In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, among other things, that we should not judge other people. (Matthew 7:1,2). In fact He said we will be judged with the same measure with which we judge others.
As a practicing Christian I sincerely want to follow His teaching and I don’t want the consequences of judging other people. However, the teachings of Christianity also call us to wisdom and discretion.
Which leads me to a growing point of concern.
Hillary Clinton.
Last week Chris Field at Human Events expressed the concern of many of us on the traditional side. He said, in a piece titled, Hillary, the Chameleon, “I have always considered Hillary Clinton a formidable politician, but I haven’t really feared a Hillary presidency because I haven’t thought she was electable. I’m not quite as sure any more. Hillary, in her true skin, is too stridently liberal and unlikable to be electable in a national election. But who says she has to show her true skin?�
I’m sure you have noticed, as I have, that Hillary has been working the speech circuit with new vigor during the past few months. If you watch what she says, you will get the impression that she is almost “pro-life� on the issue of abortion and stem cell research and euthanasia.
Yesterday, former President Bill Clinton told Japan’s ASAHI TV that his wife, Hillary, would be an excellent choice as the first female leader of the world’s most powerful nation. He said, “I don’t know if she’ll run or not, but … I would always try to help her.�
She’s already running.
With great gains for conservatives in the last election, this is the time for great vigilance as we look forward to the next one. Liberals are convinced they can’t run and win as themselves, so they are even now conducting “casting calls� looking for just the right person to play the role of the centrist, caring, serving, political leader.
The word, “hypocrite� actually comes from a Greek word, which was used to describe the many faces of the actors in Athens.
Another practicing Christian once wrote the following words in a letter to his friend, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world.� St. Paul, Colossians 2:8.
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Senator Bill Frist seems to be standing up to the liberals in the Senate as they move toward a vote on President Bush’s judicial nominations.
As you recall, during the President’s first term, the liberals filibustered on the nominations, thus eliminating an up or down vote, which most of the nominees would have won.
Senator Frist, Majority Leader in the Senate, says he will use the “nuclear option� this time if the liberals try to stop a vote. The nuclear options is simply the ability of the majority to change the rules and restore order and the 200-year tradition of allowing every nominee of the President an up or down vote on the Senate floor.
His critics are saying that the fall-out of such an action would be intense and probably everything on the Senate floor will grind to a halt except the judicial nominations. So, where is the tragedy?
I would strongly suggest that Senator Frist put his finger on the “nuclear button� and push at the appropriate time.
It’s hard to imagine the liberal party of Howard Dean agreeing to any kind of order or tradition.
Adult stem cell research has made another significant advance. Tooth loss due to bone loss could become a thing of the past – thanks to ethically obtained adult stem cells.
Dr. Pamela Robey of the University of Texas said, “What we know is if we take bone marrow and put it into a culture dish and then re-isolate a single cell that has begun to proliferate and form a number of progeny, if we put it into a low oxygen atmosphere, it has the ability to make cartilage.�
Dr. Mary McDougall, President-Elect of the American association for Dental Research said that this has the potential to regenerate all types of skeletal tissue, including teeth.
The good news is that these discoveries don’t come with the immoral use of embryonic stem cells. These stem cells can be easily obtained, since every person has his or her own stockpile.
When we stay with the moral principles, protecting the sanctity of life by not destroying embryo, good things happen.
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Our Founding Fathers consistently quoted the Bible as the basis for their beliefs and actions. American law and education were developed using the bible as the basis. America has become the most generous nation in the history of the world – because of adherence to Biblical principles.
Yet, there have always been those among us who have tried, whenever possible, to discredit the Bible – to make it less than it really is. The historical accuracy of the Bible has been a consistent target.
Now once again, the Bible has stood the test of truth.
A team of top scientists, led by Russell Adams of Canada’s McMaster University, has dated the ancient nation of Edom to the exact time the Bible says it existed.
In II Samuel 8:13 (NIV), the Bible says, “And David became famous after he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.� Archeologists have been saying for year, “No, this is not accurate, couldn’t have happened in David’s lifetime because there were no people in that area of the world at that time.�
Now these new discoveries confirm the fact that there were a people in this territory of Edom, in the time of the Bible period, which were strong enough to fortify a city and establish a mining center.
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time, that archeology will confirm the authenticity of the Bible.
However, the greater confirmation is the life-changing message of freedom that the Bible speaks to individuals and nations.
It is written that, “those whom the Son set free are free indeed.�
________________________________ Gary Randall, Chairman and President Faith and Freedom Foundation
Today the Supreme Court convenes to hear two weeks of oral arguments.
