Current Events

From NPR: “The chants, chaos and cries from the streets of Cairo and other cities in Egypt this week revive questions for historians and political scientists that politicians have to answer with practical policies. Host Scott Simon speaks with Dr. J. Rufus Fears, a historian and Classics scholar at the University of Oklahoma, about western concepts of democracy and the events now sweeping Egypt and the Middle East.”

Click here to listen and read this excerpt from the transcript below:

“Will a federal emergency-medical-treatment law be rewritten to mandate that all hospitals provide abortions?”

Read more here.

The Manhattan Declaration is not an anti-gay statement, in any sense. It is a carefully worded, Christian statement about Christianity and culture Today, done with gentleness and respect. While “public opinion” (i.e. a critical mass of Apple users) was right in its opposition to pornography in the App store last time, this time it is in the wrong.

Therefore, Apple should reconsider this reactionary move.

Read more about this developing story here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20024274-37.html#ixzz16thP7jXM

Update: “Signers of the Manhattan Declaration — a Christian document at the heart of a growing controversy — have resubmitted a tweaked “app” to Apple in hopes that the company will approve it after pulling an earlier version from its iPhone/iPad app store.” Read more: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34245

Imagine for a moment, a la Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, you could transport founding father and patriot Patrick Henry to today’s time. Imagine further you would take him to an American airport. I’m sure he would be shocked bedazzled to see the flying contraptions (not to mention the small rectangular object people held up to their ears). He might even be delighted, hoping to go tell Benjamin Franklin of what he saw.

Yet then imagine his horror to see a TSA attendant invasively frisking a nun in public, one who refused to walk through a “magic-like” machine that showed a person without clothes. Let’s listen in to the conversation:

TSA worker: Can I see your ticket, sir? It says here you paid with cash not plastic. We may have to search you.

Patrick Henry: What do you mean, plastic? May I ask who you are?

TSA worker: I work for the Transportation Security Administration of the Federal Government?

Patrick Henry: The what?

TSA worker: Put your hands above your head and let us scan you?

Patrick Henry: I beg your pardon!

TSA worker: Security!

Patrick Henry: Ladies and gentlemen, I implore you.

TSA worker: It’s for your own safety sir [as the worker invasively frisks him]

Patrick Henry: My safety? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of this shame? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me modesty … or give me death!

This is a silly illustration is to show the depths to which we have sunk. At the price of supposed security, we are giving up far more important things. I oppose the new TSA regulations for the following reasons:

1) The new scanners are an invasion of privacy and decorum;

2) The new frisking tactics are an invasion of privacy and modesty;

3) The new system is unnecessary. The previous security system worked. Even the “Fruit of kaboom” underwear bomber’s plan did not work, as he had to go to such great lengths to circumvent the system that his bomb was not functional.

4) Last but least, the new system is too costly. Specially trained dogs could be much more effective and cost-effective.

In sum, count me with the growing group of Americans fed up with the erosion of our modesty and yes, our liberty. Yes, please forbid it Almighty God!

Beyond the normal 2010 election headlines you’ll read, there are a couple of social conservatives wins we want you to see:

3 Justices Booted in Iowa after Same-sex ‘Marriage’ Ruling

and

California Rejects Marijuana Initiative

With people heading to the polls tomorrow to pull the lever, so to speak, on a number of issues and candidates, the question of personal faith in public life is getting yet another round of discussion. There are some candidates, and some state question supporters, that make mention of faith, to varying degrees, while others decry the role of faith in public life. Their thinking seems to be, “It’s OK for you to have a private faith, but don’t let it influence you publicly.” This proposition could not be more unfair. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an important article on InVitro Fetilization to wrestle with at this link. It begins:

In-vitro fertilization is a death-haunted work and has been since before its inception. Professor Robert Edwards said it took him twenty years to get the first embryo to “mature” outside the body. Twenty years of human experimentation resulting in how many deaths, just to get started?

With the number of deaths to his name you might think the Nobel committee would have given Robert Edwards the prize for peace rather than medicine. In topsy-turvy Nobel World, one makes as much sense as the other.

Proponents claim in-vitro fertilization has resulted in 4-million births to couples who might otherwise have been childless. What they leave off is the cost paid for those new lives, the staggering body count.

