8%.
Pew acknowledged that the president’s virtual takeover of the media in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy just before the election persuaded some who were undecided to vote for the president. According to Pew:
Obama’s handling of the storm’s aftermath may have contributed to his improved showing. Fully 69% of all likely voters approve of the way Obama is handling the storm’s impact.
Even a plurality of Romney supporters (46%) approve of Obama’s handling of the situation; more important, so too do 63% of swing voters.
In its final pre-election survey of 2,709 voters conducted from October 31 through November 3, Pew began to see how the electorate was moving. 39% of likely voters supported Obama strongly whereas just a third of them strongly supported Romney. Noted Pew: “In past elections…the candidate with the higher percentage of strong support has usually gone on to win the popular vote.”
Among women voters, Pew noted the most dramatic shift towards Obama, favoring him 53% to just 40% for Romney – a 13 point margin and a 6 point gain from just a week before.
Meanwhile, Pew noted that among voters age 65 and older, Romney’s support began to fade down the home stretch. Romney’s 19-point lead in Pew’s previous poll had declined to just 9 points in the latest one.
On Wednesday, November 7, Pew released its post-election analysis and noted that its prediction was
Light from the Election Results
- Wednesday, 07 November 2012 09:28
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Statue of Liberty (Photo credit: Cochraneium)
Since leaving the election watch party at a friend’s home last night, I’ve considered what I might say to you this morning.
1. God’s in His Heaven
I just checked the Weather Channel and noted that the sun is supposed to rise at 6:33AM this morning. And it looks like it going to happen in about 9 minutes.
That is no small thing. When you think about all the things that must mesh together to make this happen, I’m quick to realize that it is simply beyond my comprehension to understand. What I do understand, however, is that it is predictable, ordered, and follows certain laws of physics. By definition a law of physics has no exceptions, that’s why it’s called a law. And in order to have such a precise mathematical system that we can predict when the sun will rise, there must be an order-maker behind the scenes making it happen. What a wonderful comfort that is!
2. The fight for freedom never ends
That’s because the enemy of freedom never sleeps. Imagine what we would be feeling of Romney had won. Flawed as he is, and controlled by evil forces as he is, wouldn’t “conservatives” have celebrated last night? Wouldn’t they have relaxed, even a little bit, saying that it was a good fight after all?
No. What I see is the edge of naked aggression now manifesting itself. The gloves are coming off and Obama’s true intentions will be abundantly clear even to those who blindly voted for him, thinking somehow that he was a better choice.
As Herb Stein said, “if something can’t continue, it will stop.” Or put another way, with Washington continuing to kick the can down the road, eventually we’re going to run out of road. That will be especially painful to those who have allowed themselves to become dependent on the government. They will have to learn how to become dependent upon themselves once again, and that will be painful.
3. There were some good things that happened last night
Others will write much more extensively about them elsewhere. I might even comment on them here in the next few days, as I am ever the optimist and am always seeking to see the glass as half full, not half empty. I refer specifically to Proposition 64, the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, to be treated under the same rules as alcohol.
This is huge. Without realizing it, vast numbers of those voting for it have essentially said to the federal government, up yours, we’re going to enjoy our freedom and we dare you to do something about it. Since this is an amendment, this is the first challenge to the feds over a state constitution’s provisions.
Little did they know it but voters have taken the first important step towards state nullification of federal laws deemed to be unconstitutional. It’ll be very interesting to see just how the feds react to such a blatant challenge – in your face! – to their alleged authority to regulate behavior at the state (and individual) level, now guaranteed by Colorado‘s constitution.
4. The freedom movement will become stronger, not weaker
This is what happened at the birth of the republic. As observers watched events unfold, they became increasingly aware of the intrusions of the King into their daily affairs. The more blatant those intrusions became, the stronger the movement for liberty became. I welcome those intrusions – I say let them come! – and they will hasten the strengthening of the freedom movement. Push us and we’ll push back. Push us harder, we’ll push back harder.
5. It only takes a few to make a difference
Margaret Mead is alleged to have first uttered the phrase: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” That statement has now been proven to be true:
“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,” said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. “Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.”