Yesterday, however, it was announced that ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist would miss both weeks due to his battle with thyroid cancer. This, of course, has sparked new concerns regarding Justice Rehnquist’s ability to continue.
A major component of the 2004 Presidential election was about who would sit on the nation’s highest court – and make decisions that will affect every person who lives in America.
It could be that there will be several appointments to the Supreme Court during President Bush’s second term. That is historical in magnitude.
Sandra Day O’Connor gave us an insight into the importance of having the right people sitting on the High Court during a speech at Georgetown Law School last fall. She told the law students that other countries’ legal precedents would play a positive role in the U.S. court decisions. As if that wasn’t frightening enough, it is generally know that as many as four of her Supreme Court colleagues hold her globalist views. That is terrifying.
In recent years, judges have trended toward finding foreign precedent for rewriting American law. It’s already been felt in two culture-busting decisions: the approval of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and the legalization of sodomy in a Texas case.
This actually threatens the rule of law itself – which has defined America from its inception.
Trent England, a legal policy analyst for The Heritage Foundation, said allowing foreign laws to affect our system threatens to return us to the common-law structure our Founders rejected. “The reason our Constitution exists,� he said, “was to distinguish us from foreign precedent, to set us aside from the nightmares that European governments had generated.�
So, who will President Bush nominate to succeed the conservative Chief Justice Rehnquist?
It is rumored around Washington that it may well be U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
And what is his position? It’s good news for those of us who hold to traditional values.
Scalia also makes speeches and in a recent speech at Ave Maria School of Law he focused a great deal on the importance of tradition. He decried judges who use “abstractions� to interpret religious issues, rather than the Constitution itself. He said the Constitution says what it says “and does not say what it does not say.�
Scalia also used Roe v. Wade as an example where the Court ignored many long-standing rulings against abortion. He said, “The Court discovered in 1973 something that was in violation of the Constitution based on an abstract principle, a right to privacy that’s not found in the Constitution.�
He affirmed that unlike liberal progressives, he did not believe that the Constitution is a changing, evolving document. He believes the Constitution is unchanging. Scalia said, “Social practices may change and our understanding of things may change, but that’s not something that should come from the initiative of unelected judges.�
Scalia also said judges need a dose of humility, noting they’re not supposed to have their own agendas or use their positions to enforce their own values.
We can only imagine the political confrontation that will emerge as these kinds of nominations are put forth.
At the appropriate time, all who hold to traditional values will need to mobilize and communicate with our elected representatives.
Based on the 2004 election –- I think we can do that.
President Harry Truman understood the importance of laws and the importance of their origin. He said, “The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we got from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul.�
When I was a kid, there was a little rhyme that people often repeated. It went something like this: sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you. While this was well intended for the kid who had been called a name by the school bully, it hardly stands up to real life. Words can indeed be destructive. But they can also be incredibly constructive by challenging, affirming, motivating, and instructing.
Fortunately, we have on record an abundance of comments – words – that our former President’s and Founding Fathers spoke during the course of events in their lives and the life of our country. Their words represented their deeply held beliefs that profoundly shaped America and gave us the freedom and prosperity that we enjoy today.
On this President’s day, I would like to share a few quotes from both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
“It is impossible rightly to govern the world without God and the Bible.� George Washington
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.� Abraham Lincoln
“To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to land the more distinguished character of Christian.� George Washington
“We the people are the rightful masters of both congress an the courts – not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.� Abraham Lincoln
“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.� George Washington, Inaugural Speech, April 30, 1789. Click here to read the entire Address.
America is unique in so many ways. It is unlike any other nation, in that she is bound together by ideals, beliefs, passions, and patriotism – not bloodline.
Patrick Henry in one of his most famous speeches defined early America when he said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.�
The spirit of America was further defined at Valley Forge. Despite the lack of food, inadequate clothing, illness that was taking more than a dozen lives a day, the total absence of pay and despite the utter hopelessness of their situation, the men stayed. In fact, one man smuggled a press release through enemy lives to the news paper in Philadelphia which said, “Our attention is now drawn to one point: the enemy grows weaker every day, and we are growing stronger. Our work is almost done, and with the blessing of heaven, and the valor of our worthy General, we shall soon drive these plunderers out of our country.�
And now we again see an example of the defining spirit of America.
Captain David Rozelle lost his foot to a landmine after his humvee ran over a land mine in Iraq. After months of agonizing surgery, physical therapy, and the emotional hardship of losing a limb, he has been declared “Fit For Duty.� That’s right – he has been cleared by his physicians and the military to return to Iraq and resume command of his men on the ground. He will be deployed in March.