How many human beings had to die to get those 4-million babies? As many as 10-15 human embryos are created for every single baby that is born. Most are discarded, frozen, or killed for more experiments. This means as many as 40-million deaths were caused for those 4-million births.

Naturally, the Vatican has criticized the Nobel committee for giving an award to the man who invented this ghastly business.

Read the rest here.

Over the weekend, Glenn Beck held a rally on the National Mall at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The political left, of course, hated every minute of it. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, though, was unimpressed for other reasons and posted this very thought-provoking article on the event. It’s so chock full of great quotes that if I tried to sample them, I’d likely end up pasting the entire article, so head over to russellmoore.com and read the entire article yourself. I will, though, at the risk of “ruining” it for you, quote his closer, because it’s a good one:

It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn’t need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

And there will be a new generation, in America and elsewhere, who will be ready for a gospel that is more than just Fox News at prayer.

Feel free to comment below.

New York Times Magazine has a new piece that every pro-life person ought to read. Called ‘The New Abortion Providers‘, the piece shows has the medical community has silently trained a new general of doctors to provide abortions outside the context of abortion clinics, as part of their regular medical practices.

Below are pictures of two doctors, “Dr. Rachael Phelps (left), an alumna of the Family Planning Fellowship. Dr. Emily Godfrey (right), whose specialty is family medicine, with a patient undergoing a routine checkup.” Hardly the monstrous-looking depictions of abortion-providers we heard of in the 80s and 90s.

While the pro-life movement celebrates the closing of abortion clinics–and we should–the pro-choice movement, says the NY Times piece, feels just fine about the trend.

It’s a must read piece to understand the new landscape of the pro-life struggle in America. And it makes me all the more thankful for pro-life doctors who stay true to the pledge to “do no harm.”

In his June 18 Presidential Proclamation of Father’s Day, President Obama had this to say in part:

Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step father, a grandfather, or caring guardian. [emphasis added]

Do you think Mr. Obama, in praising “two fathers” refers to a situation of same-sex partners, or the late 80′s situation comedy with Paul Reiser, “My Two Dads“?

Our rapid moral decline in America, I’m afraid, leaves us only to guess.

I wish to add my voice to “a conservative group that monitors the entertainment industry [now] applauding Apple CEO Steve Jobs for his pledge to keep porn applications off the iPhone.”

“Jobs took a stance against porn when the iPhone was released in 2007 and has reiterated that stance at least three times during the past month while also taking a dig at a competitor, Google’s Android phone.”

Read more here.

“A Christian street preacher in Britain will stand trial for telling a passerby — in earshot of a policewoman — that God views homosexuality as a sin.” Read the rest here.

As you’ve likely heard by now, a massive earthquake has hit the island of Haiti, killing thousands. While it’s impossible to know for sure, the estimated death toll ranges from 100,000 to 500,000. Half a million people. The size and scope of the devastation is hard to grasp, despite the heart-wrenching pictures and videos filtering out of Haiti. Also making news, though perhaps not quite as widely, is yet another disaster: Pat Robertson. Read the rest of this entry »

I knew I liked Brit Hume, and now I have a solid basis for my appreciation for the news man with the catchy name.

On The O’Reilly Factor, Hume shared that he encourages Tiger Woods to turn to Christianity and “be a great example to the world.”

This is a great discussion between Hume and O’Reilly. The two shared what Christianity offers, which is forgiveness and redemption. “Jesus Christ offers something that Tiger Woods badly needs,” said Hume.

Hume shared there have been those who harshly criticized him for his words, as well as the impression he gave for putting down Buddhism. He explained himself well and shared that even Scripture tells there would be those who would be angered by mentioning the name of Jesus.

“(LifeSiteNews.com) – A massive crowd of pro-life Spanish citizens captured international headlines Saturday after marching on the country’s capital to protest plans to loosen abortion restrictions in the country.

“Estimates for the numbers of those in attendance varied, with mainstream media such as CNN and the New York Times reporting simply “thousands” or ”tens of thousands.” However, the Christian Post reports that Madrid’s regional government estimated the numbers of attendees at around 1.2 million, and a spokesman for one of the pro-life organizers said 1.5 million people attended. The U.K.’s BBC and numerous other media outlets also put the crowd at over a million.  According to Agence France Press, police put the number at 250,000.