What Obama and his czars and minions will successfully do as they begin to implement their totalitarian, police state mandates on the civilian population of the United States is to push those “committed opinion holders” beyond 10 percent, It may already have happened, but we won’t know that, of course, until long after it has taken place.
Obama is pushing against a law. And remember, a law has no exceptions.
For myself, I will lumber on, moving forward, onward and upward, with the light I have been given, praising God for the opportunity to make use of the ability He has given me to make a difference. The rest, as it always is, is up to Him.
This is from the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, in 1774:
Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. Continue steadfast, and with a proper sense of your dependence upon God, nobly defend those rights which Heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.
John Calvin Founded America
- Monday, 05 November 2012 18:02
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John Calvin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I like our new senior pastor, Graham Baird. For a young man he is certainly knowledgeable, and way ahead of where I was at his age. But he made an error yesterday in his sermon which I’d like to correct.
He said the Presbyterian Church in American began in 1777. He is just plain flat dead wrong. John Calvin and the Presbyterian tradition not only pre-dated the American Revolution, it was largely responsible for it.
I have enjoyed reading Loraine Boettner‘s The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination several times: it’s one of those wonderful masterpieces that is so filled with profundities that I just never get tired of it. Each time I read it I discover new and fresh insights into my faith.
One of the most profound was how John Calvin’s theology had percolated into the people’s’ lives and beliefs to the degree that Boettner concludes that Calvin was actually the
Keeping Election Day in Perspective
- Tuesday, 30 October 2012 09:28
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Buried Statue (Photo credit: Phillie Casablanca)
Lawrence Reed, the President of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), has written an excellent piece about having the proper perspective about the upcoming election. His quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley‘s sonnet, “Ozymandias” reminds me of the same thing we tried to do with young people attending Birch camps many years ago: giving them a longer perspective on the world. Reed quotes only a tiny piece from Shelley. Here’s all of it, for your enjoyment:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said — “two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert … near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lips, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
O the sounds of despair! But Reed doesn’t think so:
Will the United States of America last forever? Of course not. No one who has studied history and human nature could think otherwise.
But is our constitutional republic with its core of character and its relatively free, wondrously productive economy worth preserving and protecting, reforming and renewing for as long we possibly can, in order that “the blessings of liberty” may be secured to our posterity for a few generations more, God willing? Of course again. Indeed so.
He thinks that there are enough individuals who understand the connection between
Immigrant Returns $221,510 Left in His Cab
- Tuesday, 23 October 2012 15:03
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Yellow Cab (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is one of those “morality” plays that shows up every now and again in our declining culture that reminds us of eternal verities: like the concept of private property and respecting it.
It took a Las Vegas cabbie from Ethiopia to remind us.
A young man won the money at the Wynn casino and put the cash into a briefcase, but left it behind when he exited the cab. Adam Woldemarim, an immigrant from Ethiopia, noticed it, opened the briefcase and saw the cash all neatly stacked. He continued working for about an hour before returning the case to the cab company’s office.
There he returned the case to the casino winner who
Why I’m Not Voting for Mitt Romney
- Tuesday, 23 October 2012 13:57
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Mormons (Photo credit: More Good Foundation)
Something happened back in the fall of 1967 that altered my life immediately and eternally. Since I am the world’s foremost expert on what happened to me, this is my story:
I was 27 years old, married (to my beloved Mary) with two kids and a mortgage. It was a Saturday morning and I was working in my garage when two bright shiny nice looking young men showed up and said: “We bring you greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now at the time I was a life insurance salesman and I’d never heard an opening statement like that! It got my attention. Then they asked: “Where will you be spending your life in eternity?”
Well, I was deeply concerned about where I was going to spending the next month if I didn’t make the mortgage payment this month, and consequently had given little thought to eternity, to be honest with you.