“Every now and again,� says Rozelle, “I would get the standard, ‘That is horrible. How do you feel about the war?’� His response? “How do you feel about your freedom? If you aren’t willing to die for it, then you aren’t American.�
“America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.� President George W. Bush.
A book has just been released by Regnery entitled Back in Action: An American Soldiers Story of Courage, Faith, and Fortitude, by Captain David Rozelle. Visit our Recommended Reading List to view this New Release.
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It’s always refreshing – a deep breath of fresh air to meet the people who do not live next to I-5 and I-95 on our coasts or I-10 and I-80 that connect the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Last week, while driving across central Washington State, I stopped for some snacks at a grocery store in a small town.Posted prominently in the store was a large sign that simply read: “God bless America. A land that provides liberty and justice for all – and pursues those who seek to destroy it.�
I started to say something about the sign to one of the employees, but as I opened my mouth I realized there was nothing that I could say that would add to what they all ready know.
Silently, I left the store and drove on thanking God for the good people of this great nation.
The liberal party elected Howard Dean chairman of their national party on Saturday. Immediately after he was elected he said, “The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in.�
Joyce Cusack, a Florida delegate said it’s time for us to embrace our party’s values.
The indelible memory of Howard Dean, the Presidential candidate, explaining that he was every bit as religious as his opponent John Kerry, remains with many of us.
The problem then, as now, is that it is very difficult to connect the zoning approval of a bike path in Vermont with spirituality and the confusion of Old Testament books with New Testaments books. But, not to worry. The liberals have discovered that values are important to voters and Howard, Hillary and Nancy are going to do their best to convince a majority of Americans that they too are values people.
I think I hear the great Republican President Abraham Lincoln chuckling and repeating what he said about such things when he was in the White House.
“It is true that you can fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all the people all the time.� Abraham Lincoln.
People who pay attention to these kinds of things were surprised when Gloria Feldt, President of Planned Parenthood, resigned and left the organization.
Under her leadership, Planned Parenthood was, according to the Associated Press, performing more than 200,000 abortions annually while taking in $35 million in 2004. Also under Feldt’s leadership, Planned Parenthood, for the first time, publicly endorsed a Presidential candidate, backing John Kerry. Feldt had said they had to do it because of what she called, “the Bush Administration's war on choice.�
There is clear evidence that the majority of the American people are shifting in a pro-life direction.
We can only wonder if the change in American thinking is causing the pro-abortion group to re-think their extreme positions.
One thing for sure – the liberals are continuing to struggle, while traditional Judeo-Christian values continue to gain back lost ground in the culture war for the soul of America.
“It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequence will be the same.� Thomas Paine, the Crises, 1777.
Alexis de Tocqueville, a French scholar and historian, was so impressed with America’s culture and constitutional system, that in 1831, he published an exhaustive, two-volume description of our nation.
He wrote: “On my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America, I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion – for who can search the human heart – but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.� (Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. I, 1945).
Benjamin Franklin said in 1787, “Atheism is unknown [here] and infidelity rare and secret.�
Not all embraced Christianity in a personal way in the early days of America, but all recognized and embraced or at least tolerated the “Christian consensus� or as the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer described it; the “Christian worldview� that prevailed not only among those who drafted and approved our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, but other documents as well.
In the years that followed, people like Mr. Alexis de Tocqueville, recognized “the great political consequences� of this consensus. He was so impressed with America’s obvious blessings that he also said, “Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent; the consequence is, as I have before observed, that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate, although the political world is abandoned to the debates and experiments of men. Thus, the human mind is never left to wander over a boundless field.�
About fifty or sixty years ago, a small minority of Americans who did not share the “Christian consensus� that had made America great began a secularist, humanist assault on American life. Following the removal of prayer from school, Roe v. Wade, values clarification, political correctness, “The Tolerance� movement, and the big lie regarding separation of church and state, there was indeed a time when the collective human mind of American leadership was “left to wander over a boundless field,� with perhaps the low point being reflected in the Clinton years.
Now a new poll says Americans want politicians with religious convictions to be true to their beliefs. The poll, conducted by Public Agenda, was seen by Public Agenda’s Ruth Wooden, as a diminished tolerance on the part of Americans to see their elected leaders compromise. She also concluded that American’s want to see their leaders voting on religious view more. Looking deeper, she said, “I see this report is actually showing quite a bit of respect for ‘conviction’ politicians, and those that act according to their religious convictions and demonstrate honesty and integrity in their roles as elected officials.�When asked the follow-up question, “Would you want your elected officials to base their decision on their religious views even if they differed from yours,� those who said “yes� rose dramatically. (The Public Agenda Website contains the actual survey).