“Signs reading “For Life, Women and Motherhood,” and “Women Against Abortion” greeted Spanish Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s efforts to push through a law making abortion-on-demand legal up to 14 weeks’ gestation, and allowing girls as young as 16 years old to abort their unborn child without parental consent.  The measure is due for consideration in Parliament soon.

“The full text of the story is available here.”

HT: JR

When I first heard that the President won the Nobel Peace Prize, I was really shocked. My first question, and that of everyone I spoke to this morning, was, “Why?” I was anxious to hear what the professional pundit’s reactions would be. My prediction would be skepticism from the Right, and unbridled glee from the Left. I was only half-right. Other conservatives responded as I did, with confusion and bewilderment.

The reaction from the Left, though, surprised me. While some are all but dancing in the streets, some Leftists — major ones at that — are also confused. Matt Lauer said, “We’re less than a year into the first term of this president and there are no — I’m not trying to be, you know, rude here — no major foreign policy achievements, to date.” He even asked David Gregory, “So, what you’re saying in some ways and, again, not to be rude here or sarcastic, that in some ways he wins this award for not being George W. Bush?” to which Gregory responded, “I think that that is an inescapable conclusion about all of this.” I never thought I’d agree with a post on the The Daily Beast, but I think Peter Beinart got it right:

When it comes down to it, I really don’t care who wins the award. It’s been mostly a farce for years now, with terrorists like Yasser Arafat and warm-mongering junk scientists* like Al Gore winning, I don’t think it’s had any real credibility for a long time. Adam Graham at Race 4 2012 sums it up nicely. What bothers me is how weird it is putting a man who has only talked about peace next to those who labored in slums or languished in prisons. It boggles the mind.

* I say junk science because I don’t buy the sky is falling proclamations of Gore and his ilk. Even if one assumes he’s right, though, how is fighting melting ice caps related to peace? Because people might someday fight over dry land in some sort real life Water World scenario? Absurd.

From BP: “A leading nonpartisan fact-checking organization says President Obama was incorrect when he said the congressional health care plans could not lead to government-funded abortion.”

Read the original piece here.

An interesting piece from Christianity Today‘s website:

As Christians join the rest of the country in jousting over the proposed changes to our health care system, one significant fact should inform the Christian debate: modern health care is a Christian invention. The reasons Christians developed the world’s first health care system—as opposed to simply medical practitioners—are as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Read the entire piece here.

The New York Times offers a pro’s and con’s look at the new health care public policy on the table: co-ops.

“If a public insurance option were to be abandoned, it could be replaced by an alternative favored by some moderates like Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota: the health insurance cooperative.”

Read the rest here. I like what I hear so far.

From WORLD magazine:

Planned Parenthood researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that a revised method of conducting drug-induced abortions has allegedly reduced the risk of serious complications by 93 percent. Previously Planned Parenthood diverged from the FDA’s recommended guidelines for RU-486 by administering an oral dose of mifepristone followed by a vaginal dose of misoprostol. But the 2005 deaths of four American women and one Canadian woman from bacterial infections spurred Planned Parenthood to conform to FDA standards and instead have women dissolve the misoprostol pill in their mouths, followed by a precautionary course of antibiotics.

As a result, Planned Parenthood said the number of serious infections resulting from drug-induced abortions has declined to one-16th of the original rate. Experts say the latest research will likely spark a future increase in chemical abortions, although Family Research Council spokesman Chris Gacek said, “It’s hard to know whether this increases the (total) number of abortions.” Last year, approximately a quarter of all U.S. abortions were performed with drugs rather than surgery.

Me: As we celebrate the closing of abortion clinics and the sunset of surgical abortions, let us stay aware that the Brave New World of abortion in a bottle is only dawning.

Jenny Sanford released a statement to the media today, regarding her husband South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s public admittance to an affair.

There are some great words and phrases used in her remarks — forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, institutions of marriage and family. I don’t know Mrs. Sanford, but I admire what she had to say.

“Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation with me. However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy,” she said.

There is great truth and wisdom in her statement. She is correct that his actions were a violation of trust and a disgrace to the sanctity of marriage. She also is gracious and wise to recognize that saving their marriage is a process that will take time, but it is not beyond restoration.