I invited them in to the house where they began to teach me what I needed to know in order to join the Mormon church. There was a twelve-week lesson plan, with homework. It sounded attractive, with a shiny well-crafted program guide for newbies, and so I
Billy Graham Endorses Mitt Romney, Sort Of
- Tuesday, 23 October 2012 11:51
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Billy Graham “Just Say No” (Photo credit: Dean Terry)
In his political pilgrimage to see evangelist Billy Graham and attempt to secure his endorsement, Mitt Romney traveled to Montreat, North Carolina on October 11th to visit the aging and declining Graham. The statement issued by Graham following the meeting had just enough in it to make it sound like an endorsement:
It was an honor to meet and host Gov. Romney in my home today, especially since I knew his late father former Michigan Gov. George Romney, whom I considered a friend.
I have followed Mitt Romney’s career in business, the Olympic Games, as governor of Massachusetts and, of course, as a candidate for president of the United States. What impresses me even more than Gov. Romney’s successful career are his values and strong moral convictions. I appreciate his faithful commitment to his impressive family, particularly his wife Ann of 43 years and his five married sons.
It was a privilege to pray with Gov. Romney—for his family and our country. I will turn 94 the day after the upcoming election, and I believe America is at a crossroads. I hope millions of Americans will join me in praying for our nation and to vote for candidates who will support the biblical definition of marriage, protect the sanctity of life and defend our religious freedoms.
Of course this is what Romney wanted: just enough of an endorsement to push those few remaining undecideds who still think religious values have some meaning in secular America to his side on November 6th.
The only problem with this whole charade of course, is that
James Dobson Thinks Every Christian Should Vote, Regardless
- Thursday, 18 October 2012 07:05
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James Dobson in 2007 in Washington, DC at the Values Voters conference (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Vote, and take a friend with you, for the sake of our children.
The nation “is … in a moral and spiritual free fall.”
- Religion liberty … is under assault like never before.”
- “Christians are being required to pay for abortions through their health insurance.”
- “Twenty-one countries [in the Middle East] are in turmoil.”
- “Israel’s very existence continues to be threatened.”
- “Iranian analyst Alireza Forghani boasted … [Jerusalem] will soon become a mass ‘graveyard.’”
“Given the state of the world and the decline of our country, how can a single Christian stay at home on Election Day? The stakes are simply too high.”
According to the article at WND (WorldNetDaily), 30 million Christians didn’t vote in 2008, and Obama won by
Conservative Black Preachers Oppose Obama
- Sunday, 14 October 2012 06:00
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Alveda King at the Restoring Honor Rally (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)
This is fairly amazing to me. 95 percent of blacks voted for Obama in the last election. If he loses any significant percentage of that vote, his doom is sealed:
Unhappy with President Barack Obama‘s support of same-sex marriage, a group of African-American faith leaders have announced a campaign aimed at stripping 25 percent of the black vote that went to Obama in 2008 (95 percent)…
These leaders – and they are leaders!– have committed to spend $1 million in several states opposing Obama’s reelection. They’re hoping there is enough “faith” and “gumption” left in their target market to turn voters away from Obama:
The black community is among the most religious in America and we are offended that President Obama has announced his support of same-sex marriage, that the NAACP has blindly supported the secular views of the Democratic Party, and that their national platform plainly supports same-sex marriage,” said Apostle Claver Kamau-Imani of RagingElephants.org, and a God Said founder, in a statement. “I am confident that this message will be well received and acted upon on Election Day.
Their intentions are honorable and their strategy appears to be
Finally, Some Sense About Voting for the Lesser of Two Evils
- Monday, 08 October 2012 13:27
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Lesser of two cookies (Photo credit: GoatChild)
Ron Holland was interviewed by Anthony Wile of the Daily Bell a while back and I was impressed with it. He’s solid, a sound thinker, and not afraid to go against the grain.
He thinks voting for Romney as the lesser of two evils is morally wrong:
Had the Romney Campaign held in check the Republican Party leadership’s goon squad that made a mockery of the democratic process in the Republican Party primaries and caucuses as well as the national GOP convention, Romney might have captured 50 percent or more of Ron Paul voters and supporters, even without a Paul on the ticket. But he didn’t and actions always have consequences.
Certainly as the better of the two candidates, I did consider voting for Mitt Romney before watching the GOP convention and the establishment brownshirt tactics that sickened me regarding the Republican Party. While I certainly prefer Romney to Obama, the truth of the matter is both the GOP and Democrat Party are equally evil in their goals, their major policies and how they will carry out power elite directives and governance.