The tide is turning. John Witherspoon, the 6th President of Princeton and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, once said, “It is a man of piety and inward principle that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier.� Then he prayerfully added, “May God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both.�
His prayer was answered in the early days of our country and I believe it is again being answered in the early days of the 21st century.
In a story released this last week, USA Today reported, “Some U.S. students say press freedoms go too far.� The article went on to say, “One in three US high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them.�
The survey was commissioned by a private foundation and conducted by the University of Connecticut.
Jack Dvorak, director of the High School Journalism Institute at Indiana University said the findings aren’t surprising. He said, “Even professional journalists are often unaware of a lot of the freedoms that might be associated with the First Amendment.�
“The survey,� he said, “confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a longtime. Kids aren’t learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics, or English classes.�
I would agree. Public education has miserably failed in the past 30 years. Especially in the areas of American history and law as it relates to the Founding of America.
I also think that most of us would agree that freedom of speech and a free press is absolutely essential to freedom and liberty.
However, the US report may have missed the most disturbing aspect of the survey.
I believe that kids today are so disenchanted with the hypocrisy of liberalism that out of frustration they have disengaged in some aspects of society. Nowhere more than the established, so-called mainline media.
These kids, having been brainwashed in various forms of socialism and the revision of history to the point that they recognize that something is very very wrong with the news media (most lately, Dan Rather) are reacting to the hollow hypocrisy but not sure who could fix the problem. Their first knee-jerk response is the one they have been taught by their liberal teachers – the government should fix it.
The tide is changing. Hope is rising. Kids across America are taking a second look at the issues that they feel are the most important – like personal responsibility, integrity, loyalty, the sanctity of life, etc. In each of these areas the liberals are miserably failing, while this generation is moving more and more toward traditional values.
Yes, we do have a problem with how our kids view the press, but I don’t think it’s simply ignorance.
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On January 21, 2005, Washington Post staff writer John Harris wrote, “By now, four years into a presidency that has reshaped American politics and shaken the world, perhaps no one should be surprised by George W. Bush’s ambition. Even so, the 21-minute address he delivered at the Capitol yesterday was startling in it’s reach.� (Washington Post, Friday, January 21, 2005, Page A01).
Mr. Harris went on to say that Bush predicted that the U.S. would promote liberty, aid the oppressed, and lead the world to the ultimate triumph of democracy over tyranny.
While the liberal media reeled at the thought of an American President drawing the proverbial line in the sand by telling the country and the world that we will act on our deeply held beliefs, most conservatives were thrilled. William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard was pleased with the speech and said, “Bush knows what he’s doing, and the directness of these words give them real punch.�
But Steven Shier, a Carleton College political scientist said, “I don’t think the speech was written in a way to be taken literally. It’s an attempt to link up with the great speeches and great concepts of the American past.�
He’s half right. President Bush is indeed linking up with the great concepts of the American past.
In the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence, an appeal to “the law of nature and nature’s God,� appears. While many liberals, (the same group who would be shocked by President Bush’s inaugural address) have for generations taught our children that this was merely an attempt by Jefferson to describe God in deistic terms, or “not to be taken literally.�
Not true! One of Jefferson’s most influential sources was Sir Edward Coke. Coke was a Puritan whose writings on the Common Law served as the main textbook for legal studies at the College of William and Mary, where Jefferson received his formal education.
Sir Edward Coke, writing in 1610, explained the meaning of the phrase “law of nature.� He said, “The law of nature is that which God at the time of creation of the nature of man infused into his heart, for his preservation and direction; and this is lex-aeterna [the eternal law], the moral law, called also the law of nature. This law of nature, which indeed is the eternal law of the creator, infused into the heart of the creature at the time of his creation, was [before any written laws] and before any judicial or municipal laws�) (Sir Edward Coke – The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Late Lord Chief Justice of England). Coke went on to say, “This law was written by the finger of God in the heart of man.�
This was Jefferson’s point of view when he wrote, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.� (Declaration of Independence. For full text, click here).
The overwhelming response to Iraq’s first election this past weekend strongly supports the position that President Bush has taken: that given the opportunity, people will choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness over tyranny – everytime.
President Bush and his fellow patriotic conservatives do not base this belief merely on the power and influence of our beloved country, but on a higher mandate – that eternal law – the law written by the finger of God in the heart of man.
Indeed when life and liberty prevail it is in everyone’s best interest.
As President Bush links up with the great concepts of the American past, America’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs truly are one.
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