I also appreciate Mrs. Sanford’s awareness of the need to privately restore their marriage. I only wish a certain reality TV couple would have been aware of this need.

With the progress in Iraq dominating headlines, I wanted to link to one of the most superb speeches on the subject. Delivered at The Heritage Foundation in 2005, the greatest professor in America, Dr. J. Rufus Fears, offers the most-thought provoking comments.

The piece, “The Lessons of the Roman Empire for America Today,” begins:

I am honored to give a lecture named after Russell Kirk, who told us to ponder the permanent things, such as history and human nature. It is about human nature and history that I want to speak to you this afternoon.

We are on patrol today in Iraq. Men and women of the United States armed forces in armored vehicles patrol the streets of Baghdad. They pass in the way of so many who have come before them: the Egyptian charioteers of Ramses II, the Macedonian phalanx of Alexander the Great, the Roman legionnaires of Cae­sar and Trajan, the Crusaders of Richard the Lion-Hearted, the legionnaires of Napoleon, the Camel Corps of Lawrence of Arabia.

All of these have come through the Middle East. Many of them have come with the best of intentions, by their lights, to bring stability, even freedom to the Middle East. All have passed away. The Middle East has been the graveyard of empires.

In the course of history, we have come to take up that burden. We live in a time as momentous as that of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the days after Pearl Harbor. In each of these watersheds in our his­tory, we have not only taken up the burden, but we have advanced the cause of freedom.

In the American Revolution, we saw to it that a nation could be established under liberty and law. In the American Civil War, we purged ourselves of the great evil of slavery so that we could go on and become a model for the world. In World War II and the Cold War that followed, we advanced the cause of freedom so that today, more people live in free­dom than at any other time in history. That is the result of America bearing this burden.

I think that September 11 is just as important a date as Pearl Harbor, and we now advance into a new and dangerous era. Think of Winston Churchill when he said how Britain set out across unknown seas, through uncharted waters towards unknown shores, guided only by the beacon of freedom. We have another guide, and that is history and the les­sons of history. For the founders of our country, his­tory was the most important single discipline that every citizen of a free republic should study.

Enjoy the rest here.

Last week, David Letterman made a “coarse” joke about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her daughter who were visiting New York City. The joke was done in poor taste, and all who were offended and outraged by the joke have legitimate grounds to respond the way they did.

I could give a lengthy analysis of why Letterman’s joke was bad, give an interpretation of his intent, accuse him of being an angry liberal, so on and so forth. But I won’t do that; rather I will focus on something all of us should be ready and willing to do when we have done something wrong. That is admit the wrong and begin the process of forgiveness.

Monday night, Letterman gave a sincere apology:

David Letterman Apologizes

I commend him for what he said. He admitted there was a misunderstanding, and he gave a thorough explanation. He also was genuine in apologizing to everyone involved.

Forgiveness is not a quick remedy. Time is needed. But the greatest thing about forgiveness is watching how God can work. I recently received a good description about forgiveness from Rick Warren’s book  The Purpose Driven Life. I think it is applicable to this situation.

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.”

-BARACK OBAMA, in a recent White House press release

Hat tip: BTD

We speak with one voice today in condemnation of the recent murder of George Tiller.

From following our blog, you know we have no admiration for the man, who was a notorious late-term abortionist. Yet this heinous crime brings us no joy whatsoever, only grief. An immoral, evil act like this deserves the utmost penalty under the law.

Last year, I posted a blog about the show Jon & Kate Plus 8. Like many who are up on Jon and Kate’s recent marital problem, I do feel for the Gosselins, including their twins and sextuplets.

What I believe to be the best thing for the reality TV couple to do is cancel the show. Many will disagree with me or give a negative response, knowing they won’t cancel, especially after the recent season premiere scored a rating of 10 million viewers. That would be all the more reason for this media mayhem to end. There is too much attention and not enough support to help them heal and restore their marriage. That can only happen in private.

I know this won’t happen overnight. It would be a long process to get out of public viewing, but it can start if they will allow it.

Lynn Roush also gives a solid Christian perspective about the Gosselins, their show and healing their marriage.