There are lots of reasons not to like Romney. I’ve written about some of them for The New American magazine, and some I’ve just stored away in my memory bank to access, if necessary, in the future. For Holland, the treatment of Ron Paul’s delegates by the RNC is enough:
There is no lesser of two evils when considering the two major political parties in the United States today. I consider non-voting, voting third party or even voting for the opposition to be justified now, considering how the GOP leadership treated the Ron Paul Campaign, the liberty movement and our primary voters.
Adding a little support for that idea from Jesus, the Creator of the universe, was a nice touch, and a good reminder:
I think Jesus said it best: “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” ~ Matthew 7:23
Middle East Violence: What Would You Expect?
- Thursday, 20 September 2012 14:58
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Anthony Wile – Rising Middle East Violence a Precursor for US-Based Internal Combustion
The casting of blame on a movie that is highly insulting to Muslims is convenient. The truth of the matter is that the forces behind American politics, and world politics for that matter, desire the chaos that is ensuing throughout the Middle East.
Middle East C Current (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
To those unfamiliar with Anthony Wile and his regular thoughtful postings at The Daily Bell, his claim that “forces behind American politics…desire the chaos…” is outrageous.
But he has a way of backing up his position which he has iterated with increasing success over the past decade.
For instance, he thinks the protests are being promoted and instigated by groups like the Alliance of Youth Movements (provable) which are being supported by the US State Department (also provable).
He says:
The problems facing the “civilized” world today are the outgrowth of Western powers’ insistence that it is the right, if not obligation, of the Anglo-Saxon to “tame” and “civilize” the “others.” It is this blatant and arrogant premise that has America standing at the forefront of the battle lines around the world. It is America that has built more than 900 military bases in over 145 countries where, at the end of a diplomatic gun barrel, the leaders and industrialist families of others nations are bent to their new “civilizers.”
Let’s reverse roles here and ask rhetorically how happy we would be if Iranian military forces entered the United States in order to put down the Tea Party movement and establish a more “just” society, for our own good? Just how do you think that would go over? Just asking.
As Wile wrote:
The raging fires that America has started in many countries around the world are escalating. The blowback–inspired “terrorists” want the US and allied troops the heck out of their backyards. Can you blame them?
Who, indeed?
The Lesser of Two Evils Is Still Evil
- Monday, 17 September 2012 00:54
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Star Parker – Republicans Must Offer Alternative to Democrat Moral Bankruptcy
Republicans need to step up to the plate and start talking about our nation’s real crisis – our moral crisis. The nation’s searching middle class will understand the truth when they hear it.
Star Parker (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
I think Parker has pointed to something that isn’t being talked about very much during this election: the moral rot that is causing people like Democrats (and Republicans) to disclaim any allegiance to God or the Bible. I also think she tries too hard to be profound in her efforts to mimic Michelle Malkin (who usually is). Says Parker:
The omission of these key principles [God, and recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel] from the Democratic platform was the party equivalent of what journalist Michael Kinsley calls a political gaffe – when a politician inadvertently says what he really believes… [This] showed today’s Democrats exactly for who they are – the home base for the nihilism, radical moral relativism, and welfare statism that defines today’s far left.
But is the Republican Party any better? Parker iterates some statistics that try to prove that, at bottom, the American people are basically moral, love God, and go to church. Those statistics, in my opinion, aren’t persuasive and in fact, could be used to point out the continuing decline in whatever morality is left over from previous generations. For instance:
According to a 2010 Gallup poll, 43 percent of Americans attend church regularly. However, just 39 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of liberals do.
This shows little difference between the average American and the average Democrat: fewer than half attend church regularly. Without checking, Gallup’s definition of “regularly” is once a month or more. Parker really blows it when she thinks Republicans can somehow save the country from its moral meltdown:
If you think debt, government dependence, broken families, and moral relativism is the path to a strong and prosperous America, sign on with the Democrats. But Republicans need to do a better job embracing and articulating the alternative.
And what alternative would that be, exactly? This is more of the false premise that Republicans can solve our problems: the lesser of two evils is still evil.
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